He may not have been as influential as John Peel, but I was sorry to hear that DJ Alan Freeman (no relation) has died at 79. It was Freeman – and school friend Tony Corden – who introduced me to Yes and, consequently, those wonderful Roger Dean covers that you sometimes felt were the best thing about some prog rock.

Alan “Fluff” Freeman had a distinctive presenting style later lampooned by Harry Enfield, and both his Radio 1 Rock Show and Mary Nightingale’s Sunday afternoon show on the same station hold great memories.

Categories: Obituaries