Capital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.

History[link]

Pre-launch[link]

Following the 1964–68 offshore radio boom, the Conservative Party, under Edward Heath promised in its 1970 General Election Manifesto that should it win, it would introduce local commercial radio in addition to the commercial television which had started in 1955. This was a result of much lobbying from a particular pressure group, the Local Radio Association, who felt that commercial radio should be introduced following the launch of Associated Rediffusion and ITV. The Tories won and swiftly introduced the Sound Broadcasting Act 1972 which allowed for the introduction of Independent Local Radio and the newly-renamed Independent Broadcasting Authority from the Independent Television Authority.

The Independent Broadcasting Authority advertised local radio licences in certain locations in the United Kingdom under the umbrella term of Independent Local Radio. London was due to receive two ILR licences: one for news and another for general entertainment. Radio Capital, later to become Capital Radio, was formed in early 1970 by David Maule-ffinch with the intent to apply for the general entertainment license. In late 1970, David's future father-in-law, Barclay Barclay-White became involved. The Radio Capital team that was finally in place at the time of application to the IBA included Sir Richard Attenborough, Sir George Martin, Bryan Forbes, Sir Peter Saunders, David Maule-ffinch and Barclay Barclay-White.^[2] David Maule-Ffinch was a member of the board of Capital Radio and its largest stockholder until 1994, when he sold his controlling interest to Information et Publicite, a subsidiary of Havas, the French media conglomerate.

Another application came from a consortium headed by Opportunity Knocks television presenter Hughie Green, who had openly voiced the need for commercial broadcasting, having previously worked for Radio Luxembourg.

The IBA awarded Capital Radio the "London General Entertainment" service, while "London News" was awarded to the London Broadcasting Company, LBC.

IBA transmission tests commenced in January 1973 and Capital Radio went on air on 16 October 1973, ten days after LBC, using the following FM and AM frequencies: 95.8 MHz FM from the Croydon transmitter station and 557 kHz (539 m) MW from London Transport's Lots Road Power Station, Chelsea. The medium wave frequency and location were temporary sites as the then new high-powered medium wave station at Saffron Green, Barnet was incomplete.

Launch[link]

Capital commenced regular transmissions with the British national anthem "God Save the Queen", then a message from director Richard Attenborough "...This, for the very first time, is Capital Radio" followed by the Capital Radio theme jingle, made by Blue Mink:

"Isn't it good to know,

Capital Radio

You can turn on your friends, you can turn on the show,

you can turn on the world with Capital Radio

Such a good way to make your day

Capital sounds go round and round,

Up and down London town

The brightest sound in London town

Capital Radio in tune with London (yeah)"... 

Simon and Garfunkel's song, "Bridge over Troubled Water" followed the jingle. The first radio commercial came from Bird's Eye fish fingers, which incidentally was also the first ever legal radio commercial on LBC.

Capital's programming remit, as with all ILR stations at the time, was to appeal to the broadest range of people as possible, which included specialist music programmes, radio plays, classical music, community features and news documentaries. Capital's breakfast show was hosted by popular television entertainer Kenny Everett and disc jockey Dave Cash.

Immediately after going on air, Capital Radio suffered co-channel interference from Radio Veronica, a pirate radio station off the coast of the Netherlands. Veronica began broadcasting in the 1960s and it was suggested that the allocation of 539 metres to ILR may have been an attempt to block reception of overseas broadcasts — a battle which preceded the launch of BBC Radio 1. Capital finally moved into office blocks in Euston Tower in November 1973, just a few yards away from Thames Television headquarters. Euston Tower was, at the time, London's tallest office tower.

In 1975, the IBA finally opened the transmission facilities at Saffron Green which allowed both LBC and Capital Radio to move up the dial. Capital moved to 1548 kHz mediumwave (194 m) and LBC to 1152 kHz (261 m). Saffron Green needed to be highly configured as it was sharing the same frequency as other ILR stations and needed to prevent co-channel interference from new ILR stations in Birmingham and Manchester. Previously the Lots Road site gained Capital and LBC the semi-humorous nickname of "Radio Clothesline",^[3] however both stations could be heard as far away as the Midlands. FM reception remained unaltered.

Capital in danger (1975–1980)[link]

The commercial radio climate during this period was very tough. Recessions, the miners' dispute and high inflation brought on by the Three-Day Week meant that revenues at Capital Radio suffered. Throughout the 1970s Capital reduced its broadcasting hours and cut its staff, including many journalists – a move which angered the NUJ. Richard Attenborough intimated in the 1990s in a 'Capital Facts' sheet that the station almost contemplated closing down:

"Although one can say it now, one couldn't at the time, there were some weeks when the viability of the whole operation was in question and we might had had to close down. We almost didn't make ends meet."

Capital saw off the recession and continued broadcasting, eventually increasing its hours. The so-called 'needle-time' restrictions on playing music had been lifted, which meant it could play more music during the day as well as in the evenings where the eight hours were concentrated.

Charities and the Flying Eye[link]

The mid-1970s saw Capital Radio expand with the launch of the Help a London Child charity, which aimed to raise money for London's poorest children. The charity appeal went on to become one of the longest-running in broadcasting and the most recognised in British radio. In 1976, the Capital Radio Helpline launched, in conjunction with Thames Television, London Weekend Television and British Telecom which helped listeners through matters ranging from how to cook a turkey at Christmas time, to suicide intervention. The station has also lent its support to London based orchestras, choral societies, the British Film Institute Children's Film Festival and many other ventures.

1976 saw the launch of the Flying Eye, a traffic spotting light aircraft, which could see traffic congestion below on the streets of Central London. LBC also had a similar service but was forced to suspend operations due to cost. Capital's aircraft was originally a Piper Seneca model, and, later, a twin-engined Cirumma Cougar.

Music Power (1980s)[link]

A new radio jingle package from Standard Sound heralded a new, refined sound for the station. Output was concentrated on its core playlist of contemporary chart music with the specialist music rescheduled to evenings. Jazz and soul programmes at the weekends, presented by Peter Young were well received by listeners. Charlie Gillett had his world music programme, The World Of Difference, on Sunday evenings. Several of Capital's early presenters had moved on, to be replaced by newer disc jockeys, some of which had experience presenting on Radio Luxembourg.

A brand new breakfast show started in 1987 and featured Chris Tarrant who arrived from popular television programme Tiswas. Chris initially arrived at Capital presenting the weekday lunchtime show before being promoted. Joined by the then unknown Kara Noble, the partnership proved very popular and the Breakfast Show eventually became one of the most listened to radio programmes on British radio. Many industry commentators consider the station's output in the 1980s represented Capital Radio at its broadcasting peak.

One becomes two- the frequency split (1989–1996)[link]

As required by the 1990 Broadcasting Act the IBA and the Home Office in 1987, all ILR stations were to permanently split simulcasting output on both its FM and AM frequencies in order to create new local radio stations and improve choice. Capital responded by launching a golden oldies station, 1548 AM Capital Gold in 1 November 1988 on its AM frequency while Capital on FM became 95.8 Capital FM, a chart contemporary music station. Both stations received brand-new jingle packages from Californian jingle house Who Did That Music (later Groove Jingles) which went on to become well known and essential parts of its music programming.

1997 - 2010[link]

From 1997, the studios of 95.8 Capital FM have been based in Leicester Square, which is also home to Capital's parent company, Global Radio. The studio complex is shared with many other stations, including XFM London, Classic FM, Heart London & LBC

The station launched its website in September 1996 resulting in high demand which led to it crashing within a few hours.

Beginning in late 2005, the station went through a number of changes. In December 2005, a new policy of two advertisements in each break to win favour with listeners, though there were more frequent breaks as a result. This policy was changed within a few months.

On 9 January 2006, the station was relaunched under its original name Capital Radio, with a modified line-up of presenters and a slightly tweaked music format. After this re-launch turned out not to have had the desired success, a new Programme Controller was appointed in September 2006. Scott Muller came from the Nova group in Australia, and the station saw another tweak in style.

The changes continued seeing Capital re-branded back to "London's Hit Music Station", a play on the station's earlier brand of "London's Number One Hit Music Station" with noticeable improvements – leading to a rise in audience figures at the end of 2006. The station also changed its on air name to 95.8 Capital Radio, incorporating the frequency of "95.8" back into the station since it was dropped at the January 2006 re-launch.^[5]

In March 2007, the station was then renamed Capital 95.8 and its slogan became "The Sound of London". The marketing campaign combined outdoor, cinema, and print adverts.^[6]

RAJAR figures for Q2 2007 showed Capital 95.8 slipping to fourth place in the London local radio market ratings, recording the lowest-ever share of the London audience and for the first time falling behind Emap-owned station Magic and Heart, now owned by Global Radio. Capital 95.8's audience share slipped from 4.6 to 4.1 per cent over the quarter.^[7]

The station then returned to the 'London's Hit Music Network' tagline on 10 December 2007, with ex-Absolute Radio presenter Greg Burns replacing Lucio on drivetime, and Lucio moving to the evening show. Lucio took over from Bam Bam (Peter Poulton) who left Capital in early December 2007. On 6 June 2008, Global Radio completed its £375 million takeover of Capital's parent company GCap Media.

2011-present[link]

Capital London formed part of the nine station Capital radio network on 3 January 2011 as part of a merger of the Global Radio owned Hit Music and Galaxy networks.^[8] Weekday breakfast and drivetime plus weekend mornings are localised with other output networked from the 95.8 Capital studios in London.^[9]

Capital London localised presenters are responsible for playlisting music which is syndicated across the nine station Capital radio network, during Capital Breakfast, weekday drivetime and weekend mornings.

On 12 May 2011 it was announced 95.8 Capital remained the most listened to commercial radio station in London, on both share and reach, beating rival Magic 105.4.^[10] However, on 4 August 2011 it was announced rival Magic 105.4 had overtaken the position.^[11]

Presenters[link]

Local presenters[link]

Syndicated presenters[link]

Former presenters[link]

See also[link]

• Capital
• Capital Breakfast
• List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
• Capital Radio One

References[link]

Sources[link]

External links[link]

Coordinates: 51°30′37″N 0°07′44″W / 51.510178°N 0.128778°W / 51.510178; -0.128778

Kenny Everett (25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English comedian, radio DJ and television entertainer. Born Maurice James Christopher Cole^{[citation needed]}, Everett is best known for his career as a radio DJ and for the Kenny Everett television shows.

Early life[link]

Everett attended the local secondary modern school, St Bede's Secondary Modern, which is now part of Sacred Heart Catholic College.

He attended a junior seminary at Stillington near York with an Italian missionary order, the Verona Fathers, where he was a choirboy.^[2]

After schooling he worked in a bakery and in the advertising department of The Journal of Commerce and Shipping Telegraph.

Having revealed a natural comic and broadcasting talent, he began a career in entertainment. He adopted his stage name from film-star Edward Everett Horton, a childhood hero.

Broadcasting career[link]

Radio career[link]

Radio London, Radio Luxembourg and Radio One[link]

Everett's first break (as Maurice Cole) came when he sent a tape to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1962. He was interviewed at the BBC by Charles Fletcher and offered a job as a presenter on the Light Programme, the forerunner to BBC Radio 2.^[2] He declined, however, in favour of the less constrained world of pirate radio, where he began his career as a DJ for Radio London.

He teamed up with Dave Cash for the Kenny & Cash Show, one of the most popular pirate radio programmes. His offbeat style and likable personality quickly gained him attention, but in 1965 he was sacked after some outspoken remarks about religion on air. Like most of the pirate stations, Radio London carried sponsored American evangelical shows and Everett's disparaging remarks about The World Tomorrow caused its producers to threaten to withdraw their lucrative contract with the station.

Everett returned six months later, however, before being given his own show by Radio Luxembourg in 1966. Within a year, he had joined the BBC's new pop music station BBC Radio 1 after previewing the Beatles' new album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and interviewing the group. Everett had struck up a friendship with the Beatles and accompanied them on their 1966 tour of the United States, sending back daily reports for Radio London. He also produced their 1968 and 1969 Christmas records.

At Radio 1 Everett continued to develop his own unique presentation style, encouraged by producer Johnny Beerling, featuring zany voices, surreal characters, multi-tracked jingles and trailers, all of his own creation and compilation. It was ground-breaking radio material that has since been much copied.

Everett had a great love of sound recording equipment, in particular using reel-to-reel tape recorders, often adding sound-on-sound to his recordings and stereo/multi-track recordings of his pseudo-singing voice. These were broadcast on air regularly and he often created his own radio jingles. This skill was also transferred in some part to TV in his later career.

Everett's shows on BBC Radio 1 included Midday Spin, and in 1968 he took over a Saturday show from 10.00am to 12.00 noon.

In 1970, Everett again found himself sacked, this time after suggesting on air that Mary Peyton, the British Transport Minister's wife, had bribed her driving test examiner. The remark was a spontaneous quip, following a news item describing how Peyton had finally passed after many attempts, although shortly before the incident Everett had given a controversial interview with Melody Maker contrary to a BBC embargo.^[2]

Following an interview on the BBC Radio Solent children's show Albert's Gang, Everett submitted weekly shows to the station that he had pre-recorded at home. This afforded the BBC the opportunity to vet the shows before broadcast. Everett was then heard on various BBC local radio stations before being reinstated at Radio 1 in 1972. Here he recorded a weekly show from his home in Wales and it went out on a Sunday afternoon.

During this time, legislation had been passed allowing the licensing of commercial radio stations in the UK. One of the first, Capital Radio, began broadcasting to London and the Home Counties in 1973. Everett joined the station and was given his own show, where he further developed his distinctive ideas. From 1973 to 1974 he presented the station's breakfast show, initially alongside Dave Cash, a friend and colleague from Radio London days, and later as the sole presenter.

Using reel-to-reel tape recorders and mixing equipment, Everett created many comedy characters on The Breakfast Show with Dave Cash on Capital, one of which was called 'Yasher the Smasher' referring to a character who smashed pianos. This was indicative of how many people went through a destructive period smashing traditional wooden pianos. The idea was first started with Pete Townshend from the Who encouraging the group to destroy their equipment on stage.

In 1974 he moved to a less high-pressure timeslot at Capital. Here he further developed his style and his cult following, and featured both what he thought the best in music (Queen, Chris Rainbow) and the worst, which led to the popular Kenny Everett's World's Worst Record Show programmes, later released as an album, with slightly different tracks. Several shows featured the "Bottom 30": compilations (from listeners' votes) of the world's worst records during this period, including some tracks by well-known personalities not known for their singing, notably William Shatner (Captain Kirk of Star Trek) with his version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "The Shifting Whispering Sands" by Eamonn Andrews.

In 1975 Everett played a pivotal role in getting Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" released as a single. He also presented a pre-recorded programme on Saturday lunch-time for Radio Victory in Portsmouth, later providing Captain Kremmen to the station for transmission in the Dave Christian's late show.

BBC Radio and back to Capital[link]

On 5 February 1980 Everett made his only appearance on the BBC Radio 4 show Just A Minute where he spoke on the subject of marbles for a whole 90 seconds (host Nicholas Parsons' idea of a practical joke).^[3]

In October 1981, Everett returned to BBC Radio, this time on Radio 2, on Saturday from 11.00am–1.00pm. During this time, the BBC received a large number of complaints after Everett told the following joke while live on air. 'When Britain was an Empire we were ruled by an emperor. When we became a kingdom we were ruled by a king. And now we're a country we're ruled by Margaret Thatcher.' ^[4] The show lasted until 1983.

In May 1985, he was called in to replace Graeme Garden (who was ill) for one episode of the Radio 4 game show, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.

He returned to Capital Radio, presenting the same slot as he had on Radio 2. After Capital split its frequencies in 1988 he was heard on Capital Gold, with a line-up that included people like Tony Blackburn and David Hamilton. Everett presented the afternoon show and then moved to the mid-morning show. He left in 1994 when his health deteriorated to the point that he was unable to continue.

TV career[link]

Early television work[link]

Besides the radio programmes, his first screen appearance was in the 1965 film Dateline Diamonds which had a plot based around the pirate ship MV Galaxy. He also appeared in several television series, beginning in 1968 with a production for Granada Television called Nice Time which was co-presented by Germaine Greer and Jonathan Routh. In 1970 he made three series for London Weekend Television (LWT): The Kenny Everett Explosion, Making Whoopee and Ev; and he also took part (along with such talents as Willie Rushton and John Wells) in the 1972 BBC TV series Up Sunday.

In 1973, Everett provided the voice of the cat 'Charley' in the Charley Says animated series of public information films.

(It is not currently clear to which of these efforts Everett was referring when, years later, he spoke dismissively of some early TV work: "We just used to turn up at the studio and try to be wacky". In interviews, co-presenter Greer spoke of him as "a televisual genius".)^{[citation needed]}

Everett was the announcer on the original version of ATV's "big box game" Celebrity Squares which ran on ITV from 1975 to 1979. Also in 1975, Everett featured in an uncredited cameo in an episode of The Goodies, entitled The Goodies Rule – O.K.?, in which he appeared as a political candidate in a (fictional) General Election.

[edit] The Kenny Everett Video Show and The Kenny Everett Video Cassette

In 1978, London's Thames Television offered him a new venture, which became the very successful and ground-breaking Kenny Everett Video Show. This was a vehicle for Everett's characters and sketches (his fellow writers were Ray Cameron, Barry Cryer and Dick Vosburgh), interspersed with the latest pop hits, either performed by the artists themselves, or as backing tracks to dance routines by Arlene Phillips' contemporaneously risqué dance troupe Hot Gossip (which featured Sarah Brightman).

Various pop and TV stars made cameo appearances on the show, including Rod Stewart, Billy Connolly, Kate Bush, Cliff Richard, Freddie Mercury, Terry Wogan and Suzi Quatro (see also "Friends" section below) and classical musicians such as Julian Lloyd Webber.

Everett would often ad lib and deviate from the script; his bloopers were sometimes left in the final cut and on several occasions he pulled the camera around the studio revealing the crew not quite sure what was going to happen next. Quite often the crew were victims of his humour – on one occasion Everett encouraged the crew to sing "Happy Birthday" to a cameraman, presenting to him a cake which he duly pushed in the cameraman's face.^{[citation needed]}

There were also the stories of Captain Kremmen, a science fiction hero voiced by Everett and originally developed for his Capital Radio shows, who travelled the galaxy battling fictional alien menaces, along with his assistant Dr Gitfinger and his voluptuous sidekick Carla. In the first three series these segments were animations created by the Cosgrove-Hall partnership (responsible for the successful children's cartoon series Dangermouse, among many others). In the fourth series (Video Cassette) Kremmen was featured as live action, with Anna Dawson playing Carla; the segments were comedy shorts, rather than the earlier stories.

Other characters included: aging rock-and-roller Sid Snot, unsuccessfully flipping cigarettes into his mouth – at one point Everett managed to catch one in his mouth, to the amusement of the studio crew; Marcel Wave, a lecherous Frenchman played by Everett wearing an absurdly false latex chin; and "Angry of Mayfair", an upper middle class City gent complaining of the risqué content of the show, banging the camera's lens hood with his umbrella, and then storming off, turning his back to us, only then to be revealed as wearing women's underwear in lieu of the entire back half of his suit.

He also created the never-seen character of 'Lord Thames', supposedly the owner of Thames Television (the company was actually owned by two conglomerates). The character was often the butt of Everett's rants and was said to symbolise his contempt for senior management at the company, claiming they lived behind an ancient, cobweb-covered door marked as the "Office Of Saying 'No'". Thames never disciplined him for these comments, unlike prior employers such as the BBC.

Everett's interest in (then primitive) video processing technology and electronic effects showed itself in such features as the appearances of a bobbing 'alien' entirely composed of a distorted video image of his own head ("Hello. I'm Spod, from Planet Thfnnnn. And this is all I do... Pathetic, isn't it?").^{[citation needed]}

The series ran for four seasons on ITV, and was a big ratings hit. The last episode of Series 3 ended with Everett giving a farewell speech as the set and scenery was being stripped down by the crew. The final shot before the closing credits was Everett himself being picked up and placed inside an oversized dustbin.

The fourth Series was retitled "The Kenny Everett Video Cassette" and was more of a comedy program, than the previous 3 series, which relied more on music acts. This series sparked a few changes. Hot Gossip members changed, and there were only 3 columns of TV sets (instead of 4 in Series 1 & 2, and 5 in Series 3) which were cream colored, set in between see-through silvery walls. A faux VHS machine in an egg shape was on the left of the set.

In Australia, complaints resulted in ongoing censorship of the programme, especially the Hot Gossip segments due to the provocative, skimpy and highly revealing costumes and leotards worn by the dancers. These edited down copies are the ones in circulation, and finding an uncut episode is very rare.

[edit] The Kenny Everett Television Show (BBC 1981–1988)

Everett fell out with Thames regarding the management of his show, including the scheduling against the BBC's top-rated Top of the Pops on Thursday evenings. The BBC offered him a live-audience sketch-format comedy programme, starting with a Christmas special on BBC One in 1981, followed by five primetime series. The writing team was bolstered by the addition of Andrew Marshall, David Renwick and Neil Shand, and the production standards were raised by the heavier investment from the Corporation.

Thames Television claimed copyright on Everett's characters, and tried to prevent their use by the BBC. Whilst this action failed, it led to the creation of new characters such as Gizzard Puke (intended to replace Sid Snot), and the spooneristically named Cupid Stunt, an American B-movie actress with pneumatic breasts, and played with no attempt to disguise Everett's beard, who told a cardboard cutout of Michael Parkinson lurid tales of life on set with Burt Reynolds and other male stars of the era. Her original name, Mary Hinge, was vetoed by the Corporation as too obvious, and announcers were encouraged to refer to her as Cupid to prevent mispronunciation. Inept TV handyman Reg Prescott became another firm viewers' favourite, as each week he managed graphically and bloodily to injure himself with tools whilst attempting to demonstrate DIY tips.

Brazilian-born Cleo Rocos co-starred in the BBC series. She often appeared in nothing more than frilly underwear and high heels, and her figure was used to great comic effect as a focus for drooling, lascivious men.

Quiz shows[link]

Everett hosted two short-lived quiz shows late in his career, Brainstorm,^[5] and Gibberish.^[6][7] He was also a team captain on That's Showbusiness.

Friends and guests[link]

Everett was very popular with his peers, and many major stars of television, radio, and pop music counted him as a friend. This led to many celebrity guest appearances across all his television work. Cliff Richard was happy to have his clean image lampooned many times, as were Lionel Blair and Justin Hayward. Terry Wogan – a long-time colleague from the early days at Radio 1 – made numerous appearances on both Thames and the BBC shows, as did Billy Connolly and Lennie Bennett. Other stars who parodied themselves included Rod Stewart, Kate Bush, ABBA, The Police, David Bowie and Freddie Mercury.

[edit] Bloodbath at the House of Death

Everett made one foray into film with 1984's Bloodbath at the House of Death, a spoof of Hammer horror films, which was penned by Everett's usual writing partners Barry Cryer and Ray Cameron (who also directed the film). Vincent Price was featured as the villain, credited only as the "Sinister Man", and a number of other popular comedians and actors also appeared, most notably Pamela Stephenson, Gareth Hunt and Don Warrington. Several regulars from Everett's television series also appeared. The film was not a great success, despite winning "Best Science-Fiction Film" at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film (tied with Videodrome).^{[citation needed]}

Political involvement[link]

During the 1983 general election campaign, the Young Conservatives invited Everett to their conference in an attempt to attract the youth vote. Egged on by film director Michael Winner, Everett bounded onto the stage, wearing the enormously oversized foam rubber hands familiar from his mock-evangelical character Brother Lee Love. He shouted slogans like "Let's bomb Russia!" and "Let's kick Michael Foot's stick away!" to loud applause (Michael Foot was the elderly leader of the Labour Party at the time).^[8][9] Everett later said he regretted the incident and that he had taken the foam hands to the rally because the Tories "asked me first".^[10] In an interview on The Late Late Show with Gay Byrne and Sinéad O'Connor in 1989, Everett was challenged by O'Connor about his support for the Tory Party in the light of his homosexuality and the Conservatives Section 28 addition to the Local Government Act. Everett clarified that he was not a "full Tory", but that he had been appalled by the actions of Arthur Scargill, who he saw as "inciting violence" and "rebel rousing" and whom he thought looked like "Hitler reborn". He had consequently supported the actions of Margaret Thatcher in opposing Scargill. He said he would stand up for gay rights if he were asked providing "it was a jolly occasion", but he also felt that being in a minority and in the public eye, he could do more for gay rights by showing that he was funny and human rather than by marching in the streets.^[11]

Personal life[link]

Everett married the singer Lee 'Lady Lee' Middleton (Billy Fury's former girlfriend) in 1966. By 1979 they had separated, and in the mid-1980s, he publicly acknowledged his homosexuality.

Everett was told in 1989 that he had HIV, and he went public with his illness in 1993.^[12] He died from an AIDS-related illness, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, on 4 April 1995, aged 50.^[13]

Shows presented[link]

The following is a list of the main shows Everett presented.

Radio[link]

• Kenny & Cash Show Radio London – 1964–1965
• Kenny Everett Show Radio Luxembourg – 1966
• Midday Spin BBC Radio 1 – 1967
• Everett is Here BBC Radio 1 Saturdays 10am–12midday – 1968–1970
• Kenny Everett Show BBC Local Radio – 1971
• Kenny Everett Show BBC Radio 1 Sundays 1–3pm – 1972
• Breakfast Show Capital Radio – 1973–1974
• Kenny Everett Show Capital Radio – 1974–1980
• Kenny Everett Show Radio Victory – 1975–1976
• Captain Kremmen Radio Victory – 1976
• Kenny Everett Show BBC Radio 2 Saturdays 11am–1pm – 1981–1983
• Kenny Everett Show Capital Radio Saturdays 11am–1pm – 1984–1988
• Weekday afternoons Capital Gold 1–4pm – 1988–1991
• Weekday mid-mornings Capital Gold 9am–12midday – 1991–1994

Television[link]

• Nice Time Granada Television – 1968
• The Kenny Everett Explosion LWT – 1970
• The Kenny Everett Video Show Thames Television – 1978–1980
• The Kenny Everett Video Cassette Thames Television – 1981
• The Kenny Everett Television Show BBC One – 1981–1988
• Brainstorm BBC – 1988
• Gibberish BBC – 1992

Tributes & portrayals[link]

On 18 November 2007, ITV1 broadcast a tribute show to Everett entitled Licence To Laugh. This celebrated the 30 years since he first appeared on ITV with the ground-breaking Kenny Everett Video Show (Thames Television, 1978 to 1980). Friends and colleagues revealed what it was like to know and work with the man they affectionately dubbed "Cuddly Ken". Additionally, contemporary celebrities such as Chris Moyles and Chris Tarrant talked about their love for the outrageous entertainer, and discussed the ways in which Everett had influenced them and their work. It also featured archive footage.

In March 2010 the BBC confirmed it was producing a 90-minute TV biopic called Number One in Heaven, to be written by Tim Whitnall and focusing on Everett's unhappiness at secondary school.^[14]

In April 2012 the BBC announced it was working on a 90-minute TV biopic called The Best Possible Taste which would focus on the performer's relationship with his wife, singer Lee Middleton.^[15]

References[link]