Radio X: Johnny Vaughan defends new station insisting it will be popular with women
DJ Johnny Vaughan says there is no future in the current format of radio shows which have lost the ability to entertain - but insists women will love new station Radio X.
Vaughan, 49, will front the weekday drive time show on the newly launched digital radio station billed for men, which has replaced XFM.
Speaking to the Evening Standard he said: "After breakfast where does anyone on the radio bother to entertain? All I want is a friend in the passenger seat telling a few good stories and playing some good tunes. People want banter all day.
“When I grew up you had music and people to entertain us. Now there's people going 'That song is from a great album' - just a little bit of information. You can't build a future on that. That’s what Radio X is bringing back - the idea of accompanied music."
The former Capital FM Breakfast Show host dismissed claims that the station is sexist, 'dad rock' and 'Nuts magazine as a radio station' saying the male line-up will be popular with female listeners in the same way that male fronted bands are.
I think there is a knee jerk thing where people think 'laddy' but there's no reaction when the bulk of TV is pretty 'lady'.
<p>Johnny Vaughan</p>
"Rock chicks love thinking it's just for men," he said. "It makes them love it more and makes them stick two fingers up and say 'F*** you, I rock'. It's always been the same. When I was a kid there were girls who went into rock and thought 'I don't care about the men I f****** rock'.
"Lots of bands are men. Top Gear is men, but it doesn't mean it doesn't make it incredibly popular with women."
Vaughan – who has joined Chris Moyles, Vernon Kay and Ricky Wilson on the new station – hit out at BBC radio stations that he claimed are more "manly" than Radio X.
“[Radio X] is not as manly as Radio 2 or any of those BBC stations with an all-male line up,” he said. “They patronise by putting women in a token slot after breakfast. Look at Radio 2 – after Vanessa Feltz finishes you've got 13 hours of blokes and that's considered a housewives channel."
The former Talksport presenter continued: "I think there is a knee jerk thing where people think 'laddy' but there's no reaction when the bulk of TV is pretty 'lady'. There's Loose Women on ITV but I don't see ‘Loose Men’ – I'm not protesting about that and there's Women's Hour on Radio 4 but I'm not out there burning my Y fronts.”
Speaking about who he would love to have on his new drive time show, Vaughan said: "I'd like to have Keith Richards just jamming for a whole show giving us a few live riffs when he feels like it. Maybe Keith and Charlie Watts. Or the second Led Zeppelin reunion on the roof.
"The jackpot would be if we managed for charity to persuade The Jam to do a one off in Leicester square."
Johnny Vaughan presents drive time on Radio X, weekdays, from 4pm – 7pm. Radio X is available all across the UK on the digital radio platform D1 as well as on 104.9FM in London.
