Trevor Nelson

Trevor Nelson MBE
Born	7 January 1964 Hackney, London, England, UK
Station(s)	BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 2
Style	R&B, soul hip-hop, rap and dance music
Country	United Kingdom
Previous show(s)	Kiss FM
Website	trevornelson.com

Trevor Nelson, MBE (born 7 January 1964^[1]) is a British DJ and presenter.

Early life

Born in the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney to a family of St Lucian heritage, Nelson attended Central Foundation Boys' Grammar School (now known as Central Foundation Boys' School) in Cowper Street, Islington, London EC2, and Westminster Kingsway College.^[2] His first job was in a shoe shop, but his love of music meant a part-time role as a DJ.

Nelson found daytime work at a record importer in 1985, and widened his DJ experience putting on "warehouse parties" on the weekends.^[3]

He went on to work in A&R for record labels Cooltempo and EMI, promoting artistes such as D'Angelo, Mica Paris and Lynden David Hall;^[2] while also promoting events, including his own "Soul II Soul" and "The Lick".

Radio career

As a pioneer in the urban scene, Nelson started his broadcasting career at then pirate station Kiss in 1985. In 1990 it gained a broadcasting licence to become Kiss 100 London (Kiss FM), it was here that Nelson became director of the station and daytime DJ. Behind the decks Nelson cut his teeth as a DJ with Soul II Soul and promoted numerous club nights including the now legendary Lick parties. With a stint behind the scenes in A&R at Cooltempo, EMI, Nelson was instrumental in the careers of D’Angelo, Mica Paris and Lynden David Hall. In 1996, Nelson moved to BBC Radio 1 to present the first ever national RNB show ' The Rhythm Nation'^[2] and a year later began a Saturday afternoon program which resulted in his winning a MOBO Award in 1997 as Best DJ.

Nelson currently broadcasts across two radio networks. He presents weekdays, Monday to Friday 10:00am until 13:00 show on BBC Radio 1Xtra and presents a soul show on Wednesday evenings on BBC Radio 2 which he has been presenting since 2008, produced by independent production company Somethin' Else.

In 2010 he was awarded with the special gold lifetime achievement award for his services to broadcasting, at the Sony Radio Academy Awards.

Nelson continues to DJ around the UK and Europe and is now in his tenth summer residency in Global Room nightclub in Pacha, Ibiza.

He has released seven compilation albums, INCredible Sound of Trevor Nelson, The Soul Nation and Lick compilations. His most recent compilation album is The Trevor Nelson Collection. Picking up where his Lick compilations left off, he shares his favourite R&B, Soul and Rap classics from over the decades.^[4]

Television career

Nelson first appeared on television in 1998 on MTV UK and presenting The Lick on MTV Base off the back of his first RNB show on Radio 1. Nelson also appeared as a judge on the 2006 show Just the Two of Us (TV series)|Just the Two of Us, and again in 2007. Since 12 September 2009 Nelson has co-presented NFL UK, a weekly American Football highlights magazine show on Five (TV channel) with Natalie Pinkham.

Trevor has worked on numerous BBC shows that include: "Holiday:you call the shots" / "Trevor Nelson's Urban Choice" / "The Players club" series and more recently he presented the coverage of the FIFA World Cup concert in South Africa for BBC2 in 2010.

Trevor holds the distinction of being the very first black person to appear on Channel 5, appearing at 10:37pm on The Jack Docherty Show.^[5] Nelson regularly appears as a pundit on programmes where celebrities recall their detailed memories of popular culture. He also provided commentary on the 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony and 2012 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony that was widely criticised in the media.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]}

Personal life

MBE ribbon

A divorced father of two children, Nelson lives in London, and is a fan of Chelsea Football Club. He also has a home in St Lucia.^[2]

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2002 for his contribution to the Millennium Volunteers programme.

Bibliography

• Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital, 2013. (Contributor)

References

1. Debretts biodata
2. "Trevor Nelson: My Life in Media", The Independent, 8 October 2007.
3. Radio Rewind - BBC Radio 1 People - Trevor Nelson
4. "Music Review – The Trevor Nelson Collection".
5. Paul McCann (1997-03-31). "Shock and pop as Channel 5 goes live with modern mix". The Independent. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
6. "BBC's Trevor Nelson stumbles but Danny Boyle's Opening Ceremony shines says Andy Dawson, aka Profanity Swan - Andy Dawson - Mirror Online". Mirror.co.uk. 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2013-01-10.
7. Sam Wollaston (27 July 2012). "Olympic opening ceremony: the TV review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-01-10.
8. Alicia Adejobi, "Trevor Nelson Slammed For 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony Commentating", Taletela, 30 July 2012.
9. Dawson, Andy (28 July 2012). "Boyle Command Performance is hampered by not-so-clever Trevor". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
10. "London 2012: viewers' verdicts on BBC sports presenters". Telegraph. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
11. Purnell, Gareth (28 July 2012). "Olympic opening ceremony view from the sofa: Sue, Gary and Team BBC whipped us into a frenzy - Olympic News - Olympics". The Independent. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
12. Donaghy, James (31 July 2012). "Olympic sporting commentary: why more is often less". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
13. Purnell, Gareth (30 July 2012). "Grace Dent's Olympics: The BBC red button should come with a health warning - Comment - Olympics". The Independent. Retrieved 5 August 2012.

External links

• Official website
• Trevor Nelson on Twitter
• Trevor Nelson at BBC Programmes (BBC Radio 1Xtra)
• Trevor Nelson at BBC Programmes (BBC Radio 2)