In the decades since pop music became a fixture on the airwaves, an unexpected cult has grown up around the men and women whose job title implies that they’re there simply to cue up the records. Some disc jockeys do their thing unobtrusively: picking and playing the music, telling us a little about what we’re hearing, letting us make our own judgements. Other DJs take a very different tack: as they fill the airwaves with banter and chat, daft games and dafter jingles, music sometimes feels like an afterthought. On BBC 6 Music, all our DJs enjoy theselves on air, but we’re really all about the tunes. Here are 30 questions on some of the best-known radio DJs of the last 50 years.
Answers: here
1 Which DJ’s mid-morning programme on BBC Radio 1 included a sentimental feature called ‘Our Tune’? For which station did this DJ work after leaving the BBC, presenting occasionally from 1997 and regularly from 2002 until 2011?
2 Come Find Yourself is the 1996 debut album by which New York band, who favoured a cartoon gangster image? Which current BBC 6 Music presenter fronts the band?
3 Which radio station boasted the most powerful transmitter in Europe from the thirties to the sixties? On which famous medium wave frequency did the station broadcast?
4 Which track by Ocean Colour Scene was used as the main theme for Chris Evans’ show TFI Friday? What was the name of the earlier programme, also hosted by Evans on Channel 4, that helped to set the light entertainment blueprint for the show?
5 Who was the first female DJ to present the Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 1? Which TV show does she currently present, having previously been a contestant on its parent programme?
6 What was the full name of the Australian-born DJ known affectionately by his colleagues as ‘Fluff’? What’s the name of the chart programme he presented on BBC radio from 1961 to 1972?
7 In 2015, which independent rock station was rebranded as Radio X? Who left talkSPORT to host both Radio X’s drive-time show and a Saturday football-based programme called Kickabout?
8 ‘When Britain was an Empire, we were ruled by an emperor. When we became a kingdom, we were ruled by a king. And now we’re a country, we’re ruled by Margaret Thatcher.’ Who was censured for telling this joke on BBC Radio 2 in the early eighties? What was the name of the sci-fi hero alter ego he used in both his radio and TV shows?
9 In which city was the inaugural 6 Music Festival launched in 2014, and who played the festival’s first headline set?
10 Now a presenter on BBC Radio 2, ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris presented which influential TV rock programme in the seventies? In recent years, with which style of music has he been most associated?
11 Who took over the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show from Brian Hayes in 1993 and turned it into a national institution? Who was the show’s traffic presenter from Splott in Wales, light-heartedly referred to as the ‘Totty from Splotty’?
12 Between 1976 and 1982, which children’s programme gave DJ Noel Edmonds his big break on TV? Why did Edmonds quit The Late Late Breakfast Show in November 1986?
13 In January 2004, who did Chris Moyles replace as presenter of BBC Radio 1’s Breakfast Show? Who was Moyles’s chief sidekick on many of his radio shows?
14 Who presents The Music News on 6 Music? With which band did he have UK top 20 singles (including ‘Daydreamer’, ‘Stardust’ and ‘Being Brave’) in the 1990s before starting a new career in journalism?
15 Who took over the Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 1 from Chris Moyles in 2012? On which BBC One magazine show does he now frequently work as a guest presenter alongside Alex Jones?
16 David Hamilton, Tony Blackburn and Kenny Everett all featured on which London-based oldies station, which launched in 1988? Which enthusiastic sports commentator, now a familiar TV voice, worked on the station’s live football coverage?
17 Who was the first DJ to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967? Which reality show did he win in 2002?
18 Which Radio London DJ was the first to play Graham Parker and Dire Straits on the radio, and was hugely instrumental in launching the success of Ian Dury? What was the title of his 1970 book, one of the first and most influential histories of rock and roll?
19 Who was BBC Radio 1’s first female DJ? Which music TV show did she co-present from 1978 to 1982, playing an important part in making the programme more relevant to a younger audience?
20 Which 6 Music DJ was behind the classic Sunday acid jazz sessions at Dingwalls in Camden Town from 1986 to 1991? What was the name of the show he ran on BBC Radio 1 for thirteen years before moving to 6 Music?
21 Simply Red’s ‘Something Got Me Started’ launched which independent radio station in September 1994? Which spicy presenter joined the station in 2013 as co-host of the breakfast show alongside Jamie Theakston?
22 In radio history, what is the significance of MV Fredericia, a Danish passenger ferry? After whom was it renamed following its refurbishment?
23 Which DJ’s name is most readily associated with the words ‘in the afternoon’? Where did Mr Angry, a spoof caller to his show, hail from?
24 Which BBC 6 Music presenter was formerly known as ‘Lard’? With which band did he play bass between 1978 and 1983?
25 Who presented God’s Jukebox on BBC Radio 2 from 2006 to 2010, and kept the name of the show for a late-night slot he has curated at the Latitude festival? Which popular TV music quiz did he host for 17 series?
26 Which DJ was the subject of David Cavanagh’s 2015 book, Good Night and Good Riddance? And which DJ of similar vintage released an autobiography in the same year called Still Whispering After All These Years?
27 Which DJ was the original co-presenter of The Evening Session on BBC Radio 1 with Steve Lamacq? She moved to a mid-morning slot after which of her colleagues left to join BBC Radio 5 Live?
28 In the nineties, which two comedians invented the DJ characters Smashie (Mike Smash) and Nicey (Dave Nice)?
29 ‘Flirt Divert’, ‘Innuendo Bingo’ and ‘Your Call’ have all been features on which DJ’s BBC Radio 1 afternoon show? Which BBC Radio 5 Live and Match of the Day 2 presenter once co-hosted the show?
30 Which erudite American BBC Radio DJ co-founded Classic FM and contributed regularly to BBC Radio 4’s long-running arts programme, Kaleidoscope? What is the name of the programme he started in 1988, showcasing the best of the American music scene?