Bob Heather

Bob started his DJ life in the early 60’s working with a home-made set of decks and a very cheap PA system made out of an old juke box, doing the rounds of local youth clubs. In 1967 he managed to get taken on by pirate station Radio London. His show was broadcast from the basement of their offices in Curzon Street in London, while he was waiting to head out to the MV Galaxy moored off the coast of Frinton-on-Sea in Essex. But after just one broadcast, the government closed the pirates down, leaving him stranded in London.

Bob made his way back home to Southampton where he dusted off his old set of decks, bought a cheap amplification system and went on the road. Bob was probably the first DJ in Hampshire to build and run a light show. He gradually worked his way up to performing at several clubs in the area, including standing in for Johnny Dymond at the Royal Pier on several occasions. After a while, he became the resident DJ at the famous White Buck Inn in Burley, where his ‘Bob Heather Disco Extravaganza’ supported many acts such as The Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, The Searchers and many more.

Bob went on to co-run dances at the Empire Hall in Totton, featuring many local groups including the Troggs, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch, PP Arnold and the Nice, as well as many other groups of the time.

Some years after retiring from the scene, Bob was asked to be resident DJ at the Southampton Ice Rink, taking over from Mike Joyce. After being at the rink for about three or four years, he was then offered the job of Entertainments manager at a holiday camp near Aberystwyth, and the following year at St Osyth near Clacton on Sea. On leaving the ice rink, he happily handed the decks back to Music Man, Mike Joyce. After two or three years of working the holiday camps away from his much missed family, He retired once again to take up writing.

Bob is the proud author of over twenty pantomime scrips that are all published and performed throughout the UK and in a few far-flung corners of the world. He has also directed and appeared in several plays and pantomimes at The Plaza Theatre in Romsey. He has also written four plays, co-written two books on the subject of pantomime, a detective novel called ‘Grappling With Shadows’, written under his given name of Robert Heather, which is now out on Kindle, and he has just finished writing the ‘Romsey Ghost Walk’ booklet.

Bob and his Ghost Walk team, which includes Outreach Radio’s Matthew and Georgette Ellison, take groups of people round Romsey on the Ghost Walks, during the dark evenings of autumn and winter.

In the spring of 2022, Mike Joyce got in touch with Bob and invited him to be a guest presenter in his Southampton Ice Rink Memories program on Outreach Radio for a couple of weeks. Those couple of weeks became three months, including the Ultimate Ice Rink Reunion at the Empire Hall in Totton, taking him back to where he used to run his dances all those years before. He has now moved on to host The Bob Heather Music Show featuring many forgotten and unknown records in order for you to relax and recharge after your hectic weekend.

Email Bob: bob@outreachradio.co.uk

You can catch Bob with ‘The Bob Heather Music Show’ every Sunday evening from 10-11pm on Outreach Radio.