Ken Sykora

Ken Sykora (13 April 1923 - 7 March 2006) was a British guitarist, bandleader, disc jockey and presenter.

He is one of the few broadcasters to have appeared regularly on all four of the BBC's original national radio networks, as well as their predecessors.

Sykora's talents also extended to journalism. He wrote for magazines, in the music press and also for educational, travel, and food and wine publications. He also composed music for films and for his own band.

He led own band in the 1950s, performing with Ted Heath at the London Palladium and with Geraldo at the Stoll Theatre, and was voted Britain's Top Guitarist five years running in "Melody Maker" readers' polls. His musical style on guitar was much influenced by Django Reinhardt, one of Sykora's idols.

Music led him into broadcasting, and involvement in the creation of a wide range of popular radio programmes. First he presented and played on "Jazz Club" and "At the Jazz Band Ball". He devised, presented and performed on the "Guitar Club" and "Stringalong" series. Other programmes included "Those Record Years", "Album Time", "LP Parade", "Big Band Sound", and Radio 3's "Jazz Digest", and for a time in 1968, "Jazz Record Requests". He also wrote and presented BBC Radio 1's first "Plain Musician's Guide to the History of Pop".

One of his favourite programmes, which he also devised and presented for BBC Radio 2, was the autobiographical series "Be My Guest", on which he talked to celebrity guests including Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Andres Segovia, Isaac Stern, Count Basie and Gloria Swanson.

Sykora helped to devise and was the original presenter on "Roundabout" on the Light Programme). He also contributed to "Today", "Housewives' Choice", "Radio Newsreel", "Holiday Hour" (along with Cliff Michelmore) and "Home This Afternoon", and took part in the first experimental stereo broadcasts and the first use of radio cars on location.

He was still working as a regular host on the BBC Radio 4 series "You and Yours" and "Start the Week" when, in the 1970s, he and his family decided to fulfil an ambition to move to Scotland to run the Colintraive Hotel on the Kyles of Bute. He later sold the hotel and moved to nearby Blairmore.

Sykora continued to present programmes for the BBC's (pre-Radio Scotland) Scottish service. He produced regular weekly music shows for Radio Clyde from its inception in 1974, notably "Serendipity with Sykora". He later served as head of features at the station for four years.

After the launch of the new BBC Radio Scotland in 1978, Sykora won a Glenfiddich Award for Best Radio Programme for the culinary series "Eater's Digest".

He died aged 82 at his home in Blairmore.

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/kensykora Myspace website - includes mp3 files of Sykora playing guitar]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/realmedia/arnoldm/arnoldm4.ram Short extract of Sykora interviewing Malcolm Arnold in an early edition of "Start the Week"]