Tony Blackburn

Antony Kenneth "Tony" Blackburn (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey. He first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s, before joining the BBC. He was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 at its launch at the end of September 1967, and has had several stints working for the corporation. He has also worked for BBC Radio London, Capital Gold and Classic Gold Digital, and has had a singing career.

Blackburn was born in Guildford, Surrey, but in 1946 his family moved to Bournemouth, then in Hampshire, where his sister, Jacqueline, was born. His sister was born suffering from polio and has been unable to walk since birth. Blackburn's mother, Pauline Cubitt (née Stone), was a nurse, and his father, Kenneth Fleming Blackburn, was a GP. He was educated at Castle Court School in Parkstone, Poole, Dorset. He gained entry to Millfield School in Somerset on a sports scholarship and captained the school's cricket team.

He left before taking any examinations, but gained O-levels, following private tuition, and enrolled for an HND course in Business Studies at Bournemouth Technical College.

After beginning his career as a singer, Blackburn then worked as a DJ for the offshore pirate radio stations Radio Caroline and Radio London (1964–1967), before joining the BBC in 1967, initially broadcasting on the Light Programme.

After a simulcast with Radio 2 hosted by Paul Hollingdale, Blackburn was the first DJ to be heard on BBC Radio 1 when it officially launched on at 7am on 30 September 1967,with his first words on the new station being "And good morning everyone! Welcome to the exciting new sound of Radio 1". The Move's "Flowers in the Rain" was the first complete record he played. Blackburn recalled in 2014: "My job was to entertain and tell corny jokes, not have opinions or talk politics. If I wanted to wish the Queen a happy birthday, I had to get clearance from above." Throughout his Radio 1 career Blackburn was often accompanied by a jingle with the barking of the dog "Arnold" which he had previously used at Radio Caroline.

At first he was associated mainly with mainstream pop, but he later championed soul music. It was largely due to him that "I'm Still Waiting" by Diana Ross, which was initially just an album track, was released as a single in the UK in 1971 and reached number one. He was a regular host of Top of the Pops for a decade until 1979 and he appeared with fellow DJ's Noel Edmonds and Kenny Everett on the 500th anniversary show where he performed the spoken part of "Won't Somebody Dance With Me" and then danced with singer Lynsey de Paul. In 1968, he fronted his own show, Time For Blackburn, produced by Southern Television for the ITV network. "The Radio 1 DJs were a massive attraction. We were mobbed everywhere we went", Blackburn told Simon Hattenstone, referring to personal appearances. "It was all a bit mad, but great fun", he told Judith Woods in 2014. We "were built up to be stars in our own right, and as a result we were as famous as the artists we played."

In 1973, when his pantomime performance was interrupted by a power cut, he said the miners should go back to work. He was admonished by management and taken off-air for two weeks. In an interview for The Radio Academy's Radio Talk podcast in 2013, Blackburn said that it is not advisable for a broadcaster to reveal their political allegiances. In this interview, he says that he's "not a great lover of the TUC or of unions ... but I keep it to myself now."

He was in a group called Tony Blackburn and the Rovers which at one point included Al Stewart; they performed in the Bournemouth and surrounding areas. His singing career failed to take off, although 3 studio albums and 14 singles were released, of which two, "So Much Love" and "It's Only Love", made the UK Top 40 in 1968 and 1969 respectively. "So much Love" suffered from a shortage of copies because "the pressing plant went on strike, so nobody could get the record", he once recalled. "I don't think the strike was anything to do with the record, though it might have been ...quality control or something." As the years progressed he spent less time making his own music and concentrated on radio work, by the end of the 1970s he had stopped singing altogether.

In 1972 he released a self named album on the RCA label - two of the tracks were released as singles "Chop Chop" written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and "House of Cards" written by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Green. His version of Doris Troy's "I'll Do Anything" was recorded in 1969 for his second album, Tony Blackburn for the Polydor label; it was re-released as a Northern soul single under the pseudonym Lenny Gamble on Casino Classics in June 1978. Blackburn was allegedly furious when Noel Edmonds revealed the alias on air. Nevertheless, Blackburn and Edmonds became close friends.All of the Blackburn's singles, including "I'll Do Anything" and "House of Cards" were finally released in 2012 on a CD compilation album "The Singles Collection 1965-1980" on the Cherry Red label.

In June 1973, he took over the weekday mid-morning slot, where he introduced "The Golden Hour". The feature was to prove durable, being carried on by Simon Bates and Simon Mayo when they took over the slot later.

Over several years of the 1970s, Blackburn was a co-presenter on the BBC's summer programme Seaside Special, alongside other well known names from BBC Radio such as Dave Lee Travis and David Hamilton.

In November 1977 he took over the weekday afternoon show and from September 1979 until December 1981 he presented the Sunday Top 40 show on Radio 1.

At the start of 1980 he took over from Ed Stewart as the presenter of Junior Choice broadcast on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 8 am to 10 am, while continuing to present the Sunday chart show until the end of 1981. He was succeeded by Tommy Vance. During 1982, BBC Radio 1 dropped the name Junior Choice and the show became the Weekend Breakfast Show which Blackburn continued to host until his final show on 23 September 1984.

Blackburn also presents Sounds of the 60s on BBC Radio 2, having taken over in 4 March 2017 from Brian Matthew, who hosted it for 27 years. The show is broadcast live on Saturday mornings, and he now also presents his Golden Hour music programme on Friday nights.

On 30 September 2017, Blackburn recreated his first breakfast show on BBC Radio 2, playing the songs from vinyl, and he later joined Nick Grimshaw, and guests Mike Read, Simon Mayo and Sara Cox for a special show to celebrate Radio 1's 50 anniversary.

Here is "So Much Love" From 1968 Enjoy.