On The Wire is a long-running radio show presented by Steve Barker which started broadcasting in 1984. Unlike anything else on BBC Radio Lancashire (or any other station) in its Sunday afternoon heyday, it introduced its listeners to a huge array of sounds. Among the delights being offered up in the 1980s were On-U-Sounds, cutting edge hip hop and hardcore, spiritual jazz (a particular favourite being Albert Ayler), the most leftfield local bands, visits to the studio from Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and a weekly selection from Captain Beefheart’s ‘Trout Mask Replica’. Always uncompromising, it opened up a world of sounds to its fans, including your humble scribe.
When Ajay Saggar, who records as Bhajan Bhoy, moved to Lancashire to start a degree course at the University of Lancaster, flicking the radio dial led to a chance encounter with On The Wire and began a fruitful 40 year relationship with the programme. ‘Bhoy On The Wire’ was a 40th anniversary gift to the show, originally broadcast in April 2024 on its new home of Slack City Radio and Mixcloud, the programme having been a victim of BBC cutbacks.
The six instrumental tracks recorded for the session all have Lancashire towns in the titles with many linked to events that were formative for Saggar. Whereas his previous release, ‘Peace Frequencies / Healing Frequencies’, had some concessions to traditional song structure and the occasional pop melody, ‘Bhoy On The Wire’ is far more atmospheric and out there. The record begins in Blackburn, home to Radio Lancashire, with ‘The Milkman’ which starts with that woozy late night/early morning feel. Its synths create a feel of techno for fidgety alien midgets before a mournful melodica starts to dominate proceedings together with what sound like the clop of horse hooves. ‘Campus Blues (Lancaster)’ makes it plain that but for the diet of music and gigs life at university would have been intolerable. Full of sitar-like drones and ominous percussion, it is drowsily compelling but not for the faint of heart.
A trip to the ‘Castle Bandstand (Clitheroe)’ commemorates a concert at that landmark by The Fall which was promoted by On The Wire in the summer of 1985. What it lacks in that band’s rambunctiousness is more than compensated for by eerie piano and further dollops of that alien communication. ‘What Lurks Behind Those Illuminations_(Blackpool)’ is suggestive of a gentle trip in which more than the illuminations are psychedelic.
Back in east Lancashire, ‘Pass the Sushi Pon The Lef’ Hand Side (Burnley)’ has the album’s best title. Despite the Musical Youth and Mighty Diamonds reference in the song title, with its pulsing synths it is more suggestive of original krautrock acts like Cluster and Harmonia. Bits of banjo are added to the mix for a piece that it is easy to burrow into. For the final track, it is a visit to the ‘Caribbean Club (Preston)’, which was also home to formative gig experiences for this writer. On one side was a bar and on the other an events room with an all-important glitterball for kitsch quality. In the former, the West Indians would be slamming down dominoes while, between 1985 and 1986 in the gig room, some of the leading indie acts of the period including Big Flame, Bog-Shed, Age of Chance and The June Brides played on a Wednesday night with admission pegged at the princely sum of £1 (even at the time, that felt like a massive bargain.) It was an era of 20-minute sets and very concise songs so even though Saggar’s track has a pleasingly rumbling bassline, guitar playing that takes some influence from No Wave and xylophone intercessions, its drifting nature and six-minute plus running time would have received short shrift at the time but in 2025 it is easier to acknowledge that dogmatic youths do not know everything.
As is the norm for Saggar’s recent output, ‘Bhoy On The Wire’ is a journey deep into inner space, full of contemplation and imaginative development of sound and mood. It comes highly recommended for the open-minded.
Bhajan Bhoy: Bhoy On The Wire – Out 14 February 2025 (Cardinal Fuzz / Feeding Tube Records)
The album launch show takes place at Action Records, Preston on Saturday 15 February 2025 starting at 3pm with a DJ set by Steve Barker who will then take part in a Q&A. The afternoon will be rounded off with a set by Bhajan Bhoy.
The weekly broadcasts from OTW, together with an extensive archive can be found at On the Wire – Radio Lancs
BHOY – Caribbean Club (Preston)
I was editor of the long-running fanzine, Plane Truth, and have subsequently written for a number of publications. While the zine was known for championing the most angular independent sounds, performing in recent years with a community samba percussion band helped to broaden my tastes so that in 2021 I am far more likely to be celebrating an eclectic mix of sounds and enthusing about Made Kuti, Anthony Joseph, Little Simz and the Soul Jazz Cuban compilations as well as Pom Poko and Richard Dawson.
