Adrian Love

Adrian Love (born 3 August 1944 in York – 10 March 1999) was a British radio presenter, remembered for his Love In The Afternoon show on Radio Two. He was the son of musician Geoff Love.

Early life

He attended Tottenham Grammar School and after working for Burton the tailors and as a song plugger in Soho, he began his radio career in 1966 with Radio City on the Shivering Sands Fort. He moved ashore with a stint on the BBC Light Programme, which led to work on the BBC World Service.

Career

He became station manager at UBN, at the United Biscuits works in Harlesden. While there he recruited Roger Scott and Graham Dene, with whom he later worked at Capital Radio, and gave Dale Winton and Steve Allen their radio breaks. The launch of commercial radio in 1973 led him to move to LBC and then to Capital Radio, where he stayed for eight years. He presented a late-night problem phone-in on Capital Radio, Anna And The Doc, with the agony aunt Anna Raeburn.

BBC

In 1981, he returned to the BBC, presenting programmes on Radio One, Radio Two and Radio Four. In 1982 he was sacked from his award-winning show on Radio 1 for broadcasting while drunk. He spoke of his alcoholism, and occasionally shared experiences with listeners.

In 1987, he returned to BBC Radio, initially presenting the daily afternoon show Love in the Afternoon on Radio 2. He was dropped from the lineup in 1990, but continued to present documentaries and special shows for Radio 2 such as Time Cycle and Pop Score. He deputised for other presenters such as Ken Bruce and Sarah Kennedy, before leaving the station in 1994.

Other stations he worked at included BFBS, Jazz FM, Classic FM While at Classic FM he was Chancellor of the Oblique University, from which listeners could get a degree. The requirement was to apply for a research grant for something ephemeral, such as why a cup handle ends up at the back in a microwave, or to submit a basic truth such as "Women do not change their minds, they make further decisions." An A4 certificate was awarded to listeners whose submissions he read out. There were between 50 and 100 awarded. Love spent his last four years as a presenter at BBC Southern Counties Radio.

Death

In December 1997, he was injured in a car crash from which he never recovered, succumbing to a collapsed lung over a year later. He left a wife and a child.