Steve Wright’s death ‘broke’ BBC team, says Jo Whiley as she pays tribute to ‘master of craft’

Jo Whiley pays tribute to Steve Wright on BBC Radio 4Source: BBC Radio 4

Transcript

00:00 Well, he was the master of his craft in a similar way to Kenny Everett.

00:03 Everybody can sing Steve Wright jingle.

00:06 We can all recall all the catchphrases and the characters from Mr.

00:09 Spoons to DJ Silly Boy to Mr.

00:11 Angry. He just understood radio and he understood what people wanted.

00:16 He devoted his whole life to radio and to his listeners.

00:19 It was absolutely everything to him.

00:21 And all he cared about was making people happy.

00:23 You know, there's so much turmoil in people's lives and conflict in the world.

00:27 And he was he provided the light relief and he knew what people wanted.

00:30 He wanted to cheer people up.

00:32 And can I just say he would have hated he would have hated the fuss

00:36 because he was not big on sentimentality.

00:38 And I'm sure Nick, you'll agree with this.

00:40 But I think to know that he was loved and to know that what he meant

00:44 to people all over the world and to what comfort he brought to so many

00:47 throughout all the silliness that he did on the radio, which was,

00:50 you know, incredibly well crafted.

00:52 He really made him very happy.