Thank You for the Days: A Boy's Own Adventures in Radio and Beyond

Mark Radcliffe

Apr 2009 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

Approaching 50, Mark Radcliffe decided to write about his life, most importantly, his time in music. But crucially, he only wanted to write about the most interesting days and not the dull ones in between. With predictable good taste, Mark takes his title from the Kinks' song and has written an entertaining, funny book worthy of such a pedigree.

Mark's family life is covered by 'The Day My Mother Hit Me With a Golf Club' , his school life by 'The Day I Ruined a Perfectly Good Suit' and 'The Day I Got My First Guitar'; through his epiphany of the power of music in 'The Day I Met the Band Who Changed My Life' and his star struck meeting with childhood hero, David Bowie. Many other stars are covered too, for example in 'The Day I Went to Kate Bush's House for Cheese Flan', and 'The Day Mick Jagger Was Taller Than Me'. He's very funny when recounting his days working at the BBC in '80s and '90s (how, when bored, he and colleagues invented a fictional department), winning Stars in Their Eyes as Shane MacGowan and so on. Yet, among the laughter are more sober days, such as the one when he learned John Peel had died.

A cracking read and a potted history of both one man's life and his love affair with music, THANK YOU FOR THE DAYS is a uniquely entertaining memoir that will appeal not just to music fans but to connoisseurs of British popular culture.

About the author

Mark Radcliffe was born in Bolton and attended Manchester University. He has been employed by the BBC to talk in between records for over twenty years, many of these with Lard (aka Marc Riley) and currently with Stuart Maconie on Radio 6. He has won 6 Gold Sony Awards plus Sony's Music Broadcaster of the Year 2009, and has recorded five albums with two bands. He has three daughters and lives in Cheshire.