Annie Nightingale, Radio 1's first female DJ, is now its longest serving DJ and is generally described by others as legendary.
She is nowadays known as 'Queen of Breaks'. She has pioneered breakbeat music for the past eight years, her show becoming one of Radio 1's biggest on-line successes, attracting a growing international audience via the 'Listen Again' radio player. In Spring 2008 she embarks on a major UK tour entitled BBC Introducing, which will showcase the talent of new and more established break beat acts.
This year she has won the International Breakspoll Award for Best Radio show for the third year running, was nominated in the 2007 Sony Radio Awards' Broadcasters' Broadcaster Award, and this year has also has been nominated for an Outstanding Contribution Award in DJ Magazine's Best Of British Awards.
She released, in 2007, her first breaks compilation on Distinctive Records, entitled Y4K: Annie Nightingale Presents. This features major names in breaks such as Plump DJs, Drummatic Twins, Stanton Warriors, as well as newcomers such as Codex Machine.
It reached no 12 on i-Tunes Dance chart on week of release. As at the last Glastonbury Festival two years ago, Annie will open the proceedings on Thursday June 21st 2007 with The opening party in the dance area, with special guests Uberzone, Control Z, Sunz of Mecha and Hybrid among very special guests , and broadcast for Radio 1 from that event.
Annie has championed breakbeat and featured its biggest names, such as Plump DJs, Evil Nine, Adam Freeland, Freq Nasty and Rennie Pilgrem, regularly on her show and from outside broadcasts.
Each year Annie co-hosts Breakspoll, the international breakbeat awards, with fellow DJ Danny McMillan. When recipient of Best Radio Show at the 2006 awards this was voted for by more than 50,000 online breaks fans.
In 2004 as well as broadcasting live from The Winter Music Conference in Miami, Radio 1's weekend in Ibiza, and Glastonbury Festival, Annie made a historic live broadcast from the top of the BT Tower in London.
Entitled 'The Last Summer Sunrise' party of 2004, this all-nighter and webcast featured top breaks artists such as Meat Katie, Friendly, DJ Hyper, also starred US superstar DJ BT who flew in from Los Angeles especially. The show became Radio 1's biggest specialist music show of the year on-line.
In September 2005, Annie set her sights on another tower this time the TV Tower in Berlin. Leading German breakbeat players Circuit Breaker and B-Phreak played live from the venue, as well as rising stars Splitloop from Dublin.
The Tower show 2006 was broadcast from the new Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, and special live guests were the Plump DJs, Santos --- and a lot of lairy Portsmouth football supporters. A proper party!
Annie's show is broadcast on Radio 1 at 2.00 ---4.00 a.m. on Sunday nights, and more significantly nowadays, on-line at www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/annienightingale
Links
Annie Nightingale on Radio 1
Breakspoll
Photos from London and Berlin Tower shows
Photos from Portsmouth Tower show
