成人快手

The latest in our series where Sounds of the Sixties presenter Brian Matthew chats about his career to writer and musician Bob Stanley.

The Brian's long friendship with the late and his wife goes back to the fifties, and Brian's earliest work as a broadcaster with the 成人快手. Back then he was an announcer rather than a DJ. "You were usually associated with the 成人快手 Service or the Light Programme, but I did everything, I went from one to another quite happily. Read the news, I did prom concerts... I always liked the light music, big band jazz and that sort of thing. One of the earliest sessions I did was with the Johnny Dankworth Big Band. Johnny had a short series, only four programmes, with a huge orchestra, a 27 piece band, to play his great arrangements of all manner of things. It was at the Playhouse Theatre. Every week he had a guest classical musician in the band, a viola player or whatever, and each week he'd write a piece featuring this soloist. I did those with Johnny and we became good friends. After each of those sessions, me and the producer, and Johnny and a couple of musicians would trek up the road to the pub. And Johnny couldn't half down it!"

They became firm friends and drinking buddies. When Brian was presenting Round Midnight in the late seventies and eighties, he went to New York a few times; he didn't socialise that much, but by chance Cleo Laine was appearing in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music on Broadway. "Cleo was over in New York, she was appearing in a musical over there. She and Johnny had a marvellous flat overlooking Central Park. They invited us round, for coffee, and refreshments. It was very nice."

"In later years, I was very pleasantly surprised when Johnny and Cleo moved to a large house north of London - marvellous, marvellous house - and built a theatre there." This was The Stables Theatre, founded in 1970 in the grounds of their home at Wavendon.

"Johnny invited me over for a big do. It was a concert for Cleo, for her birthday. He asked if I'd like to go with my wife, and Cleo entertained us right royally. I'm not saying it was the kind of occasion where everybody got out of their brains, but it was marvellous. And so nice to be asked by Johnny, because it was being recorded by the 成人快手. Johnny had specifically asked for me to introduce it and link it, and interview everybody on it. A great occasion which I thoroughly enjoyed."