With his glossy barnet, hairy chest and swoony hazel eyes, DJ Gary Davies was Radio 1’s 1980s poster boy.
Millions tuned in to his legendary lunchtime show to listen to the latest hits, sigh at The Sloppy Bit, and guess what Willy was playing on the plonker.
And with his "young, free and single” catchphrase it’s no wonder female fans loved The Bit In The Middle of “Whoo, Gary Davies on their ray-dee-oh”.
Then, after a decade at the top of the pop presenters’ chart, Gary was suddenly fired in the BBC’s 1993 purge of “uncool” and ageing DJs – aged 35.
Embittered by the whole experience, he quit presenting and set up a successful music company.
But now he’s back in his groove thanks to the wave of 1980s nostalgia sweeping the nation.
Last year Gary returned to the Beeb to present Radio 2’s Sounds of the 80s and he is currently standing in for Ken Bruce on the morning show, which attracts a record 8.5 million listeners.
Also, in November, he will join his great mate Mark Goodyear in another nostalgia-fest – hosting the Now That’s What I Call the 80s! Live tour.
Gary, 61, says: “It’s really funny because when I left Radio 1 in 1993 the ’80s were seen as really naff and uncool.
“But the music’s really stood the test of time and crosses so many generations. And I had no idea that I was still held in such affection by the listeners.
“I’m astonished and incredibly flattered that people still remember me.”
To pop-pickers in their 40s and 50s, Whoo Gary Davies is as iconic as neon Lycra, big hair and shoulder pads.
He played the soundtrack to our teens and 20s, announced the Top 40 in his Tuesday show and was also the best-loved 80s host of Top of the Pops and the Radio 1 Roadshow. So how did the become the DJ pin-up?
“Well, I never saw myself like that,” he says bashfully. “When I joined Radio 1 in 1982 the boss asked, ‘Who are you? What makes you different – what will listeners want to know?’ Mike Reid, DLT and Steve Wright all had their own on-air identities and gimmicks.
“So I said ‘I’m a single boy from Manchester who’s just landed his dream job. I’m 5ft 10, with dark brown hair, hazel eyes and I’m unattached’. And then, because the band Sunfire had this record called Young, Free and Single, I used that too. Then things just evolved and it became a kind of catchphrase.
“It was the same with the ‘Whoo Gary Davies on your radio’ jingle. It came from a song by the Kane Gang called Small Town Creed. Bands would make jingles from their songs to get us to play them. When the Kane Gang did if for me it really caught on.”
Gary had started DJ-ing in his cousin’s club in Manchester and spent two years sending demo tapes to radio stations before landing the Radio 1 slot. Soon he was put in front of the TV cameras – and was terrified.
“They’d introduce the new Radio 1 DJs on Top of the Tops and I did my first one in December 1982,” he says.
“There was me, Pat Sharpe and Janice Long with Peter Powell hosting – and I was petrified. I was given one of the cool Radio 1 bomber jackets but it was way too small for me.
“I was super uncomfortable and shaking like a leaf. I did it again in the February and was still like a rabbit in the headlights, I was so scared.
“The executive director told my manager, ‘He’s not very good, I don’t think I’m going to use him again’. But they did, and I got the hang of it. In the 80s I presented it more than anyone.”
Gary also became a favourite on the legendary Radio 1 Roadshows, touring resorts around the UK every summer.
“Those Roadshows were incredible,” he says. “Imagine up to 40,000 people on a beach, all looking at you. It was brilliant – so much fun. It’s the closest a DJ gets to being a rock star.”
Then, in 1993, his radio career came to an abrupt end. He says: “I never wanted to go, I was fired. But when you join Radio 1 you realise you can’t be there for ever. It’s a young person’s station with a young audience. The closer you get to 40 you know your days are numbered, like a footballer.
“Back then there wasn’t the right station to move on to because the gap between Radio 1 and Radio 2 was huge. Nothing was going to compare to Radio 1 and I had this massive fear of ending up 10 years later on some small, oldies station being treated like rubbish as a few of my former colleagues were. So I decided to get out of radio and start a music company, which I did with no regrets.”
He set up Good Groove, which took several years and all Gary’s savings to get off the ground. His first hit was selling the song Black Coffee to All Saints, and he went on to work with Kylie and James Morrison before signing Corinne Bailey Rae.
In the 90s Gary married Iranian heiress Lisa Tchenguiz. They had no children and divorced in 2001 but remained on good terms. Gary now lives in London with his “amazing” partner of 10 years, JJ, who, he says simply, “makes me very happy”.
Then two years ago he was invited to take part in Radio 2s’s Sounds of the 80s Dancethon for Comic Relief. He says: “Simon Mayo called me and said ‘Oi, what have you been doing for 25 years? Come in and have a chat.’
“When Sara Cox couldn’t do her 80s show they asked me to cover. I hadn’t done a live radio show in over 25 years. It was nerve-racking but so much fun. Then they asked me to cover for Steve Wright, and when the schedules changed I got Sounds of the 80s.”
Gary smiles. “You know, the second I started doing it again I thought ‘I LOVE this’ and realised I’d missed it.”
Gary’s love and knowledge of 80s music make the perfect choice to host the Now Live show – a spin-off from the compilation album series now in its 103rd edition.
A live band and team of singers will cover 80s classics such as Relax, Purple Rain, Gold, It’s Raining Men, Come on Eileen – and The Time Of My Life. Which is what Whoo Gary Davies is clearly having now he’s back on the ray-dee-oh...
“I’ve got this renewed energy and love for radio,” he says. “I go on air every time thinking ‘I’m so lucky.’ “
* Now That’s What I Call the 80s Live starts on November 15. Tickets available from raymondgubbay.co.uk
