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There are some radio presenters which give listeners a warm glow when they listen to their voice, particularly when they usually broadcast at a certain time of the day such as the early hours of the morning, and at some point in our lives, quite often during the seventies or eighties. Radio 2 went 24 hours in 1979; Colin Berry was its first regular overnight presenter along with Sarah Kennedy, and it was the novelty of 24 hour radio which still felt like a relatively new phenonium, and this was still the case on BBC Radio 2 in the early 1980s. Think of long-distance truck drivers getting from Bristol to Liverpool and they have a national radio station on to keep them company while they drive, and they don't feel so along while travelling on our many motorways. One such presenter used to do the "early shift" at that time, and even his name brings a warm, nostalgic glow to me, funny as it sounds. It happened to be the Radio 2 stalwart Colin Berry, who has died aged 79. He mostly presented in the "graveyard slot", presenting Night Ride, You and the Night and the Music, and the Early Show, the 4.00 am show in which Alex Lester and Charles Nove would later present. In the late 1970s he often presented what was later known as the "Dawn Patrol" slot at around 6.00 am, giving us a national weather forecast with a 1969-1970 tune known as Bikini Parade in the background.
Berry rose from the ranks of Radio Caroline in which he joined in 1965 to join legalised radio such as BBC Radio Kent's predecessor Radio Medway. Although it was BBC Network Radio which he was strongly associated with, Berry also worked for commercial television companies such as HTV (making me think of comparisons with David Hamilton who did continuity announcements for Thames). But it was Radio 2 in which listeners will remember him for, and he also stood in for presenters such as Terry Wogan. He was part of Radio 2's "Old Boy Network" of the 1970s and the 1980s, even though he didn't regularly present during the daytime hours such as familiar names and voices such as Jimmy Young, Ed Stewart, John Dunn, Ray Moore, Ken Bruce, and of course, Terry Wogan. He worked with Wogan for many years; while Sir Terry was narrating the Eurovision Song Contest, Berry was the UK spokesman throughout the 1980s and 1990s, giving Germany five points, or Ireland, the big twelve. Berry was usually seen for around a minute, unironically with a golden sky and views of Big Ben or Tower Bridge behind him as he gave the points to the hosting country's presenter; he continued to do this right up until 2002, and I suppose that his retirement and his absence in 2003 which was probably one reason why Jemini didn't do as well as the UK did in previous years! His retirement from Eurovision was the end of an era in that respect.
He continued to read the news on Radio 2, usually during the early hours of the morning or at weekends and Bank Holidays until around 2012 when he officially retired from the station, but I am almost certain that he still made the odd "appearance" reading the news for sometime after that. Berry was famous enough to make guest appearances on Blankety Blank usually when Wogan was host, he presented Top of the Pops (usually reserved for Radio 1 presenters, although he did a stint on that station before moving to Radio 2), and was a guest on Saturday morning children's TV series Going Live. Around the time that the English BBC local radio stations were available online for the very first time, Colin Berry was a presenter of a three hour show on BBC Three Counties Radio (aka the radio station in which one always can pick up travelling down the M1 towards London). The programme used a jingle singing out his name, reminiscent of seventies and eighties' radio. Here he played forgotten hits from the 1960s and 1980s and had even had a quiz for listeners to take part in, as well as a regular guest whose real name was James Bond. The show was popular enough for it to be networked across radio stations which were within the BBC Look East region, although there was no Alan Partridge-alike comparison there! I enjoyed it when it was on, listening online via my East Midlands home, even though I could get many of the MW frequencies of those East of England radio stations where I used to live at the time (the aerial on the roof pointing in a South East direction was an indication that this was possible). I remember emailing him midweek in relation to his Three Counties programme as he obviously had enough on his plate on Saturday evenings, and he responded straight away, proving how much a gentleman he was.
I would think of Colin Berry as a male version of Moira Stuart, voice-wise, and considering the fact that the latter also had a stint on Radio 2, reading the news for Chris Evans' Breakfast Show, any comparisons are similar. Even now, when listening to Radio 2 during the early hours, I still expect him to present a news bulletin at an unearthly hour such as 5.00 am when most people are still in bed, fast asleep - it is indeed what I would associate early morning Radio 2 with, even now. Certainly, this year when I watch the Eurovision Song Contest in May, and in the final hour, hear that the UK has given 12 points to Austria, I will remember when Colin Berry did that for our own country. He was someone who gave radio listeners whether they were in Cambridgeshire or Cumbria; Cornwall or Cleveland, something positive during the literally dark days from the 1970s to the early 1990s, when the sun had not quite risen yet. He presented overnight in 1979, and he has now passed away at the age of 79.
Another one sadly gone - and how many times have I said that on here?
Berry rose from the ranks of Radio Caroline in which he joined in 1965 to join legalised radio such as BBC Radio Kent's predecessor Radio Medway. Although it was BBC Network Radio which he was strongly associated with, Berry also worked for commercial television companies such as HTV (making me think of comparisons with David Hamilton who did continuity announcements for Thames). But it was Radio 2 in which listeners will remember him for, and he also stood in for presenters such as Terry Wogan. He was part of Radio 2's "Old Boy Network" of the 1970s and the 1980s, even though he didn't regularly present during the daytime hours such as familiar names and voices such as Jimmy Young, Ed Stewart, John Dunn, Ray Moore, Ken Bruce, and of course, Terry Wogan. He worked with Wogan for many years; while Sir Terry was narrating the Eurovision Song Contest, Berry was the UK spokesman throughout the 1980s and 1990s, giving Germany five points, or Ireland, the big twelve. Berry was usually seen for around a minute, unironically with a golden sky and views of Big Ben or Tower Bridge behind him as he gave the points to the hosting country's presenter; he continued to do this right up until 2002, and I suppose that his retirement and his absence in 2003 which was probably one reason why Jemini didn't do as well as the UK did in previous years! His retirement from Eurovision was the end of an era in that respect.
He continued to read the news on Radio 2, usually during the early hours of the morning or at weekends and Bank Holidays until around 2012 when he officially retired from the station, but I am almost certain that he still made the odd "appearance" reading the news for sometime after that. Berry was famous enough to make guest appearances on Blankety Blank usually when Wogan was host, he presented Top of the Pops (usually reserved for Radio 1 presenters, although he did a stint on that station before moving to Radio 2), and was a guest on Saturday morning children's TV series Going Live. Around the time that the English BBC local radio stations were available online for the very first time, Colin Berry was a presenter of a three hour show on BBC Three Counties Radio (aka the radio station in which one always can pick up travelling down the M1 towards London). The programme used a jingle singing out his name, reminiscent of seventies and eighties' radio. Here he played forgotten hits from the 1960s and 1980s and had even had a quiz for listeners to take part in, as well as a regular guest whose real name was James Bond. The show was popular enough for it to be networked across radio stations which were within the BBC Look East region, although there was no Alan Partridge-alike comparison there! I enjoyed it when it was on, listening online via my East Midlands home, even though I could get many of the MW frequencies of those East of England radio stations where I used to live at the time (the aerial on the roof pointing in a South East direction was an indication that this was possible). I remember emailing him midweek in relation to his Three Counties programme as he obviously had enough on his plate on Saturday evenings, and he responded straight away, proving how much a gentleman he was.
I would think of Colin Berry as a male version of Moira Stuart, voice-wise, and considering the fact that the latter also had a stint on Radio 2, reading the news for Chris Evans' Breakfast Show, any comparisons are similar. Even now, when listening to Radio 2 during the early hours, I still expect him to present a news bulletin at an unearthly hour such as 5.00 am when most people are still in bed, fast asleep - it is indeed what I would associate early morning Radio 2 with, even now. Certainly, this year when I watch the Eurovision Song Contest in May, and in the final hour, hear that the UK has given 12 points to Austria, I will remember when Colin Berry did that for our own country. He was someone who gave radio listeners whether they were in Cambridgeshire or Cumbria; Cornwall or Cleveland, something positive during the literally dark days from the 1970s to the early 1990s, when the sun had not quite risen yet. He presented overnight in 1979, and he has now passed away at the age of 79.
Another one sadly gone - and how many times have I said that on here?
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