John Dunn
Mike Terry
30/11/2004
John Dunn, the BBC broadcaster who died on Saturday aged 70, embodied the
corporation's traditional values, yet created a template to which Radio 2
still adheres; he was the first presenter of the Light Programme's breakfast
show, and the creator of "drivetime" - though his deceptively easy style
made even that dismal concept palatable.
It was also an indication of his appeal that, in a broadcasting career which
began in 1956, he regularly topped "Personality of the Year" lists during
the 1970s and 1980s; at the Sony Radio Awards in 1998, he won the Drivetime
Music Gold Award. Dunn's was, in August 1964, the first voice heard on the
Light Programme's new 5.30am broadcast; Breakfast Special went on to be a
fixture for many listeners.
By the early 1970s, he had moved to "drivetime" - from around 4.30 to
6.30pm - a position he was to occupy for 16 years, with diversions into
interviewing (at which he was first-rate) as well as covering royal and
other national occasions for Radio 2. The John Dunn Show ran from 1972 to
1988.
John Churchill Dunn was born on March 4 1934 in Glasgow. His father John was
an electrical engineer who installed sound systems in cinemas after the
advent of the talkies. Scotland having been supplied with such equipment,
the family moved south, and young John, who had inherited his father's
musical talent, was educated at Christ Church Cathedral School in Oxford,
where he was a fine boy treble, and at the King's School, Canterbury.
There he was a keen actor, though he was conscious of his gangly frame (when
fully grown, he measured 6ft 7in), and aware that "to be on a raked stage
playing a juvenile lead opposite a girl of 5ft 2in was obviously
ridiculous".
But his future career received its impetus when his headmaster, watching him
play one of the buffoons in The Tempest, announced: "It's a pity you have to
put on a silly voice, because you have a very good one." Dunn remembered the
endorsement, though after school he drifted into a series of jobs, including
stints with the Bristol Aeroplane Company and making cigarettes at Wills,
washing Daimlers for a hire firm, and working as a porter at Euston station,
when he would sleep on friends' floors in London. He had a certificate of
competence to operate Gaggia coffee machines.
Dunn had his first experience of radio while doing his National Service in
Germany, but when he applied to Forces' Broadcasting, he was told he lacked
experience and should try the BBC instead. They took him on as a studio
manager, and he "drifted" from announcing on the Overseas Service into
presenting Breakfast Special.
Always a fair, courteous and interesting interviewer, he tackled subjects as
diverse as Lady Thatcher, the Duchess of York and Ludovic Kennedy.
But Dunn was just as happy to talk around the music his audience preferred,
and to compere quizzes such as the "Mystery Voice", which acquired a cult
following - with Dunn regularly being pressed over the dinner table for the
celebrity's name. "As a broadcaster, you have to remember that you are
company for people," he said.
He was courted by other broadcasters and, at various times, spoken of as a
replacement for Roy Plomley, Michael Parkinson and others, but stuck to his
established roles - though as a freelance. "I'm fairly lazy," he once
conceded.
Away from the microphone, Dunn's hobbies were skiing, sailing and wine. His
wife Margaret, whom he married in 1958, was a fellow studio manager. They
had two daughters.
Andrew McGee
"Mike Terry" <miket...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:coh6s0$42g$1...@titan.btinternet.com...
A very sad loss. He was, for me, absolutely the best of the Radio 2
presenters - and pretty much anywhere else too.
Always relaxed, affable, competent, collected, cool, professional and a
delight to listen to.
A man who made his name by being his natural pleasant self and by being
genuinely benighnly interested in his guests.
I was a fan for over 20 years, including the brief period in the early 80s
when he moved from drive time to lunch time. I was sorry when he retired in
1998 and am very sorry to hear of his death.
people always say 'we shall not see his like again' but in John's case it is
surely true. That unassuming, non-egotistical style, coupled with beautiful
diction and an intelligent approach is very unfashionable now, but radio
needs much more of it.
Andrew McGee
:::Jerry::::
"Andrew McGee" <amh...@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:cohhaq$en9$1...@titan.btinternet.com...
>
> "Mike Terry" <miket...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
> news:coh6s0$42g$1...@titan.btinternet.com...
> > Tuesday 30 November 2004
Three threads already about JD and the idiot Mr Terry starts bloody forth
one....
And then MrGee reposts Mr Terry's complete post....
F*ckwits, both of you. :~(
http://www.allmyfaqs.com/faq.pl?How_to_post
--
From address changed due to the
individual.net FAQ / AUP changing.
Andrew McGee
":::Jerry::::" <inv...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:3134paF...@uni-berlin.de...
Have you ever heard of either
a) individual style or
b) common courtesy?
I sometimes choose to repost previous posts in full with my comments if I
think that better in the circumstances. That is my choice, and really not
something which justifies or even excuses this disgracefully rude response.
All the more sad that this kind of exchange should creep into a thread
mourning a man who had far better manners than you could ever aspire to and
who would never have resorted to such incivility.
Andrew McGee
Ivor Jones
[snip]
> By the early 1970s, he had moved to "drivetime" - from around 4.30
> to
> 6.30pm - a position he was to occupy for 16 years, with diversions
> into interviewing (at which he was first-rate) as well as covering
> royal and other national occasions for Radio 2. The John Dunn Show
> ran from 1972 to 1988.
Actually, from 1973 to 1998.
Read John's obituary here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4042749.stm
Ivor
:::Jerry::::
> ":::Jerry::::" <inv...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
> news:3134paF...@uni-berlin.de...
> >
> > Three threads already about JD and the idiot Mr Terry starts bloody
forth
> > one....
> >
> > And then MrGee reposts Mr Terry's complete post....
> >
>
>
> Have you ever heard of either
>
> a) individual style or
> b) common courtesy?
Yes, but neither you or Mr Terry seems to have, as I said, learn how to
post.
There is no need for verbatim cut 'n' paste messages of web page articles, a
brief summary and a URL is all that is needed - if readers want more
information then they follow the URL.
There is no need to include the complete message that you are replying to,
leave enough to give context but not reams of un replied to quotes and sig'
lines etc.
>
> I sometimes choose to repost previous posts in full with my comments if I
> think that better in the circumstances.
Unless the original message is very short there is always room to edit out
un needed quotes.
That is my choice, and really not
> something which justifies or even excuses this disgracefully rude
response.
Well you were being exceptionally rude to every one using Usenet by not
posting correctly, as I said you are either just a halfwit or an ignorant
little moron who doesn't know who to post correctly and can't be taught by
the looks of it...
Did you bother to read the URL I posted, no, I thought as much.
http://www.allmyfaqs.com/faq.pl?How_to_post
dave cawley
":::Jerry::::" <inv...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
>
I've been offline for a few days, I come back and,hey, guess what, Jerry is
still an insulting prat.
Jerry, get out more...... Yes, that's it - stay out, too
Merry Xmas, on behalf of the others whom you piss off..
D
:::Jerry::::
"dave cawley" <davec...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:8omrd.679$pO....@newsfe5-gui.ntli.net...
>
<66 frigging lines removed, most of which were re quoted quotes...>
>
> Merry Xmas, on behalf of the others whom you piss off..
>
The only people who piss others off are the idiots like you who can't seem
to work what a delete key is for.
--
http://www.allmyfaqs.com/faq.pl?How_to_post
S.
> Well you were being exceptionally rude to every one using Usenet by not
> posting correctly, as I said you are either just a halfwit or an ignorant
> little moron who doesn't know who to post correctly and can't be taught by
> the looks of it...
For me, you represent the very worst of the internet. In a thread that
started moving along with people remembering a much-respected broadcaster,
you HAD to have a vitriolic and hateful spew of the most inappropriate form.
You couldn't resist it, your bitterness and self-loathing couldn't be
disguised by the sham of a lesson in "netiquette".
Look at the subject line you amended :- "Ping the group halfwits, LEARN HOW
TO POTST [ was Re: John Dunn ]". Assuming that you can spell (generous I
agree, but.......), if you are so keen on "netiquette", why use capitals,
the cyberspace equivalent of "shouting" ?
People who live in glass houses......... And I agree, you should get out a
*lot* more.
Merry Christ,as one and all,
S.
:::Jerry::::
"S." <som...@somewhere.not> wrote in message
news:41ae0ab8$0$1068$db0f...@news.zen.co.uk...
>
> > Well you were being exceptionally rude to every one using Usenet by not
> > posting correctly, as I said you are either just a halfwit or an
ignorant
> > little moron who doesn't know who to post correctly and can't be taught
by
> > the looks of it...
>
> For me, you represent the very worst of the internet.
Err, and just who are you addressing your remarks to ?
You are a classic moron, trying to complain about another posting but you
can't post correctly yourself, what a plank...
Also, perhaps you haven't noticed that there are three other threads
relating to JD, so there was absolutely no need for Mr Terry to start yet
another - let alone re-publish a copyrighted work...
Jools
":::Jerry::::" <inv...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
> , so there was absolutely no need for Mr Terry to start yet
> another - let alone re-publish a copyrighted work...
Jerry, for those of us who are sensible enough to have killfiled him - SHUT
UP!
If you don't respond, I don't see. Or do need to KF you as well?
Cheers
J
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