“ALL politicians should be on LSD.”

It was a sentence which completely befuddled Annie Nightingale as she stood in her Brighton bathroom in front of “cool, west coast guy” Roger McGuinn, the front man of The Byrds.

It was the mid-1960s and they had just played Hove Town Hall when he disappeared to the bathroom of her flat.

In the days before decimalisation – when pounds, shillings and pence were called LSD – her response seemed logical: “Oh okay, do you mean that all politicians should be sponsored so that they cannot become corrupted?”

But he looked at her in horror and said, “Hey man, it’s a drug.”

The anecdote is one of many she has shared with Radio 2 listeners, in a two-part potted history of her career to mark her 50th year in broadcasting.

She recalls how, on another occasion, she told a young Jimmy Page a new band called Led Zeppelin would not go far.

She puts her remarkable career, in which she has rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names in rock and roll, down to her grounding in journalism in Brighton.

An only child from north London, her fondness for the city came from visits to an aunt in Peacehaven and trips to Worthing.

Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock fascinated her and after watching Roman Holiday, which stars Gregory Peck as a reporter, she was determined to be a journalist.

“I was rather attracted to the idea of racing around in a sports car with front page news. Of course, it is very different from that in reality.

“There was still excitement but it wasn’t a profession everyone approved of.”

After a brief stint on the Brighton and Hove Gazette, she joined the Evening Argus.

“I met a really amazing team of reporters, all destined for Fleet Street, so I really had to up my game.

“I did everything from court reporting to covering parish council meetings.

“I was interviewing movie stars one day and somebody involved in a murder the next. It was an incredible beginning, it was a great grounding.”

What followed was a courtship of more than 30 years with the city where she first met The Beatles, among many other bands of the future.

Brighton was a great place to be a music journalist because it was on the circuit and there were few journalists to battle with for interviews.

She was regularly back stage with all the big names, from the Fab Four to Dusty Springfield.

“Oh, so you’re the difficult one,” were the first words she uttered to John Lennon after the band’s gig at the Hippodrome.

It was a knack she developed for attracting the attention of stars who would be asked the same questions over and over again.

“It’s like any conversation – there shouldn’t be any stock questions. It’s down to the interviewer. You have to give a bit of yourself, otherwise why should they trust you?”

She grew close to The Beatles but she faced a moral dilemma when she was probably the first journalist to know Lennon and Yoko Ono were in a relationship.

If her Fleet Street newspaper found out she knew, she would have been fired. But she kept quiet until they went public.

“These people changed my life. They created music culture. If it hadn’t been for them, we wouldn’t have it – we would just be another European country turning out Eurovision music. My loyalty to them was stronger than my loyalty to the paper.”

Her loyalty gained Yoko’s trust and she later confided in Annie that she was terrified of ending up alone – a fear sadly realised just years later.

She also took great delight in showing musicians around Brighton – introducing King Crimson’s Robert Fripp to the Palace Pier and The Who’s Keith Moon, who caused chaos after a gig at the University of Sussex.

He told everyone he was from British Airways and needed to book every room for passengers stuck at Gatwick. She also partied with him the night before he died.

Among her many claims to fame include being at The Jam’s very last gig in the city.

The Argus: Annie Nightingale - enjoying the sea viewAnnie Nightingale - enjoying the sea view Annie Nightingale - enjoying the sea view

Her first home in Brighton was a seafront flat in Black Rock, in a property owned by Belgian Count William de Belleroche.

“He would ring me up at 4am and ask me if I wanted to go for a drink, or would call to ask what the weather was like instead of looking out the window.”

She loved how liberal Brighton was – and it was a stark contrast to the sexism she faced at Radio 1.

When she applied, she was refused the job because she was a woman. She had built up a tolerance to sarcasm from Fleet Street but this was the first time she had experienced sexism.

She was not one to give up and heavily campaigned against gender bias in her writing.

“I didn’t want to be treated any differently. It was never an issue for me in Brighton.

“Working in Fleet Street was tough, they were very scathing about your work. It was very much if you couldn’t stand the heat then get out of the kitchen. But gender bias never came into it until Radio 1.”

Her persistence paid off and she was eventually offered a job and helped pave the way for other female DJs.

Now aged 75, she enjoys reminiscing but said she has little time to “indulge” in old music.

She is too busy playing midnight sets at Glastonbury, recording documentaries, working on a compilation CD to mark her milestone and presenting on Radio 1One in the early hours every Wednesday morning.

“When you’re doing this job, you don’t have time to indulge with old music – you’re downloading new music from 9am to 9pm. That is why it was great to put the compilation together.”

And her passion is unwavering.

She cannot wait for the release of You Don’t Own Me – a cover by a 17-year-old Australian called Grace.

“She’s got a great voice. I’ve always loved the song but I think this version will go far.”

She added: “I think Eminem is extraordinary. He is like an oral sculptor because of his ability with words.

“We have also got a lot of talent in the UK – particularly black music which is original just in the way reggae was original. That’s the sort of music that is most interesting.”

When choosing music, she remembers something legendary Radio 1 DJ John Peel told her: “We are looking for music we haven’t heard before”.

She also closely follows the festival scene and kept an eye on the success of Wildlife, which launched in Shoreham this year.

She said the success of festivals is down to people being “constantly isolated” on computers with headphones.

“They need somewhere to come together and find people they want to be with to enjoy music. I download all my music now – everyone does – but I miss going in a shop.

“I used to have a great time in record shops in the North Laine. They were always busy, full of people. This is where you heard where the parties were going to happen.”

However, she is unsure if she will ever move back to Brighton.

She said: “Brighton has a got a way when I visit. The sun comes out and it’s like it’s saying to me ‘why don’t you come back?’ “I got the train once and I was thinking which one is home – London or Brighton? There was a pull in both directions and it took a while to get used to that. Brighton is a hard place to leave.

“I’ve always said it’s not a bucket and space spade town. There is an undercurrent that will always be there and there is an element of truth in Brighton Rock.”

  • Masterpiece Annie Nightingale, which features some of her favourite tracks from the last 50 years, is on sale now.