Radcliffe Camaraderie

IF there’s one thing that Mark Radcliffe can’t stand, it is a closed mind.

And that goes as much for music, as everything else.

Like that other great BBC radio presenter, John Peel, before him, Mark is a musical missionary – on a crusade to introduce quality sounds to his loyal legions of listeners – fans who have followed him throughout a career which has taken him from local radio in his home town of Manchester in the early 80s, to BBC Radios 5, 1, 2 and, now 6 Music.

“I’ve always taken playing and choosing good music very seriously,” he says.

“But I’ve never taken myself very seriously. I’ve just done what makes me laugh. But I’ve been doing this for 25 years now, so it seems to be working out.”

Such modesty is what Radcliffe’s fans have grown to love over the past three decades – along with his surreal humour, quick-witted banter and, of course, devotion to getting quality music out there – at the expense of playlists.

“People don’t stop liking new music,” he says. “If you enjoy travel, you like going to new places, and if you enjoy food you try new recipes. So It’s ridiculous to believe that, once people get older, they just listen to what they did at 18, together with a bit of Mahler and that CD of pan pipe music that they bought at a car boot sale.

“At my age I have no compulsion to throw myself in front of a strutting guitarist any more. I’ve done my stint. But I like to hear new things and particularly a new guitar band that gives me a visceral thrill.

“People’s minds are more open to new music than the people who run radio stations give them credit for.”

It’s a message that he has been broadcasting loud and clear for years. His Radio 1 “graveyard slot” Mark and Lard shows with Marc Riley in the ’90s were groundbreaking in their diversity – featuring eclectic music interspersed with live sessions, interviews, poetry and knockabout comedy.

Mark, 53, broke new bands and introduced listeners to little-heard vintage classics.

Although Mark and Lard’s taste in music and comedy failed to ignite after taking over from Chris Evans on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, they found their stride when they moved back to an afternoon slot.

Teaming up with Stuart Maconie and moving to Radio 2, he was again given free rein to indulge his love of new music.

His more recent shunt to 6 Music was greeted with dismay and genuine anger towards BBC bosses by fans. However, listeners followed him to the digital network, where, he says, he is very much at home.

“There is a whole world of music out there, but sometimes you need someone to say ‘you might like this’,” he says. “I’m a human search engine.

Which is the reason behind his new venture. After many years of blurring the boundaries between presenter, comedian and artist, Mark is going on tour with his own show of banter, wit and music, which, on Wednesday, arrives in Oxford.

Mark is no stranger to the stage. Before, and during his career as a broadcaster, he has bounced between bands – most famously the Shirehorses – a comic spoof on former Stone Roses guitarist John Squire’s Seahorses – and The Family Mahone – a folk-rock band modelled on a Northern version of The Pogues.

“I’ve been playing with music for years,” he says. “But I found I was doing a lot of talking while everyone in the band was standing around, so decided to do it properly.

“It’s me talking, with a bit of playing in between. I think it won’t come as a shock to anyone who has listened to my radio shows.

“I play drinking songs and down-tempo hangover songs which people may not know, but which are about experiences we can all share. It’s about life.”

“Sometimes people also engage and ask questions, which takes things in a new direction. I am very approachable!

“I’ve learned to stick to what I know, though, so there are lots of tales about being a DJ and rather less about the Eurozone. Indeed, my knowledge of many things is pretty basic; my career is based on escapism.”

So, who has been the greatest inspiration to the man who, himself, has inspired so many? “It would have to be Bowie,” he says without hesitation. “When I was growing up in Bolton in the early ’70s, glam-rock seemed to have been designed for me. It set my imagination alight. He is a seriously impressive gentleman yet seemed enigmatic. Meeting him was a big thrill.”

And what is he proudest of? “Surviving,” he says. “Just having been here, working away, for this length of time. Listeners say I’ve got them through their A-Levels, degrees and divorces. And it’s good to know they still enjoy listening to people like me.”

* Mark Radcliffe performs spoken word and songs at the Glee Club, in Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford. Doors open at 7.30pm. Tickets are £14.50 from www.glee.co.uk