Now then, now then guys and dolls, who was the very first DJ in the UK and the first dude to wear tracksuits and big jewellery? Jimmy Saville OBE, of course. Jimmy is credited with inventing DJing when he spun his records in a village hall long before discos were invented. He wore shiny tracksuits and chunky gold jewellery before Ali G was even born. BBC reporter of all things weird, Louis Theroux, spent a week with Jimmy. Catch 'When Louis met Jimmy' (BBC2 9.30pm) on Thursday and get some style tips from the man whose flamboyant dress sense hasn't changed for over 30 years.
Wigan, 1942 - Jimmy Saville is the first DJ to utilise two record decks in a club, thereby providing continuous music.
http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/jimmy_saville_page.htm
Jimmy Saville was born in Leeds, Yorkshire and at the age of 14 became a coalminer. Jimmy spun records in a village hall long before discos were invented and is probably the world's first DJ. His first TV show appearance was on a Tyne Tees production called 'Young at Heart' in 1958, and by the 1960s he was working for Radio Luxembourg. In 1964 he presented the first BBC 'Top of the Pops' programme on television TOTP History He is famous for his Rolls Royce and big cigars, and is the man that made shiny tracksuits and chunky gold jewellery trendy almost forty years ago (eat your heart out Ali G.) He has taken part in all but one of the 22 Great North Runs over the years and has raised millions for charity.
Although a born and bred Yorkshireman, Jimmy is no stranger to South Shields. As a boy he spent the school summer holidays with his aunt and uncle who lived in Prince Edward Road. Marsden Beach is one of his favourite places. I'm sure many of you will remember his radio programme 'Saville's Travels' on a Sunday afternoon, the show ran for an incredible 38 years, and in 1997 he did a special farewell edition of the show from the Marsden Grotto.
Jimmy Savile has been a bizarre icon for six decades. Miner, wrestler, cycle racer, dancehall manager, marathon man, Britain's first DJ, Mensa member, book reviewer, Top of the Pops presenter, fundraiser extraordinaire, and perhaps most famously the fixer, the man who would one day realise our childhood dreams. Savile rises from the bed to tell an anecdote from his book-reviewing days. "After a couple of weeks I said, 'I want to expose a book. It's for children and it's dreadful; there's this girl who's well underage and she takes up with a geezer who's yonks old and eventually they schlep off together.' "
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