Crunch & Roll

S03 E08 - Tim Lichfield

Hold on to your headphones, Tiger Tim's roaring onto Crunch & Roll, and he's grrrrrrrrrreat! (Sorry).
Early on in his chat with Foxy he tells us that it is "no holes barred"...
He's happy to to go through the many highs and some notable lows of his career, spanning Capital and BRMB to TFM and Minster, and plenty more besides.
We've cover how he was once told he couldn't say his own name right by one manager, the magic of warming up for Chris Tarrant every morning, and turning down a big gig for the sake of his health and sanity.
There's strong language and adult content in this episode. And if you are affected by any of the issues raised in this episode, you're not alone and there's help and support at www.drinkaware.co.uk.
 
If you're a regular listener to the podcast, firstly thank you - we love you. But if you'd like to support the podcast / contribute to the 969media Christmas party, we'd be eternally grateful if you would click here: https://ko-fi.com/crunchandroll
 
Check out Tim's magic here: https://timlichfield.com/
Listen to Tim on YorkMix Radio from 3pm weekdays: https://yorkmix.com/radio/

S03 E07 - Darren Daley

This episodes finds you just before Christmas 2023. Tis the season of good will to all men... except one former boss who features in this episode! But be assured the rest of Foxy's chat with Darren Daley is a real Christmas cracker.
He's been in the game since Cliff Richard was number 1 in the charts with Saviours' Day, so has plenty of stories to tell.
Luckily for us he's kept all his correspondence from radio stations from the last 35+ years, and reads out some of the more noteworthy examples. Fair to say he wasn't on former Radio 1 controller Johnny Beerling's Christmas card list.
There's chat about how Radio City legend Phil Eason gave him his first break one memorable Boxing Day.
And the tale of a naked Australian producer ruining the news on a unfortunately serious news day.
There's strong language and adult content in this episode.
 
If you're a regular listener to the podcast, firstly thank you - we love you. But if you'd like to support the podcast / contribute to the 969media Christmas party, we'd be eternally grateful if you would click here: https://ko-fi.com/crunchandroll
 

S03 E06 - Paul Carrington

Foxy calls him The Professor. You might know him as The Funster. But his passport says Paul Carrington.
Paul has to be one of the most well known presenters in the north of England and is guaranteed to have worked on a station near you, if you live north of Sutton-cum-Duckmanton. Piccadilly, Signal, Viking, Buzz, Minster, Pulse - We'll let Paul tell you the rest.
There's stories about working for Timmy Mallett (along with Professor Brain Cox, Chris Evans and Nick Robinson); how he helped the biggest pop group of the 80s escape a hoard of screaming fans (involves an old Ford Escort); and how he's embarrassed about being The Funster.
It's a long one (so we'll keep this bit short), but absolutely worth sticking with to the end. Enjoy!

S03 E05 - Jo Russell

When we started this podcast, we wrote down a list of people we'd love to have on, and sitting close to the top (between the hairy cornflake and Alan Tichmarsh) was today's guest, Jo Russell.
We've been pestering her to come on for ages but wasn't having any of it, until John upped the appearance fee to two bottles of Blossom Hill, then she was in!
We worked with her for several years at BRMB and didn't know 10% of the stuff she talked about in this episode, so unless you're her mum, you probably don't have a clue either.
There's the story of leading a double life in her early career - insurance sales person by day, radio presenter by night. There's the story about people pretending to be her in Nottingham at the height of her fame while on Trent. And how she once had a very pleasant sacking by one of radio's great managers.
There's strong language in this episode (much to Jo's surprise!).
 
Hear Jo & Sparky on Gem breakfast: https://planetradio.co.uk/gem-106/presenters/gem-breakfast-show-jo-sparky/

S03 E04 - Paul Harper

We've got a few 'firsts' going on in this episode.
The first first is that Paul is the first (OK, stop saying first) Scottish guest on the podcast. We'll be honest, we're not that clued-up about radio north of the border, so it was interesting to hear about the differences between it and radio 'down south'. Who needs contracts?!
Second first is that he's 'done' Australia, and in style. No messing about - straight on 2Day FM. No big deal, just hanging out with Kyle and Jackie O in Sydney.
And the final first is he's our first guest who's on the radio in Canada. And he's kindly offered to put up any Crunch & Roll listeners in his home if you want to visit Toronno (apparently you don't say the 'T'). Thanks Paul!
You're going to find out about the debauchery of Scotland's most rock and roll radio station; how he ended up being Japanese; and the consequences of giving callers funny names on PhoneBox.
There's strong language in this episode, just how you like it.
 
Paul's on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/impaulharper
And listen to his breakfast show on Today Radio in Toronto, here: https://935todayradio.com/paul-harper/
Here's some classic Harper: https://www.aircheckdownloads.com/audio-search?term=paul+harper&sort_bef_combine=relevance_DESC
THAT Tay FM imaging voice! Sponsored time-check? And how hot was BEAT 106?
 

S03 E03 - Elliott Webb

John describes Elliott as Mr BRMB, and for most people that's probably how they see him too. But there's so much more to his story.
During the course of this episode you might come to regard him as Mr Sacked for Gross Misconduct; Mr Gave Moyles a Pep Talk; or Mr Told His Boss To Fuck Off.
Oh, and find out all about his part in radio's most controversial promotion.
Get ready to get caught up in Elliott's web. Sorry.
Contains strong language.
 
Hear Elliott doing his thing on BBC Hereford and Worcester, weekdays from 10: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00drqfg
Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/elliottjwebb
Insta: https://www.instagram.com
 

S03 E02 - Alex Lester

As nicknames go, The Dark Lord is right up there.
But it could have been so different for our guest if a former boss had got his way and convinced him to go with Red.
Alex Lester is truly deserving of the description 'legend'. Three decades at Radio 2 for goodness sake!
He's got some stories from those times, mainly involving Sir Terry, as well as delving into the beginning of his career and the disastrous launch of a station he was involved with.
But the tale of his fan mail nearly made us soil ourselves. Be warned!
There's very strong language and adult content in this episode.
 
Listen to Alex Lester on Greatest Hits Radio: https://planetradio.co.uk/greatest-hits/station/on-air/alex-lester/
Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexthedarklord?lang=en
 

S03 E01 - Andy Bush

We're back with an absolute beaut of a guest: It's Andy Bush (or Andrew Buschenfeld if he's in trouble).
We caught up with him just after his show one evening, shortly before he tucked into a supermarket chicken jalfrezi. Don't let anyone tell you radio isn't glamorous.
He chatted to John about how he had always dreamed of being on the radio as a child; his delight after the Global had taken over GWR; and how he bloody LOVES radio conferences. *
Oh, John also goes 'there' and asks the question we all wanted to know...
Expect strong language, adult content and a sad story about a turkey.
 
* For the avoidance of doubt, the opposite of all these things is true.
 
Listen to Hometime with Bush & Richie on Absolute here: https://planetradio.co.uk/absolute-radio/shows/hometime-with-bush-richie/
Buy his amazing book 'Celebs at Home' here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celebs-At-Home-Andy-Bush/dp/1783528192
And his numerous, excellent podcasts, including The A-Z of the 90s, Beethoven: The Basics and Scarred for Life are available wherever you get your podcasts.

S02 E12 - Pat Sharp

Yeah mate. Got Pat Sharp on the pod. No biggy.
We'll keep it brief as he doesn't really need much of an introduction.
Find out the real story of the fabled Parky red card incident; what it was like to share a Top of the Pops dressing room with the whole Radio 1 line-up; and the tale of an awkward gig that he wasn't so keen to do.
 
Pat's website: https://patsharp.co.uk/
And Insta: https://www.instagram.com/mrpatsharp/
 

S02 E11 - Neil Bentley

We didn't plan to have loads of former Capital FM legends on this series of Crunch & Roll - in fact we don't plan anything - but we're very pleased it turned out that way.
Neil Bentley's happiest times were not at the big 95.8 though, they were at a another often featured station that, like him, were big on dance and R&B.
Neil's not spoken about his career since leaving the industry over a decade ago, so prepare to learn. And prepare to pick your jaw off the floor after some of the tales that would be best described 'SO radio'.
There's the story of the brutal rejection letter from Radio 1 that might not have been all it seemed; he tells us how one of the world's biggest DJs offered to carry his records into an Egyptian-themed nightclub in Barnsley for him; and his embarrassing interaction with the Queen of Pop.
Contains strong language and adult content.
 
Neil's on Twitter, see: https://twitter.com/DJneilbentley
And Inst: https://www.instagram.com/neilbentley/
This is Neil's digital and creative company: https://www.webvid.com/about/
And you can indulge yourself in some classic Bentley here: https://aircheckdownloads.com/audio-search?term=neil+bentley&sort_bef_combine=relevance_DESC