The Passing of Jim Brown
Tribute from Adrian Durham
The producer of my Saturday show, Andrew Hughes, phoned me as I waited for a train
into work one lunchtime earlier this month. He told me Jim Brown was dead, and I was,
for once, left speechless.
Jim was like a mentor for me, and a key part in the launch and subsequent growth of
talkSPORT. He arrived in the middle of 1999 with a brief to secure live sports rights for
talkSPORT and succeeded with cricket, football, rugby union, rugby league, boxing, darts, pool
and even poker getting airtime on talkSPORT. He was an organiser, an engineer, he got things
done, and got the best out of people who worked with him as well.
One of the most successful shows on talkSPORT is Football First “Around the Grounds”
on a Saturday afternoon. It is unique. The show was the brainchild of Jim, and he and I
worked together in 1999 to produce a stunning fast-moving football programme, and
without him that show would not exist. That is his radio legacy as far as I am concerned.
There was a big turnout for his funeral in the small north east village of Chilton, County Durham. Among those who travelled mils to pay their respects were former talkSPORT presenter Bill Young, former talkSPORT producer Michael Wilson, current talkSPORT Assistant Programme Director Steve Hodge, sports newsreader Andrew McKenna, producer Andrew Hughes, pundit Alvin Martin, engineers Nick Prater and Phil Von Oppen and apologies if I missed anyone out. I was also there, and it seemed hard to believe that there we were to say goodbye to the guy who had taught me a lot and helped me so much during my time at the station.
In the early days of talkSPORT I presented The Sports Breakfast, and by my own admission I was terrible. Jim took me to one side and told me straight to get myself off the show as soon as possible. I did and everyone benefited. He always had the right advice. And another story, Jim was producing an FA Cup Special around three years ago for talkSPORT which included three commentaries, and then the draw live from Soho Square which is where I was based for the afternoon. Jim told me he would give me a thirty-second countdown to cue David Davies for the FA Cup draw, and I was to talk up to that cue and introduce David. No Problem, I thought. So I talked and talked, and it seemed to go on forever! And then all of a sudden there was a loud Geordie shout from Jim in my ear “2” he exclaimed. I quickly threw to David Davies, and then Jim explained he had been counting down, but had pressed the wrong button! Since then Andrew Hughes, who was also working on the programme, have used “2” as a constant reminder of Jim
and his work at the station.
Jim had a dispute at the start of talkSPORT’s Euro 2000 coverage, the infamous “this is not the BBC” tournament where a group of us were in an Amsterdam hotel for a month doing commentaries off the TV. The dispute was so bad he quit on the eve of the tournament kicking off. The whole team was at an all-time low. I emailed Kelvin McKenzie and told him that we would carry on without Jim if the dispute was irrepairable, but if Kelvin could get him back on board, we would rather go into Euro 2000 with Jim in charge. Ten minutes later Jim Brown was back at the helm. That was the kind of loyalty he inspired.
We spoke just before Christmas when he seemed excited about imminent projects and we were due to meet up soon. Jim was a radio man, and he was a very generous guy as well. He would do you favours, and ask for nothing in return.
Jim was 48, lived life to the full, and radio is a poorer place without him.
The Passing of Jim Brown
Tribute from Adrian Durham
January 2006 |
