Book description
What possesses a right-minded comedian to quit the day job for life as
a breakfast radio DJ?
The opening DJ on the Beeb's new alternative radio channel, 6Music,
Phill Jupitus was a maverick on the flat landscape of inane commercial
breakfast radio. Disregarding the prescriptive chart-led schedule and
showing no fear in the face of BBC management, this ex-performance
poet's personal crusade against the bland, the predictable and the smug
self-satisfaction ensured that he never had any trouble practising what
he preached.
Not one to pull punches, Phill recounts with acerbic wit, honesty and
more affection than he would care to admit, his encounters with petulant
band members, tedious showbusiness jargon, colossal salaries and
four-letter firewalls.
Inviting world-weary media cynics and radio enthusiasts to sit back and
revel in a heady dose of painful banter ensuing from the absent
interview technique, The Clash, the perils of idols as on-air guests,
Black Umfolosi and The Coasters, Nantwich remorselessly dissects the
limply beating heart of breakfast radio and reconstructs it one
playlist, anecdote and transcript at a time. 'No one knows or cares
more about radio or can write about it with such wit, love and grace'
Stephen Fry
'Very funny' Lauren Laverne, Grazia
'As interesting as it is timely … what shines through is his affection
for a medium he flourished in' Shortlist Phill Jupitus was born in
1962 and grew up above a pub in Essex with a free-spirited mother (who
always remained close to the A13) and an extended noisy family. After
realising work was not his strong suit, he carved out a career in stand
up comedy and radio and today is a regular on TV and radio panel shows,
including Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue and QI with Stephen Fry.
He's also team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks and starred in the
West End musical Hairspray. Phill lives in Leigh-on Sea with his wife
and daughters.
