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Alex Lester (born Alexander Norman Charles Lester, 11 May 1956 in Walsall, United Kingdom) is a British broadcaster.^[1] He presents the weekday overnight/early-morning programme on BBC Radio 2. He also temporarily replaced Russell Brand on Saturday evenings in late 2008, between 9 and 11pm, following Brand's resignation over the prank calls row.

Early life and career[link]

A doctor's son, Lester was educated at Denstone College, and worked in a variety of jobs (including at Dudley Zoo, in a pub, and as a civil service clerk), before he began his broadcasting career in 1977 for BBC local radio stations. He joined Radio Aire in Leeds in 1981.

Later, he worked for other radio stations in the commercial sector. These included Radio Tees, based in Stockton-on-Tees, where he worked from 1983 until 1986. At Radio Tees, on joining, he narrowly avoided an attempt by Canadian Programme Controller, Donald Cline, to rechristen him "Red" Lester. Lester went on to present, amongst others, the weekday lunchtime show and a specialist blues music programme there.

In 1986 he returned to the BBC, presenting the breakfast show (indeed, the first show) on the newly opened BBC Essex based in Chelmsford. Lester joined Radio 2 in 1987, as an announcer and newsreader. He also presented the night-time show on a rota basis. In 1990, he was given the early-morning show permanently.

[edit] The Best Time Of The Day!

Alex Lester keeps U.K. truckers and other night-shift workers awake with his weird and strange observations, but. without him, we would be lost. Long live the Dark Lord and "The Wife". The programme currently starts at 2am, ending at 5am, and has become something of a national institution with an enormous and fiercely loyal cult audience of nightshift workers and early risers. The meaningless but catchy show slogans are SCOF (Swirling Cesspool Of Filth) and Slap My Top (thought to be a variation on the music hall soundbite slap my thigh - but reserved exclusively for people with bald heads) and listeners have marketed the show by writing the phrase in the dirt on the backs of trucks and vans. There was a limited edition range of T-shirts with the slogan written in Cantonese developed by a listener, which Lester awarded to people who came up with the most innovative uses of the slogan - winners included a local radio reporter who got the expression into a story; a man who wrote and recorded a song with the slogan as its title; a mystery girl, for placing an ad for Lester's show in the small ads section of a local newspaper and a man who developed a website which remains a communal meeting point for the programme's listeners, and is listed in the External Links section below. As well as T-Shirts another listener produced a range of glow in the dark Alex Lester wristbands which were also given away as prizes on the show.The new phrase for the 2010 - 2011 Truck Writing Season is WALLOP (We're Alex Lester's Lovely Overnight People).

Despite the ungodly hour, Lester prides himself on calling his programme The Best Time Of The Day. As one of the longest-serving broadcasters on the network, he is occasionally heard on Radio 2 during the daytime when regular presenters are away. The new slogan for the show is buffoon town.

The programme was broadcast from 4am until 6.30am from 1990 until 1992, and from 3am to 5am until 1994. For sixteen years after 1994 the programme began at 3am and finished at 6am, until it was rescheduled in 2010 after changes to the Radio 2 morning schedule. It now broadcasts from 2am to 5am every weekday.

Personal life[link]

Lester has homes in Hastings and Wednesbury. For nearly 10 years he lived aboard a 60-foot traditional stern canal boat (which he nicknamed The Blue Pig) during the week, while presenting his show from the BBC's Pebble Mill Studios and then The Mailbox in Birmingham. He also has a restored cottage as a third home in the Normandy region of France.

Obscure sports are another passion, over the years Lester has participated in Extreme Downhill Cheese Rolling, the Yorkshire Celery Wrestling Finals and achieved a 9th place finish at last year's World Bog Snorkelling Championship.

In 2007, Lester decided to celebrate his 20th anniversary at Radio 2 by fulfilling his life's ambition of driving the width of the USA, from Los Angeles to New York. He catalogued his experiences via a blog, linked from the Radio 2 website.

In December 2010 Alex announced his engagement to his longtime partner Kerry who is also known as "The Dark Lady". They married on 3rd December 2011. Edwina Hayes, a singer-songwriter whose music had been featured on his show, performed at the ceremony.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Alex Lester at BBC Programmes
• Slap My Top! - The Unofficial Alex Lester show site (endorsed by Alex Lester but not by BBC Radio 2)

Tally Koren is an Israeli-born singer-songwriter. Her first single Beauty of the Duty (2011) was placed on the BBC Radio 2 playlist and subsequently played on over 100 radio stations around the globe. In 2011 she received the Best Singer/Songwriter award^[1] at the London Fringe Awards[1] Koren has recorded vocals for songs over range of genres. She is influenced by Middle Eastern music, Western electronic and Classical music.

Career[link]

Koren began her long career as a model in her home town of Haifa at the age of 13, she went on to model in Tel Aviv, New York City and Mexico City. She returned to Israel to serve in the Israeli Army and it was during this time that she won the “Miss Water” beauty competition.

After working as a model and completing her military service, Koren's musical career started in 1992 whilst under the management of Chaum Slutsky, she has since co-written and worked with a number of musicians in Israel, including Itzhak Klepeter, Micha Shitrit, Dudi Levi, Ohad Dekel, Raviv Gazit, and Shachar Ben Barak.

During the late 1990s, Koren relocated to London and subsequently worked with producers and writers such as Nick Woolfson (Sounds from the Ground), Pete Brown, Susan Stevenson, Willy Smack who has directed videos for Annie Lennox and Lulu (singer) and Dave Dix who has produced albums for Alison Moyet and Black (singer). In 2004, she recorded Wake Up My Child (based on Erik Satie's Gnossiennes). The song featured on the soundtrack of the 2009 independent film Cargo.

In 2005 the song "In My Dreams" based on the melody of Pavane by Gabriel Fauré featured on the EMI compilation Super Star Cross Over, which included artists such as Charlotte Church and Sarah Brightman. The song received regular air play on oMusic TV. In 2006, Koren composed the song "Rotten Fruit" for the film Man Who Sold The World. The independent film, directed by Louis Melville was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. ^[2]

On 27 October 2008, Koren released her classical album Timeless Melodies, which consists of her interpretations of her favorite classical compositions by great composers such as Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Piazzolla, Chopin and Mozart. ^[3] The album was launched on 29 October 2008 with a performance at London's Pizza on the Park.[2] The performance coincided with the premiere of Quantum of Solace, in which Koren contributed the voice of an Israeli agent. Later in 2008, EMI/Splash released the album Timeless Melodies in Korea.

In January 2011 the first single Beauty of the Duty from her album 72 Names was played by Chris Evans (presenter), Graham Norton ^[4], Janice Long and Steve Wright (DJ). The single was later placed on the playlist for BBC Radio 2 and 40 other UK based radio stations. The music video directed by Allan Gildea ^[5] had over 61,000 hits on YouTube in less than two months. [3]

Her new album 72 Names, brings together the percussive sounds of her Middle Eastern roots with the Western World influences of progressive electronic music and orchestration.^[6]. The album is produced by Koren, Phil Curran and one of Europe's most successful producers Yoad Nevo, who has worked with the Pet Shop Boys, Jem, Bryan Adams, The Sugababes, Goldfrapp, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Girls Aloud.

Hallelujah (72 Names) which refers to the 72 names of God ^[7] has been chosen as the second single from Tally Koren’s new album. The song has been featured amongst the highlights of the Graham Norton show in 2011 and the Aled Jones Good Morning Sunday Show. A new ‘radio edit’ version has been recorded and features London-based gospel choir Vocally Sound. The single was produced by Phil Curran and mixed by Guy Katsav-Jukey whose credits include Laura Marling, Moby, The View’s chart-topping album ‘Hat’s Off to the Buskers’, Groove Armada, Akon and many more.

Between 2003 -2006 Koren worked as a freelance journalist for the Israeli magazine Alondon ^[8] contributing a column on Alternative Health.

Koren is a trained voice-over artist and an actress. She has contributed her voice to The Debt and Quantum of Solace. Her other clients have included – TCM, Fisher Price Toys, National Geographic Society, Discovery Channel, Rally Queen, Coffee Club and Google.

Education[link]

Koren completed a BA in Jewish Studies at the Leo Baeck College. She is a Reiki Master and is trained in Mystic Therapy, a spiritual form of healing.

Charity Work[link]

Koren has been involved in charity work from a young age with her first fashion show as a teenager being in aid of the Women's International Zionist Organization. In December 2008, she was requested to appear in an exclusive solo guest performance for the Israeli President Shimon Peres at a charity event for Or Yarok, where she sang her song “Lets give Love on the Road” which was co-written with Moshe Ivgi.

Tally was a guest singer at the London launch of the Meir Panim Charity UK where Avram Grant was a guest speaker.^[9]

‘The Song for the Forgotten’ was written by Koren to bring awareness to the suffering in Third World Countries. She is collaborating with Water Aid for future events. To watch footage supplied by Water Aid and to hear the song please follow the link [4]

Touring and appearances[link]

Koren has performed across the globe to international audiences at prestigious events at such the Marbella Film Festival and the birthday celebration of William Blake at the Tate Britain^[10]. She has performed in venues such as Lauderdale House, Bartok, Cobdan club, Soho Review Bar, The Forum, Acoustic room Mean Fiddler, 12 Bar Club, Kashmir club and other selected London venues.

Personal[link]

In 2008 Koren got married to Simon Edwards who is a Harley Street hypnotherapist.

Discography[link]

• Timeless Melodies (2008)
• 72 Names (2010)

Other Credits[link]

The New Siddur Song book - 'Seder Hatefillah' included the Tally Koren song, 'Shiru Ladonai', based on the text from Psalm 96.

References[link]

External links[link]

• http://www.tallykoren.com
• http://www.facebook.com/tallykoren
• http://www.myspace.com/tallykoren