5October
The second part of our 1997 Nostalgia Radio Fest is January's turmoil at Radio 1. Breakfast host Chris Evans returned to work on Monday 13 January, criticising his bosses at the station, saying he wouldn't do that year's Roadshows, that the playlist was rubbish, and generally acting like a man scratching for the door. On 14 January, Radio 1 announced that it would be having a schedule revamp four weeks hence, from 10 February. By Thursday the 16th, Mr. Evans had walked into station controller Matthew Bannister's office asking for Fridays off so that he could work on his television show. Not unreasonably, Mr. Bannister denied that request, and Mr. Evans confirmed that he would not be renewing his contract when it expired at the end of March. Mr. Evans did not turn up for work on Monday the 20th, prompting Kevin Greening to play a sustaining service of records and no chatter. The following day, Simon Mayo began a Slight Return to breakfast, filling until Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley took over on 17 February. The revised schedule changes took place on the same day, a week later than originally billed.
Our interest is in the schedule announced on 14 January, and torn up within a week. The root cause of the change was Lisa I'Anson's maternity leave, which would leave a hole over lunchtimes. Other changes had been in the works for a little while, and could now be resolved. After almost a decade on daily shifts, Mark Goodier wished to spend more time with his family and his business, and requested a move from his drivetime slot to week-ends. John Peel was unhappy with his week-end slots, and wished to move back to mid-week. After two and a half years, it was finally realised that the soul show was not working on Sundays immediately before the chart show.
The practical upshot of all this was, on 14 January 1997, the following schedule was unveiled:
Monday to Friday
4am Clive Warren [no change from previous schedule]
7am Chris Evans [no change]
9am Simon Mayo [no change]
12 noon Jo Wiley [from the Evening Session and Saturday lunchtimes]
(12.30 Newsbeat)
2pm Nicky Campbell [no change]
4pm Mark and Lard [from 10pm weeknights]
6.15 Newsbeat [from 5.30]
Monday to Thursday
6.30 Evening Session with Steve Lamacq and Mary-Ann Hobbs [from 7pm; Hobbs new presenter]
8.30 Oneclick - short magazine programmes [new strand, replacing 9pm documentary hour]
8.40 Mon Andy Kershaw [from midnight Sunday night]
8.40 Tue-Thu John Peel [from 4pm Saturday and 8pm Sunday]
10.30 Kevin Greening [from weekend breakfast]
1am Mon-Wed Claire Sturgess [no change]
1am Thu Dave Pearce [additional show]
Friday
6.30 Pete Tong's Essential Selection [from 7pm]
10pm One in the Jungle [no change]
Midnight Tim Westwood [no change]
Saturday
3am Charlie Jordan [new presenter]
6am Dave Pearce [from 10am]
9.30 Mark Goodier [from 4pm weekdays]
12.30 Lisa I'Anson [from 12 noon weekdays; Claire Sturgess filled until October]
3.30 Trevor Nelson [from 2pm Sunday]
6.30 Danny Rampling [from 7pm]
9pm Tim Westwood [no change]
Midnight Reggae Dancehall Nite [no change]
2am Essential Mix [no change]
Sunday
4am Anne Nightingale [from 3am Saturday]
6am Dave Pearce [from 10am]
9.30 Mark Goodier
12.30 Lisa I'Anson
3pm Collins and Maconie's Hit Parade [from 9pm Monday]
4pm Top 40 with Mark Goodier [no change]
7pm Documentary [no change]
8pm In Concert [hadn't had standalone billing since October 1995]
9pm Stuart Maconie [from 10pm]
11pm Trevor Nelson [additional show]
1am Charlie Jordan
It was already clear that Mark and Lard were being groomed for the breakfast show job - they'd been Chris Evans's regular replacements during his many planned holidays, and they'd been a breath of fresh air. But those stand-ins were their only experience of daytime radio, everything else they'd done had been under the cover of darkness, and it was generally agreed that they needed experience of working to the playlist.
Kevin Greening was also getting a promotion - he had caused quite a stir while sitting in for Simon Mayo and Mark Goodier during the previous 18 months, with his comedy characters, Mr. Whippy competition, and long-running Joke du Jour feature. Late nights would allow him to develop as a presenter; while there would never be another Mark and Lard, Greening could be relied to attract a cult audience at that time.
Of the other newcomers, Mary-Ann Hobbs had been a regular stand-in for Jo Wiley on the Evening Session for some years; though this was her first full-time job, she was an experienced print journalist who had successfully jumped to radio. Charlie Jordan had cut her teeth on commercial radio in Birmingham and London, and was regarded as good enough for the little-heard overnight shifts, perhaps with occasional swing work in daytime. Behind the scenes, Radio 1 had already signed up a new early morning DJ, Chris Moyles; he was unable to start work until July. You may have heard of him.
The 9pm speech hour had been introduced in 1988, as a way of getting round needle time restrictions, and was now feeling quite old-fashioned. Attempts at introducing magazine programmes such as Clingfilm
and Soundbyte
, and the Wednesday comedy hour, had been more miss than hit. That hour was abolished, freeing up space for Peel to move back to the week, and Kershaw to move out of week-ends.
The real genius of the schedule, though, was shifting the drive-time Newsbeat
to 6.15. The drive-time show had always suffered from a lack of focus, veering from entirely poppy in the 4pm hour, through a few more oldies for the commuters leaving their offices at 5, and gradually becoming a bit more credible after 6. Chopping the end off drivetime, and forcing a fifteen-minute break from the music, was a clear punctuation mark. Before, Mark and Lard could be entertainers; afterwards, Lurpack and Hobgoblin would be musical butlers.
Chris Evans's sudden departure meant that all this was suddenly not going to happen. Mark and Lard were catapulted into the breakfast show; by common consent, this was a disaster. The double-act needed a softer introduction to the rigours of daytime radio, and the drivetime show would have been perfect for them. Would this have meant they would not have taken breakfast when Evans left the station? Assuming he saw out his contract to the end of March, it's almost certain that the northerners would still have made that leap, and we regret that they wouldn't have done much better.
Replacing Mark and Lard at drivetime was Kevin Greening, suddenly unable to showcase his wit and flair. Greening made the best of an unfortunate job, but it was clear that he wasn't suited to afternoon radio. It wasn't a surprise to find him promoted to breakfast from October, when Mark and Lard failed. It was a great surprise to find that Zoe Ball would also be appearing, and even more of a shock to find that she was trying to be the lead presenter. That double-act was like chalk and cheese, and ended after about a year. If Greening had had a ten-month stint on late nights, showing what he could do, we're convinced that Ball would never have been invited on to the station, and Greening would be more than a footnote to Radio 1's history.
To complete the picture, Mary-Ann Hobbs was parachuted into the late-night spot, leaving Steve Lamacq to fly solo on the Session. In Concert
was replaced by live events for much of the summer, and eventually replaced by Dance Anthems
from mid-August; the documentary moved to 9pm, and Trevor Nelson gained an extra hour.
Kevin Greening was relegated to Sunday breakfast from autumn 1998 before leaving the station at the start of 2000; he's since appeared on Xfm and 6 Music, and now broadcasts on Smooth London. Zoe Ball was replaced in 2000 by Sara Cox. Chris Evans took over medium-wave station Virgin 1215 in late 1997, sold the station in 2000, and was fired the following year. He has been clogging up Radio 2's airwaves since 2005, and this chapter of the Kevin Greening fan club has not forgiven him.
