David Hamilton (broadcaster)
| David Hamilton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
David Pilditch 10 September 1938 Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Diddy David Hamilton |
| Occupation | Radio & TV Broadcaster |
| Years active | 1959–present |
| Children |
Jane (b.1963) David (b.1964) |
David Hamilton (born David Pilditch on 10 September 1938) is a British radio presenter. Since his broadcasting career began in 1959, Hamilton has hosted over 12,000 radio shows and more than 1,000 TV shows. He is usually known as 'Diddy David Hamilton' which was a name given to him by the successful British comedian Ken Dodd.
Early life
Hamilton was born in Manchester, Lancashire, in 1938. He adopted his mother's maiden name as a show business name.
He attended Glastonbury Road Grammar School at St. Helier in Surrey, until aged 17.
TV career
On leaving school Hamilton became a script-writer for the TV series, Portrait of a Star.
In 1960 he became an in-vision television announcer for ABC TV (Associated British Corporation) based in Didsbury, Manchester and appeared with Ken Dodd in the TV series, Doddy's Music Box, acquiring the nickname, 'Diddy'. Throughout the 1960s he hosted shows for the Tyne Tees,including 'The Bright Sparks ', Anglia and Westward Television companies.
He joined the then new Thames as an announcer in 1968, subsequently hosting many shows for them including Miss TV Times, TV Times Gala Awards, The World Disco Dance Championships, as well as many outside broadcasts, circus and sports shows. He appeared alongside comedians Benny Hill and Tommy Cooper and hosted Thames TV's showcase weeks on television in New York City and Los Angeles. Later he hosted ATV's Saturday night series, Up For the Cup, and four series of ITV's Hangman-style game show, All Clued Up.
For BBC TV he compered Top of the Pops and Seaside Special and in 1986 the Eurovision Song Contest Previews. For seven years he was the main host of one of the earliest satellite TV stations, Lifestyle.
In February 2012 at the age of 73 he danced to the track "Push it" with fellow DJ Tony Blackburn as contestants on the charity show "Let's Dance for Sport Relief"
Radio career
BBC Radio
Hamilton made his broadcasting debut with the British Forces Network in Germany in 1959. His first UK broadcast was as the host of The Beat Show from the Playhouse Theatre, Manchester, in 1962. He hosted the show on the BBC Light Programme until 1965. He presented the final edition of Housewives' Choice in 1967 and was first heard on Radio 1 in November 1967, presenting Family Choice. By the late '60s Hamilton was presenting many shows for BBC radio, including Music Through Midnight, Roundabout, Pop Inn and Radio 1 Club.
In 1970 he joined the team of Late Night Extra and in 1973 was offered his own daily show on Radio 1 every weekday afternoon from 2.00pm-5.00pm. A regular feature was his "Tea at Three" slot which used as its jingle the 1961 version (by the Syncopators) of Jack Buchanan's 1935 hit "Everything Stops For Tea" – featuring a female vocal. In 1975 the show was simultaneously broadcast on Radio 1 and Radio 2 (listeners being able to hear the show in stereophonic sound on Radio 2's VHF frequency), giving it the biggest audience of the day. In December 1977, the show moved to Radio 2 and remained there until the end of 1986 when Hamilton quit the station, complaining of its 'geriatric' music policy.
Commercial radio
Since January 1987 Hamilton has been heard on many commercial stations in the UK. He joined Reading's Radio 210 initially to present a mid-morning show from 9am to 12 noon although the show was quickly brought forward an hour, starting at 8AM. He then joined Capital Gold in November 1988 to present its daily 10:00am to 1.00pm show. In addition to that, he also presented a weekly oldies show which was heard on various ILR stations around the UK. This was usually heard on a Sunday afternoon.
In late 1994 Hamilton presented the Breakfast show on Melody FM (now Magic 105.4) for four years before moving to London's Liberty Radio to present an afternoon show. He also did a show on the Classic Gold Network on a Sunday.
As well as Classic Gold, in 2000 he joined PrimeTime Radio, presenting the weekday mid-morning show, where he remained until its demise in 2006. In addition to this, in October 2001 he left Classic Gold and presented the breakfast show on Birmingham's Saga 105.7 FM before moving to Nottingham's Saga 106.6 FM in early 2003. From 2004–06, he was heard on various radio stations around the UK, presenting his Million Sellers show, which would usually go out on a Saturday lunchtime, and was repeated at midnight. Around this time he also had a sojourn at Big L 1395.
In April 2012, Hamilton was one of the launch presenters on The Wireless, an Internet-based radio station operated by Age UK and aimed at older people throughout the UK.[1]
Stage
On stage Hamilton has compered shows by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, David Cassidy and many other pop acts. He has hosted shows at venues like the Royal Albert Hall and the London Palladium, and headlined in four major pantomimes.
In 2016 he embarked on a 40-theatre tour, David Hamilton`s Rock `n` Roll Back The Years, with band, The Fugitives, and singers.
Sport
Hamilton was chosen to be the compere for the Wembley Lions Speedway team in 1970 and 1971. It was well known that Hamilton was a massive speedway fan, and this during the time that speedway was the second most popular spectator sport behind football.
During the 1970s Hamilton was also the match day presenter for the Reading Racers Speedway Club. Latterly he was seen regularly on BBC1's Match of the Day and BSkyB's Football First as he is the matchday compère at Fulham F.C.[2]
Current work
By 2015 Hamilton was hosting daily four hour shows for The Wireless, and The Million Sellers for Decades Radio. He is heard regularly on BBC Radio Devon, BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey.