Colin Lamont is a media consultant, actor, writer, broadcaster, academic and educationist, with a media career spanning over thirty-five years to date. He is also known as the man behind the on-air persona of radio host Scottie McClue.
Scottie McClue is the on-air persona of Colin Lamont. When Lancashire independent radio station Red Rose Radio was split into two frequencies, programme director John Myers wanted distinctive programming for the medium wave service, Red Rose Gold. Myers encouraged Colin Lamont to present the station's late-night phone-in. They believed, however, that the name 'Colin' did not connote showbusiness. Inspired by Scottie Buccleugh, the host of a weekly kids' film club in Carlisle known as 'Uncle Scottie', Myers suggested that Lamont's on-air identity should be 'something mad like this' that would be memorable. The pair eventually came up with Scottie McClue. In 1994 Scottie McClue moved to Scot FM in Edinburgh, to present a new late night phone in. The show received sufficient calls to cause BT to limit the number of calls on the number. He incurred the wrath of radio watchdogs on three occasions about his views about gay men and women and use of language. In January 1997 Scottie left the station after talks about a new contract broke down and moved to Hallam FM in Sheffield and by April 1998,his show was syndicated across TFM in Middlesbrough and all Magic stations then owned by EMAP in Liverpool, Yorkshire and North East England. Scottie also presented on Border Television-owned stations including 100-102 Century FM in Newcastle, becoming the late night phone-in presenter on its Salford Quays-based sister regional station 105.4 Century FM when it launched in September 1998, with his show being networked to cover The Midlands on Century 106 in Nottingham in 1999. In 2001 Scottie returned to Scotland on Q96 with his shows being simulcast and networked across the UK. He then returned to EMAP's Magic stations in Sheffield, Liverpool, Leeds and Hull also broadcasting for SRH on Clyde 2 Glasgow on Saturday evenings and Forth 2 Edinburgh on Sunday mornings and also a stint co-hosting with Lesley Riddoch sitting in for Fred McAuley on BBC Radio Scotland. Scottie McClue had, as analyst Mary Talbot observes, achieved "a degree of infamy as a highly confrontational talk radio host". Scottie joined Q96 in 2005 before moving to its UTV sister station Talk 107, the 24-hour talk radio station based in Edinburgh, in 2006. He presented his last show for Talk 107 in March 2008 and was replaced with a simulcast of The James Whale Show from London on sister station Talk Sport, which after a few weeks was in turn replaced by another show. In July 2008 Scottie McClue participated in a special edition of BBC Radio's Fighting Talk at the Radio Academy's Radio Festival in Glasgow. In his introduction, presenter Colin Murray described McClue as "A Scottish broadcasting legend, he claims to have the world record for calls into his phone-in show, I think it was 460,000 in one week, he's been fired or has resigned on the odd occasion from virtually every station in Scotland and the North of England, and how he hasn't developed a show yet for BBC Radio Scotland called "I'm Sorry I Haven't A McClue" I have no idea." Scottie McClue also presented on many mainstream Scottish radio stations including Forth & Clyde and from 2008 L107 where he also served in a shareholder and management role at the station. The station lasted just over a year until reported company debts caused an ownership dispute which led to the breakdown of the partnership, and McClue's withdrawal from the station's output. A live video, "An Audience With Scottie McClue" was released in 1996. While working with Century 105 in Salford in 1999, he also released a CD called The Best of Scottie McClue. In September 2018, McClue joined Nation Radio Scotland to present a late night phone-in show which currently airs 3 nights a week.
