FEATURE:
Celebrating a Broadcasting Icon
PHOTO CREDIT: BBC/Ray Burmiston
The Legendary Tony Blackburn at Eighty
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I wanted to look ahead…
IN THIS PHOTO: Tony Blackburn at the opening of BBC Radio 1 in 1967/PHOTO CREDIT: Evening Standard/Getty Images
to 29th January. That is when the iconic and legendry broadcaster Tony Blackburn turns eighty. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter. I don’t think there is a time in my life when I wasn’t aware of Blackburn. One of the most recognisable voices in radio, I hope that there is a huge bash and celebration for his eightieth later in the month. You can listen to his Sounds of the 60s show on BBC Radio 2, and his Golden Hour. Check out his incredible Soul on Sunday show on BBC Radio London. Blackburn first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s, He then joining the BBC as part of the BBC Light Programme. Importantly, his voice was what was heard on 30th September, 1967 at the launch of BBC Radio 1. During his illustrious career, Blackburn has also worked for Capital London and Classic Gold Digital. I’ll always hold a special love for The Move's Flowers in the Rain, as that was the song Tony Blackburn played to launch BBC Radio 1 in 1967. I have so much affection and respect for Blackburn’s career. One of the all-time greats, his heart definitely seems to resound with the unique sounds and timelessness of the best of the 1960s. It is a testament to his dedication to radio and the respect he has from his listener – and he in turn has for them – that means he is a staple of the airwaves. Lets hope there are many more years of Tony Blackburn’s wonderful voice on the airwaves!
I am going to round up soon but, as this titan of broadcasting is eighty on 29th January, I wanted to write a bit more. I hope more interviews with Tony Blackburn come about in the next year or two, because his background and story is fascinating! I have found a few from three different years that I want to bring in. In 2017, Blackburn was interviewed by The Guardian. I was intrigued to learn about his family and upbringing. The support he got from his parents when he said he wanted to go into radio – at a time when it might have been considered frivolous and not viable as a career – is particularly touching to read:
“The veteran radio DJ talks about his strongly supportive parents, his sister’s disability and why it’s hard work being a silly grandfather
I don’t have a hard-luck story because I had a wonderful upbringing by the sea in Poole, Dorset with my parents, Pauline and Kenneth, and younger sister Jackie. My parents were good, decent people and brought me up to be kind to others. They weren’t strict and I never wanted to rebel because I had nothing to rebel against. They instilled strong moral values in me.
My father was a GP with a wonderful sense of humour. His patients would say, “What a great doctor your father is.” He was one of those old-fashioned doctors who would come out to see you if you rang him in the middle of the night. He’d even perform minor operations such as for an in-growing toenail. He was a big soul music fan and he introduced me to it – in particular Jackie Wilson’s Reet Petite, which was the only soul record he had. We played it non-stop. He could also be serious and he followed news of what was happening in the world, which affected him because he served in the merchant navy during the second world war.
My parents met at the hospital where my mother worked as a nurse. She gave up work to look after us. She was always there when I got home from school and she was a mother to us.
I went to a good boarding school, which I didn’t like and left after three years. Dad sent me there because he attended Rugby school and he thought he was doing me a favour. Many years later, I told him how much I’d disliked it. He said it was a shame and that I should have told him at the time because he never intended to send me away. I just wanted to spend that time with my family.
I didn’t want to go into medicine, because I can’t stand the sight of blood. But my parents supported me from the word go when I wanted to go into broadcasting. They said: “Great – as long as you’re happy.” My father even erected a massive great mast in the garden so they could hear my show on Radio Caroline because the reception in Poole was awful.
Jackie was born with infantile paralysis and she’s always been in a wheelchair. When my parents were alive, I said to them: “I’ll always look after Jackie.” My father built her a bungalow in the garden so she could get to everything. She’s got an electric wheelchair and she’s fine – except her eyesight isn’t too good. When my parents died, I asked Jackie to come and live with my wife, Debbie, and myself, but she chose to remain in Poole where she has lots of friends. Jackie never complains. Her attitude to her life has altered my outlook on life. I have so much admiration for Jackie and I’m very close to her.
It was great becoming a father. My daughter, Victoria, 20, is an actress and dancer and she’s been with me all the way through life; Simon, 44, who works in advertising, was three when his mother and I divorced. He lived with her and I saw him every weekend. It was tough taking Simon back on Sundays and I always put him first for the 17 years between my two marriages. Victoria and Simon are both good and thoughtful people. I never caused my parents any problems and my children have been the same with me. I’ve passed on the values my parents gave me to them. All I said was try to get a job where you’re happy, don’t get involved with drugs, avoid smoking and don’t get a tattoo! I love my children”.
In 2019, Tony Blackburn took his Sounds of the 60s show on tour. It was due to go through to summer 2020, but the pandemic cut it short I think. The Yorkshire Times talked with Blackburn about the show and whether life and music was simpler back in the ‘60s. I do hope Blackburn gets take the tour back on the road this year. I have tuned into his long-running BBC Radio 2 show, and I am always blown away by his infectiousness and passion for the music:
“The Sound of the Sixties show hosted by Radio 2’s Tony Blackburn is coming to Bradford in January. A live band and singers will recreate the songs and hits from this classic period in pop music.
What is the show all about?
It is all about the 60’s and the music that made it such a great time. We have been on tour since March and the tour was due to finish before Christmas, but it has been so successful that we are now going through to June in 2020. The show lasts around 3 hours and 20 minutes. It is not me playing records, we have a live 8 piece band, a couple of singers, with the band led by Leo Green who has just done the Beverley Knight tour. I talk about the 60’s in between the songs – there are over 100 hits, we do a Motown melody, cover the Flower Power period, Pirate radio which was where my career started.
It was a great time for music – it must have been thrilling to be involved in it all?
It was a great time for music. Tony Hatch was a great songwriter – he wrote so many good songs for artists like Petula Clark which we feature in the show. There was a lot of rubbish though which came out, but we do not feature them in the show.
Do you think the world seemed a simpler place then?
It was such a special time in such a short period of time, Beatle mania kicked off the 60’s vibe, it was just a terrific era. Everyone these days seems to cater to a younger audience, we cater for an older audience on the tour. I still do my Radio 2 show but I also do a show on BBC Radio Berkshire playing up to date tracks, so I am not stuck in the 60’s as people might think.
What do you think about the state of Radio in the UK today?
Commercial radio stations all seem to play the same records. In the 60’s we pioneered American radio with DJ’s who had personality. Now the presenters on most radio stations are not allowed to have a personality which is a shame. If you think back to DJ’s such as Kenny Everett and the like, where are those DJ’s now?”.
PHOTO CREDIT: David Levene/The Guardian
I will round off with an interview from last year with The Big Issue. Blackburn took a look back at his career. It must have been challenging broadcasting on pirate radio in the 1960s! But the wonder and excitement of opening a new radio station (BBC Radio 1) in 1967 – at a time when The Beatles were ruling the world – is hard to put into words:
“I used to love the idea of DJing as a child. I had a set-up at home – a loudspeaker linked up to a record player – and I used to do radio programmes for my mum and dad. When I got older I wanted to be a singer. I loved radio, DJs like Alan Freeman, when I was at school, but I didn’t have any thoughts of being a disc jockey. To break into anything like radio or television or anything like that was really difficult.
Then in 1964, when I was with the dance band, I saw a documentary on ITV about pirate radio. And I thought that might be a good way to get into the music business, by DJing. So I sent a tape off to Radio Caroline with me introducing a few records, and they replied saying would you come to do an audition?
So on July 25 1964, on Radio Caroline, I walked into the studio and found it a most relaxing, very, very natural thing to do. I left Bournemouth, went to the pirate ships and spent most of my time on the North Sea for the next three years. I just loved it, and 58 years later I’m still doing it and still loving it.
When I joined Caroline, just three weeks after it started, we were in territorial waters. So we flew under the Panamanian flag, which meant, of course, that nobody in authority from Great Britain could come out and go on the ship and we could do whatever we wanted. Then about two years later, another ship came along called Big L, Radio London, an American-owned ship. That’s the one I really loved. Kenny Everett was on board that one. I eventually left Caroline and went there.
They were all about American commercial radio and that’s what I’ve based my career on ever since. It was a wonderful radio station, the best we’ve ever had in this country.
The government was making it very difficult for the pirate ships, bringing in new offences, not allowing food to be supplied to them, really making it illegal to work there. I met an agent called Harold Davison, the biggest agent in the country. He handled people like Frank Sinatra and all the big names for America, and he told me the BBC were going to open up a popular music service. He said, if you sign with me, I can make you the top disc jockey in the country in three months. So I thought about it… for about two seconds. Harold and I got on like a house on fire; he became like my second father really. And I joined what became Radio 1 and it was a really, really happy time.
I had a sister [Jackie] who was disabled, which was unfortunate. She was never able to walk. She had infantile paralysis, she was always in a wheelchair, but she was fine, and she was lovely. I was always aware that I had so much, and she didn’t have as much as I did. But she lived in a nice place and she had lots of friends.
Having a disabled sister has always affected my outlook on life. I can’t stand people who are continually moaning about their life. My sister had a really tough time, but she never moaned once. I can’t understand all these wars and all the problems we have. Because people are so lucky really, just to have their health.
If I could go back to re-live just one moment, it would be the day I opened up Radio 1 [he presented the very first show on the station, at 7am on September 30, 1967]. I don’t suffer from nerves when I’m on air. I enjoyed every moment of it. I love studios, I love broadcasting. And that moment when I opened up Radio 1 was very special. Somebody said to me, it wasn’t just any other radio station, it was the start of a career. And it’s proved that way. I realised the history of it, and it felt magical”.
On 29th January, one of the absolute legends of radio and broadcasting turns eighty. Such a beloved voice, I know his listeners will give him a lot of love on the day! As he looks towards his ninth decade of life, I hope that Tony Blackburn has no plans to retire! At such a difficult time in the world, broadcasters like Blackburn are definitely making a difference. Ahead of such a big and important day, I wanted to give a salute…
TO radio royalty.