David Hamilton

Happy 75th birthday to Diddy David!

It’s strange to think of a daytime show being simulcast on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. In the seventies, David Hamilton’s afternoon show was; and given this was just at the very start of commercial radio’s rise, you can imagine the audience size.

David’s radio career began in 1959 with the British Forces Network in Germany, before hosting The Beat Show on the BBC Light Programme from 1962 to 1965. He famously hosted the final edition of Housewives` Choice in 1967; then hosting its replacement 'Family Choice' on the nascent Radio 1.

He then cropped up on the Radio 1 Club, Music Through Midnight and Roundabout. After being part of the Late Night Extra team (a programme I listened to avidly as a kid, although it was a bit arty for me), he landed the Radio 1 afternoon show in 1973, later broadcast by Radio 2 too by 1975. Thus, we heard JAM Radio One jingles in rare stereo. The programme continued, ultimately back solely on Radio Two until 1986.

David then appeared on a host of commercial stations from Radio 210 to Capital Gold; from Melody to Prime Time Radio. He launched the Saga 105.7 station in the West Midlands, before transferring to the East Midlands Saga 106.6 FM. Here, I witnessed him working at an incredible rate, shifting three separate daytime shows on three different stations on the same day; each with the brightness of vocal sound which has become his hallmark for generations. Indeed, can you really hear the difference between the earliest of these clips and the most recent?

David’s career longevity is evidence of his true professionalism. He’s a lovely guy. And - with 'the Wireless' from Age UK, and other ventures; he's still at it! But whatever he does now, I’ll still picture him in those smiley Radio 1 1970s pics wearing a shirt with big collars, doing his show featuring ‘Hamilton’s Hotshots’ and the utterly non-PC ‘David’s Daily Dolly’.