Kenny Everett On BBC Radio Bristol - 3. 03/07/1971

KENNY EVERETT ON BBC RADIO BRISTOL - 3. 03/07/1971 (320kbs-m4a/133mb/58mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 27th December 2024

On March 27th, 1971, Britain's most controversial DJ interviewed the leader of the biggest pop group in the world. Both were at a crossroads in their lives.

Kenny Everett had been fired by Radio 1 the previous summer after insulting the wife of a Government Minister. John Lennon had just produced his first solo album after the break-up of the Beatles and was immersed in a damaging legal dispute with Paul McCartney.

The pair came together for what turned out to be a revealing conversation at John's mansion at Sunningdale in Berkshire. Lennon played the piano in his home studio. Kenny asked a few naïve questions about his relationship with Paul. John gave some blunt but amusing answers. Sadly, few people heard it.

The "wireless wizard" had been close friends with the Fab Four since his days on the pirate ship Radio London. Coming from Merseyside helped Kenny get several exclusives, being the first person in the world to play "Strawberry Fields Forever" on the radio. When the offshore stations were outlawed in 1967 he would interview the lads for the BBC on both the Light Programme and Radio 1. John could be quite cutting with his Liverpool pal, telling him that he wasn't very good at asking questions. Kenny admitted he was "naff" at it. But the Beatles loved his shows, and admired his technical brilliance in the studio, asking him to produce their annual Christmas record for the group's fan club in 1968 and 1969.

But by 1971 there were few takers for his scoop. The interview was featured on Radio Monte Carlo International, a short-lived English language service in France. But it only went out in the early hours of the morning on the station's final broadcast. The only UK outlet to use it was Radio Bristol, one of the BBC's newest Local Radio stations. Kenny had been offered a month-long stint that summer as weekend holiday relief. The Lennon interview seemed a good way for the "bad boy" of the corporation to re-establish his credentials. A remixed version went out on July 3, 1971 in his final show in a four-part series. It hasn't been heard since … until now.

The programme also includes the final episode of his comedy series "Dick Dale – Special Doctor", first broadcast on Radio 1, along with music by Paul McCartney, Hurricane Smith, Smokey Robinson, The Idle Race, Fifth Dimension, Dawn, Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel, Butterscotch, The Yamasukis, Freda Payne and Bread.

The show closes with Kenny making an appeal to BBC bosses to restore him to the national airwaves.

It was almost two years before he returned to Radio 1, but his spell on Radio Bristol led to more BBC Locals taking him on, and getting a regular spot on Radio 4's "Start The Week" and the spin-off series "If It's Wednesday … It Must Be".

He joined London's Capital Radio at its launch in 1973 before becoming a highly successful TV performer both on ITV and BBC1. But radio was his true love, and he was still broadcasting on Capital Gold shortly before his death from AIDS on April 4, 1995. He was just 50.

The last of three shows Kenny made for BBC Radio Bristol first broadcast in July 1971.

*** Part of BBC Radio 4 Extra's celebration of Kenny Everett who was born 80 years ago on Christmas Day, 1944.

The Beatles - Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Hurricane Smith - Don't Let It Die
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - I Don't Blame You At All
The Idle Race - I Like My Toys
Honey Come - Want Ads
Dick Dale - Special Doctor (Final Episode)
Paul McCartney - Too Many People
John Lennon interview
John Lennon - Isolation
John Lennon - Love
Paul McCartney - Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey
Fifth Dimension - Light Sings
Dawn - What Are You Doing Sunday
Cat Stevens - Sad Lisa
Simon & Garfunkel - The Only Living Boy In New York
Butterscotch - All On A Summer's Day
The Yamasukis - Yamasuki
Cat Stevens - Father And Son
Bread - It Don't Matter To Me
Freda Payne - Bring The Boys Home
Bread - Truckin'