One of the things that is heart warming for us as a family is listening to how he helped people through the darkest of days during the troubles. He seemed to be an oasis of hilarious fun and normality sandwiched between the constant tragedy dominating the news and political shows.

Last August, on the Antiques Roadshow, Dave brought Gerry’s Fender guitar along to share a glimpse into his music career. And how it set him up to connect with people across the airwaves in his radio shows.

Click on the link to view the episode or read the transcript below:

Fiona Bruce
One of Northern Ireland’s most loved voices Gerry Anderson, was a BBC Radio and TV presenter for nearly 30 years and was known for his wit and warmth.

God’s in his heaven, Elizabeth’s on the throne, and the dole will open in two hours. So get up, get at it!

Gerry Anderson on his radio show

He passed away in 2014. But his unique appreciation of life is still fondly remembered, not least by his family.

Wayne Colquhoun
Here we are in Northern Ireland. And one of the most famous radio voices is that of your father, Gerry Anderson. Tell us about his career.

Music, showbands and rock and roll

Dave Anderson
Well, it’s very nice of you to say that. He actually started off as a musician, he spent 27 years on radio, but before that he was a musician for 20 years. He started off playing in the show bands, but his love really was always rock and roll. Probably his favourite band was playing with Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks.

Wayne Colquhoun
Ronnie Hawkins over in Canada. What a what a privilege! When would that have been?

Dave Anderson
That would have been early 70s.

Wayne Colquhoun
Well, I know that we got a photograph of your dad as a young man. And is this with a particular band?

Dave Anderson
I believe that was The Chessmen. I think that was a Dublin based band.

Wayne Colquhoun
And of course, we are looking at a fabulous 1960s Fender Precision Bass guitar.

Dave Anderson
He would have bought that guitar, I’m guessing in the mid 60s. He brought it everywhere for his entire music career.

Wayne Colquhoun
That’s fabulous. Because I can see that there’s a lot of sort of grooving from where his fingers were playing this very guitar. I mean, it must be two or three millimetres deep that dent. And to think of the fun that he’s had on it. Of course Fender they did mass produce these guitars but they made them have a fantastic quality.

Dave Anderson
The two things he always told me was originally red but he scraped off the red because wood was more rock and roll. He always boasted that this guitar was hand checked by Mr. Fender himself. I’m not sure if that’s true or not.

Music made him a natural on the radio

Wayne Colquhoun
But I like it. And I mean, his experience in the music world just probably made him a natural on the radio.

Dave Anderson
He liked good music regardless of what kind of style and he liked talking to musicians about differences in music and different things people were trying.

Wayne Colquhoun
And he could just talk to the common man, whoever it was.

Dave Anderson
Well that’s it. He was very approachable and he had a very sharp wit. When he started to work in BBC Radio 2 and Radio Four, he met people like Terry Wogan. And there was obviously a kind of respect there for each other. He was a massive fan of Terry Wogan. They spent a fair amount of time with each other.

There were a lot of people in Northern Ireland, who would have listened to him all the time. He was always on in the morning. I met two painters from Belfast. And they told me that whenever they were on a job in a ‘problematic area’ in Northern Ireland, they would turn Gerry up really loud and start laughing.

Wayne Colquhoun
To drown out their fears and anxiety. What a marvellous accolade to your Dad, Gerry Anderson.

I feel we have to put a value on this guitar. There’s a lot of collectors out there. An auction estimate is certainly £4-6,000. We could even go higher.

Dave Anderson
Wow. Pretty good. I’m sure he would be very proud of that.

Wayne Colquhoun
Well, thank you for sharing the amazing story of of your Dad’s life with us. It’s been really fascinating.

Dave Anderson
Thanks very much. Appreciate it. Thank you.