Jarvis Cocker - Cocker Joins Fight For British Radio Station

JARVIS COCKER has become the latest celebrity to back a campaign to save a British radio station, after BBC bosses recently announced plans to shut it down.

The corporation's 6 Music, an alternative station for lesser-known rock and pop acts, is set to close imminently in a bid to save money.

The decision has been met with a storm of criticism in the U.K., with stars including Lily Allen, David Bowie and Mark Ronson voicing their anger at the move.

At hearing the news, Bowie said, "For new artists to lose this station would be a great shame."

And now former Pulp frontman Cocker, who began hosting a show on the station earlier this year (10), has backed the campaign to stop 6 Music from shutting down - because it won't save the firm that much money if it closes.

He says, "It is quite funny to find myself talking about 6 (Music) because I have only been working there about two months. But I am grateful. They made me welcome and they gave me a show and said I could do what I want. And that is a very rare thing.

"The attitude at the station right now is that is the beginning of something. We have this three-month period where people can register their disapproval and we have to encourage them to do that. It is a battle.

"The BBC keeps on talking about the demographic, and that's very patronising. You don't want to just hear music aimed at you. You want to hear different things. Radio 6 is not the most popular radio station out there, but it has a decent listenership. It really doesn't cost much either. They don't pay ridiculous fees, I can vouch for that, and they share a building with Radio 2."