Fun at One - Adrian Juste

It’s what Saturday lunchtimes were made for. For many years filling the 1 to 2 p.m. slot on Radio 1 was an hour of music and comedy pulled together by Adrian Juste.  Think hit records from Kim Wilde and The Eurythmics interspersed with clips of Hancock and Bob Newhart and the occasional specially written sketch.

That mix of pop and comedy had been inspired by Jack Jackson’s ‘record roundabout’ shows on the Light Programme and Radio 1. Jack’s final show, a Bank Holiday special on Radio 2, had aired in 1977. Adrian’s shows became a fixture on most Saturdays between 1978 and the start of 1994, though for a while in the mid-80s he was moved to Sunday mornings and later Sunday afternoons. The Saturday shows benefitted from going out in stereo on VHF, at the time a scare resource for Radio 1, whilst over on Radio 2 we had comedy such as The News Huddlines and then the first half-hour of Sport on 2.    

Juste was the voice of Radio 1 for nearly 17 years. Programme trailers, campaign promos and those Roadshow intros (“today live from the boating lake, Cleethorpes…” etc.), he did them all. In addition he often provided the technical support, playing in the records or on standby at Broadcasting House during an OB should the line go down. Not forgetting a fair few New Year’s Eve Party shows too. No wonder Adrian was bitter was he was given the boot as part of Matthew Bannister’s DJ cull in 1993.

Here’s the second half of Adrian’s last show that went out on 1st January 1994. There’s some fun to be had, not to mention a touch of bitterness, towards the end with Adrian looking for new employment, “Slung out after 17 years” and going into panto, “Have you seen my career? Yes, it's behind you!”

And this is Adrian in the early days with a Saturday lunchtime show from 14th November1981.

Juste has appeared on the radio intermittently since leaving Radio 1, most recently on BBC Radio Devon with a 2012 Christmas special offering much the same mix as before.