Billy Reeves (born 7 June 1965) is an English songwriter, musician, record producer and broadcaster. In 1996 he formed the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-based indie-band

Theaudience Theaudience (styled as theaudience) were an English rock band, formed in London in 1996. They released one album and saw three singles enter the UK Singles Chart. The band's singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor became a successful solo artist after the b ...

, (featuring

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...

on vocals). Theaudience quickly established themselves in the Camden scene of 1997. They scored two top 30 (UK) hits - "

A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed "A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed" is an indie-rock song written by Billy Reeves for Theaudience's eponymous album ''Theaudience'', released as the third single on 11 May 1998. "A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed" became one of the band's most p ...

" and "

I Know Enough (I Don't Get Enough) "I Know Enough (I Don't Get Enough)" is a song by Theaudience from their self-titled debut album, ''Theaudience''. It was released as the fourth and final single from the album on 27 July 1998. It reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. B-si ...

" - and a top 20 (UK) eponymous album, before Reeves left the band following a disastrous

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

1998 performance. Prior to theaudience, Reeves had briefly been drummer for the bands Blow Up and The Grooveyard, and later formed indie band Congregation while working at the band's label

Fire Records Fire Records was an American independent record label, set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson. Amongst others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, Buster Brown and Arthur Crudup. At one point it was thought Fire had issued the las ...

in the early 1990s. Reeves signed to

Sony Records Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation. Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the label ...

with a new act ('Yours') in 1999. He also ran the club ('Uncle Bob's Wedding Reception') which provided The Darkness with their first London show. Around this time he also had a brief stint in Los Angeles producing new artist demos for Rondor Publishing. His performing career was interrupted by injuries sustained in a near-fatal car accident in 2001, although he returned to live music from 2006 with the short-lived pop band Friends of the Bride, among other projects. A later project, Sugar Coat, was awarded with a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

following the release of the world's first playable jigsaw puzzle. After recovering from his accident Reeves studied under the noted writer and journalist

Chris Horrie Chris Horrie is a journalist, author and lecturer specializing in investigative journalism, finance and profiles of major public figures. As a freelance feature writer his work can be found in ''The Independent'', the ''Independent on Sunday'' ...

at the University of Westminster. Reeves achieved a distinction in his post graduate degree under Horrie and was therefore able to reinvent himself as a

radio producer A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. The job title covers several different job descriptions: *Content producers or executive producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature. The content producer might organize music choi ...

and broadcaster on

BBC London 94.9 BBC Radio London is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater London and its surrounding areas. The station broadcasts across the area and beyond, on the 94.9 FM frequency, DAB, Virgin Media channel 937, Sky channel 0152 (in the Lond ...

. His travel and sports reports are distinctive due to an eccentric delivery, which his friend

Danny Baker Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television. Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class fam ...

has compared to the late

Cyril Fletcher Cyril Fletcher (25 June 1913 – 2 January 2005) was an English comedian, actor and businessman. His catchphrase was 'Pin back your lugholes'. He was best known for his "Odd Odes", which later formed a section of the television show ''That's ...

. He produced the 2005

Sony Award The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

-winning

Charlie Gillett Charles Thomas Gillett (; 20 February 1942 – 17 March 2010) was a British radio presenter, musicologist, and writer, mainly on rock and roll and other forms of popular music. He was particularly noted for his influential book ''The Sound of t ...

Show (which featured

Mavis Staples Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers (she is the last surviving member of that band). Durin ...

), and as part of the BBC London Travel Team has won two

Frank Gillard Awards The Frank Gillard Awards are awards for BBC Local Radio stations in the UK. They are named after Frank Gillard Francis George Gillard (1 December 1908 – 20 October 1998) was a BBC executive, reporter and radio innovator. Early years Gi ...

- in 2009 and 2011. The team was nominated for the 2011 Sony in the 'Multiplatform' category (for coverage of the Tube Strike) and commended in the 2011 Online Media Awards in the '

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

feed of the year' category. Outside of the BBC he presents a monthly

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

for

Kscope Kscope is an independent record label that is part of Snapper Music, and a sister-label of Peaceville. It is dedicated to artists in the progressive rock genre. The label has released albums by Steven Wilson and his projects Porcupine Tree (m ...

Records, the forefront of the uniquely British 'post-progressive' rock scene. Reeves has also turned his hand to sports commentary for BBC Radio. He lends an eloquence to reports from

Brentford FC Brentford Football Club is a professional football club in Brentford, West London, England, which competes in the Premier League, the highest tier of English football, having gained promotion via the playoffs at the end of the 2020–21 Champi ...

, and commentates live on the club's website 'Bees Player' - as well as writing a column in the match-day programme. In 2021, Reeves announced that he would be releasing a new record called ''Afters'' consisting of re-recorded versions of songs that he wrote shortly before his accident in 2001. The album was released under the pseudonym ''The Helicopter of the Holy Ghost'' and features

Mark Morriss Mark James Morriss (born 18 October 1971) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the frontman for The Bluetones. He is the older brother of bandmate and bass player/illustrator Scott Morriss. He has released four solo albums, worked ...

and

Simon Raymonde Simon Philip Raymonde (born Simon Philip Pomerance; 3 April 1962, in London) is an English musician and record producer. He is the son of the late arranger and composer Ivor Raymonde. He is best known as the bass guitarist and keyboard player ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reeves, Billy Living people English songwriters 1965 births Place of birth missing (living people) British record producers Alumni of the University of Westminster Musicians from London