Keith Skues

Keith Skues MBE (born March 4 1939 in Timperley, Cheshirecite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/articles/2005/04/14/radio_norfolk_biog_keith_skues_feature.shtml|title=Keith Skues|publisher=BBC Radio Norfolk|date=2005-08-23|accessdate=2007-02-13] ) is a British radio personality. He is nicknamed "Cardboard Shoes".cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/music/nfk_musicians/skuesville.shtml|title=Cardboard Shoes captured on CD|publisher=BBC Radio Norfolk|date=2003-05-01|accessdate=2007-02-12]

His broadcasting career began on the British Forces Network in Cologne, Germany in 1958. This was followed by overseas tours to Kuwait, Kenya and Aden. He returned to Britain in 1964 and joined Radio Caroline, then Radio Luxembourg in 1966 and Radio London in the summer of the same year.

He was one of the original presenters on the newly launched BBC Radio 1 in 1967, and was heard on the very first day, following on from Tony Blackburn, presenting "Saturday Club". In 1969 he took over the weekday afternoon show before moving on to "What's New", which was broadcast every weekday from 4.15–5.15pm. Other Radio shows included "Album Time", "Radio 1 Club" and "Night Ride", which was also broadcast similtaneously on BBC Radio 2.

Skues left Radio 1 in 1974 and was appointed director of Radio Hallam (now Hallam FM). By 1980 was the longest serving programme director in music radio.Fact|date=February 2007 In 1987 Hallam merged with two other Yorkshire stations and Skues was made Group Programme Consultant. In 1989, the various Classic Gold stations began broadcasting and Skues became programme controller, as well as broadcasting six days a week.

In 1991 he briefly took over the afternoon show on BBC Radio Sheffield. He then had a brief spell on the late afternoon show on BBC Radio 2. In January 1992 he went to Saudi Arabia for two months as Public Relations Officer for the Royal Air Force detachment in Dhahran. Squadron Leader Skues was a member of the public relations team at RAF Marham for the 75th anniversary of the Royal Air Force on April 1 1993, an event which was attended by five members of the Royal Family.

From 1995 he broadcast programmes on Monday–Friday nights from 10pm–1am on BBC Radio Norfolk, BBC Radio Suffolk, BBC Essex, BBC Radio Northampton, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and BBC Three Counties (Bedfordshire,Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire). In May 2005 he took semi-retirement, but can still be heard on the above BBC Local Radio stations on Sundays 9.00pm–1.00am with a show entitled Pirate Radio Skues, which includes an "archive hour", replaying an hour of classic pirate radio from home-taped recordings. BBC Radio Lincolnshire also take his show on Sundays, although it is generally not in their BBC region. He also has a rock and roll show Saturdays 7.00pm-9.00pm, appropriately entitled Rock'n'Roll Heaven, on BBC Three Counties Radio (Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire).

He was awarded an MBE in the 2004 New Year Honours list, for services to broadcasting and charity.cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/graphics/2003/12/31/nhon2.pdf|title=New Year Honours|publisher=The Times|date=2003-12-31|accessdate=2007-02-13]

References

External links

* [http://www.keithskues.co.uk/ Official site]