Caesar the Geezer

Caesar The Geezer
Born	Chris Neophytou 9 November 1958 (1956-11-09)
Other names	Chris Ryder
Employer	PFI Ltd / SFM Radio - Sittingbourne
Known for	British radio personality

Chris Ryder also known as Caesar the Geezer, Caesar the Boogieman, and Deck Rider (born 9 November 1958) is a British radio personality of Greek descent, A friend of Kenny Everett, Caesar emulated Everett's use of imaginative and catchy jingles within his show. ("50 million listeners can't be wrong", "Get an aerial, screw it to me head, have a little radio implant-ed") However, unlike his hero, these jingles were not self-produced.

Early career

He began his career as the youngest radio presenter in the UK at the time, as the on air character "Deck Rider" on the Kenny Everett Radio Show on Capital Radio (London) in 1974 . He then got his own show on SE London pirate radio station Skyline Radio in the early 1980s. Caesar then went on to get his first "paid gig" on the Rod Lucas Show on BBC Radio Kent and shortly afterwards they both moved to the newly created Invicta Radio and, in a similar manner to BBC Radio 1 presenter Steve Wright, copied a style from American DJ Rick Dees that has subsequently become known worldwide as the 'Zoo Format'.

Caesar qualified in Social Studies and Law in 1982 and continued to present his show giving advice and helping listeners twice a week which became one of the most popular listened to shows in Kent.

He has a website up and running at caesarthegeezer.co.uk and is on Facebook under caesar boogieman

Invicta FM

He later changed his radio name to Caesar the Boogieman when he landed his own show on Invicta Radio after Rod Lucas left the station. Caesar the Boogieman orchestrated some ambitious on-air practical jokes during his time at Invicta. One example; he built up the premise that an asteroid was about to hit the moon, creating a bright light. It would only be safe to look at the light by wearing sunglasses. The show had its serious side with legal advisors and Social Workers as constant guests helping listeners with problems.

The shows received extraordinary popularity at the time with a format that appealed to all ages. The shows themes and discussions were common knowledge among local people at the time the following day.

Characters he featured in his 9-1am slot included Barry Bethall as 'Basil the Butler', Ian Collins as 'The Yob', and Bobby Prior as 'Venus', Richard Knight as' Clarence, Number 5 and Grandad'

Essex Radio

He joined Essex Radio 96.3/102.6 FM where he presented a competing night time show to the one he had left at Invicta, before moving onto Kiss 100 hosting the early breakfast show. Then followed Talk Radio UK and he joined Capital Gold in February 1994 and presented a talk show interviewing celebrities from all around the world.

Talk Radio UK

He joined Talk Radio UK for its launch in February 1995 where he became known as a shock jock. He presented the weeknight (Mondays-Fridays) phone in between 22:00 and 01:00. He was joined on some Friday evenings by football agent Eric Hall and lawyer Gary Jacobs. He regularly combined his programme with a similar American show presented by Tom Leykis, alternating between UK and US callers.

He continued his ambitious practical jokes during his time at Talk Radio. Another such wind-up involved making listeners believe he was broadcasting his show from the street outside the Talk Radio building in protest at the station's anti-smoking policy. In reality, he was producing his show from inside the studio with a microphone hanging from the window to pick up the background noises of the street below.

During his tenure at TRUK, he was often accompanied by the show's Canadian Producer Colin Lloyd, assistants Dixie, Jane and Aphrodite, and the man on the phones, also called Chris (although renamed by Caesar as Bogey – "Because he always gets up my nose" being the explanation.)

He was fired from Talk Radio in September 1995, along with fellow controversial presenter Terry Christian, as part of a station shake up to tackle sagging ratings. After this he brought his phone-in show to Galaxy 101 in Bristol for a short time, as well as a brief stint, slightly toned down, on London's LBC. At around this time, he also started doing voice links for UK porn TV station, The Adult Channel; and presented a programme called Caesar's Rude Arena for Television X. He was also a weeknight DJ for Capital Gold in the second half of the 1990s.

He Joined Capital Gold and did his own show pulling over some of his Talk Radio listeners

Brass Eye

Caesar was duped into appearing on Channel 4 spoof show Brass Eye in the episode "Science", where he warned viewers about the dangers of "heavy electricity".

SFM

Caesar is now with a group campaigning to get a full time local radio station for the Sittingbourne area of Kent, SFM. [1]

SFM have been granted a full time licence and hope to start broadcasting in mid-2011, information about which can be found on the website [2]

Current

Chris Rogers now works as Group Marketing and Promotions manager for Monarch Leisure and is based at the night club 'Fat Sams', where he also is the in house DJ. Update: 09/10 Chris is the DJ doing Karaoke and everyday DJing at The Old Post Office in Chatham, Kent.

External links

• Aircheck biography
• Hall of Fame @ Wireless Waffle
• Excerpt from Caesar's first Talk Radio UK programme
• Thread on Caeser the Geezer
• SFM - 100% local radio for Sittingbourne