David Hamilton – In Conversation

Back in July, I devoted a whole month to the legends of radio presentation, though there was one notable exception. Legendary writer and broadcaster David Hamilton has been presiding over the everchanging musical landscape for an unprecedented seven decades. This year, released his long awaited autobiography where he looks back at his life on the airwaves and relives some of the moments that defined pop culture. Undertaking national service in 1959, David was posted to Cologne where he secured a Sunday afternoon spot on the Forces Radio Network where he would play the new sound of rock n roll which greatly appealed to his peers but not the conservative attitude of the gentry folk. Ironically, David’s national service coincided with a certain Elvis Presley who was currently serving in the United States Army as an active duty soldier. Therefore the opportunity to play Elvis records at such a time offered the music an extra potency. Such a feeling enabled David to promptly lay the foundations for a life on the airwaves.

 

Demobbed in December 1959, Hamilton returned to London and ATV where he had secured a role as a scriptwriter some years before. This was the golden age of the continuity announcer in the primitive era of restricted programming where they would be your guide to the evening’s viewing. Being a scriptwriter offered the young broadcaster an accurate insight into the role of a continuity announcer after creating the early scripts for his predecessors and therefore David already knew how to capture the conservative tone. Commercial television had been an overnight success from the very beginning, bringing with it the glamour and style of big budget television that was a roaring success in America and now David could see a change on the horizon. The rock n roll invasion which had begun in the United States with Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis was slowly making its way to Britain and Hamilton’s generation of broadcasters were in the perfect position to bring this revolution to the masses.

 

In 1963 David would play a significant role in the history of music by being one of the first broadcasters to interview The Beatles. In such primitive times for pop culture, not many realised the importance of such interviews or the manner in which these four men would go on to change the world. Yet being in their company at such a pivotal time for them, David was in little doubt that they would go onto claim worldwide domination and pen a repertoire of music which would define pop music for a generation. By such time The Beatles’ star was already on the rise and Liverpool was slowly becoming the cultural hotspot of the world. Therefore it didn’t come as a surprise to Hamilton when John, Paul, George and Ringo became international icons and as a music broadcaster, he thrived on the ability to chart their unprecedented journey.

 

Such an incredible explosion in music required a suitable outlet and throughout the early 1960’s, this was provided by pirate radio stations. This was all about to change in 1967 when the BBC decided to restructure its radio output by creating stations to reflect different sections of the listenership. Joining Radio 1 in 1973, David perfectly suited and echoed the desired image for the youth orientated network with an unrivalled knowledge of the stars and music which was dominating 1970’s pop culture. His experience working for the forces radio station in Cologne had given him an insight into the hopes and desires of the youth demographic which he now could hone for a larger audience. Working at Britain’s flagship youth based radio station at a pivotal time which coincided with the arrival of commercial radio which ended Radio 1’s six year monopoly was a very exciting time. With a stellar lineup of Noel Edmonds, Johnnie Walker and Tony Blackburn, Hamilton was in good company and together they were able to offer the youth demographic star power which commercial stations may have struggled to provide during their inception period.

 

A common rite of passage for many Radio 1 DJs in the seventies and eighties was a presenting role on Top Of The Pops. This almost became a genre in itself as legendary executives like Michael Hurll attempted to cultivate a footprint for the quintessential Top Of The Pops presenter which fitted the targeted identity of the show. Each with big egos, every Radio 1 presenter was eager to receive the call up and thus created a form of anticipation which often resulted in Hurll pulling rank. This era saw a golden age for the show as record producer saw the potency of their act performing and therefore a presenting role was highly coveted. Television could offer a different level of fame which radio couldn’t and Hamilton’s early career at ATV equipped him with the tools to make a success of it. On entering the Top Of The Pops studio at Television Centre, David was struck by how small the space was as the audience was ushered to areas in order to create the illusion that the studio was packed to the rafters. 

 

Feats of broadcasting were nothing new for Hamilton who was and still remains one of the very few presenters to simultaneously broadcast on both Radio 1 and 2. This was the era before 5LIVE when Radio 2 had to make room for sports coverage including horse racing which seems a bizarre concept for the radio fraternity of 2024! This perhaps illustrates the misty waters between Radio 1 and 2 during the seventies and eighties which was only halted by Matthew Bannister’s seemingly controversial shakeup in 1993.  For  two years, the show continued to be broadcast on both stations until 1977 when the show moved exclusively to Radio 2 until 1986. Being on Radio 2 which was then the home of BBC sport required for the schedule to be curtailed by the sporting calendar which often meant that David was encouraged to take a fortnight’s holiday at the end of June to coincide with the coverage of Wimbledon. It was clear that, despite their similarities, there were still clear divisions between Radio 1 and 2.

 

In 1987 a management restructure at Radio 2 resulted in Hamilton leaving the BBC for new pastures. Accepting the offer to join Berkshire 210 and maintaining his creative freedom, he thrived upon learning the discourse of commercial radio with adherence to the advertising break format. Loading up the commercial cartridges was something new for the accomplished broadcaster who had spent the majority of his career at the BBC where such things didn’t exist. Covering a number of regions warranted two different advertising channels and thus it fell to David to ensure the right commercials were aired to the right audience. Unbeknownst to him, commercial radio would be the setting for the rest of his career and offer the listener some much needed nostalgia from the harsh realities of modernity.

 

In 2021, while others of his generation might have been relishing the fruits of retirement, David was about to begin yet another chapter of his career. The digital station Boom Radio caters for the baby boomer generation with a playlist of hits from the sixties and seventies and boasts a stellar lineup of broadcasting legends including Simon Bates. In many ways, it seems that Hamilton has now come full circle and is still broadcasting to millions over the airwaves. With the publication of his much anticipated autobiography Long and Winding Road released earlier this year, it’s obvious that there’s something fascinating about the man who oversaw the very inception of pop culture. It was a great pleasure to welcome the legendary David Hamilton to Beyond The Title and merry Christmas to all of my listeners!