The Daily Telegraph

Annie Nightingal­e, like radio, reflects every wave of change

- Nnie Nightingal­e

Ahas been on Radio 1 since 1970. She wasn’t there at the very start in 1967 because BBC Radios 1 and 2, like the pirate stations they aimed to replace, employed only male disc jockeys. She was a journalist, had broadcast on TV, been on BBC radio but Radio 1 was firmly closed however hard she tried to get in. Female DJS would “alienate the listeners”, she was told, their voices would “have no authority”.

She persisted, is now Radio 1’s longest-serving presenter and, through her work in clubs and via the internet, a star DJ recognised worldwide. In this, the station’s 50th-anniversar­y year, Nightingal­e has made four programmes which, if Radio 3 had the nerve or Radio 4 could afford the needletime, could grace either network. They transcend every expectatio­n of Radio 1.

Radio 1 and 1Xtra Stories are themed soundscape­s, shifting between music, speech, reportage. Two have gone out: Rebellion last week, Love last night, Heroes and Dreams lie ahead. Both of the programmes heard so far show Nightingal­e’s flair for a kind of storytelli­ng that trusts listeners to follow their vivid arcs over time and changing styles. You don’t have to recognise, instantly, every track, each voice. Flow with it, listen how the music shifts. Her montages make you feel, not just hear, the rolling on of times.

In September 1967, when Radios 1, 2, 3 and 4 were launched, the world was in Cold War deep freeze, British culture was run by people born in the Twenties. Radio has reflected every wave of change since. Yet, sometimes, all it takes is some musical juxtaposit­ion, say of rap, ballad, blues and Europop, to make you comprehend successive ripples through politics, language, music, culture. That’s what Nightingal­e is doing here. I hope BBC Radio’s latest topmost boss, James Purnell, appreciate­s it. And her.

Archive on 4: Uses of Literacy Now (Radio 4, Saturday) considered Richard Hoggart’s classic sociologic­al manifesto The Uses of Literacy, why he wrote it, the impact it had in its time (the late Fifties), those it influenced (Alan Bennett, profoundly) or is rejected by (usually people born after the Fifties with no recall of harder times). DJ Taylor, presenting, was a fair and capable guide, even if he didn’t get to grips with the difference between Hoggartian “literacy” and its transferen­ce now to computers, rather than books, in cultural disseminat­ion. But why did producer Nicola Swords not make him, always, tell us who was speaking? Opinions, in features if not in montages, invariably require attributio­n.

Macquarie: The Tale of the River Bank (Radio 4, Tuesday; repeated Sunday) was a true horror story, arrestingl­y told, meticulous­ly sourced. Reporter Michael Robinson examined the trail by which a foul mess on the Thames in affluent Buckingham­shire led to revelation­s about the financial structure of Macquarie, the company then running Thames Water. The mess was raw sewage. The failure to treat it was a serious offence and a health hazard that, eventually, drew a fine of £20million. But the flow of money into and out of Macquarie was harder to trace, as also was the vast debt Macquarie went into to acquire the company.

Follow the money, said Robinson at the start. And I did, until I started to wonder whether my pension had now or ever been invested via Macquarie. What do turds on the Thames or their massive borrowings matter when Macquarie made twice the normal rate of return to investors in Thames Water? Still, now that they have since sold out to other private equity investors, should I wonder where my pension fund has been invested?

Part of the pleasure of concert going is the company of strangers. On Thursday, I went to Liverpool for Classic FM’S 25thbirthd­ay concert. Bill Turnbull presented, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon­ic Orchestra and choir were superb, the packed house showed its affection for Classic and a particular pride in sharing such a fine night with five million listeners. I went to 12 Proms this year, for eight of which (including the magnificen­t Gurreliede­r and the intriguing Czech night) I bought my own ticket. Each was a joy. On Friday, the next to last night, the talk in the bus queue afterwards was how good the whole season had been. On the bus, a woman revealed (to the Americans standing in the aisle, the Germans behind them, and me) that this was her 60th Proms season. She lives in Devon, stays with a friend for the duration and, in the Promenade ballot, she’d drawn a centre front-row ticket for the Last Night. I watched it just to see her. She was radiant.

 ??  ?? Going with the flow: Annie Nightingal­e, here in 1970, as a Radio 1 DJ
Going with the flow: Annie Nightingal­e, here in 1970, as a Radio 1 DJ

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