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Gambo Interview

 
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gfloyd



Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 4861
Location: Here, There, Everywhere.

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 3:41 pm    Post subject: Gambo Interview Reply with quote

A long interview in the Independent today

Here is the link

http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article2433037.ece

Some choice comments he made:

"I was sacrificed in both the great Radio 1 and Radio 4 purges by controllers Matthew Bannister and James Boyle," he admits. "It's always fascinated me that whenever the Matthew Bannister era at Radio 1 is ever discussed, no one ever mentions that I never appeared again, because I managed to avoid all the 'I quit! - You're fired!' nonsense that stuck to many presenters. I just went away."

Though he concedes that "sometimes new brooms like to sweep clean and that's part of the business", he thinks the audience is not always given due consideration. "The controllers who sweep clean don't think about the hurt it causes the listeners, who don't understand there has been a controller change, but notice the absence of half a dozen people they used to like."

Indeed, he claims that famous presenters are sometimes not consulted over career-defining changes. Gambaccini featured on the long-running Radio 4 arts show Kaleidoscope, which was axed in 1998. When recording his last show he discovered he had been earmarked for presenting a weekly music show on Radio 4 - only for BBC bosses to drop the idea and direct him to Radio 2.

"I had had a weekly programme put on the schedule, then removed without being consulted. Nor was I consulted about whether I should be a Radio 2 artist. We are all victims of politics. Imagine what goes on behind closed doors!"

He is, nonetheless, deeply grateful to the former Radio 2 controller Jim Moir and his successor Lesley Douglas. Moir's interest in Gambo came in spite of the "unsatisfactory experience" at Radio 3, where the American was part of controller Nicholas Kenyon's disastrous attempt to reposition the network. Gambaccini had quit a successful role at Classic FM in 1995 to rejoin the BBC, but then found himself knee-deep in negative media comment ("miscast and miserable" - Daily Telegraph).

"My presence on R3 had become a symbol which was attracting attention for things that had nothing to do with the content of the programme," he says. "For me, the worst threat of my Radio 3 experience was that I might peak in terms of press coverage. I was getting phenomenal broadsheet attention and I thought to myself, if this goes on I will be too known for this and it might endanger other things."

Moir said as much when he came down to the studio to scope out Gambaccini for a slot on Radio 2. "He was remarkably honest - he would like to take me on, but didn't want to hire anyone known for being a loser. So it depended on how I emerged from the Radio 3 thing."

In the event, Gambo wasn't irreparably damaged by his two-year stint at R3, and nearly a decade later is comfortable at R2, mixing music from modern artists such as Amy Winehouse and The Fratellis with tracks from idols such as Neil Young and Ella Fitzgerald. As for Radio 3: "I now present the BBC Jazz awards, broadcast on Radios 2 and 3, so I'm there anyway."
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Mark Mayhew



Joined: 11 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have always had a soft spot for Paul Gambaccini.

I always used tuned into his countdown on the American charts on Radio 1-this show was always a bit of a highlight for me.
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Cherskiy



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
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Location: near Amble, Northumberland

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 5:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've always found him worthwhile to listen to, no matter what the subject matter was - I remember him on Kaleidoscope and R1 before the purge (no song and dance from him, unlike some of the others). Despite the fact that I don't listen to his Saturday show as much as I used to (primarily because I don't listen to the programme preceding it and consequently end up getting caught up in other things), when I do catch it, I enjoy his style of presentation.

I've always thought he was a presenter who had his audience at heart. He's spot on when commenting on how the listeners feel after a controller decides it's time for a change of personnel, especially the bit about the audience not being considered. I'm sure some 'focus groups' are solicited for their views, which are then extrapolated as being the country's feelings. Pity.
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Toggy tea slurper
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 5:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good old Gambo, a decent fella, good presenter, so underused.
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gfloyd



Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 4861
Location: Here, There, Everywhere.

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Toggy tea slurper wrote:
Good old Gambo, a decent fella, good presenter, so underused.


It sounds like he doesnt want to get to dependent on doing one thing, so he is probably happy enough to do what he does at the moment. If he falls out of favour with one boss he will have plenty of other projects to keep himself busy with.

BTW I didnt know that he was due to be called as a witness at the Paul Burrell trial. Seems like he has a few quid if he is living in a penthouse apartment overlooking the Thames.
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