It took a couple of accidental listens to Danny Wallace’s morning radio slot on XFM to gain any real appreciation for it, but he’s won us over in the end. Though skepticism about breakfast radio in general, thanks to the likes of Moyles’ tonker-achingly atrocious show, stood in his way, the charm, whimsy, whit, intelligence and good musical decision making that dominates his show crept through inch by spiky-haired inch (you lofty little Mr Majica/Tintin hybrid tinker Wallace).
The influence of great radio heritage from the likes of Iannucci, Morris, Coogan, Lee and maybe early Baker (Danny, not Sheryl) seep through every now and again, which is a genuine comfort to hear. You worry sometimes that all radio DJs outside of BBC 6 Music and Radio 4 are dead hicks, so finding one that you can genuinely warm to is a pretty good thing.
There’s a loving condescension to chats with the every day public like you and I that strikes a good balance for the show and builds a good level of superiority for Wallace. However, this is overshadowed, rightfully so, by his dedication to playing good music, as opposed to following some list of shet that someone behind the scenes often pulls the levers for where radio is concerned.
Danny Wallace kicks off his morning show every day on XFM weekdays from 6.30am to 10am, and if you haven’t got anything better to do, it’s well worth a listen. He’s got a Podcast too, which is available on iTunes, but without the music it’s not quite as good. All we’re saying is… the worst thing that happened today was the radio losing reception half way through Helter Skelter, which Wallace had dropped brilliantly at around 7ish this morning. Imagine that ever happening on 1?
While the downside of XFM is that on the whole it condones a spirit of laddy indie rock that can be as derisory as anything you might hear on BBC’s prime channel of the radio waves, the upside is that Danny Wallace definitely bucks the trend on his morning show.
However, sadly he’s no longer with XFM London as he announced that he’d be leaving the channel, but it was definitely good while it lasted. If you ever find yourself missing the sound of Danny Wallace’s voice now that he’s no longer the XFM radio DJ he was, we’ve recently discovered that he can be heard as the geeky science historian and modern day assassin, Shaun Hastings, in Assassins Creed 3.
Danny Wallace XFM morning radio show review: 4.5/5
