Tom Browne (broadcaster and actor)

Tom Browne (born on 11 November 1945) is a British broadcaster and actor, born in Lymington, Hampshire, and educated at King's College School, Wimbledon.

Career

As an actor, he graduated from RADA. He began his radio broadcasting career in Denmark in 1965, and in 1972 was unexpectedly chosen to succeed Alan Freeman as presenter of the BBC Radio 1 Sunday afternoon chart show. He presented this show from October 1 1972 to March 26 1978 - initially it was a three-hour show from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. each Sunday called "Solid Gold Sixty" selecting hits which were becoming popular (not necessarily in numerical order including those that were 'bubbling under' between 60 and 21) and was broadcast on 247 metres medium wave (BBC Radio 1's first frequency before moving to 275/285 metres).

From the very beginning the top 20 hit numbers running from 20 to 1 were also broadcast simultaneously on the BBC Radio 2 FM (and 1500 metres Long Wave although in mono) transmitters in stereophonic sound (88-91 MHz) at exactly 6 p.m. each Sunday evening for one hour after which, at 7 p.m., the transmitters reverted back to BBC Radio 2. The programme was listened to by millions and started with the sound of the Apollo mission's 'we have lift off!' words. Sound effects amongst many included a racing car indicated a record was rapidly moving up the top 20. Another example was the female vocal group sound of 'IT'S A TOP TWENTY ENTRY - RIGHT!!' which was used regularly on the programme. After the number 2 hit had finished playing, a further vocal run down by Tom of numbers 20 down to 2 followed and then the number one record was announced and played which completed the programme. The chart was initially first broadcast on the previous Tuesday (247 metres MW only) and played by the Radio 1 DJ at that time.

This would be the only show he ever presented on Radio 1, but he did present occasional music documentaries on the station, notably on Abba, Queen and the Stylistics, and he never showed any sign of crossing over to television, for example via "Top of the Pops". His smooth style and Received Pronunciation James Mason-like voice (becoming more noticeable in later years; initially he had tried to sound more like a 1970s pop radio DJ) were unusual for Radio 1 even then, and would be utterly unthinkable now.

After leaving Radio 1 he would broadcast for BBC Radio 2 in the early 1980s, provide the voiceover for many TV and radio adverts, and continue his acting career, notably appearing in "Emmerdale Farm" (as it was then called). He subsequently became a newsreader for BBC World television and then moved to Hong Kong, where he became a popular broadcaster on the British Armed Forces radio service in the final years of British rule. His final appearance on national BBC radio came at the very end of 1991, when he presented "The Million Selling Singles of the 60s and 70s" on BBC Radio 2, although he was a contributor to Radio 1's "25 Years of the UK Top 40" which aired in September 1992.

He fronted BFBS Radio Hong Kong's weekday breakfast show until the territory reverted to the Chinese in 1997 and continued working in radio, as well as commercial voice over artist and freelance video presenter until 2005, thereafter retiring to live in Thailand with his Thai wife. He currently owns a farm where they grow rice and mushrooms with the mountains of North Central Thailand in the distance.