Biography

I was born in Aberdeen on June 1st 1958 and as a young child I was fascinated by Radio and used to tune in to all the music and comedy shows. My favourite programmes were comedies like the Navy Lark and Round the Horne.

I was a keen fan of pirate stations like Radio Scotland and Radio North Sea International. Over the years I gradually became an Offshore Radio enthusiast and started to collect hundreds of tapes

I was very interested in the voices behind the microphone. I remember listening to DJ's like Kenny Everett, Johnnie Walker, Emperor Rosko, Robbie Dale and Noel Edmonds and always thought that would be a brilliant job.

Johnnie Walker and Robbie Dale on Radio Caroline.

Did I really look like that?

In 1974 I left school and began working in a record shop and began to mix and socialise with Disco DJ's. So it was hardly surprising that I started working for most of the top Mobile Disco's in the North East of Scotland. For the next five years I toured around playing at most of the top venues in the area. However it was still my burning ambition to break into Radio.

There weren't any local Radio Stations in my area when I was a teenager. So I recorded audition tapes in my bedroom and sent them off to stations like BBC Radio One and Radio Luxembourg. They largely consisted of me warbling into a cheap plastic microphone and playing scratchy records at the wrong speed. Not surprisingly the tapes met with a total lack of enthusiasm but I was determined to break into Radio somehow.

Young and Innocent Days

Grampian Hospital Radio 1982

However in 1980 I helped to establish Grampian Hospital Radio. Over the next 10 years I presented every type of show under the sun to gain valuable broadcasting experience. I learned to appreciate a varied selection of music and presented shows featuring Scottish, Pop, Classical, Jazz and folk music. I also held the post of Vice Chairman and Programme Controller where I was partly responsible for the day to day running of the station.

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