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Neil Diamond and Chocolate Tasting

Chris is joined by Grammy award-winning singer Neil Diamond who's in the middle of his 50th Anniversary World Tour and meets chocolate taster Spencer Hyman on Great Job Wednesday.

Chris is joined by Grammy award-winning artist Neil Diamond who's in the middle of his 50th Anniversary World Tour and he reveals what his secret is to half a century in show business. On Great Job Wednesday, Chris feeds his sweet tooth with chocolate taster Spencer Hyman who has eaten over 6,000 different varieties from all around the world. We ask for your claims to the fame of Iceland in today's Top Tenuous. Vassos is joined in the Sports Locker by Eleanor Oldroyd and writer and broadcaster Sarah Joseph has the mid-week Pause For Thought.

2 hours, 59 minutes

Last on

Wed 11 Oct 201706:30
BBC Radio 2

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Clips

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Music Played

  • Stevie Wonder

    Part-Time Lover

    • Stevie Wonder - Song Review.
    • Motown.

  • Paloma Faith

    Crybaby

    • (CD Single).
    • RCA.

  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience

    All Along The Watchtower

    • The Jimi Hendrix Collection.
    • Universal.

  • Martha and the Muffins

    Echo Beach

    • The Best Summer Ever (Various Artist.
    • Virgin.

  • The Beatles

    Lady Madonna

    • The Beatles - 1.
    • Apple.
    • 020.

  • Elton John

    Are You Ready for Love

    • Diamonds.
    • Virgin EMI Records.

  • Craig David

    Heartline

    • (CD Single).
    • Insanity Records.

  • Whitney Houston

    Million Dollar Bill

    • (CD Single).
    • Arista.
    • 1.

  • Ray Stevens

    Misty

    • In The Summertime-Sound Of 70's, Part.
    • Old Gold.

  • Sam Smith

    Pray

    • (CD Single).
    • Capitol.

  • Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield

    What Have I Done To Deserve This?

    • Goin' Back - Best Of Dusty Springfiel.
    • Philips.

  • Alphaville

    Big In Japan

    • The 80's Collection: 1984 (Various).
    • Time Life.

  • Meat Loaf

    You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth

    • The Very Best Of Meatloaf.
    • Virgin.

  • Morrissey

    Spent The Day In Bed

    • Low In High School.
    • BMG.

  • Neil Diamond

    Beautiful Noise

    • Neil Diamond - Beautiful Noise.
    • Columbia.

  • Neil Diamond

    Cracklin' Rosie

    • Neil Diamond - The Ultimate Collectio.
    • Columbia/Mca.

  • Neil Diamond

    Sweet Caroline

    • Neil Diamond - The Ultimate Collectio.
    • Columbia/Mca.

  • Neil Diamond

    Forever In Blue Jeans

    • Neil Diamond - The Ultimate Collectio.
    • Columbia/Mca.

  • Neil Diamond

    Love On The Rocks

    • Neil Diamond - The Ultimate Collectio.
    • Columbia/Mca.

  • Cameo

    Word Up

    • Platinum - The Definitive R&B Collection (Various Artists).
    • Universal Music TV.

  • Dan Hartman

    I Can Dream About You

    • I Can Dream About You.
    • MCA.

  • Shanks & Bigfoot

    Sweet Like Chocolate

    • (CD Single).
    • Chocolate Boy.

  • Thin Lizzy

    Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me In Its Spotlight)

    • The Greatest Hits Of 1977 (Various).
    • Premier.

  • Tom Robinson Band

    Too Good To Be True

    • The Collection 1977-'87.
    • EMI.

  • Maroon 5

    What Lovers Do (feat. SZA)

    • (CD Single).
    • Interscope.

  • Björk

    It's Oh So Quiet

    • The Best Album In The World Ever!(Va).
    • Virgin.

  • a-ha

    Take On Me

    • Fantastic 80's Disc 1 (Various Artis.
    • Columbia.
    • 1.

Pause for Thought

Pause for Thought
From Sarah Joseph, Editor of a Muslim lifestyle magazine:

So, I am still continuing with the gym malarkey.
I can’t say the experience has grown on me yet, but I’m sticking at it.

Getting out the house is the worst bit. The idea of an hour of pain doesn’t really sell itself to be honest. But I do it; and I do it regularly! When I get there, I get on with it. Bike, cross trainer, weights, stretches. Yep – the whole shebang!

It is often disheartening to realise that the 70 year old grandmother next to me is lifting THREE TIMES what I can, but heh, who’s counting?!

Well – I am counting… I have an app which literally counts every single kilometre I run or ride, and every single kilo I lift. It is somehow encouraging to read that I lifted 25,000kg last week, even if some people at the club seem to lift that in a day!
Despite all my moaning – and believe me I moan a lot about going to the gym – I have found strategies to help me through, and the most effective is a 1980s music hit list. I don’t know why 80s music helps. Maybe because that decade was the last time I actually did any formal exercise!

The way I figure it – if Eye of the Tiger was good enough for Rocky’s training it’s good enough for me. I may not actually be a girl having fun, but Cyndi Lauper makes me speed up my cross training, and A-Ha… Well, I was a Morten Harket Fan Girl, complete with dozens of leather necklaces and bracelets, and somehow, memories of my friend Gaby and I queuing to meet them aged 14, returns my youth to me and gets me through the most tedious of cycle sessions.

I may not like the gym, but I do know it is good for me, which reminds me of the Qur’anic verse, “Perhaps you may hate a thing and it is good for you and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you.” And that wisdom is true of so many things in life.

Dumbledore told Harry Potter, “There will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right”. Choosing easy is… well it’s easy. But choosing right, I tell myself, will be better in the end.

Broadcast

  • Wed 11 Oct 201706:30
    BBC Radio 2

Farewell Chris Evans: The best bits from his last shows at Radio 2

Farewell Chris Evans: The best bits from his last shows at Radio 2

After eight years of hosting the Breakfast Show, Chris Evans leaves Radio 2.

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