Former colleagues and fans of Radio Luxembourg have been in mourning for the Liverpudlian DJ Bob Stewart who died late last week. According to On The Radio, Stewart was the longest serving presenter at Radio Luxembourg, which he joined in 1969 after working at Radio Caroline.

Mike Knight, who was with Radio Luxembourg until it closed its English-language service in the early 1990s, said on Facebook that “his heart and Parkinson’s finally took him away from all those who loved him.” Knight recalled Stewart as having a “wicked sense of fun.”

On The Radio said that Stewart was told upon joining Radio Caroline in 1965 that his Scouse accent “might alienate listeners, so he developed the very authentic sounding mid-Atlantic accent that became his trademark.

David Poole, on the Facebook “Radio Luxembourg 208 Fans Group”, said that when he first heard Stewart on the radio he imagined someone who looked like Barry White. “What a voice! You can imagine how shocked I was to discover that he was a white Liverpudlian,” Poole wrote. “Those Tuesday night chart shows were a must for a teenage boy.”

Stewart is survived by wife Cynthia and son Mikey.