Graham Dawson Obituary, Death – Phil Dawson was a founding director, presenter, producer, engineer, and chief tea-boy at Fantasy Radio. It is with a heavy heart that we announce his passing because he was such an important member of our team. Phil started Fantasy Radio as a present to himself for his 50th birthday in 1995. It was an experiment in radio here in Devizes on 1386kHz AM. In the summer of 1997, Phil switched to 105.8 FM and changed the station’s name to “Crystal-Clear FM Stereo.” The group was given the option to apply for a full-time Community Radio license in April 2011, and we were successful in doing so. On February 29, 2012, we began broadcasting Fantasy on a full-time basis. His first job was with Granada in Birmingham, where he was responsible for repairing television sets in customers’ houses.
Phil moved on to recording bands from all throughout The Midlands at his home-built recording studio. Many of these bands went on to achieve fame and success in their careers. In 1974, he was able to secure a position as an engineer at BRMB Radio. There, he was able to put his skills as a voice-over artist and self-taught musician to use by managing the station’s commercial production studio. In 1982, he started working as a commercial producer and engineer for Wiltshire Radio (GWR). Later, he went to Hull to work for Viking FM, but he continued to keep in touch with his friends from Devizes and was strongly involved in the Devizes Hospitals Broadcasting Service (DHBS). Phil moved back to the community and established his home there. He spent the next forty years operating his own commercial production and jingle company, Ginger Music and Ginger Productions, from this location.
Ginger was responsible for the production of a large number of jingles and commercials for businesses, radio stations, and television advertisements that were broadcast all over the country. One of the most well-known radio jingles in Wiltshire was created by Ginger for Corsham Building Plastics. Phil has hosted the breakfast program on Fantasy Radio ever since the station began broadcasting full-time in 2012, and he does so every weekday morning from the studios located at The Corn Exchange in Devizes. Even up until the time of his passing, he was still providing support and training to presenters at Fantasy Radio, as well as hosting live outside broadcast events, producing commercials for the station, and executing engineering jobs. So, here’s to Phil, with the official unofficial Fantasy Radio theme performed by Earth Wind and Fire…or, as he loved to joke with a goofy grin, Earth Live and Neutral.