Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the
BBC radio station
BBC Radio 6 Music.
Early life
He attended
The Ramsey Academy from 1976, which had been formed the previous year from two
grammar schools. He was brought up in the Essex village of
Colne Engaine.
Early career
He cites
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's "wonderful" 1979 single "
Electricity" as his inspiration to become a disc jockey, noting that he wanted to afford air time to similar, "curious" music. Prior to launching this career, he studied Journalism at
Harlow College
Harlow College is a further education college in Harlow, Essex, England. This medium-sized college has 5,900 students as of 2018 of which 2,585 are on 16-19 programmes and 2,000 are on adult educational programmes. Its main campus is in the tow ...
, Essex, and worked as a junior reporter at the ''West Essex Gazette''. In similar fashion to other music journalists who started fanzines during their teenage years, Lamacq started one called ''A Pack of Lies''.
During his time at ''
NME'' he began DJing on the
pirate radio station
Q102, which would become
XFM
Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...
. He formed a record label in 1992 with Alan James and Tony Smith, called
Deceptive Records. The majority of the label's releases shared a punk-pop sensibility, with
Elastica being their most successful signing, before the label eventually folded in 2001.
Between 1995 and 1997, Lamacq occasionally presented ''
Top of the Pops'' on BBC One with fellow Radio 1 DJ
Jo Whiley.
In a 1996
Peel session
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
by
Mogwai, the fourth item on the track listing is ''Mogwai Salute the brilliance of Steve Lamacq''.
Lamacq is a fan of
Colchester United. He visited their training ground for his 50th birthday where he trained as a goalkeeper, has written an autobiography, entitled ''Going Deaf for a Living'' and has also acted as a compere on the main stage at the Reading Festival on several occasions.
BBC Radio
In the early 1990s, Lamacq appeared regularly on the
Gary Crowley show, a three-hour Sunday afternoon indie music programme on the BBC station
GLR. Lamacq contributed the Gig Guide and the ''
NME'' Indie Top 20.
;Radio 1
Between 1993 and 1997 Lamacq presented ''The Evening Session'' with
Jo Whiley, and then on his own until December 2002, when the programme was cancelled.
Colin Murray served as a temporary replacement for six months until
Zane Lowe's contract with the London station
XFM
Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...
ended in June 2003, where he took up a permanent position. On 28 September 2007, both he and Whiley reunited to recreate ''The Evening Session'' on the latter's show as part of Radio 1's 40th Anniversary celebrations.
He also presented the
indie radio
This is the list of independent radio stations. Included are any non-profit terrestrial broadcast community radio stations not directly affiliated, owned, or otherwise controlled by any radio network, school, company, or government. All indepe ...
show ''Lamacq Live'' every Monday evening, beginning in July 1998 and ending on 18 September 2006. The show ended as part of a makeover in Radio 1's schedule to present a "younger image" to Radio One listeners, with Colin Murray taking over his slot.
Lamacq has also presented documentaries for the station, as well as hosting their ''
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
Night'' special. He presented the ''In New Music We Trust'' programme every Monday night from 9 to 10pm until August 2009, when it was announced he would be leaving Radio 1 as part of a shakeup in the scheduling.
;6 Music
Lamacq's homepage on the 6 Music website described ''Lamacq Live'' as "the UK's most influential indie radio show". He also has a programme on the BBC's digital station,
BBC Radio 6 Music, which was on Sunday afternoons, but from April 2005 he has presented the daily teatime show on BBC Radio 6 Music, taking over from
Andrew Collins, where he still remains.
In March 2010 it was announced that Lamacq and fellow Radio 1 presenter Jo Whiley would present a one-off Evening Session (the first in 13 years) on Good Friday (2 April) for BBC Radio 6 Music.
In 2016, Lamacq broadcast from the studios at
BBC Radio Humberside, as part of Radio 6 Music's Independent Venue Week tour. One night of the nationwide tour was hosted at
The New Adelphi Club in
Hull
Hull may refer to:
Structures
* Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle
* Fuselage, of an aircraft
* Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds
* Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship
* Submarine hull
Mathematics
* Affine hull, in affi ...
,
East Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...
, on 26 January 2016, with
Mark Morriss as the headline act.
;Radio 2
In addition to his regular 6 Music slot, he also presented a weekly show on
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content ...
where he played his own choice of music and introduces his listeners to both new and emerging artists.
Beginning in April 2007, the show was originally broadcast on Wednesdays between 11:30pm and 12:30am and, from April 2008, between 11pm and 12am. At Easter 2010, as part of wider changes to the Radio 2 evening schedule,
Trevor Nelson took over the Wednesday 11pm slot (having previously been on in the hour before Lamacq), with Lamacq moving to 11pm on Saturday nights. In April 2012, the show was renamed ''Steve Lamacq's Rock College'' and moved to a Thursday 11pm slot.
In 2007, he deputised for
Bob Harris on Saturdays from 11pm to 2am, who had to receive treatment for cancer. As a result of Lamacq's move to Saturdays, Harris' show now airs from midnight to 3am.
Lamacq left regular presenting duties on Radio 2 in September 2013 as part of a reshuffle of evening presenters, but will return in the future as a presenter of one-off shows and as a stand-in for other presenters.
;5Live
Lamacq has appeared as a guest on 5live sport punditry show ''
Fighting Talk'' hosted by
Colin Murray. His appearances have been a highlight on the show.
''Weekenders'' mix album
''Weekenders'' is a
DJ mix album mixed by Steve Lamacq and released by
London Records
London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...
in 1996. It has a dance and indie-
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
feel rolled into one with Britpop tracks such as Pulp's "
Common People" and Blur's "
Girls & Boys" alongside tracks by electronica artists such as The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy and Orbital.
References
External links
*
''Steve Lamacq''(BBC Radio 6 Music)
''Steve Lamacq's Roundtable''(BBC Radio 6 Music)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamacq, Steve
1964 births
Alumni of Harlow College
BBC Radio 1 presenters
BBC Radio 6 Music presenters
Living people
English music journalists
English radio DJs
NME writers
Melody Maker writers
People from Islington (district)
Pirate radio personalities
People from Braintree District