[BITList] Fwd: Pick of the pops

[John Feltham]

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Freeman,  Alan Leslie  (1927-2006), disc jockey, was born on 6 July 1927 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, the son of a foreman in a timber yard and his wife, a waitress. After leaving school he worked in the accounts office of a timber company. As a teenager he studied classical music and had early ambitions to be a professional singer but realized that his baritone voice lacked the qualities required for a successful career in opera, and so decided to develop his distinctive communication skills and work in radio. His first job in radio was in 1952 as an announcer on the 7LA station in Launceston, Tasmania. The following year he joined the Melbourne station 3KZ as a presenter and disc jockey, reading out the commercials and, utilizing his musical training, even singing the occasional ballad. In 1957 he visited England, ostensibly for a holiday. His visit coincided with the arrival of American rock 'n' roll music on the British music scene. Unimpressed by the BBC's musical output of the time, which largely ignored this teenage-oriented music genre (he recalled a BBC Light Programme announcer saying stiffly with a BBC accent 'and that was a new gramophone record sung by Frank Sinatra'), Freeman decided to stay on in Europe and became a summer relief disc jockey for the rather more pop-conscious listeners of Radio Luxembourg.

Freeman's broadcasting skills came to the attention of BBC radio and he was invited to join the Light Programme two years later, initially presenting Housewives' Choice, followed by his own show Records Around Five in 1961, when he first introduced his familiar signature tune, 'At the Sign of the Swinging Cymbal', written by Brian Fahey. In September 1961 he was asked to present Pick of the Pops, which was then a segment of the Saturday evening radio show Trad Tavern. It was the programme that saw the birth of his familiar catchphrase, 'Greetings, pop pickers'. His later catchphrases included 'Not 'Arf', 'Erm ...', and 'Alright?'. His fellow BBC Light Programme disc jockey David Jacobs had already been presenting Pick of the Pops for some time when Freeman took over. Freeman later recalled:

Trad was happening and I loved the music. David Jacobs was presenting Pick of the Pops and they wanted to incorporate that into Trad Tavern, a live show with an audience. David didn't care for standing up in front of a jazz audience, so I was asked to do it. It was a suit, collar and tie job for me, and all the jazz freaks wondered who I was. (The Independent, 29 Nov 2006)

Such was the success of Freeman's stewardship of Pick of the Pops that the BBC decided to move the programme to Sunday afternoons. However, his early years with the show were not without in-house controversy, and he was frequently censured by BBC bosses for his ebullient presenting style. Indeed, the urbane David Jacobs was reinstated as Pick of the Pops presenter late in 1962 but two years later Freeman returned to the helm and remained with the show for the next eight years. In 1972 he took over from Terry Wogan as an afternoon presenter on Radio 1, and in 1973 he introduced the first Radio 1 roadshow and also launched the long-running documentary series The Story of Pop.

In 1973, with the emergence of the progressive rock genre, Freeman became the host of Radio 1's Saturday Rock Show, championing the likes of Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Bachmann Turner Overdrive, Yes, Vangelis, and Rush. He eventually left the BBC in 1979 and spent the next ten years at the London station Capital Radio, presenting Pick of the Pops Take Two on Saturday mornings, although he continued his association with the BBC through television's Top of the Pops, which he had regularly introduced since its arrival in 1964.

In 1987 Freeman was awarded the Radio Academy's outstanding contribution to UK music radio award and the following year he was named Sony Radio Awards' personality of the year. On the strength of these prestigious accolades he was in 1989 invited back to Radio 1 to present a new version of Pick of the Pops as well as returning to the Saturday Rock Show. In 1994 he returned to Capital Radio for a second stint, presenting Pick of the Pops Take Three, while also hosting a regular rock programme for Virgin Radio.

Freeman found time for other professional activities, including television commercials (most notably for Brentford Nylons and OMO soap powder) and even dabbled in some lightweight film acting. He appeared in Dr Terror's House of Horrors (1965) and as a disc jockey in the Dirk Bogarde film Sebastian (1968). In Julien Temple's musical Absolute Beginners (1986) Freeman played the sleazy TV host, 'Call Me Cobber'. In 1984 he poked fun at himself in the television special Smashey and Nicey: the End of an Era, the final appearance of the two spoof disc jockeys created by the comedians Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. Freeman's ebullient style was wickedly parodied by Enfield as the disc jockey Dave Nice. He also appeared as God in drag in the television comedy The Young Ones.

By the late 1990s Freeman was suffering from encroaching arthritis and from the age of seventy-two he was forced to use a walking frame. However, his broadcasting days were not yet over: he joined Radio 2 in 1997 to present, once again, Pick of the Pops, and also the Tuesday night show Their Greatest Bits, which harnessed his great knowledge and love for classical and opera music. In 1998 he was appointed MBE. In early 2000, after two falls at his Maida Vale penthouse, he became a resident at Brinsworth House in Twickenham, a retirement and respite home for people who had worked in the entertainment industry. For some time, however, he continued to pre-record his shows for Radio 2, being chauffeur-driven to the BBC studios. Eventually he passed on the mantle of Pick of the Pops presenter to the television and radio personality Dale Winton. 'I didn't have the bite I used to, and if you're frightened of doing something then it's probably a good idea to pack it in', he said  (The Independent, 29 Nov 2006). His last show was broadcast on 21 April 2000. In May 2000 he was presented with a lifetime achievement award at the Sony Radio Awards in London and received a standing ovation as Dale Winton described him as 'a man who has served and is held in the highest affection by every sector of our industry'  (BBC News, 28 Nov 2006).

During his long career Freeman, known affectionately as Fluff (either on account of the woolly jumpers he wore, or because he occasionally fluffed his lines), became one of the best-known voices on radio in the UK. His long-time personal manager Tim Blackmore summed up Freeman's style succinctly:

He cared passionately for music of all kinds, for his family and his friends, yet through all this professional success he retained a total bewilderment that so much success and affection should have come his way. His was the creation of the chart countdown, his was the stunning combination of rock music and classical music, and his was the creation of minimalism in the art of the DJ. (BBC News, 28 Nov 2006)

Freeman died at Brinsworth House retirement home, 72 Staines Road, Twickenham, on 27 November 2006, of broncho-pneumonia. His funeral was held on 7 December at South-West Middlesex crematorium, followed by a wake in the great hall of Hampton Court Palace, which was attended by friends, former colleagues, and contemporaries. His niece Louise travelled from Melbourne to deliver one of the eulogies. He was unmarried.

Chris White 

Sources  BBC News obituary, 28 Nov 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2940413.stm,  accessed on 14 July 2009 + The Times (29 Nov 2006) + Daily Telegraph (29 Nov 2006) + The Guardian (29 Nov 2006) + The Independent (29 Nov 2006) + personal knowledge (2010) + private information (2010) + d. cert.
Archives  FILM BFINA, This is your life, T. Yarwood (director), Thames Television, 14 Oct 1987 + BFINA, documentary footage + BFINA, light entertainment footage SOUND BL NSA, documentary recordings + BL NSA, performance recordings + BL NSA, light entertainment recordings
Likenesses  L. Morley, 2 resin prints, 1960-69, NPG · photographs, 1960-94, Getty Images, London, Redferns music picture library · photographs, 1962-72, Hult. Arch., London · Bentley, photograph, 1964, Getty Images, London, Popperfoto · photographs, 1964-2000, Rex Features, London · photographs, 1964-2003, PA Photos, London · photograph, 1965, Getty Images, London, Michael Ochs archives · photographs, 1965-2000, Photoshot, London · S & G Barratts, photograph, 1969, PA Photos, London [see illus.] · I. Cook, photograph, 1994, Getty Images, London, Time and Life pictures · P. Borland, bromide print, 1999, NPG · P. Borland, photographs, 2000, Getty Images, London, Premium archive · T. Sheehan, photograph, Getty Images, London, Sony music archive · obituary photographs · photographs, Camera Press, London
Wealth at death  £522,775: probate, 29 June 2007, CGPLA Eng. & Wales



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