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Tributes are paid to former DJ Mike Smith

Tributes are paid to former DJ Mike Smith

TRIBUTES have been paid to the former BBC DJ and TV presenter Mike Smith who has passed away at the age of 59.

Mr. Smith, who died after undergoing heart surgery, rose to national fame in the early 1980s when he joined Radio 1 from Capital Radio in London. His time at Radio 1 included a period presenting the station’s flagship Breakfast Show which at the time commanded a weekly audience of around 18 million listeners.

He had started out doing school discos before working in hospital radio and then commercial radio.

His early television work included presenting Top Of The Pops and working with Noel Edmonds on the Late, Late Breakfast Show. He also co-presented coverage of Live Aid and later presented BBC One’s Breakfast Time.

Mr. Smith’s adventurous streak had led him to qualify as a helicopter pilot, but his interest in flying was to prove almost fatal in 1988 when he and his then girlfriend and future wife, Sarah Greene, were seriously injured when their helicopter crashed in Gloucestershire.

The accident did not diminish his love of flying. In 2003, when he decided to move away from television presentation, Mr. Smith embarked on a new career providing aerial filming expertise through his company, Flying TV.  The company’s work in recent years included events such as the London Olympics and the Grand National horse race,

Among those to pay tribute was former Radio 1 presenter Simon Mayor. He said: “He was the first Radio 1 presenter who could do almost anything — you could put him anywhere and he would shine and sparkle.”

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