大象传媒

Festive frolics from the home of radio鈥檚 enfant terrible.

Kenny Everett was a radio genius, loved by millions and lauded by his fellow broadcasters. He honed his craft on pirate radio, helped launch Radio 1, and was there at the start of Capital Radio, the UK鈥檚 most successful commercial station.

He described himself, slightly tongue in cheek, as 鈥渢he wireless wizard鈥�. He worked harder than any of his rivals to produce innovative programmes laced with wacky jingles, crazy sound effects and zany comedy moments. But he pushed the barriers, was always getting into trouble with management, and was regularly fired.

The crunch came in July 1970 when he was sacked by Radio 1 after insulting the wife of a Government Minister. He was just 25, at the height of his creativity. The 大象传媒 had a radio monopoly and there was nowhere else to go. The only other outlet was the corporation鈥檚 Local Radio stations. But they didn鈥檛 play many records, had little money, and had few listeners, as they could only be heard on VHF (now FM) when most people had medium wave sets. But a chance phone call from 大象传媒 Radio Bristol led to the corporation鈥檚 鈥渂ad boy鈥� returning to the airwaves on June 12, 1971.

The station manager David Waine, who was the same age as Kenny, took a gamble against the advice of Broadcasting House bosses, hiring him as a stand-in for an hour-long Saturday morning show. Everett got 拢50 for a month鈥檚 work, with the proviso that the programmes were pre-recorded so they could be checked before they went on air just in case the enfant terrible said something naughty.

The appointment was deemed such a success that by the end of the year Kenny was doing similar shows for five other 大象传媒 Local Radio stations. He also did a Christmas special for Radio Bristol on Boxing Day 1971, the day after his 27th birthday. You can now hear it for the first time since it was originally broadcast 53 years ago.

The programme closes with Kenny making a whimsical appeal to 大象传媒 management to put him back on national radio, describing himself as a 鈥減oor soul on the dole鈥� living in a 鈥渞at-infested mansion鈥� with 鈥渘o food in the fridge and no dough in the bank鈥�.

It includes music by the Beach Boys, Mama Cass, Peter Noone, Colin Blunstone, John Barry, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, The Jimmie Haskell Orchestra, Gilbert O鈥橲ullivan, The Faces, Cat Stevens, Tony Christie, Mike Vickers, Matt Munro, Rich Fever and Rossini.

Kenny returned for another Radio Bristol series in 1972 before eventually being let back on air by Radio 1 the following year. Shortly afterwards he joined Capital Radio at the launch of Independent Local Radio before beginning a successful television career in 1978. But Kenny remained true to his radio roots and was still broadcasting on Capital Gold shortly before his death from AIDS in 1995. He was just 50.

So did these 大象传媒 Local Radio programmes help rehabilitate Kenny Everett鈥檚 career? Judge for yourself.

The second of three shows Kenny made for 大象传媒 Radio Bristol first broadcast on 26th December 1971.

*** Part of 大象传媒 Radio 4 Extra's celebration of Kenny Everett who was born 80 years ago on Christmas Day, 1944.

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