Piccadilly Radio was Manchester's independent radio station. Central Library holds over 1,800 archive tapes of the station's output including music, interviews, sport, news, features, drama and comedy. In 2025 the collection was digitised thanks to support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Manchester Libraries Trust. You can search the collection here and share your memories of listening to the station.
Search the Audio Archive
Type into the box below to search through the full list of 1,800 tapes. We've uploaded some of the tapes to SoundCloud and Mixcloud but you can listen to all of these recordings in the Sound + Vision pods at Manchester Central Library.
Piccadilly People
Many of the Piccadilly Radio alumni have artefacts in the main archive, but we're always on the lookout for more...
As part of the project, we've been asking people to go through the archive to share their stories of growing up with Piccadilly Radio.
Many have also brought in their own tapes for digitising and adding to the archive. If you have tapes of your own or would like to share your stories, please get in touch.
UEFA Cup 1st Round 1st Leg Manchester City v Widzew Lodz
Wednesday 14th September 1977 Kick-off 7:30pm
I attended the match as a 17-year-old and only remember the score line and scorers (after looking it up). I don’t really remember anything else about the game, until I came across the Piccadilly Radio audio commentary from Brian Clarke. So to try and capture the ground-breaking coverage of football in the 70s, I’ve put together a brief overview of the game including the ever-popular jingles “It’s a goal” (hoping your team had scored only to find it was Bolton or Oldham) and “Oh No” (then your heart sank when they said and the bad news from that game at Maine Road). Enjoy your trip down memory lane.
When I was ten, in 1977, our school entered a fireworks jingle competition where you had to write and perform a jingle that was no longer than a minute long and we won! We got to visit the station, meet one of the DJs and we all got given a 7" single. Then in 1982, I discovered Dave Ward's 'Under the Bedclothes' show from 11pm-2am, SUnday to Thursday, and listened very night (which is probably why I failed most of my O levels as I was too tired in school)! It was a brilliant programme with Easy Olive and Neville, who used to drive to different areas to see if listeners were flashing their bedroom lights on and off. I still have a tape recording of when he came to my area in Ashton-in-Makerfield. At 2am after it finishd it used to be followed by a programme hosted by Gary Davies. I wonder what happened to him...
While the brand doesn't exist anymore, the same as other local stations, the memory of Piccadilly Radio lives on and nothing will ever be the same as hearing those FM crackles, getting frustrated trying to listen to football on Saturday and hearing "It's a goal". Radio may be dead as we know it but long live Piccadilly!
It was really cool to work in the newsroom at Piccadilly. The nationals monitored our newsfeed because we broke big stories. It wasn't just news, it was 'Piccadilly News'. We owned it. When colleagues left, they went onto big things.
- Jane Beckwith, Piccadilly Radio journalist, 1980s
I was a teenager when Piccadilly came on air. I'd been into music since I was little and more importantly, I'd been a radio fan all that time too. The radio was on in our house all day from breakfast. When I heard that we were going to get a local pop music station in Manchester, I usas very excited. I was twelve years old in April 1974, and from that day. Piccadilly was the ONLY station I listened to. I'd put it on when I got up to get ready for school, and when I got home, I'd put it on again. Like any self-respecting teenager, I used to listen in bed at night on a little earphone, so mum and dad wouldn't realise I was awake. I went to the roadshows and always hoped I'd win a t-shirt (never did); I rang in for requests (from a phone box as we didn't have a phone): I went to The Best Disco in Town; and of course, I came to the Plaza for stickers. So many stickers. As my teenage years continued, I still listened every day and when I went to university in Liverpool in 1981, with a bit of experimentation with aerial wires and coat hangers, I could just about get Piccadilly at night, so I'd listen then whenever I could pick it up. Magic memories!
- David Dunne
Around the age of eighteen, I and most of my friends used to listen to Piccadilly day and night and visited the station to be on the Mike Shaft and Gary Davies shows. My undying memory was late one night calling a phone in show, I spoke to the producer and they phoned me back and put me on hold until my time. I was tired but keen to make my call, so I waited. The next thing I knew was that it was morning and time to ge to work. The phone was still in my ear, so I just thought I never got on the show. On my way to work, however, I was listening to Piccadilly as always, and there was an advert for the show I'd called. It went, "Listen to the evening show on Piccadilly Radio tonight between 10pm and Lam. This is what Andrew Fawcett of Mere thought about last night's programme." Then there was the loud sound of me snoring! Clearly, I made the show after I fell asleep! So many people heard it and took the mickey out of me for ages!
- Andrew Fawcett
Circa 1975: I was a sixteen-year-old lad. I took the train from Newton-le-Willows and remember going up the tower to get my free window sticker. James Stannage walked in ahead of his show with a Boddingtons six pack. I was an avid listener and got the work radio retuned from some tweedy old station!
- Steve Perks
As a ten-year-old growing up in Manchester, there was only one radio station. And that was Piccadilly. It was funny, cheeky, and relevant Sexy Bexy and Curly Shirley woke us up every morning, had a seat around the breakfast table with the rest of the family and came in the car with us to catch the school bus. The breakfast show and its characters were woven seamlessly into our morning routine and are, along with the catchphrase "Curly Shirley it's better than having your tonsils out," still remembered fondly forty years later.
- Charlotte Hickson
Around 1980 I wrote into a slot which I think was called "School and College Rock". If your letter was selected, you were united to go with some of your fellow students and be part of the Gary Davies radio show. I was a fashion student at The Toast Rack at the time. I strategically chose to write in on yellow paper, hoping that it stand out and to and behold, it did the trick. I wasn't particularly and especially big fan of Gary's smooth, medallion man image at the tine but I decided that a sartorial effort was required nevertheless and so I opted for spray on jeans, moon boots and a long fur effect charity shop coat with huge shoulder pads for the event. Along we went, full of student confidence and exuberance. When he came into the studio I was quite suddenly star struck and could only answer with a 'Yes' or 'No' to questions in the weirdest sounding squeaky voice, as my teeth had somehow stuck to my top lip with the enormity of his presence. Poor Gary, it must have been a very long, hard half hour or whatever it was. My family were busy recording it at home with a little microphone next to the radio and were falling about at how bloody weird I sounded. I have met Gary since and on those occasions my top lip didn't velcro itself to my teeth! He's a nice bloke and not medallion in sigltt. As for me, the spray on jeans and shoulder pads are very distant memory. It's HRT and 'Bargain Hunt' these days!!
- Sarah Eker
Piccadilly Radio was most definitely the reason I became a fan of rake I was born (not under a wandering star) just after 7am on October 10th 1977 Within an hour. I had my first mention on the radio when my Nanna Ash (Mrs Dorothy Ashton of Bury) rang in for a song dedication. That song was the Jim Reeves classic Welcome to my World'. Of course, I have no memory of that moment, but my parents say it was Curly Shirley on the breakfast show at that point. Years later, after my Nanna Ash passed away. I had the words 'Welcome to my World' tattooed on my arm as a homage to brat moment (and my dear old Nanna), and every time someone asks m abent the wording, my story always begins with, "Do you remember Piccadilly 261?" and thus, a conversation ensues... There will neve be another station as good as Piccadilly Radio. We were truly blessed by quality across the Manchester airwaves.
- Gareth Davies
I remember being around fourteen and wrote a poem about my mum.) sent it to Susie Mathis for her Sunday morning show 'Champagne and Roses. It was a Mother's Day competition and I won it for my mum. I was absolutely made up.Also, my late brother Andrew would ring Umberto on his shoe Poor Umberto could never get him off the phone. It was a great station. Something for everyone. I can still remember the smell of the adhesive on the 261 window stickers. Great childhood memories!
- Julie Dolecki
Yes, yes! We all had Radio 1 and the Top 40 every Sunday, but Piccadilly Radio was our local station and we loved it. Steve Penk, Dave Ward, Phil Wood, Sweeney, Gary Davies and Umberto just to name a few, became our regular listening. My best memory of it was being fourteen/fifteen and at the Piccadilly Roadshow in 1980 at Salford's rugby ground. Hot sunny day, hanging with my mates, 12 a ticket, meeting all the DJs and then having music from The Trend, Salford Jets and The Dooleys. It was a long day and my first live music event, and I absolutely loved it. From then on, it shaped my love for live music gigs and that's still ongoing! Thanks 261.
I worked at an advertising agency on Castlefields and we had Piccadilly Radio on all day, but our favourite part was listening to Mike Sweeney's 'Dead good, dead hard quiz for growny uppy people. I loved Umberto too and I still have a Certificate of Participation from Susie Mathis and a signed photo of Noddy Holder sent with a prize from a competition I won. Best radio station ever!
- Michelle Leversedge
One of my hest memories as an early teenager was listening to Tim Grundy on the 11pm - 2am slot. I loved the 'Stop the Clock' adventures. I'm hoping I've remembered that right. Where callers had to guess the location of the roving reporter (was she called Rita??) based on time limited clues. I listened to this via a Sharp music centre. One of those pieces of equipment about the size of a suitcase that had a combined turntable, cassette deck, and radio. The FM radio never worked until one day, I learned that I needed an antenna for it. Cue trip to Maplins. Once I plugged it in, I was astonished at the quality of the sound compared to the crackly old MW. I had to listen through headphones as there was no way I was allowed to stay up this late on a school night. In a dark bedroom wearing PJs, with a cover over the lights on the music centre and wearing headphones, 1 looked forward every night to the Ton Grundy show. To this day, I don't know if the roving reporter actually went to the places. At the time, I thought it was fantastic how she got to somewhere different every day. Later in life, the thought struck me that she might easily have been in the studio next door reading clues out of a travel book overlaid with sound effects to make her sound local to the place she was. Please don't ever tell which it was. I want to believe the romantic idea that she really did travel here, there, and everywhere. It's a memory of days gone by when things like adventure, programming, and entertainment were all possible before the accountants fully stepped in looking for ways to do everything on the cheap. Remembering this has made me smile a huge amount. Thank you, Piccadilly. And 'Thank You' Tim Grundy. He's a very nice man, a very nice man, a very nice man indeed. A sad loss to the world.
- Steve Douglas Park
I listened to Piccadilly Radio all the time. I remember "Underneath the Bed Clothes" with Dave Ward. I had a kiss with him in the Arndale when he did his sponsored kissy thing. I used to like the Mike Sweeney show as it was funny, and he played great music. However, my best memory is going into the studio late on Sunday evening to play a game on the Tim Grundy Show think it was called 'Where in the World am I? I was in the studio and guests had to phone in with clues to suggest whereabouts you were. If you guessed wrong the money went down think it started at £50. Anyway, the answer to my question was Spandau Prison and I won £40 which was a good amount of money back then. One of my greatest memories about that night was the fact that I had Reynauds and my fingers were frozen at the time. Tim took me to the vending machine to get a hot drink and I promptly stuck my fingers in my brew just to warm them up. Ha ha - got such strange looks! Happy days.
- Pauline Murphy
So many happy memories. Under the bed clothes with Dave Ward Mike Sweeney, the fabulous Susie Mathis and Dave Ward. But the best of all - Put a Bit of Wood on the Wireless - the amazingly entertaining Phil Wood. I won tickets to see Elton John in Leeds Queens Hall for the I'm still standing tour. "You've got the best seats in the house and luxury travel from Manchester to Leeds," he said. All tickets were standing only, and we got a coach from Chorlton Street. Luxury enough for me! And I won a 261 T-shirt at the then Manchester Show. I wore it with pride!
- Paula Borowiak
The legend that was Stu Allan definitely deserves a mention in the book. Along with eight thousand people, I danced in his honour a few months after his passing as a memorial to him. We all started listening to his music on a Sunday evening his show was amazing every week You can't write a book about the station without including hove awesome Stu Allan was.
- Emma Feetham
I started listening to Stu Allan's late-night show when I was around eleven years old, in my bedroom on my radio alarm. I'd originally started listening because I knew him as a child, and I thought I'd see what his show was like. It was like nothing I'd ever heard before and at first, I thought 'These are really long songs, but as I kept dipping in was mixing them together. This was dance music and I loved it. That and out of the show, I realised that they were different songs, and he show set me on a musical journey, which I'm still on now, thirty-two years later. He introduced me to a genre of music that I'd never heard before, but it blew my young mind. I saw him DJ many times over the years at Bowlers, but it all began on that radio show. I know thousands of others who could share a similar story about Stu and that show. He was a pioneer and a true innovator of the dance scene.
- Tina Clarke
The excitement from a payphone dialling 261 and hearing the radio -even for the two seconds before money was needed (2p) and the thrill of having 2p to spend listening, which was rare. It made me feel so grown up at the phone after my Irish dancing class waiting to be collected by my dad. Then there's my mum waiting to hear the result of a competition when we should have been on the way to the dentist. She heard her name on the radio and that was so special for her. We had to run to the dentist, but she smiled all the way. It was a Joe Dolan LP with 'You're Such a Good-Looking Woman'. I was five and it is still so clear in my memory.
- Maureen Fearon
I started listening to Stu Allan's late-night show when I was around eleven years old, in my bedroom on my radio alarm. I'd originally started listening because I knew him as a child, and I thought I'd see what his show was like. It was like nothing I'd ever heard before and at first, I thought 'These are really long songs, but as I kept dipping in was mixing them together. This was dance music and I loved it. That and out of the show, I realised that they were different songs, and he show set me on a musical journey, which I'm still on now, thirty-two years later. He introduced me to a genre of music that I'd never heard before, but it blew my young mind. I saw him DJ many times over the years at Bowlers, but it all began on that radio show. I know thousands of others who could share a similar story about Stu and that show. He was a pioneer and a true innovator of the dance scene.
- Maureen Fearon
My wife and I both sent letters into 'Making Friends' hosted by John Mundy in the early 80s. I remember meeting a female spot welder from Altrincham and a snooty nurse from Salford who didn't appreciate my choice of a night out at Pembroke Halls in Walkden watching a comedian. Both were disasters, but it didn't stop me sending a letter to "Janet from Wigan' and after three months and some disastrous dates herself, she rang me, and we arranged to meet on a wintry night in January 1982. We met and got on like we had always known each other and had so much in common we even put the same song on the pub jukebox. We had both been married before although we were only in our 20s so in no rush to get serious, but after three months I proposed, and Janet (Janice, actually!) accepted, and we have just celebrated our fortieth anniversary back in May of this year. I was going through some paperwork recently and came across the original letter I wrote to Janice back in 1981 using my middle name John. So that's how 'Janet' and John met.
- Alan John Hill
Piccadilly Radio was so huge in my life growing up, I really can't remember life without it. The radio went on as soon as I woke up and if 1 could get away with it stayed on all day. I used to go to the New Century Hall Piccadilly disco which was amazing and made friends there for life. I also made a Piccadilly Radio stamp at school which I can still use to this day and I also have an original sticker stuck on my window here in Adelaide, Australia which gets many comments from lots of other POMS, who live over here. Those memories will be forever cherished along with the DJs who were just marvellous.
- Victoria Collinge
Gosh us fifty (cough, cough) plus girls were only laughing about this on Saturday and telling a younger friend about our star performance on Timmy Mallet's radio show! Back in 1984, four fourteen-year-old Stretford girls would regularly listen to Timmy Mallet's evening show. He'd often ask his listeners to ring in with a jingle... so we put pen to paper and came up with a jingle to a speeded-up version of the Scotland the Brave' bagpipes song (no idea why, it just went with the words). He loved it!!! So much so that he invited us in to sing it live on his show. We were supposed to stay an hour, but we had such a good time he had us make up and sing more jingles live on air! 'Radio Gaga by Queen had just come out and I recall us singing to the chorus: "All we hear is Radio Timmy, on the Tranny, Radio Timmy on the Tranny" (and repeat). He recorded another jingle which was played the next day during the breakfast show. This was midweek so we were famous on our school bus journey the next day. At the end of our live radio session with Timmy, he sent us off with his side kick to get some freebies, some stickers, and a white Michael Jackson glove (more like a glove you'd wear to test for dust in the house springs to mind!). The young chap was none other than Chris Evans, aka fondly referred to by Timmy as Nobby N'O'Level. All four of us are still great friends and look back on this memory with fondness/embarrassment.
- Lisa Green (and Fiona, Janet and Martha)
Piccadilly 261 - WOW you make my heart sing. Growing up in the Northwest in Chester & Tiverton, 261 was my route to the outside world. It kept me in touch with the loves of my life, music and football. I was seventeen/eighteen in 1976/77. As I passed my driving test and could borrow mum's Renault 5, I used 261 to sign post me to what was going on and where. There were frequent competitions to win things. That night an Eddie & the Hot Rods EP & MC5 albums up for grabs. I won them all. I had to sit by the phone ready to dial. It paid off. Recorded it all so I could listen back. Can still hear me moving the radio and mic around as I moved to the phone & back - ha ha ha. What times.
- Duncan Round
I remember fondly the days of Piccadilly Radio in Manchester. Local radio played such an important role in our lives. It gave us our local travel and weather information. It gave local businesses the opportunity to advertise and reach a wider market. It informed us of major concerts and shows that were taking part in the Northwest. It made us feel connected' in a way that national radio could not deliver. It also introduced us to some great presenters who were real characters with their own style. They became our friends and made us listeners feel special, as no one else outside the Northwest could hear how great they were. We would dance around the kitchen to new songs, then soon enough they'd be playing in the nightclubs and discos. Writing these words whilst listening to these classic songs makes me want to hear this music again and again.
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