- For other uses of the name, see Jimmy
Young
Sir Jimmy Young (born on 21
September 1921)
is a well-known British disc
jockey and radio
interviewer.
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Contents
- 1 Early
life
- 2 Singing
career
- 3 Disc
jockey
- 4 External
links
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Early life
The son of a baker, he was born Leslie Ronald Young, in Cinderford,
Gloucestershire
and attended East Dean Grammar School. He joined the RAF
in 1942
(lying about his age) and left in 1949 with the rank of Sergeant.
Singing career
Jimmy Young was signed to the then new label Polygon
Records in 1950,
one of the label's only stars alongside another newcomer Petula
Clark. He released numerous records on the label, all
conducted by Ron Goodwin, the biggest of which was "Too Young" (1951) a big sheet
music seller in the days before the UK
singles chart had begun. It was a cover of Nat
'King' Cole's American recording. There
were also two duets with Miss Clark that year, "Mariandl" and "Broken
Heart".
In 1952
he was lured away to a contract with record giant Decca,
and the big hits really began. Young enjoyed Top 10
successes with "Eternally", "Chain Gang" and "More"
(with which he beat Perry Como's U.S.
original). 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 successive releases and both number
one hits.
Disc jockey
He is best known nowadays as a former BBC radio
presenter.
He 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 (known to listeners as "the JY Prog"), until his
retirement from broadcasting in 2002.
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, Jimmy 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.
The Pink Floyd song "One
of These Days" is directed at him. The only words are the
threat "One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces".
This promise was fulfilled when Roger Waters cut up different
recordings of Young and spliced them together for use in concert during
early performances of the song "Sheep" (then titled "Raving and
Drooling").
He was knighted
in 2001 for
services to broadcasting.
External links
