Mark and Lard
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Mark_and_Lard.jpg
Mark and Lard, the stage name of Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley, are former BBC Radio 1 disk jockeys. Mark & Lard joined Radio 1 in October 1993 and left in March 2004 allegedly after an argument with Radio 1 management about constraints on their playlist. The pair moved to Radio 1 from BBC Radio Five's evening "Hit The North" programme, where Radcliffe was presenter and Riley climbed from researcher to producer.
Mark & Lard began their radio 1 career presenting the early morning "graveyard shift" but moved to an evening slot and then to the coveted Breakfast Show. The pair acknowledge that the breakfast show was not their best work, and they moved to an early afternoon slot after only a few months at the breakfast show.
The Mark & Lard show was noted for its spoof features and competitions including the Rabbi "Lionel Blair" in a spoof of BBC Radio 4's Thought For The Day (the Today Programme's religious slot), "One Man And His Frog", a spoof of televised sheepdog trials, and "Oh Lucky You", a competition which always featured Riley impersonating an unlucky Irish caller given the chance to win prizes which once included BBC Radio 4. Mark & Lard are also the creators of the spoof rock band "The Shirehorses".
The pair were also noted for their poorly disguised contempt for many of the playlisted records. One notable stunt was on November 23 2001, when they played a track by the Sugababes five times in a row, at least partly in order to see if anyone would even notice.
In February 2004 the pair announced their resignation from Radio 1, with Radcliffe moving to BBC Radio 2 and Riley moving to BBC 6 Music. Their last show was broadcast on March 26 2004.
External links
- Mark & Lard webring (http://www.nerdware.org/mnl/)