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Charles Barry Johnston (born on 17 April 1949 in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

, London, England), also known as Barry Alexander, is a British writer,

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

producer, radio presenter and songwriter. He is the eldest son of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

commentator Brian Johnston (24 June 1912 – 5 January 1994). He was a member of the British

vocal group A vocal group is a performing ensemble of vocalists who sing and harmonize together. The first well-known vocals groups emerged in the 19th century, and the style had reached widespread popularity by the 1940s. Types Vocal groups can come in s ...

Design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

in the 1970s and later presented

radio shows A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...

on KLOA-AM in California, US and on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

in the UK. He is now an award-winning producer of audiobooks and has also edited and written several books, including biographies of

Kenneth Horne Charles Kenneth Horne, generally known as Kenneth Horne, (27 February 1907 – 14 February 1969) was an English comedian and businessman. He is perhaps best remembered for his work on three BBC Radio series: ''Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh ...

and of his father, Brian Johnston.

Career

Music

Barry Johnston was educated at

Sunningdale School Sunningdale School is a family-run boys' preparatory independent boarding school of around 100 pupils, situated in Sunningdale in Berkshire, close to London, England. Introduction Sunningdale School is a small school that seeks to educate its ...

and

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

. When he was eighteen he signed as a songwriter to

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

' company

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

Publishing. In 1969 he joined the vocal group

who went on to appear on more than fifty television shows in the UK in the early 1970s with stars such as

Morecambe & Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working ...

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...

, Tommy Cooper and

Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer. He is remembered for his television programme ''The Benny Hill Show'', an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double ente ...

. When he joined the actors' union Equity in 1970 there was already a member with a similar name so he adopted the stage name Barry Alexander. Design released 13 singles and 5 albums in the UK and Barry Alexander wrote many of the group's album tracks and

b-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

, as well as the

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

"Love Is" and "Losing You". After Design split up at the end of 1976, he became the personal manager of

The New Seekers The New Seekers are a British pop group, formed in London in 1969 by Keith Potger after the break-up of his group, The Seekers. The idea was that the New Seekers would appeal to the same market as the original Seekers, but their music would have ...

Radio

In 1981 Johnston moved to Los Angeles in California where he enrolled at the Los Angeles Broadcasting School in Hollywood. After graduating, he presented the breakfast show (as Barry Alexander) on Radio KLOA-AM in Ridgecrest, California for two years. After returning to England in 1985 he reverted to using his real name and became a presenter on

BBC Radio Sussex BBC Radio Sussex is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of East and West Sussex. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Queens Road in Brighton. Programming Local programming airs from the BB ...

in Brighton, where he hosted the daily consumer programme ''Sussex Standard''. In 1990 he joined the new BBC Radio 5 as presenter of the Sunday breakfast show ''Sunday Edition''.

Audiobooks

In 1992 Johnston formed BarryMour Productions with Chris Seymour and a year later they produced a recording of his father's one-man theatre show ''An Evening with Johnners''. This was released on the

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

Listen For Pleasure label and in 1994 it became the number one bestselling audiobook in the UK for several months, reaching number 46 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

and receiving a

Gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

award for sales of more than 100,000 copies. This was followed by ''Johnners at the Beeb'' (BBC Audiobooks) which was also a number one bestseller and was awarded a

Silver disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

for sales of more than 60,000. It won the 1996 Music Industries Association Award for Spoken Word Recording of the Year. Since then Johnston has abridged and produced more than one hundred audiobooks, including recordings by

Sir Michael Parkinson Sir Michael Parkinson (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the U ...

, Alan Titchmarsh,

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

Sir Ranulph Fiennes Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet (born 7 March 1944), commonly known as Sir Ranulph Fiennes () and sometimes as Ran Fiennes, is a British explorer, writer and poet, who holds several endurance records. Fiennes served in the ...

John Humphrys Desmond John Humphrys (born 17 August 1943) is a Welsh broadcaster. From 1981 to 1987 he was the main presenter for the '' Nine O'Clock News'', the flagship BBC News television programme, and from 1987 until 2019 he presented on the BBC Radio 4 ...

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, whose career ran from 1991 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a right-handed batsman for Victoria, Hampshire and Australi ...

Jack Dee James Andrew Innes Dee (born 24 September 1961), known professionally as Jack Dee, is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter and writer known for his sarcasm, irony and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom ''Lead Balloon'' ...

and many others. In 2003 Johnston and Seymour produced the audio CD ''The Wit of Cricket'' (Hodder Headline) featuring

Dickie Bird Harold Dennis "Dickie" Bird, (born 19 April 1933), is an English retired international cricket umpire. During his long umpiring career, he became a much-loved figure among players and viewing public, due to his excellence as an umpire, but al ...

Henry Blofeld Henry Calthorpe Blofeld, OBE (born 23 September 1939) nicknamed Blowers by Brian Johnston, is an English retired sports journalist, broadcaster and amateur ornithologist best known as a cricket commentator for ''Test Match Special'' on BBC Ra ...

and Brian Johnston, which became the number one bestselling audiobook in the UK in 2007 and 2008 and received a

award for sales of more than 60,000. Barry Johnston took over BarryMour Productions in 2006 and he now runs his own company, Barn Productions.

Books

Johnston has edited and written several books including ''An Evening with Johnners'' which was a ''Sunday Times'' top ten bestseller in 1996 and ''Letters Home 1926–1945'', also a ''Sunday Times'' top ten bestseller in 1998. As editor: * 1996: ''An Evening with Johnners'' (Partridge Press) * 1998: ''Letters Home 1926–1945'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) * 2000: ''A Delicious Slice of Johnners'' (Virgin) * 2001: ''Another Slice of Johnners'' (Virgin) * 2002: ''A Further Slice of Johnners'' (Virgin) * 2009: ''The Wit of Cricket'' (Hodder & Stoughton) * 2010: ''The Wit of Golf'' (Hodder & Stoughton) * 2012: ''An Evening with Johnners: Centenary Edition'' (Quiller) * 2019: ''Have a Cigar!'' (Quiller) * 2022: ''The Wit of Cricket: Second Edition'' (Hodder & Stoughton) And as author: * 2003: ''Johnners: The Life of Brian'' (Hodder & Stoughton) * 2006: ''Round Mr Horne: The Life of Kenneth Horne'' (Aurum Press) Johnston has also abridged several books for ''

Book at Bedtime ''Book at Bedtime'' (''A Book at Bedtime'' until 9 July 1993) is a long-running radio programme that is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 each weekday evening between 22.45 and 23.00. The programme presents readings of fiction, including modern classics, ...

'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

including ''Solar'' by

Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...

and ''A Tiny Bit Marvellous'' by Dawn French.www.barnproductions.co.uk
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References

External links

Official websiteDesign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Barry 1949 births Living people People educated at Eton College British radio personalities People from Paddington People educated at Sunningdale School