Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...
), is an English disc jockey, currently working with
BBC Radio 6 Music
BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...
.
Lamacq was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(MBE) in the
2025 New Year Honours
The 2025 New Year Honours are appointments by King Charles III among the 15 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The ...
for services to broadcasting and to music venues.
Early life
Lamacq was born in
Bournemouth
Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
, and first lived in
Ferndown. He and his family later moved to the Essex village of
Colne Engaine and attended
The Ramsey Academy
The Ramsey Academy is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational secondary school with Academy (English school), academy status, located in Halstead, Essex, England.
History
In 1975 three local schools, including Earls Colne Grammar School, Halstead ...
from 1976, which had been formed the previous year from two
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
s.
Early career
Lamacq cites
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Meols, Merseyside in 1978 by Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals). Regarded as pioneers of electronic musi ...
's "wonderful" 1979 single "
Electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...
" as his inspiration to become a disc jockey, noting that he wanted to afford air time to similar, "curious" music. Prior to launching this career, he studied journalism at
Harlow College, Essex, and worked as a junior reporter at the ''West Essex Gazette''. In similar fashion to other music journalists who started fanzines during their teenage years, Lamacq started one called ''A Pack of Lies''.
During his time at ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' he began DJing on the
pirate radio
Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...
station
Q102, which would become
XFM. He formed a record label in 1992 with Alan James and Tony Smith, called
Deceptive Records. The majority of the label's releases shared a punk-pop sensibility, with
Elastica
Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by guitarist/singer Justine Frischmann and drummer Justin Welch after their departure from Suede. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave musi ...
being their most successful signing, before the label eventually folded in 2001.
Between 1995 and 1997, Lamacq occasionally presented ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'' on BBC One with fellow Radio 1 DJ
Jo Whiley.
In a 1996
Peel session
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...
by
Mogwai
Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogwa ...
, the fourth item on the track listing is '"Mogwai Salute The Brilliance Of Steve Lamacq".
Lamacq is a fan of
Colchester United
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...
. He visited their training ground for his 50th birthday where he trained as a goalkeeper, has written an autobiography, entitled ''Going Deaf for a Living'' and has also acted as a compere on the main stage at the Reading Festival on several occasions.
BBC Radio

In the early 1990s, Lamacq appeared regularly on the
Gary Crowley show, a three-hour Sunday afternoon indie music programme on the BBC station
GLR. Lamacq contributed the Gig Guide and the ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' Indie Top 20.
Radio 1
Between 1993 and 1997 Lamacq presented ''The Evening Session'' with
Jo Whiley, and then on his own until December 2002, when the programme was cancelled.
Colin Murray served as a temporary replacement for six months until
Zane Lowe
Alexander Zane Reed Lowe (born 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence through pr ...
's contract with the London station
XFM ended in June 2003, where he took up a permanent position. On 28 September 2007, both he and Whiley reunited to recreate ''The Evening Session'' on the latter's show as part of Radio 1's 40th Anniversary celebrations.
He also presented the
indie radio show ''Lamacq Live'' every Monday evening, beginning in July 1998 and ending on 18 September 2006. The show ended as part of a makeover in Radio 1's schedule to present a "younger image" to Radio One listeners, with Colin Murray taking over his slot.
Lamacq has also presented documentaries for the station, as well as hosting their ''
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...
Night'' special. He presented the ''In New Music We Trust'' programme every Monday night from 9 to 10pm until August 2009, when it was announced he would be leaving Radio 1 as part of a shakeup in the scheduling.
6 Music
Lamacq's homepage on the 6 Music website described ''Lamacq Live'' as "the UK's most influential indie radio show". He also has a programme on the BBC's digital station,
BBC Radio 6 Music
BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...
, which was on Sunday afternoons, but from April 2005 he presented the daily teatime show on BBC Radio 6 Music, taking over from
Andrew Collins.
In March 2010 it was announced that Lamacq and fellow Radio 1 presenter Jo Whiley would present a one-off Evening Session (the first in 13 years) on Good Friday (2 April) for BBC Radio 6 Music.
In 2016, Lamacq broadcast from the studios at
BBC Radio Humberside, as part of Radio 6 Music's Independent Venue Week tour. One night of the nationwide tour was hosted at
The New Adelphi Club in
Hull,
East Yorkshire, on 26 January 2016, with
Mark Morriss as the headline act.
On 1 September 2023, it was announced that Lamacq would stand down from his weekday drive time show and present a single weekly show on Monday called ''Steve Lamacq’s Teatime Session'' from January 2024.
[ ]
Radio 2 and other appearances
In addition to his regular 6 Music slot, he also presented a weekly show on
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
where he played his own choice of music and introduces his listeners to both new and emerging artists.
Beginning in April 2007, the show was originally broadcast on Wednesdays between 11:30pm and 12:30am and, from April 2008, between 11pm and 12am. At Easter 2010, as part of wider changes to the Radio 2 evening schedule,
Trevor Nelson
Trevor Ricardo Nelson, MBE (born 7 January 1964) is an English DJ and radio presenter. He is best known for presenting a range of shows across BBC Radio.
Early life
Born in Hackney to a family of St Lucian heritage, Nelson attended Centra ...
took over the Wednesday 11pm slot (having previously been on in the hour before Lamacq), with Lamacq moving to 11pm on Saturday nights. In April 2012, the show was renamed ''Steve Lamacq's Rock College'' and moved to a Thursday 11pm slot. Lamacq left regular presenting duties on Radio 2 in September 2013 as part of a reshuffle of evening presenters.
In 2007, he deputised for
Bob Harris on Saturdays from 11pm to 2am, who had to receive treatment for cancer.
He has also appeared as a guest on 5live sport punditry show ''
Fighting Talk'' hosted by
Colin Murray.
''Weekenders'' mix album
''Weekenders'' is a
DJ mix
A DJ mix or DJ mixset is a sequence of musical tracks typically beatmixing, mixed together by a Disc jockey, DJ to appear as one continuous track. DJ mixes are usually performed using a DJ mixer and multiple sounds sources, such as Phonograph, tur ...
album mixed by Steve Lamacq and released by
London Records
London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...
in 1996. It has a dance and indie-
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
feel rolled into one with Britpop tracks such as Pulp's "
Common People
A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neithe ...
" and Blur's "
Girls & Boys" alongside tracks by electronica artists such as The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy and Orbital.
References
External links
*
''Steve Lamacq''(BBC Radio 6 Music)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamacq, Steve
1964 births
Alumni of Harlow College
BBC Radio 1 presenters
BBC Radio 6 Music presenters
Living people
English music journalists
English radio DJs
NME writers
Melody Maker writers
People from Islington (district)
Pirate radio personalities
People from Braintree District
Members of the Order of the British Empire