LOTS OF SCARS IN THE STY: Nicholas Andrew Argyle Campbell, as he always irritatingly referred to himself, was born in Edinburgh and, after graduating from university, joined NorthSound in Aberdeen as jingle writer and, then, fully-fledged DJ. He then moved to London on Capital, which he didn’t much like, for a year or so, before legendary Radio 1 overlord Doreen Davis, in one of her last jobs, brought him over to the Beeb, telling him “I like your voice and I like what you say with it”. Apparently the Beeb were terribly impressed with the fact he had a degree, which was considered the height of sophistication for a DJ.
I LOVE TUESDAYS, DON’T YOU: Campbell joined Radio 1 in the autumn of 1987 in the then-familiar DJ tryout spot of Saturday nights, with a show promising “today’s music tonight”, before he moved to the weekend early shows at the start of 1988. His first big show, though, was the self-consciously “grown up” late night show which he hosted for five years, before leaving Radio 1, ostensibly to care for his ill wife, although apparently it was also because he was offered weekend breakfast in Bannister’s revamp, didn’t want it, and told him to fuck off. Three months later, though, apparently by popular demand (according to Campbell), he was back, on weekday drivetimes, before swapping slots with Mark Goodier and moving to early afternoons, where he stayed for his last three years on the station.
I LOVE THE BEATLES, DON’T YOU: When Campbell started his late night show he was eager to point out that this was not going to offer the familiar daytime pop but a more intelligent playlist, which basically meant the likes of Bowie and Richard Thompson, as well as the odd bit of so-called quality pop, a la Deacon Blue. Of course he happily played the latest top forty hits when he was on during the day but always seemed at his happiest playing the dull likes of U2 and Simple Minds. And of course later on he actually wrote and produced an entire album of swing songs.
WHY AREN’T THERE ANY LITTLE GIRLS CALLED WENDY ANYMORE?: Into The Night, as it was known, was big on long interviews, including the Prime Minister on one occasion, and indeed Campbell was anchor for the one and only time Radio 1 broadcast an election special in 1992, presenting results and analysis for five hours. On drivetimes there was also a news-based approach but this didn’t really work out, once notoriously devoting forty minutes to an interview with a former member of the IRA, at drivetime on Radio 1. On the afternoons there was the ever-popular smartarse Teasingly Topical Triple Tracker, the bog standard Number Nine Game, where you just had to name nine things, and the Afternoon Lovefeast, which was basically Our Tune. And a few comic skits including crap ILR DJ Tony Gold. We must also point out Campbell once wrote into TV Cream to point out he’d been responsible for Radio 1’s April Fool where they announced Simon Bates had been made European Minister for Pop.
EUROCRATS, BEAUROCRATS AND OTHER BONKERS-CRATS: Campbell was very much Radio 1’s self-proclaimed intellectual and so was happy to debate current affairs on his show and carry out searching interviews, as well as parodying the current state of light entertainment. Campbell was particularly piqued when Johnny Beerling demanded that DJs include only one thought during a link otherwise it would be too complicated for listeners. He also fell out with Mark Goodier and had to stop doing handovers with him after Goodybags complained about a link where Campbell suggested he spent his entire show on the phone running his business empire. In return, Campbell was slagged off on air by Simon Bates and Steve Wright, and had a set-to with Chris Moyles just after he started.
WHY DON’T YOU SEND ME YOUR KNICKERS?: When he was at Capital, Campbell said he was once asked to spend more time on his show talking about his sexy the ladies of London were. He didn’t do that, but was certainly under no illusions that he’d been hired by Radio 1 because he was quite pretty and boyish and seemed like a nice boy mums would like their daughters to take home, and he had an interesting accent too. However he did say he got a memo early on saying he was unsuitable for breakfast as listeners wouldn’t understand him, and DLT and Mike Read apparently shouted “Och aye the noo!” every time he walked past. Later his relationship with Chris Evans’ newsreader Tina Ritchie became common knowledge on air, but that’s OK as they’ve been happily married for many years now.
STANDING IN FOR PIP SCHOFIELD IN JOSEPH’S COAT: Well, everyone remembers Campbell’s most famous extra-curricular gig, and indeed his image as Radio 1’s clever clogs seemed at odd with his eight year stint as the host of Wheel of Fortune, to the extent Radio 1 research showed that a large percentage of listeners said they didn’t like him even though they never heard his show, based on his cheesy TV persona. For his part, Campbell was more eager to talk up his “current affairs series” which was in fact regional shoutathon Central Weekend, which he also hosted for years. In addition there was a few months spent hosting regional Pops spin-off The Scottish Chart for BBC Scotland at the turn of the nineties.
A BIG HELLO TO ALL YOU TRUCKERS OUT THERE: Campbell claimed his first return to Radio 1 came about because too many people were asking where he’d gone as his approach was exactly what the new look station should be about. So he says. In any case in his later years he’d always seemed more interested in news and current affairs than pop music, a la Simon Bates, so come 1997 he decided to concentrate on that full time and join Radio Five Live. He’s still there and is now probably their biggest name.
TOPULARS OF THE POPULARS: Campbell got on the Pops rota early on in his Radio 1 career, starting in February 1988. You’ve seen that before but it is a good clip, where like every DJ on their first appearance he wears a suit, but he seemed to take to it quite easily, wait til you see Mark Goodier’s debut. Indeed a year later he was considered senior enough to man the Comic Relief special. Even though most viewers seemed to think he was a bit of a smartarse (we remember TV Quick really slagging him off), he was a regular host until the DJs left in 1991, and came back to do a handful of other shows in the mid-nineties too, before finally calling it a day in 1997.
LOTS OF SCARS IN THE STY: Despite what his voice may suggest, Dave Cash – whose real name is actually the equally exciting Dave Wish – was born in the Home Counties, but spent much of his formative years, including a spell in the Navy, in Canada, hence he acquired a rather exotic accent and certainly made him something of a novelty for British listeners. Dave’s entry into broadcasting came via the usual paths of Luxembourg and the pirates, including a particularly memorable spell alongside Kenny Everett on Radio London, before becoming respectable and joining the Beeb, starting at Radio 1 on day one.
I LOVE TUESDAYS, DON’T YOU: Dave was on Radio 1 in the days when there weren’t quite so many DJ shows as we know them and the jocks would work more as a presenter, linking live music or being one of several hosts of sequence programmes like Midday Spin or Late Night Extra. Dave did do a few shows on his own, however, and there’s a brilliant clip of Dave bellowing “IT’S THE DAVE CASH SHOW!” into the mike, which makes it sound really exciting. One of his other regular gigs was a Sunday teatime show that mixed music with celebrity chat.
I LOVE THE BEATLES, DON’T YOU: Dave seemed one of the more musically-aware DJs on the station, and was certainly responsible for one of the greatest moments in music radio, even if we think it might have happened on the Light Programme rather than Radio 1. Anyway, during his spell as host of lunchtime show Monday Monday, which was basically a dull orchestra churning out inoffensive covers in front of a bored audience of pensioners who’d applied for tickets for an unspecified BBC programme, when he was told that the fewer musicians on the show, the better, so he told the producer he knew of a trio, which was obviously great for the budget and they were duly booked. Hence the OAPs put down their knitting to enjoy a performance from The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
WHY AREN’T THERE ANY LITTLE GIRLS CALLED WENDY ANYMORE?: Much of Dave’s most famous work came as straight man to Cuddly Ken, although we think the pair were kept apart during their days on Radio 1. Other than that, Dave’s greatest contribution to the annals of radio history was inventing the phrase “groovy baby”. It says here. He also featured regular contributions from comic character Microbe, who actually released a single called, yes, “Groovy Baby”, which got to the dizzy heights of number 29.
EUROCRATS, BEAUROCRATS AND OTHER BONKERS-CRATS: Obviously with Cuddly Ken often around to be outrageous, Dave didn’t have to try and cause a stink himself, so he simply kept his head down and got on with the job. In the demented 1969 Radio 1 Annual he has a double page spread for him to wax lyrical about his passion for cars and motoring, which is a bit dull.
WHY DON’T YOU SEND ME YOUR KNICKERS?: Well, Dave’s accent made him seem a bit exotic, but we don’t think many people thought he was that sexy, certainly when the likes of Tony Blackburn and Noel Edmonds were around.
STANDING IN FOR PIP SCHOFIELD IN JOSEPH’S COAT: Well, we’re only quoting from Wikipedia here, but “in 1970, Dave wrote and performed The Radio Programme, a twenty-six part sitcom/music show produced at HTV and sold to the ITV network, NBC, and stations across Europe”. Surely the most rocking show in HTV’s history, we’re sorry to say we’ve never heard of it. He’s in Quadrophenia too, it says here.
A BIG HELLO TO ALL YOU TRUCKERS OUT THERE: We’re not quite sure when Dave left Radio 1, we think it was 1970 when he helped launch the exciting-sounding Radio Monte Carlo, but he was back in Blighty in 1973 as one of the first DJs on the new Capital Radio, where the old Kenny and Cash double act was revived. Dave stayed on Capital off and on for nearly twenty years, in between stints on a number of other stations including Invicta in Kent. After he wrote a best-selling book, he gave up daily radio but over the last decade or so has appeared on virtually every BBC local radio station in Britain.
TOPULARS OF THE POPULARS: Dave only presented Pops, we think, on two occasions, during the first year of Radio 1 when every DJ on the station took a turn. His second appearance was particularly notable, though, as it was the only weekly episode of the sixties to be kept in the archive, so his appearance introducing “The Stattus Quo” is fairly familiar. You not stopping, Dave? Here he is at the end doing a bit of a gag – you could just pull it down yourself, Jim – and that weird closing music they used to use in the sixties.
Des Elmes
April 8, 2011 at 11:26 pm
Andy’s decision to leave BP coincides with the BBC planning to move the show from Television Centre to Manchester.
So, of course, the D***y M**l take the opportunity to lay into the Beeb for the trillionth time, claiming that the two developments are linked…
But worse than that – they also decide to say that Helen might be leaving too…
Twats.