Go, Johnnie Go!

DJ Johnnie Walker talks to Stu Lambert about taking his Sounds of the 70s radio show on tour, and how he fell in love with the county he now calls home

- Stu Lambert

In the early 1980s, my bandmates and I drove from Shaftesbury, where we had a studio in my schoolfriend’s house, to Bristol for our first ever radio interview. This was to be with a DJ who had introduced me to great music, surreptitiously under my pillow, via crackly pirate radio. Half a lifetime later that DJ, Johnnie Walker, now lives in Shaftesbury and I am interviewing him.

For over ten years Johnnie has served BBC Radio 2 listeners a Sunday afternoon treat of 1970s music with his show Sounds of the 70s. Johnnie is now bringing the best pop music of that decade to concert halls around the UK with his Sounds of the 70s Live tour, where a full live band will belt out classic tunes ranging from Leo Sayer to Lou Reed. Lead vocals are delivered by Hayley Sanderson, who sings with the Strictly Come Dancing house band. Johnnie describes Hayley as “an amazing singer”, and she is a huge fan of 70s music.

“It was such an amazing and diverse decade for music, from David Essex to the Sex Pistols,” says Hayley. “All that great music is mixed with some amazing stories from Johnnie! I love singing the Stones and Marc Bolan numbers, but there’s some Bowie and Doobie Brothers songs that I also can’t wait to sing too!”

Johnnie is equally stoked about the tour. “We are taking the radio show on the road really. We made a huge long list of all the songs from across the decade and whittle it down to however many we can fit into the show.” The songs will be performed in chronological order, interspersed with ad libs and Johnnie sharing his personal memories and stories of pop stars from the decade.