Music Television 3.5

Titanic - Band of Courage
Various experts and in some cases descendants, discuss the infamous eight musicians on the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic in 1912, who "played on" even at the cost of their own lives. Only 3 of the 8 bodies were recovered. One interesting fact was that musicians often had a stock repertoire which were listed by number, which was where the origin of "here's a little number" may well have come from.

Eric Burdon - Rock N Roll Animal
He'll be 80 next year, all being well. Sting, Patti Smith and Steven van Zandt sang his praises, as well as Eric himself. His career arc altered drastically when Alan Price stiffed the rest of the band out of the royalties for House of the Rising Sun. Eric went on to put together the band War, who then fired his ass and did "Low Rider". He also became infamous when John Lennon named him the Egg Man.  He was working on a new record when this was shot in 2019.

Whatever Happened To Rock N Roll?
This 2015 debate chaired by Lauren Laverne centred on a sort-of discussion with John Cooper Clarke, Eric Burdon and Jenny Beck from the group Savages. The discussion ranged from whether bands are still trying, whether labels exist to find bands, whether the digital age makes consumption different and brought in contributions from the likes of Noel Gallagher, Dave Grohl, Billy Bragg, and the two guys from Sleaford Mods.

Urban Myths: Public Enemy (ft Kev Wells)
A fan and father is able to help Chuck D and Flavour Flav to make it to a gig, despite being late to see his son. Inspired by a true incident in late 2015 in Sheffield, the casting perhaps made this more than the simple premise. 

Classic Albums: No Secrets
Carly talks about You're So Vain, and some other tracks. Journo & author Barney Hoskyns tried valiantly to suggest the whole album was special, not just its most famous track. Well, not in my book, and the more other tracks they went through, the less it seemed.

MTV World Stage: Bebe Rexha
From July 2019, in Malta, she did a steady hour or so, told us she wrote the awful Eminem/Rihanna tune The Monster, but did interact with the crowd, on her 1st time there.

Black Midi at the 6 Music Festival
A short burst from a band I've never heard of before.

Brittany Howard at the 6 Music Festival
She was in Alabama Shakes, and did a creditable hour here, including a cover of (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher

Clive James - Postcard From Miami
This 1990 repeat is worth a check as he got to chat to Gloria Estefan, about the origins of Miami Sound Machine, their Latin American tours, how proud she is of her ethnic heritage, and the real problems Miami faces (she turned down the offer to sing in Miami Vice).

Mabel - Live Sessions
Her musical parents were passed over in about 5 seconds flat, even though one of them in Neneh Cherry. Even her brother has done some records. But no, just a one-woman band it seems. She loved Destiny's Child, and toured with Harry Styles, and she's vegan. She did some songs too.

Roisin Murphy at the 6 Music Festival
She's got a new album soon I think, and she did plenty of quite lengthy songs during an hour-long spot, and paid tribute to the late DJ Andrew Weatherall.

MTV Unplugged: Courtney Barnett
She's an Aussie, so a show in Melbourne worked out nicely. She got in support from Paul Kelly, Evelyn Ida Morris and Marlon Williams, of whom I know even less than I do of her. But a decent enough show, finished with a version of "So Long Marianne".

Rock N Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar - Cruisin' With The Redheads
Might expect a lot more of this. Actually on a ship, not a road, but let's not split hairs. He chatted separately to Todd Rundgren and Paul Rodgers, who I might yet do a thread for. The show finished with Sammy joining Paul on stage to share the singing on a version of Rock N Roll Fantasy.

The Selecter at the 6 Music Festival
A disappointingly short selection, though Pauline did manage to mention they were marking 40 years (though not together all that time).

Ed O'Brien at the 6 Music Festival
He's in Radiohead, but this current project is EOB. This was also shorter than I would have liked, even if some of the tracks were a fair bit longer.

6 Music Festival Highlights
Entertainingly, this was much longer than I expected, and featured a couple of dozen acts who were performing during the Festival, and therefore made it seem more important. Lauren Laverne chatted to Paul Weller too. 

Beyond The Grace Note
A lengthy tribute to women conductors, still an under-looked group, but with plenty of top names like Marin Alsop and Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla.

Lwp: Papur Wal
A Welsh 3-piece, though they started out as a 4-piece. They're 90s inspired, which makes me feel old. After the line-up change, they've become 70s inspired. Cardiff is their base. Billy Bagilhole does their artwork and directs some of their videos. They've got an album coming, and keep gigging. Piper Malibu is a track of theirs they rate.

Ellen 17 -  Demi Lovato
She was making her 10th appearance. She's split from her team after 6 years and feels much better for it. She had a watermelon cake for her birthday. Scooter Braun now manages her, and she's 27. She's been sober for years, and suffered with bulimia. Her alcoholic addict dad abandoned her as a child. She's done a "EuroVision" movie with Will Ferrell, and is doing some show for Quibi.

International Women's Day - 6 Music Festival
Another highlights package from Camden, sent up by Nadine Shah as though it was some kind of bold move to have an all-women line-up. Kim Gordon and Jehnny Beth were among the other acts included.

Slipknot Unleashed - All Out Life
A worthy look at their story, with band members and associates chatting inbetween footage from a session for Radio 1. Probably a better format for them than the standard stuff.

Kate Tempest at the 6Music Festival
She was quite the performer, unlike 99% of acts I could compare her to. More like spoken word intonation than a more familiar lyrical melody. But consequently more attention-getting than some.

TMF - The Fratellis
It was their first time at Tiree, and besides closing with Chelsea Dagger, showed why they've made no other impression in all these years.

Rock N Roll Road Trip w/Sammy Hagar - Rock N Roll Journey
On his drive down to the Record Plant, Sammy talks about the high number of rockers who live close. When there, he chats to Neal Schon of Journey about their shared paths (they first met in 1972, Sammy is a year older), and so on. Neal is a friend with Carlos Santana. He spoke of forthcoming stadium shows with Def Leppard (whichever year this is from). They talked about the guy they found on YT to be the new Journey frontman. They finished with an unplugged version of Personal Jesus, which always surprises me to see adopted as a rock anthem.

MTV Push Live (2020) - Raye
She's back, but still only gets respect as a guest on other people's songs (for example the new Tequila which is another collaboration with Jax Jones and Martin Solveig).

Discovering... Rhapsody In Blue
Josie D'Arby presented as the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra discussed and eventually performed George Gershwin's masterpiece. They even had footage of the composer himself.

The Best of - Ready Steady Go!
A compilation of performance highlights from the short-lived but iconic 1960s pop show which helped coincide with the British beat boom of that decade.


Ellen 17 - Justin Timberlake
He was plugging his work on the film Trolls World Tour, and was joined by SZA and Anderson. Paak who are also involved in the film (and the cracking current hit The Other Side too). Timbers has a music doctorate from Berkeley. It was SZA's first time on.

The Story of Ready Steady Go!
It ran from August 1963 to December 1966, and the most remembered host was Cathy MacGowan. As well as pushing the Stones, the Animals and others, it made a big difference to Motown's impact too, with Dusty Springfield acting as a talent spotter for American acts.

My Cuba - Rumba Roots
A lady called Regla Gonzalez Miro tries to organise a local group so that girls can play the Bata drum as well as the boys do. Life in the La Marina part of Matanzas seems pretty dire, but the spirit of the people can't be denied.


BBC Proms '10 - Sondheim's 80th Birthday
Seemingly repeated to mark the great composer's 90th birthday, this show from 2010 saw David Charles Abell conduct the BBC Concert Orchestra through a rundown of many songs from his shows, with Dame Judi Dench delivering her much-loved rendition of Send In The Clowns, and Bryn Terfel, Simon Russell Beale and Jenna Russell were among the others doing numbers from Sweeney Todd, Company, Sunday In The Park With George and others.

Lwp - Curadur - Georgia Ruth
To push a new album, she talked about other acts who've been an influence or whom she wanted to give a nod to. So that was Nellt, Rebecca Smith-Williams, Lleuwen, Catrin Davis and Iwan Huws. Georgie has relocated to Aberystwyth and is a new mother. Terracotta was one of her own tracks.

Rock N Roll Island
A lengthy look on the historical Eel Pie Island Hotel, which was a top venue in London for all too short a time, but played a big part for acts like The Artwoods and Downliners Sect, as well as Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones. Rod himself spoke of getting a help from Long John Baldry (as did Elton John). It reopened to cater for a heavier clientele like the early Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, but that didn't last either. But the name still endures as a club night.

Cymry Ar Gynfas - Catrin Finch
She's a harpist & composer, 39. She had her picture painted by Annie Morgan Sugarami, 68. Catrin started out doing classical tunes, but now does a mix of world, folk and jazz. She's been in recovery from cancer. Annie omitted the harp from her picture, which took 2 months.

Discovering London - Eels and Pies and Rock N Roll
A shorter version of the story of Eel Pie Island Hotel, from 2017. Downliners Sect and The Artwoods were among the bands again named, and its renaissance as a heavy rock club, before its short life as a commune, and its eventual resurrection as a club night, were all covered.

TMF - We Banjo 3
A jolly band who worked through a decent set of tunes.

MTV Unplugged at Home - Jojo
A curious innovation for the current crisis, mercifully only a short set filmed from a bedroom apparently.

The Story of "Bits + Pieces"
Not the Dave Clark Five number, this was a 90s dance tune credited to Artemesia, one of many pseudonyms used by producer Patrick Prins. Some Scottish DJ did a cover of the tune and it was used in some coverage of football, and suddenly took off with the youth of Scotland. You never can tell.

Rock N Roll Road Trip - Look What The Cat Dragged In
Sammy goes to Scottsdale to the ranch of Bret Michaels. He loves cooking and Poison have been going for 30 years. He finds his home a warm place to come back to when a tour ends, as he grew up in Pittsburgh. He's been diabetic since 6, so drugs were never a choice for him. He sure made up with the sex though. He enjoys doing solo shows as a change from the norm. He has big respect for AC/DC, and his dad who was a Navy vet. Thrilled at the idea of playing his hits forever. He and Sammy do a version of "Your Mama Don't Dance" while driving round his ranch in a go kart.

Stars In Their Cars - Shaun Ryder / Goldie
Two editions from a 2016 series with Paddy McGuinness taking stars through their car history and revisiting places that were important to them. In Shaun's case, mostly places around Manchester, and fairly modest cars. Goldie was more down south, the cars were flashier but troubled (one broke down; the other was a convertible in a downpour). Both men are lively and likeable characters who've had their scrapes but come through stronger.


Twin Atlantic - Howling To The Wind
A short piece with the lads playing an acoustic rooftop gig in Glasgow, or at least a couple of tracks off their new album.

Camgymeriad Gwych (Beautiful Mistake)
Shot in 2000 in Cardiff and New York, it mainly featured the legendary John Cale performing with the cream of Welsh bands, from Catatonia to Tystion to Gorkys Zygotic Mynci. Also James Dean Bradfield from the Manics, and Super Furry Animals too.

MTV Live - Lauv
A short set to plug his new album, which has 21 songs on it. He mentioned mental health, his many collaborations with the likes of Anne-Marie and Troye Sivan. He finished with a cover of transAtlantic #1 Blinding Lights:

Blinding Lights (live)

Rock N Roll Road Trip - A Day in the Life of Sammy (24/7)
From the gig the night before in Oklahoma, to his show at Rockfest, Jun 2017, in Kansas City. We follow him and his band onto a private plane. He briefly meets Stephen Pearcy from Ratt. He has a longer chat with Zakk Wylde, and later Sully Erna (of Godsmack fame). He also touches base with Halestorm too, and has time for a song at the end.

13 Moments That Killed Amy Winehouse
The funny part is an intro where people say things like "I don't know how it could have happened", like it was Cluedo or something. Was Amy tragically doomed? How authentic can you be as a product of the Brit School? Will documentaries keep being made on topics like this until the heat death of the universe?


MTV Unplugged at home - Alessia Cara
Credit to her for doing three songs that aren't hits.

Peat & Diesel - That's The Way We Do It!
The story of a somewhat folk rock three-piece, Innes, Uilly and Boydie. Boydie is the frontman, the singer, the songwriter. Their meteoric rise seemed to be mostly backed by goodwill and a few tunes that appealed to kids as much as grown-ups (such as Salt and Pepper). They were nominated for an award for best live act and were surprised to win it. The angle was that they were about to make their first big headline appearance at Glasgow Barrowland, whilst those band members with real-life jobs wondered whether they could risk going further with P&D and leaving stability behind.


Peat & Diesel - From the Barrow to the Barrowland
The above show, from January this year. They had a good wide set of material, the only noticeable cover being of Dirty Old Town. In an amusing and little-seen stunt, Boydie had his shaved before they returned for an encore with Country Boy. They may go far.

Cymry ar Gynfas - Margaret Williams
She's a singer, actress and presenter. Sarah Carvell did her portrait. Williams was a cancer survivor. There was less talk about her musical side than the one with the harpist. The portrait was very good, as usual.

MTV Unplugged at Home - Melissa Etheridge
Perhaps the only way she'll get on MTV. She did three good songs and spread goodwill.

Rock N Roll Road Trip - Red 'til I'm Not Dead
A do at Cabo Wabo Cantina marking Sammy's 70th birthday. He's been having these shows for 26-27 years (well, in 2018 when this was). Among the guests were Daryl McDaniels, Bob Weir and Toby Keith, but his main guest was the late Eddie Money, who was at his first of these shows. He did a song, and Sammy later sang "Father Time" on the beach acoustic.

ALT - Idlewild
Another returning series, also featuring lesser-known-yet acts like Sacred Paws and Tamzene. But mainly it was Roddy and the lads who've a new/recent album out, and did several songs old and new.

Sacred Songs - The Secrets of our Hearts
A curious performance by Tenebrae, all performed in isolation, even the conducting of Nigel Short. They did pieces by Bach, Allegri, Purcell and Parry.

TMF - Sunday night highlights
The 2015 coverage continues with The Lowground and The League of Highland Gentlemen, neither of whom I have heard before but who were both decent enough, and The Fratellis, of whom I cannot say the same.

MTV Unplugged at Home - Finneas
The artist known as Billie Eilish's brother, here sisterless. He did his numbers though, including a Lana Del Rey cover (but not one I knew).

The Big Interview w/Dan Rather - Annie Lennox
Another series I've never seen before, possibly from 2014. Annie was then plugging her Nostalgia album, which she stresses wasn't just a tawdry old covers album, it was a serious jazz-inspired work, honest. Dan talked her through her career from the 70s onwards, the success of Eurythmics and why Sweet Dreams appeals so much to people, her solo works, how Clive Davis hooked them up with Aretha Franklin, how having her children changed her perspective, and how she became inspired by Nelson Mandela to be involved with his charity work (the 46664 foundation thing, I presume).

Rock N Roll Road Trip w/Sammy Hagar - Low Ridin' In LA
Sammy meets Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, musical comedians and pot advocates. They talked about comedy, and performing to big crowds, and troubles with the law. They did a song, Sammy did a song back. Nice guys.

How Pop Songs Work
A repeat from 2007, as Charles Hazlewood deconstructs the form to find the patterns. He talked to Martin Fry (of ABC), Guy Chambers, professor Allan Moore, producer Steve Levine, and others. Well, they talked, not necessarily to him. 

TMF - more highlights
Manran, We Banjo 3, Trail West and Skerryvore all featured this time.

MTV Unplugged At Home: Shaggy
Another one who probably wouldn't be on MTV unless there was a massive crisis on. He rapped while someone else from Los Bandeleros played guitar via computer link. He did a cover of Electric Avenue, which was new to me, and did Angel and It Wasn't Me, despite me assuming he wouldn't. Good stuff.

One World - Together at Home
2 hours of highlights from the mega-show, including Rag N Bone Man, Lizzo, Michael Buble, Burna Boy and more.

ALT - Declan Welch and the Decadent West
Never heard of them, but they were solid stuff and hope they continue so to do. Also here was Malcolm Middleton, formerly half of the band Arab Strap, Scarlett Randle, Tide Lines, and a chat with Jon Fratelli about his career.

MTV Unplugged at Home - Kiana Lede
A more up-to-date act getting included in this format, she did a Rihanna cover as well as a couple of her own.

Icons - Big Star Profiles - Beyonce
This 2016 show was about as superficial as it needed to be. 

Rock N Roll Road Trip w/Sammy Hagar - Rick & Roll Road Trip
Sammy visits Rick Springfield. They've known each other since 1977. Rick's lived in Malibu since 1985. He was born in Australia, and came to the US in 1972. He had a side-line in acting. Some of his videos finished up being odd. He met Tom Petty by chance somewhere. He does albums in his own studio. He had a big hit with one of Sammy's so they did it at the end (I've Done Everything For You).

The Big Interview with Dan Rather - Mick Jones & Lou Gramm
Their first shared interview in more than 20 years. They formed in 1976 and Lou was gone within a decade over the sound of the band after 2 monster ballad hits. Mick's story went back to the 1960s and working with French legend Johnny Halliday. They've both had health problems, which they seemed to have recovered from. Diana Ross advised them to get in on the "jukebox musical" bandwagon, since they already had the song Jukebox Heroes. So they did. They hadn't been inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at this time (nor do they seem to have been since).

MTV Unplugged at Home - Monsta X
Some K-pop choice here, two members of their line-up did one song, then a different two did a 2nd song, and then the coverage cut to Alessia Cara again. Hmmm...

Cymry ar Gynfas - Sir Bryn Terfel
The Welsh tenor was paired up with the somewhat avant-garde Billy Bagilhole. The latter works in a bar and lives in his studio in Vauxhall, but came from Pwllheli. They met at the Royal Opera House to chat about the project. Billy seemed to have little spare time to do the painting, but 11 weeks later there was an unveiling. It was one of the more unusual efforts in the series, but Bryn liked it.

ALT - Astrid
They were a success for a while, then split, and have now reformed after 15 years. They were helped by Belle & Sebastian in their early days. Also present were Freakwave, Scarlett Randle (who got more chat and songs than last week), and a chat with 90s has-beens Bis.

The Quay Sessions - Greatest Hits
Highlights show including the Charlatans, Teenage Fanclub, Snow Patrol, Reef and Sophie Ellis-Bextor for variety.

Al Jazeera World - Four Ramadan Songs
Rather like watching docs you get in December about Christmas carols and other songs, only without having to put up with Mariah Carey every five minutes.

Trail Blazers - Andrea Bocelli
Tuscany is his patch, as it has for his family for centuries (they're wine-makes). All the men have names beginning with A so that AB can be their brand. He was affected by music from a young age. His "Si" album included a duet with his son Matteo. He got a help on his way from Pavarotti. He'll be 60 next year, probably.

Rock N Roll Road Trip w/Sammy Hagar - 48 Can't Drive 55
To Charlotte in North Carolina to talk NASCAR at the Hendrick Museum. As well as a collection of Corvettes and Camaros, Rick Hendrick also has a guitar collection, with ones from Chet Atkins and Bruce Springsteen. Sammy obligingly signs one for him. The show ends with Sammy doing a rocking version of I Can't Drive 55.

Icons - Big Star Profiles - Kylie Minogue
The usual story, acting, singing, doldrums, reinventions, loves, lingerie, cancer, being a gay icon.

Whitney Houston - Everlasting Voice
A rather charmless runthrough of the familiar story, with rent-a-mouth types, mildly enhanced by the inclusion of Mica Paris.

The Shadows at Sixty
Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch tell their tale, with Cliff Richard helping, and celebrity fans like David Gilmour, Brian May and Pete Townshend paying tribute.

Trail Blazers - Gloria Estefan's Miami
She and hubby Emilio are major real estate magnates, and they have their own jukebox musical in On Your Feet. Her life-changing crash happened 30 years ago in March 1990 (this show was from 2018). She was back on stage within a year, after a brutal rehab regime. That was possibly the more intriguing part of the story.

Icons - Big Star Profiles - Barbra Streisand
She sings. She acts. Unlike some of the others I've seen in this series, there was plenty of clips of people saying how much they thought of her, including Celine Dion, Elle McPherson, Liza Minnelli and Barry Gibb.

MTV Unplugged at Home - Bazzi
He included a surprise cover of Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars, which was good. Oddly, his three tracks were shown in reverse order (I get the format that they make each single track seem self-contained, but it's odd to show them like this).

Shine - An Unauthorised Story on Beyonce Knowles
Same format as the Icons thing, only twice as long. She sings, etc Most of the talking heads were actors she's worked with, like Adrien Brody and Idris Elba. Kelly Rowland and Jay Z were also included.

The Big Interview w/Dan Rather - Olivia Newton John
She was doing a show in Las Vegas at this time (2016) and did the interview there. Dan discussed her early singing successes as a country star, before big success in Grease (John Travolta held out for her, it seems), her hits like Magic and Physical, other projects which were less successful, her battle with breast cancer, and her environmental activism.