Celebrating Annie Nightingale, 1st April 1940 to 11th January 2024.
When I heard the sad news that Annie had passed at the age of 83 following a short illness, I didn't immediately post about it. To be honest, it was a real shock, I'd admittedly not followed Annie's continuing broadcasts in recent years but she seemed like she was immortal, that husky voice continuing to emanate over the airwaves forever.
I was floored by Janice Long's death in December 2021 and Annie's has also hit me hard. When reflecting on Janice at the time, I wrote that "I
probably listened to [her] more than John Peel on Radio 1 as a
teen, mainly because her evening show slot usually coincided with doing
homework or otherwise avoiding my family in my bedroom." This was even more applicable to Annie, whose request show followed the Top 40 countdown on Sunday nights.
I continued to listen to Annie as the powers that be moved her time slot further and further back, so that (at least, as far as I recall), her show became essential post-club listening.
I discovered so much music, new and old, via Annie Nightingale and I think my eclectic collection is testament to her own unabated passion for new genres and styles. Annie was also a reason to watch The Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC2. Bands that might otherwise have stuck two fingers up to the show and presenter Whispering Bob Harris were more amenable to appear when she was presenting.
As with Janice Long, this is
another of those selections that doesn't begin to do justice to the
breadth of Annie Nightingale's indefatigable love of music. More so, given that her career spanned six decades.
I've cheekily lifted some of Annie's OGWT intros to link some of the music on this selection. The opening extract was from the show broadcast on 14th February 1981, featuring The Sound (well, it was them or Camel) and a three-song set including the magnificent Sense Of Purpose, included here.
I should say that only one song, by The Selecter, is an actual performance from The Old Grey Whistle Test. The rest are album and single versions, a remix here and there including one by Annie herself and some deep cuts from The Teardrop Explodes, The Crystal Method, Public Image Ltd., T.Power and Primal Scream remixed by Andrew Weatherall.
Big In Japan by Alphaville made the cut as it was the first song on a request show from 1985 that TSKC1984 taped off the radio and posted on You Tube. You can listen to the entire show in all it's hissy glory here, with another from Hollowe'en 1984 here.
I've also drawn inspiration from the three albums that Annie compiled in 1996, 2007 and 2015: Annie On One, Annie Nightingale Presents Y4K and Masterpiece. My selection ends, as Annie On One does, with Flowered Up's magnum opus and finest moment, Weekender, which I first heard on her show in 1992.
I'll happily confess that I was in love with Annie: that voice; the effortless cool that set her miles apart from her contemporary (male) DJs on TV; the sheer rock 'n' roll-ness of her being. Actually, scratch 'was' for 'am'.
In the many, many tributes in the past few days, Annie Nightingale has been rightly described as a trailblazer, a pioneer, one-of-a-kind. Annie was all of that to me. She was also a wonderful person and my favourite radio DJ ever.
Thank you, Annie, you were the best.
1) Old Grey Whistle Test (BBC2 Continuity Announcement & Introduction): Annie Nightingale (1981)
2) Sense Of Purpose: The Sound (1981)
3) Liberation (12" Version): T.Power (1995)
4) Old Grey Whistle Test (Introduction: The Teardrop Explodes): Annie Nightingale (1982)
5) Colours Fly Away (Live @ Club Zoo, Liverpool): The Teardrop Explodes (1981)
6) This Was The Sound (Adam Freeland & Sebi Spanks Remix): K-Swing + Beber (2007)
7) Come Back Clean (Annie Nightingale + Far Too Loud Remix): The Crystal Method ft. Emily Haines (2009)
8) Big In Japan (7" Version): Alphaville (1984)
9) Old Grey Whistle Test (Introduction: Japan): Annie Nightingale (1982)
10) Ghosts (Single Version): Japan (1982)
11) Old Grey Whistle Test (Introduction: Public Image Ltd.): Annie Nightingale (1980)
12) Poptones (John Peel Session): Public Image Ltd. (1979)
13) Don't Fight It, Feel It (Scat Mix By Andrew Weatherall & Hugo Nicolson): Primal Scream ft. Denise Johnson (1991)
14) Duel (Album Version): Propaganda (1985)
15) Old Grey Whistle Test (Introduction: The Selecter): Annie Nightingale (1980)
16) Murder (Live on Old Grey Whistle Test, BBC2 TV): The Selecter (1980)
17) Cheft El Khof: Orange Blossom (2004)
18) Grey Clouds: The Orb ft. Alan Parker, Urban Warrior (2007)
19) Weekender (Full Length Version): Flowered Up (1992)
