Bernard Oliver Andrews (17 August 1933 – 11 June 2010) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio producer A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. The job title covers several different job descriptions: *Content producers or executive producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature. The content producer might organize music cho ...

, who was instrumental in the careers of many emerging

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

bands from the 1960s onwards, and responsible for producing such programmes as '' Saturday Club'' and

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

's shows.

Early life

Born in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

, south east London, Andrews was raised in

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three ...

, and completed his

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the RAF. After working as a

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

engineer, he joined the BBC as a technical (tape machine) operator in 1957, later being promoted to producer. In the early 1960s, he began producing ''Saturday Club'', one of the few programmes on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

to feature pop music, and frequently booked and recorded

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, along with many other leading groups and artists of the time. He also booked

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

; the group failed their first BBC radio audition, but Andrews used them as a backing band for

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

and re-recorded their performances of some of their own numbers, enabling them to pass on the second occasion as a "trial broadcast".Annie Nightingal
Obituary: Bernie Andrews
''The Guardian'', 20 July 2010

Work with Radio 1 and the BBC

Later in the 1960s, he became the first producer of the new Radio 1 programme ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...

'', with

as the main presenter. He was also responsible for producing the very popular BBC Radio 1's Top 20 show presented by Tom Browne in the early 1970s, working alongside engineer Pete Ritzema. He recorded the first BBC sessions of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

,In Session Tonight - Ken Garner

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

and

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

among others. After the close working partnership between him and Peel was broken up, he became the main producer for Anne Nightingale in the 1970s. He was known for his record library, at one time owning a collection of every

45rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The gr ...

pop record released in Britain since 1958 later sold to

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

.Pierre Perron
"Bernie Andrews: Radio producer who worked on Saturday Club, Top Gear and with Annie Nightingale"
''The Independent'', 30 August 2010 He was also responsible for retaining many of the tapes of BBC radio session recordings, against the rules,
''Daily Telegraph'', 26 August 2010 which would otherwise have been

wiped Lost television broadcasts are television programs that were not preserved after their original airing, rendering them permanently unavailable for both public and private screening. Because of this, they are considered a form of lost media, par ...

or discarded for the sake of economy, and which in subsequent years were released officially, notably in the ''BBC Sessions'' series. His collection also included material from ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September ...

's'' recording sessions, including a number of complete episodes. Some of this material has been included on Volumes 8, 9 and 10 of ''The Goon Show Compendium'' CD box sets, provided by John Beecher of Rollercoaster Records, who purchased the collection from Andrews to preserve it after the BBC allegedly reneged on a negotiated agreement to compensate him for storing the tapes for many decades. Bernie Andrews retired in 1984, and later lived in Spain and Dorset. He died in 2010 at the age of 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Bernie 1933 births 2010 deaths BBC radio producers English radio producers People from Eltham 20th-century British businesspeople