Peter Powell (DJ)

Last updated

Peter Powell
Birth namePeter James Barnard-Powell
Born (1951-03-24) 24 March 1951 (age 73)
Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England
Occupations
Years active1970–1988

Peter James Barnard-Powell (born 24 March 1951) is an English former disc jockey, popular on BBC Radio 1 in the late 1970s and 1980s, as well as a television presenter for the BBC music chart programme Top of the Pops . He has also had a second career in talent management.

Contents

Early career

Powell was educated at Uppingham School, a boys' independent school in Rutland in the English Midlands. Powell began his broadcasting career as the first voice on air when BBC Radio Birmingham launched in 1970, and then had a brief spell on BBC Radio 1 in 1972.

He then went to Radio Luxembourg before rejoining Radio 1 in 1977. Almost immediately after his arrival at the station he made his debut as a Top of the Pops presenter, joining Radio 1 colleagues on the roster.[ citation needed ]

BBC Radio 1 career

Powell began as a weekend presenter on the station, presenting a Sunday show from 10 am to 1 pm, before a move to Saturdays in October 1978, again from 10 am to 1 pm. [1]

In 1980 he took over the weekday afternoon show running from 3:30 to 5:30 pm, before taking over the weekday teatime slot in 1981 from 5 to 7 pm. The show went out from 4:30 to 7 pm in 1982.

His best remembered features are 5 45s at 5.45, where Powell played five new singles, and the Record Race, in which listeners had to identify songs purely from their intros. Every Tuesday he ran through the new singles chart which had been revealed by the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) earlier at lunchtime on BBC Radio 1 presented by Gary Davies - the first chance many young[ citation needed ] listeners got to hear the new Top 40. He also featured the album chart on Wednesday evenings.

Pete Tong – now one of Radio 1's longest-serving DJs - made his first appearance on the network on Powell's show in the early 1980s, presenting a dance music feature. [2] Powell was an early champion of a number of successful mainstream 1980s acts, including Spandau Ballet, Culture Club and Duran Duran as well as Australian new wave band The Church. He compered Duran Duran's charity concert at Villa Park 1983 as well as the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986 three years later, which featured George Harrison.

From 29 September 1984 until his departure from the station on 25 September 1988 Powell presented the weekend breakfast show from 8 to 10 am. Throughout his 11-year stay at Radio 1 he became strongly associated with the Radio 1 Roadshow, which he presented each summer, and other outside broadcasts. He was also known for hosting the TV coverage of the annual Montreux Rock Festival, BBC2's Oxford Road Show and for his high-profile working relationship with fellow Radio 1 DJ Janice Long between October 1984 and July 1985. [3]

Management

Since leaving radio he has concentrated on building his management company (James Grant Media Group) [4] with his business partner Russ Lindsay and other financial activities, which have proved successful.

Personal life

Powell was married to Anthea Turner from 1990 to 1998. [5] [6]

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 WM</span> Radio station in Birmingham

BBC Radio WM is the BBC's local radio station serving the West Midlands.

<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">Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire</span> Radio station in Birmingham

Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heart Kent</span> Radio station in Whitstable

Heart Kent was an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to Kent from studios at John Wilson Business Park in Whitstable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Read</span> English radio presenter and musician (born 1947)

Michael David Kenneth Read is an English radio disc jockey, writer, journalist and television presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Lee Travis</span> English radio and television presenter (born 1945)

David Patrick Griffin, known professionally as Dave Lee Travis, is an English former disc jockey, and former television presenter.

Gary Davies is a British broadcaster. From 1982 to 1993 he was a BBC Radio 1 disc jockey and a regular presenter of Top of the Pops.

Trevor Neil "Bruno" Brookes 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 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Tong</span> BBC Radio 1 disc jockey from Dartford, Kent, England

Peter Michael Tong is an English disc jockey who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as Essential Mix and Essential Selection on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for his record label FFRR Records and for his own performances at nightclubs and music festivals. Tong has also worked as a record producer and is regarded as the "global ambassador for electronic music."

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.

Richard John McNeill Allinson is an English broadcaster with Greatest Hits Radio and Greatest Hits Radio 60s is Creative Director of Magnum Opus Broadcasting. Between 1997 and 2014 he was a disc jockey for BBC Radio 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Stewart</span> British radio presenter (1941–2016)

Edward Stewart Mainwaring, known as Ed "Stewpot" Stewart, was an English radio broadcaster and TV presenter. He was principally known for his work as a DJ on BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2, and as a presenter of Top of the Pops and Crackerjack on BBC Television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Greening</span> British radio presenter

Kevin Greening was a British radio presenter, who co-hosted Radio 1 Breakfast on BBC Radio 1 with Zoe Ball from 13 October 1997 to 25 September 1998.

Johnnie Walker, MBE is an English retired radio disc jockey and broadcaster. He began his career on Radio England before joining pirate radio, most notably on Radio Caroline. He joined BBC Radio 1 in 1969 and BBC Radio 2 in 1998. From 2009 to 2024, he presented Sounds of the 70s on Radio 2 on Sunday afternoons and The Radio 2 Rock Show on Friday nights from 2018 to 2024.

Daryl Denham is a British disc jockey, radio presenter and songwriter.

<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.

Malcolm George Boyden is a double Sony Award-winning BBC local radio presenter, who formerly presented the Mid-morning show as well as a Sunday show on BBC Hereford and Worcester. He won a Sony gold award in 1997 for 'Radio Personality of the Year', and followed that up in 2001 when he took a bronze award in the 'Broadcaster of the Year' category.

This is a list of events in British radio during 2009.

<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."

References

  1. ↑ "BBC Radio 1 People - Peter Powell - "Hello, Mate!"". Radio Rewind. 21 August 1988. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  2. ↑ "Pete Tong". The DJ List. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  3. ↑ Rosemary Long (26 October 1984). "Did You See?". Evening Times . Edinburgh, Scotland. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "Peter Powell". The Guardian. 14 July 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  5. ↑ "Anthea Turner named in divorce papers". BBC News. 19 May 1999. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  6. ↑ Whatever happened to Peter Powell? www.simplyeighties.com Retrieved 21 June 2020
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.