John Peters - Trent's fifth birthday in 1980

There are undoubtedly some key influences in music radio: the Blackburn sound; the Steve Wright sound; and the list goes on. There was certainly too ‘a UBN sound’. UBN being the biscuit factory station which was the training ground for so many early ILR broadcasters, as this new trickle of early stations mined the UK in the 1970s for people who understood contemporary music radio. This well-programmed station was, itself, influenced by the American sound of music radio which was to form the DNA of the more commercially-minded early ILR stations.

UBN was a temporary home for Roger Scott, Dale Winton, Adrian Love, Nicky Horne, Graham Dene, Peter Young and John Peters, who was the chap who launched Trent on-air in Nottingham in 1975. Students of radio can hear, here, John’s tight UBN delivery, vocal styling and his careful crafting of the ‘sound’, as opposed to the content of radio. The pacing too. Is. Err. Fluff.

My favourite chunk is the crunch and roll into Harold Melvin 9' in. Just for added value, this show was a special return to the breakfast show for John as he celebrates Radio Trent’s 5th anniversary, hence the array of jingle packages. It is packed with his typical slickness, spiced with compulsory Tombolas and gratuitous innuendo. Enjoy.