Alan Dell (March 8, 1924 - August 18, 1995) was a BBC Radio broadcaster, who probably did more than anyone else in the second half of the 20th century to ensure that the dance music of the 1920s and 30s remained in the public consciousness. March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (68th in Leap years). ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world. ...
Dell began his career in South Africa but worked on the BBC Light Programme and its successor Radio 2 from the 1950s until shortly before his death. His programme The Dance Band Days ran from 1969 until 1994 and, in later years, did so in a sequence on Monday evenings with the Big Band Sound. The main elements of these programmes were retained after Dell's death, in a Sunday night programme introduced on Radio 2 by Malcolm Laycock. The Light Programme was a BBC radio station broadcasting mainstream light entertainment and music. ...
He usually presented programmes of music from the dance band and swing eras. He was, however, also an early presenter of Pick of the Pops in 1956 and, in his later years, Sounds Easy, a Sunday afternoon programme on Radio 2 on which he maintained a devotion to Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee (both of whom he pre-deceased). Swing music, also known as swing jazz, is a form of jazz music that developed during the 1920s and solidified as a distinctive style during the 1930s in the United States. ... Pick of the Pops was a BBC radio programme based on the Top 20 UK singles chart and first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in 1955, transferring to BBC Radio 1 when the latter launched in 1967. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Francis Albert Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer who is one of the most highly acclaimed male popular song vocalists of all time. ... Peggy Lee (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002) was an Americanj popular music and jazz singer. ...
AlanDell says it was the experience of his team at the London Buses control room that ensured a professional response following the bomb blast on a bus at Tavistock Square.
AlanDell's team took the call to say bus had been bombed
He was there when news came through from another bus driver that it had blown up and co-ordinated getting people out of central London amid the disruption that followed.
AlanDell (March 8, 1924 - August 18, 1995) was a BBC radio broadcaster, who probably did more than anyone else in the last quarter of the 20th century in Britain to ensure that the dance band music of the 1920s, 30s and early 40s remained in the public consciousness.
Dell grew up in South Africa where he graduated from Keamsey College in Natal.
Dell provided the sleeve notes for Dance Bands UK (1988), a BBC compact disc of ABC "transfer" recordings, thereby illustrating his authority as an historian of such music.
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