Brian Hayes (born 17 December 1937) is a

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

presenter who is known in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

for his

phone-in In broadcasting, a phone-in or call-in is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast. On radio ( ...

shows. The son of a miner, Hayes was born in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. He left school at age 15 and worked as a clerk for a mining company before obtaining a job as a newsreader for a radio station in

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

. He subsequently worked for various stations in Perth and Western Australia, in both presenting and producing roles. He moved to the UK and joined

Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...

at its inception in 1973, first as a producer of talk programmes, and then presenting ''Capital Open Line'', before making his name as presenter of the morning interview and phone-in show on

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...

Radio from 1976 to 1990. Here he adopted an often aggressive style with callers, making it clear he did not

suffer fools gladly Suffer fools gladly is a well-known phrase in contemporary use, first coined by Saint Paul in his second letter to the Church at Corinth (chapter 11). The full verse of the original source of the idiom, 2 Corinthians 11:19 (KJV), reads "For ye su ...

. Though this sometimes caused irritation, it was considered a valuable asset to the station; he was once satirised in ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

'' as ‘Brian Bastard'. Since 1990, Hayes has appeared on various stations, including presenting the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show throughout 1992, which was subtitled ''Good Morning UK'' throughout his tenure. He left the show at the end of the year due to unpopularity, and he was replaced by the show's former host

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekd ...

in January 1993. Hayes presented the weekly phone-in ''Hayes over Britain'' on BBC Radio 2 in the 1990s, winning a Gold Sony Radio Award for 'Best Phone-In', a programme on Euthanasia, as well as sitting in for Jimmy Young and his successor

Jeremy Vine Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio personality, presenter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guest ...

until 2006. He worked on

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

until 2006, and

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

, on various programmes including '' Not Today, Thank You''. During the mid-2000s, he presented Friday nights on BBC Radio 5 Live and on Sunday nights he returned to LBC. He is mentioned on the song "

Hello ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the ''Norwich C ...

" by The Beloved.

References

1937 births British radio personalities Living people People from Perth, Western Australia Australian emigrants to England British radio DJs BBC Radio 2 presenters BBC radio presenters LBC radio presenters {{UK-radio-bio-stub