acefmpresenters
Dave Wakelin
Dave first appeared live on stage at the Westminster Hospital in London - now sadly no longer with us (the hospital, not Dave) aged zero. Born to parents of both sexes, he grew up in the Midlands - the land of Tiswas and Crossroads - but that didn't seem to affect him too much.
Having moved back to London when 17 to answer the call of the BBC, Dave began a successful career in both milk and newspaper deliveries in between times entertaining at weddings and bar mitzvahs across the capital. A chance meeting with Diana Ross led to a dance routine on Top of the Pops (which, oddly enough, was never aired in the UK) and may have made Dave the first ever reality star... but his heart was still in DJ-ing, at the time to hospitalised people and young children - a captive audience, and people too young to know better.
After relocating to Devon and the land of the clotted cream, Dave and family moved to Spain to enjoy some sun and work in the illustrious business that is radio broadcasting. Dave remains a legend in his own lunchtime, even though he now presents Ace FM's morning show!
Steve Brett
Steve has been "in the business" since he was very very ickle, having avoided being a disco orphan by following his dad around to gigs, and "playing radio" at home with a tape recorder and a Bush stacking record player from the 1960s. He started presenting on the radio as a fresh-faced 15-year-old back in the day when a disc jockey's job was still all about discs (remember those round things made of vinyl?), as a presenter on Bishops Stortford's hospital radio station.
After some years volunteering for Cambridge Community Radio, Steve moved into the commercial sector, presenting shows on a local independent FM station before landing a job at the BBC World Service where he worked as a Studio Manager. After 8 years he hung up his studio key for the last time, escaped the city smog and terrible weather and went off in search of sunnier climes, and finally landed in Andalucia at the beginning of 2009 to join the team at Ace FM.
As well as presenting his daily "Late Lunchtime" show, Steve is our resident technical guru and is responsible for all the computer systems, the web site and the technology that brings Ace FM from the studio into your homes.
Steve Kay
Steve began his radio career at Thames Gateway Radio in Erith, presenting an evening show where he interviewed artists performing at The Mick Jagger Centre in Dartford, the most memorable being Captain Sensible from The Damned. He also promoted and hosted club nights in Central London playing 60's Ska, Reggae, Motown and Northern Soul, and was the warm-up act for artists such as Laurel Aitken, Desmond Dekker, The Beat, Bad Manners and The Selecter.
Steve came to Spain in 2008 with his wife, Wendy, planning to do nothing but relax for a while. After two weeks he was bored, happened to see an advert in a local paper looking for radio presenters, and the rest, as they say, is history. Along with Wendy, their five cats, one dog and 60's music, Steve's other love is his "Modded up" Vespa scooter upon which he can be seen riding around in the Summer months either on his own, with Wendy on the back or as part of a collective with the Marbella Scooter Club.
Steve presents the Afternoon Drivetime Show on Ace FM and regularly does interviews with visitors to the area as well as locals. He can also be seen at the CHAIN Sunday Market in Villafranco between 10am and 2pm. He and Wendy also run Party People DJ Services and can be booked to play at parties, weddings etc, with all types of music being catered for. So if you are planning an event and would like your very own Ace FM presenter to be there then give him a call (details on our advertisers page).
Jules Little
Jules is our resident dance presenter here on Ace FM. He has been a club DJ for over 20 years (he says he doesn't look old enough) and has worked all over the UK & has occasionally ventured into Europe. Highlights along the way included being a semi-finalist in the DMC / Technics UK DJ championships in 1990 and DJing "Party In The Park" in 1996. Other than dance, Jules has a real love of soul music, especially that from the 80's (we've seen his taste in clothes). He first ventured into radio in 2004 with a local hospital radio station (the same one that Dave was on) and from there progressed to community & commercial radio specialising in dance.
Away from all of this radio stuff, it's a heady mix of family & cars. His wife keeps him in check when he gets cheeky and sends him off to clean the cars. Talking of which, if he mentions his Avenger Tiger walk away quickly!
You can catch Jules here on Ace FM every Friday at 10pm with a chance to listen again on Saturday night at 10pm. Every week the show includes a guest mix from local DJs as well as from some of the biggest names on the dance music circuit.
Mark Bennett
Proprietor (or is that perpetrator) of the afternoon show every weekend here on Ace FM, Mark (or "Mr B") has been on the wireless in one form or another based in the UK for over 11 years playing the hits, the misses and notably a variety of tunes from far flung places he has come across on his travels. All in all a delightfully eclectic experience with quite a cult following!
As far as the Afternoon Show goes it's still mainly the 70s and 80s that feature most, and you might even think (as Mark likes to - he even runs two cars one from each of those decades) that era has never really gone away, with a period phrase or two emerging. During the year you might even be treated to a few live appearances here on Ace FM as Mark embarks on his famed 'State Visits' to inland Andalucia. Certainly worth keeping an ear out for.
In real life Mark works in the UK railway industry, a career spanning just about 30 years, and these days touring the country on special test trains presiding over various forms of track recording which suits his passion for travelling far and wide really. Excellent stuff!
Nigel Waymark
Nigel is a DJ of over 25 years experience and a confirmed "soul man", with 70s and 80s soul his particular favourite. He still works as a gigging disco DJ, offering specialist soul evenings where you can re-live those great days, and loves nothing more than making a crowd happy!
A popular favourite on UK community radio, Nigel also produces a syndicated show which airs on a number of internet and FM stations around the world, and he remains a firm fixture on the Ace FM schedule with his "Smooth Classics" show.
This week you can hear him in the daytime too, as he's sitting in for Steve Kay on the drivetime show until 6 November. That's if we can tear him away from the pool!
Paul Moore
Paul got his first taster for radio at BFBS Cyprus in 1976, when his father was stationed there in the Army, and he used to be allowed to sit in with the DJs. Paul then got into the mobile disco business, firstly on the island and then more in depth back in the uk, and eventually started his own radio station in 1994.
Paul now works freelance for many stations around the globe presenting his very popular 80's show and Mystery Years show, as well as a drive time show on a local community station, which is expected to start later this year.
Apart from radio, Paul also has a partner to keep him well looked after and has 3 cats and 1 german shepherd dog at home. And he enjoys the odd trip out in his brand new softtop car... talk about being a poser - the shades and sunhat come out on every trip !!
Simon Yates
Simon's passion for disco music is evident from his vast music collection dating back to 1975. He loves playing the disco tracks that were popular on the dance floors of the 70's and 80's, as well as the more hard to find rare grooves that you no longer hear on the radio.
Today, listeners can continue to hear those discotastic sounds on the show where disco lives forever... Disco Days. Simon digs out the glitter ball, the vinyl 45 and 12 inch single to bring back that good dancing feeling on Ace FM.
Disco Days features the classic disco songs, some hard to find disco tracks and the best 80's euro disco. Think of Donna Summer, Thelma Houston, Shalamar, Earth, Wind and Fire, The Brothers Johnson... the list goes on.
Geoff Hobbs
Geoff was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1965 as his parents had emigrated to there in the 1950's. They all came back to England in 1968 on a ship called the Fairsky into Southampton, the same voyage which the Bee Gees made in 1967. Having had various jobs including cycle repairing, painting, and a stint on British Rail, Geoff has always hung on to his love for radio ever since listening to Radio Luxembourg and Radio One as a youngster.
He built his first disco unit when he was 18 and started gigging when he was 19, then had his big break into radio in 1989 when he joined a hospital radio station in Southampton.
A move to the East of England saw him gigging all round Cambridgeshire and Fenland until an old back injury put him firmly into retirement, but in 2003 he saw an advert on the UK Radio forums for presenters, so sent a demo and now presents a syndicated Soul and Dance show on a number of internet and FM stations around the world.
Dominic Forbes
Dominic lives and breathes rock music, and has been to most of the Monsters of Rock festivals at Castle Donington. His claims to fame are almost being run over by Sharon Osbourne and going around Soho amusement arcades with Guns & Roses just before they became famous. Dominic presents the Soft Rock Classics Show featuring some of the greatest rock music ever made, and some funny comments too.
Spencer James
Spencer started his media career on TV, working behind the scenes for ITV as a production assistant on shows such as "The Bill" and "Coming Home". He also worked as First Assistant Director on a number of short films, one of which was BAFTA nominated!
He got the radio bug at university where he worked as Programme Controller for the UK's first bilingual student radio station, and just a week after graduation found himself on a jet heading to Spain for a short-term stint on an English radio station. That short-term stint turned into just under 3 years, and he became the Drivetime presenter.
Spencer returned to the UK in November 2003 to be a "flying eye" travel reporter for stations in London and the south of England, before "landing" a job at one of the biggest radio groups in the South, where he works to this day as a presenter, as well as hosting The eXpat Chart.
Gary Jackson
Gary started his DJ career back in the days when half a dozen singles from Saturday Night Fever were guaranteed to fill the dance floor. Hospital radio beckoned in the early 1990s and he now finds himself on a Spanish station, surprised that it's the English speaking population that listens, having always thought the most suitable audience would be those who hadn't a clue what he was on about.
He fell in love with beat music in the 60s, and in 1997 he was approached by The Searchers to publish their official website which he does to this day, along with The Swinging Blue Jeans' and Troggs' official websites.
The Gary Jackson Show is packed with special features - not for the audience's benefit, but because at his age just staying awake for two hours is tough enough, and every little helps! When he's not convincing famous presenters that their jobs are safe, Gary writes a monthly sixties music column for the Hampshire Chronicle newspaper.
Chris Munday
Chris started his career as a nightclub presenter and events compere in the late 70's before branching out into commercial radio. That was in the days of vinyl... Things have moved on since then, it's only Chris who hasn't.
Each week Chris Munday and the 'Badger' team (The lovely Shashi, Little Chris and Dai Davies) bring you some of the best retro tracks spanning all aspects of rock music including punk, glam and new wave. You can catch him blowing the dust off the vinyl, cassette and eight-track to bring you the music you'd forgotten you loved from the Stranglers to Souxsie and the Banshees, The Ramones to The Rolling Stones and Bowie to Blondie.
His only brief is to raid the 20th Century for the best in rock and the roots of rock. All this is mixed up with competitions and regular features to bring you an all round rock 'infotainment' show. Listen out, Saturday lunchtimes here on 106.8 Ace FM, Chris Munday with "Sideways with a Badger" ...and no, we don't understand how the show got its name either.
