Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Christopher Reynolds Stone, D.S.O., M.C. (19 September 1882 – 22 May 1965) was the first

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was the youngest son of

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

's assistant master and Stonehouse preparatory school's founder

Edward Daniel Stone Edward Daniel Stone (1832 – 17 September 1916) was an ordained deacon, classical scholar and a schoolmaster at Eton College. Early life He was the son of Lucia Catherine Stone (née Boswell) and Joseph Stone. His siblings were Walter George Bosw ...

. Christopher Stone was educated at Eton and served in the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many war ...

. In 1906 Stone published a book of sea songs and ballads and in 1923 he wrote the history of his old regiment. He became the London editor of '' The Gramophone'', a magazine started by his brother-in-law

Compton Mackenzie Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, (17 January 1883 – 30 November 1972) was a Scottish writer of fiction, biography, histories and a memoir, as well as a cultural commentator, raconteur and lifelong Scottish nationalist. He was one of t ...

. Stone approached the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

himself with the idea for a record programme, which the corporation initially dismissed. Stone managed to convince them though and on 7 July 1927 he started playing records on air. His relaxed, conversational style was exceptional at a time when most of the BBC's presentation was extremely formal, and his programmes became highly popular as a result. He wore a

dinner jacket Black tie is a semi-formal wear, semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and North American conventions for clothing, attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdoc ...

and tie when he presented. In 1934 Stone joined the commercial station

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

(for 5,000 pounds a year) and was barred by the BBC in consequence. He wrote a column reviewing new popular records for the '' Sunday Referee'' newspaper and appeared in advertisements for Bush radio sets.Sunday Referee, 24 May 1936 In 1937, as "Uncle Chris", he presented the first daily children's programme on commercial radio, ''Kiddies Quarter Hour'' on Radio Lyons. Stone later rejoined the BBC and caused a major row in 1941. On 11 November he wished King Victor Emmanuel of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

a happy birthday on air, adding "I don't think any of us wish him anything but good, poor soul." This good wish towards the head of a state with which Britain was at war at the time led to the sacking of the BBC's Senior Controller of Programmes and tighter government control over all broadcasts. Stone was an avid

record collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

; in the mid-1930s he already owned over 12,000. When he turned 75 in 1957 the magazine ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' praised his pioneering work: "Everyone who has written, produced or compered a gramophone programme should salute the founder of his trade."

Bibliography

*''Sea songs and ballads'', 1906 *''A History of the 22nd (service) battalion, Royal fusiliers (Kensington)'', 1923 *''From

Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

to the Rhine: The Great War Letters of Christopher Stone, D.S.O., M.C.'', 1989

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Christopher 1882 births 1965 deaths BBC people British radio DJs History of radio in the United Kingdom Royal Fusiliers officers People educated at Eton College Radio Luxembourg (English) presenters Place of birth missing

Bibliography

See also

References