Mark Goodier

Goodier in July 2011

Mark Goodier (born 9 June 1961) is a British radio disc jockey who appeared on BBC Radio 1 between 1987 and 2002. He had two spells presenting the station's Top 40 singles chart, from 1990 to 1992 and from 1995 until 2002, and also temporarily presented the Breakfast Show during 1993. He has also presented shows on BBC Radio 2, Classic FM, 102.2 Smooth Radio and Real Radio, and appeared on BBC television as a recurring presenter of Top of the Pops between 1988 and 1996.

Early career

Mark Goodier was born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). His family moved to Llanfairfechan, Wales shortly after he was born, eventually settling in Edinburgh, Scotland when he was 8 years old.^[1] He was educated at George Heriot's School, in Edinburgh. He became a mobile DJ in Edinburgh and then joined a local Free Radio Station (Telstar) where his radio career began. Afterwards went on to join a local station Radio Forth at the age of 19.^[1] After progressing through several jobs at stations in Scotland including Radio Clyde in Glasgow and at Metro Radio in the North East of England, he joined BBC Radio 1 in 1987, beginning a 15-year stint with the station, beginning with a two-hour Saturday night show.

Radio 1

Goodier co-presented the Liz & Mark weekend breakfast show (with Liz Kershaw), and he quickly progressed to a drivetime slot. He created The Evening Session and hosted between 1990 and 1993. During this period, he also presented the UK Top 40 chart countdown on Sunday evenings and was also an established host on Top of the Pops along several of his Radio 1 colleagues.

Many acclaimed bands and artists recorded sessions for Goodier at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios, some of which were commercially released. In 1992, Nirvana's "odds-and-sods" release, Incesticide, featured several songs recorded for Goodier's BBC show. The album reached the top 40 on both sides of the Atlantic and achieved Platinum status in America. A further session recording was "Something in the Way", released on the 2011 edition of Nevermind.

When Simon Mayo left The Radio 1 Breakfast Show in 1993, Radio 1 boss Matthew Bannister approached Steve Wright to take over the slot. Wright said that he would not do so immediately after Mayo, and Bannister asked Goodier to stand in as host for four months in late 1993. He then shifted to afternoons, then back to his old drivetime slot in 1995. In the same year, he returned to the chart show after Bruno Brookes left the station.

In 1997, Goodier took on a Saturday and Sunday morning slot after quitting daily radio to establish his production company, Wise Buddah. He spent his final two years at Radio 1 only presenting the Top 40 show, before leaving the station entirely in 2002 owing to falling audiences and BBC bosses considering him "too old for the job."^[2][3][4] Goodier's final show was broadcast on 17 November that year, which also marked the 50th anniversary of the UK singles chart.

After Radio 1

After leaving Radio 1, Goodier presented the Emap-produced Smash Hits Chart, which competed with Radio 1's official chart and hit40uk. The Smash Hits Chart finished in March 2006, when Emap also began to broadcast the hit40uk chart show across their Big City Network of stations. He also presented the Classical Chart for Classic FM. He was a frequent stand-in on BBC Radio 2 when regular presenters were on leave.

On 1 April 2006, his new Real Top 40 shows began on the Real Radio network in Scotland, Wales and Yorkshire. Each show reflected sales and airplay for that area.

Mark Goodier is featured in a podcast promoting the "Top of the Pops" boxset alongside Miles Leonard, Malcolm McLaren and David Hepworth.

In March 2007, Goodier joined the newly relaunched Smooth Radio in London, as presenter of the weekday mid-morning show from 10am-1pm, his first daily show in a decade, and subsequently this show was networked to other Smooth stations and then on the national Smooth service.^[5] He left the station in December 2012 to focus on his company 'Wise Buddah'.^[6] He provided cover on BBC Radio 2 for the last weeks of December 2012^[7] and November 2013, he sat in for Steve Wright in May and November 2015 and in February 2016. He also covered for Ken Bruce in December 2015. In late February 2016 it was announced that he would present Pick of the Pops for at least the next four weeks following the sacking of Tony Blackburn.^[8]

In addition, he is a voiceover artist for adverts which promote new CDs, in particular the Now That's What I Call Music! series, of which he has been "the voice" since Now 21 which was released in 1992. He has also hosted the Blackpool Illuminations Switch on Concert for two years on Real Radio and Smooth Radio. In June 2012, Goodier joined Spectrum FM, the English language music station in the Costa del Sol, Spain, to present a weekly Saturday morning show.

He is a Fellow of The Radio Academy.^[9]

References

1. Weatherall, Robert (6 January 2008). "Ask: Mark Goodier". Sunday Sun. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
2. "… Radio 1 denied he has been fired because of falling listener figures, saying his contract is coming to an end.""DJ Goodier leaves Radio 1". Entertainment News (BBC News). 15 August 2002. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
3. "… station bosses want to replace him with someone younger, who will be more in tune with its target audience of 15 to 24-year-olds." Day, Julia (15 August 2005). "Countdown begins for Goodier's departure". Media Guardian (Guardian News and Media). Retrieved 18 May 2009.
4. "Mark Goodier is leaving Radio 1's weekly chart show after 15 years because he is considered too old for the job." Gray, Chris (16 August 2002). "Goodier drops out of the charts". The Independent. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
5. Plunkett, John (23 August 2007). "Goodier Smooth show will be networked". Media Guardian (Guardian News and Media). Retrieved 18 May 2009.
6. "Presenter Mark Goodier leaves Smooth Radio". Radio Today. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
7. "Mark Goodier joins Radio 2 for Christmas". Radio Today. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
8. "Mark Goodier to present Pick of the Pops". Radio Today. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
9. "Fellows" The Radio Academy

External links

• Mark Goodier at the Internet Movie Database
• Profile at MediaUK
• A brief biography
• Mark's profile at Wise Buddah