Desert Island Dicks - ROWENA ALICE

Episode Date: October 9, 2018

My guest for this week's podcast is broadcaster and DJ, Rowena Alice. Be sure to follow the podcast @dickspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Who they are and why they're a dick is up to you. And here to share their Desert Island Dicks with us today is broadcaster and DJ Rowena Alice. Hello. Hello. How are you? Yeah, I'm not too bad. I'm looking forward to a good rant today. Yes, okay. You know, I appreciate you coming in. So let's dive in. Who's going to be your first person?

I have chosen matt healy from the 1975 wow matt healy i know um right where to start with him um i feel that he epitomizes everything that's wrong with current indie music okay which sounds really harsh but he's someone that came into the industry through nepotism and i'm just getting so sick and tired of that because obviously his dad's the actor tim healy and his mom's an actress uh denise wells she's also on i think loose women or one of those rubbishy morning talk shows and when the more you read into him and the more he does interviews the more you just want to smack him in the face okay it's like why why are you like this and i think it's because he's just had everything handed to him on a plate but he likes to play up the tortured

artist and he said about how oh no one was signing us it was really difficult as they were rehearsing in their huge house and so they started up their own record label it's like okay because you have the money to do that yeah for sure that's why they got the backing that they did and they were able to get their music out there you know you don't see that with sort of working class indie rock kids and why is it now that we're at a place again where the arts seem to be only accessible for people who've got money behind them and that really annoys me so I that's my first issue with him first issue okay first. Secondly, I can just imagine being marooned on this island and he'll just be talking crap the whole time. Because this is someone who said that he wouldn't want to be Taylor Swift's boyfriend

because it's demasculating. So he didn't even get the word right in the first place. For someone who thinks he's really poetic and his band's named after the back page of a Jack Kerouac novel okay you know so as you can tell he really bugs me yeah I can tell yeah and also I just don't think his music's any good okay I don't enjoy it and for me as an indie rock dj that's tough because a lot of people who are coming through the scene now don't necessarily think of all the 2000s music and arctic monkeys and mystery jets and all those people that were coming through at that time they

think 1975 so it's really difficult I'm so torn because I want to do a good set and I want people to enjoy it but his music makes my skin crawl

I think because clearly his voice isn't very good because they have to use auto-tune all the time and I find that really annoying

do they use a lot of auto-tune do they yeah I don't pay enough attention I think probably but I one of their most

listened to tracks on Spotify is like they've amped it up so much because it's clearly what they assume is popular at the moment. So people say, oh, they're really eclectic and they do this. It's like, no, I just don't think they can find their feet as songwriters. I don't think they can find their own sound. So I can just tell if I was stuck on a desert island, I'd just be looking at him with his big mop of hair and he'd just be moaning and amping up this whole,

like I said, tortured rock star, which we need to get rid of. We need to get rid of this image in rock and roll that it's all about glamorising being quite drug-addled. And I know he's had a stint in rehab, but again, this shows his privilege with the fact it was in Barbados, running with horses.

Was it? Wow. So I'm like, no thanks, dude. Even your rehab stories and interviews are so pretentious. It's like, I couldn't bear it. I think he'd just be so woe is me on a desert island it'd be completely hopeless oh it's frustrating yeah what i want to know is do you have you played them when you've

dj'd no oh good that's great i have there are certain bands where i don't really like them but i can appreciate that others do within 1975 i'm like like, why? Why are they a thing? And you just know it's because they've got the power and money and backing and he likes to say ridiculous things that he thinks is amazing. And it's not. Oh, it's tough, isn't it? I mean, he definitely epitomises

a sort of a type of musician that we are starting to see a lot more. You're spot on with that. I was at a festival, I think it was last year, and they were playing and loads of people were going to see them and everyone was like, oh, are you going to go see the 1975? I was like, absolutely not. I have no idea what I did otherwise, but it was like...

Anything else. It was just, yeah, I just couldn't go near it. The lyrics make my skin crawl. Whenever I hear... Oh, God, what is it called? I think it's called Chocolate or one of those. Oh, yeah, that's a popular one. That's a big one, yeah.

So I've worked at a radio station that plays that song quite often. And when it comes on, I just think, you sound so ridiculous. Like, the affected voice and, like, the, I don't know. It's not organic. At all. It feels so forced. Yeah. And it's just, it's practically like they're a manufactured pop band

without the good hits. Okay. Isn't it? That's good. Okay, yeah. And everything, like, they've got this whole um image like the whole instagram and all this stuff is it's all really considered it's all really like very particular and contrived and like how can you make out that there's any rawness about that if it's all really very carefully considered. Exactly. So he's throwing himself into trying to seem like this

when he's just not at all. And I think, I really hope that other people see, you clearly do, which is a real relief, that he's just a massive dick. But unfortunately, they've just got such a huge following. I don't know if people are getting it. He's still getting these huge interviews in Guardian, Independent, top newspapers. And his most recent one was talking about people are getting it he's still getting these huge interviews in guardian independent top

newspapers and his most recent one was talking about um the stuff that's going into his new music with his struggles it's like oh we talk about um stds and stuff i'm like oh dude really it's like even if it is a little bit just rein it in yeah i don't want to know i don't want to know about that i'm hoping there's going to be a bit more of a resurgence of the real guitar bass drums led music instead of just having five people prancing around on stage pretending they're rock and roll when they're not in their stomach and i think they know it and that's why it doesn't come across as a performance when you're having to use so much with backing tracks or auto-tune you're not going to be putting on a cracking live performance and then you go to say south london you brixton where there's this real burgeoning scene of punk and rock and rawness

and it's absolutely wonderful all these like kick-ass women in bands, literally there's just three of them smashing stuff out on their instruments. I'm like, this is what we need on the big stages again. This is why festivals are starting to fall into this trap of just seeming like they're Insta-friendly. You know, it's like the Insta-festivals now. Even Reading and Leeds that are huge and meant to be

like pure rock festivals and it's not really going that way anymore and i'm into a wide variety of music i i really am i love all sort of everything from a good pop track to disco to you know i was obsessed with that childish gambino track as well this is america but then you can tell stuff has gone into it you know if it's a decent song and someone's worn their heart on their sleeve truly you can pick that up and i just don't feel you do in 1975 and i just i don't want him on an island with me because i'd end up going mad before i died of starvation. Okay. Okay, dare I ask, is there any more about Matt Healy before we leave him on the island? No, I don't think so.

Okay, all right, so Matt Healy goes on, and who's going to be your second choice? Second choice is Dom Jolly. Dom Jolly! I haven't heard from Dom Jolly in so long. What's happened? Apparently he's back doing Trigger Happy TV on YouTube to try and get rid of the YouTube generation that's around,

which I kind of appreciate. And I did go through a phase where I liked him a little bit because he did an investigation into North Korea and it was quite fascinating when he wrote a book about travelling there and the risks that he took. But then I got into a twitter spat with him did you yeah when i was at university and he um we were talking about uh freedom of speech which now has actually become more of a prevalent issue than it was a few years ago. And this woman said this absolutely bizarre comment on,

again, it feels really relevant now, but I think it was something to do with sexual assault. And she tried to give another side from it, talking about how women could be involved. Right. So we all got involved saying, I think a lot of us, I think it was quite a blanket thing across the internet.

We were saying this is really not good. It seems like it's victim blaming. And he came along and started saying, oh, all these people who are attacking her are no better than the people who do these bad things. So we got involved in a conversation my partner and i and a couple of people from university sort of they all started joining in and i just said to him about the fact that with freedom of speech obviously we have a right as well to then discuss

what they've had and there's a real problem with this. It feels like one person can have their opinion, which is a really dodgy one, and they say freedom of speech, but then you're not allowed to come in and give a counter-argument by saying, okay, yeah, it's freedom of speech. People like her or Katie Hopkins or Trump says this rubbish,

but then we're allowed our freedom to counteract. Yeah. And he just tweeted me and said, grow up. Wow. Yeah. Just out of the blue? Out of the blue. Had he been part of this conversation beforehand?

He was involved a little bit in it, but he just... Just said, grow up? Yeah, just capital letters, grow up. And then what? What happened? Well, obviously a lot of people got quite defensive of me saying this is really unfair because it was a civilized conversation and we were having fair points on each side and he just suddenly like piled in and started attacking me which was really random

and then i think he possibly deleted his tweets or blocked me i can't remember yeah but i'm starting to see now because he went on to i'm a celebrity get me out of here didn't he yeah so you'd think oh maybe he'd be good in a desert island but unfortunately he was accused massively of being a bully and i just know that if we're stranded somewhere he'd just probably tell me to grow up and be a dick to me. So I don't like him. And thinking back, I don't think I really found his original comedy funny. I think the big phone was funny for a while.

It's like... Okay, how many times can you keep rolling out that gag and milking the cash cow with that one joke it's like oh it's so tiresome now that was hammered home wasn't it unbelievable and then it was all across adverts as well which i think he might have been involved in for car phone warehouse or something he's like all right so so much yeah but i'm not the only one he gets into Twitter fights with. He's been saying some really odd stuff to people who are supposedly fans. It's like, why are you pushing these people like this? Like what kind of stuff?

I don't know. He got in a fight with someone the other day because obviously I think he blocked me. So I was having to find out through someone else. But yeah, he's just been a total burk. What? Yeah, he just sort of, I think he likes to aggravate people and play devil's advocate. At first, I thought it was a satirical thing

that he used to do that, sort of put on a bit of a performance as this grumpy old person who's trying to disagree. But I don't think he is. I think that's just him. Oh. Yeah, he's not great.

That's not good. No. Grow up. That's just so poor,'t it capital letters i was like oh no but it just goes so he should grow up that's ridiculous like what no counter argument just grow up exactly and that obviously shows that someone doesn't have a foot to stand on do they really okay dom jolly yeah whoa personal it's personal with dom jolly personal so i want to see him stranded somewhere and then i'll push him off in a rowboat okay

with no oars um anything else on dom jolly oh just his he looks smug he looks smug he looks smug now it just annoys me does he look more smug now than ever before yes yeah i think he's getting more smug with age you know how they say that people become slightly more conservative with age i think that's happening to him okay dom jolly dom jolly goes on uh and who's gonna be the third choice jemma collins jemma collins wow jemma collins Gemma Collins wow Gemma Collins um this one is just because I don't get it right I don't get why people love her so much okay I hate reality tv shows they're all slightly scripted anyway that's why they call them um what is it like docu reality now they've got a name to try and get around it so why not just watch something that's properly scripted with good actors and you

can watch that instead yes but there's something about her where she's just so fake and i think she amps up this idea of being stupid and she tries to make out as if that's a great thing to be. It's great to not know about stuff and say really bizarre things. But I think at the moment we're in a time of anti-intellectualism and it's very dangerous. I feel that anyone who has done work of merit or they've really worked hard on something, they're not being valued. And I think it's the same in politics as well as culture. I think so many people who are experts are just being poo-pooed or put to one side or they just scream fake news at them when everyone's off being distracted by people like Gemma Collins and what she's doing and I just don't like her I find her voice is really grating the fact that she obviously

eggs that on as well to be like I can't even do it I can't even do it I went to go and do an impression but I just thought it's best not to. And my mum does a great impression of her, but my mum's slightly brummy, so it comes out in this really bizarre mishmash of an accent. But also, things that I love, like Orange is the New Black on Netflix, and then she was put on as the reason to sell it oh why why are you tainting so many good things by just being there and overly playing this ditzy role it's like it's getting so difficult for women again now to really play up being a bimbo is really troubling to me okay it's it's really uh damaging yeah and i feel she was on a desert island she just worried that she's gonna like break her fake nails and

crying because she can't do her fake tan and i think she was on i'm a celebrity as well i think she was i think she left early yeah yeah there you go that's a good sign isn't it i think she did i think she might have been on that she might have been in Big Brother as well. All of those things, right? But that's the thing. She's seen as, what is it, a personality. Hmm. What even is that?

I don't know. And she doesn't seem to have much of a personality. So why are we bandying this term around? Yeah. Of like, ooh, TV personality, Instagram personality, public figure. Do something. Do something. Do something you're passionate about and that's great and you enjoy and you know a lot about instead of just being seen taking,

having pictures taken of you whilst you're walking down the street in something ridiculous that I don't think you actually like to wear but you've been paid to do it. Right, got you. Oh, come on. Yes, okay, okay. Do you think that these reality tv shows are sort of the one of the main catalysts then for this sort of dumbing down that we're

experiencing absolutely i think even whether it's made in chelsea or taoi or even some of the sort of x factor stuff where we just parade people out and have people take the mickey out of them when actually there are so many rounds beforehand just to even get anywhere near it that's because i know someone who went for it she had to speak to about four different people before they even start getting anywhere near the main judges so when they let people who are rubbish through they're doing it purely for entertainment value it's really concerning isn't it yeah because you're just basically just hanging people you know you're just like putting them up there so that rotten vegetables can be thrown at them it's so it's so medieval it's ridiculous going back to that whole idea of having jesters which is just so wrong

exactly why are we doing this why are we having people there that we can laugh at maybe it's because people want to feel better about their own lives but that just feels really selfish to me go and watch something that's a bit crappy good you know i mean i like my mom watches the soaps because she likes to switch off you know she knows there's nothing particularly intelligent or brainy behind it but she just enjoys something a bit i think they're harmless though. Yeah, exactly. Whereas this, it's like people are hoping that they're going to get their big break.

It's this desire to be famous now and this need to be, it's not even famous, it's a need to be a celebrity. Yes. And again, we've got people like the Kardashians and that crew to thank for that. It is such a shame that you'd let someone sort of believe that they were good

and let them get through so many rounds. Like you said, it takes a long time to get to that stage, right? And maybe even these people, I don't want to assume, but let's say maybe they're even fast-tracked straight through because they're like, OK, you're going to be comedy for people. It's so sad and damaging to people i think to do that imagine what that does to them emotionally it's ridiculous and that's what we're seeing with things like love island which unfortunately now we've had

the new series we've had that really sad story of the woman who killed herself and it's because unfortunately they have this huge 15 minutes of fame and then it's just gone because they're moving on to the next person and jemma collins and those people they're the odd ones that managed to survive it but the fact that we're trying to groom younger audiences to be wanting to go for this and it's so superficial and have nothing of merit apart from trying to look good or playing up that you're ditzy. And it's, yeah, it's really sad. And I think she's part of the problem. Okay, Gemma Collins as sort of the representative for this culture.

I was also there when I saw her fall down. You did? At the Teen Awards. You were there? Yeah, I was working there.. You did? At the Teen Awards. You were there? Yeah, I was working there. Wow, what was that like? Amazing. Was it?

Not that I'm wishing anyone to hurt themselves, but I had seen her backstage being quite a diva. Oh, interesting. And she'd gone through all the safety requirements, knowing it's there, and then she suddenly sells a story to the sun that she's gonna sue the bbc because she fell down and you're like oh come on woman you don't have a leg to stand on but all you've done is you've now just tried to give all these right wing papers

a chance to just slag off another sort of british institution oh no oh. Oh, dear. Okay, Gemma Collins, right? Gemma Collins. You're a podcast listener, and this is a podcast ad. Reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Lips and Ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements,

or run a reproduced ad like this one across thousands of shows to reach your target audience with Lips and Ads. Go to lipsandads.com now. That's L-I-B-S-Y-N ads.com. Rowena, now mercifully among the wreckage of the plane, there was some food and drink left over. Unfortunately for you, it's your least favorite food and drink in the world. What are they and why are they so bad? So the first one I'll go for is Watsits. W's it's and part of the reason is because i'm allergic to them which we found out when i was a child that i'm allergic to certain e-numbers that do the orange food coloring so obviously i ate them as a kid oh my god i just

completely flared up so it would just be so painful being sat on an island seeing something that we could eat but i couldn't eat. Oh, my God. So I thought, yeah, that's one of the really annoying snacks for me. And also, really, there's no substance to them. They're smelly and anyone who eats them starts looking like they've got Trump hands. You do, yeah. It's the orange colour. Okay.

Do you remember what? What's this taste like? No. It must have been that long. It's been so long ago. And I avoid other cheesy or really brightly orange coloured snacks. If they've been coloured with paprika, I can get it out in the end, and it's natural colourings, then it's fine.

But if it's the fake E number colourings, then I just have a massive flare-up. Do you? Yeah, it's really weird. So do you have to watch yourself with loads of foods? Yeah I've got to be careful because certain things they add the colour to make it look more orange or cheesy or something.

It's pretty bizarre. Right yeah. Oh my god so you know what you're looking for and you just have to be careful right? Yes. Oh my god what's it? I love what's it? I just I don't it's not like my food of choice but my kid loves what's it's I love what's it? It's not like my food of choice, but my kid loves what's its. And so if I make her a sandwich, then I just give her some what's its. I thought you were going to say like a what's it sandwich.

No, not a what's it sandwich. Although she would probably love a what's it sandwich. And then I'm forever sneaking her food. So I might treat myself to some what's its. Sorry, I don't want to rub it in because you can't have Watsits. One for me, one for you. It's very much like that, actually. Watsits, I can't say that you're missing out massively. Okay, that's good.

So yeah, I think you're right. I mean, there's plenty of other crisps, right? Plenty of crisps in the sea. Exactly. Should you wish to have something else? Yeah. Okay, Watsits, and what's going to be your drink choice? Sambuca. Yeah? Sambuca. Yeah, Sambuca. Oh, God. Right.

So when I was a little bit younger, I was out at a gig. I think it was Nine Black Alps, actually. Cool. Nice gig. I know. So what's going on? I actually read an article the other day

about how one of them has shunned a life to be a farmer or something oh interesting okay slightly odd it sounds like it's the story to pop star never stop never stopping because that happens to one of them in that film with lonely island um yeah so i just had a night where we went pretty on it it was around the time i was 18 so I could start drinking legally and everyone's like, oh, have these shots. So I had Sambuca. One of the worst nights of my life when I got home,

I was so sick. It was awful. Then I had this horrendous heartburn as well. And then my mum was like, okay, go and have some Gaviscon. The Gaviscon was aniseed flavoured. Oh, God. And it just made me really, really sick. It's making me feel sick thinking about it it's horrible yeah and it's put me off

anything aniseed for the rest of my life i just every time i eat something if i'm feeling a little off or not too great and someone comes near me with something smells smells like aniseed, it's just like, what, no. Oh, yeah, okay, yeah. Plus, I think it makes people angry drunks. Okay, what Sambuca does? Yeah. Wow. I think people get a bit leery when they've had a couple of shots,

especially when it's black Sambuca. Oh, really? Yeah. In particular? Yeah, I've seen people who have one shot of Sambuca and they're like, gone. Really? It's Jekyll and Hyde.

Really? It turns into an animal? Yeah. Wow. It's gone really it's jekyll and hyde really turns into an animal yeah wow it's just it's pretty rank isn't it it is gross yeah it is i mean why do we drink it i don't know it's i i think it's kind of like this thing it just like um it's like almost like a bravado thing i think yeah like when you're out and it's like oh let's do a shot because it's like shots are made to sound like something that's really fun because you're like oh shot doing shots it's like in films and like in songs or whatever and you're like doing shots it's like a fun thing but actually it's disgusting but um sambuca in particular do you think that was

definitely the only reason you were sick on your 18th birthday possibly um i think that's what tipped me over the edge okay i really do i think i was doing fine before that and seeing some people around me were drinking snake bite and black you know i wasn't doing that i was sticking to the beers okay and then this came in everyone's like oh. And they were trying to set them on fire at this venue. And I think also I probably got quite dehydrated sort of rocking out to a band that's on stage. And, oh, it's just bad. Yeah, okay.

It's like PTSD. Have you had a Sambuca since? No. No? You managed to avoid it? Yeah. That's amazing. I know.

I'm quite impressed with that. That's great. I was at a gig not too long ago and uh it was a long queue at the bar but my friend went and i was watching the band and we were sort of taking turns and uh he came back and he was like i was waiting for so long i got us pints and sambucas and i was like oh of all the shots i know but like because he was like really struggling to hold these two pints in these two shots right because he's carrying them on his own,

he passed it to me and we just got it both all over our hands and we were sort of in the crowd, so you didn't want to go to the toilet just to wash your hands, so you just got stinky Sambuca all over your hands the whole time. Okay, Sambuca. It's lethal. It is lethal. And if I'm already with people I hate on a desert island,

do not give me Sambuca and then I'll be getting leery and then puking and just be crying in a ball in the corner just going, why? This is the worst thing ever. Sambuca. Great. Thank you very much, Rowena. Fortunately for you, you won't be without entertainment on the island. The plane's entertainment system continues to work, but just your luck, it only has two working settings. One is your least favourite film of all time and the other is your least favourite song. all time and the other is your least favorite song what are they and why so the film i've done because i know it's really gonna rile people up and i've chosen greece greece wow massively popular one of the most popular films uh cult

films all the time can you say cult i don't know it was it critically acclaimed at the time it came i don't i have no idea so is it cold i don't know I don't think it was. I have no idea. So is it cult? I don't know. I don't know. But it's got a massive following and every school disco had all the tunes. Yes. Like Go Grey Sightning, all that.

But as a child, I really hated it. And I think part of the reason was because at the end, I just couldn't wrap my head around why she changed so he would like her. And that was me as a kid thinking that. And the older I've got, the more I'm thinking how damaging that is. I'm like, why have they done this? Like, she's suddenly pretty much stitched into this spandex suit thing. And suddenly she's now like the hottest thing,

you know, tell me about it, stun. He's like weak at the knees. Oh, she was fine as she was. Yes. Olivia Newton-John, why are you doing this role? No, you're right. It could be damaging. It's really bad.

You've got to change to get the person that you're interested in. It's like, oh, let's go all slutty and pretend we're a slut and then he's going to finally want to be with me. Oh, my God. I never thought about that before. Isn't it? It's so true. I just really don't like it.

Plus, I think those songs would get tiring over and over again if I had to keep hearing them. You know, a lot of it's just syllables of them just being like, bop, doo, wop, wop, or whatever, all the way through. Yeah, I think it probably would. And John Travolta's a weird one, isn't he? Yeah. You know, I don't really want to have to be stuck

watching someone who's involved in Scientology for the rest of my days on an island somewhere. That's a good point. If you want. Yeah. Okay. Slightly odd. Greasy. It's weird. People do get obsessed with it, don't they?

Yeah. It's like, I would say actually, yeah, it probably is cult because they'd hold those nights and people can go and get dressed up. Sing-along nights. Sing-along nights and stuff like that. Yeah, dress up. Yeah. Weird. But I just, I don't feel it's a time we should really be harking back to. Like, oh, isn't it

great that guys were seen as this and all sort of macho and then the women were either really ditzy and innocent if they wanted to be seen as one thing or they'd have to be really slutty and that seems like the message from the film to me to be like by guys you're sort of what is it um a whore in the bedroom and a goddess in the kitchen or something like that okay as a child i saw this and i didn't get it so i think it's really bad that people are still showing its children good work picking up on that at a young age wow um there's a weird bit at the end where they fly off in a car where I know. Where people have implied that they died. Yeah. They said that they died in a car crash and this was all just a dream from being in limbo.

I was like, well, that's a bit deep. It is deep, isn't it? Well, I don't know how else you would explain it otherwise completely straight film. Yeah. Right? I don't know why. Why do people do this?

It's like when people put rhinestones on denim jackets. It's like it was it was fine it wasn't great but you've just made it so much worse okay yeah greece is the rhinestone on a denim jacket yes okay um okay film greece anything else on greece before we put on the island no apart from the fact it's also very white oh it is yeah ah okay yeah so it's just a bit like really whitewashing history a little bit in america making it sort of like oh we're all lovely and charming when we're white in the country okay right okay yes i find that a bit hard to watch now obviously you have to look at the context of the time

not particularly forward thinking though okay though. Okay, Grease. And what's going to be your song choice? Blurred Lines. Blurred Lines. Okay. Yeah, Blurred Lines. Where do I start? Well, it was played so much,

which just made it the worst thing ever. Just having to hear it all the time. And it was whilst I was going through university, so you could just hear it being blasted through people's windows all the time. I even had a tutor who was like, oh, no one's really responding today in the lecture, so I'm going to put on some music.

We get up and shake it out. And they put on the video for Blurred Lines. That's weird. Which is just really bizarre. So I was like, I don't really want to get up and dance this. She then tried to make me say why, which is like, well, I shouldn't have to explain my reasoning for this. But anyway, and it's just when you read through the lyrics,

they are just really creepy. And then when you learn more about Robin Thicke and what he's been up to, he's a bit of a slime ball, isn't he? He's a creep, yeah. So he's there thinking he's like the best thing ever in his aviator shades and has people topless, all these models that are all really skimpy, just dancing around with no clothes on

whilst they sing about, you know you want it. Yeah. Um, no. No, yeah. We shouldn't be in a position where we're discussing like blurred lines when it comes to consent, really.

Yeah, for sure. And they also ripped off Marvin Gaye. Yes, they did. They got in trouble for that right okay so they had to pay out for it so it's not that's some come up and some in some way exactly so it's not even a good original song in the first place it's just a ripped off song that's got really suspicious lyrics yeah really bad i read through them again the other day i was like that's really not good and i'm like pharrell you can do better mate what's he doing singing along it's true

thick with that do you think that he didn't really pay any attention to the content of the song or do you think he just didn't no i think he will have because he's someone who's very involved in songwriting processes so i think he knew really yeah that's a shame well he was in the video yeah of course yeah i know yes i mean the um the the content is just ridiculous and how that passed i mean it's fairly recent isn't it in the past few years yeah see that's the thing i remember my um husband he's in a band called the subways they wanted to make a video that showed, it was one of their first ever videos actually for their song Oh Yeah. They wanted a lamp falling off and on some electrical wires and the lights go out.

And they were told that it was dangerous to show that happening. They had to just imply that that was happening. And then when you look at these kind of music videos now or Lady Gaga where she's got a strip of police tape over her yeah okay like what is the rule here why is that seen as dangerous but then having slightly weird lyrics about consent not with naked women yeah dancing around yeah okay and you're right he is a slime ball he is and you can just see it it oozes through him and what was it you like wrote a song that was dedicated to his ex-wife and it was just oh it's so cringe is it just go back under

the rock you came from. Oh. And like, I didn't know of him before or after. Well, I've heard a lot about him after actually, but beforehand, had he been involved in any music? Not that I know of. I think he just sort of appeared out of nowhere, but because he had names like Pharrell in it, they gave him the time and people thought it was catchy.

It just wasn't though. I don't think it was actually, I wouldn't really find myself bopping along to it. You know when sometimes you don't like a song but you still sort of tap your knee to it? Yeah, for sure. That'd be frustrating to listen to for the rest of your life. And all of these things going through your mind, right? Yes.

Okay, blurred lines. And finally, Rowena. The island is overrun by the biggest dick of all the animals. Which animal is it and why? This was really hard for me to do because I'm a huge animal lover. Okay. I have two rescue dogs at home and I've had cats before and quite a few pets. But we once adopted two Persian cats.

Persian cats, okay. And they are arseholes. Are they? They are satanic. Really? Yeah, I had this really soppy old golden retriever, I don't have her anymore, called Daisy. One of the most gentle and loving creatures you could ever have. And we rescued these cats from someone

because he was having to get rid of them for moving or he was going to work abroad or something. We're like, oh yeah, we'll take them home. I think it was someone my mum used to work with. And as soon as we got them out, they went and hid under the bed upstairs. And then they started venturing down and then they went for my dog.

They then, my sister ran out into this porch we had but didn't want to open the door they then came for me and came for like my eyes and my throat i kid you not these things that look really fluffy and kind of adorable they're monsters i had to climb out of my lounge window to get out into my front door and hide in the porch with my sister until my mum got back so that we could see what we were going to do with these little monsters we had in the house. So Persian cats. How long did you keep them for?

I think it was like they went that week, they went back to the person. Oh, okay. We didn't keep them because we just couldn't risk it with the dog and the fact that they were going for us as well. They were going for eyes and throats. It was really scary. it ran up to me it was like a gremlin or from one of these horror films and came up the sofa to attack me and i just think that they are they're pretentious and they're smug and they're assholes did they work together uh one of them i think was the ring

leader okay right and the other one just sort of followed on. Yeah, they teamed up. Okay. One went for the dog, one went for me. Are they notoriously like that, Persian cats? I have no idea, but my experience of them is that they are so horrible. And if you had to deal with that,

that'd be awful, wouldn't it? Persian cats are... And you struggled to pick an animal. I still haven't forgiven my sister either for locking me out. She was in that porch where I was a dog whilst I had these Persian cats on climb. Trying to attack you.

Yeah, I can't have Persian cats. Okay, Persian cats is going to be your choice. Thank you so much for coming in. No, thank you for having me. It's been great fun. Rowena, if people want to hear you, where can they hear you? You can hear me on BBC Three Counties Radio on Fridays at six for the showbiz hour,

or Hoxton Radio on Thursdays for a movie show I do, or Boogaloo Radio on Wednesdays for a music show. Okay, busy, busy. Yeah. And if people want to follow you on social media, where can they find you? I'm at Rowena with five A's, and I always have to explain this. It's because when i first joined twitter about nine years ago i actually had an anniversary thing come up the

other day which was really sad from twitter um someone had taken rowena so i just held down the a button and it stuck so now i'm rowena with five a's okay on twitter and also instagram i'm rowena dot alice beautiful thank you very much. Thank you.