Mersey beat

FOUR hundred feet above Liverpool city centre, DJ Glen Hunt points out many of the North West's landmarks visible from Radio City's towering studios, which bear more than a passing resemblance to Thunderbird 5.

As a metaphor for his career, the building couldn't be more appropriate.

From broadcasting to a handful of listeners from inside an old shack which housed Chorley Hospital Radio, Glen has climbed the radio ladder to

host a prime-time afternoon show on the largest commercial radio station outside London. However, he hasn't forgotten how close it all came to ending in spectacular fashion.

"My first full-time radio job was at MFM in North Wales, and at one point I was doing the overnight shift.

"I was tired and fell asleep, while doing the show, for 20 minutes.

"Put it this way, it wasn't a mistake I made twice!"

For the dozens of East Lancashire students who embark on media courses in the hope of attaining a degree of celebrity and fame, Glen's story is one which should inspire them. Because while the 29-year-old may now be broadcasting to an audience of more than a million every afternoon with a madcap mix of jokes, interaction and music, he can remember how he got there -- and when he realised that radio

was for him. Withnell-based Glen said: "I went on a tour around Radio Lancashire when it was still based in King Street, Blackburn, and looking around I knew it was what I wanted to do.

"I went on to do a course in Media at Blackburn College, which has proved invaluable."

Unfortunately, it wasn't as simple as walking along to the nearest station and handing in a demo tape only for a programme director to hand him his own show. He said: "I spent a long time working on things like instore radio and local hospital radio, and the mobile disco, but I had to hold down a regular job as well to make sure I was paying the bills.

"I worked at East Lancashire Cable when it was called that and when it was based in Blackburn. I used to do the technical stuff, like camera work and the like, but then Nynex came along and bought East Lancashire Cable and moved us to Manchester

and my job became a desk job, which I didn't like.

"At the time, I was still trying to break into radio and fortunately something came along at MFM and I jumped at the chance."

However, the experience he picked up before going "pro" has proved invaluable.

"I did the whole mobile disco thing, lugging my decks up fire escapes into clubs and doing parties. It was hard work but it taught me how to interact with a live crowd, something I have had to do a lot more recently since moving on from MFM, and

the experience I got has helped."

He added: "At the other end of the scale, hospital radio helped me to develop my skills using the radio as a one-to-one medium.

"I would tape the show as it went out, go home, realise how bad I was and then just try to improve on it."

After a successful stint on MFM, Glen moved to Preston-based Rock FM, the radio station he had grown up listening to.

"I was given the evening show six nights a week and I was delighted to get it," remembers Glen.

"My first show was on a Sunday and I sat through the last hour of the show before mine, just going over and over the first thing I was going to say.

"I wanted it to sound good but more than anything I wanted to make sure I got the station name right!"

After overcoming that hurdle, Glen went on to spend four happy years in Preston, latterly on the morning show.

But his time there also gave him the chance to develop his mobile DJ skills, albeit on a much larger stage.

"I'm still quite a novice when it comes to the whole club thing," confesses Glen. "The first club night I did with a radio station was at Tokyo Jo's. I remember

being scared when I saw how many people were there.

"It was the first time I met Mark Freejack as well. I concentrated on doing the party side of things, while he looked after the music."

It was a formula which worked. Glen and Mark host student nights in the Preston venue every Wednesday.

Last October, Glen was invited to join Radio City, which is part of the same radio group as Rock FM.

"I think that has been the highlight of my career, because Radio City is the largest commercial radio station outside London so it is a real privilege. I have been able to continue club nights and do some over here now with Radio City.

"On a Saturday night, we broadcast live from a club with something like one million people listening to us.

"The club scene in the North West is so alive and seems to set the standard for everywhere else."

He added: "Then, after Saturday night, I do an '80s and '90s show on a Sunday morning and when I'm playing some songs I'll suddenly think 'I used to play

this when I was a mobile DJ'."

His initial one year contract has already been renewed for another two.

Glen -- whose partner is Rock FM newsreader Alison Berriman -- has already worked out how the couple will celebrate the news.

"We're going to get a dog," he announced. "Fortunately, mine and Alison's hours work out so that it will only be on its own for a couple of hours a day.

"And even then, I can turn the radio on so it can listen to one of us.

"That'll be strange for it, won't it?