Tonight we have something different on the Steve Zacharanda Radio Show.

Everyone’s favourite comedy sidekick and his Sikh sack of songs Guro will not be in attendance.

Which normally would signal a no-show of the show - after all if I’ve got no-one to borrow money off or buy me a pint then there is no point doing the show.

However, as Mr Thandi gave us forewarning of his well earned rest in Cyprus we have decided, well Kevin the Producer actually told me, to get a replacement.

And what a replacement I’ve found. A true legend in Birmingham boozing and music circles – Ozzy.

The man loves his music and lived through punk, ska, new wave, reggae revival, acid house and rave in  that magical period of music from the 1970s until the 1990s.   

I first met Ozzy in the Little Crown, Perry Barr, in the early 1990s and in a place of hardmen, gangsters and god knows who else Ozzy was always great with the long haired student div in the corner who could nurse a bottle of Diamond Blush for 5 hours so he could talk shit with his mates. And Ozzy didn’t have to be nice, but he was.

Often he would be on the decks playing an incredible selection of music which seemed to span decades and I learnt a lot about music listening to his various sets.

Obviously town had came calling and Ozzy DJ’d all over the place up town including the legendary house nights at Snobs.

But it was always those lazy days and crazy nights in the Little Crown that I remember because he could mix it up so much whereas  so often in clubs they would demand one style of music.

Ozzy this week said: “That’s why I stopped playing live up town because there would be always idiots coming up requesting stuff and telling me what to play and only wanting current songs.

“That is why I am doing the Steve Zacharanda Radio Show, I have been allowed to pick what songs I want to play and with my collection let’s just say it was near enough impossible.”

He added: “I just hope I can get out the studio without Steve tapping £20 off me, Gurdo might be a soft touch but I aint.”

Tune into the Steve Zacharanda Radio Show tonight at 8pm on www.scratchradio.co.uk or download the Scratch Radio app on your posh phone.   

AS a kid growing up in Perry Barr in the early 1980s it was rare to see Birmingham in the news except for riots or Rover being rubbish.

However, a group of teenagers from Handsworth changed that for the sun kissed Summer of 1982 when Brummies Musical Youth gatecrashed the charts across the world with Pass the Dutchie.

Despite only six the boys from the hood captured my imagination and my heart burst with pride when they appeared on Blue Peter and Top of the Pops.

Even now when I hear those beautiful words Dis Generation Rules The Nation I get a little tingle down the spine and I get transported back to a long gone Perry Barr of breakdance mats, ghettoblasters and video games in chip shops.

I’ve also rediscovered the song through the medium of karaoke, not that easy to sing but it is in my karaoke locker never the less.

Bands, like lovers, disappear in the mists of time and only reappear in the mind when a song is played and a long lost memory triggered.

Every so often the Sunday papers would run a story about how the band fell on hard times, one even sadly losing his life, but I always ignored the sad side of their story because they achieved so much.

Well I’m delighted to say Musical Youth, who enjoyed more worldwide fame than most people on the planet before finally calling it a day, have reformed and what is more will be gracing the Scratch Radio studios tonight.

This is a major coup for the weekly Reggae Hour show, presented by Kevin Moore, Georgina Shortland, Claudia Wild, and the Birmingham City University based station, which also marks its 10th anniversary this year.

Kevin said: "As Birmingham's Favourite Student Station, Scratch Radio is always proud to support Birmingham artists, and I am delighted that Dennis Seaton from Musical Youth has agreed to guest on The Reggae Hour.

"As a fan of the band first time round, it is great news that they are back and I look forward to Dennis appearing on Scratch."

Tune in (via scratchradio.co.uk) or the scratch radio app to the Reggae Hour between 6pm and 7pm tonight (Thursday) and hear the band perform and talk about their new lease of life.