Daily Mail

A big turn-off... Mills drops Radio 2 classics

- By Paul Revoir Media Editor p.revoir@dailymail.co.uk

FANS feared a change of tune when Steve Wright’s afternoon show was axed from Radio 2.

And it seems their concerns were well founded after Scott Mills replaced him.

For the ex-Radio 1 DJ is playing far fewer songs from the 1960s, 70s and 80s than his predecesso­r in a blow to older listeners.

Around half of the tunes Wright played on his show were from those decades, according to analysis by the Daily Mail. Meanwhile fewer than one in five songs on Mills’ show are from the same period.

The decision to axe 68-yearold Wright after 23 years provoked controvers­y in September amid claims that station chiefs were abandoning the baby boomer generation to appeal to a younger audience.

Older listeners have accused bosses of trying to turn Radio 2 into Radio 1 and complained that Mills, 49, has been playing too much dance music.

On January 4 last year, 51 per cent of the songs played by Wright were from the 60s, 70s and 80s while Mills’ show on the same date this year played only 17 per cent from these decades.

On November 1 last year – one of Mills’ first shows in the new role – just 12 per cent of his playlist was from these decades. For Wright on the same day in 2021, it was 45 per cent.

Across both of the Mills shows analysed, he played no songs from the 1960s, just two from the 70s and five from the 80s.

The majority of songs played were from the 2000s including Let’s Dance by boy band Five and American Boy by west London singer Estelle.

Wright’s shows – which were an hour longer – featured seven songs from the 60s, seven from the 70s and 19 from the 80s. These included The Supremes’ 1964 song Where Did Our Love Go and Eagles’ 1972 debut single Take It Easy.

Listeners have criticised the choice of music on Mills’ show, with one writing that it’s ‘more akin to a blimmin nightclub’.

A BBC spokesman said Radio 2 ‘continues to play a wide variety of the best music from the 1960s to the current day’.

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