Tommy Vance
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Richard Anthony Crispian Francis Prew Hope-Weston (11 July 1940 – 6 March 2005), known professionally as Tommy Vance, was an English radio broadcaster. He was an important factor in the rise of the
new wave of British heavy metal The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...
(NWOBHM), along with London-based disc jockey
Neal Kay Neal Kay (born 10 February 1950) is a former London-based disc jockey, who was an important factor in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), along with Tommy Vance, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Career Neal Kay has alwa ...
, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Vance was one of the first radio hosts in the United Kingdom to broadcast
hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
and heavy metal in the early 1980s, providing the only national radio forum for both bands and fans. The ''
Friday Rock Show The ''Friday Rock Show'' was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights, from 17 November 1978 until 2 April 1993. For most of its existence, it was hosted by Tommy Vance. Vance ...
'' that he hosted gave new bands airtime for their music and fans an opportunity to hear it. He used a personal tag-line of "TV on the radio". His voice was heard by millions around the world announcing the
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
acts at
Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...
in 1985.


Early life

Born Richard Anthony Crispian Francis Prew Hope-Weston in
Eynsham Eynsham is an English village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Oxfordshire, about north-west of Oxford and east of Witney. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 4,648. It was estimated at 5,0 ...
,
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, on 11 July 1940, his grandmother owned a travelling repertory company, his father was an electronics engineer, and his mother a former singer and dancer. Expelled from school at 15 for truancy, Vance got his first job as trainee manager at the Hyde Park Hotel, London. He joined the merchant navy in 1956, aged 16, as a cabin boy. It was while docked in New York, listening to US radio, that Vance first toyed with becoming a disc jockey. He had been brought up on the British broadcasting of the 1950s and, like a number of his contemporaries, fell in love with the brash sound of American commercial radio. When Vance returned to the UK, he worked as a mechanic for a jukebox company so that he could hear music for free. Unable to find an opening in British radio he enrolled at a Northern Irish college, becoming a part-time actor/stage hand. He joined the Ulster Bridge Repertory Company, run by the actor James Ellis, as a stage manager.


Career


KOL Seattle and KHJ Los Angeles

Moving to Vancouver in pursuit of his first wife, Fern, in 1964, he joined KOL Seattle as its prime
drive-time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this cla ...
jock. The programme had originally been intended for another presenter who had pulled out of the deal at the last moment, the jingles and pre-launch publicity could not go to waste continuing under the name "Tommy Vance", "The station asked if I would take the name as they had already made the jingles for him. I said, for that kind of money you can call me what you like, mate". He got into a pay dispute with KOL and quit and went on to voice his displeasure on rival KJR where he co-hosted for a few days with KJR's prime time jock
Pat O'Day Paul W. Berg (1934 – August 4, 2020), known professionally as Pat O'Day, was an American broadcaster and concert promoter in the Pacific Northwest. O'Day, born in Norfolk, Nebraska, is probably best known as the afternoon drive personality at S ...
. From there Vance moved to Los Angeles where he was offered a show by programming consultant
Bill Drake Bill Drake (January 14, 1937 – November 29, 2008), born Philip Yarbrough, was an American radio programmer who co-developed the Boss Radio format with Gene Chenault via their company Drake-Chenault.Douglas, Susan, "Listening In: Radio and the ...
on KHJ radio (aka
Boss Radio Boss Radio was the name of two radio programming formats, both launched in the early 1960s: One in the United States, and one in the United Kingdom. Although the names were the same, the formats were quite different. The word "boss" was early 196 ...
), holding the evening 9-midnight airshift at KHJ for a few months in late 1965. KHJ was one of the most successful and influential Top 40 stations of the era and California in 1965 was a great place to be. However, America was then involved in a war in Vietnam and when Tommy got his draft papers for the US Army, he decided it was time to head back to the UK. For the next several months Vance filed occasional phone-in reports for KHJ covering the British music scene.


Offshore Pirate Radio

Vance returned to the UK in 1965 just before Christmas with British musician
Ian Whitcomb Ian Timothy Whitcomb (10 July 1941 – 19 April 2020) was an English entertainer, singer-songwriter, record producer, writer, broadcaster and actor. As part of the British Invasion, his hit song " You Turn Me On" reached number 8 on the ''B ...
who lent him the fare. Bill Hearne hired Vance for
Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. ...
South, where his colleagues included
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 Sc ...
,
Dave Lee Travis David Patrick Griffin (born 25 May 1945), known professionally as Dave Lee Travis, is an English disc jockey, radio presenter and television presenter. Travis began his broadcasting career on the pirate radio station Radio Caroline in 1965. He ...
,
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 ...
and
Emperor Rosko Michael Joseph Pasternak (born 26 December 1942), known by his stage name Emperor Rosko, is an American presenter of rock music programmes, most widely known for his shows on Radio Caroline and BBC Radio 1 in the UK in the 1960s and early 1970s. ...
. On 3 January 1966, Vance presented his first show on Caroline South; his slogan was "TV on radio" and used
Jack Costanzo Jack Costanzo (September 24, 1919 – August 18, 2018) was an American percussionist. Biography A composer, conductor and drummer, Costanzo is best known for having been a bongo player, and was nicknamed "Mr. Bongo". He visited Havana three ...
's version of the "Naked City Theme" as his signature tune. Vance released a handful of singles; "You Must Be the One", A-covers of
Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English beat, rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester, originally called Herman and His Hermits and featuring lead singer Peter Noone. Produced by Mickie Most, the Hermits charted with number ones in the UK a ...
', 'Silhouettes' and a cover of The Rolling Stones, "Off the Hook". Vance's wife was not pleased with the idea that her husband was going to be with Caroline South, on a ship two weeks out of three, where she would be living in an unfamiliar city on her own. Vance left Caroline South and moved to
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 ...
. Nonetheless, the marriage did not last. Radio Caroline's
Ronan O'Rahilly Aodogán Ronan O'Rahilly (21 May 1940 – 20 April 2020) was an Irish businessman best known for the creation of the offshore radio station, Radio Caroline and the band Sheep On Drugs. He also became manager of George Lazenby, who played James ...
suggested Vance he should return to the ship, he rejoined Caroline South in December 1966. During the summer of 1967, it became apparent that the government was going to legislate against the offshore pirate stations. Vance heard a rumour that Philip Birch, boss of
Wonderful Radio London Radio London, also known as Big L and Wonderful Radio London, was a top 40 (in London's case, the " Fab 40") offshore commercial station that operated from 23 December 1964 to 14 August 1967, from a ship anchored in the North Sea, off Frint ...
, was negotiating to move his station to France and Vance wanted to be a part of it. In July 1967, he transferred to Radio London – however, Big L failed to find a base on the continent. Rather than break the new law, the station closed down on 14 August. Vance's stay with the station was very brief.


Radio 1, BBC World Service and Capital Radio

After the pirates were closed down in 1967, the BBC's new station,
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, ...
, adopted much of their musical philosophy and took on many of their personnel including Caroline colleagues Tony Blackburn, Johnnie Walker and Radio London's
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 ...
. Vance co-hosted the "progressive" show ''
Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
'' with Peel. When the programme was given to Peel to present solo, Vance moved to the
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
in the late 1960s, launching " Pop Club", a hugely popular radio programme on the
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
. Each installment of the programme started with a song 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 ...
, who was the nominal president of the club. Listeners to the BBC World Service from all over the world would apply to become members of Pop Club, receiving a membership card, special badges and gifts. Every week Vance would read listeners' letters and played requests with one being chosen as the "letter of the week". Vance was becoming frustrated with his lack of progress, however, and joined Radio Monte Carlo International with Dave Cash and Kenny Everett. In October 1973, all three would join the newly launched London-based
Capital Radio 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. ...
, Britain's first legal commercial pop station. Initially co-presenting the morning show with
Joan Shenton Joan Alicia Shenton (born 16 March 1943) is a British broadcaster who has produced and presented programmes for radio and television. Shenton is known as an exponent of the ideas of AIDS denial. Early life Shenton was born in Antofagasta, Chil ...
, then playing Capital's very first reggae and soul music on a weekend show. In 1975, Vance made a brief film appearance as disc jockey Ricky Storm, in
Richard Loncraine Richard Loncraine (born 20 October 1946) is a British film and television director. Loncraine was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Loncraine received early training in the features department of the BBC, including a season directing i ...
's '' Slade in Flame'', a vehicle for the group
Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...
. By 1976, Vance was also on the
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
ILR station
Radio Victory Radio Victory was the independent local radio (ILR) station for Portsmouth in southern England. It was launched on 14 October 1975 and served south Hampshire, West Sussex and the Isle of Wight initially until 1986, with various later reincarnat ...
. He was also frequently heard on independent radio voicing advertisements. At a time when punk was being shunned by the press, he carried out the first in-depth interview with
Johnny Rotten John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and agai ...
of the
Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
in 1977, whose single 'Pretty Vacant' was A-listed on Capital's playlist. Rotten talked at length about his love of reggae music, at a time when the group were given very little media exposure other than in the weekly music press. Vance also presented Capital's Hitline Top 30 on Sunday evenings, based on listener votes, starting from the top of the chart. He would often abandon the chart during the 20-30 positions, in favour of album tracks by rock bands such as Led Zeppelin.


BBC and the Friday Rock Show

Vance returned to Radio 1 in November 1978 to begin a 15-year stint hosting the show for which he is best remembered – the ''
Friday Rock Show The ''Friday Rock Show'' was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights, from 17 November 1978 until 2 April 1993. For most of its existence, it was hosted by Tommy Vance. Vance ...
''. He was to become associated with heavy metal and
rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
; his deep, resonant, booming voice and catch-phrase 'classic cuts' have been much imitated. The first record which he played on the show, and with which he finished on his final programme in 1993, was '
Rock 'n' Roll Damnation "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation" is a single by the Australian rock band AC/DC, and the first track on their ''Powerage'' album, released in 1978. The single version is an abbreviated version of the album track, with a time of 3:05, as opposed to the ...
' by
AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...
. A 1983 edition was the first radio programme to use only compact discs. His signature music was "Take It Off the Top" by
Dixie Dregs The Dixie Dregs is an American rock band from Augusta, Georgia. Formed in 1970, the band's performance consists entirely of instrumentals that fuse elements of diverse genres such as rock, classical music, country, jazz and bluegrass into an e ...
and then he would say in his gravelly voice, "Hi, this is TV on the radio and welcome to the programme that we call the Friday Rock Show." Vance had a two-year stint (10 January 1982 to 1 January 1984) hosting the Sunday-afternoon
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 ...
, where he showed knowledge of and enthusiasm for a wide range of music and displayed a similar keenness when he hosted ''
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 ...
'' around the same time. He also deputised on the Top 40 for Richard Skinner (in 1984 and 1985),
Bruno Brookes Trevor Neil "Bruno" Brookes (born 1959 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) is an English former radio presenter who became prominent on British radio in the 1980s. He was CEO of in-store radio company Immedia from 2000–2020. Early life and care ...
(in 1987) and
Mark Goodier Mark Goodier (born 9 June 1961) is a British radio disc jockey best known for his time on BBC Radio 1 between 1987 and 2002. He had two spells presenting the station's Top 40 singles chart, from 1990 to 1992 and from 1995 until 2002. He also h ...
(in 1991 and 1992). Vance was a daily presenter on BFBS from 1976 to 1987 and so he also became known in Germany, where BFBS was popular among a civilian audience despite being aimed officially at British military personnel. He also presented a weekly chart show for BFBS as well as other programmes such as ''Soul Bowl''. As well as presenting the best-selling singles chart of 1982 and 1983, he also presented the equivalent show in 1991 despite not presenting the weekly chart at the time. From 1984 to 1985, Vance hosted a Thursday night AOR programme on Radio 1, "Into the Music". This was in place for about a year before being taken off in favour of
Andy Kershaw Andrew J. G. Kershaw (born 9 November 1959) is a broadcaster and disc jockey, predominantly on radio, and known for his interest in world music. Kershaw's shows feature a mix of country, blues, reggae, folk music, African music, spoken word ...
. At a similar time, the "Friday Rock Show" gained an extra hour on MW only, during which the rock charts were played. When the BBC's new radio station for London,
Greater London Radio BBC Radio London is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London and its surrounding areas. The station broadcasts across the area and beyond, on the 94.9 FM broadcasting, FM frequency, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, ...
(GLR), was launched in 1988, Vance presented the drivetime show, mixing
album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-oriente ...
and current affairs dubbed "rock and rolling news". He also became the continuity announcer for BBC2 in the early 1970s as well as Sky One in the late 1980s and interviewed for the BBC World Service. Vance was a frequent choice as master of ceremonies at award shows, concerts and festivals; such as
Monsters of Rock Monsters of Rock was an annual hard rock and heavy metal music festival held in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as the Netherlands, Poland, ...
at
Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...
. Vance departed Radio 1 in March 1993, however, he continued to host ''Rock Salad'' for BBC World Service for many years.


Later years

Tommy was a key player in the launch of
Virgin Radio Virgin Radio launched in the United Kingdom in 1993. In 2008, Virgin Radio UK was sold to TIML, a subsidiary of The Times of India group, and the name was changed to Absolute Radio; the Virgin Radio name was not included in the sale. In 2001, ...
in March 1993, presenting the Drivetime show, a move he later regretted as the station dropped its adventurous format in favour of an ad-driven playlist. Vance co-founded the internet radio station Rock Radio Network with his former Radio 1 producer Tony Wilson, music promoter
Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to: * Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist * Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist * Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, Ne ...
and journalist
Malcolm Dome Malcolm Dome (1955 – 29 October 2021) was an English music journalist. He wrote about rock and heavy metal from 1979. In addition to writing books, he was a journalist for ''Record Mirror'', ''Kerrang!'', ''Metal Hammer'' and ''Classic Roc ...
in 1997, rebranding as TotalRock in 2000. Vance developed business interests with the Silk Sound studios in Soho, later joined by The Bridge. Vance joined digital music channel
VH-1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communi ...
UK from its inception in 1994 with 'The Nightfly', later reviving 'The Friday Rock Show', which ran for some years until 2002. Vance featured twice in the Channel 4 comedy series, ''
The 11 O'Clock Show ''The 11 O'Clock Show'' is a satirical late-night British television comedy series on Channel 4 which featured topical sketches and commentary on news items. It ran between 30 September 1998 and 8 December 2000, most notably hosted by Iain Lee a ...
'', the spot was called Tommy Vance's News Slam in which he took a minute to read out news headlines. He was presenter and voiceover for the Channel 5 series ''
Dumber and Dumber Dumb may refer to: A human state * Muteness, the condition of being unwilling or unable to speak * Stupidity, a lack of intelligence Songs * "Dumb" (Faith Evans song), 2012 * "Dumb" (Nirvana song), a 1993 song from Nirvana's album ''In Uter ...
'' and had a much quoted appearance on ''
Brass Eye ''Brass Eye'' is a British satirical television series parodying current affairs news programming. A series of six episodes aired on Channel 4 in 1997, and a further episode in 2001. The series was created and presented by Chris Morris, written ...
''. Perhaps his most memorable TV appearance came in 2004 when he walked out of ITV's ''
Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...
''. He decided to leave the show after escaping a scalding from boiling fat and foulmouthed abuse from the celebrity chef,
Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a tot ...
. Vance's agent stated that he felt the environment was "dangerous" and that he was a risk to himself and the other contestants due to his age. When Vance moved to Spain, it was with the intention of a gentle semi-retirement. It was not long before he was back on the air playing music for the tourists and ex-pats on the Costa del Sol's Spectrum FM. Vance came back to Britain and threw himself into work again, doing commercials, appearing on television and returning to Virgin to present a weekly show on their DAB and internet offshoot, Virgin Classic Rock.


Death

Vance died at
Darent Valley Hospital Darent Valley Hospital is a 478-bed, acute district general hospital in Dartford, Kent, England. The hospital has an Emergency Department. The hospital is managed by the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust. History The hospital, which was built to ...
in
Dartford, Kent Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in E ...
in the early hours of 6 March 2005, three days after suffering a
stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
at his home.DJ Tommy Vance dies at Daily Telegraph
Retrieved 27 February 2015
He said of death, "When you're gone, you're gone, I don't want anybody weeping for me." Vance is survived by his ex-wife, their son and daughter.


Tributes

On 11 March 2005, five days after Vance's death, TotalRock ran ''Rock On, Tommy Day'', a 15-hour live broadcast celebrating his life and work, including much music, numerous testimonials from artists and colleagues, and also from people who wrote down their thoughts on Tommy at a special Forum, ''In Memoriam: Tommy Vance'', put up at the TotalRock website. As a finale, after the actual live broadcast had ended, the last
Friday Rock Show The ''Friday Rock Show'' was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights, from 17 November 1978 until 2 April 1993. For most of its existence, it was hosted by Tommy Vance. Vance ...
Vance recorded for
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, ...
in 1993 was re-broadcast. Author
Paul Stenning Paul David Stenning (born 12 June 1976) is an English author, ghostwriter and poet. He has written twenty-nine books, of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and biography. The best-known of his books is ''The Robert Pattinson Album'', a biography of R ...
dedicated his biographies of
Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
and
Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...
to Vance. On 31 March 2006, a Tommy Vance Tribute Night, in association with the
Teenage Cancer Trust Teenage Cancer Trust is a cancer care and support charity in the UK that exists to improve the cancer experience of young people aged 13–24. Founded in 1990, the charity's key service is providing specialist teenage units in NHS hospitals. It ...
foundation, was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...
,
Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...
and
Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...
all performed to pay tribute. There were also special stage appearances by
Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band The Who. Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Ge ...
and
Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...
. In early 2018, it was announced that a new festival, Stonedeaf, would be naming their stage after Tommy Vance. In true Monsters of Rock fashion with one day and one stage, held at Newark Showground on the same weekend.


References


External links


Merchant Navy records held at the National Archives




*
TOMMY VANCE WEBSITE March 2015
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vance, Tommy 1940 births 2005 deaths English radio DJs English radio people English sailors Offshore radio broadcasters People from Eynsham Pirate radio personalities Virgin Radio (UK) BBC Radio 1 presenters Radio Luxembourg (English) presenters Golders Green Crematorium Top of the Pops presenters