Bob Harris in 1975
"Whispering" Bob Harris (born Robert
Brinley Harris in Northampton, England on 11 April 1946) is a radio host who
currently works for BBC Radio 2, presenting music two nights
a week. His programmes feature a moderately eclectic blend of mostly
American and British rock, country,
and occasional folk music from the 1950s to the present.
His on-air delivery suggests a deep enthusiasm and affection for the
music and musicians featured on his shows.
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Contents
- 1 Early
career
- 2 1980s
- 3 Return
to Radio 1
- 4 Move
to GLR
- 5 Return
to national radio
- 6 Current
work
- 7 External
links
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Early career
Bob Harris first followed in his father's footsteps and joined
the Police Force as a cadet for two years. He was then involved in
journalism at Time Out magazine.
He began at BBC Radio 1 in 1970 where he hosted Sounds
of the 70s until 1974. He also presented The Old Grey Whistle Test
rock
music show on BBC
television from 1971 until 1978. 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.
Sounds of the 70s was initially an hour
long, broadcasting from 6 to 7pm on Monday evenings. The next year, it
was expanded to two hours and moved to 10pm to Midnight, still on
Mondays. In December 1974, the show was axed due to BBC cutbacks.
Harris then went on to present shows for Radio
Luxembourg in 1975–77. In 1977, he joined Radio 210,
firstly presenting a Saturday afternoon sports show. He then presented many shows at
the weekend, such as Friday nights from 9pm-1am & Saturdays
& Sundays from 10am-2pm & 9pm-1am. He left the station
for a few months throughout 1978 due to ill health, but came back in
1979 to present a Friday evening Rock Show from 9pm-1am &
Weekend afternoons from 12-4pm. He was also head of music and
presentation.
1980s
1981 saw Harris move to BBC
Radio Oxford, presenting the weekday afternoon show 3-5pm taking over
from Timmy Mallett. Bob remained
here until 1984. He then joined London's LBC Radio Station, presenting a weekly half hour
music review & also joined GWR, where he did shows on Saturday
lunchtimes and Sunday afternoons.
In 1985 Bob was heard on Norwich's Radio
Broadland, presenting a Saturday evening show, and on a 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 then offered the Weekend Nightline phone-in on LBC every Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday 10pm-1am, which he hosted until 1989
He was also heard on BFBS from 1986 to 1998.
Return to Radio 1
He rejoined BBC Radio 1 in late 1989, standing in for Richard
Skinner for two weeks on the weekday 12–2am slot, before being offered
his own weekly show on Sunday nights from 11pm to 2am following the
death of Roger Scott. Harris then took
over the weekday 12–2am slot from April 1990, which then became 12–4am
when Radio 1 started broadcasting 24 hours a day on 1 May 1991.
Move to GLR
Harris then left Radio 1 in October 1993 as he, along with
many other Radio 1 DJs, didn't fit in with the changes being made by
new controller Matthew Bannister. Lynn
Parsons took over his 12–4am slot, but Harris continued to do
the occasional documentary for the network for some time afterward.
In the summer of 1994, Harris ended up at BBC GLR,
presenting a three hour Saturday night show from 10pm to 1am, then
additionally on Monday to Wednesday evenings from 8pm to Midnight. He
later left the Saturday night show to concentrate on the
Monday-to-Wednesday evening shows.
Return to national radio
Spring 1997 saw Harris return to the national airwaves, this
time on BBC
Radio 2, where he took up a 11pm–1am 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 6pm.
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 8pm, and his Saturday
night show then went out from 10pm to 1am.
Current work
In addition to his Radio 2 programmes, in 2002 Harris became
an original presenter on the newly launched digital station BBC 6
Music, presenting a Sunday-evening show from 5 to 8pm. He left 6 Music
in 2004 to present another show on Radio 2, which broadcasts on Friday
nights/Saturday mornings from midnight to 3am. Bob has recently
finished up doing that show, and Mark Lamarr now presents. The end of the
Friday show has allowed Bob to concentrate more on producing one-off
shows like the 'Maple Leaf Revolution' under the auspices of the
Whispering Bob Broadcasting Company. His Saturday show now goes out
from 11pm-2am.
External links
