On 11th June 2013 radio presenter Rory Morrison died. Rory had worked at Beacon Radio in the late 80s. He presented the afternoon show and then he went out and about on the roads to do the travel news (as “Fonzie”). He moved to the BBC and later worked on Radio 4 ā a regular & recognisable voice.
I worked with Rory, at Beacon, in the summer of 1989, and he showed me so much about the art of radio presentation. A lovely chap, always happy & friendly, totally unflappable, a real professional and I’ve still got the presenter card he signed for me!
Fast-forward over 15 years to the 1st April 2006 and he was a surprise ‘guest’ on my own Saturday Morning radio show, UpAndHappy!
To set the scene, each week I ran a Sports roundup, read by my mate Andy Walters in the style of Tony Blackburn. The character needed a name, and Andy found Rory’s sung name jingle from the Beacon Radio days. I thought it’d be a nice tribute, not that the Rory had even ever spoken in such a cheesy style!
And so we used the jingle and the name each week until one April Fool’s day… well, listen for yourself… press the play button below…
Bless you Rory, you inspired me more than you’ll have realised.
