'Good Morning Nantwich' by Phill Jupitus

In the dying days of the twentieth century there was a man with a plan. He was a BBC producer tasked with starting up the new digital radio channel that would eventually be 6Music. He needed someone to present the breakfast show. He asked Phill Jupitus. Several years later Phill suggested to another producer that it was probably time he left. That producer didn't disagree.

Good Morning Nantwich: Adventures in Breakfast Radio is not really the story of what came in between as Phill admits the whole 'having to get up stupidly early to be driven to London each day' thing has helped his mind wipe most of his memories of the experience, something of a disappointment considering what the book is about. What we get is everything up to that, the life and times of young Phill, what music and DJs such as the late great John Peel meant to him growing up, and the time he spent at GLR before being given the nod for 6Music. We sit through the chapter when 6Music went live to the dozen people that had DAB radios at the time as Phill tries to not have a heart attack or drop expletives in front of Greg Dyke. When Phill comes to the realisation that 6Music would not be the free music nirvana he'd hoped for and quits, we have the whole experience of the last show broadcast from his house which has survived the depredations of time.

A light breezy read, if you've got a free weekend or a long train journey and maybe you've enjoyed Mr Jupitus on The News Quiz, QI, Phill and Phil's Perfect Ten, Never Mind The Buzzcocks or indeed, Billy Bragg's Sexuality video, then you'll probably enjoy this.