| Frank Wappat | |
|---|---|
Photo of Frank receiving first Sony Award 2009 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Frank Wappat |
| Origin | Hebburn, County Durham, England |
| Occupations | BBC Radio Presenter |
| Years active | 1950s–present |
| Website | [2], [3] |
Frank Wappat (born Hebburn, County Durham, England) is an English Radio personality, Disc jockey and singer. He has worked with The Premier Band, Bobby Thompson, Renato Pagliari, The Pipe-dreamers, Flintlock (musical group), The Dooleys and many others in a career spanning the 1950s to the present day[1]
Frank founded the Al Bowlly Circle,[2] Memory Lane Magazine, British Band-Leaders Club and The Thirties Club. He is the longest serving presenter on BBC Radio Newcastle, having started in 1970, following his first broadcasting via Radio 390 on the Thames Estuary.[3]
In 1999 he won a Sony Radio Academy Award for his Master Joe Peterson programme (a thirties music hall star who turned out to be Mary O'Rourke),[4] and in 2000 he won a second for Investigative Journalism unearthing the truth about the death of 1940’s Chick Henderson (singer), later publishing a biography.[5][6]
Both his Gospel & Inspiration show and Frank Wappat Nostalgia show continued on BBC Radio Newcastle[7] and BBC Radio York[8] until August 2010 when Wappat decided to retire after 40 years.[9]
Frank's son Paul Wappat was a radio presenter at BBC Radio Newcastle before moving to 97.5 Smooth Radio in January 2008.[10][11]