Radio Moments by David Lloyd

Author:David Lloyd [David Lloyd]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781785903182
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
Published: 2017-04-14T04:00:00+00:00

33

NUMBER ONE FOR DANCE AND RNB

One of the first expense claims I signed off from my new management chair at Galaxy was ‘Hire of dwarves for event’. To this day, I cannot explain why we should have been even thinking of hiring people of short stature, and it was likely ill advised, but the moment serves to illustrate life at this eccentric outfit. Some radio stations are soulless, whereas others have an abundance of fire and energy which hit you as soon as you walk through the door, and Galaxy 105 was one such station.

It was based in a brick-built former clothing factory on the outskirts of Leeds. Routinely, we’d call for assistance to deal with an elderly lady who would sit on the doorstep claiming the premises belonged to her as she’d been left them by King John in his will.

Galaxy’s car park was shared with those working in more sensible industries and guarded by men in braided uniform, whose only pleasure in life was to stop people entering. I heard the tale of Boy George, who hosted a network specialist music show for a time, arriving for his programme without the necessary green parking pass. It’s alleged he tried the ‘But I’m Boy George, and I’m coming in to…’ trick, only to be greeted with ‘I know perfectly well who you are, but you are still not coming in’.

Galaxy was a station targeted at twenty to twenty-nines and knew its audience well; indeed, the presentation staff lived the same lives in this thriving, proud city with a throbbing yet well-behaved nightlife. ‘Number one for dance and RnB’ was the station’s on-air claim, albeit it took some persuading and influencing skills from the group programmer to ensure the strapline was adopted by all four Galaxy stations. These were the times when local programme directors really did direct the programmes on their transmitters, but the friction amongst them over those half a dozen words illustrates the downsides of local government.

The station was unafraid to be ‘edgy’, when edgy was in, and puffed its chest with pride when the Advertising Standards watchdog banned an ad it had commissioned on the sides of buses.

The initial programme director was Jean Branch, a wonderful ex-record rep who managed her clan either in the way a mother manages her children or as an agent manages their talent, or maybe they are the same thing. Jean made way for the incredibly enthusiastic New Zealander Andrew Jeffries. His energies were well timed and I gather he brought with him some socialising habits with his presenters which were unexpected in this country, such as riding a go-kart with him or joining him in the hot tub.

It was Andrew who presciently paused to consider the future of the breakfast show. The programme was performing decently, but Andrew questioned whether it enjoyed sufficient growth potential. He alighted on a promising alternative presenter from Viking, a smaller commercial station in Hull. Although only twenty-seven, the presenter was an accomplished performer and already amassing a decent audience through a show which delivered real cut-through character.

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