Jingle bells: university man’s musical talent gets him on Chris Evans’ BBC show
University of Greenwich employee Tony Wright’s got talent – he can impersonate famous singers, and he has a way with technology after managing the university’s audio-visual services.
Now he’s been played on Chris Evans’ BBC Radio 2 show after sending in some jingles, and has even been invited to join Chris at his O2 Christmas show on 23 December.
Tony says: “I sent in the jingles four years ago when Chris started doing the Drivetime slot. I never heard back. Then a few days ago I emailed them again because Chris is leaving to do the Breakfast show and then they will be obsolete. This time they were ecstatic!”
The jingles sound like Nat King Cole singing the Christmas song, or Dean Martin singing “Ain’t that a kick in the head”, only with the words changed to introduce Chris Evans and his show. His Neil Diamond impersonation is particularly convincing.
Chris played three of them on his Monday night show (14 December), praised them as “brilliant” and asked “Why have you left it four years to send them in?”, not realising they had been overlooked at the time.
Now Chris has invited Tony and his wife, Julie, to join the fun at his “Farewell Drivetime, Hello Breakfast” show at the O2. He’s even suggested they might like to perform a Christmas song. Since then Tony’s been interviewed on BBC Radio Kent who asked, “Is this another Susan Boyle?”
Tony (41) leads the university team which ensures every lecture theatre and meeting room has the right audio-visual equipment, and that it is all working perfectly. “The latest equipment, with interactive panels and control systems, usually makes the teaching staff’s lives easier but it can get glitches, so we need to know what we are doing,” Tony says.
And it is that way with technology that has ensured his jingles sound so professional: “I’ve learned a lot about sound production working at the University of Greenwich.”
Tony, who lives in Dartford, Kent, says: “Having the jingles played has definitely added a touch of pre-Christmas excitement for me and the rest of the family.”
For images, interviews and information contact:
Hester Brown, Press Officer
University of Greenwich
Tel: 020 8331 7663
Mob: 07876 193 481