BIOGRAPHY - PICS - AUDIO - LINKS - SHIREHORSES


Mark Radcliffe and Mark Riley are the most original DJs on BBC Radio one and rock the station every afternoon from 1 - 3 . Their shows are full of wit and are produced in the BBC's Manchester studios. Below are their bios taken from their official website.


Mark Radcliffe

Mark Radcliffe was born in Bolton (1958) and lives in Manchester. He studied English & American Studies and Classic Civilisation at Manchester University before starting his first job as a 'junior assistant dogsbody producer' with Piccadilly Radio (1979).

In 1983, Mark moved to London to join Radio 1, producing Saturday Live and sessions for John Peel. In 1985, he returned to Manchester to become Head of Music at Piccadilly, where he began DJing again. Mark returned to the BBC in 1987 to work as a 'popular music' producer at BBC North where he worked on programmes such as Martin Kelner's Saturday Night for Radio 2 and In Concerts and documentaries for Radio 1.

When Radio 5 began in 1990, Mark became presenter of the evening music programme, Hit The North. Out On Blue Six, was launched in April 1991 and won a Sony Award in 1992. His success led Radio 1 to offer him two weeks as a stand-in for Mark Goodier from which he never returned. Mark moved to four nights a week from October 1993 and he became the first DJ to introduce a regular poetry slot to Radio 1.

On several occasions during 1996 Mark and his hapless side-kick, Marc 'Lard' Riley, played havoc with the morning schedule while depping for Chris Evans on the Breakfast Show and were duly rewarded with the show on a permanent basis (February 1997). Mark and Lard moved to the High-Tea and Tosspots slot in the afternoon in October, with regular features such as the Cheesily Cheerful Chart Challenge and Fat Harry White.

Amongst all this, Mark, with the help of chart-topping band The Shirehorses opened Glastonbury in 1997. But after the lyrics to the band's hits were ruthlessly plundered by other, less creative turns, The Shirehorses disbanded in 1998 after a successful UK tour in a double decker bus.

1998 proved to be a good year for the duo in terms of trophies. In January, they won the Melody Maker Best Radio DJs of the Year, follwed by the same award from the NME. In May 1998, they won a Gold Sony Radio Award for Best Daytime Music Show. They are 'skinning the competition alive.'

Lard

Born and bred in Manchester, Marc Riley flew through the halls of Mancunian academia and in the summer of 1978 left the hallowed halls of Saint Gregory's Grammar School (ex-Borstal in the Ardwick area) and straight into showbusiness. The specific mode of transport into showbusiness was non-other than Professional northern miseries, The Fall. It was in this successful ensemble that Riley played bass, guitar, keyboards and eventually kazoo.

After nearly five years and a couple of fist-fights Riley flew that particular nest and formed a band that would go on to change the face of music as we know it....that band was The Creepers. Having changed the face of music Riley disbanded The Creepers in 1989 and became a PR bod for the likes of 4AD and Factory records, helping along the likes of Happy Mondays, The Pixies and the Cocteau Twins.

It was in this role as shameless record plugger that Riley was allowed into the BBC North building through the back door. Once in Riley quite simply refused to leave. Having manacled himself to the Parker-Knowles recliner of the great radio pioneer Frank Mansfield (editor of the newly unleashed Radio 5) Riley was eventually allowed on the medium air-waves via 'Hit The North' where his wit , charm and knowledge of the music biz saw his fortnightly gossip slot upped to a weekly appearance, then as top flight researcher come on air contributor to, quite rightly, eventually reaching the dizzy heights of producer and hapless side-kick.

Being dead clever and stuff, newly appointed Radio 1 big cheese Matthew 'Roger' Bannister heard 'Hit The North' and employed Mark Radcliffe to fill the graveyard slot. Realising Riley's (now re-christened The Hapless Boy Lard) importance in the scheme of things Radcliffe made sure Riley was also employed as Side-kick and Biscuit monitor.

The rest, as they say, is history. To this day Radcliffe is regarded as one of the wittiest raconteurs on the wireless, and Lard is regarded as a right royal pain in the arse by all those unlucky enough to be subjected to this relentless arsenal of half-baked catchphrases.

Chris Moyles - Mark and Lard - Dave Pearce - Sarah Cox

Reccomended websites for: Celebrity pictures or the Isle of Wight

1