The son of a miner, Jimmy Young was born in Cinderford and was originally a singer with a number of hit records to his credit in the mid-1950s, including Too Young, Unchained Melody and The Man From Laramie.
He was booked for a two-week stint presenting the radio show Housewives’ Choice in 1960, which proved to be a turning point in his career, and he began to develop as a DJ. He was snapped up by Radio Luxembourg, where he stayed for five years.
Young was one of Radio 1‘s original DJs when the station launched in 1967 and remained a mainstay of the on-air team until he moved to the rarefied atmosphere of Radio 2 in 1973.
Like all popular broadcasters, he soon became the butt of comedians everywhere with distinctive catchphrases like “TTT” (“through ’til twelve”) and “Orft we jolly well go”.
As well as filling the nation’s ears with cheery chat and merry music, he also filled the stomachs of his “MMMMFs” (many millions of mid-morning friends) with an avalanche of recipes which spawned several JY cookery books.
His recipe slot, always introduced by the sing-song question ‘What’s the recipe today, Jim?’ asked by the chipmunk-voiced Raymondo, ceased in 1976 when the show changed direction to become more substantial.
Jimmy Young died on 7 November 2016, aged 95.
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Young was one of Radio 1‘s original DJs when the station launched in 1967 and remained a mainstay of the on-air team until he moved to the rarefied atmosphere of Radio 2 in 1973.
