Robert Brinley Joseph Harris (born 11 April 1946), popularly known as "Whispering Bob" Harris, is an English music presenter known for being a host of the BBC2 music programme '' The Old Grey Whistle Test'', and as a co-founder of the listings magazine ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

''. Harris has been broadcasting on the BBC for 50 years and has been recognised with the

Americana Music Association The Americana Music Association is a not-for-profit trade organization advocating for American Roots Music around the world. It is a network for Americana artists, radio stations, record labels, publishers, and others with the goal of develo ...

of America Trailblazer Award, a UK Heritage Award, and a MOJO Medal, as well as his OBE for services to broadcasting.

Early life

Born on 11 April 1946 in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It ...

, England, Harris first followed in his father's footsteps and joined Northamptonshire Police as a

cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

for two years. Harris's father was from Pontardawe in

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. He then helped found ''

'' magazine, as co-editor. Years later, he still refers to himself as "a journalist who can broadcast".''Old Grey Whistle Test'' DVD Vol 3; Bob Harris speaking before Track 3

Career

Early career

He began at

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...

in 1970 where he hosted the original incarnation of '' Sounds of the Seventies'' until 1975. ''Sounds of the Seventies'' was initially an hour long, broadcasting from 6 to 7 pm on Monday evenings. The next year, it was expanded to two hours and moved to 10 pm to midnight, still on Mondays. In January 1975, the show was axed due to BBC cutbacks. Harris then went on to present shows for Radio Luxembourg in 197577. In 1977, he joined

Radio 210 Heart Berkshire (formerly 2-Ten FM) was an Independent Local Radio station, serving Berkshire and North Hampshire from studios in Reading. About Launched as Radio 210 (Two-One-Oh), the station commenced broadcasting in March 1976 on its mediu ...

, firstly presenting a Saturday afternoon sports show. He then presented many shows at the weekend, such as Friday nights from 9 pm and Saturdays and Sundays 10 am2 pm and 9 pm1 am. He left the station for a few months in 1978 due to ill health, but came back in 1979 to present a Friday evening rock show from 9 pm to 1 am and weekend afternoons 124 pm. He was also head of music and presentation.

''The Old Grey Whistle Test''

Harris also presented '' The Old Grey Whistle Test''

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...

show on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

from 1972 until December 1979. His first appearance on the show was as chair of a debate on the Night Assemblies Bill, based on his experience as a journalist and at the invitation of producer Richard Williams. Shortly afterwards he was invited to be the main presenter. His velvety voice and quiet delivery earned him his enduring nickname. His

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

-style beard and laid-back presentation made him a favourite target for

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

, most notably by Eric Idle on the 1970s BBC comedy show ''

Rutland Weekend Television ''Rutland Weekend Television'' (''RWT'') was a television sketch show on BBC2, written by Eric Idle with music by Neil Innes. Two series were broadcast, the first consisting of six episodes in 1975, and the second series of seven episodes i ...

''. Harris later became notorious among the younger generation for distancing himself on air from

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone ...

's first performance on the show and deriding the New York Dolls as "mock rock". In the summer of 1974, Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood included Harris ("or the Sniffing Whistler as we know him") on a "Hates" list on their "You're going to wake up one morning and find out which side of the bed you've been lying on" T-shirt. In early 1977, at the Speakeasy (a London nightclub popular with rock stars of the day) Sex Pistols' fan and subsequent bass player Sid Vicious threatened Harris over whether the Pistols would appear on the ''Old Grey Whistle Test''.

1980s

1981 saw Harris move to BBC Radio Oxford, presenting the weekday afternoon show 35 pm taking over from Timmy Mallett. He remained there until 1984. He then joined London's

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadcast ...

Radio Station, presenting a weekly half-hour music review and also joined GWR, where he did shows on Saturday lunchtimes and Sunday afternoons. From October 1984, Harris was heard on

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

's Radio Broadland, presenting a Saturday evening show, and on a Sunday afternoon show on Hereward FM in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...

. At the same time he was still continuing with his half-hour music review on

and was recording shows for GWR. In 1986, he was offered the ''Weekend Nightline'' phone-in on

every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 10 pm1 am, which he hosted until 1989. He was heard on

BFBS The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselv ...

from 1986 to 1998 and on the UK Independent Local Radio sustaining service, The Superstation.

Return to BBC Radio 1

Harris rejoined

in 1989, standing in for Richard Skinner for two weeks on the weekday 122 am slot, before being offered his own weekly show on Sunday nights from 11 pm to 2 am later that year following the death of Roger Scott. Harris then took over the weekday 122am slot from April 1990, which then became 124 am when Radio 1 started broadcasting 24 hours a day on 1 May 1991.

Move to BBC Radio London

Harris left BBC Radio 1 in October 1993 as he, along with many other Radio 1 DJs, was felt not to fit in with the changes being made by new controller Matthew Bannister.

Lynn Parsons Lynn Margaret Parsons (born 27 June 1961) is a British disc jockey. Career Having graduated from college with an OND in electronic principles, Parsons started her career working in the television industry, where she was a sound engineer and l ...

took over his 124 am slot, although he continued to present occasional documentaries for some time afterwards. In summer 1994, Harris moved to BBC Radio London, 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 BBC Radio London's Monday-Wednesday evening shows.

Return to national radio

In spring 1997, Harris returned to the national airwaves, this time 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 took up an 11 pm1 am 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 6 pm. 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, from 8 April 1999, and his Saturday night show then went out from 10pm to 1am. From April 2006, his Saturday show moved to an 11pm2am slot, and moved back another hour from 4 April 2010, meaning it aired early Sunday mornings from midnight to 3am. From October 2014 till January 2017, the show was on from 3 am to 6 am on Sundays. In February 2017, his Sunday show moved back to midnight to 3am. However, on 26 March 2017, Harris presented his last weekend Sunday early morning show on Radio 2 due to major changes to the weekend schedule. The final song played was ''When You Come To The End Of A Lollipop'' by

Max Bygraves Walter William Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012), best known by the stage name Max Bygraves (adopted in honour of Max Miller), was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, s ...

. ''Bob Harris Country'' continues on Thursdays currently 9pm. On 9 January 2022, Harris started a weekly show on Boom Radio, sponsored by Find My Past, which explored how songs link together with other tracks. The hour long programme was broadcast on Sunday nights from 9pm and repeated on Wednesdays. The series ended its run on 27 February. On 10 January 2022, Harris announced he was returning to the ''Sounds of the 70s'' programme after more than 50 years away by sitting in for Johnnie Walker on the episodes to be broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on the 16 and 23 January.

Other work

In addition to his Radio 2 programmes, in 2002 Harris became an original presenter on the newly launched digital station BBC Radio 6 Music, presenting a Sunday-evening show from 5 to 8 pm. He left 6 Music in 2004. He soon went on to present a new show on Radio 2 which broadcast on Friday nights/Saturday mornings from midnight to 3 am. He was replaced in this slot by

Mark Lamarr Mark Lamarr (born Mark Jones, 7 January 1967) is an English comedian, writer, radio DJ, and television presenter. He was a team captain on '' Shooting Stars'' from 1995 to 1997, and hosted '' Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' from 1996 to 2005. Early l ...

, but returned to it temporarily, when Lamarr left the BBC at the end of 2010. The end of the Friday show has allowed Harris to concentrate more on producing one-off shows such as the ''Maple Leaf Revolution'' under the auspices of the Whispering Bob Broadcasting Company. He was the subject of ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' in 2003 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel at BBC Broadcasting House. Harris was heard covering for Chris Evans on Radio 2 drivetime over the festive holiday 200708 and 200809. Harris has presented the C2C: Country to Country festival live from

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the ...

in London every year since its inception in 2013 and simultaneously broadcasts over

BBC Radio 2 Country BBC Radio 2 Country was a pop-up DAB service from the BBC which launched at 12:00 on Thursday 5 March 2015. The station covered the Country2Country Festival and was on air for the festival's duration. On its debut, the station broadcast for tw ...

which was first established in 2015, the same year when Harris was given his own stage to present at the festival. This stage, the Under the Apple Tree stage, formed the basis for his own Under the Apple Tree festival which will first take place in 2016. Harris has been credited by John Thomson as the inspiration for his '' The Fast Show'' character Louis Balfour, who comperes "Jazz Club" and whose softly spoken delivery echoes Harris' "unshakeable enthusiasm" on ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. In 2018 Harris made a cameo appearance in Tom Harper's country music drama film '' Wild Rose''. In 2018 Harris joined 26 other celebrities at

Metropolis Studios Metropolis Studios is a music production and entertainment industry company established in 1989 by Gary Langan, Carey Taylor and Karin Clayton.Donald Brackett It is located in the Powerhouse, a Grade II listed building, at 70 Chiswick High ...

, to perform the original Christmas song " Rock With Rudolph", written and produced by Grahame and Jack Corbyn. The song was created in aid of

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospita ...

and was released digitally on independent record label Saga Entertainment on 30 November 2018. The music video debuted exclusively with '' The Sun'' on 29 November 2018 and had its first TV showing on '' Good Morning Britain'' on 30 November 2018. The song peaked at number two on the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

pop chart.

Personal life

Harris has eight children and six granddaughters. Harris married Trudie Myerscough who is also his manager, in 1991. She is the mother of his three youngest children. Harris lives in

Steventon, Oxfordshire Steventon is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, about south of Abingdon and a similar distance west of Didcot. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded ...

. In 2007, Harris was diagnosed with prostate cancer, for which he was treated with

hormone therapy Hormone therapy or hormonal therapy is the use of hormones in medical treatment. Treatment with hormone antagonists may also be referred to as hormonal therapy or antihormone therapy. The most general classes of hormone therapy are oncologic ho ...

and

radiotherapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Rad ...

. In May 2019 it was announced that Harris would take a break from his

presenting for a while, after suffering an aortic dissection (having undergone a tear to his aorta while walking 10 days previously). He returned to Radio 2 on 19 September 2019.

Awards

*Honorary Fellowship from the School of the Arts, Northampton University. *Sony Radio Academy Awards 2009 – Silver for ''The Sandy Denny Story: Who Knows Where The Time Goes'' *Sony Radio Academy Awards 2008 – Silver for ''The Day John Met Paul'' *CMA International Broadcaster of the Year 2004. * 2011 ] Mojo Awards, Mojo Medal * Harris was awarded the Trailblazer Award by the

in 2011. *Harris was appointed Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to music broadcasting. *On the red carpet of the 2012

CMA awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony ...

, Harris was awarded the CMA Wesley Rose International Media Achievement Award by Little Big Town. *In 2013, Harris won his second CMA International Broadcaster of the Year Award. *On the last day of the 2016 Country to Country festival, Harris was awarded his second CMA Wesley Rose International Media Achievement Award by Kacey Musgraves. *On Day 2 of C2C 2017, Kristian Bush surprised Harris with the CMA International Broadcaster of the Year Award.

Books

* *

References

External links

*
Official archive website''The Country Show with Bob Harris''
(BBC Radio 2)
The Whispering Bob Broadcasting Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Bob Living people 1946 births BBC Radio 1 presenters BBC Radio 2 presenters BBC Radio 6 Music presenters BBC television presenters English male journalists English people of Welsh descent English radio DJs English television presenters Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Northampton Record collectors