Music Television 2.5

Music Icons: Primal Scream
Scottish rockers who struggled to make an impression until a friend did them a remix which became Loaded and that led to the Screamadelica album, and they've done OK since then.

The 120th Anniversary Concert
The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra were conducted by Long Yu in this concert at the Forbidden City in Beijing. They did a couple of local numbers, bookending a long piece by Rachmaninov (the 2nd Piano Concerto, as used in All By Myself) and the whole of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, which made a change from just hearing the O Fortuna bit.

Last Night of the Proms 2019
Sakari Oramo conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra for his 4th turn at the Last Night fun. The first half was the more surprising, whether Elgar, Saint-Saens, Verdi or Laura Mvula (eh?) The 2nd half was more of the annual regular stuff. Jamie Barton was this year's big guest voice, and went down well with the crowd.

Music Icons: Smokey Robinson
A true giant of the music biz. He wrote and sang some proper classics and helped run Motown for years too (Tears Of A Clown, Tracks Of My Tears, Being With You). He worked with Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. He was inducted into the R&R HoF 20+ years before they bothered to induct the Miracles.

Barns Courtney: Upfront
The boisterous Seattle native indie-popper, back with his 2nd album. It has a theme about losing touch with his former self. One track was inspired by John Donne and thoughts on death. He plans to tour, and maybe do some acting.

Cbeebies Prom: Off to the Moon
Kwame Ryan conducted Chineke! as a gaggle of kids presenters narrated an hour long adventure based on a journey to the Moon and back. As well as linking with various kids shows, they included music by Handel, John Adams, Puccini, Britten, Copland, and a world premiere from Hans Zimmer, Earth. Zimmer himself was present in the audience, which seemed like a coup to me. Whether it draws kids to music is another matter.

Travis with the BBC SSO at the Barrowland
The veteran Scottish pop-rockers got a good hour show, which they used to do classic and new tracks, and sing with guests like male voice choir The Parsonage, and the talented Josephine Oniyama.

BBC Proms in the Park - Last Night from Around the UK
Very probably the last word on the 2019 season, as Josie D'Arby and Yolanda Brown anchor coverage from the four gigs at Swansea, Glasgow, Belfast and Hyde Park. Stars like ABC, Michael Ball, Chrissie Hynde and Susan Boyle, not forgetting Barry Manilow, helped entertain the crowds musically.

MTV Unplugged - Melbourne - Gang of Youths
A bunch of uninspiring Aussies, whose lead singer liked looooooooooong intros, and whose material includes swearing. How 21st century.

Music Icons: Foreigner
The first name was Trigger, but that was changed as it was already in use. They signed to Atlantic and had hits on the 1st album, like Cold As Ice. By the 4th album, Jones was in control, and working with the infamous Mutt Lange led to Waiting For A Girl Like You, and they followed that on the next album with I Want To Know What Love Is. There were line-up changes and solo projects, but they never really returned to that massive degree of success. Mick Jones may be 75 on Dec 27, with Lou Gramm being 70 on May 2.

Adelina Patti
Elin Manahan Thomas related the story of the 19th century soprano who settled in Wales. Her 2nd husband was a tenor, Nicolini, and they were together for many years. She befriended Rossini in later years and wanted to be buried next to him, in Paris. Later, he was reburied elsewhere, but she remains there. She died on Sep 27, 1919, although this show was done in 2013.

Music Icons: Simple Minds
The Scottish survivors (Jim Kerr turned 60 back in July). They came from Glasgow, and thankfully evolved from the awful named Johnny and the Self Abusers. They signed to Zoo Records, and had a few early unsuccessful albums. When they moved to Virgin, things started to improve. They scored a US #1 with Don't You (Forget About Me), but then had line-up issues. They performed at an infamous concert for Nelson Mandela, and wrote a new song Mandela Day, for the occasion. They soon had a UK #1 with an EP featuring that song and a version of Belfast Child. In the mid-90s, things began to tail off again, but they continue to tour and release new albums.

MTV Unplugged: Liam Gallagher
He's got his 2nd solo album out, and here at Hull City Hall, he sang new songs, and old Oasis numbers. Bonehead was there on guitar, a nice touch of nostalgia.

MTV World Stage: Will Smith
As he has a new film out, being premiered in Budapest (because it was filmed in Hungary), Will donned his Fresh Prince mantle to hook up with DJ Jazzy Jeff for a short musical set.

HARDtalk: Jessye Norman
To mark her death, this 2014 interview was repeated. She had her book out at the time. She was inspired by a film of Marian Anderson, and her music teacher when she was 5. She felt her voice suited the music she sang, rather than experimenting with other forms, though she did try other genres.

Bachman
Winnipeg's rock god, Randy Bachman. His time in the Guess Who? was perhaps covered more than Bachman-Turner Overdrive. He's a big collector of guitars too. Many friends, fans and family sang his praises. He was making a tribute album to George Harrison at the time.

BBC Proms - Hyde Park - Barry Manilow
Surely the final dregs from the season, but at least this was a lengthy selection than some. He gave props to the backing of the BBC Concert Orchestra and did several hits and the odd surprise. I think he claimed the UK was keener on Bermuda Triangle than other countries, which was amusing.

Joan Armatrading - Me Myself I
She should be 70 next year. I thought she made a break on a talent show, but as that didn't happen here, I must be wrong. She did get on the Old Grey Whistle Test, and was in a duo with Pam Nestor at first. But she was stronger solo, and did write the occasional hit like Love and Affection and Drop the Pilot. She's musically highly skilled, and despite shyness, a good laugh.

Music Icons: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Formed in LA in the early 80s, they've suffered with line-up changes and drug problems. But the core of Anthony Kiedis, Flea and Chad Smith have endured and continue to deliver albums and tours and meld various music forms in their sound.

Jax Jones - Hangout
Yinka Bokinni talks to him at a pizzeria, about his recurring theme of supermarket merchandise, his many collaborators, his peers, and those he respects in general. I find his records veer between terrible and awesome, but at least some are awesome.

Joel Corry's Mixtape
The DJ pays his respects to similar acts of the Duke Dumont, Major Lazer Silk City variety.

Larry King Now: Todrick Hall
Dennis Miller seems to be the main sub for the clearly ailing Larry King. Hall was an American Idol semi-finalist who's gay and black and making waves in musical theatre, including with his own songs for a version of The Wizard of Oz, written when he was unable to use the original score. He's got 2 of a trilogy of albums on release.

HARDtalk: Brett Anderson
His 2nd volume of memoir is now out. He talked about Suede's early struggling years, how little he felt about Britpop, how drug addiction caused the end of the band, how emotional it felt when they reformed around a decade ago, and how he has to keep making new material to justify the band, rather than just playing the old hits.

Janet Jackson: Taking Control
This repeat from 2011 saw Janet and friends recount her early acting work, her unsuccessful first 2 albums, how things finally got kicking with 1986's Control, and how after making 5 big albums with Jam & Lewis, she ran out of ideas. The death of her brother seemed to affirm her as the main voice of the family.

Marianne & Leonard - Words of Love
Nick Broomfield presents another marathon doc, this time on songwriter Leonard Cohen and his relationship with Marianne Ihlen. They spent time on the island of Hydra, when he was just a jobbing writer. When he became a singer, they drifted apart. She married someone else, but he'd already written a song about her. He sent her a tender message when he heard she was dying. They died within a few months of each other.

Betty Davis - Godmother of Funk
She married Miles Davis, but was a justifiable star in her own right. She made waves in the 70s, but after her father died, she went into a recluse. This 2017 film was shorter than some, but did a good job of reviving her name and work.

George Ezra - Baloise Session 2018
The likeable troubadour plumbs his 2 hit albums, and tells some anecdotal banter between songs. He finished on Shotgun.

The South Bank Show Originals: Elbow
Melvyn met Guy & co back in 2009, just after they hit pay-dirt. They were formed back in 1991, and didn't get to do their first album until 2001.  Guy talked about his politics, and there were snippets of songs from across their career (to then), not just from The Seldom Seen Kid.

Studio 17 - The Lost Reggae Tapes
The story of Randy's Records, a Kingston business which expanded to include a studio, where owner Randy Chin helped the careers of Lee "Scratch" Perry, Lord Creator, Sly & Robbie, Jimmy Cliff and other legends. Civil unrest saw Chin decamp to a new life in the USA, where the company expanded to become KP Records. Weather issues also affected the Kingston studio (the tapes having been left behind), but now Chin's son Clive was working on a digital restoration project.

The Stream: Emel Mathlouthi
She lives in New York, and is just releasing her first mostly English language album. Her father liked music and is supportive. She played at the 2015 Nobel Ceremony, and seemed to have gained fame for singing during the 2011 Tunisian uprising. She originally sang in English before finding her own Tunisian style. She wants to challenge Arabic stereotypes and perceptions. She'll be touring Europe soon.

The Story of Lover's Rock
A sub-genre of reggae created and popularised in Britain in the 1970s & beyond. Janet Kay's Silly Games was one of the bigger hits of the sound. Maxi Priest was another popular name to come through the scene. UB40 did well from it too.

Perthyn: Fflur ac Eirian Wyn
Opera singer Fflur and her father talk about each other and their relationship. He's a chapel minister, football club chaplain and occasional magician, who still lives in Wales. She's lived in London for her career. Her mother was a singer. She did her first musical at 14. Quite a charming look at a personal side to a star.

Mark Ronson - From The Heart
He's got a new album out, so here was his story again. There was footage of him working in the studio with acts like Lykke Li and Yebba. He also won an Oscar with Lady Gaga. Even Sean Lennon was here to sing his praises. Amusingly, when Bruno Mars asked to work with him, Mark worried they'd do some 60s cliché, and Bruno demurred. So they did 70s clichés instead. Says it all.

Music Icons: Singer Writes The Song
A less inspired 4th series taking a different tack, looking at a theme (such as singer-songwriters), focussing on three acts (Cat Stevens, Paul Simon and James Taylor) to tell the tale. Some wouldn't merit their own show, some have already had one.

Tove Lo's Mixtape
The Swedish pop starlet gives love to mainly other female stars, from Lorde to Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Sia and Ellie Goulding.

Music Icons: Birth of Metal
A familiar story told through the adventures of Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Nazareth. The inclusion of the latter, from Dunfermline, elevated this above the humdrum familiarity.

Suzi Q
Detroit's Suzi Quatro had musical sisters, but both The Pleasure Seekers and Cradle were not great for her. Mickie Most soon spotted she was the one to watch, and with help from the Chinnichap writing team, she was storming charts with Can The Can and Devil Gate Drive. She opened the door for Joan Jett and many others. She had her book out recently, and she keeps touring, and recording.

Drych: Agoriad Llygad
The sad story of Bethan Richards, mother of two, and singer in the band Diffiniad, who was born with severe cataracts, and who recently made the decision to go public with her optical problems. This film was made by her brother Dylan. She also works as a radio producer.

Music Icons: Women Who Rock
The stories of Heart, the Bangles and Suzi Quatro, but mentions made of Janis Joplin, Cyndi Lauper, Joan Jett and others.

Talking Pictures - Craig Douglas
Still going at 82, the man whose big hits were Only Sixteen and A Teenager In Love. He was from the Isle of Wight, and got a break when he was entered in a talent contest. He met Bing Crosby, Buzz Aldrin and Nat 'King' Cole, and later went into musicals, and sang a famous soap ad jingle, and appeared in films like Climb Up The Wall and It's Trad, Dad!

K-Pop: Inside The Hit Factory
James Ballardie goes to South Korea to investigate this seemingly unstoppable phenomenon. He looked at the television shows that feed the format, the factories that provide the acts, the culture changes which led to this state of play, what Psy really told the rest of the world, and the future.

BBC Radio 2 In Concert: Stereophonics
They've got a new album out, and it's been to #1. They did new stuff and plenty of old, in an enjoyable show.

Music Icons: British Metal
The stories of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Saxon, as well as phenomena like Monsters of Rock and the infamous New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and what it all meant in reflection of the times of the country.

Get Rich Or Try Dying - Music's Mega Legacies
Ana Matronic discusses the rights and wrongs of what happens after an act dies. There are now agencies who handle an act's rights to their material after death. In some cases, such as David Bowie, things have worked out well. For Prince, it's going less well.

The Frank Kilbride Show: Brendan Grace
A tribute to the late Irish entertainer who was more of a comic force than a musician, but he could do both, and was a friend of Christy Moore. He apparently caught the attention of Frank Sinatra and Evel Knievel. Quite a guy.

Music Icons: Soul Crooners
The familiar form, only with many, many names offered, even if the focus was on Lionel Richie, Billy Ocean, and Michael Bolton (surprisingly).

Sputnik: Natacha Atlas
Adam Garrie subbed for George and talked to the star who worked with Jah Wobble for a while, and then was part of Trans-Global Underground. 

John Legend - In Concert - Baloise Session 2018
His reputation is in inverse proportion to my opinion of him. He did some surprising and welcome covers like Dancing In The Dark and Wake Up Everybody, and he treated the audience to banter about his early albums, his Ohio upbringing, and meeting KanYe West and Aretha Franklin.

Larry King Now - Gene Simmons
Dennis Miller subbing again. Kiss are on their final "end of the road" tour, because they're in their 70s and don't want to go on too long (only been a measly 46 years so far). He was proud of the chances he got and took. He did meet Jean Simmons. He has been with his wife Shannon for 36 years, but only married her at 62. The last great rock band, in his view, were Foo Fighters. He still can't read or write music, but can teach people to learn to play in 2 hours. One of the more recent Kiss schemes is a cola line. He admires futurists like Richard Branson and Elon Musk.

Music Icons: US Heavy Metal
The hair metal scene of LA, typified by Motley Crue, Poison and Ratt (!) and these days by the likes of Steel Panther.

Rudeboy - The Story of Trojan Records
How the growing reggae scene, and the Windrush immigrants led to a British boom, and hits like Double Barrel and Me Israelites. Sadly, its boom period didn't last, but it set some of the ground work for later movements like 2-Tone.

Music Icons: Progressive Rock
The meeting of experimentation and advanced technology, and occasional excess. The story focussed on Rush, Yes and surprisingly Atomic Rooster.

BBC Radio 2 - In Concert - Craig David
Southampton's R&B legend enjoying his recent revival, and throwing in a Bieber cover along the way. I tend to find his stuff more reliably good than not.

The Proclaimers - Live at Stirling Castle
From Hogmanany 2012, a raucous and rapturous show covering their well-known hits and their other much-loved gems like Sunshine On Leith and The Joyful Kilmarnock Blues.

MTV World Stage: Little Mix
They played the Fusion Festival in Liverpool, and this was a mercifully short bit of their show.

Music Icons: Jazz Rock
The chosen acts this time were Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers and oddly Boz Scaggs. I think it's that somewhat left-field selection that gives this series its bite.

Distant Sky - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Live in Copenhagen
He played this gig in October 2017, and seemed in usual voice, and with rapturous crowd reception. He even did some ones I knew.

It's Grime Up North
Something of a follow-up to the noisey episode from a few years back, here the Blackpool grime scene was revisited and updated. Little T and Sophie Aspin are growing up and evolving their sound. Meanwhile other acts like L.O.E. and AJB are trying to make their own steps. Some were more successful than others. LOE set up a special all-grime event called Seaside Shutdown for 10 local acts, which mostly went well. On the other hand, Krazy One Savage's efforts came to naught when he was sent to jail for 4 years.

MTV World Stage: Hailee Steinfeld
She was one of many at the Isle of MTV in Malta in 2018, and ran through her few hits.

Joni 75 - A Birthday Celebration
From last November, an all-star tribute, from the likes of Graham Nash and Chaka Khan, through to Diana Krall and Norah Jones. Joni seemed fragile at 75, but Kris Kristofferson looked in worse health. James Taylor, Seal and Los Lobos were among the many other acts, so there was no lack of variety.

Larry King Now - Debbie Gibson
80s popstrel, soon to be a judge on "America's Most Musical Family". She wrote all her songs, and her mother was her best supporter. Her success came slowly. Though pitched as feuding with Tiffany, in truth they were both too busy for such things. Now they both appear on package tours, and Debbie raves over Tiffany's voice. She would like to take such a tour to the UK. She respected Billy Joel and Elton John and was able to perform with both. She has no plans for a biopic, but would like to play her Mom.

The Opera House
This 2016 doc looked back 50 years to the opening of the new home of the New York Met at Lincoln Center, how mayor Bob Moses cut through red tape to get it done, how Nelson Rockefeller helped the fund raising, how designs were compromised, but how the final acoustics were deemed perfect. Soprano Leontyne Price recalled being in the opening show at the new residence.

Music Icons: Pop Rock
The premise of how the energy of punk evolved into a more mainstream sound, reflected in the stories of The Go-Gos, The Cars and Huey Lewis and the News. Fair enough.

Talking Pictures with Marty Wilde
An interview from back in March, I believe. Marty talked about being 80, with 62 years in the business. He wrote (or co-wrote) many hits, not just for himself, but others too. He got roles in a few films too. He was one of Larry Parnes' stable of young male singers, hence his renaming (he did well out of that compared to some of the others). He valued hit music show Oh Boy, where producer Jack Good helped direct some performances to greater effect - unlike his work on the Dick Clark Show. His daughter Kim did well in the 1980s & beyond. Marty sang a tribute to Eddie Cochran which he recently completed.

Seren Bhangra - Nesdi Jones
How a Welsh teenager had a bit of fun on YT about a song by Yo Yo Honey Singh, and how that led to a collaboration on London, and she spent a few years volunteering at a school in India, where she picked up Punjabi and Hindi, leading to a career she didn't expect. As a white singer in this field, she has novelty value, but the quality of the material is there too.

Hidden Lives: Riot Girl Rock
Vonny Leclerc goes to Edinburgh, to consider a college course which encourages feminists to express themselves through rock music, and meets bands like Bratakus and Shambolica who typify the scene.

The Quay Sessions: Tom Walker
One of the acts of the moment, he did a solid half-hour set, including a track that didn't make his album, and several others which did, including bringing the Red Hot Chili Pipers on for his finale.