ANDY CRAIG ON METRO 261

Andy Craig (left), Elton John (centre), and Giles Squire (right).

ByANDY FLEMING

WEBMASTER

Now then, it has been a while since a former Metro Radio presenter has contacted the site directly, so it is a big "thumbs up" to Andy Craig who many will remember from his presentation work on Metro Radio in the late seventies. Andy was also a newsreader, in-vision continuity announcer at Tyne Tees Television and presenter of news magazine Northern Life at around the same time. This is what Andy had to say.

Neil Robinson gave me my first break. I had studied Agriculture at Newcastle University and graduated in June 1976. I went off to find fame and fortune, got some shifts with Radio 210 Thames Valley Broadcasting (the home of Mike Read and Steve Wright) before returning to the North East. Neil was a farmer in Slaley and liked the fact that I could talk his language....I got the job!

I joined (Metro Radio) in the late summer 1976 as an assistant to Geoff Brown, and Geoff and I went on to programme all the daily strip shows for almost two years to guarantee the station sound. The programme controller Mick Johnson didn't believe that the presenters could be trusted to choose their own music. True in some cases!

I was instrumental in helping produce the Gentle on Your Mind jingle package which used the John Miles break from 'Music' as the news jingle. Geoff Brown was constantly looking for inspiration and I brought in my own collection of soul and jazz sounds to entice him....One of them by Young Holt Unlimited 'Soulful Strut' made it through to the Metro New Sound jingle.....How we got away with it!!

I made it to air with 'Simply Soul' with the soul show long after Big Phil had gone. I think it was on a Thursday night.

I stayed at Metro until 1978 when I joined Tyne Tees. Initially in continuity and then News. I went on to front Northern Life with Tom Coyne (and on my own at the tender age of 27).

I then moved to Central ITV in Nottingham and anchored the news in the Midlands for close on ten years before moving to BBC Pebble Mill and Daytime Live. Then it was on to launch the ITV franchise Meridian, hosting Meridian tonight for thirteen years. In between I hosted TV-am with Anne Diamond, countless weeks of This Morning with Fern...and for some reason a whole raft of game shows including Sporting Triangles (ITV), One False Move (Sky), Going Going Gone (BBC1) BrainWave (BBC2), Search Line Special with Cilla.....and so on and so on.

Perhaps most interestingly I invested wisely and went on to own

and be lead shareholder in seven Independent Local Radio Stations. I launched several newspapers and then floated the whole lot on the AIM London Stock Market.

As you can see I am Chairman and shareholder of a company that is still pioneering in the broadcast world with most of its work in the United States. It's a fascinating business.

I have some interesting early photos at Metro which I will look out and some amazing memories. Including meeting Mohammed Ali who wanted to take away the song he had heard on Metro as he was driven to the studios. I gave him the K-Tel album from which the track was played.....you wouldn't argue would you.

Finally if you look at the 40 year YouTube video there is a 'still' before Giles makes his speech. That is yours truly with Giles.....and could it be Elton John under the hat? 

All the best

Andy Craig. 

Contact Andy via this website: www.ionoco.com                         

And thanks to you Andy for contacting the website. Good to hear from you!

BILL STEEL'S RADIO AND TV DAYS

ByANDY FLEMING

WEBMASTER

Thursday morning proved much more interesting than usual for a couple of reasons for both myself and visitors to this website.

One of the Metro Radio 261MW 97VHF Tribute Website visitors, Matthew Gulliver of Rotherham asked whether I would be willing to take a listen to Radio Tyneside, a hospital radio service for Newcastle-upon-Tyne and surrounding areas. This radio station has been broadcasting to the hospital communities in the Tyneside area via closed circuit headphone and now via the internet and 1575kHz AM/medium wave since 1951.

North East broadcasting legend Bill Steel was being interviewed by Radio Tyneside presenter Dave Nicholson about his broadcasting career and Matthew was wondering if I could record the output of the station for both himself and Bill. Of course I didn't have to be asked twice, and thought it would make good feature for sharing with you on this website too.

So here he is then, Bill Steel talking about his fascinating career acting, and presenting both on radio and television. Bill of course worked for Tyne Tees Television (ITV) serving the north east of England since the early sixties as a continuity announcer, eventually graduating to the position of chief announcer and presenter of Today at Six and Northern Life. Also working in television in for ATV Manchester and the Midlands, he presented Metro Radio's very popular Breakfast Show during the seventies. 

Bill Steel playing the role of Bernard McKenna on Granada ITV's ever-popular soap Coronation Street (Episode 4169; Air Date: March 31, 1997). Image courtesy of Corriepedia.

Bill also presented on Century Radio North East in the nineties, and is known nationwide for playing the role of Bernard McKenna in ITV's Coronation Street for eight months.

Bill Steel interviewed by Dave Nicholson, Hospital Radio Tyneside, June 6, 2014. Apologies for the audio quality of the recording due to problems with my mixer software, and not the source.

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