JonathanMosen's blog

My holidays are over and I’m back in the saddle again, re-energised and looking forward to another exciting year ahead.

The Smorgasbord is back with you on Mushroom FM every week day at 3 AM Eastern, 8 AM UK.

What is a smorgasbord, I hear you cry? Well, it’s really a fancy word for buffet. When you visit a smorgasbord, there’s usually a wide selection of food from which to choose. On Mushroom FM’s smorgasbord, I serve up plenty of tasty mushroom morsels from the 1950s through to the 1980s. It’s an eclectic mix of music with a healthy helping of friendly chat.

Isn’t it funny how language keeps evolving? Recently in new Zealand, they’ve started talking about this weather phenomenon known as a “weather bomb”.

Yesterday I was revelling in my summer break, as you do, listening to the cricket and enjoying being totally immersed in books the rest of the time, when my phone went Ding! IN a languid manner befitting this time of year, I somewhat listlessly reached for my phone to investigate.

Let me start this little promotional message for this week’s show by making a startling, staggering, hither-to unrevealed and shocking revelation. I am not Steve Cutway. Yes it’s true, just repeating that news, I am not Steve Cutway.

Another year of Mosen Explosion radio shows begins…soon! I don’t know how we get away with it, I tell you.

I’m unavailable to host the show live this week, it’s summer and all that, or rather, it’s at least supposed to be. But never fear. Even though the show isn’t live, there is indeed a full four-hour show, and it’s got lots in it! In fact if you turn it over, you’ll see all the ingredients written on the back!

Even when on holiday, we’re beta testing at Mosen Towers. We just can’t help ourselves! This time every year, since the year seems to have a habit of ending on 31 December all the time, we bravely go where no one has gone before and test the new year for you. New Zealand sees in the new year a full 18 hours before it makes its way to the east coast of the United States, 21 hours before it makes it to the US west coast, and 13 hours before it gets to the UK! I mean dude, we are, like, so totally advanced.

In a year where we've lost many legends who contributed to 80s music, such as David Bowie, Glen Frey, Prince and more, George Michael died yesterday.

Bonnie will be paying tribute to him by playing nothing but music by George Michael, with and without Wham! on the next two editions of 80s lady, today and tomorrow.

If George Michael and Wham! were part of the soundtrack of your life, then do join us at 8 PM Eastern tonight and tomorrow night, and share your memories via the MushroomFm Twitter hashtag.

As I write this post, a warm Christmas day in New Zealand is coming to an end. Tomorrow, it’ll be the day we call boxing day, but Christmas day will still be very much happening in the northern hemisphere.

Say It With Jazz returns to Mushroom FM for a very special Holiday edition this Christmas Eve. Jeremy Hartley invites you to join him to celebrate this festive time of year with some of the finest Holiday jazz around. We'll hear from such artists as Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, George Shearing, Ray Charles and many more.

To paraphrase Alan Jackson, it’s 3 AM somewhere. So we always try to replay our shows at a time suitable for those who might have been sleeping when they were first heard.

We’ll be replaying the 2016 holiday countdown and Christmas party in its entirety on Christmas eve, starting at midnight Eastern, 5 AM UK.

We’ve had a huge amount of interest in our Christmas Castoffs show, where we featured three hours of songs that didn’t garner enough votes to make the top 100. We’ll replay this on Thursday afternoon at 1 PM Eastern, 6 PM in the UK.