Tributes paid to East Midlands presenter

Tributes have been paid to former Radio Trent, GEM AM and BBC Radio Nottingham presenter Brian Tansley who died on Friday.

Brian worked in both BBC and commercial radio in a career which spanned many decades. He was one of the original team members at GEM AM when it first went on-air in 1988.

Former colleague Len Groat wrote this tribute:

“Brian’s first radio work was at the fledgling BBC Radio Nottingham in July 1968, before joining Radio Trent as Sports Editor. He soon switched to nightly music presentation on Trent and in 1988 we asked him to be one of the team of presenters when we launched the original GEM AM. Brian was truly a ‘one-off’; his craft evolved long before any formal training was offered, he was a ‘natural’ broadcaster with an innate love and understanding of good ‘pop’ music. He carved out his own niche with the audience and was soon a key member our GEM.AM team.

“Brian’s favourite ‘Beatles, Cliff & Elvis’ show on GEM.AM was produced by him after hours of research, and ‘peppered’ with his wonderfully old-fashioned jokes and quips. Brian particularly loved the 1960s, and although he had been too young back then to meet his idols, his radio career enabled him to get to know them though his many interviews with legendary entertainers

“By 1992 our team gave the station a legendary audience reach of 23%, and in 1995 Brian won a prestigious Sony Award as producer and presenter of ‘GEM Music and Sport’ in the ‘National Best Sports Programme’ category.

“In 1996 Brian moved on to present a daily BBC Radio Nottingham afternoon Show and was with the station until 2008. He then worked for organisations such the Football Association, Nottingham Panthers Ice Hockey club and contributed to the Nottingham Evening Post’s ‘Bygones’ newspaper, But he missed doing a regular radio show very much and though his health was not good was delighted to join SolidGoldGem.am to present the early evening slot he’d had on the original GEM-AM, as well as a Sunday morning show. This re-united him with East Midland’s radio colleagues from the 1980s and 1990s, Andy Marriott, Krissi Carpenter, Craig Strong, Paul Burbank, Danny Cox, myself and others. We were proud to work alongside Brian once again on our Internet station.

“Of course on radio, our voices do not age, and Brian was very much his ‘old self’ all over again. His well-researched, professional show was full of jokes that took us back to a time when radio was more relaxed and ‘in-tune’ with its listeners. ALL of his radio colleagues from over the decades will miss him, and particularly his friends and colleagues here.”

Len Groat on behalf of Brian’s friends and colleagues at www.solidgoldgem.am. Len was Head of Programmes and Music on Radio Trent and the original GEM.AM, 1978- 1994.