So Dave Lee Travis brought cheer and comfort to Aung San Suu Kyi in her darkest hours. It is probably bad form to criticise a Nobel Laureate for her taste in DJs. It could , after all have been Chris Moyles. But DLT? A bearded, boring dinosaur axed, or forced to jump, by a modernising Radio One management more than a decade ago. "Get thee to a commercial station, preferably in the shires, and take your crap quiz shows with you".
DLT's infamous farewell "live on air" declaration to an indifferent nation was a tad pormpous, a bit like when McCartney left The Beatles. Nor did he help himself with some highly patronising remarks about those who followed him into the studio. "No one seems to understand the 'c' word, these days: COMMUNICATOR", he told a documentary team. A reviewer quipped that another c word came rapidly to mind when contemplating DLT and his work.
But was this fair? Not when you think of Mike Smith or Mike Read. I remember Travis bringing up the rear on the unrivalled Radio 1 daytime line-up in the mid-1970s, the drive-time man from Derbyshire wrapping up after Noel Edmonds, Tony Blackburn, Johnnie Walker and David Hamilton, and not a bad listen. Difficult to believe it now, but Edmonds was a hugely witty breakfast jock. Even as a callow teenager, I sensed that DLT struggled to fill his shoes, all that "coming at you through the cornflakes" stuff and jocular jibes about getting out of bed. Things got much worse when he got serious. Anyone for a breakfast time campaign against seal-clubbing? "Some of you will find this upsetting...." He also refused to play PIL's 'Death Disco' on the chart rundown, perhaps thinking that John Lydon was advocating slaughter on the dancefloor.
DLT was no great musical pioneer, but I remember a dignified tribute to the wonderful Minnie Riperton and a jokey, rather cute interview with Abba, with the hairy one even coaxing the odd chuckle from the bashful Agnetha.
All pretty trivial when you've been the DJ of choice for the Burmese house arrest heroine. So DLT clearly does not stand for Deadbeat Lethargic Tripe. How about Deliverance, Love and Trust?
DLT's infamous farewell "live on air" declaration to an indifferent nation was a tad pormpous, a bit like when McCartney left The Beatles. Nor did he help himself with some highly patronising remarks about those who followed him into the studio. "No one seems to understand the 'c' word, these days: COMMUNICATOR", he told a documentary team. A reviewer quipped that another c word came rapidly to mind when contemplating DLT and his work.
But was this fair? Not when you think of Mike Smith or Mike Read. I remember Travis bringing up the rear on the unrivalled Radio 1 daytime line-up in the mid-1970s, the drive-time man from Derbyshire wrapping up after Noel Edmonds, Tony Blackburn, Johnnie Walker and David Hamilton, and not a bad listen. Difficult to believe it now, but Edmonds was a hugely witty breakfast jock. Even as a callow teenager, I sensed that DLT struggled to fill his shoes, all that "coming at you through the cornflakes" stuff and jocular jibes about getting out of bed. Things got much worse when he got serious. Anyone for a breakfast time campaign against seal-clubbing? "Some of you will find this upsetting...." He also refused to play PIL's 'Death Disco' on the chart rundown, perhaps thinking that John Lydon was advocating slaughter on the dancefloor.
DLT was no great musical pioneer, but I remember a dignified tribute to the wonderful Minnie Riperton and a jokey, rather cute interview with Abba, with the hairy one even coaxing the odd chuckle from the bashful Agnetha.
All pretty trivial when you've been the DJ of choice for the Burmese house arrest heroine. So DLT clearly does not stand for Deadbeat Lethargic Tripe. How about Deliverance, Love and Trust?
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