Steve Wright
Birth name	Stephen Richard Wright
Born	August 26, 1954 (1954-08-26) (age 52) Greenwich, London
Show	Steve Wright in the Afternoon - The Big Show
Station(s)	BBC Radio 2
Time slot	2:00 - 5:00 p.m. weekdays
Show	Sunday Love Songs
Time slot	9:00 - 11:00 a.m. Sundays
Style	Afternoon Show Host
Country	United Kingdom
Website	Steve Wright in the Afternoon

Stephen Richard (Steve) Wright (born August 26, 1954 in Greenwich, London) is a radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom. He currently presents the afternoon show on BBC Radio 2. He rose to prominence in the early-1980s while working with Peter Dickson on BBC Radio 1. August 26 is the 238th day of the year (239th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... Greenwich is a town, now part of the south eastern urban sprawl of London, England, on the south bank of the River Thames in the London Borough of Greenwich. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBCs national radio stations and is the most popular station in the UK. It broadcasts throughout the UK on FM radio between 88 and 91 MHz from its studios in Western House, adjacent to Broadcasting House in central London. ... August 26 is the 238th day of the year (239th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Greenwich is a town, now part of the south eastern urban sprawl of London, England, on the south bank of the River Thames in the London Borough of Greenwich. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBCs national radio stations and is the most popular station in the UK. It broadcasts throughout the UK on FM radio between 88 and 91 MHz from its studios in Western House, adjacent to Broadcasting House in central London. ... Peter Dickson is a British radio presenter, television announcer and voice over artist who rose to prominence in the 1990s. ... This page redirects from Radio 1. See Radio 1 (disambiguation). ...

Early career

The son of a company director, Wright was educated at Eastwood High School, Essex. He started broadcasting in the 1970s on Reading's Radio 210 alongside Mike Read. In 1979 he joined Radio Luxembourg, and then BBC Radio 1 in 1980, presenting a Saturday Evening show, then presenting a Saturday morning show before moving on to present Steve Wright in the Afternoon from 1981. Map sources for Eastwood, Essex at grid reference TQ832892 Eastwood is a town some four miles west of Southend on Sea in Essex, England. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ... A trick photograph of Mike Read Mike Read (born 1 March 1951[1] in Manchester, England) is a British disc jockey, writer and former television presenter. ... Radio Luxembourg (1933-1992, 2005-)was an important forerunner of pirate radio and modern commercial radio in Europe. ... This page redirects from Radio 1. See Radio 1 (disambiguation). ...

In 1984, Wright also took over a Sunday morning show entitled Steve Wright on Sunday, which meant he presented weekday afternoons Mondays–Thursdays only, with Mark Page and Paul Jordan presenting Friday afternoon's show. In 1986 his Sunday Morning show ended and he returned to five afternoons a week. Paul Jordan is a name potentially relating to either of the following individuals: Paul Jordan (Polish-born artist) - Polish-American artist Paul Jordan-Smith - California-born journalist Category: ...

Steve Wright in the Afternoon on BBC Radio 1

The show became best known in its early years for its cast of telephone characters which were created and performed by Gavin McCoy, Peter Dickson, Richard Easter and Phil Cornwell. The show went out of its way to be irreverent, including regular stories taken from the Weekly World News. The success of the show even led to a hit single, "I'll Be Back", released under the name "Arnee & The Terminators. In later years the style of the show charged significantly, dumping most of the characters and instead having a "zoo" format, with spoof guests, comedy sketches, a "posse" of producers and radio staff who would join in with the DJ links and whoop and cheer every minor announcement. Peter Dickson is a British radio presenter, television announcer and voice over artist who rose to prominence in the 1990s. ... Richard Easter is a British writer who has written scripts for many mainstream TV shows, including Top of the Pops 2, Youve Been Framed, Eastenders, Coronation Street and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? He was once Steve Wrights radio sidekick and is the writer of the hit... Phil Cornwell (born 5 October 1957 in Southend-on-Sea) is a British comedian, actor, impressionist and writer. ... The Weekly World News (WWN) is a mock tabloid newspaper published by American Media Inc. ... Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (German pronunciation (IPA): ) (born on July 30, 1947) is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor and an American politician, currently serving as the 38th Governor of California. ... A morning zoo is a morning radio show format common to American radio broadcasting. ... DJ or dj may stand for Disc jockey, dinner jacket The DeadJournal website, or Djibouti. ...

"Love the show"

A key feature of Wright's radio shows are letters from his listeners. Almost all of them feature the phrase "Love the show". It is not clear whether the listeners include it to ensure that Wright will read the letters, or if he adds it himself. Wright's initials have been adapted into the expression "SWs to you", an abbreviation used by correspondents of fellow Radio 2 presenter Sarah Kennedy. It means "Love the show", after the oft-quoted phrase. Other Radio 2 presenters have also parodied it: Terry Wogan often bemoans the lack of such encouragement in his listener correspondence, occasionally reading out listeners' letters which say "Love Steve Wright's show", while the listeners of Chris Evans have also begun adding "Love the snow" to their messages. Sarah Mary Kennedy MBE is a British broadcaster, born July 8, 1950. ... Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE DL (born August 3, 1938, in Limerick, County Limerick, Ireland), more commonly known as Terry Wogan, is a radio and television broadcaster who has worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the United Kingdom (UK) for most of his career. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Characters and sketches

Some of the characters and sketches created for the show included:

• Mr Angry (from Purley): usually to be heard ranting down the phone line, ending with "...it makes me so angry... I could throw the phone down!" followed by the sound of the receiver crashing to the floor.
• Diamond Geezer: supposed DJ/mixer, and voice for the track "Mr Spoon"
• The "Down-the-Pan" Daleks: two 'retired' Daleks in improbable domestic situations
• 'Easy Life'
• Dr Fish-Filleter: source of much innuendo about fishy fingers, etc. Had his own 'jingle' sung by Steve and his Posse when the interview had ended ("Fillet of Fish, Fillet of Fish. O' Give me Fish to Fillet!").
• Edward the Garrulous Fencing Champion: his catchphrase is "I epee you"
• Mr Food
• Gervais the Hairdresser
• Hopeless the Weather Girl: a parody of the brand of 'bimbo'-esque weather girls seen on British television in the late 1980s.
• Maggot - an odd character with a very high pitched voice.
• 'Mick and Keef': not the real Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, but impersonations (played by Phil Cornwell, who later did the characters in Stella Street). Bill Wyman also made occasional appearances.
• Linda Lust: her catchphrase is "Spatula", said in a sultry, sensual voice.
• Llama Man
• Motorcycle Courier - who left his motorbike running in the background and would scream at the top of his voice "SIGN 'ERE PLEASE!" from within his motorcycle helmet continuously regardless of what was asked of him.
• Mr Mad: , would phone in, refer to Steve as "Pal" and would ask "Guess where I'm livin' today?" then proceed to name some bizarre, improbable locations (like inside the Mace of the House of Commons or Inside Paul McCartney's Guitar etc). Then would end the phone call with a series of vocal 'whistles and beeps' and his catchphrase was "Ravin' mad, pal!".
• Mr Paranoid
• The Parking Man - constantly shouting two instructions 'You're Alright, You're Alright' and 'Left Hand Down' to someone trying to reverse their van into a parking space outside the 'window' of the studio. Would sometimes end in a calamatous crashing noise followed by silence and then 'You're Alright!'.
• Pretentious Music Journalist: supposedly based on a number of 1980s rock/pop reviewers (perhaps especially Simon Reynolds, David Stubbs and Paul Oldfield of Melody Maker), he reads a little too much into a band's songs with over-complex and artistically pretentious monologues where a simple explanation would suffice, e.g., "They generate a sonic cathedral of sound" means "loud".
• Sid the Manager: supposedly Steve Wright's agent, a genial but often confused old duffer
• Voiceover Man
• The Perv: often heard tapping at the studio window calling "Yoohoo! Hello Stevie! I'm in the corridor..." and describing his startling attire at the time.
• Damien the Social Worker
• An unknown Irish lady who frequently told Steve "you've got the perfect face for Radio"

Look up geezer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Daleks can refer to either: Plural of Dalek, the fictional robot; or Daleks (video game). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Sir Michael Phillip Mick Jagger CBE (born July 26, 1943) is an English rock musician, actor, songwriter, record and film producer and businessman. ... Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English guitarist, songwriter, singer and a founding member of The Rolling Stones in 1962. ... Phil Cornwell (born 5 October 1957 in Southend-on-Sea) is a British comedian, actor, impressionist and writer. ... Stella Street S2 is out on uk DVD 13TH AUGUST Stella Street was a British television comedy programme originally screened on BBC2 (1998 - 2001). ... Simon Reynolds (born 1963 in London), is an influential British music critic who is well-known for his writings on electronic dance music and for coining the term post-rock. ... David Stubbs is a British journalist. ... Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was (until its closure) the worlds oldest weekly music newspaper. ... Duffer may refer to: Duffers, invisible dwarfs in the Chronicles of Narnia. ...

The Breakfast Show and beyond

Wright moved to the Breakfast Show in 1994, but resigned in 1995 due to differences with the Radio 1 management after the station was restructured by new controller Matthew Bannister, which led to many of the more established DJs leaving, or being sacked, around this time. He was picked up by the new commercial station Talk Radio, where he presented a Saturday morning show & also presented a syndicated show on Sunday mornings on various commercial stations in the UK. Matthew Bannister is a British radio administrator and broadcaster. ... talkSPORT is the only dedicated national commercial sports and talk radio station, based in London, broadcasting to the United Kingdom providing sports talk, live commentaries, phone-in discussion and talk shows. ...

He returned to the BBC in 1996, when he joined BBC Radio 2, presenting Steve Wright's Saturday Show Saturdays 10am–1pm and Steve Wright's Sunday Love Songs Sundays 9–11am. In 1999, Steve took over Radio 2's Weekday afternoon show (from Ed Stewart) and he is also the voice of the retro pop show on BBC television, Top of the Pops 2. BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBCs national radio stations and is the most popular station in the UK. It broadcasts throughout the UK on FM radio between 88 and 91 MHz from its studios in Western House, adjacent to Broadcasting House in central London. ... Ed Stewart (born April 23, 1941 in Devon) is a radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom. ... TOTP2 (Top of the Pops 2) is a British television music show broadcast on BBC Two, showing archive footage from the long-running Top of the Pops show, some dating back to the early 1960s. ...

Current work

Wright can currently be heard on Radio 2 every weekday afternoon in Steve Wright in the Afternoon from 2pm until 5pm, and on Sunday mornings 9–11am presenting Sunday Love Songs. Current features include:

• "Ask Elvis": an Elvis impersonator (Mitch Benn) answers questions from listeners, particularly those of a scientific or technical nature, which the real Elvis would have been unlikely to know, and questions that, if you were given the chance to ask Elvis anything, you probably wouldn't ask.
• "Factoids": snippits of bizarre trivia
• "The Big Quiz": a general knowledge quiz in which a challenger takes on the current champion (referred to as the 'champio' or 'champnio') in order to win prizes. Each contestant has a time limit to answer questions, following which the round ends following the first incorrect answer from that contestant.
• Celebrity interviews (two in each programme)

Wright is regularly joined by sidekicks Tim Smith and Janey Lee Grace (both radio DJs in their own right, and often heard as solo holiday relief presenters on Radio 2), plus traffic reporter Sally Boazman (whom Wright calls 'Sally Traffic') and the Old Woman. The latter's identity has never been revealed, though it is apparent that she is genuinely a senior citizen and not a younger actress (despite her vocal similarity to Wendy Richard). It has been rumoured that she is actress Edna Doré^{[citation needed]}. During the 14 May 2007 edition of Steve Wright in the Afternoon, guest Shane Ritchie referred to Old Woman as Nana Moon: a character from the soap Eastenders played by Hilda Braid. Elvis Impersonators An Elvis impersonator is someone who impersonates or copies Elvis Presley either as a hobby, career in entertainment or occasionally for fun. ... Mitch Benn (born Mitchell John Benn 20 January 1970) is a British musician of Liverpudlian/Scottish descent and stand-up comedian known for his satirical songs performed on BBC radio. ... Elvis Aron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), often known simply as Elvis and also called The King of Rock n Roll or simply The King, was an American singer, musician and actor. ... Mount Isa, Australia, is often incorrectly referred to as the largest city in the world by area Toronto, Canada, was never designated by UNESCO as the worlds most multicultural city Factoid can refer to a spurious (unverified, incorrect, or invented) fact intended to create or prolong public exposure or... Born in 1961 in Swindon, Tim Smith started out on university radio whilst studying in York. ... Janey Lee Grace is a UK-based singer (mostly backing vocalist, although she has released solo recordings), television (VH-1 and ITV) presenter and radio disc jockey, firstly with Virgin Radio as a travel reporter & then graduating to her own late night show for the Station. ... Wendy Richard MBE (born Wendy Emerton on 20 July 1943) is a popular English actress best known for playing Miss Brahms in Are You Being Served? and Pauline Fowler in EastEnders from 1985 to 2006. ... Edna Doré (born 1922) is a British actress. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Shane Patrick Roche (born March 11, 1964), better known by his stage name Shane Richie, is a British actor and comedian. ... Nana Moon is a character from the British soap opera EastEnders. ... For Philippine soap opera, see Teleserye. ... EastEnders is a popular BBC television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 on 19 February 1985[4] and continuing to date. ... Hilda Braid (Born 3 March 1932) in Northfleet, Kent; is a British actress known for her roles in the BBC comedy series Citizen Smith and more recently as Nana Moon in EastEnders, also on the BBC. After training at RADA, Braid appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company before breaking into...

Bibliography

• Steve Wright Steve Wright's Book of Factoids , HarperCollins Publishers (UK), (2005) ISBN 0-00-720660-7

See also

• BBC Radio 2: Steve Wright in the Afternoon
• Radio Rewind: Steve Wright - profile, pics and audio clips
• 'Sid the Manager' site
• 'Janey Lee Grace' site