<Tr> <Th> Created by </Th> <Td> Simon Bates </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Original release </Th> <Td> c. 14 February 1979--23 October 2015 </Td> </Tr> <P> Our Tune is a long - standing feature / segment on British radio presented by broadcaster Simon Bates . Having begun by at least 1979 it was originally part of his mid-morning show on BBC Radio 1, where it aired daily throughout the 1980s and early 1990s . The feature has more recently been heard on Smooth Radio, where Bates presented the Breakfast Show from 2011 to 2014 . An edition of Our Tune typically features a personal story submitted by a listener together with a song that has significance to the person or situation . Many of these stories, which are read out over Nino Rota's Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet have a tragic narrative such as illness or death, although not all end on such an unhappy note . </P> <P> The feature's sentimental tone has earned it criticism from some, including a columnist at Glasgow's Evening Times who once described it as "dial - a-depression". But Our Tune has garnered a huge following among the listening public . At its peak the slot was heard by 11 million listeners on a daily basis, and it helped to establish Bates as a household name in the United Kingdom . Its popularity led to the release of an album of the most requested songs in 2006, and the publication of a paperback including some of the stories to mark its tenth anniversary in 1990 . </P>

Who used to do our tune on radio 1