Pete Mitchell

Pete Mitchell (11 December 1958 – 12 March 2020) was a British radio DJ and presenter.

He was born in Crumpsall, Manchester.

Mitchell was a radio presenter for Manchester's Piccadilly Radio, Key 103, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio X and Absolute Radio, and was one half of duo Pete and Geoff on Virgin Radio (which later became Absolute Radio).

His music documentaries have been aired in the US, Canada, Australia and Asia.

He later worked for the relaunched Virgin Radio and wrote for the Radio Times, the Daily Express and Q magazine.

Mitchell began his career in 1986 as a sports commentator for Red Rose Radio in Lancashire.

He moved to Manchester's Piccadilly Radio in 1989 and, as the station gained a new identity and became Key 103, presented the popular afternoon show and developed, wrote and produced IQ, his own specialist weekend music programme.

IQ featured guest interviews and live sets from both established and up-and-coming acts.

He championed the indie bands of the Madchester scene in the early 1990s.

IQ featured bands such as Oasis, Inspiral Carpets, James, Badly Drawn Boy, 808 State and Happy Mondays.

Mitchell was introduced to Geoff Lloyd in the mid-1990s by actor and writer Craig Cash, star of The Royle Family.

Lloyd was an aspiring comedy writer and performer, and a fellow radio presenter.

In 1996 Lloyd joined Mitchell on his afternoon radio show.

The duo rapidly established a cult following with their witty and slightly risquė banter, and in 1998 won a Sony Radio Academy Award for their show.

In 1999 Pete and Geoff were recruited by Virgin Radio UK, where they took over the weekday evening show and covered Chris Evans on the breakfast show, and again rapidly built up a significant audience.

The pair took over the drivetime show in early 2002.

From 2002 Mitchell also presented a weekly show on his own called Razor Cuts, where he showcased new music and interviewed many bands and artists who picked their favourite tunes and played live on the show.

Guests included Morrissey, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello, Pixies, The Killers, New Order, Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger.

By 2003 they were the most popular DJs on the station and were moved to the breakfast show to increase the audience.

This they did very successfully, sticking to their well-established formula of slightly risquė banter about contemporary news and culture, with Mitchell tending to play the "straight man" to the more outrageous Lloyd.

They won another Gold Sony Radio Award for their show.

On 28 November 2005, the duo announced that they were splitting up and leaving the breakfast show on Virgin Radio.

Their final show together took place on 16 December.

While Lloyd remained at Virgin Radio, Mitchell left for a while to join BBC Radio 2.

In addition to this, Mitchell took over the Saturday sports show Rock & Roll Football when Chris Evans stood down.

From April 2006 until May 2009, Mitchell presented shows for BBC Radio 2, featuring interviews with guests including Sam Moore, John Legend, Gloria Jones, The Velvelettes, Ronnie Spector and Noddy Holder.

A regular spot named "Where in the World is Carmine?"

featured former Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice.

American broadcaster Leslie 'Radio Chick' Gold guested as the show's USA correspondent, while Professor Timothy English looked into plagiarism in music.

During his time at BBC Radio 2 Mitchell also presented Sold on Song live with Donovan, and appeared as a fan of Bob Dylan in the BBC radio series Imagine.

He also covered many shifts across Radio 2 and BBC Radio 6 Music.

In 2008, Mitchell produced and presented the Radio 2 documentary I'm on My Way, on Northern soul star Dean Parrish; he later produced Spellbound, on guitarist John McGeoch who played with Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Visage and PiL amongst others.

Toerag, the story of Liam Watson, a documentary about one of Britain's most in-demand record producers, presented by Mitchell, was broadcast on 3 May on Radio 2.

Watson produced Elephant by the White Stripes, which went to number one around the world, from his little studio in Hackney in East London.

The Carmine Appice Story, the tale of the rock drummer with Vanilla Fudge, was broadcast in September on Radio 2.

In 2009, the Motown record label celebrated its 50th birthday.

Mitchell indulged his passion for the subject and presented various programmes to mark the occasion.

In 2018, Mitchell rejoined Virgin Radio UK and presented a monthly documentary series called "Revolutions In Music".

Mitchell died of a heart attack on 12 March 2020 after collapsing near his home in Stockport.

He was survived by his wife Helen and sons Adam and Sean.