Mark Radcliffe

This article is about the radio presenter. For the Wisconsin politician, see Mark Radcliffe (Wisconsin politician).

Mark Radcliffe
Radcliffe as DJ Mahone at the Cropredy music festival 2008
Born	29 June 1958 (1958-06-29) (age 53) Bolton, Lancashire, UK
Show	Mark Radcliffe's Music Club & Radcliffe and Maconie Show
Station(s)	BBC Radio 2 & BBC 6 Music
Time slot	Tuesday 11pm to midnight & Monday to Friday 1pm - 4pm
Country	United Kingdom

Mark Radcliffe (born 29 June 1958) is an English broadcaster who has worked in various roles for the BBC since the 1980s and remains one of Britain's most recognised DJs. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music, where he hosts an afternoon show five times a week (Monday to Friday 1pm - 4pm) alongside Stuart Maconie, called the Radcliffe and Maconie Show. The pair had previously presented an evening show on BBC Radio 2.

Personal life

Radcliffe was born in Bolton, Lancashire and educated at Bolton School and The University of Manchester, where he studied English and American studies and classical civilisation. He took an interest in music from a young age; playing drums in numerous bands while at school and university and into his working life. As of 2007, he lives in Whitley, Cheshire is married with three daughters and became a grandfather in October 2008. Radcliffe is a supporter of Manchester City Football Club. He has a pet Cocker Spaniel called Toto. In July 2011 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters from The University of Bolton.^[1]

Radio and music

Radcliffe was the drummer for the band Skrewdriver before their transformation into a White Power outfit^[2]. Radcliffe's radio career began in late 1982 at Piccadilly Radio, where he hosted a Friday night show called Cures For Insomnia. He later hosted Transmission, an eclectic show playing local and nationally recognised New Wave and Post-Punk bands as well as European avant-garde and electronic music.^[3]

Radio 5 career

He came to prominence as a DJ on BBC Radio 5's Hit The North in 1990 but also appeared on other shows such as Cult Radio. Nearly twenty years later in 2009 he briefly stood in as a presenter on BBC Radio 5 Live, the station that replaced it, to cover the Simon Mayo afternoon show.

Radio 1 career

Radcliffe joined BBC Radio 1 in 1991, presenting the one-hour Monday evening show Out on Blue Six. Starting in early 1993, he presented the arts programme The Guest List on Thursdays. Also in 1993, Radcliffe presented Skyman, an odd show which he presented in character as a visiting alien, and all the records played were space-related. This half-hour show aired immediately before Out on Blue Six on Monday evenings.^[4]

His most famous work was as part of the act Mark and Lard (with Marc "The Boy Lard" Riley) on Radio 1. The duo began in a 10pm-midnight slot on Mondays to Thursdays in October 1993. This show was unique for Radio 1 because it was based around non-playlist music and featured live music sessions, poetry readings and comedy. Having taken over the 'graveyard shift' from October 1993 onwards, Radcliffe and Riley hosted a show of unprecedented variety incorporating poetry readings from regular guest Ian McMillan, off the wall, irreverent comedy, bizarre quizzes 'Fish or Fowl', 'Bird or Bloke', 'Bard or Blake' (amongst others), and a play list that rivalled John Peel in terms of eclecticism. The show also held some of the best sessions from up and coming and alternative bands of the time, including Throwing Muses, Moloko, Nick Cave, Pulp, Baby Bird, The Divine Comedy and Mice. He is also credited with the success of White Town's Your Woman in January 1997.^[5]

Following Chris Evans' sudden departure from Radio 1 in early 1997, Radcliffe and Riley were moved to a brief and unsuccessful position on the breakfast show.^[6] Their style of music and broadcasting was not a success in this slot, which catered for a more mainstream audience, and they were soon moved into the early afternoon slot where they resided for the next 7 years. This show was a success and saw them win three Sony Gold awards for Best Daily Music Show.^[7][8]

Radio 2 transferral and 6 Music

Radcliffe left Radio 1 in March 2004 and moved to an evening slot on BBC Radio 2 in June of the same year, with Riley moving to BBC 6 Music. The new show was reminiscent of the graveyard shift he had previously occupied on BBC Radio 1; with live music and studio guests and ran between 10:30 pm and midnight. The respect Radcliffe had garnered as a broadcaster was cemented when he successfully scooped a major interview with Kate Bush in late-2005, her first in several years. For many months prior to this, he had been running his own 'Bush-O-Meter' on his show, questioning the possible whereabouts and activities of the elusive singer-songwriter and adding a photo of the day's guest or the 'Blessed Kate' to the chart until she appeared on the show. Radcliffe also won a Sony award for this show. Starting on 16 April 2007, Radcliffe joined forces with Stuart Maconie to present a new show on BBC Radio 2 on Mondays to Thursdays from 8-10pm to much critical acclaim, including winning the prestigious Sony award for best Radio show of 2009. From April 2010, the show was reduced to three nights a week, Mondays to Wednesdays.

He is a frequent stand-in in partnership with Emma Forbes or Liza Tarbuck during the 2pm-5pm slot when Steve Wright is away on holiday, thus taking him back to afternoon radio, and has also stood in for Simon Mayo on Five Live.

In 2009, Radcliffe reunited with Marc Riley to make a series of radio adverts for Manchester City F.C. that were broadcast in the North West of England.

In Spring 2011 his show with Maconie moved to 6 Music, weekday afternoons. Radcliffe now also has his own solo show on Radio 2 called Mark Radcliffe's Music club (1 hour per week).

Band member

Radcliffe experienced brief commercial success with Shirehorses, a parody band (its name based on the short-lived band The Seahorses) spawned from his Mark And Lard antics. Earlier in his career, he had played in other bands, including the punk rock band Skrewdriver (briefly, before their reincarnation as a white power skinhead band, in which he played no part). Mark has written about his part in this band in his book Showbusiness. As of 2007, Radcliffe was a member of the more folk-oriented The Family Mahone and the Four Counts. He also fronts the Doctor Feelgood tribute band, The Big Figures.

Television

Radcliffe presented a live music TV programme, The White Room, for Channel 4 in 1995, and has regularly appeared in the BBC's coverage of the Glastonbury Festival and the Cambridge Folk Festival. Along with Marc Riley, he presented a music-based quiz programme, Pop Upstairs Downstairs, for the BBC/Flextech digital TV channel UK Play in 1999 and 2000. He also presented the BBC 1 football retrospective show Match Of The Nineties, which aired in summer 1999. In 2006, he won the ITV1 singing competition Stars in Their Eyes with an appearance portraying The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan singing "The Irish Rover". In 2009 he took over from Steve Wright as the presenter of TOTP2.

The Shirehorses were due to appear in an episode of the sitcom Phoenix Nights as the folk band Half a Shilling, but had concerns about the potentially racist content of the part they were to play. They were replaced at the last minute by Tim Healy.

Writing

Radcliffe wrote the autobiographical Showbusiness: The Diary Of A Rock 'N' Roll Nobody; a critically acclaimed history of his attempts at a career as a musician, including his exploits with Shirehorses. His novel Northern Sky — based around a folk music club in an imaginary northern English city — was published in 2005. A book of anecdotes about his life, Thank You For The Days was published in 2009.

Producing

Radcliffe is the producer of Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show for BBC Radio 4.

References

1. ^ "University News Archive". 2011-07-11. http://www.bolton.ac.uk/News/News-Articles/2011/Jul2011-3.aspx. 
2. ^ http://criticsmob.com/Mark_Radcliffe/celebrity/21541.jsp
3. ^ "Mark Radcliffe and Stuart James At Piccadilly Radio". Indie Originals: The New Hormones Story. 2008-02-17. http://newhormonesinfo.com/2008/02/03/various-new-hormones-images/mark-radcliffe-and-stuart-james-at-piccadilly-radio-2/. Retrieved 2009-08-28. 
4. ^ "Skyman on Fancy A Brew". http://www.planetbods.org/markandlard/shows/skyman. 
5. ^ "White Town Biography". http://www.whitetown.co.uk/biography/. 
6. ^ Plunkett, John (2007-05-28). "Made in Manchester". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/may/28/mondaymediasection.radio. Retrieved 2008-05-23. 
7. ^ Peachey, Paul (2001 May). "Reborn Radio 2 takes top prize at Sony awards". London: The Independent Newspaper UK. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/reborn-radio-2-takes-top-prize-at-sony-awards-689773.html. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
8. ^ "Press Office - Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie move to 6 Music". BBC. 2011-02-01. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/02_february/01/6music.shtml. Retrieved 2011-08-14. 

External links

• Mark Radcliffe at BBC Programmes

Preceded by Chris Evans

BBC Radio One Breakfast Show Presenter 1997

Succeeded by Kevin Greening and Zoe Ball

Persondata
Name	Radcliffe, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1958-06-29
Place of birth	Bolton, Lancashire, UK
Date of death
Place of death