Pete Myers (18 April 1939 – 5 December 1998) was an international broadcaster with the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

and

Radio Netherlands Worldwide Radio Netherlands (RNW; ) was a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands from 1947 to 2012. Its services in Dutch ended on 11 May 2012. Eng ...

Biography

Myers was born to

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

parents in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. His father worked for

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

. His career in radio started in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, where he arrived as a teenager in 1957, three days before independence. Myers became friends with Smokey Hesse, who hosted ''Jazz Scene'' on Radio Ghana and let Myers regularly sit in during broadcasts. One day, Smokey realised he had forgotten his script at home, rushed back to get it, and was hit by a bus and killed. Sitting in the studio, and unaware of the accident, Myers was asked to fill in and present the programme instead. He did it so well that he was hired as a broadcaster at the station. He became the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation's top radio personality and the favourite radio voice of Ghana's first president,

Kwame Nkrumah Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...

. While in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, Myers organized a weekly

discotheque A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and ...

session that helped popularize

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

in the capital and also directed the country's first musical and helped found what became the country's national theatre. During the

Congo Crisis The Congo Crisis () was a period of Crisis, political upheaval and war, conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost ...

, he and friends went to Katanga to entertain

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

peacekeepers in the Congo. Later, Myers was part of a troupe, which included an orchestra and 85 dancers, that was sent to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to perform. On the strength of his success at Radio Ghana, he was hired in 1963 by the BBC External Service (BBC World Service since 1965) as the first host of ''Good Morning Africa'' for the BBC African Service. On the programme, he "anarchically scattered jokes, competitions and fictional guests like the American Vietnam commander 'General Wastemoreland' between the 'pop, politics and personalities' of the programme's sub-title." Myers's success gave him celebrity in Africa, with fans gathering in the thousands to greet him at airports. Myers was in the cohort of DJs who launched

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 Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

in 1967 sharing duties with

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in Britain for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekday brea ...

presenting ''Late Night Extra'', while also continuing on the BBC Africa Service. He was constrained on his Radio 1 show by the station's restrictive playlist and policies, denying him the on air freedom he had on the World Service. He also began presenting a weekend programme on BBC Africa, ''PM'', named after his initials, where he would interview celebrities such as

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the James Bond music, theme songs to three James Bond films - the only artist to officially perform more than o ...

, Carol Channing,

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor, widely considered one of the most important figures of Cinema of the United Kingdom, British cinema. He directed the large-scale epi ...

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, Bergman is often regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cin ...

, and

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...

. In the early 1970s, the success of ''Good Morning Africa'' promoted the World Service to make it the flagship morning programme across the English section as ''The Good Morning Show'', also presented by Myers. He left the BBC in 1974, after 11 years, and moved to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, where he opened a nightclub called the Crazy Horse Saloon, only to close it down a few weeks later when the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

broke out. He moved to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, where he attempted to start another nightclub, before returning to broadcasting in 1976 when he joined Radio Netherlands, where he produced and presented English-language documentaries, features, and other programming aimed at Africa and Asia, as well as for the English section generally, presenting and producing programmes such as ''Afroscene'', ''Mainstream Asia'', ''Asiascan'', ''Rembrandt Express'', and ''50+''. From 1993 to 1995, he hosted Radio Netherlands' venerable ''

Happy Station Show The ''Happy Station Show'' was one of the world's longest-running international radio programmes, having originated in 1928 on shortwave radio and airing its final edition on 27 December 2020. The original show followed a format of light enterta ...

''. In 1968, in London, he married American folk singer Hedy West in a

marriage of convenience A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain, or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as a political marriage. Cases whe ...

in order to allow West to remain the UK. West and Myers later divorced. Myers died at 59 of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and complications from

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

References

External links

"Much more than a Talent to Amuse"
recollections of Pete Myers by Jonathan Marks (18 April 2019)
"A Talent to Amuse"
- Radio Netherlands tribute to Pete Myers (18 December 1998)
"Siren Song: Interview with Pete Myers after 40 years of making radio"
Radio Netherlands Archives (18 May 1997). {{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Pete 1939 births 1998 deaths AIDS-related deaths in the Netherlands Anglo-Indian people BBC Radio 1 presenters BBC World Service people Deaths from cancer in the Netherlands English emigrants to the Netherlands English LGBTQ broadcasters English radio DJs English radio people Ghanaian radio personalities Indian emigrants to England Indian emigrants to the Netherlands Indian people of German descent LGBTQ DJs People from Bengaluru People from Utrecht (city) Radio Netherlands Worldwide