ROBIN ROSS
Robin has had a long standing fascination for, and relationship with music, radio broadcasting, art, photography and style.
As a child, his parents bought him a PYE Transistor Radio, and then a Grundig Tape Recorder to enable him to record ‘Pick of The Pops’ and every album from the Beatles.
The first 45rpm record Robin bought was 'Light my Fire' by The Doors and the first album was 'Stand Up' from Jethro Tull.
In his teens Robin promoted Fleetwood Mac and Brinsley Schwartz at Lowther Gardens in Lytham, which at the time was the biggest Tory majority in the UK - Promoting seemed the way to go and he then went on to be promoter for The Tithe Farm House in Harrow, London;
Graham Parker & the Rumour, Ace, FBI, Kokomo and Eddie & the Hot Rods all graced the smallest stage ever, but what a great sweaty gig.
Somehow Robin found himself DJing at London's Rock Garden in Covent Garden on many great nights: Talking Heads, Tom Robinson, Dire Straits and Squeeze to name but a few.
And then onto Merseyside and Robin’s radio career began thanks to a record store owner who invited him to broadcast on the pirate station 'Merseyland Alternative Radio' (and let’s be honest, he has a great face for radio). Running up and down Tower blocks with transmitters, one step ahead of the law, Robin did interviews with The Dead Kennedy's, U2 and Wilko Johnson.
And then phrase that changed his life: 'I'd really like you out there'
This phrase was spoken by Johnnie Walker as he offered Robin a gig on Radio Caroline, a big boat in the North Sea, which was to be relaunched and, of course, was illegal. It was then things got a bit tricky - Robin flew into Spain on a ticket that had been issued to a man with a warrant out for his arrest, suffice to say Robin was arrested. The man named on the ticket was wanted as part of a missing £1,000,000 and Robin came very close to having a trim fitting pair of concrete boots at the bottom of the Bay of Biscay. Life with Radio Caroline was colourful; but a 12 million audience across Europe can’t be all bad.
After a year bobbing about at sea Robin joined Red Rose Radio in Preston (a legal job!) where he doubled the evening audience, then doubled the midday audience and was made Head of Music. He was poached by Piccadilly Radio in Manchester; following this he went on to set up Key 103 and then went off to Radio Radio, the UK's first Satellite radio station. Other stations came knocking; Marcher Sound, Jazz FM and more.
By now Robin also had his own production company which pioneered Interview Syndication in the UK, he was knackered but loving every minute of this crazy life that had really appeared by mistake. It was said that Robin was brilliant at his job, but difficult to deal with; the truth is that he had a habit of finding people out and they didn’t like it. He still does that today and they still don't like it!
Robin did hundreds of Outside Broadcasts and over 400 Interviews including:
Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Cliff Richard, Sir Elton John, Phil Collins, Tina Turner, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Mick Hucknall, Bonnie Raitt, Texas, Meat Loaf, Tom Petty, Genesis, Take That, Joe Cocker, Cher and many more.
And as a result Robin has 35 Silver, Gold and Platinum discs that were presented to him as thank you's for hard work and results, a fact of which he is very proud.
Robin’s was the distinctive voice of radio
“To play the music, meet the bands, and enjoy every minute has been the only aim and as a bonus be paid for my hobby”.
Starting as part of his radio career, events organisation became a key skill for Robin and no matter how large or small the event they always had their own rewards for him. He has organised events ranging from the Llangollen Hot Air Balloon Fiesta to It's a Knockout, County Shows to Corporate evenings, etc.
Art in the Park was an idea Robin developed from his lifelong interest in images and style. The 2003 Art in the Park exhibition featured rock stars, photographers, colour blind artists and painters on silk: pretty diverse for Blackpool and most people thought Robin was completely mad; however the Show won a Highly Commended award at the Blackpool Tourism awards.
Art in the Park 2004 went further, with paintings on 8 feet square sheets of aluminium; punk musicians, abstracts from a staff member at Tate North and images of New York - this exhibition won the Gold Award for Innovation of the Year 2004.
As Robin fell out of love with radio (and had nothing else to prove) Screen Printing came along, delivering the same rewards and creating something from nothing. For him, it’s all about the image, plus he gets to work with the most amazing Urban Artists.
Robin has shown at ‘Arteria’ Lancaster, ‘Sides’ Lytham and ‘Arteology’ in Colne, plus ‘The Affordable Art Fair’ in Battersea, ‘The Manchester Buy Art Fair’, ‘Mutate Britain’ and ‘Upfest’ Bristol.
Robin also curates the ‘Sand, Sea & Spray’ Urban Art event in Blackpool (which he founded in 2011) which brings together Urban Artists from all over the world to paint live in the U.K.'s top tourist resort.
His journey continues...