Tabloid 1089/1053 AM
For a long time now I have listened to Britain’s largest local radio station Talksport (formerly known as Talk radio). This was an experience that began for me at the dawning of 1995, when I got a radio cassette Walkman for my 11th birthday. One evening while aimlessly drifting through the AM frequencies, I stumbled across an unusual radio programme. The presenter spoke loudly and excitedly in a thick south London accent. What was more interesting was that his presenting was incredibly opinionated and self indulgent, he would just say what ever he felt like saying with little regard as to whether it was right or wrong. He was in fact beyond right and wrong and his name was Chris Rogers aka Caesar the Geezer.
Chris Rogers (or Chris Neophytou his alleged given name) as Caesar the Geezer
His shows were intentionally offensive and rude (my grandmother despised him). I was one of the underage listeners that the station's presenters over the years have so adamantly feared. At 11 years old I don't think I really noticed the bigotry that was inherent in the programme, or that extreme views taken by Caesar promoted ignorant self-righteousness. Caesar the Geezer was an entertainer and he introduced Britain to the shock style of DJing that had been so popular and well known in the United States for many years. Most strikingly of all though, was his use and abuse of the phone-in radio format. On every show calls flooded into the studio unscreened and you could guarantee that there would be tension between Caesar and the listeners, who he treated with very little respect. Present day Talksport listeners may get a sense of Deja Vu from all of this. Jon Gaunt aka 'Gaunty' shares Caesars contempt towards the callers and he regularly shouts out anyone who attempts to disagree with him.
Jon Gaunt and his American Counterpart Family Guys Peter 'What really grinds my gears' Griffin
Having Listened to the Jon Gaunt radio show two things occur to me, first I hate the Jon Gaunt radio show, it's sickeningly self-righteous and bigoted, second Jon Gaunt is a bore. Caesar the Geezer was blunt and rude but he was totally anarchic. Anyone who followed Caesar the Geezer was knowingly abandoning his or her sense at the front gate before skipping merrily into the nuthouse. Caesars sacking by the station in the same year he joined was no surprise. After that he had late night stints on Cable TV Channel Television X and Capital Gold Radio, injecting a dirty old kink to his already larger than life public persona. The end of the 1990's saw Caesar fade into obscurity, Talk radio was renamed Talksport and more time was given to live sport and sports related phone-in shows. The tradition of no-holds barred phone-in shows continued long after the departure of Caesar. The most controversial presenter of the format was former Children’s Television presenter Tommy Boyd.
The Zookeeper Tommy Boyd
The Human Zoo presented by Tommy Boyd on Talksport between 2000 and 2002 was the UK's cult phone-in show. The listeners were given carte blanche to phone-in and express whatever they felt like expressing. Boyd always formidable in argument, elevated the intellectual level of discussion on the station but at the same time kept you entertained and hooked until the early hours of the morning. Being Talksport though, this renaissance thinking couldn't last. Just after the death of the Queen Mother, the show put through a caller who aggressively insulted the royal family. The show was cancelled. Since then calls to the station have remained screened. It is not the screening that I find disheartening, unscreened callers though most entertaining do not make for stimulating discussion on the radio. What concerns me more about the direction that Talksport has taken is that; all phone-in shows have become vehicles for daily mail style propaganda rantings. The Leftist Presenter George Galloway MP is an exception to the rule, but not enough the counter the fact that Talksport champions the Self Righteous, Bigoted White Van Man who hides their ignorance with aggression. Back in 1995 John Majors Conservative government was riddled by corruption scandals and soon to be demolished by New Labour. Only die-hard supporters and sycophants promoted Thatcherism. Long time Talksport presenter James Whale was and still is one of these people.
James Whale has another Winston Churchill fantasy moment
the departure of Caesar the Geezer left a huge dent in the late night schedule that Whale more than managed to fill. For several years Whale imitated Caesars Mr. Big style of presenting, balding macho presence and love of all things smutty. As the years have gone by and New Labour has drunk deeply from the poison chalice of government, Whale's true Thatcherite form has slowly emerged. Whale has never been off the wall and outrageous in same way that Caesar or Boyd were. Underneath his trendy cosmopolitan exterior I have always sensed reserved bitterness in his voice. Now when I listen to Talksport all I hear is different degrees of grumpy old men acting like self-righteous dictators of the late night airwaves. Talkradio/Talksport changed the way I saw radio when I was growing up. It was often entertaining and at the best of times it was a testing ground for ideas that the BBC and commercial radio stations were too cautious to touch. The station no longer has the shock factor that the traditionalists used to fear and what you have left is cheap tabloid radio.
posted by Pedro at 2:57 PM
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