Marc Riley - Radio Career

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. 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 Radio 6 Music, and Radcliffe to BBC Radio 2. In 2009 Mark and Lard reformed and fronted 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 Radio 6 Music, where he presents the Sony Radio Academy Award-nominated 7-9pm show, Monday to Thursday. The show features sessions from artists suggested and booked by station producers. 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) and Our Kid, Eh, the latter an affectionate parody of Radiohead's album Kid A (which reached number 20).