Manchester radio pioneer James Stannage dies

Manchester radio pioneer James Stannage has died, aged 76.

The broadcaster died on Monday, 30 March at Manchester Royal Infirmary, after being diagnosed with cancer last year - his family confirmed.

Stannage began working as a DJ at Piccadilly Radio in the mid 1970s and was famed for his unique and brash presenting style which became a staple element of his late-night show at the station.

His son Darren described him as "someone who meant so much to so many people in Manchester" - in a tribute post shared to social media. Darren also shared that his father had died at 11:52 BST - adding that this was "remarkable", as 1152 was the frequency of Piccadilly Radio.

Most well known for his late-night phone-in show, The James Stannage Show - Stannage would often engage in disagreements with his callers and was not known to shy away from controversial statements and jokes.

After several fines throughout his career at the station, Stannage finally left Key 103 in June 2005 - shortly after the station received a £125,000 fine - after inappropriate caller jokes were read aloud by Stannage.

For fans of Stannage, his controversy and boldness were what gave him his magnetism as a broadcaster.

"It is with great sadness that today cancer took another victim," Darren Stannage wrote on social media on Monday. "This time it was a partner, a dad, a grandad and a brother.

"Also someone who meant so much to so many people in Manchester as my Dad James Stannage has passed away.

"He died peacefully this morning at MRI after battling cancer for over a year.

"Listening to The Who, he was surrounded by people that loved him and died at 1152am.

"Such a remarkable time as that was the Radio Station that made him a legend in Manchester to so many people who grew up listening to him on Piccadilly and later on Key103.

"There will be so many stories and memories that people will have. I will miss him so much as I know so many people will and am very lucky to have been able to have called him my Dad."

"For so many people across the North West, James Stannage wasn't just a presenter, he was part of the soundtrack of their nights, a constant voice in the city," said BBC Radio Manchester's Mike Sweeney.

"I often say when I started on the radio, there were no regional accents, but there were because of course James was there late night on Piccadilly Radio years before me with a regional accent.

"He was outspoken, idiosyncratic, confrontational - and so different to traditional broadcasters before him.

"When I was younger I'd sometimes drive around with the car radio on just to listen to his late show.

"He drew the attention of the regulators more than once but it also built him a fiercely loyal audience that stuck with him through decades of broadcasting on Piccadilly and on Key 103 and beyond."

Sweeney "met his hero" and became a colleague of Stannage's, when he was hired by Piccadilly Radio's Tony Ingham, who was a founding member and later controller at the station.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, Ingham, 74, recalled the "pivotal moment in Piccadilly Radio" when Stannage became a broadcaster.

"James came on and it completely changed the whole radio landscape in Manchester," Ingham said.

"We have more people listening to his late-night show than we did our breakfast show - it was unheard of.

"We realised that the station could be totally different.

"It could be irreverent, it could be cheeky, it could be funny, and it could do things in a different way."

Ingham said he last saw Stannage five years ago at an anniversary event for the station.

"He was his usual, full-of-life self," Ingham recalled. "Just as brilliant as ever."

"His loss is a great sadness, to his family, friends, and the Piccadilly Radio family and beyond."

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