Jimi lands regular slot on BBC radio – aged 9
Jimi Wei Tang, from Wymondham, has landed his own monthly slot on BBC Three Counties Radio with Justin Dealey. - Credit: Jamie Honeywood
Landing a regular slot on BBC radio is a pretty impressive achievement no matter who you are.
But it is even more eye-catching when you have not even turned 10.
That is exactly what Jimi Wei Tang has done, aged nine, almost two years on from making his first appearance on the airwaves.
Jimi, from Wymondham, can claim to be the BBC's youngest co-presenter after landing a monthly appearance on Justin Dealey's Saturday Late Show on Three Counties Radio.
He fell in love with music from the 1960s when he was younger after listening to songs from that era while on the road with his father, Kenny 'Wizz' Wiseman.
Jimi Wei Tang, from Wymondham, has landed his own monthly slot on BBC Three Counties Radio with Justin Dealey. - Credit: Jamie Honeywood
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Jimi said: "The tunes that daddy used to have when he had the van. He used to have some CDs and when I kept liking those songs that were being played I'd ask him what the songs were and I'd get used to them."
As a seven-year-old, he called into Justin Dealey's show to request a song on '60s hour, and such was his passion for the genre that he was invited on as a guest in February 2019.
Since then, he has made two more appearances on that show and has held a regular slot at Radio Wymondham – although a new system put in place in response to lockdown has limited his appearances for now.
Young radio star Jimi Wei Tang at his first appearances on the BBC airwaves at Three Counties Radio in February 2019. - Credit: Kenny Wiseman
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His favourite song used to be Manfred Mann's 1964 hit Do Wah Diddy Diddy, but Jimi said he had "gone off that one now" and now preferred Europe's The Final Countdown and Riders in the Sky by The Shadows.
Jimi also has a soft spot for singer Paul Jones – so much so that he even knows the former Manfred Mann lead singer's birthday off by heart.
Jimi Wei Tang with favourite singer Paul Jones, once of '60s rock band Manfred Mann, in October 2019. - Credit: Kenny Wiseman
Mr Wiseman, who used to be a road manager for local bands back in the 1960s and '70s, is very proud of what his son has achieved as such a young age.
He said: "None of it fazes him. He's a kid but there are people who phone in off the back of his shows telling them to keep Jimi and they want to hear more from him."
Young radio star Jimi Wei Tang at his first appearances on the BBC airwaves at Three Counties Radio in February 2019, with host Justin Dealey. - Credit: Kenny Wiseman
Jimi will appear on BBC Three Counties Radio with Justin Dealey on the last Saturday of every month including this weekend, January 30, from around 10.15pm.
Jimi Wei Tang at an outdoor broadcast for Radio Wymondham in 2019. - Credit: Kenny Wiseman
