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The Ian Danter Q&A Interview
Exclusive to talkSPORT1089.co.uk

Sunday will never be the same again on 100.7 Heart FM, now that Ian
Danter and all of his special guests have arrived. One minute, Des
Lynam's wooing the housewives with a revealing excerpt from his diary,
the next Ozzy Osbourne's popping in for a long chat and then maybe you'll
hear from Billy Connolly or David O' Leary or Bruce Forsyth.

You think you've heard the name Ian Danter somewhere before. You might
have seen it emblazoned across a talking Breville Kettle or toaster in the
shops, as Ian provided all the voices for a range of kitchen appliances.

He's worked on local radio stations in Birmingham since 1997 before
arriving at Heart FM, and you can also find him on your telly, presenting on
one of Redditch-based Factory Outlet's 3 shopping channels as well as
West Midlands Reporter on talkSPORT's Football First & Evening Kick-Off.

Busy boy then, and yet he still finds time to play drums in a KISS tribute band
called Hotter Than Hell, complete with greasepaint and wig! No, we don't
know why either...proves he's got a sense of humour, perhaps!

You have been in the media for a number of years, working for both television and radio stations along the way. What did you do before you got into the media?
Well, from my early teens onwards I'd had delusions of grandeur about being a rock star. I started on the drums at 10 years old and had convinced myself by the age of 15 that I was going to make it, and despite forming bands with crass names like Minotaur and Tequila, I didn't stand a hope really.

Anyway, during the time spent from my teens to late twenties, I worked first in a bank surrounded by man-hating divorcees (that lasted less than a year) and then a far longer career as a guitar shop salesman in Birmingham. I spent many happy years at Musical Exchanges guitar shop in the city centre, and met the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Tony Iommi (of Black Sabbath fame) and Roy "Chubby" Brown to name but three!

You worked for Capital before joining talkSPORT. Describe what you have done in radio prior to you joining the station. Where did you work and what were your roles at those stations?
My first break in radio came courtesy of my best friend Keith. He wrote a letter to BRMB/XTRA-AM's Tom Ross in early 1997 praising my abilities as a football impressionist and mimic. Tom got in touch with me, and I was asked to write a 4-minute topical football sketch to be broadcast on the Saturday afternoon Sportstime show on XTRA-AM. Although I only expected to do one or two, I ended up doing a skit every other week! About 9 months later, Tom introduced me to Paul Jackson, who promptly offered me the job as Flying Eye travel reporter on the Les Ross Breakfast Show. I took the job, of course and then spent the next 2 years hovering 1500ft over Brum giving out the news on the queues, sometimes as John Motson or Billy Connolly!

That led to me getting my own show, called The Barmy Brummies, in 1999 which quickly became established as BRMB's drivetime show for the next 2 and a half years. My two fellow barmy blokes and I wrote fresh comedy sketches and parody songs every day for the show - hard bloody work, but it was worth it. The bosses said at one point our show had 48% of the available audience in Birmingham!

In amongst all this, Tom Ross started offering me work as a football reporter for what had by now become Capital Gold. I did match reports for about 2 years before I became the number 2 commentator in 2003/04.

How did you first get onto the talkSPORT airwaves?
During the 2003/04 season, it became apparent that the Capital Radio Group was dropping live sport from all their stations. So when the summer of 2004 rolled around, I really had no idea what to do next. Then I had a call from talkSPORT asking me if I could submit a showreel, and I subsequently found out that talkSPORT man Nigel Pearson had put in more than a good word for me as we had worked together at XTRA-AM some years before and have remained good pals in the press box since he joined talkSPORT. And so, despite the guys at talkSPORT receiving my showreel, they still elected to employ me!

What other work do you currently do outside of talkSPORT?
I have a Sunday radio show on 100.7 Heart FM in the Midlands called the Sunday Carve-Up. It's essentially the same kind of show that the Barmy Brummies was; only it's once a week rather than daily. Aside from that, I also work as a presenter on Snatch It TV, a shopping channel you can find on Sky Digital channel 646. It's a brilliant place to work, and not at all like the sort of shopping channel you saw on Bridget Jones' Diary!

Are you friends with any of the people that you have worked with, either at talkSPORT or in radio in general? Do you know any sports personalities?
At talkSPORT, as I mentioned above, I'm good friends with Nigel Pearson, plus I'm also well acquainted with Jim Proudfoot who was another Capital Gold Birmingham commentator who I got to know well, in fact, Jim and I went to the same school in Solihull, though Jim will be at pains to point out that he's much younger than I am! I play tennis with Sky Sports Ian Crocker most weeks and he's a good buddy, even if he does beat me 90% of the time. In terms of sports stars, I can only go by whose phone numbers I have in my mobile, that leaves me with former Walsall keeper Jimmy Walker who is now at West Ham United. Such a likeable bloke, a great keeper and one of those guys you see in football who you just wish nothing but the best for.

Being a reporter for, firstly one of the biggest local commercial radio stations in Britain, and now for the UK's sports radio station must give you the chance to talk to some big name sportsmen. Who's the biggest name you've interviewed, who was your favourite to interview and why?
For me, interviewing Trevor Francis for the first time was something I just had to ring my dad about. Here's a bloke who I watched from the Tilton Kop corner at St Andrews from 1974-79, scoring incredible goals with a turn of pace that would frighten any defender, and he's talking to me about his team selection for a cup game. He's the biggest name for me, no question. People don't actually realise that Trevor has a very wry sense of humour. For example, he was set to be the guest at a Capital Gold forum with Tom Ross and had turned up on the night feeling a bit poorly. He knew that I did an impression of him on my show, and so when he saw me, quick as a flash, he quipped "Get out there and be me for 2 hours would you?"

My favourite interviews were the ones I did on the Birmingham City open-top bus parade to celebrate their Play-Off win in 2002. Lots of great stories from management, board and players about the day at Cardiff and what it all meant. It was a very emotional day indeed for a club that had spent 16 years in the doldrums.

You have only very recently joined the talkSPORT team, making your debut on the station in the past month. What kind of things are you looking forward to being able to do as part of the UK's sports station?
I don't know really. I guess my thing would be to try to broaden my knowledge of clubs that I haven't seen all that much here in the Midlands (Coventry, Forest, Stoke), seeing as all of my career up to this point has centred around Birmingham, Villa, West Brom, Wolves and Walsall.

talkSPORT have arguably the best team of sports reporters on the radio. How did it feel to be asked to be part of this team?
Well of course, it's a real privilege to have any sort of job as a football reporter on the radio, but to be asked to contribute to a national station with such excellent reporters as Dom McGuinness, Chris Cooper, Andy Clarke, Graham Courtney…oh, all right, and Nigel Pearson, I suppose, is a great honour. I just hope I do  justice.

You have joined the station from 1152am Capital Gold Birmingham. How tough was it to make the decision to leave Capital Gold? Were you sad to leave the Sportstime team?
Well, due to my job on Heart FM, which started back in January 2004, the decision not to be on Capital Gold was really made for me when I moved stations. I stayed at Capital Gold until the end of April to help them out with commentaries, but it was pretty clear to me that it would be very hard to continue working for the Capital Group and the Chrysalis Group at the same time, so that was that, really. It was a good team to be a part of, and I felt I made a good contribution whilst I was there.

After your predecessor Mark Regan joined BBC WM at the start of the 2003/04 season, you were promoted to the position of Capital Gold's number 2 football commentator alongside the likes of Kevan Broadhurst, Ian Clarkson and Ian Atkins. What was it like working with these guys, and which were the most memorable matches that you covered for Capital Gold? Do you have any favourite moments from your spell as part of the Sportstime team?
The three guys you mentioned are all exceptionally good at summarising the game and it was a real pleasure to have them around. Having worked mostly with Kevan during that last season, it's not hard to see why Bristol Rovers have started the season so well. It should always be that the commentator tells you what's happening and the pundit tells you why. I've yet to hear anyone who can put his point across in 10/15 seconds as well as Kevan can. I became a better student of the game with him sitting beside me pointing things out that I simply wouldn't have spotted on my own. I only worked with Ian Atkins a couple of times, but exactly the same thing struck me about him too. They must be a great team together on the training pitch for the Rovers players.

Memorable matches? Right, let's think…West Ham 3 West Brom 4 from 2003/04 immediately springs to mind. Amazing comeback from the Baggies - Tony Brown was my co-commentator that day and we were still talking about the game 3 weeks later at the Hawthorns. If I remember rightly, my voice found a whole new octave when Lee Hughes scored the winner late on!!! Baggies fans have told me how much they enjoyed the coverage we brought them from Upton Park that day and that's the main thing - you're lucky if you see games like that once or maybe twice in your life.

There was also a game at Pride Park in the spring of 2004 where Walsall were looking to get points to stay in Division 1. With the score at 0-0 in a tense game with Derby (themselves in trouble at the bottom), Walsall won themselves a penalty with a minute to go. As I was commentating in excited tones for the benefit of our Walsall listeners, a Derby fan directly in front of me in the stand whirled round to face me and hurled dog's abuse at me right down my microphone (the listeners back at home must have heard it - it was filth!) I looked to my left for moral support from Ian Atkins, and there he is, edging away from the commentary position, leaving me one on one with the idiot fan! Thankfully, a steward hauled the nutter out, but I'll never forget the look of fear frozen on Akker's face - so much for the hard man centre-half of days gone by!

This season, will you miss commentating on games week in, week out? Also, do you plan to keep in touch with any of your colleagues from the Sportstime team?
I will miss the regular commentaries, but really I'm just grateful to have a position in the football media, particularly as there are less and less reporting jobs available, what with Capital Radio's axing of football.

As you joined talkSPORT, the station obtained the rights to broadcast Arsenal and Chelsea games in the Premiership on its 1089am frequency in the London region. However, on many occasions it appears that both talkSPORT's main match commentators, Jim Proudfoot and Graham Beecroft, will be unavailable. Would you like to be a commentator with the station, and if so, do you see this as an opportunity for you to become one this season?
Do you know, I think I'd be somewhere near the bottom of their list for commentators to call upon! After all, there's the excellent Chris Cooper who's done games for them before. I won't hold my breath for a call,  that's not to say I wouldn't love to do it, though! I'd certainly give it my very best shot if asked.

Now that you are broadcasting to a national audience as opposed to a Midlands one, have you had to change your approach in any way? If so, how hard was it to do so?
You're right. I have had to adjust and be less partizan towards one club as was the policy at Capital Gold. My first game for talkSPORT helped, though: it was Crewe v. Cardiff, and as I have no allegiance to either club it was the perfect chance for me to report in a more balanced manner. I'm getting used to the idea, though I have quite some way to go before I'm up to the standards of the other talkSPORT guys we mentioned earlier!

Not only are you a sports broadcaster, but you have also built up a reputation as a top music radio DJ. Your big break as a presenter came on BRMB's Barmy Brummies show. This programme was quickly moved from an initial weekend overnight slot in late 1999 to a number of more prominent positions in the schedules, with it ending up as BRMB's drivetime show by April 2000. What did you make to you and the shows meteoric rise, and how much of a success do you feel the Barmy Brummies was? How proud are you to have been such an integral part of its run?
The whole development of that show was very gradual. We started the idea when I was on Saturday into Sunday overnights on BRMB. I enlisted my good friend Steve Beebee and his friend Lisa Tolfts to co-present and just throw ideas around. Lisa was only with us for a couple of weeks, but Steve and I developed a good on-air banter and started writing comedy sketches and gags based on the news events of that week.

Before we knew it, we'd been promoted to Saturday breakfast (9:00am-12:00pm) and were developing quite an audience, as it turned out. So much so that Paul Jackson took the brave step of giving two very inexperienced presenters the BRMB drivetime show in early 2000. Steve didn't really take to the daily aspect of it all and decided to go back to journalism not long after, but we enlisted a couple of writers in Sean Percival and Andy Robinson, who really became the driving force behind the show's growth.

I have to say at this point that it was hard bloody work. We'd write, perform and produce 9 or 10 fresh comedy items every weekday, either in sketch or song form, and that meant starting at 9:00am in the morning to write, followed by 2-3 hours of recording sketches and songs from about midday onwards. Quite often we were literally editing sketches for broadcast right up to 4pm when we were due on the air, but it was really gratifying when we got calls and e-mails from listeners saying how much they laughed at something we'd done. That's what makes that feeling of pride swell up in your chest - when the listeners give you the thumbs up for all that hard graft you put in. Nobody else on the radio was doing what we were doing and that was exciting too. I still get people coming up to me and asking me about certain parody songs that we did, like Des Lynam singing Craig David's "7 Days" about his apparent lust for Gabby Yorath - very silly - but memorable, apparently!

In the summer of 2002, after over two years in the station's drivetime slot, you and The Barmy Brummies programme were surprisingly dropped from the BRMB schedule. How did you feel at the time about that decision, and looking back on it, have your thoughts changed?
I certainly didn't see it coming, and it seemed they couldn't get rid of me fast enough. I was told on the Monday (the same day the buses in Brum had my replacement show's advert splashed all over their sides - we were the last to be told!) and we were gone by the Friday, although I got given 3 different reasons from 3 different people in management about why we'd been canned. It was a very confusing and irritating time in my life, where I simply couldn't get a straight answer out of anybody. I was promised a new weekend show that never materialised, and was basically strung along over the whole summer with the pretence that I still had a future with them when, apart from the football work, I quite patently did not.

Looking back on it now, it's just one of those things, I guess. We never seemed to get any appreciation from those in management at that time about the long hours we all put in to make the show work, develop and build an audience (which it had), so the thought of them wanting to get shot of us shouldn't have been such a surprise! You could always ask the BRMB Birmingham management for their reasons.

What are your original Barmy Brummies co-host Steve Beebee and the shows writers Sean Percival and Andy Robinson doing now? Do you still keep in touch with any of the team?
Well, Steve, as I'd mentioned a little earlier, is working as a journalist for the National Youth Association in Leicester whilst still writing articles for Kerrang! Magazine. Andy is a brilliant stand-up comic and an excellent musician to boot. In fact when he wanted to put a stand-up comedy music show together, he enlisted me to play drums for him. I ended up playing at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2003. As for Sean, he's also a fantastic stand-up compere and performer, but - well, see below…

You are the presenter of Heart FM's Sunday Carve-Up show, which can be heard between 12:00pm-3:00pm on Sunday afternoons in the Birmingham area. How long have you been presenting that show, and what kind of format does it have? How do the things that you are doing on The Sunday Carve-Up differ to those you did on The Barmy Brummies?
We've been on Heart FM since the first week in January, and now it's just Sean and I who are responsible for the writing and performing. In essence, it's not that dissimilar to what the Barmy Brummies was in its concept, but we can now, for example, take a lot more time putting our famous parody songs together to make them sound even more authentic! I record all the music myself at my home studio, and I'm fairly hard on myself when it comes to musical accuracy, but the results can be spectacularly good!

We also like to stage mock interviews during the show these days, like when I'll have a chat with Ozzy Osbourne or David O'Leary about something, when it's really me doing an impression - we just record it prior to the show and make it sound like there's two people in the room rather than just me trying to do two voices at once live, which would be tough! It's been great fun doing the show (it's a great working atmosphere at Heart), and the listening figures have increased massively, which is a real feather in our cap. Actually, we got nominated for an NTL Commercial Radio Award this year in the "Best Programme or Feature" section - we didn't win, but it was a nice bit of beef we had at the awards ceremony!

Occasionally over the past few years, you have worked outside the Midlands area, as a football reporter for one of the other stations in the Capital Radio Group, 105.4 Century FM. How did you get into this role, and what was it like to work with the former ITV football presenter Elton Welsby?
I got the occasional Century game thanks to David Heane, the sports producer there who was formerly at BRMB/Capital Gold and knew me from those times. I never got to meet Elton Welsby, but his presentation style was really smooth and professional. I seem to remember he was very courteous on the air and always asked your opinion, which I wasn't used to at that time!

You have also done some TV work for a number of regional cable channels and are known for your impressions. What have you done in TV, and would you like to become a TV sports reporter or work in television in general in the future?
You can see me on Snatch It TV during the week. It's a very entertaining shopping channel, which encourages its presenters to be creative with their approach to on-air presentation, and I love it there. Just like Heart FM and talkSPORT, it's a great place to go to work. In terms of the future, I honestly have no plans for anything. If you'd had said to me in 2002 that I'd be on the telly, on Heart FM and on talkSPORT all at the same time, I would have called you Mad Jack McMad the Mad, winner of the Mr Mad competition in Mad-town.

On leaving Capital Gold , you have joined an illustrious list of former employees there, including the likes of George Gavin, Ian Crocker, Ian and Mark Bolton and your talkSPORT colleagues Jim Proudfoot and Nigel Pearson, with all of you having moved on to become national sports broadcasters. What do you think have been the main reasons why the station has produced so many top broadcasting talents over the past 15 years?
Well firstly, thanks for implying that I'm on the same list as the likes of Crocker and Jim! I think one of the main reasons is that there was a time when the Capital Radio Group had an enormous passion for football. Richard Park was the driving force behind Capital's decision to buy exclusive rights around the country for its stations, and that meant that for 10 years, XTRA-AM/Capital Gold and BRMB held the whip hand when it came to Aston Villa, Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion. That in itself would attract broadcasters to the station, just as Arsenal and West Ham rights attracted the likes of Jonathan Pearce and Bill Leslie.

Let's not forget also that I grew up in 1970's Birmingham listening to Tony Butler on BRMB, who was the original football phone-in host. Don't let anybody tell you different,  Butler was the trailblazer for opinionated football debate on the radio, so BRMB had a football heritage long before Capital's involvement. Certainly though, in the 90's, it was a real purple patch with George Gavin, Tom Ross, Ian Crocker on the one station, and I was lucky enough to be at the tail end of all that combined professionalism.

One man who has not moved on to a national platform despite his work on Capital Gold is the stations long-time Sportstime presenter, number 1 football commentator and Breakfast Show host Tom Ross. What was it like to work with Tom, and why do you think he has stuck with the station for so long, rather than deciding to move elsewhere?
Tom gave me my break in radio, for which I shall always be in his debt. He'll tell you himself that he's a hard taskmaster, he was never interested in hearing excuses for anything. He wanted the best, and the listening figures over the years proved beyond all doubt that his philosophy worked like a charm. He commentates with the sort of passion that fans really can relate to, but I used to enjoy working with him as a commentator when he was summarising next to me. Again, like Broadhurst, he could spot things that weren't obvious during the game, and his quick fire wit and turn of phrase always made one of his games essential listening.

In answer to the second part of your question, I'll bet you any money that Tom's had loads of offers to move elsewhere, but in my opinion, he just loves the city of Birmingham - his city, as he likes to call it. He's never been shy to deride the output of what he calls the "Boring Broadcasting Corporation", so I can't see him moving there ever!!! I tell you, though; you ought to see the incredible respect he commands from everybody in Midlands football. He's spent 30 years building relationships with all the clubs here and they are relationships that run very deep to this day and beyond. A true legend.

As somewhat of a victim of the decision itself, what are your thoughts on the Capital Radio Group's decision for most of their stations to drop all live football commentaries as of this season?
If Richard Park was still at the Capital helm, then that decision would simply never have been taken ever. I guess though, that the station created the bidding war for football rights over a decade ago, and now it's lost its place in the market due to what they created, very ironic. Of course, it does mean that the BBC is in an enviable position, especially here in the Midlands, but them's the breaks!

Having said that, I grew up in an era when there was little or no live football on TV or radio, so the lack of availability now doesn't hurt me as a listener too much. Maybe it would be nice if there was still a choice of listening on matchdays, but maybe that's gone now - at least in the Midlands.

During your radio career, you have been a music presenter, football commentator and reporter. Which is the best position to be in and why?
An almost impossible question to answer! The comedy show is the one that gives me the greatest pleasure due to the amount of time I spend working on it with Sean. We recorded a version of The Streets "Dry Your Eyes" for the show recently, and the response was so overwhelming. It just feels brilliant to be a part of that.

Even so, I love getting paid for going to watch football matches. All the guys in the football media are good fun and the banter in the press room at games always puts a smile on my face. It always makes me chuckle when I see the same journalists who so joyfully printed Roy Keane's remarks about the "prawn sandwich" brigade at football matches, diving head first at the plate of sandwiches in the press room at half time, grabbing huge handfuls of the bloody things. You're lucky if there's a cheese and pickle left…

You are, of course, a huge Birmingham City fan. How do you think Blues will do this season? Also, do you foresee the club holding on to its highly rated manager Steve Bruce?
Well, as I type this, I hear that Mr Souness is on his way to Newcastle (Monday 6th September) so thankfully Steve will be with Blues for some time to come. The transformation he has made to my club in 2 years is little short of astounding. There's every chance that he could be the man to win us our first major trophy since the old regional League Cup in the 60's, although the fact that we're merely in the Premiership has already afforded him legendary status amongst Blues fans. This season, I'd personally love to see us stay in the top half of the table, maybe push for 6th place, but certainly get ourselves up for the cup (either one!). From what I've seen of them for talkSPORT this season, they should certainly kick on from last season's 10th place - Julian Gray is an excellent free transfer signing, by the way.

As one of talkSPORT's West Midlands football correspondents, how do you think the other local teams you cover, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Coventry City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Walsall - will do in their respective divisions this season?
Villa have a great first team but lack depth squad-wise, especially in central midfield, but they'll be up there in the top half with Blues. The Baggies have to hope that Robert Earnshaw can add control to his game to go with that searing pace - if he does, then they are far better placed for survival than they were 2 seasons ago.

Wolves looked desperately short on confidence and players when I watched them play Leicester a week ago. I wonder if their new Korean striker (shan't attempt to spell his name!) will be the catalyst - Henri Camara's agent should get the birch for his behaviour in the summer, though - unacceptable attitude towards a club that stuck by him when he wasn't scoring goals. Coventry interest me as a possible play-off contender, despite losing Callum Davenport. They need to get up there with that new stadium in Foleshill to move to next summer, and they may well get there with a bit of Reidy's luck.

I have a real soft spot for Walsall, as most fans in the Midlands do, and I'm gutted for them that they went down on goal difference last season. They're the club I've commentated on most aside from the Albion, and I fear they won't be able to bounce back at the first attempt without Jimmy Walker in goal and Paul Ritchie at the back. I'll always look out for their results, though, and hope Merse can prove me wrong this term. 

What did you think of England's performance at Euro 2004 in Portugal, and what did you make of the tournament as a whole?
One-dimensional is the phrase that springs to mind when it comes to England in Portugal. There must be an awful lot of unimaginative coaching going on with our talented squad if Rooney is our only hope of something to unlock defences. The answer to the left-sided problems we had at Euro 2004 was sitting on his backside at home - Villa's Gareth Barry. Should have been picked years ago, and I bet he's wondering if his chance of international football has gone before he's reached 25 - unbelievable!

I enjoyed the tournament as a whole - the Czech Republic v Holland game was a classic, right up there with France/Portugal in the 1984 Euro's. The fact that Russia were so awful just wound me up even more that they were there and not Wales. Oh well…

Do you think England stand a chance of winning the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and is Sven Goran Eriksson the right man to guide them to the tournament?
Like I said before, let's have a bit more imagination and free thinking when it comes to coaching our players, and we might stand a chance in Germany. Is Sven the man? Well, I've always deplored the rampant xenophobia that's accompanied him since he took the job and hoped that he could stick it up the narrow-minded hacks, but unless he frees his mind tactically, then I fear he'll never get that chance to stick two fingers up. If we could make England's style as sexy as women appear to find Sven with his smouldering good looks, then who knows?!?

What's the best sporting moment you have been at and why?
Two events spring to mind. The first and most obvious given my allegiance was the Blues v Norwich Play-Off Final in 2002 at Cardiff. The roof was shut, the atmosphere so tense you felt physically sick, and then the further gut-wrench of penalties. I was touchline reporter for BRMB that day and being on the pitch interviewing the players at the end (when I shouldn't have been on there at all with no pass!) was an incredible experience.

I must also mention the 1999 Cricket World Cup semi-final between Australia and South Africa at Edgbaston. Me and my old man got tickets and sat amongst the fans of both countries and witnessed the most heart-stopping finish ever in one-day cricket. Lance Kluesener needed something like 13 runs off the last over to win it for South Africa with only 1 wicket standing. He proceeded to bladder three 4's in successive balls to tie the game and then Alan Donald got run out off the next ball, meaning Australia won. Dad and I were sat there open-mouthed. It was a real privilege to have been there to see it live, and watching it back on the TV when they show it on Sky Sports Classics still brings a lump to my throat.

Who were your idols as a child?
My idols were undoubtedly KISS, the American Glam Rock band, who are still going in 2004, 31 years after they formed. I loved everything about them - the music, the image, the escapism - still do love them as it goes. So much so in fact, that I'm the drummer in Hotter Than Hell, Europe's Number 1 tribute to KISS. I absolutely love playing their songs. It's a great show as well.

Who's the most famous person you have in your mobile phone/address book?
I've got Jasper Carrott's number in there somewhere, but he's probably changed it to keep me at arms length! I worked with him a few years ago, and he was wonderfully supportive of my work as an impressionist and mimic. I owe him loads for all his encouragement.

What was the last CD you bought, and which CD's are in your car?
In my car, I've got Keane's "Hopes and Fears" album, which I like a lot, along with an Aerosmith live album called "A Little South Of Sanity", which is terrific driving music. The last CD I bought would be the new one from Soulwax, whose last album was a cracker, so I'm hoping this one follows suit.

What was the last film you saw at the cinema - and what did you think of it? Have you seen any other films you would like to recommend to the talkSPORT listeners?
Me and the better half saw I Robot last month, which is quite a good sci-fi flick. Trouble is, she never seems to want to go and watch comedies, so I'll have to go and see Dodgeball on my own, as the trailers I saw for that had me laughing out loud - and it's normally only The Simpsons that can make me do that… 

What books are you currently reading, and are there any that you have recently read that you would like to recommend to the talkSPORT listeners?
I do like James Patterson novels, particularly his Alex Cross detective books, like Along Came A Spider. He's the best writer for creating tension that stops you putting the bloody thing down!!!

Finally, as a music radio DJ with XTRA-AM, BRMB and now Heart FM, what kind of music did and do you play on your shows, and do you actually like the records that you have to play? Have you ever been allowed to play any records by the KISS tribute band you are in, Hotter Than Hell?
People think that, because I'm supposed to be "just a rocker", I can't appreciate or enjoy pop music. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just last week I played the new Sugababes record on my show and really liked the melody and the production on it. A good song is a good song, regardless of genre, and the stations I've worked for have, by and large, given me good pop music to play. Nowadays at Heart, they'll throw in a classic like "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire and follow that with Keane, which I can't argue with at all!!

If it was up to me, though, I'd ban all records with "vocal gymnastics" all over 'em. I'm talking to you, Ms Aguilera and Ms Carey. Put some clothes back on and sing properly like you know you can. Actually, I defy anybody to listen to anything Mariah Carey's recorded since her divorce and tell me what on earth she's singing about - as Alan Partridge would say, "That's just a noise…"

As for playing Kiss records on the radio, I've never been given the chance; more's the pity. I'd love to educate the UK on the true majestic brilliance of "Detroit Rock City" or the unerringly catchy nature of "Shout It Out Loud", but I can't see it happening. Perhaps I could launch a new station - talkKISS!

UPDATE: Ian is now in the Kiss Tribute Band: Dressed to Kill as he left Hotter than Hell in 2005.

Thanks to Ian Danter for the chance to interview him. You can hear Ian on Football First with Adrian Durham on Saturday from 12:00pm and weekdays on Evening Kick-Off from 7:00pm on talkSPORT.

The Ian Danter Q&A Interview
Football First & Evening Kick-Off
September 2004