Mike Read

Mike Read was born in 1951 in Manchester and began his show business career singing and playing guitar in local pubs. He moved to Surrey, did hospital radio, then co-hosted a show on Thames Valley Radio with Steve Wright before moving to Radio Luxembourg.

Radio Career

Mike joined Radio 1 in November 1978, presenting a Saturday evening show and becoming one of the hosts of Top of the Pops. He then presented the Radio 1 Breakfast Show for five years until 1986. After Radio 1 he moved to Capital Gold, then to Magic Radio 999 in 2004, and presented the afternoon show on BBC Radio Berkshire until March 2015.

Writing & Publishing

Mike has written the music, lyrics and book for six stage musicals including Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol. Songs recorded by Cliff Richard, Don McLean and David Essex among others. He is one of the founder editors of the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and author of "Major to Minor: The Rise and Fall of the Songwriters".

Television

In January 2004 Mike took part in I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! In April 2010 he appeared on Heston's Feasts (C4). He presented Tin Pan Alley on Showbiz TV in 2016 — a series searching for new songwriters.