As a self-confessed "southern jessie", Peter Baker never imagined he would spend years as the voice of Greater Manchester's mornings.
But as breakfast show presenter for Piccadilly Radio and Key 103, in the seventies, eighties, and nineties, Peter, now 67, became the person thousands of Mancunians woke up to.
Piccadilly Radio 261 first aired nearly 50 years ago and was the first commercial radio station to broadcast in the city. Sponsored by the BBC, Peter studied at the University of Bath to become a sound engineer but soon became disinterested and wondered if he could make it as a radio presenter.
Read More: Manchester looks like a 'beautiful distant dream' in unearthed photos found following man's death
Read More: Manchester's real-life Peaky Blinders only feared one thing
Borrowing the studio key, he recorded a demo tape and sent it off to Piccadilly Radio in 1975, which was then just a year old.
Impressed, the station invited the then 20-year old student - who spent his youth listening to pirate radio and 'playing DJ' - for an audition.
Having never been to Manchester before, the shock of what he was about to become part of hit Baker as soon as he set foot in the city.
"I got off at Piccadilly Station and there was this big light up billboard that said 'Welcome to Manchester, home of Piccadilly Radio' just as you come out," Baker told the M.E.N. "I thought bloody hell, this is a big thing!"
Peter tried out for the graveyard slot, a live show that ran for seven hours between the hours of 11pm and 6am. With no music being played between those hours, airtime was filled with interviews with live guests and chats with callers phoning in, which Baker describes as being "like a mini LBC (talk radio station) at night" - a "baptism of fire" he managed to survive.
Having got the job, the fledgling radio presenter had nowhere to stay and, for the first week, stayed in a youth hostel in St Peter's Square, then moving into a fellow DJ's house for a while before finding a flat in the city.
"When I got established, I would be coming in on the bus and I'd talk to people and (then) get requests coming in from Whalley Range (where I lived). It was really funny," Baker said.
"It was absolutely bloody brilliant it was. It was wonderful living in Manchester. And me being a southern Jessie as well, I never thought I would ever get a job in Manchester."
Join our Greater Manchester history, memories and people Facebook group here.
Being just 20-years old and in his first radio job, Baker says he had to acclimatise quickly. "You learnt fast," he said.
"As soon as you got there (Piccadilly Radio) you got a sheet of paper that said 'these are the names of the places you will pronounce wrong'. I said what do you mean, this place called 'Black-ley'? No, it's pronounced 'Blake-ley'.
"There were some strange things. We got postcards then because we didn't have the internet, of course.
"I remember on the night show we got lots of postcards from a place called Penguin Shell. I had no idea where the hell this was.
"I looked in my Manchester A-to-Z and couldn't find it. We worked out these were the people on the night shift at the Penguin factory at McVitie's, and they put the shell of chocolate on the Penguin biscuits."
Despite it being his first radio gig, Baker flourished at Piccadilly Radio and went on host the rock show before becoming its breakfast host from 1978 to 1982. Some of the memories that stood out during these years included the time he got into "a bit of a fight" with Capital Radio presenter who went on to become a TV star, Kenny Everett, who had "burst in" during his interview with the band ABBA, who had just announced they were splitting up.
Love Greater Manchester's past? Sign up to our new nostalgia newsletter and never miss a thing.
There were of course the difficult interviews with pop stars. One he remembers vividly was a particularly painful interview with a terse Elvis Costello.
"He was asked by his manager to be deliberately monosyllabic just to create a bit more mystery about him or something," Baker said.
"I don't even know why even bothered coming to the interview. Even when I asked an really open question he wasn't forthcoming at all.
"So that was disappointing I think, because I really admire his music. But you get people like that."
After nine years at the station, Baker left the breakfast show to pursue a career in TV presenting at Granada Television. But he was not quite done with radio.
In 1988, Piccadilly Radio split into two services, with the station Key 103 broadcast on FM playing contemporary, while Piccadilly continued on AM, initially under its regular guise before gradually adopting a 'golden oldies' music playlist and becoming Piccadilly Gold.
It was as a result of the split that Baker was asked to resume his duties as breakfast host, this time on Key 103, which he did for seven years from 1988 until 1995. And, with the 50 year anniversary since Piccadilly Radio was first broadcast coming up in April 2024, its former presenter has some some thoughts on the role of radio today.
"Radio isn't as important in people's lives as it once was," Baker said. "If you're into music we've all got Tidal or Spotify on our phone and you can think of any record now.
"You don't even need to go to your record collection or listen to the radio for your favourite song to come on, because you can play it yourself," he says. But the former radio host, who still lives in Cheadle Hulme, hasn't quite given up life behind the microphone just yet.
He now works as a successful voiceover artist, and puts the years he spent developing his broadcasting eloquence to good use teaching other people to become voiceover artists, with details on his training website voiceovermasterclass.com
He adds: "It's really nice, I'm very grateful really to still be working. Many people are retired but I don't want to retire."
Does Piccadilly Radio awaken any memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.
Read Next:
- How the Circle became Manchester's most in-demand private members club with footballers, celebs and VIPs
- The toys, consoles and comics which could earn you a small fortune if you have them tucked away
- Busy Moss Side shopping street was a 'different world' - it's changed so much
- "I get goosepimples when I go there": The moving story behind the bridge over the A56
- Stunning lost scenes show everyday life in Stockport's streets, schools and venues through the decades
