Adrian Love (3 August 1944 – 10 March 1999) was a British

radio presenter A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

, remembered for his ''Love in the Afternoon'' programme on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

Early life

Adrian Love was born in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

on 3 August 1944 to Cicely Joyce (née Peters) and musician and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...

Geoff Love Geoffrey Love (4 September 1917 – 8 July 1991) was a prolific British arranger and composer of easy listening and pop versions of film themes. He became famous in the late 1950s, playing under the pseudonym of Manuel and The Music of The Mo ...

. Love attended

Tottenham Grammar School Tottenham Grammar School (TGS) was a renowned grammar school in North London, with local football connections. History A Tottenham grammar school had existed for centuries. Its origins are unclear, possibly dating back to 1456 but in 1631 a le ...

. Before beginning his radio career, he worked for Burton tailors and as a song plugger in Soho.

Career

Love began his radio career in 1966 working for the pirate station Radio City on the

Shivering Sands Army Fort Shivering Sands Army Fort 7was a Maunsell army fort built near the Thames estuary for anti-aircraft defence. It is made up of several once interconnected towers north of Herne Bay and is 14.8 km (9.2 miles) from the nearest land. They can be vi ...

. He moved ashore with a stint on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

, which led to work on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

. In the early 1970s, Love became station manager at

United Biscuits Network United Biscuits Network (UBN) was an internal radio station serving the factories of United Biscuits (UB) in Britain that operated from 1970 to 1979. In 1970 the BBC had a monopoly on radio broadcasting in Britain, although there were a few off ...

, an internal radio station serving the factories of

United Biscuits United Biscuits (UB) is a British multinational food manufacturer, makers of McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In Nove ...

. Due to the lack of commercial radio in the UK at the time, the station became known for breaking new acts. While there he recruited

Roger Scott Roger Scott (23 October 1943 – 31 October 1989) was a British radio disc jockey. He was best known for presenting an afternoon radio show on London's Capital London from 1973 until 1988 and was also best known for presenting his late night ...

and

Graham Dene Graham Dene (born 7 April 1949) is a British radio personality. After a period as a disc jockey on Edgware General Hospital's radio, and at United Biscuits Network, he became famous in the London area as Capital Radio's breakfast presenter in th ...

, with whom he later worked at

Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. ...

, and gave

Dale Winton Dale Jonathan Winton (22 May 1955 – 18 April 2018) was an English radio DJ and television presenter. He presented the shows ''Dale's Supermarket Sweep'' from 1993 until 2001 and again in 2007, the National Lottery game show '' In It to W ...

and

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...

their radio breaks. The launch of commercial radio in 1973 led Love to move to

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...

, to present ''Nightline'', and then to Capital Radio, where he stayed for eight years, presenting an evening phone-in programme, ''Anna and the Doc'', with agony aunt

Anna Raeburn Anna Raeburn (born 3 April 1944) is a British broadcaster, author and journalist who is best known for her role as an "agony aunt", giving advice on relationships and more general life problems. As a broadcaster, she has worked for Capital Rad ...

BBC Radio

In 1981, Love returned to the BBC, presenting programmes on

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

, Radio 2 and Radio 4. In 1982 he was sacked from his award-winning show on Radio 1 for broadcasting while drunk. Love later spoke of his alcoholism, and occasionally shared experiences with listeners. Five years after being sacked from Radio 1, he returned once more to the BBC in 1987 working for Radio 2, initially presenting the daily afternoon show ''Love in the Afternoon''. He was dropped from the schedule in 1990, but continued to present documentaries and special shows for the station such as ''Time Cycle'' and ''Pop Score''. Love also deputised for other presenters, including

Ken Bruce Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a British broadcaster who is best known for hosting his long-running weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 from 1986 to 1990, and then again since 1992. Early life and career Bruce was born a ...

and

Sarah Kennedy Sarah Mary Kennedy MBE (born 8 July 1950) is a British retired TV and radio broadcaster. She presented her daily early morning radio show, ''The Dawn Patrol'', on BBC Radio 2 from 1993 to 2010. In the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours, Kennedy ...

, before leaving the station in 1994.

Later career

Love worked at other radio stations, including BFBS, 102.2 Jazz FM and Classic FM. He was part of the starting line-up when Classic FM was launched in September 1992. While at Classic FM, Love was Chancellor of the Oblique University, from which listeners could get a degree. The requirement was to apply for a research grant for something ephemeral, such as why a cup handle ends up at the back in a microwave, or to submit a basic truth such as "Women do not change their minds, they make further decisions." An A4 certificate was awarded to listeners whose submissions he read out. There were between 50 and 100 awarded. Love spent his last four years as a presenter at

BBC Southern Counties Radio BBC Southern Counties Radio was a BBC Local Radio service for the English counties of Surrey and Sussex. The station also covered a large part of north-east Hampshire. It was the first BBC local radio station to introduce an all-speech format. ...

Personal life and death

Love was married three times and had 3 daughters. His second marriage was to Barbara Kudish on 13 May 1972 at

Marylebone Town Hall Marylebone Town Hall, also known as the Westminster Council House, is a municipal building on Marylebone Road in Marylebone, London. The complex includes the council chamber, the Westminster Register Office and an educational facility known as t ...

, London. The couple had a daughter, Helen Peta in 1976. Love married Ros Roux in 1990, in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

, Kent. The couple had a daughter, Amy, later that year. By this time, Love lived in

Edenbridge Edenbridge may mean: * Edenbridge (band), a symphonic metal band from Austria *Edenbridge, Kent, a town in England *Edenbridge, Saskatchewan, a former Jewish settlement in Canada *Humber Valley Village Humber Valley Village is a neighbourhood lo ...

, Kent and was a lifelong

asthmatic Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, coug ...

and heavy smoker. In December 1997, Love was injured in a car crash, resulting in a collapsed lung, from which he never recovered. Love died on 10 March 1999, from a second

lung collapse A pneumothorax is an abnormal collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve ...

in the

Kent and Sussex Hospital The Kent and Sussex Hospital was a district general hospital located on Mount Ephraim in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England serving the West Kent and East Sussex areas. It was managed by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust until it clos ...

, Tunbridge Wells, aged 54. His funeral took place on 18 March 1999 at

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Adrian 1944 births 1999 deaths British radio people British radio personalities British radio DJs BBC Radio 2 presenters Offshore radio broadcasters Pirate radio personalities People educated at Tottenham Grammar School English people of American descent LBC radio presenters English people of African-American descent Road incident deaths in England 20th-century African-American people