Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - FULL: Jono And Ben Are Showing Their Age...

Episode Date: August 18, 2022

It's a massive podcast! The guys talk to Six60 about their new single and album, chat to an actual paparazzi and discover secrets of the game. David Gray is on tour with his classic album, and the guys have a great chat. Laura McGoldrick rounds up sports for the week, and who gets up the earliest? That's just a little bit of the audio - enjoy!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. 19th of August, it's Jono and Ben, it's the podcast, welcome along. It's Friday, always a good feeling. Now, our producer Joel joins us now. You wanted to make, which I've actually, coincidentally, I wore a flannel shirt today, but I had forgotten that you'd made this a thing. Flannel Fridays, it's like the show, we should wear flannel shirts on a Friday. So I did actually wear one today, had to take it off though,

because it was green and we're filming in front of the green screen. But now you're not wearing one and you started this thing. Yeah, I thought I sent you the email a minute. So it's flannel Friday one week and then look, we need a bit of energy,

a bit of mana with this bad weather going into summer. So I thought a party shirt Friday. Hold on. So do they alternate? Is it one or the other? Or how does it work?

It's alternating. So there's actually three as well. So it goes first week of the month. See, we don't know about any of this stuff. I'm pretty sure I sent it to you in your email. You guys need to check this. Okay. Yeah, first of the month are flannel Friday,

second party shirt slash Hawaiian shirt Friday, and third formal Friday. So full suit. Full suit? When's flannel Friday covered? Flannel Friday will be... The fourth week, would it be? No, flannel Friday is the first week.

Oh, first week. Okay. Flannel Friday, party shirt Friday, formal suit Friday it be? No, Flannel Friday's the first week. Oh, first week. Flannel Friday, Party Ship Friday, Formal Soup Friday. Or we could just make it just Flannel Party, Flannel Party. Okay. Oh, Formal Soup Friday. Flannel Party, Flannel Party. Formal is a wonderful option too, isn't it? Yeah.

Formal Fridays. So we've got a three-week rotation of themes. It would almost be better maybe to make the fourth one, which would be Full Kit Friday, so we all have to wear like a full sports jersey and shorts. Rugby boots and stuff. And you just pick your team. Yeah. Basketball, your have full kit Friday so we all have to wear like a full sports jersey and shorts rugby boots and stuff and you just pick your team yeah

basketball your head full kit Friday mouth guard everything alright so those are our four rotating themed Friday dress ups

what have we got important meetings after when someone comes dressed as LeBron James I hate to say mate listen to the podcast on iHeartRadio and find out why we do this

maybe a sports shirt of something might be a surprise. You're right, John. Like, what if... Yeah, you're right. We've got a lunch meeting. Why has he got boots on in the office? But, yeah.

He's like, I'm dressed as Tiger Woods. Very unusual. Speaking of fashion, though, we're just talking about fashion because we just spoke to the Wiggles. Turtlenecks, you know, the skivvy. Yeah. You're saying it's come back. It's made a comeback. And the Wiggles, they'velenecks, you know, the skivvy, you're saying it's come back. It's made a comeback.

And the Wiggles, they've ridden it out. Yeah, so they would have probably picked up on that when it was fashionable the first time. It sort of went through a period of, almost like we're going through now, where it's unpopular. Keep riding it out. And then hopefully we'll get back up the other side

like the turtleneck, you know. But the turtleneck is, yeah, it seems to be like, you see Machu from 660 is wearing it in their latest photos. Stan Walker was wearing it. We saw on TV today. A lot of celebrities are overseas are wearing it. I was in Fiji and I saw a lady wearing it in 30 odd degree heat. And I was like, that's, you know, that's a commitment to the turtleneck.

Well, even the Wiggles, they would perform in like Darwin and, you know, the Northern Territory and get up to 40 degrees, but they've got to stick with the turtleneck don't they back in the day it was you know boys to men uh the group member they would often wear a suit with a turtleneck that may love to you that was their song yeah i love to you yeah i like you woman now the other thing 1800s the turtlenecks have been around. The late 1800s. Turtlenecks have remained popular in the fashion world. They continue to be a trendy choice. But yeah, 1800s. It's a long time for the turtlenecks to be around.

I've got PTSD. Post-turtleneck stress disorder. Because my mum, Annie Pryor, she would dress me in a turtleneck every day for primary school. She loved a turtleneck. Turtleneck tucked into track pants. That was my primary school attire. It wasn't the school uniform.

It was just Annie Pryor loved a turtleneck. And then she got into hot tuna. Do you remember the clothing brand Hot Tuna? Oh, it wasn't a very, like, out there bright colours. Too bright, like hot pink, hot highlighter yellow. Then she's like, this is your new thing. Oh, that'll be back. That fashion, that was a few years ago. I was, you know, like, the fashionable stuff like that, yeah highlighter yellow. Then she's like, this is your new thing. Oh, that'll be back.

That was a few years ago. I was, you know, I had the fashionable stuff like that. Yeah. Hot colors. She's really disappointed at how I dress now. She's like, oh, Jay, put on a t-shirt with that holes on it. Maybe we can do turtleneck Thursdays. Oh, no, Joel.

Hot tuna hump day. So that's Wednesday. We'll just have a full rotation. Hot tuna hump day. Steve Jobs, he was a big turtleneck fan, wasn't he? And yeah, he never did, but he wore the same clothes and same tuna hump day. Steve Jobs, he was a big turtleneck fan, wasn't he? And yeah, he never deviated, but he wore the same clothes

and same shoes every day. He never changed his outfit, did he? For ease. Yeah, that was, he had a lot of stuff he had to think about. Certainly not for lack of income.

He could have bought anything. You're right, but I think it was that, yeah, it was like he had a lot he wanted to think about during the day, but getting what he was wearing

wasn't one of them. So he decided that he was just White New Balance shoes, blue jeans, and black skivvy. That's what I wear. Great for continuity too. If you're filming one thing for one day

and then you're like, oh, the next day you can make it look like it's the same day. He was all over it. I would always wind you up with continuity when we're filming. Oh, you're a shocker. So continuity is where you need to keep everything the same for, you know,

if you filmed one scene and you go away and you come back, like you need to be... Even moments later, you'd be wearing a hat and put it down and not wear a hat then put the hat back on and then we're at site place then i had a cowboy hat on you know you didn't come in there something else take a top off because you're you're hot i'm like there's none of this is gonna work why are you wearing a hat like the pope now just arrange your hats and you'll be like mate your hat's on yeah you're taking your hat off

it's on it's like yeah just keep the hat, what it was doing. Stick with one. Yeah. Anyway, Steve Jobs. You wouldn't have that problem with Jobsie. That's right. Yeah, it'd be great to film with. Now, on the podcast today, very interesting. We talked to a paparazzi. Someone who's been working as a paparazzi since 14 years old.

Which seems a little young to get into the pep game. It does. Now, obviously, they go, you know, after talking to them, obviously, they go out and about and they, you know, they do see celebs on the street, but they also have a lot of it that's all kind of orchestrated. Well, the majority, 80% of it, the celeb will call, have a relationship with the paparazzi and go,

hey, I'm going to be walking out of Westfield at this time. They snap a photo of it and then they sell the photo and the celeb gets a cut. It was a very fascinating chat. It was great that he talked to us. I really enjoyed that one. I'm going to pep you in all the weird places

you come out of. Just coming out there. Where's he coming out of the hand sanitiser shop? The turtleneck shop. The full sports equipment shop. The formal suit shop. The suit shop on a Thursday.

The party shirt shop. As well as that 660, New Zealand's biggest band. Join us in the studio. They've got new music out today, so we talk to them as well. And as David Gray from the UK as well. He's probably been papped once or twice in his day. Anyone ever been a papper?

Yeah, they're all on the podcast. Enjoy. Your essential listening for non-essential banter. Jono and Ben on the hits. Paparazzi's. Many years we've probably judged what they're doing, and this guy who's joining us from the UK, Adam Parfitt is his name, has been a pap for many years, but it's not quite what we all think it is. Good morning, Adam. Thanks so much for your time.

Good, thank you. How are you? Oh, we're doing well. It's lovely to have you on the programme this morning. Now, you claim that people think paparazzi are scumbags who hang out of trees. Now, I'm a scumbag who hangs out of trees. It weirds people out. Is that the case? Are you hanging out of trees taking photos? No, absolutely not. No. That claim was obviously in The Guardian yesterday. But no, absolutely not. I do not claim.

I've got my scumbag hanging out in the tree. Have you ever climbed a tree? I haven't actually, no. So how long, let's go back to the start. How long have you been a paparazzi and how long have you been taking photos of people? I've been a paparazzi since the age of 14 years old. I'm 22 now.

Wow. So quite a while. I've photographed a lot of people in that time. Wow. So who were you taking photos of at 14? I was taking photos of everyone, reality stars, actors, anyone I can really get my hands on. I could see, like, Katie Price.

She's quite a big name, if you know who she is. Yeah, she was married to Peter Andre for a while. Yeah, Katie Price, Peter Andre, yeah, all of those types of people, really. That's funny, they would just think it was a kid taking a photo of them, but let alone he's got a whole empire of paparazzi. Well, yeah, actually, that's what

Katie Price did end up saying to me. She says, you look very young and then a few years later, I started working with her more often and she was like, I can't believe I'm working with such a young person doing this job. So the thing is, you know, like, I guess everyone probably has the perception that paparazzi are hanging out. They're outside people's houses, the celebrities looking for a shot. But reading that article yesterday, you mentioned in The Guardian, it's not quite the case.

Often celebrities let you know where they're going to be. It's kind of staged a lot of the Guardian. It's not quite the case. Often celebrities let you know where they're going to be. It's kind of staged a lot of the time. Yeah, well, most of my work, I'd say 70 to 80% of my work, the celebrities will ring me. They'll say, I'm going here. I'll be at this restaurant or bar for this time. Can you come and get some pictures of me? I take celebrities on holiday as well. We do bikini pictures and things like that so yeah it is quite staged but it's not just celebs ringing at the bars the restaurants and the agents and families ringing telling me things so i guess so the advantage obviously for the celebrity is

profile they're spread all over the internet and i guess for the bars and restaurants it's advertising yes definitely if they're seen on the Daily Mail online, they're going to be noticed and they're going to be classed as relevant. I'm helping them, but they're also helping me. So do they, you know, I'm Kim Kardashian. I call you and I say, hey, I'm going to be working out at this gymnasium.

Does Kim Kardashian pay you? No, the celebs don't pay us. We will pay us. We will pay them. It depends on the celebrity. They will either take a cut of sales from the pictures that we sell of them, or they might just want to be papped, and they won't take any money out of it. I'm Prince William.

I'm vaping in a thong, okay? You get a photo of me. No, imagine that one's not arranged, I'd say. No, not pre-arranged. This is a fool. You've been a scumbag hanging out of a tree. How much are you getting for that photo? I couldn't really tell you.

It depends on where they use the pictures, how big they use the pictures and things like that. I couldn't possibly tell you, but I'd probably say it was a lot of money. It would run into thousands of pounds, so quite a lot of money. Who is the most famous person you've had in your camera? Well, I don't think you can beat the Queen, can you? Oh, you've had the Queen!

I photographed the Queen, so yeah, I can't beat the Queen, really. Where was she when you were photographing her? She was walking through Manchester train station It was just a coincidence Unfortunately she didn't drop me a WhatsApp And tell me that she was going to be there You don't have a special relationship with the Queen? She's organising all the shoots? No, unfortunately not

But as of next month I will be photographing Harry and Meghan as they're coming to the UK next month. So I'll be doing a lot of pictures of them. Is it the same in the UK? Because I read something the other day that a celebrity, I can't remember who it was, but posted a photo that someone had taken, a paparazzi had taken, and then they hadn't credited the paparazzi. And even though it was a photo of them, they didn't actually own the photo.

Is it the same in the UK? Yes, it is. There's been a few cases in the UK where paparazzi, including myself, have sued celebrities for taking pictures without permission. So yeah, it is the same, definitely. Who did you sue? I'm not going to name people. And the queen. The bloody queen eh

You got the queen coming out of her Crossfit class She posted it on her insta Mate well listen I've got an 11.30 prostate exam today You want to catch me walking out of that Hobbling out of that appointment I won't get anything

I don't think you'll get any traction on that You won't get two pounds for that one I'll meet you at two pounds for that one. I'll meet you at the doctor's surgery, Aaron. Oh, wow, Aaron, this has been really interesting. Thank you very much for, you know, shedding some light on the paparazzi industry. It's something that we all hear about, we all see, but you wouldn't even know a lot of this was going on.

No worries. Thank you for having me on the show. Really fascinating there, hey. A-grade celebrity chat with C-grade celebrity hosts, Jono and Ben on the hits. 660, yeah, brand new music. We're super excited to hear the new song in three minutes' time. It's from the new album Castle Street.

They're touring the country later in the year, 660 Saturdays. It's all super exciting. It's great to have Jai, Eli, and Machu from 660 in the studio. How's it going, boys? Good, man. Very exciting. New music coming out and the photo shoot too. I mean, high fashion.

Machu, you have a long coat, a puffer vest and a turtleneck. I mean, that's high fashion. Absolutely. Turtleneck's back. Yeah, they are back. They're very fashionable. I'm not a fashionable guy, but I looked at that and I was like, the colours are exceptional.

Whoever was in charge of that did a magnificent job I gather it was none of you guys we just all showed up randomly the same day like that well you're hot

what do you mean man but it's pretty cool your social media too everything kind of went away and then it sort of popped back up so the new chapter

can you get that stuff back is that all gone I mean what's happening? You're like, damn, we deleted a lot of good content. But, you know, we wanted to kind of hammer down that this was something new and, like, people are familiar with us. It was like a new chapter, new sound, new look. Everything's kind of freshened up.

You guys have done so well over the years to just kind of realign yourself along the way beautifully. You recorded this album. Where do you start? Where are you like, we're going to go in a slightly different direction? How do you start that brainstorm? It's a difficult one.

We, you know, I guess the album started here in Auckland at our studio that you guys have been to. But then we shifted to LA because we basically got stuck there because we were part of that lottery system. We couldn't quite get tickets home. So we were there for about seven months. And at the time, we just kind of knuckled down,

banded back together. Like, it kind of felt like we were back at 660 Castle Street. So I think that return to that feeling and that innocence, I kind of really drove the song as much with the kind of differences that have been happening in our lives like kids and that kind of stuff well their new album's called

Castle Street which is cool you know looking back what was the rent back in the day for you guys do you remember what you were paying back in Castle Street

I think it was maybe yeah maybe I think I paid like 80 bucks 80 bucks a week yeah did you miss a few payments yeah

I hardly made any but you guys you own the place now so what are you you're like it's not 80 bucks what are you guys like they better be paid

what are you guys like as landlords are they ringing up to fix the oven or anything like that or unclog the drains hands off mate pretty hands off

that's been really cool though You know I think For one It's the first time We've named a record And it made sense Because it kind of was

Where it all started We own the house now So it's really kind of Full circle Feeling Some people might not know That you went and Purchased

660 Castle Street In Dunedin Where you guys All flattered What are you doing with it? So we started A In conjunction With the university,

we started a scholarship where we put four students every year in there, give them rent free for the year and we go down and help them. These are kids that are aspiring musicians, I guess, and we go down and help them

try and build their music. What a great way of giving back. That's awesome. Yeah. And also great too, you can sign them early. Make some cash. Now you pay your rent kids. You guys have done so many amazing things.

Yeah, obviously the albums, the concerts, the movie. But Eli, I want to ask you here, you know, the movie, one of the big takeaways from the movie was your teabag trick. Everyone was like, oh my God, I didn't even know that the tea bag well you explain it now you do bro yeah the cord from the tea bag you know go fits in under the cup like paper thing at the end of it you're supposed to jam it under the cup under the cup yeah bro what are you so it holds it in place yeah it holds the tea bag like halfway up the cup i was my mind was blown though you know.

But it's funny how you watch a movie with 50,000 people at Western Springs and then I'll go away going, that teabag was really awesome. You're single, you're going to play very shortly before you leave. Machi, you weren't there just after having a baby? Is that correct? Yeah, yeah, I've got a baby now. I've got two, so it's all hands-on. I don't know, having a kid, I was thinking a lot about what I knew, what I could teach, and the kind of wisdom I could pass down.

And I actually realized I didn't know a whole lot. Is Joy not passing on info? Chris not passing on info? I'm trying. Trust me, I'm trying. He's not a good listener. I don't know, just thinking thinking about that putting it into a song where i could give some kind of wisdom and i guess it's a universal topic it's universal stories we're

trying to draw on on this album and um she was the inspiration for it but at the same time you know all these songs on this album that's coming out october 7th they're all kind of universal humanistic stories big grand stuff and they're and they're deep but at the same time they're they're jams that you can sing to and you can dance to and that'll that'll work really well these gigs coming up yeah well so speaking of the gigs some amazing sort of people with you as well like super groove tones and i people know from dance monkey uh lime cordial it's amazing it's the lineup yeah we got an epic lineup this year man you know this tour has been postponed a couple times i think through this covid bs but it's finally been able to give us some time

to dig a little deeper into it. It's going to be a really, really amazing tour. Take it from me. Take it from me. I'm not biased. With kids, obviously touring, you're away, given your profession, your job, you'll be away for extended periods of time.

Do you take the kids on the road? Are they backstage? Have they fathomed where they are and what their dads do? I've definitely tried to take the girls. I don't really stay up late enough to see the show. But, you know, that's actually a really exciting thing. One day they'll actually understand who we are and what we're doing. They'll be like, what?

Yeah, they'll be like, holy crap, look at what dad's doing. Thank you very much, 660. Always love catching you up, boys. You keep well. Scrolling through your feed. We're all hopping aboard the Rolls Boys next stop, Topicality Town. What's going on? I was just looking up.

It's 128 days to Christmas, guys. 128 days. Yeah, and because there was some Christmas news floating around, then Mariah Carey, she wants to be crowned the Queen of Christmas. She has, of course, this smash hit, All I Want for Christmas. 1994 smash hit. She's trying to trademark the title, the Queen of Christmas, so she can sell goods, perfume, lotions, sunglasses, face masks,

that sort of thing. But there's a couple of artists who have been doing Christmas songs for many years, and they're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And so they're going to court to try and take it, because they've been claiming, one of them was on David Letterman's show during the 80s many times, and David Letterman said, she's the Queen of Christmas, and they're like,

David Letterman said I was the Queen of Christmas, so they don't want Mariah Carey to trademark the Queen of Christmas. Oh, that's good, there's no important stuff going on in the world. Who else is fighting for the Queen of Christmas. Oh, that's good. There's no important stuff going on in the world. Who else is fighting for the Queen of Christmas title? There's Elizabeth Chan and Darlene Love. And now apparently they've had meetings. They're like, we're the Queens of Christmas.

We're the Queens of Christmas. And Mark, it's not the only lawsuit that she's got going on at the moment. There was another song called All I Want for Christmas that apparently came out a few years before her one. So this one here. Yeah. Christmas, eh? A time for giving and a time for suing.

Yeah. So all I want for Christmas. She's made $60 million in royalties, Mariah Carey, for All I Want for Christmas. Just off that one song? $60 million. How's that? Wow. That's pretty incredible.

Good on her. She's got some pipes on her, Mariah Carey, doesn't she? She can sing. And a lady in China, an art teacher. She's won a whole lot of money for an unfair dismissal case. She was taken... What is this, like the legal update? Yeah.

Who's suing who? Court update. Attorney at law. But she's won a whole lot of money. I like that. I like to keep up to date with the courts. If you've had any drink driving charges or some employment issues, Ben Boyce, I'll wait 100 of the hits. Yeah you ever had any drink driving charges or some employment issues? Ben Boyce.

I wait 100 of the hits. Yeah, so she's an art teacher in China, and she was taking an online class, and her cat kept getting in the way of the video screen during the class, and she lost her job because of that. About five times the cat got in the way. They were like, well, it was unprofessional. She was like, well, I couldn't help what my cat was doing. And now they've said now that it was an unfair case and they've given her

some money. So she's allowed her job back. Seems a little unfair, but then they've also... You never want your cat getting on camera, do you? Yeah, but then they've also said that she participated in non-teaching activities during the class and was 10 minutes late to the class, but we focused a lot on the cat being in front of the camera. So maybe there was more to it, but anyway, she's back.

It felt like the cat thing was reaching just so they could get rid of her. The catalyst. Yeah, the catalyst. Much like the NZRU trying to get rid of Ian Foster. Oh, your cat was in front of the camera during the wedding. Really? You had some crumbs on your jacket half-time after eating a muesli bar. That's Ben's legal update this morning.

Good stuff. Coffee breath. Jono and Ben on the hits. Wild weather again, unfortunately for Nelson, looks like later in the day. There's some more rain forecast. Things are not so great over there, so thank you everyone. Yeah, because we said it yesterday, it'd be unsettling having to move out of your house, wouldn't it? Yeah, and I think it's okay this morning, but then later this afternoon,

they reckon 21 more hours of rain potentially from MetService. So you're like, oh, just stop. We had the conversation yesterday, what would we take, but then later this afternoon they reckon 21 more hours of rain potentially from Met's service. So you're like, oh, just stop. We had the conversation yesterday. What would we take? First thing we would take out of our house. Ben, you said all of your Simpsons figurines. Oh, look, you put me on the spot.

And then you're like, oh, my wife and kids. Yeah, well, yeah. Yeah, but they can take themselves. I'm taking my figurines. We're running on almost four hours sleep, aren't we, at the moment? A bit of a late night last night when I say late it was only ten o'clock

it was yeah ten o'clock but you know getting up early in the morning that's you know times have changed for us

we were emceeing something last night which was a lot of fun but one thing you pulled me up on the fact because we have matching suits we've always had matching suits

and I've kept them since the TV show and you're like you're pranking me with shrinking my pants. Well, I've said this multiple times on the show. I put the pants on. We're in the toilet. I was putting the suit pants on. And they looked like I was from a Shakespearean play.

They looked like black tights. And I couldn't do, I couldn't even pull the zipper up. That was you. That was all you a few years ago. You're shrinking them. Where are you storing That was all you a few years ago. You're shrinking them. Where are you storing these things? Are they in a high moisture room?

Are they? Same pants I've been wearing, same pants you've been wearing. And then you were like, oh, it was lockdown. And I was like, lockdown was a year ago. You're hard on us all, Ben. We're all recovering. Okay, the world's recovering from lockdown. So are my guts.

Yeah, so we did that last night. And as you said before, we're getting up early. But you get up earlier than everyone. For some reason, you've made an earlier job even earlier. Like everyone, we have to be at work just after five o'clock in the morning to meet up for the show. But for some reason, you get up, like, I don't know what you don't have to do. You're here. Well, I mean, what are you doing in the morning?

3.30. 3.30. I know. I do a little exercise. You're right. I do like the peacefulness of the middle of the night. 3.30. 3.30, I know. I do a little exercise. You're right. I do like the peacefulness of the middle of the night. Yeah. You know,

sometimes you sort of sit outside and all you can hear in the distance is the sound of 11-year-old's ram raiding shops. It's definitely

in the middle of the night you're getting up, that's for sure. Yeah. But it's quite therapeutic and peaceful. Right. I can't remember

who said it. She was married to Prince Andrew of Monaco. Okay. Princess Caroline, I think. Anyway, she's obviously, and I'm not saying I'm like her. Sounds like you are. I'm relating myself to a princess, a very famous princess.

Yeah, yeah. But she was obviously so famous, and during the day, just paparazzi getting hounded, hounded. I can relate. And she would like. It's your day I can relate. And she would go. So she would get up at two in the morning and run through the streets of Monaco just by herself with one security guard.

Just the peacefulness. The peacefulness. That's what I. You have a lot going on, so you're like the peacefulness. Yeah, so you're getting up at 3.30 for some reason. It's quite earlier since we started doing this job. Used to be like quarter to four. Now you're like

three what do you need the extra 15 minutes for now early bird catches the worms I've got worms so we wanted to

chat this over you said can anyone beat you yeah you think no one's getting up earlier than 3.38 oh no

and I don't think definitely not in this show that's for sure yeah just for the peacefulness just the peacefulness and you know I'm a finely tuned look at this body for the peacefulness. Just the peacefulness. And, you know, I'm a finely tuned, look at this body. The peacefulness is still there at quarter past,

20 past four when I get up. Like, that's still peaceful. Like, there's no, it's not getting any rowdier. Try 3.30, mate. It is really peaceful. They've got pranks. They've got puns. Now they just need some actual listeners.

Jono and Ben on the hits. We're up in the mornings, and it's great to be up in the mornings. It's great to have other people up as well, you know, listening to us. And it feels like people that get up early wear like some sort of club. Yeah, a gang. We need to get, I said I was going to go get some leather vests printed for everyone. What could we be called?

The Sixers. Oh, yeah, the Sixers. Six Appeal. Yeah, Six Appeal. You're 60 and you know it. Yeah. So I was thinking like the Six Club or something like that. But, you know, you're like you're 60 and you know it. Yeah. So I was thinking like the six o'clock club or something like that, but you're like you're 60 and you know it.

Yeah, okay, you're 60. People that are getting up, you know? You're 60 and you know it. At six o'clock listening together before other people are getting up. This is our special little team. Yeah. Yeah, and Ben, you were just saying I get up at 3.30 every morning. It unsettles you.

You say you're like, why? Yeah. Why are you doing this? I worry about you like in the long term of doing it that's my main concern I mean get up you know

you go to bed when you want to be but I'm just like jeez what are you doing yeah I don't know I don't know you exercise I get that

so yeah it's good it's good to exercise and the peacefulness he likes the peacefulness I like the peacefulness of 3.30 in the morning and tippy towing

around my household like a neurotic burglar okay so is anyone getting up earlier than 3.30 in the morning. And tippy-toeing around my household like a neurotic burglar. Okay, so is anyone getting up earlier than 3.30 in the morning? We're going to kick it off with Lisa and T-Dale. Morning, Lisa. Good to have you on. Hi, morning. Why on earth are you up, firstly?

What's that, sorry? What do you do? Why are you up? I'm a farm-touch dairy farmer. I run a farm. A dairy farmer. Sorry, your cell phone's breaking up there. But what time are you getting up in the morning there, Lisa? I wake up at 3 a dairy farmer. I run a dairy farm. A dairy farmer. So your cell phone's breaking up there. But what time are you getting up in the morning there, Lise?

I wake up at 3 a.m. 3 a.m. Okay. I've been beaten. You're getting more peaceful, peaceful. Is it peaceful then? You like the peace? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, no, it's great. Yeah, it's great. I love it. All right, Lise has turned into a robot now. That's what happens when you get up that early. You turn into a robot. Okay, then we're going to go to Brian

Oh no, Mike, sorry Mike, welcome How's it going? Can you beat 3am, Mike? I'm only three times a week though I get up at 2.45 Oh damn Now I know upstairs

Mike Hosking, Newstalk ZB host Him and his wife, Kate Hawksby They're up at 2.45 So you're waking up at the same time. Mike, your name's Mike. Maybe Mike's need to get up at quarter to three in the morning. Yeah. But why?

Why, Mike? Before I do my nine-to-five job, I teach a gym class. I teach a 5 a.m. class. But because I'm a father of four as well, so it gets real busy. So the only time I can train by myself, I can fit it in between 3.45 and 4.45 before I teach the class. Ah, gotcha. I try and do it, yeah.

Good on you for getting up about that. So you've worked out, you've taught a class. Where are you heading now? Are you heading back home to tend to the kids? I'm heading back home now to get a quick shower and then head to my 9-to-5 job. What time do you go to sleep? Last night was like 11, because I also try, you know,

like once you finish work, you try and spend a bit of time with the wife. But it's self-discipline, though. You know, you've just got to, if I make it happen, then I've just sort of got my week aligned and my days aligned. Oh, Mike. I feel like I'm talking to Dwayne the Rock Johnson here. Yeah, like someone who's motivated and is doing this stuff. Yeah, he goes to bed at 11 and and he's like, 2.45.

Jeez. Mike, we're going to send you out some help. Pete's now delivering beer and wine, so you can enjoy that. You don't have to worry about cooking one night. Oh, my God, that is amazing. Good on you, Mike. Thank you for listening. Appreciate it.

And apparently we can beat Mike. Really? We can beat Mike. We've got two more to go. Brian, what time are you getting up in Greymouth? 2.30. 2.30. 2.30. Whoa.

What do you do, Brian? I'm the gold miner. Oh. Now, is there much gold in them there hills? Probably not enough for the boss, but... Probably never enough. No matter whose boss it was, I'd always want more. If I was a gold miner, I couldn't...

It could always be a wee bit better. Yeah, I always... I'd keep a bit of gold for myself if I found some. I'd keep putting it in my pocket. How do they know you haven't pocketed any? Trust. Trust. Yeah, good.

Okay, well, keep this going. Yeah, well, someone can beat that. Can you? Well, someone's texted saying, I can beat 2.30am, Brian the gold miner. What? Why can't you mine gold and get up at 9? Who knows?

The great thing about listening to this show is that the day can only get better from here. Jono and Ben on the hits. You're 60 and you know it. We've started a new club Ben Boyce. It started up this morning. There's a board meeting and an annual we'll do the AGM in October if you'd like to come along.

And everyone's fees and subs are due by the end of the week. Yeah, the 6 o'clock club. People that get up and listen to us during 6 o'clock get up before everyone else is. It's great to have you guys listening. And we're just having a competition. Who gets up the earliest? Gee whiz. There's some shocking schedules out there.

So far we've spoken to someone who gets up at 3 o'clock, quarter to 3. Mike, who trains at the gym. Then he trains people at the gym. Yeah, so he gets his own training in, which is incredible. Then he goes home and sets the kids up for the day at school. Then he goes to work. A 9 to 5 job as well. Then he has family time and then gets to bed about 11.

11 and he's up again at quarter to 3. It's just like you put your mind to it. It's amazing what you can do. Yeah. Can you beat quarter to three? Oh, sorry. And we spoke to Brian too on the West Coast gold miner. Yeah.

Up at 2.30, hunting gold. You're like, yeah, as I say, just talk to the boss and go, mate, why don't we start it at nine, knock off five? Yeah. The gold's not going anywhere. Well, maybe it is. Maybe someone else will swoop on in and get the gold. Michael Hill will get it in there.

Michael Hill, he's in there. Michael Hill is down in the caves hacking away at the gold. I'll get in there before nine if you guys aren't here. Michael Hill looks like he'd never sleep, eh? Michael Hill's getting stuff done. So 0800 of the hits is the telephone number. Yes, Michael, good morning. What time did you get up?

I can. Now, what do you do? I'm a bakery manager. Oh, okay. Yeah, now you've got to get up and get them buns in the oven, don't you? Yes. At what time? 1.45.

Oh, jeez. Oh, jeez, that's it. And what time would you finish your day? About 11.30. Right, so you're working a full-on day by the time, yeah. Your body clock must be all out of whack. Do you have to go home and sleep, or do you hold out for the day and go to bed early?

Go home, have a nap, get up for tea, and actually get some family time, and then go back to sleep for a few hours before I've got to get up again. Is it bleak? Is it bleak when that alarm goes off? Yes, very bleak. Yeah.

I imagine you drive to work, just sitting in your car, just going, oh, I'm dying inside right now. Hey, but you get to work with the smell of freshly baked bread. I mean, that's one of the best smells around. Yeah, but I can't smell it anymore. Why not? You know, you just can't smell it anymore. Why not? You've just become immune to it. It's like living in

Raurua. I also can't smell it if I burn anything either. Thanks for your call, mate. Appreciate it. Look out! Scary dinosaurs. Not Jurassic Park. It's these guys. Jono and Ben on the hits.

It's awesome to see so many gigs coming to New Zealand, things returning and even Rhythm and Vines is going to be back after last year it wasn't there. The big festival takes place in Gisborne each year. We're just talking to David Gray. We're talking about it during the song. It's all back to normal, guys. We're all back to normal.

Producer Joel, he's sort of the demographic for Rhythm and Vines R&V. Don't like to go down there. Get smacked back to normal and uh producer joel he's sort of the demographic uh demographic for rhythm and vines r&v don't like like to go down they get smacked off your chops for a few days don't you mate yeah pretty much lead up the whole year just working towards those three days yeah like a lot of you know it's a it's a sort of a passageway isn't it here in new zealand rhythm and vines r&v and uh a lot of bad decisions have been made there i won't lie lie. Yeah. But it seems like a heck of a fun time. But what's happened is the big lineup has been announced to take place over the couple of days. And Producer Joel, you were like, don't look at the lineup.

John and I, we're not allowed to look at it. But you're going to say some names. And we need to guess if it's a legitimate artist that's playing it with a rhythm and binds. Or if it's something that Producer Joel's made up to make us look out of touch. Well, we're going to look out of touch like this is the thing what are you trying to do here Joel

are you trying to distance us like is Pink playing no Pink's not playing no I see you know yeah you know Harry Styles not playing that'd be great though

that would be great wouldn't it you know there's some outrageous names and I'll put you guys to the test right now okay alright DJ Omicron coming

he actually is here. Oh, he is coming. Is he welcome back? I did hear that one. I did hear that one. He's here with welcome arms of Dimension. Oh, is that his actual name? I only knew him as DJ Omicron.

We've got a huge apology we need to make to him when he's back here. You know, that was the first person that had Omicron in New Zealand, and we really, like, we got carried away again. Anyway. Anyway, if you go into R&B, Joe, we'll give you a sign to hold up saying we apologise DJ. Yeah. The first name is

Barry Can't Swim. Is it a real name that's playing at R&B or is it a made up name? Barry Can't Swim. That's a made up name. That seems like a made up name. Oh really?

It's Barry Can't Swim there. Scottish DJ headlining R&B. Barry Can't Swim. Damn it, we were too confident on that one. We were like,

definitely not. Well, Barry needs to take some swimming lessons. Pretty Girl. No, that's made up. Ben? I'm going to say, I'll go with you John on this one.

Pretty Girl is on the line up. We've got Oprah Spinfree. Oprah Spinfree. I reckon that's a DJ. Yeah, that's a good pun. No! I don't know if it's not a DJ called Oprah Sprintfree there should be

we need to be a double act we're Oprah Sprintfree we've got the Ron Burgundy Experience no that's made up yes we're back guys we're back

Alice in Wonderland I do know this one that's legit Alice in Wonderland's there yeah Australian DJ she's had your headlining on New Year's Eve

Buzz Lightyear Buzz Lightyear no that's made up yes But Alison wanted to land there. Yeah. Australian DJ. She's had your headlining on New Year's Eve. Buzz Lightyear. Buzz Lightyear. No, it's made up. Yes. We're clawing it back. Crater's back, guys. Crater's back. We lost it there for a bit.

Seinfeld. Made up. Yeah, I'll go made up. DJ Seinfeld's coming to RMV this year. Seinfeld. Seinfeld. I'm looking. We've got a chemist warehouse display here in the studio.

They sponsor the afternoon show. I could just. We've got a Chemist Warehouse display here in the studio. They sponsor the afternoon show. I could just name items on the Chemist Warehouse display. You know, the Musashi protein wafer. The Lipo sachets. They could be a band. The, oh no, that's all I've got. Maxi-Jesus.

I'll go see the Maxi-Jesus. They sound great. All right, let's keep going. Osama Spin Laden. That's made up. Made up. Yes let's keep going. Osama Spin Laden. That's made up. Made up. Yes. Oprah Spin Free and Osama Spin Laden.

We are going to be touring over New Year's, Ben, you and me. The final one, Fleetwood Smack. No, made up. Made up. Nah, too good. Joel, you lost us there at the beginning. I was like, uh-oh, this is not a good look. This is not ending up too well. But there we go.

Could we go? You guys could go. Yeah, you might look a little bit creepy, but you could be there. I'm sure you'd be well. You could wear your bucket hat. Maybe you had that bucket hat that I wanted. I have a denim bucket hat, and he said it looks like you're selling party pills to kids at festivals. We'll get you a little bum bag and your party hat, and you can get some sunglasses from the gas station.

You'll be sweet. Okay. So if you need your supplies for R&B, come see the guy in the bucket hat with the bum bag. I'll be there. Mature, responsible, and considerate. Three words we sadly can't use here. Jono and Beam on the hits. Hey, Shaggy, you know, it wasn't me.

I'm on the bathroom floor. It wasn't me. Mr. Bombastic and Angel. Probably could add him. If you wanted the Shaggy music, you could have just said. Yeah, that was a really half-hearted Shaggy montage there. Spoke to Shaggy yesterday. He's great.

He's coming to Friday Jams. And he shared the nickname. He shared the backstory of his nickname or his name, stage name, Shaggy. Yeah, he did. Because he got it from a Shaggy hair. And then we talked more with him. And not only has he got a name given to him, but his name has inspired other people to give names to their kids.

Have a listen. You know what? There's a woman that actually told me that her son was called Boom Bastic. That's a cool name. And said that the kid was actually conceived to Mr. Boom Bastic. Oh, really? She said, just so you know, that means you were there. I looked at her and I said, no, it wasn't me.

Yeah, it wasn't me. You're like, I'm not paying any child support for this kid. So Shaggy, cool name. And then Boombastic, how's that for a name? Yeah, Boombastic is pretty cool. You're going to go through life probably as a male stripper or something. I don't know. Boombastic, you've got options. You're going to go through life probably as a male stripper or something. I don't know. Bombastic.

You've got options. You've got options. I mean, Bombastic's probably not getting into this, you know, investment banking. Oh, well, yeah. Hey. Okay, you can invest your life savings with Bombastic. You're like, Bombastic. You can make this thing explode.

You want your funds to explode to another. You're like, yeah, I will. It's all a confidence game in that industry. If you've got a name like Bombastic, you're going to have it. There is respect with the name, isn't there? You know, Jono and Ben, pretty bland. Yeah, they're pretty bland. But so we wanted to know on i100thehits or 4487,

do you think you have New Zealand's coolest name? Or maybe you've given them to your kids. There is a USA mullet competition going on right now with kids and teens. And the photos are incredible there. We'll put some of them on the Hits Breakfast on Instagram on the story. These kids and teens and the photos are incredible there we'll put some of them on the hits breakfast on instagram on the story these kids have got amazing mullets some of them you could only dream of here like some of these kids some of them i saw one child who has the mullet down it goes down to the back uh yeah it goes down to his waist down his

back and then he's got the american flag shaved into the side of his head god damn usa that's incredible so the mullet's incredible but also the names are incredible as well these are the kids actual names what i love about this mullet competition is there's no irony in it no you know over here people will shave a mullet in their head for comedy purposes but this is over there this is serious this is like these are great mullets so these are some of the kids names epic epic is a name cash axel landry rustin like justin with an r and do you reckon it was misspelt on the birth form and catchin as well they're very cool names it was your son your son's epic let's call him epic that's great you can guarantee a hundred

percent of those parents got donald trump into the white house well you don't know amazing mullets yeah and i'm just looking here at a list of great girls' names. Now, these are the coolest girls' names. Artemis. That's cool. That's good. Frankie. Heroin.

Juniper. Oh, you made it up here. No, I'm not. This is honest. He always says, there's a problem with me. I've lied so much that even when I do something that's truthful, he doesn't believe me. He's always like, oh, you made that up. You made it up. Like the believe me. He goes, oh, you've made that up. You've made it up.

I'm not making it up. You've made it up. Why would I go to the league? Don't besmirch the good photo topic that New Zealanders call this name. No, I was just trying to do some authentic content. This is why I'll never make it on Newstalk ZB. No, he's making it up.

He made that whole COVID thing up just to get attention. I don't think that's probably the case. The Jono and Ben podcast, available on iHeartRadio. We are looking for New Zealand's coolest name. Cheryl, you think you've got the coolest name? Hello, I am New Zealand's coolest person. Okay, firstly, she's won the coolest person category.

Well done, first off the bat. Now, can she back it up with the coolest name? Well, I am famous in New Zealand, so my name is Cheryl Moana Marie. Oh, so this was the John Rawls had this song, iconic New Zealand song, right? Oh, here you go. Yes, correct. Sorry. Hang on, I think we've found it.

Cheryl Moana Marie. What a voice. What a voice. What a voice. She's rolls is charming the pants off me right there. Yeah. Now, your parents were obviously huge fans. I'm assuming so. Yeah.

Or it's just a giant coincidence. It's not a really big coincidence. So you've got the full name, Cheryl Moana-Marie? Correct, Cheryl Moana-Marie. Have you met John Rawls? Have you told him? I have not met John Rawls, but my mother-in-law has. It would obviously intrigue everyone when they hear it,

and you probably have the same conversation over and over and over again. Well, let's put it this way. They only know that part of the song, and that's all you hear. Yeah, a bit of... Cheerio. He's got a great voice. How many times have you heard people badly singing that throughout your life? Well, it's generally every Friday, Saturday and Sunday when you're a child.

Thank you very much for your time. Have a great day. You too. I was just quickly Googling about Cheryl Moana Marie. The song went number one in Hawaii as well. Hawaii? Yeah, very big in New Zealand. Topped the charts in New Zealand, reached the top 40 in the US.

He had a sister, Cheryl Moana, and another one called Marie. So he sort of combined the names for the song, John Rolls was named he had a sister Cheryl Moana and another one called Marie so he sort of combined the names for the song John Rolls when he wrote the song wanted to come up with an anthem kind of along the lines

of Pocahontas along those sort of you know but yeah what does he say after this they're waiting on the shore, she waits so patiently They're waiting on the shore patiently.

See, in this article, one person, as Cheryl said before, one's a model, one-time Miss USA, yeah, singer and actor as well. Got a website, CherylMoanaMuai.com CherylMoanaMuai.com, yeah, great. Got into the game, there we go A lot of Shiromawina banter there, thank you very much Yeah, sorry, I got quite into a hole there Jo, you think you've got New Zealand's coolest name?

So we named our daughter Tessio After a watch that I bought my husband as a first gift Oh, that's really cool So it's got a really sentimental meaning to it It did, we went six weeks without naming her Oh, that's really cool. So it's got a really sentimental meaning to it. It did. We went six weeks without naming her, and we were just calling her Baby Girl,

and we couldn't agree on a name. So you said, how about the watch I gave you once? So no, my husband said to me, well, how about, he said, I would like to name her after this watch that you brought me. Jeez, the brainstorm had been going on for quite a long time yeah so and yeah it's it's quite i mean it's an original name and and yeah it suits you to the tea i couldn't imagine you having any other name that's the thing you're right as soon as you name something you just can't imagine them being called anything else absolutely and she's

never laid a day in her life does she? Does she wear a Casio watch? Does she feel like she needs to? So she does yes And funnily enough our next two boys We're both given watch names as well Just to might as well carry on the phase You've got a little tag here and swatch So no we have Seiko and Laura

Seiko and Laura Wow so you're the watch family. Do people, when you come up to a social event, they're like, it's the watch family? You know, it's a point of conversation? No, we get known for other things, but yeah, that's fine too. Casio gets nicknamed quite a few things. So, you know, G-Shock, you know, the standard original name.

It could be like Cassie. I'm not sure if you get Cass, Cass, you know, name. It could be Cassie. I'm not sure if you get Cass, Cass. They're full name Cassio. So yeah, I like it. Yeah, absolutely. It could also have been a misspelt casino as well. Now I'd like to settle a debate once and for all. Ben, the hang-up on the phone, the phone hang-up.

Right. Whose responsibility is it? Now I am having an ongoing issue with my wife Jennifer. And she calls me and I don't like to hang up at the end of the call. It's my thing. And she's like, you think you're too good to even just hang up the phone. So why are you not hanging up? You're just not hanging up at all?

I just like to leave it. Do you want to know the real reason? I like to leave it in case they leave their phone on and I can listen in on stuff. And he's like, oh, God, that guy. That guy. You know, just for that small chance that they're going to start bitching about me.

And I'm like, I'm still here. I've never had that moment, but I'm really, I'm wishing. And I don't know why she'd be bitching to herself about me. But anyway, she's got to the point where. So she won't hang up either. She won't hang up now. It's like a standoff. No one hangs up.

And here's my theory. If you want someone hanging up, this needs to fall on the shoulders of the person who made the call. The one who initiated the phone call, they need to see it through end to end. Right. So you think the person who called... They've opened up the phone lines, they need to close the phone. I get you.

I get you. That probably makes a lot of sense. I just love a hang up. I love it. You do. I'm not a big phone person. No, I know. I feel like phone is just a waste of time, you know?

So I just love a, yeah, yeah, all right, sounds good. And then hang up and they go... I love all of those. You just hang up on people but for a guy who like you send what you lack in

phone phoning you make up for an email like your emailing is just it's prolific you know like you could probably sort

everything you know in your 20 page email you could sort that over a minute conversation on the phone yeah maybe I do maybe you're right I always feel like

emailing and texting is quicker you don't have the back and forth thing. You're like, yeah, there it goes back, you know, strike the point. There it is, you know. Phones, we're playing, it's a little dance, a little game we need to play.

Now you're adding in another game that I didn't even know existed. Who's hanging up? Yeah, no one hanging up, yeah. Like a teenage girl. I love you more. No, no, I love you more. I love it.

Yeah, but the thing is, James also says, well, you've got people hanging up phones for you all morning you've become accustomed to it producer joel hangs up the phone for us she's like you don't even know how it's not even your repertoire of having a phone conversation now yeah well he's very good point actually you do yeah but the other thing i like when i talk to you as well i'm sure this happens with a lot of people of people, it happened to us just last week, having a conversation on the phone and something happened, something technical happened. We got disconnected and one of us called each other back and the first thing we say is, don't know what happened there.

You do. Don't know what happened there. As if you're some sort of telco technician. Don't know what happened there. That's beyond me. That's beaten me. All I say is just hug up. I've wrapped hug up. The Jono and Ben podcast.

The world's number one podcast. Please don't check those stats. She lives and breathes sport and thankfully for us, she also lives and breathes oxygen. She wouldn't be on the phone right now. Laura McGoldrick, Lazza McGazza, it's Jazza, Bazza and Lazza. Guys, look,

I mean, I do breathe, so thank you. Yeah, you are, like, how obsessed with sport are you? Well, I wouldn't say obsessed. It is a portion of my job and I enjoy it. I'm sorry for painting you out as some sort of sports psychopath. Obviously, your husband, you know, Martin Guptill's playing right now, you know, over there in the West Indies. Are you getting up through the night watching the whole lot of the games

or are you checking in, checking out? Well, through the night watching the whole lot of the games or are you checking in, checking out? Well, I tend to watch the whole lot of the games. It's quite good because it starts at 6 a.m. So having little kids, I'm already up at that time anyway. So that's perfect. When he's in India, it's a little more challenging because you're getting yourself up at 2 a.m. to watch those ones, which is a little bit trickier.

But I do get up for all the matches. I love it. Do you? I would just be like, hey, good game. And be like, I got out for a duck and just pretend that I watched it. Hey, look, don't worry. Those games are the hardest to get up for because you get up, you get yourself into a space and you're like, right, right, right, right.

And they're like, right, well, that was, no, that was good. Okay. I did get up for the All Blacks on the weekend. Did you guys? Oh, no, I didn't actually get up for that one. I checked my phone on Sunday morning, first thing I was going to watch the replay. That's what you can do with Marty's cricket. Just check your phone in the morning.

He's a really lucky guy in the fact that he'll get a full debrief rundown of what I've thought of things. So he'd know. Speaking of the All Blacks though, Ian Foster retained as coach. Are you surprised by this? It kind of felt like the public started to sympathise towards Ian Foster by the end of it?

Yeah, I think they did sympathise. And we talked about it last week because I've inadvertently, accidentally turned into your sports correspondent, which is still waiting for that fee. No accident on our part, though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was getting really ugly, I thought, for a bit. And I don't think the Rugby Union probably did their best work there.

And then, you know, you're having press conferences to announce press conferences. It's got to be COVID. And I was pleased that they got him behind him because, well, they had to. And it was not fair what was happening. So I was pleased for him. As a cantip, I'd love to see Scott Robertson in that role. I'd love to see what heon in that role. I'd love to see what he'd be capable of doing in there. But, you know, the decision has been clearly made

that Ian Foster, who they believe is the man, to lead them forward to that World Cup. And I think good for them, good for him. I hope it goes well. The thing I loved most of all was the All Blacks, and Artie Savi is the one for me that really stuck out. Before even all the press conferences, after that big win, they were saying, you know,

that's my coach, and they stand behind him, and I thought that was really cool. Yeah, that's nice. Yeah, you wouldn't find that loyalty in radio, would you? Absolutely not. The soulless backstabbing industry. You guys behind your back.

The Black Ferns as well, taking on Australia. This starts tomorrow. Of course, they've got the big World Cup later in the year. Very exciting. Wayne Smith coaching them as well. Tyler Nathan-Wong from the Sevens team

playing as well. Yeah, it's an exciting line-up. It's an exciting line-up and it's a really exciting build-up to that World Cup, which of course is happening in New Zealand. So it's been already thought about maybe for like a family Christmas present, getting some tickets to a game or something. Have a look because I don't know

why I say Christmas, but I'm pretty sure it's what are we in? We're close enough to Christmas. Yeah, but you're not giving me your Christmas presents in October, are you? Here's your Christmas present. No, I reckon you start early. That's the trick. You just start filtering the big ones out like that.

But they forget. They even get forgotten about at Christmas time. If I gave Jono a ticket to the Blackfriars, which would be great in October, by December he'd be like, well, where's my present? I'd be like, I gave it to you two months ago. Yeah, no, that's what you've got to do because then it actually saves you, I think, in the long run. Yeah, Laura McGoldrick, our sporting guru.

This is the one time of the week I allow Ben to talk about sport and I just sit here pretending I know what I'm on about. Do you like any sport, John? Look, I watch it.

I watch it. What are you watching? I've never heard anyone take so long to answer a question. Yeah, what are you watching? What was the last full game you watched

of something? Like full, not even, yeah. If it was on TV, I'll catch it. But not, oh, yeah, yeah, that's because I put it on the studio or something. Oh, last full game I watched. You don't go looking for it. I saw it yesterday. Ben put on the cricket on the TV.

It was a full game. What happened to the result? Did we win? Windies won, mate. Well done. He called them the Windies. Okay, okay. So did you have a check?

Were you good at the sport growing up, or what did you do growing up? Paul McEwan said if he applied himself, he would have been a bit better. Yeah. I was the same as you with tennis. My mum thought I was going to be, you know, Roger Federer or something, and I would turn up to tennis tournaments and get knocked out in the first round. Then knocked out in the plate round, and then they created a very special round for people like me.

What round was that? It was making sandwiches, wasn't it? Yeah, it was making toasted sandwiches round. And then I just ate toasted sandwiches for two weeks over the school holidays. There's a talent there. I like cheese and marmite, if you'd be so kind as to leave me one for later on, because they'd be great. I'll make you one.

Laura McGoldrick, what a legend. You're going to have a great weekend. Numeracy, literacy and idiocy. They've nailed one of those things. Jono and Ben on the hits. You're on the hits, Jono and Ben, on your Friday morning. I was on the phone yesterday, Jono, to the, it was like

insurance company. And after I got off the phone, my wife pulled me up on something. And this is something, as I probably, as I'll say it, I'll probably look like a bit of an idiot. I didn't know something. But I'll say it anyway, because I learnt something yesterday. So I was on the phone, as I'll say it, I'll probably look like a bit of an idiot. I didn't know something. But I'll say it anyway because I learned something yesterday. So I was on the phone, and I've done this many, many times on the phone before. It's a fun little thing I like to do because I thought this is what everyone else did.

So the lady was like, what's your name? I said, oh, Benjamin Boyce. And she said, can you spell it? And I said, yeah, it's Boyce. And then I went through, and what I like to do is I like to assign a word to a letter just off the spot. I was like, oh, it's B for Brazilian, O for obstetrician, Y for yeah boy. I'm trying to think of something. C for caplobacter and E for eggplant emoji.

You know, something like that. And I tried to try and come up with those on the spot. And she didn't say anything. She just went, oh, yeah, Boyce, and typed it in, and that was fine. Yeah, I was probably thinking it was pretty weird he went, why, for year, boy. But it's part of the fun of what you do. And then I got to the end of it, and my wife was like, what were you doing? And I was like, well, that's what people do.

I've heard people before go, you know, assign things on the phone. She's like, there's a whole – A for ass monkey and things like that. Well, yeah, she was like, well, there's a whole code. There's a phonetic code that they use. Pilots, travel industry, a lot of things. Oh, Alpha Bravo. Yeah, those are the things.

A for Alpha, B for Bravo, C for Charlie. I just thought people were saying C for Charlie because they're just coming up with something. But no, that's an actual thing. You didn't know about that? Ben's been going not off the phonetic code, the frenetic code, which is his trying to make up words

that attach themselves to letters. I kind of thought maybe it was kind of Alpha Bravo I've heard before, but otherwise I didn't know the other ones down the alphabet. I thought people must be just making things up. You know, the first word that pops into your head to do with that letter, but no, that's a whole code. It feels like the phonetic code too, because I'm looking at it online. It was just type Alpha Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet.

Yeah, because when people say J for Juliet, I was just like, oh, Charlie Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet. Yeah, because when people say J for Juliet, I'm just like, oh, I guess they're making it up. Or they're coming up with the first thing they think of. Maybe we should just all get better at spelling. If you're having to resort to going W for Whiskey. Is W Whiskey? Oh, yeah, it is too.

Q for Quebec. P for Papa. Because when they use it too, Like if I'm spelling boys For example Yeah what should I have done Instead of saying things like Yeah boy You should have gone

Bravo Oscar Yankee Charlie Echo Bravo Oscar Yankee Charlie Echo That's what I need to do in future But then I've got to remember This whole It's way more fun

With just doing it my way Just coming up with something That you think of You know It's like our game of word association we play every morning, but you're just doing letter association. Why don't you just go B-O-Y-C-E? I'm hearing that clearly in my ears.

How about you, Producer Joel? Yeah, but they might not be through a phone, to be fair, but it could be P. Was it a P, mate? Was it a P? No, no, it was clearly a B. G, did you say G? No, I was saying B. Oh, yeah, B. Was it B P? No, no, it was clearly a B. G, did you say G? No, I was saying B.

A B, was it B? Yeah. A B, O, I? B for Bustin'. Did you say? B, O, I? No. It was B for you're bustin' my balls here, buddy.

That is a hit. Check out John Owen Baird. Who's having the best weekend? Cheers to Karcher Window Vac. Clean any smooth surface like a champ. Yeah, we want to know who's having the best weekend. We do this every Friday, and for some reason we judge who's having the best weekend. We've got an amazing prize up for grabs.

Karcher Window Vac WV6+. Your windows will look amazing. It's worth $249. It looks incredible. Always got to clean your windows as they say they're the armpits of the house. Have they ever said they're the armpits of the house? I've never heard anyone say that. Yeah, no. I just did.

The windows, the armpits of the house. Kushla, now you claim to be having the best weekend and you want to clean the armpits of your house. Yes, please. Why are you having a good weekend, Kush? Okay. Okay. You win.

No, no, what are you doing? No, she wins. She wins. Come on, be fair. Be fair, Ben. She wins. Alright, wrap it up there. You want to wrap it up there? We can give it to Kushla. I'm happy. You want it? Why are you having a good weekend, Kush? It's my 60th birthday tomorrow.

You could have led with that. Yeah, that's incredible. Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. I thought that I wouldn't even get to 60 because of my ill health. Oh, ill health. What sort of ill health have you got? I nearly had kidney failure about four years ago.

Oh, sorry. My health is going down with chronic pain. I suffer with pain. Okay, well, you're making it very hard not to choose you right now. Yeah, I don't think we choose anyone. We're going to go through the process. No, we don't need to. We don't need to go through the process.

Neil. Neil. Why are you doing this? Now, Kush has had kidney failure. You want to go and steal a window vacuum off Kush. Why are you having the best weekend? It's my 28th wedding anniversary. That's a good one, too.

Everyone's having great weekends. That's a good one. How much do you love your partner? Very much. A lot. 28 years. Congratulations. What's the key?

What's the secret? What can we learn? Just say yes. Say yes. You both said yes 28 years ago. Saying yes ever since. Enjoy your weekend. Happy anniversary.

That's amazing. And we'll get Nicole on. You want to steal this window vac off a lady who's got kidney failure and a man who's celebrating 28 years of winning. Don't put it like that. She just wants to say she's having a good weekend. What is it there, Nicole? I'm up at Mount Hutt.

What are you doing? Snowboarding. That is a good weekend. Shredding, is that what they say? I'm still kind of semi-learning, so yeah, just standing up and not being on my ass. Shredding.

Ben, you just can't keep saying shredding over and over again. That's all I know, because it's so boring. Yeah, well, that is a good weekend. Yeah. Like, hmm, okay, let's get them all back on the phone. Don't get back. Back on the phone. Why do you do this?

Who is going to win this vacuum window vacuum? Take my headphones off. We have Kushla. Hello. 60 years old, didn't think she was going to make it. It's great to have you here, though, Kushla. Yes. Isn't it?

Neil, 28 years of beautiful wedded bliss. And Nicole, snowboarding. Amazing weekends for all of them. I'd like to have everyone's weekend. Yeah, I've been married 32 years. Kushla, you're getting the window back. She comes in, she puts the foot on the throat. I love it. Two years. Kusha, you're getting the window back. You're getting the window back. She comes in, she puts the foot on the throat.

I love it. Sweeps the leg. Well done, Kusha. We'll find something for everyone else as well. They're always getting listener compliments. You happy to be on the radio with your hero? So yes, yes. Jono and Ben on the hits.

Now, David Gray had a smash hit album. It was called White Ladder. It was 20 years ago. It had smash hits like Babylon. It was such a huge tune. As well as that, there was another huge hit, Sail Away. And David Gray's coming to New Zealand to perform the entire album live and other smash hits.

He's going to be in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch this November. Tickets from FrontierTouring.com. It was one of be in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch this November. Tickets from frontiertouring.com. It was one of the biggest charting albums in UK history. Seven million copies sold, three times platinum in New Zealand. Not bad for an album recorded entirely in his bedroom. And he's joining us over Zoom right now, David Gray.

I'm good, thanks. Yeah. Lovely to see you. You're sort of located in a hotel room there by the looks of it. Yeah, that's all. That's exactly it. Touring or things not going well at home?

I'm on tour. I'm in America. I'm in the thick of it, basically. I'm in Charlotte, North Carolina. Wow. Does it all become a blur when you're touring? Of course, yeah. It does, yeah.

I mean, I've probably barely been outside for like four or five weeks because basically all I do is go to the venue, do soundcheck, do a gig, get on the bus and then start again the next day. So it's a strange existence, a sort of almost subterranean existence at times. Yeah, it sounds luxurious the way you're explaining it there, David. Because I imagine, and this is no disrespect to any musicians, but it's your schedule and your life. You must have to sometimes on stage remind yourself what city you're actually in and who you're talking to. Yeah, that's right. I mean, you can get confused. I think when we were younger, we used to party all the time. And then you really do get confused.

You don't know who you are. You don't know who they are. Now, of course, the album that you are touring, you're playing it in full. You know, there's such an amazing story behind that album. Some 22 years ago, recorded in your bedroom. You're probably sick of talking about this, but, you know, pretty incredible. In your bedroom, and you can hear traffic noise in one of the songs, Babylon, as well. That's right. Yeah, well, I'd had a few goes you know I'd made a few records it hadn't worked and the way that the

industry works is you've had a go if it hasn't worked then it won't work so no one really wanted to weigh in it didn't matter how good the songs were coming out so we had to do it ourselves and not only make it ourselves and record it in a bedroom I mean you can do that these days the tech is there. So we didn't have very much equipment, barely any, but that ended up making us more creative with what we did have. So it became a defining characteristic. I still think it sounds just as sweet as it did back then.

And the bloody council doing roadworks, though. That's unfortunate timing. You can always rely on Hackney Council. Luckily, they always stop working about 2.30 in the afternoon. They work strange to the half day. Maximum disruption, that's their policy.

When they weren't working, we could get on with our work. Very funny. Now, I understand this was like your last ditch, the album. What was David Gray's backup plan? If the album didn't work, what would you be doing now? Yeah, great question. What was David Gray's backup plan if the album didn't work? What would you be doing now?

Yeah, great question. You've heard of that Chippendales, haven't you? I thought maybe, you know. What, the dancers? I'd sign up for something like that. I'd start working on my packs. That's what I thought I'd do. Well, it would have been a great career.

You've had a great career, though. Now, you're coming back to New Zealand. Of course, we are excited. The White Ladder 20th Anniversary Tour At Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch New Zealanders, we love the album Went three times platinum Do you think because we love sailing

I mean the song Sail Away I mean what do you think What the connection to New Zealand was? Sail Away has proved to be a really massive song I mean I love sailing I'm not a very good sailor But I do love to get out on the water Have you gone out in New Zealand?

Have you gone out sailing in New Zealand? I have been out on a boat with a mad dolphin spotter who was some kind of neo-Nazi. That was years ago. He was determined to re-educate the public that dolphins are actually nastier than sharks. Really? Killers of the sea.

Killers of the sea. Was that in New Zealand? Yeah, it was a whale-watching expedition. Oh, sorry. It's our famous fleet of neo-Nazi... He was a true racist. There were quite a few Japanese guests on his boat and he was utterly derogatory to them throughout.

I'm sorry to hear that. That was... So I have been out on the water that time at least, maybe one more time. Oh, David Gray, it's been so lovely chatting to you. Congratulations on such an amazing career. And we're very excited to have you back in New Zealand later in the year.

Thank you for your time and good luck with the rest of the tour. It's my pleasure. And we're all very much looking forward to coming down. I mean, it has been very special so far so um uh it's not that far away now just a few months and we'll be on your shores all right we'll charter that neo-nazi neo-nazi sailboat we'll get you out of that guy the guy was a lunatic killers of the sea that was his he should have had t-shirts made with killers of the sea and

dolphins who has anyway we're sorry about that. We'll make things right when you come to New Zealand. It's not your fault. They're everywhere, unfortunately. Thanks, David. Okay, then. The Hits. For more podcasts from The Hits Network,

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