Richard Anthony Crispian Francis Prew Hope-Weston (11 July 1940[1] – 6 March 2005), known professionally as Tommy Vance, was an English radio broadcaster.
He was an important factor in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal, along with London-based disc jockey Neal Kay, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
[3] Born Richard Anthony Crispian Francis Prew Hope-Weston in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, on 11 July 1940, his grandmother owned a travelling repertory theatre company, his father was an electronics engineer, and his mother a former singer and dancer.
Like a number of his contemporaries, while growing up in the 1950s, he listened to British broadcasting, but he fell in love with the brash sound and format of American commercial radio.
Unable to find an opening in British radio, he enrolled at a Northern Irish college, where he also became a part-time actor and stage hand.
Bill Hearne hired Vance for Radio Caroline South, where his colleagues included Johnnie Walker, Dave Lee Travis, Tony Blackburn and Emperor Rosko.
On 3 January 1966, Vance presented his first show on Caroline South; his slogan was "TV on radio" and used Jack Costanzo's version of the "Naked City Theme" as his signature tune.
Vance's wife was not pleased with the idea that her husband was going to be with Caroline South, on a ship two weeks out of three, where she would be living in an unfamiliar city on her own.
Vance was becoming frustrated with his lack of progress, however, and joined Radio Monte Carlo International with Dave Cash and Kenny Everett.
In October 1973, all three would join the newly launched London-based Capital Radio, Britain's first legal commercial pop station.
At a time when punk was being shunned by the press, he carried out the first in-depth interview with Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols in 1977, whose single 'Pretty Vacant' was A-listed on Capital's playlist.
His signature music was "Take It Off the Top" by Dixie Dregs and then he would say in his gravelly voice, "Hi, this is TV on the radio and welcome to the programme that we call the Friday Rock Show.
Vance was a frequent choice as master of ceremonies at award shows, concerts and festivals; such as Monsters of Rock at Donington Park.
Vance was a key player in the launch of Virgin Radio in March 1993, presenting the Drivetime show, a move he later regretted as the station dropped its adventurous format in favour of an ad-driven playlist.
On June 13th 2001, Vance joined US rockers Cheap Trick on stage at The Garage in Islington, where they played their first three albums in their entirety on three nights.
Vance joined digital music channel VH-1 UK from its inception in 1994 with 'The Nightfly', later reviving 'The Friday Rock Show', which ran for some years until 2002.
He decided to leave the show after escaping a scalding from boiling fat and foulmouthed abuse from the celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay.
[citation needed] Vance died at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Kent in the early hours of 6 March 2005, three days after suffering a stroke at his home.
As a finale, after the actual live broadcast had ended, the last Friday Rock Show Vance recorded for BBC Radio 1 in 1993 was re-broadcast.
[17][18] On 31 March 2006, a Tommy Vance Tribute Night, in association with the Teenage Cancer Trust foundation, was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.