James Alexander Gordon

When he worked as a record plugger for Polydor, he was known as Jimmy Gordon. At the BBC, from 1972, he used the full monicker. In the days when Radio 1 and Radio 2 shared more resources, staff announcers would read bulletins on both networks, staggered at the top of the hour on R2, and half-past on R1. It was probably the first time Radio 1 had a double-barrelled voice. JAG would also take his turn joining Newsbeat presenters like Laurie Mayer and Richard Skinner, who weren't apparently to be allowed to read words written in the newsroom. He appeared unannounced, for short bursts of "other news", intoned over a loop made from a guitar lick lifted from Quincy Jones' soundtrack for Body Heat, "phased" by playing two tapes with fingers dragging the spools alternately, recorded on to a third machine. Too much detail.


Staff announcers also got their shots at programme presenting; JAG's included Friday Night Is Music Night, You and the Night and the Music, and On The Third Beat, a programme of orchestral music from BBC Scotland.



In 1992, Controller Radio 2 Frances Line sought to halve the number of staff announcers - with the old HR trick of redefining a largely unchanged role, and asking people to apply for their own jobs. JAG opted for the redundancy package - but kept reading the classified football results as a freelance, a task he first started in 1973. When Radio 5Live moved to Salford in 2011, they were keen on continuity, so JAG was allowed to make his contribution to Sports Report from London.

He was a trustee of the Society of Stars charity, alongside Frederick Forsyth, with Michael Grade as its chief executive. Childhood polio gave him an odd, barrelling sort of walk, terrifying to observe at speed. The smile was never far away, and usually followed by a wink. "Hello, mate", he would say.