Music Television 5

Women Who Rock
A major 4-part series with dozens of contributors which took in the story of female music from Mavis Staples down to Taylor Swift, and many steps inbetween. 

6music Festival '23: Must Watch Tracks
Another selection, interesting for including Wu-Lu, Lena LaRue and The Big Moon besides already seen stuff from Arlo Parks, Loyle Carner, and Christine and the Queens.

Marc Bolan - Ride On: A Magic Dream
Hard to say whether I'd seen this before, Steve Harley had a lot to say, and knew Marc and his manor. Captain Sensible met him in his latter days. Bob Harris and Keith Altham were other familiar faces who were well aware that Marc became his own worst enemy.

Kerry Katona: My Career in Music
She does at least self-mockingly acknowledge that she wasn't a pop star for long; her spell in Atomic Kitten covered their first spirited but unsuccessful album, though she did get in the Whole Again video, by which time she was pregnant and bidding adieu.

Greatest Pop Videos: 1992
Again something of a mish-mash, but as always what it lacks with some contributors is balanced out by the chance to hear from Jon Secada after all these years. It was a year of "new big things from USA", whether Kris Kross, Charles & Eddie, Billy Ray Cyrus or Boyz II Men.

Tenebrae - Bach to Macmillan
From St John's Smith Square in London, a selection of choral works by Bach, and also a few by Sir James Macmillan.

Burt Bacharach at the BBC
Another monster round-up of Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield and others. Probably the more intriguing were the surprising (I maybe didn't realise he did On My Own), and also the downright bizarre (John Denver dressed as a wizard to do Magic Moments).

Trace Talks: Manuel Turizo
He's got a hit called El Merengue which he's done with the questionable Marshmello. He's previously worked with Luis Fonsi and Natti Natasha. A previous hit was La Bachata. His new album will be 2000, he's Colombian and will be touring Europe in the summer.

Dappy: My Life in Videos
Weirdly, besides Number 1, this was an N-Dubz free zone, so most of it seemed a surprise to see how wide his solo stuff has been.

Greatest Pop Videos: 1993
I'd not previously considered that Go West sees Neil & Chris in the blue & yellow now synonymous with Ukraine. Including George Michael's Somebody to Love performance is a bit of a cheat, but some of the stories felt fresh for being done this way (that both Duran Duran and New Order made comebacks after tricky few years), or came as complete news to me. Fun to see Michelle Gayle get her 15 minutes of due, and they bothered with R.E.M. this week, having omitted Man On The Moon last time.

Honeyz: Our Career in Music
Two of the trio were present, and it seems one of them came in as a replacement for another and later left again. So no wonder they didn't turn out as enduring as they might. The first album hits like Finally Found and End of the Line still stand up.

Carole King and Her Songs at the BBC
A mixed selection, since she has written (and co-written) songs for all manner of performers, and remained a fairly lively performer in her own right. Nils Lofgren and Smokie were among the lesser-seen acts included here.

Yn Y Lwp
The 2nd show saw Catrin introduce band Dienw, author Rhys Grail, and singer Malan in a long Making of for her new video, which was shown after.

BBC Proms '08: Bach's St John's Passion
A repeat for Easter, with Sir John Eliot Gardener conducting the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists through the mammoth work which will be 300 years old next year.

Little Boots: My Career in Music
Again, someone who blazed with her first album and seemed to go quiet after that. She got to play on the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury, she got to film at her native Blackpool, she was still making music up to recently.

MTV Push presents: Mae Muller
She's been around since 2018, but the imminent Eurovision buzz might do for her what it did for Sam Ryder (if she does well). She had a sudden US hit, and worked with Neiked and Polo G on her only previous chart hit "Better Days".

Stacey McClean: My Career in Music
She was in S Club Juniors (aka S Club . They did 2 albums and managed 3 or 4 decent singles, but haven't really stood the test of time.

Curadur: Pat Morgan
She was a member of Welsh experimental rockers Datblygu (pron. Datblugy). David Edwards, another of the band, died in the autumn of 2021, so Pat put together this edition as a sort of tribute. She talked to Ifor ap Glyn, who connected Pat with the band, got Sachasom and Stuart Estell to cover Datbygu songs separately, Gruff Rhys who was a fan and attended a famous 1985 festival performance on the same day as Live Aid and also did a cover, and comedian Elis James who was put on to the band by one of his school teachers, and spoke at David's memorial. Quite an impressive tribute.

Greatest Pop Videos: 1994
A somewhat uninspiring year for me, though some inclusions here were worthy, from Streets of Philadelphia and 7 Seconds, not to mention Zombie and The Most Beautiful Girl In The World, but also nice to see folks from Baby D or D:Ream get their big moments in the sun.

Cymry ar Gynfas: Tara Bethan
Marian Haf was the artist, and she works in prints rather than portraits. The Tara Bandito whizz has also done telly work too, and her dad was a wrestler to whom she was clearly close, though he did in her 20s. When it came to the unveiling, Tara was clearly deeply moved by the result.

Lisa Maffia: My Career in Music
A few inclusions from So Solid Crew, and a few other odd collaborations which are otherwise largely forgotten. Her solo career didn't quite take off, and So Solid Crew apparently reformed in 2010, though this might be the first I'd heard of it.

Whitney Houston: The Greatest Love Of All - A Tribute
No matter how much they make these things to try and pretend a great tragedy happened in 2012, a truer picture would be more honest. Paul Gambaccini noted that Bobby Brown was trouble waiting to happen.

Dawn Chorus: The Sounds of Spring
A bit of "slow TV" from 2015, with sounds from three locations in the SW of England.

Gareth Gates: My Career in Music
He probably looks better these days than ever before. He talked through his post-Pop Idol works, his Comic Relief charity song, doing Suspicious Minds for the Lilo & Stitch movie, and some more recent material.

Yn Y Lwp
The 3rd show had Catrin introduce Y Cledrau, Chwalaw and Ffatri Jam, plus a feature on the 3rd "Beacon Cymru" conference from Cardiff.

Click (29-4-23)
The tech show returned its attention to music, looking at the prospects for metaverse gigs, a virtual K-Pop band in South Korea, and how to make virtual recording studios work in real time.

MTV Push Presents: Wet Leg
Rhian and Hester talked about being dubbed "sad music for party people and party music for sad people". They listed many influences from David Bowie and PJ Harvey, to Kings of Leon and the Strokes. They find their award success to be bizarre. They practiced video craft during lockdown. Another act whose next album will be crucial.

Burt Bacharach - A Tribute from Ronnie Scott's
Clive Myrie presented a somewhat jazzy take on the tunes of the late, great composer, largely sung by Iain McKenzie with the backing of the Ronnie Scott Club Quintet, and some vocal help from guest Elaine Delmar. A pleasant enough show that mixed many expected favourites with some less over-heralded tunes.

Dionne Warwick - Don't Make Me Over
A new lengthy career look, with dozens of contributors from the great and the good, with even the likes of Gloria Estefan and Carlos Santana perhaps pointing to a wider breadth of voices. Even former US President Bill Clinton turned up to claim Do You Know The Way To San Jose? was his favourite. A few contributors, like Burt Bacharach and Olivia Newton-John, had sadly died since this was completed in 2021. Dionne has sold 100+ million records, had over 50 hits, and yet only won 6 Grammys. Hmm...

Journey - Live In Manila
A gig from March 2009, soon after Arnel Pineda took over as lead singer, and brought the band to his home country for a very long show.

Lemar: My Career in Music
A likeable guy who tended to enjoy making his videos, some of which were done in exotic places like New York and Brixton. He recently (whenever this was done) returned to music after an 11 year hiatus, and still seems a capable singer.

Rock Goes To College: Siouxsie and the Banshees
From Warwick University in 1981, a short but memorable set, largely tracks I didn't know, which may have been a good thing.

The Coronation Concert
The UK has a new King, and the trend for all-star concerts continues. Hype beforehand complained that stars like Adele or Elton John weren't gonna be there. What the crowds (and various Royals) got were Lionel Richie, Tiwa Savage, Pete Tong, Katy Perry, Bryn Terfel, Nicole Scherzinger, Steve Winwood and Take That! as headliners. So, far from a failure.

Stock Aitken Waterman - Legends of Pop
A lengthy two-part special on the rise and decline of the UK songwriting team who dominated the charts from mid-'87 to mid-'90 and how success drove them apart. Many of their acts were present and talkative, from Rick Astley and Kylie Minogue, through Hazell Dean and Jason Donovan, to Sonia and Sybil. Probably the most emotional things got was talking about how enjoyable it had been to work with Mel and Kim, and how sad that Mel should have died so young.

Sam Ryder - Road to Eurovision
As part of the build-up to this year's event, a repeat from last year, recounting how he went from Tiktok to Turin. A likeable guy who cites Steve Perry as much a vocal inspiration as Freddie Mercury. Impressed stars from Justin Bieber to Sia to Alicia Keys during Lockdown through his Tiktok efforts. "Space Man" was written in the Autumn of 2020, and the video was shot in Budapest in March of 2022. He picked Lordi's 2006 triumph as a particular favourite.

Randy Crawford - In Concert
From the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, 1981, a decent concert which crammed in her big numbers, as well as songs from her Secret Combination album.

MTV World Stage: Nick Jonas
A short effort from 2018, with some brief chatter from Nick himself, but mainly the songs.

Eurovision - Everyone's A Winner
A rundown of the 20 most successful songs to come from the Song Contest which didn't win. Clearly, the counting of streams meant that the oldest track was from 2014. Sam Ryder's UK triumph from last year only came 18th. The surprise winner was also from 2022, Armena's Rosa Linn with Snap, which only came 20th, but became a monster success through Tiktok.

Conor Maynard: My Career in Music
His video story, from his success around a decade ago, and somewhat since. NeYo apparently discovered him in the first place, and Conor also managed to get Craig David in a brief cameo in another one.

Mansour Meets: Still Shadey
Glad to catch another of these, even if shot a while back during the pandemic. Shadey survived a car crash in January 2020, and was chatting here on his birthday. He was from South London, came from a Nigerian background. He'd been making music for a decade, but only with serious results in the past few years. His real name was Luke. He did some freestyle chatter too.

Rewind - 60 Years of Welsh Pop : Eurovision Special
A one-off from the recent compilation series, which included many UK entrants such as Bonnie Tyler who hailed from Wales. Probably the more interesting were the entries from France and Cyprus which were also of Welsh origin, and the inevitable culmination with Sam Ryder from 2022. Poignantly, one member of Brotherhood of Man (from 1976) is the only Welsh winner.

Carole King: Home Again - Live in Central Park
Together with a helpful spoken intro section from Carole herself, manager Lou Adler and a couple of others, relating her story and how it brought her to a special concert in May 1973 where she pushed her new Fantasy album, as well as doling out many of her hits to a large crowd.

Radio 1 - The Big Weekend : The Warm Up 2023
A reasonable round-up for nearly an hour of various acts booked to appear in Dundee over Whit weekend, from footage of previous performances, ranging from the dreary The 1975 and Becky Hill, through to more lively acts like Inhaler and Wet Leg.

Keavy Lynch - My Career in Music
The angular faced one from B*Witched talks about the band's heyday videos, and recent stuff since they have reformed. Though notable for 4 #1's with their first 4 singles, they really didn't last all that long.

The Sounds of Liverpool at the BBC
Since the EuroVision Song Contest was held in Liverpool, this was another compilation rounding up the musical memories of the city, from Echo and the Bunnymen and the KLF, through the Real Thing and Teardrop Explodes, and the Zutons and the Christians, plus all 4 solo Beatles (albeit George via the magic of video).

Mamwlaf - gyda Ffion Hague : Grace Williams
A tribute from 2014 to a woman described as "Wales' first classical composer" which is unlikely but possible. Footage of her old music teacher clearly came from a previous profile, given that Grace Williams was born in 1906. Some relations and other musical experts told her story too.

CNBC Meets: Renee Fleming
Tania Bryer met the noted soprano in Davos, of all places, where she was honoured with the WEF Crystal Award for 2023, for her Foundation. She did a podcast during the pandemic. She's 5 years into a mission to show what music can do for mental and physical health, and she's won 5 Grammys.

Electric Proms '08: Burt Bacharach
Hard to know whether I've seen this before. Backed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, and with special appearances by Jamie Cullum, Beth Rowley and the very young Adele, the composer wows the crowd through dozens of his tunes.

Bradley McIntosh: My Career in Music
He was in S Club 7, so his stories were around American locations, how he enjoyed the few songs where he got substantial singing bits, and getting to work with top directors like Nigel Dick.

Cymry ar Gynfas: Aled Jones
The child chorister gets paired up with rocker Steve "Pablo" Jones who, among other works, does rock portraits of the likes of Prince and Jimi Hendrix. They meet and chat at St Paul's Church in Covent Garden, where Aled married and had 2 children baptised. He talks fondly of his Welsh roots, of singing at the wedding of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates (where Simon Le Bon was the best man), how he lost the enjoyment of singing, even in theatre productions like the lead in Joseph etc. He was in a rock band at college called A To Z. Pablo talked of being in a band which got to support Motorhead and Twisted Sister. He did the painting at his Caernarfon studio, and the unveiling was at Olympic Studio in Barnes, where Aled had recorded, and was taught drumming by Stewart Copeland. Aled likes the portrait, which has many added elements relating to his life (such as an inset map of Anglesey). Pablo also unveils a bonus 2nd "humourous" painting he did depicting Aled riding a horse, something he claimed never to do or want to.

United Kingdom of Pop
A lengthy 2-part look at 60+ years of British pop, made by a French company, and with something of an outsider perspective. A plethora of contributors from Malcolm McLaren and Chris Barber, through Mel C and Ray BLK, and members of bands like Skunk Anansie and Morcheeba, plus the entertainment of acts otherwise unheralded, like The Healthy Junkies, and Fischer-Z. Made in 2017 and with a healthy "shadow of Brexit" tone to its conclusion, it was nevertheless an entertaining and largely supportive account.

HARDtalk: Baaba Maal
Returning after 11 years, Maal has a new album out, and talked about the importance of social media to Africans, the struggles in the Sahel, starting his own festival (Blues of the River) and his own green foundation, as well as being part of the Black Panther movie franchise. But he again refused to commit to a political career. He did play a new track to round off, too.

misery guts wrote:Keavy Lynch - My Career in Music
The angular faced one from B*Witched talks about the band's heyday videos, and recent stuff since they have reformed. Though notable for 4 #1's with their first 4 singles, they really didn't last all that long.

B*Witched - Our Career in Music
Keavy and 2 more of the band, again talking through their rather brief heyday, some of the same stories, but other different ones, working with Ladysmith Black Mambazo in the studio (but not in the video), and how they recently got back together.

Yn Y Lwp - Klust
Catrin Hopkins was in London to see the premier themed night put on by Owain Elidir Williams. Klust started as an online showcase for upcoming Welsh acts, then became a magazine, and now a live event. Wrkhouse, Malan and Swnami were on the bill, Catrin talked to some of the acts, and there were a couple of videos, from Talulah, and Gillie.

Rave Un2 The Year 2000
A Prince concert from 1999, with guest turns from The Time, and also George Clinton. Good to see a lost legend in fine form.

Oti Mabuse's Breakfast Show - Lemar
This weekend the former Fame Academy alumnus was a guest (along with Judi Love) to talk about his new album, returning to music after 11 years, what he did in the business in the years before Fame Academy (working with Usher and others, an acting role in a Netflix series, and so on.

Radio 1 Big Weekend ('23): The 1975
Strangely popular band headlined in Dundee and did a long set to crowd approval.

Dusty
A random repeat from an August 1967 show where her guest was Mel Torme. He did a couple of numbers, including What's New, Pussycat?, and then did a medley with Dusty.

Tina Barrett - My Career in Music
What I didn't expect from this was the final third ran on her own solo career (even including a recent track done during lockdown). Even solo she was making videos in the desert near LA, a decision justified because it's a good area to get good crew and locations to make videos. Fair enough.

Fanny - The Right To Rock
Lengthy career lookback from 2018 on the pioneer American all-female rock group who impressed guys like David Bowie, but couldn't get a career break, and were splitting as they reached a career peak. Recently reformed and recording again, they were hampered when a founder member was struck down by a stroke. They certainly had fans like Bonnie Raitt and Joe Elliott, and judged on the songs, they deserved a lot better.

When Mike Met Sir Tommy
A short from the London Palladium, seemingly in connection with Buddy Holly, as Mike Read gave Sir Tommy Steele a model guitar. Tommy spoke of seeing Buddy twice on different bills, even before he made it big. He played his first Royal Command Performance at the Palladium, where Gracie Fields gave him advice. He also confirmed the urban myth that he drove Elvis Presley round London one time, past landmarks like Buckingham Palace. He also averred that Colonel Tom Parker was the reason that Elvis didn't get to play in Europe.

Frampton Comes Alive! FAC35 : An Evening with Peter Frampton
From the Beacon Theatre in New York, back in 2012, so there's a chance I've seen this before. Frampton seems to have paid enough dues to counter-balance earlier criticism.

Radio 1 Big Weekend ('23): Best Bits
A round-up from Camperdown Country Park in Dundee, where Jonas Brothers, 30 Seconds to Mars, Lewis Capaldi and others delighted crowds (nothing from Royal Blood, though, who pointedly had issues).

Linda Ronstadt - The Sound Of My Voice
A large cast of fans and well-wishers told how she impressed them and some were lucky enough to get the rub from her brilliance (such as the Eagles). She had a good choice of song selection in cover versions, many of which she did as though she did write them. Sadly she has Parkinson's Disease now, though contributed well to this 2019 profile. She went into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, which means she must have been passed over many, many times before then.

Who Do You Think You Are? Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber
After advertising that he owns the The Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, he did eventually find a connection to the Magito family, who lived in Holland in the 18th century, many of whom were performers or impresarios. One even was such a cellist whizz that he composed 6 cello sonatas, a fact which Andrew's younger brother (and cellist) Julian found far-fetched but delightful.

Sound of Freedom
A 2-part European look at protest songs from old efforts like La Cucaracha, The Internationale and La Marseillaise, to more modern takes like This Is America, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Wind Of Change. The contributors ranged from the familiar to the novel, with several European acts present and correct.

Jo O'Meara: My Career In Music
Her S Club 7 stories seemed rather humdrum, and her solo career went infamously badly. She included a couple of unplugged takes on old S Club faves, which seems a bit like padding to me.

Prince and the Revolution - Live
A famous gig from March 1985 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. This was around his zenith of pop dominance, and he finished with a long take on Purple Rain.

MTV Push presents Cat Burns
Her first EP came out in 2020, but she did paydirt last year with Go. She went to the BRIT School at 14. She sees music as a form of therapy. She might have otherwise been a basketballer. Go has been streamed over a million times.

Inside Classical: The Lark Ascending
Tom Service introduced the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in a short program opened by Wagner, followed by the titular Vaughn Williams piece, then a lengthy finale with Elgar's 2nd Symphony. Possibly the last in the series, but then the Proms will likely be back next month.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition
A famous show from the Lyceum Theatre, London, in December 1970, where the trio gave Mussorgsky some attention, and then did a few of their own bits, including an obligatory work-out for Carl Palmer, musical violence from Keith Emerson, and dulcet tones of Greg Lake.

The Weeknd - Live At SoFi Stadium
From the last show of the first leg of his "After Hours 'til Dawn" tour, happening to an appreciative crowd in Los Angeles. I admit I didn't rate him before Blinding Lights, but he delivered an entertaining enough show here (musical notes not a million miles away from Gary Numan or somebody, that probably helped).

Talking Pictures: Bing Crosby
Didn't find this familiar, a 2014 profile, mainly about his films, though with clips of him singing the title tune from The Bells of St Marys, a routine with Bob Hope when promoting The Road to Hong Kong, quashing talk of rivalry with Frank Sinatra by comparing him to Nat Cole or Lena Horne, how he picked up the nickname Bing, praise for the Beatles' writing (if not their hair), picking Judy Garland as one of the most versatile performers (from their radio work together), and praising London in the 1970s.