Last week’s news that Sir Jimmy Savile had been mugged for a pair of his trademark pink-tinted glasses was quite funny. Particularly as 81-year old Sir Jim was quoted as saying it was “marvelous” and “just like old times” when a young blonde girl jumped him in a hotel corridor.

But did you know that the flamboyant Mr Savile is widely acknowledged to be the world’s first DJ? Yes, the “jewelry, jewelry” man, better known in the UK for presenting Top of The Pops in lurid tracksuits and ‘fixing it’ for Cub Scouts to eat lunch on a moving roller coaster (look up the video on YouTube if you need a bit of cultural background on this!) was cutting between 2 tunes a full 30 years before Grandmaster Flash, Frankie Knuckles or Larry Levan took to the wheels of steel.

The excellent book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: 100 Years of the Disc Jockey tells of his groundbreaking set at the Grand Records Ball at the Guardbridge Hotel way back in 1947, where he came up with the idea of having 2 decks so he didn’t have to change the 7” while speaking on the microphone.

Fast forward to 2003, and Jimmy presented Tiesto with his second Top 100 DJ award at a big party at Turnmills in London. The Dutch DJ seemed to have no idea who he was, but who knows, maybe there would be no Tiesto without Jimmy’s pioneering work?! Maybe, in fact, Tiesto should have been the one handing over the gong?!

Police in Leeds seem to know the debt we all owe to Sir Jimmy though, as news came through today that South Yorkshire’s finest tracked down the glasses thief to a nightclub in the city at the weekend… and got her to hand the stolen goods back! Err, nice work boys. The short sighted will sleep easier in their beds tonight knowing no stone will be left unturned in the hunt for stolen pink-tinted face furniture.

Sir Jim had earlier promised the thief a box of chocolates “for giving me a 1950s thrill in 2007,” but it sounds like she settled for not being arrested instead.

Meanwhile the world’s first DJ was actually keen for more attention from light-fingered ladies. “To any other girls who want souvenirs – I wear a snazzy ling in string vests,” he told The Sun today.

Not sure I can imaging Tiesto saying that in his 80s, or even Judge Jules (and he likes lurid clothes almost as much as early Radio 1 trailblazer Sir Jim), but then there can only be one ‘original’ DJ, and he’s definitely a one off.