RIP Simon Dee 1935-2009

Teens in Britain in the early 1960s recall with fondness the arrival of pirate radio in the form of Radio Caroline which freed the reigns of Auntie BBC. The first DJ on Caroline, or perhaps one of the first, was Simon Dee who used as his intro music "Sunny Side of the Street" in the iconic Tommy Dorsey version starting with what sounds like a ship's horn blasting.

He was born Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd on July 28 1935 in Ottawa where he lived to age 11. Following his short stint with Caroline he became a major British TV talk show figure, then fell dramatically from grace, something I missed having by then moved to Canada. Read the Daily Telegraph obit here.