“Taken from BBC Radio 4′s “You and Yours” programme, dated 23rd April 2007. We hear from residents of Brighton who appreciate the ‘illegal’ French radio station relay in their seaside town and how FIP’s unique, eclectic mix of non-stop music is putting legitimate commercial broadcasters in the UK to shame.”

If you were unfortunate enough to not make it to the Fortune Of War on Saturday (18th June) for FIP à Brighton,  or if you want to relive the fantastic night, you can listen to the 4 hour live broadcast via the Fip website

The link to it is here.

Enjoy!

The FIP DJ’s are here live at the Fortune Of War and we’re here too. If you can’t make it, it’s being broadcast live on Fip too!

Brilliant eh?!

Come on down, you’ll love it!

This night will be something extra special as the gig is being broadcast live on FIP in France!

It takes place at the Fortune Of War on Brighton Seafront.

Entry is free

Vive La Fip

5 Jun 2010 – 22:00

at KOMEDIA

It’s FIP time again! Yes its all change for the Spring here at the club that celebrates the music and ethos of that famous mysterious Parisian/Brightonian radio station.

Ah! Paris in the Spring! Or is it early Summer?

But who can afford it with Le Euro nosediving? So console yourself; come and have a drink, a chat and a dance at the cheapest and most eclectic Saturday night in the City, with your Fip DJ Robin T; The original and best; accept no substitutes.

And to encourage you, mon brave, dont forget our more European hours; 10pm – 2am running an hour later for all you left bank Bohemian types.

And, if you arrive before 11pm, the price is the same as 2009!

Euros not accepted of course.

Vive la Difference!

£5/£6 after 11pm – Studio bar show, tickets only available on the door.

But wait!   The good news doesn’t end there!

VIVE LA FIP SUMMER SPECIAL!

SAT 3RD JULY 9PM-2AM.

Caberet (9.15pm start) and club: £10

Club only (10.30pm onwards): £5

To celebrate the seizing of the Bastille for the people, and who knows? The World Cup by “Les Rosbifs”, and to sign off for our Summer holidays, Vive La Fip present their traditional summer special, FEATURING:

CABARET:

Jo Neary:

As seen on That Mitchell and Webb Look, Ideal and fresh from recording her own BBC2 TV pilot, Brighton and Britain’s best character comedienne!

Richard Dyball:

One half of Brighton and Edinburgh Festivals hit double act Dyball and Kerr with superb characters.

Glen Richardson:

Star of BBC radio 2′s The Day The Music died, Ornate Johnson, Brighton Beach Boy and musical comedy legend does his utterly hilarious thing.

Eliza Skelton:

Angel voiced lead singer of Brel tributeers The Desperate Ones doing a spot of solo Chanteuse Enchantment.

David Mounfield:

Ornate Johnson, Vive La Fip bloke, founder of the long defunct Comedy Dairy and Jeffrey, Jack, Jerry and any other J based characters on BBC Radio 4′s Count Arthur Strong Radio Show is your MC.

AND LETS NOT FORGET!

Hend De Coy and Robin T

THE ORIGINAL AND BEST VIVE LA FIP DJ’S

spin the wheels of steel to the wee small hours!

It’s back after it’s summer break on the Cote D’Azure….!!

After the solid gold fun of the Vive La Fip Bastille Day special in July, the Fip team retired happy but drained to various louche, sophisticated continental hotspots for a couple of months, pausing only to spread the Fip broadcast in Brighton and Hove that little bit further.

Now, refreshed and re invigorated, Dave Mounfield, Robin T, Hend De Coy and the mysterious Mr C return to their habitual room and time to celebrate further the eclectic delights of this most european of radio stations.

Expect the expected mix of the unexpected musically, with a series of guest dj’s joining us this season for still more unexpectedness (you expect no less).

And let’s not forget the trademark dark and slinky collection of urbane urbanites that are the Fip crowd, making the night the unique mix of music, chat, dance and smooching that makes us all happy! And drunk.

And all at the same prices as last year…dont forget its £5 before 11! £6 after….bon chance mon ami! bissous! DM Any further questions? e mail me on davidmounfield@yahoo.com

So join us on Saturday, 03 October 2009 10pm until 2am at The Komedia Studio Bar.

Go on…. you know you want to!

We won’t be around for August and September but we’ll be back in October for more.

Here are the dates;

Sat 3 October 2009

Sat 7 November 2009

Sat 5 December 2009

Sat 6 February 2010

Sat 6 March 2010

Sat 3 April 2010

Sat 1 May 2010

]]> http://lovefip.wordpress.com/2009/07/07/vive-la-fip-bastille-day-spectacular-special-offer/ Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:23:58 +0000 Skulkex http://lovefip.wordpress.com/2009/07/07/vive-la-fip-bastille-day-spectacular-special-offer/ Announcing special offer!
Two pounds off the face price of each ticket for this event if you mention LOVEFIP when purchasing!

IT’S THE SUMMER OF FIP….still!
SATURDAY 18TH JULY 9-2.
Bastille Day Vive La Fip Spectacular!
£12/10 CONC.
Upstairs at the Komedia.
Box office 01273 647101

Bastille Day Vive La Fip Special

Tradtionally a total sellout; this year features a full one hour music obsessed comedy show from Paul Putner (Little Britain, Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle) and our own dear Glen Richardson , with support from the Legendary Dyball and Kerr and the astonishing Madame Gobblin’.

Not forgetting le discoteque courtesy of DJ Hend De Coy and Robin T.

£10/£8 CONC.

Upstairs at the Komedia.

You can find us at http://twitter.com/lovefip

6TH JUNE 10pm til 2am

Vive la Fip

All the usual eclectic continental shenanigans, in air conditioned glory of The Komedia Studio. £5/£4 before 11, £6/£5 after.

SATURDAY 18TH JULY 9pm til 2am

Bastille Day Vive La Fip Special

Tradtionally a total sellout; this year features a full one hour music obsessed comedy show from Paul Putner (Little Britain, Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle) and our own dear Glen Richardson , with support from the Legendary Dyball and Kerr and the astonishing Madame Gobblin’.

Not forgetting le discoteque courtesy of DJ Hend De Coy and Robin T.

£10/£8 CONC.

Upstairs at the Komedia.

Ignore the date…we know it says May

April 4th and May 2nd

The Komedia Studio Bar

10-2:

5/4pounds b4 11, 6/5pounds after.

Brighton’s best value and downright best Saturday night of eclectic, category defying music in tribute to Mysterious French Music Station FIP is springing into action, after two record breaking nights in Jan and Feb.

Come join us for a night of swanning around, drinking, pretending to be continental and dancing! All to the wonderful musical selections of DJ’s Robin T and Hend de Coy!

The new times will be 10pm to 2pm as there have been many requests to run later, and the night will now be the first Saturday of each month.

That’s the good news, now for a little bit of bad….

There’s had to be a slight price rise (only slight though). If you want to know the reason, it’s because the Komedia are now charging for the room hire.

However, to cancel out the bad news, the price is staying the same until 11pm and then it goes up by a £1. So get in early!!

Komedia Studio Bar, 9-1. £5/4

Vive La Scrooge!

It’s FIP time again!

Here at Vive La Fip we’ve really pulled out the stops on this one to make sure our Christmas Special really is special and unique; by having absolutely no references to Christmas whatsoever, or any of those Yuletide extra’s that make you want to kick things.

FREE MINCE PIES AND MULLED WINE!

(Won’t be any)

PRIZE FOR BEST CHRISTMAS OUTFIT!

(Certainly not)

MISTLETOE!

(Please. Come on.)

CHRISTMAS TUNES!

(Over Santa’s dead body.)

Just come and have a drink, a chat and a dance at the cheapest and most eclectic Saturday night in the City with DJ’s Hend Decoy and Robin T, and escape all the endless Christmas Shit!

Music – 29th Nov 2008 at 21:00 (opens at 20:30)

at KOMEDIA

The churning urn of burning fun that is Vive La Fip continuament. Young and old. Hip and hip replacement. All human life is here. Expand your eclectic musical tastes as you drink, chat and dance… it’s the Parisian way!

Vive la Difference!

Starts 9pm, doors 8.30pm

Tickets £5/£4 conc

Studio bar show – tickets only available on the door

Vive La Fip Bastille Day Spectacular!
Friday 18th July
9pm-1am(Doors 7.30)
£12/10: Komedia Upstairs.

Last years sell out Bastille day comedy and music burn up (courtesy of Vive la Fip) retourne!

Featuring “the Brokeback Cowboy” Clint Westwood, Sketch legends Dyball and Kerr, Treason Show mastermind Mark Brailsford, Femme Fatale of the ‘Uke, Frankie Chalet. All MC’d by Ornate Johnson and Radio 4′s Count Arthur Stong collaborator, David Mounfield! PLUS! Live music from sultry Jaques Brel tributeers, The Desperate Ones!!

And not forgetting, Le Discoteque avec Vive La Fip DJs, Hend de Coy and Robin T.

PRIZES WILL BE GIVEN FOR THE MOST STEREOTYPICALLY FRENCH AUDIENCE MEMBER!!

Book early to avoid disappointment!

Tickets are available on the door only priced a very modest £5/£4 (concs)

More info soon

The Komedia Studio Bar,

9pm-1am,

£5/4

Yes it’s Springtime, and if you can’t be in Paris in the Spring, do the next best thing;

Cut a rug at Vive La Fip!

Last month saw another packed out night of bon viveurs and danceurs; we even had one hep cat in a wheelchair on the dance floor! Tres Formidable!

26TH Jan and 23rd Feb ’08

9PM-1AM

£5/4

KOMEDIA STUDIO BAR

The November and December FIP’s were a couple of packed out crackers; beautiful women danced with men in really odd hats as the rest of us attended to the serious business of having a lovely drink and appreciating the bizarrely diverse but always appealing music of the Vive La Fip DJ’s, Hend de Coy and Robin T.

This space is proving a real success for the night; the sound is right, the ambience is suitably francophile (although the superb Hophead bitter from the Firkin is a welcome English addition) more exciting lighting effects are promised as we head through the winter darkness, so come and get Gallic with the Fipster’s this New Year!

24TH NOV and 8TH DECEMBER

9PM-1AM

£5/4

KOMEDIA STUDIO BAR

A splendid time was had by all at the October gig, despite the ravages of the rugby; now it’s time to concentrate on the serious business of having a lovely drink and appreciating the bizarrely diverse but always appealing music of the Vive La Fip DJ’s, Hend de Coy and Robin T.

We may even do something festive and french for the December gig, and more exciting lighting effects are promised as we head into the winter darkness, so come and get Gallic with the Fipster’s this Autumn!

The French Revolution that spread across the Channel

The Argus Saturday June 2nd 2007

“We take a trip to Paris to visit FIP, the radio station that proved a cult hit in Brighton thanks to one fan and his antenna”

“From chic Parisian cafes to the backstreet boutiques of Brighton, French radio station FIP has brightened the lives of thousands of people. But when watchdogs discovered it was being rebroadcast in Sussex from an antenna set up in a flat, it pulled the plug this side of the channel, plunging listeners into mourning. MILES GODFREY took a trip to Paris to discover how FIP is made and found steadfast support for the pioneering man who wanted to bring a little French flair to Sussex.

For more than a decade, part of Sussex has luxuriated in a veritable bubble bath of music from across the English Channel.

On many a day and night, the soothing sometimes sultry but always sophisticated sounds of Paris-based radio station FIP could be heard from the radios of those in the know or who had stumbled across the station by accident.

Its jazz or Brazilian samba could often be heard sizzling from the back of a Lanes boutique on a hot summer’s day or from the window of a Seven Dials flat as the sun set.

Its sound is typified by Charlotte Bibring, the smooth and sexy announcer, who every hour explains what songs are being played, with a voice that is the verbal equivalent of melted chocolate.

Few people ever realised its quirky mix of music and lack of adverts only became a winner in Brighton after one fan grew so smitten with the station he set up his own re-broadcasting antenna in a flat.

The man – who has still not been identified – is understood to live in the Seven Dials area.

Through his antenna, he brought untold musical pleasure to the ears of a diverse range of listeners, including shopkeepers, politicians and housewives.But alas, the soothing sounds of FIP are no longer with us after Ofcom, the communications watchdog, pulled the plug and confiscated the broadcasting equipment, following a complaint the law was being broken.

It has left listeners in Brighton in mourning – their object d’amour is no more.

Its loss has opened the debate as to why British radio stations cannot come up with a comparable station that is not cluttered with the usual mindless jingles, chart music and over-excited DJ’s.

So while FIP is off the airwaves – and there is realistic hope it may soon be back on our radios – we decided to take a trip to Paris to see for ourselves how sweet radio love is made.

Parked in a big BBC-like building owned by Radio France, less than a kilometre from the Eiffel Tower, FIP is the labour of love of about 20 members of staff.

It’s compact, but atmospheric offices are piled sky-high with what seems like every CD ever made and are littered with the sleeves of collectable records.

Among them is The Beatles’ Abbey Road, which just happens to be the FIP general manager Jean-Luc Leray’s favourite album.

It is ironic this most French of radio stations is so heavily influenced by that most British of bands.

Mr Leray said “It is the reason I fell in love with music.

When I first listened to McCartney and the others it did something to me. It is the reason I am at FIP and my passion. Without it I don’t think FIP would exist in quite the way it does.”

It is Mr Leray’s dream that Paul McCartney used to sit on his terrace in Western Esplanade, Hove, listening to FIP.

There is no one person or one thing that controls what FIP does and the station remains pleasantly free of the regulatory hand of the French government. There are no adverts and it is paid for in a way similar to the BBC licence fee.

This loose remit coupled with a complete freedom from chasing commercial success, has allowed FIP to develop in a startlingly different way to most stations since its conception in 1971.

It employs seven “programmateurs”, whose job it is each day to compile three hours of music, or whatever origin or sound, into a set.

It can take them up to eight hours, using their huge back catalogue of tracks.

The only direction Mr Leray gives them is to play music they like and that is varied. He said: “I say, ‘put on music that is good but music that is different’.

We want to give people music they may not be able to listen to anywhere else. That is the point of FIP, I think.

We can have one rock, one classical, one African song, but it must never be three songs in a row of the same type. That is the only stipulation.”

Vincent Provini is typical of the programmateurs.

He is forthright in his music choices and have very definite tastes but he remains anonymous. A DJ that is never heard, other than through his music.

He said “I was very disappointed when FIP was taken off the air in Brighton.

It was very good our music was being heard there and we had all heard about it for a very long time.

I like to think my music is reaching a wide audience and being in Brighton definitely helped.”

Crucially, while recognising the rule of law in this country, FIP would like to get back on air in Brighton. Whether that is via a proper licence or by launching an official FIP England remains to be seen but there is support for it on both sides of the channel.

Armand Pirrone, who after 27 years is the longest-serving programmateur at FIP, believes even the French may not get to listen to the station in its current format for much longer.

He believes it may eventually have to cave in to commercial pressure and give up its independence.

Mr Pirrone said “There have been very few changes since I have been here but I think in the next five years the government will make us change.

I think at the moment the president likes us but in five years’ time, who knows?

The world is changing and radio is changing. It would be a tragedy if we do have to change but I think it may happen.”

Sources close to the Seven Dials man believe he may apply for a community licence to get FIP back on the airwaves in Brighton.

Since it was shut down, a series of Vive La Fip tribute nights in the city have raised funds for the cause.

But until it returns, Brighton has lost a certain je ne sais quoi.

Vive La Fip!
Saturday 7th Feb & Saturday 7th March
Komedia Studio Bar, 10-2.
£5/4 before 11;
£6/5 After.

It’s FIP time again!

Yes its all change for the Spring here at the club that celebrates the music and ethos of that famous mysterious Parisian/Brightonian radio station. Ah! Paris in the Spring! But who can afford it with Le Crunche Credit? So console yourself;Come and have a drink, a chat and a dance at the cheapest and most eclectic Saturday night in the City.

And to encourage you, mon brave, we have adopted more European hours; 10-2; running an hour later for all you left bank Bohemian types. And, if you arrive before 11, the price is that same as last year!