I produced Mark & Lards afternoon show for Radio 1 from 1997 to 2000. I worked with them just as they had been moved from the breakfast show to early afternoons. In this period we won Sony Gold Radio Awards in 1998 & 1999, we grew the show quarter on quarter putting over 1.3 million listeners and we pushed hard against the conventions of music radio, doing things we thought the audience would enjoy.

The highights included;

• Taking Travis to Robin Hoods Bay when the rest of Radio 1 went to Ibiza. On that trip the band debuted their cover of Britney Spears “Hit Me Baby One More Time”. It came about from a night spent noodling in the bar and a bet that they wouldn’t play it live on the show the next day. They nearly didn’t as we had a powercut straight after they came off air. That radio recording became the B side to their single “Turn” & the cover became a staple of their live set for many years to come.

• France 98. We took Everton’s midfield powerhouse Barry Horne as our special radio pundit to the World Cup (he loved his music and got us tickets to all the games).

• David Bowie at Maida Vale in 1999. He was a guest, performed live and took part in all parts of the show that day. We even used his deerstalker to hold the lottery.