- Marc Riley
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Marc Riley Born 10 July 1961
Manchester, EnglandStation(s) BBC 6 Music Time slot Monday to Thursday 7 pm – 9pm Country United Kingdom Marc Riley (born in Manchester, England, 10 July 1961)[1] is a British musician, alternative rock critic and radio DJ on BBC 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he had his own record label, In-Tape, and also worked as a record plugger.[2] Marc has worked in radio since about 1990 and for 14 years of that he worked with Mark Radcliffe on BBC Radio 5 and BBC Radio 1, during which time he was known as Lard. He joined 6 Music in April 2004.
Contents
Musical career
Born and bred in Manchester, England, Riley was in a band at school called The Sirens before joining The Fall between June 1978 and October 1982.[2] He originally was a fan of the group and then worked as a roadie before being added to the line-up playing guitar and bass.[3] He can be heard on this instrument on their second single "It's The New Thing" and debut album Live at the Witch Trials. He switched to guitar and keyboards in 1979 and held this position until falling out with Mark E. Smith during the group's 1982 tour of Australia and New Zealand. In 2005, he told the BBC that Smith had sacked him by telephone in early 1983, telling him that they were undertaking a tour without him. According to Smith this happened on Riley's wedding day,[4] but Riley has said that this wasn't true. Riley formed his own band, The Creepers.[5] Steve Hanley, Paul Hanley and Craig Scanlon played on The Creepers' first single. They released several albums during the following years, but had disbanded by the end of the decade. He then formed a band including ex-members of Pere Ubu and Captain Beefheart's Magic Band called The Lost Soul Crusaders (named after a fictional group in an episode of the detective series Columbo whose lead singer was played by one of Riley's heroes, Johnny Cash) but the record company funding the band went bust before any material could be recorded.
Animosity between Smith and Riley continued to influence both bands' material. The Fall's 1983 single "The Man Whose Head Expanded" was a thinly veiled attack on Riley, followed in 1984 by the even less veiled single "C.R.E.E.P." as well as "Hey Marc Riley", a rewritten version of Bo Diddley's "Hey Bo Diddley", to date only available on live bootlegs. Riley responded in kind with his 1984 single "Jumper Clown" – a reference to Smith's then affection for bad 1970s jumpers, as well as "Snipe" on the 1985 Shadow Figure EP and his own live only co-opting of Bo Diddley, "Marc Riley is a Gunslinger". Riley co-owned the In-Tape label with Jim Khambatta until it went bust in 1991, managing the label between 1983 and 1986.[6][7]
In 1988, he co-produced (with Jon Langford) a Johnny Cash tribute album, Til Things are Brighter, to raise funds for the Terrence Higgins Trust.[8]
Between 1986 and 1989, he drew and wrote the comic strips Harry The Head and Doctor Mooney for the comic Oink!, as well as recording a flexidisc single for the comic as a giveaway.[7] These have become collector items.
Radio career
Riley is perhaps best known as one half of the duo Mark and Lard with fellow DJ Mark Radcliffe, who together presented "Hit The North" on BBC Radio 5, then a children's, comedy, and drama network, with Radcliffe also fronting a weekly show called Out on Blue Six on BBC Radio 1 around the same time. The duo moved to Radio One's 10 pm slot in 1993, moving to the breakfast show in February 1997, and finally to the 1 pm to 3 pm slot in October that year.[9] Their final show on the station was in March 2004. After leaving Radio 1, the duo cordially went their separate ways; Riley moved to BBC 6 Music, and Radcliffe to BBC Radio 2.[9] In 2009 Mark and Lard have reformed and are currently fronting radio adverts for Manchester City FC in the North West of England (Riley is a long-time fan of the club).
He can currently be heard on BBC 6 Music, where he presents the Sony Radio Academy Award-nominated[10] 7-9pm show, Monday to Thursday. He used to present Mint with Rob Hughes on Sunday evenings. The station cancelled this popular show, although Riley has hinted that elements of it may be included in his week time show. Rob Hughes still joins Marc on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Riley and Mark Radcliffe formed the parody group The Shirehorses who played at Glastonbury in 1997 in what they called the headline slot, going on as they did at 10 am. They also did shows in various parts of the country including one supporting Blur. They released two comedy/parody albums under the guise of The Shirehorses: The Worst Album in the World Ever (which reached number 22 in the UK Albums Chart)[11] and Our Kid, Eh, the latter an affectionate parody of Radiohead's album Kid A (which reached number 20).[12]
Preceded by
Chris EvansBBC Radio One
Breakfast Show Presenter
1997Succeeded by
Kevin Greening and Zoe BallAwards
- Best National DJ of 1997
References
- ^ "Mark Radcliffe & Lard Chronology", scrawnandlard.co.uk, retrieved 12 December 2010
- ^ a b Smith, Mark E. & Middles, Mick (2003) The Fall, Omnibus Press, ISBN 978-0711997622, p. 261
- ^ Cumming, Tim (2004) "Wild Thing", The Guardian, 19 January 2004, retrieved 12 December 2010
- ^ The Guardian, Monday 14 April 2008, p6
- ^ Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0, p. 483-4
- ^ Buckley, Peter (2003) The Rough Guide to Rock, Rough Guides, ISBN 978-1843531050
- ^ a b "Marc Riley, Esq", debretts.com, retrieved 12 December 2010
- ^ Popson, Tom (1988) "Johnny Cash Meets The Hip Britons: English Acts Record a Tribute to a 'Cool Dude'", Chicago Tribune, 29 July 1988, p. H
- ^ a b "Mark and Lard leave BBC Radio 1", BBC, 19 February 2004, retrieved 12 December 2010
- ^ The Sony Radio Academy Awards Winners 2008
- ^ Walters, Jamie "Marc Riley aka Lard", Metro, retrieved 12 December 2010
- ^ "Shirehorses", Chart Stats, retrieved 12 December 2010
External links
DJs Adam Buxton · Craig Charles · Jarvis Cocker · Gideon Coe · Joe Cornish · Matt Everitt · Guy Garvey · Chris Hawkins · Jon Holmes · Shaun Keaveny · Liz Kershaw · Steve Lamacq · Lauren Laverne · Don Letts · Stuart Maconie · Cerys Matthews · Huey Morgan · Nemone · Mark Radcliffe · Tom Ravenscroft · Marc Riley · Tom Robinson
Notable programmes Adam and Joe · Radcliffe & Maconie
Related articles BBC Radio · BBC Introducing · Bob Shennan
Categories:- 1961 births
- Living people
- Alternative rock musicians
- English radio personalities
- English bass guitarists
- English guitarists
- English male singers
- English songwriters
- Musicians from Manchester
- English punk rock musicians
- The Fall (band) members
- British radio DJs
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