On Thursday 14th March 2019 our dear friend Dave Raven sadly lost his battle with cancer. 

Since then there have been hundreds of tributes paid on social media and by e-mails by friends, musicians, radio hosts, agents, PR people, journalists, record companies, blues fans, just about anybody who loved Dave. 

Everybody who knew Dave, whether digitally or personally, will miss him, his great joie de vivre, his positivity, his friendship. 

On his website Dave described himself as a "Sometime DJ, film maker, boat safety examiner & gadget freak" (with a weakness for good food & wine)

This succinct summary of himself is accurate but omits so much.

On a day when there was so much terrible news near and far, the worst for me was to learn that my dear friend, colleague, fellow blues lover, mentor and so much more was gone!

Yes, we knew it was going to happen and were expecting the bad news sometime, but that does not make it any easier when the news finally breaks. It does not help us to face the fact that Dave the Rave is no longer with us, there will be no more Raven and Blues podcasts, no more of Dave’s musical discoveries, no more sessions from the top deck of his lovely floating home on the Thames.

I will miss our regular ‘meet-ups’ at blues events all over the place and the wonderful, laughter and good food and drink filled times together at the annual European Blues Challenges in various countries around Europe.

I will miss his comments, both good and bad, about my radio shows, particularly his compliments which meant so much to me.

But I know I am not alone in this as the many posts on social media have shown. So many people with so many lovely stories, lovely memories and lovely comments, so many people feeling his loss.

One post, in particular, caught my eye because the poster so accurately and precisely captured what I and, I am sure, so many others feel.

On Facebook, producer, presenter, musician and so much more, Paul Long, wrote:

‘’I always called him the guvnor.

Very sad, if not surprising news today that he has died.

Dave was a good friend and a huge influence on me as a broadcaster. In 2006, when I was producing Paul Jones's Radio 2 programme I found his podcast, which was a new way of doing radio that Dave embraced with huge success - and I have listened to every show ever since.

He showed me that you could do a radio show not for mass consumption, but very targeted at a music-loving audience who were keen to hear new music, and how you could have a close interaction with that audience online and personally.

He always had time to talk and he had a fascinating life in broadcasting - from being a DJ in Newcastle, to BFBS, to being an internet radio and podcast pioneer, as well as a blues music lover.

I did sessions for his show on the houseboat with Catfish and The Riotous Brothers, and did many interviews with him - well, not interviews as it was never a list of questions, but a conversation that flowed - something else I learned from him: your second question depends on the answer to your first question.

He'll be missed by all of his fellow broadcasters, not only for his show, but for his work with the IBBA and UK Blues Federation, and also by his listeners around the world and musicians in the blues family. We all owe him a debt of gratitude.’’ 

Dave’s involvement with the UKBlues Federation of which he was a founding Board member and Treasurer, was hugely influential and important to the Federation and played no small part in the UKBlues Federation being the organisation it is today, less than four years after it was created.

It was Dave who, almost single handedly, and despite already being in poor health, pulled together the technical and staging side of the acclaimed inaugural FORM UKBlues Awards event in Worthing in 2018.

It was Dave who, when all seemed bleak would rally the troops and urge us onwards and upwards or, when we were divided or uncertain, would offer wise counsel and make the way ahead clearer!

Dave had also a few years ago, become a member of the Board of the European Blues Union where I know he had had an impact and brought about change. But he also gave the UK a voice on the EBU Board which, in turn, raised the profile of blues in the UK in Europe.

As chair of the UK’s Independent Blues Broadcasters Association, it was Dave who prepared the monthly airplay charts collating many varied submissions from members. But it was Dave too who gave the association some clout, some respect and recognition.

As already alluded to, Dave was an avid listener to many of his fellow broadcasters’ output and was always there with both praise and criticism, but always constructive criticism, always giving helpful guidance and suggestions aimed at making us better broadcasters.

Dave graduated from cloakroom attendant to DJ in 1964 and soon realised that playing records was far more fun. After graduating (and running the Students Union Entertainment Committee) he lasted just six months as a Naval Architect by day and a DJ at night before turning professional in 1968.

His love affair with Blues and R'n'B started in his teens when Newcastle's leading beat club, the Club A'Gogo was his regular haunt. There, local bands like The Del Vikings, The Invaders, The Gas Board (lead singer, a young Brian Ferry!) and The Animals all played their versions of the great blues numbers of the 40's, 50's and 60's.

Other groups from around the UK; John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Manfred Mann, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, all played the Club A'Gogo and all of them playing R'n'B and the Blues.

American bluesmen also visited and there Dave saw Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, B B King, Bo Diddley, Eddy Boyd and many more.

Those early influences set him on a career of playing music on stage and on the radio. His first radio appearance was on the very first local radio station in the UK - BBC Radio Durham in 1968 and he went national in 1969 on the BBC Radio 1 Club. In his 18 months as the guest North East DJ he worked with all the top Radio 1 DJs but realised that to progress any further would mean leaving Newcastle and he chose to stay.

BBC Radio Newcastle opened in January 1971 and Dave was part of the opening team with a weekly show. He then transferred Metro Radio when it started in 1973.

In 1976, Dave went to Malta to open a nightclub and it was there that where he discovered the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) and they discovered him! In 1978 he stopped being self employed1

Two years later he moved from Malta to Germany and then like a radio gypsy from Germany to Brunei, Gibraltar, London, Cyprus, Falkland Islands, Belize, Gibraltar again, Belize again, Cyprus again,

In 1997 he took early retirement and went back to his main love - being on the radio rather than running radio. BFBS commissioned a series of programmes based on his passions, computers, Ggdgets and the Blues and 22 years later The Raven & Blues was still running.

The shows were broadcast weekly on Talk Radio Europe FM in Spain, Radio Napa in Cyprus and on Kansas City Online Radio

Dave pioneered the 'Listen Again' service for BFBS back in 2001 and when podcasting began in 2004 the Raven & Blues was one of the first 10 musical podcasts in the world and the first (probably) in the UK. With over 16,000 weekly subscribers and the online and FM shows it is one of the highest profile blues shows, which is why so many great musicians made their way to his houseboat to record live sessions.

In 2013, Dave won the British Blues Awards Independent Broadcaster of the year and was runner up on two other occasions. The show was the first 'listen again’ UK Blues radio programme in 1998 and the first UK Blues podcast in 2004.

Dave’s life was not all about radio. A qualified naval architect, upon his return to the UK he had a career as a boat examiner travelling all over the UK and, occasionally further afield to the Med and other exotic climes!

He and his wife, Suellen, loved travel and tried, wherever possible, to journey from posting to posting overland which lead to many exciting and memorable experiences.

In December 2007 Dave had a stroke which badly affected his speech and co-ordination. Thus, even recently, it was not unusual to receive an audio message from Dave rather than a typed e-mail!

Dave’s contribution to blues radio and to so many people’s lives was huge and has been reflected by the hundreds of messages from people all over the world from all walks. His passing leaves a large hole in our lives and he will, I am sure, be remembered and loved for a long time.

Ashwyn Smyth
Chair
UKBlues  Federation