In Praise Of… Andy Twigge.

There are a few people who I have worked with over the period of my career who stand out. Some for just a few reasons, most often good, (but occasionally not). There are also those for whom the list of reasons why they are memorable is very long. Andy Twigge is one of those.

I mentioned a bit of this history in the recent episode of “Crunch & Roll” I took part in with John Fox. Andy Twigge, aka Twiggy, and I first met when he was one of “The Morley Boys“- a group of listeners and friends from an area north of Derby. They would take part with a lot of content on 102.8 Trent FM in Derby when it launched. They tended to centre much of their participation into mid-morning with Andy Miller, but they also used to contact several presenters on the station across the schedule from time to time. They were the type of active listeners that presenters loved. They would generate their own content, suggest ideas and were generally both creative and funny. Arguably their ring leader was Twiggy.

As you might expect, over a period of time of doing this, they got more and more involved and phone calls turned into studio visits and becoming more active. So began the radio career of Andy Twigge in earnest. As with most people starting out, he got involved in the activity of the station wherever he could helping out and this wound up in events, station activities around both the Derby TSA and for Trent in Nottingham. I remember Twiggy commenting that he would happily sweep the carpark (Nottingham had one of those at the back of the building in Castle Gate, ritht next to the grave yard of the ajoining church). In fact I think Twiggy DID actually do that on more than one occasion. This morphed into a more permanent role and he became Event Manager, meaning in the days of Trent doing large outdoor events in Wollaton Park in Nottingham, or in Markeaton Park in Derby, Twiggy would be the person putting all the bits into place from the station’s perspective in terms of planning and on the day. Quite an accomplished role and something he really excelled at. We both got along really well, and by this point I had moved through being breakfast presenter in Derby, to programming the station.

Twiggy would still be appearing from time to time on air with Andy Miller whilst doing the events, but also appearing more on air when bits needed doing from locations- with the radio car. His engaging and disarming personality meant he was just fantastic with people. He could put them at ease really quickly, and he could chat to anyone effortlessly. He was just a natural.

I remember I tried him out a few times doing solo show on a Saturday morning in Derby, but I think he will admit that something wasn’t quite right at that time. It didn’t give him the environment to bring out the best in him. Looking back now, at that time he hadn’t developed the presentation techniques that you might expect from a solo music presenter and we hadn’t training him in that either. That’s not to say that he couldn’t do it- he has proved that beyond a doubt in sbsequent years, just that the raw connection, the personality and skill he had naturally was his strength. There was no doubt that he should be on air, it was about finding the right vehicle.

At this time I had moved onto Nottingham as Programme Controller, and so it was the supremely talented Rob Wagstaff who replaced me in Derby who first put Twiggy into a studio as co-host with Joanna Russell who I had hired previously to do breakfast on what was now Ram FM with Ian Skye- “Skye & Russell”. This first outing in a presenter role on “Jo & The Morning Crew” gave Twiggy the position to demonstrate all the stengths of his natural talent and charisma in a safe environment with Jo looking after the logistics and formatic elements of doing a breakfast show. This created a brilliant enviroment for bringing out the gold.

When it came to creating something new in Nottingham at the bigger Trent FM, it was clear that “Jo & The Morning Crew”, inhibited by a glass ceiling at the smaller Ram FM, were a really awesome option. Thus, “Jo & Twiggy” were born when moving to Trent. By this point, Twiggy had really honed his natural gift of reflecting back to the audience in a relatable way. Think of it in these terms, he had the awareness and ability to flip really well. Some background… Derby hates Nottingham and visa versa. Whilst on Ram Twiggy would poke fun in Nottingham’s direction occasionally – all fair game and not just football related. Moving to Nottingham, he absolutely “got it” and reversed the direction of flow without I think us ever having a conversation about it. He just naturally understood and adapted brilliantly, knowing his audience.

Jo & Twiggy hit the right moment at the right time. They owned the city, soared to greatness and the awards and accolades followed. Throughout the whole of that period, Twiggy really developed his skill, his understanding of the art form and his own presentation ability. When Jo left for pastures new in London, “Twiggy & Emma” continued the meteoric success for many years. Morphing into Capital and later moving to drive didn’t diminish the sheer talent at being able to understand where the centre of his skill and appeal was, and focussing on it.

You might think that someone with such a story and rise might start believing his own hype, and become a bit of a diva. I’m sure there were changes, and of course anyone can be tempted to get used to the trappings of such a success. One of the reasons for the continued success of Twiggy though is that he largely remained grounded. I’ve lost count of the number of times he would say to me, “You have to remember that I’m just a farmer’s son”. He knows where he came from, how lucky he is and he values it. It’s also is where his power to be able to talk to real people in a relatable way that connects instantly, comes from.

Radio is Twiggy’s canvass and he is an artist of world-class talent. He now resides on BBC Radio Derby at Breakfast. Now, whilst BBC Local Radio has had a bit of a torrid time of late, and I don’t doubt that Twiggy has also with the process everyone has gone through, one thing is abundantly clear- he is SMASHING IT. I don’t have the figures for Radio Derby in their own TSA to hand, so the next best thing is to look at numbers for stations in the area.

In the latest (Wave 4 2023) survey, in Capital Derbyshire TSA, Radio Derby has a share of 11.2% (6-10am) at Breakfast*. Market leader Radio 2 has 13.4% for comparison*! Now of course, BBC Local has taken a bit of a beating in the figures of late following the changes to schedules and so whilst these numbers are still very high, they have been even higher in the past! _{^{(*Source: RAJAR/Ipsos/RSMB. Wave 4 2023 Capital East Midlands Derbyshire TSA)}}

It takes a fabulous talent, a humble and genuine person who never takes themselves too seriously to be able to do what he has done in his radio career- ruled breakfast in Derby on Ram, then again on Trent, then again as Capital in across the East Midlands, then once more on Drive and now in Derby again on BBC Radio Derby. Do you want to know what success looks like? I’d say you’d be hard to pressed to find better than that!