Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by FriskyMisky (talk | contribs) at 02:10, 10 July 2007. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Bruno Brookes (born Trevor Neil Brookes in Stoke-on-Trent, 24th April, 1959) is a British radio presenter who shot to fame in the 1980s.

Early life and career

Brookes attended Bradwell and Seabridge High Schools. He got into DJing through youth club discos in his home town before he sent a successful tape to his local station, BBC Radio Stoke. He spent three years there before being recruited by BBC Radio 1, the national pop network, where he worked as a stand-in presenter for Steve Wright before taking over the teatime show from Peter Powell.

Radio One

This programme proved popular with younger listeners, as Brookes immediately began a career-long association with the UK Top 40 singles chart. In the mid-1980s, the chart was still announced on Tuesday lunchtimes by Gary Davies but kids unable to get to a radio while at school got the chance to hear a re-run of the new countdown with Brookes in the early evening. In 1986, Brookes took over the Sunday afternoon Top 40 show, which at the time was still counting down a chart which had been announced five days earlier and had been used for Top of the Pops the previous Thursday evening. From 4th October 1987 onwards, the Top 40 was revealed for the first time by Brookes in its now traditional Sunday afternoon slot, as new technology meant the chart took just hours instead of days to compile. Brookes briefly lost the chart to Mark Goodier in 1990, but then regained it in 1992, though there was never an element of tension or competition between the two DJs, and both were equally proficient at the programme.

In 1989, Brookes moved to the weekend breakfast show, co-hosting with Liz Kershaw, and also regularly deputised for Simon Mayo on the weekday breakfast show. Three years later he moved to the early breakfast slot, where he remained until he was sacked in 1995 as controller Matthew Bannister continued his cull of elder presenters. Brookes was referred to by Trevor Dann, Bannister's head of music as 'bestriding the earth like a behemoth, the biggest dinosaur of them all', despite the fact that he was only thirty-six years old (other culled DJs had been in their forties or fifties).

Brookes also infamously played the uncensored version of Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine, which contains 16 instances of "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" culminating in "motherfucker".

Brookes appeared on the quiz show 'Through the keyhole' in the late 90's as one of the celebrities whose home is visited by Lloyd Grossman. An unpleasant incident occurred when Brookes was interviewed by David Frost and Frost brought up a quote from Bruno from some years back in which he had boasted about charging his friends money to hear his records. Brookes deflected Frost's verbal jab by claiming it was just a flippant remark but he didn't specifically deny doing it.

Brookes is a famous fan of Margaret Thatcher. This angered Inspiral Carpets keyboardist Clint Boon who appeared on Brookes' radio show in early 1990 and began angering the DJ by throwing peanuts at his head. Aggrivated, Brookes began to switch to a commercial, which angered Boon so much that he pulled the DJ by his feet and forced him, feet first, from under his desk. Boon then pinned the DJ to the floor using his knees and began to bitchslap him - with Brookes pleading for mercy. The farce came to an end when Brookes management intervened.

Television work

During his Radio 1 heyday, Brookes was on the Top Of The Pops host roster and also presented Beat The Teacher on BBC television, a popular teenagers' quiz where pupils would take on teachers in a general knowledge game based on noughts and crosses. He was the last of three presenters this show had, following Howard Stableford and ex-Manfred Mann singer Paul Jones. He also hosted the dating show Love At First Sight and the angling show Tight Lines on Sky.

After the BBC

After Radio 1, Brookes worked for numerous radio stations, presenting a networked show called Bruno At The Millhouse, while hosting a daily mid-morning slot for Leeds station Radio Aire. He ran a DJ school in Newbury, and was Chris Moyles manager for a while.

He was also involved in a public spat with ex-Radio 1 colleague Bob Harris, whom Brookes had lent money for a flat. When Harris lost his job and couldn't pay it back, Brookes laid an unsuccessful claim to his extensive and valuable record collection.

In recent years, Brookes has kept a low public profile but has made a fortune with his company Storm, which was the UK's first 24 hour internet radio station, launching in April 2000. Storm Radio was renamed Immedia in 2002, and the company floated in December 2003. Brookes' stake was valued at flotation at over £2 million. Immedia supplies instore radio for Lloyds pharmacies, Dixons electricals and 2,300 other shops and newsagents. There are also initial services at HSBC, IKEA and other leading retailers.

Personal life

Brookes was involved for many years with TV presenter Anthea Turner but in a twist of irony, she left him for Peter Powell, the man whose gig had been taken by Brookes when he got his break. He later married model Debbie Brooker.

In May 2006, Brookes suffered a heart attack and was treated at St. Thomas' Hospital, London where he was interviewed by Nadia Sawalha as a patient on BBC One's City Hospital. In the interview he said he would try to give up smoking which he acknowledged as the main reason for his illness.

External links

• Biography at Radio Rewind

• 1959 births
• Living people
• British radio personalities
• BBC Radio 1 DJs
• British radio DJs
• People from Stoke-on-Trent