Mark and Lard Posted Thu Aug 24 22:00:07 BST 2000 by Justin

Still the best thing on R1, obviously. But am I alone in noticing a decline in quality lately. Chalk And Cheese is probably past its sell-by date, that New Producer skit is pretty poor, Vague News is knackered now, and....er, that's it.

Bring back: (Is it?) Lard's Animal Sanctuary, S**t Agent, No shit Sherlock, Mouse News, Dobbins or Bobbins, Bird Or Bloke, Indecipherable Boys, and even Beat The Clock which I was decidedly unsure about the first couple of days, but was a prime case of "It's the repetition that makes it funny."

Mind you, Scott Mills sat in for them yesterday. Even their absolute worst stuff pisses over him.

Subject: Re: Mark and Lard [ Previous Message ]
Posted By Bent Halo on Fri Aug 25 02:16:13 BST 2000:

I'd welcome the return of "Fuck my hat" but that's probably going too far. "Spiderman", "Wheel of Misfortune" (didn't this get revived?).

Loads better at night time. It was more of an event. I'm always disappointed when I hear them nowadays, but the mountains of Graveyard Shift tapes I have confirm they were better then.

I'll stand by the Breakfast Show because they didn't really compromise beyond the playlist. They inevitably had to adapt and still retain a unique quality but I have to be boring on this one. Sorry.

Marc Riley's still one of the loveliest people alive tho. He bought me a cup of BBC tea, which was nice, given that I'd cornered him in his local pub (Sale) the night before.

Fact. He remembers nothing that he wrote for the Graveyard Shift. All the scripts are in a box in his house. They genuinely were worked out days before or immediately before air time. Home studios are great aren't they?

Subject: Re: Mark and Lard [ Previous Message ]
Posted By TJ on Fri Aug 25 12:08:01 BST 2000:

They were better late at night - I have fond recollectoins of Lard's appeal for slippers - but Radcliffe was best of all on "Out On Blue Six"...

Subject: Re: Mark and Lard [ Previous Message ]
Posted By James on Fri Aug 25 15:17:01 BST 2000:

Does anyone know if Mr Chris Sievey is still writing bits of their stuff? The latest set of Vague Newses seem to be based on the same basic idea as "frank's fantastic show-business gossip" or whatever it was...

Subject: Re: Mark and Lard [ Previous Message ]
Posted By Jon on Fri Aug 25 15:31:16 BST 2000:

I've mentioned this dozens of times, though never on this site I don't think, but I always say the "Radio 1 Link Helpline" sketch from the night show back in '94/'95 was one of tthe most brilliant bits of radio comedy ever. Almost up there with the greatest bit of radio comedy ever, whcih was of course the Saturday Night Fry "Spot The Funny Noise" sketch (1987).

Subject: Re: Mark and Lard [ Previous Message ]
Posted By Pink Moon on Sat Aug 26 21:15:07 BST 2000:

>Still the best thing on R1, obviously. But am I alone in noticing a decline in quality lately.

Maybe it's because Chris Moyles has stolen all their ideas and thus Mark and Lard's material has become tainted by association. Can't think of anything specific, mind, but I wouldn't put it past him.

Thinking about it, Sara Cox's "Look at me, I'm northen and amusing!" radio persona is not exactly an original concept.

I still like Mark and Lard even in their daytime slot. But I wish they'd have live music more often.

Subject: Re: Mark and Lard [ Previous Message ]
Posted By Jon on Mon Aug 28 15:59:18 BST 2000:

According to the Fall tribute in Perfect Sound Forever (on-line music zine) the reason "Fall In A Hole" wasn't released in the UK for ages was because MES objected to the cover - a cutting from a NZ newspaper showing "Happy Fall Guitarist" Marc Riley on arrival at Auckland airport. Riley had been chucked out of the group after the tour ended because he had a fight with Smith in an Australian nightclub, a few days before the picture was taken.

I have never understood how it is that "Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul" came to be a Top 20 hit in NZ (the reason they went to do a tour over there). their sound changed quite a bit after Riley left.

Subject: Re: Mark and Lard [ Previous Message ]
Posted By Bent Halo on Mon Aug 28 18:04:22 BST 2000:

"Well I didn't eat this weekend, but I put the weight back on again."

"There were cameras in the clothes dummeez"

Subject: Re: Mark and Lard [ Previous Message ]
Posted By Jon on Tue Aug 29 09:43:03 BST 2000:

Do those lyrics have a peculiar resonance in the southern hemisphere? Maybe Janet can explain...

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