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.
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.
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.
[6] 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.
In July 1985, Kershaw began life as a BBC Radio 1 DJ, ear-marked by the station as a possible successor to John Peel.
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.
[14] 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.
[19] 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.
[21] Kershaw's autobiography, No Off Switch, was published in July 2011 by Serpent's Tail (later republished by Buster Press) and was praised by Stephen Fry among others.
[30] 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".