Richard Hawley Slates Radio

Sheffield troubadour Richard Hawley has spoken about being played on the radio, admitting that he longs for the days of John Peel.

Richard Hawley is a true original. Beginning his career as a guitarist Hawley performed with Pulp and The Longpigs before going solo. Taking his inspiration from pre rock 'n' roll styles, the singer's languid croon recently hit the Top Ten.

A big factor in Richard Hawley's emergence as a commercial phenomenon has been the use of his music in an advert by ice cream firm Haagen Dazs. Speaking at a debate in Hallam University last night, the singer joked about his brush with fame.

"I have issues with the whole corporate thing. But when I found out I'd get two years worth of free ice cream, our lass said, 'You're doing it!'. I stopped it after a year, though, as I didn't want her to have to be airlifted out of the house!"

Continuing, Richard Hawley claimed that the increasing song length on recent album 'Truelove's Gutter' meant that he struggled to find a firm who would take him. "Häagen-Dazs is the only fucking thing I could get played on!" he said.

"The radio, these days, is being used against us – it's music to wash the cars to. No spiritual depth" the NME reports.

"It's creative fascism, the kids these days are being told they should only write songs that are two-and-a-half minutes. I'm from the John Peel generation, so my response was to say 'Fuck off' and think, 'I'll make a single that's ten minutes long'."

Richard Hawley's previous employers Pulp, of course, famously hold the record for the longest gap between Peel sessions.