Time catches up with us all - I remember him crying when being interviewed following the sudden death of John Peel. Anyway played Jonathon Richmans song Velvet Underground which he loved and played a lot.
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Now that is bad news.
Former Radio 1 DJ and Live Aid presenter Andy Kershaw dies aged 66 Andy Kershaw: Former Radio 1 DJ and Live Aid presenter dies aged 66 - BBC News
“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".
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Gosh, thats a surprise, very sad…….r.i.p Andy
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Sad news indeed. Kershaw introduced me to a variety of African music and deepened my appreciation of country music which I had tended previously to ignore. Thanks especially for ‘Music Planet’ with Lucy Duran on Radio 3 and Andy’s sense of humour despite life’s challenges.
Andy Kershaw had a podcast which is still available and his remarkable reporting from far-flung places such as North Korea is on BBC Sounds. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p005y2pj
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Very sad news. Andy was a breath of fresh air, championing new music and providing a challenging voice when things were becoming very mainstream after the death of John Peel. He showed infectious great enthusiasm and a wonderful appreciation of a broad spectrum of music. Gone way too early from cancer and will be greatly missed. RIP.
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Very sad news.
I’ve merged the two running threads into one.
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Gosh, another artist I became interested in after reading an enthused review in Melody Maker but hearing for the first time on Andy Kershaw I’d forgotten that. I’ve huge love for both those two albums and The Man With was first purchased in one of those weird American long boxes which CDs came in.
Saw him live in Manchester with Kershaw kicking off drunkenly in the background. Wasn’t the best gig but he did a stunningly great version of Sad Eyes by Them which I have on a bootleg.
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Having a listen to Kershaw’s radio diaries from North Korea which was something of a coup at the time and enlivened by Andy’s salty language and humour. From 2003 and available on BBC Sounds.
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One of the last of the DJ’s that knew their stuff.
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Jim Eldon is an old friend of mine! He’s still going strong
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Very sad, it will be interesting to see if the Beeb does anything special for anything for him?
Extremely sad news, he introduced so many people to new forms of music and was passionately enthusiastic. I encountered Andy a few times over the decades mostly at gigs. I remember fondly a trip to the Isle Of Wight arranged by Robyn Hitchcock for fans and Andy being among us, we were all crowded onto a couple of open top buses as we toured the island with Robyn deciding where we would stop for him to sing a few numbers before continuing our “tour”, Mark Ellen and his wife were also among our number, Andy K was a big RH fan and provided Robyn with many sessions on his various radio shows over the decades.
Here’s Robyn’s tribute to Andy and a photograph of their last meeting:
On Friday the sad news came through that Andy Kershaw has died, up in Yorkshire where spent his last years. Born in Rochdale in 1959, Andy became a high-profile UK music presenter in the mid-1980s, appearing weekly on BBC’s TV’s music programme The Whistle Test and his own late-night radio show. He championed all kinds of disparate music from many lands and cultures, and The Egyptians & I were lucky enough to be one of his favourite acts. Andy and I both lived in London in the late 1980s, and his rich Lancashire tones would often come down the landline: “Ayer, it’s me! Are you coming ‘round for a wing-ding and fish fry?” His sister Liz moved down to London and soon there was a whole cabal of Kershaw folk, friendly, hospitable and ready to groove at the drop of a Budweiser. Who could forget their pal from Leeds Al “Al Thompson” Thompson, who was nicknamed after himself?
All the while Andy faithfully gave us radio sessions and spun our new records. We even recorded one session in his kitchen. He introduced me to Janice Long who also began spinning our discs. I owe a lot of my UK listeners to this day to Andy Kershaw.
Time and the currents of life took us both out of London and each other’s orbits. For various reasons, he grew embattled, and relations with his old colleagues became antagonistic. Well, you can’t stay friends with everyone forever.
I don’t know the details of how he got there but having not seen him for nearly two decades Andy suddenly appeared in front of the stage as I was soundchecking at the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge one afternoon in August 2024. With him was his faithful dog Bertie, now his only companion. We sat outside and a passing stranger took some photos of us. Andy had put on weight but was as enthusiastic as ever. Next morning he and Bertie whisked me up to his latest kitchen, which was right beside the railway track. Between the trains, we recorded some songs and chat for his podcast. It turned out to be our final session together. I assumed that we’d meet again at my upcoming Hebden Bridge gig but it was not to be.
Whatever the traumas were that beset his personal life, to me he was a staunch and loyal ally. So long, old friend.
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My favourite introduction to a band about to play live . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0dn5UixkDc
"Last night I sat down and tried to make a list of the truly great British bands of the 1980’s, bands whose recordings and influence would endure. After nearly an hour, I was staring at a sheet of paper with only one name on it. The Smiths!”
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I cannot think of a finer farewell tribute to Andy than the final track from More Great Moments In Vinyl History. “And He’s Off……”. No more than a recording of a motor cycle starting up and fading away as the rider sets of into the distance. 21 And He’s Off … mp3
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BBC Radio 3 has made available a series of Music Planet Andy Kershaw made with Lucy Duran in 2011. Now on BBC Sounds.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b00sggq0
There’s eight hours of recording here. Oceans, Desert, The Arctic, Jungles, Mountains, Grasslands, Rivers, and Cities set in Africa. ‘Andy visits the Central Correctional Facility in Pretoria to hear their world-class male choir.’
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Andy has an obituary on Radio 4’s ‘The Last Word’ with a tribute from Billy Bragg and Matthew Bannister the programme presenter. This is on Sounds too. Last Word - Andy Kershaw, Dame Averil Cameron, Dr Judith Rapoport, Desmond Morris - BBC Sounds
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