Malcolm Laycock

Malcolm Richard Laycock (1 November 1938 – 8 November 2009) was an English radio presenter who hosted jazz, big band, and dance band programmes for BBC Radio 2 and the BBC World Service.

Early life

Malcolm Laycock was born in Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire, where his parents owned a grocer's shop. At Radio London, he produced a nightly magazine programme for black listeners, Black Londoners, and helped to improve the station's coverage of minority and community affairs. As a presenter for the World Service, he hosted a number of shows, including Jazz for the Asking, several series of Kings of Swing, The Big Band Singers, and the documentary Glenn Miller – The Legacy.

His other credits included documentaries on performers such as Nat King Cole, Ted Heath, Joe Loss and Gilbert Becaud (whom Laycock interviewed on the singer's yacht in the south of France).

In 1992, along with fellow broadcaster Dave Gelly, Laycock established a production company devoted to making programmes about vintage jazz and popular music. Encore Radio was one of the first companies to take advantage of restructuring at the BBC which opened its radio networks to independent producers, and it operated for six years. However, in November 2008 its format was altered to focus mainly on swing bands from the late 1930s and early 1940s to the present day. The decision led to complaints from the programme's listeners, who believed that Radio 2 was no longer catering for its older listeners. Laycock himself later said that he had been ordered to drop the British dance bands part of his show. but instead decided to leave after failing to negotiate a new contract. He later claimed in a newspaper interview to have been constructively dismissed by Radio 2. The BBC denied this was the case, and said his departure had occurred because they were unable to meet his demand for a pay rise (from a salary of £24,000) Dominic and Andrew. Radio 2 controller Bob Shennan said that former colleagues were "shocked and saddened" to hear the news of his death, and paying tribute to him, Shennan said, "Malcolm was a much-loved and highly respected broadcaster, renowned for his skill as a presenter and producer, and his passion for music and radio."