The Early Years of Mark and Lard

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I met Lard and Scrawn in 1993. They were MCing a gig by Mark Burgess (ex Chameleons). The bill also included Pete Wylie (ex Wah), it was during "In The City" so the place was full of various showbusiness types such as musicians, record company reps and local liggers who`d blagged in (me). I engaged Scrawn in conversation about a rare and excellent Porcupine Tree track he'd played on "Out Of Blue Six". Then Lard returned from the bar and asked Scrawn to shift his arse. Before introducing mark burgess they started playing chess, the ferocity of the contest was such that it degenerated into a fight on the floor.

I met Lard again the same year at a Glen Matlock gig (ex Sex Pistols)where I spoke to him about his then current (and excellent) Radio 5 show "Cult Radio". Over the years I have seen Lard loads of times, walking round town, when he ran "In Tape" records and wrote for Oink! comic. One of his acts were called Asphalt Ribbons, now known as Tindersticks, which may explain their ubiquity in session on the now defunct 10 till midnight show. I also saw Mark Radcliffe doing a comedy turn at a summer show in Manchester in 1986 were he was introduced as leading showbiz personality David Bowie.

I first heard Radcliffe in about 1979 or 1980, he was some kind of classical music administrator while also presenting a show playing punk/alternative music. He also appeared on other shows on Piccadilly Radio as a television critic, displaying his famous cynicism and sarcasm. From 1987 till 1990 the only time I heard of him was when credited as a producer on Radio One's In-Concert. In autumn 1990 with the launch of Radio 5 he presented "Hit The North" on Wednesday nights. In 1991 he began "Out On Blue Six". In 1993 he presented "Skyman", a show largely devoted to psychedelic music. During summer 1993 Scrawn helped Lard present "Cult Radio", a radio show on Radio 5 which dissected cult miscellanea like the Prisoner, childrens TV., Led Zeppelin, UFO's, etc, etc. Around the same time they also appeared on Yorkshire television's Frank's fantastic shed show.

Thanks To Stuart Barstow For Writing This Account