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Kenny Everett on Radio 2 – Early 80s
Shrewn
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When did Ev’s Saturday show end?
I was looking through some papers from 1983 (March) and it said “Album Time” between 11-1. Had he gone by then?
I was looking through some papers from 1983 (March) and it said “Album Time” between 11-1. Had he gone by then?
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All I remember is my Dad always used to listen to Radio 2 in his workshop except when Kenny was on as he couldn't stand him.
As we know the show started in October 1981, running until March 1982 at which point Ken went on a long holiday (which would have coincided with the end of his first BBC TV series) and Steve Jones presented for about two months before Ken returned in the middle of May and stayed until Christmas, by the looks of things. Then from January 1983 there was Album Time, as you say, but Ken was back in September. However the billing for Christmas Eve says it's his last show because "he has been lured away again by the electric fishtank".
So it looks as if the show ran more or less non-stop from October 1981 to December 1982 (with a gap in the middle) and then a "second series" was from September to December 1983.
He made up for me then, because back then I couldn't stand Radio 2, except for Kenny's show !
That Christmas 1983 billing is interesting because of course he didn't do a TV series in 1984, indeed nothing except a Christmas show, and I wonder if he was at that time scheduled to do a TV series perhaps in the late winter/early spring, but couldn't because of the acrimonious nature of his departure from Radio 2 - that maybe there was some sort of lapsed contract or other dispute which prevented him doing any BBC TV work? And I don't think he ever really made up that lost ground in TV terms.
During this period he initially returned to Capital on 2nd June 1984, but his Capital shows for the next four years were also seasonal, presumably often taking a break while he was recording TV series. Capital's 12 noon-2pm slot (11am-1pm from spring 1986) - after Pick of the Pops Take Two, hence Kenny's many handovers with Fluff - went as follows:
2nd June-29th December 1984 - Kenny Everett (the Daily Mirror has a story about him coming back to Capital on 31st March 1984 but that's wrong)
early 1985 - 'So You Thought They Were Hits?', basically playing old turntable hits
Spring 1985 - Jessie Brandon
13th July (going by this thread)-30th November 1985 - Kenny Everett
patchy on this period, but Rory Bremner did the show on 7th December 1985, Jonathan King in January 1986 and Russ Kane in February
1st March-26th April 1986 - Kenny Everett
3rd May-26th July 1986 - Russ Kane
2nd-30th August 1986 - Jonathan King
6th & 13th September 1986 - something called 'Saturday Special'
20th September 1986 - (Richard) 'Allinson's Aquatics'
27th September 1986 - 'Capital Caper'
4th October 1986-30th May 1987 - Kenny Everett
6th June-11th July 1987 - Jonathan King
18th July-26th September 1987 - Peter Young
3rd October 1987-26th March 1988 - Kenny Everett
... and then Kenny went away for another three months (possibly while recording the science quiz he did for BBC TV, 'Brainstorm') and when he came back he was on the new Capital Gold, initially at weekends from 2nd July and then weekdays from 28th November 1988 until his final show on 12th August 1994. Though he did seem shrivelled and diminished in that format.
Loads of his 1984/85 Capital shows are on YouTube btw.
I had no idea he did the shows in blocks - I assume like Terry Wogan does now
I heard him on Capital Gold, the tight format (which he could do very well) did restrict him. I often wonder if he'd have gone to Classic FM at some point
I was going to suggest he didn't do a TV series in 1984 because he did Bloodbath At The House Of Death instead, although seemingly they filmed that in 1983, or because he fell out with Ray Cameron and stopped writing with him, but of course they did the 1984 Christmas show together and Cameron left in 1985. So I'm clueless, 1984 seems to be a bit of a lost year as far as Ken's career goes.
I dunno if we should take the Radio Times billing too literally because most of them were pretty stupid, it was probably easier to say that than say he was leaving because he was going to another radio station. I don't know how acrimonious his departure was because he could simply have disappeared rather than have a specific last programme.
I see there's a new biography of Cuddly Ken out which I was reading a bit of in Waterstones the other week, but I never got to that bit. If anyone wants to put it on their Christmas list.
By the looks of things Album Time then ran all year round for the next two years or so, which seems a very low-key show for an ostensible high profile slot. They didn't really go back to having a big name there until Michael Aspel arrived in 1987, with Album Time continuing in truncated form at lunchtime.
"When England was a Kingdom, we had a King, When it was an Empire we had an Emperor. Now that we are we are just a country, we have Margaret Thatcher"
He also re-edited one of her speaches to give the inpression she was being very suggestive. Then, after playing the edit, referred to her on air as "A dirty old cow" not the sort of thing generally heard on Radio 2 at the time!
I'm just reading the latest biog about him, the producer, Geoff?? said Kenny had decided to go anyway by the time he came out with that line - and i think it was the week before his last show.
Interesting, Kenny said Radio 2 was perfect for him, even though most people thought he would go to R1 - the reason being, the R1 listeners wouldn't be too shocked with him!
I swear blind to this day Kenny played brief clip of an early version of "Dolly Parton's Tits". I can tell you the exact spot i was and I stood there open mouthed with my Dad
He did. I remember it too!
That's a great joke. If there's any (justice in the) afterlife, I'm sure Kenny's been with the angels for years, and hell recently gained another c***.
Good old Kenny, how I miss his radio shows
His last programme for the station went out on December 24 1983. Last record was Paul McCartney/Pipes of Peace.
Previous posters are correct when they say he wasn't on all year round. Seems he was off air during some of the spring and summer months.
They were great programmes and it's surprising, listening back now, how he got away with a lot of stuff that he did on Radio 2.
His next appearance on the BBC was on Radio 1 on August 2 1986 when he did a pre-recorded programme for an eight part series called Radio Radio.
How did the Capital Gold format suit Kenny? I heard him a couple of times and he seemed fine with it, played a couple of songs, made a quip about something in the news, and so on. There was no great innovative stuff that i heard, but as i say he seemed quite happy just playing records and making the odd comment here and there.
Perhaps someone who heard him more often could offer an opinion?
The Capital Gold programmes didn't have the same level of production as previous programmes but that's what happens....if you're on air five days a week, rather than just once, trying to produce innovative audio for a daily programme is almost impossible - it'd probably send you mad!
Slightly off topic - it's a shame his last programme on Radio 1, before he got fired in the 1970s, was rescued from an old BBC logger tape and the audio quality isn't particularly good. I could be wrong but I think that is the only copy in existence. BBC network radio has always been notoriously bad at archiving output from both Radio 1 and Radio 2.
Cuddly Ken on Capital 1
Cuddly Ken on Capital 2
Cuddly Ken on Capital 3
Cuddly Ken on Capital 4
Cuddly Ken on Capital 5
Cuddly Ken on Capital 6
sometime between april and october 1970 according to this.. http://www.frequencyfinder.org.uk/r1_sched_70_74.html
edit-sorry thought you meant his radio 1 saturday show
That is of course what happened when he was given a daily slot on Radio 1 in the late sixties, he and his producer argued that they wouldn't have the time or energy to do what he did five days a week. And six months later Ken had indeed gone mad (even madder than usual) and Radio 1 realised they were right and he moved back to the weekends.
This is the best quality version available I believe.
https://soundcloud.com/ian-polmear/280973-kenny-everett-last-r1-w?fb_action_ids=10151550995071526&fb_action_types=soundcloud%3Alisten&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B539220082807993%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22soundcloud%3Alisten%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D&fb_collection_id=10151549409496799&ref=profile