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Early Career

For most people, Kevin Greening is perhaps best known for his stint at Radio 1 in the 1990s - including a year on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, co-hosting with Zoe Ball.

However his first radio experiences came from volunteering at the Bristol Hospital Broadcasting Service, and later at St Cathaerine's College in Cambridge, where he was amongst the early team who set up Cambridge University Radio. After training at BBC Radio Solent, he had an offer of a job as a studio manager at the BBC World Service, or to join BBC GLR as a presenter. He chose the latter and a career was started.

He joined the BBC's London station in 1989, becoming a breakfast presenter in 1991, and moving to the newly launched Virgin Radio, presenting shows on Friday and Saturday evenings, and Sunday mornings. After just two months on air, he was given the weekday afternoon programme.

Kevin stayed at Virgin for less than a year, moving to Radio 1 on the Weekend Breakfast Show (7-10am) in January 1994. By November 1994, the station had moved him onto the Weekend Lunchtimes (12-2pm), before moving him back to breakfast in October 1995.

Despite his rather low key time slots, Kevin, with his wonderful mix of daft sketches - including the birth of the wonderful Eric the Gardener - and witty adlibs, had gained a reasonable cult following.

However for many one of the most memorable things to come out of the era was a song.

It was Kevin that brought the Mike Flowers Pops and their easy listening version of Wonderwall to an unsuspecting world. And the world was unsure how to react to this.

On a worse note, Kevin was a big fan of boy-band (and they were just boys) Hanson, and their track, Mmm-Bop. Should we hold this little flaw against him? Well we could try...

Gay Pride

It was also during Kevin's early days at Radio 1 that a little-remembered, but important piece of programming was broadcast.

In 1994 the station broadcast its first ever coverage of the London Gay Pride event, held that summer in Finsbury Park. The move came after the station had broadcast its first ever programme aimed at young gay men and lesbians, Loud and Proud, the year before presented by DJ Paulette. The programming was not without controversy, with one Conservative MP of the time being reported in the press are proclaiming that the "BBC have gone completely out of control" and that the licence fee should be cancelled.

The person picked to cover Radio 1's first ever broadcasts from Gay Pride was to be the station's highest profile gay presenters - Kevin Greening.

It was Kevin's cool and informed style that helped present the event as open and welcoming to those at home who knew little about it. And it was Kevin who helped make Radio 1's coverage a huge success, to such an extent that the station is now a permanent feature at Gay Pride, with programmes regularly broadcast live from the event.

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