DJ Tommy Vance dies after stroke.
John Peel introduced me to all the punk, indie and alternative types of music. Tommy Vance introduced me to all things rock. His legendary 'Friday Rock Show' on Radio One during the 70s and 80s kept me awake at night listening to the delights of Rainbow, Deep Purple, Genesis, Yes, Led Zeppelin and all the NWOBHM scene, among many many others.
In the early nineties I was fortunate enough to be working for a band called ARK. In 1991 we took part in the 'Rock War' for the Friday Rock Show, which was a competition for unsigned bands to send in demos, which the audience would then phone in and vote for a winner. The winner getting the chance to record a full session for the show at the Maida Vale studios. Ark record the highest number of votes (alledgedly most coming from the middlands) throughtout the whole competition, and were invited down to London. We had a great day at the studios, and the lads even managed to record a special jingle for the show. The session got broadcast a few times, and we always got interest the following week. Alas not enough to secure a record deal. However, like John Peel, Tommy Vance did help the futures of many young bands in the UK. And for that alone his audiene will be eternally grateful.
Between them, Peel and TV pretty much guided my musical interests from the age of 12 through to my 20s. Oddly enough both used pseudonyms rather than their real names ... maybe I got that from them too ;)
'Rock On Tommy'
