Beard Liberation Front
4th June 2026
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has praised veteran broadcaster Bob Harris as a ‘hirsute icon’ as he announced his retirement from broadcasting on BBC Radio 2 after 56 years on the radio and TV.
He first appeared on BBC Radio One 56 years ago today hosting Sounds of the Seventies from August 1970. He became well known as a presenter of the Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC2 and continued to present a Country Show on Thursday evenings on Radio Two as well as from 2024 Sounds of the Seventies on Sunday afternoons.
Bob Harris was named Hirsute Broadcaster of the Year in 2011 and 2012.
The campaigners say that while some early photographs show Bob Harris with distinctive sideburns but no beard, he has been a standard bearer for a positive images and impacts of beard wearing in broadcasting over six decades now.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, I was a youthful listener to the Sounds of the Seventies programmes in 1970 and fifty six years on Bob Harris has become a hirsute icon in broadcasting and a positive role model for gravitas on air.
The Bob Harris Archive (caution includes beardless picture)
Kmflett's Blog 
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