Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you... the best 5 pounds I have ever spent. Some years ago, at Christmas, I was involved in a secret Santa debacle. The recipient was to be my friend Mike, a media studies teacher at the college I worked at. 5 quid is not a lot of dosh as we know, but I was determined not to take the easy route and purchase him two copies of a used, 1988 back issue of razzle.
Which, incidentally, he would have loved.
And so, while perusing the mall arndale in luton, I came across the little Orange analogue radio, photographed below. I was instantly taken with the kitsch retro design, and hardy Orange casing. Never one to miss a bargain, I bought 3 of the little beauties. One for me, one for Mike and one for my brother.
Job done.
I reckon that must have been 7 years ago. The aerial broke off about 6 years ago, but it hardly seems to have made a difference to the reception. And so the little orange radio sits on the windowsill in my bathroom most of the time.
I love the radio I do. I love listening to it in the shower, in the bath, on the loo. I rarely go in there without turning the little radio on. You'll often hear me screaming with rage at a devils advocate presenter on talk sport or 5 live. If you live in my bathroom that is.
But since my baby was born, the little radio has really come into its own. When he was a tiny baby, he'd really fight against going to sleep. Then, one day, I read an article about babies finding white noise to be soothing. It's a womb thing apparently. That evening as we were putting him to bed, I remembered the article and decided to give the little Orange radio a try.
On tuning it to 108 fm (no aerial, remember) it let out a constant hissy hiss. I placed the radio in the cot, and lo-and-behold, the d-rod miraculously stopped crying, stared at the wall, and fell asleep.
And so he continues to do now.
What a wonderful little radio. I salute you.
