Andy Rutherford
Andy is “the Scottish bloke that is on the radio”
Being a fan of music & radio from a young age led to Andy being involved in hospital radio, which in turn led to a career working in commercial radio & being a DJ in pubs & night clubs.
The first record Andy bought was the Boy from New York City by Darts – which he bought from the bargain bin in Woolies!
Andy admits to owning a copy of The Very Best of the Wombles on vinyl – and he has a secret passion for Jaffa cakes. But don’t tell anyone that!
Carl Humphreys
Carl is one of the founding Amigo’s of Sunshine Radio Online – without his help and technical know-how at the very beginning, we would have been lost!
Carl does a ton of work behind the scenes at Sunshine working on our PlayoutOne automation system – he builds the playlist clocks and helps schedule almost all of the music you hear. He is an IT specialist in his day job – so he is well qualified to guide us through internet hazards that would floor most of the team.
Carl has worked on air for the BBC as both a DJ and as a technical assistant – Carl was part of the UDJ team – he is also a musician, and plays as often as he can, enjoying his favourite Two-Tone Ska beats – he is a huge fan of Madness.
In between all of his commitments in life – Carl also manages to do shows on Sunshine – we think he must use Duracell to keep up the pace!
Take a look at our schedule on our Facebook page to see when he is on Sunshine Radio Online.
Carl Kingston
With deep seated roots firmly set in his native Yorkshire – Carl has travelled to many countries working in both the club world, and the radio World. He now lives in Switzerland and from his home studio can be heard on stations throughout the world. Sunshine Radio Online are happy to have Carl create a show especially for us every weekend.
Carl brings a wealth of radio experience with him – from his early days back in 1974 with BBC Radio Humberside – through to his days with Radio Caroline, Radio Mi Amigo, The Voice of Peace, Viking Radio, Blue Danube Radio, Aire FM, Hereward FM, Minster FM, Stray FM, BFBS, Home 107.9, Garrison Radio, Alpha FM, and Radio Seagull in Holland – Carl has certainly served his apprenticeship in broadcasting many times over!
Carl is a full Equity member and has worked as a TV extra on a number of programmes.
Chantilly (Tilly Rutherford)
Tilly Rutherford has been a music lover all his life from growing up in war torn Coventry. His music career started when he was around 14 when he was one half of a duo called ‘The Decktills’ who performed at local working men’s clubs . He then started singing with various groups, but quickly realised that a singing career wasn’t for him – so he started DJing in the breaks of all the live acts, first with just a mic plugged into their PA and a multi play Dansette record player! Eventually Chantilly graduated to twin decks and spent many years DJing in clubs and ballrooms throughout the Midlands. This was the time he opened his own record store with partner Pete Waterman.
Soon the bright lights of London beckoned and Tilly and Pete both joined the fledgling Magnet Records where he was instrumental in signing The Darts, Matchbox and Bad Manners. His next year was with Red Bus and then PRT until, finally setting up his Lisson record label with Waterman, and then standing at the helm of the immensely successful PWL record company.
Tilly has been a consultant to many companies in the music business over the years and even had his own column in Music Week at one time. Nowadays Tilly controls his successful digital music company from his home, and in his spare time is back with his love for listening to and playing Doo Wop and Rock‘n’Roll records – Tilly has a formidable collection of this genre of music and an equally formidable knowledge of the music he is so passionate about.
Tilly was part of the original UDJ team for 3 years – he has been with Sunshine Radio Online since it started in November 2021.
Edo Peters
Edo is our Dutch DJ – based in Amsterdam – Edo has been involved in all areas of Dutch Radio – mostly legal, and allegedly a few Pirates! – he is much in demand as a Voice-Over artist and he is an accomplished sound engineer and producer – he works with Jomo Productions as an acoustics consultant – so it is safe to say – Edo knows his audio.
Many years ago – Mike Knight was on a fact finding mission in Amsterdam looking for guidance to set up the original Sunshine Radio Luxembourg when Mike and Edo first met – as a pair of audio geeks – they speak the same language!
When we were setting up Sunshine Radio Online and started asking for DJs to join the team – Edo was one of the first to say yes.
Take a look at our schedule on our Facebook page to see when he is on Sunshine Radio Online.
Fred Cannon
Our link to Nashville – Fred presents a regular show highlighting the very best of today’s Country Music. Fred has been a DJ since the bug first bit him more years ago than he would perhaps like to admit! His career has seen him meet, and in many cases work with, the megastars of yesteryear and today from all genres of music. From time to time on his Facebook posts you will see just a few of them – it would take decades for him to list them all!
Fred has followed a glittering career in the music business – currently he is the CEO of Creative and Dreams Music Network LLC – he spent 25+ years at BMI becoming Senior Vice President. He was a Director at PWL (they sold over 400 million records worldwide and had 7 songs in the UK Top 10 in 1989) – The CEO and Managing Director at Carrere Records UK – he worked for EMI and was Senior Director for Harvest in the late 70s.
In short – Fred knows what he’s talking about!
Take a look at our schedule on our Facebook page to see when he is on Sunshine Radio Online.
Geoff Dorsett
In his teens Geoff was a club DJ for the Mecca Organisation. In 1974 he was part of the launch team at the UK’s 6th Commercial radio station Radio Hallam In Sheffield. Geoff has worked on Pirate radio and the iconic radio Vegas Rocks and Tahoe Rocks alongside Alice Cooper. Over the years, Geoff has interviewed many thousands of the industry’s biggest artists – along the way he has also picked up 6 awards for his radio shows, which are heard on over 100 stations in 25 countries. Geoff’s musical tastes are “many and varied” but Rock and Soul tend to dominate.
Howard Pearce
Howard’s first professional broadcasting job was at Radio Victory in Portsmouth. At one point he was simultaneously presenting the Breakfast Show for Victory and the afternoon Drive Show for Radio 210 in Reading five days a week (Radio 210 later Heart FM). At 210 Howard was part of a presenter team that included Mike Read, Steve Wright, Paul Hollingdale and Bob Harris.
Howard then joined Radio Luxembourg presenting regular programmes for the famous ‘208’ night-time English service.
On returning to the UK, in addition to his daily radio programmes, Howard started specialising in ‘celebrity’ interviews. These included The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Stevie Wonder, Bob Geldof, Janet Jackson, Bryan Adams, The Bee Gees, etc. These initially were for BBC Radio One (Newsbeat) and later for independent syndication.
During this time Howard also joined BBC Radio 2 for several series of programmes presenting both the weekend and weekday early breakfast shows, he also presented interview ‘specials’ for the station with the likes of Paul McCartney.
Next Howard began presenting the weekly pop music and celebrity interview programme ‘Soundcheck’. The show was syndicated nationally and broadcast around the Network Chart Show on most of the UK’s Independent Radio Network.
In 1993 he joined Virgin Radio presenting several programmes every week for over 6 years. He worked through various stages of the station’s development including under the leadership of Sir Richard Branson and Chris Evans.
In 2003 Howard joined Smooth FM in London presenting regular music shows. He also hosted the stations live football coverage of every Chelsea FC match during 3 seasons when Chelsea were Premiership Champions and FA Cup holders.
Howard’s broadcasting career has run in parallel to his other business interests since the mid 1990’s, including currently with his work for Hogarth Worldwide (part of the WPP Group).
James Denmead
Many people gain a lifelong taste for Radio following a studio tour, and James is no exception! In the early 1990’s he was shown around GWR in Bristol. Back then, the weekend morning shows had a character named Hungry Howard who went out and about on the streets with a weekly challenge. James managed to become a regular on the GWR team in both Bristol and Wiltshire, stepping in on occasion with on-air commentary whenever Hungry Howard had more important things on his mind, like abseiling from Clifton Suspension Bridge – or being driven around a racetrack by a stunt driver.
When GWR needed a weekend technical operator, James was first choice and spent many hours locked away in GWR in Swindon playing out pre-recorded programming and arranging the split adverts for live studio and outside broadcasts. In between his paid radio work, James also helped out at Sunshine Hospital Radio in the Weston General Hospital, along with various RSL stations in Portishead and Clevedon. He also ran his own Mobile Disco providing entertainment for parties of all sizes and was a resident DJ at a busy fun pub in Weston super Mare.
James moved on to work on the Roadshows for GWR, and could be found operating the PA at many events from a school fete, to car launches on Garage Forecourts, including the big events like Bristol International Balloon Fiesta – RAF Fairford Airshows – Badminton Horse Trials – and Truck Fest to name just a few. For a 3 year period he was also the voice for the Bristol Leisure and Motor Show.
If you were to ask James what his most interesting job interview has been he would say “In the back of a light aircraft between Bristol and Biggin Hill” – James went up for a flight with then traffic reporter and manager for Metro Networks Joe McGrath. After landing at Biggin Hill was told that, as he wasn’t air sick, he could he start on Monday!
James continues to provide voice-over services for radio stations and voices corporate presentations around the globe using his home studio. And he regularly presents shows live from those studios for Sunshine Radio Online.
James Ross
James has been broadcasting “since he was a scruffy teenager” – He has been a DJ, Producer, TV Presenter, Journalist, Reporter, Operations Manager, and Distributions Manager at numerous radio and TV stations in the UK and around the world.
Starting with BBC Local Radio Solent – BBC London – and BBC Radio Bristol – and even doing spells at Radio Top Shop – James then spent time behind the scenes at BBC Radio One, and worked as a reporter for BBC Radio Two and LBC News Radio. He has been lucky enough to work with a diverse bunch of celebrities over the years – such as The Pet Shop Boys, The Rolling Stones, Jeremy Clarkson, Simon Bates, Alan Freeman, Terry Wogan – and many others……
However it is music radio that is his first love – his weekly show on Sunshine “The Greatest Hits of Music” – focuses on the best produced, and most uplifting songs from charts around the world from the 60s right up to today’s hits – all blended with showbiz news and a bit of light banter – Great songs that you remember, and some that you’ve forgotten!
Take a look at our schedule on our Facebook page to see when he is on Sunshine Radio Online.
Jan Bjerrum
Jan is our Danish DJ – he started his radio journey in the 80s on Radio Viborg (at that time, Denmark’s most popular station) – he then joined Radio Skive for three years before being tempted to return to Radio Viborg. In 1999 Jan moved to Radio Alfa – and in 2004 (are you keeping up with the musical chairs here?) Jan returned to Radio Skive – and has settled there – he’s still a regular presenter.
In addition to his work on Skive – Jan has also managed to fit air-shifts in on Radio Mojn near Germany, Radio Go! FM in Aarhus, and for 4 years he has presented a Top 50 show on Radio ABC….
Currently Jan hosts the breakfast show on Radio Skive and the late drive- time show on Radio Silkeborg – and – every Saturday he hosts The 80s Party on Radio Alpha.
We wonder when Jan gets time to sleep!
Take a look at our schedule on our Facebook page to see when he is on Sunshine Radio Online.
John Kereiff
John’s dad was in the Canadian navy, and when he’d come home from overseas it would be sports stuff for John’s brother, trains for John, and Beatles records for his sisters. That’s where his lifelong obsession with music began.
Flash forward to the 70’s, John would borrow his big brother’s transistor radio at night, seeing how many stations he could pull in, never dreaming radio could be a career. In 1975, while still in high school, he stumbled into a part time job at the local radio station.
Though John has done many other things for a living, radio was his only ‘career’. From the time he graduated BCIT’s broadcasting course in 1980 until 2016, he worked at small and medium market radio stations across Canada’s British Columbia and Alberta. John went by names like “Big John K” (he’s 6’-5”) and John Carlin. In 2010 a program director named him “John The Rock Doctor” and that’s who he’s been ever since.
After being laid off in 2016 and applying at dozens of radio stations, along came the internet radio boom and United DJ’s, with 3 years of the most fun ever. When Sunshine Radio Online was announced by some of his United DJs brothers in arms, John knew he had to take part.
John is fanatical about both Blues and Rock music – his shows on Sunshine Radio Online are informative and educational – John’s deep love of both genres shines through – you will discover classic tracks – and excellent but lesser knowns gems.
Like many DJs these days – John has day job (in fast food) to pay the bills – However radio is his career of choice – as he says “The best part of my week is putting together these shows for you to enjoy. I know you’re passionate about music too, that’s why you listen to Sunshine Radio Online”.
Ken Michaels
From his early days at the New York Institute of Technology studying communications at the start of the 80s – Ken has developed his deep love for anything “Beatles” into a show that goes far beyond just the four lads from Liverpool.
Starting out on campus station WNYT – Ken migrated to New Jersey’s Rock Station WDHA with the then titled “All request Beatles Show” – which was a huge success and ran for 10 consecutive years up to 1993. Over the years – Ken has evolved his show to include almost anything with a Beatles connection – Ken has interviewed Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Carl Perkins, Billy J. Kramer, Wings drummer Steve Holley, and Pete Best – he continues to add new names to that list on a regular basis.
“Every Little Thing” is so much more than simply a Beatles Show – it is a show where you can easily absorb yourself in the world that The Beatles created, and the artists that they influenced. Superbly constructed by Ken to give you information and insight that will bring you back time and time again to enjoy the massive impact that four lads from Liverpool had (and still have) on the world’s music stage.
Mark Arnold
Martin Buchanan
Martin bring a wealth of expertise with him to the DJ team at Sunshine – He is a much sought after voice artist these days – and in the past can cite having worked for Radio Luxembourg, Capitol Radio, Melody FM, and London’s Magic 105.4, where he presented the drivetime show for five years. Martin has also provided continuity for the BBC World Service, The Discovery Channel, and Channel 4 – in addition he has voiced promo’s for BBC TV, The Disney Channel, and Sky Movies.
Alongside his production work for “Play it by ear” – he currently voices commercials and corporate reads from his home studio. Martin is also part of the NOA team (News Over Audio) voicing regular articles from The Telegraph, Financial Times, The independent, The Washington post – and several other daily publications.
Mike Hollis
Our very own “Mr. Soul” – Mike has worked for countless radio stations over the years and DJ Chris Evans has reportedly referred to Mike as his favourite DJ!
Radio Luxembourg, BRMB, Smooth Radio – even the other “Sunshine” in the UK and a host of other stations – Mike has proved to be one of the most popular DJs the Midlands has ever produced.
His musical roots and his true love is Soul Music – he regularly appears at Northern Soul events helping to “keep the faith” – his knowledge of this niche market is incredible. However it is not just Northern Soul that he is passionate about – he loves all kinds of Soul – as you will hear on his weekly “Sunbed of Soul” show here on Sunshine Radio Online.
Take a look at our schedule on our Facebook page to see when he is on Sunshine Radio Online.
Mike Knight
Like many aspiring DJs – Mike got bitten by the DJ bug when he attended a party back in the mid 60s and heard a mobile DJ working – and as so many do – thought to himself “I can do that!” – that one party has led to some fun times!
Mike worked his way through building his own mobile equipment, worked for a company that kitted out discotheques, designed and built disco loudspeakers, did mobile DJ work and club DJ work around his native Manchester. (Although Mikes first love is the equipment rather than any desire to be a DJ – it turns out that he can actually talk between tracks!)
Having worked a multitude of “Proper” jobs – Mike was offered a stint in Norway as a “Professional DJ” – being between jobs at that point – he cut loose from Manchester and headed for the Fjords. Whilst there Mike befriended another Brit DJ who was soon heading off to work in Luxembourg – this led to an offer to go to Luxembourg to take over as DJ in the prestigious Royal Bugatti club for a one month contract – that month ended up being a 44 year stint in a wonderful country – The highlight was “an offer I could not refuse” as Mike puts it – to work for Radio Luxembourg as their Station Manager for the Luxembourg operation. When Luxy finally closed down – Mike was part of a successful bid for a small scale local FM station “Sunshine Radio Luxembourg” – which Mike ran for 7 years prior to Mike taking a short break from broadcasting.
Mike was part of the team that set up and ran UDJ (United DJs) and remained with UDJ till the burden to fund it made it just too much for Tony Prince to sustain. From that sad closure came Sunshine Radio Online – Mike is one of the “Amigos” that set up this new kid on the block – and he continues to do the odd show – and works diligently in the background managing the music library and producing the shows for DJs that ask for a bit of help.
Ask Mike what he wanted to do for a living – and the chances are that he will tell you he still does not know – although that chance party back in the 60s has had quite an impact – so has luck, and a large chunk of happenstance!
Nigel Byard
Nigel has always been interested in radio from a very early age, from listening to Luxembourg at night in the kitchen when he was school age with his father shouting “turn that down” – to waking up early to hear the first ever show on Beacon Radio in 1976.
Nigel got his first break on air at DDHB – a hospital Radio Station based at Dudley Guest Hospital. This led to Nigel being part of the team in 1983 that set up Radio Wulfren, a Hospital Radio based at New Cross in Wolverhampton.
Time spent as a volunteer at Hospital Radio learning the dark art of being a DJ led to Nigel being offered “swing shifts” doing a (then) new concept of networked shows branded as “The Nightline” from 1am through to 6am (Overnights) back in 1986. This service was picked up by Signal Radio (Stoke) – Radio Wyvern (Worcester) – Severn Sound (Gloucester). All this was while Nigel also had a full time “proper job” – youth was on his side back then!
The well paid “proper job” world forced a move away from Wolverhampton up till 2009, at which time Nigel took up his love of radio again with a second stint at Radio Wulfren, a stint that was to last for 10 years!
Nigel then took a sabbatical from radio to concentrate on his own business – he successfully managed to avoid the DJ world until Nigel and Sunshine’s Mike Knight got chatting in a sublime bit of happenstance – and to cut a longish story short – Nigel is now very much an integral part of the DJ team at Sunshine Radio Online.
Based in Shropshire these days – Nigel has a full blown broadcast studio at home and loves to do his shows live – he enjoys seeking out the songs you don’t hear very often and has features such as “The 60s, 70s and 80s Segues” – Featured Artists – Albums – and Dance & Club classics….
As Nigel puts it – “You get a bit of everything from me”.
Nino Firetto
Nino started his DJ life working at the now famous “UBN” (The United Biscuit Network) – a station which pumped great music and DJs around the UKs biscuit factories over the factory PA systems. This was a great training ground for budding DJs as it was run on a highly professional basis. This led to Nino being offered a guest stint on Radio Luxembourg and a gig at Radio 210 in Reading, a weekend gig which ‘Whisperin’ Bob Harris had set up for Nino after the two had become friends following Nino’s Luxy stint.
Nino was soon offered more radio work and went on to help launch Radio West, and then Galaxy 101 – at the same time Nino developed an American connection in Los Angeles on Radio Station KOST, and in San Francisco on KLLC.
Over the years Nino has added a long list of other stations to his resume: Breeze 97.7 Spain – Radio Exe – Exeter FM – Wave 105, Southampton – Real Radio, Cardiff – Kestrel FM, Basingstoke – Liberty, London – Spectrum FM, Spain – Wave FM, Spain – Galaxy 101, Bristol – EKR European Classic Rock, Europe – Buzz FM, Birmingham – CNFM, Cambridge – Invicta FM, Kent – Radio Victory, Portsmouth.
Now based in the USA – Nino has a successful business outside of the Radio World – when that business allows – he enjoys doing the occasional show for Sunshine Radio Online.
Pat Murphy
Pat started his radio career answering the phones at BBC Radio Brighton in the mid 1980’s. Since then, he has worked as a presenter for various radio stations in the UK and abroad including Ocean Sound, Chiltern, Radio Jackie, Thames, Swan FM, Mix 106 & AFN Europe. Pat has had a parallel career in advertising having produced many well-known campaigns over the years for brands such as Kellogg’s, Emirates, Mercedes, Harley Davidson, P&G, and Unilever Pat currently has a very successful international advertising consultancy and has been a spokesperson in the media on the BBC, LBC and Sky
Paul Burrell
You could say that Paul is a bit of a sports buff – and you would be right! – his voice will be familiar to thousands of Londoners as he is the regular matchday announcer for the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium. He was the Voice of England at the 2012 European championships and he covered the football tournaments for the London Olympics from Wembley Stadium.
Paul has also enjoyed a career playing music for a living at stations such as Capitol Gold, Chiltern Radio – and fittingly as he is a proud Brummie – BRMB.
Paul took over the breakfast show on UDJ and we are very pleased that he agreed to join us here on Sunshine.
Take a look at our schedule on our Facebook page to see when he is on Sunshine Radio Online.
Paul ‘Lei’ Ankrah
Paul is a forestry and wood processing consultant by profession but has a deep passion and love for music. Djing and radio broadcasting is his hobby. He began as a DJ in 1976 in Ghana and loves many genres of music; soul, rnb, funk, pop, jazz, classical, afro beats, highlife, latin and old skool. In 1984 he moved over to the UK to further his studies and played in many UK clubs during his 27 year stay. He co-hosted the Ipswich MTV Lick party and BBC’s Rhythm Nation Ipswich tour with Trevor Nelson of the BBC in the late 1990’s. His radio career began in 1995 when he hosted the Saturday Superjam with Vibes FM, a local pirate radio station based in Ipswich in Suffolk. Until recently he hosted Groove Control on United DJ’s, and is currently the host of the Groove Connection on Fridays on Sunshine. The show cuts across many genres of music and showcases the legendary music and artistes of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s with a dash of contemporary music for good measure.
Peter Tonner
Peter is a successful business man in his native Germany – he lives in Cologne and says his interest in Radio and music is a result of being a keen listener to Radio Luxembourg in his teens – this led to Peter working in the “WOM” (World of Music) Mega record store, and from there moving into club management. All the time following his love of being a DJ by working multiple holiday resorts throughout Europe.
For the last 25 years – Peter has been the owner of his own company “Rumble Entertainment” – a company that sells electronic gizmo’s, and operates as a DJ agency and Promotional Specialists.
Peter has supported Sunshine since we first discussed starting a new station – we are pleased to say that when we asked if he wanted to do a radio show – he said yes! – being a radio DJ is new to Peter – but he has adapted to the challenge very quickly and now is a regular member of our team.
Take a look at our schedule on our Facebook page to see when he is on Sunshine Radio Online.
Rodney Brown
To quote Rodney: “I have been a DJ for quite some time”. Rodney started out, playing youth clubs, eventually getting into the mobile disco circuit – which is where Rodney is still very active and very much in demand currently – entertaining crowds at weddings events, private functions, local bars, and clubs in and around Bristol and Bath.
Rodney’s break in radio was originally with Gloucester FM, He has also worked with several other FM stations in and around Bristol.
His weekend show is best described as “throwing yourself into the music”!
Rodney rustles up a unique mix of Classic and 21st Century, Soul, RnB, Disco or Funk – with a gentle splash of Reggae.
Rodney enjoys hunting out great new releases for you to enjoy, great covers, re-edits and a host of classic sounds.
Rodney Collins
Rodney Collins started his career in the mid-60s with local papers in Surrey before joining Record Mirror to run their radio coverage. After a spell with ATV-PYE Records and their theatre group, he moved to BBC Radio 1 & 2 and later to Radio Luxembourg where he worked in management for fourteen years. After that Rodney was MD of radio stations in London and Scotland, starting his own radio business in 2000.
Simon Tate
Simon’s interest in music and radio was fired up from a young age by his two older brothers, who were avid fans of Radio Caroline North. So much so, that his dad took them out to see the good ship Caroline on his yacht in 1967. He still has a photo of a can of beer with a request wrapped round it, being caught by Tony Prince and duly played, minutes later, by Bob Stewart for Simon’s 11th Birthday.
11 years later, Simon was invited by Tony Prince to visit the famous London HQ of 208 in Hertford Street to be one of Tony’s “Celebrity DJs” – and to record a programme, which was his first ever radio show – going out on July 30th 1978.
Since then, Simon has worked at several commercial stations including Radio Victory, Radio City, and Rock FM, before being appointed Programme Director for the launch of Blackpool’s Radio Wave in 1992, where he spent many happy years.
In 1983, whilst at Radio City, he was delighted to find his show, “Downtown” voted into the Smash Hits Readers Poll Top 20 Radio Shows – of which Mike Read was No.1.
In 2018, Simon joined the team at United DJs Radio (UDJ) to present Tate’s Gallery, which featured quality new music alongside hits and album tracks from the past. It was during this time at UDJ that Simon was invited to launch a series celebrating the world’s oldest radio chart show, The Radio Luxembourg Top Twenty.
The 208 Top 20, which recreates those Radio Luxembourg Chart shows, spanning the 208 Years of 1951 – 1992, can now be heard on Sunshine Radio Online.
The show is unique amongst “retro chart shows” in that it is presented “In The Now”, as if you have gone back to that year and are listening once again to 208, with the original jingles and commercials alongside the hits of the day! A new feature is that listeners are invited to vote for which years they can hear the following week!
Steve Bulley
Talking between songs has been Steve’s passion since childhood after a chance studio tour of Radio 210 in Reading meeting the legendary Steve Wright.
His first radio show was at the age of 13 and he recalls playing Ryan Paris Dolce Vita as the first song, a favourite of his to this day. He moved in to live DJing in a Caribbean restaurant in Torquay after college.
It was after a ‘proper job’ in finance and insurance for 8 years his first professional radio work came as the voice of AA Roadwatch in the South West. This quickly lead to weekend evening shows on Gemini FM in Devon, followed by Drivetime and programme controller at Orchard FM in Somerset for 10 years before it became Heart. A move to Dorset gave Steve the opportunity to remain on air at Wessex FM along with managing Director duties before it was sold to Bauer Media.
He is a director and presenter at the CIC that run the Dorchester community licence in Dorset and also presents on Radio Ninespring in South Somerset. His day job is as a Business Advisor working on innovation in SME businesses and assisting with growth potential.
Steve got involved with Sunshine Radio Online through his long-time friend Tony Adams, they can regularly be found in the local pub reminiscing about the ‘good old days of radio’
Terry Hughes
Terry started in broadcasting in 1979 at a talking newspaper for the visually impaired, then he spent a few years at Dudley and District Hospital Broadcasting. He did a few shows on Beacon 303 and BRMB, including joint shows with Gordon Astley, Mike Baker and Roger Day, and some gigs with KKJ, and at the age of 18 was being considered for a full time role in local radio but his dad said “Son, go and get a proper job”.
So in 1983 Terry moved to Coventry and became an apprentice at GEC. To make extra money he became a nightclub DJ, and for fun he was involved with 2 pirate stations in Coventry: Segway Sound and City FM.
Then a few years ago Terry decided to get back into the thing he loves the most – radio. He was chosen to present the early breakfast show each weekday morning on the legendary Radio Caroline, and became the presenter of the weekly Retro Charts countdown show, which can be heard each week right here on Sunshine Radio Online.
Tim Smith
Tim Smith started his radio career aged 14 on hospital Radio Lollipop in Carshalton Surrey and by the time he was 18 was working the Mecca London nightclub circuit and broadcasting on London pirate station JFM.
Aged 20 he was offered a job at Radio Top Shop in Oxford Circus that was a training ground for many presenters working in radio today. Shortly after came a weekend show on Radio Mercury in Sussex.
After hearing him on Radio Top Shop, Phil Ward-Large who was programme controller at the time for Radio Luxembourg offered Tim the chance to present 4 weeks of their flagship chart show Next Week’s Top 40 that was recorded at the legendary Hertford Street Studios. Very soon after Phil gave Tim the chance to travel to the Grand Duchy to be part of the on air team at the Great 208! At just 21 years old this was a dream realised for Tim.
He spent 18 months there returning to the UK in 1987 to present the drive time show on Metro Radio in Newcastle. The show became the most listened to show in the North East in its timeslot for 4 years. In 1991 Tim left Newcastle and returned to London to present 3 shows over the weekend on Capital Radio which he did for 3 years until hanging up his headphones to concentrate on his career within the music industry.
27 years later Tim returns to the airwaves to present The Connection Show on Sunshine Radio.
Tony Adams
Tony Adams’ earliest ambitions were both diverse and bizarre, ranging from barrister to motorbike mechanic, and taking in being a pilot or an actor along the way. But all of these were eventually discarded with the discovery of his local radio stations 210 Thames Valley and London’s Capital Radio .
The thought of “I’d really like to have a go at this radio thing” was compounded when the by now student Tony was interviewed by a very young Steve Wright who was working for Radio 210 at the time.
After getting his big radio break on County Sound in Guildford, Tony’s career took him to Peterborough, Newcastle, Manchester and Leeds . Then in 1991 he got the gig he’d aimed for since starting out – and became a DJ on the legendary night time service of Radio Luxembourg.
Having got a taste for the continental lifestyle, Tony’s return home from the Grand Duchy took a detour to the Channel Islands, where commercial radio had just launched. Five years later and a return to the UK also saw a switch from DJ to journalist, starting with the news station LBC. A string of BBC local stations followed – and then becoming a founder member of United DJs brought Tony back to the turntables and a chance to work with former colleagues and broadcasting big guns from Radio Luxembourg .
When UDJ sadly closed down in 2021, Tony became part of the plans for a new radio station rising from its ashes – Sunshine Radio Online.
‘The Saturday Shindig’ is an upbeat and informal show with its tongue firmly in its cheek! With a nod to this time slot on UDJ, there’s an hour of exclusively 70s music, and a Top 20 compiled from charts from anytime between 1955 – 2010. But above all it’s a fun show that involves the audience, and should not be taken too seriously!
Tony King
Tony has followed the DJ craft in the Northwest of England for over 30 years. A temporary pause from the glitz and glamour of vinyl and turntables followed a move to Shropshire where Tony and his wife have a set up a successful family business – the proverbial “Day Job” which DJs rely on to allow them to follow their passion for playing music. Tony started volunteering with a local Community Radio station around four years ago. Tony is now a very welcome member of the Sunshine Radio Online team.
Tony Lloyd
Tony has had a passionate interest in broadcast radio since he was a young teenager.
A successful club and event DJ, Tony trained at industrial radio station UBN and entered broadcast radio in the late 70’s as a radio presenter for several radio stations including Ward Radio in London where he was appointed Chairman in 1979. Tony was responsible managerially and editorially for all on-air programming together with overseeing sound engineering, fundraising & training. Tony proudly remains an Honorary Chairman today.
Tony then went on to become a presenter at Chiltern Radio, serving Herts, Beds, Bucks, Northants and others with his ‘Tony Lloyd Late Show’, featuring the popular ‘Midnight Magic’ romantic half hour.
Tony was promoted to Drive Show presenter in 1990, at the same time presenting the ‘Top 20 Countdown’ and going on to work at the station for ten years. In addition he also broadcast on Invicta SuperGold & Severn Sound & launched SuperGold, Horizon Radio in Milton Keynes and The Hot FM.
Trevor Lazaro
From flying high in an F-16 during his RAF years (As a passenger!!) – through to working as an IT specialist for such giants as Cisco, Vodaphone, BT and Netformx – and even “almost” making it as professional footballer – Trevor has always followed his first love – and that is being a DJ – Trevor has worked for some of the top UK clubs keeping the dance floors full – he has also worked with Metro, Radio Tay, Northside, and City Radio.
Trevor joined UDJ as Group Director and is one of the founding “Amigos” of Sunshine Radio Online – he looks forward to setting up live outside broadcasts in the future – he is very “hands on” with the day-to-day running of the station – and has so far managed, in his many trips around the UK – to do a live show from almost every County!
He is now semi-retired – which is just as well – as we always count on being able to ask him to jump in at very short notice to go on air – Trevor also presents his regular “The Great Crooners” show every Sunday at 11am which is the perfect way to relax on a lazy Sunday.
Take a look at our schedule on our Facebook page to see when he is on Sunshine Radio Online.
Rhys Humphreys
Rhys is our youngest member – he is right at the start of his radio career and is slowly but surely building up an audience of fans who love his show which focuses on Musicals, Movies and more.
Rhys is a budding thespian – and has acted out many parts so far as he has been following his education – all good grounding for working in front of a microphone!
Take a look at our schedule on our Facebook page to see when he is on Sunshine Radio Online.
Simon Shaw
Simon first woke up to the thought that adult life didn’t have to be boring shortly after having a bucket of cold water thrown over him at the age of 15. He was one of the first to get a dunking live on TV when he joined the audience for Tis Was, that legendary Saturday morning kids show from the early 70’s. As Chris Tarrant poured the freezing bucket on the hapless victims in “The Cage”, the penny finally dropped. Simon realised some people actually got paid for having fun. It was at that moment he had his epiphany, turning his back on the idea of leaving school to work as a bank clerk, setting his heart on a career in Radio and TV instead.
Fast forward 45 years and, having worked in Network Radio and TV producing a host of some of the most popular shows on British TV and radio, he’s just getting round to achieving his other ambition of hosting his own radio show, playing many of the favourite songs and bands he’s avidly collected since those teenage years. “I love a pretty eclectic mix of music, but if I had to pick I guess Soul and R&B would be my sweet spot”.
Simon looks forward to his shows on Sunshine Radio Online but hopes he won’t face an initiation similar to that cold shower he first faced all those years ago!
Take a look at our schedule on our Facebook page to see when he is on Sunshine Radio Online.
Guest DJ
Mark Kerridge
Mark has been an avid supporter of the station with an undeniable passion for music.
Being able to use this passion in a real show on SROL is definitely something worth listening to.
Nik Martin
Nik Martin got the radio bug in his early teens and after leaving school at 16, worked his way round the UK radio industry. He was a presenter and producer for several commercial radio stations in the late 80s and 90s. Nik’s media career then took him to 10 other countries, including India, Singapore, UAE, France and Thailand. Germany is the latest stop on the world tour, where he currently works for Deutsche Welle (DW.com). Now mostly a journalist, Nik’s reporting has been heard on the BBC, Sky, America’s NPR and Euronews.