Alan 'Fluff' Freeman dies at 79

Sad to report, I heard this on the news this morning.He was one of the reasons I got into prog in the first place.Fluff used to have a 2 hr radio show on the BBC in the seventies playing exclusively hard rock and prog rock.He was a genuine fan of bands such as ELP,Yes,Genesis and Pink Floyd and his programme was one of the few places you could get to hear prog on the radio in the UK. Famously he played all of Wish You Were Here when it was released in 1975.Will be very sadly missed.Keep on proggin up there in heaven Fluff.RIP. 

oh, that is indeed sad, sad news Fluff was known and loved by the whole nation, he is everyone's best uncle.........

Be in Peace Fluff.

P-C

Sad news indeed    - this man is a legend.

There was so much great music I first heard on his show and was inspired to go out and buy - Epitaph, Child in Time, Karn Evil 9, Sound Chaser, Hamburger Concerto.

He was the only DJ at the BBC in the late 70s who was playing this stuff when everyone else had gone over to new wave.

Farewell Fluff , and wherever you are "Let's have some more Heep, Tull, Floyd and Sabbath - all right?"

Sad news, Paul Gambaccini has paid tribute to him on Radio 4 this morning. I'll always remember listening to him on a Saturday afternoon to see what prog gretas he'd be playing!

me too, always used to do my physics homework listening to his show on saturday afternoon.

I'm sorry to read of the passing yesterday of former BBC DJ Alan "Fluff" Freeman (see news.bbc.co.uk for obituary).

Freeman was very instrumental in bringing rock music - and prog rock in particular - into mainstream radio broadcast in Britain during the '60s and '70s. In addition to my friends, he was one of those who had a great influence on the music that I listened to and grew to enjoy.

Britain has never really had the same culture of "specialist" radio stations - in the same way they do in North America - which played a particular genre of music. During those early prog years, you had to rely pretty much exclusively on BBC Radio 1 for your popular music needs, and the DJs who pushed the envelope to play stuff outside of the Top 40 environment were few and far between. John Peel was one, Freeman another.

Freeman's Saturday afternoon programme would regularly feature Yes, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, PFM and many, many others.

Thanks, Alan, for being one of those people who helped me to find my way along the path to good music! 

Another great DJ who will be sadly missed.

I began (seriously) listening to Alan on the Saturday Rock Show on BBC Radio 1 in the early seventies. His programme was a revelation because he played the heavy and progressive rock which was in a boom period, mainly from album sales and shows,  but which received little air play. He had really great jingles and a presentation style which seemed to be addressing me personally - after all, I really was a 'music lover'. Alan loved Emerson, Lake and Palmer, as did I, and played them often. Really, I cannot find the words to express what that show meant to me as a teenager. I loved Alan Freeman and when I heard of his passing it brought a tear to my eye as if I had known him.   

I'm afraid I'm not quite of your generation.... when I was about 10, he was still on Radio 1 on Sundays, but presenting Top 40 charts of yesteryear, which didn't appeal to me, even then, although I was aware of his Rock legacy....

He was a fundamental part of my music education and a great champion of Prog and Heavy Rock.

I didnt realise he was so old!