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"Heterodox economics" refers to approaches or to schools of economic thought that are considered outside of "mainstream economics" and sometimes contrasted by expositors with neoclassical economics.^[1] Mainstream economists sometimes assert that it has little or no influence on the vast majority of academic economists in the English speaking world.^[2] "Mainstream economics" is called "orthodox economics" by its critics. "Heterodox economics" is an umbrella term used to cover various approaches, schools, or traditions. These include institutional, evolutionary, post-Keynesian, socialist, Marxian, feminist, Austrian, ecological, resource-based, and social economics among others.^[3][4]

These views may be contrasted with the framework used by the majority of economists, commonly referred to by its supporters as mainstream and by critics as orthodox or conventional. Mainstream economics studies economic phenomena using microeconomic and macroeconomic theory and econometrics.^[5]

The International Confederation of Associations for Pluralism in Economics (ICAPE) does not define "heterodox economics" and has avoided defining its scope. ICAPE defines its mission as "promoting pluralism in economics."

In defining a common ground in the "critical commentary," one writer described fellow heterodox economists as trying to do three things: (1) identify shared ideas that generate a pattern of heterodox critique across topics and chapters of introductory macro texts; (2) give special attention to ideas that link methodological differences to policy differences; and (3) characterize the common ground in ways that permit distinct paradigms to develop common differences with textbook economics in different ways.^[6]

One study suggests four key factors as important to the study of economics by self-identified heterodox economists: history, natural systems, uncertainty, and power. ^[7]

History[link]

A number of heterodox schools of economic thought challenged the dominance of neoclassical economics after the neoclassical revolution of the 1870s. In addition to socialist critics of capitalism, heterodox schools in this period included advocates of various forms of mercantilism, such as the American School dissenters from neoclassical methodology such as the historical school, and advocates of unorthodox monetary theories such as Social credit. Other heterodox schools active before and during the Great Depression included Technocracy and Georgism.

Physical scientists and biologists were the first individuals to use energy flows to explain social and economic development. Joseph Henry, an American physicist and first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, remarked that the "fundamental principle of political economy is that the physical labor of man can only be ameliorated by… the transformation of matter from a crude state to a artificial condition...by expending what is called power or energy."^[8][9]

The rise, and absorption into the mainstream of Keynesian economics, which appeared to provide a more coherent policy response to unemployment than unorthodox monetary or trade policies contributed to the decline of interest in these schools.

After 1945, the neoclassical synthesis of Keynesian and neoclassical economics resulted in a clearly defined mainstream position based on a division of the field into microeconomics (generally neoclassical but with a newly developed theory of market failure) and macroeconomics (divided between Keynesian and monetarist views on such issues as the role of monetary policy). Austrians and post-Keynesians who dissented from this synthesis emerged as clearly defined heterodox schools. In addition, the Marxist and institutionalist schools remained active.

Up to 1980 the most notable themes of heterodox economics in its various forms included:

1. rejection of the atomistic individual conception in favor of a socially embedded individual conception;
2. emphasis on time as an irreversible historical process;
3. reasoning in terms of mutual influences between individuals and social structures.

From approximately 1980 mainstream economics has been significantly influenced by a number of new research programs, including behavioral economics, complexity economics, evolutionary economics, experimental economics, and neuroeconomics. As a consequence, some heterodox economists, such as John B. Davis, proposed that the definition of heterodox economics has to be adapted to this new, more complex reality:^[10]

...heterodox economics post-1980 is a complex structure, being composed out of two broadly different kinds of heterodox work, each internally differentiated with a number of research programs having different historical origins and orientations: the traditional left heterodoxy familiar to most and the 'new heterodoxy' resulting from other science imports.^[10]

Rejection of Neoclassical Economics[link]

There is no single "heterodox economic theory"; there are many different "heterodox theories" in existence. What they all share, however, is a rejection of the neoclassical orthodoxy as representing the appropriate tool for understanding the workings of economic and social life.^{[citation needed]} The reasons for this rejection may vary. Some of the elements commonly found in heterodox critiques are listed below.

Criticism of the neoclassical model of individual behavior[link]

One of the most broadly accepted principles of neoclassical economics is the assumption of the "rationality of economic agents". Indeed, for a number of economists, the notion of rational maximizing behavior is taken to be synonymous with economic behavior (Becker 1976, Hirshleifer 1984). When some economists' studies do not embrace the rationality assumption, they are seen as placing the analyses outside the boundaries of the Neoclassical economics discipline (Landsberg 1989, 596). Neoclassical economics begins with the a priori assumptions that agents are rational and that they seek to maximize their individual utility (or profits) subject to environmental constraints. These assumptions provide the backbone for rational choice theory.

Many heterodox schools are critical of the homo economicus model of human behavior used in standard neoclassical model. A typical version of the critique is that of Satya Gabriel^[11]:

Neoclassical economic theory is grounded in a particular conception of human psychology, agency or decision-making. It is assumed that all human beings make economic decisions so as to maximize pleasure or utility. Some heterodox theories reject this basic assumption of neoclassical theory, arguing for alternative understandings of how economic decisions are made and/or how human psychology works. It is possible to accept the notion that humans are pleasure seeking machines, yet reject the idea that economic decisions are governed by such pleasure seeking. Human beings may, for example, be unable to make choices consistent with pleasure maximization due to social constraints and/or coercion. Humans may also be unable to correctly assess the choice points that are most likely to lead to maximum pleasure, even if they are unconstrained (except in budgetary terms) in making such choices. And it is also possible that the notion of pleasure seeking is itself a meaningless assumption because it is either impossible to test or too general to refute. Economic theories that reject the basic assumption of economic decisions as the outcome of pleasure maximization are heterodox.

Shiozawa emphasizes that economic agents act in a complex world and therefore impossible for them to attain maximal utility point. They instead behaves as if there are a repertories of many ready made rules, one of which they chose according to relvant situation^[12].

Criticism of the neoclassical model of market equilibrium[link]

In microeconomic theory, cost-minimization by consumers and by firms implies the existence of supply and demand correspondences for which market clearing equilibrium prices exist, if there are large numbers of consumers and producers. Under convexity assumptions or under some marginal-cost pricing rules, each equilibrium will be Pareto efficient: In large economies, non-convexity also leads to quasi-equilibria that are nearly efficient.

However, the concept of "market equilibrium" has been criticized by Austrians, post-Keynesians and others, who object to applications of microeconomic theory to real-world markets, when such markets are not usefully approximated by microeconomic models. Heterodox economists assert that micro-economic models rarely capture reality.

Mainstream microeconomics may be defined in terms of the "optimization and equilibrium", following the approaches of Paul Samuelson and Hal Varian. On the other hand, heterodox economics may be labeled as falling in a "institutions-history-social structure" nexus.^[4][13]

Most recent developments[link]

Over the past two decades, the intellectual agendas of heterodox economists have taken a decidedly pluralist turn. Leading heterodox thinkers have moved beyond the established paradigms of Austrian, Feminist, Institutional-Evolutionary, Marxian, Post Keynesian, Radical, Social, and Sraffian economics—opening up new lines of analysis, criticism, and dialogue among dissenting schools of thought. This cross-fertilization of ideas is creating a new generation of scholarship in which novel combinations of heterodox ideas are being brought to bear on important contemporary and historical problems, such as socially-grounded reconstructions of the individual in economic theory; the goals and tools of economic measurement and professional ethics; the complexities of policymaking in today's global political economy; and innovative connections among formerly separate theoretical traditions (Marxian, Austrian, feminist, ecological, Sraffian, institutionalist, and post-Keynesian) (for a review of post-Keynesian economics, see Lavoie (1992); Rochon (1999)).

David Colander, an advocate of complexity economics, argues that the ideas of heterodox economists are now being discussed in the mainstream without mention of the heterodox economists, because the tools to analyze institutions, uncertainty, and other factors have now been developed by the mainstream. He suggests that heterodox economists should embrace rigorous mathematics and attempt to work from within the mainstream, rather than treating it as an enemy.^[14]

Energy economics relating to thermoeconomics, is a broad scientific subject area which includes topics related to supply and use of energy. Thermoeconomists argue that economic systems always involve matter, energy, entropy, and information.^[15] Thermoeconomics is based on the proposition that the role of energy in biological evolution should be defined and understood through the second law of thermodynamics but in terms of such economic criteria as productivity, efficiency, and especially the costs and benefits of the various mechanisms for capturing and utilizing available energy to build biomass and do work.^[16][17] As a result, thermoeconomics are often discussed in the field of ecological economics, which itself is related to the fields of sustainability and sustainable development.

Fields or schools of heterodox economics[link]

# Listed in Journal of Economic Literature codes scrolled to at JEL: B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches.

Some schools in the social sciences aim to promote certain perspectives: classical and modern political economy; economic sociology and anthropology; gender and racial issues in economics; and so on.

See also[link]

• Kinetic exchange models of markets
• EAEPE
• Post-autistic economics
• Real-world economics review

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (September 2010)

Further reading[link]

Articles[link]

• Flaherty, Diane, 1987. "radical political economy," The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v, 4. pp. 36–39.
• _____, 2008. "radical economics," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition.Abstract.
• Lee, Frederic. S. 2008. "heterodox economics", The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. Abstract.

Books[link]

• Lee, Frederic S. 2009. A History of Heterodox Economics Challenging the Mainstream in the Twentieth Century. London and New York: Routledge. 2009
• Harvey, John T. and Robert F. Garnett, Jr., ed., 2007. Future Directions for Heterodox Economics, Series Advances in Heterodox Economics, The University of Michigan Press, . ISBN 978-0-472-03247-1
• Lee, Frederic S. (2009). A History of Heterodox Economics: Challenging the Mainstream in the Twentieth Century, Routledge. Description and contents links.
• McDermott, John, 2003. Economics in Real Time: A Theoretical Reconstruction, Series Advances in Heterodox Economics, The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-11357-6
• Rochon, Louis-Philippe and Rossi, Sergio, editors, 2003. Modern Theories of Money: The Nature and Role of Money in Capitalist Economies. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 1-84064-789-2
• Solow, Robert M. (20 March 1988). "The Wide, Wide World Of Wealth (The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'. Edited by John Eatwell, Murray Milgate and Peter Newman. Four volumes. 4,103 pp. New York: Stockton Press. $650)". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/20/books/the-wide-wide-world-of-wealth.html?scp=1. 
• Stigler, George J. (December 1988). "Palgrave's Dictionary of Economics". Journal of Economic Literature (American Economic Association) 26 (4): 1729–1736. JSTOR 2726859. 

Articles, conferences, papers[link]

• Lavoie, Marc, 2006.Do Heterodox Theories Have Anything in Common? A Post-Keynesian Point of View.
• Lawson, Tony, 2006. "The Nature of Heterodox Economics," Cambridge Journal of Economics, 30(4), pp. 483–505. Pre-publication copy.

Journals[link]

• Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review (Freely downloadable)
• Journal of Institutional Economics

Stephen Alan Marglin is a professor of economics and holds the Walter S. Barker Chair in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. Marglin became a tenured professor at Harvard in 1968, one of the youngest in the history of the university. His tenure was largely based on research that attempted to combine a Marxian approach with Keynesian demand theory.^{[citation needed]} Marglin is married to cultural anthropologist Professor Frédérique Apffel-Marglin and the couple has four children.

Marglin writes from a socialist/communitarian point of view. He attempts to undermine basic assumptions of neoclassical orthodoxy, such as rational expectations and the evolutionary process of economic growth.

Marglin wrote the much cited 1974 article What do bosses do?^[1] as a critque of neoclassical economics. This article came at the peak of his argument with Harvard economist David Landes who wrote a reply, What do bosses really do? The two articles explain the opposing views of socialist and neoclassical analysis.

His current research focuses on the foundational assumptions of economics, concentrating on whether they represent universal human values or merely reflect western culture and history. Marglin has attempted to show that during the Industrial Revolution, the division of labor was not created to improve the efficiency of the production, but rather to limit the variety of workers' labour in order that the power and indispensability of management increase.

Marglin recently (2008) had another book published on economics called The Dismal Science. In the book, he "dissects the ways in which the foundational assumptions of economics justify a world in which individuals are isolated from one another and social connections are impoverished as people define themselves in terms of how much they can afford to consume."^[2]

He is a council member of the World Future Council.

Notes[link]

1. ^ What do bosses do? Both parts are available for free on Marglin's page on Harvard's website via the link.
2. ^ The Dismal Science, from the book's page on the Harvard University Press website.

Bibliography[link]

Author

• Value and price in the labour-surplus economy,Oxford : Clarendon Pr., 1976
• Growth, distribution, and prices, Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1984
• The Dismal Science. How Thinking Like an Economist Undermines Community, Harvard UP 2008

editor

• The golden age of capitalism : reinterpreting the postwar experience, Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1990
• Frédérique Apffel-Marglin and Stephen Marglin, eds.: Dominating Knowledge: Development, Culture, and Resistance, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990
• Frédérique Apffel-Marglin and Stephen Marglin, eds.: Decolonizing Knowledge: From Development to Dialogue. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996

External links[link]

• Stephen A. Marglin (official website)
• Video (and audio) interview of Stephen A. Marglin by Will Wilkinson on Bloggingheads.tv
• Councillor at the World Future Council

Facts[link]

This biography of an American economist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2011)

Juliet Schor is a Professor of sociology at Boston College. She studies trends in working time and leisure, consumerism, the relationship between work and family, women's issues and economic justice. She received her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and her Ph.D in economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Before joining Boston College, she taught at Harvard University for 17 years, in the Department of Economics and the Committee on Degrees in Women's Studies. In 2006 she was awarded the Leontief Prize by the Global Development and Environment Institute. She has two children who currently reside in Newton with her, Krishna and Sulakshana.

Bibliography[link]

• The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure (1993)
• The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need (1999)
• Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture (2005)
• Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth (2010)

As co-editor or co-author:

• The Golden Age of Capitalism: Reinterpreting the Postwar Experience (1992)
• Do Americans Shop too Much? (2000)
• The Consumer Society Reader (2000)
• Sustainable Planet: Solutions for the 21st Century (2003)

External links[link]

• Keeping up with the Gateses?
• Boston College faculty listing
• The Overworked American, excerpt
• Transcript of interview with Time.com about The Overspent American, May, 1998
• julietschor.org
• intelius.com information on Juliet Schor
• Juliet Schor on CSPAN Book TV discussing her book Plenitude from May 25, 2010
• Juliet Schor in Seattle, book to on Plenitude - May 24, 2010

This biography of an American sociologist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Nicholas Wapshott (born 13 January 1952) is a prominent British journalist and writer. He is a Reuters contributing columnist and an online content consultant to a number of media and private clients.^{[1][self-published source?]} He was the editor of The Times Saturday edition as well as the founding editor of The Times Magazine.^[2] He has written a number of biographies including those of Margaret Thatcher and Carol Reed. His book Keynes Hayek: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics was published by W. W. Norton in October 2011.

Early life[link]

He was born in Dursley, Gloucestershire, the second of four sons of Raymond and (Olivia) Beryl Wapshott. After attending Dursley County Primary School he won a Gloucester Foundation scholarship to Rendcomb College, Cirencester. He graduated in politics from the University of York in 1973. He is married to the author and academic Louise Nicholson (1954- ), an expert on the culture of India. He has two sons, William (1988- ) and Oliver (1990- ).

Career[link]

After joining the Scotsman as a graduate trainee in 1973, based in Edinburgh, in 1976 he moved to London to join the staff of The Times, working first in editor William Rees-Mogg's department as a letters page editor, then became a features editor during which time he wrote a series of long form profiles of politicians and artistic figures, among them the Labour leader Michael Foot, the heir apparent to the Labour leadership, Peter Shore, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Paddy Ashdown, playwrights Alan Bennett and Dennis Potter, and actors Dirk Bogarde and Alec Guinness.^[3][4] When Kenneth Thomson sold the paper to Rupert Murdoch, who installed Harold Evans as editor, Wapshott set up a weekly listings section, Preview.

In 1983 he moved to The Observer as features editor and founded a new weekly color magazine, Section 5. In 1987 he succeeded the novelist Robert Harris as political editor and reported the final days of Margaret Thatcher as Conservative leader. He was the first to report on the early life of John Major, the surprise successor to Thatcher, and correctly predicted his unlikely rise with a timely profile that revealed that the family of the new prime minister had shared a landing with prostitutes, that his father had been a tight rope walker and latterly a maker of concrete garden gnomes, and that, during an extended period of unemployment, he had been beaten to a job as a bus conductor by a West Indian woman.^[5]

In 1992, Wapshott returned to The Times to transform the lacklustre Saturday Review section into The Times Magazine, published each Saturday. On the strength of its success and a sharp improvement in Saturday sales he was made Saturday editor of the paper and added a number of separate sections that rivalled the heavyweight Sunday newspapers. As other papers were quick to follow suit, Wapshott is credited with transforming the Saturday newspaper market.

In 2001, he was appointed North America Correspondent of The Times, based in New York.^[6] He arrived three weeks before the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, but had returned briefly to London and was aboard the QE2 en route to New York when the Twin Towers fell. In 2005 he began writing business features and news stories for The Sunday Telegraph and the following year joined The New York Sun as national and foreign editor, writing a well regarded weekly political column.^[7]

Current work[link]

He is a regular guest on CNN,^[8] MSNBC,^[9] Fox News,^[10] ABC^[11] and the Charlie Rose Show^[12] and contributed on American matters to The New Statesman.^[13][14] In 2008 he was invited by Tina Brown to help launch The Daily Beast and was appointed Senior Editor.^[15] In 2009 he became an adjunct professor at The New School, New York, teaching short biographies and profiles. The same year he became a consultant to Oprah Winfrey's website Oprah.com. He now writes a column for Thomson Reuters.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Nicholas Wapshott on Charlie Rose

Bibliography[link]

• Wapshott, Nicholas. "Keynes Hayek: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics". W. W. Norton & Company (October 2011). ISBN 978-0-393-07748-3
• Wapshott, Nicholas. "Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: a political marriage". Sentinel (2007). ISBN 1-59523-047-5.
• Wapshott, Nicholas and Timothy. "Older: the biography of George Michael". Sidgwick & Jackson (1998). ISBN 0-283-06317-3.
• Wapshott, Nicholas. "Carol Reed: A Biography". Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (1994). ISBN 0-679-40288-8
• Wapshott, Nicholas. "Rex Harrison". Chatto & Windus (1991). ISBN 0-670-83947-7.
• Wapshott, Nicholas. "The Man Between: A biography of Carol Reed". Chatto & Windus (1990). ISBN 0-7011-3353-8. (published in US as Carol Reed: A Biography. Knopf (1994))
• Wapshott, Nicholas and Brock, George. "Thatcher". MacDonald/Futura (1983). ISBN 0-356-09503-7.
• Wapshott, Nicholas. "Peter O’Toole". Hodder & Stoughton (1981). ISBN 0-8253-0196-3. (Beaufort USA, (1983))

Alan Leslie "Fluff" Freeman, MBE (6 July 1927 – 27 November 2006) was a British disc jockey and radio personality in the United Kingdom for 40 years.

Career[link]

Born and educated in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Freeman worked as an assistant paymaster/accountant for one of Australia's largest timber companies after leaving school.

Freeman originally wanted to be an opera singer, but decided his voice was not strong enough. In 1952 he was invited to audition as a radio announcer and commenced working for 7LA in Tasmania, known as the teenager's station. Freeman's duties included that of continuity announcer; presenter of musical programmes incorporating opera, ballet and classical music; DJ for the top 100; news reader; quiz master and commercials reader.

After moving to radio station 3KZ in Melbourne, in 1957 he took an agreed nine-month trip around the world with the promise to return to Melbourne by January 1958. He arrived in London, England, and on deciding to stay wrote numerous letters of delay, and later apology, to his former employer.^[1]

Freeman started his British career as a summer relief disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg, and continued to present late-evening programmes on the station until the early 1970s.

In 1960 he moved to the BBC Light Programme as presenter of the Records Around Five show, which was introduced by his signature tune, "At The Sign of the Swinging Cymbal", written by Brian Fahey.^[2] In September 1961 he introduced Pick of the Pops as part of a Saturday evening show Trad Tavern. Pick Of The Pops became a permanent show in its own right in 1962, with Freeman presenting it until 1972 continuing with his 'Swinging Cymbal' signature tune. At the same time, he was one of the original team of presenters of BBC TV's Top of the Pops, a regular member of the Juke Box Jury panel, and had a brief stint as compere of the lunchtime pop music show Go Man Go on the BBC Light Programme in 1963.

During the 1960s, Freeman briefly attempted acting, notably in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, but his limitations were apparent^{[citation needed]}, and in other films he has played himself or a similar character (e.g. Absolute Beginners). He also played God (albeit a God who sat at a mixing desk and said "Alright?") in two episodes of The Young Ones in 1984. In 1962 he recorded a dance single, "Madison Time", with the Talmy Stone Band. Released by Decca Records, F11523, it was reportedly one of the label's worst-ever sellers and is now, predictably, a rarity and collector's item.

In April 1972 Freeman joined the daily presenters on Radio 1, taking over the 3-5 pm show from Terry Wogan - he used "Soul Bossa Nova" by Quincy Jones as his theme. This continued until 1 June 1973. During this time he spotlighted youth clubs and young people, and became Vice-President of the London Association of Youth Clubs. During the 1970s he also presented the Radio 1 series Quiz Kid on Sunday evenings, which was recorded at Youth and Boys Clubs all over the country; while on Saturday afternoons he presented his Rock Show, featuring heavy and progressive rock and a rundown of the current album chart, from 30 June 1973 to 26 August 1978.

He left the BBC to work for Capital Radio from 1979 to 1988, presenting the Top 40 of the 70s, on 31 December 1979. He later revived Pick of the Pops in early 1982 (now called Pick of the Pops Take Two and combining the current Top 15 with an earlier chart) and The Rock Show previous to that on 7 January 1980. He returned to the BBC and Radio 1 in January 1989 to revive The Rock Show and Pick of the Pops. This run of Pick of the Pops ended on 27 December 1992, but he continued to host The Rock Show until 23 October 1993, when he, with other long-serving DJs, left the station as it was revamped by controller Matthew Bannister.

In December 1993 he presented the Alternative Chart Show on a trial one-off RSL broadcast by XFM in London. Throughout 1994 he presented the Radio 1 series The Story of Pop, broadcast in 52 hour-long episodes.^[3] He then hosted Pick of the Pops Take Three on Capital Gold from April 1994 until January 1997. In 1996 and 1997 he also hosted The Rock Show on Virgin Radio, and he was heard presenting one-off shows on Classic FM.

He returned to the BBC on BBC Radio 2, taking Pick of the Pops back to its home from 1997 until 2000. A lifetime love of classical music and particularly opera was developed in the show Their Greatest Bits. But as arthritis got the better of his hands,^[4] he handed Pick of the Pops over to ex-Radio Trent DJ Dale Winton.

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1998. In May 2000 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award at the Sony Radio Academy Awards.^[5]

He died on 27 November 2006 in Brinsworth House, Twickenham, South West London after a short illness. He was 79.^[6] His funeral took place on 7 December 2006 at South West Middlesex Crematorium and was attended by DJs Paul Gambaccini, Dave Lee Travis, Nicky Campbell, and his Radio One Top 40 successors Wes Butters, Simon Bates and Richard Skinner.

Personal life[link]

In March 1994 Freeman revealed on breakfast television that he had become celibate in 1981, but had been bisexual.^[7] He was memorably described by Graham Chapman as being "...keen on motor bikes and leather and men".^[8]

In later years, Freeman suffered from arthritis and asthma from a 60-a-day smoking habit, and he used a Zimmer Frame or motorised wheelchair. He lived at Brinsworth House, a retirement home for actors and performers run by the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund, until his death.

Style[link]

Freeman's distinctive presenting style included the frequent use of classical music clips between records, and memorable catchphrases such as 'Greetings, pop pickers' (originally 'Hi there, pop pickers!'), 'Greetings, music lovers' (an adaptation of the above for his rock shows), 'Alright? Stay bright!' and 'Not 'arf!'.

His style has been parodied, and he was the model for Harry Enfield's character Dave Nice, although he contributed to the satire himself in good grace by appearing on Enfield's show (and Enfield himself praised Freeman in Simon Garfield's book on Radio 1, The Nation's Favourite, by categorising him along with John Peel as "DJs who loved music" as opposed to "DJs who loved the sound of their own voices, like Dave Lee Travis").

For all Freeman's supposed clichés and archetypes in his broadcasting style, he has been regarded as original by fellow broadcasters - when he appeared on John Peel's This Is Your Life, Peel said: "Fluff is the greatest out-and-out disc jockey of them all".

In popular culture[link]

• He is impersonated by pop group I, Ludicrous in their song "My Favourite Records".

• Robin Gibb (of the Bee Gees) released a single called "Alan Freeman Days" in May 2008.

• According to Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward, the tune "Fluff" from their fifth album, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath was dedicated to Freeman.^[9]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Alan Freeman at the Internet Movie Database
• Bio and citation at the Radio Academy
• Bio at RadioRewind.co.uk including a rare interview with Nathan Morley

Obituaries[link]

• Broadsheet
  • Times obituary - The Times
  • Guardian obituary - The Guardian
  • Telegraph obituary - Daily Telegraph
  • The Independent - The Independent
• Tabloid
  • Daily Mail obituary - Daily Mail
  • Mirror obituary - The Daily Mirror
  • The Sun obituary - The Sun
• Other
  • - Alan Freeman Tribute