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John Taynton used to present the Late Show on Radio WM. Sadly, he died in Feb 2011, after a battle with cancer. The show he presented was current affairs and consumer based, and was one of the first shows to be syndicated across the Midlands network.
Thanks to Stuart Gandy for making this Radio WM Photocard of presenter John Taynton available.
Sparks, Andy Frizzell adds the following memory of John:
“One thing stands out for me. During the electricians strike in 1987 John came out to us on the picket line and handed us a bag for our hardship fund. It was full of cash from a collection organised by John and WM. Totally unexpected but very much appreciated. Came over as a kind and generous man and fully sympathised with us.”
Series producer and director, Kath Moore adds the following comment:
“John was my first boss. His 11am WM show circa 1987 was my chance to make tea, answer his phone-in phones and do the intro/ outro durations on the vinyls that he chose with consummate care and knowledge. He carried them to studio in a wire …supermarket basket I recall …. A real People’s Champ, he was tirelessly supportive and encouraging to those starting off – and there were many of us…. He set the bar high too on standards – and taught us to do the same, for which I’m grateful, daily. A lovely, feisty man.”
Producer, Rebecca Skidmore remembers listening to John’s show as a teenager:
“His show was my escape when I was being bullied at school in my teens. I used to lie under my duvet with my walkman on and listen to this very kind man helping people, and it just made everything seem better….”
Darren New travelled with John:
“I had the most amazing trip with John to Rwanda as part of Midlands Aid, Richard Uridge’s idea to raise money for the innocent people caught up in the genocide. His back pack never made it to Africa so we had to lend him some of our clothes. He was a great guy and a brilliant broadcaster.”
My husband’s band in the early 1990’s recorded a session for John’s show which was played over 4 nights. The band were called ‘Blue Water State’ and the session was sound engineered by Ian Rae. What a thrill it was to hear them on the radio.
I won a competition on John taynton show, in 1991 singing walk on by,my prize, was a day in Derbyshire’s Quare dance studio, a major recording studio,I was so sad to hear that he died, I did meet up, with John, when BBC WM, invited me in, I use to listen to his show a lot, I always noticed, that he had great interesting speaking voice, my condolences to his family and friends, thanks John taynton for your amazing night show, and my surprise win, I will never forget that night, R.I.P.
I joined skylarks pop up choir, now in our 7 years of singing great songs along the way, we have raised so much money through the years, £700 for dementia cancer research £800, grand central station raised money for young musicians, and £400 for st, Mary’s hospice Birmingham and many more to come, it’s a great feeling to give to others in need, check our choir out for yourselves, we have to videos on YouTube part 1and part2 grand central station our choir is skylarks, we rehearse at 91 church road Moseley service man’s club, I would like our choir to be on WM,vanessa parava started choir up, we are a great bunch of of great friends that enjoy what we do, my other email is hussainjanet5@gmail.com thanks Janet hussain skylark 😊
Thanks to introducing on w.m., for playing my song war child, on bbc w.m, I am a singer songwriter at mac. Birmingham with Dan Whitehouse for many years, I write for fun only, I do have an album too, I turned to music, cause I do have a stammer problem with speech, couldn’t say my name, music is a powerful tool, music singing has changed my life for the better, stammer still I do have, but much better now, I love singing and writing too, my singing teacher daughter is eliose in Bridgeton, I have so many people in my corner thanks Janet Hussain.
I still have my jon Taynton Cup, and bromsgrove magazine that has my picture, thanks bbc w.m 👍