This topic is for you to review what your thoughts of each of the Hosts over the years, some you may not remember or too young to remember. Radio Rewind has clips of some of the hosts.

 

These options include the BBC light service from 1955 right up to the present day on BBC Radio 1 in 2013.

 

Franklin Engelmann:

 

 

Alan Dell:

 

 

David Jacobs:

 

 

Don Moss:

 

 

Alan Freeman:

 

 

Tom Browne:

 

 

Simon Bates:

 

 

Tony Blackburn:

 

 

Tommy Vance:

 

 

Richard Skinner

 

 

Bruno Brookes:

 

 

Mark Goodier:

 

 

Wes Butters:

 

 

JK:

 

 

Joel:

 

 

Fearne Cotton:

 

 

Reggie Yates:

 

 

Jameela Jamil:

Here goes:

 

Franklin Engelmann:

POTP's first host when it was just a new release show with no charts. He only did a handful of shows & was a typical BBC host. The genial snobby type

 

 

Alan Dell:

No real chart with Alan (he took over in January 1956, left in September & returned 57 - 58. He introduced the current hits segment to POTP with various positions mentioned from various charts. Still a typical BBC type of the time

 

 

David Jacobs:

Everybody knows David. He's OK, knows his stuff & was the first person to introduce the Top 20 to POTP in March 58. The BBC top 20 complied from an average of charts in Record Mirror, Melody Maker, Disc & NME. Again, a typical BBC type of the time

 

Alan Freeman:

Alan replaced David in September 61. Was taken off & David returned in Sept 62. Alan was back in Jan 63. Taken off in Sept 63 & finally returned for over 8 years in 1964. Hopefully everybody remembers Alan. The first person to bring in the chart rundown at the end of the show i.e. the rundown after playing the chart. Aalso the first to be very slick & not the typical BBC type i.e. not the snob! Possibly one of the best hosts. Removed when he became old hat, apparently

 

 

Don Moss:

Don did the Sept 63 to Dec 63 period on POTP & was very original for the show. A tad camp, but original going on to host various ITV quiz shows in the 70s & 80s. Very good slick presenter again

 

 

Tom Browne:

Fresh from a Danish TV Pop show & an Actor. Tom was good in his day & the silky smooth voice & slick show, that didn't always go according to plan. But he was the best host of the Solid Gold Sixty & Top 20 shows in the 70s. He left the show to present another Scandinavian Pop show

 

 

Simon Bates:

Simes definately the best host & the first to introduce the Top 40 (although ad hoc for a large period of time) First show in May 76 & last in November 92. He turned the show into a magazine show, was very slick & just got on with it

 

 

Tony Blackburn:

Don't laugh. Why was he given the show? Because he'd out stayed his welcome on the Afternoon show after going on & on about his divorce to the equally awful Tessa Wyatt. He could be OK on the top 40, aside his silly remarks & mistakes. Replaced in Jnauary 82

 

 

Tommy Vance:

A bad choice for Presenter. Radio One thought he'd be another Alan Freeman. He wasn't & made a million mistakes every week, couldn't operate jingles for toffee & became the worst host to date at that point. Even his "facts" were complete nonsense, if you fell for them. Finally kicked out after many complaints & a story in a Sunday Newspaper

 

 

Richard Skinner

Laughing boy Richard. Bought in to save Radio One from the Network Chart. He was OK & (made me laugh immensly) as he jumped ship to Capital Radio 18 months, after taking over the Top 40

 

 

Bruno Brookes:

WHY DID HE HAVE TO SHOUT ALL THE TIME? And why pretend the new chart was coming in, during the show, when it had been settled by 1pm? Awful host, that bored the pants off everyone, including the chiefs at Radio One in the end

 

Mark Goodier:

15 years on & off as presenter. He was OK in the 1991 4.30pm run. Then on his return, he started to become boring, bland & a right turn off. By 2003, he should of been taken off, but wasn't. Then someone decided to give him, 2 years as host of the Smash Hits Chart. Where he did get a bit of welly back. But the slickness dried up, during his Radio One run

 

 

Wes Butters:

Ego. A tit. Too young. Could of been better if the producers had let him play the complete top 40

 

 

JK & Joel:

Can't separate these two, as you couldn't tell one from the other & you never needed two hosts talking crap, when one could do it!

 

 

Fearne Cotton:

Silly un-coherent girl that didn't know shit from clay!

 

Reggie Yates:

As Fearne. Childish & the first person to mention snot in a chart show.Ghastly!

 

Jameela Jamil:

Started OK. Now going down the "I'm a woman" presenting a chart show, but also talk bollocks.

 

 

There are many stand-ins that should of been given Top 40 time. Andy Peebles, Neale James, Clive Warren but never were. Scott Mills has been ad hoc for some 16 years, but is just about as good as Goodier was i.e. not good. Greg James could be Goodier, he's as boring as he was & the other one is Dev (who should of taken over from Yates) as he has a certain Je ne sais quoi.

Maybe it's an age thing idk but for me Bruno Brookes made listening to the UK Top 40 exciting in the late 80s/early 90s. As this was around the time when I started getting into the charts and just discovering music in general Bruno was the perfect choice. Also helps that back then the DJ was required to play all 40 songs. If Radio 1 had been using the 2004 formulae in 1989 I would've turned off the radio after 30 seconds.

 

Mark Goodier was almost as good as Bruno, but for me lacked that bit of enthusiasm in his voice that Bruno seemed to have (THE SHOUTING, EH DAVE? :D :lol: ), Imagine the Now! album adverts with Bruno Brookes voiceover instead. :D

 

"Hello, I'm Wes" was sadly the turning point in the Radio 1 chart show. This is where the show went from playing 40 songs within 3 hours to just playing whatever and then spend the rest of the time talking inane banter <--- purposely Italicized because it really wasn't even banter. :lol:

 

By the time JK & Joel made their way to presenting the top 40, their show was pretty much the Radio 1 equivalent of Dick & Dom In Da Bungalow (children's TV show on Saturday mornings). Embarrassing doesn't even begin to cover it and by this point, listening to the chart show had well and truly become a thing of the past. \o/

Tom Browne:

 

First presenter I can recall. He always sounded half asleep to me though I must say he certainly had a distinctive voice. He also usually had very little to say during the chart countdown given the fact that he had to fit in up to 20 records in just under an hour so it was usually a case of announcing the next record. I didn't realise Tom had Scandanavian connections, perhaps it explains why when Abba visited Radio 1 in 1977 it was he who got to meet them and interview them.

 

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/944x531_b/p018k8z4.jpg

 

Simon Bates:

 

Like Tom another presenter with a distinctive voice. Though unlike Tom's which was rich and smooth I've always thought Simon Bates' voice was rough as sandpaper. Despite that he did do a professional job counting down the chart but his voice was always a hindrance to me fully enjoying the countdown.

 

Tony Blackburn:

 

Very enthusiastic and keen but very cheesy sounding. In many ways the choice of TB to present the top 40 in 1979 was a strange one because he already felt out of place on the station. But overall his time on the show was OK even if he didn't seem to know who half the acts were and worse still struggled to pronounce their names - especially the week Duran Duran made their chart debut!

 

Tommy Vance:

 

Captain calamity, the cock up kid of the countdown! He seemed very keen and often would give a little potted history about acts who were new to the charts but he really was in the wrong programme. His passion was for rock music, not playing Bucks Fizz. On the other hand he liked to drink a lot of Bucks Fizz (or something even stronger!) before doing the show and later admitted he was sometimes drunk when he did it. Not helped by the fact that he drank in a local boozer just around the corner from the BBC that stayed open for lock-ins beyond the then closing time on a Sunday for pubs of 2pm (those were the days!) so would often be having to try and sober up as 5pm approached. He got easily tongue twisted and on one memorable occasion while playing 'I Love Rock n Roll' by Joan Jett, which was inside the top 10, accidentally knocked over and sent a pile of records flying which then crashed onto the turntable, knocking the needle which skated across the record! He then proceeded to say he didn't know what happened and then played part of the record again.

 

After he stepped aside Simon Bates returned as present the show for a while.

 

Richard Skinner

 

I didn't mind Richard Skinner. For me the best presenter up to this point.

 

Bruno Brookes:

 

He was full of it, was brash and loved to exaggerate everything but he did make the show interesting and once the announcement of the new chart moved to a Sunday from a Tuesday he really was in his element. Like Dave says he would pretend that the chart was still being compiled and coming through from Gallup headquarters as he was counting it down (we all knew he was making this bit up) but he did then get to bring in "there are just two records to go so who is at... (cue jingle of 'Number Two' playing)". Or maybe he did this before then I don't know but I associate it with his time on the top 40 post September 1987.

 

After Mark Goodier did a spell of the top 40 Bruno returned for a while and this is certainly when his SHOUTING was at its peak! But I didn't mind it, it brought some excitement to the show. If someone was to compare the presentation styles of Tom Browne and Bruno Brookes it would be hard to believe they were both presenting the same programme.

 

Mark Goodier:

 

He didn't get off to the best of starts - I have a recording of the top 10 part of the top 40 from August 1989, one of the first top 40 shows he did and this was as a stand-in for Bruno and he has to miss out the number 2 record ('Ride On Time' by Black Box) because he messed up the timings is running late. Nevertheless when he took over initially from Bruno in September 1990 he provided an interesting contrast to the brashness of Bruno. Whereas Bruno came over as being all mouth and excitement Mark came over as being more cultured and calm and I enjoyed the time he presented the show until Bruno returned some 18 months later. The returning Bruno arrived even more excitable than ever and again made the show enjoyable to listen to but I have to admit I was happy to see Mark return in March 1995. At around the same time Alan Jones began to provide Radio 1 with chart facts and sometimes sales and this made the programme good from a chart fan point of view. Mark was in good form for about 4 or 5 years but then he started to sound bored - the last year or two he presented the show he really did sound like he was just going through the motions and the chart forum at Dotmusic was often speculating on whether and when he would leave. And when he finally did we found we were listening to...

 

Wes Butters:

 

.... and his strange ways of saying the name "Busted" - "Boosted" anyone? He was poor though to be fair the bosses at Radio 1 gave him an uphill struggle by changing the format of the programme to one that just wasn't popular. He was lambasted at the usual Chart forums and when it was announced he was leaving there was much joy. That said, on his last show he explained why the programme format had been changed to what it was and explained that it wasn't how he would have presented it by choice and how he was a genuine chart fan. I genuinely felt sorry for him and I'm not exaggerating when I say he sounded genuinely sad, he was obviously well aware of the comments people were making about him and about his presentation style as well as the format of the show in general. But he was just the wrong person for the job, in hindsight Scott Mills should have taken over from Mark Goodier instead but Wes made it clear the bosses wanted a new direction to try and arrest the falling listening figures and to try and make the show sound more modern.

 

JK:

Joel:

 

So up stepped these two jokers. Like Dave I couldn't tell them apart. The BBC may as well have used one of them one week and the other the next and saved some money as no-one would have been the wiser who was who. After a while they did actually get a little better but it was too little too late so next up we had...

 

Fearne Cotton:

Reggie Yates:

 

Oh my goodness, the gruesome twosome. They really were dreadful. Yet strangely, while both were still regular presenters when one was on holiday and the other was presenting alone it wasn't too bad. It was like one was lost without the other and just got on with the programme in a straightforward fashion. However once Fearne left and Reggie was permanently presenting the show on its own he managed to drag it to depths never seen before. So it was cheers all around when it was announced he was leaving.

 

Jameela Jamil:

 

Hmmm... strange one this. I only get a chance most weeks to listen to the top 10 and I'm not keen on this live video streaming thing as it just encourages too much talking and not enough playing the top 10. So that gets a thumb down from me. But from what I've heard of the first two hours of the weekly show (which admittedly is not a great deal over the year) she just gets on with the countdown which is what I prefer. So the jury is still out on this one.

 

Right...I can't honestly comment on any of the presenters listed above before Mark Goodier because I didn't start listening to the chart until 1996 - when I was about 7 years old. I think the very first one I listened to (and taped songs from) was when Gina G was number 1 with "Ooh Aah...Just a Little Bit". People always said Mark sounded bored doing it towards the end of his tenure but I disagree. When I think of the top 40 I think of him, the Propellerheads' theme music and his way of providing chart figures and stats in a time before I knew what Music Week even was. I based my own "chart show" (around the age of 9 and biased because S Club 7 were always number 1) around his presenting style.

 

Now, Wes. I thought he got a bit of a hard time personally. Taking over from Mark who'd been doing it for so long was never going to be an easy task. His comedy pronounciation of Busted was indeed something to behold. But actually I did listen to his early morning Radio 1 show once when I couldn't sleep one night and it was rather enjoyable and he had more of a free reign there. I reckon if Radio 1 had done the sensible thing of easing him into a more prime slot a la Greg James then he'd still be there. I listened to him again quite recently on BBC Radio Leeds when he hosted some Big Band thing that Olly Murs did for Children in Need.

 

JK and Joel - uggh. Hated them from the word go and still do. They belonged on a rubbish local radio drivetime show not the top 40 on Radio 1. But then they were giving the chart show as much consideration as the public were with actually buying the singles at this point so they needed a pair of banal idiots to match.

 

Fearne and Reggie - made me lose the will to live even before they did the chart and still do.

 

Jameela - I'm so happy when they chose her to be the new host. I loved her on T4 and love her blog - very funny and well informed - and she's hosted the likes of Koko Pop which I both loved and she's helped bring the show back to what it should be about so YAY from me for Ms. Jamil.

Edited August 3, 201311 yr by ThePensmith

Interesting thread!! Here are my thoughts and views...

 

 

Alan Freeman:

 

Only listened to Alan's comentary on a few old POTP's but i liked the way he hosted the show.

 

 

Tom Browne:

 

Another presenter whose style of hosting i liked as well,again by just listening to some old chart shows.

 

 

Simon Bates:

 

I thought Simon was very professional in his delivery of the chart show.

 

 

Tony Blackburn:

 

I have always had a soft spot for Tony and i do enjoy his POTP's shows on a saturday afternoon on BBC Radio 2.He's as cheesey and corny as they come but he is one of my favourite chart show hosts.

 

 

Tommy Vance:

 

Tommy was at the helm when i first started listening to the chart shows and i always thought he was extremely informative and did enjoy listening to his shows despite the mistakes.

 

 

Richard Skinner

 

Another presenter i didn't mind listening to

 

 

Bruno Brookes:

 

Now i did like Bruno's style of delivery even the SHOUTING bit lol. When the chart announcement moved to a sunday i did enjoy his excitement as the new chart was 'still being compiled',even though like Dave had said in an earlier post,it had already been known since 1pm that day lol

 

 

Mark Goodier:

 

I liked his earlier stint at presenting the chart show

 

Wes Butters:

 

I'd stopped listening to the chart show by this time as i was losing interest in the charts.

 

 

JK:

 

 

Joel:

 

Lol,luckily i never listened to these two.

 

 

Fearne Cotton:

 

 

Reggie Yates:

 

 

Jeeeeez,where do i start with these two jokers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This was the period i'd got seriously back into the charts and listening to these two was like listening to a children's programme.BOTH extremely childish,unprofessional and BOTH loved the sound of their own voice!!!!

If one was off and the other was presenting alone,it was a tad bearable but not much lol.

 

When Reggie hosted as the solo presenter,i'm not sure wether on one occasion it was Radio 1's big weekend or something but he was interviewing Jason Derulo and Jason actually said something like 'You are listening to Jason Derulo on 'The Reggie Yates Show''. Now that comment to me summed up what i'd always thought of Reggie,he thought he was the 'star' ,it was his show and the chart show was of lesser importance!!

 

His constant mistakes,personal opinions (especially his hatred of 'Glee'),man crush on Michael Buble nearly every week etc...proved just to much for me to bear so i just stopped listening to the chart show when he was presenting.

 

 

 

 

Jameela Jamil:

 

 

When Jameela was anounced as the next chart show presenter,some of the comments i'd read didn't seem promising but i decided to tune in and give her a listen.

 

I have to say,i do like Jameela's presenting.I have had a few lol moments with some of the comments she comes out and she does seem to know her stuff.It's not often i miss the chart show now.I still wish they would drop the competitions and inane banter but overall she is a MASSIVE improvement on Reggie.

Edited August 3, 201311 yr by eurofandave

Re; Bruno Brookes "chart is being compiled and coming in", I'm pretty sure back then the people listening would've believed him. It's only now looking back that we know it was just a load of nonsense talk but it was those type of comments that made it sound like Bruno was genuinely interested in seeing what track was coming up next...even if he actually did know the full chart beforehand.

Is Wes Butters the only Top 40 presenter to actually make the chart (#11 in 2005; Pondlife "Ring Ding Ding")?

 

Bruno Brookes will forever go down in chart history for the Rage Against The Machine and "Top Tits" incidents.

 

I was more of a Goodier fan even though some found him boring, I actually found him to be a great host.. he didn't shy away from giving his true opinion on songs that were charting and seemed to add a bit more humour and personality than Brookes. The most exciting chart rundowns though were always Bruno Brookes, who as stated above started the whole suspense 'two records left, so who is at (Ident: number two)' thing. I didn't think Wes was all that bad, just that the style of the show had started to change by that point and made it less interesting - JK & Joel were truly AWFUL and that whole 2005-2007 chart period was pretty dire on the whole anyway and I haven't listened much since really, I just catch the odd show here and there.

Re; Bruno Brookes "chart is being compiled and coming in", I'm pretty sure back then the people listening would've believed him. It's only now looking back that we know it was just a load of nonsense talk but it was those type of comments that made it sound like Bruno was genuinely interested in seeing what track was coming up next...even if he actually did know the full chart beforehand.

 

 

At the time Computing was relatively new, and people could easily think that a computer was crunching the figures minute by minute, but I doubt a computer would have been fast enough in those days to do the task of crunching the figures minute by minute, the Microsoft operating system at the time was Version 1, unlike the ultra powerful 8 as we have today.

Is Wes Butters the only Top 40 presenter to actually make the chart (#11 in 2005; Pondlife "Ring Ding Ding")?

No. Blackburn had 2 Top 50 singles 68/69ish. And to their faults, Alan Freeman also made records & Bruno Brookes almost scored with his Liz "don't touch me DLT" Kershaw duet.

Tony Blackburn also got to #57 with 'I Am A Cider Drinker 2007 (Paloma Blanca)' alongside The Wurzels in 2007.

Bruno Brooks also sang on a Children In Need charity single with Liz Kershaw if I remember rightly.

...But it wasn't the same Tom Browne who did 'Funkin For Jamaica (NY)' unfortunately.

 

BTW, surely the first chart show presenter to mention snot would have been whoever was doing it when Kenny Everett charted with 'Snot Rap' in 1983?

...But it wasn't the same Tom Browne who did 'Funkin For Jamaica (NY)' unfortunately.

 

BTW, surely the first chart show presenter to mention snot would have been whoever was doing it when Kenny Everett charted with 'Snot Rap' in 1983?

Vance in March 83 at #27. But not in the stupid context of Yates, whittering on & recalling going into the newsagents, with snot running from his nose on to the counter. Very chart related I don't think.

At the time Computing was relatively new, and people could easily think that a computer was crunching the figures minute by minute, but I doubt a computer would have been fast enough in those days to do the task of crunching the figures minute by minute, the Microsoft operating system at the time was Version 1, unlike the ultra powerful 8 as we have today.

The point is though, to calculate sales to compile a chart which was counted down from number 40 it would be impossible to place a record at number 40 without having placed 39 records above it...

 

I've actually listened to old clips of Chart Shows before so I could do this!

Vance in March 83 at #27. But not in the stupid context of Yates, whittering on & recalling going into the newsagents, with snot running from his nose on to the counter. Very chart related I don't think.

 

You think that's bad, there was also a time where him & Fearne asked listeners to text in things they put up their noses...

 

-x-

 

I've only listened to the chart since 2006, but I didn't think JK & Joel were that bad? They weren't that memorable, but weren't too irritating and seemed relatively interested in the charts. I have quite good memories of when they presented the charts as it was when I used to listen religiously and get SO annoyed whenever I couldn't be there on Sunday.

 

Fearne & Reggie were just dire - I can't really add much to what's already been said, but yeah far, far too many irrelevant, unfunny jokes/segments/interviews and so little attention to the chart in general just made it a nightmare. They were actually the reason I switched to Stale40UK for a bit, at least the presenter was bearable.

 

I initially thought Reggie on his own would be an improvement (as like others, I thought they were much better when one was absent as without each other as a distraction they focused more on the chart), but he soon became almost as bad. He pretty much carried all the bad habits from when he & Fearne were presenting except she wasn't there this time thankfully.

 

Jameela is a definite improvement and she does seem to have a passion for the charts, I think she's a bit 'new' atm and has someway to go, but its not all bad atm.

Hi I'm a Danish top 40 fan. From 94 to 2002 i was listening almost every sunday.

 

Bruno was brillant, and had by far the best Voice.

 

Think it was april 23, 1995 When Mark started his second stint.

 

It took some time but Mark did excellent business, and I actually Think he did it more exciting than Bruno.. WHO's gonna be nr 1 and so on...

 

But Mark did it a least two years too much...

 

Wes wasn't good at all.

 

Think Jk and Joel Were pretty good !! After they went I don't listen anymore...

 

Btw Clive Warren was a Great stand inn for Goodier ; )

 

 

Just found the Tommy Vance countdown from 8 September 1991 on tape and he sounds pretty good - although he does play some obscure remix of "Charly" by The Prodigy (a non-mover at #3) for some reason?

Edited August 3, 201311 yr by Doctor Blind

You think that's bad, there was also a time where him & Fearne asked listeners to text in things they put up their noses...

And the big vote was the biggest thing that got up someone's nose, was Fearne Cotton. Bom Bom! :dance: