It’s been another week where life has taken some surprising and unexpected turns.
Even before I got on the bus to the Principality Stadium for Judgement Day I had started getting some unusual messages about line dancing. It was a few weeks ago I had a message from Helen Owen asking would I mind if she and her colleague Mathew Sinyard created a line dance for my latest single ‘When You’re Away’. I was somewhat surprised by the suggestion but intrigued as well. I said yes and thought no more about it.
Then last week I got an email from Helen saying that the dance was ready, and she was going to share it with her line dancing friend across the globe via the website CopperKnow Stepsheets. She also very kindly shared the moves. These are the opening steps.
Section 1 Forward Rock, Recover, Coaster Step, Walk L R, Shuffle Forward.
1 2Rock forward on right, recover on to left.
3 & 4Step back on right, step left beside right, step forward on right.
5 6Walk forward stepping L R.
7 & 8Step forward on left, close right towards left, step forward left.
Suddenly a whole new world opened up to me. Even though I had to rush to get the bus I couldn’t help but log onto the CopperKnob Stepsheets website. As well as the carefully written out steps for the dance there was also a video of Helen and Mathew performing the dance at their studios. But it wasn’t just their video, there were also videos of other dancers performing the moves from all over the world. Some of them were in studios, others were in their homes, some were outdoors in what appeared to be an airport lounge and another group were beside a swimming pool.
I’ve now found out there is a line dancing chart and we are currently in the top 50 in the world. I’ve also discovered that Mathew is part of a Line Dancing weekend at the Aberavon Beach Hotel over May Day Bank Holiday and I’ve been invited to go along. Now, my knees aren’t what they used to be, and I haven’t got a pair of Cowboy boots anymore, but I’ll see if I can borrow a Stetson and I definitely have to pop along with my guitar.
One of the big stories of the week was the passing of Pope Francis. I’m always reminded of a story my dad told me about when he was a new teacher. It was back in 1958 when Pope Pius XII passed away. The morning after the news broke he was greeted with a hug by one of his young pupils who was delighted to see my dad. Asked why, the boy said that his mother had told him the Pope had passed away and the only Pope he knew was my dad.
Pope Francis has been ill for some time but having made an appearance on Easter Sunday I think many thought he was over the worst of his illness. Media outlets always have to be prepared for these unexpected events. During my time at the BBC we were always made aware what to do if one of the major royals passed away unexpectedly. In that case a regularly undated obituary was available. When I started these were on tape and kept in a special locked box, nowadays they are digital files on computer.
You can’t be prepared for every eventuality. I remember when Leonid Brezhnev passed away suddenly in 1982. I was a young researcher on the BBC AM programme, and we went into a mad panic mode trying to find a Russian expect at 4.30am who would speak with gravitas and authority about the life of the leader of the Soviet Union.
The passing that took us all by surprise was Princess Diana. It was late on a Saturday Evening that the news broke and by the Sunday morning the world was stunned by the announcement of her death. I could only imagine how newsrooms around the world had to pull in extra staff on a weekend to fill the hours of TV and Radio that would be dedicated to that story.
The other people who have to get to work are the schedulers. Programmes have to be cancelled or rearranged as the stations output needs to ‘sound right’. The year that saw the passing of Prince Phillip and then Queen Elizabeth II meant I was asked to cover a number of ‘pop’ shows that wouldn’t have had quite the right tone. It’s not an easy job you know when your boss says you have 3 hours to fill with no guests and… can you capture the mood of the nation.
This week I’ve been caught up in schedule changes again. The Passing of Pope Francis has meant changes to some sporting events planned for this weekend. With the Pope’s funeral hastily arranged for later today the Italy Wales Women’s Six Nation game has been moved to tomorrow morning. What has that got to do with me you might ask? As part of the knock on effect of that change BBC Radio Wales has had to rearrange its weekend schedules. Which left an hour gap after the match at 2pm?
Sometime ago the BBC had decided to take my concert from the Swansea Arena last Autumn with a view to broadcasting it over a quiet bank holiday period. It was on Wednesday I got the call to say I was off the bench and in the starting line up for Sunday.
With such a short lead in time we have gone into a ‘mad panic’ of our own. There’s no point in the show going out without people knowing about it. In the meantime I had been sent some lovely endorsements from Catherine Zeta Jones and Bonnie Tyler. Since Wednesday we’ve been posting and sharing these messages on social media hoping to spread the word. The strange thing is people are more impressed that Catherine Zeta Jones calls me Mr Pope than the fact that my concert will be on the radio this weekend. As someone said to me…Mal…that’s showbiz.
Mal Pope’s Golden Jubilee Concert is on BBC Radio Wales 2pm on Sunday 27th April 2025 and will then be available via the BBC Sounds App.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002bwp3