Who are we?

Norman Jones

aka Norman Jay

“Music is my passion. I have been a professional singer for over 40 years. I studied music (performance/studio recording and live sound), I have performed live all over Europe, been interviewed many times and had several TV appearances. I came to Catalonia and believe I became the first English-language radio presenter on Radio Mora FM and la Cala RTV, and produced radio for the federation of radio stations in Catalonia.

I relocated to Catalonia in 2008, and five years ago set up Catalonia Radio – because I was disillusioned by local radio here. At that time I was writing in the Catalonia Today magazine too about radio. The internet was not so good then and my listeners seemed to be everywhere except Catalonia.

My programmes are now well accepted in Catalonia on Epic Radio, but that is based in Canada. So I have decided, to launch once again an English-language station dedicated to Catalonia’s people and songwriters. Welcome to TopCat.”

shows

Rolling Back The Years

Icons of Music

The Impromptu Sessions

Paul Taylor

aka pault aka elmussol

Olive farmer, techie, proofreader/typesetter and life-long music geek. Born in the mid-1960s in north-east Lancashire.

Paul also lives in southern Catalonia on an off-grid olive finca. He does the tech and online stuff for TopCat – runs the radio server and website (more details at the foot of the page). Provides online services under the elsmussols.net banner. Passionate about music generally and Free & Open Source Software.

Meet our presenters

Robbie Cassels – Live and Kickin’

Having commenced a technical apprenticeship in engineering, I was, to quote my lovely Dad, “hijacked by music”. Largely due to the influence of Radio Luxembourg and later, the so called “Pirates” I felt compelled to follow the dream and began to DJ everywhere I could. I worked in Denmark and Spain and virtually every venue in Coventry and surrounding areas. I have continued to follow my passion whenever possible.

I have a discotheque road show called The Memphis Train and more recently I also make internet radio contributions from ”The Strawberry Studio” a purpose-built studio at my home in Warwickshire.

Ron Knox – Ronnie Rocks

I’ve been listening to rock music all my life, right from childhood! I love all genres of rock, there’s such diversity. I’m a big fan of ’50s/’60s rock n roll where it all started, and my favourites were Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly and Bo Diddley. I like my music heavy, be it hard rock, metal and all the variations that took place, even Punk, Grunge, Glam and Nu Rock.

I started my music career as a gigging DJ, but now love being a radio presenter on internet radio. I’ve worked on stations in the USA and UK but love the potential of Topcat Radio and glad to be part of it. I have a wealth of stories, thoughts and observations about the many concerts, festivals and shows I’ve been to and the people I’ve met. So come and say hi on our Facebook Page, let me know your views on the tracks I’ve played, and request some of your favourite songs.

Facebook • Mixcloud

Christopher Garton – From the Donkey Bunker Studio

I have been a DJ since aged 16 where I cut my teeth at the only nightclubs in Saudi Arabia. Having caught the bug I went on to start my own mobile disco company, playing at everything from bahmitzvahs to funerals. I later went onto DJing at my local hospital radio station. A rewarding experience, that made me really excited about becoming a radio DJ. Now I am here on Topcat Radio, and am looking forward to entertaining you all!

Josie Garton – Josie’s Happy Mondays

I started as a club DJ in the late 1970s through the ’80s in both Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire. I like learning trivia particularly about the songs I love to play.

I guess my favourite era for music has to be the ’80s and ’90s – but I have to admit this includes a bit of donk such as trance, house and club – honestly, there’s some really good tunes out there in amongst these styles.

Thanks to TopCat Radio I have been given the opportunity to bring you tunes you may recognise but also some you won’t and that, my friends is really exciting.

Susie and Peter – Words and Music

Susie says: “I’m the writer of The Tales from the Tombstone books, a bit of a jack of all trades; I love a good joke, enjoy listening to music of various genres and am a life-long lover of books and reading. I have never worked in radio before and just wing it must of the time – ha ha.”

Peter says: “I’m a keen photographer and co-author of The Tales from the Tombstone series. I have a dark sense of humour, love horror films amd all music (apart from rap and punk). I have been a landscape gardener, computer shop worker and lots of other things. I love technology and playing around with my car, fixing problems. This is my first time as a radio DJ and am loving being on Topcat.”

Peter Coombes – Pete’s Progress

Peter also takes us on his weekly journey through ProgRock.

Joint Chief – Joint Chief In The Mix

Joint Chief (Daniel O’Reilly) has been collecting and playing drum & bass, jungle and reggae music since 2001, DJing at warehouse parties in Hackney, London on a socially-owned rig, as well as house parties, clubs, internet radio and recently, livestreaming for Music Connects People. From long, musical mixes to explosive double drops, nostalgic jungle interludes and contemporary bangers, Joint Chief is fanatical about the musical range, positivity and energy of drum & bass culture. Moving from London to Catalonia in 2016, he has recently been digging into the musical diversity of his record collection, whilst exploring the energetic jungle music scene and its collectives centred in Barcelona.

Facebook • Mixcloud

Roy Crank – Crankin’ Up’

Hi! I’m Roy and live in Ukraine. Learning music, art and composing in different genres and performing them, sometimes for records, are important parts of my musical progression. They take a huge piece of my life.

I am extremely thankful for TopCat for giving me this opportunity.

website • Facebook • YouTube • Bandcamp

Jordi Oco – The Spanish Revolution

Jordi “Oco” Cuella is a self-taught DJ who started in Barcelona in the Sidecar room in the 80s. Now in Tortosa he plays at the Forn de la Canonja and in other venues in Baix Ebre and Teruel. He specializes in music in Spanish. Welcome to The Spanish Revolution.

Marc Muñoz – Ho Sento Molt

Marc Muñoz (aka MarcJamDJ) is a singer, DJ, and radio show host. In the 80s he began his career as a DJ in legendary venues in Barcelona and its surroundings such as Studio Ono or Studio 54. In the ’90s he worked in venues and halls such as Inercia, Xanadú, Pachà, La Tierra, Luz De Gas, Sala B, Croqits, Jam Session Rosebud or Partycular among others. He currently directs the Radio Joventut radio music show Ho Sento Molt in Terres de l’Ebre and is the frontman of the emerging band Natural Killers.

Malcolm Poole – Soul Pool

My first spot behind the decks was at the “Tree Tops Club”, a former cinema (and now a Gurdwara) when the DJ at our local pub let me have a go behind the decks in return for getting him trade prices at the record shop where I worked. I took two copies of James Brown’s “Sex Machine” single, and mixed Part One into Part Two, and kept the dancers on the floor a little bit longer than they were expecting.

So playing music was in my blood from an early age, but I didn’t get the chance to do much more until the Northern Soul scene became big again, and promoters wanted more DJs for their one-hour slots. And they wanted DJs who were not playing the “same-old same-old” that you could hear on any number of “Best of Northern Soul” CDs.

I started looking for tunes on vinyl that were very dancable, and instantly “hit a groove”, even if you had not heard the track before. Even if it meant getting into trouble from some of the so-called “purists” who thought that Northern Soul stopped being produced in the mid 70s.

If you like to hear something different, then listen into my show each week. It’s not all “northern” by the way, it’s a completely mixed bag; you might hear brand new releases, the originals of songs that were more famous as the cover version, or even hits from European stars that never made it big on the English side of “La Manche”.

Charly el Vagamundo – Always on the Road

Charly, a musician and producer, was born and raised in France, but his family hails from the beautiful village of Bogarra in southern Spain. Living between two cultures and exploring the world, he developed an early interest in music, seeing it as a universal language. He studied and immersed himself in the world of urban music during the hip-hop boom of the 2000s in France. As a student, he founded and promoted an independent production house, focusing on production, recording, and event organization.

Years later, weary of city life, he succumbed to the allure of travel and musical exploration. During a seven-year journey, mostly hitchhiking with little money, he carried his guitar and a desire to share music with people from all over the world. Now, as a content father of three children, he resides in southern Catalonia, where he is establishing a new production house called Vagamundos Production. This collective of artists aims to support musicians from around the world and advance the art of music.

In his new project, “El escaparate dels Vagamundos” located in Terres de l’Ebre, he provides a radio space for artists and people from diverse backgrounds to express themselves and share their music, always remembering that music is universal…

Jonathan Scarlet – Scarlet’s Web

Jonathan Scarlet is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and violinist based in the Ebre region of northern Spain. His background is in theatre, having lived in London for fifteen years, where he worked as a director and sound designer/composer, along with occasional acting and writing gigs. As well as playing solo gigs around the region, he also gigs with his Blues trio, Los Gatos Diablos, and as part of Rumba group Advertencia. He is also one third of Newcastle-based ambient Folk outfit HAV.

Facebook • YouTube • Instagram

Paul Mitchell – Tune Twister and The Get Down

aka Mr Big E

Hi. My career in life has been varied but also notable at times. As a teenager I was a two turntables and mixer DJ playing on pirate radio and parties going well into my young adult life. Gave it all up for what might be called a proper career in Construction Engineering and later on, after taking a new path in teaching, I gained my degree and ended up at Kingston University amongst others.

It’s great to get back to my love of music and long may it continue.

Lydia Lady Blue – The Lady Blue Project

Lydia Lady Blue has been a composer and singer for more than ten years. She has collaborated with another artists and has performed in concerts and shows over the length and breadth of Catalonia and the rest of Spain. She has also been interviewed on radio and television. Her music has a magical atmosphere to help humanity raise awareness.

YouTube

Trish and Fernando – Every Kind of People

A comedy duo, based in Reus – Trish from Canada, Fernando from Seville. Word Games in Spanglish, comedy sketches and interviews with independent artists.

Ken Michaels – Every Little Thing

Ken began his radio career at college radio station WNYT (New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, NY) in 1981, where as Disc Jockey he handled several of their music formats – oldies, rock, and his weekly Beatles show (later named Every Little Thing) in March 1982. While he’s enjoyed being on the air on other radio formats – adult contemporary, and album oriented rock, he’s best known for nearly 40 years of several different Beatles shows, including podcasts, and his own YouTube channel.

Creating a Beatles show unlike any other with Every Little Thing, the programme mixes the entire catalogue of the Fab’s group and solo recordings, plus features, cover versions of their material, side projects, tribute songs, novelty records, family members, artists on the Beatles’ Apple label, etc. Ken also includes Beatles trivia and a wide variety of games testing fans’ knowledge of the Beatles music and history. Many shows have original interviews with people in the Beatles world, and every show includes a unique thematic set, focusing on everything from the serious (John Lennon political songs) to the silly (song titles that rhyme). Anything is up for grabs in this show which caters to both the casual and hardcore fan.

Every Little Thing was heard first on WNYT (1982-83), then for ten years on New Jersey’s Album Rocker WDHA-FM (1983-93), followed by Long Island’s Oldies station B-103 during the Beatles Anthology craze, and later on XM Radio on their eclectic music channel, Fine Tuning (2003-09). His show was syndicated in 2011, and currently is heard on over 45 stations. Ken developed his own website which features much of what you’ll find on Every Little Thing – loads of interviews, weekly Beatles trivia, and more!

Ken also became co-host for several Beatles podcast, including Things We Said Today started in 2012, and Talk More Talk: A Solo-Beatles Videocast. Both shows are heard on many platforms, including iTunes and their own YouTube channel. As if that wasn’t enough, Ken’s new YouTube channel has him interviewing musicians, authors and fellow podcasters who have dedicated their time and livelihood to the Beatles.

Ken Michaels Radio • YouTube • email: everylittlething@att.net

Lee Everest – Dance Party Weekly

Dance Party Weekly is a show, played on stations worldwide. It’s two or three hours long, specialising in commercial dance and house music from the last 30 years.

Harley Buckner – Afternoon Adventure

I’m the one who has never been a DJ! A pub/club entertainer and host, gasbag and racounteur are as close as I ever got.

On a trip to Canada a few years ago I came across a radio show which combined the music I loved with interesting snippets, anecdotes and quiz questions and thought to myself, if I get the opportunity that’s what I’d like to do. TopCat has given me that opportunity – hits of the ’70s through to the ‘’00s – it’s quizzy, it’s quirky and distinctly odd (but so am I).

Chris ‘The Shirt’ Elliott – Reggae Vybe

Chris ‘The Shirt’ Elliott was brought up in SE London on a diet of Reggae, Soul and Jim Reeves (blame his Jamaican dad for that one). He started playing on internet radio a few years back on the original Sunrisefm and since then his stations have included the now defunct Vinyl Morpher Radio, and Platinum Grooves Radio, which he part owned. He has been known to hit the floors on various dance floors at soul nights, and of course the infamous Caister Soul Weekenders, but as he’s got older it’s more of a crawl rather than a spring. Shirty’s dress sense (loud shirts) and choice of football teams (Millwall) have had people questioning his sanity, but his choonz are good so we let him in.

Big People music – If You Know, You Know. – Shirty x

email: shirty1960@hotmail.com

Tony Francis – The Basement of Love

Tony now lives in Northern Ireland having moved there from Staffordshire England in 2017. His love for music started at the age of 12 and he was the resident DJ at his local youth club before progressing into mobile DJing, then night clubs, then radio. Needless to say that passion has never died and he has hosted shows on many radio stations over the years, earning the tag line “your fun-loving dependable friend” which will be evident as you get to know him. He has hosted many formats of radio shows from breakfast to drivetime to late night love and has his very popular Sunday morning show The Basement of Love.

Tony also plays Santa Claus each year, visiting houses, schools and retirement homes entertaining the children and adults and is a member of The Ulster Magic Society, he also does Santa Claus voice overs for many radio stations – you would almost think he was the real deal with his knowledge of Father Christmas and his personality.

On 25 March 2022, Tony produced and presented ten different LIVE shows over a period of 24 hours in aid of The British Red Cross in Ukraine. Radiothons have been done before with many presenters doing their little bit, Tony not only produced each show but presented them as well, on his own, for the full 24 hours – a radio first.

Chris Pitchford – Solid Gold Sounds

Since inheriting his sister’s records when he was knee-high to a grasshopper in the ’70s, Chris knew broadcasting, music and communications was the life for him, and the more buttons, levers, switches, faders and general gadgets involved the better, with his first “DJ kit” being a Bush Cassette Recorder and a Bontempi Organ, for his fourth Birthday.

Starting with a modest collection of MFP and K-Tel compilations and a few Beatles 45s, mostly more battered than your average cod, he’s never looked back. In the early days it was the joy of spending 85p for this week’s hot single from WH Smith, and still having 15p pocket money left for a small scoop of cola cubes.

The ’80s was Chris’s “Golden Age” of music. Chris showcases his perennial penchant for ’70s and ’80s music and its modern contemporaries on Solid Gold Sounds, where he is just as happy with forgotten 45s as their well-known air-play and chart counterparts, so expect an eclectic and original mix of both on the programme.

Chris has been a Presenter and Audio Engineer with the East Shropshire Talking Newspaper For The Blind for the last 32 years, and is a radio veteran; having started out with involvement in Community Radio in the ’90s – his last station residency being a very happy 11-month stint at Revenge FM.

Chris is married to a published author, and when not busy editing her latest novel, he enjoys landscape photography, and can often be found alongside the dustiest box of vinyl in any remaining record shops, hoping to unearth a hidden gem, or failing that, the nearest purveyors of unhealthy food!

Jeff Wood – The Time of Our Music Life

I have been interested in music for as long as I can remember, collecting vinyl over the years to the point that storage became a problem! I ran my own business for 20 years and then moved to live in Lanzarote in 2022. After moving to Lanzarote I volunteered as a presenter on a local community station and that is where The Time Of Our Music Life was born.

Originally from the north-east of England I was born and brought up in Stockton on Tees. The radio is always on wherever I am and I love any chart music from 1960 to (almost) the present day. The first record I ever bought was Esther & Abi Ofarim – Cinderella Rockefella, but please don’t hold that against me!