Music Television 3.5

If I Leave Here Tomorrow
A major treatment on Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose ascendancy came to an abrupt halt with a plane crash in the Autumn of 1977. Many survivors told their story, and some archive worked with the others. They left Freebird and Sweet Home Alabama, to name but two classics.

John Bishop - In Conversation With - Samantha Womack
Primarily an actress now, she did have a notable one-hit wonder when she sung the UK's entry to the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest, came 10th, and got on Top of the Pops with it. Given her story of how she got the gig, it's no wonder there was a shake-up by the time of the 1992 contest.

Cool Daddio - The Second Youth of R. Stevie Moore
Lo-fi legend whose dad played with Elvis, and whom invented a great musical gift, which led to him recording 400 albums in his bedroom or similar spaces. He finally connected with other musicians and went on a sort of world tour. I've seen shows like this on British eccentrics, so it's nice to know Americans can be just as odd.

The Stream: Rebstar
He's a Swedish rapper from a rough area. He started a label to help other Swedish talent out, having built his own space in the industry. He hoped to crack America, and was now based in New York. He attended law school in the Scottish town of Aberdeen, but dropped out to pursue his musical dreams. He's had contact with Drake, and helped mentor another Swedish act by the name of "The Sinner".

Vespr della Beata Vergine
Sir John Eliot Gardener conducted the Monteverdi Choir in this performance of the great composer's "Vespers of the Blessed Virgin", shot at the Royal Palace of Versailles.

From Elton John to Gary Barlow - Celebrating 100 Concerts - Live at Eden
The Eden Project in Cornwall has been hosting concerts since 2002, and this was a compilation of some of the best. The notable ones were the less familiar, such as The xx or Bastille.

Not The Robbie Williams Christmas Show
He's got a Christmas album out, and it's #1. This was a mix of some new (?) material from the album, and some oldies, together with guest turns from Jamie Cullum, and his ever reliable dad Pete Conway. This won't be the last of him this season either.

Lucy Worsley's Christmas Carol Odyssey
The story of 9 carols over the centuries, how the words went with the tunes, which religions tried to smuggle their messages through when no-one was looking, and so on. Fun stuff, but no God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen alas.

BBC Radio 2 - In Concert - Dido
Just released a new album, but she also did stuff from her 2 peak era 2000-3 albums, finishing with White Flag.

The Pretty Things - The Final Bow
60s legends finally pack it in after 55 years, with a special gig (or gigs) at the O2 in London. They included a bit reflecting 50 years since their high watermark, SF Sorrow. Special guests included Dave Gilmour on guitar, and the mercurial Van Morrison for a bit of singing (including Baby Please Don't Go).

James Galway at the BBC
Was convinced this was a repeat, but I finally decided I must be thinking of the last tribute show he got, which seems to have been in 2015. This compiled clips from many and various shows he appeared on, and orchestras and other acts like Cleo Laine and Val Doonican, with whom he could collaborate. The "Man with the Golden Flute" turned 80 last week, which explained this new show.

Talking Pictures with Terry Dene
Unlike some other of these progs, this was much shorter. Dene's career was less interesting, and his film roles ditto. But he did finish with a song. Dick Rowe, famous for not signing the Beatles to Decca, did at least sign Dene.

Larry King Now - Nick Lachey
The former member of boyband 98 Degrees is another judge on "America's Most Musical Family" (cf. Debbie Gibson), and spoke to Tom Green. His band were briefly rivals to Backstreet Boys, before N Sync made a far better job of it. Lachey married Jessica Simpson, though her name was not mentioned here. The band occasionally do package tours, and would be open to doing more music, in the unlikely event of there being demand.

Teilwng Yw'r Oen
The Millennium Centre in Cardiff resounded to a hearty performance of Handel's Messiah, somewhat marred by a lack of subtitles.

Almost Fashionable - A Film About Travis
Critic Wyndham Wallace is invited to do a tour doc on the Scottish band because he's not a fan. Hmm. Mexico seemed a fertile fan-ground for the band. Wallace talked to other critics too about their career, and why he might resent the band. He did get somewhat won over in the end.

BBC Radio 2 - In Concert - Robbie Williams
He's still got a new Christmas album to promote. He did at least do some of his other hits here, like Feel and No Regrets.

Sain yn 50
The story of Sain Records, started in October 1969 and catering for many and diverse Welsh acts, including eventually the likes of Aled Jones and Bryn Terfel. They even built their own studio, and moved with the times by setting up new sub-labels to appeal to younger fans, even though choirs were some of their most popular acts. The days of downloading have had an effect, though.

Britain's Favourite Christmas Carol
A top 20 rundown, often by some random contributors who seemed to be booked less for relevance than for availability. Silent Night won, for what it's worth.

Ball and Boe - A Very Merry Christmas
Michael and Alfie again, this time with guest help from Luke Evans, Shaun Escoffery, Gregory Porter and star guest Dame Shirley Bassey. They did mainly Christmas numbers, but quite a few which weren't.

Christmas at the Quay
Somewhat random special with Altered Images, Hue and Cry, and Hipsway, mainly doing their own songs, but with a cover or two thrown in, for those who may have longed to hear H&C tackle Santa Claus is Comin' to Town.

Larry King Now - Kristin Chenoweth
She won a Tony award back in 1999, and later won an Emmy. She may have mentored Ariana Grande. Her new album is "For The Girls", a tribute to other female singers, like Patsy Cline and others. She loves acting.

Britain's Favourite Christmas Songs
A top 65 rundown, made in 2011, but largely untouched, except for captions on Alvin Stardust and Greg Lake to point out their comments were made 8 years ago (as were everyone's!).

The Decade The Music Died
Really since the glut in 2016, this format has become something of an annual fixture. This expanded its remit to cover the whole 10 years, starting with Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston (from 2009, which was last decade), through George Michael, Amy Winehouse, Lou Reed, Chuck Berry, Ginger Baker and more.

Celebrity Carols at Christmas
Aled Jones anchored a show from Cutlers Hall, Sheffield, but which featured 7 different choirs around the country, running through 25 carols over 2 hours, with some presenting help from the Reverend Richard Coles.

Sopranos - Nadolig
Elin Manahan Thomas introduced a compilation of performances from a series, with performances from herself and others including Camilla Roberts, Wynne Evans and Charlotte Mobbs.

The Story Of... Fairytale of New York
Presumably the last from that 2005 series, narrated by Richard E Grant. Producer Steve Lilywhite and the 8 surviving Pogues reunited to tell the tale of how they were egged on to write a Christmas track, but the project only really ignited when Lilywhite brought in his wife Kirsty MacColl. One of the more amusing contributors was Matt Dillon, proud to have played his part in the mythos.

Deacon Blue - Live at Stirling Castle
From Hogmanay 2013, the Scottish legends ran through a heady hour of hits including Loaded, Fergus Sings The Blues and finishing on Twist and Shout.

Craig David Rocks Big Ben Live
The R&B legend gets his turn to see in the new year on the BBC. The pre-Midnight section was largely hit-packed, and then afterwards it became more of a TS5 show, with a few hits, a few covers, a few remixes, and much love.

How Auld Lang Syne Took Over The World
This 2013 treat saw Deacon Blue's drummer Dougie Vipond talking to the great and the good of Scotland (well, in entertainment) about the origins and development of this Hogmanay classic, how it found fertile ground in the USA and Japan, the rights and wrongs of the dance, and even the words, and so on.

Take That - Odyssey - Greatest Hits Live
Regrettably missed a chunk of this owing to some scheduling bungle or other. From the last night of their tour in Cardiff, the 3 remaining guys were at least joined by Lulu for their big number with her.

Jools' Annual Hootenanny
Guests as 2019 turned to 2020 were Stereophonics, Brittany Howard, Rick Astley, Eddi Reader and Melanie. Among the non-singing guests were Ainsley Harriot, Al Murray, Vic Reeves and Shaun Dooley.

Silent Night - A Song for the World
Closing out the seasonal shows, this effort managed to talk to Josh Groban, Joss Stone, Kelly Clarkson, Siedah Garrett and Rolando Villazon, as well as performers from other cultures who sing translated versions (although since the original was in German, most versions are translated). Amusing to hear several folk who didn't realise its origins (Bing Crosby apparently gets a lot of credit for bringing it to the USA).

Top of the Pops - The Story of 1989
Time moves on with this series. Marc Almond, Sharleen Spiteri, Jazzie B, Jason Donovan, Shaun Ryder, Lisa Stansfield, Sam Brown and best of all Chris Rea were present to tell their tales of fame as a decade drew to a close.

Top of the Pops - 1989 Pop Hits
A similar collection, covering Sonia, R.E.M., Sydney Youngblood and Paula Abdul. Kirsty MacColl helping out Happy Mondays is a famous clip, and Phil Collins obligingly sported a paint-pot on his piano in a nod to an infamous previous visit.
One aspect which was left for the viewers - Rea complained that despite a full band line-up, his performance was criticised as too static; Soul II Soul boycotted the show after being asked to mime rather than perform live; but Technotronic were welcomed, even though their performance consisted of a young lady shaking around and miming, with no other instruments visible.

Enter Shikari - Live at Ally Pally
A gig from November 2017, and entertaining enough for what it was worth.

Cats and the Movie Musical
Alex Zane presents a promo for the current big screen theatre adaptation which looked back over the highs and lows of the genre, from the MGM days, through to revivals, and occasional smash successes. Many cast members from Cats, like Dench, Derulo and McKellen spoke, but no Idris Elba or Taylor Swift.

The Stream: Kayem's Journey
He was from Libya, but is now based in Chicago, and had a new album (in August, when this was first shown). His big number is Can't Take Our Freedom. He has returned to his home country (regimes having made it easier for exiles, I guess), and seeks to help and inspire others. And he likes the X-Men as well.

Golden
Kylie Minogue on tour in the autumn of 2018. She kept the crowds happy with a hit-packed effort.

Jack & Jack: Upfront
There's two of them. One sings, one raps. They met at kindergarten, and started their career doing Vines. Rise was a big success (probably more because of Jonas Blue, though).

As It Was
Liam Gallagher's 2010's - the end of Oasis, the failure of Beady Eye, the resurrection as a solo artist. He's got cred going for him from certain quarters, and Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs was his only past collaborator present to talk about him.

Awa: Upfront
She's Swedish, and won 2012's Swedish X Factor. She took a 2 year break after winning, to figure out her sound. She loves doing videos. Maybe she'll be a new face to watch?

Sea Girls: Upfront
Usually 4 of them, but only Henry was present. They met up at school. They've toured with Foals. They're now full-time. I've liked what little I've heard from them so far.

Hamilton - One Shot to Broadway
How Lin-Manuel Miranda brought hip-hop style to the stage, with his 2nd big project being the success which is Hamilton, which looks likely to run and run and run. What follows will be the real test.

Anne-Sophie Mutter performs John Williams - Across The Stars
David Newman conduced the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in somewhere outdoors, as ASM did her stuff with a wide span of tunes from Star Wars and beyond.

Holiday Inn
Classic Astaire-Crosby clash, with the latter doing "White Christmas" and "Happy Holidays", though none of the other songs are remotely as good. Irving Berlin was presumably glad enough of his 2 successes.

Steel Banglez: Upfront
From East London. His brothers helped him learn to be a DJ. He brought AJ Tracey and MoStack together, and toured with Drake. He enjoyed working with MO and Yxng Bane.

Making Waves - The Art of Cinematic Sound
Walter Murch and Ben Burtt led the charge on behalf of the sound brains who turn classic movies into something even more special. A plethora of directors were also present to praise the form, from Spielberg and Lynch, to Nolan and Lucas. Even Barbra Streisand was here, since she helped the form evolve with A Star Is Born.

Best Before Death
Maverick artist Bill Drummond is undertaking a 12 year tour, in which he visits 12 separate cities (one for each year) and undertakes tasks while living there, like cake-making, bed-building, shoe-shining and so on. The two years covered in this documentary are Kolkata and Lexington (North Carolina). He mentions his former life in the KLF, but very much as something he prefers to leave in the past. The tour is set to end in 2025 in Damascus.

Easy Rider
Classic counter-culture film with Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper on bikes, where along the way they meet Jack Nicholson, an infamous soundtrack (such as Steppenwolf's Born To Be Wild) and unthinking hatred.

The Road to F9
A short concert in Miami to premiere the trailer of the next Fast & Furious movie, thus featuring cast members like Vin Diesel, and performances from Ludacris, Cardi B, Ozuna and the sentimental team-up of Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa.

Stewart Copeland's Adventures In Music
The Police drummer and film music composer took 3 episodes to discern why music makes such an impact on people. He talked to DJs, to professors, to neurologists, and to Sting (there's a bit of luck).

Imagine... George Benjamin - What Do You Want To Do When You Grow Up?
He wanted to be a composer from a young age. And he is one. Done a couple of operas, to great critical acclaim. He studied his piano-craft under the great Olivier Messaien. He managed to get a piece commissioned for the 1977 Jubilee and onto kids show Blue Peter as a consequence. 

Larry King Now - Tia Carrere
Actress and twice a Grammy winner apparently. Larry stuck to the acting career questions. She respects Mike Myers & Dana Carvey and was polite when asked for the chances of Wayne's World 3  She's been working on musical material for a new show this Spring.

MTV World Stage: Green Day
Hard to credit they broke through in 1993 and their career peak was 2004. Anyway, they've got a new album out now, and this Seville show from last November featured some new but mostly old songs of theirs.

Simon Shaheen - A Musical Journey
He was born in Northern Galilee to a father who was a composer. He started playing at 3 or 4. He lives and works in the USA now, teaching at Berklee College. He's encouraged other players and students of Arabic music, whether on the oud or the qanon, or just the plain old violin.

Long & Winding Road - A Journey Into The Heart of Independent Venues
Radiohead's Philip Selway popularises "Independent Venue Week" in late January 2019 by travelling around the UK to venues in places like Bath, Hebden Bridge and Sheffield. He meets venue owners and publicists and some of the acts, some of whom are as yet lesser-known, and others like Fatboy Slim and Gaz Coombes who are known. There still seems to be a good scene going.


Witness - St Louis Superman
Bruce Franks Jr is a battle rapper who was elected to the Missouri Board of Representatives, and was able to get a bill passed recognising the effects of violence. Perhaps for the show, he did a battle rap with someone. He was motivated in part by the senseless murder of his brother Chris back in 1991 when he was 9. When this was made, he had stepped down due to anxiety, but I gather he is back in the fold now.

Kelly Jones & Rhys Ifans - In Conversation
Mostly about the recent new Stereophonics album Kind. Kelly explained about the album cover, and the title. They first met around 1996-7 in an American hotel. They saw Travis at the famous Troubadour. Kelly went through a bad patch after their last tour ended in 2018, and gave up alcohol. But from being in a dark place, he had a burst of fully-formed songs. They were wistful about the dearth of orange street-lights. How performing regularly in stadiums becomes an act of muscle memory. I have got the album and I enjoyed it.

Whitney
Another mammoth documentary on the woman whose death has so many culprits, it's like an Agatha Christie. Bobby Brown believes drugs had nothing to do with it. Her family blame her long-time friend Robyn Crawford. The parallels with Amy Winehouse were depressing. Nice that Kevin Costner was interviewed, though Dolly Parton notably wasn't. Was Whitney always doomed? Very possibly.

Classic Albums - Songs From The Big Chair
Tears For Fears get the treatment, and Curt has aged better than Roland. But at least they're fairly simpatico these days. Producer Chris Hughes, engineer Dave Bascombe and keyboardist Ian Stanley rounded out the brains trust who made the album such a success. Shout and Head Over Heels were solid enough, but it was Everybody Wants to Rule the World which helped crack the USA. At which point Roland saw Oleta Adams singing in a bar, and the long 4 years to the next album started...

Tears For Fears - In Concert
From 2017, oddly, but I don't recall seeing it before. The lads were on good form, thankfully, and played their main big hits from the above album amongst many other faves.

The March Of Time - It's In The Groove!
Short film from 1949 about the use of vinyl records, the developments of the phonogram and the jukebox, and trends like hot jazz and bebop, not forgetting the crooners. A band called The Korn Kobblers were immortalised by inclusion, whoever they were.

Cilla: The Lost Tapes
60s singer and telly presenter kept a private collection recording some of her shows, and friends like Cliff Richard and Jimmy Tarbuck spoke about them. She was spotted working at the Cavern, famously, and once was jokingly proposed to by Ringo Starr. But she called his bluff. She found marriage elsewhere, and after her career revived in the 1980s, she made sure she remained on top.

Paint Your Wagon
Infamous musical notable for the surprise leads of Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin, both of whom sing. Wand'rin' Star went to #1 in the UK, with I Talk to the Trees on the B-side. Also They Call The Wind Mariah is famous for naming Ms Carey.

The Great Music Composers - Music at the Movies
A mammoth 12-part series, running from the early years of the film through to not quite the present day. Made by Sky Arts "Discovering" team, it largely dealt decade-by-decade with great composers and the films they enlivened. With extra time spent on the 60s, 70s and 80s. When you start noticing that films like Shaft or Saturday Night Fever are omitted, you do begin to wonder. But an otherwise thorough series that highlighted a few less familiar films and some less recalled composers.