Dave Lee Travis
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| Dave Lee Travis (aka DLT) | |
| Born | 25 May 1945 Buxton, Derbyshire, England |
|---|---|
Dave Lee Travis (born in Buxton, Derbyshire on 25 May 1945) also known professionally as DLT, is a British radio presenter, best known for his career on BBC Radio 1.
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[edit] Early life
Travis attended grammar school in Manchester and his first job was as a graphic designer. He began his radio career at the pirate station Radio Caroline North, moving later to the south ship. He also presented the German TV show Beat Club,where he introduced such acts as Cream,The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Steamhammer.
[edit] Career in radio
Travis' Radio 1 career began in 1968, presenting the Pop North show from Manchester. In 1969 he took over a Sunday morning show from 10am-midday. In 1971, he was promoted to the weekday lunchtime show from 11am-1pm, moving back to Sunday mornings in 1973 and also presenting the Radio 1 Club on Thursdays from 5-7pm.
In the 1970s, he adopted the on-air nickname of "The Hairy Monster", but changed this to "The Hairy Cornflake"[1] when he started presenting Radio 1's Breakfast Show. [2]
In 1975, he took over the weekday teatime slot from 4.30-5.45pm (extended to run 4.30-7pm in 1977). He then took over the Breakfast Show from Noel Edmonds in May 1978 and continued in this slot until December 1980. On BBC television, he presented episodes of Top of the Pops in the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1976, an on-air parody of the US hit "Convoy" (by Laurie Lingo and The Dipsticks) led to a release of the song "Convoy GB" as a single, recorded with fellow DJ Paul Burnett. The song reached number four in the charts and Travis appeared as the song's narrator "Super Scouse" on Top Of The Pops.
His popular quiz "Snooker on the Radio" and in particular the sound effect "quack quack oops" became famous Radio 1 features, and were resurrected for his weekend morning show on Magic Radio.
January 1981 saw Travis move to weekday afternoons from 2.30-4.30 pm. Later that year he moved back to the weekday lunchtime slot from 11.30am-2pm, before moving to a Saturday morning show in 1983 from 10am-1pm, then Sunday mornings from 10am-1pm in 1987 taking over both Saturday and Sunday in September 1988.
Travis was named Pipe Smoker of the Year in 1982
In 1987, he published a book of his own photographic efforts called A Bit Of A Star, which he dedicated to his late father.
Travis spent twenty years presenting the BBC World Service programme A Jolly Good Show.
[edit] On-air resignation
On 8 August 1993 DLT resigned on-air during his Sunday morning show[3], stating that he could not agree with changes that were being made to Radio 1. Travis told his audience that changes were afoot that he could not tolerate - "....and I really want to put the record straight at this point and I thought you ought to know - changes are being made here which go against my principles and I just cannot agree with them...".
[edit] Noel Edmonds
Travis was famously the victim of a practical joke (or "Gotcha") by Noel Edmonds on his TV show Noel's House Party. His radio quiz was unknowingly hijacked by two fake pub quiz teams which gave absurd answers to every question. His 'reaction' at the reveal had to be recorded twice because his initial outburst was full of swearwords.He said to Noel'You are a dead man! I don't want your gotcha!'
Travis had his "revenge" the following week when, by arrangement with the House Party production team, he hijacked Noel Edmonds's show live on air, culminating in Edmonds ending up in the Great House's infamous gunge tank.
[edit] Since 1993
On leaving Radio One, DLT hosted a networked Sunday morning show (10am - 1pm) across some of the UK's commercial radio stations; he also went to Classic Gold where he hosted the 10am - 1pm morning show (later 9am - 12pm), before moving to breakfast 7am - 9am and then back to mornings 9am - 11am. In 2002, he left to work for Garrison Radio for the Army. On the 14th February 2000, DLT was the subject of the This Is Your Life programme on British TV. Other TV appearances include The Weakest Link, Noel's House Party, Mrs. Merton, Stars Reunited, Kick Start, Go Getters and Today with Des and Mel.
From March 2003 to March 2007, Travis presented a Sunday morning show from 9am-12pm on BBC Three Counties Radio, his local BBC radio station.
In 2005 he was briefly heard on Spain's Spectrum FM, presenting a Saturday morning show, but that ended later the same year due to poor listening figures.
Dave is now on Magic Radio. He hosts Saturday and Sunday 10am - 1pm.
| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded by Noel Edmonds |
BBC Radio One Breakfast Show Presenter 1978-1980 |
Succeeded by Mike Read |
[edit] External links
- Biography at Radio Rewind - including photos and audio clips from DLT's shows.
- Magic Network
- The DLT Show Facebook Page
- DLT to broadcast on the Magic Network in the UK
