Peter Waters Dingley (30 March 1945 – 31 December 2024), known professionally as Johnnie Walker, was an English radio disc jockey and broadcaster. He began his career in 1966 on pirate radio station Swinging Radio England before joining Radio Caroline. He joined BBC Radio 1 in 1969 and BBC Radio 2 in 1998. From 2009 to 2024, he presented Sounds of the 70s on Radio 2 on Sunday afternoons and The Radio 2 Rock Show on Friday nights from 2018 to 2024.
On 6 October 2024, Walker announced his retirement from broadcasting after 58 years because of ill health, with his final show airing on 27 October. Walker's death, at the age of 79, was announced by the BBC on 31 December 2024.
Walker was born Peter Waters Dingley on 30 March 1945, in Olton, Warwickshire, England. His father sold electroplating equipment for car parts at W. Canning & Co. in Birmingham, and his mother Mary Dingley was a Conservative Councillor in Solihull from 1979 to 1991. Walker was educated at two independent schools in Solihull. He attended Ruckleigh School until the age of eight and went to Solihull School, where he enjoyed music lessons and playing rugby, but failed his O-Level examinations. He worked as a garage manager's apprentice, studied for a City and Guilds qualification in motor mechanics at Gloucester Technical College, and aspired to be a car salesman, before becoming a DJ in bars and ballrooms.
Walker began broadcasting as a disc jockey in May 1966, on offshore ("pirate") radio station Swinging Radio England, and later on Radio Caroline. In 1967, when the Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 forced the pirate stations to move out of British waters, three presenters continued to broadcast on Caroline until March 1968 from the coast of the Netherlands: Walker, Robbie Dale, and Ross Brown.
Walker's theme tune was Duane Eddy's 1960 hit "Because They're Young". More than 40 years later, he would use the song as the intro for his Radio 2 drivetime show.
Walker joined BBC Radio 1 in April 1969 and presented a two-hour Saturday show from 2 to 4 pm. A year later, in 1970, he presented a one-hour weekday morning slot from 9 to 10 am. He moved to the 1 pm – 3 pm weekday early afternoon show in 1971, which went out from noon to 2 pm in 1973. The show featured the music quiz "Pop the Question" and a Tuesday chart rundown. The new weekly chart was published from research figures provided by the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB).
In July 1976, Walker had a dispute with BBC management concerning the music he played, which it was said did not fit into the station's daytime music line-up. He was also reprimanded for criticising on-air "Give a Little Love" by the Bay City Rollers, then at the height of their popularity, describing them as "musical garbage". He left Radio 1 and moved to the United States, where he stayed for five years. During this time, he worked for radio stations KSAN in San Francisco, KPFA in Berkeley, California, in January 1981, and WHFS in Bethesda, Maryland. He also recorded some shows for Radio Luxembourg, until he taped a record at the wrong speed while partying in the studio.
Walker returned to the UK in the early 1980s and in 1982 presented Radio West's evening show The Modern World. In September 1983, he joined Wiltshire Radio, presenting the 11 am – 2 pm slot. He was subsequently heard on GWR, which was formed from the merger of Radio West and Wiltshire Radio.
On 17 January 1987, Walker re-joined Radio 1, presenting the Saturday afternoon show The Stereo Sequence (so named because at that time, Radios 1 and 2 shared the same FM frequencies, with much of Radio 1's output transmitted only on medium wave when Radio 2 was occupying the FM frequency). The show was later renamed The Saturday Sequence when Radio 1 began regular FM broadcasting in the late 1980s. The shows ran from 2 pm to 7:30 pm before Roger Scott took over in mid-1988. In July 1988, Walker was briefly heard on Richard Branson's syndicated service The Superstation, which provided overnight programming to some ILR stations.
In October 1988, Walker was one of the original presenters on the new BBC local station in London, BBC GLR. He was part of a lineup that included Nick Abbot, Emma Freud, Tommy Vance and Dave Pearce. The station was run by future Radio 1 controller Matthew Bannister. Walker presented a weekday slot from noon to 3 pm, and after a few months he took over a 10am-1pm morning slot from Emma Freud.
In 1990, Walker joined newly-launched BBC Radio 5, presenting This Family Business three days a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 am to 12.30 pm. He took over the weekday show on BBC GLR from 7 pm to 9 pm, where he remained until later that year, when he was dismissed from the station by Matthew Bannister after commenting that people would be "dancing in the streets" following the resignation of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister.
Following his dismissal from BBC GLR, Walker presented the BBC Radio 5 show five days a week. His show was expanded to 9:30 am – noon, Mondays to Fridays, and was rebranded as The AM Alternative. He remained with Radio 5 until March 1994 when the station re-launched as BBC Radio 5 Live.
In September 1991, still a presenter for Radio 5, Walker returned to Radio 1 and took over from Richard Skinner in The Saturday Sequence on Saturdays from 3 pm to 7 pm. From March 1992 the show was broadcast from 3 pm to 6 pm. He continued until October 1993, moving to Saturday's 7 pm – 11 pm slot, before moving back to Saturday afternoons from 2 to 5 pm in November 1994, where he remained until he left Radio 1 in October 1995.
In early 1996, Walker joined London talk station LBC, presenting the weekend programme from 6 to 10 am. He was also heard on Classic Gold stations around the UK on Saturdays from noon to 2 pm.
In 1997, in addition to his Classic Gold shows, Walker presented documentaries on BBC Radio 2 and filled in for other presenters.
In April 1998, Walker was given his own weekly show on Radio 2 on Saturdays from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. Six months later he took over from John Dunn and presented a show 5 pm to 7 pm Monday to Thursday, with Des Lynam presenting Friday's edition.
In early 1999, Walker's show was temporarily suspended after he became the subject of a tabloid exposé concerning his cocaine use. He was temporarily suspended by the BBC when the drug allegations were published in the News of the World in April 1999 and was subsequently fined £2,000 for possession of cocaine. During Walker's absence, Richard Allinson filled in for him on Drivetime and Billy Bragg took over Saturday afternoons. Walker returned to his drivetime show, now presented from Monday to Friday, towards the end of 1999. Janice Long took over the Saturday afternoon shows.
Walker told listeners in June 2003 that he was suffering from cancer. He ended his show by stating that he was beginning treatment and would be taking time off to recover, and played "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel. Stuart Maconie filled in for him in his absence. On 24 July 2003, the BBC announced that Noel Edmonds would join Radio 2 to present Drivetime for eight weeks. Edmonds took over from 4 August until 3 October. Walker's recovery continued but he was not able to return and Stuart Maconie continued as stand-in. At the beginning of 6 October's Drivetime show, Maconie played Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" for Walker, said he was "doing well", and that he was due to return at the end of the year.