So long, James Whale
Many people who work in radio are there because of someone else. Kenny Everett, perhaps, or Tony Blackburn.
I got into radio because of James Whale, who died this week. Yes, James Whale.
Stuck at boarding school, James Whale did the late show on Radio Aire in Leeds, which I could just about pick up. His first hour between 10pm-11pm was music, with “do it yourself dedications”, where you would ring up, say hello to people and introduce a song. I longed to do that. I don’t think I ever did, but I did learn how to pronounce Basia’s full name in case I ever got to do a “do-it-yourself dedication” for her 1980s hit “Prime Time TV”. (“Basha Tchet-sell-ev-ska”, a backing singer for Matt Bianco. I don’t think I ever once managed to use that knowledge on the radio).
Whale’s phone-in after 11pm was hyped to be edgy, adult-themed, and not for the faint-hearted. His first ten minutes was very sternly informing everyone that you could not listen if you were under 16. “Whaley” had listener-produced jingles which he’d play out of ad breaks - lyrics like “too much lip or a naughty word, then the plug’s pulled out”. In reality, it wasn’t anywhere near as edgy. Whale would occasionally get mock-angry with some callers; but what struck me was how at ease he was behind a microphone. (Among the phone ops he ate through: Adrian Greene, later known as Sandy Beech; and a certain young Chris Moyles). He read out a letter of mine as “Janet” rather than “James”, and from then on, I would regularly call him, as an utterly forgettable regular caller, as “Janet”. The ads - “Fasterhire! Care hire at unbelievable prices!” - are still etched on my brain.
One memorable night was November 1987, and the news of the King’s Cross underground fire. The fire started at 7.30; but it was only by 10pm or 11pm that it had made it onto the news: news was slower in those days. What had that got to do with Leeds? Everything, as Whale explained on-air: if you’d ever been to London, you’d have been in the Kings Cross tube station. 31 people died that night, but Whale was a reassuring voice to explain what had happened. It turned out that, while he was playing the cantankerous, self-indulgent phone-in host on Radio Aire, he was also doing some presenter duties on BBC Radio 4: I think he was depping for Ned Sherrin in Loose Ends at one point.
Noting his success on-air, Radio Aire moved him to breakfast, which was a bizarre decision; he was quickly moved back to late nights, and then in a cost-cutting move by owners TransWorld, his phone-in was also taken by Red Rose Radio in Preston - replacing Alan Beswick on the station.
I visited the studio a few times; once just to watch. He couldn’t have been nicer. And then he moved to cheap television for a while (initially live simulcasting on Radio Aire; then just from Radio’s Aire’s studios while someone else did a music show oddly). And then, down to Talk Radio UK, where his act changed a bit, and I just lost touch.
Until. On the day that I left the BBC, I sent him this email to say thank you.
…and to my surprise, he wrote back: “meet for lunch?”
And we did - a quite boozy lunch, which he insisted on paying for, in one of his favourite restaurants in the West End. I don’t think he remembered me much (and why should he), but we chatted a lot about the people we both knew, and he pressed me on how to get a job at Radio 2 - “I’m a good music jock”, he’d tell me. I’m not sure I was much help. And then, after a bottle of wine, he walked down to Leicester Square to broadcast to all of London.
They say “don’t meet your heroes”; but I’m glad that I did; and that I got to say thank you to him.
Iain Dale has written a lovely tribute.
You should read his autobiography - Almost a Celebrity.