Mark Radcliffe
 
    Sony-Award winner Mark Radcliffe was born in Bolton in 1958 and now lives in South Manchester. Mark studied English and American Studies and Classical Civilisation at Manchester University before starting his first job as a 'junior assistant dogsbody producer" with Piccadilly radio in 1979 "for the princely sum of 2,600 a year, which doesn't sound a lot now and wasn't a lot then!" he says.
 
    Mark first produced drama and classical music programmes for Piccadilly, before launching out into playing indie music. "Nobody else was doing it, and they needed something to fill in the time when there were no football scores in the summer," he says. "So we had indie music combined with Lancashire cricket scores - an irresistible formula."
 
    In 1983 Mark went to London to be a producer at Radio 1 FM, where he produced 'Saturday Live' and sessions with John Peel. In 1985 he returned to Manchester to become Head of Music at Piccadilly. While at Piccadilly he began being a DJ again 'To relieve the tedium of being Head of Music."
 
    Two years later, Mark returned to the BBC 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 plus In Concert and documentaries for Radio 1.
 
    When Radio 5 began in 1990, Mark was approached for trial as a presenter of the evening music programme, 'Hit the North'. His success led Radio 1 to offer him the chance of two weeks as a stand-in for Mark Goodier. "I was never to return", says Mark Radcliffe. "But I think they thought, well can't let him loose again on Mark Goodier's show so the only thing to do is give him an hour of his own ..."
 
    This "little hour" was 'Out on Blue Six' launched in April 1991, which in April 1992 won a Sony award for Best Specialist Music Programme. He moved to four nights a week in October 1993, and became the first DJ to introduce a regular poetry slot to Radio 1. He also persuaded 'Elastica' hard front woman, Justine Frischman, to read 'The Hobbit' aloud on the show.
 
    In rare moments of spare time, Mark and his band "The Hunks of Burning Love" play at various gigs in Manchester, performing music which he describes as 'garage R&B for the ageing punk rocker". His other leisure time pursuits include drinking Guiness and eating cheese, preferably gruyere and emmanthal as they go best in a fondue.
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