Andy Kershaw

Andrew J. G. Kershaw (born 9 November 1959) is an English broadcaster and disc jockey, predominantly on radio, and known for his interest in world music.

Andrew Kershaw
At the unveiling of a blue plaque for the Who at the University of Leeds on 17 June 2006
Born
Andrew J. G. Kershaw

(1959-11-09) 9 November 1959
Littleborough, Lancashire, England
NationalityBritish
OccupationDisc jockey
Years active1981–present
Children2
RelativesLiz Kershaw (sister)

Kershaw's shows feature a mix of country, blues, reggae, folk music, African music, spoken word performances and a wide variety of other music from around the world.

Early life and education

Kershaw was born in Littleborough, Lancashire, on 9 November 1959.[1] His older sister is broadcaster Liz Kershaw. The son of a headmaster and headmistress, Kershaw's parents instilled in him the ethics of education and self-improvement at an early age.

As a party trick aged two, he would name the whiskered military men in his father's history books of the Great War, but he never felt the love or pride from them that he did get from his grandparents, who provided a home from home.[2]

He was educated at Hulme Grammar School in Oldham where he took A-Levels in History, Economics and Spanish. He left the Economics examination halfway into the allotted time in order to attend a Bob Dylan concert but still achieved a Grade A pass in the subject.[2] He then studied politics at the University of Leeds from which he failed to graduate, his decision to apply for a place there being solely with an eye on the position of Entertainments Secretary for Leeds University Union.[3]

Kershaw was elected Entertainments Secretary in 1980, midway through his second year. A full-time commitment to a non-sabbatical office, he booked bands including Ian Dury, Dire Straits, the Clash, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop and Duran Duran - the latter paid £50 from Kershaw's own pocket to support Hazel O'Connor.[2]

Life and career

Kershaw's first engagement after the University of Leeds was to oversee backstage operations of the Rolling Stones' epic 1982 Roundhay Park concert in Leeds.

Music broadcasting

Kershaw began work for Radio Aire as Promotions Manager, a position he used - with station presenter Martin Kelner - to ruthlessly promote the UK's third-largest town without city status, Northampton. Unintentionally, at Radio Aire, he helped to launch the media career of Carol Vorderman, and made his broadcasting debut, fronting a late night alternative show and a weekly blues programme. After being made redundant from Radio Aire in 1983, Kershaw was employed as a driver, tour manager and roadie by the singer Billy Bragg.

His big break came in 1984, when he was asked to present BBC TV's flagship rock programme, The Old Grey Whistle Test, by its producer Trevor Dann, whom Kershaw had met when filming with Bragg the previous week. He subsequently recorded a television interview with his hero Bob Dylan, and a loud session from the Ramones. He co-presented BBC television coverage of Live Aid in 1985. In July 1985, Kershaw began life as a BBC Radio 1 DJ, ear-marked by the station as a possible successor to John Peel.[4]

Room 318 of Egton House was to house Kershaw, Peel and their mentor, producer John Walters, whose Reithian motto was, "We're not here to give the public what it wants. We're here to give the public what it didn't know it wanted." His weekly Radio 1 shows were characterised by their high levels of enthusiasm and musical eclecticism.[4]

Kershaw's "boredom" with Anglo-American rock led him to seek out sounds from further afield, especially Africa. Fellow DJ Charlie Gillett introduced him to Stern's African Records shop in London, and Lucy Durán exposed him to musicians like Youssou N'Dour and Toumani Diabaté, playing impromptu sessions in her London front room. Peel and Kershaw discovered Zimbabwe's Bhundu Boys simultaneously; the band began to feature heavily on their playlists. The Bhundus' singer Biggie Tembo became Kershaw's great friend.

This first year of broadcasting won Kershaw his first gold Sony Award in 1987. Kershaw was the first to play Ali Farka Touré on mainstream national radio, and the documentary they made together in Mali was the first ever to be broadcast simultaneously on Radios 1 and 4.[5]

Kershaw's contract with Radio 1 ended in 2000. His last months on the network featured sessions by Willie Nelson, Warren Zevon and Lou Reed. He then worked at BBC Radio 3 the following year, where he soon completed a musical tour of the so-called Axis of Evil: Iraq, North Korea and Iran.[6]

From July 2007 Kershaw was absent from his BBC Radio 3 show for an extended period, returning in 2011 with Music Planet, co-hosted with Lucy Duran.[7]

Broadcast journalism

Kershaw has worked as a journalist for BBC Radio 4's From Our Own Correspondent, the Today programme and The World Tonight. He reported from Angola's civil war in 1996, Sierra Leone in 2001 and repeatedly from Haiti.

In 1994, Kershaw reported on Rwanda's genocide, filing a series of pieces for Radio 4's Today programme.[8]

In his 1998 documentary for Radio 1, Ghosts of Electricity, Kershaw tracked down and unmasked, 32 years after the event, the heckler who shouted "Judas!" at Bob Dylan in 1966.[9]

In June 2005 Kershaw criticised Bob Geldof over the choice of artists due to play at Live 8, which included few black performers and even fewer Africans.[10]

Kershaw covered the 2010 Red Shirt Revolution in Bangkok for The Independent.[11]

Kershaw has put together two compilations, Great Moments of Vinyl History (1988) and More Great Moments of Vinyl History (2004), which document his wide musical taste.[12]

Writing

Kershaw's autobiography, No Off Switch, was published in July 2011 by Serpent's Tail and was praised by Stephen Fry among others.[13][14] It received a negative review from Rachel Cooke in The Guardian, who says "He is always right, and those who disagree are always stupid".[15]

Personal life

Kershaw has two children with his ex-partner, Juliette Banner. In 2007, he was jailed for repeatedly violating a restraining order which required him not to contact her.[16][17]

Kershaw was sentenced to three months' imprisonment in 2008 in the Isle of Man for breaching a restraining order. He was also given a suspended sentence.[18] A much-advertised BBC Radio 4 interview with him, On the Ropes, was cancelled the day before transmission in 2009 "over fears it would impinge on the privacy of his former girlfriend and their children".[19]

Recognition

In July 2003, Kershaw was awarded an honorary doctorate of music by the University of East Anglia,[20] and in 2005 he was similarly honoured by his old university, the University of Leeds,[21] having failed to graduate originally.

In March 2007, Kershaw appeared on Desert Island Discs.[22]

References
  1. "Findmypast". Search.findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  2. Kershaw, Andy. No Off Switch". Serpents Tail, 2011.
  3. "Radio 3 Presenters - Andy Kershaw". BBC. 18 December 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
  4. Cook, Emma (12 February 1995). "John Peel and Andy Kershaw: How We Met". The Independent. London, UK. ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  5. "BBC Radio 3 - World Routes, Ali Farka Toure Obituary". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  6. BBC Radio 3, broadcast 22 August 2004, 29 August 2004 and 5 September 2004 respectively.
  7. "DJ Andy Kershaw returning to BBC radio". BBC News: Entertainment & Arts. 23 August 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  8. "Andy Kershaw: The year my life fell apart". The Independent. 4 September 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  9. First broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1999. Produced by Richard Masters, Andy Kershaw & CP Lee. http://www.andykershaw.co.uk/bob-dylan-ghosts-of-electricity/
  10. Simon Jeffery "Kershaw condemns Geldof 'arrogance'", theguardian.com, 17 June 2005; retrieved 26 January 2012.
  11. Kershaw, Andy (19 May 2010). "Inside the surreal world of the Red Shirts". The Independent. London, UK. ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  12. Great Moments of Vinyl History; Various Artists; Special Delivery (Topic Records); SPM 1009 (LP, UK, 1987); More Great Moments of Vinyl History; Various Artists; Wrasse Records; WRASS 122 (CD, UK, 2004)
  13. "Celeb tweet from Stephen Fry". Celeb Tweets. 21 December 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  14. Chris Maume. "No Off Switch: An Autobiography". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  15. Cooke, Rachel (30 June 2011). "No Off Switch by Andy Kershaw". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  16. Bunyan11, Nigel (15 January 2008). "DJ Andy Kershaw jailed over restraining order". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  17. Carter, Helen (15 January 2008). "Radio 3's Kershaw jailed for harassing former partner". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  18. "Andy Kershaw to return to BBC Radio after three years". The Daily Telegraph. 23 August 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  19. Plunkett, John (28 April 2009). "Radio 4 pulls Andy Kershaw interview". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  20. Archived 21 September 2004 at the Wayback Machine
  21. "Radio 3 - World Music - Andy Kershaw Honoured". BBC. 16 April 2010. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
  22. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007757m Retrieved 10 Feb 2018
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