In his final show for Radio 1, Nick Grimshaw summed up his lifelong passion for radio, explaining “it was all the things I loved, conversation and music.” Across the many timeslots he occupied during his fourteen years at Radio 1, Grimmy always struck that balance between easy, conversational style and a clear passion for music. More recently he has been able to use streaming services and social media to curate playlists and highlight songs which have formed the soundtrack to his week without the constraints of official playlists which dictate much of the musical content on primetime shows at Radio 1.
In an interview with Gentleman’s Journal in 2018 when he made the move from breakfast to drivetime, Grimmy commented that radio is “so much more intimate than television…you’re talking for three hours, completely unscripted—the background to someone’s morning.” For years Radio 1 served that function for me. I used the radio as my alarm clock and woke up to the breakfast show, getting ready with presenters such as Chris Evans, Zoe Ball and Sara Cox every morning before school. At the weekend I would sit at my mum and dad’s stereo with a blank cassette tape and record my favourite songs from the Top 40 countdown and at night I listened to Radio 1 legend John Peel and Mark and Lard’s late-night show which was vastly better than their short stint on breakfast. I discovered so much music through Radio 1 and local radio stations during a time which was defined by the rise of New Labour, Britpop and the countless indie bands that covered my bedroom walls together with clippings from NME and Melody Maker.
In an interview with Gentleman’s Journal in 2018 when he made the move from breakfast to drivetime, Grimmy commented that radio is “so much more intimate than television…you’re talking for three hours, completely unscripted—the background to someone’s morning.” For years Radio 1 served that function for me. I used the radio as my alarm clock and woke up to the breakfast show, getting ready with presenters such as Chris Evans, Zoe Ball and Sara Cox every morning before school. At the weekend I would sit at my mum and dad’s stereo with a blank cassette tape and record my favourite songs from the Top 40 countdown and at night I listened to Radio 1 legend John Peel and Mark and Lard’s late-night show which was vastly better than their short stint on breakfast. I discovered so much music through Radio 1 and local radio stations during a time which was defined by the rise of New Labour, Britpop and the countless indie bands that covered my bedroom walls together with clippings from NME and Melody Maker.
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Tina Daheley who worked as a newsreader on the breakfast show during the transition from Chris Moyles to Grimmy describes the Moyles era as “laddy, brash from the top down”, representative of a different time in broadcasting. Daheley credits Grimmy with “doing away with hierarchy”, a theme that runs through the many effusive messages of support Grimmy received on the day of his last show. Alice Levine, another longstanding presenter who left Radio 1 in 2020 explains that from the start Grimmy decided “everyone was always welcome, that no one was more important than anyone else” an attitude towards both celebrities and colleagues that heralded an era of change at Radio 1. The iconic Annie Mac left Radio 1 earlier this month and has produced a series of archive posts on social media, detailing her experiences working at the station for her seventeen-year broadcasting history with the station where she worked as a producer before taking on her own shows.
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Annie Mac
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She describes her early years as challenging for women in the industry, noting “the gatekeepers of mainstream music and alternative music on the radio were mostly men…lads, lads, lads.” Mac explains how Moyles and others “generally seemed to use women (and anyone who wasn’t a cis male) as props for jokes” and credits women such as Annie Nightingale, Jo Whiley, Sara Cox, Lauren Laverne and Clara Amfo, who is taking over Future Sounds following Mac’s departure, with changing the playing field for women on the radio. Although not subject to the same challenges that faced women seeking to break into the industry, many accounts suggest that Grimmy's approach to broadcasting was part of a broader cultural shift. In the noughties 'casual' homophobia was commonplace, with the frequent use of ‘gay’ as a schoolyard insult and the lingering aftermath of stigmatising narratives of the HIV/AIDS crisis that saw gay and bisexual men demonised in the tabloid press. Although Grimmy didn’t make a big deal about his sexuality, an out, gay man presenting such a high-profile show marketed towards a young audience is an important aspect of his story in the social and political context of the time.
Margaret Thatcher’s homophobic Section 28 prohibited local authorities and schools from “promoting homosexuality.” This led to a culture of silence and shame for LGBT people in schools. Grimmy took over the breakfast show in 2012, nearly a decade after Section 28 was repealed, but old attitudes remained. Fifteen years of operating within the constraints of the legislation cast a long shadow over the way schools in the UK approached LGBT issues. Section 28 perpetuated the idea that there was something inappropriate about educating young people on LGBT issues and in a climate of continued silence where death tropes and unhappy endings still haunted a disproportionate amount of LGBT storylines on British television, Grimmy’s relatively untroubled coming out story provided positive visibility to young listeners. Radio 1 producer Liam McConroy acknowledged this in his post about Grimmy on the day of his last Radio 1 show, commenting that “Nick’s probably done more for gays like me growing up than he’ll ever know.”
Radio 1’s investment in tapping into the cultural zeitgeist in a way that appeals to, and moves with, a young audience, has led to a series of rebranding exercises and new marketing strategies. These campaigns make little secret of the target demographic and the expectation that listeners leave Radio 1 behind at a certain age. I have never been fond of putting age limits on hobbies and interests as those suggestions are often loaded with gendered expectations and ageism, but I followed that anticipated trajectory at first. I stopped listening to Radio 1 shortly after Chris Moyles took over the helm. I moved to London and immersed myself in the exhilarating buzz of the city and would only tune in to the radio on the rare occasions I had to drive somewhere. The music I enjoyed was firmly stuck in a different time but listening to the bands I loved so much in my teens didn’t land quite right anymore because they were inextricably connected with a very different period of my life, a very different person. For all the happy memories they resurrected there was something jarring about being pulled back to the person I used to be after a long period of tumult, introspection and change. In that moment my focus was moving forwards and the music I grew up with held little of the appeal it once had, when I would go to concerts and festivals and dance in nightclubs at university. As a result, I pretty much stopped listening to music outside of nights out with friends.
Margaret Thatcher’s homophobic Section 28 prohibited local authorities and schools from “promoting homosexuality.” This led to a culture of silence and shame for LGBT people in schools. Grimmy took over the breakfast show in 2012, nearly a decade after Section 28 was repealed, but old attitudes remained. Fifteen years of operating within the constraints of the legislation cast a long shadow over the way schools in the UK approached LGBT issues. Section 28 perpetuated the idea that there was something inappropriate about educating young people on LGBT issues and in a climate of continued silence where death tropes and unhappy endings still haunted a disproportionate amount of LGBT storylines on British television, Grimmy’s relatively untroubled coming out story provided positive visibility to young listeners. Radio 1 producer Liam McConroy acknowledged this in his post about Grimmy on the day of his last Radio 1 show, commenting that “Nick’s probably done more for gays like me growing up than he’ll ever know.”
Radio 1’s investment in tapping into the cultural zeitgeist in a way that appeals to, and moves with, a young audience, has led to a series of rebranding exercises and new marketing strategies. These campaigns make little secret of the target demographic and the expectation that listeners leave Radio 1 behind at a certain age. I have never been fond of putting age limits on hobbies and interests as those suggestions are often loaded with gendered expectations and ageism, but I followed that anticipated trajectory at first. I stopped listening to Radio 1 shortly after Chris Moyles took over the helm. I moved to London and immersed myself in the exhilarating buzz of the city and would only tune in to the radio on the rare occasions I had to drive somewhere. The music I enjoyed was firmly stuck in a different time but listening to the bands I loved so much in my teens didn’t land quite right anymore because they were inextricably connected with a very different period of my life, a very different person. For all the happy memories they resurrected there was something jarring about being pulled back to the person I used to be after a long period of tumult, introspection and change. In that moment my focus was moving forwards and the music I grew up with held little of the appeal it once had, when I would go to concerts and festivals and dance in nightclubs at university. As a result, I pretty much stopped listening to music outside of nights out with friends.
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I can’t pinpoint the precise moment I stumbled across clips of Grimmy’s late night show on YouTube, but they made me realise how much I missed listening to the radio. I sought out more audio clips on Tumblr and slowly but surely Radio 1's flagship breakfast show became the soundtrack to my later years in London. At that time One Direction were everywhere and although I never really got into the hype when they were on the X-Factor, I started listening to more of their music and following their interviews. Before I knew it, I was drinking in Primrose Hill with friends I met through One Direction and Radio 1 fandoms, talking about Nick’s radio show before going to a Harry Styles concert. The relationship between fan and celebrity can, in some cases, involve finding common ground in very different life experiences and somewhere along the way I found that connection with Grimmy. His affable presenting style and constant presence on the radio heightened that sense of relatability and the stories of his family and childhood resonated with me as someone growing up in the UK at roughly the same time.
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Listening to the radio again helped me to rediscover my love of music with none of the awkward pretension that shaped my musical tastes as a teenager. By that time, I had already spent several active years in various fandoms and my confidence in enthusiastically celebrating those aspects of popular culture that brought me joy had grown. Returning to Radio 1 was a nostalgic exercise of sorts, but it introduced me to current trends and artists. I started going to concerts again and used Spotify to explore weekly new releases, something I continue to look forward to every Friday. Music became more of a feature in my academic research and involvement in the small but brilliant Radio 1 fandom connected me with people all over the world who remain some of my closest friends today.
Grimmy’s breakfast show was an instrumental part of my evolving relationship with music, fandom, and London itself. The show was perfectly timed for my journey into work and if I didn’t have chance to listen in the morning, I would listen on catch-up if I found myself working late or walking home after a busy day at the office. If I was stressed out, in a bad mood, or in the office over the weekend, listening to Grimmy cheered me up. His story of a kid growing up in Oldham, going clubbing during the Madchester years with his older brother and dreaming about being a Radio 1 DJ gave me the confidence to go out there and follow my dreams at a time of personal career flux. Listening to his stories of the nineties encouraged me to go back to those old favourite tunes that seemed so strange to listen to only months before. I became fascinated by contemporary British music movements and the intersections with class, race, LGBT space and politics.
Nick Grimshaw’s final show on Radio 1 marked the end of one era and the start of new, exciting things. It was perfectly celebratory and packed with fan favourite features such as Showbot, Happy Hardcore FM, the Nixtape and the countless guests, friends, producers and broadcasters that made up Grimmy’s career at Radio 1. It was a fitting culmination to fourteen terrific years of broadcasting.
Thank you for the music, Grimmy. I for one can't wait to see what you do next. For anyone that's made it this far, here are the three songs that he chose for the end of his evening show, breakfast and his last day at Radio 1. Enjoy!
Grimmy’s breakfast show was an instrumental part of my evolving relationship with music, fandom, and London itself. The show was perfectly timed for my journey into work and if I didn’t have chance to listen in the morning, I would listen on catch-up if I found myself working late or walking home after a busy day at the office. If I was stressed out, in a bad mood, or in the office over the weekend, listening to Grimmy cheered me up. His story of a kid growing up in Oldham, going clubbing during the Madchester years with his older brother and dreaming about being a Radio 1 DJ gave me the confidence to go out there and follow my dreams at a time of personal career flux. Listening to his stories of the nineties encouraged me to go back to those old favourite tunes that seemed so strange to listen to only months before. I became fascinated by contemporary British music movements and the intersections with class, race, LGBT space and politics.
Nick Grimshaw’s final show on Radio 1 marked the end of one era and the start of new, exciting things. It was perfectly celebratory and packed with fan favourite features such as Showbot, Happy Hardcore FM, the Nixtape and the countless guests, friends, producers and broadcasters that made up Grimmy’s career at Radio 1. It was a fitting culmination to fourteen terrific years of broadcasting.
Thank you for the music, Grimmy. I for one can't wait to see what you do next. For anyone that's made it this far, here are the three songs that he chose for the end of his evening show, breakfast and his last day at Radio 1. Enjoy!