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Roger Scott (23 October 1943 – 31 October 1989) was a British radio
disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
. He was best known for presenting an afternoon radio show on
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 ...
's
Capital London 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. I ...
from 1973 until 1988 and was also best known for presenting his late night Sunday show, ''Scott on Sunday'' 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, ...
until his death from cancer. Born in London in 1943, Roger Scott developed an early love of the
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
music being created at the end of the 1950s and early 1960s. As a teenager, he began playing records out the window of his suburban London home and watching the reaction of passers-by to the music.


Early career

After a brief time as a merchant seaman, Scott found his way to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and joined the radio station WPTR in
Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
in 1966. Scott's job, based on his
British accent Spoken English shows great variation across regions where it is the predominant language. For example, the United Kingdom has the largest variation of accents of any country in the world, and therefore no single "British accent" exists. This ar ...
, was to be 'friend of
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 ...
', and Scott learned the craft of disc jockey, working with Boom Boom Brannigan and other legendary names at the station. Eight months later he left WPTR to become the evening presenter at the
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
station 1470 CFOX. From 1967 to 1971 he was known by listeners for his on-air antics and for his passionate love of music. Notable during this time was his participation in "
Give Peace a Chance "Give Peace a Chance" is an anti-war song written by John Lennon (originally credited to Lennon–McCartney), and recorded with the participation of a small group of friends in a performance with Yoko Ono in a hotel room in Montreal, Quebec, C ...
", recorded by
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
with
Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...
during their Bed-In for Peace at the
Queen Elizabeth Hotel Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth (french: Fairmont Le Reine Élizabeth) is a historic grand hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. With 950 rooms and 21 floors it is the largest hotel in the province of Quebec, and the second largest Fairmont hotel in ...
in Montreal. Anticipating the launch of legal land-based
commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship. It was the United States′ first model of radio (an ...
, Scott returned to the UK in 1971, only to find the introduction was not as advanced as he had anticipated. Meanwhile, he secured a position at UBN, a closed-circuit station broadcasting music to all the
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 ...
factories nationwide. It was about this time he also had a brief stint 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, ...
but, anticipating a future in commercial radio, he did so under the pseudonym 'Bob Baker'. In 1975 he and
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'', ' ...
were resident team captains on a short-lived
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. ...
...
television pop quiz programme, 'Disco!', hosted by
Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekd ...
and broadcast on Sunday afternoons. He did not enjoy working on television, and the show finished after only one series.


Capital London

In 1973 Scott joined the original on-air line-up of London's
Capital London 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. I ...
. His afternoon drive-time shows became immensely popular with Londoners, generating such landmark features as the 'Three O'Clock Thrill' and the daily 'Hitline', together with the jingle 'Grab a little piece of heaven' by David Dundas. In 1976 his regular Friday rush-hour oldies show "Cruising", first broadcast at weekends in 1973, acquired a cult following, largely owing to his introduction of obscure rock-a-billy records to his London audience for the first time. He was also one of the first people in the British media to popularise the music of
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
. It was also during this time that Roger Scott helped champion the Knebworth Rock Festival in 1980. The Festival's Headliner was the Beach Boys who had just released their latest album titled "Keeping the Summer Alive". Scott was always a big supporter of the West Coast Beach Boys influence on modern popular music and in anticipation of the Rock Festival and also a series of two concerts at the Empire Pool (now the
Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...
), Scott had listeners vote on their all time 15 top Beach Boy Hits of all time. Two subsequent Fridays were used to play back the top songs coupled with some excellent interviews with all the then band members including some insightful interviews with band member, and producer at the time, Bruce Johnston. Additionally Scott included one of the Wembley concerts in his Friday night live concert series. Scott disdained the standardised playlists, market and audience research and other techniques introduced by the commercial stations in the 1980s.


Leaked Beatles session tapes

Roger Scott was also the source of many unreleased Beatles session tapes that were issued on bootlegs. Scott was working alongside EMI engineer John Barrett on a media presentation called The Abbey Road Video Show in 1982–83. Barrett had already done a full review of all existing Beatles session tapes and during production, Barrett compiled several tapes for the presentation. Roger Scott was chosen to narrate the special. It's this project that Scott worked on that gave him access to the tapes. In later years Barrett, who died in 1984 (and also Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn) had been accused as the source of the leaked recordings. Barrett (nor Lewishohn) never leaked anything; it was his compilations of tapes, copies of which were made by Scott, that got leaked. Scott actually used some of the tracks from these dubs in 1984 for a 12-hour radio show on the Beatles entitled "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". This material subsequently appeared (taken directly from the radio show syndication transcription discs) on the bootleg NEMS release "Not For Sale" in early 1985. After Scott got diagnosed with cancer, he sold the tapes to some bootleggers for some extra cash shortly before his death. The majority of the leaked Beatles EMI material came from Scott. One set has been confirmed to have been sold to Dieter Schubert of bootleg label The Swingin' Pig.


BBC Radio 1

In June 1988, after fifteen years of broadcasting with Capital, he moved to commercial-free
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, ...
. There, he reached a national audience for the first time, presenting a Saturday afternoon show ''The Saturday Sequence'' and a late night Sunday show, ''Scott on Sunday''. The Saturday show featured interviews with many artists, and during this time Scott interviewed Dion,
Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...
,
Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. He is the drummer and one of the lead singers for the Eagles. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles hits such as "Witchy Woman", "Despe ...
and many others. The Sunday shows were more eclectic, featuring 1950's rock'n'roll,
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
,
classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
and more contemporary music. In 1989 he also began the Classic Albums series for Radio 1. The show and Scott were remembered on a dedicated Radio 1 Vintage tribute show introduced by Richard Skinner on 30 September 2017. Roger Scott finished his final Radio 1 show, broadcast on 8 October 1989, with '
Heroes and Villains "Heroes and Villains" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album ''Smiley Smile'' and their unfinished ''Smile'' project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, Wilson envisioned the song as an Old West-themed ...
' by the
Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...
, and his last words were: "Thank you for your company, thank you for your support and thank you for your kindness. I hope I'll see you next weekend but there are no guarantees". Having been diagnosed with cancer, he died at the end of the month, eight days after his 46th birthday. In December 1989 a tribute to him was recorded and broadcast on Radio 1, compered by
Alan Freeman Alan Leslie Freeman, MBE (6 July 1927 – 27 November 2006), nicknamed "Fluff", was an Australian-born British disc jockey and radio personality in the United Kingdom for 40 years, best known for presenting ''Pick of the Pops'' from 1961 to 200 ...
, with performances from
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
,
Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with pub rock and new wave, having many hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has alwa ...
and
Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave,Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...
,
Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, fie ...
, and
Mark Germino Mark Germino is an American folk rock and country singer-songwriter. Born in North Carolina, he initially worked as a poet before moving into folk rock songwriting; by 1974, he had moved to Nashville. Initially, he did not plan to become a sing ...
, whose single 'Rex Bob Lowenstein' had been a particular favourite of Scott.


Tribute

In 2010, the internationally syndicated radio show It's Only Rock 'n' Roll broadcast a 2 part tribute to Roger Scott. Hosted by Alex East and featuring interviews with his friends and former colleagues:
Jan Ravens Janet "Jan" Ravens (born 14 May 1958) is an English actress and impressionist, known for her voice work on ''Spitting Image'' and '' Dead Ringers''. Early life Ravens grew up in Hoylake, then in Cheshire, on the west side of the Wirral with he ...
, Dave Cash,
Marc Denis Joseph Marc Denis (born August 1, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender, who last played with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). For the 2009–10 season, he was hired as the goaltenders' coach of ...
,
John Sachs John Sachs (born 3 May 1957) is a British television presenter, voiceover and commentator. He narrated the original series of ''Gladiators (1992 British TV series), Gladiators'', and was a longtime DJ on London's radio station Capital London. ...
, Mick Brown,
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 197 ...
and
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 S ...
. It aired on radio stations around the world in the spring of 2010.


References


External links


Roger Scott's last broadcast on WPTR (Real)
* ttp://www.rogerscott.net/ Tribute website set up by Roger's son Jamie which includes many clips and interviews {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Roger 1943 births 1989 deaths British radio DJs British radio personalities Radio presenters from London Deaths from cancer in the United Kingdom