What kind of cancer danny baker

He was recruited to replace Dave Lee Travis on Radio 1 in and has fronted a number of shows for 5 Live - including , Sportscall and Morning Edition. He was sacked from 5 Live after an on-air outburst about a referee in but has since returned. Baker, who has three children, has also been a presenter for Talk Radio - the predecessor to TalkSport - and Virgin Radio. He also hosts a show for BBC London Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later?

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Already subscribed? Log in. Forgotten your password? Enjoy your life. My dad in remission for 12 years now beatcancer," Nell commended. Baker revealed he had cancer of the throat and mouth in and has had to undergo intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy on his mouth, which left him without saliva glands. Despite his shock diagnosis, Danny said in a candid interview two years ago that he was never concerned about dying.

It didn't," he explained. He couldn't be bothered with qualifications, though. Soon after, he started the fanzine Sniffin' Glue , with a friend. At 20, Tony Parsons invited him to work at NME , where he started out as a receptionist and was soon touring the world with bands.

He championed disco and funk at the height of punk and became known as their funniest writer. It was at NME that he met his wife Wendy, who was the editor's secretary. They have three children. Then there was the time he interviewed Paul Weller and made up the quotes because he couldn't be bothered to transcribe the tape.

When Weller remarked that he hadn't said anything Baker reported, Baker told him that if they'd talked for a while longer, he was sure he would have done. I loved sitting there in the office when the issue came out and watching people turn to the singles reviews, or the gossip page, and making the people I worked with laugh.

It didn't matter whether it made any sense, or sold any records or damned anyone, if I could make the blokes up at the NME laugh, that was reward enough for me. Evans was the frontman, Baker the brains. Back then there was loads of money about and boy did they know how to spend it. And yes it was stupid and slight and outstayed its welcome, but it was six years of pure joy. At one point, he and Evans flew to New York just to play a joke on John Cleese , who was due to guest on the show.

So we thought, let's go to New York, take a camcorder, knock on his hotel room and say we don't have a script.

And we did. And we got Concorde! So I went home, because of the leg, and Chris went to Paris. We were loving it. The one thing nobody in my family can stand is mean people. In this period, Baker, Evans and footballer Paul Gascoigne became as well known for their alcohol-fuelled friendship as for their professional lives. Yes, they did sometimes drink, he says, but it got distorted. Baker was always a home bird, and most of the time he spent with Gascoigne was at the Baker home, where Gazza slept on the sofa and became part of the family.

The sniff of a barmaid's apron was enough to get Gascoigne drunk, he says. And rather than encouraging his boozing, he and Evans tried to control it. He used to stay around our house and love just sitting indoors and watching telly. But this cartoon image takes over that it was this lads' forum.

He says he hasn't seen Gascoigne for a few years, and looks a little hurt. He's got his own reasons. And he's a bit embarrassed about some of the things he's done and the times he's fallen off the wagon, and he thought it was easier if he disappeared. It's probably part of a step programme that says don't get in touch with old friends. The longer we talk, the more adenoidal Baker's voice becomes. It's sinuses, he says — they've always caused his family problems.

He choked one night. It's the curse of the Bakers. Over the past two decades, radio has become his medium — unlike TV, it is instant, and doesn't require an army of producers. Again there have been walk-outs and sackings. His friend and fellow broadcaster Danny Kelly has described him as "truculent".

Would he agree? My show only needs me, and people get threatened if they feel you don't need researchers, etcetera. You're supposed to be part of the machinery I've never been a very good team player.

Is his reputation for walking out in a strop justified? Oh yes, he says proudly. He's been fired loads of times as well, he says, but there's always something else to turn to.

And the terrible confidence that gives you, probably justified confidence, doesn't make you frightened of any boss. It's amazing how he can keep talking, I say. That's not much. I'm ahead of where I should be. Did he think he would die? He thinks about it. But you don't think, Oh God, what's going to happen to me. I'm just not like that. You worry about how it's going to impact on everyone around you and how bad it's going to get, but you don't think about it as a final act.

Did he think his DJing days were over? I just thought, 'How long will it take to whack this out of us? I said, 'How about March? And they said, 'Maybe May.