David Symonds

Last updated

David Symonds
Born (1943-06-28) 28 June 1943 (age 81)
Oxford, England
Occupation Radio presenter

David Symonds (born 28 June 1943) is an English Radio DJ. He was among the original lineup of BBC Radio 1 in 1967 and one of the original Capital Radio DJs.

Early life and career

Symonds was born in Oxford, the son of Pamela and Ronald Symonds, respectively author of the Let’s Speak French textbooks and a former acting head of MI5. His grandfather was the neurologist Sir Charles Symonds. He spent a year at Oxford University reading botany. [1] He then moved to New Zealand and started a career as an actor, but began working for NZBC news, reading and general announcing on television and radio. After returning to London in 1965, he spent a period at Radio Luxembourg and on the BBC Light Programme where he presented shows including Easy Beat and Breakfast Special. In September 1967 he was one of the initial BBC Radio 1 DJs when the station launched. [1] [2]

Symonds was the last person to interview Gene Vincent on his Radio 1 show, Scene and Heard, broadcast on 16 October 1971. Bear Family Records released the recording of it in their Rebel Heart series.[ citation needed ]

Symonds resigned from Radio 1 in 1973 over a dissatisfaction with the music policy and after the introduction of a new jingle. "It said Radio One was wonderful – and it wasn't. I couldn't press the button with a clear conscience," he told his granddaughter, journalist Cara McGoogan, for a Daily Telegraph profile in 2017. [1] Symonds joined the newly formed Capital Radio, where he hosted the station's first programme in 1973. [3] [4]

In the late 1970s, Symonds was programme controller of Radio Victory in Portsmouth, as well as serving as a continuity announcer for BBC Radio 4 between 1978 and 1979, and again from 1985 to 1988. He also presented Much More Music on weekday afternoons on BBC Radio 2 between 1979 and 1982. [5] In 1981, the controller of Radio 2 told him he was being taken off air without giving any reason. He presented his last programme naked, a stunt which was reported in the media at the time. He was replaced by Gloria Hunniford. [1] Between 1988 and 1993, Symonds hosted a weekend show for Capital Gold. In 1995, Symonds moved to Cyprus and set up his own radio station, Coast FM. [4]

In 2011, he sold Coast FM in Cyprus and 2013 moved to France with his young Dominican wife, Bacilia Symonds, his third wife. [1] ln France, he set up an internet radio station The Roolz. [6]

On 14 February 2021, Symonds was one of the team of DJs who launched Boom Radio, a station aimed at the baby boom generation, found online and as part of five DAB multiplexes (in various British cities). [7] At Boom Radio, Symonds became part of a presenter line-up which also included ex-Capital DJs Graham Dene, Nicky Horne and David 'Kid' Jensen, along with David Hamilton and Jenny Hanley. On 10 August 2021, Symonds announced on Facebook that he had been dismissed from his Saturday night show on Boom Radio.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio 1</span> British national radio station

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, hip hop and indie, while its sister station 1Xtra plays black contemporary music, including hip hop and R&B. Radio 1 also runs two online streams, Radio 1 Dance, dedicated to dance music, and Radio 1 Anthems, dedicated to throwback music; both are available to listen only on BBC Sounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio 4</span> British national radio station

BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. Since 2019, the station controller has been Mohit Bakaya. He replaced Gwyneth Williams, who had been the station controller since 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital London</span> Radio station in London, England

Capital London is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment as part of its national Capital Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio London</span> BBC Local Radio station for London

BBC Radio London is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Sharp</span> English broadcaster (born 1961)

Patrick Sharpin known professionally as Pat Sharp, is an English radio presenter, television presenter and DJ. He worked on the children's ITV programme Fun House, was one of the Sky Channel's VJs and presented the Coca-Cola Eurochart Top 50 and Nescafé UK Top 50.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital Xtra</span> British radio station

Capital XTRA is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Global. It broadcasts on 96.9 and 107.1 FM in Greater London, and nationally on DAB, Global Player and television platforms. It specialises in hip hop, grime and R&B music, and is a commercial competitor to BBC Radio 1Xtra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emperor Rosko</span> American DJ

Michael Joseph Pasternak, 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.

David Allan "Kid" Jensen is a Canadian-born British radio DJ and television presenter. Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Jensen began as a radio DJ on Radio Luxembourg. Jensen was later a broadcaster for the BBC from 1976 to 1984, as a host on BBC Radio 1 and presenter on the TV music programme Top of the Pops from 1977 to 1984. Jensen has also hosted and presented for Capital FM and ITV among other stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U105</span> Radio station in Belfast

U105 is a Belfast, Northern Ireland, based radio station, providing a mix of music and speech as well as hourly news bulletins. It is owned by News Broadcasting and was launched at 6am on 14 November 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio X (United Kingdom)</span> British alternative radio station

Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station became a legally licensed London-wide station in 1997, and in 2015 began national broadcasting under the name Radio X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Durbridge</span> British broadcaster

Don Durbridge was a UK radio presenter who started his career on the BBC Light Programme, and subsequently worked on the British Forces Broadcasting Service, and on BBC Radio 2,. He also broadcast for many years on BBC Radio Medway, BBC Radio Kent and Invicta Sound in Kent, and latterly on PrimeTime and Saga DAB radio. On PrimeTime he introduced the late night slot, In Mellow Mood, until the station's demise in 2006. He was also the regular matchday announcer for Fulham Football Club in the mid-1970s and for Gillingham Football Club during the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Fox (broadcaster)</span> English radio DJ and TV presenter

Neil Andrew Howe Fox is an English radio DJ and television presenter, known for many years as Dr Fox before he became "Foxy" in the 2000s, then simply as Neil Fox, M.D. before reemerging as "Dr Fox" in 2020 to host the UDJ "Heritage Chart" countdown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trent FM</span> Radio station in Nottingham

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 on Monday 3 January 2011.

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 and threatened to remove one of their frequencies if simulcasting continued. The original DJs on the early incarnation of Capital Gold included Tony Blackburn, Kenny Everett and David Hamilton. The hiring of radio personalities to host networked shows continued to be a feature of the Capital Gold network as it grew.

Sunset 102 was a radio station broadcasting to Manchester between 1989 and 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio 2</span> British national radio station

BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. The 'About Radio 2' BBC webpage says: "With a repertoire covering more than 60 years, Radio 2 plays the widest selection of music on the radio - from classic and mainstream pop to country, folk, jazz, musical theatre, soul, hip hop, rock 'n' roll, gospel and blues."

This is a timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 1, a British national radio station which began in September 1967.

This is a list of events taking place in 2021 relating to radio in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boom Radio</span> UK commercial radio station targeted at baby boomers

Boom Radio 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. Launched on 14 February 2021, Boom Radio broadcasts nationally on the Sound Digital DAB multiplex and is also available online.

This is a list of events in 2024 relating to radio in the United Kingdom.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 McGoogan, Cara (30 September 2017). "My grandad was Radio 1's first ever 'goldenboy DJ' - but he won't be turning up to their 50th birthday party". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  2. "Radio Rewind - David Symonds". Radio Rewind. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  3. "Boom Radio goes live for baby boomers on DAB". 14 February 2021.
  4. 1 2 Walmsley, Andy (9 November 2011). "Random radio jottings: David Symonds". Random radio jottings. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  5. "BBC Genome Project". David Symonds. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  6. "TheRoolz.Com". theroolz.com. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  7. McGoogan, Cara (14 February 2021). "Meet the boomers taking on the BBC and launching a radio station for their generation". The Telegraph.