Bbc's Marc Riley Nominated For Sony Award

Two sides of Marc Riley, ultra-cool and fake-tanned DJ at Glastonbury with Rufus Wainwright, and
the nerdy but well-respected plane spotter once questioned by authorities for being a military spy!

I am a DJ, I am what I play...

Our warmest and heartfelt congratulations from everyone here at DavidBowie.com to BBC DJ Marc Riley who has been nominated for a prestigious Sony Radio Academy Award. The awards are generally considered to be the broadcasting equivalent of The Oscars.

Marc has been nominated in the category of Music Radio Personality Of The Year. Here's the full list of nominees for the category:

Music radio personality of the year
Chris Evans - BBC Radio 2
Jamie Theakston - London's Heart 106.2
Lauren Laverne - Xfm
Marc Riley - BBC 6 Music
Tim Lovejoy - Virgin Radio

Regular visitors to these pages will be very familiar with just how Bowie-friendly Marc's various radio shows have been, not least of all Rocket Science and Mint which he currently hosts on the BBC's 6 Music.

I'm lucky enough to count Marc as a true friend, so I knew exactly where he'd be when I asked him about the nomination over a crackly connection from an undisclosed air-field where he was adding to his already impressive collection of various flying machines.

Marc was typically self-effacing: "When I heard I had been nominated I was more surprised than anybody. Obviously I don't expect to win, but even fifth of five will do me. It's just great to have made the list of nominees." Well, we won't jinx him with any predictions, but he certainly deserves to win.

Of course Marc is no stranger to Sony awards. As half of Radio 1's Mark and Lard team he won Sony Gold for Daytime Award - Music in 1998, in 1999 Sony Gold for Daytime Music and in 2001 Sony Gold for Music Programming - Daily Sequence, though this is the first time that either of the DJs have been nominated for a Sony since they went their separate ways.

Don't forget you can tune in twice a week to find out for yourself just why Marc Riley is so deserving of this award, or you can hear him online whenever you want by using the listen again feature. Click on aforementioned links to tune in.

Whatever the eventual outcome of the award, good luck to you Marc and thanx for your ceaseless quest to keep the Bowie flag flying on the BBC.