Music Television 3.5

Live Aid - Rocking All Over The World
The second half of this mammoth doc covered the event itself in all its trans-Atlantic, chaotically timed glory. Did Bob Geldof stiff Midge Ure over timings? How come Paul McCartney's sound went so wrong? Did Phil Collins waste his time flying to Philadelphia to help Led Zeppelin? Did the Cars impact people's consciences and wallets more than Geldof's swearing? Did U2 do themselves the biggest favour for their careers? Who booked Judas Priest for the USA? Some of these questions were answered.


Beth Hart at the Royal Albert Hall
She got a lengthy show at the famous venue, told some heart-warming stories between some songs, seemed childishly pleased at times.

From The Vaults - 1979
Elbow's Guy Garvey is ostensibly fronting a series plunder the ITV archives for music shows and interviews. There was a similar idea many years back with Andy Kershaw doing the voiceovers. This first show saw John Lydon being caustic after a PiL spot, Talking Heads in the first series of The South Bank Show, and rare or unseen footage of Kate Bush on her first tour.

Black Classical Music - The Forgotten History
Suzy Klein and Sir Lenny Henry consider composers and performers of yester-year who've been airbrushed from history. Chineke! inevitably provided much of the new performance material.

LSO - Sir Simon Rattle conducts Stravinsky Ballets
Unsure which year this was, but they rattled through the works well enough.

From The Vaults - 1982
The beginning of the Tube and the end of the Jam. Timmy Mallett getting backstage access to Yazoo. Chats with Annabela Lwin of Bow Wow Wow, Grandmaster Flash, and Martin & Dave from Depeche Mode.

Austin City Limits - Cyndi Lauper
She's evidently done a country record and chattered a lot about it and other matters. And did some familiar hits.

Clubland Live 2
Shorter than the first one, but with most of the same suspects, at the MEN Arena.

CNBC meets... Yo-Yo Ma
The cellist talked to Tania Bryer at the Julliard in New York, where he was one of the many alumni. He started on the cello at the age of 4. His parents were musical, and his sister played violin. He talked about the value of mentorship. He has a Harvard degree in Anthropology. He began the Silk Road initiative in 1998. He's one of the UN Messengers for Peace. He's been married for 40 years, and has 2 kids, and some grandkids too.

Africa Renaissance - When Art Meets Power
Afua Hirsch visited Ethiopia, Senegal and Kenya to look at social and cultural history. She didn't seem to understand why no Ethiopian bands played at Live Aid, but was on stronger ground with Positive Black Soul in Senegal, and the sounds of Benga in Kenya.

Mixtape: Rick Springfield
He took up music when in England at the age of 11. Then he returned to Australia. He was drawn to slide guitar and blues music. He developed as a singer-songwriter. He played some gigs in Vietnam, and then joined Zoot, where he had his first hits. He got a solo deal with Capitol and became an unwitting teen idol. He made 4 albums but still struggled. He turned to acting to pay bills. Then the music took off with Jessie's Girl and Human Touch. He still tours and records (or did when this was made). He did a gig in Germany with an orchestra. He's fond of dogs too.

BBC Radio 2 - Live at Home - The Pretenders
Chrissie and co got a good set in, with familiar hits and some newer stuff.

From The Vault - 1977
The ill-fated Marc Bolan's teatime music show where The Jam got an early look in, and David Bowie came on for his infamous final show. Punk music was well covered, but good to see the mavericks like Joan Armatrading and Tom Robinson as well.

Top of the Pops - The Story of 1990
Nice to see old faces like Adamski, Lindy Layton and MC Tunes after all these years. Whereas Seal and Fatboy Slim have remained pretty familiar faces. The Milli Vanilli miming scandal had an odd knock-on effect in the show being forced towards allowing acts to sing live, after many years of making them mime. This proved beneficial for the likes of Seal and Maria McKee. Meanwhile the many "dance" acts found themselves made to compromise for the visuals of the show.


Top of the Pops - 1990 Big Hits
The usual plethora of Vanilla Ice, Blue Pearl, En Vogue, Londonbeat, Primal Scream, Tina Turner, and even some Monie Love.

Rock N Roll Road-Trip w/Sammy Hagar - Marooned in LA
Sammy meets Adam Levine as he gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He had done 12 series on The Voice at this point (it's always a trip that US series like that run twice a year, unlike the once in the UK). They went to Conway Studios to talk about Adam's own journey. They busked through I Heard It Through The Grapevine as though they'd never heard it before.

Soundstage: Counting Crows
A 2008 show with Adam and the rest of the band running through a classic album of theirs. A pleasant show, and Adam introduced each song, which was good.

Radio 2 Live at Home - John Legend
I'm not a fan, but he does a version of the old Harold Melvin gem Wake Up Everybody, so on balance, I let it slide.

From The Vaults - 1984
The year of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and the arising of Madonna, and the continued rule of the Smiths, plus electro-experiments from Trevor Horn, Thomas Dolby and Herbie Hancock, plus space for the likes of Sade and Alison Moyet.

Bernard Haitink - The Enigmatic Maestro
The conductor turned 90 recently, so got a lengthy profile on his career (which began in his 20s). He experienced Holland under Nazi occupation. He got something of a big break as a conductor, and rose to the challenge. He has been a champion of the music of Bruckner. His health rather enticed him to retire.

Rock N Roll Road-Trip w/Sammy Hagar - Oh Canada! Rock Star
To Denver to talk to Chad Kroeger of Nickelback inb a record shop. Sammy's not a vinyl obsessive. Chad dislikes press promotion. They discuss songwriting tips. Nickelback formed in 1995, and Chad feels they'd paid their dues by the time stardom came calling. Chad asked Sammy "This or That" for once. Then they sang "Rockstar".

The Art of Architecture - Great Opera Houses of the World
Venice, Sydney, Glyndebourne, Andermatt, Garsington, Harbin and beyond.

I Want My MTV
Amusingly lengthy romp through the very early days (Mike Nesmith apparently was the catalyst, of all people), how British bands made more videos than American bands, how record companies wanted more money, why black acts were kept off the channel, and then hip-hop's struggle to get shown, how they were bought out, and how turning the cameras onto the audience changed the game forever (again).

Showreel: Belinda Carlisle
Pleased to see some new episodes for this series at last, and Belinda's an under-rated gem.

Rock N Roll Road-Trip w/Sammy Hagar - Dirty White Boys
To the Circuit of the Americas (!) where Sammy talks first to Kelly Hansen, Foreigner's current singer (in 2018 anyway) and then the legendary Mick Jones. He's enjoying the tour life and sings Kelly's praises. They've had the current line-up for 12 years. He did sessions in the 60s with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, among others. He rates Chet Atkins. He produced albums for Van Halen and Billy Joel. They sing to end the show.

From The Vaults - 1975
The earliest spell in this series, running from Roxy Music and ELO to Dr Feelgood and Kilburn and the High Roads. An odd interview with Alice Cooper and another with David Bowie. 

AJ Tracey - Homecoming
A short behind the scenes effort pre-empting a longer concert from Alexandra Palace which I haven't watched yet. Skepta, Not3s and Swoosh God (wh?) and spoke well of AJ.

Sommernachtskonzert
Usually performed in late Spring, this was done in September this year, and screened earlier this month. A truncated show still saw Valery Gergiev conduct the Vienna Philharmonic as usual, at Schonbrunn Palace etc. Offenbach, Wagner, Puccini and Mendelssohn were among the inclusions, and Jonas Kauffman did his bit too.

Mixtape - Don McLean
He respected Buddy Holly and Ray Charles. His father died when he was 15. He was too much an individual to be in a group. He met Pete Seeger on the folk scene. He respected George Michael for covering one of his songs, and also Fred Astaire. He also bigged up Johnny Mathis. And sang some of American Pie.

al Jazeera World: Rim Banna - The Voice of Palestine
The ultimately tragic tale of a young woman who had a modest career, but died of cancer at 51.

Rock N Roll Road-Trip w/Sammy Hagar - Breaking The Law: LA Metal
To the 2017 Loudwire Music Awards in LA, where Sammy was given a Humanitarian award. He chatted to Rob Halford about his use of in-ear monitors and menthol chewing gum, plus honey & lemon tea. He regretted his old drug days, and has been clean since 1986. They discussed the British Steel album. He was 66 when this was done. Then Sammy played at a charity gig for Adopt The Arts, with Matt Sorum and the Kings of Chaos. ATA had been running for 6 years. They played a Cult song to finish.

Tales of Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach may be best recalled for his use of the Can Can music, and also the Barcarolle in his Tales of Hoffman.

Sade - Bring Me Home - Live 2011
Another mumbler who doesn't believe in on-screen song credits, though many were listed at the end. A lengthy show shot in Ontario.

From The Vaults: 1988
Last in this series, the year of the Second Summer of Love, but here giving room for Tracy Chapman and Lloyd Cole, James and Aztec Camera, and short-lived music shows like Wired and Night Network.

Barbra Streisand - Back to Brooklyn
From 2012, a lengthy concert, including a tribute to Marvin Hamlisch, and some banter about this belated homecoming show.

Laurel Canyon - A Place In Time
Impressive 2-part look at the late 60s and early to mid 70s in an idyllic part of California. The first part covered the Byrds, Love, the Monkees, Alice Cooper, the union of Crosby Stills and Nash, the Mamas and the Papas and more. The second part talked of how Charles Manson and Altamont put paid to the hippie dreams, and then the sound evolved with the Eagles, Little Feat and Steve Martin opening for Linda Ronstadt. Fascinating stuff, from mostly talkative folk.

TUNE - Hyyts
A short segment with a duo performing in Glasgow, talking about their progress, supporting Boy George at a major local gig.

The Go-Go's
New major doc on the 80s heroines who became the first (and apparently still the only) all-female band to have US #1's whilst writing their own stuff and playing their own instruments. They had line-up problems and power issues. They did well from a support tour in the UK, and the early years of MTV. But they burned out and Belinda went solo. They're together again now, and wrote Club Zero recently, which is OK.

Showreel: Richard Marx
He turned 57 in September, and this mixed his big hits with other tracks.

Passions: Judy Garland, by Marc Almond
She was a child star who became immortalised on film, but married frequently and seldom with any luck.

Sir Cliff Richard at the BBC
Marking his recent 80th birthday, and with 60+ years to work with, there was plenty of material.

Marillion - All One Tonight - Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Their first ever gig there, and much love was shared by all. You'd never know Fish had ever been in the band.

Austin City Limits: Foo Fighters
Dave talked afterwards about making his Rock Cities series across 8 different places. Gary Clark Jr and Jimmie Vaughn were guests on a couple of songs.

The Apollo
Lengthy tribute to the famous Harlem Theatre, how it had tricky financial times and how those were resolved into its current state.

Inna da Yard - The Soul of Jamaica
How veterans like Ken Boothe, Judy Mowatt, Winston McAnuff and acts like the Congos and the Viceroys represent the true sound of the country. The triumph of hope over disrespect.

Maestros of the Camps
Francesco Lotoro has a life's mission to find the tunes composed by those suffering in the harshest of environments, some of whom didn't live long enough to promote their own works. In some cases, he talked to survivors, in others he talked to the children of survivors. He didn't just stick to European camps, he went to talk to Japanese interned in the USA, and those in Thailand and elsewhere.

Show Me The Picture - The Story of Jim Marshall
Not to be confused with the amps/stacks guy, this was a photographer who earned mucho respect and also seemed to work in B&W a lot. He got great intimate stuff from jazz legends and many others. Actor Michael Douglas was a pal. He had occasional issues with control and guns, but he died in 2010. He took the infamous Johnny Cash shots from Folsom Prison and San Quentin. Eventually the business seemed to work against him, but his portfolio remains staggering.

Soundstage - Yes - 35th Anniversary Concert
2 bites of this, from 2004. An impressive selection of material, and captioned too.

Avicii - True Stories
Bizarrely, he had a camera on him for a long time. His career was brief because he didn't take proper care of himself physically, and later mentally. He impressed many equals like David Guetta and Tiesto. I didn't realise Seek Bromance, under the less-than-cryptic alias Tim Berg, was one of his early hits.

Rap Trip - Underground Scenes Uncovered
Two affable guys, Ransom and FOS, travel to Liverpool, Leicester and parts of Ireland, to assess the rap scenes in those places, interview people in bands like Beyond Average and the Lemon Pie Collective. Not a bad little showcase series for once.

BBC Radio 2 - In Concert - Seal
From 2015, where I must have missed it. Seal was pushing his "Seven" album at the time, for those who can tell one from another, but the main points were Crazy, Killer and Kiss From A Rose. He spoke warmly of working with Trevor Horn too.

Sammy Davis Jr - I've Gotta Be Me
A lengthy tribute of his life, the foots he put wrong, the triumphs over adversity and so on. Billy Crystal and Donald Rumsfeld were more surprising contributors among some rather familiar faces.

McFly - All About Us
How the boyband came together, why they went on hiatus, and how they got back together. They've got a new album out too.

Channel U Unplugged with Arnold Jorge
A brief "for one night only" effort, thus including Maxwell D, Che Lingo, Tempa T, Flowdan and Jammer. Made a nice change.

Piers Morgan's Life Stories - Sir Cliff Richard
He just turned 80. He talked about his early days, being called "cool" by John Lennon, having homes in different countries, keeping his private life enigmatic, being ruthless in his career, his new autobiography "The Dreamer", his police ordeal from 2014-6, having produced a calendar for 42 years, making over 100 albums, and his wine growing.

Mixtape - Todd Rundgren
He learnt the clarinet first, then guitar. He was attracted to the blues, then Philly soul & R&B. Was in bands like Woodys Truck Stop and the Nazz. He had his own solo successes, and produced for others. He preferred to do his own thing.

The South Bank Show Originals: The Velvet Underground
Melvyn talked to the gang in 1986, so got John Cale, Lou Reed and even Nico talking. Were they all that? Opinions differ.

BBC Radio 2 - In Concert - Kylie Minogue
A repeat from 2014. She did plenty of songs from across her career, though only The Locomotion from her very early days.

Mixtape - Micky Dolenz
The Monkees' drummer/singer talks about having a showbiz background, learning Spanish guitar, being in covers bands, trying architecture school, being compared to the Marx Brothers by John Lennon, recommending Jimi Hendrix as an opening act after meeting him at Monterey Pop. Hendrix was replaced by others including Ike & Tina Turner. He helped Harry Nilsson get signed after befriending him. He was prepping for the same tour Todd Rundgren mentioned on his edition.

Fela Kuti - Father of Afrobeat
A lengthy tribute to the Nigerian legend who found success beyond his homeland, especially in the USA. Wole Soyinka was his cousin. He started rubbing the government up the wrong way, leading to what amounted to an attempted murder. His children survived him, he died of AIDS in 1997.

Soundstage: Foreigner
One thing about this is I do at least recognise more of their tracks these days. This 2008 show covered some less familiar bases too. Without Lou Gramm, they seem to play up the rocking side more.

Mixtape - Mick Jones & Kelly Hansen
More from Foreigner. Mick has the longer story to tell, understandably. He gave props to the Killers and Queens of the Stone Age, of modern acts.

The South Bank Show Originals: Lesley Garrett
Melvyn met her in 1998. She's brought a fresh vivacity to opera, even if critics have been snotty about her.

David Crosby - Remember My Name
He was in the Byrds, then Crosby, Stills & Nash. He liked drugs, to the point he's one of those "how is he still alive?" types. He's fallen out with Graham Nash, Neil Young and Roger McGuinn. But still seems happily married. He was still touring when this was made.

Whitney Houston - The Story of the Songs
The series didn't entirely offer much new in the way of insight. Arlene Phillips confirmed Whitney wasn't much of a dancer for I Wanna Dance With Somebody, One Moment In Time tied her to the 1988 Olympics, and My Love Is Your Love reignited her career in the late 90s, though not for long. They'll keep making stuff on her because that's what she's given as much as her music.

BBC One Sessions - Annie Lennox
From 2009 at LSO St Luke's in London. Not sure what project she might have been flogging here. She did some Eurythmics numbers as well as her own.

The South Bank Show Originals: Willard White
Melvyn met him in 1991. He went from Jamaica to the Julliard, before making his home and his name in the UK. He was tutored by Maria Callas, and impressed the director Trevor Nunn who persuaded him towards acting as well as singing.

Goldie - The Art That Made Me
Graffiti was his first love, and he met 3D of Bristol's Massive Attack during the 80s, before he went on to storm the scene and the charts in the 90s, and before Goldie himself put his experiences into music and made drum n bass such a hit.

Fontaines DC - A Night at Montrose, Dublin
A short set from the rising stars doing some of their recent material.

Alestorm - Live at Wacken Open Air 2008
A steady set from the rockers with some piratical themes.

The South Bank Show: Benjamin Zephaniah
The poet gets his turn on this show. He spoke of his troubled youth, correspondence with Bob Marley and Nelson Mandela, and using live performance in his work, the One Tribe song, and touring life.

MOBO Awards 2020
Maya Jama and Chunkz presented and held together a number of awards and performances from the likes of Kojey Radical, Ms Banks, Davido, Tiana Major9 and Stylo G.

Barry Manilow on Broadway
A show from 1989, with Barry in lively form, reflecting on his journey to stardom, the perils of auditions, dreams of being a backing singer, and an extended hit medley.

Lwp - Curadur - Kliph Scurlock
A special hour-long show, culminating in a socially-distanced performance. Kliph was a member of the Flaming Lips for 12 years, but now resides in Cardiff. He brought together Euros Childs, Gruff Rhys, Adwaith and N'famady Kouyate in a tribute to Endaf Emlyn.

Dionne Warwick at the BBC
A new compilation to mark her recent birthday. Some of these performances came from previous specials. She got through 15 tracks.