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BIOGRAPHY Gambaccini studied at Dartmouth College where he obtained a degree in History and at University College, Oxford where he obtained a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Having left Oxford Gambaccini was considering further study in law at Harvard or Yale but had the opportunity of writing for '' Rolling Stone '' magazine as their British correspondent. He attributes his future broadcasting career to this post and especially an interview he carried out in 1973 with Elton John which brought him to the attention of BBC Radio producer John Walters who arranged for him to start presenting on BBC Radio 1 . Broadcasting career "The Great Gambo" as he was later to become known started broadcasting on BBC Radio 1 in 1973 as a music reporter. He is best known as a presenter of various incarnations of US chart shows and presented the first of these in 1975. The show continued until 1986 when he moved to independent radio. In 1990 he returned to Radio 1 but was 'sacrificed' by controller Matthew Bannister in 1993. In 1992, Gambaccini became one of the founding original presenters on the UK's Classical music station Classic FM , where he presented the weekly Classical CD Chart. He left the network for BBC Radio 3 in 1995, where he presented an hour-long morning programme, in a slot formerly used for ''Composer of the Week''. Gambaccini increased the station's audience, but came under attack as an example of the reforms that the controller was trying to introduce, but which did not go down well with the existing audience. Some listeners welcomed his presence, according to Radio 3 controller Nicholas Kenyon , as their musical tastes had 'developed' from Radio 1's content. He returned to Classic FM in 1997. Alongside his work in music radio, he also contributed reviews regularly to BBC Radio 4 's long running arts' programme '' Kaleidoscope '' until it ended in 1998, and had earlier worked in this role on early morning station TV-am . In 1998, he joined BBC Radio 2 , where he created his current weekly ''America's Greatest Hits'' show. At the same time, in 2002, he quit Classic FM , to present a weekly chart show on London's Jazz FM until 2004. He was also a contributor to the London station LBC when it was taken over by Chrysalis. He has worked widely in British radio and television, generating content mainly related to music, films, and the arts. He narrated the BBC Radio Adaptation of '' Espedair Street '', the Iain Banks novel. He co-edited the '' The Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles '' from 1977 to 1996. He has presented the annual Ivor Novello Awards since 1990, the Music Industry Trusts Man of the Year Dinner since 1999 and the Sony Radio Academy Awards since 2000. Gambaccini now presents his weekly ''America's Greatest Hits'' show on BBC Radio 2 and contributes to various publications. He lives in the Bankside area of London. Charity work In 1982 he helped to launch the career of the pop group Kajagoogoo . He came out as a gay man during the 1980s and has been a high-profile fundraiser and supporter for gay-related charities. In 1995, he was named ''Philanthropist of the Year'' by the National Charity Fundraisers, for his work on behalf of the Terrence Higgins Trust . Awards Gambaccini received the Outstanding Contribution to Music Radio award from the Radio Academy in 1996. He was nominated as Music Broadcaster of the Year in the Sony Radio Academy Awards in 2000, 2002 and 2003, winning in 2003. Involvement in comics Gambaccini has been a fan of with Jonathan Ross in the same location as the original Forbidden Planet shop. In 2000 he also co-wrote, with Alastair King and Jane Edith Wilson, a musical about a comic book Superhero called ''The Ultimate Man''. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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