Evergreen

2017 EVERGREEN 73
Alan Dell (1924-1995, see above),
was South African and a walking
encyclopedia on music from the
Twenties, Thirties and Forties,
hosting The Dance Band Days on
Radio 2 from 1969 almost until his
death. He was also involved with
Radio Luxembourg and the early
days of pirate radio broadcasting.
David
Jacobs
Malcolm Laycock (1938-2009,
see above), succeeded Alan Dell on
Radio 2 with Sunday Night at Ten in
which he mixed dance bands with
his love of big bands. A former
deputy head teacher who set up a
music studio for disaffected pupils in
South London, his untimely death
signalled the end for British dance
band music on BBC radio, a crushing
blow for the many who grew up
with it.
David Jacobs (1926-2013), was a
highly versatile broadcaster who
took key roles in programmes
as different as Any Questions?, Top
of the Pops, Journey into Space (see
Evergreen, Autumn 1994), Melodies
for You and Juke Box Jury. Latterly,
he presented the late night David
Jacobs Collection, which he modestly
described as “easy listening”.
HENRY HARDCASTLE
If you would like to know what became of a famous person of yesteryear then
write to us at the address below and we’ll see what we can find out:
“Whatever Happened to...?”, Evergreen, The Lypiatts, Lansdown Road,
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 2JA editor@evergreenmagazine.co.uk