Paul Matthew Gambaccini (born 2 April 1949) is an American-British radio and television presenter and author in the United Kingdom. He has dual United States and British nationality, having become a British citizen in 2005.
Known as "The Great Gambo"[1] and "The Professor of Pop",[2] Gambaccini was a BBC Radio 1 presenter for 16 years, including 11 years on a weekly show counting down the Billboard Top 30 songs. A regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's long-running arts programme Kaleidoscope, Gambaccini was a long-time TV morning show correspondent for British television, and makes regular appearances on other British TV magazine shows.
Gambaccini was the host of the 12-part Classic FM series Paul Gambaccini's Hall of Heroes, and chairs the Radio 4 music quiz Counterpoint. He was presenter of Pick of the Pops on BBC Radio 2 from 9 July 2016 to 7 October 2023 and America's Greatest Hits on Greatest Hits Radio on Saturday afternoons since February 2020. He now presents the Paul Gambaccini Collection on Radio 2 which began on 29 October 2023. Inducted into the Radio Academy Hall of Fame in 2005, Gambaccini is the author of more than 15 books.
Gambaccini's broadcasting career began at Dartmouth College, where he was music director of the now-defunct WDCR, a college-owned-and-operated Top 40 radio station. Gambaccini may have first achieved wider prominence when his tips for playlisted songs likely to see greater chart action were published in the 11 May 1968 issue of the international trade publication Billboard, alongside similar tips from radio programming talent at major commercial stations across the United States.[4]
Having left Oxford, Gambaccini considered further study in law at Harvard or Yale, but had the opportunity of writing for Rolling Stone magazine, as British correspondent.[3] He attributes his broadcasting career to this post—especially an interview in 1973 with Elton John which brought him to the attention of BBC Radio producer John Walters who arranged for him to host on BBC Radio 1.[5][6] Gambaccini then started broadcasting in the UK, on BBC Radio 1, from September 1974, first as a music reporter on the John Peel Saturday show Rockspeak[citation needed] and as presenter of All American Heroes.[7] The following year, he started a show focussing on the weeks' music in the US chart which was to continue for over a decade.[8] The show was broadcast every Saturday afternoon until his last show on 8 February 1986. Thereafter, he moved to independent radio to host American Countdown. In 1990, he returned to Radio 1, but left during the tenure of controller Matthew Bannister in 1993.[citation needed]
In 1992 Gambaccini became a founding personality on the UK's classical music station Classic FM, where he hosted the weekly Classical CD Chart show. He left for BBC Radio 3 in 1995, where he broadcast an hour-long morning show, in a slot formerly used for Composer of the Week. He returned to Classic FM in 1997.
Alongside his work in music radio, he contributed regularly to BBC Radio 4's long-running arts programme Kaleidoscope between 1975 and 1998.
For 13 years Gambaccini reviewed films for breakfast television, first on TV-am and then GMTV. In the early 1980s he presented The Other Side of the Tracks on Channel 4, which ran for three series. His other television appearances include Pebble Mill at One, Call My Bluff, Music for the Millennium, and The South Bank Show.
In 1998, he joined BBC Radio 2. His first show was on 18 April 1998, once again opening the first of his weekly shows America's Greatest Hits with "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen. In 2002, he quit his role at Classic FM, to present a weekly chart show on London's Jazz FM until 2004. He was also a contributor to the London station LBC when it was taken over by Chrysalis.[citation needed]
In August 2008, Gambaccini returned to Classic FM, to present a 12-part series Paul Gambaccini's Hall of Heroes on Sunday evenings between 9:00 and 10:00. In March 2008, he took over as chairman of the Radio 4 music quiz Counterpoint from Edward Seckerson; he was temporarily replaced in 2013 by Russell Davies and returned to the show in November 2014 after being cleared of allegations of historical sexual offences made against him. He returned to BBC Radio 2 with America's Greatest Hits on 15 November 2014, and hosted it until 2 July 2016, when he took over Pick of the Pops from Tony Blackburn, the following week.
He started his final America's Greatest Hits on the BBC with "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, and ended it with Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop The Feeling!".[10]Trevor Nelson took over the Saturday timeslot with his Rhythm Nation programme, that was allocated to Gambaccini's America's Greatest Hits programme for seven years.[citation needed] The show was revived on Greatest Hits Radio from February 2020 airing 5-7pm on Saturdays, with the first show starting off with "Born to Run", just like the final BBC Radio episode, and ending with "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" by Stevie Wonder. Gambaccini has also presented special shows on Greatest Hits Radio on bank holidays and over the Christmas holidays. On Boxing Day 2021, he co-presented a special show on Greatest Hits Radio paying tribute to Janice Long, whom he had discovered in 1982.
On 10 August 2023, it was announced that Gambaccini would leave Pick of the Pops on 7 October 2023 after seven & half years at the helm, to host a new live Sunday evening show for Radio 2, titled The Paul Gambaccini Collection, which will begin on 29 October. He announced the news on the show on 12 August, and he was replaced by Steve Wright.
On 22 October 2023, Gambaccini was interviewed by Wright in a special programme on Radio 2 to celebrate his 50 years of broadcasting on UK radio.
Books
Gambaccini was co-author of The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and related titles, with Tim and Jo Rice, alongside Radio 1 colleague at that time, Mike Read, between 1977 and 1996. Gambaccini's own books include Love Letters, Radio Boy, Top 100 Albums and Track Records. The Ultimate Man, a musical about a comic book superhero, was co-written with Alastair King and Jane Edith Wilson, and produced at the Bridewell Theatre in London in 2000.[11]
While still in high school,[3] Gambaccini began contributing to comics fanzines, including the publication Rocket's Blast Comicollector. In 1964[3] he succeeded Jerry Bails (the so-called "father of comic book fandom") as executive secretary of the Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors,[12] an umbrella organization for the burgeoning world of comics fandom.[13] As part of his involvement with the academy, Gambaccini helped organize the comics industry's first awards, the Alley Awards.
A character introduced in The Flash #141 named Paul Gambi, a tailor specializing in super-villain outfits, is an homage to Paul Gambaccini,[16] who had written a letter to the Flash editor, later published in the letter column, asking the question, "Where do all these super-villains get their costumes?".
Operation Yewtree
On 1 November 2013, it was reported that Gambaccini had been arrested on suspicion of historical sexual offences as part of an investigation by Operation Yewtree in the United Kingdom. He was released on bail and his spokesman said that he denied the allegations.[17] It was announced on 10 October 2014 that no charges would be brought.[18] Giving evidence to the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee on 3 March 2015, Gambaccini said he believed he was used as "human fly paper" to encourage other people to come forward and make allegations against him.[19]
The BBC reported that he also said he suspected his bail was repeatedly extended until the end of high-profile cases involving other celebrities because "police did not want juries to hear a former Radio 1 DJ had been cleared of sexual wrongdoing". Gambaccini also argued in favour of a 28-day bail limit; Home SecretaryTheresa May had announced in December 2014 that she was consulting on such a limit in all but exceptional cases. However, Gambaccini's allegations of a "witch-hunt" were denied by the Director of Public Prosecutions.[20] The 28-day limit came into effect in April 2017.[21]
Gambaccini wrote an account of his experience in his book Love, Paul Gambaccini: My Year Under the Yewtree, which was published in 2015.[22][23] In February 2016, Irish Supreme Court Judge Adrian Hardiman used a review of the book to criticize what he described as the radical undermining of the presumption of innocence, especially in sex cases, including Gambaccini's, by the methods used in Operation Yewtree (among other instances).[24]
In February 2017, Gambaccini sued the Metropolitan Police, citing a loss of £200,000 during his time under investigation.[25] In November 2018, he settled a claim against the Crown Prosecution Service, who agreed to pay him damages; the amount was not disclosed due to confidentiality clauses in the settlement agreement.[26][27]
Charity work
Gambaccini has been a supporter of gay-related charities. In 1995, he was named Philanthropist of the Year by the National Charity Fundraisers for his work on behalf of the Terrence Higgins Trust. He is a patron of the London Gay Symphony Orchestra. In 2010, he won an episode of celebrity Mastermind, with his chosen beneficiary charity being Stonewall.[28]
Personal life
Gambaccini has been openly gay for many years, claiming in 2013: "I was never 'in'."[29] In June 2012, he entered into a civil partnership with Christopher Sherwood.[30] One week later, they married in the New York Botanical Garden.[31] In 2013, Gambaccini claimed that he had been highlighted as a potential security risk by the BBC earlier in his career due to his sexuality, with a symbol resembling a Christmas tree on the cover of his personnel file: "It meant you were 'as camp as Christmas' and thus a potential security risk."[32] In fact, the symbol was a general indication that the subject should not be promoted or transferred without reference to the department responsible for security vetting, due to left-leaning sympathies (see: "Christmas tree" files). He lives in the South Bank area of London.[31]
Awards
1995 – Philanthropist of the Year by the National Charity Fundraisers
1996 – Outstanding Contribution to Music Radio Award from the Radio Academy
2003 – Sony Radio Academy Award for Music Broadcaster of the Year
2005 – Sony Radio Academy Silver Award for a Weekly Music Programme
2005 – Inducted into the Radio Academy Hall of Fame
Bibliography
A Conversation With Elton John and Bernie Taupin – Putnam Publishing Group 1975
Paul McCartney in his own words – Omnibus Press 1976
The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles with Tim Rice, Jo Rice and Mike Read – Guinness, first published 1977: several subsequent editions
United Kingdom Top 1000 Singles (with Tim Rice and Jo Rice) – Gullane Children's Books 1988
The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums (with Tim Rice and Jo Rice) – Guinness First published 1983: several subsequent editions
Hits of The 80s (with Jo Rice, Tim Rice and Tony Brown) – Guinness 1990
Top 40 Charts (with Tim Rice and Jo Rice) – Guinness 1992
Television's Greatest Hits (with Rod Taylor) – Network Books 1993
Love Letters – Michael O'Mara Books 1996
The McCartney Interviews: After the Break-up – Omnibus Press 1996
Close Encounters – Omnibus Press 1998
The Complete Eurovision Song Contest Companion (with Tim and Jo Rice and Tony Brown) – Pavilion Books 1998
The Eurovision Companion (revised edition), Pavilion Books 1999
Complete Book of the British Charts (with Tony Brown and Tim Rice) Omnibus Press 2000.
Love, Paul Gambaccini: My Year Under the Yewtree - Biteback Publishing 2015[23]
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