Gillett Celebrates 30 Years of London Broadcasting
The legendary
Charlie Gillett - one time manager of Ian Dury and the DJ responsible
for giving Dire Straits their career break - this year celebrates
30 years of broadcasting to Londoners. Charlie was first heard on
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio London as a young nipper in March 1972 - and can still
be heard every Saturday night on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ London 94.9FM.
To
mark this great occasion, on Saturday 23 March ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ London 94.9FM
will be broadcasting Charlie's radio show live from the Kashmir
Klub to an invited audience of listeners and music industry folk.
Live guests include Nick Lowe, Lu Edmonds, Gary Lucas, Mariza and
also dropping by will be Nick Hornby and Richard Williams. Live
bands and lots of excellent conversation prevail as ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ London 94.9FM
celebrates 30 years of broadcasting by the guru of world music.
Listeners
will be able to win tickets for this extra special evening by tuning
in to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ London 94.9FM in the week beginning 18 March, when one
show every day will be giving away a pair of tickets to a lucky
listener.
Charlie
joined ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio London when DJ Robbie Vincent rang him up about
a column heÂ’d written in the Record Mirror and invited him
to come in and play his choice of music to listeners. He had a terrific
response, was offered his own show, and went on to present the influential
Honky Tonk on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio London for the next seven years.
After
that he worked at Capital Radio for eleven years until 1990, pioneering
the concept of world music before the term was invented, as he interacted
with the many performers from around the world who come to play
at LondonÂ’s many live venues. Charlie was Broadcaster of the
Year at the 1991 Sony Awards.
In
1995 he returned to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ London Radio where his blend of world music
with the best English-language music has lured a loyal and ever-expanding
audience to tune in every Saturday Night.
At
a station committed to reflecting the huge range of cultures and
nationalities across the city, CharlieÂ’s flagship radio show
is a great example of how these cultures mingle and enhance each
otherÂ’s strengths.
A
unique feature of the show is a game called Radio Ping Pong in which
a guest comes in to swap records with Charlie for an hour. Usually
there has been no prior discussion about what each will bring in,
so the game evolves spontaneously on the air. David Byrne, Emmylou
Harris, Brian Eno, Taj Mahal and Youssou N'Dour are among the many
people who have given up their time to come and entertain the audience,
and in many cases to introduce artists who might otherwise never
have been discovered.
Nominated
for Best Weekend Music Show at the Sony Awards in 1999, Saturday
Night was nominated for Best World Music Programme category at the
international Deutsche Welle Awards in both 2000 and 2001.
Charlie
can currently be heard on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ London 94.9FM every Saturday from
8.00 to 10.00pm.
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