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Review
'Without you we wouldn't know nothin'!' --Joe Strummer
'It's his ability to convey a sense of moment-by-moment aliveness that makes Andy Kershaw, the greatest living English-language broadcaster.' --Toby Litt
'Fabulously well-written - the wit, the brimming enthusiasm and the outrage all come direct from the broadcasting voice' --James Medd, Word Magazine
'A groundbreaking DJ... Kershaw has had one hell of a life... strange and comic' --Independent on Sunday
'This sparky autobiography captures with exuberance his pioneering career as a music broadcaster who opened our ears, and still does.' --I newspaper
'His radio appearances have become rare. He's an intermittent eruption, making everything before and after sound as if it were made by zombies.' --New Statesman
'It's fabulously well written... the wit, the brimming enthusiasm and the outrage all come direct from the broadcasting voice' --James Medd
'Hilariously opinionated' --Independent
'Kershaw has had a fascinating life, most of which is considerably more interesting than his troubled later years.' --Metro
'Infuriating, revealing, candid, funny, rough-edged and, ultimately, moving... He writes like he broadcasts, engagingly, knowledgeably, and opinionatedly' --Alan Taylor, Herald
'Intrepid to the point of lunacy, Kershaw escaped landmines and guns and has lived to tell us this admirable tale" --Blues & Soul, August 2011
'Confirms what a fine travel writer he is, with a particularly sharp eye for the telling detail.' --Daily Mail, 19 August 2011
'A staggeringly good read. It takes a lot for me to laugh heartily. I'll be stealing openly from it.' --Nigel Blackwell, Half Man Half Biscuit
'A highly passionate, opinionated, witty, enlightening account of the broadcaster's career, personal life and worldview.' --Record Collector
'He made me travel a little further than I usually do!' --Michael Palin
"I make it a rule not to puff books but Andy Kershaw's NO OFF SWITCH is sensational. An amazing read. An amazing man." - Stephen Fry --Stephen Fry tweeted on 21 December 2011
"Andy Kershaw has led an extraordinary life. His unrivalled role in bringing World Music to the ears of the west is just part of the story of this man whose zest for life, music, people, experience and travel made him the finest British broadcaster bar none. That his life has had its ups and downs is to say that the Alps have snowy peaks, but throughout this dizzyingly paced and often wildly hilarious book he brings alive his matchless career, and the cultural life of a Britain that seems to be vanishing. Forget Media Studies and a life of student debt: read NO OFF SWITCH and learn what it is to be a real broadcast journalist, a real achiever. A real someone." - Stephen Fry --Stephen Fry emailed me, the author, on 08 December 2011...
'It's his ability to convey a sense of moment-by-moment aliveness that makes Andy Kershaw, the greatest living English-language broadcaster.' --Toby Litt
'Fabulously well-written - the wit, the brimming enthusiasm and the outrage all come direct from the broadcasting voice' --James Medd, Word Magazine
'A groundbreaking DJ... Kershaw has had one hell of a life... strange and comic' --Independent on Sunday
'This sparky autobiography captures with exuberance his pioneering career as a music broadcaster who opened our ears, and still does.' --I newspaper
'His radio appearances have become rare. He's an intermittent eruption, making everything before and after sound as if it were made by zombies.' --New Statesman
'It's fabulously well written... the wit, the brimming enthusiasm and the outrage all come direct from the broadcasting voice' --James Medd
'Hilariously opinionated' --Independent
'Kershaw has had a fascinating life, most of which is considerably more interesting than his troubled later years.' --Metro
'Infuriating, revealing, candid, funny, rough-edged and, ultimately, moving... He writes like he broadcasts, engagingly, knowledgeably, and opinionatedly' --Alan Taylor, Herald
'Intrepid to the point of lunacy, Kershaw escaped landmines and guns and has lived to tell us this admirable tale" --Blues & Soul, August 2011
'Confirms what a fine travel writer he is, with a particularly sharp eye for the telling detail.' --Daily Mail, 19 August 2011
'A staggeringly good read. It takes a lot for me to laugh heartily. I'll be stealing openly from it.' --Nigel Blackwell, Half Man Half Biscuit
'A highly passionate, opinionated, witty, enlightening account of the broadcaster's career, personal life and worldview.' --Record Collector
'He made me travel a little further than I usually do!' --Michael Palin
"I make it a rule not to puff books but Andy Kershaw's NO OFF SWITCH is sensational. An amazing read. An amazing man." - Stephen Fry --Stephen Fry tweeted on 21 December 2011
"Andy Kershaw has led an extraordinary life. His unrivalled role in bringing World Music to the ears of the west is just part of the story of this man whose zest for life, music, people, experience and travel made him the finest British broadcaster bar none. That his life has had its ups and downs is to say that the Alps have snowy peaks, but throughout this dizzyingly paced and often wildly hilarious book he brings alive his matchless career, and the cultural life of a Britain that seems to be vanishing. Forget Media Studies and a life of student debt: read NO OFF SWITCH and learn what it is to be a real broadcast journalist, a real achiever. A real someone." - Stephen Fry --Stephen Fry emailed me, the author, on 08 December 2011...
Book Description
Britain's maverick radio DJ and foreign correspondent is back on air and in print with this no-holds-barred autobiography of a full-throttle life
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have just finished this book and had to take the day off from work to do so, because I couldn't put it down. This happened to me once before many years ago, and the author in question then was Dostoyevsky. It's THAT good.
Extraordinary really that Kershaw can keep up such an engaging and finely-crafted style, while writing about events that have clearly had him at every possible place on the emotional and physical spectrum. I would have forgiven him any amount of sanctimonious waffle at some of the heart-rending tales he recounts, but I didn't need to. And he doesn't need to either, as his writing is clear enough to put you in the emotional space you need to be in, to feel the story for yourself.
The scope of what your're reading about is amazingly broad- by the end of the book he's had you think about a huge amount of music, broadcasting, geography, politics, current affairs, social history and child welfare. I don't think one single book has made me both laugh and cry so much.
I suppose it helps that AK is deliciously rude about all the famous musicians that I also can't stand- I would have bought the book just for that- but candour is a rare and precious quality in print these days- if you really want to know what's been going on for the last few decades, read this book.
Extraordinary really that Kershaw can keep up such an engaging and finely-crafted style, while writing about events that have clearly had him at every possible place on the emotional and physical spectrum. I would have forgiven him any amount of sanctimonious waffle at some of the heart-rending tales he recounts, but I didn't need to. And he doesn't need to either, as his writing is clear enough to put you in the emotional space you need to be in, to feel the story for yourself.
The scope of what your're reading about is amazingly broad- by the end of the book he's had you think about a huge amount of music, broadcasting, geography, politics, current affairs, social history and child welfare. I don't think one single book has made me both laugh and cry so much.
I suppose it helps that AK is deliciously rude about all the famous musicians that I also can't stand- I would have bought the book just for that- but candour is a rare and precious quality in print these days- if you really want to know what's been going on for the last few decades, read this book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
For Kershaw fans, I cannot recommend this book enough. I can guarantee you will enjoy every page. I'm 59 and have listened to radio (and music) all my life since I was 5 years old and found a 10" 78rpm of Lonnie Donegan's "Cumberland Gap" and asked my mother to play it. That was it, that was all it took, I was off. And in all that time I have to say that Kershaw is one of the very best broadcasters this country has ever produced. As a music anorak, I'm often heard to say that one of the greatest items in my personal music collection is a number of boxes of tapes of Kershaw programmes from the 90s/new millenium that were completely outstanding in their choice of latin, african, asian, folk, country and r&b greats. I even went out and bought an enhanced FM radio aerial for the purpose. This book is also a must for any fans of the late, great John Walters, who - inevitably and quite rightly - features prominently in a number of chapters. Today, Andy seems thankfully to be over his well publicised difficulties of a few years back. Frankly, I'm not interested in the details of that. As long as all concerned have moved on, I don't see any reason why our airwaves should be short-changed any longer by his absence, since his series for Radio 3 a year or so back. A terrific read from terrific broadcaster.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Those of us who are familiar with any aspect of Andy's globe trotting career, be it his well respected print journalism or broadcasting across the BBC Network, will know only to well that he doesn't do things by half. And that is certainly the case with No Off Switch, a riviting whistle stop tour of a biography. Andy writes with some authority on some of the many far flung, overbearing and downright potty regimes he has encounted during the course of his travels. Amid these some pretty hair-raising life threatening situations he has found himself slap bang in the middle off, armed only with his trusty recorder. He takes us through his obsession with finding music that has to have that certain "What the f***?" factor, and how he brought that same music to the ears of an eager audience, who, stood with him, even when his programmes were in danager of being compromised and taken off the air. A common threat throughout the book and his life, his unwavering love for Motorcycles and his annual pilgramages to the TT Races. Not to mention his commitment, even through some pretty dark times, to being a father to his children.
In this book Andy gives us his euphoric highes and his dismal lows, not with gushing self importance, but with humour, humility and a passion that has real heart. There is no fluff or over sentimentality, and there really doesn't need to be. This book made me laugh and cry. It informed and entertained me, and it went some way to restore my waverign faith in the human spirit.
And if that's not enough, it's fantastically well written, and a book that even those unfamiliar with Rochdale's finest will appreciate and enjoy. Well bloody done Andy. I hope that it's not too long before you once again have a regular place on the radio - you have been missed.
In this book Andy gives us his euphoric highes and his dismal lows, not with gushing self importance, but with humour, humility and a passion that has real heart. There is no fluff or over sentimentality, and there really doesn't need to be. This book made me laugh and cry. It informed and entertained me, and it went some way to restore my waverign faith in the human spirit.
And if that's not enough, it's fantastically well written, and a book that even those unfamiliar with Rochdale's finest will appreciate and enjoy. Well bloody done Andy. I hope that it's not too long before you once again have a regular place on the radio - you have been missed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A cracking read...
Through this cover to cover in less than a week (an epic feat with my current workload) and found it an intelligent, informed and interesting read. Read more
Published 7 days ago by Trayla
Probably the best autobiography I've ever read!
Having always loved Andy Kershaw's broadcasts, right back to his Old Grey Whistle Test days, when broad Northern accents were a rarity on the BBC, I was overjoyed to see that he'd... Read more
Published 17 days ago by Brian Trevelyan
Where's the Kill Switch?
Did the world end in the last 24 hours? If it did, so be it. I couldn't find the kill switch for 'No Off Switch'. Time well spent. Thanks Andy Kershaw
Published 19 days ago by John Rushworth
Records, bikes, photography.
Its not that often I read a book in one sitting, I did with AK's 'No Off Switch' and although that was around a month ago it is still going round in my head. Read more
Published 20 days ago by Pete_Onec
What a pace this book flows at. Just like the life of the man himself
I bought Andy's book after starting to read a copy at a friends house. I think the friend was pissed off as I was supposed to be visting him to discuss his 'woman problems' (i.e. Read more
Published 20 days ago by Josie Kemp
More than a recorder spinner
Well probably many of my words will have been used by other reviewers but just in case they haven't here goes. Read more
Published 21 days ago by hondated
The real deal
Last September, my wife asked, did I want to go and see Andy Kershaw talk about his book. I didn't think there would be much to it, but agreed and we bought tickets. Read more
Published 28 days ago by Mr. Ian J. Hadingham
A rattling good read
This was a Christmas gift last year and I was a little apprehensive, not being a big fan of the 'celebrity memoir'. Read more
Published 1 month ago by N. Dillon
The Man behind the Voice
There is only one thing missing from 'No Off Switch' and that's Andy's voice. Those of us fortunate enough to have heard Andy on the radio can 'hear' his distinctive delivery and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by owen bell
Brilliant!
This book is a amazing wonderful read, a roller coaster of life with amazing highs and lows, alot of the struggle's Mr Kershaw went through rang very true to my own personal life... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Benjamin Joel hammond
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