The smooth tone of Gary Davies’s voice is familiar to most of us, and especially to fans of Sounds of the 80s on BBC Radio 2 – effectively the soundtrack to many a Saturday night kitchen disco. He started his career at Piccadilly Radio in Manchester before his big break to join the ‘rockstar’ DJ lineup at Radio 1 in 1982. Gary took over the lunchtime slot with his popular show, The Bit in the Middle, in 1984 and was also a regular presenter of Top of the Pops. Fun fact: he hosted the TV show more often than any other DJ in the 80s.
These days, in addition to his regular show, he can often be found subbing in for Radio 2’s daytime DJs when they’re away or guesting on shows across the BBC in his role as the definitive voice of the 80s. What’s more, this autumn he’s taking his DJ sets out on the road with the ultimate night for all generations: Kick Up the 80s.
What should I expect from a night out at Kick Up The 80s?
It's a big 80s party, and they're a heck of a lot of fun. You'll enjoy it.
Do people need to dress up?
You can and people do. It's not compulsory, but a lot of people like to. We have lots of Adam Ants and Wham.
I’m a child of the 80s and love listening to your radio shows. Your choices are always fantastic: a great mix of the classics, and those songs I’d loved but had somehow forgotten along the way.
That's what I try to do. With my radio show on a Saturday night as well on Sounds of the 80s, I try not to play the obvious songs that any other 80s station is playing. The 80s was ten years of brilliant music, so I try and dig out songs that are not played every day. You know, things like The Communards, You are My World. You know? Mory Konté, Yeke Yeke. They're amazing songs that you don't hear very often.
What are your guaranteed floor fillers?
They're all floor fillers. Every song I play in my 80s set is a floor filler. Luckily, all the gigs that I do are pretty packed, so the floor is always cool.
Is it ever frustrating to be defined so closely with one decade?
No, because I love lots of music. I love underground house music, and I'll try and play that whenever I can, I still have that side of me. But it’s quite flattering to be known as one of the voices of the 80s. To be the 80s representative at BBC Radio 2 is an honour.
What contemporary music really excites you?
I love Sam Fender, he's potentially a future Bruce Springsteen. I just think he is an awesome artist, and I love people like Olivia Dean, Wet Leg… I think there's a lot of great music around at the moment, and a lot of good bands.
Why do you think Britpop is so popular now?
It's just coming around again, you know? Like everything. By the early 90s, the 80s was completely naff, nobody wanted to have everything to do with it. If you were an 80s DJ, you were gone. But then people get older and then they start reminiscing, and then all of a sudden, people look back and they go, you know what? The 80s was really cool. That's the same thing that's happening now with the 90s and Britpop. You know, people are getting to that age where they look back and they go, ‘Oh, my, wasn't that amazing’. And then you look at the Brit Pack, Brit pop acts that have come back this year, like Suede, Pulp, and of course, Oasis reforming and it’s just set the whole thing on fire.
You famously played Layla on your very first show on Radio 1 back in 1982, and then again when you left the station in 1993. Was there any significance to that track?
Not really. When I joined Radio One in 1982 it was just a brilliant song, and I wanted to start the show off with one of my all-time favourite records. When I left Radio 1 my last song was the first song that I played.
You came back to BBC Radio in 2017, when you joined the lineup on Radio 2. What were you doing in the interim?
When I left radio I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I thought, let's do something different, and because I'd always loved music – and new music in particular – I set up a publishing company and a record label [Good Groove]. I had a massive song with All Saints (Black Coffee) and that basically helped set up my company, because up until then I was on the verge of going bankrupt. I published that song, and I signed Corinne Bailey Rae to my record label, and made the first few albums with her. I just thought she was an immense talent, and it really worked.
During my time on radio, I was always trying to find great songs that I thought could be really big hits. I heard The Gypsy Kings when I was on holiday in Ibiza and loved it. I brought the song back with me and started playing on the radio, and on the back of me that they then got a record deal in the UK.
Finally, Gary, I have to ask. You were born and bred in Manchester, what happened to your accent? Was it something to do with working in radio?
No, when I was nine. I was in a school in Wallingford near Oxford. They didn't like my Manchester accent and we had this teacher who gave us elocution lessons – they used to do that back then. I was only there for four years and I didn't enjoy it very much but during those four years, they taught me to speak the Queen's English. I still have traces of [my local accent] when it comes to words like bath and grass or dance. It still comes out, and I'm a very proud Mancunian.
Gary Davies Kick Up the 80s is currently on tour across the UK. Tickets and more information are available from bit.ly/GaryDaviesKickUpThe80s
