In Praise Of… Simon Bates.

Firstly- following on from last week’s blog post, I couldn’t not do an “In Praise Of…” post this week. It’s also one which I have been thinking of drafting for some time. I should also say that following last week’s post, anyone who is subject of an “In Praise Of…” shouldn’t conclude that I think they are about to shuffle off this mortal coil!

When I was in early radio days, listening whilst at hospital radio and first starting out on my fledgling radio journey, Simon Bates was holding the centre ground on Radio One mid-mornings, where he was for over 10 years. The “Golden Hour” ruled at the beginning of the show and of course the legendary “Our Tune” which went on to have a life of its own with Simon after he left Radio 1.

In thinking about this post, there are many things I admired about Simon. His voice- rich in tone, his way with words and delivery, confident and sure-footed, and his brevity when it needed it.

I specifically remember admiring Simon’s ability with brevity, to self-edit, something I perhaps subconsciously would think about when talking to presenters about crafting links around the hour throughout the remainder of my career. Specifically, and remember this is before the normalisation of having long sweeps of music and when having “two in a row” was considered a FEATURE, if there was a song with a hard end and a song with a defined harder start, Simon had the control and programming nouce to just open the mic and say, “This is Radio One, it’s a quarter past ten”, or just “Radio One”, and let the next song roll. Now, I get that it seems like nothing special, but the control, ability to make that judgement at the right time and not to do a longer link, is to be admired. Not seeing every link as an opportunity to do a “bit” and give some light and shade.

Somewhere in my loft, I have a big box of cassettes with a variety of recordings from radio across the years. I’m sure I will have some of Simon on Radio 1 mid-mornings and on the Sunday Chart Show. One day I must trawl through them and share some of the findings. I think I might also have a Radio 1 Calendar from around that time, which might still be in the loft but also might have gone. Yes, I was a bit of an anorak.

That young fledgling radio person listening to Radio 1 wouldn’t have believed that one day he would work with the person he was listening to.

When I started at Smooth as Group Programme Director, Simon was on breakfast. Meeting your heroes can always be a nervous moment, but Simon was open, friendly and welcoming. I have always had the mindset that no matter how famous, powerful or inspiring a person might be, they are all just PEOPLE at the end of the day. I therefore tend to just treat them all as such- with the requisite amount of respect of course, patience and time that you might any other person. Of course, I had massive anxiety about what I might be able to offer by way of advice or direction, but Simon was always accepting, gracious and (even if he thought I was talking rubbish), looked interested and attentive. I’m sure also by this point, having been hired by GMG originally and was now in Global, he knew there must be shifting sands under his feet.

We got on well I think and I had huge respect for his talent and I found him to be always interested and willing to listen. He still demonstrated that deft ability to know when to say more and when to say less. We went to a coffee shop he liked nearby Leicester Square for a chat a few times too I remember, and traded stories about nightmare train journies, me from the East Mids and him from the West Country.

Of course, the day would come when I had to deliver the news of a non-renewing contract. I have said many times that I have always tried to do those kinds of things with as much grace and dignity as possible. Treat people how you would like to be treated yourself. I remember giving as much notice as I could (which isn’t always possible!) but I think was a couple of months or so. Even though we had developed a rapport, I was still going to be the one telling Simon Bates that we were not going to renew his contract! I was a bit on edge going into the room, but Simon took the news like the total gent that he is.

As it goes, Simon messaged me only a few months ago now, out of the blue with a few kind words about how that had gone down all those years ago, a true measure of the man as he didn’t need to do that! I’m sure, like me, Simon has been in many situations where the advice, demands and enviroment has not been the most conducive to brilliant performance. The benefit of age and wisdom sometimes can weigh heavy and occasionally you can suffer fools lightly as a result, but Simon was always pleasant, warm and a total professional in our communications.

I sometimes find it hard to believe that I worked, albeit briefly, with some of the legends whom I listened to when coming into the radio industry. It’s a pinch myself moment. The rich legacy of the UK radio industry, with some of the best broadcasters to ever grace the microphone have helped shape the quality we have today. Simon’s part in that tapestry is assured.

Now at home on Boom Radio, he is a consummate professional broadcaster, with an acute radio brain, wonderful voice and tone and is a deft communicator. I cherish our fairly brief time working together.