Former BBC Radio Merseyside presenter Spencer Leigh has published a book to celebrate turning 80.
’80@80′ is a trip down memory lane as Spencer reflects on his extensive archives and diaries with 80 chapters exploring his life and his love for pop music.
Spencer told MerseyNewsLive: “As it was coming up to my 80th birthday I thought I’d do a book that looked back at my past interviews and also told something about my life.”
Spencer began broadcasting on BBC Radio Merseyside in the early 1970’s, where he hosted the long-running music programme ‘On The Beat’ during which he interviewed thousands of musicians throughout the years.
He said: “There’s some really weird interviews like the one with Billy Bob Thornton in the book and so I put them in and sort of told the story of my life as it was going on as well.”
Spencer has also written a magazine commemorating what would have been Elvis’ 90th birthday, which is now available in newsagents.
Due to Spencer’s years of interviews with different musicians and bands, he has endless files from his work and content which he will be giving to Liverpool Central Library.
He said: “I’m sorting out my files at the moment, I’m doing The Beatles ‘Sgt. Pepper’ today.
“I’m taking all the press cuttings and everything I’ve got on it to put in some sort of order, they will be in Liverpool Central Archives fairly soon, the whole file should have about 200 pieces in it.
“I’m pleased to give Central Library something they haven’t actually got, which is a real history of those Liverpool groups and hopefully that will be useful for researchers in years to come.”
His new book will be launched at Liverpool Central Library on Wednesday January 29.
