Richard Blade (born Richard Thomas Sheppard; May 23, 1952 in

Bristol, England Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

) is a British-American

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

-based radio, television, and film personality from

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He is best known for his radio programs that feature new wave and popular music from the 1980s. He was a disc jockey at KROQ in Los Angeles from 1982 to 2000 and has been a host for

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sa ...

's 1st Wave

classic alternative Classic alternative is a radio format focusing on alternative music from the late 1970s to early 1990s, with particular focus on the early days of MTV. Typical genres * New wave: A major part of this category, especially early bands like The Ca ...

station since 2005.

Biography

Richard Thomas Sheppard attended

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, graduating in 1974, and worked as a club DJ known as "The Young Dick Sheppard" in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and Europe. He moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in 1976 where he continued his work as a club DJ, and served as a party DJ for celebrities in

. He began his radio career in 1980, initially working for stations in

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...

and

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporat ...

before joining

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The st ...

in 1982. He took a new name from the 1982 science fiction film, ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's ...

''. Within a few months of working in Los Angeles, Blade had become the #1

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging ...

-rated radio personality on the West Coast, and in 1982, he began to host a daily television program on

KCAL-TV KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). Both stations share studios at the CBS ...

called ''MV3'', which later became ''Video One''. In 1984, he created, produced and hosted ''VideoBeat'' for

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the s ...

. The weekly series ran for two years. Between 1991 and 2003, Blade hosted several music-related television programs, including ''

America's Top 10 ''America's Top 10'' (commonly abbreviated to ''AT10'') was a popular weekly syndicated music television chart show that began airing in 1980 and ran until 1992. The show was hosted by Casey Kasem throughout its run, with Charlie Tuna announci ...

'', which he took over from

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice No ...

, and audio music programs for in-flight entertainment produced by Sony Transcom. He hosted several "Flashback" radio programs on

, and was a frequent host at Los Angeles dance clubs on their ''KROQ Nights'', including the famous Palace Theatre, Hollywood. He appeared on the cover of a six-volume set of 1980s music compilations called ''Richard Blade's Flashback Favorites''. In 2000, he wrote the second-season finale for the UPN science fiction television series '' Seven Days'', titled "The Cure". Blade left KROQ in 2000 after 18 years at the influential radio station, and moved to St Maarten in the Caribbean, taking a two-year break from the industry to work on several writing projects. He moved back to Los Angeles in 2002 and returned to his career in radio and television. In June 2003, he consulted for

MTV Networks Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...

on the television program ''

Bands Reunited Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

'', then worked for VH1 as a writer and producer on both seasons of the series. In 2004, he returned to radio on Los Angeles station KYSR ( Star 98.7), originally as host of a Saturday night "Totally 80's" program and short features in the afternoon drive-time period. In 2006, when the station became more 1990s and current-based, the Saturday night program ended. In 2005, he left terrestrial radio and joined

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially lau ...

, where he began hosting a show on 1st Wave, a 1980s

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. Lat ...

channel. He can be heard on the channel weekdays from 3-9 PM eastern. Recently, Blade has taken over for Ray Rossi on '' The Pulse'' on weekends. In April 2006, he co-starred with Gabrielle Anwar and

Craig Sheffer Craig Eric Sheffer (born April 23, 1960) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his leading roles as Norman Maclean in the film ''A River Runs Through It (film), A River Runs Through It, ''Aaron Boone in the film ''Nightbreed' ...

in '' Long Lost Son'', which he wrote, shot on location in the Caribbean. It premiered on Lifetime in August 2006. Blade plays 1980s music on "Flashback Lunch" every weekday on Jack FM (

KCBS-FM KCBS-FM (93.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and broadcasts an adult hits music format branded as "93.1 Jack FM". Unlike most radio stations airing t ...

) in Los Angeles. His autobiography, ''World In My Eyes'', was released in November 2017. Blade released his second book, "The Lockdown Interviews" on November 18, 2021. It reached #5 in Biographies of Pop Artists, #10 in Punk Music (Kindle Store), and #16 in Biographies of Rock Bands.

Film and television appearances

Blade appeared in such television series as '' Square Pegs'' and ''

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

'' and appeared as a real contestant (as "Dick Sheppard") on such game shows as '' Win, Lose or Draw'' and ''

Card Sharks ''Card Sharks'' is an American television game show. It was created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson- Bill Todman Productions. The game features two contestants who attempt to predict the outcome of survey questions to gain control of a ro ...

'', winning $2,300 on the latter. He also appeared in several films, including ''

Girls Just Want to Have Fun "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a song written, recorded and performed by American musician Robert Hazard, who released it as a single in 1979. It is best known for the version of American singer Cyndi Lauper, who covered the song in 1983. It ...

'' (1985), ''

Depeche Mode 101 ''101'' is a live album and documentary film by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 13 March 1989 by Mute Records. It chronicles the final leg of the band's Music for the Masses Tour and the final show on 18 June 1988 at t ...

'', (1989), '' Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever'' (1990), and '' Spellcaster'' (1991). In August 2007, Blade made an appearance on the reality show '' Rock of Love''. He made regular cameo appearances on '' Glory Daze'', set at a college frat house in 1986.

Personal life

Blade lives in Southern California with his wife Krista, whom he wed around 2000. He became a United States citizen in 1988.

References

External links

Blade's personal websiteSirius Satellite Radio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blade, Richard American DJs American radio personalities American male film actors English DJs English radio personalities English male film actors People with acquired American citizenship Living people Mass media people from Torquay 1952 births