It was announced on Hogmanay that DJ Johnnie Walker has died. He was one of the original pirate DJs and eventually joined the BBC when the pirate radio became untenable.
I remember listening to his lunchtime show on Radio 1 back in the day, indeed it was on that show I first heard Barclay James Harvest’s I’m Over You, one of my favourites of that band’s songs.
He was too much of a rebel to last at the BBC and moved to the US for a few years.
When he eventually came back to the UK he finally settled in at Radio 2 with the show Sounds of the Seventies, taking over as presenter from Steve Harley and also took the helm of The Rock Show. He had a short stint presenting Sounds of the Sixties in the aftermath of Brian Mathhew’s departure from that show before Tony Blackburn took over the slot. His increasing health problems saw him give up broadcasting only a few months ago.
His voice is missed.
This Duane Eddy track was so beloved by Walker that it became his signature tune. No excuses for featuring it again:-
Duane Eddy: Because They’re Young
Peter Waters Dingley (Johnnie Walker;) 30/3/1945 – 31/12/2024. So it goes.
I posted Cockney Rebel’s first single Sebastian here, their biggest hit Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) – a storming no. 1 – here, and a later cover of George Harrison’s song Here Comes the Sunhere.
This song was the first of Cockney Rebel’s (and therefore Steve’s) songs I ever heard. A no. 5 in 1974.
Cockney Rebel: Judy Teen
Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice (Steve Harley) 27/2/1951 – 17/3/2024. So it goes.
I missed this when it was released as Cockney Rebel’s first single and didn’t come across it till the live version on the B-side of Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) – which it completely blew away.
By that time of course the original group had long since split and had morphed into Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel.
Ths was quite a brave release for a first single (if the 7 minute long track was issued.) The drums don’t appear till 2 minutes 46 seconds in!
As I recall the live version is even better than this one.
Cockney Rebel: Sebastian
Judge for yourselves, though I’m not 100% convinced this is a live recording. (But it does sound quite like the B-side I remember):-
