I found the most incredible video clip of Barry White conducting the LUO. Check it out below – there are so many things to note. An orange suit with matching orange shoes, a shirt collar that looks like it was designed by British Aerospace, and the big fella smoking a fag whilst conducting the band. They really don’t make them like that any more!

I think Hanger's got that spot on. I seemed to spend an awful lot of time in the late seventies and early eighties meticulously crafting cassette tapes with the perfect party mix on them. It took hours and hours of recording, deleting and re-recording. We would stick the tape on the PA system at whatever party I’d been asked to provide the music for and crank up the volume. The thought of mp3 files and iTunes playlists was beyond even the wildest imagination.

I’m now wondering, what I did with all those old C90 tapes? I can feel my loft beckoning. 

So if you want to know what Cortina Nights is – there you have it. It's like one of your old party tapes.

I'm looking forward to getting your requests in on the Cortina Nights pages of our website – when you do make a request as well as listing the songs, try to tell me a bit about that time in your life...

Where did you go for your nights out? Who did you go with? What did you wear? What did your drink? Then be sure to listen in to the radio show on Friday’s between 7 and 10 when I’ll play your request.

The big decision for this week's playlist was how to start the show – that all important first song to set the mood for the party.  I had been pondering this for some time and this weekend at home we watched the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" on the TV. There's a scene in the film where our hero Ferris jumps on a carnival float in a Chicago street parade and starts miming to "Twist and Shout" by the Beatles. 

It is a classic feel-good moment – decision made, that song will kick off the Cortina Nights radio show.  You'll know the scene if you've seen the movie – and if you haven't seen it I yet, rent a copy on DVD and watch it immediately after an episode of Cortina Nights on the radio.  Now that's a perfect start to your weekend...

Steve