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 Radio.
In 2019, I began supplying on-board 'Next Stop' announcements for bus and train companies. 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 Radio
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
Following a wobbly start in 1970 with the Dutch 'pirate' station, Radio Veronica, I became the youngest-ever BBC network radio announcer & newsreader at 22 years old (and that's still a record as far as I know). 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 also produce programme trails for Radio 1, and read the esteemed Shipping Forecast and Football Results (then both on Radio 2). Some years later, I again worked on news and current affairs programmes for the BBC in both 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 in Nottingham as I recorded radio shows with rockers such as 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 late 70s/early 80s at Glasgow's Radio Clyde, it was Friday's 'Midnight Rock' show which featured such stars as Phil Collins, Meatloaf, Marianne Faithfull, Kate Bush (a rare interview opportunity, and 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 originally had to find him at his Hacienda club and convince him to let us have the exclusive. Luckily for me, he agreed - possibly because 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 and nearby Bissone and Campione (hence the name). 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 around the UK like The Superstation (national), Chiltern Radio's 'Hot FM' (north Home Counties), Beacon Radio (West Midlands), the Rock FM (North West) - which included my weekly 'Lexicon Of Rock' album show - and then South Yorkshire's Hallam FM. It was there that I started their New Music show, 'XS', which later became syndicated as '2XS' and was broadcast on stations across the North West and Peak District. In 2002 in morphed into a full-time station as 2XS Radio.
In 2011, I re-invented Nottingham's Radio Trent as an on-line station, following Global Radio's ditching of the historic station name. We had some considerable success but were thwarted by the UK's copyright regime and closed after nearly three years. I continued to appear on Smooth Radio in both Nottingham and Manchester for some years and more recently, made a few guest appearances on 'Solid Gold Gem' and Boom Radio, before concentrating on New Media and voice work.
2XS continues and is still entirely funded by its listeners (something everyone said could never happen), and is now the longest-running independent online station in the UK. We are well-known for our 'Barn Sessions' (recorded in a 17th century barn in Derbyshire) which included interviews, sessions and gigs by the likes of Travis, Pulp, Patti Rothberg, The Longpigs, Tracy Bonham, The Dandy Warhols, Feeder, Idlewild, Catatonia, Wannadies, The Cardigans, Morcheeba, Sparklehorse, Cornershop, Therapy?, Alabama 3, and many, many more. Sadly, that all ended with the Covid Wars of 2020/21, 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.
Contact me for an aircheck demo.
Voice Actor:
warm, authoritative, professional.
My voice is often described as "likeable", "clear", "friendly" - and is an example of neutral 'R.P.' English, with no hint of "posh"!
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 Foods, Ikea, Wilkinson's, 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 in Derbyshire, 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 several transport companies, particularly in Italy and Switzerland.
If you are a public transport manager, please contact me to discuss how I can provide a solution for your services. 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 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.
