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Andy Kershaw at the 麻豆社

Radio 2 looks back at the programmes made by an incredible broadcaster who travelled the world and introduced a UK audience to a vast range of music.

Radio 2 looks back at the life of the broadcaster Andy Kershaw with highlights from a career that spanned Radio 1, Radio 3, Radio 4 and 麻豆社 Television. It explores a musical passion that drove him to discover music from across the globe and share that with a UK audience.

Andy talks about getting his enthusiasm and curiosity from his head teacher parents in Rochdale, walking out of an A-level exam after an hour and a half to see Bob Dylan but still getting an A grade, and booking bands like Ian Dury and Dire Straits when he was a student and entertainments officer at Leeds University.

The show is introduced by his friend Billy Bragg, who employed Andy to be his tour manager, roadie and driver, until Andy was suddenly offered a job on The Old Grey Whistle Test. This led to attending Donington Monsters Of Rock Festival, being crowned by Elvis Costello, and being in the commentary box at Wembley Stadium during Live Aid - just one year into his television career. He also persuaded Bob Dylan to give a rare, but monosyllabic, interview by giving him some jam.

Andy travelled to Timbuktu to meet Ali Farka Toure and had to cling to the side of a mud bank and jump onto a passing rusty steamer along the Niger River. He felt seriously in danger in Rwanda, where he filed news reports for R4's Today programme as one of the very few members of the western media with real access to tragic events.

Above all, Andy revels in describing a thrilling audio journey that included playing The Ramones on Radio 3, discovering the man who shouted Judas at Bob Dylan and sharing with a UK audience music which he found in places from Siberia to Zimbabwe.

27 days left to listen

58 minutes

Last on

Sunday 00:00
麻豆社 Radio 2

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Music Played

  • Baaba Maal

    African Woman

    • Firin' In Fouta.
    • Universal-Island Records Ltd..
    • 2.

  • The Who

    Magic Bus (Live)

    • Live At Leeds (Expanded Edition).
    • Geffen.
    • 14.

  • Bob Dylan

    Like a Rolling Stone (Live at Free Trade Hall, Manchester, UK - May 17, 1966)

    • Live 1966 "The Royal Albert Hall Concert" The Bootleg Series Vol. 4.
    • Columbia/Legacy.
    • 8.

  • Dave Stewart

    Whistle Test

  • Billy Bragg

    The Milkman of Human Kindness

    • Life's a Riot with Spy vs. Spy (30th Anniversary Edition).
    • Cooking Vinyl.
    • 1.

  • Elvis Costello

    Brilliant Mistake

    • King Of America.
    • UMe/Elvis Costello.
    • 1.

  • AC/DC

    For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)

    • For Those About to Rock (We Salute You).
    • Columbia.
    • 1.

  • M枚tley Cr眉e

    Red Hot

    • Shout At The Devil.
    • BMG Rights Management (US) LLC.
    • 7.

  • Richard Thompson

    I Feel So Good

    • Capitol.

  • Keith Richards

    Trouble

    • Crosseyed Heart.
    • Virgin EMI.
    • 001.

  • Chuck Berry

    Johnny B. Goode

    • NOW That's What I Call Jukebox Classics (Various Artists).
    • Now.

  • Chuck Berry

    Roll Over Beethoven

    • The Best Of Chuck Berry.
    • Music Club.

  • Chuck Berry

    Sweet Little Sixteen

    • That's Rock'n'Roll (Various Artists).
    • EMI.

  • Chuck Berry

    Memphis, Tennessee

    • The Best Of Chuck Berry.
    • Music Club.

  • John Prine

    New Train

    • Lost Dogs + Mixed Blessings.
    • Oh Boy Records.
    • 1.

  • Ali Farka Tour茅

    Heygana - location recording

  • Ali Farka Tour茅

    Kadi Kadi (Radio 1 Session, 17 Sep 1987)

  • Tinariwen

    Matadjem Yinmixan

    • Aman Iman.
    • Universal Music Division Capitol Music France.
    • 3.

  • Bhundu Boys

    Hupenyu Hwangu

    • The Shed Sessions.
    • Shed Music.
    • 9.

  • Bhundu Boys

    Chekudya Chose

    • The Shed Sessions.
    • Shed Music.
    • 4.

  • Ramones

    Blitzkrieg Bop

    • Now That's What I Call An Era: Sound Of The Suburbs (Various Artists).
    • Now.

  • The Clash

    (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais

    • Hits Back.
    • Sony Music UK.
    • 4.

  • Joni Mitchell

    Carey

    • Joni Mitchell - Blue.
    • Reprise.

Broadcast

  • Sunday 00:00
    麻豆社 Radio 2

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