About Me
DAVID GRESHAM
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENT
SAMA 8 .. 2002THE DAVID GRESHAM RECORD COMPANYIS 30 YEARS YOUNG AND STILL GOING STRONG!..Keep your feet on the ground and reach for the stars..!!Gruesome Gresh, from those bygone Springbok Radio days, is still around and about to celebrate his 30th year this year as South Africa..s longest running independent record company and biggest supporter of South African music and artists.The famous saying ..Keep your feet on the ground and reach for the stars.. which David used on the South African favourites such as Pop Shop, the Top Twenty Hit Parade, the Daily Drive Show on Springbok Radio and the breakfast shows on 5FM, is a reflection of how he has always lived his life and achieved as much as he has .. and still plans to!David Gresham was born in Mbabane, Swaziland. Once he had completed school, he arrived in Johannesburg to commence his apprenticeship as an Electro-Medical Engineer. Mathematics was not a strong point so that career was not looking rosy!Just when everything looked hopeless, David was introduced to Dave Gooden and Herrick Merrill Recording Studios by LM Radio personality, Rob Vickers. David was offered a position as an engineer on radio productions such as ..No place to hide.., ..Squad Cars.., ..Address Unknown.. to mention but a few! He enjoyed this position for three years.From there he went to LM Radio in Mozambique and also stayed there for three years. Three is definitely a happening number for David!!!In 1967 David returned to South Africa to take up the position of Promotions and
A & R Manager at Teal Records. At the same time he was offered the Drive Show on Springbok Radio .. The Record Express at 5:30pm. The show was moved to 4:30pm and soon after that became The David Gresham Show.In 1969 the only South African DJ to be offered an interview with Beatle, John Lennon was David Gresham. David still has on tape .. yet to be heard by the listening public - an apology from John Lennon to Springbok Radio and their listeners for saying that the Beatles were more popular than Christ.Other artists David was fortunate to interview and introduce to the South African listeners include: Ringo Starr, Tom Jones, Elton John, Bryan Ferry, Kenny Rogers, Engelbert Humperdinck, The Bee Gee..s, Robin Gibb (in a separate interview), Lulu (who was married to Morris Gibb), Anne Margaret and Petula Clark.In 1971 came the offer to host the Top 20 on a Friday night on Springbok Radio. The show was repeated on a Saturday afternoon. David changed the name to the South African Top 20 and continued to host the show until 1985 when Springbok closed down and became Orion and Radio SA.When TV started in South Africa in 1975, just six weeks into broadcasting .. David hosted a programme called Pop Shop which he continued to present for a few years. He then moved onto presenting Easy Beat and was also very involved in doing various fillers for the young TV station.The David Gresham Record Company became a Pty (Ltd) in 1972. Just prior to this happening, David wrote a song called ..I..ll walk with you... However, nobody wanted to record the song until David bumped into Sean Rennie at the Sandton Civic Centre. Together they recorded the song and took it to the EMI A & R Manager, Clive Calder who instantly believed in what he was listening to. Clive is now the CEO of Zomba Worldwide.One of David..s first record labels was Nitty Gritty Records. On this label David released the Jessica Jones version of ..Baby I love you.. and ..Sunday, Monday, Tuesday... ..Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.. was produced together with Mutt Lange .. Mutt..s very first production!Allan Goldswain, the keyboard player from the band Hocus, became David..s business partner in later years. Between them they continued to produce Jessica and various other local acts.In his radio shows, David gave tremendous support to South African acts such as Joy ..Paradise Road.. and PJ Powers whom he proudly acknowledges as being responsible for breaking here in South Africa! Other South African acts David has been responsible for breaking and supporting via The David Gresham Record Company include Stingray, Sean Rennie, McCully Workshop, Nick Taylor, Stockley Sisters, Wonderboom and, of course, Q-Kumba Zoo whom David introduced to Clive Davis of Arista who loved their sound and signed them almost immediately.The year 2002 is the company..s 30th year as well as the 30th Midem David has attended.International acts who have been licensed to The David Gresham Record Company include: Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Kimera, Ace of Base, Moby, Garbage and Nickelback .. plus many, many more.David has always been pro-South African from his very first days on radio. In fact, the saying ..Local is Lekker.. was first broadcast on The David Gresham Show. It was said by Peter Feldman who was presenting his regular ..Pop News.. insert on David..s show!! David has instilled this passion for local talent in all his employees and it is this belief in our South African talent that will ensure David and his team are still notching up records in another 30 years time.
