Les Ross
Encyclopedia
Les Ross MBE
(born Les Meakin on 7 February 1949 in Birmingham
) is a British disc jockey and long established personality in the West Midlands.
so at the age of 11, he wrote to the general manager of Radio Luxembourg
.
He attended King Edward VI Aston
School in Aston
, Birmingham
and left there with no O Levels. His first job after school was at IBM
, but he did not like the job and left after a year. His next job was at Witton Cemetery which he described in a 2009 interview as being "Dickensian by comparison" as "People used fountain pens to put things in the register", but which he thoroughly enjoyed.
At the age of 17, Les won a DJ competition, which was run by local paper, the Birmingham Evening Mail, beating Johnnie Walker
, who came second. Part of his prize was to appear at Radio Luxembourg for an audition, but this never happened. He was offered his first gig at the Mecca Ballroom in Birmingham, where he worked twice a week. Then moving onto the Birmingham Rollerskating Rink where he played five nights a week.
, presenting a Saturday morning show with John Henry. “Ross and Henry” was a ground-breaking formula in radio; much admired in the industry. It was one of the first “zoo-radio” formats – involving a studio audience and interactive elements and phone-in requests presented by breathy blonde Fiona MacDonald. The most popular and listened to show on the station, Les was soon established as the most popular presenter on the station having taken over the breakfast show from Peter Powell
who moved on to Radio 1
and then Radio Luxembourg. The breakfast show, entitled “On The Move”, was unusual because it started at 5 am. The BBC national networks did not start programming until 6 am making Les the only presenter on the air in the UK for one hour a day. The Radio Birmingham transmitter was the most powerful in the country at the time and so Les enjoyed an audience of shift workers from all over the country.
; but they rejected him. Instead they chose to hire his Saturday co-presenter John Henry – thus damaging Radio Birmingham’s most listened to music show. So, in the summer of 1975, Les joined Radio Tees
in the North East of England, presenting their Breakfast show. He also presented a successful Saturday morning music show which used the talents of the station’s record librarian Wincey Willis
as co-presenter. In March 1976, Les went back to Birmingham & joined BRMB
, taking over the Breakfast show from Adrian Juste
, who had left to join Radio 1
.
Les won many awards, including, 'Independent Radio Personality of the Year Award 1985', 'Top Breakfast Show 1986, 1994, & 1990' and in 1997, Les received a Sony Award
and an MBE
from the Queen for his services to broadcasting.
in 1989, Les moved on to present there for four years, leaving other presenters to carry out a near impossible task of replacing Les on FM breakfast. In August 1993, Les returned to BRMB
Breakfast show, where he had female co-presenters by his side during this period, including Suzi Becker & Tammy Gooding. After 26 years, on Friday 27 September 2002, Les presented his final BRMB
Breakfast show, live from Birmingham International Station
. As 9 o'clock approached, he hopped on a train (hauled by electric locomotive no. 86259
especially named 'Les Ross' by Virgin Trains
) to symbolise the end.
He has since bought and preserved this locomotive in operational condition following its retirement from regular passenger service. Les was a train spotter and railway enthusiast from the early 1960s, and ownership of the 1966-built Class 86
locomotive perpetuates his continued interests in railway affairs.
Breakfast show, thus doubling its audience. However, in December 2004, he quit the station as he claimed the station management was guilty of sending "nannying" e-mails which were turning him into a "robo-jock". Les decided he'd suffered enough upon the final straw - or should that be, the final coffee, when he was banned from drinking coffee during his early Breakfast show.
He announced his departure, which was planned for Christmas Eve 2004, after he was only offered a one-year contract, below half-pay, despite doubling the show's ratings in recent audience research figures. Les actually stated "How much would I have had to put the ratings up by just to get the same deal as I was on before? If I had been happy and felt that I had support, I might have stayed for half the money. But I wasn't happy and I feel that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys". Les's departure came before Christmas Eve, as station bosses decided to take action as he talked to the local press about what had happened.
. He would also cover for various holidaying presenters on the station including Adrian Goldberg
, Ed Doolan
& Danny Kelly's afternoon show, which Les would later take over permanently.
In addition to his Sunday morning show, on Saturday 23 July 2005, Les also took over the Saturday Breakfast show from 6-9am.
was criticised for its awkwardness in the music magazine The Word and in The Guardian
newspaper (suggesting that the interview ends up more like an Alan Partridge
tribute act). In the interview, Ross asked Singh about his views on self-identity in terms of race; confused his humorous book on Indian food with a serious radio documentary by Singh discussing genocide during the partition of India
; and then mistakenly referred to Singh's book as a TV series. Singh initially took the comments in reasonably good humour but eventually terminated the interview after 4 minutes.
BBC WM's managing editor, Keith Beech, said: "Les Ross is one of the best-loved and most popular presenters there is. I'm excited about the prospect of hearing him every day here on BBC WM."
In early 2009 the show went out from 2-4pm on weekdays & has since left the station just after his 60th Birthday.
On 7 December 2009, Les Ross returned to the airwaves when he became the presenter of the Big City Breakfast Show on Birmingham's Big City Radio
89.1. He hosted his final show for the station on Friday 26 March 2010.
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
(born Les Meakin on 7 February 1949 in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
) is a British disc jockey and long established personality in the West Midlands.
Early life and career
Ross always wanted to become a DJDisc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
so at the age of 11, he wrote to the general manager of Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg (English)
Radio Luxembourg is a commercial broadcaster in many languages from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is nowadays known in most non-English languages as RTL ....
.
He attended King Edward VI Aston
King Edward VI Aston
King Edward VI Aston School is a selective, all-boys' grammar school and specialist Sports College. The school, designed by Birmingham architect J.A. Chatwin, opened in 1883 and is still located on its original site, in the Aston area of Birmingham, England....
School in Aston
Aston
Aston is an area of the City of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Lying to the north-east of the Birmingham city centre, Aston constitutes an electoral ward within the council constituency of Ladywood.-History:...
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and left there with no O Levels. His first job after school was at IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, but he did not like the job and left after a year. His next job was at Witton Cemetery which he described in a 2009 interview as being "Dickensian by comparison" as "People used fountain pens to put things in the register", but which he thoroughly enjoyed.
At the age of 17, Les won a DJ competition, which was run by local paper, the Birmingham Evening Mail, beating Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker (DJ)
Johnnie Walker MBE is a popular British veteran radio disc jockey and broadcaster....
, who came second. Part of his prize was to appear at Radio Luxembourg for an audition, but this never happened. He was offered his first gig at the Mecca Ballroom in Birmingham, where he worked twice a week. Then moving onto the Birmingham Rollerskating Rink where he played five nights a week.
BBC Radio Birmingham
The break he was waiting for came in 1970, when he joined BBC Radio Birmingham now BBC WMBBC WM
BBC WM is the BBC Local Radio service for the West Midlands, South Staffordshire, north Worcestershire and north Warwickshire, operated by BBC Birmingham. Launched on 9 November 1970 as BBC Radio Birmingham, it broadcasts from central Birmingham on 95.6 FM, DAB and on the internet...
, presenting a Saturday morning show with John Henry. “Ross and Henry” was a ground-breaking formula in radio; much admired in the industry. It was one of the first “zoo-radio” formats – involving a studio audience and interactive elements and phone-in requests presented by breathy blonde Fiona MacDonald. The most popular and listened to show on the station, Les was soon established as the most popular presenter on the station having taken over the breakfast show from Peter Powell
Peter Powell (disc jockey)
Peter Powell is a former disc jockey, popular on BBC Radio 1 in the late 1970s and 1980s, who has a second career in talent management.-Early career:...
who moved on to Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
and then Radio Luxembourg. The breakfast show, entitled “On The Move”, was unusual because it started at 5 am. The BBC national networks did not start programming until 6 am making Les the only presenter on the air in the UK for one hour a day. The Radio Birmingham transmitter was the most powerful in the country at the time and so Les enjoyed an audience of shift workers from all over the country.
Radio Tees & BRMB
In 1974, Les applied to work at BRMBBrmb
brmb is a local radio station based in Birmingham, UK, owned and operated by Orion Media. The station broadcasts on 96.4 FM, DAB Digital Radio in the West Midlands and online...
; but they rejected him. Instead they chose to hire his Saturday co-presenter John Henry – thus damaging Radio Birmingham’s most listened to music show. So, in the summer of 1975, Les joined Radio Tees
Radio Tees
Radio Tees was the original name of TFM Radio, the Independent Local Radio station broadcasting in North East England, serving Teesside and parts of County Durham and North Yorkshire....
in the North East of England, presenting their Breakfast show. He also presented a successful Saturday morning music show which used the talents of the station’s record librarian Wincey Willis
Wincey Willis
Wincey Willis is a British broadcaster who found television success in the 1980s....
as co-presenter. In March 1976, Les went back to Birmingham & joined BRMB
Brmb
brmb is a local radio station based in Birmingham, UK, owned and operated by Orion Media. The station broadcasts on 96.4 FM, DAB Digital Radio in the West Midlands and online...
, taking over the Breakfast show from Adrian Juste
Adrian Juste
Adrian Juste is a former disc jockey who most famously presented a Saturday lunchtime show on BBC Radio 1....
, who had left to join Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
.
Les won many awards, including, 'Independent Radio Personality of the Year Award 1985', 'Top Breakfast Show 1986, 1994, & 1990' and in 1997, Les received a Sony Award
Radio Academy
The Radio Academy is a registered charity that is dedicated to 'the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production'....
and an MBE
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
from the Queen for his services to broadcasting.
Xtra AM & Back to BRMB
With the launch of sister station Xtra AMXtra AM
Xtra AM was a United Kingdom radio station which was on the air between 1989 and 1998. It was broadcast to much of Birmingham, Coventry and Warwickshire and was the 'oldies' station which took over the mediumwave frequencies of both BRMB and Mercia FM...
in 1989, Les moved on to present there for four years, leaving other presenters to carry out a near impossible task of replacing Les on FM breakfast. In August 1993, Les returned to BRMB
Brmb
brmb is a local radio station based in Birmingham, UK, owned and operated by Orion Media. The station broadcasts on 96.4 FM, DAB Digital Radio in the West Midlands and online...
Breakfast show, where he had female co-presenters by his side during this period, including Suzi Becker & Tammy Gooding. After 26 years, on Friday 27 September 2002, Les presented his final BRMB
Brmb
brmb is a local radio station based in Birmingham, UK, owned and operated by Orion Media. The station broadcasts on 96.4 FM, DAB Digital Radio in the West Midlands and online...
Breakfast show, live from Birmingham International Station
Birmingham International railway station
Birmingham International railway station is located in the borough of Solihull, just east of the city of Birmingham in England.The station is on the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line 14 km east of Birmingham New Street and serves both Birmingham International Airport and the National Exhibition...
. As 9 o'clock approached, he hopped on a train (hauled by electric locomotive no. 86259
British Rail Class 86
The British Rail Class 86 was the standard electric locomotive built during the 1960s, developed as a result of testing with the earlier Classes 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85. One hundred of these locomotives were built from 1965-1966 by either English Electric at Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows, or...
especially named 'Les Ross' by Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland...
) to symbolise the end.
He has since bought and preserved this locomotive in operational condition following its retirement from regular passenger service. Les was a train spotter and railway enthusiast from the early 1960s, and ownership of the 1966-built Class 86
British Rail Class 86
The British Rail Class 86 was the standard electric locomotive built during the 1960s, developed as a result of testing with the earlier Classes 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85. One hundred of these locomotives were built from 1965-1966 by either English Electric at Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows, or...
locomotive perpetuates his continued interests in railway affairs.
Saga 105.7
On Monday 6 January 2003, Les took over from David Hamilton, on Birmingham's Saga 105.7 FMSaga 105.7 FM
Saga 105.7fm was an independent local radio station broadcasting to the West Midlands of the United Kingdom. As well as the West Midlands County, it also served surrounding areas such as Worcestershire, Staffordshire, and Warwickshire.- Broadcast details :...
Breakfast show, thus doubling its audience. However, in December 2004, he quit the station as he claimed the station management was guilty of sending "nannying" e-mails which were turning him into a "robo-jock". Les decided he'd suffered enough upon the final straw - or should that be, the final coffee, when he was banned from drinking coffee during his early Breakfast show.
He announced his departure, which was planned for Christmas Eve 2004, after he was only offered a one-year contract, below half-pay, despite doubling the show's ratings in recent audience research figures. Les actually stated "How much would I have had to put the ratings up by just to get the same deal as I was on before? If I had been happy and felt that I had support, I might have stayed for half the money. But I wasn't happy and I feel that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys". Les's departure came before Christmas Eve, as station bosses decided to take action as he talked to the local press about what had happened.
Back to the Beeb
Rumour mills went quickly into action about where Les would turn up next? BBC Radio WM, snapped him up to present a weekly show on Sunday mornings from 9am-Midday. So on Sunday 6 February 2005, Les presented his first weekly show on BBC WMBBC WM
BBC WM is the BBC Local Radio service for the West Midlands, South Staffordshire, north Worcestershire and north Warwickshire, operated by BBC Birmingham. Launched on 9 November 1970 as BBC Radio Birmingham, it broadcasts from central Birmingham on 95.6 FM, DAB and on the internet...
. He would also cover for various holidaying presenters on the station including Adrian Goldberg
Adrian Goldberg
Adrian Goldberg is a journalist and radio and television presenter.-Broadcasting career:Goldberg is a former presenter of the Breakfast Show on BBC WM...
, Ed Doolan
Ed Doolan
Edwin Myer Doolan is an Australian born naturalised British radio presenter who is a twenty-eight year veteran of the BBC and was awarded the MBE in 1998...
& Danny Kelly's afternoon show, which Les would later take over permanently.
In addition to his Sunday morning show, on Saturday 23 July 2005, Les also took over the Saturday Breakfast show from 6-9am.
The Hardeep Singh Kohli interview
In September 2008, an interview on BBC Radio WM between Ross and writer and broadcaster Hardeep Singh KohliHardeep Singh Kohli
Hardeep Singh Kohli is a British writer and radio and television presenter.-Background:Kohli was born in London and moved to Glasgow in Scotland when he was four. His parents came to the UK from India in the 1960s. The family's roots lie in the Punjab. His mother was a social worker, and his...
was criticised for its awkwardness in the music magazine The Word and in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper (suggesting that the interview ends up more like an Alan Partridge
Alan Partridge
Alan Gordon Partridge is a fictional radio and television presenter portrayed by English comedian Steve Coogan and invented by Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Stewart Lee and Richard Herring for the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Hour...
tribute act). In the interview, Ross asked Singh about his views on self-identity in terms of race; confused his humorous book on Indian food with a serious radio documentary by Singh discussing genocide during the partition of India
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
; and then mistakenly referred to Singh's book as a TV series. Singh initially took the comments in reasonably good humour but eventually terminated the interview after 4 minutes.
Back On Daily
Les took over the Monday to Friday 1-4pm slot from Danny Kelly on WM on Tuesday 10 April 2007.BBC WM's managing editor, Keith Beech, said: "Les Ross is one of the best-loved and most popular presenters there is. I'm excited about the prospect of hearing him every day here on BBC WM."
In early 2009 the show went out from 2-4pm on weekdays & has since left the station just after his 60th Birthday.
On 7 December 2009, Les Ross returned to the airwaves when he became the presenter of the Big City Breakfast Show on Birmingham's Big City Radio
Big City Radio
Big City Radio is a British community radio station based at Star City in Nechells Birmingham. The station is run by Murfin Music International and broadcasts on 89.1FM to the Birmingham area and online....
89.1. He hosted his final show for the station on Friday 26 March 2010.