Music Television 6

Barry Manilow at the BBC - Volume Two
A new round-up of songs and clips of chat shows, marking him turning 80 on Saturday.

Best of Glastonbury 2013
A run of repeats to lead up to this year's festival, and a chance for me to catch up with the ones I've clearly not reviewed before. 10 years ago, the line-up ranged from Lumineers and Bastille, through Arctic Monkeys and Portishead, to Haim and Savages and Public Enemy, not forgetting Kenny Rogers and Michael Kiwanuka and The xx. 

Santana: Hymns For Peace - Live at Montreux 2004
A monster gig from the Stravinsky Hall on my 27th birthday. Carlos had a great many guest stars with his band, including Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, and vocals from the likes of Angelique Kidjo and Stevie Winwood. There were sections paying tribute to Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, and others.

Storyville: Love, Lizzo
A 2022 major story-so-far effort of the flautist who made a big breakthrough with Juice, and was able to build on it with Good As Hell and About Damn Time. I'm still not won over, though.

Isle of Wight '23: Sophie Ellis-Bextor
From last night, a steady set tapping into her "kitchen disco" triumph, but with many of her own hits in there too. A long-term success story of some sort.

Best of Glastonbury 2014
Such is coincidence, one of the folk here was of course Lizzo, years before Juice. Fair do's. Metronomy, Elbow, Lily Allen, Blondie, Robert Plant, Bryan Ferry, George Ezra, Metallica, Ellie Goulding and Kasabian were just a selection of those shown, though in many respects, this year belonged to Dolly Parton.

Behind The Music: Fat Joe
He was from the Bronx, he met up with Big Pun, he worked and got hits with Irv Gotti, he made Bruce Willis dance, his accountant took all his money, he rebounded after jail time. I liked him.

Isle of Wight '23: One Republic
Ryan Tedder was in a spirited mood, and pleased the crowd with a medley of songs he wrote for other people to have hits with, as well as plenty of OR songs.

Capital Summertime Ball '23
Roman Kemp introduced at Wembley Stadium with a gig that ranged from Tom Grennan and Raye through Adam Lambert and Niall Horan, to Kylie Minogue and the Jonas Brothers.

Isle of Wight '23: Pulp
A short burst from their Friday night headline slot, which was much as you'd expect.

Best of Glastonbury 2015
Another lively mix, from Motorhead and Mary J Blige, through Justin Hayward and Father John Misty, to Pharrell Williams and Suede, and not forgetting Lionel Richie and The Who.

Isle of Wight '23: Anne-Marie
Coverage started with her being interviewed after she'd finished, then went back to the gig. It was her 3rd time there, after 2014 and 2019. Most of her songs involved other people, so she encourage the crowds to do the other bits, which is one idea.

Best of Glastonbury 2016
Everyone from Ralph McTell to Coldplay, from Adele to Ronnie Spector, from ZZ Top to Christine and the Queens, plus plenty of pushed faves who ain't all that.

Isle of Wight '23: N-Dubz
They of course reformed after an 11 year gap, and have a new album coming. Dappy amusingly surfed way out into the crowd, and then pretty much stayed there. They do seem to foster a ramshackle charm, it has to be said.

Little Richard - King and Queen of Rock N Roll
Pretty major career look, with much footage of the man himself. Ringo Starr and Keith Richards represented the English bands who helped him rediscover his musical mission at a time when he had turned his back on rock. Pat Boone, on the other hand, still felt justified in making a bomb off covering Tutti Frutti and Long Tall Sally. I was bemused to see Big Freedia as one of the other talking heads, as she was one of the other acts at Juneteenth, and of whom I'd never previously heard.

Isle of Wight '23: Sugababes
The original line-up now have the name, and did hits from most of their career, and they did an impressive job. They never really had the reputation for singing or ability, but they're alright.

Glastonbury '23
A short intro from Thursday night, as Lauren Laverne and Jack Saunders witnessed live turns from Ben Howard and Colectiva, and introduced montages looking ahead to the weekend, and features on the Car Henge installation, and some YT bloke called Ogmios.

Isle of Wight '23: The Courteeners
DJ & presenter Shaun Keaveny chatted to frontman Liam Fray (it being the band's 5th visit to the festival), then they did an hour's set. They seem to have endured nearly 20 years, but without much troubling the charts or the musical consciousness.

Storyville: Lizzo - Live In Concert
She was at the Kia Forum in LA last year during the "Special" tour, and did many costume changes, and brought SZA and Cardi B on as guests.

We Love Glastonbury
10 assorted stars introduced a past performance with special interest, which managed to include Beyonce, Jay Z and Stormzy. Less predictable were Roisin Murphy and Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros.

Best of Glastonbury 2017
Lorde's Green Light was used as linking theme material, and there were turns that year from Katy Perry and Dua Lipa, Radiohead and Squeeze, Sigrid and Laura Marling, and Ed Sheerand and Barry Gibb.

Behind The Music: TLC
How the three came together with Pebbles as a manager, which turned out to be an unwise idea, how Lisa had her fire-based demons, and despite big success they always seemed to have some equal difficulty to deal with. Babyface and LA Reid were more help to them.

NEC 1988 International Music Festival - Barry Manilow
An intriguing skill in playing songs I'd never heard before but which felt as instantly familiar as some of his biggest and best. Even a skit where he tried to imagine (and demonstrate) how he might have been a backing singer in the Supremes and Gladys Knight and the Pips just about worked.

Glastonbury Anthems
A 3-part summation from 1997 onwards with one or two acts from each festival since. Some overlap with other highlights, which smacks of laziness, though a few surprises with Blur, Jimmy Cliff, The Specials and The Cure.

Isle of Wight '23: Saturday evening
A short interlude between longer turns, tracks from the Reytons and Joesef, and a chat with George Ezra before his headline set.

Isle of Wight '23: Friday highlights
Much hype given to Pulp, but all that was shown was what was already shown elsewhere. Mention of I Spy and Disco 2000, but what use is a mention? More fun were Groove Armada beforehand, and The Lottery Winners afterward.

Glastonbury '23: Carly Rae Jepsen / Maisie Peters
CRJ got the majority run-time, and seemed very popular with her crowd on her debut appearance. Since she might be seen (wrongly) as a one-hit wonder from 2012, she put on a show which presumably is her more usual running for her usual crowd. Said 2012 hit Call Me Maybe passed around 1/3 of the way through, so she clearly worked with a wider range of material (including from her latest album). Maisie, in contrast, though also on her debut, and with a new album out this month, also found herself with a keen, if smaller, crowd.

Isle of Wight '23: George Ezra
He headlined on the Saturday night, and did a decent hour from his 3 albums, with the crowd chanting for Shotgun long before it arrived. Green Green Grass seems to have become almost as successful (apart from not being a #1).

Glastonbury '23 - Friday evening
A selection that included Gabriels (who got to chat too), Texas (Sharleen chatted), N'famady Kouyate, Flo, Hozier, and Royal Blood, plus a chat with Sparks. Sharleen said it was Texas' 2nd Glasto, having not been back since 1999, whilst Ron & Russell said Sparks had never been before. Makes you wonder when there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of acts every time.

Classic FM Live - Celebrating the Greatest Hits of Opera
Paul Daniel conducted the ENO Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, through many famous and less-famous pieces, with singing at times from Danielle de Niese and Michael Spyres.

Isle of Wight '23 - Sam Ryder
Despite hype and billing (and a pre-show interview), only 3 songs featured, and coveraged moved on to Flo (who also chatted and got 5 songs), then a couple from The Last Dinner Party, three from Gabrielle, and finally three from Scouting For Girls.

Michael Tippett - The Shadow and the Light
Famous composer who died 25 years ago, in his 90s. His most famous work is A Child Of Our Time. Many conductors, and various musicians and fans spoke warmly and often.

Mansour Meets - Reblah
He used to be a grime scenester, but turned away to the world of gospel. Mansour reckons he would have been signed (and famous) if he'd stuck to grime. But he saw it as a journey more than maybe a choice.

Sounds Like The 80s
An aimless trip through most of the 1980s, as a celebrity panel compiled a fantasy mixtape of 17 tracks from Love Plus One and Pass the Dutchie through to I Feel For You and Rebel Yell. Props for unexpected inclusions like Last Night A DJ Saved My Life and Genius Of Love, I suppose.

Glastonbury '23: Fred Again..
A rising DJ did a jolly hour and some of the music was quite pleasant.

Isle of Wight '23: The Chemical Brothers
Always reliable, though this was more hype than delivery, again. Yinka chatted to Example ahead of his show (to follow).

Behind The Music: Busta Rhymes
They covered him in 2002, then just again last year, when he turned 50. He broke through in the Leaders of the New Sound, but after creative differences, went solo and became a star instead. A few emotional and health problems followed, but he seems to have recovered from them now.

One Night with Barry Manilow
The last of these birthday repeats, this was from 2004, to a part-celebrity audience, some of whom got to share their stories, as did Barry. The highlight might have been his accordion playing, but it was another good showcase. He even claimed that crowds started to love him when he was lousy because they respected him more for trying.

Sommernachtkonzert '23
Petroc Trelawny introduced the usual stuff from the Schonbrun Palace in Vienna, with Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, which started with lively stuff from Bizet's Carmen, and rounded off with Ravel's Bolero and the reliable Strauss Senior piece Vienna Blood. A pleasant night's music.

Glastonbury '23: Friday night
The entire Churnups set (i.e. the Foo Fighters), which was around an hour, then a live spot from Yaya Bey, and footage of Young Fathers, and Sparks.

Isle of Wight '23: Example
Rounding out Day 2,  a decent little run-out for the guy who hasn't troubled the UK charts in years, but still pleases the crowd enough.

Greatest Albums Live: Too-Rye-Aye
A new series started with Dexys Midnight Runners advertising that they've recently redone/reissued their 1982 classic album. Kevin Rowland spoke to Miranda Sawyer inbetween times.

Taylor Mac's 24 Decade History of Popular Music
From October 2016, a singing history lesson over 24 hours with the flamboyant performer getting through multiple outfits and apparently 240 songs, some of which were included here. The pre-20th century choices were probably the more intriguing for their comparative novelty. A moving and impressive show, this documentary seemed to do it justice.

Glastonbury '23: Digga D / Shygirl
Two half-hour sets, the former indoors and seemed to speed through more tracks than usual, while the latter got to see daylight but seems to be very much treading a well-worn path.

TRNSMT '23 - Friday
Edith Bowman hosted from Glasgow Green, interviewing members of the View, Niall Horan, Paul Heaton and Cat Burns, before the main coverage of George Ezra who seemed to have hits to spare. Pulp refused to be shown, apparently.

Mansour Meets: Taz
He worked with Dizzee Rascal, and made some other good business connections, though hasn't made it as big as most others. He was impressed with Wiley, and got help from Semtex, nominated for a MoBO, but had lawsuit trouble with labels. He seemed at ease though.

Glastonbury '23: Arctic Monkeys
Friday night's headliners made their 3rd such effort, but first since 2013. Worry beforehand centred on frontman Alex's laryngitis, but he seemed to come through it alright. There's a bit of crooning in his style at times anyway.

Isle of Wight '23: Sunday evening
A chat with Niall Horan, and a couple of numbers from Ella Henderson, and then the Robert Fripp & Toyah combo.

MTV Push presents: Arrdee
He's from Brighton, and was making music from the age of 8-9. His mum was a big inspiration in forming his musical tastes, which were mostly American. He spent time as a studio engineer before getting his chance. He's had top 10 UK hits.

Glastonbury '23: Wizkid / Stefflon Don
Two short showcase sets from two acts with not all that much in common. The afrobeat legend seemed to rush through a long setlist, whilst the rising Brit star was less impressive and more smug.

TRSNMT '23: Sunday night
Despite hoping to show some Sam Fender from the night before, it didn't happen, even with a 50% longer run-time. Plenty from others, though, oldies like the Kooks and the Enemy, more modern types like Ashnikko and Paris Paloma, and a headline set from the IMO over-rated 1975.

Glastonbury '23 - Friday late night
The last coverage of the 1st day sees part-sets from Kelis and Hot Chip, plus bits and bobs from Venbee, The Mary Wallopers, Fever Ray, Churches, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Hozier.

Isle of Wight '23 - Sunday evening
A couple from Nika, and other numbers from The Enemy, Lovejoy and Gang Of Youths.

TRNSMT 2023
Niall Iain McDonald presents 2 hours from the Scottish festival, including Hamish Hawk, Dead Pony, Nati Dreaddd, and a chat with other presenter Edith Bowman. Then the second one oncluded The Mary Wallopers, Heidi Curtis, Teddy SWIMS and the Wombats.

Greatest Albums Live - Just Enough Education to Perform
The Stereophonics went to the Grand, Clapham, to run through their 2001 albums, and for Kelly and Richard to chat to presenter Edith Bowman. They included Handbags and Gladrags.

Britpop Forever
Another short burst for no readily explicable reason, as Nathan Shepherd provides linking narration to a few videos from the likes of Elastica, Sleeper and Suede.

Glastonbury '23 - Saturday afternoon/evening
Four hours of fun, with 2 x 2 hour shifts for presenters. Rick Astley came in to chat about doing a Smiths tribute set with Blossoms, Louis Theroux came in to chat and self-promote, Norman Cook came in to chat and promote his own set later that night, and so on. Notable performances from acts not otherwise given their own shows were The Lathums, Sudan Archives, Amadou & Mariam, Obongjayar, Generation Sex (a punk supergroup of sorts), Third World, The Murder Capital, and Pretenders. Quite a wide mix, then.

Isle of Wight '23: Echo and the Bunnymen James Bay
Billed as the former, but in fact the latter. Also, Edith chatted to Nicky from the Manics.

Love To Love You, Donna Summer
A major new documentary on the disco queen who wanted to be seen as so much more, but didn't always play her cards right. She was an early adopter of video cameras, which added something different to this, her three daughters and her siblings were all generous. It was one of those where people are only heard, not seen, so Elton John gets a one-scene cameo praising hearing I Feel Love at Studio 54. She seems more easily written out of history, compared to others who were less capable.

Glastonbury '23: Tom Grennan / Aitch
Despite such billing, Tom in fact got 3/4 of the run-time, even though he was only on the Other Stage, whilst Aitch got on the Pyramid one. Tom took his shirt off, Aitch wore a Man Utd shirt. Aitch did get Anne-Marie on for their duet hit Psycho, though.

Isle of Wight '23: Robbie Williams
A Sunday night headliner, and a good long hour and a half to prove it. Included a middle section on Take That!, which despite the happy round-up ending, was mostly about how annoyed he was being in the band, though it did lead him to cover Don't Look Back In Anger along the way.  He was in a good mood, as were the crowd.

First Night of the Proms '23
If I can't keep up with two musical series, then how about three? Clive Myrie hosted as the annual 8-week classical festival kicked off with Dalia Stasevska conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra through some Sibelius, Greig, Britten and a world premiere from a Ukrainian composer.

TUNE - What's in the Water in West Lothian?
Jodi Findlay, whose stage name is Silvi, discussed the rise of superstars from her little patch of Scotland. Stars like Susan Boyle, Lewis Capaldi and The Snuts, to name but three of the many she listed. She visited venues which have helped her on her journey, and met another local rising hopeful, Megan Black.

Wireless Festival 2023
DJ Target and Joelean Neale introduced highlights from another festival which didn't get the same extensive coverage as others. Joey Bada$$, Mtro Boomin, Lil Tjay, Lancey Foux, D-Block Europe, Headie One, Ice Spice, Lil Yachty, Yeat and Playboy Carti were some of the acts worthy enough to be included here.

Nat 'King' Cole - For Sentimental Reasons
Probably have seen this cheap n cheerful compilation from 2004 before - I note the closing credits list another 9 tracks not featured.

Glastonbury '23: Jacob Collier
I suppose I've mellowed to the multi-instrumental polymath. Besides many of his own works, he managed to do decent covers of Can't Help Falling In Love, and Somebody To Love too. His Pride pantaloons (OK, culottes) were quite a sight too.

Isle of Wight '23: Manic Street Preachers
The last live section from this festival, but only a short selection in this broadcast. But at least they got included at all, perhaps.

Glastonbury '23: Lewis Capaldi / Lizzo
The Scots wonder had some vocal issues, though it didn't seem to ruin anything to me. He does push himself, though. Lizzo was much as ever, and seems to be leading a trend of sorts.

Sight & Sound In Concert: Curtis Mayfield
A show from Nottingham in 1984 which I hope I've not seen before. He covered All Night Long (All Night) which was surprising, but made sure to play Superfly and Move On Up too.

Greatest Albums Live: The Lexicon of Love
Martin Fry spoke to Miranda Sawyer, and ABC played with the Southbank Sinfonia at the London Palladium, in a foretaste of their 2024 touring plans. It's a good show for hearing the whole album, not just the admittedly great singles.

TRNSMT 2023
Another 2x 2 hour round-up with Niall Iain McDonald, and some different clips from the previous shows. Still no Sam Fender or Pulp, though. 

BBC One Sessions - Corinne Bailey Rae
From as far back as 2006, a short showcase of the fresh soul singer, including what few hits she already had, and a cover of Led Zeppelin' Since I've Been Loving You.

Tafwyl 2023
From Cardiff, as Huw Stephens and Tara Bethan present highlights from Lily Bean, HMS Morris, Candelas and others, before the second half features a live hour or so from Bwncath.

Glastonbury '23: Manic Street Preachers / Leftfield
Huw Stephens again, this time introducing Welsh pop-rockers on the Other stage in their 6th Glastonbury turn, a brief bit with Pretenders on the Park stage, and then a longer run from dance legends Leftfield also on the Park stage.

MTV Unplugged - Tony Bennett
A repeat from 1994 since he just died. kd lang and Elvis Costello came on to guest on a song each. A good showcase.

BBC Four Sessions - Tony Bennett
Also a repeat for the same reason, from 2007, but no guests this time, but a few famous faces in the audience.

Isle of Wight '23: Friday highlights
A round-up from Day 1, giving a bit more space to the likes of The Lottery Winners and Jamie Webster, whilst reusing the same Pulp bit already shown twice.

Take Me To The Opera: A Time of Change
Zeinab Badawi talks to Sir Antonio Pappano, who has been music director at the Royal Opera House, but going to retire in 2023/24. He talked about the influence of his father, how he started on the piano at 6, and worked with his father until he got a job with the New York Opera at 22. Then he joined up with Daniel Barenboim in Bayreuth, and became a conductor in 1987. His background was fed into how well he dealt with singers, and other musicians.

Belladrum '23
A 2-part round-up from the festival, with performers ranging from Sigrid and KT Tuntall, through to Travis and The Bluebells, and even Kiefer Sutherland.

Glastonbury '23: Fatboy Slim
A continuous mix which included many of his own hits, and tributes to Faithless' Maxi Jazz among others. Rita Ora tramped on early to sing her Praising You effort which nods more to him than to the original.

Isle of Wight '23: Saturday highlights
More bits and bobs, some familiar from the shows, but nice to see N-Dubz and the Chemical Brothers, as well as headliner George Ezra.

Glastonbury '23: Central Cee / Loyle Carner
Two sets from Saturday night, the former just 3/4 hour, the latter an hour. Cee brought on Dave so they could do then&still-current #1 Sprinter. Carner had Olivia Dean as a guest on a track. I suspect I preferred Carner's stuff.

Greatest Albums Live - New Gold Dream 81-82-83-84
From Paisley Abbey, the Scot-rock legends performed tracks like Glittering Prize, Promised You a Miracle, the title track, and Someone Somewhere in Summertime. Inbetween, Jim & Charlie talked about the album's 40th anniversary, how it proved their breakout at the 5th attempt, and so on.

Isle of Wight '23 - Sunday highlights
The final round-up at last, with Ella Henderson, Mika and most of the others already featured.

Kule-T: My Career in Music
He was a member of short-lived 90s R&B band MN8, who it seems made it to the 2nd album mark. He had some good anecdotes and remembered the band fondly, but included a couple of other videos to help fill up the time (supporting Janet Jackson on tour seemed to be the zenith for him).

Creatives on the Couch: Catherine Kerr
Reece and Monique talked to a cruise ship singer who worked a lot with the late cabaret legend Joe Longthorne. She was the child of musical parents, learned many other languages, and had visited many places around the world, having started out in Coatbridge.

Gladys Knight & The Pips
Two shows from the same venue, the New London Theatre, both from 1980, both ostensibly from different dates and dealing with different time periods of the band. But they somehow played Bourgie Bourgie both nights.

Tafwyl 2023 - Highlights
Like the previous edition, but a more familiar round-up  concept. Lily Beau, Eadyth, Dafydd Iwan, HMS Morris, Sywel Nyw and Tara Bandito all got performances included.