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James Valentine (journalist)

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James Valentine
Birth nameJames Matthew Valentine
Born1962 (age 61–62)
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Occupations
  • Musician
  • radio and television presenter
  • writer
InstrumentsSaxophone
Years active1980–present
Formerly of

James Matthew Valentine (born 1961) is an Australian musician, and radio and television presenter. As a saxophonist he was a member of Jo Jo Zep (1982), Models (1984–87) and Absent Friends (1989–90).

Biography

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James Matthew Valentine was born on October 5th, 1962 in Ballarat, Victoria.[1][2] His father was a car salesman and his mother taught elocution and was a part-time radio announcer. He has two older brothers.[2] He attended Ballarat Grammar School where he learned saxophone, he described his performances in the local area, "a really bad jazz rock fusion gig."[3] In the early 1980s Valentine relocated to Melbourne to attend university, he later recalled "First year I spent studying, and then I started getting gigs, and I didn't pay much attention to uni after that because I wanted to be a jazz musician."[4]

Valentine is also the author of a series of books for teenage boys, including the sci-fi novel trilogy JumpMan.

Musical collaborations

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In 1982 James Valentine joined Joe Camilleri's group, Jo Jo Zep.[5][6]

Valentine, on saxophone, and Kate Ceberano (of I'm Talking), on lead vocals, were members of Diana Boss and the Extremes, a covers band which performed The Supremes material.[4] Other members included James Freud (of Models) on bass guitar, Barton Price (also of Models) on drums and Zan Abeyratne (of I'm Talking, with Ceberano) on co-lead vocals.[7] He described his experience, "The rhythm section of that band was The Models. When that finished, they asked me to go on tour with them and then I never left. All of a sudden I was in this pop band wearing black leather jackets."[4]

Valentine joined Models in late 1984, when they relocated to Sydney and he played saxophone with them until 1987, the group broke up in June of the following year.[6][8][9] As a member of Models he appears on their studio albums, Out of Mind, Out of Sight (September 1985) and Models' Media (October 1986).[6][8]

Valentine joined Absent Friends on saxophone and clarinet in 1989, they recorded a lone album, Here's Looking Up Your Address (April 1990).[10] He also worked for Wendy Matthews (ex-Models, Absent Friends) on her debut solo album, Émigré (November 1990).

Radio and TV presenter

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Valentine has been a radio and TV presenter. He was the host of The Afternoon Show on ABC TV, children's afternoon TV series, from February 1987 until 1990.He continued at the ABC as a presenter of TVTV.[4] As a radio presenter he worked on 666 ABC Canberra and has also spent more than 20 years[11] presenting the Afternoons show on ABC Radio Sydney and Upbeat, each Sunday morning on ABC Jazz. Valentine wrote and presented comedy sketches on air for the ABC's Humour Australia website.[12]

Valentine narrated Come Dine with Me Australia from 2010 to 2013 and Celebrity Come Dine With Me Australia from 2012 to 2014. He took over from Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck as host of ABC Radio Sydney's Breakfast[13] from Monday 13 December 2021 after the pair ended their run on Friday 10 December 2021.[citation needed]

At the end of 2023, it was announced that Valentine would return to the afternoon program, with Craig Reucassel taking over the breakfast show.[14]

References

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General
  • McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Whammo Homepage". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 5 April 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2015. Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
Specific
  1. ^ Dominic (28 May 2024). "James Valentine Bio, Wiki, Age, Height, Wife, Music Man, ABC, Net Worth". informationcradle.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b Javes, Sue (20 July 2004). "Valentine's day". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 12 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  3. ^ Rollason, Bridgit (17 July 2013). "A Valentine for the Exhumed". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d Shanahan, Brendan; Throsby, Corin (21 February 1997). "Flipside: Be My Valentine". Woroni. Vol. 49, no. 1. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. p. 42. Retrieved 11 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ McFarlane, 'Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons' entry. Archived from the original on 13 August 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  6. ^ a b c James Valentine at Australian Rock Database:
    • Jo Jo Zep (1982): Holmgren, Magnus; Baird, Paul. "Joe Camilleri aka Joey Vincent aka Jo Jo Zep". passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
    • Models (1984–87): Holmgren, Magnus; Baird, Paul; Aubrey, Ross; Acosta, Lisa. "The Models". passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
    • Absent Friends (1989–90): Holmgren, Magnus; Francois, Ron. "Absent Friends". passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 29 October 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  7. ^ Warren, Rachel (18 July 1985). "Models proving that opposites equal". The Canberra Times. Vol. 59, no. 18, 189. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. p. 15. Retrieved 11 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ a b McFarlane, 'Models' entry. Archived from the original on 4 June 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  9. ^ "Band Members". Angelfire.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 1999. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  10. ^ McFarlane, 'Absent Friends' entry. Archived from the original on 3 August 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  11. ^ Manning, James (8 October 2021). "ABC Radio reveals James Valentine new host of ABC Sydney breakfast". Mediaweek. Archived from the original on 12 June 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Humour Australia History". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  13. ^ "James Valentine took over as Breakfast presenter for 2022". ABC Radio Sydney Breakfast. 8 October 2021. Archived from the original on 12 June 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  14. ^ Quinn, Karl (28 November 2023). "Craig Reucassel to host ABC breakfast radio, Valentine back to afternoons". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 12 June 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
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