On Wednesday evening there was a documentary on BBC Radio 2 – David Jacobs: On the Record.
The documentary was hosted by Jim Moir (controller of BBC Radio 2 from 1996 to 2004 and Head of Light Entertainment from 1987 to 1993), in celebration of David Jacobs’ 67 years in broadcasting.
Being only 18, unfortunatley missed the majority of Jacobs’ career… it was only in 2003/4 that I became of his presence on Radio 2, when I first visited the Radio 2 website – and I’ve only been able to listen since it became available on what was then “Listen Again” (these days, it is of course… the iPlayer). And despite not being his typical listener, I do enjoy the show and listen regularly.
Episode 1 looked at the early parts of David’s career – childhood & family life, naval service and then post-War at the BBC. He spoke about being a newsreader at the BBC – his reputation for laughing and the time when he had to finish a news bulletin four minutes early as a result – and how this resulted in his move to the Dance Band shows.
There was even a word from Desmond Carrington, who spoke about the announcements in the BBC Broadcasting House canteen – “telephone call for David Jacobs” – and he was convinced that David probably had a role in creating these calls, as a way of getting his name noticed (clever idea)!
You can listen to the David Jacobs Collection via the BBC website – so if you’ve never listened, perhaps you should now! Part 2 of David Jacobs: On the Record is on air this Wednesday night @ 10… and that’ll look at the later parts of his career, including moving to his present Radio 2 show.
