The Old Grey Whistle Test Harris presented
The Old Grey Whistle Test on
BBC2 from 1972 until December 1979. His first appearance on the show was as chair of a debate on the Night Assemblies Bill, based on his experience as a journalist and at the invitation of producer
Richard Williams. Shortly afterwards he was invited to be the main presenter. His velvety voice and quiet delivery earned him his enduring nickname "Whispering Bob". His
hippie-style beard and laid-back presentation made him a target for
parody, including by
Eric Idle on the 1970s BBC comedy show
Rutland Weekend Television. In the summer of 1974,
Malcolm McLaren and
Vivienne Westwood included Harris ("or the 'Sniffing Whistler' as we know him") on a "Hates" list on their "You're going to wake up one morning and find out which side of the bed you've been lying on" T-shirt. In early 1977, at
the Speakeasy (a London nightclub popular with rock stars of the day),
Sex Pistols fan and subsequent bass player
Sid Vicious threatened Harris over whether the Pistols would appear on the
Old Grey Whistle Test.
1980s In 1981, Harris moved to
BBC Radio Oxford, presenting the weekday afternoon show from 15:00–17:00, taking over from
Timmy Mallett. Harris remained there until 1984. He then joined London's
LBC radio station, presenting a weekly half-hour music review and also joined
GWR, where he did shows on Saturday lunchtimes and Sunday afternoons. From October 1984, Harris presented a Saturday evening show on
Norwich's
Radio Broadland, and the Sunday afternoon show on
Hereward FM in
Peterborough. At the same time, he was still continuing with his half-hour music review on LBC and was recording shows for GWR. In 1986, he was offered the
Weekend Nightline phone-in on LBC every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 pm until 1 am, which he hosted until 1989. He was heard on
BFBS from 1986 to 1998 and on the UK
Independent Local Radio sustaining service,
The Superstation.
Return to BBC Radio 1 Harris rejoined
BBC Radio 1 in 1989, standing in for
Richard Skinner for two weeks on the weekday midnight to 2 am slot, before being offered his own weekly show on Sunday nights from 11 pm to 2 am later that year following the death of
Roger Scott. He had originally been on Radio 1 from 1970–1974, hosting the Monday night edition of 'Sounds of the 70s'. Harris then took over the weekday midnight to 2 am slot from April 1990, which then became midnight to 4 am when Radio 1 started broadcasting 24 hours a day on 1 May 1991. His programme on Radio 1 came to an end in October 1993 when
Matthew Bannister took charge of the station, although he continued to present documentaries for the station for some time after.
Move to BBC Radio London In summer 1994, Harris moved to
BBC GLR, presenting a three-hour Saturday night show from 10 pm to 1 am, then additionally on Monday to Wednesday evenings from 8 pm to midnight. He later left the Saturday night show to concentrate on BBC GLR's Monday–Wednesday evening shows.
Return to national radio In spring 1997, Harris returned to the national airwaves, this time on
BBC Radio 2, where he took up an 11 pm to 1 am Saturday night slot. He still continued to present on GLR, but at this stage he quit the Monday to Wednesday evening shows and presented a Saturday afternoon show from 2 to 6 pm. Harris eventually quit GLR in late 1998 as he took over another show for Radio 2,
Bob Harris Country, (previously
David Allan's
Country Club) on Thursday evenings from 7 to 8 pm, from 8 April 1999, and his Saturday night show then went out from 10 pm to 1 am. From April 2006, his Saturday show moved to an 11 pm to 2 am slot, and moved back another hour from 4 April 2010, meaning it aired early Sunday mornings from midnight to 3 am. From October 2014 until January 2017, the show was on from 3 am to 6 am on Sundays. In February 2017, his Sunday show moved back to midnight to 3 am. However, on 26 March 2017, Harris presented his last weekend Sunday early morning show on Radio 2 due to major changes to the weekend schedule. The final song played was
When You Come to the End of a Lollipop by
Max Bygraves. On 9 January 2022, Harris started a weekly show on
Boom Radio, which explored how songs link together with other tracks. The hour-long programme was broadcast on Sunday nights from 9 pm and repeated on Wednesdays. The series ended its run on 27 February. On 10 January 2022, Harris announced he was returning to the
Sounds of the 70s programme after more than 50 years away by sitting in for
Johnnie Walker on the episodes to be broadcast on Radio 2 on 16 and 23 January. He also sat in for Walker for four shows in January 2023. He currently presents
The Country Show on Thursdays on BBC Radio 2 at 9 pm. He celebrated his 25th anniversary as host of the country show in 2024. On 6 October 2024,
Johnnie Walker announced that Harris would take over as host of Radio 2's
Sounds of the 70s in November, with Walker leaving the show due to illness after 15 years.
Other work In addition to his Radio 2 programmes, in 2002 Harris was a presenter on the newly launched digital station
BBC Radio 6 Music, presenting a Sunday evening show from 5 to 8 pm. He left 6 Music in 2004. He went on to present a new show on Radio 2, which broadcast on Friday nights/Saturday mornings from midnight to 3 am. He was replaced in this slot by
Mark Lamarr, but returned to it temporarily, when Lamarr left the BBC at the end of 2010. The end of the Friday show has allowed Harris to concentrate more on producing one-off shows such as the
Maple Leaf Revolution under the auspices of the Whispering Bob Broadcasting Company. Harris was the subject of
This Is Your Life in 2003 when he was surprised by
Michael Aspel at BBC
Broadcasting House. Harris has presented the
C2C: Country to Country festival live from
The O2 Arena in London every year since its inception in 2013 and simultaneously broadcasts over
BBC Radio 2 Country which was first established in 2015, the same year when Harris was given his own stage to present at the festival. This stage, the Under the Apple Tree stage, formed the basis for his own Under the Apple Tree festival which will first take place in 2016. Harris has been credited by
John Thomson as the inspiration for his
The Fast Show character Louis Balfour, who comperes "Jazz Club" and whose softly spoken delivery echoes Harris' "unshakeable enthusiasm" on
The Old Grey Whistle Test. In 2018, Harris made a cameo appearance in
Tom Harper's country music drama film
Wild Rose. In 2018, Harris joined 26 other celebrities at
Metropolis Studios, to perform the original Christmas song "
Rock with Rudolph", written and produced by Grahame and Jack Corbyn. The song was created in aid of
Great Ormond Street Hospital and was released digitally on independent record label Saga Entertainment on 30 November 2018. The music video debuted exclusively with
The Sun on 29 November 2018 and had its first TV showing on
Good Morning Britain on 30 November 2018. The song peaked at number two on the
iTunes pop chart. In 2023, Harris began presenting on the
free-to-air 1960s music channel
That's 60s. In April 2025, Harris appeared as a contestant, paired with expert Margie Cooper, on BBC's
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip. ==Personal life==