Bankrupt former Radio One DJ Mike Read selling 120,000 vinyl records and music ephemera
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Chiswick Auction House has been instructed to manage the sale of Mike Read’s entire record collection and music ephemera after the former Radio One DJ was declared bankrupt for a second time.
The collection of 120,000 vinyl records, with an estimated worth of ‘at least £1million’, and related ephemera is being talked about as the most exciting and important sale of its type ever to have been offered on the open market.
Read regularly attracted 17m listeners to his Radio One show in the 1980’s and is well known for his extensive record collection which reputedly takes up a whole wing of his West Sussex home.
Of particular note within the collection are over 100 Motown demos by artist such as Marvin Gaye and the Marvelettes, rare promo discs and numerous items signed by music legends.
Read's professional broadcasting career began in March 1976 at Reading's Radio 210, where he co-hosted a show with Steve Wright, before joining Radio Luxembourg late in 1977.
He joined BBC Radio One at the end of 1978 and was soon presenting the night time programme before John Peel's show, where he championed new groups and featured live sessions. He was one of the most popular Roadshow presenters during his time at the station and took over the Breakfast Show on Monday 5 January 1981. His tenure in that slot is chiefly remembered for his on-air decision in 1984 not to play the Frankie Goes to Hollywood single "Relax" due to supposedly obscene lyrics.
Read left Radio 1 in 1991 and moved to Capital Gold presenting his Mike Read Collection, which went out on a Sunday night, before taking on the weekday Drivetime show in mid-1992, where he remained until he left the station in late 1995.
He currently presents on weekday mornings between 5am - 7am on internet radio station Wight FM.
Read has won many 'broadcaster of the year' awards including Sonys, Smash Hits and Carl Allan Awards. Last month he was reported to be part of a team of veteran DJs forming a new radio station One Gold to rival the BBC.
November 3, 2009