Promising future for Welsh radio (From Penarth Times)

Promising future for Welsh radio

HE'S the Penarth punk rocker with a rockabilly sidekick, a hatful of tunes and an exciting vision for radio.

Each Saturday night Penarth-based Chris Kneebone produces and co-presents the Saturday Social on Radio Wales.

Along with Euron Griffiths, Chris plays a diverse range of music and invites listeners, including a regular contributor called Kate Winslet, to partake in a series of weird and wonderful quizzes.

Chris, 41, from Cwrt-y-vil Road, grew up listening to much-revered DJ John Peel. And he says although the music scene in Wales has simmered down after the Cool Cymru explosion a few years ago, the chances of a healthy radio scene are promising. "We play an eclectic mix of music on the show," says Chris.

"The sort of feeling we want listeners to get is, 'God, I remember that, I haven't heard that for ages, that was a fantastic record!'

"We're different from a lot of shows because we can play longer records, like tracks from Pink Floyd - there aren't many stations that allow that these days.

"In fact, I think radio could be getting much more exciting as people move away from commercial radio stations that play the same record every 90 minutes. If you say, 'We don't do that' and stop playing a lot of the chart pap people will have radio that is challenging and intellectually stimulating."

Until recently Chris's partner on the Saturday Social was Alan Thompson, who now presents the Late Lie In on Saturday mornings.

"Euron and Alan are quite different to work with," says Chris.

"Euron has a more eclectic taste - he's got a library of 2,000 CDs. He really loves his rockabilly. He's got a group, The Soda Men, but unfortunately he hasn't got a quiff anymore, he's left that behind.

"My favourite band were the Sex Pistols - they were youthful, rebellious and challenging!"