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Brian Matthew (17 September 1928 – 8 April 2017) was an English broadcaster who worked for the

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for 63 years from 1954 until 2017. He was the host of '' Saturday Club'', among other programmes, and began presenting ''

Sounds of the 60s ''Sounds of the 60s'' is a long-running Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 2 that features recordings of popular music made in the 1960s. It was first broadcast on 12 February 1983 and introduced by Keith Fordyce, who had been the first ...

'' in March 1990, often employing the same vocabulary and the same measured delivery he had used in previous decades. In January 2017, after a short break from the programme after suffering a fall at home, the BBC announced, against Matthew's wishes, that he would not be returning to the programme and that he would be replaced. He was succeeded by

Tony Blackburn Anthony Kenneth Blackburn (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and TV presenter. He first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s, before joining the BBC, on the BBC L ...

. Matthew later died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on 8 April 2017, aged 88.

Early life

Matthew was born on 17 September 1928 in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, the son of musical parents. His father was a conductor of the Coventry Silver Band and his mother a professional singer. He was educated at the city's

Bablake School Bablake School is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school located in Coventry, England and founded in 1344 by Isabella of France, widow of Edward II of England, Edward II, making it List of the oldest scho ...

Career

Matthew first broadcast in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1948, and trained as an actor at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

before joining the

...
in 1954. 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 ...

, as a staff announcer, he introduced numerous programmes including ''

Take It From Here ''Take It from Here'' (often referred to as ''TIFH'', pronounced – and sometimes humorously spelt – "TIFE") is a British radio comedy programme broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audie ...

'' and '' Saturday Club'' (originally called ''Saturday Skiffle Club'', starting in 1957 and changing to its more familiar name in 1958) and '' Easy Beat'' (starting in 1960). Also starting in the 1960s he had a regular show on

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

. At the time, airtime for

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

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 th ...

was limited, and the demand for it among young people meant the shows attracted large audiences. Virtually all the big names of the era, including

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, appeared on the shows. Matthew's voice is present on the Beatles' ''

Live at the BBC {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Live at the BBC or BBC Recordings are recordings originally made for or by BBC Radio 1. Many recordings were released under several name variants. Live at the BBC *Live at the BBC (The Beatles ...

'' and ''

On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 ''On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2'' is a 2013 live/compilation album featuring 40 previously unreleased tracks from the Beatles' 1963–1964 BBC Radio broadcasts (accompanied by 23 interview tracks from the associated broadcasts). It was ...

'' CD compilations, as well as other BBC session compilations from bands such as

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

, and

the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

. On television, he was the presenter of '' Thank Your Lucky Stars'' (

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, 1961–66). The influence of ''Easy Beat'' on radio declined owing to the rise of

offshore radio Offshore radio is radio broadcasting from ships or fixed maritime structures. Offshore broadcasters are usually unlicensed but transmissions are legal in international waters. This is in contrast to unlicensed broadcasting on land or within a na ...

after 1964. When

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

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. ...

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

and

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' ...

launched in 1967, ''Easy Beat'' was dropped, and ''Saturday Club'' was taken over by another presenter,

Keith Skues Richard Keith Skues MBE, AE (born 4 March 1939) is a British radio personality. His career spans over 60 years. Biography Skues was born in Timperley, Cheshire. His broadcasting career began on the British Forces Network in Cologne, Germany, in 1 ...

(formerly of the "pirate" Radio London), before it too was axed in 1969. Matthew celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first edition of ''Saturday Club'' in a special edition of ''Sounds of the 60s'' on 4 October 2008, by featuring some recordings from some of the shows and entertaining listeners with some reminiscences. In 1972, he narrated ''The Beatles Story'', a 12-part documentary series on BBC Radio 1 and 2, which has been repeated on

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

. In 1973, Matthew fronted a new radio series entitled ''My Top 12'', which lasted for an hour on weekend afternoons on Radio 1. The programme was later presented by Bob Harris and

Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...

. Guests in 1974 included

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

and

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

. Later, Matthew was the presenter of

's arts magazine ''Round Midnight'', from 1978 to 1990. From 1990 he hosted ''

'' (a programme first presented in 1983 by Keith Fordyce) on the same network on Saturday mornings, playing many of the

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

he initially played on ''Saturday Club'' and ''Easy Beat''. Matthew announced at the end of his show on 26 August 2006 that owing to ill-health he would be taking several weeks off his Radio 2 show, for the first time in sixteen years.

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky now owned by Diageo that originated in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. The brand was first established by grocer John Walker. It is the most widely distributed brand of blended ...

was the main host in his absence.

Sandie Shaw Sandie may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Sandie Clair (born 1988), French professional racing cyclist * Sandie Fitzgibbon, Irish former camogie player * Sandie Jones (1950/1951–2019), Irish singer * Sandie Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker (1879 ...

, Joe Brown and

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of hit singles that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, reaching No. 1 in th ...

were also guest hosts. Matthew returned to the show and the station on 10 February 2007. Matthew won a Sony Gold Award in 2008: "To celebrate an impressive record of more than 50 years of national and international radio broadcasting. For that lifetime career and in recognition of a truly outstanding contribution to UK radio." On 29 October 2016 Matthew became the oldest regular broadcaster on BBC Radio, following

Desmond Carrington Desmond Herbert Carrington (23 May 1926 – 1 February 2017) was a British broadcaster and actor whose career spanned 75 years. He was best known for his weekly show on BBC Radio 2 which aired for 35 years, from 4 October 1981 until his final br ...

's retirement. On 26 November 2016,

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...

stood in as presenter of the show. Rice announced that he would be sitting in for a few weeks since Matthew was "under the weather". In fact, Matthew had suffered a fall at home and had spent a few weeks in hospital. On 27 January 2017, the BBC announced that he would not return to the station due to ill health. Matthew himself, however, disagreed with the BBC's statement, saying: "That's absolute balderdash. I was ready and willing and able to go back, and they've just said they are going to put the programme in the hands of other people." The BBC's off-hand treatment led to an e-petition signed by thousands of "avids" demanding his return but failed. and as a result Matthew presented his final show on 25 February 2017, which was a compilation of his favourite tracks and moments from his time on the show. A week later, ''Sounds Of The 60s'' became a live show, hosted by

, moving to an earlier slot between 6am and 8am on Saturday mornings. As of April 2017 Blackburn continued to host the show between these times. During Matthew's tenure, the show was pre-recorded. However, a show from January 2015 was broadcast in an early morning repeat slot on 6 March 2017, with new links recorded by Matthew.

Personal life and death

1963 03 Charleys Aunt 0002 (3) Brian and Pamela Matthew

In 1951, Matthew married Pamela Wickington, with whom he had one child, Christopher, born in 1954. They involved themselves in amateur theatre and were prominent members of Chelsfield Players in Kent from 1958 to 1966. He built a theatre in his Chelsfield home and formed his own dramatic society called the Pilgrim Players. During this time he worked with actor brothers Arthur White and

David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector J ...

. Matthew died of

on 8 April 2017 in London. Four days before his death, the BBC had reported that he had died, but later corrected this, saying he was critically ill in hospital. He is survived by his wife and their son.

References

External links

*
Radio Rewind Biography with archive show clips

- ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' 8 April 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthew, Brian 1928 births 2017 deaths English radio DJs English television presenters BBC Radio 2 presenters People educated at Bablake School Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art People from Coventry