Best radio DJs

[Hugh Weldon]

The current thread on 'Is my taste better than your taste?' prompted me to start a discussion on this, something I've thought of doing a number of times. John Crosby wrote there:

What I like in listening to Charlie's show, or such other mavericks down the years as Alexis Korner, John Peel and Andy Kershaw, is to hear new sounds, interesting informed-but-personal-opinions, mixed in with relevant classic oldies. I want a DJ who is unafraid to get excited about some connection that he makes whilst perusing his CD / record shelves and then communicates this to me. I don't want him to be constrained by a producer or programme controller's playlists.

While all those names would be in my top ten, I've never thought of them as particularly 'maverick' but of course they've all been fortunate enough to work for the BBC and get slots outside the mainstream where they've been more or less allowed to play what they like.

In fact I think for long periods radio was more influential in forming my tastes than anything else (and ruining my sleeping habits for ever with all that late night under the covers listening as a teenager). Certainly in the case of jazz, where Humph and Peter Clayton on the BBC and Willis Conover on Voice of America where instrumental in me discovering so much.

Generally it's been the BBC with its no ads public service remit to which I've usually turned, though as a kid the pirates (in my locality Radio Caroline North) were more listened to than anything else, with DJs like Tony Prince playing lots of soul and Don Allen's Saturday night programme attuning my ears to country music.

Bringing things up to date it seems Mark Lamarr gets all the kudos. He's good, but I like Stuart Maconie a lot as well. And, switching genres, Russell Davies's classic song show on Sundays is a model of informed, witty old style BBC presenting. And believe it or not, Brian Matthew and David Jacobs are still going (though sadly Jacobs soothingly unctuous tones have now turned into something of a croak, or they had the last time I heard him.)

And the BBC local stations have had some brilliant presenters. Steve Voce did a great jazz programme on BBC Merseyside for many years, Stuart Colman on BBC London on Sunday lunchtimes, and Dr Rock on BBC York.

Anyone else you'd care to mention?

[Alan]

Besides CG, I was always fond of Brian Rust on Capital Radio in the days when 30s jazz could be played on local radio. And I'd pretend to do homework on Sunday evenings, listening to Alexis Korner instead.

[Papa M]

Mike Raven. Along with Alexis Korner and Peel he has given me more inspiration and than any other musical broadcaster.

[will vine]

Seems to me there's a distinction to be made between broadcasters/presenters who display an enthusiastic thirst for and knowledge of, their favourite musical styles, and disc jockeys who ride and steer records through the landscape of news, weather, promotions, adverts, and competitions.

Of the djs I still miss, Rosko who, taking on the style of no doubt hundreds of great american jocks I never heard, was all about creating and maintaining the pace of the show, and was relentlessly upbeat. Kenny Everett of course, harnessing a radio engineering talent, created something delightfully surreal whilst still serving the music at the heart of it all.

Pre dating Charlie on BBC Radio London, the first person I ever heard occasionally playing something we'd recognise as World Music was Dave Simmons. He was also an early master of the topical phone-in.
I often wonder what became of him

[c hristian]

lots of names for american djs that would mean nothing to you.

[Charlie]

Dave Simmons. He was also an early master of the topical phone-in. I often wonder what became of him

I thought I had posted a reference to a brief contact with David not too long ago - he is a tour guide these days

[charmingflo]

Old school American DJs - Alan Freed, Mad Daddy, Wolfman Jack.

[Nigel w]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Bob Dylan!

At the other end of the spectrum, worst ever :

1 Kenny Everett.

2. Dave Lee Travis.

3. Tony Blackburn.

[Jonathan E.]

My personal best & favorite radio DJ would be David McBurnie of KPFA in Berkeley. Both on-air and in-person he taught me a substantial amount of what I knew about world music in the early 1980s. He was also the world music buyer for the long-lamented Leopold's record store and made sure I got all the good stuff as it came in. He's still broadcasting and you can listen via the KPFA web-stream. Most of the site is "under maintenance" at this precise moment, so I can't give you a schedule, but you can google over to a link for the station's stream. There are lots of other good programs.

[Hugh Weldon]

Nigel wrote:

At the other end of the spectrum, worst ever :

1 Kenny Everett.

2. Dave Lee Travis.

3. Tony Blackburn.

Can't let you get away with that Nigel. Everett, while not a musically influential DJ, was a genius of the studio. Hysterically funny, he had a talent which he managed, with the help of Barry Cryer's scripts, to transfer successfully to TV. I remember how the beeb eventually forgave him for the umpteenth time and let him do a very listenable programme on Radio 2 on Saturday mornings. Though he was sacked again after broadcasting a very rude joke about Thatcher. (Made up for the Michael Foot joke somewhat.) I always thought it was such a waste though the way he ended up doing a very formatted programme on Capital Gold which was well beneath his talents.

Blackburn, whatever else you may think of him, does have a strong track record as a genuine soul and Motown enthusiast.

[Nigel w]

I have to say, Hugh , that despite his reputation for being edgy and daring, from the very start of Radio 1 in 1967 when I was 13-14, I always found Everett to be exactly the opposite - unbearably twee. And far from being a genius of the studio, I always thought his jingles etc. were embarrasingly amateurish. But perhaps they were meant to be. To me he was, in the genuine sense of the word, quite unlistenable : If I was on a desert island with a radio with a broken dial that could only tune in to Kenny Everett, I would have opted for silence every time.

But there's another contender who I think could possibly knock Tony Blackburn out of the worst three. I forgot about Chris Moyles...

[Papa M]

But there's another contender who I think could possibly knock Tony Blackburn out of the worst three. I forgot about Chris Moyles...

Is he a DJ? I thought he was just a Clarkson.

[Charlie]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Bob Dylan!

At the other end of the spectrum, worst ever :

1 Kenny Everett.

2. Dave Lee Travis.

3. Tony Blackburn.

I never thought about Dave Lee Travis one way of the other but agree about Blackburn. It's hard to think of straight ahead pop DJs who are listenable. I've always admired Johnnie Walker for having a good voice and an ability to chat with equal conviction to musicians and to call-in listeners.

American radio was a big disappointment in the 1960s, motor mouth DJs who mistakenly thought they were the entertainment.

Was I the only person listening to pop radio who just wanted to hear the music and wished the DJs would shut up and play another record, instead of trying to be comedians. The trouble was, they weren't funny.

As for Kenny Everett, on Nigel's bad-guy list, I never liked him until I saw him in action at Capital Radio. He really was genuinely bright, very fast with off the cuff quips. But he peopled his programmes with all sorts of pre-taped gags and characters and I can see they would get on your nerves.

I always had a problem with Alan Freeman, who sounded fake-friendly. Yet when I met him, he was genuinely friendly. That guy on the radio really was him, or vice versa. In that era, Brian Matthew was top dog, and it's significant that he is still one of Radio 2's biggest draws, with a much bigger audience than the loathsome Jonathan Ross, for instance.

[Adam Blake]

In that era, Brian Matthew was top dog, and it's significant that he is still one of Radio 2's biggest draws, with a much bigger audience than the loathsome Jonathan Ross, for instance.

I bet he doesn't get paid £6 million a year, though!

Alexis Korner was my favourite DJ.

[Des]

Alan Keith by a long shot. That famous war of words with cheerful Charlie Chester over Alan Dell's bicycle ended his career prematurely. Thank goodness Jack Jackson was there to settle things down.