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Steve Wright, who graced weekday afternoons with his shows on BBC Radio 1 and 2 (as well as a stint at breakfast time) has died aged 69 - (one must add that he was absolutely nothing to do with any namesake from Ipswich who was up to no good a few years ago, either).
I think that he was a bit of a Marmite sort of character, and I could take him depending on the mood I was in - I felt neutral towards his way of presenting as a radio presenter. His Radio 2 show certainly had plenty of great guests over the years. I remember when Radio 1 was MW only and was on what is TalkSport's frequencies now of 1053 KHz, and it seemed cool circa 1987 to hear his show in the afternoon on a stereo radio cassette recorder - ironic considering the fact that the stereo side of things didn't do anything for MW listening.
I have to admit (especially as Valentine's Day is tomorrow as I write this) that I was never too fond of the Sunday Love Songs programme at 9.00 am on Sunday, but he was there for those who wanted to listen - he pre-recorded it on Friday mornings for Sunday transmission. Wright had only just took over Pick of the Pops from Tony Blackburn which makes the shock of his passing even more apparent - only last Saturday he did 1978, which as you have imagined from my name, is the year of my birth. His demise will leave huge holes in the BBC Radio 2 schedules at weekends, and it would be interesting to see who will replace him. Pick of the Pops has had several presenters over the years and so I am certain that a replacement will be found. What with his weekday and weekend programmes, he clocked up more broadcasting hours on Radio 2 in the 2000s and 2010s than any other presenter, and I am certain that he was on air seven days a week at one point, albeit doing pre-recorded shows at weekends.
In around 1999, Steve Wright was a guest on Gloria Hunniford's Open House on Channel 5 (Hunniford was a predecessor in the Radio 2 afternoon slot), and the strange thing was that the interview was on the same time as his Radio 2 show. When I contacted Channel 5, they told me that the edition in which Wright was on was prerecorded as it was a Monday edition while most other editions were live, hence Wright's availability to appear on the show and revealing that some shows were prerecorded, almost giving the illusion that he was in two places at once. But who will present his programmes now that he cannot even be in one place at once now? We will find out in due course, no doubt.
I suppose I could say as a tribute: "love the show"...
I think that he was a bit of a Marmite sort of character, and I could take him depending on the mood I was in - I felt neutral towards his way of presenting as a radio presenter. His Radio 2 show certainly had plenty of great guests over the years. I remember when Radio 1 was MW only and was on what is TalkSport's frequencies now of 1053 KHz, and it seemed cool circa 1987 to hear his show in the afternoon on a stereo radio cassette recorder - ironic considering the fact that the stereo side of things didn't do anything for MW listening.
I have to admit (especially as Valentine's Day is tomorrow as I write this) that I was never too fond of the Sunday Love Songs programme at 9.00 am on Sunday, but he was there for those who wanted to listen - he pre-recorded it on Friday mornings for Sunday transmission. Wright had only just took over Pick of the Pops from Tony Blackburn which makes the shock of his passing even more apparent - only last Saturday he did 1978, which as you have imagined from my name, is the year of my birth. His demise will leave huge holes in the BBC Radio 2 schedules at weekends, and it would be interesting to see who will replace him. Pick of the Pops has had several presenters over the years and so I am certain that a replacement will be found. What with his weekday and weekend programmes, he clocked up more broadcasting hours on Radio 2 in the 2000s and 2010s than any other presenter, and I am certain that he was on air seven days a week at one point, albeit doing pre-recorded shows at weekends.
In around 1999, Steve Wright was a guest on Gloria Hunniford's Open House on Channel 5 (Hunniford was a predecessor in the Radio 2 afternoon slot), and the strange thing was that the interview was on the same time as his Radio 2 show. When I contacted Channel 5, they told me that the edition in which Wright was on was prerecorded as it was a Monday edition while most other editions were live, hence Wright's availability to appear on the show and revealing that some shows were prerecorded, almost giving the illusion that he was in two places at once. But who will present his programmes now that he cannot even be in one place at once now? We will find out in due course, no doubt.
I suppose I could say as a tribute: "love the show"...
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