Paul Kaye (born Paul De Kazarine; 17 February 1934 – 4 November 1980) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

radio broadcaster from

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

in North Devon.

Biography

After leaving school, he worked in repertory theatre and in 1952, became stage manager to a theatre company in Nairobi. He volunteered for the Kenyan police and saw active service during the

Mau Mau emergency The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...

. He began working on the country's radio network and later broadcast in both Cyprus and Canada.

Radio work

Paul Kaye was a DJ and head of news on the

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 nat ...

station Radio London and was the first and last voice to be heard on the station that broadcast from 23 December 1964 to 14 August 1967. Radio London was the first of the UK (pirate) offshore stations to operate a news service and Kaye was the news chief. His bulletins were on the half-hour, which conveniently gave him just enough time to re-write the BBC news which was broadcast on the hour. Kaye also presented programmes, especially in the early months of the station, and his theme was "Town Talk" by Ken Woodman and his Piccadilly Brass, a tune later used on the BBC by Jimmy Young. In August 1967, the Marine Offences Act became law and the first voice on Radio London became the last as Paul closed the station down. Kaye later went on to present for

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 ...

, followed by a syndicated

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

programme for

Radio Hallam Hallam FM is an Independent Local Radio station based in Sheffield, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to South Yorkshire. As of September 2022, the station has a weekly audience of 283,000 ...

Radio Tees TFM is an Independent Local Radio station based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Teesside and surrounding areas of County Durham and North Yorkshire. As of Septem ...

and Pennine Radio.

Television work

Throughout the 1970s, Kaye was a continuity announcer for

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

working alongside Radio London colleagues John Crosse and Earl Richmond as well as

Redvers Kyle Redvers Buller Kyle (25 November 1929 – 18 November 2015) was a South African-born British broadcaster, voice over artist, actor and composer, best known for his work on the ITV network in the United Kingdom over forty years. Biography Redvers ...

, Keith Martin and Terry Davis.

Death

Kaye died on 4 November 1980 aged 46.

References

External links

offshoreradio.co.uk Pirate Radio Hall of Fame biography
Offshore radio broadcasters Pirate radio personalities British radio DJs English radio personalities Radio and television announcers British television presenters 1934 births 1980 deaths Mass media people from Barnstaple {{UK-radio-bio-stub