From musical pirate to King of the Jungle
MARION McMULLEN LOOKS AT THE EVOLUTION OF TONY BLACKBURN’S CAREER AS THE RADIO DJ TURNS 80
TONY Blackburn once joked: “I’m a disc jockey. I have talked rubbish all my life.”
He was a fresh-faced youngster when he first took to the airwaves in the 1960s on pirate radio ships before being signed up to join the fledgling BBC Radio 1.
His voice was the first one the listeners heard when the station took to the air at 7am on Saturday, September 30, 1967, as he told them: “Welcome to the exciting sound of Radio 1!”
Seconds later came the first record played on the station, Flowers In The Rain by Midlands band The Move. Dozens of journalists, photographers and BBC staff were crammed into the control room next to Tony’s studio to witness the historic occasion. To the relief of everyone, the launch passed off without a hitch and Tony gave the thumbs up to the groundbreaking broadcast.
His playlist that day included Massachusetts by the Bee Gees, The Day I Met Marie by Sir Cliff Richard, You Can’t Hurry Love by The Supremes and The Last Waltz by Engelbert Humperdink.
Tony said: “I remember the first broadcast like it was yesterday. It’s not something you forget too easily because it was very special. I came in at about 6 o’clock in the morning and we opened up the station at 7 o’clock.”
He stayed on air until 8.30am that first day when he then handed over to Leslie Crowther, of Crackerjack fame, for Junior Choice – a selection of children’s records, followed by a five-minute quiz with Duncan Johnson.
Tony has called the BBC launch the highlight of his long radio career. “Having worked on the great pirate radio ships, Caroline and London, being the first DJ on Radio 1 I saw first-hand the impact that the stations had on the British public,” he said.
“It is hard to imagine that there was a time when the BBC would only play 45 minutes of popular music per day and we, as teenagers, had to wait until 7pm in the evening for Radio Luxembourg to come on, and play the music we wanted to hear.
“I owe so much to Radio 1 for my long career, to have been there at the beginning and to still be part of the BBC, it has been amazing to see how it has developed over the years to changes in technology, music, demand and, of course, its ever changing audience.”
Tony, who turns 80 on January 29, was just 24 when he uttered the first words on BBC Radio 1. Its arrival meant that for the first time the UK could listen to a station that was dedicated to playing pop music and was officially licensed by the government.
Government legislation banned pirates – unlicensed radio stations – in August 1967, six weeks before Radio 1 took to the air.
Many DJs who had worked on the pirates were then hired for Radio 1, including Tony, John Peel and Kenny Everett.
Limited resources meant the station had to share programmes with Radio 2 for much of the evening. This continued for years, with Radio 1 only launching a round-the-clock service in 1991.
Tony would get up at 5am in the morning to drive his red sports car through the quiet streets of London to do his BBC show. He later drove an E-Type Jaguar which boasted the registration number 247 – the same as the Radio 1 broadcast band.
He was later among five BBC Radio DJ’s who signed the longest BBC contracts in history back in 1972. The three year contracts also went to Pete Murray, Ed Stewart, Terry Wogan and Jimmy Young and they were all described by BBC bosses as “strikers of the 1st eleven”.
As well as playing records, Tony also recorded and brought out tracks himself with titles like So Much Love, Chop Chop and It’s Only Love.
His popularity was reinforced when he was crowned first King of the Jungle in the inaugural series of I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! back in 2002. He told BBC Breakfast last year: “I loved being in the jungle, I thought it was absolutely fantastic and I think it changed me as a person very much for the better – but it is tough.”
Tony can also claim to have hung up on Frank Sinatra because he thought it was someone playing a joke on him, and to being in the studio when The Carpenters recorded We’ve Only Just Begun.
But he has said “I’m not a showbiz person. I just enjoy talking nonsense on the radio. I’m not bothered about going to clubs or the paparazzi. I genuinely prefer my neighbours.
“Spending time with my family and watching Coronation Street are what I love best.”
I’m not a showbiz person. I just enjoy talking nonsense on the radio... Tony Blackburn