Alan Freeman MBE | |
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 Freeman presenting his daily afternoon show at BBC Radio 1, in 1973 | |
| Born | Alan Leslie Freeman 6 July 1927 Melbourne, Australia |
| Died | 27 November 2006(2006-11-27) (aged 79) Brinsworth House, London, England |
| Years active | 1952–2001 |
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Alan Leslie FreemanMBE (6 July 1927 – 27 November 2006), nicknamed "Fluff",[Note 1] was an Australian-born Britishdisc jockey and radio personality in the United Kingdom for 40 years, best known for presentingPick of the Pops from 1961 to 2000.
Born and educated inMelbourne, Australia, Freeman worked as an assistant paymaster/accountant for one of Australia's largest timber companies after leaving school. He wanted to be an opera singer, but decided his voice was not strong enough.
Freeman was invited to audition as a radio announcer in 1952, and began work for7LA inTasmania, known as the teenagers' station. Freeman's duties included continuity announcer, presenter of musical programmes incorporating opera, ballet and classical music, DJ for the top 100, news reader, quizmaster and commercials reader.
After moving to radio station3KZ in Melbourne, he took a nine-month trip around the world in 1957, with the promise to return to Melbourne by January 1958. He arrived in London, and on deciding to stay wrote numerous letters of delay, and later apology, to his former employer.[3]
Freeman began his British career as a summer relief disc jockey onRadio Luxembourg and continued to present late evening programmes on the station until the early 1970s.
In 1960 he moved to theBBC Light Programme as presenter of theRecords Around Five show, introduced by his signature tune, "At the Sign of the Swingin' Cymbal", written byBrian Fahey. A more upbeat version performed by Brass Incorporated was introduced in April 1970.[4] In September 1961, he introducedPick of the Pops as part of Saturday evening showTrad Tavern.Pick of the Pops became a permanent show in its own right; Freeman presented it until 24 September 1972, continuing with his 'Swingin' Cymbal' signature tune.
During this time he was one of the original team of presenters of BBC TV'sTop of the Pops, a regular member of theJuke Box Jury panel, and had a brief stint as compère of the lunchtime pop music showGo Man Go on the Light Programme in 1963. In 1961 and 1962, he presented the British version of the hit American quizPlay Your Hunch on BBC TV.[5] He presented a music magazine-style television show for the BBC in 1968,All Systems Freeman, which aired for several weeks on Friday evening, but despite good reviews did not return for a second series.
Freeman recorded a dance single, "Madison Time", with the Talmy Stone Band in 1962. Released byDecca Records, F11543, it was reportedly one of the label's worst-ever sellers.[citation needed]
In April 1972, he joined the daily presenters onRadio 1, taking over the 3–5 pm show fromTerry Wogan. Freeman used "Soul Bossa Nova" byQuincy Jones as his theme until 1 June 1973. During this time he spotlighted youth clubs and young people, and became Vice-President of theLondon Association of Youth Clubs. During the 1970s he also presented the Radio 1 seriesQuiz Kid on Sunday evenings, recorded at youth clubs and boys' clubs all over the country, while on Saturday afternoons he presented a programme simply titled Alan Freeman, although retrospectively it is mainly referred to as The Rock Show. It featured an eclectic mix of music, although it is mainly remembered for pioneering heavy and progressive rock. It also featured a rundown of the current album chart. The show ran from 30 June 1973 to 26 August 1978.
He presented the original version ofThe Story of Pop as a 26-part Radio 1 series in 1973–74. From 1975 to 1977, Freeman presented theRadio 2 musical game showFree Spin. In addition he lent his name to several rock and classical compilation albums, the best-known beingBy Invitation Only (1976), a collection of material sourced from artists on theAtlantic label.[6]
Freeman left the BBC to work forCapital Radio from 1979 to 1989, presenting the Top 40 of the 1970s on 31 December 1979 under the revived Pick of the Pops name. He again revivedPick of the Pops from 13 March 1982 (now calledPick of the Pops Take Two, combining the currentNME Top 15 with an earlier chart) andThe Rock Show previous to that on 7 January 1980. He returned to the BBC and Radio 1 in January 1989 to reviveThe Rock Show andPick of the Pops. This run ofPick of the Pops ended on 27 December 1992 but he continued to hostThe Rock Show until 23 October 1993, when he, with other long-serving DJs, left the station as it was revamped by controllerMatthew Bannister.
He was the subject ofThis Is Your Life in 1987 when he was surprised byEamonn Andrews at Thames Television's Teddington Studios.[7] In 1990, he appeared as a celebrity guest on the television seriesYou Bet!, made byLondon Weekend Television and hosted by SirBruce Forsyth.
In December 1993, for four weeks he presented theAlternative Chart Show Top 30 as part of a trial one-offRestricted Service Licence (RSL) broadcast byXFM in London. Throughout 1994 he presented a revised and expanded version of the Radio 1 seriesThe Story of Pop, broadcast in 52-hour-long episodes.[8] He then hostedPick of the Pops Take Three onCapital Gold from April 1994 until January 1997. In 1996 and 1997 he also hostedThe Friday Rock Show onVirgin Radio, and he hosted a number of one-off shows onClassic FM from December 1993 to December 1996.
In 1998 he was appointedMBE for services to broadcasting.
He returned to the BBC on Radio 2, takingPick of the Pops back to its home, from 1997 until 2000. A lifetime love ofclassical music and particularlyopera was developed in the showTheir Greatest Bits, which resulted in another compilation CD on theBBC label. Throughout his career, he was known especially for his jingles, which integrated short bursts of classical music and hard rock segued together, as well as his catchphrases, which included "Hi there, pop pickers!" at the start ofPick of the Pops; "Greetings, music lovers!" when introducing his classical and rock shows; "All right? Right, stay bright!" when signing off, and "Not 'arf!" frequently uttered during his shows.[9]
In April 2000, afterarthritis in his hands had started to make it too difficult for him to operate studio equipment, he handedPick of the Pops over toDale Winton.[10]
New editions ofTheir Greatest Bits continued to be recorded by Freeman until 2001.
Freeman acted in the horror filmDr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) and the rock musicalAbsolute Beginners (1986), and played himself or a similar character in films such asIt's Trad, Dad! (1962),Just for Fun (1963) andSebastian (1968). He also played God (albeit a God who sat at amixing desk and said "Alright?") in two episodes ofThe Young Ones in 1984. Freeman also appeared in TV advertisements for Brentford Nylons and forOmo "with exclusive WM7 for perfect whiteness."
He appeared in Noël Coward'sPrivate Lives at the Adeline Genee Theatre in East Grinstead[11] in June 1968,[12] starring alongside Shirley Anne Field, Sally Anne Howe and Conrad Phillips.
Freeman's style has been parodied, and he was the model for comedianHarry Enfield's characterDave Nice, although he contributed to thesatire himself in good grace by appearing on Enfield's show. (Enfield praised Freeman inSimon Garfield's book on Radio 1,The Nation's Favourite, by categorising him along withJohn Peel as "DJs who loved music" as opposed to "DJs who loved the sound of their own voices, likeDave Lee Travis").
For all Freeman's supposedclichés andarchetypes in his broadcasting style, he has been regarded as original by fellow broadcasters. When he appeared on John Peel'sThis Is Your Life, Peel said: "Fluff is the greatest out-and-out disc jockey of them all".
After Freeman's deathRobin Gibb wrote a tribute, "Alan Freeman Days".[13] Recorded in August 2007, the song was included on Gibb's first posthumous album50 St. Catherine's Drive in 2014.
Black Sabbath dedicated theinstrumental track "Fluff" onSabbath Bloody Sabbath (composed byTony Iommi) to Freeman, since he was one of the few radio personalities in Great Britain to play the group's music on-air.[14]
In an episode of the BBC Radio 4 programmeGreat Lives broadcast in January 2024, Freeman was the choice ofSimon Mayo.[15]
He was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1998. In May 2000, he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award at theSony Radio Academy Awards.[16] He was initiated into theGrand Order of Water Rats in 1976, and ten years later was elected "King Rat".[17] He also served as Vice-President of the London Union of Youth Clubs.[18]
In March 1994, Freeman revealed on breakfast television that he had becomecelibate in 1981, but had previously beenbisexual.[19] He was described byGraham Chapman as being "keen on motor bikes and leather and men".[20]
From the early 1990s, Freeman suffered fromarthritis andasthma (from a 60-a-daysmoking habit) and used aZimmer frame. He lived atBrinsworth House, a retirement home for actors and performers run by theEntertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund in Twickenham, from 2000 until his death.
He died on 27 November 2006 inBrinsworth House, aged 79, after a short illness.[21] His funeral took place at South West Middlesex Crematorium on 7 December 2006, and was attended by singerKenny Lynch, his producerPhil Swern and DJs includingDave Lee Travis,Ed Stewart,Dave Cash,Paul McKenna,Nicky Campbell,Paul Gambaccini and his Radio One Top 40 successorsWes Butters,Simon Bates andRichard Skinner.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | It's Trad, Dad! | Himself | |
| 1963 | Just for Fun | Himself, Disc Jockey | |
| 1964 | Swinging U.K. | Himself, Disc Jockey | |
| 1965 | Dr. Terror's House of Horrors | Bill Rogers | Segment: "Creeping Vine" |
| 1968 | Sebastian | TV Disc Jockey | |
| 1986 | Absolute Beginners | Call-Me-Cobber | |
| 1995 | Mad Dogs and Englishmen | Disc Jockey | Final film role |
| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded by First | BBC Radio 1 chart show presenter 1 October 1967 – 24 September 1972 | Succeeded by |
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