About the Author

Annie Nightingale CBE is Britain's first female DJ, and longest serving broadcaster on BBC Radio 1. She celebrated her 50th anniversary in 2020. Her radio shows are listed among 50 cultural highlights by the Observer critics' panel, March 2020. A presenter, documentarian and journalist, she was the sole anchor of BBC's music TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test and associated TV programmes for 11 years during 1970s and 80s. Her previous published memoirs are Chase The Fade (1982) and Wicked Speed (2000).As well as touring the world as a live DJ, she has also released music compilation collections, including Annie On One (Heavenly) and Masterpiece (Ministry Of Sound).Annie was born in South West London and lives in West London.

Reviews

Annie was important to me back when I was a teenager, when not only was she one of the few people playing records I liked, she was a WOMAN doing it, which was inspirational to me. I wrote about her in my book Another Planet, where I quote a diary entry from 1978 which listed things I was loving in between watching Bowie on tv and taping a Bruce Springsteen album, the entry simply says, 'Listened to Annie Nightingale'I can't imagine what growing up without Annie Nightingale would have been like. I don't want to contemplate the limitations that would have been imposed on my cultural life and my own ambitions in that sphere without her presence. Thank god I don't have to and she was there every step of the way from a voice on the radio to an enthusiastic comrade in the chill out zone and post-rave partyIt wasn't until I heard Annie Nightingale on Sunday evenings after the chart rundown that I understood what music radio could be. Nightingale had a broader music taste than, say, John Peel, but was alternative enough to introduce me to songs I never would otherwise have heard. She's still on Radio 1 now, at the very Nightingale time of 2am. She still plays tracks I hate, tracks I love. She's still the best - Observer