Simon Dee
Encyclopedia
Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd (28 July 1935 – 29 August 2009), better known by his stage name Simon Dee, was a British
television
interviewer and radio
disc jockey
who hosted a twice-weekly BBC
TV chat show, Dee Time in the late 1960s. After moving from the BBC to London Weekend Television
(LWT) in 1970 he was dropped and his career never recovered.
He died of bone cancer in 2009.
, Canada
. He was educated at Brighton College
and Shrewsbury School
.
He served his compulsory military service
in the Royal Air Force
photo-reconnaissance unit, taking aerial photographs of the combat zone during the 1956 Suez Crisis
, and being wounded in the face by a sniper in Cyprus
. While stationed in Baghdad
with RAF Intelligence, he auditioned for British Forces Radio
.
Demobilised in 1958, his first civilian jobs included bouncer in a coffee bar, actor, photographic assistant to Balfour de Havilland (dismissed when he loaded the wrong film into the camera for a fashion shoot, and none of the photos came out), builders' labourer, leaf-sweeper in Hyde Park
, and vacuum cleaner salesman.
, a pirate radio
ship broadcasting pop music from outside UK territorial waters. He witnessed the station's construction (and that of its rival station Radio Atlanta
) at the Irish
port of Greenore
, and sailed with the ship to its anchorage off the coast of Essex
. On 28 March, Easter Saturday, his was the first live voice to be heard on the radio station, welcoming listeners and handing over to the only other DJ on the ship at the time, Chris Moore
, for the opening programme. (The first actual voice to be heard on the station, in pre-recorded promotions, was allegedly that of John Junkin
.)
In August 1964 Radio Atlanta merged with Caroline and became Radio Caroline South. Dee transferred to the former Atlanta ship when the original ship sailed to an anchorage off the Isle of Man
to become Radio Caroline North.
, introducing a late-night show on Saturdays. He also worked on Radio Luxembourg
. He told a reporter at the time that he left Caroline "while the going was good". After BBC Radio 1
opened in 1967, he introduced the Monday edition of Midday Spin and sometimes presented Top of the Pops
on BBC television. However, he fell into early disfavour on Radio 1 after twice playing Scott Walker
's recording of Jacques Brel
's song 'Jackie
' that had been banned by the BBC.
In 1967 Dee began his early evening chat show Dee Time on BBC television. The show became very popular, with up to 18 million viewers. Dee Time opened with sports presenter Len Martin
announcing "It's Siiiiimon Dee!", imitating The Johnny Carson show
, and closed with a famous film sequence of Dee driving off in an E-type Jaguar
with blonde model Lorna McDonald
. Only two complete editions of Dee Time survive in the BBC archives; the programme was transmitted live and the BBC only recorded contemporary live programmes for any possible legal ramifications, wiping
them after six weeks. He became very successful and adopted an extravagant lifestyle.
In the 2004 Channel Four TV programme, Dee Construction, fellow DJ Tony Blackburn
recalled, "He used to drive up and down the King's Road
in an Aston Martin driven by his secretary. To be honest, I thought that was a bit of a waste of money." He had cameo roles in films, including The Italian Job
(1969) and Doctor in Trouble
(1970).
were offering him £1000. It is said that the BBC's Head of Light Entertainment Bill Cotton
not only refused the pay rise that Dee demanded, but said that he would cut Dee's wages by 20 per cent "to test his loyalty". He was offered £100,000 for a two-year contract with the ITV company London Weekend and commenced a series with them in January 1970.
Dee fell out with the station management as well and they terminated his contract after only a few months. There was friction between Dee and David Frost
, part-owner of London Weekend, after whose show Dee's was broadcast. Both were talk shows, and Frost thought that some of Dee's items would make the shows too similar. Dee felt that Frost was deliberately sabotaging his show. After a bizarre interview with actor George Lazenby
, who outlined at length his theories about the assassination of John F. Kennedy
, the show was dropped.
, to campaign for pirate radio and against the Labour government's Marine Broadcasting Offences Act
, issuing a poster of Prime Minister
Harold Wilson
dressed as Chinese dictator Mao Zedong
. Pirate radio had become a political issue and, in the run up to the general election that summer, Radio Caroline International launched a campaign in support of the Conservative Party
, which supported commercial radio. Dee later claimed that there was an Establishment plot against him because of his open opposition to Wilson, and later released government files show that he was indeed being monitored by the Security Service
.
Having alienated both the BBC and independent television, Dee disappeared from the airwaves. He signed on for unemployment benefit
at the Fulham
labour exchange
, giving rise to considerable press coverage. Unable to revive his show business career, he took a job as a bus driver
. He also had several court appearances and in 1974 he served 28 days in Pentonville prison for non-payment of rates
on his former Chelsea
home. Every time he left his cell, the prisoners on his wing shouted, "It's Siiiiiimon Dee!" He was so shocked by prison that he swore he would never get into debt again. On another occasion he was jailed for vandalising a lavatory seat with Petula Clark
's face painted on it, which he thought was disrespectful to her. The magistrate who sentenced him was the BBC's Head of Light Entertainment and his ex-boss, Bill Cotton
.
, but never made to air. In the late 1980s, he appeared to have established himself as host of Sounds of the 60s
on BBC Radio 2
, but this engagement came to an end amid disputes with the BBC about the show's location in Bristol
and his wish for it to be transmitted live. In 2003, Victor Lewis-Smith
arranged for a one-off new live edition of Dee Time to be broadcast on Channel Four, following Dee Construction, which covered Dee's career.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
interviewer and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
who hosted a twice-weekly BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV chat show, Dee Time in the late 1960s. After moving from the BBC to London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
(LWT) in 1970 he was dropped and his career never recovered.
He died of bone cancer in 2009.
Early career
Simon Dee was born on 28 July 1935, in Manchester, the only child of Cyril Edward Dodd (1906–1980) and Doris Gwendoline Pilling (nee Simon) (1907-1952) who married in 1934 in Salford, though a Radio Caroline biography gave his birth place as OttawaOttawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He was educated at Brighton College
Brighton College
Brighton College is an institution divided between a Senior School known simply as Brighton College, the Prep School and the Pre-Prep School. All of these schools are co-educational independent schools in Brighton, England, sited immediately next to each another. The Senior School caters for...
and Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged 13 to 18, founded by Royal Charter in 1552. The present campus to which the school moved in 1882 is located on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England...
.
He served his compulsory military service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
photo-reconnaissance unit, taking aerial photographs of the combat zone during the 1956 Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
, and being wounded in the face by a sniper in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. While stationed in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
with RAF Intelligence, he auditioned for British Forces Radio
British Forces Broadcasting Service
The British Forces Broadcasting Service provides radio and television programmes for HM Forces, and their dependents, in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kosovo, the Middle East, Northern Ireland and Tristan da Cunha as well as a live satellite...
.
Demobilised in 1958, his first civilian jobs included bouncer in a coffee bar, actor, photographic assistant to Balfour de Havilland (dismissed when he loaded the wrong film into the camera for a fashion shoot, and none of the photos came out), builders' labourer, leaf-sweeper in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
, and vacuum cleaner salesman.
Radio Caroline
In 1964 he joined Radio CarolineRadio Caroline
Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...
, a pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
ship broadcasting pop music from outside UK territorial waters. He witnessed the station's construction (and that of its rival station Radio Atlanta
Radio Atlanta
Radio Atlanta named after Atlanta, Texas, was an offshore commercial station that operated briefly from 12 May 1964 to 2 July 1964 from a ship anchored in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England...
) at the Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
port of Greenore
Greenore
Greenore is a small town, townland and deep water port on Carlingford Lough in County Louth, Ireland. The population of Greenore and the surrounding rural area was 898 in the 2002 Irish census....
, and sailed with the ship to its anchorage off the coast of Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. On 28 March, Easter Saturday, his was the first live voice to be heard on the radio station, welcoming listeners and handing over to the only other DJ on the ship at the time, Chris Moore
Christopher Moore (DJ)
Christopher Moore was a key figure in the British rock music radio revolution of the 1960s.Moore was the presenter of the first programme broadcast by the offshore pirate radio ship Radio Caroline on Easter Sunday, 1964. At its peak the station had 23 million listeners.-References:...
, for the opening programme. (The first actual voice to be heard on the station, in pre-recorded promotions, was allegedly that of John Junkin
John Junkin
John Francis Junkin was an English radio, television and film performer and scriptwriter.In 1960 Junkin joined Joan Littlewood's Stratford East Theatre Workshop, and played the lead in the original production of Sparrows Can't Sing...
.)
In August 1964 Radio Atlanta merged with Caroline and became Radio Caroline South. Dee transferred to the former Atlanta ship when the original ship sailed to an anchorage off the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
to become Radio Caroline North.
BBC
In 1965 Dee was given a job on the BBC Light ProgrammeBBC Light Programme
The Light Programme was a BBC radio station which broadcast mainstream light entertainment and music from 1945 until 1967, when it was rebranded as BBC Radio 2...
, introducing a late-night show on Saturdays. He also worked on Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg (English)
Radio Luxembourg is a commercial broadcaster in many languages from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is nowadays known in most non-English languages as RTL ....
. He told a reporter at the time that he left Caroline "while the going was good". After BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
opened in 1967, he introduced the Monday edition of Midday Spin and sometimes presented Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
on BBC television. However, he fell into early disfavour on Radio 1 after twice playing Scott Walker
Scott Walker (singer)
Scott Walker, born Noel Scott Engel on January 9, 1943 is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and the former lead singer of The Walker Brothers. Despite being American born, Walker's chart success has largely come in the United Kingdom, where his first four solo albums...
's recording of Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following in France initially, and later throughout the world. He was widely considered a master of the modern chanson...
's song 'Jackie
Jacky (Jacques Brel song)
"Jacky" is a song written by Jacques Brel. He recorded the song on 2 November 1965, and it was released on his 1966 album Ces Gens-Là. The song was translated from French into English and retitled as "Jackie"....
' that had been banned by the BBC.
In 1967 Dee began his early evening chat show Dee Time on BBC television. The show became very popular, with up to 18 million viewers. Dee Time opened with sports presenter Len Martin
Len Martin
The voice of Len Martin was famous in the UK for reading out the football results, associated football pools statistics and horse-racing results on the BBC's Saturday afternoon sports programme, Grandstand....
announcing "It's Siiiiimon Dee!", imitating The Johnny Carson show
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
, and closed with a famous film sequence of Dee driving off in an E-type Jaguar
Jaguar E-type
The Jaguar E-Type or XK-E is a British automobile, manufactured by Jaguar between 1961 and 1975. Its combination of good looks, high performance, and competitive pricing established the marque as an icon of 1960s motoring...
with blonde model Lorna McDonald
Lorna McDonald
Lorna McDonald was a blonde fashion model from the Lucy Clayton agency who, in the 1960s, became famous, though anonymously, as the young woman who jumped into Simon Dee’s white open-top E-type Jaguar car at the end of each edition of BBC television's chat show, Dee Time .-Dee Time closing...
. Only two complete editions of Dee Time survive in the BBC archives; the programme was transmitted live and the BBC only recorded contemporary live programmes for any possible legal ramifications, wiping
Wiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
them after six weeks. He became very successful and adopted an extravagant lifestyle.
In the 2004 Channel Four TV programme, Dee Construction, fellow DJ Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....
recalled, "He used to drive up and down the King's Road
King's Road
King's Road is a street in Chelsea, London, England.King's Road or Kings Road may also refer to:* King's Road * King's Road * King's Road * King's Road...
in an Aston Martin driven by his secretary. To be honest, I thought that was a bit of a waste of money." He had cameo roles in films, including The Italian Job
The Italian Job
The Italian Job is a 1969 British caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley and directed by Peter Collinson. Subsequent television showings and releases on video have established it as an institution in the United Kingdom....
(1969) and Doctor in Trouble
Doctor in Trouble
Doctor in Trouble is a 1970 British comedy film, the last of the long-running Doctor in the House series of British comedy films. It was directed by Ralph Thomas it stars Leslie Phillips as a doctor who gets accidentally trapped on an outgoing cruise ship while it begins a round the world trip...
(1970).
ITV
Due to a disagreement between Dee and BBC bosses over Dee's huge salary demands, his contract was reviewed in 1969 and he left the channel. He was being paid £250 per show by the BBC (equivalent to some £ today) and claimed ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
were offering him £1000. It is said that the BBC's Head of Light Entertainment Bill Cotton
Bill Cotton
Sir William Frederick "Bill" Cotton, CBE was a British television producer and executive, and the son of big-band leader Billy Cotton....
not only refused the pay rise that Dee demanded, but said that he would cut Dee's wages by 20 per cent "to test his loyalty". He was offered £100,000 for a two-year contract with the ITV company London Weekend and commenced a series with them in January 1970.
Dee fell out with the station management as well and they terminated his contract after only a few months. There was friction between Dee and David Frost
David Frost (broadcaster)
Sir David Paradine Frost, OBE is a British journalist, comedian, writer, media personality and daytime TV game show host best known for his two decades as host of Through the Keyhole and serious interviews with various political figures, the most notable being Richard Nixon...
, part-owner of London Weekend, after whose show Dee's was broadcast. Both were talk shows, and Frost thought that some of Dee's items would make the shows too similar. Dee felt that Frost was deliberately sabotaging his show. After a bizarre interview with actor George Lazenby
George Lazenby
George Robert Lazenby is an Australian actor and former model, best known for portraying James Bond in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.-Early life:...
, who outlined at length his theories about the assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, the show was dropped.
Decline
In June 1970, Dee joined his former Radio Caroline boss, Ronan O'RahillyRonan O'Rahilly
Ronan O'Rahilly is an Irish businessman best known for the creation of the offshore radio station, Radio Caroline.O'Rahilly's parents owned the private port of Greenore in Carlingford Lough, County Louth...
, to campaign for pirate radio and against the Labour government's Marine Broadcasting Offences Act
Marine Broadcasting Offences Act
The Marine, &c., Broadcasting Act 1967 c.41, shortened to Marine Broadcasting Offences Act, became law in the United Kingdom at midnight on Monday, August 14, 1967 and was repealed by the...
, issuing a poster of Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
dressed as Chinese dictator Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
. Pirate radio had become a political issue and, in the run up to the general election that summer, Radio Caroline International launched a campaign in support of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, which supported commercial radio. Dee later claimed that there was an Establishment plot against him because of his open opposition to Wilson, and later released government files show that he was indeed being monitored by the Security Service
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
.
Having alienated both the BBC and independent television, Dee disappeared from the airwaves. He signed on for unemployment benefit
Jobseeker's Allowance
Jobseeker's Allowance is a United Kingdom benefit, colloquially known as the dole . It is a form of unemployment benefit paid by the government to people who are unemployed and seeking work. It is part of the social security benefits system and is intended to cover living expenses while the...
at the Fulham
Fulham
Fulham is an area of southwest London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, SW6 located south west of Charing Cross. It lies on the left bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
labour exchange
Jobcentre Plus
Jobcentre Plus was a government agency for working-age people in Great Britain. The agency was formed when the Employment Service, which operated Jobcentres, merged with the Benefits Agency, which ran social security offices, and was re-named Jobcentre Plus on 1 April 2002...
, giving rise to considerable press coverage. Unable to revive his show business career, he took a job as a bus driver
Bus driver
A bus driver, bus operator or omnibus driver is a person who drives buses professionally. Bus drivers typically drive their vehicles between bus stations or stops. They often drop off and pick up passengers on a predetermined route schedule. In British English a different term, coach drivers, is...
. He also had several court appearances and in 1974 he served 28 days in Pentonville prison for non-payment of rates
Council tax
Council Tax is the system of local taxation used in England, Scotland and Wales to part fund the services provided by local government in each country. It was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as a successor to the unpopular Community Charge...
on his former Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
home. Every time he left his cell, the prisoners on his wing shouted, "It's Siiiiiimon Dee!" He was so shocked by prison that he swore he would never get into debt again. On another occasion he was jailed for vandalising a lavatory seat with Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
's face painted on it, which he thought was disrespectful to her. The magistrate who sentenced him was the BBC's Head of Light Entertainment and his ex-boss, Bill Cotton
Bill Cotton
Sir William Frederick "Bill" Cotton, CBE was a British television producer and executive, and the son of big-band leader Billy Cotton....
.
Later career
Dee found some brief broadcasting jobs since that time. In the late 1970s, he was signed to appear as holiday cover on the Reading-based Radio 2102-Ten FM
Heart Berkshire was an Independent Local Radio station, serving Berkshire and North Hampshire from studios in Reading.-About:...
, but never made to air. In the late 1980s, he appeared to have established himself as host of Sounds of the 60s
Sounds of the 60s
Sounds of the 60s is a long-running Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 2 that features recordings of popular music made in the 1960s. It was first broadcast on 12 February 1983 and introduced by Keith Fordyce who had been the first presenter of the TV show Ready Steady Go! in 1963...
on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
, but this engagement came to an end amid disputes with the BBC about the show's location in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and his wish for it to be transmitted live. In 2003, Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith is a British satirist, producer, critic and prankster. He is known for his sarcasm and biting criticism.-Radio and recordings:...
arranged for a one-off new live edition of Dee Time to be broadcast on Channel Four, following Dee Construction, which covered Dee's career.
External links
- Associated-Rediffusion TV (includes a clip of Deeconstruction)
- Page on Old Brightonians
- Radio Rewind on Simon Dee (Audio clips of rare recording of the Light Programme's Midday Spin show of 31 July 1967)
- Simon Dee - Daily Express obituary
- Simon Dee - Daily Telegraph obituary