Thank You for the Days: A Boy's Own Adventures in Radio and Beyond - Softcover

"With self-effacing charm, a keen eye for a joke and John Peel-esque adulation for great music, he tells us about how he met Tony Blair dressed as a Victorian undertaker, and how Paul McCartney told him that before he had words for "Yesterday" he sang the opening beats as "scrambled eggs." He remembers being Shane McGowan on "Stars In Their Eyes" and reflects on why Keith Richards might just be more rock'n'roll than Mick Jagger. Entertaining and touching yarns unfold within yarns." --"London Lite" "Radcliffe's blunt, unfussy prose very much captures the spirit of what makes him such an enticing proposition on the radio: that ability to ramble whilst remaining both funny and compelling." --"The List" "An amiable wander through the interesting bits of Mark Radcliffe's life, loosely linked by the theme of music... There are some good anecdotes, such as the time Mick Jagger stood on tiptoe just as a photo was taken, so as to appear taller than Radcliffe." --"Independent on Sunday"

Approaching 50, Mark Radcliffe decided to write about his life, most importantly, his time in music. But crucially, he only wanted to write about the most interesting days and not the dull ones in between. With predictable good taste, Mark takes his title from the Kinks' song and has written an entertaining, funny book worthy of such a pedigree. Mark's family life is covered by 'The Day My Mother Hit Me With a Golf Club' , his school life by 'The Day I Ruined a Perfectly Good Suit' and 'The Day I Got My First Guitar'; through his epiphany of the power of music in 'The Day I Met the Band Who Changed My Life' and his star struck meeting with childhood hero, David Bowie. Many other stars are covered too, for example in 'The Day I Went to Kate Bush's House for Cheese Flan', and 'The Day Mick Jagger Was Taller Than Me'. He's very funny when recounting his days working at the BBC in '80s and '90s (how, when bored, he and colleagues invented a fictional department), winning Stars in Their Eyes as Shane MacGowan and so on. Yet, among the laughter are more sober days, such as the one when he learned John Peel had died. A cracking read and a potted history of both one man's life and his love affair with music, THANK YOU FOR THE DAYS is a uniquely entertaining memoir that will appeal not just to music fans but to connoisseurs of British popular culture.