Reporting on Tony Macaulay of Northern Ireland's Downtown Radio.

Tony Macaulay

What have Petra, Sal Solo and Garth Hewitt got in common with each other {apart from the fact that they are CCM artists)? The answer is that they are just some of the people to be featured on Tony MacAulay's 'Rockspell' programme, one of three Christian music programmes to be broadcast on Northern Ireland's Downtown Radio.

The others are Ronnie Irvine's 'Gospel Time' and Derek Marsden's 'Reflections'. Rockspell, highlighting the wide range of music featured, was the first of its kind in Northern Ireland and one of the first in the UK. Programme makers were looking for a concept which complimented the already existing programmes on Downtown, but would cater for the younger audience interested in the rapidly growing contemporary Christian music scene. Contemporary the programme certainly is, sitting between two popular chart based programmes." All types of contemporary music are included in Rockspell. From rap to soul, black gospel to heavy metal, reggae to rock," said Tony.

"I try to keep the programme fast moving, up to date and packed with information on the vibrant contemporary Christian music scene." The programme has featured interviews with some of the world's top Christian artists in recent months - Sal Solo, Garth Hewitt and Petra being amongst them. Rockspell also includes competitions, European pen-pal link-ups and a weekly Christian music news section which keeps Northern Ireland's Christian music fans' fingers right on the pulse beat. Rockspell is not seen as a minority programme by Downtown Radio, as John Rosborough, Downtown's Head of Programming explained:

"Rockspell's current slot on Sunday afternoon is between two popular chart based programmes. It is a remarkable success for a specialist programme to maintain a sizeable audience in this position." Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music?" asks Rockspell's jingle. The reason for the programme's success must surely be that he hasn't!