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Revision as of 23:53, 28 November 2006

Alan Leslie "Fluff" Freeman CBE (born July 6, 1927, Melbourne, Australia, died 27 November, 2006, Twickenham, England) was a well-known disc jockey and radio personality in the United Kingdom for 40 years.

Career

Born and educated in Melbourne, after leaving school he worked as an assistant paymaster/accountant for one of Australia's largest timber companies.

Freeman originally wanted to be an opera singer, but decided his voice was not strong enough. In 1952 he was invited to audition as a radio announcer and commenced working for 7LA known as the teenager's station. Freeman's varied duties included that of continuity announcer; presenter of musical programmes incorporating opera, ballet and classical music; DJ for the top 100; news reader; quiz master and commercials reader.

Moving to radio station 3KZ in Melbourne, in 1957 he took an agreed nine-month trip around the world with the verbal promise to return to Melbourne by January 1958. He got to London, and on deciding to stay wrote numerous letters of delay, and later apology, to his former Melbourne employer

Freeman started his British career as a summer relief disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg, and continued to present late-evening programmes on the station until the early 1970s.

In 1961 he moved to the BBC Light Programme as presenter of the Records Around Five show, which was introduced by his signature tune At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbal. In September 1961 he introduced Pick of the Pops as part of a Saturday evening show Trad Tavern. Pick Of The Pops became a permanent show in its own right in 1962, with Freeman fronting it until 1972. At the same time, he was one of the original team of presenters of BBC TV's Top of the Pops, and a regular member of the Juke Box Jury panel.

In April 1972 Freeman joined the ranks of daily presenters on Radio 1, taking over the afternoon (3-5 pm) show from Terry Wogan. This continued until June 1, 1973. During this time he spotlighted youth clubs and young people, and became Vice-President of the London Association of Youth Clubs. During the 1970s he also presented the Radio 1 series Quiz Kid on Sunday evenings, which was recorded at Youth and Boys Clubs all over the country; while on Saturday afternoons he presented his iconic Rock Show, featuring heavy and progressive rock and a regular rundown of the current album chart, from 1973 until 1978.

He left the BBC to work for Capital Radio from 1979 to 1988, reviving both Pick of the Pops (now called Pick of the Pops Take Three) and The Rock Show. He returned to the BBC and Radio 1 in January 1989 to revive both The Rock Show and Pick of the Pops. This run of Pick of the Pops ended on December 27, 1992, but he continued to host The Rock Show until October 23, 1993, when he, along with other long-serving DJs, left the station as it was revamped by controller Matthew Bannister.

In December 1993 he presented the Alternative Chart Show on a trial one-off RSL broadcast by XFM in London. He then hosted Pick of the Pops Take Three on Capital Gold from April 9, 1994 until late 1996. In 1996 and 1997 he also hosted The Rock Show on Virgin Radio, and he was heard presenting one-off shows on Classic FM.

He returned to the BBC on BBC Radio 2, taking Pick of the Pops back to its home from 1997 until 2000. A lifetime love of classical music and particularly opera was developed in the show Their Greatest Bits. But as arthritis got the better of his hands, he eventually handed Pick of the Pops over to ex-Radio Trent DJ Dale Winton.

He was awarded the CBE in 1998. In May 2000 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award at the Sony Radio Academy Awards.

Personal life

In March 1994 Freeman revealed on breakfast television that he had become celibate in 1981, but had previously been bisexual.

In his later years, Freeman suffered from severe arthritis and asthma from a 60 a day smoking habit, and he used a Zimmer Frame or motorised wheelchair to get around. He lived at Brinsworth House, a retirement home for actors and performers run by the Entertainment Artistes Benevolent Fund until his death in November 2006.

Style

Freeman's distinctive presenting style included the frequent use of classical music stings between records, and many memorable catchphrases such as 'Alright, pop pickers? Alright!' and 'Not 'arf!'. His style has been much parodied, and he was the model for Harry Enfield's popular character 'Dave Nice', although he contributed to the satire himself in good grace by appearing on Enfield's show. For all Freeman's supposed clichés and archetypes in his broadcasting style, he has always been regarded as a true original by his fellow broadcasters - when he appeared on John Peel's This Is Your Life, Peel said: "Fluff was the greatest out-and-out disc jockey of them all."

Trivia

Other BBC presenters gave him his nickname "Fluff" early in his career, because of his habit of turning up for his show in woolly jumpers.

During the 1960s, Freeman briefly attempted an acting career, notably in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, but his limitations were apparent, and in other films he has played himself. He also played God (albeit a God who sat at a mixing desk and said "Alright?") in two episodes of The Young Ones in 1984.

References

External links

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