After working in marketing for a mail order company and managing a Manchester disco, Davies began his broadcasting career at Manchester's Piccadilly Radio in 1979 before joining BBC Radio 1 in 1982 to present a Saturday late night show, making his debut on 4 December 1982. Within weeks he was on the roster to present Top of the Pops on BBC television alongside his Radio 1 colleagues.
BBC Radio 1
The Bit in the Middle
In 1984, Davies took over the Radio 1 lunchtime show. He called it The Bit in the Middle which consisted of features, such as The Day-To-Day Challenge, in which the same person would go on air each weekday to answer quiz questions and try to upgrade their prize, and Willy on the Plonker, which involved crazed piano-playing of a well-known hit for listeners to identify. On Sunday, 6 September 1987 he presented the Sunday Afternoon Stereo Countdown of the Top 40 from 5pm to 7pm, filling in for Bruno Brookes. There was a marketability about Davies as he was regarded by some female listeners as a heart-throb. He was projected as an eligible bachelor of the station, with a catchphrase "Young, Free and Single" and a jingle "Wooh! Gary Davies". Davies own show rarely changed until it was rebranded in 1991 as Let's Do Lunch, with new features, including Spin & Win and the Classic Track, which was the one time of the week Radio 1 played a piece of classical music. Previous feature The Sloppy Bit was unchanged but renamed Lots of Love. He also introduced The Non Stop Half Hour from after the 2.30pm news until 3pm, which was half an hour of non-stop music. With updated technology, the chart rundown was moved forward to Sundays from 4 October 1987. Instead, Davies did countdowns of the US chart and the UK album chart – although the US chart he featured was not the official Billboard one, but an airplay-only chart compiled by Radio and Records magazine.
Weekends
In 1992, Davies quit the lunchtime show and moved to weekend breakfast, keeping a selection of the features. He also started a Sunday late night slot. The Lots of Love feature moved to this show, with dedications being read out over the music to Dances with Wolves. During this period, he could also be heard deputising for weekday presenters when taking their holidays, usually Steve Wright or Nicky Campbell.
Leaving Radio 1
In 1993 Davies was dismissed. His last record was Layla by Derek and the Dominoes — which had also been his first record on the station eleven years earlier. Davies was the last Radio 1 DJ to host Top of the Pops before the show's "year zero" revamp in October 1991.
In January 1994, Davies moved to Virgin Radio, presenting their Sunday morningClassic Tracks slot from 10am to 2pm. The show later went out from 9am to 1pm and he remained there until early 1995. After a brief sabbatical, Davies then rejoined Virgin Radio in December 1995, taking over the Sunday late night show from 10pm to 2am. This gave him the chance to revive his Sunday night format. In 1997, Davies moved to an earlier slot on Sundays from 6-10pm, before moving on to present the weekday late night slot in January 1999, where he remained until December 2000.
Recent work
Davies was heard on the Real Radio and the Century Network, presenting a CD chart show every Sunday originally from 1 to 4pm but from 2006 the show went out from 4pm to 7pm. However, this finished in mid-2008. Currently he owns a publishing company called Good Groove, where he also manages new artists. Good Groove's 1st publishing hit was Black Coffee by All Saints and Davies later went on to sign singer Corinne Bailey Rae. On 9 June 2017 Davies stood in for Sara Cox to present a special 2¾ hour edition of Sounds of the 80s on BBC Radio 2. This was his first time back on BBC Radio for 23 years. In October 2017, January 2018 & October 2018 Davies sat in for Steve Wright's BBC Radio 2 show. On 18 May 2018, as part of a reorganisation of the Radio 2 DJ roster, following changes to the station's evening line up Davies took over from Sara Cox as the host of Radio 2's Sounds of the 80s. He also provides holiday cover for daytime Radio 2 DJs such as Ken Bruce, OJ Borg, and Zoe Ball.
