Chris Deacy

I grew up with a passion for radio, and from the age of 7 was regularly recording programmes from Radio 1, primarily the charts on a Sunday evening in the days of Tony Blackburn and then Tommy Vance. In 1987 and 1988 I recorded at least two R1 Roadshows each week and edited them at the time, taking out most of the music and retaining all of the spoken elements. I did the same with Adrian John's Early Show in that period and have excerpts also of programmes by Mike Read and Mark Goodier c. 1988. Upon going to University in 1991 I migrated to Radio 2 and would study to the sound of the likes of Ed Stewart, Chris Stuart, Martin Kelner, Sarah Kennedy, Steve Madden and Debbie Thrower. My academic background is in theology and religious studies and I am currently working on a project on radio, religion and nostalgia which enables me to bring together my radio and theology passions. I wrote on 'Christmas Junior Choice With Ed Stewart' in my last book, 'Christmas as Religion' (OUP, 2016).