Jeff Cooper
Broadcaster, Web Audio Engineer, Voice
About me
Hello. I started my career in radio back in the 1970s and have worked at the BBC and many of the country's top commercial stations. There's a more detailed resume here. I have designed radio programming and presentation training courses for Bolton University, Estonia's Raadio 2, The Baltic Media Centre in Denmark, and the St. Petersburg Insitute of Journalism in Russia. I was nominated for a Sony Radio Award, and have been a guest panelist at many music & radio events, including the Guinness Student Radio Forum, Liverpool Sound City and Norwich Sound & Vision.
Today, my specialities include online audio engineering, music programming and commercial voice acting - more here. I also programme and maintain the output of 2XS Rocks.
Since 2019, I have been supplying the on-board 'Next Stop' announcements for Stagecoach buses in Lancashire, South Yorkshire, Cambridge and Kent and Stagecoach Supertram in Sheffield. There's more on that here.
What I Do
Radio Production & Presentation
Commercial Voice Acting & Production
Projects
Testimonials
Bolton University, England
"... direct, genial, eloquent speaker ... instant hit with the students ..."
Baltic Media Centre, Denmark
"... the participants really related to what you said..."
St. Peterburg Centre Of Journalism, Russia
"... your students really understood what you taught, and were greatly motivated by your enthusiasm..."
Eesti Raadio, Estonia
"... I've heard some great work by our DJs since your course..."
Target Training, Manchester
"...excellent feedback on your particular session..."
Projects
Stagecoach Bus: Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cambridge and Kent
'Next stop' announcements, creation & delivery.
Stagecoach Supertram: Sheffield
'Covid-19' and 'service disruption' announcements, creation & delivery.
2XS Rocks
Audio & website creation, operation, development & management.
Wider Europe
Audio creation and development.
Radio Trent
Audio & website creation, operation, development & management.
UK Country Radio
Creation, launch and first year operation.
BBC Radio 2 'Arts Programme'
Commission, recording and production.
BBC North 'New Music Scene'
Commission, recording and production
Radio:
friendly, knowledgeable, humorous
After a wobbly start in 1970 with the Dutch offshore 'pirate' station, Radio Veronica, I later became the youngest-ever BBC network radio announcer & newsreader at 22 years old (and that's still a record as far as I know). And it was a very nervous and sad debut in October 1974 when I had to break the news of the Guildford pub bombing horror to the national BBC Radio 1 & 2 audience. I later worked again on news and current affairs programmes for the BBC in Manchester and Birmingham.
More cheerfully, most of my radio career has involved presentation and programming on some of the UK's biggest commercial stations where there have been many great music moments. Although the 70s had started sedately enough with BBC Radio parties given by the likes of Norrie Paramour, Cliff Richard and others, my career then got into gear as I recorded radio shows with rockers Richie Blackmore and Ian Gillan, multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield (including the world premiere of his album 'Ommadawn'), ex-Monkee Mike Nesmith, John Martyn, and many more. In the 80s at Glasgow's Radio Clyde, it was Phil Collins, Meatloaf, Marianne Faithfull, Kate Bush (a rare interview opportunity, the embarrassing details of which I shall keep for my memoirs), and the first commercial radio plays for the emerging Simple Minds and Heaven 17. A couple of years later at the BBC in Manchester, my 'Fast Forward' show secured the exclusive first broadcast of New Order's 'Blue Monday', introduced by the band's manager, Tony Wilson. I actually had to go and 'grab' it from him at his Hacienda club (luckily, we were both pretty inebriated).
During the mid-80s, I moved to Italy to set up my own pioneering 'border-blaster' station, LBC Music Radio. It broadcast from the summit of an Italian mountain which overlooks the Swiss city of Lugano. In less than a year, it became the most listened-to station in the area and was later sold to an Italian network.
Returning to the UK, I worked on great stations like The Superstation, The Hot FM Network, Better Music Beacon, Rock FM (inc. my weekly 'Lexicon Of Rock' show), and then Sheffield's Hallam FM. It was there that I started 'XS', which then became the syndicated New Music show '2XS', and in 2002, the full-time station, 2XS Radio. It is now the longest-running independent online station in the UK, and became well-known for our live 'Barn Sessions' and gigs with Travis, Pulp, Patti Rothberg, The Longpigs, Tracy Bonham, The Dandy Warhols, Feeder, Idlewild, Catatonia, Wannadies, The Cardigans, Morcheeba, Sparklehorse, Cornershop, Alabama 3 - and many, many more. Sadly, the sessions ended due to events in 2020, but hopefully might return at some point. We also welcomed such music luminaries as Richard Hawley, Pete Wylie and Martyn Ware in to our studios to record their own shows.
I continued to appear on Smooth Radio in both Nottingham and Manchester for some years, before concentrating on New Media and voice work.
Contact me for an aircheck demo.
Voice Actor:
warm, authoritative, professional.
I am an experienced voice actor and have been performing in audio commercials and corporate videos for many years. My clients have included major names such as Iceland, Ikea, Wilkinson, Furniture World, Bellway Homes, and countless local businesses all over the country. Some are made for local radio, but most are for agencies. At one time, they all necessitated travelling to a radio station or commercial facilities house, but nowadays they can be produced at my own studio near Sheffield, with or without client direction. As an Equity member and an experienced audio engineer, I can assure you of a professional performance, with the finished product delivered in your chosen audio format.
Contact me for a voice-over demo.
Public transport announcements:
clear, intelligible, accurate, neutral.
Public transport is becoming increasingly vital to a 'green' future. As a result there are significant moves to make it more attractive. For example, the on-board announcements that have long been used on trains and planes, have now come to buses.
As well as my radio work, I have had a close association with Stagecoach since 2008 when I was given the chance to take the bus 'PCV' driving test (the 'other' thing I'd always wanted to do since I was a youngster). I passed after a tense couple of weeks, and two positive 'feel good' newspaper articles were the result. I spent nearly fifteen years as a part-time driver at their Chesterfield depot and continue to have nothing but admiration for bus drivers to this day.
Recently, these two seemingly unconnected industries have converged for me when the company contacted me to provide on-board announcements for their new buses which are fitted with 'next stop' audio and video information.
These are now successfully in place on routes in several parts of the country, including Yorkshire, Kent, Cambridge and Merseyside. They give a real 'feel-good' vibe to the journey and, together with the video screen information, provide useful information about where the bus actually is: essential if you're new to a route, but also very handy if you're a regular commuter who's nodded-off - or is deeply engrossed in the free 'Metro' newspaper!
I have also worked with South Yorkshire Supertram providing their passengers with clear information in respect of Covid-19 'social distancing' advice, and for service disruption caused by track replacement works.
If you are a public transport manager, please contact me to discuss how I can provide a similar solution for your services. The announcements need to be clearly intelligible above the ambient vehicle noise, and neutral to suit all passengers: if the voice is too shrill it will be annoying, and if it is too muffled it will be inaudible.
From my professional studio, I can handle the whole job flow, from the recording to the final audio delivery in whatever format is required. The recordings are archived so that any future changes, even minor ones, will match the originals. I'll even check local place-name pronunciations if necessary: I know from my radio work that getting those wrong can really alienate your audience. And I understand a lot about your industry, having got to know bus operators in several parts of the UK.
Contact me to discuss your requirements.
