DJ Gary Davies talks about launching Corinne Bailey Rae's career

Davies' love of music started very young.

“Growing up in Manchester my cousins owned a nightclub called the Twisted Wheel. When I was about nine they’d smuggle me in behind stage and I got to see the likes of Rod Stewart and Wilson Picket right at the start of their careers which was amazing.

“I went to boarding school and the guys there were listening to all sorts of music from rock to soul, James Brown to Marvin Gaye - so Ii was surrounded by music from a very young age.”

When he was 17 he started helping out at his cousins’ club which had been renamed Placemate 7.

“One night the DJ didn’t turn up and I said I could do it. I’d never DJ’d before but I knew a lot about music. They agreed and I was hooked. I knew then that all I wanted to be was a DJ.”

The club had four rooms playing different genres of music and a young Davies would DJ in them all, increasing his vast knowledge of music.

He’d never really thought about being a radio DJ until a friend suggested he apply for the newly founded Piccadilly Radio in Manchester.

“I started making DJ tapes and sending them out but it took two years for me to get a job there.” He spent three years at Piccadilly but his dream was to work for Radio 1. And as his reputation grew he got his break when he was offered a three month contract on Radio 1 in 1982..

“I just couldn’t believe it. There I was working alongside my heroes including Tony Blackburn, Kenny Everett and Stuart Henry. I was star-struck for at least four or five years.”

What started out as a three month contract turned into an 11 year career with the radio station.

“What I couldn’t get over was how nice everyone was. There were no big egos unlike Piccadilly Radio, it felt like you were working in one big family, everyone was so supportive. I loved it.”

He started on a late-night weekend show but before long had taken over the lunchtime show, which he called The Bit In The Middle.

There was plenty of freedom around the playlist and he was in his element in those high octane, innovative years seeking out the brightest and best music for his audience. His popularity surged and he was soon gigging most nights of the week across the country on top of his presenting duties.

As well as being heard daily on the nation’s radios, he was a regular presenter on the iconic Top of the Pops, hosting the TV show more often than any other DJ in the 80s.

A true household name, his ‘Woo Gary Davies’ jingle was known universally and his self-coined catchphrase, “Young, Free and Single”, captured his carefree and easy rapport with the audience, the stars and the music.

“I loved the 80s,” he recalls. “It wasn’t just the music it was the fashion, the feeling of freedom - it was a time when my dreams were coming true.”

By 1992, Davies had moved to weekend breakfast, but changes were afoot and the following year his time at Radio 1 was over. He moved to Virgin Radio for six successful years whilst starting his own firm Good Groove which specialised in what he always did best: finding great undiscovered new music and connecting the public with it. It was then he discovered Corinne Bailey Rae and many more successful songwriters.

“I never intended to go back to radio - it was never in my plan - I was busy doing my own thing,” he recalls.

But he says ‘a happy set of coincidences’ saw him return to BBC radio but this time on Radio 2.

A guest appearance on Simon Mayo’s show, led to slots filling in for Sarah Cox on Sounds of the 80s and then for Steve Wright and it showed that whatever Davies might have thought, the public had not forgotten him.

Not only that but Davies’ own love of radio had been reignited, he had the radio bug again.

“I absolutely love it,” he says. “I was worried after a 20 year break whether I still had it and I have to admit I was terrified, but iI loved it.”

In February 2018, when Radio 2’s schedule reshuffle was announced, he was asked to come back home to the BBC and take charge of the weekly Saturday evening show, Sounds of the 80s.

“My philosophy on life has always been if it feels good, do it.

“When they first asked me to do Sounds of the 80s I only wanted to do it if I could make it relevant to today's audiences whatever their age.” ANd seeing the success of ‘80s pop icon Kate Bush in recent weeks, make his show even more relevant.

“What i like about young people of today is that they don’t care how old a song is or when it was fist a hit, they are just enjoying exploring and discovering music and I love that.”

The perfect choice to host Sounds of the 80s in 2018, Davies’ star was at its peak in those heady days when he discovered and championed many of the acts that he will now play out on the show.

He was one of the first to offer mainstream support to the likes of U2, Chris Rea, Deacon Blue, Tears For Fears and Simple Minds. Gary Davies and his show in some ways defined the sounds of the 80s as he constantly sought out new music. As well as playing the huge hits, he also found space for more unusual acts; such as discovering the Gypsy Kings whilst on holiday in Ibiza and demanding they got airtime.

“I am so looking forward to introducing Tears for Fears in Leeds. Things really have come full circle,” he says.

“It is so nice for Radio 2 to get out of London and take music to a wider audience, it reminds me of the old Radio 1 roadshows which would go from seaside town to seaside town to cities and parks in the summer. It is going to be a lot of fun.”

Gary Davies presents from Radio 2 Live in Leeds on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 September, on Radio 2, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds. Tickets available at www.bbc.co.uk/radio2live