Mark Radcliffe set to tell all about his extraordinary life at Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn

From David Bowie to Kate Bush and all points in between, Mark Radcliffe has been one of the nation's favourite broadcasters of the past 30 years.

But when pressed to pick a favourite, Radcliffe is left in no doubt. If there's one star he could go out with for a pizza and beer, it's the Black Country's very own Noddy Holder.

"Bizarre as it may seem, my only two showbusiness friends are Nod and another Brummie rocker Roy Wood. I love them to death. They are totally normal, I was going to say that but Roy is lovably eccentric, rather than normal.

"But they are the nicest people you could meet. In fact, there's something about the Midlands, the people I've met from the big bands – Tony Iommi, Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, Robert Plant – they are as normal and as down to Earth as the day they started the band.

"I talked to Miles Hunt of The Wonder Stuff about this at the weekend. His take was that everyone who has gravitated towards London, Manchester and Liverpool have big chips on their shoulders, a sort of over-confidence. But Midlanders just carry on without bothering everybody. I wondered whether he had something there. Me and Nod go for a pizza and he's just my friend. I love that. Being in this business does change you and I am different to when I started out, but I'd like to think I'm not up myself."

Radcliffe will talk about his extraordinary life when he plays Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn on Tuesday. He'll be on for an-hour-and-a-half, playing songs, chatting, making people laugh.

His show is called 'Should You Be Interested' and fans can expect middle aged angst and ennui along with tales of ineptitude and encounters with some of music's most famous names who Mark has on speed dial.

"It's not too heavy duty. It's not an hour-and-a-half of tortured Nick Drake. The big one is David Bowie and I'm so pleased I got to know him a little bit before it was too late. He was my idol and my hero right to the end. I just can't believe I was lucky enough to know him a little bit, you never think you'll have an email address for a man like that. I've got Kate Bush's number but you try not to abuse these things. if they trust you enough to give you that, they don't expect to be pestered."

By Andy Richardson