Chris Needs
1952-2020
A Tribute To A Radio Friend
During my time at Red Dragon FM in the late 80’s and early 90’s, I met a good number of larger than life characters, many of whom I’d previously only heard but never seen. None of them was more ‘larger than life’ than Chris! He was a Touch AM presenter, working in the opposite studio, the other side of the ‘Octagon’ from me, at the radio studios, then based on West Canal Wharf, Cardiff. We were totally chalk and cheese, as presenters. I largely focused on promoting unsigned acts and interviewing pop stars about their careers and latest releases, Chris took more of a ‘showbiz’ approach to life. You were always aware when Chris Needs was in the building, that’s for sure!
One of the various programmes he presented, at that time was the ‘Wenglish Show’, aimed at encouraging new Welsh speakers, in an inclusive, friendly manner. He was ideal for that show, as a totally bilingual radio personality. In fact, Chris had spent time living in a number of countries, as a musician, over the years and was a multi-linguist, also proficient in Spanish and Dutch. He was always a dab hand at generating publicity and was very often in the press. He was an able musician too, having played with a number of artists, including Bonnie Tyler. On one occasion, my name was ‘up in lights’ on a nearby electric display board. ‘If I was you, I’d take a picture of that’, he said. I never did but should have taken his advice.
He was, of course, a fun person to spend an evening with. I remember one occasion when he took me and my then girlfriend to a club, on Charles Street. ‘Don’t worry love, it’s only a showbiz bar’, he told me, after a rather affectionate embrace with the doorman and in we went!
At the annual Red Dragon FM/Touch AM Christmas parties, we would usually both get credited for the press coverage that we’d accumulated for our sister stations, over the year but Chris had always done a bit more than me! Following on from his spell in commercial radio, it was no great surprise, to see Chris moving across to the BBC. I did likewise for a while but unlike me, Chris built himself an 18 year career with BBC Wales in radio and TV. Chris came up with the novel idea of creating a ‘friendly garden’ for his listeners, building a huge number of devoted members/listeners. He built a huge following for his show, one of the most popular on the station, without doubt. In his time, he also wrote books and appeared on stage and screen, in Welsh and English.
We were very different as people and presenters but I respected Chris and was pleased to see him being so successful. We exchanged birthday greetings over the years and occasionally bumped into each other. As I say, we were poles apart but I’d like to think that the respect was mutual. My thoughts are with his friends and family, especially his husband, Gabe. I’m sure Gabe is very proud of all that Chris achieved. BBC Radio Wales have, this week, officially moved into their shiny new premises in the heart of Cardiff. It is such a shame that one of their best-loved and most flamboyant personalities will be so noticeably absent…
Steve Johnson Former Red Dragon and BBC Wales Presenter