Radio Moments - Conversations

He inherited Capital Radio as it wrestled with the fresh challenges of a fast-changing, competitive industry and made his mark on changing the perceptions of national advertising agencies towards the medium. His commercial focus - and an acquisition spree built the industry’s biggest business which was to be the lead player in the GCap merger.  In this hour of #Radiomoments ‘Conversations’, David...

His measured tones became synonymous with late night Radio 4 as presenter of 'The World Tonight'. In this hour of 'Conversations', Robin Lustig tells of his early days in journalism at Reuters and the Observer before serving for decades at home and abroad with the BBC World Service and Radio 4. He shares how the BBC prepares its staff for working in hostile environments; and some of the secrets of...

This powerful voice began at Wyvern before rising with enviable speed to Luxembourg and to play a key part in Capital London’s truly dominant years. He took commercial radio’s chart to audience-leading position and assumed the Magic breakfast show for almost a decade as it too rose to rule the City.  In this hour of ‘Conversations’, Neil ‘Doctor’ Fox tells of his father’s early reluctance to suppo...

Call him anything but not a shock jock. This is the story of the Southerner who moved North and defined UK late night radio.  James Whale began his radio career on Day One at Newcastle’s Metro Radio, before moving to a brief, frustrating stint at BBC Radio Derby. When Radio Aire called, James answered and delivered a programme which was not only to be on radio but on TV too in one of the earliest...

He was the presenter who graduated through the ranks to take his seat round the commercial radio industry table at a critical time in its history. In this hour of ‘Conversations’, Stewart Francis tells of being on-air on the first day of LBC and the early days of Pennine Radio in Bradford, before moving to launch Hereward in Peterborough. He shares stories of how Mid Anglia Radio was built and sol...

He was the boarding school boy who lied about his age and was to emerge as one of the leading programmers of his generation. Giles Squire joined a new United Biscuits Network which was to become renowned as a training ground for the new commercial radio network as it made its debut in the early seventies. It was to that network that Giles was appointed as Metro Radio went on-air. He was to remain...

His calm, firm hand was on the tiller of the radio industry for decades, from both port and starboard.  A military career seemed less appetising once his booming voice was heard behind the BFBS microphone, and he soon returned home to debut on the UK’s fledgling commercial radio stations, progressing from Radio 210 in Reading to BRMB and then to the senior programming role at Radio Victory. Paul s...

His clear tones epitomised a calm era of Radio 2. Armed with some TV experience and a spell with the pirate Radio Caroline, Colin Berry joined the BBC’s new 'Light Programme' in the seventies.  He was to host all of its major dayparts, from time to time, and was said to be the station’s longest continuous-serving news reader until his final bulletin in 2012. Famously too, for 25 years, we heard hi...

Mark Goodier spent 15 years at BBC Radio 1, hosting shows across the schedule and famously presenting ‘The Evening Session’ and the Top 40 as the station evolved with speed through the 80s and 90s.  In this hour of Conversations, Mark tells of his early days at Forth, Tay and Clyde before his transfer to 'Britain's Favourite’, where he was to learn from the greats. He reflects honestly on his life...

Forever the rebel.  In this edition of #Radiomoments ‘Conversations’, enjoy a full hour with Johnnie Walker. Hear how his early love for radio led to a surprise appointment to the pirate Radio England, and then on to Caroline, where he achieved huge popularity and famously was one of very few who stayed on board as the station went from illegitimacy to illegality. Johnnie opens up about his Radio...

From her modest beginnings in a complex home, Helen Boaden rose to the top offices of the BBC; and emerged as a much respected and loved figure in a changing industry.  In this edition of #Radiomoments ‘Conversations’ she tells of her early days in commercial radio at Tees and Aire, and her first impressions of the Corporation in Leeds. Rising quickly through the male-led ranks, she quickly carved...

He was the former ballet dancer who went on to run the engineering department at one of the nation’s biggest radio groups. In this edition of #radiomoments ‘Conversations’, Quentin Howard shares stories of his early days at BRMB and Severn Sound, the expansion of GWR and the creation of the first UK national commercial FM network. Hear too the story of how DAB began - and how close it came to not...

From a small town radio station in Tasmania, he crossed the World to emerge as one of the UK's most powerful programmers.  In this hour of #radiomoments conversations, Dirk Anthony tells of his decades in radio, from reading out the trade-its in Australia, to a programmer role in Ireland before being appointed to a key role in growing the GWR business - and then onto the complex times following th...

For a generation, his was the daring voice of an initially cautious Capital Radio, as the host of ‘Your Mother Wouldn’t Like it’. In this edition of Conversations, enjoy an hour with Nicky Horne.  Nicky speaks of his early days in the discos and on biscuit factory radio at UBN, before opening up about his break at Capital where he was to work alongside those he’d admired in their pirate beginnings...

Radio and music were his first loves. Now, having become a familiar face on TV, he’s settled on his hugely successful Radio 2 afternoon programme.  In this edition of #Radiomoments ‘Conversations’, Jeremy Vine tells with good humour of his early days in journalism; his progression through the BBC newsroom ranks from trainee to reporter to political and, later, foreign correspondent; before becomin...

He spearheaded the original Talk Radio UK, managed the talk output of BRMB in its early days, and managed programming for Mercury and the Allied Group. He also played a major role in news training in the National Broadcasting School and was a senior executive at the Radio Authority, later Ofcom.   In this hour of Conversations, Martin Campbell recalls his days in press and talks through his radio...

She was the first female programme controller of a commercial radio station, launching Radio City in her home town of Liverpool in 1974. In this hour of #Radiomoments ‘Conversations‘, Gillian Reynolds tells of those pioneering days. Hear too of the radio listening which accompanied her youth and helped to form her views of what makes great radio. Those views have been expressed eloquently and with...

Life on board the pirate radio ships is often talked about, but maybe less so the life of the teams on the offshore forts, where 60s pirate stations were also based. The career of Tom Edwards began on the Shivering Sands towers, the home of Radio City, a station which was to hit the headlines in 1966 owing to a tragic death. He then crossed to the legendary Caroline as the clocked ticked by to the...

Few presenters manage to pull off both radio and TV. Peter Levy has. In this hour of ‘Conversations’, he tells of his early radio days, soaking up the heady atmosphere at a young Radio City and the launch days of Pennine in Bradford and Radio Aire in Leeds. Enjoy the tales of his cautious early steps into BBC local radio, and find out exactly why he was first chosen to deliver a TV news bulletin,...

This is a story of radio, of music - and of love. As Radio Luxembourg returned after the War, a small number of disc jockeys arrived in the Grand Duchy to entertain the UK and Ireland from afar, against a backdrop of a staid BBC. Teddy Johnson was one of its earliest presenters, deploying an ad lib conversational style which was less common from Broadcasting House. His first love, however, had alw...

The heady Blur/Oasis days of the 90s should have been a perfect time to be running a station for passionate young music fans across the UK. It turned out to be altogether more complex, however, for Radio 1, as its new Controller grasped the challenge of returning this huge station to its roots.  Whilst that spell often serves to define Matthew Bannister, this sixty minute #RadioMoments ‘Conversati...

Chris Carnegy persuaded his way into Portsmouth’s Radio Victory as a student, little knowing he’d witness the sudden end of its life, as its franchise became the first to be whisked away by the regulator.  He later emerged as a leading light in its replacement, Ocean Sound. Having established the successful Spire FM in Salisbury and playing a key role in the Local Radio Company, Chris acquired the...

In the Midlands – and beyond, a welcome from every music radio station has been extended for decades to Bob Hermon, a record plugger with an enviable reputation - and a mantelpiece full of much-deserved awards.  Bob moved quietly into the music industry as commercial radio began, moving the ranks in a fast-changing world at CBS and Sony, before rolling as an independent more recently. He is well-k...

She owned one of Radio 4’s most quietly recognisable voices. As she gulped an emotional farewell at the end of her late night announcing shift in 2012, Alice Arnold walked off into another chapter.  In this edition of #Radiomoments ‘Conversations’, Alice recalls her roots on stage, her love of radio drama and her voyage through decades at Radio 4, as continuity announcer, newsreader on the flagshi...

Renowned for his spell on-air and at the helm of Radio Luxembourg in its final powerful era, this is the story of a man who built his early reputation as a performer - and at the decks in the dance halls - before climbing the rope ladder to his first radio shows on board Radio Caroline. In this hour of #RadioMoments ‘Conversations’, he tells of his love for music; his enthusiasm for the art of the...