Brian Matthew

[captain clutterbuck]

Thankfully not a thread to report someone passing but I wanted to mention that Brian has finally retired from the BBC and considering he was first employed by them in 1954 that is one long career . For those British members who grew up in the 60's Brian was one of the voices and stars of that era and he continued for 26 years starting in 1990 reliving those years with his Sounds of the Sixties show.

All of you from that era will remember Saturday Club , Thank your Lucky stars and of course Round Midnight. A Couple of years ago Sky Arts broadcast Swinging UK which was made from 1964 onward for the cinema , shot in colour and had artists of their day effectively miming their hits to camera with introductions from Brian, Alan "Fluff" Freeman and Kent Walton [presenter of Saturday Wrestling on ITV] . For all of it's staged presentation it was still innovating for its day .

His laconic delivery and vast knowledge of music will be sadly missed . I hope he has the lengthy and enjoyable retirement he richly deserves after giving us all so much pleasure

 

[barmpot]

Yes, I had noticed that Tim Rice had been "sitting in" for Brian Matthew for a month or so.


There is sadly some dispute as to whether he retired voluntarily or was "pushed" into it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...le-decision-replace-britains-oldest-dj-brian/

as an example. Whether this is totally true or not - knowing how well some parts of the media can mangle the facts -I do not know.

However a 62 year career with the BBC is a long one. And I do recall him as one of the earlier genre of presenters alongside Alan Freeman, David Jacobs, Peter Murray when it was still the BBC Light Programme on 1500 metres long wave!