Radio boss Jeff Zycinski shares his ‘laugh ’n’ tell’ tales with Grant Stott

That paperback, The Red Light Zone: An Insider’s Laugh ’n’ Tell of BBC Radio, was recently published by The Lunicorn Press.

Next Thursday, Zycinski comes to The Angels’ Share at the West End to share some of those stories.

Grant Stott will be on hand to take on hosting duties chatting to Zycinski about his childhood love of radio, his first jobs in independent local radio and his time at BBC Scotland which saw him rise to become Head of Radio, responsible for scheduling and commissioning programmes on BBC Radio Scotland.

There will also be a Q&A on the night when the audience can pose questions about the industry.

Remembering his time based in the Capital, when Radio Scotland’s HQ could be found on Queen Street, he recalls, “When I joined the BBC, my line manager was the boss of the Edinburgh offices on Queen Street.

“It was a real rabbit warren on staircases and split level.

“The boss gave me the tour, opening doors at random and telling me which programme teams were in each one.

“ Towards the end of the tour he flung open a door near the attic to reveal two tank-top wearing producers blinking in the light.

“‘Odd,’ said the boss, ‘I thought we had sacked those two last year’.”

During three decades Zycinski, came face to face with Prime Ministers, Princesses and Hollywood actors but his career actually began in a Soho strip club.

“I was fully clothed,” he assures. “I was recruited by Capital Radio for a programme covering 24 hours in the life of London. I was sent to the Raymond Revue Bar because I had the look of someone who could blend into the background of a seedy night-club.”

Jeff Zycinski in Conversation with Grant Stott, The Devil’s Cut in Angel’s Share Hotel, Hope Street, Thursday 14 March, 7pm, free but ticketed, www.eventbrite.co.uk

The Red Light Zone: An Insider’s Laugh ’n’ Tell of BBC Radio, is published in paperback, £8.99