Graham Dene (born 7 April 1949) is a British
radio personality
A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...
.
After a period as a disc jockey on Edgware General Hospital's radio, and at
United Biscuits Network
United Biscuits Network (UBN) was an internal radio station serving the factories of United Biscuits (UB) in Britain that operated from 1970 to 1979.
In 1970 the BBC had a monopoly on radio broadcasting in Britain, although there were a few off ...
, he became famous in the
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
area as
Capital Radio
Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. ...
's
breakfast presenter in the 1970s, having joined from
Radio City in Liverpool. He took over the breakfast show from
Kenny Everett
Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English comedian, radio disc jockey and television presenter. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the mid-1960s, he was one of the fi ...
in May 1975, and stayed there until
Mike Smith took over the slot in July 1980. When Smith left to rejoin
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
in 1982, Dene returned for a second stint as breakfast host from 1982 to 1987. This time
Chris Tarrant
Christopher John Tarrant, (born 10 October 1946) is an English broadcaster, television personality and former radio DJ. He presented the ITV children's television show ''Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and the game show ''Who Wants to Be a Milli ...
took over.
In the 1980s, Dene hosted a radio show, ''Rock Over London'', that was produced and distributed to radio stations in the United States, particularly stations that programmed
New Wave or new, eclectic music.
Dene joined the original
Virgin Radio 1215 at its launch in April 1993. In 2006, he worked at
Magic 105.4. In 2008, he was
102.2 Smooth Radio's breakfast host. Dene was also a presenter for BBC Radio Devon and BBC Jersey on its Sunday afternoons chart show. In April 2012, Dene was one of the launch presenters on The Wireless - an Internet-based radio station operated by
Age UK
Age UK is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 25 February 2009, and launched on 1 April 2009, which combined the operations of the previously separate charities Age Concern England and Help the Aged to form the UK's largest cha ...
and aimed at older people throughout the UK. From January 2013 he presented the Saturday lunchtime show on
BBC Sussex
BBC Radio Sussex is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of East and West Sussex.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Queens Road in Brighton.
Programming
Local programming airs from the B ...
and
BBC Surrey.
In January 2021 it was announced that Graham Dene would be joining the new UK radio station
Boom Radio
Boom Radio (also Boom Radio UK) is an independent, commercial, national radio station in the United Kingdom. Owned by Boom Radio Ltd, the station is aimed at baby boomers, the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964, and is the first rad ...
. He launched the station on Sunday 14 February at 10:00am, and presents the weekday breakfast show.
Boom Radio website
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References
External links
Graham Dene on Boom Radio
1949 births
Living people
British radio personalities
British radio DJs
Radio City DJs
People educated at Mill Hill School
Capital (radio network)
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