Music Control

Each evening Kevin Hughes played a brand new song, this was usually the song's first play on the Network and was often a first radio play in the UK. Listeners were invited to contact the show to give their opinion of the track.

Each night Kevin spoke to celebrities, usually from the music industry but guests have also included TV and movie stars. Within the last 12 months, guests have included, Nelly, Usher, The Zutons, The Jonas Brothers, The Feeling, Chris Brown, OneRepublic, The Hoosiers, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Mary J. Blige, Justin Lee Collins, Martin Freeman, Chad Kroeger, Dannii Minogue, Girls Aloud, Kylie Minogue, Leona Lewis, Dave Grohl, Natasha Bedingfield and will.i.am. Kevin was also one of the first presenters on UK commercial radio to play and interview Adele. Adele visited the Bristol studios to record a live session for the show in 2007.

The Music Control minute was a fast and furious nightly competition giving listeners 60 seconds to answer as many topical and show biz questions as they could in order to win iTunes downloads.

Uploaded was the part of the show, which gave unsigned artists the chance to get their music showcased on the radio. Bands could upload their music through the website and a band was featured each evening on the show.

Throughout 2008 Music Control is giving unsigned bands the chance to appear on the Music Control virtual album. Each week four bands are put up to the listener vote through the website. The winning band then goes through to a monthly final. At the end of the year all the monthly winners will win a spot on the album.

Each week a different competition is run across the week, giving listeners an opportunity to win prizes which could be anything from albums and signed artwork to holidays.

Kevin’s review of what’s hot right now in the world of music, DVD, movies, TV and games.

Each week Kevin supports a song, which he thinks is going to be a hit; often Kevin will speak to the artist at some point during the week about the new single.

From Christmas 1998 until Christmas 2001, the show was known as the Hot 30 Countdown (later Hot 30 Countdown dot com) and was presented by Mel Everett and Rob Smith. From January 2002 it was presented by Alison Mulrooney.

The show counted down the biggest 30 songs as requested by listeners.

Core Control started broadcasting in the summer of 2002. Kam Kelly and Sally Bailey started off presenting the show and high audience figures were achieved. Star guests were also regularly part of the show, with different guests being interviewed almost every evening at one point.

In late 2004, Kam Kelly quit as Core Control's main presenter. After a spell at Capital Radio in London, he moved to South Yorkshire to host 'Kam Kelly's Home Run' on Hallam FM. In 2009, he reunited with Sally Bailey to host Red Dragon FM's breakfast show.

With the departure of Kelly, the opportunity was taken to make some changes to the show. Firstly, the name of the show was changed to Music Control and Kevin Hughes joined Sally Bailey as the show's main presenter. New features were also introduced, however the show's basic format remained the same and the audience figures did not suffer.

Throughout 2005, the show continued with its successful format. The show was unaffected by the merger of GWR Radio Group and the Capital Radio Group, and continued as normal into 2006.

In mid-2006, the show changed and became less focused around phone and text requests, and concentrated more on downloads and internet based requesting. To go with this new approach, the show's website was redesigned with a more interactive feel.

A new feature was also introduced known as My Playlist. This allowed listeners (via the website) and star guests to control around 30 minutes of the show with their favourite songs.

In late 2006, Sally Bailey announced that after 4 and a half years of being with the show, she would be leaving to give birth. She also announced she would not be returning. Her last show featured surprise good luck messages from many chart stars and a tribute song was played.

In 2007, Kevin Hughes presented the show solo.