Andy Kershaw
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| Andy Kershaw | |
|---|---|
 At the unveiling of a Blue Plaque for The Who at the University of Leeds on 17 June 2006 |
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| Birth name | Andrew Kershaw |
| Born | 9 November 1959 Rochdale, Lancashire |
| Style | Disc Jockey |
| Country | United Kingdom |
Andy Kershaw (born 9 November 1959 in Rochdale, Lancashire) is a British broadcaster, known for his interest in world music.
His shows feature a mix of country, blues, reggae, folk music, spoken word performance from the likes of Ivor Cutler, and other music from around the world.
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[edit] Early life
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Kershaw and his sister, fellow broadcaster Liz Kershaw, were born in Rochdale.[1]
The son of a headmistress and headmaster, 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]
Watching the first American space walk on TV in 1965 made a strong impression of adventure, possibility and achievement on the young Kershaw, as did his education at the hands of the German ex-refugee nuns at Rochdale Convent.[2]
He studied Politics at the University of Leeds, a decision made solely with an eye on the position of Entertainments Secretary for Leeds University Union.[3] Kershaw was appointed 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]
Kershaw's first engagement after Leeds University was to oversee backstage operations of The Rolling Stones' epic 1982 Roundhay Park concert in Leeds.
[edit] 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 also 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.
Kershaw's 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, who 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 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."
Kershaw's weekly Radio 1 shows were characterised by their high levels of enthusiasm and musical eclecticism.[4]
His 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 Duran exposed him to musicians like Youssou N'dour and Toumani Diabate, 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 Toure 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 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 reported on Rwanda's genocide, filing a series of pieces for Radio 4's Today programme.[6]
In his 1998 documentary for Radio 1, Ghosts of Electricity, he tracked down and unmasked, 32 years after the event, the heckler who shouted "Judas!" at Bob Dylan in 1966.
His contract with Radio 1 ended in 2000. His last months on the network featured sessions by Willie Nelson, Warren Zevon and Lou Reed. He worked at BBC Radio 3 the following year, where he soon completed a musical tour of the so-called Axis of Evil: North Korea, Iran and Iraq.
In July 2003 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of music by the University of East Anglia,[7] and in 2005 he was similarly honoured by his old university, University of Leeds,[8] having failed to graduate originally.
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.[9]
In March 2007, he appeared on Desert Island Discs.
From July 2007 Kershaw was absent from his Radio 3 show for an extended period due to a nervous breakdown,[2] returning in 2011 with Music Planet, co-hosted with Lucy Duran.[10] A much-trailed BBC Radio 4 interview with him, On the Ropes, was cancelled the day prior to transmission in 2009 "over fears it would impinge on the privacy of his former girlfriend and their children".[11]
He covered the 2010 Red Shirt Revolution in Bangkok for The Independent.[12]
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.
His autobiography, No Off Switch, was published in July 2011 by Serpent's Tail and praised by Stephen Fry among others.[13]
[edit] Personal life
Kershaw has two children with his ex-partner, Juliette Banner.
[edit] References
- ^ "DJ Kershaw 'devastated' as ex says it really is all over". ThisIsLondon.co.uk. 24 December 2007. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23411461-details/DJ+Kershaw+%27devastated%27+as+ex+says+it+really+is+all+over/article.do. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
- ^ a b c d Kershaw, Andy. No Off Switch". Serpents Tail, 2011.
- ^ 21:15 - 22:00 (2008-12-18). "Radio 3 Presenters - Andy Kershaw". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/presenters/andy_kershaw.shtml. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
- ^ a b Cook, Emma (12 February 1995). "John Peel and Andy Kershaw: How We Met". The Independent (London: INM). ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/john-peel-and-andy-kershaw--how-we-met-1572794.html. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ^ "Ali Farka Toure Obituary". http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005xlbt.
- ^ "Andy Kershaw: The year my life fell apart". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/andy-kershaw-the-year-my-life-fell-apart-917948.html. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
- ^ UEA - UEA press releases[dead link]
- ^ 21:15 - 22:00 (2010-04-16). "Radio 3 - World Music - Andy Kershaw Honoured". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/feature_kershaw.shtml. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
- ^ Simon Jeffery "Kershaw condemns Geldof 'arrogance'"The Guardian News Blog, 17 June 2005, retrieved 2012-01-26
- ^ "DJ Andy Kershaw returning to BBC radio". BBC News: Entertainment & Arts (BBC). 23 August 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11059657. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
- ^ "Radio 4 pulls Andy Kershaw interview". The Guardian. 2009-04-28. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/28/bbc-radio-4-andy-kershaw-interview. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
- ^ Kershaw, Andy (19 May 2010). "Inside the surreal world of the Red Shirts". The Independent (INM). ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/inside-the-surreal-world-of-the-red-shirts-1976391.html. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ^ "Celeb tweet from Stephen Fry". Celeb Tweets. 2011-12-21. http://www.celeb-tweets.co.uk/celeb/Stephen%20Fry/tweet/149481984119406592. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
