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Profile: Graham Mack: Graham was born in Liverpool, and grew up 15 miles outside of the City, in Great Sankey, near Warrington. He went to school at Penketh High School and left, aged 16 with one 'O' level and a 'D' grade in Technical Science.
As all budding radio presenters do, Graham spent hours recording, editing and writing - but his parents had other ideas about what he should do, and convinced him that he REALLY wanted to be an electrician. His comical nature meant a lot of clowning around in the job - he was sacked after one year and haaving taken £30 per week for all his entertainment at least!. But the handyman vein continued with his second job - at Warrington Tool Hire, where he spent time chipping away at solid concrete on cement mixers and removing the muck of rotovators. He got £37 a week.
His parents had got their fill of the UK by around the end of Graham's first job at the Tool Hire company, and emigrated to New Zealand - Graham turned down a possible 'promotion' to chain saw cleaning and moved with his folks to the other side of the world. There he got a job as an fitter's mate on an oil refinery construction site. Here he was required to fetch and carry stuff and working on an angle grinder. A few months had passed when the site foreman asked Graham if he'd like to be pipe fitter. He accepted, and graduated after almost six weeks at the site's 'pipe-school'. He then got his own tools and an assistant of his own and spent three happy years helping to build the country's only oil refinery.
When the construction had finished, he got the job of 'steam fitter' with the site's maintenance crew. He then did a refrigeration correspondence course and after six-months, declared himself as a 'Heating, Venting and Air-Conditioning Engineer'. After another four years, with new qualifications...and a New Zealand wife called Julie, he moved to Sydney, Australia and got a job with an air-conditioning contractor, working on high rise blocks in the city. Whilst driving home from work with the car radio on, he discovered he'd being doing the wrong jobs since he left school. He planned to start from the beginning.
He realised that, during his jobs, he'd been working on his communication skills - talking to various people along the way, about a variety of topics. With this skill, he was applied to the Australian Film, Television and Radio School at Macquarie University in Sydney, which only takes on 12 students a year and offers an intense education. To be accepted, he had to firstly write a 1000 word essay about himself - self-typed. But Graham didn't have computer or a typewriter, so, aided by a six-pack of Fosters, and his wife Julie, he visited somewhere he knew that did have the right kit, and rushed the finished article back to the school just in the nick of time for application closing time.
Shortly afterwards, he got a letter - stating that he'd made it through tthe first stage - next, he'd have to produce an audition tape. Luckily he was able to get studio time at 2SM in Sydney - he went along, ad-libbed with the assistance of a stop watch for timing purposes and presented some news and weather. When recording had finished, the tape was produced and handed over to post to the school - end of stage 2? Not exactly. Graham took the tape home to have a listen for himself first of all, and concluded it was awful - and that he had two choices - he could put the tape in as it was, and not get in - or cheat.
Graham decided to cheat - so he plugged an old microphone into his stereo, did the whole thing again Mack style, and put the tape in. This was the end of stage 2 because he later received another letter saying he'd passed through to stage 3 - a live audition and interview in front of the School's selection committee. Graham was scared stiff - baring in mind that he'd cheated his way through the first two stages and was worried that he might be found out. But all went well - and Graham was accepted into the School where he went through every aspect of the business - from writing and presenting news annd commercials, comedy and all the rest of the other bits. The School aim to have all students ready to roll in the real world the minute they leave.. Without any cheating, Graham came top of that year.
In August 1993, Graham left the school and got his first paid radio job at the commercial radio station 2PK presenting the afternoon show from 2pm - 7pm for the 9,500 people of the small outback town of Parkes, situated five hours west of Sydney in New South Wales. A year later he moved time-zones and states, 1200 miles away presenting Breakfast at 5SE in Mount Gambier, South Australia where he spent another twelve months.
Then, Graham was on the move again, this time to the East Coast to present 7pm-Midnight on 2GO on the South Wales Central Coast - here, he was competing with 20 other radio stations in the market - and beat them all in the audience ratings. Like all boomerangs thrown properly, Graham came back to where he was originally - the UK - presenting on Bournemouth's 2CR for 18 months as their Breakfast Show jock from February 1997 to August 1998.. He then moved to the North East's Century station for six months on Afternoons, then three unsettled years at BRMB in Birmingham on mid-mornings 9am-Noon under Capital Radio's management. Here, he presented one of his best on-air moments - this was around the time when the oowners of Rover Cars, BMW, threatened to close the Longbridge factory - so Graham called the company's Munich HQ and swore at the man in charge - in German! Whilst working in this morning slot, so close, but yet so far from it, he realised he missed the Breakfast Show - and told his bosses so.
Eventually, a slot on their recently acquired East Midlands regional station 106 Century FM became available - Graham applied and got the job - taking over from previous jocks, Steve Jordan, Sean Goldsmith and Ian Skye. Graham took over the Breakfast Show, and launched 'The Mack Attack', from January 14th 2002. During the early part of December 2003, an AIRCHECK correspondent e-mailed us to say they'd heard a fairly likely rumour that Graham's contract would not be renewed at the end of 2003. Sure enough, without a word of 'by your leave', as of Monday 8th December 2003, the Mack was no more - no station announcements, no reason, no nothing. No more ribbing of the GWR opposition with the 'Itchy & Scratchy' jibes! And so, another presenter disappears from what is probably the most unsafe radio slot in the country, if not, certainly the Midlands.
This tracker page was viewed 222 times in December 2003 alone by visitors to the Tracker all keen to find out what had happened to Graham. This is believed to be a site record - the hits saw Graham move up five places from 10 to 5 on the Tracker Chart. These visits were generated as fans of Graham searched for his new whereabouts after his demise from the 106 Century FM schedules. Apart from Graham's site (see below), it's believed AIRCHECK was the first site to confirm Graham's return to Bournemouth's GWR station 2CR in the New Year of 2004 to front their Breakfast Show. Remember, you read about the move here first! The move is kind of ironic really, as it was owning company GWR that were the butt of jokes for the local Breakfast Shows whilst Graham was at Century.
Whereabouts: For and from January 2004, Graham has returned to Bournemouth where he fronted the 2CR Breakfast Show as detailed above. For his return, he's the station controller as well as Breakfast Show presenter from 6am each weekday. Speaking about his return, Graham said: "Last time I did the Breakfast Show at 2CR FM it was a lot of fun. This time I'm going to be the boss as well. Hey, if I'm going to work for an idiot, it might as well be me!"
Let the Mack Attack hit your
computer ... www.mackmedia.co.uk
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