Jimmy Young (broadcaster)

Early life

Young was born in Cinderford, Gloucestershire. The son of a baker and a dressmaker, he attended East Dean Grammar School. After his parents divorced in 1939, he left for South Wales to work as an electrician. Young later joined the RAF staying until 1949, becoming a PT Instructor.

Singing career

Young signed to the new Polygon Records in 1950, joining Petula Clark , Louis Prima and Dorothy Squires. All his recordings on the label were conducted by Ron Goodwin. Goodwin later said he always liked working with Young "because he was always so enthusiastic. He thought everything we did was going to be a hit." The most popular was "Too Young" (1951), a big sheet music seller at the time; it was a cover version of the Nat King Cole original. There were also two duets with Petula Clark that year, "Mariandl" and "Broken Heart".

During the early 1950s, while singing on radio in Manchester with the BBC Northern Variety Orchestra (later the Northern Dance Orchestra or NDO), he struck up a friendship with announcer Trevor Hill with both men trying to put off the other live on air by pulling faces.

In 1952, he signed a recording contract with Decca. Young enjoyed Top 10 successes with "Eternally", "Chain Gang" and "More" (with which he surpassed Perry Como's American original in the British Singles Chart listings). His most successful year as a recording artist was 1955, when Unchained Melody (from the film Unchained) and The Man from Laramie (from the film of the same name) were both number one hits. He returned to the UK Top 20 after a lengthy absence in 1963 with "Miss You" and continued to release singles until the late 1960s.

Disc jockey and radio broadcaster

After a period with Radio Luxembourg, Young joined the BBC as one of the first disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, presenting the weekday mid-morning show from 1967 to 1973. In 1973 he joined BBC Radio 2, where he presented a regular programme (which he referred to as 'The JY Prog'), until his retirement from broadcasting at the end of 2002.

He developed a popular approach to current affairs and regularly interviewed Margaret Thatcher while she was prime minister. He broadcast from around the world, including several live shows from Moscow, the first in 1977, and interviewed every British prime minister from 1964 to 2010. His theme music was "Town Talk" by Ken Woodman & His Piccadilly Brass. BFN ('Bye for now') was one of his catchphrases.

Although he was offered the opportunity to present a weekend current affairs programme, he turned it down. His radio slot was taken over by the former Newsnight presenter, Jeremy Vine. Shortly after leaving the BBC, Young wrote a newspaper column attacking his former employer for instances of "brutality", and making clear that it had not been his idea to leave. He continued to write a weekly column for the Sunday Express newspaper until he retired from this role in November 2014.

Young returned to BBC Radio 2 in 2011 with a special one-hour programme in celebration of his 90th birthday. Sir Jimmy Young at 90, broadcast on 20 September 2011, heard him in conversation with his friend and former sparring partner Ken Bruce, looking back over his career. In March 2012 Young returned to presenting on BBC Radio 2 after over nine years when he joined Desmond Carrington on a weekly show entitled Icons of the '50s.

Awards

Young received an OBE in 1979, and a CBE in 1993. At the beginning of 2002, he was knighted for services to broadcasting.

Autobiography

His first autobiography, J.Y.: The Autobiography of Jimmy Young , was published by W.H. Allen in 1974. His second autobiography, Forever Young: The Autobiography, was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2003.

Death

According to a family spokesperson, Young, 95 died "peacefully at home" in the afternoon of 7 November 2016, with his wife Alicia by his side.

Books

Discography