Rodigan was born of Scott/Irish parentage having a Scottish father and an Irish mother.  His birthplace, Germany, was to be his home for the first four years of his life.  Being what is colloquially known as an ‘army brat’, Rodigan was raised in a few countries where his father was posted during his service with the British Forces.

At aged 4, his family relocated to North Africa where the ensuing four years found David living in Libya and also Derna on the edge of the Sahara desert being as he recalls, “reared with the Arabs”.  His first glimpse of England came at the age of 8 when his family moved to the United Kingdom.

During his formative years and into his early teens, young Rodigan dwelt in a small village in Oxfordshire totally oblivious to anything outside his own culture, least all black music and black people.  He recalls that during this time he “wasn’t near a black community per se” and his ambition in life was to be a teacher, but although he qualified in this field, the call of the stage was too hard to resist and he took up theatre due to his Love of Shakespeare.  His aim was to become a member of the royal Shakespeare Society after 3 years of attendance at the Rose Branford College of Speech and Drama.  On embarking into the theatrical forum, Rodigan began with some theatre work in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and then moved onto television appearances in shows like “Sherlock Holmes” and “Dr. Who”.

At the age of approximately 15, Rodigan began buying records leading up to his first playing out date at age 16 in 1967.  The first arena for Rodigan’s DJ skill was a youth club playing to teenagers like himself.  It was at this point in his life in 1968 that he acquired his well-known nickname of ‘Ram Jam’.  This name stemmed from his signing on and signing off at events with his signature tune by Jackie Mittoo entitled ‘Ram Jam’.

After college, Rodigan moved onto playing out occasionally in, the North of England until he got his break into radio in 1978 doing a weekly reggae show Sunday lunch-time on BBC Radio London.  Up until this point, his love of reggae music prompted him to learn more about the people, the culture and the musical genre itself.  His early influences included the legendary Ska beat as he recalls that “the music fascinated me because it was this driving beat” which was unlike anything he’d ever heard of before.  When Rock Steady made it’s appearance Rodigan reminisces “I was a big fan of Delroy Wildon.  One of the most significant records for me was a song called “Dancing Mood” I first heard that in 1967”.

As time progressed, Rodigan moved on from BBC Radio London in 1979 after being approached by Capital Radio.  His Saturday night reggae show proved very popular and then during the early 80’s, he began doing links with Jamaica, namely Barry Gordon of Irie FM.  1998 saw Rodigan move onto his current UK radio slot with Kiss 100FM.  More recently, he has been working on a New York radio station called Irie Jam every Saturday afternoon of which he’s very enthusiastic saying it’s a “half hour program and it’s getting a very good response”.  Throughout his time on the aforementioned radio stations, one thing not widely known is that Rodigan has also been playing on British Forces radio for the past 15 years.  He tours extensively with this and does shows all over Europe including Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Sweden.

Rodigan’s talents are not restricted to radio play as most people can attest to him playing out in various areas, specifically dancehalls and nightclubs.  In 1970 alongside his oldest and dearest friend, Donald Face yaks Papa Face, Rodigan started a reggae club in London’s West End called ‘Gossips’.  He recalls it as being “the longest running residency in the West End of any club” as they were a permanent fixture for 19 years leaving in 1989.

Since then he has been up against some of the most notorious clashing sounds, not least Ricky Trooper of Killamanjaro.  However, their clash of 1967 was not without it’s problems.  The event was held in New York and as far as Rodigan was concerned, he came out the winner, but his opponent was not happy and he says “there were some racist remarks near the end that was unnecessary”.  After receiving an apology from Trooper over the telephone, Rodigan always the gentleman, accepted and put the issue behind him.  Surprisingly, he harbors no malice when asked who his hardest opponent in the clash arena, he pinpoints Trooper and elaborates “he’s an inspiring selector and has tremendous energy and commitment.  He’s a very tough nut to crack”.

All is not roses in the musical genre he loves so much and he admits to disliking the “negative aspects of some of it.  Sometimes it seems obsessed with violence and I think it’s negative”.  However, he also sees positive signs starting to come back into being and names some of his favorite influences of today as Luciano and Morgan Heritage.

One of his most memorable experiences as a DJ stems from a dance in Bermuda on Horse Shoe beach in 1995.  A tranquil look comes over Rodigan as he describes the atmosphere of “a full moon and thousands and thousands of people on the beach”.  So many people were there that some had to get onto boats and moor them in the harbour of the bay.  As Rodigan signed on with Bob Marley’s “Natural Mystic” he saw “about 6 or 7 thousand people on the beach put lighters in the air” and sway from side to side.  To Rodigan it was one of the most moving experiences he’s ever had.

Rodigan has future projects lined up including a syndication of the radio program in New York.