If you’re lucky enough to have been born since the 1980s you might never have heard of Piccadilly Radio. So what was it? Who made it and why did it have such a dedicated fan base? And how does twentieth-century commercial radio relate to today’s media landscape of vloggers, podcasters and influencers?
In this new six-part series, media historian Dr. Philip Johnstone delves into Manchester Central Library’s Piccadilly Radio archive. Each episode looks in turn at comedy, radio presenters, commercial radio, historical drama, horror and science fiction.
The first episode is out now. It looks at the Piccadilly Radio output of three Mancunian comedy geniuses: Caroline Aherne, Chris Sievey and Buzz Hawkins. The podcast combines archive audio, narrative and clips from oral history interviews with Piccadilly Radio ex-staff.
The first episode includes audio from a legendary 1980s Christmas DJ show by ‘Andy Wright’ which was thought to be lost until an off-air recording was sent to the library last year by a listener as part of the National Lottery Piccadilly Radio Archive project.
David Dunne was the producer on the broadcast and here’s what he said when we sent him a copy:
“Oh my lord! I’ve hoped to find one of those for the best part of 35 years! The reel to reel tapes were never kept, they mostly got re-used, unless the presenter or producer stole them or made copies. Would love to have a digital copy, as it was one of my most favourite shows I ever worked on. Chris was one of the most naturally funny and gifted people I ever met and we got on very well – that show really flew under the radar as Chris insisted that we never make it clear that it was him. The whole idea was that Andy Wright was a real person.”
You can search the archive from home (www.mdmarchive.co.uk/piccadilly-radio-archive) and listen to over 1,800 full shows on Manchester Central Library’s Sound + Vision pods.
This podcast is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Manchester Libraries Trust.
Episodes will be published on the 15th of each month at the Full Volume Manchester Libraries Podcast stream. Subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode!