With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Johnnie Walker‘s final Sounds Of The 70s was broadcast on 27th October. I was on holiday when it aired but listened to it via BBC Music’s catch-up service. After 58 years as a DJ, this is the end of an era for Johnnie and radio. He is one of the finest radio presenters I have ever heard. I might have heard him during his stint at pirate station Radio Caroline in the ’60s, but I remember listening to Johnnie avidly during school lunchtime in the ’70s on BBC Radio 1. In those heady days, he was the first DJ to reveal the weekly chart in a Tuesday pop chart rundown. I remember that he used a musical bed of the classic Booker T and the MGs track “Time Is Tight”. His voice and that track bring back so many teenage memories. I was the kid who always brought a small transistor radio into school with him, particularly on a Tuesday. This meant that me and my mates at Bishopshalt School in Hillingdon could find out whether David Cassidy and the Osmonds were still clogging up the UK charts (they were), whether Slade had gone straight in at the top (they had), or whether Bowie would get his first number one single (yes but not until 1975 with a reissue of “Space Oddity“).

I have listened to Johnnie’s shows regularly over the years. Saturdays in the 1990s were good but Sounds Of The 70s possibly topped all of his other shows for me. This final show was quite emotional, particularly some of the messages provided by stars and colleagues. The one from Rod Stewart was heartfelt and heartwarming. It was followed by “Sailing”, the song played at my Dad’s funeral. I cried a lot at that point. Then there was the wonderful chat with the legendary Sally Traffic. The music Johnnie chose for his last show was like a playlist of some of my favourite 70s songs; “Giving It All Away” – Roger Daltrey, “Solsbury Hill” Peter Gabriel, “I Can See Clearly Now” – Johnny Nash, “Father And Son” – Cat Stevens, “Misstra Know It All” – Stevie Wonder and the Dame himself David Bowie with “Drive-In Saturday”. There was a lot about Bowie on the show. I loved Johnnie’s wife Tiggy’s tale of meeting Bowie in 2002. By the time Johnnie ended the show with Judy Collins’ “Amazing Grace” I was a sobbing wreck! Radio is a smaller place with no Johnnie Walker on the airwaves.

As a footnote, I should tell you that the ‘Johnnie’s Jukebox‘ feature of the Sounds Of The 70s show inspired me to start the Play It Again Mayhem playlist.

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