Steve Wright would have been 70 on Monday. The death of the DJ back in February was greeted by a huge outpouring of public grief, as well as the odd sour comment about his treatment at the hands of the BBC who let him go in 2022 after 40 years on Radio 1 and Radio 2.
But, if anything, Radio 2 has been falling over itself to pay appropriate tribute in the last six months, all of which culminated on what would have been his birthday with six hours (and three programmes) devoted to his memory.
Vernon Kay presented tributes from stars in Steve Wright Remembered, while Liza Tarbuck asked listeners to share their memories in What Steve Meant to Me …before his friend and colleague Paul Gambaccini presented a portrait of Wrighty through his own words.
Perhaps some time in the future a more rounded, objective view of Wright’s broadcasting career may be possible. (Was his introduction to the UK of US radio’s Zoo format ultimately a good or bad thing?) But it’s probably too soon and this certainly wasn’t the venue for it.
Steve Wright Remembered was much as you’d expect; a gather-up of the good, the well-known and the odd Tory Prime Minister to praise the DJ. (In this case, David Cameron.) But perhaps the most revealing comment came from Emma Freud who said that when she joined Radio 1 in 1993 - appointed by Matthew Bannister - the only two DJs who made her feel welcome were Steve Wright and John Peel. Jo Whiley added that it was Wright who went out of his way to make her feel at home when she joined Radio 2.
Tarbuck’s What Steve Meant to Me… - a Listener’s Special was even more gushy, but it also inevitably seemed more heartfelt. What was clear, as listeners’ loving comment followed listeners’ loving comment, was that Wright was much missed. “Steve got me through my driving test,” one even suggested (listening to Wrighty beforehand calmed him down, it seems).
“He was family, wasn’t he?” Tarbuck pointed out at one point. And that’s the thing about radio, isn’t it? These voices are constant companions. Even though I was never much of a fan of Steve Wright’s characters or his musical choices, I’d been hearing him on my radio for 40 years (I can even remember him on Radio Luxembourg).
That familiarity is also why this week it was such a shock to hear in the last week that Lauren Laverne had received a cancer diagnosis and such a relief to hear Stuart Cosgrove back on Radio Scotland on Off the Ball after a spell in intensive care. In radio, familiarity doesn’t necessarily breed contempt. DJs are daily companions.
Perhaps inevitably Steve Wright in His Own Words, presented by Gambaccini, was the most substantial of the programmes on Monday. Utilising archive interviews with Wright himself, it became less a tribute to the DJ more a tribute to radio itself as its subject enthused about the DJs he loved growing up; everyone from Brian Matthew to Emperor Rosko and Kenny Everett.
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He even namechecked Paul Burnett (and who does that these days?) No one loved radio more than Steve Wright. But he never had an inflated opinion of his own worth on it. “There’s nothing worse - is there? - than DJs on documentaries telling everybody how good they are,” he pointed out in an archive clip near the end. “I think it’s all right what we do. I’m not being overly modest. I think what I do is OK because I create good atmosphere in the afternoon. I enjoy doing it.”
What more can you ask from your working life?
On Tuesday morning Absolute Radio was getting very excited about the news that Oasis were staging comeback gigs next year. Is it possible for a whole radio station to sound giddy?
Cheeky then for Leona Graham to kick off her mid-morning show with Blur’s Song 2. She said she wasn’t trolling, but … Finally, last Saturday Radio 2’s Pick of the Pops was replaced by a countdown of the best Pet Shop Boys songs as chosen by listeners (from a preselected list). Proof that you can never trust the general public - Being Boring only made it to number nine in the list. Scandalous.
Still, you can’t really argue with West End Girls being top of the chart. And listening to the top 10 did make me wish I was going to see Neil and Chris at Radio 2’s Party in the Park next weekend. Unfortunately I’m going on Saturday and the headliner is Sting.
Listen Out For
Mercury Prize Live, BBC 6 Music, Thursday, September 5, 7pm
That time of year again. Who is going to win it this year then? I’d quite like Beth Gibbons or Corinne Bailey Rae to come up trumps but given that last year’s winner The Ezra Collective finally saw a jazz album win the prize I wonder if the judges will go full-on mainstream this time around. Charlie XCX then?
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