Billy Butler (DJ)

Last updated

Billy Butler
Billy Butler 2018.jpg
Butler at an event in Liverpool in 2018
Born
William George Butler

(1942-01-24) 24 January 1942 (age 82)
Amlwch, Anglesey, Wales
Occupation Radio presenter
Years active1960s to present
Employers

William George Butler (born 24 January 1942 [3] ) is a British radio presenter on Liverpool Live Radio [4] and formerly BBC Radio Merseyside and Radio City. In the course of his career, he has presented TV shows such as FAX and the magazine programme What the Butler Sees. [5] [6] In September 2010 he published his autobiography Billy Butler MBE – Mrs Butler’s Eldest. [7]

Contents

Butler was born in Amlwch, Anglesey in Wales. In the 1960s, he was a DJ at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. He appeared in Scousers in St Helens on 26 October 2010 alongside Tina Malone, Margi Clarke and many others. [8] From 1988 to 1990 he presented a seasonal late Friday night show on BBC Radio 2 in the early months of the year. [9]

During the summer of 1979 he was the co-host of Saturday morning children's TV show The Mersey Pirate, based on the ferry MV Royal Iris. [10] In 1987, Butler appeared in the first two series of ChuckleVision in a segment called "Armchair Theatre", where he would tell a story to the viewers.

In 2018, Butler's contract with BBC Radio Merseyside was not renewed. He now presents a Saturday and Sunday radio programme on Liverpool Live Radio. [11]

Radio City

After several years at Radio City, Billy left when he played Cliff Richard's Can't Keep This Feeling In twice during a breakfast show on sister station Magic 1548 and saying this was what the listeners asked for, but the station playlist would not allow him to play it, so he walked out while live on air. [12]

Hold Your Plums

Hold Your Plums was a radio quiz show which ran for over a decade on BBC Radio Merseyside. It was hosted by Billy Butler and Wally Scott. [13]

Hold Your Plums started out as a segment of Billy Butler’s radio show and was extended to a two-hour show of its own. It was broadcast live from the BBC Radio Merseyside Studio’s on Paradise Street, Liverpool on Sundays from 11 am to 1 pm, using Root Beer Rag composed by Billy Joel as its regular catchy theme tune. Mostly an audience was present in the studio as the show went out.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judge Jules</span> Musical artist

Julius O'Riordan, better known by his stage name Judge Jules, is a British dance music DJ, record producer and entertainment lawyer. He is known for his DJ activities, music production and long-running radio show which achieved global success. He was voted best DJ in the world by DJ Mag in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Blackburn</span> British radio presenter, offshore broadcaster

Antony Kenneth Blackburn is an English disc jockey, singer and TV presenter.

BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside, north-west Cheshire and West Lancashire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 179,000 listeners and a 7.8% share as of December 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dingle, Liverpool</span> Area of Liverpool in Merseyside, England

Dingle is an inner city area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is located to the south of the city, bordered by the adjoining districts of Toxteth and Aigburth. At the 2001 Census, the population was recorded at 13,246.

The Liverpool poets are a number of influential 1960s poets from Liverpool, England, influenced by 1950s Beat poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Fury</span> British rock and roll musician (1940–1983)

Ronald Wycherley, better known by his stage name Billy Fury, was an English musician. An early star of rock and roll, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s and spent 332 weeks on the UK chart. His hit singles include "Wondrous Place", "Halfway to Paradise" and "Jealousy". Fury also maintained a film career, notably playing rock performers in Play It Cool in 1962 and That'll Be the Day in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Brighton, Merseyside</span> Coastal resort in northern England

New Brighton is a seaside resort and suburb of Wallasey, at the northeastern tip of the Wirral peninsula. It lies in the traditional county of Cheshire and is currently administered as part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England, It has sandy beaches which line the Irish Sea and mouth of the Mersey, and the UK's longest promenade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janice Long</span> English broadcaster and disc jockey (1955–2021)

Janice Berry, known professionally by her first married name Janice Long, was an English broadcaster who was best known for her work in British music radio. The first female presenter to have a daily music show on BBC Radio 1, Long also appeared on other BBC Radio stations, such as BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio WM, and BBC Radio 6 Music, and was a regular presenter on the television chart show Top of the Pops.

<i>Mersey Beat</i> English music publication

Mersey Beat was a music publication in Liverpool, England in the early 1960s. It was founded by Bill Harry, who was one of John Lennon's classmates at Liverpool Art College. The paper carried news about all the local Liverpool bands, and stars who came to town to perform.

Johnnie Walker, MBE is an English radio disc jockey and broadcaster. He began his career on pirate radio, most notably on Radio Caroline. He joined BBC Radio 1 in 1969. He joined BBC Radio 2 in 1998 and currently presents Sounds of the 70s on Sunday afternoons and The Radio 2 Rock Show on Friday nights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Price</span> British radio presenter

Peter Lloyd Price is a British radio presenter best known for his work in Liverpool. He hosted the Sunday night talk radio show Pete Price: Unzipped, which was broadcast across Liverpool sister stations Radio City and Radio City Talk. The show aired live from 10 pm to 2 am and followed an open forum format. He also had a weeknight phone-in, Late Night City, which aired live between 10 pm and 2 am from Monday to Thursday and was simulcast on Radio City Talk and Radio City 2. In 2017, he announced that he was cutting back his show from five nights a week to just Sunday night. From 2017 to 2020, he hosted Pete Price's Sunday Best from 10 pm to 1 am every Sunday, where his weekly phone-in guest was Paul McCartney's stepmother Angie, who lives in Los Angeles and provided Hollywood gossip. Price now broadcasts on Liverpool Live Radio every Sunday night at 10pm till 1am.

Simon O'Brien is a British television actor and radio presenter as well as a property developer. He is known for his role in the soap opera Brookside from 1982 to 1987 and for presenting on a number of different television shows.

The Mersey Pirate is a British children's television programme that was shown in 1979. Based aboard a Mersey ferry, the Royal Iris, anchored at Liverpool Docks in the River Mersey, it was produced by Granada Television and was introduced to fill the Saturday morning summer break taken by Tiswas.

The Hideaways were a pop group that flourished in the mid-1960s as part of the Merseybeat era, and played at The Cavern Club over 250 times, more frequently than The Beatles; they are also noted for their connection to the Timex Watches advertising campaign of the time.

MV <i>Royal Iris</i> Twin screw, diesel-electric ferry

The MVRoyal Iris is a twin screw, diesel-electric, Mersey Ferry. The vessel was built by William Denny & Brothers of Dumbarton and launched in December 1950, costing £256,000.

Everton Football Club is an English professional football club based in Liverpool that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Supporters of the club are known as Evertonians or "Toffees". Everton take their name from the district of Everton in Liverpool where it was originally formed. Everton's nickname is the Toffees, or sometimes the Toffeemen. This comes from one of two toffee shops that were located in Everton village at the time the club was founded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spencer Leigh (radio presenter)</span> BBC Radio presenter

Spencer Leigh is a BBC radio presenter and author, with particular expertise in the development of pop and rock music and culture in Britain.

Rob Clarke is a British singer-songwriter. Described by AltSounds as 'more than just a man and a guitar' he is influenced by a range of genres including folk music, country music and psychedelic rock as well as formative experiences growing up in Liverpool, Nottingham, Huddersfield, Skipton and Aberdeen.

Faron's Flamingos were an English Merseybeat band. Despite their lack of commercial success, they remain an important part of Merseybeat history and have the distinction of being the first major example of the "Mersey Motown" sound with their release of "Do You Love Me".

References

  1. "Billy Butler reunites with Wally Scott to reprise Hold Your Plums". 5 August 2020.
  2. "Billy Butler celebrates 50 years on the radio". 2 October 2021.
  3. Billy Butler at IMDb
  4. "Billy Butler".
  5. liverpoolecho Administrator (13 February 2010). "Radio DJ Billy Butler celebrates 40 years of showbusiness with appearance on Inside Out". liverpoolecho.
  6. "BBC - Liverpool & Merseyside - Profile: Billy Butler". bbc.co.uk. 11 September 2009.
  7. liverpoolecho Administrator (15 September 2010). "Billy Butler's new book on life, radio and his years in showbiz". liverpoolecho.
  8. "Gags galore as comedy fest tickles town". sthelensstar.co.uk.
  9. BBC Genome website - Radio Times listings
  10. Nostalgia Central (6 June 2020). "Mersey Pirate". Nostalgia Central. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020.
  11. Article in "Liverpool Echo" Billy now presents on Liverpool Live Radio on a Saturday and Sunday.
  12. "Loyal DJ in cliff-hanger". Birmingham Mail. 26 October 1998. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  13. "BBC Liverpool website" . Retrieved 1 May 2007.