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David Allan "Kid" Jensen (born 4 July 1950) is a Canadian-born British radio DJ and television presenter. Born in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

, Jensen began as a radio DJ 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 ...

. Jensen was later a broadcaster for the

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from 1976 to 1984, as a host on

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, ...

and presenter on the TV music programme ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' from 1977 to 1984. Jensen has also hosted and presented for Capital FM and

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 ...

among other stations.

Early career

Born into a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

-origin family residing in

, Jensen began his career in his home country at the age of sixteen playing jazz and classical music on CJOV-FM, in

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

, on a show called Music For Dining, which was sponsored a lot of the time by a number of local funeral parlours. He then joined

at the age of eighteen in November 1968, joining Paul Kay,

Paul Burnett Paul Burnett (born 26 November 1943) is an English radio disc jockey. Early career Burnett began his radio career while in the Royal Air Force in the Persian Gulf in 1964. In 1966 he joined offshore radio station, Radio 270, broadcasting off ...

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 ...

and

Tony Prince Tony Prince (born Thomas Whitehead; 9 May 1944) is a British radio disc jockey and businessman. He broadcast on Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg in the 1960s and 1970s, later becoming a programme director and then businessman. He was respon ...

as the resident DJ team. His recruitment was part of the "all-live" initiative, bringing to an end most of the pre-recorded shows. His initial slot was 1am to 3am Monday to Thursday, and 7pm to 9pm Sunday evenings, but was quickly promoted at the start of 1969 to an earlier slot, mostly starting at 9pm. Being only 18 years old, Paul Burnett affectionately called him the "kid" and the name "Kid" Jensen was being widely used in newspaper listings by February 1969. From May 1970, he presented a popular progressive rock show, typically broadcast at midnight or 1am, later billed as "Dimensions" which resulted in a big increase in listeners to this slot. By 1974, Jensen was becoming a TV personality in Britain, hosting pop shows on

(including music quiz show Pop Quest), and in the mid-1970s he worked for the then-new

Radio Trent Trent FM was an Independent Local Radio station which broadcast to Nottinghamshire. The station merged with two other East Midlands stations, Leicester Sound and Ram FM to form Capital FM East Midlands (part of Global's Capital FM Network) o ...

(now

Capital East Midlands Capital East Midlands was a regional radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Capital radio network, broadcasting to the East Midlands from studios in Nottingham. It launched on 3 January 2011 following the merger of Tren ...

) in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, one of the first legal, land-based commercial radio stations in the UK. During the early part of his career he was billed as "Kid Jensen" and did not use his given name professionally until 1980.

Broadcasting career

BBC Radio 1

In 1976 he joined the BBC's pop network,

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 ...

, initially hosting a Saturday morning show from 10am to midday, but sitting in for many other DJs, and eventually graduating to a weekday late afternoon/early evening show in the spring of 1978 from 4:30 to 7:00pm. He kept his profile high through regular appearances presenting ''

'', and championed many acts who went on to achieve huge commercial success, notably

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...

and

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...

. After his 29 May 1980 radio show, Jensen left the BBC to work for the

Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...

WTBS cable superstation in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, where he was host of the 10:00pm nightly news. On 12 October 1981, Jensen returned to BBC Radio 1 with a new weekday evening show from 810pm. The show was later extended to run from 710pm. Soon afterwards he dropped the "Kid" name, although he would still be popularly known by it for many years to come. His mid-evening show was dominated by indie-rock, but also featured interviews with mainstream acts such as

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

, and was the first show to champion

Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (singer), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (FGTH drummer), Peter ...

, before their commercial success. He remained a regular ''Top of the Pops'' presenter and struck up a famous partnership with

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. He also wrote a pop column for the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

''.

Capital Radio

In 1984, Jensen quit Radio 1 and joined London's Capital FM, presenting the weekday mid-morning show (replacing Michael Aspel); moving to weekday drivetime in 1987. In addition to his weekday shows he also presented the weekly ''

The Network Chart Show ''The Commercial Radio Chart Show'' is a radio programme that was broadcast across commercial adult contemporary and contemporary hit radio stations across the United Kingdom, from 30 September 1984 to 30 December 2018. It had many different nam ...

'', the UK's first syndicated commercial radio show which originally went out every Sunday between 5p.m. and 7p.m., competing directly with Radio 1's

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

show. While presenting the ''Network Chart'', Jensen became

's unofficial "face" of pop music, presenting pop shows such as ''

The Roxy Roxy, Roxey, and Roxie may refer to: People * Roxy (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name Places in the United States * Roxie, Mississippi, a town * Roxie, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Music * Roxy ...

'' (an attempt to compete with ''Top of the Pops''). He continued to comment regularly on pop-related stories in ITN and

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...

bulletins for some time after he left the ''Network Chart'' in 1993, when he was replaced by Neil Fox. Jensen continued to present the weekday drivetime show on Capital FM until 1998. He also presented various children's programmes including ''Worldwise'' and ''Popquest''.

Recent years

In 1998, Jensen joined rival London FM station, Heart 106.2, presenting the weekday drivetime show from 4pm to 7pm. He also presented a Sunday afternoon CD chart show called Kid Jensen's CD Countdown which was produced by Blue Revolution and networked on

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

's 100.7 Heart FM and various other stations. In 2002, Jensen returned to Capital and was heard on its oldies service

Capital Gold The Capital Gold radio station started in London in 1988 on Capital Radio's AM frequency, after the Independent Broadcasting Authority had urged stations to end simulcasting (broadcasting the same programmes simultaneously on AM and FM) and t ...

. First presenting the Monday–Thursday late night show from 10p.m.1a.m., before taking over the weekday mid-morning slot in February 2003, then the breakfast show, (co-hosted with Erika North). Jensen later moved to the late morning slot 10a.m.1p.m. Jensen teamed up with Capital Radio Producer Craig Kingham to present the Saturday morning show. Jensen left Gold in December 2010. In September 2008, Jensen hosted the evening show of Planet Rock (7-11p.m.) as a stand-in for

Nicky Horne Nicky Horne (born 3 September 1950) is an English DJ, who has worked for a variety of radio stations, including Capital Radio. Career Horne worked as a road manager for Emperor Rosko in 1969, before presenting shows on BBC Radio 1, from 19 ...

. He also hosted Planet Rock's Sunday Morning show, "Another Dimension", and co-hosted with Rick Wakeman on Saturday mornings until December 2010 and briefly hosted the Saturday morning 10a.m.1p.m. show on his own, until he left the station in April 2011. Jensen joined Smooth Radio in April 2011 to present an afternoon show. In April 2012, he took over the Smooth Drive Home slot (Mondays to Friday, 4p.m. – 8p.m.) from Carlos. Jensen also hosted a two-hour retro chart show on Smooth Radio on Sunday evenings. Smooth was acquired by Global Radio in 2013. Following a studio and business move to Global headquarters in Leicester Square, Jensen was dropped from the schedules on 19 December 2013. After that he has since been heard on online station, United DJs. He presented a one hour weekly slot every Tuesday evening from 7-8pm. In February 2021, he joined Jazz FM for a six week run of Sunday evening programmes named ''David Jensen's Jazz'' in partnership with

Parkinson's UK Parkinson's UK is a Parkinson's research and support charity in the United Kingdom. In April 2010, the Parkinson's Disease Society changed its name to become Parkinson's UK. Its aims are to improve the quality of life for people affected by Park ...

. Also that month he began a weekly show on the newly launched

Boom Radio Boom Radio (also Boom Radio UK) is an independent, commercial, national radio station in the United Kingdom. Owned by Boom Radio Ltd, the station is aimed at baby boomers, the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964, and is the first rad ...

, on Friday nights called ''Kid Jensen's 70s''. In February 2022, ''David Jensen's Jazz'' returned to Jazz FM for a second series. He was a co-presenter (off-screen) of the TV programme Gillette World Sports Special, alongside Mark Webster.

Personal life

Jensen is married to Iceland-born Gudrún Ágústa Thórarinsdóttir ( is, Guðrún Ágústa Þórarinsdóttir), and they have three children. Their youngest son,

Viktor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

, a racing driver, both competed in and was also a National Class winner in the 2007 British and International Formula 3 Championship. Jensen also founded the Kid Jensen Racing team that briefly raced in the

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

championship, which won one race at the hands of

Nicolas Minassian Nicolas Minassian (born 28 February 1973) is a French professional racing driver of Armenian descent. After finishing 2nd place in the 1993 Formula Renault Eurocup, Marseille-born Minassian graduated to the French Formula Three Championship whe ...

in 1999 at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

. A

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, he is a member of Chelsea Lodge No. 3098, the membership of which is made up of entertainers. In 2010 he became a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

and was inducted into the UK Radio Hall of Fame. Jensen is a fan of

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, is chairman of the Crystal Palace F.C. Vice-President's Club, and also acted as ambassador for the CPFC 2010 consortium during the purchase of the club from administrators. It was announced on 16 January 2018 that Jensen had decided to go public about living with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

for the previous five years.

References

External links

Radio Rewind - David Jensen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, David 1950 births Living people British radio presenters British television presenters BBC Radio 1 presenters Brooklyn Funk Essentials members Canadian expatriates in England Canadian people of Danish descent

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Danish radio presenters Danish television presenters People from Victoria, British Columbia People with Parkinson's disease Radio Luxembourg (English) presenters Top of the Pops presenters