Cupid Stunts: The Life and Radio Times of Kenny Everett

Description

On paper, Kenny Everett's qualifications did not look promising - not much in the way of education, physique or social skills, just a gift for funny voices, an oblique imagination and a way with a tape recorder. Yet, by an odd twist of fate, when in the 1960's and 70's the British radio revolution transformed the aural landscape, funny voices, oblique imagination and a way with a tape recorder were the precise and perfect qualities the world was crying out for. Ever a corporate player, Kenny was frequently fired, yet still went on to reinvent television. Meanwhile, outside the studios, the challenge to 'get a life' brought moments of ecstasy, frequent bother and at least one suicide attempt. And at the exact moment when tabloid frenzy about the AIDS epidemic reached its peak, he came out.This new biography, based on intricate documentary research as well as interviews with colleagues, friends and enemies - including Alexei Sayle, Barry Cryer, David Mallet and "Whispering" Bob Harris - not only gets under the skin of the man, but also gives a taste of the times. It captures the novelty and excitement of hearing all-pop radio for the first time, the terror and bluster of the high-ups, the brilliant blossoming of gay culture throughout the 70s and 80s, and the tragedy and vile hypocrisy that surrounded the AIDS epidemic.

David Stafford has worked on and off for BBC radio and television since 1973. He worked at Thames TV, sometimes in the next studio to Kenny's show, and made an award winning series at Capital Radio while Kenny was upstairs winning awards of his own. He knows the turf intimately. Caroline and David's biography of Lionel Bart, Fings Ain't Wot They Used T' Be, published by Omnibus Press In 2011, was chosen as BBC Radio 4's Book Of The Week and short listed for a Sheridan Morley Award.