STAN LAUNDON - A FEW PERSONAL MEMORIES

Photographed with my 2004 American Fender Telecaster Highway 1 on the sunny Costa Blanca in Spain. The guitar has since been sold and gone to a new home in Hartlepool.

I was born in Hartlepool and hated working in a factory serving an apprenticeship as a turner and could not wait to get out! Thank God for pop singer Joe Brown because it was all down to him that I managed to get that lucky break in the first place.

In 1959 I started running his official fan club from my mother's house in Dyke Street, West Hartlepool and when Joe had his number one hit with "A Picture Of You" in May 1962 that's when I finally made the break and left the factory behind. It was also the time that I started a new and exciting career working with Joe in London on a full time basis - a period which lasted four wonderful years!

Joe Brown, his wife Vicki, his mother Rene and me at the Jack of Clubs, London in the 1960's. Photograph © John Heddon.

I spent four very happy and informative years with Joe in London and certainly owe a lot to him for the knowledge and outlook on life he gave me. However, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and, towards the end of 1966, it was time to quit and search for a new career. It took a little while for that other lucky break to come along but in 1970 I was fortunate to join the BBC in local radio working for BBC Radio Teesside, later to be called BBC Radio Cleveland, in Middlesbrough, (now BBC Tees) where I spent 23 very happy years!

With Joe Brown at the Forum Theatre in Billingham on April 19th, 2009. Photograph © Rainbow Photography.

On stage at the Forum Theatre in Billingham on Sunday, February 4th, 2018.

Footballers

Hartlepool United footballers Terry Bell and Cliff Wright with Joe Brown and me at my former home in Kildale Grove, Seaton Carew, in 1967. Joe was appearing in cabaret at the Club Fiesta in Stockton and stayed with me for a week. Photograph © Harry Harland.

The sad death of former US President Jimmy Carter on December 29th, 2024 at the age of 100, brought back a few memories for me. Although I didn’t meet him I did visit his hometown of Plains, Georgia, back in August 1982. I was on holiday at the time and, as I travelled through the state, I saw a road sign which pointed me towards Plains. I knew Jimmy Carter was from there and I thought I’d stop by to see if I could see him. That, of course, was out of the question - but I did notice an old railroad depot which was his Presidential Campaign Headquarters. I pulled up outside and spoke to the kind lady receptionist who told me that Mr. Carter wasn’t home on this particular day and was in Atlanta on business. I explained to her who I was, gave her my BBC Radio Cleveland business card, and she said she’d pass the information on to Mr. Carter when he came back. And she certainly did! A few days later I received a personal letter from the former President which you can see above - together with a photograph of the old railroad depot in Plains.

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For most of my time at the BBC I produced and presented a country music show called "Country Time" which was first broadcast on New Year's Eve in 1970. The programme, which ran for 21 years, was just 25 minutes long when it started and, due to popular demand, was increased to 45 minutes after just six weeks. "Country Time" was 120 minutes long when the show came to an end in 1992. During those 21 years as a country deejay I travelled to Nashville on several occasions to meet many of the major names in country music. My "Country Time" page explains it all.

In 1975 It was an honour for me to be one of seven deejays nominated as Disc Jockey of the Year at the Billboard (UK) Country Music Awards held at the Empire Pool, Wembley, in London. In 1984 I was compere at the Peterborough Country Music Festival in England, introducing American stars on stage and I presented "Country Club" on BBC Radio 2 on August 8th, 1985 when its regular presenter, the late and great Wally Whyton, took a holiday break.

Broadcasting country music wasn't my main role at the BBC. For five years I was the presenter of the flagship breakfast show "AM 194" which was an all-speech news and current affairs programme and for almost two years, before the end of my career, I was a sports presenter.

After spending 23 years at the BBC, then enjoying early retirement on the Costa Blanca and living in Spain for almost fourteen years, I finally returned home to Hartlepool in November, 2007. These days I concentrate very much on photography and websites as a hobby.