SATURDAY 10AM – MIDDAY
So…. where did it all start?
It was all his Mum’s fault really. Not only did she bombard him growing up with the sounds of The Drifters, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and The Supremes, but she also got him his first gig on Hospital Radio Erith in Kent where she happened to work (It’s not what you know… :-). Helping a mate with a school disco eventually led to nightclubs in the early 80’s, taking up residencies at Sinatra’s in Croydon, BIBA’s in Bromley, T’s in Erith, The Darenth Tavern and a regular for special soul events at The Woodville Halls in Gravesend, where he first met some of his biggest hero’s, Froggy, Robbie Vincent & Chris Hill.
In 1984, Marc took up an offer to move to the Canary Islands and had various residencies in a variety of bars & clubs over the next 5 years. Starting with Jack Daniels (how apt), The Garage, Pasha and Chic nightclubs, he also covered DJ holiday’s at Pasha in Ibiza. He went on to produce and present radio shows on Radio Canarias occasionally, which intern led to “by far” his favourite gig EVER! He had the pleasure of not only warming up for, but also meeting and interviewing “The Godfather of Soul” James Brown.
Moving back to the UK in 1990, Marc promoted club nights, the most successful being The Soul Base at the Frontier post in Bexleyheath and Jazz Juice at The Jazz Bistro in Farringdon, London. All of which, Marc was the resident DJ for. During this time, He worked with and struck up friendships with the likes of Dr Bob Jones, Fat Freddy M, Dave Morrison, Graham Gold, Judge Jules & especially DJ Bigger who owned Rhythm & Bass Records of Barking. He’s also “performed” to huge crowds at events such as BUG Jam at Santa Pod Raceway, warming up for Kenny Thomas and Junior Giscombe. Through DJ Bigger, he also started presented various radio shows on Active FM. He was resident DJ for Kiss FM at club 8090 in London’s West End for a total of 5 years and headlined at numerous Soul/R’n’B clubs across the country on behalf of Kiss & Active FM including, Rubber Soul in Cambridge, Rumpshaker in Newcastle, Caister Weekender, Bump & Hustle in Bournemouth and The Southport Dance Music Weekender. He also started to voice over adverts for various radio groups including Kiss FM & Capital Radio, also some major record labels including Beechwood & EMI, not only voicing ad campaigns, but helping to compile and supply the mix CD’s for the “This is R’n’B” series.
In 1998, Active FM won the licence to broadcast legally across East London & Essex and Marc was asked to present the weekend breakfast and weekday Drive Time slots on a full time basis. He also freelanced on various occasions as a Travel News Presenter for Metro Travel and subsequently NRT under the direction of Rob Byrne, providing bulletins for radio stations across the country and The National Granada Services Network. In November of that year, he was promoted to Programme controller and finally Programme Director, reporting directly to the station Managing Director. In October 2001, whilst still producing and presenting the drive time show, he took on the role of Acting Station Manager.
In 2003 he decided to hang up the headphones for a while and studied “The Knowledge of London” to become a Licensed London Taxi Driver. The radio bug never really left him though and to keep his finger on the pulse, he produced and presented a monthly show for Solar Radio in London.
