SPOTLIGHT SUNDAY

This weeks Spotlight Sunday is the man, the myth and our legend, Mr Dickie Bourne!

We had the ultimate honour of doing our interview with Dickie via video call this week and we can tell you, we had a blast! Dickie started the interview by giving us a VIP tour of his studio for our eyes only where he broadcasts his Breakfast Show and 60’s & 70’s Show from.

We all know Dickie for his smooth voice that we hear in our homes of a weekend. Whatever the weather he is Ngage Radios ray of sunshine. Even though we know Dickie for his 60’s & 70’s show and Breakfast Show, we wanted to know more about the man behind the mic.

Dickie is a typical country boy. He lives in Adderley, North Shropshire close to Market Drayton and only 3.5 miles away from his good mate Danny Drayton. Dickie lives there with his wife June and his beloved 10 year old black Labrador, George.  Three doors down from Dickie also lives his daughter and 4 wonderful grandsons.

Dickies DJ journey started an incredible 50 years ago as a mobile DJ and only became a presenter 10 years ago. His love for radio began when he was really young. “I became interested in music at 6 years old when my dad had a record player and I was fascinated. I was more interested in how it all worked rather than the actual music being played on it. I got my own record player one Christmas and any pocket money I received, instead of buying toy cars, I bought records.  As time rolled on I listened to the radio a lot! I was always more interested in the man presenting rather than the     music he was playing. I wanted to know HOW he did it”

Between 1971-1974 Dickie managed to save a little bit of money and he started his own Mobile Disco called ‘Dickies Disco’ which he ran for 42 years! As well as being a mobile DJ, he used to run his own market stall selling cassettes and CD’s which was always a dream of his to do as well as working within the motor trade for most of his life.

Dickie opened up to us and explained how he felt towards the end of those 42 years as a mobile DJ.

“I hated the loneliness of it all. Going to gigs, setting up, being in a room with people celebrating and you’re on your own, it can feel very lonely. Even packing away, there’s no one by your side to share those moments with or have conversation and it broke me, so I stopped doing it”

Dickie then went on to tell us that even though he stopped doing the mobile DJing, he did continue to do his disco at the British Legion. Here is where he met Danny Drayton, but we’ll get onto that a little later on.

“At this time there was a local radio station looking for presenters i thought id give it a go…. and i smashed it. That’s where my journey as a radio presenter started!” Since then Dickie has worked on 6 radio stations during his time as a DJ/Presenter, Ngage Radio being the sixth, where he started a brand new show, The 60’s & 70’s Show!

We asked Dickie if he knew how popular his show is with our listeners.

“The 60’s & 70’s Show was a brand new show that I started when I joined Ngage Radio. For me, when you talk into the mic I’m talking to just one person but I have been told its well loved by our listeners”

“My love for 60’s music is fantastic. I lived through the whole of the 60’s and was too young to take it on board at the time so I studied it. 70’s music was happening when I was at school, lots of fabulous memories for me. I have a wealth of knowledge of the 60’s & 70’s now”

We love Dickies wealth of knowledge, which he shares on his shows by telling us some really cool facts about the songs he plays.

We all remember our first record we bought, whether that was vinyl, cassette or CD. At just 6 years old Dickie bought his first ever record and now holds a vinyl collection of around 5000! So where did that all begin?

“I was out with my dad and we went to a record shop. There was a whole box of records on the floor, I searched through and found one called ‘Sha La La La Lee by Small Faces. I took it home, played it and mum wasn’t impressed but I’ve still got this record today.

I bought a vinyl jukebox for my birthday a few years ago as I always wanted one which is where I still keep that first record I ever bought.  All my records have memories attached to them. They remind me of school days, work, girlfriends and break ups”

I guess we can all agree with Dickie. There’s a song for every, feeling, emotion, memory and life experience.

There’s a few of us that look up to Dickie with his life experiences and music knowledge but who did Dickie look up to?

“Tony Blackburn and Simon Bates. I love Simon Bates’ style of presenting, although not many others did but they were inspirations to me”

We can imagine Danny Drayton is sat reading this now , shedding a tear that he didn’t make it onto Dickies inspiration list but fear not, Dickie spilled the beans on how this dynamic duos friendship formed.

Back when Dickie was doing his gigs at the British Legion there was an advertisement in the paper of somebody doing discos in another pub the other side of town, in Market Drayton. Dickie distinctively remembers thinking ‘who’s this clown naming himself after the town’? Dickie would soon find out 12 months later when he applied to be a presenter for a new radio station starting in Market Drayton

“I went to a meeting and that’s where I met Danny. We both started working on that radio station together and from there I went to help Danny on his discos because by this time I had finished doing mine. I bought a van to move our equipment around, we bought a PA system and we’ve been working together on what is now known as ‘Disco Parties’ for the last 7 years. We’ve never had any bad gigs together because we just laugh through it and support each other. We’re like an old married couple and long may it continue.”

When Dickie isn’t out and about gigging or broadcasting on the radio he enjoys times spent with his family. “I love spending time with my 4 grandsons, they’re growing up so fast as well as walking my dog George, we’re lucky enough to live in the countryside. I do love a little bit of photography, I’m self taught but love taking photos from different angles.”

Dickie plays as many originals as possible on his 60’s & 70’s show but what does he think about these original songs being remixed into dance tracks and made more modern?

“I heard a remix of Jackie Wilson-Your Love Keeps Lifting Me higher and that was really good! I don’t dislike the remixes today I just don’t own any of them. Some are brilliantly remixed with an up to date vibe but when I do my shows I try and play as many originals possible”

Dickie surprised us by telling us he loves a bit of rock music but are there any other songs out there that brings back good memories for Dickie or does he have any guilty pleasures?

 

“There is one song that takes me back to a really happy time in my life. It was 1989 and I’d just started working at a place that I had wanted to work at for a very long time. Three days into the job a song was playing on the radio, Holly Johnson-Americanos. That song still to this day reminds me of all those good memories”

 

Other good memories Dickie shares with us is some of the gigs he’s been to!

“I’ve been to see Status Quo when the NEC very first opened but also got to see them again at Silverstone and the sound had improved so much. They were louder, bigger and better! I’ve seen Cliff Richard as well as Chris DeBurgh.

I would love to see the Kaiser Chiefs, Manic Street Preachers and Stereophonics.  I would of loved to of seen T Rex but i was to young at the time and my mum wouldn’t let me as I was only 14  ”

Dickie may have the smoothest voice in radio but sometimes, things haven’t gone quite so smoothly at times either.

“I had a gig for a wedding for a family that I did a lot of gigs for. I unloaded all my equipment as usual and the last thing I always take in is my leather case with my laptop in. Everything was in the building but as I looked around it didn’t seem to be prepared or decorated for a wedding which I thought was really odd. It actually wasn’t odd because there was no wedding there. Id only gone to the wrong venue!”

We laughed so much at this but nothing could prepare us for his next ‘faux pas’

“When i was at another wedding I went to introduce the Bride and Groom but I accidently introduced the Bride….. and best man!”

There’s definitely a wedding theme going on here Dickie!

We love having Dickie as part of our Team here at Ngage radio and so do our listeners, but what does Dickie think about Ngage Radio?

“Ngage Radio has by far the best system i have ever worked on. The whole vibe on the station is great. The respect between all the DJ’s & Presenters is great even the youngsters we have here as well they really are talented and great supportive people”

We have loved really getting to know a bit more about Dickie Bourne and we hope you have enjoyed it to! We couldn’t let Dickie go without some quick fire questions!

Fun questions:

Favourite TV Show? Happy Valley although that’s ended but I used to watch Coronation Street week

Favourite Food? Curry! I  love Indian food.

Mummy Rosie or Danny Drayton? DD, he’s my mate!

Favourite Radio station? NGAGE RADIOOOO!

You can catch Dickie Bourne LIVE on ngage radio on Saturday Mornings with the Breakfast Show and Sunday afternoons with the 60’s & 70’s Show!