‘The Times’ obituary (first paragraph) – SIR JIMMY YOUNG CBE:
‘According to the report on his BBC audition, Sir Jimmy Young was not suited to radio. After undergoing a test as a young entertainer in 1947, his agent received a curt letter telling her that “in our opinion, Mr Young has no future in broadcasting”’.
The rest, as ‘they’ say, is history…in Jimmy’s case, a wonderful history, a life well and fully lived, a life which brought pleasure to millions, so many of whom, were it not for the likes of Sir Jimmy Young and his JY Prog, were it not for the likes of Sir Terry Wogan, would have lived more lonely lives.
Radio is more personal than television. I think there is more of a personal relationship between a radio presenter and the listener than there is between a television presenter and the viewer (though, to name one TV presenter who comes to mind, Eamonn Holmes was great at ‘connecting’ on Sky News). In the case of radio, there’s just a voice, no distractions, no movement, no colour, just a voice and I think it’s easier for the listener to get a sense of there being just him/her and the presenter in the room, a personal relationship, just the two of them, than is achievable via the television which, again, in my opinion, is more distant/detached.
Sir Jimmy was in the business of entertaining but he also provided a crucial, social/communal service in just being there, being a friend to so many lonely people who otherwise would have lived out the rest of their lives in loneliness and that is one of life’s most painful and tragic eventualities suffered by so many. In the case of Sir Terry, for many of his listeners, his ‘friends’, just being a TOG, one of the TOG ‘community’ of friends, was a lifeline, I’m sure.
Sir Jimmy Young was one of the best, a natural, just like Sir Terry, a different style but just as good.
RIP Sir Jimmy Young. BFN…
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