Teddy Johnson

Here’s a radio trivia question for you: who presented the first British chart show? Now forget all about David Jacobs and Fluff on Pick of the Pops, we’re talking late 1940s and the sale of sheet music. It was on Radio Luxembourg and the DJ in question was Teddy Johnson, one-time big band singer and drummer, and by 1948 a broadcaster over in the Grand Duchy. Teddy was on 208 for just two years – his replacement was Pete Murray – and he’d continue to appear on radio and tv over the next couple of decades. In 1959 Teddy and his wife Pearl Carr represented the UK at that year’s Eurovision with the catchy Sing Little Birdy (it came second). In 1973 & 1974 he was the presenter of Radio 2’s daily drivetime show and would continue to work for the network until the early 90s with a Saturday morning show in the late 70s, series such as The Song Stylists and The Music Goes Round and Round as well as deputising for Desmond Carrington, Alan Dell and Ken Bruce. Teddy was born on 4 September 1919,