Popular Post TonyMac Posted October 31, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 IT was my great pleasure to spend a few hours interviewing Dave at his home near Poole a couple of years ago. If you didn't read the two-parter in Backtrack (shame on you!), here are just a few entertaining quotes from speedway's best-ever commentator and publicist: ON COMMENTATING FOR ITV SPORT “I was told to be stratospherically over-the-top in my commentaries, because that’s what they wanted.” ON THE SAD DEMISE OF WEST HAM“You may think I’m fantasising here but West Ham could have been the dominant force in British speedway for many years.” ON HIS ACRIMONIOUS DEPARTURE FROM READING “I’ve been portrayed by some as the big city smart arse who went in and squandered the money that belonged to the poor yokel promoters. Dore and Higley came to me in 1980 and begged me to take over. They pleaded with me, because they wanted to stuff Reg Fearman.” “They were shot down in flames, mad and ended up paying me at least double what they should have done in accordance with my contract.” ON MANAGING GARRY MIDDLETON AT OXFORD “He was as daft as a cut snake, just nuts. I got on all right with him right until the end when he said I owed him money. He was a pain in the arse but he suited what we wanted to do there and he had his best-ever season with Oxford that year.” ON COVERING SPEEDWAY FOR THE SUN “Speedway people, bless their hearts, don’t always appreciate what papers like The Sun are looking for. Some would call me up and say: ‘I’ve got a story for you . . . we’re changing our start time from 7.30 to 8’ The Sun wants pile-ups, punch-ups and piss-ups! “I’ll give you a classic example. Just before the 1985 World Team Cup Final at Long Beach, I went to Bruce Penhall, the American team manager, and said we want to do a story. ‘What are you going to be writing about?’ he asked. I said: ‘You’re going to say in print that you’ve told your riders to stay out of the brothels the night before the meeting’. "And he said: ‘Fine – yeah, say it’, because he understood the value of publicity in a paper selling four million copies."I was always taught to believe, if they are talking about you, they’re taking an interest. If they’re not talking about you, you’re dead.” ON JOINING SON RUSSELL AT WIMBLEDON IN 1988 “I wanted to inject some excitement and make it more of a show. I’ve always thought that speedway should be a fairground of lights and noise, excitement and fun. We had sound effects, fanfares and daft tunes. I got a letter from the Control Board warning me because I once welcomed a very unpopular visiting team manager to Wimbledon with an audio burst of machine gun fire!” ON MAKING MONEY FROM SPEEDWAY “I’ve been lucky. Speedway has been very good to me – I’m one of the few who has made money from it.” RIP, Dave, and thanks for the memories. Tony Mac 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 (edited) IT was my great pleasure to spend a few hours interviewing Dave at his home near Poole a couple of years ago. If you didn't read the two-parter in Backtrack (shame on you!), here are just a few entertaining quotes from speedway's best-ever commentator and publicist: ON COMMENTATING FOR ITV SPORT “I was told to be stratospherically over-the-top in my commentaries, because that’s what they wanted.” ON THE SAD DEMISE OF WEST HAM “You may think I’m fantasising here but West Ham could have been the dominant force in British speedway for many years.” ON HIS ACRIMONIOUS DEPARTURE FROM READING “I’ve been portrayed by some as the big city smart arse who went in and squandered the money that belonged to the poor yokel promoters. Dore and Higley came to me in 1980 and begged me to take over. They pleaded with me, because they wanted to stuff Reg Fearman.” “They were shot down in flames, mad and ended up paying me at least double what they should have done in accordance with my contract.” ON MANAGING GARRY MIDDLETON AT OXFORD “He was as daft as a cut snake, just nuts. I got on all right with him right until the end when he said I owed him money. He was a pain in the arse but he suited what we wanted to do there and he had his best-ever season with Oxford that year.” ON COVERING SPEEDWAY FOR THE SUN “Speedway people, bless their hearts, don’t always appreciate what papers like The Sun are looking for. Some would call me up and say: ‘I’ve got a story for you . . . we’re changing our start time from 7.30 to 8’ The Sun wants pile-ups, punch-ups and piss-ups! “I’ll give you a classic example. Just before the 1985 World Team Cup Final at Long Beach, I went to Bruce Penhall, the American team manager, and said we want to do a story. ‘What are you going to be writing about?’ he asked. I said: ‘You’re going to say in print that you’ve told your riders to stay out of the brothels the night before the meeting’. "And he said: ‘Fine – yeah, say it’, because he understood the value of publicity in a paper selling four million copies. "I was always taught to believe, if they are talking about you, they’re taking an interest. If they’re not talking about you, you’re dead.” ON JOINING SON RUSSELL AT WIMBLEDON IN 1988 “I wanted to inject some excitement and make it more of a show. I’ve always thought that speedway should be a fairground of lights and noise, excitement and fun. We had sound effects, fanfares and daft tunes. I got a letter from the Control Board warning me because I once welcomed a very unpopular visiting team manager to Wimbledon with an audio burst of machine gun fire!” ON MAKING MONEY FROM SPEEDWAY “I’ve been lucky. Speedway has been very good to me – I’m one of the few who has made money from it.” RIP, Dave, and thanks for the memories. Tony Mac This is an excellent read Tony Mac. I really enjoyed it - and like the way you have emphasised each theme. I only ever knew Dave Lanning 'by post' when he sent his contributions to 'Speedway Star' during my brief spell there in the late 1950s-early 1960s. He came to prominence in a period when I had moved on from speedway journalism. I did have brief links with him in later years when I was at the 'South London Press' and he along with son Russell were active at Wimbledon. Yet again though, in that period I had more dealings with Russell than Dave, but needless to say I was in that period very well aware of his excellent promotional doings at Plough Lane. Indeed, RIP Dave Lanning. I doubt that speedway will ever again produce a personality with his dynamism. Edited October 31, 2016 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shovlar Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 Very sad news to read. A great, great commentator. RIP Dave Lanning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunce Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 Very sad news, he was the voice of Speedway for me, and will never be bettered. I'm sure Pearson & Tatum still use his expression "you could throw a blanket over all four of them" when commentating now! At last nights World Speedway Riders Association Dinner in Norwich, there was a minutes silence in memory of Dave, a fitting tribute to a great man. My condolences to all his family and friends. Dave. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triple.H. Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 Nigel Pearson will be on Talksport between now and 4pm to pay tribute to the late great Dave Lanning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepturningleft Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 "It looks like he's on his way to a wedding" (Russian rider tangled up in the starting tape). A sad day for speedway. RIP Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 (edited) A tribute to Dave Lanning as in the 'Daily Telegraph': http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/10/30/dave-lanning-darts-and-speedway-commentator--obituary/ ...and among many other tributes, this one appeared on SKY SPORTS: http://www.skysports.com/darts/news/12288/10637879/sky-sports-darts-commentator-dave-lanning-dies-aged-78 Edited October 31, 2016 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatface Posted November 3, 2016 Report Share Posted November 3, 2016 Sad to read this. He was every bit part of the fabric of the sport in the 1970s and 80s as Mauger, Penhall, Collins and Olsen. Any speedway commentary during that time that wasn't Dave Lanning just didn't sound right. Quite simply, he was the voice of speedway and the bar by which others will always be measured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted November 3, 2016 Report Share Posted November 3, 2016 RECEIVED this lovely email from Eric Linden, one of the truly great speedway journalists and pioneer Editor of Speedway Star back in the fifties ... Phil: Breaking a long silence, having read Star's brilliantly informative obit on Dave. I took him on for TVTimes and we worked closely together for years, most of them with he as my deputy Features Editor and then Deputy Head of Future Planning, taking the big one over when I retired. Major jobs in addition to all you included in the article. I thought our closeness over so many years as colleagues and, more especially as friends and mates, told me everything about Dave but your article brought up many instances new to me. Congrats to all who did the final research. I would have said it's the type of piece that Dave would have written except I know he would never have had that much to say about just how good he was at his job - or life. Regards to all on what I still regard as my mag - although you have achieved wonders with it since then. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 5, 2016 Report Share Posted November 5, 2016 There was a Dave Lanning obituary in today's 'Daily Express.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted November 5, 2016 Report Share Posted November 5, 2016 HAD this nice email from Russell, Dave's eldest son (along with another from his brother Phil) today ... The outpouring of tributes since the horrors of losing dad seven days ago has been so sad for all of us - but at the same time so lovely. Among so many, I will forever cherish your words. You absolutely summed up dad in the most beautiful way. Because for all his razzmatazz broadcasting, presenting and promoting flair, the one thing dad wanted to be known for more than anything else was a writer. He drew pictures with his words and his skill as a broadcaster was his natural ability to write a story with his voice. You captured that so succinctly. I can't begin to tell you how proud dad would have been reading your piece. Above anything else written this past week, I know he would have said: "I'm bloody touched that Riso has written that about me." Thank you so much. Simply beautiful. Warmest regards. Russell 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted November 5, 2016 Report Share Posted November 5, 2016 A very nice tribute phil. I got to know Russell very well during his time at Wimbledon, he was a nice bloke who always had time for a chat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customhouseregular Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 A tribute to Dave Lanning as in the 'Daily Telegraph': http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/10/30/dave-lanning-darts-and-speedway-commentator--obituary/ ...and among many other tributes, this one appeared on SKY SPORTS: http://www.skysports.com/darts/news/12288/10637879/sky-sports-darts-commentator-dave-lanning-dies-aged-78 Nice to see and read the Telegraph piece but they have got their facts wrong. Dave was born in 1938 and the first World Final post 1038 was in 1948. The last World Final was in 1994. Even if Dave started commentating at age 10 he could not have commentated on 50 World Finals. Apart from that it was a very respectful tribute to a great speedway character. Nice to see and read the Telegraph piece but they have got their facts wrong. Dave was born in 1938 and the first World Final post 1038 was in 1948. The last World Final was in 1994. Even if Dave started commentating at age 10 he could not have commentated on 50 World Finals. Apart from that it was a very respectful tribute to a great speedway character. Sorry...post 1938. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomcat Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 HAD this nice email from Russell, Dave's eldest son (along with another from his brother Phil) today ... The outpouring of tributes since the horrors of losing dad seven days ago has been so sad for all of us - but at the same time so lovely. Among so many, I will forever cherish your words. You absolutely summed up dad in the most beautiful way. Because for all his razzmatazz broadcasting, presenting and promoting flair, the one thing dad wanted to be known for more than anything else was a writer. He drew pictures with his words and his skill as a broadcaster was his natural ability to write a story with his voice. You captured that so succinctly. I can't begin to tell you how proud dad would have been reading your piece. Above anything else written this past week, I know he would have said: "I'm bloody touched that Riso has written that about me." Thank you so much. Simply beautiful. Warmest regards. Russell I wanted to congratulate you too Phil, what a lovely piece. In fact, well done to everyone that contributed to Dave's Obituary in the SS, he truly would have been proud, despite the sad circumstances it was great to relive just some of the stories, brought back so many happy memories of the Golden Years of British and World Speedway. Well done to everyone and thank you from one happy Speedway Star reader and fan of our wonderful sport since 1969. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted November 6, 2016 Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 I wanted to congratulate you too Phil, what a lovely piece. In fact, well done to everyone that contributed to Dave's Obituary in the SS, he truly would have been proud, despite the sad circumstances it was great to relive just some of the stories, brought back so many happy memories of the Golden Years of British and World Speedway. Well done to everyone and thank you from one happy Speedway Star reader and fan of our wonderful sport since 1969. THANK you ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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