![]() |
Bob Harris | |
---|---|
![]() Harris in 2012 at the Concert at the Kings, Wiltshire | |
Born | Robert Brinley Joseph Harris 11 April 1946 Northampton, Northamptonshire, England |
Years active | 1970–present |
Spouse | Trudie Myerscough-Walker (m. 1991) |
Children | 8 |
Website | bobharris |
Robert Brinley Joseph Harris OBE (born 11 April 1946), popularly known as "Whispering Bob" Harris, is an English music presenter. He was a host of the BBC2 music programme The Old Grey Whistle Test and was a co-founder of the listings magazine Time Out . He presents Bob Harris Country on Thursdays on BBC Radio 2 at 9 pm.
Harris has been broadcasting on the BBC for 50 years and has been recognised with the Americana Music Association of America Trailblazer Award, a UK Heritage Award and a MOJO Medal, as well as his OBE for services to broadcasting.
Born on 11 April 1946 in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England, Harris first followed in his father's footsteps and joined Northamptonshire Police as a cadet for two years. Harris's father was from Pontardawe in South Wales. [1] [2] [3]
He then helped found Time Out magazine, as co-editor. Years later, he still refers to himself as "a journalist who can broadcast". [4]
Harris presented The Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC Two from 1972 until December 1979. [5] His first appearance on the show was as chair of a debate on the Night Assemblies Bill, based on his experience as a journalist and at the invitation of producer Richard Williams. Shortly afterwards he was invited to be the main presenter. His velvety voice and quiet delivery earned him his enduring nickname (Whispering Bob). His hippie-style beard and laid-back presentation made him a favourite target for parody, most notably by Eric Idle on the 1970s BBC comedy show Rutland Weekend Television . [4]
Harris later became notorious among the younger generation for distancing himself on air from Roxy Music's first performance on the show and deriding the New York Dolls as "mock rock". [6] [7] In the summer of 1974, Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood included Harris ("or the Sniffing Whistler as we know him") on a "Hates" list on their "You're going to wake up one morning and find out which side of the bed you've been lying on" T-shirt. [8] In early 1977, at the Speakeasy (a London nightclub popular with rock stars of the day) Sex Pistols fan and subsequent bass player Sid Vicious threatened Harris over whether the Pistols would appear on the Old Grey Whistle Test. [9]
In 1981 Harris moved to BBC Radio Oxford, presenting the weekday afternoon show from 3-5 pm, taking over from Timmy Mallett. He remained there until 1984. He then joined London's LBC Radio Station, presenting a weekly half-hour music review and also joined GWR, where he did shows on Saturday lunchtimes and Sunday afternoons.
From October 1984, Harris presented Norwich's Radio Broadland, a Saturday evening show, and the Sunday afternoon show on Hereward FM in Peterborough. At the same time he was still continuing with his half-hour music review on LBC and was recording shows for GWR. In 1986, he was offered the Weekend Nightline phone-in on LBC every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 pm until 1 am, which he hosted until 1989. He was heard on BFBS from 1986 to 1998 and on the UK Independent Local Radio sustaining service, The Superstation.
Harris rejoined BBC Radio 1 in 1989, standing in for Richard Skinner for two weeks on the weekday midnight to 2 am slot, before being offered his own weekly show on Sunday nights from 11 pm to 2 am later that year following the death of Roger Scott. Harris then took over the weekday midnight to 2 am slot from April 1990, which then became midnight to 4 am when Radio 1 started broadcasting 24 hours a day on 1 May 1991. [10]
His programme on BBC Radio 1 came to an end in October 1993 when Matthew Bannister took charge of the station, although he continued to present documentaries for the station for some time after.
In summer 1994, Harris moved to BBC Radio London, (then BBC GLR), presenting a three-hour Saturday night show from 10 pm to 1 am, then additionally on Monday to Wednesday evenings from 8 pm to midnight. He later left the Saturday night show to concentrate on BBC Radio London's Monday-Wednesday evening shows.[ citation needed ]
In spring 1997, Harris returned to the national airwaves, this time on BBC Radio 2, where he took up an 11 pm to 1 am Saturday night slot. He still continued to present on GLR, but at this stage he quit the Monday to Wednesday evening shows and presented a Saturday afternoon show from 2 to 6 pm.
Harris eventually quit GLR in late 1998 as he took over another show for Radio 2, Bob Harris Country, (previously David Allan's Country Club) on Thursday evenings from 7 to 8 pm, from 8 April 1999, and his Saturday night show then went out from 10 pm to 1 am. From April 2006, his Saturday show moved to an 11 pm to 2 am slot, and moved back another hour from 4 April 2010, meaning it aired early Sunday mornings from midnight to 3 am. From October 2014 until January 2017, the show was on from 3 am to 6 am on Sundays. In February 2017, his Sunday show moved back to midnight to 3 am. However, on 26 March 2017, Harris presented his last weekend Sunday early morning show on Radio 2 due to major changes to the weekend schedule. The final song played was When You Come To The End Of A Lollipop by Max Bygraves.
On 9 January 2022, Harris started a weekly show on Boom Radio, sponsored by Find My Past, which explored how songs link together with other tracks. The hour long programme was broadcast on Sunday nights from 9 pm and repeated on Wednesdays. The series ended its run on 27 February. [11] [12] [13]
On 10 January 2022, Harris announced he was returning to the Sounds of the 70s programme after more than 50 years away by sitting in for Johnnie Walker on the episodes to be broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on the 16 and 23 January. He also sat in for Walker for four shows in January 2023. [14] He currently presents Bob Harris Country on Thursdays on BBC Radio 2 at 9 pm. [15] He celebrated his 25th anniversary as host of the country show in 2024.
"At a time when media is ruled by the loud, the crass and the cruel, Harris is the anti-Cowell: a soft-spoken but fiercely witty presence, whose velvet delivery is as much a part of British rock culture as Roger Daltrey's stutter or the rolled letter "r" in Johnny Rotten's invective."
— Henry Yates, Classic Rock . [16]
In addition to his Radio 2 programmes, in 2002 Harris was a presenter on the newly launched digital station BBC Radio 6 Music, presenting a Sunday-evening show from 5 to 8 pm. He left 6 Music in 2004. He went on to present a new show on Radio 2, which broadcast on Friday nights/Saturday mornings from midnight to 3 am. He was replaced in this slot by Mark Lamarr, but returned to it temporarily, when Lamarr left the BBC at the end of 2010. The end of the Friday show has allowed Harris to concentrate more on producing one-off shows such as the Maple Leaf Revolution under the auspices of the Whispering Bob Broadcasting Company.
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 2003 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel at BBC Broadcasting House.[ citation needed ]
Harris has presented the C2C: Country to Country festival live from The O2 Arena in London every year since its inception in 2013 and simultaneously broadcasts over BBC Radio 2 Country which was first established in 2015, the same year when Harris was given his own stage to present at the festival. This stage, the Under the Apple Tree stage, formed the basis for his own Under the Apple Tree festival which will first take place in 2016. [17]
Harris has been credited by John Thomson as the inspiration for his The Fast Show character Louis Balfour, who comperes "Jazz Club" [18] and whose softly spoken delivery echoes Harris' "unshakeable enthusiasm" on The Old Grey Whistle Test. [19]
In 2018 Harris made a cameo appearance in Tom Harper's country music drama film Wild Rose . [20]
In 2018 Harris joined 26 other celebrities at Metropolis Studios, to perform the original Christmas song "Rock With Rudolph", written and produced by Grahame and Jack Corbyn. The song was created in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital and was released digitally on independent record label Saga Entertainment on 30 November 2018. The music video debuted exclusively with The Sun on 29 November 2018 and had its first TV showing on Good Morning Britain on 30 November 2018. The song peaked at number two on the iTunes pop chart. [21] [22]
In 2023, Harris began presenting on the free-to-air 1960s music channel That's 60s. [23]
Harris has eight children and six granddaughters. Harris married Trudie Myerscough[ citation needed ] who is also his manager, in 1991. She is the mother of his three youngest children. [24] Harris lives in Steventon, England. [25]
In 2007, Harris was diagnosed with prostate cancer, for which he was treated with hormone therapy and radiotherapy. [26]
In May 2019 it was announced that Harris would take a break from his BBC Radio 2 presenting for a while, after suffering an aortic dissection (having undergone a tear to his aorta while walking 10 days previously). He returned to Radio 2 on 19 September 2019. [27]
{{cite book}}
: |work=
ignored (help)BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, hip hop and indie, while its sister station 1Xtra plays black contemporary music, including hip hop and R&B. Radio 1 also runs two online streams, Radio 1 Dance, dedicated to dance music, and Radio 1 Relax, dedicated to chill-out music; both are available to listen only on BBC Sounds.
Stephen Paul Lamacq, sometimes known by his nickname Lammo, is an English disc jockey, currently working with BBC Radio 6 Music.
BBC Radio Solent is the BBC's local radio station serving Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight, broadcasting on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Havelock Road in Southampton.
BBC Radio London is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater London.
BBC Radio York is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of North Yorkshire.
Janice Berry, known professionally by her first married name Janice Long, was an English broadcaster who was best known for her work in British music radio. The first female presenter to have a daily music show on BBC Radio 1, Long also appeared on other BBC Radio stations, such as BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio WM, and BBC Radio 6 Music, and was the first female regular presenter on the television chart show Top of the Pops, beginning in 1982.
Alexander Norman Charles Lester is a British broadcaster. He presented the weekday overnight/early-morning programme on BBC Radio 2 from 1992 until 2014. From October 2014 until January 2017, he presented the midnight to 3 am programme every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He also temporarily replaced Russell Brand on Saturday evenings in late 2008, between 9 and 11 pm, following Brand's resignation over his infamous prank calls row.
David Allan "Kid" Jensen is a Canadian-born British radio DJ and television presenter. Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Jensen began as a radio DJ on Radio Luxembourg. Jensen was later a broadcaster for the BBC from 1976 to 1984, as a host on BBC Radio 1 and presenter on the TV music programme Top of the Pops from 1977 to 1984. Jensen has also hosted and presented for Capital FM and ITV among other stations.
Richard John McNeill Allinson is an English broadcaster with Greatest Hits Radio and is Creative Director of Magnum Opus Broadcasting. Between 1997 and 2014 he was a disc jockey for BBC Radio 2.
Kevin Greening was a British radio presenter, who co-hosted Radio 1 Breakfast on BBC Radio 1 with Zoe Ball from 13 October 1997 to 25 September 1998.
Johnnie Walker, MBE is an English radio disc jockey and broadcaster. He began his career on pirate radio, most notably on Radio Caroline. He joined BBC Radio 1 in 1969 and BBC Radio 2 in 1998. He presents Sounds of the 70s on Radio 2 on Sunday afternoons and The Radio 2 Rock Show on Friday nights.
Stuart John Maconie is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music where, alongside Mark Radcliffe, he hosts its weekend breakfast show which broadcasts from the BBC's MediaCityUK in Salford. The pair previously presented an evening show on BBC Radio 2 and the weekday afternoon show for BBC Radio 6 Music.
Richard Skinner is a British radio and television presenter.
BBC Radio Manchester is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater Manchester, north-east Cheshire and north-west Derbyshire.
Richard Keith Skues MBE, AE is a British radio personality. His career spans more than 60 years.
Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL.
The BBC Night Network was an all-evening radio network which linked up the North East England, Yorkshire and the Humber, and later the North West England regions of BBC Local Radio. Each station would share the same programming.
This is a list of events in British radio during 1993.
This is a list of events in British radio during 1988.
A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 2, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.