Pete Price

Infobox Radio Presenter


imagesize = 150px
name = Pete Price
caption =
birthname = Peter Lloyd Price
birthdate = March 1946
birthplace = Wales
deathdate =
deathplace =
show = Pete Price
station = CityTalk 105.9
timeslot = 10:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. Monday-Thursday
show2 = Pete Price Unzipped
station2 = Radio City 96.7, CityTalk 105.9
timeslot2 = 10:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. Sunday, Bank Holiday Monday
style = Phone-in Talk Show
country = England, Wales
prevshow =
web = peteprice.com, citytalk.fm|
Pete Price (born Peter Lloyd Price) is a local radio presenter based in Merseyside, UK. He is best known for the Sunday night talk radio show "Pete Price: Unzipped", broadcast across sister stations City Talk 105.9 and Radio City 96.7. The show is aired live from 10pm to 2am and follows an format.Cite web|title=The Pete Price Phone In|publisher=City Talk 105.9|url=http://www.citytalk.fm/sectional.asp?id=25486|accessdate=2008-08-27]

He is also a comedian, author, patron for Claire House Childrens Hospice and columnist for the Liverpool Echo. He is well known for being openly gay which is often the subject of prank calls to his radio show.cite web|title=Go ahead, caller, I'm listening...|date=2004-02-02|last=Brown|first=Mick|publisher=The Telegraph|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/02/13/bmprice13.xml&sSheet=/arts/2004/02/13/ixartright.html|accessdate=2008-08-27] He is dyslexic and often has trouble reading texts or emails on air. To compliment his radio show Price also gives out a personal phone number for listeners to talk to him in confidence. [Cite web|title=Horses and Dogs!|url=http://www.citytalk.fm/Article.asp?id=650200&spid=22780|accessdate=2008-08-27|date=2008-04-09|author=Pete Price]

Early life

Price was adopted at three months old in May 1946 by Hilda Price and David Lloyd. He was raised in West Kirby on the Wirral Peninsula. He was notably closer to his Mother than his Father, who repeatedly was violent towards Hilda Price.Citation|last = Price|first = Pete & Butler, Adrian|year = 2007|title = Pete Price: Namedropper|publisher = Trinity Mirror|pages = 23-24, 33, 41-43, 45-50, 85-86|isbn=ISBN 978-1-905266-41-8] When he was twelve he came to terms with his homosexuality, but when consulting his doctor he was told he'd "grow out of it". Two years later Price went back to the same doctor, only be to prescribed some Valium. A combination of his homosexuality, problems with school and problems socially put him into a state of despair. At the age of fourteen he attempted to overdose on child-strength Aspirin, only to wake up the next morning.

At fifteen Price was working as a hairdresser at the weekend whilst studying cookery at Wirral Metropolitan College (then "Birkenhead Technical College"). He soon got a job working for the wealthy Ward family, catering for their dinner parties, as well as being a close family friend.He soon got a professional catering job, a summer at the Cavendish Hotel in Eastbourne and went on to manage a Fullers Tea Shop in Worthing.

Price was sent to an institution in Chester to receive aversion therapy when he came out to his Mother at age eighteen. He left a further day later after being exposed to people being "treated" using electrodes. A few days later he recognised one of the psychiatrists from the institution in a gay bar. Price couldn't control his anger and assaulted the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist did not wish to press charges and Price kept the events in the institution, and why he assaulted him, a secret. However, in 1993, after stories been coming out of others being treated this way in hospitals he decided to go public with his story, in order to encourage more people to come forward.Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/saturdaylive/2007/01/gay_aversion_therapy.html|title=Gay Aversion Therapy|publisher=BBC Radio 4 Saturday Live|date=07-01-05|accessdate=2008-08-27]

Radio career

After several years as the cook on a cruise ship, he became a DJ for BBC Radio Merseyside at the age of twenty-one. Shortly after, Price made his first appearance on the comedy scene at Liverpool's 'The Shakespeare', working at various venues which include The Palladium and the QEII.Citation|title="Official Biography"|url=http://www.peteprice.com/html_site/biog.html|accessdate=2008-08-29] In the 1980s, he became a presenter on his former station's rival, 194 Radio City, and has remained so in its various incarnations since. He continues to star in pantomimes in Liverpool and Merseyside, as well as working for national newspapers including The Independent and The Times.As a broadcaster he has worked with national BBC Radio One and Radio City for over 20 years, and continues to host his late night talk show on CityTalk.

Autobiography

In September 2007, Price launched his autobiography (co-written by Adrian Butler), "Pete Price: Namedropper" topped Liverpool best seller charts within its first few days of sale, also being serialised in local newspaper the Liverpool Echo.

He often jokes about releasing a second autobiography entitled "The Bitch is Back". This autobiography, to be published on the day of his death, he says, would contain a list of all the men he has slept with. [Citation|title=Pete Price|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF5Jsv5mB-A|accessdate=2008-08-29]

how

Price's current show was originally broadcast on Magic Radio, until it garnered mass attention following controversies with callers on air.

Pete also presents a live phone-in programme on CityTalk (formerly Radio City 96.7). The format encompasses a two-hour topical discussion, followed by the news which is in turn followed by an 'Open Forum' where callers may talk about any topic they wish. For topical discussion sometimes guests are invited, usually representatives for organisations concerned with the topic. On occasions the show will have guests such as author and paranormal expert Tom Slemen, "Dennis the Chemist" whose pharmaceutical knowledge has been described as "truly astounding", and Pheobe, an alleged psychic and Angle Card reader, although since the transition to CityTalk, these guests may now participate in other shows throughout the schedule specifically about their profession or talent.

Since the transition to CityTalk the popular show segment, 'The Peaceful Hour', a one-hour programme containing 'love songs' and messages from listeners, has been kept on Radio City 96.7 where it is no longer presented by Price, whereas it previously followed the two discussion and reduced the Open Forum to 1 hour.

Controversy

Pete was praised for abandoning his midweek show on one occasion in February 2004 to go to the aid of a 13-year-old caller who was threatening to kill himself. [Citation|title=Radio DJ 'saves boy's life'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/3465181.stm|periodical=BBC News|accessdate=2008-08-29|date=2004-02-06] In his Liverpool Echo column, Pete has claimed that he was once asked to murder someone, but declined. In January 2008 Pete tried to find his natural father by using the networking skills of an imprisoned Sicilian Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano in the hope that "The Don" can help him trace his dad. His biological mother, upon restoring contact with him, give him a photograph of his biological father: a Sicilian prisoner of war held near Warrington. Pete himself said that the Mafia "must have the biggest information network in the world". [Citation|url=http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/01/03/pete-price-enlists-mafia-to-help-trace-his-father-64375-20308026/|title=Pete Price enlists Mafia to help trace his father|last=Anderson|first=Vicky|date=2008-01-03|accessdate=2008-08-29|periodical=Liverpool Daily Post]

In January 2006, Pete's show on sister station Magic 1548 hit the headlines (in Liverpool) when a regular caller known as "Terry" stopped responding live on air during a debate. After Merseyside Police refused to check on the man's safety, Pete again abandoned the show (music was played after he left the St. John's Beacon studios) to travel to the man's home. Unfortunately, as he arrived, Pete saw an ambulance outside the house. Concerned listeners had already gained entry into the man's home and found that he had died from a suspected heart attack. [Citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/4587550.stm|title=Radio talkshow caller dies on air|date=2006-01-06|accessdate=2008-08-29|periodical=BBC News] Soon after this, the Monday-Thursday show left Magic 1548 and was moved to Radio City 96.7's late night phone-in.

Also in September 2007, an extract from his autobiography was published in the Liverpool Echo, which revealed that Price had abused cocaine, although he "handed himself in" to the Police shortly after through shame.Citation|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2007/09/24/pete-price-my-cocaine-shame-100252-19838860/|title=Pete Price: My cocaine shame|date=2007-09-24|accessdate=2008-08-29|periodical=Liverpool Daily Post]

In October 2007, it was reported by the Liverpool Echo that Price had received a "homophobic" death threat via text live on air. The sender was arrested shortly afterwards when police were contacted immediately after the receipt of the threatening text. They also reported that "on another occasion, a man tried to break into Radio City’s headquarters, because he had become convinced Price had tried to kill John Lennon" and "a listener attacked the presenter’s Mercedes with a baseball bat after a phone- in show, smashing its windscreen." [Citation|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2007/10/20/man-charged-over-price-death-threat-100252-19980411/|title=Man charged over Pete Price death threat|accessdate=2008-08-29|date=2007-10-20|last=Butler|first=Adrian|periodical=Liverpool Daily Post]

References

External links

* [http://www.peteprice.com Official Website]
* [http://www.peteprice.com/forum Pete Price Online Forum]
* [http://www.citytalk.fm/sectional.asp?id=25486 Presenter Profile]
* [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pete-Price-Namedropper-Adrian-Butler/dp/1905266413 Autobiography]