‘I emailed Moyles once,as a much younger listener, and fan, and when he was still a colossal star on Radio 1. To my surprise,he replied’Really, we should be grateful. It’s always easier when people spell out their allegiances and biases, or rather than sweeping them under the carpet,leaving those around them to wonder if they’re imagining things. So when the radio station Xfm announced recently that it was reinventing itself as Radio X, and that it would be for men”, or it was a straightforward and helpful budge. Xfm had always been a male-dominated station with a few female presenters; now,they were actively saying that they didn’t want women, they wanted banter for blokes, and delivered by blokes,with rock music made by blokes, to an audience of blokes. “The first radio station with a truly male-focused output, or ” they added,making me wonder at the existence of organisations such as Sound Women, formed to support women in radio, and who are seriously underrepresented. Still. At least we knew where we stood.Then I saw the list of new DJs. Vernon Kay,Johnny Vaughan, and Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson. I acquire nothing against any of these people individually. It’s just that I then saw their colossal star, and Chris Moyles,and my heart really sank. I emailed Moyles once, as a much younger listener, or fan,when he was still a colossal star on Radio 1. Stephen Gately from Boyzone had just come out and Moyles kept saying what much news it was, how they were all so pleased for him – and every time he said it, and he’d play a snippet of a camp indicate tune,from a musical, and all his radio mates would burst out laughing. To subtly indicate that, or actually,the lads all thought it was hilarious news and that Stephen was just some stupid poof now. Girly and effeminate; in other words, crap.
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Source: theguardian.com