Music Television 1.5

Tom Odell - MTV Crashes Coventry
One of a series of gigs at the Ricoh Arena. In a short set, Odell managed to plug the material from his new album, which in the case of closer Magnetised sounds good stuff.

Karen Carpenter - Goodbye to Love
A lengthy analysis, with vignettes of actors playing the main players, to help illustrate Karen's gloomy situation. Her brother Richard was a notable absentee, but then since he got quite a kicking, that's hardly surprising. Their mother Agnes undoubtedly got the brunt of it, though, for her controlling interest and her unsympathetic ignorance of Karen's problems, matched with her devotional worship of Richard. Though she tried psychotherapy, she really needed to be kept away from her mother and brother. Her ill-fated marriage didn't help as much as it should have, either. It would have been an interesting experiment to hear her solo disco album at the time, and ultimately a good thing for the duo. But it wasn't to be.

Fleur East -- MTV Crashes Coventry
Again, from the Ricoh Arena. The former X Factor contestant made the best of material from her 1st album, to mixed crowd reaction. Time will tell how she fares.

James @ Glastonbury 2016
A short set from early on Friday, they having also released a new album lately. Good songs, as usual, well performed.

Top of the Pops - The Story of 1982
A mildly confused hour, which glossed over some of the big stories of the year, and gave undue prominence to movements that history has, rightly, ignored. That the music show was now presented as a wacky fun zone was at odds with much of the music, and the outside world. But Jeffrey Daniel did relate the saga of the Backslide (as later borrowed by Michael Jackson for the Moonwalk).

Top of the Pops 1982 - Big Hits
A compilation of acts from the year that were ignored in the above prog. So Bow Wow Wow, Fun Boy Three, The Associates, Joan Jett & pals, Kid Creole & pals and Musical Youth all featured.

Live With... Joanne Shaw Taylor
Don't know her, but she clearly has a new album called "The Dirty Truth", and unsurprisingly, she and her band could deliver a steady half-hour set.

Carpenters - Their Greatest Hits
A busy compilation of 15 of their songs, from the obvious to the obscure. At least tracks like Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft showed they could think outside the box sometimes.

The South Bank Show: Sly and Robbie
Melvyn Bragg went to Kingston, Jamaica, to chat to Robbie Shakespeare and Lowell "Sly" Dunbar, relating their early days with Dave and Ansell Collins, the development of their own hit sounds, their work with the Rolling Stones and Black Uhuru, and the growth of the Bam Bam sound, as heard in the work of Chaka Demus and Pliers (also interviewed briefly).

Foals @ Glastonbury 2016
An hour from Friday on the Pyramid Stage, with material from their whole career, and especially their most recent album.

Rick Wakeman - The Ultimate Anthology
Decent compilation of material from across his career, only one of which had any vocal element.

The Frank Kilbride Show - Foster & Allen
Veteran Irish duo talk about their history, and there's several of their hit songs. They talk about the Top of the Pops appearance that made them famous in England, and how their record company were later able to support other Irish acts like Daniel O'Donnell. A welcome chance to learn more about them.

Squeeze @ Glastonbury 2016
Also from Saturday on the Pyramid Stage, a short burst of classic material. It's notable that Glenn does most of the singing, leaving Chris to shine most on Cool For Cats.

The Last Shadow Puppets @ Glastonbury 2016
Another Saturday short slot, Alex and Miles seemed well at home, and were among the many acts to pay tribute to David Bowie with a cover of Moonage Daydream.

James Bay  - Live @ V Festival 2015
A short set from Chelmsford, with the fresh & rising singer-songwriter running through his early material. Not bad, actually.

Katy B - My Career In Music
A useful showcase of her videos up to Who Am I, though regrettably omitting Witches' Brew, with Katy herself introducing each one, usually with an anecdote about where it was filmed and so on. Her 3rd album doesn't seem to have yet done as well as her first 2, but it's not the end of the world yet.

Breezin' - The George Benson Story
Entertaining hour, mostly related by George himself, looking well for someone in his 70s. A child prodigy who was performing and recording from a young age, joining bands as a singer, developing as a guitar player, working with jazz bands, finally having his voice 'discovered' by a record company, hitting big, and the rest was history. His best given advice was "Play It Like You Mean It". Fair enough.

The South Bank Show: Joyce DiDonato
One of the foremost American mezzo-sopranos in the world today, had a big break in Paris in 1999. Was slowly drawn towards opera, and had her vocal technique strengthened over a 3 year college course. She claimed to have taken great inspiration from a documentary on Cecilia Bartoli. Presenter/interviewer Melvyn Bragg informed her it had been a previous SBS, shown on PBS in the USA.

Where Are They Now? The Reunions
Aside from a mini-Baywatch reunion, most of this show was about re-telling the stories of bands like Musical Youth (actually quite sad), East 17 (they self-destructed but still keep trying), and Bay City Rollers (3 of whom recently reformed for some gigs). BCR seemed the more likeable of the lot of them.

Live With... Judith Owen
A Welsh singer-songwriter who did a steady enough set in this series, quite pleasant really.

...Sings Stevie Wonder
Yet another BBC compilation, ranging from Tony Bennett to Dionne Warwick, Art Garfunkel to Gillan, Michael McDonald to Ed Sheeran. None really made you feel they had improved on Stevie's own versions.

Sommernachtskonzert - Schonbrunn
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Semyan Bychkov work through a set by French composers, which allows for Bizet and Berlioz, and finishing with Ravel's Bolero, Offenbach's Can Can and an extra touch of Strauss Sohn "Viennese Blood". Good stuff.

UK's Best Part-Time Band
A lengthy series where bands around the UK were checked out and then tested in regional heats, before coming together in the Grand Final. Midge Ure, Jazzie B and Peter Hook helped host Rhod Gilbert to thin out the acts in each regional heat. Edinburgh's Bombskare, who spookily were the first band featured right at the start of the series, came through to win the final audience vote, though Dubheart and Cadavers also received good critic notes.

Jake Bugg @ T in the Park
From Sunday on the Radio 1 Stage, a steady hour notable for the guest drumming of Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers during Slumville Sunrise. He closed with Lightning Bolt.

Earth, Wind & Fire @ Glastonbury 2016
Headlining Sunday night on the West Holts Stage, this was a fairly lengthy set in partial tribute to the recently deceased Maurice White. Having recently listened to a couple of their albums, I found this a better experience than I have before. They closed with In The Stone.

Aerosmith - Masterpieces
Unsure if I've seen this before or just something similar. An album-by-album plod from their golden years, their slump and recovery to mega-selling icons, and then going off the boil again.

Neville Staples Band: Live at the Water Rats
Former Specials bod is still delivering the old classics from Gangsters through Monkey Man to Ghost Town. Sadly, still all too relevant material. But sounded alright.

BBC Proms: First Night of the Proms
The BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo kicked things off with an impromptu blast of the Marseillaise as a tribute to the atrocity in Nice. The rest of the program covered Tchaikowsky, Elgar and finally Prokofiev. Good stuff.

Andy Black: On Record
I'd heard the marvellous single "We Don't Have To Dance", and now it turns out that Andy Biersack is in fact the lead singer in Black Veil Brides. His solo record is deliberately in a different style to BVB, and allowing him to work with different artists than usual. He talked fondly of the Feldyverse, contemporaries like Gerard Kay, and touring, and much more.

Red Hot Chili Peppers @ T in the Park 2016
Sunday night headliners with a new album out, they put on a pretty lengthy show, mixing old favourites with new material, ending on Give It Away.

Live With... Patty Griffin
She's an actress, I believe. She ran through a steady short set, on both guitar and piano. Nice work.

Live With... Hollie Stephenson
Another steady short set, apparently star-spotted by Dave "Eurythmics" Stewart. Fair enough.

On Set With... Olly Murs
He's back with a new album, and went to Las Vegas to shoot scenes for "You Don't Know Love". Apparently, he's not the best swimmer, so check out how many scenes are shot in a pool. A narrative of a nightmarish day reflected into a desert shoot with a lack of facilities, and the above watery gloom. Nice song, though.

Arena: 1966 - The Year The Decade Exploded
Jon Savage has a new book out, and here was an hour to publicise/agree with it. It did look at rock successes of the time, such as the Stones, the Beatles, the Kinks and the Who, but it also looked at the wider social aspects, nuclear dramas like The War Game, experiments in taking LSD on TV, epic homelessness dramas like Cathy Come Home, and so on. Not sure the book can have much else to say.

Creeper: On Record
Likeable chat with Will and Ian of the upcoming ban, currently on tour with Andy Black. They formed from the punk scene of Southampton, which is novel. They came from other failed bands with an attitude to stick to their beliefs, designed their own logo. Once they got record company interest, things grew steadily. They toured a lot in 2015. Are working towards making their debut LP. Prefer to present finish products rather than tease during the creative process. More touring this year first. Nice guys, some nice songs, too.

Lovebox
The London Festival, with performance footage from the reformed LCD Soundsystem, the rising Izzy Bisu, and storming work from Major Lazer and even MO.

Pixie Lott: My Career In Music
Again the run through of her videos with brief reminiscences of introduction. Most involved where they were shot (Cuba, LA, London, etc) or which of her friends were in them. After the 1st album, she seemed to get very ordinary very fast.

All You Need Is Love: Rude Songs
Episode 6 covered Vaudeville (US) and Music Hall (UK). Liberace, no less, did most of the narration (Tony Palmer, the director, also did that Liberace special I watched a few years back). Liberace seemed pretty knowledgeable about the history side, or else a damn smooth talker. Danny La Rue also chipped in briefly, whilst Charles Aznavour spoke about Edith Piaf. It was that kind of show. The movies put the bullet through this type of theatre.

SoundBreaking: The Recording Artist
Another series, this once sanctioned by the late George Martin, and packed with name appearances. The first show looked at producers, from Sam Phillips to Phil Spector, to Dr Dre and Rick Rubin. They were said to add value to the product, to encourage development of ideas, and so on.

All You Need Is Love: Always Chasing Rainbows
Episode 7 looked at the Tin Pan Alley story, which had different meanings in the US and UK. Irving Caesar and EY Harburg were songwriters present, but then they got to Bing Crosby and Hoagy Carmichael (Hoagy looking through a stack of memorabilia was quite touching). Rudy Vallee featured too.

BBC Proms: A Child of our Time
The BBC National Orchestra perform Micheal Tippett's work, inspired by the horrors of Kristalnacht.

SoundBreaking: Painting With Sound
Tales about working in recording studios, how advances in machinery and then ideas inspired musicians to push each other on. So we learnt about the importance of Abbey Road, magnetic tape and tape loops, Tomorrow Never Knows, Pet Sounds, Sergeant Pepper, Dark Side of the Moon, Rumours & Tusk, ProTools and the premise that bedrooms can be just as technological now as proper studios.

BBC Proms: Haitink Conducts Mahler
Bernard Haitink commemorated the 50th anniversary of his 1st conducting at the Proms, by leading the London Symphony Orchestra through Mahler's 3rd Symphony in D Minor (towards 2 hours). He seemed good for his age.

The Girl From Ipanema - Brazil, Bossa Nova and The Beach
Why the South American nation developed the smooth sound of the Bossa Nova, in accordance with a supportive President (no, really), which led to its most famous moment before the President and the country's mood changed. But others, such as Frank Sinatra, continued to support it and ensure its lasting legacy. Presenter Katie Derham met many of the key creators, she even met Helo Pinheiro, the actual inspiration for the girl in the song.

Live With... Katie Armiger
A Texan with some half-decent songs, in a nice short showcase.

BBC Proms: Berlioz' Romeo and Juliet
Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducted his own ORR through Berlioz' 3rd Symphony, based on the Shakespeare play, again for over an hour and a half.

Star Treatment: Grace Kennedy
Another curio, from 1979, where an Opportunity Knocks contestant from 1976 got her own half-hour variety show. In this one-off, she buzzed through 8 tracks from I Can See Clearly Now to Do You Know Where You're Going To? to The Rhythm Of Life. A pity she didn't hit the high-lights much otherwise.

Anne-Marie: MTV Crashes Plymouth 2016
Alarm is her new single. She did half a dozen tracks here. Certainly one of the new successes of 2016, time will tell how things will pan out for her.

BBC Proms: Tchaikowsky's Violin Concerto
Thomas Dausgaard was conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra through a program starting with the world premiere from someone I'd never heard of before (and which lasted less than 10 minutes). Notable titular tune came next, with Pekka Kuusisto on the violin in his Proms debut. He followed it with a short encore in which he persuaded the audience to join in vocally. The finale was Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka, something of an anti-climax, if you ask me.

Pop Profiles: Ariana Grande
A short half hour from 2015, reiterating her start in Boca Raton, early singing exploits, success in Victorious and Sam And Cat, and her first 2 albums. She experiments with different sounds and styles, and collaborates with people from Nicki Minaj to Zedd. She pushes female empowerment and promotes social causes. But at heart, she has an impressive singing voice.

SoundBreaking: The Human Instrument
Episode 3 concerned itself with Vocals, so there was stuff from producers as well as singers, talking about the importance of human emotions, the balance between technical excellence and emotional freedom, the intimacy of the microphone, and so on, with the quest for perfectionism leading to the world of vocoders and AutoTune, with humane frailties still prized too.

Olly Murs - My Career in Music
Another retrospective load of videos. Olly's comments are sparse at first, suggesting his early videos weren't personal hits. He filmed in London car parks, London skateparks, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, working with Demi Lovato, Flo Rida and Rizzle Kicks. He feels his new material comes from a fresh writing slant, so that might be interesting to hear.

BBC Proms: Ravel and Rachmaninov
Val Gergiev conducted the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra this time, through a mix from Ustvolskaya to Richard Strauss, as well as the titular double. Alas, any performance that starts with the Bolero is expecting a lot from what follows, and for me, this couldn't do it.

Relentless Ultra presents SoundChain, with Zane Lowe: Biffy Clyro
Talking about their early three albums, and how things changed with "Puzzle" and beyond. Their families were supportive of their career dreams. Supposedly they have given several reasons for the origin of their name, so whether the one they told here (a spoonerism for Cliffy Biro) is true is probably unimportant.

Bronx Tales
A half hour looking at the rise of the UK scene from hip-hop through to grime. Whilst Grandmaster Flash and Megaman spoke from the American side, it was mainly those from here, Dizzee Rascal, Lady Leshurr, Nadia Rose, Stefflon Don and others. Quite a friendly display, and catchy rhymes.

Newsnight: Quincy Jones
The legendary record producer gave a short chat to promote his appearance at the Proms (see below). He called Michael Jackson's death tragic, and recalled the latter bringing a snake into the recording studio. He rates David Bowie as being as good as people say. He used to hang out with Donald Trump, but dislikes his talk. He knew Picasso at Cannes, and also Stravinsky. He wasn't as harsh a band leader as James Brown. Frank Sinatra helped out when he was playing in a band in Las Vegas in 1964.

BBC Proms: Quincy Jones Prom
An entertainingly long show, more fun than the Bowie effort. Jules Buckley conducted the Metropole Orkest through some of Q's film scores, and other works of his, such as Soul Boss Nova. Among the prodigies performing were Richard Bona, Alfredo Rodriguez, Jacob Collier and the ubiquitous Laura Mvula. Q came out for the encore in which he referred to audience member Michael Caine (they share the same date of birth and are good friends).

BBC Proms: Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducted the SPSO through works by Villalobos and Rachmaninov, though personally the highlight was Grieg's Piano Concerto, still most infamous through its Morecambe & Wise connection.

BBC Proms: Mark Elder Conducts The Halle
Pieces by Berlioz and Matthews set the stage for the main event of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (the Song of the Earth). Very pleasant stuff.

All You Need Is Love: Swing That Music!
The 9th episode covers Swing music, with various elements, from Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw to Buddy Rich and Bing Crosby, not to mention Cab Calloway and Lionel Hampton. It started with whites learning from the music of black people. Mixed race bands caused furore with bookers, but they could keep busy touring. Crooners emerged from the bands. The music became diluted as it became more successful. Their records were banned for a while, but that put the power from the bands into the hands of the singers.  When television rose, the market changed.

Biffy Clyro @ Reading 2016
Headlining on the Main Stage, they spiritedly started with recent single Wolves of Winter, moving noisily and flashily through works from across their career. I even recognised some of them.

SoundBreaking: Going Electric
The 4th episode looked at innovations like Marshall Amps, electric guitars, and how the sounds evolved from jazz to blues to the British invastions, Fuzz Tone and distortion, Synthesizers and Disco, Hendrix and Stevie Wonder, and finally to the software of Laptops and EDM. A section on Devo was amusing for its total dismissal of Kraftwerk.