Editing Marc Riley

{{Short description|British musician and radio presenter}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Marc Riley
| image              = Krankenhaus 2023- Mark Riley - 53153424540 (portrait).jpg
| caption            = Riley at Krankenhaus 2023
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|df=y|1961|07|10}}
| birth_place        = [[Manchester]], England
| other_names        = Lard, Decks
| known_for          = {{hlist|[[BBC Radio 6 Music]]|[[Mark and Lard]]|[[Shirehorses]]}}
| module             = {{Infobox musical artist
| embed = yes
| genre             = {{hlist|[[Post punk]]|[[alternative rock]]}}
| instrument        = {{hlist|Guitar|bass|keyboards}}
| past_member_of    = {{hlist|[[The Fall (band)|The Fall]]|[[The Creepers]]}}
}}
}}
'''Marc Riley''' (born 10 July 1961) is an English radio DJ, [[alternative rock]] critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on [[BBC Radio 6 Music]].

Formerly a member of [[The Fall (band)|The Fall]], he co-owned a record label, In-Tape, and also worked as a [[record plugger]] for bands such as [[Massive Attack]], [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]], [[Cocteau Twins]] and [[Happy Mondays]].<ref name="Middles">Smith, Mark E. & Middles, Mick (2003) ''The Fall'', Omnibus Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7119-9762-2}}, p. 261</ref> Riley has worked in radio since about 1991; for 14 years of that he worked with [[Mark Radcliffe (radio broadcaster)|Mark Radcliffe]] on [[BBC Radio 5 (former)|BBC Radio 5]] and [[BBC Radio 1]], during which time he was known as '''[[Mark and Lard|Lard]]'''. He joined 6 Music in April 2004.

== Musical career ==
Riley was born on 10 July 1961 in [[Manchester]].<ref>"[http://www.scrawnandlard.co.uk/chronol.htm Mark Radcliffe & Lard Chronology]", scrawnandlard.co.uk, retrieved 12 December 2010</ref> Raised in Manchester, Riley was in a band at school called the Sirens with [[Craig Scanlon]] and [[Steve Hanley (musician)|Steve Hanley]] (both of whom were later members of [[The Fall (band)|the Fall]]). Riley was an early fan of the Fall, and worked for the group as a [[roadie]].<ref name="Cumming">Cumming, Tim (2004) "[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/jan/19/popandrock1 Wild Thing]", ''[[The Guardian]]'', 19 January 2004, retrieved 12 December 2010</ref> He was added to the line-up, playing [[Bass guitar|bass]], in May 1978.<ref name="Middles" /> Riley's recording debut was the Fall's second single, "It's the New Thing", and their debut album ''[[Live at the Witch Trials]]''.

Riley switched to guitar and keyboards in 1979 and held this position with the Fall, until he fell out with [[Mark E. Smith]] in 1982, during the group's first tour of Australia and New Zealand. Riley was dismissed by Smith – according to Smith this occurred on Riley's wedding day.<ref>''The Guardian'', 14 April 2008, p6</ref> Riley was actually married on Christmas Eve 1982 and remained in the Fall until January 1983, when Smith met Riley in the Old Garratt pub, Princess Street, and told him that the group was undertaking a European tour without him and should it not work out he would be asked back.

Riley is quoted as saying "Joining The Fall was the second best thing that ever happened to me in my working life. The best thing was getting kicked out".

Later in 1983, Riley began to record under the name 'Marc Riley with The Creepers' (later [[The Creepers]]).<ref name="Strong">Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, {{ISBN|1-84195-335-0}}, p. 483-4</ref> [[Steve Hanley (musician)|Steve Hanley]], Paul Hanley and [[Craig Scanlon]], while remaining members of the Fall, played on Riley's first solo single, "Favourite Sister". Riley released several albums during the following years.

Animosity between Smith and Riley continued to influence both bands' material.<ref>{{cite web |title=Marc Riley - Reformation! |url=https://sites.google.com/site/reformationposttpm/members-of-the-gruppe/marc-riley |website=Sites.google.com}}</ref> This included the Fall's "Hey Marc Riley" (a rewritten version of [[Bo Diddley]]'s "Hey Bo Diddley"), which has only been available on live bootlegs. Riley responded in kind with his 1983 single "Jumper Clown" – a reference to Smith's then affection for 1970s jumpers – as well as "Snipe" on the 1985 EP ''Shadow Figure'' and his own rewrite of a Bo Diddley song: "Marc Riley is a Gunslinger". Riley co-owned the In-Tape label with Jim Khambatta, until it went bust in 1991, managing the label between 1983 and 1986.<ref name="Buckley">Buckley, Peter (2003) ''The Rough Guide to Rock'', Rough Guides, {{ISBN|978-1-84353-105-0}}</ref><ref name="Debretts">"[http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/r/22249/Marc+RILEY.aspx Marc Riley, Esq]", Debretts.com, retrieved 12 December 2010</ref>

Between 1986 and 1989, Riley drew and wrote the comic strips ''Harry the Head'' and ''Doctor Mooney'' for the comic ''[[Oink! (comic)|Oink!]]'', as well as recording a [[flexidisc]] single for the comic as a giveaway.<ref name="Debretts" />

The Creepers disbanded in 1987. Riley then formed a band that included ex-members of [[Pere Ubu]], [[The Magic Band]] and [[The Mekons]] called the Lost Soul Crusaders (named after a fictional group in an episode of the detective series '[[Columbo]]' whose lead singer was played by one of Riley's heroes, [[Johnny Cash]]). However, the record company funding the band went bankrupt before any material could be recorded.

In 1988, Riley co-produced (with [[Jon Langford]]) a Johnny Cash tribute album, ''Til Things are Brighter'', to raise funds for the [[Terrence Higgins Trust]].<ref name="Popson">Popson, Tom (1988) "Johnny Cash Meets The Hip Britons: English Acts Record a Tribute to a 'Cool Dude'", ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', 29 July 1988, p. H</ref>

== Radio career ==
[[File:Marc Riley - 8494760876.jpg|thumb|Riley at BBC Quay House, Salford in 2013]]
Riley is perhaps better known as one half of the duo [[Mark and Lard]] with fellow DJ [[Mark Radcliffe (radio broadcaster)|Mark Radcliffe]], who together presented "Hit the North" on [[BBC Radio 5 (former)|BBC Radio 5]] (at the time a children's, comedy, and drama network). During this period Riley also presented a programme on Radio 5 called ''Cult Radio'', and wrote and produced a [[BBC Radio 1]] series presented by [[Noddy Holder]] called ''Glitter and Twisted''. Mark and Lard moved to Radio 1's 10&nbsp;pm slot in 1993, followed by an unsuccessful move to the more mainstream orientated breakfast show in February 1997, and finally to the 1&nbsp;pm to 3&nbsp;pm slot in October that year.<ref name="BBC1" /> Their final show on the station was in March 2004. 

After leaving Radio 1, the duo cordially went their separate ways; Riley moving to [[BBC Radio 6 Music]] and Radcliffe to [[BBC Radio 2]].<ref name="BBC1">"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/3503549.stm Mark and Lard leave BBC Radio 1]", [[BBC]], 19 February 2004, retrieved 12 December 2010</ref> In 2009 Mark and Lard reformed to front radio adverts for [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] in [[North West England]] (Riley is a long-time fan of the club).
[[File:Marc_Riley_with_Ty_Segall.JPG|alt=Marc_Riley_with_Ty_Segall|thumb|Riley (middle) with [[Ty Segall]] and band in 2014]]
Up until the end of May 2023, he presented the [[Sony Radio Academy Award]]-nominated 7–9 pm show, Monday to Thursday on Radio 6 Music.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.radioawards.org/winners/?category=The_Music_Programme_Award&year=2008|title=radioawards.org|website=www.radioawards.org}}</ref> The show featured almost daily sessions from artists chosen by Riley himself. Among the bands championed by Riley have been [[Metronomy]], [[Field Music]], [[Everything Everything]], [[Wild Beasts]], [[Sweet Baboo]] and [[King Creosote]] and more recently [[Ty Segall]], [[Unknown Mortal Orchestra]] and [[Thee Oh Sees]]. He previously presented ''Mint'' with Rob Hughes on Sunday evenings. Hughes joined Riley's early evening show on Tuesdays (The A to Z series) and Thursdays (The Parallel Universe).

Riley currently co-presents ''Riley & Coe'' with [[Gideon Coe]], from 9 pm to 11 pm on Monday to Thursday evenings.<ref>{{cite web |title=Riley & Coe |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001mf0w |website=BBC Sounds |publisher=BBC |access-date=5 June 2023}}</ref>

February 2015 saw the first episode of ''All Shook Up'', a made-for-[[BBC iPlayer|iPlayer]] 'TV' programme featuring live music presented and curated by Riley. Series 1 is made up of four episodes, all filmed in the University of Salford studio. Episode 1 featured performances from [[The Wave Pictures]], [[Slug (British band)|Slug]] and [[Lonelady]]. Episode 2 features [[Wire (band)|Wire]], Monotony and [[Jane Weaver]], Episode 3 [[Teleman]], [[Sara Lowes]] and [[Sauna Youth]] and Episode 4 [[Jesca Hoop]], [[The Wytches]] and [[Richard Dawson (musician)|Richard Dawson]].

Riley, together with Rob Hughes, wrote and presented an 'A to Z of [[Punk rock|Punk]] and [[New wave music|New Wave]]' on 6 Music, which was then turned into a successful [[podcast]]. That was followed by the long-term project 'The A to Z of [[David Bowie]]', a commercially available podcast, which was launched on 30 January 2018 and ran for 72 episodes.

Riley and Radcliffe formed the parody group [[Shirehorses]], once appearing at the [[Glastonbury Festival]] in 1997 in what they called the headline slot, going on as they did at 10.00am. They also did shows in various parts of the country including three dates supporting [[Blur (band)|Blur]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/f5c355ac-1311-457b-8266-5f662c36e98a|title=The Shirehorses|publisher=BBC}}</ref> They released two comedy/parody albums under the guise of the Shirehorses: ''[[The Worst...Album in the World...Ever...EVER!]]'' (which reached number 22 in the [[UK Albums Chart]])<ref name="Walters">Walters, Jamie "[http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/interviews/646-marc-riley-aka-lard Marc Riley aka Lard]", ''[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]]'', retrieved 12 December 2010</ref> and ''[[Our Kid Eh]]'', the latter an affectionate parody of [[Radiohead]]'s album ''[[Kid A]]'' (which reached number 20).<ref name="CS">"[https://www.officialcharts.com/artists/ Shirehorses]", Chart Stats, retrieved 12 December 2010</ref>

== Personal life ==
Riley married Tracy Magee on Christmas Eve 1982.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Riley |first=Marc |date=27 December 2012 |title=I got married to Trace on Xmas eve 1982. I got the bullet 4/1/83. C'mon The Gruniad- keep up... +don't believe anything MES tells you. |url=https://twitter.com/marcrileydj/status/284354145102733312?lang=en |website=[[Twitter]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001mf2c ''Riley & Coe''] (BBC Radio 6 Music)

{{The Fall}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Marc}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:English radio personalities]]
[[Category:English bass guitarists]]
[[Category:British male bass guitarists]]
[[Category:English male guitarists]]
[[Category:English male singers]]
[[Category:English male songwriters]]
[[Category:British alternative rock musicians]]
[[Category:Musicians from Manchester]]
[[Category:English punk rock guitarists]]
[[Category:The Fall (band) members]]
[[Category:British radio DJs]]
[[Category:BBC Radio 6 Music presenters]]
[[Category:BBC Radio 1 presenters]]