Saturday 31 December 2016

Feeling Good: The Nina Simone Story - 2. Episode 2

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 11th November 2016

Nina Simone's daughter continues her exploration of her mother's extraordinary life and career - sharing her personal thoughts and providing a glimpse of the real woman behind the distinctive voice.

This series features unreleased concert tracks and contributions from some of Nina's closest friends - including her high school friend Hannah Ferguson; her niece Joyce Stroud; her close friend Verta Mae Grosvenor; concert promoter Ron Delsener; her friend and Elektra Records A and R man Michael Alago, singer Patti Smith; and her drummer for 18 years - Paul Robinson.

Nina started her musical life as Eunice Waymon, a 5-year old child protégé, learning classical piano with the help of people in her home town. She won a place at New York's famous Juilliard School but was turned down by the elite Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. This was an incredible blow to the young Eunice Waymon, who turned to teaching piano and playing in bars to make ends meet. At this point she took the stage name Nina Simone.

She moved to New York City and signed her first record deal [not reading the small print which would cost her dearly later in her career]. New York was the place to be and Nina became closely associated with the civil rights movement, connected with both the radical black playwright Lorraine Hansberry and Malcolm X. She wrote her first protest song, Mississippi Goddamn, in 1963 - an enraged reaction to the deaths of four children in the bombing of a Sunday school in Alabama.

She also met and married Andy Stroud, who became her manager [and Simone's father]. Throughout the 60s her output was prolific and she toured constantly in the US and Europe, always highlighting the civil rights message.

First broadcast on Radio 2.

Feeling Good: The Nina Simone Story - 1. Episode 1

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 10th November 2016

Nina Simone's daughter Simone explores an extraordinary life and career - sharing her personal thoughts and providing a glimpse of the real woman behind the distinctive voice.

This series features unreleased concert tracks and contributions from some of Nina's closest friends - including her high school friend Hannah Ferguson; her niece Joyce Stroud; her close friend Verta Mae Grosvenor; concert promoter Ron Delsener; her friend and Elektra Records A and R man Michael Alago, singer Patti Smith; and her drummer for 18 years - Paul Robinson.

In part one, we hear about Nina's musical beginnings as Eunice Waymon, a 5-year old child protégé, learning classical piano with the help of people in her home town. She won a place at New York's famous Juilliard School but was turned down by the elite Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. This was an incredible blow to the young Eunice Waymon, who turned to teaching piano and playing in bars to make ends meet. At this point she took the stage name Nina Simone.

She moved to New York City and signed her first record deal [not reading the small print which would cost her dearly later in her career]. New York was the place to be and Nina became closely associated with the civil rights movement, connected with both the radical black playwright Lorraine Hansberry and Malcolm X. She wrote her first protest song, Mississippi Goddamn, in 1963 - an enraged reaction to the deaths of four children in the bombing of a Sunday school in Alabama.

She also met and married Andy Stroud, who became her manager [and Simone's father]. Throughout the 60s her output was prolific and she toured constantly in the US and Europe, always highlighting the civil rights message.

First broadcast on Radio 2.

Friday 30 December 2016

The Thrill Of It All: Roxy Music - 4. Episode 4

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 18th November 2016

Jarvis Cocker celebrates Roxy Music and reflects on their legacy. First broadcast on Radio 2.

Roxy Music - Oh Yeah
Roxy Music - Jealous Guy [EG]
Roxy Music - More Than This
Roxy Music - Take A Chance With Me [EG]
Roxy Music - Tara [N/A]
Roxy Music - Avalon
Roxy Music - Love Is A Drug [EG]
Roxy Music - Do The Strand
Roxy Music - Over You [Virgin]
Roxy Music - Virginia Plain

Thursday 29 December 2016

The Thrill Of It All: Roxy Music - 3. Episode 3

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 17th November 2016

Jarvis Cocker celebrates Roxy Music and reflects on their legacy. First broadcast on Radio 2.

Roxy Music - Love Is The Drug [Stemra]
Roxy Music - Oh Yeah
Roxy Music - Take A Chance With Me [EG]
Roxy Music - More Than This
Roxy Music - Trash
Roxy Music - Manifesto
Roxy Music - Dance Away [Dino]
Roxy Music - Angel Eyes [EG]
Roxy Music - Over You [Virgin]
Roxy Music - My Only Love
Roxy Music - The Same Old Scene [EG]
Roxy Music - Oh Yeah

Wednesday 28 December 2016

The Thrill Of It All: Roxy Music - 2. Episode 2

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 16th November 2016

Jarvis Cocker celebrates Roxy Music and reflects on their legacy. First broadcast on Radio 2.

Roxy Music - Pyjamarama [Virgin]
Roxy Music - Street Life [Virgin]
Roxy Music - A Song For Europe
Roxy Music - Mother Of Pearl [Virgin]
Roxy Music - All I Want Is You [EG]
Roxy Music - Both Ends Burning [Virgin]
Roxy Music - Love Is The Drug [EG]
Roxy Music - Angel Eyes [EG]
Roxy Music - Avalon [EG]
Roxy Music - More Than This [EG]
Roxy Music - Take A Chance With Me [EG]

Tuesday 27 December 2016

The Thrill Of It All: Roxy Music - 1. Episode 1

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 15th November 2016

Jarvis Cocker celebrates Roxy Music and reflects on their legacy.

Evolving from the late-60s art-rock movement, Roxy Music epitomized fashion, glamour and innovative music. Through the 70s and 80s, the band released a string of ground-breaking albums, culminating with the 1982 classic Avalon. Programme one begins with the band emerging in 1972, making an instant visual and musical impact. Dressed in bizarre, yet stylish costumes, the group played a defiantly experimental variation of art rock with infectious pop hooks. The creative tension between Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno pulled the band in separate directions but resulted in two ground-breaking albums.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 2.

Roxy Music - Virginia Plain
Roxy Music - Love Is The Drug [EG]
Roxy Music - Angel Eyes [EG]
Roxy Music - Avalon
Roxy Music - Remake/Remodel
Roxy Music - Amazona [Expressionn]
Roxy Music - 2HB
Roxy Music - Virginia Plain
Roxy Music - Do The Strand
Roxy Music - The Bogus Man [Virgin]
Roxy Music - In Every Dream Home A Heartache [Polydor]

Monday 26 December 2016

Fred Deakin - FredMix 2016/17 (Come Dance With Me Sweetheart)

Freddeak.in download: 24th December 2016

Prince - Crimson And Clover
Kon - Awe Baby (Medlar Remix)
Porches - Be Apart
ELO - The Rain Is Falling
Tom Misch - Memory
The Human League - Toyota City
Doc Daneeka Feat. Seven Davis Jr. - I Promise
Saje - Our Story (Kartell Remix)
Nightlife Unlimited - Let’s Do It Again (Trax & Wax Edit)
Altered Images - Insects
Senor M Feat. Grace Jones - Time
HNNY - There Is No One Else
Tiger And Woods - Ginger And Fred
Janet Jackson - All Nite (Don’t Stop)
Todd Terje - Baby Do You Wanna Bump
King Curtis - Instant Groove
Tom Misch - Home
Jaki Whitren & John Cartwright - This Time (Al Usher Remix)
The Rock Steady Crew - Digital Boogie
David Bowie - Love Is Lost (James Murphy Remix)
Khruangbin - Il Clan Dei Siciliani
The Roches - On The Road To Fairfax County
Steely Dan Feat. Lord Tariq And Peter Gunz - Black Cow Uptown (Nasty NMX Edit)
Kristin Kontrol - Show Me
Kishore Kumar & Ranu Mukherjee - Jawani Mere Yara
Winston Francis - Turn Back The Hands Of Time
Fandango - Macho
Lenny Williams - Problem Solver
dbh - New Anthem
West Coast Silver Fox - You Can Feel It
Grinderswitch - Pickin’ The Blues

Sunday 25 December 2016

25 Years Of Rock 1955-1979 / 30 Years Of Rock 1980-1984

25 YEARS OF ROCK 1955-1979 / 30 YEARS OF ROCK 1980-1984 (320kbs-m4a/3.87gb/28hrs40mins)
BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 25th November to 24th December 2016

A 25-part series, first broadcast in 1980, covering the years 1955-1979. The most significant records of each year are set against Pathe and Movietone newsreels, as well as songs of the year, extracts from Billboard magazine, archive recordings and newspaper clippings read by Bill Bingham.

In 1985, further episodes were added to the 25 Years of Rock series that was broadcast in 1980 covering the years 1955-1979.

The new episodes covered 1980-1984 and the most significant records of each year are set against Pathe and Movietone newsreels, as well as extracts from Billboard magazine, archive recordings and newspaper clippings.

25 YEARS OF ROCK 1955-1959 (320kbs-m4a/653mb/4hrs45mins)

25 YEARS OF ROCK 1960-1964 (320kbs-m4a/653mb/4hrs45mins)


25 YEARS OF ROCK 1965-1969 (320kbs-m4a/656mb/4hrs46mins)

25 YEARS OF ROCK 1970-1974 (320kbs-m4a/652mb/4hrs45mins)

25 YEARS OF ROCK 1975-1979 (320kbs-m4a/652mb/4hrs45mins)

25 YEARS OF ROCK 1980-1984 (320kbs-m4a/677mb/4hrs55mins)

Saturday 24 December 2016

Bill Drummond - Memory Tape

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 23rd November 2016

A few weeks ago we were lucky to have a Memory Tape from one of our favourite artists, Hannah Peel. Her beautiful selection of music was built around her experiences with dementia, a central theme of her latest album Awake But Always Dreaming which is out now on My Own Pleasure. In fact tomorrow Hannah is hosting a very special performance at Shoreditch Church in London, showcasing the album and raising money for Alzheimer's charities. Inspired by her Memory Tapes experience, Hannah reached out to other people to pull together their own lists, the results of which you can find on her website. Therefore we're very lucky to share with you the Memory Tape of artist, musician, writer and producer Bill Drummond.

“Recorded Music was a major force in my life.

It pushed and shoved and shaped me.

This pushing, shoving and shaping started with Elvis at the picture house as a child in Newton Stewart.
But it was not until I was turning 13 in a town called Corby, did it begin to have its full impact.

It is still the Recorded Music that I heard at that age that has had the longest and deepest impact on my life.

It has nothing to do with any sort of objective judgement of this Recorded Music.

It had everything to do with my mind being that of a 13 year old in 1966.

As I turned 50 in and the year was 2003, I became aware that Recorded Music not only had little hold over my emotions, it was also losing its power to affect society, its cultural significance was passing on. It was not only weighed down by its own history, it was being superseded by other ways of communicating in a far more one to one way. Like all other forms of music in previous centuries, Recorded Music was becoming part of a history of a fading century. Recorded Music, whatever the genre it embraced, was the music of the 20th Century, be that music Jazz, Rock, Reggae, Soul etc etc. All of these diverse genres, whatever their history and the genius of individual artists, the music of the 20th Century existed primarily to be consumed in the recorded form, thus existed to be bought, sold and used to hold listener attention between the advertising breaks on commercial radio.

Putting aside the somewhat cynical overview of that last couple of sentences, for me Recorded Music was the greatest art form of the 20th Century. Recorded Music towered above Film and the Paper Back Novel, and far outstripping anything that could be hung in a gallery or collected by a wealthy art collector. Recorded Music was a democratic art form.

For me to attempt to pick my ten favourite pieces of Recorded Music would not only be difficult, it would almost be a lie, as actively listening to Recorded Music no longer plays an active part of my life. That said I still like to hear Recorded Music by accident. As in when walking down a street and I hear some Turkish pop music coming out of a passing shop or car, or maybe when…

Anyway, I know that it was at that age of turning 13 in 1966, and my teenage hormones were kicking in, that recorded music had its biggest and most lasting impact. Thus what I have decided to do is track down, via Google and find out what the Top Twenty was on my 13th birthday in 1966. Once that is done, choose ten records from that chart. As yet I have not checked to see if there were ten records in that weeks Top Twenty, that had a powerful impact on me, but I am very certain there were and are. Not that I think they will have been the greatest records of all time but…

I also know that my own memory is beginning to waver and slide. That I cannot remember what film I saw on television last week, that I too have begun that journey into dementia and all it holds.

So bear with me while I type into Google "UK Top Twenty 29 April 1966"

Two Minutes later.

And this is what I have picked from the Top Twenty on my 13th Birthday and their chart position of that week.

1: You Don't Have To Say You Love Me – Dusty Springfield
2: Pretty Flamingo – Manfred Mann
3: Somebody Help Me – Spencer Davis Group
4: Bang Bang – Cher
9: I Put A Spell On You – Alan Price Set
11: Substitute – The Who
12: Homeward Bound – Simon & Garfunkel
13: Sloop John B – The Beach Boys
14: The Sun Ain't Going To Shine Anymore – The Walker Brothers
20: Dedicated Follower Of Fashion – The Kinks

I recommend that if you are caring for or sharing with or just chatting to someone who's memory is beginning to fail them and they are not particularly engaging with what is culturally happening at the moment, track down the Top Twenty on their 13th birthday and get them to choose ten of the tracks and play them back together on You Tube or whatever.

And then discuss."

The Kinks - Dedicated Follower Of Fashion [Castle]
Simon & Garfunkel - Homeward Bound [Columbia]
Alan Price Set - I Put A Spell On You [Old Gold]
The Spencer Davis Group - Somebody Help Me [Polygram TV]
Dusty Springfield - You Don't Have To Say You Love Me [Philips]

The KLF - Steve Lamacq: Archive interview 1995

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 26th February 2014

Steve continues the build-up to the 6 Music Festival in Manchester, with an archive interview with The KLF, where they discuss the famouse burning of a million pounds.

Friday 23 December 2016

John Lennon: The New York Years - 2. Episode 2

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 19th November 2016

Susan Sarandon continues to explore the major moments of John's life that occurred in the city he called home from the early 70s, when he and Yoko moved there following the break up of The Beatles, until his death on 8 December 1980. Featuring input from friends and family, who lived and worked with Lennon during his New York years, this programme highlights the career-defining moments that were influenced by the Big Apple.

Contributors include David Bowie, Elton John, Jann Wenner, Bob Gruen, Klaus Voormann, Allan Tannenbaum, Larry Kane, Alan White, Elliot Mintz, Jack Douglas, Jonathan Cott, May Pang, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Ethan Russell, Yoko Ono and Julian Lennon, as well as excerpts from interviews John recorded in New York.

John Lennon - Meat City [EMI]
John Lennon - Aisumasen (I'm Sorry) [Parlophone ]
John Lennon - Surprise Surprise (Sweet Bird Of Paradox) [EMI]
John Lennon - #9 Dream [Parlophone]
John Lennon And H Nilsson - Old Dirt Road [EMI]
John Lennon - Ya Ya [EMI]
John Lennon - Bless You [EMI]
John Lennon - What You Got [EMI]
John Lennon - Whatever Gets You Through The Night [Capitol]
John Lennon - Real Love [EMI]
David Bowie - Across The Universe [EMI]
John Lennon - Stand By Me [EMI]
John Lennon - Ain't That A Shame [EMI]
John Lennon - Mucho Mungo [Capitol]
John Lennon - Sean's 'Little Help' [Parlophone]
John Lennon - Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) [Parlophone]
Elvis Presley - Santa Claus Is Back In Town [RCA/BMG]
Elvis Presley - Here Comes Santa Claus [RCA]
John Lennon - Woman [Capitol]
John Lennon - Watching The Wheels [Parlophone]
John Lennon - (Just Like) Starting Over [Parlophone]
Yoko Ono - Hard Times Are Over [Capitol]
John Lennon - Nobody Told Me [Polydor]
John Lennon - Borrowed Time [EMI]
Yoko Ono - Walking On Thin Ice [Capitol]
John Lennon - Oh My Love [Parlophone]
John Lennon - Grow Old With Me [Parlophone]
John Lennon - New York City [EMI]
Bob Dylan - If Not For You [Columbia]

Thursday 22 December 2016

John Lennon: The New York Years - 1. Episode 1

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 18th November 2016

Susan Sarandon explores the major moments of John's life that occurred in the city he called home from the early 70s, when he and Yoko moved there following the break up of The Beatles, until his death on 8 December 1980. Featuring input from friends and family, who lived and worked with Lennon during his New York years, this programme highlights the career defining moments that were influenced by the Big Apple.

It was on John's first visit to New York in 1964, during The Beatles first US tour, that he was introduced to Bob Dylan. John was inspired by Dylan's lyrical creativity and Lennon's music would never be the same again. John and Yoko returned to New York whenever possible during the Beatles hectic final years and eventually decide to move there permanently in September 1971.

John and Yoko began recording their album, Sometime In New York City, with an agenda to protest against the social injustices they observed in the United States. With Phil Spector producing, and accompanied by members of the Plastic Ono Band, the album was completed in March of 1972 and remains the most overtly political recordings Lennon ever recorded.

In 1975 John retired from music to spend time as a "house husband", raising his son Sean at their Manhattan apartment, before returning to the studio with Yoko in 1980 to record the album Double Fantasy. But on 8 December, John murdered by Mark Chapman, who'd asked the former Beatle for his autograph only hours before he killed him.

John Lennon - New York City [EMI]
John Lennon - Power To The People [Parlophone]
John Lennon - Instant Karma [Parlophone]
John Lennon - Scared [EMI]
John Lennon And Yoko Ono - (Just Like) Starting Over [Geffen]
The Beatles - All My Loving [Apple]
Bob Dylan - Talkin' New York [Columbia]
The Beatles - Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby [Apple]
John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band - God [Parlophone]
John Lennon - Long Lost John [Capitol]
John Lennon - How Do You Sleep [EMI]
John Lennon - Imagine [Parlophone]
John Lennon - New York City [EMI]
John Lennon - You Are Here [EMI]
John Lennon - Bring On The Lucie (Freda People) [EMI]
John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Happy Christmas (War Is Over) [EMI]
John Lennon - Imagine [Parlophone]
John Lennon - Attica State [Capitol]
John Lennon - Sunday Bloody Sunday
John Lennon And Yoko Ono & Plastic Ono Band - Woman Is The Nigger Of The World [EMI]
Yoko Ono - Song For John [Ryko]
John Lennon - I Know (I Know) [EMI]
John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band Featuring Elto - Power To The People [Parlophone]
John Lennon - Imagine [Parlophone]
John Lennon - Hound Dog
John Lennon - Cold Turkey [Parlophone]
John Lennon - Steel And Gas [EMI]
John Lennon - Give Peace A Chance [EMI]
John Lennon - I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier [Capitol]
John Lennon - Mind Games [Parlophone]

Wednesday 21 December 2016

Justice - Essential Mix

JUSTICE - ESSENTIAL MIX 17.12.16 (320kbs-m4a/276mb/120mins)
BBC Radio 1 broadcast: 17th December 2016


Jackson And His Computer Band - Dead Living Things [Warp]
Principles Of Geometry - Spring Dodged
Frank Ocean - Nikes [Boys Don't Cry]
Air - Playground Love [Virgin]
Connan Mockasin - I'm The Man, That Will Find You [Phantasy Sound]
M83 - Walkway Blues [Naive]
Late Of The Pier - Blueberry [Phantasy Sound]
Shock Machine - Open Up The Sky [Marathon Artists]
The Flaming Lips - Always There...In Our Hearts [Warner Bros.]
The Rolling Stones - Can't You Hear Me Knocking [Atlantic]
Serge Gainsbourg - Flash Forward
Charlotte Gainsbourg - Le Chat du Café des Artistes
John Carpenter - Escape From NY [Varese Sarabande]
Cobra Space Adventure Soundtrack - Shi No Koshin [Animusik]
T. Rex - Monolith [Fly]
GENER8ION - Close (To The Metal) [Bromance]
Justice - Stop [Ed Banger]
Gesaffelstein - Aleph [The Vinyl Factory]
Fern Kinney - Baby Let Me Kiss You [T.K. Disco]
Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information [Epic]
Tame Impala - Led Zeppelin [Modular]
Miguel - The Valley [RCA]
DJ Pone - Falken's Maze [Ed Banger]
Sly & The Family Stone - In Time [Epic]
Ennio Morricone - Cavallina A Cavallo (Jackson Edit)
Serge Gainsbourg - Requiem Pour Un Con
Prince - Sign 'O' The Times [Paisley Park]
Soft Hair - Relaxed Lizard [Weird World Record Co.]
Mort Garson - Plantasia [Homewood]
The Zombies - The Way I Feel Inside [Decca]
Todd Rundgren - A Treatise On Cosmic Fire [Bearsville]
Harry Nilsson - One [RCA]
Shock Machine - Shock Machine
Justice - Presence [Ed Banger]
Air - Electronic Performer [Source]
Pink Floyd - The Great Gig In The Sky [Harvest]
Nicolas Godin - Orca [Because Music]
Anna Meredith - Nautilus
Scratch Massive - Golden Dreams [Oraculo]
Jackson And His Computer Band - Seal [Warp]
Alan Braxe & The Spimes - One More Chance [Scion Audio/Visual]
Justice - Love S.O.S. [Ed Banger]

Tuesday 20 December 2016

U2 - Live Hammersmith Palais 1982

U2 - LIVE HAMMERSMITH PALAIS 12.06.82 (320kbs-m4a/120mb/52mins)
BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 17th December 2016

U2 - Surrender
U2 - I Threw A Brick Through A Window
U2 - A Day Without Me
U2 - An Cat Dubh
U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
U2 - I Fall Down
U2 - The Electric Co
U2 - October
U2 - New Year's Day
U2 - Gloria
U2 - I Will Follow
U2 - Celebration

Monday 19 December 2016

The Teardrop Explodes - Live Guildford Civic Hall 1981

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 9th July 2002 (recorded 18th June 1981)

The Teardrop Explodes - Read It In Books
The Teardrop Explodes - Thief Of Baghdad
The Teardrop Explodes - Sleeping Gas
The Teardrop Explodes - Passionate Friend
The Teardrop Explodes - Just Like Leila Khaled Said
The Teardrop Explodes - Suffocate
The Teardrop Explodes - The Poppies Are In The Field
The Teardrop Explodes - Culture Bunker
The Teardrop Explodes - Reward
The Teardrop Explodes - Went Crazy
The Teardrop Explodes - Screaming Secrets
The Teardrop Explodes - When I Dream
The Teardrop Explodes - The Great Dominions
The Teardrop Explodes - Treason

Sunday 18 December 2016

Logan's Run And Intergenerational War

BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 26th November 2016

In 1967 the novel 'Logan's Run' proposed a dystopian solution to overpopulation and lack of resources- the (voluntary, willing) self-culling of those over twenty one years of age. 50 years on, the novel's themes of intergenerational war and the redundancy of the old have a particular poignancy.

In this Archive on Four, Ed Howker looks at how the then futuristic themes of 'Logan's Run' have manifested themselves in the reality of 21st century society. Large swathes of the capitalist world seem to have adopted the novel's plot as policy, such as in Silicon Valley, for example, where hardly anyone is over the age of 30. At the same time there is a huge discrepancy in wealth and resources held by the young and old, often held up as the source of conflict in 'generational unfairness'.

Ed Howker looks at the state of the young and the old and asks if implementing a 'Sleepshop', where the 21-year-olds of 'Logan's Run' fade out in a narcotic haze for the benefit of those younger, seems such a bad idea after all.

Producer Mark Rickards.

Saturday 17 December 2016

Gomez - Live Leeds University 2002

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 26th November 2016

Gomez - Rex Kramer
Gomez - Shot Shot
Gomez - Love Is Better Than A Warm Trombone
Gomez - Homework
Gomez - Rhythm And Blues Alibi
Gomez - Sound Of Sounds
Gomez - Here Comes The Breeze
Gomez - Chicken Song
Gomez - In Our Town
Gomez - Bring It On
Gomez - Detroit Swing
Gomez - Get Myself Arrested

Friday 16 December 2016

Spellbound: The John McGeoch Story

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 22nd November 2016

Another chance to hear the story of John McGeoch, one of the most innovative and influential guitarists of the new wave era.

Born in Scotland and raised in Manchester and London, John McGeoch was described as the "post-punk Jimmy Page", a man with an experimental, uncompromising and unique style.

He was a distinctive player who could conjure up dramatic riffs and sounds. He performed with no fewer than nine bands, including Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Public Image Ltd.

Pete Mitchell talks to Howard Devoto, Siouxsie Sioux and Johnny Marr among others, as he shines a light on the short life of this unsung guitar hero.

Magazine - Motorcade [Virgin]
Cream - Sunshine Of Your Love [Polydor]
Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love [Atlantic]
The Eagles - Take It To The Limit [Elektra]
Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The U.K. [Virgin]
Buzzcocks - Boredom [Document]
Television - Prove It [Elektra/Rhino]
Bee Gees - Night Fever [RSO]
Aztec Camera - Oblivious [Warner Esp.]
The Smiths - This Charming Man [Warner Chappell Music Ltd]
Magazine - Shot By Both Sides [Virgin]
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Hong Kong Garden [Polydor]
Magazine - Shot By Both Sides [Virgin]
Magazine - Definitive Gaze [Virgin]
Magazine - The Light Pours Out Of Me [Virgin]
Magazine - I Wanted Your Heart [Virgin]
Magazine - Rhythm Of Cruelty [Virgin]
Magazine - Because You're Frightened [Virgin]
Magazine - Philadelphia [Virgin]
Visage - Fade To Grey [Dino Entertainment]
Visage - Mind Of A Toy [Polydor]
Siouxsie And The Banshees - The Staircase (Mystery) [Polydor]
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Happy House [Telstar]
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Christine [Polydor]
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Spellbound [Sony/BMG]
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Arabian Knights Song [Polydor]
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Into The Light [Wonderland]
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Sin In My Heart [Polydor]
Public Image Ltd - Seattle [Virgin]
Magazine - The Thin Air [Atmosphere]
Magazine - Back To Nature [Virgin]
Dave Formula - The Anti-Hero [Wire Sound]

Thursday 15 December 2016

Music Of Quality And Distinction: The British Electric Foundation

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 21st November 2016

As the BBC's My Generation season turns its attention to the 80s, another chance to hear Stuart Maconie look back at the pioneering work of British Electric Foundation (BEF), the production company formed by Sheffield-born Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh when The Human League split up in 1980.

BEF released two volumes of Music of Quality and Distinction, in which well-known songs were re-interpreted using synthesizers and sequencers, in order to show that electronic music could have soul. Artists such as Tina Turner and Billy McKenzie of The Associates Turner performed on the albums, which have in turn influenced contemporary artists including La Roux.

Contributors include BEF's Martyn Ware, Heaven 17's Glenn Gregory, Radio 2's Paul Jones and Sandie Shaw, who sang on Music of Quality and Distinction Volume One and Elly Jackson of La Roux.

Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need That) Fascist Groove Thang [Virgin]
Henry Blair And Ray Turner - Sparky's Magic Piano [EMI]
The Tornados - Telstar [Music Club]
Roxy Music - Ladytron [Virgin]
Kraftwerk - Radioactivity [EMI]
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express [Capitol]
The Human League - Being Boiled [Fast Product / EMI]
The Human League - Don't You Want Me [Virgin]
Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need That) Fascist Groove Thang [Virgin]
B.E.F. & Glenn Gregory - Wichita Lineman [Virgin]
B.E.F. - Optimum Chant [Virgin]
Sandie Shaw - Anyone Who Had A Heart [Virgin]
B.E.F. - You Keep Me Hanging On [Virgin]
B.E.F. & Tina Turner - Ball Of Confusion [.]
B.E.F. & Paul Jones - There's A Ghost In My House [Virgin]
Heaven 17 - Temptation [Disky]
B.E.F. & Billy Mackenzie - Free [10]

Wednesday 14 December 2016

The Album As Art

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 20th November 2016

As part of the Art is Everywhere season, there's another chance to hear a programme, first broadcast on Radio 2 in 2008, in which Guy Garvey explores how the LP combined music, cover art, lyrics, liner notes and packaging to become a work of art in its own right.

David Bowie - Sound And Vision [EMI]
Elvis Presley - Hound Dog [Rca]
Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel [Polygram TV]
The Spencer Davis Group - Gimme Some Lovin' [Fontana]
The Who - I Can See For Miles [Polydor]
The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby [Apple]
The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows [Parlophone]
Pink Floyd - Interstellar Overdrive [EMI]
Donovan - The Trip [EMI]
David Bowie - I Dig Everything [Castle]
David Bowie - And I Say To Myself [PRT]
Pink Floyd - Arnold Layne [EMI]
The Velvet Underground - Venus In Furs [Verve]
The Velvet Underground - I'm Waiting For The Man [Global]
The Bonzo Dog Band - I Am The Urban Spaceman [EMI]
The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice [Capitol]
The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Hearts Club Band [EMI]
The Beatles - A Day In The Life [Parlophone]
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced [MCA]
Jimi Hendrix - Fire [Polydor]
Pink Floyd - Careful With That Axe Eugene (Live) [EMI]
The Doors - The End [Elektra/Rhino]
The Who - Pinball Wizard [Universal/Polydor]
The Faces - Stay With Me [Warner Archives]
David Bowie - Starman [EMI]
Pink Floyd - Us And Them [EMI]
Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy [Atlantic]
David Bowie - V-2 Schneider [Parlophone]
Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant [Virgin]
David Bowie - Heroes [EMI]
Joy Division - Heart And Soul [London]
Beastie Boys - Rhymin And Stealin [Def Jam]
Malcolm McLaren - Buffalo Gals [Columbia/Legacy]
Jamelia - See It In A Boy's Eyes [Parlophone]
Radiohead - Bodysnatchers [XL Recordings]
David Bowie - Golden Years [EMI]

Tuesday 13 December 2016

The Invisible Man: The Rod Temperton Story

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 9th November 2016

Another chance to hear Paul Gambaccini's 2006 profile the British-born songwriter Rod Temperton, who passed away in October.

The British-born keyboard player and songwriter enjoyed big disco-era success as part of Heatwave before writing hits for American R&B/pop stars including Donna Summer, George Benson, Aretha Franklin, James Ingram, Patti Austin, Herbie Hancock and, most lucratively, Michael Jackson.

Rod Temperton was a gentle-mannered man from Cleethorpes. Outside the music industry, few had heard of him, but everyone knows his songs. Without him the careers of Michael Jackson career, among many others, would have been very different. Rod single-handedly wrote and arranged some of the biggest songs in popular music history including Thriller, Give Me the Night, Boogie Nights, Always and Forever and Off the Wall, and became one of the most successful British songwriters of all time.

This programme charts his remarkable journey from Cleethorpes to Los Angeles, with contributions from Quincy Jones, George Benson and Patti Austin and many more. It was first broadcast on Radio 2 in 2006.

Rod Temperton - Thriller [Epic]
Rod Temperton - Boogie Nights [Columbia]
Rod Temperton - Rock With You [Epic]
Rod Temperton - Give Me The Night [Warner]
Rod Temperton - Off The Wall [Epic]
Rod Temperton - Razzamatazz [Polygram TV]
Rod Temperton - Too Hot To Handle [Epic]
Rod Temperton - Ain't No Half Steppin' [Epic]
Rod Temperton - Boogie Nights [Columbia]
Shuggy Otis - Strawberry Letter 23 [Pump]
Rod Temperton - Always And Forever [Epic]
Rod Temperton - The Groove Line [Sony Music TV]
Rod Temperton - Burn This Disco Out [Epic]
Rod Temperton - Off The Wall [Epic]
Rod Temperton - Rock With You [Epic]
Rod Temperton - Off Broadway [Rhino]
Rod Temperton - Give Me The Night [Warner]
Rod Temperton - Baby Come To Me [Universal]
Donna Summer - Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger) [Warner Bros.]
The Manhattan Transfer - Spice Of Life [Rhino]
Rod Temperton - Thriller [Epic]
Rod Temperton - Baby Be Mine [Sony]
Rod Temperton - Sweet Freedom [Warner Bros]
The Brothers Johnson - Stomp [Stardust]
Rod Temperton - Ya Mo Be There [Now]
Rod Temperton - Boogie Nights [Columbia]
Rod Temperton - Thriller [Epic]

Monday 12 December 2016

The British Invasion

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 28th October 2016

Three bands influenced rock legend Alice Cooper more than any other: The Yardbirds, The Kinks, and The Who. All of them British. In this documentary, Alice tells the story of how The Beatles' triumphant arrival in New York City on 7 February 1964, opened the doors to the British Invasion and changed American music forever.

From 1964 to 1966, Britain sent a stream of hits across the Atlantic. Behind The Beatles; Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Dave Clark Five, the Animals, Manfred Mann, Petula Clark, Freddie and the Dreamers, Herman's Hermits, the Rolling Stones and the Troggs all topped Billboard's singles chart.

These invaders had borrowed American rock music and returned it, restyled and refreshed. And after the drab post-war years, suddenly it was cool to be a Brit. American groups emerged who dressed and sounded just like them, such as The Beau Brummels, The Buckinghams and most famously, The Monkees.

The Invasion established the UK record industry as one of the biggest in the world, as well as the idea of bands composing their own tunes. But it lasted only a couple of years. John Lennon's infamous comment that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus was the first nail in the coffin, and eventually British and US artists ceased to sound different from each other.

Alice Cooper describes this exciting time in British music from a US point of view, talking to witnesses such as Beatles' road manager Tony Bramwell and legendary documentary-maker Albert Maysles; copycat bands such as The Buckinghams; and the artists themselves: Gerry Marsden, Petula Clark, Peter Noone from Herman's Hermits, Reg Presley from The Troggs, Lenny Davidson from the Dave Clark Five, The Hollies and Mike Pender from The Searchers.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 2.

Sunday 11 December 2016

Motorcity Blues

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 27th October 2016

Pete Mitchell explores the history and music of Detroit, once the world's number one automobile manufacturer and exporter of soul music.

The Swinging Tigers - Snake Walk (Part 1) [Motown]
The Satintones - Motor City
Fats Domino - Detroit City Blues
Redd Foxx - Shame On You
The Wright Specials - That's What He Is To Me
Kim Weston - It Should Have Been Me
Marv Johnson - Come To Me [Hip - O Select]
The Miracles - I Love Your Baby
The Marvelettes - Way Over There [Universal]
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Shop Around [Motown]
The Miracles - Going To A Go-Go
Stevie Wonder - I Call It Pretty Music But The Old People Call It The Blues (Part 1) [Tamla]
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Ooh Baby Baby [Crimson]
Gladys Knight & The Pips - Heard It Through The Grapevine [Motown]
The Velvelettes - Lonely Lonely Girl Am I [Motown]
The Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go [Polygram TV]
The Marvelettes - Please Mr Postman [Sequel]
The Marvelettes - Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead [A&M]
Brenda Holloway - Starting The Hurt All Over Again [Spectrum]
The Four Tops - 7 Rooms Of Gloom [Universal]
The Temptations - I Wish It Would Rain
Marvin Gaye - Chained [Tamla Motown]
Barbara Randolph - Can I Get A Witness [Spectrum]
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - You're All I Need To Get By [Motown]
Sly & The Family Stone - Dance To The Music [Epic]
The Temptations - Cloud Nine [Motown]
Gladys Knight & The Pips - The Friendship Train [Motown]
The Temptations - Ball Of Confusion [Motown]

The Temptations - Papa Was A Rollin' Stone [Motown]
The Temptations - Papa Was A Rollin' Stone [Tamla Motown]

Saturday 10 December 2016

The Wicked Pickett: The Life And Times Of Wilson Pickett

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 26th October 2016

Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who and a Wilson Pickett fan, tells the story of the soul legend.

Contributors include Wilson's brother Max; his ex-partner Dovie Hall; and soul stars like Bobby Womack and Eddie Floyd, who experienced the exceptional singing talent first hand; as well as the wild side, which earned him the nickname "The Wicked Pickett".

Pickett died in 2006, aged 64, but he left a legacy of classic hits like Mustang Sally, The Land of 1,000 Dances, and In The Midnight Hour. He was determined to be a singing star from an early age and his brother Max remembers how Wilson would always be getting into fights, whilst also singing gospel in church.

Little Richard spoke fondly of his friend at Wilson's funeral and those who loved him, and were influenced by him, sum up the "Wicked One's" legacy.

Friday 9 December 2016

Blue Jam: Series 3 - Episode 6

BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 2nd December 2016

Cult dark comedy from the imagination of Chris Morris. With Julia Davis, Amelia Bullmore.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 25th February 1999.

"The Last One..."
Blue Jam Intro: oo huxterpaz welcome
Speedking Hawking (Boom Boom Satellites - Track 10)
Beta Band - Inner Meet Me
Scuba-diving In A Puddle
Doc Dwarf (Mercury Rev - Pick)
Underworld - Bruce Lee
Goodier Sting 3
First Floor Suicide (Sade - I Will Be Your Friend)
Bad Sex 4 (Lowrell - Mellow Mellow Right On)
Bad Sex 4, Part 2
The Roots - You Got Me
Decapitation Art (Susumu Yokota - Track 4)
Black Star Liner - Superfly And Bindi
Greening Sting
Bowie’s Romantic Dinners (The Lance Gambit Trio - Cocktail 2000)
PJ Harvey - The River
Harbouring Idiots (Spacer - Track 4)
Mr Bentham - Parking Club (Language Lab - Track 2)
The Cardigans - Erase/Rewind
Pistols
Knocked Down (Alpha - Firefly)
Aphex Twin - Windowlicker
Horse Music (Lisa Germano - Wood Floors)
Blue Jam Outro

Thursday 8 December 2016

Blue Jam: Series 3 - Episode 5

BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 25th November 2016

Cult dark comedy from the imagination of Chris Morris. With Julia Davis, Amelia Bullmore.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 18th February 1999.

"A distraught woman manages to bribe the plumber to try and fix her dead baby"
Blue Jam Intro: al trang un sabers welcome
Adulterous Rape (Ruben Alpha - Lunar)
Madder Rose - My Star
Hiding Under The Furniture (Laurent Garnier - Deep Sea Diving)
Beck - Dead Melodies
Monologue: Suzy’s Wedding (Ganger - Blau, Talvin Singh - Disser/Point.Mento.B, Talvin Singh - Vikram The Vampire, Loop Whale - Track 1)
Dramatics - What U See/Get
Goodier Sting
Doc Phone Sex (9Lazy9 - Journeyman)
The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds
Michael Alexander St John: List Of Cool (Ballistic Brothers - Uschi’s Groove)
Red Snapper - Seeing Red
Moyles Sting
Mr Bentham - Wallet (Artist Unknown - Healing Place)
Sons Of Silence - A Grain Of Sand
Lesbians (Etienne Daho - Track 4)
Jad Fair & Yo La Tengo - Helpful Monkey Wallpapers Entire Home
Blue Jam Outro

Wednesday 7 December 2016

Blue Jam: Series 3 - Episode 4

BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 18th November 2016

Cult dark comedy from the imagination of Chris Morris. With Julia Davis, Amelia Bullmore.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 11th February 1999.

"Hear The Poor Sods Suffer While The Music Plays A Beauty Mash"
Blue Jam Intro: har com plusiam bezhley welcome
Doc Pain (Howie B - Music For Babies)
Scritti Politti - The Sweetest Girl
Goodier Sting 2: Baby
A Bottom In His Trousers (Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 2 CD1 Track 7)
Moloko - Inside
House Wheel (Nicola Alesini, Fabio Capanni, Roedelius - Roedelius)
Mercury Rev - Tonite It Shows
Mayo Sting 3
Pro-Thick Agency (DJ Vadim - London Feel Or Mood)
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Lovin’ Machine
Open Abdominal Therapy (Funki Porcini - Tiny Kangeroo Dolphin, Funki Porcini - Long Road)
Doris - Did You Give The World Some Love Today, Baby
Lamacq Sting
Unemployed Welshmen - A Glass Of Water (Windy & Carl - I Dream Of Blue)
The Beloved - Sweet Harmony
Funki Porcini - Surge
Doc Results (Artist Unknown - A Fly Over Bombay)
Broadcast - Booklovers
Doc Results 2
Blue Jam Outro

Tuesday 6 December 2016

Blue Jam: Series 3 - Episode 3

BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 11th November 2016

Chris Morris, Julia Davis, Kevin Eldon, David Cann, Mark Heap and Amelia Bullmore.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 4th February 1999.

"Bleeding Head Ragout With Music"
Blue Jam Intro: oo costrinsi welcome
Doc Billy Connolly (Roy Budd - Carter Takes A Train)
Eels - 3 Speed
Ball Sting
Zombie Baby (Funki Porcini - The Afterlife, Frederic Galliano - Multiples)
Herbert - So Now
Monologue: Cigarettes (Choc Weazel - Unknown, Spacer - Duke’s House, 9Lazy9 - Electric Lazyland)
Beck - We Live Again
Greening Sting
Raspberries
Brigit Bardot & Alain Goraguer & His Orchestra - Un Jour Comme Un Autre
Starting Conversations (Amon Tobin - Nova)
The Passions - I’m In Love With A German Film Star
Goodier Sting 3
Small Hoover (Alpha - Something Later)
PJ Harvey - The Wind
Lamacq Sting
Beethoven (Rae & Christian - The Hush)
Kristin Hersh - What’ll We Do With The Baby
Blue Jam Outro

Monday 5 December 2016

Blue Jam: Series 3 - Episode 2

BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 4th November 2016

Cult dark comedy from the imagination of Chris Morris. With Julia Davis, Amelia Bullmore and Kevin Eldon. 

First broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 28th January 1999.

"Supermonged Balm"
Blue Jam Intro: ar uh h-hm-hm-hmu welcome
Please, Just Bring Him Back (Low - Down)
Massive Attack - Teardrop
Pretty Much An Assault (Michael Brook - Earth Floor)
Esthero - That Girl
Ugly Weirdo Policy
Office Worker
Mayo Sting
Doc Blindfold (Clifford Gilberto - Restless)
Mica - Carefree
Michael Alexander St John: Dance News (9Lazy9 - Brothers Of The Red)
Hobbs Sting
The Egg - Getting Away With It
Fixit Girl - A Squirrel In A Dress (Grooverider - C Funk)
Moloko - Caught In A Whisper
Moyles Sting
Baby Plumber (Howie B - Shag, Lisa Germano - Reptile)
Tipsy - Space Golf
Third Eye Foundation - For All The Brothers & Sisters
Lunchtime
Lambchop - The Saturday Option
Blue Jam Outro

Sunday 4 December 2016

Blue Jam: Series 3 - Episode 1

BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 28th October 2016

The mind of Chris Morris leaks onto radio in this dreamlike combination of comedy and music. With Julia Davis, Kevin Eldon, Sally Phillips and Mark Heap.

Are you still lying curare-still, seeking relief in feigning dead? Then welcome, oo-tazz welcome. Chris Morris is here to help you wallow in the melancholy, for third and final series of this subversive radio classic.

Immediately prior to Blue Jam's initial burst on radio, Chris Morris had caused a furore with Channel 4's Brass Eye. Yet Blue Jam managed to be a total departure from his previous work. Originally airing in the early hours on BBC Radio 1, it's a blend of ambient music, deadpan (sometimes brutal) sketches and offbeat monologues. A whole audio landscape of the subconscious, the ad-hoc low-fi sheen of production lending it a kind of verisimilitude.

In sharp contrast with the personality-led comedies of recent years, Blue Jam makes a virtue of anonymity. Borat scribe Pater Baynham and Father Ted creator Graham Linehan are among the writers. Rightly winning a clutch of Sony Radio Awards, it remains unique - nothing before or after was remotely like it.

Producer: Chris Morris

First broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 21st January 1999.

"Sony Award Winning Mess"
Blue Jam Intro: package holiday welcome
Welsh Foreplay (Kensuke Shina - Lounge Music)
Plone - Plock
Hobbs Sting 2
Competitive Parents (Autechre - Unknown)
Tricky & Alison Goldtrapp - Pumpkin
Monologue: Street Sausage Vendors (Air - Les Professionnels, Howie B - Sore Brown Eyes)
Mercury Rev - Holes
Goodier Sting 2: Baby
Doc Oedipus Complex (Donald Fagen - Karmakyriad)
4Hero - Star Chasers
A Blaze Of Mayhem (Sie - Message From Jupiter)
Beck - Tropicalia
Mayo Sting 3
Urine Transfusions (Amp - When)
Mono - Disney Town
Doc Hides (Baby Mammoth - Cinquante Piquante)
Mr Scruff - Fish
Blue Jam Outro
You Still There?
Marvin Gaye - When Did You Stop Loving Me?

Saturday 3 December 2016

Adrian Sherwood - Gilles Peterson 26th November 2016

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast (Interview & Records): 26th November 2016

African Head Charge - Stebeni's Theme [On-U Sound]
Suns Of Arqa - Asian Rebel [On-U Sound]
 
Lee Scratch Perry - Spongy Rubber Dub Dubmaster (Dialect & Kosine Remix) [On-U Sound]
Alani - One Heart (Adrian Sherwood Remix) [On-U Sound]
African Head Charge - Conspired [On-U Sound]
Shara Nelson - Aiming At Your Heart [On-U Sound]
Sherwood & Pinch - Lies  (feat. Lee “Scratch” Perry) [Tectonic/On-U Sound]
Sherwood & Pinch - Retribution [Tectonic/On-U Sound]
Neyssato - War [White Label]
Medium Medium - So Hungry, So Angry [On-U Sound]
Atmosfear - Invasion [Elite]
Atmosfear - Alternative II [Elite]
Joe Gibbs & The Professionals - Chapter 3 [Lightning]
Coldcut X On-U Sound - Kjara [White Label]
Los Gaiteros De San Jacinto - Un Dub De Sangre [Khaliphonic]

Friday 2 December 2016

Holloway Dreams: The Joe Meek Story - 3. Episode 3

BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 27th October 2016

Tom Robinson concludes the sad story of the extraordinary British record producer Joe Meek, whose hits included Telstar by The Tornadoes.

Born Robert George Meek on 5 April 1929 in Newent, Gloucestershire, Joe became Britain's premier independent record producer in the early 60s, as renowned for his pioneering recording techniques and eccentric personality as for the futuristic sounds he created.