Stephen Doyle : Tributes to the Sonic Diary DJ

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Stephen Doyle, the Salford DJ , Sonic Diarist and Local Legend, died on 13 December 2024. His funeral will be held at Agecroft Cemetery & Crematorium, Swinton, Salford on Tuesday 14 January at 10.20am and afterwards at the Robin Hood in Clifton.

Here, some of his friends and local musicians pay tribute to the great man who when Louder Than War interviewed him back in 2017 said… “There’s loads of great bands playing in bars, clubs and pubs – a million times better than bands that are filling the arenas … There is so much more exciting stuff out there to discover.”

Stephen Doyle 1961 – 2024 (by his friend Ian Moss)

Steve or SD as he was commonly known was a people person full of warmth and a desire to spread a little love wherever and whenever he could. He was also, I’m proud to say, one of the closest friends I’ve had in a lifetime where I’ve been blessed with many friendships. He was steadfast in his loyalty, trusting, trustworthy and honest. What more could anyone ask? Add to these qualities his mischievous humour and boundless enthusiasm for music primarily but also Film, Comedy and Manchester United and it is little surprise that we bonded so well.

Steve was passionate about the things he loved. Family and friends came first in his priorities. He was a physically big man without a hint of aggression in his heart. A man unafraid of revealing his emotions, he would cry unashamedly when touched by a song for instance. I would tease him relentlessly until he rewarded me with his huge smile.

He was born in Hulme but relocated to Salford as an infant where he remained for the rest of his days. His parents Tess and Jim were of solid hardworking stock and instilled in Steve the values of decency and integrity that were the cornerstone of his being. He was a bright boy although it is fair to say easily distracted and his main distraction was music. By his early teens he had become besotted by the sounds of Slade, Thin Lizzy and Status Quo but by his mid teens he found himself swept up in the tide of Punk Rock that was emerging. He devoured the music as an essential component of his being, buying records and despite his youth attending lots of gigs at venues large and small. He loved Joy Division, The Distractions, The Freshies, Buzzcocks, Armed Force and a host of Mancunian bands as well as those from further afield, most notably The Clash who not only excited him but mirrored and reaffirmed his values. Justice for the downtrodden in society and no persecution of minorities being central to that.

Steve was no fan of Margaret Thatcher and her wicked assault on the working classes and his tastes and opinions were shared via letters to the great Manchester fanzine City Fun. As things moved on Steve embraced the post punk sounds but also Disco and Reggae – he was true to his tastes and never simply jumped on the next bandwagon. As a man he met and married his great love Yvonne and became the father to her three children. A shared passion for the music of Kate Bush and The Smiths as well as a vegetarian diet made them perfect companions, soulmates in fact.

A chance encounter with Tony Thornborough and a guest appearance on Tony’s radio program led to Steve beginning his near legendary radio shows on Salford City radio. He and I had crossed paths across the years as we followed Manchester United and Steve would enthuse about my punk era band The Hamsters: now he invited me to guest on his programme and a friendship between us flourished. He championed lots of acts on his show who had previously received scant encouragement or airplay although never ploughed them into an obscurist niche. Their music rubbed shoulders with the likes of The Beatles, ABBA, Stevie Wonder on his show , no barriers , as he said often , ‘ if I like it I’ll play it ” . I’m pleased to say he played a lot of my music, he attended a lot of my performances often acting as DJ and MC for the evening, he even got to record and release music on The German Shepherd Records label that Bob Osborne and i ran he was there for me throughout my health struggles always showing genuine concern and offering encouragement. I tried to reciprocate when his beloved Yvonne passed away in tragic circumstances. Steve never recovered from that blow although he tried to present to the world a cheerful brave face his hurt was evident to those who truly knew and loved him. For a decade or more I have been blessed when not in his company to receive almost daily telephone calls that would run for an hour or more. ‘I should record these as radio shows’ he would say as our conversations pinballed from subject to subject. Now there will be no more calls.

I’ve lost my dear sweet friend as have many others touched by this beautiful soul and gigantic presence. We salute you SD: Punk Zelig, Teenage Propshaft, you leave a giant sized hole in our lives. (Ian Moss 15/12/2024)

Tony Thornborough writes…

It was a Saturday afternoon in early 2009 when I walked into a Swinton pub and heard my name being called out as I was ordering a pint. Before I turned around to see who it was I already knew. How could I not! I’d not heard that voice in years, but it was a voice I knew well, an excited, slightly high pitched voice for a big guy. At that moment I knew I wouldn’t be ‘just having the one’ as I’d planned. “Good to see you pal, what you having? I’ll get this, this is Yvonne, Yvonne this is Tony an old mucker of mine, I’ve not seen him in ages, what you up to mate? Come and sit down, how’s your good lady? are you out for a sesh? We’re just having a couple, been doing the shopping, having a bit of a wet lip, you know how it is, sit down lad”

And that’s how SD unknowingly auditioned for Salford City Radio.

I’d been at the station for about six months and I knew that presenters came and left after a short time. I wasn’t in any position to recruit him myself, but I could definitely put a word in for him if he was interested. Which he wasn’t yet, but that was about to change in the next few minutes.

As we sat drinking and rekindling our 25 year friendship the conversation eventually came around to what I was up to. “I’m on Salford City Radio” and after another 20 question I got to say “Yes, I’ll put a word in for you, I think you’d be great because you never shut the fuck up and silence is you’re enemy when doing radio” And that’s how the story begins.
How it ends, is why your reading this now…..or is it?

Stephen “Sonic Diary” Doyle will live on as long as people listen to his shows. He was an amazing radio personality with so much charisma. I thought I knew a lot about records and music, but I could always learn more by listening to SD. I like many others, will dearly miss him, but he’s left so much for us. So, I’d like to ask you all, especially if you’ve never heard him before. Please check him out on Mixcloud. You might just learn something and you will most certainly be entertained.

May he rest in peace, but keep making noise. (Tony Thornborough)

Bob Osborne of Half Edge Records paid his tribute to Stephen Doyle on his Different Noises Substack. Here is an extract.

It’s safe to say that German Shepherd Records and subsequently Half Edge Records would not have existed without the assistance and intervention of Stephen Doyle. Stephen passed away suddenly, at far too young an age, yesterday and I wanted to acknowledge his contribution to the Salford Music Scene and to everything we have done as a label over the years….

Stephen was a generous, funny and kind colleague with an abiding love for the punk rock era, especially The Clash, and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of bands, with associated anecdotes from across the musical spectrum. He was also an avid gig goer and notably was famous on the local scene for his rallying cry “I Was A Teenage Propshaft” at gigs. He also was keen to have his photograph taken with the great and the good of the punk era and beyond and developed a reputation as the Punk Zelig. (Bob Osborne)

Matt Davies & Susan O’Shea from the band Factory Acts

Factory Acts are shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of our great friend Stephen Doyle. We often referred to him as the John Peel of Salford / Manchester, because of his absolute dedication to promoting new music on his many radio shows – most notably for Salford City Radio – and his encyclopaedic knowledge of punk, post-punk and pop on which he seemed to have an endless store of knowledge. Ever since Factory Acts started gigging he was part of the furniture either as a punter or DJ at many of our favourite haunts – The Crescent (now sadly closed), The Peer Hat, The Castle, Gullivers, The Eagle Inn, and many others. We knew we’d managed to tickle his musical tastebuds when he made one of our songs Number One in his annual top 50 tracks. But, of course you knew you’d really made it when the cry of “I was a teenage propshaft” rang out in between your songs at live shows – a badge of honour! And he was responsible for significantly boosting our CD sales at gigs. His unending enthusiasm for and open-mindedness about music was infectious, playing and waxing lyrical about anything from Abba to Zappa and all in between, disregarding music snobbery and tribal attitudes to genres. We hung out with him at the Rebellion punk festival in Blackpool in 2022 where he would sit outside the Rose and Crown pub in between sets and be welcomed by a cavalcade of old punks who couldn’t wait to chat and have their photo taken with him.

He would regularly phone us out of the blue to ask for advice or just natter about all things musical. Our last contact with Stephen was a couple of weeks ago, when he phoned for a “quick chat” to ask Matt “what’s your favourite Fall album?”, a conversation that was never going to last a couple of minutes. And that’s how we’d like to remember him – as an extraordinarily passionate, extremely articulate working-class bloke blessed with the gift of the gab whose tireless championing of new music will never be matched. (Matt Davies & Susan O’Shea from the band Factory Acts)

Singer, songwriter & musician Tim Lyons

Steve Doyle knew me before I knew him, seems odd? Well he told me he used to see me at the Russell club with Jon the postman, amongst others. it opened in may 1978, Steve was 17. He also said he was too shy to speak to me, even though he lived around the corner from me in Ordsall Salford! We got the same bus he said. He was a fan of the band I was in in 1979..The Things. However, I didn’t get to know him until he came to see another band I’m in.. The Sandells. I think that was probably early 2000’s. We played at the Crescent pub in Salford. He was a DJ with Salford city radio and the SCR DJ,s used to have meetings at the Crescent and also promote gigs there.

Steve used to chat about the old days of Punk and the venues and the bands we’d both seen and we became friends. His enthusiasm for music was boundless and completely addictive and loving! But it was the way he made me feel like I was just talking to a good friend that was endearing about him.

Steve suffered a huge bereavement when his wife Yvonne passed and it affected him profoundly! But his love and support for local artists and music generally seemed to help him. He would ring me from time to time and speak in a very personal way, the only way I can describe it was almost brotherly and I feel privileged to have these memories. It was a quality I sense that Steve shared with many of his friends and it was beautiful and unique to him.

Steve had an honest way about him which allowed most people and of course artistic types to open up.

He did a lot to help artists by playing their music on his sonic dairy shows, his only proviso “If I like it, I’ll play it”. Sandells are privileged to have a song featured on Steve’s last Sonic Diary!

I will miss his onstage intros for me and his rock solid honest support but mostly I will miss the beautiful soul that Stephen Doyle was RIP my friend x (Tim Lyons)

Ged Babey (Louder Than War writer)

Steven Doyle was a friend I never met in person, but thanks to the internet, I felt like I knew him. We shared a passion for the music and for telling anyone who’d listen how brilliant it was. I write, he DJ-ed. In later life we became ‘active’ participants in the music scene. Evangelists. Obsessives. And the best feeling in the world is when someone says: I bought that album. You were spot-on, it’s amazing. Thanks. We found our role and met like-minded people and cool people in bands wanted to shake our hands. Even though I never met him I’ll miss his online presence.

On this video below, (58 minutes in) he asks our hero Pete Shelley the question all true fans wanted to ask. Politely, tentatively so not to cause any upset…. Starting with ‘the last time I met you was on the 37 bus….’. Pure magic and I would say, his finest moment. God Bless You SD. (Ged Babey)

Love and condolences to Stephens close friends and family. He won’t be forgotten.

Stephen Doyle’s SonicDiary and Noize Annoize podcasts are archived on Mixcloud HERE

Compiled by Ged Babey for LTW

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