Mark and Lard

Mark and Lard was the stage name of Mark Radcliffe (Mark) and Marc Riley (Lard) when they worked together as BBC Radio 1 disc jockeys. Mark and Lard joined Radio 1 in October 1993 and left in March 2004. The pair moved to Radio 1 from BBC Radio 5's evening Hit the North programme, where Radcliffe was presenter and Riley had progressed from researcher to producer.

Mark & Lard began their Radio 1 career presenting the late-night "graveyard shift" (10pm to midnight) in October 1993, taking over from Nicky Campbell who had previously occupied the slot. They then moved to the coveted The Radio 1 Breakfast Show in February 1997, replacing Chris Evans. However, this only lasted eight months (with the exception of Mark Goodier, they have the shortest tenure of any presenters in this slot). The pair then moved to an early afternoon slot, where they remained until 2004. During this time they broadcast out of BBC Radio Manchester studios, unlike the majority of the station's London-based content at the time.

Phone-in spoof quizzes were made popular on the show, such as "It's a Sausage Roll", "Circle of Chance" and "Fish or Fowl". Other items on the show included "Downcount", "Lard's Classic Cuts" and "Beat the Clock". The pair also used catchphrases such as "Biggedy Biggedy Bong", "Stop.... carry on!", "By Jovi", "Cabbage Garden" and "Wickedy Wickedy Warp". 'Fat Harry White' (Radcliffe with a vocoder) was also a regular on the show, a thinly disguised parody of soul singer Barry White, this character was so successful he was given his own CD in 1998, entitled 'Mmmmm Baby' (which was also his catchphrase) - it peaked at number 83 in the UK charts.

Shirehorses

Mark and Lard are also the creators of the spoof rock band "The Shirehorses", who released two CD albums:

• The worst album...in the world...ever...EVER!
• Our Kid, Eh? The title is a combination of the contemporary Radiohead album Kid A, and the northern phrase 'our Kid'.

Leaving Radio 1

In February 2004 the pair announced they were leaving Radio 1, with Radcliffe moving to BBC Radio 2 and Riley moving to BBC 6 Music.^[1] Their last show was broadcast on 26 March 2004 and featured a guest appearance by Travis, messages of commiseration from Neil Hannon, Radiohead, Blur (Damon Albarn composed a special song but "broke down in tears" before finishing it) and Kelly Jones of The Stereophonics, whom they'd frequently insulted during the show's run. They also received a bouquet of flowers from Paul McCartney. At the end of their last show, Riley sat in the silent studio sighing. Radcliffe convinces him to buck up and come to the pub to buy him a drink. But they had time for a swift half a catchphrase: "Stop!" Then the door closed and the show was over.^[2] It was followed by a silence of some twenty seconds causing the station to switch to the emergency tape, this was believed to be a final opportunity to make a nuisance of themselves, but in fact this was due to the show overrunning and studio staff in London not being in place when the show finally finished.

They subsequently worked together on the Mark & Lard's Football Nightmares DVD. They had previously presented Match of the Nineties, which showed highlights of English football seasons from 1989 to 1999, during the summer of 1999.

References