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Tributes paid to former BBC Radio Jersey presenter

Freddie MillerJersey
News imageBBC Phil Taylor, a man with dark, oval shaped glasses and short, light-brown hair. He is wearing a light shirt with dark red braces. He is looking directly at the camera and smiling.BBC
Phil Taylor was a member of the BBC Radio Jersey team for more than 35 years

Tributes have been paid to former BBC Radio Jersey presenter Phil Taylor following his death at the age of 62.

He was a part of the BBC Radio Jersey team for more than 35 years before he retired 18 months ago.

Although best known as the presenter of the Sunday show By Special Request, at other times Phil also hosted a regular Saturday morning show and numerous bank holiday specials.

Matthew Price, BBC Radio Jersey executive producer, worked with Taylor for 25 years and said "Phil developed a wonderfully warm relationship with listeners". His funeral is due to be held on Friday in St Helier.

'Music that mattered'

Taylor was a valued technical operator for Royal Outside Broadcasts, Liberation Day and Election nights, as well as the Saturday Sports Show.

He first came to the BBC to join the rota of presenters for the regular Sunday morning request show Lions Share, which was also broadcast by Hospital Radio.

Price said: "Phil developed a wonderfully warm relationship with listeners, first on Sunday lunchtime with an extended show called By Special Request, and then later to the time-slot with which he became synonymous - Sunday Afternoons," he said.

"There he played the 'music that mattered to you'.

"Whether it was a classical track, a much-loved hymn, a country tune or a pop masterpiece, if you asked to hear it, Phil would play it."

News imagePhil Taylor, a man with short brown hair and glasses, wearing a dark blue polo shirt. He is sitting in a BBC Radio Jersey studio, in front of a purple microphone. TV screens are visible behind him, to the left of the image. To the right of the image, Warren Muggleton, a man with short brown-blonde hair, is standing with his arm on Phil's shoulder. Warren is wearing a white t-shirt and chinos. Both have BBC lanyards around their necks, and both are smiling directly at the camera.
In recent years, Phil Taylor worked closely with Channel Island sports reporter Warren Muggleton

The BBC said Taylor considered it a privilege to be allowed into someone's home via the radio – and it was that special connection with islanders that he also brought to Saturday mornings over many years - enjoying record audience figures.

Post-Covid-19, programmes changed, schedules aligned and digital play-lists became common-place, so radio requests were no longer needed.

Taylor stepped up to support the Saturday sports team instead, offering his years of technical advice and assured radio training guidance to reporters and presenters alike.

Price recalled when Taylor retired from the BBC and stepped back from the mic.

"It was his characteristic warmth and humility that shone through when he said goodbye and thanked his listeners for allowing him into their homes."

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