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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.
Kershaw's shows feature a mix of country music, blues, reggae, folk music, African music, spoken word performances and a wide variety of other music from around the world.
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 his parents that he got from his grandparents, who provided a home from home.
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 to attend a Bob Dylan concert but still achieved a Grade A pass in the subject. 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.
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 were paid £50 from Kershaw's pocket to support Hazel O'Connor.
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. 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.
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.
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.BBC Radio 3, broadcast 22 August 2004, 29 August 2004 and 5 September 2004 respectively.
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 Durán.
In September 2020 Kershaw returned on air on BBC Radio 3 presenting a two episode Sunday feature, The Kershaw Tapes.
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. 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.Simon Jeffery "Kershaw condemns Geldof 'arrogance'", theguardian.com, 17 June 2005; retrieved 26 January 2012. 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.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)
A much-advertised BBC Radio 4 interview with him, On the Ropes, was cancelled the day before transmission in April 2009 "over fears it would impinge on the privacy of his former girlfriend and their children". In August 2010 he was due to return to work at the BBC.
In March 2007, Kershaw appeared on Desert Island Discs.
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