Aircheck Tracker
Thanks go to Mark Bennett from Alvaston, Derby who originally contacted us to say he'd found Richard Skinner.
Thanks also go to Tom Hourigan for supplying further profile information in August 2003 and again in July 2004.
Profile: Richard Skinner. Richard was born in Portsmouth and studied at one of the city's grammar
schools. An interest in broadcasting developed whilst he was a reporter /
print journalist on
the Portsmouth News and he became a founder member of the local hospital broadcasting service -
a station which still exists today. In 1971, he started working full time
for the BBC as a station assistant on BBC Radio Solent - working as a
newsreader, presenter and producer of pop music shows.
From there he joined the Newsbeat Team on BBC
Radio 1 in 1973, after being 'headhunted', presenting bulletins and
entertainment news features. He became a presenter on the station in 1979,
going on to introduce the programmes 'Roundtable', which looked at the week's new record
releases, and 'Rock On', which featured music, news, interviews and full
coverage of the national and international rock scene. His
responsibilities also included narrating documentaries, researching and
presenting profiles on the pop stars of the day, some of which included full
length interviews. Other shows to be fronted by Richard include the
'Saturday Sequence', Radio
1's first Midnight to 2am slot (produced as well as presented), 'The
Beeb's Lost Beatle Tapes' which received a Sony Award, and a series of outside
broadcasts including the Reading Festival, Donington's Monsters Of Rock, and
Eric Clapton live at the Royal Albert Hall.
Richard was a Radio 1 station regular for many years, spending a lot of time on recording interviews and documentaries about bands, groups and artists, and was a key face during the BBC's coverage of Live Aid in 1985, and the host of numerous editions of "Top Of The Pops". However, he also presented mainstream Radio 1 programming - filling in for Bruno Brookes & Tommy Vance on the Radio 1 Top 40, and hosted the show himself from 1984 to 1986.
A move to commercial radio beckoned in 1986 and he joined London's Capital Radio as presenter of the rock show as well as the news programme 'The Way It Is' - his stint with the station lasting until 1988 when he returned to Radio 1. In 1992, he switched to London's BBC GLR, to present a mix of music, both recorded and live, and a range of live interviews featuring most people from pop to politics.
From there, in 1993, Richard was poached by Virgin 1215 to help launch the UK's first national radio station in years. As Joint Programme Controller, Richard certainly had a great deal of influence in the choice of presenters - many being old friends from his GLR days (Tommy Vance, Jono Coleman and Nick Abbot to name a few). He had responsibility for music programming at the station to, and slotted in as a presenter on the morning show. Richard was also the first voice (after Richard Branson) on the station on its launch day on 30th April 1993 - and left later the same year, after "launching one of the most successful adult radio stations in the UK".
After a stint at Liberty Radio,
Richard arrived at Melody FM 105.4 in 1997, a station then owned by
Hanson PLC, presenting mid-mornings. Richard was one of the only
presenters who survived the Melody-Magic conversion - following the
station's purchase from Lord Hanson by EMAP.
In December 2001, it was decided that the other Magic stations across the UK
would take Richard's mid-morning show as well as Magic 105.4 in London -
however, after just 14 months of networking, this was reversed in January
2003. Richard went on to present further shows on Magic 105.4 - but
London-only shows, weekday mornings, 10am-2pm, as well as Saturday breakfast, 7am-12am, and
the station's own chart, the Magic Countdown, Sunday evenings from 8pm.
In September 2003, Tom Hourigan
reported:
'It's a shock - EMAP
have now confirmed Richard Skinner has
left - in my opinion, Magic's finest presenter by a long shot -
the situation was a little strange - the Thursday before the Bank Holiday
(August 2003), he didn't turn up - Graham Dene on the breakfast
show sounded lost for words, having to fill an extra hour, and then two ours of
continuous music - the whole thing sounded very sudden. However, Richard
did return over the Bank Holiday weekend - but Bank Holiday Monday was his last
show. Gary Vincent of GWR
fame, took over in an all-new schedule, which was rearranged to fit in
an extra show. I once found a tape today of Richard recorded just 12 months
previous, in which he was allowed
to actually have content in his links - he sounded relaxed, comfortable, and was
very amusing. Then, after networking ceased, and Magic 105.4
adopted the "less talk, more music" policy, he was far more confined
in what he could say. Since the station's initial launch in 1990, Melody
FM/Magic has always had the on-air presenter reading the news, but since
September 2003, newsreaders have been recruited in a move which breaks a 14 year habit - so
Richard would have literally been linking every time with "less talk, more
music, this is Magic 105.4" a few times an hour - I think
that's probably why he left - he wasn't getting any enjoyment out of it anymore.'
Richard has also done some considerable television work. He was an on-screen continuity announcer for Thames TV from 1978 to 1980, and then spent 10 years on BBC TV on shows such as "Top Of The Pops", "Whistle Test", we've already referred to his appearance as a live host on 'Live Aid, but he also worked in a similar capacity at the Mandela Concerts staged at Wembley Stadium. For BBC1, he's been a reporter for the 'Entertainment' series, whilst over on BBC, he's carried out a series on 60minute interviews with the likes of Bryan Ferry, Joni Mitchell and Sir Paul McCartney.
Whereabouts: As he did with the original national AM station, Richard launched DAB station Virgin Classic Rock in London and on-line on Friday 28 May 2004, at 12.15pm. Richard found some familiar feet once more, and he's appearing Monday to Saturday mornings inclusive from 8:00am-12:00noon. Richard is also presenting Saturday mornings, 10am-1pm and the Sunday afternoon chart show on Wave 105 on the South Coast in Hampshire.