About the �� Feed

From David Bowie to Miles Davis to the Proms: what happens to live recordings?

2018-08-14T09:03:28+00:00

From The Beatles to Miles Davis and Bananarama and everything in between, the �� owns more than two million music copyrights from performances broadcasted live with a catalogue stretching way back to the 1920s.

This includes Top Of The Pops, Radio 1 Live Lounge, Later With Jools Holland, John Peel, the Proms, as well as concerts and festivals across the country. We also own programme scores composed in-house, such as by the �� Radiophonic Workshop, which created the Doctor Who theme and for classic programmes like Blue Planet and Bob The Builder.

We license this to record labels or the artists themselves, for commercial release via the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988, and also work with advertising, film and other TV companies

In practice it can mean providing bonus content from a �� performance for additional songs on album reissues, a one-off EP for Record Store Day, a live in concert DVD, or a Peel Sessions release.

For example, two years ago we delivered additional recordings to Jimmy Page, in person, for the remastered Led Zeppelin: �� Sessions compilation album that came out later in 2016.

Due later this year is an eight-disc REM at the �� album, and this follows others in the series such as Bowie at the Beeb and The Beatles’ Live At The ��.

It’s not only physical releases like CDs and LPs, as streaming rights for Spotify and so on are often included in licensing deals as well, and we’re working more and more these days with Vevo and similar sites.

When music appears in adverts, films, or in games, the industry term is called synchronisation, recently we have completed large global deals for LaCoste and Chrysler, and occasionally we clear samples of recordings that are to be used in other music.

Although the vast majority of these recordings have never been commercially released, they don’t just sit there doing nothing, as part of our work is to persuade record companies to make more use of them.

The agreement we made with AIM (the Association of Independent Music) a few years ago is a good example, which has facilitated deals with AIM members like The Fall, Kylie Minogue, The Moody Blues and the Pixies.

And, of course, sometimes recordings previously thought lost or accidentally deleted years ago unexpectedly turn up, which is very exciting - especially when it’s Bowie!

Have you met �� Music Introducing?

2017-10-20T09:00:00+00:00

Tonight (Friday 20 October) �� Four is airing highlights from the concert at Brixton Academy which was held as part of �� Music Introducing’s 10th anniversary. Jen Macro takes a brief look at what �� Music Introducing has done, and continues to do, to help unsigned, undiscovered and under-the-radar artists

I remember a friend, who then worked for the ��, telling me a number of years ago about a new national initiative to help unsigned bands. Being in an unsigned band myself, I thought, what a marvellous idea to give struggling musicians around the country a helping hand to get noticed and build an audience through local shows and airplay. I have to say however, I was dubious that any success stories would actually come out of the project.

Fast forward to Wednesday 4 October 2017 and said initiative, �� Music Introducing, is not only celebrating its 10 year anniversary, but holding a celebratory gig at Brixton Academy in London with just some of the very success stories they discovered and have helped over the last decade including Jake Bugg, Everything Everything, George Ezra and Nao.

So how does it work? When an artist/band submits a track to �� Music Introducing Uploader it is forwarded to the nearest of the ��'s 38 local radio shows where presenters and producers listen. If they like them the tracks could get broadcast on those local stations and even propelled onto the national stage through �� Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, 6 Music, Radio 3, Asian Network and World Service or on television and online.

They may even put the band forward to perform at major festivals and showcases such as Glastonbury, Latitude and The Great Escape in the UK and SXSW in Texas and WinterJazz Festival in New York. This year 58% of the acts that performed at this year's Reading + Leeds Festival initially uploaded their music to the �� Music Introducing Uploader.

�� Music Introducing artists have gone on to release: 14 UK No.1 singles, 68 UK Top 10 singles. So who might you know who’s come up through the ranks? Glastonbury headliners Ed Sheeran and Florence And The Machine both uploaded tracks to �� Introducing, as did Mercury Music Prize 2017 nominated Alt-J, The Big Moon, Loyle Carner and Blossoms. Other high-flyers include Slaves, Izzy Bizu, Daughter, Royal Blood and Wretch 32. The list goes on.

No sooner were the plastic glasses cleared away from the floor of the Brixton Academy, than the �� Music Introducing team were back to work, this time hosting a brand new three-day event at ExCel in East London from 6-8 October. Each day, Amplify was filled with talks by music industry professionals, pioneers and musicians, alongside trade stalls, three performance stages, �� presenters including Annie Mac and Huw Stephens, plus a feedback centre where budding artists could get advice about the tracks they had brought in.

I dropped in to the event, and If I am honest, I was slightly apprehensive that, at my accrued years of age, I would stand out as the oldest person there, but in fact, much like �� Introducing itself, the participants were a varied mix of all ages. I felt very welcome from the word go, not only by the folks staffing the event, but fellow attendees. Considering we were all in ‘competition’ with each other to get our music noticed, the camaraderie amongst the people in the queues for the talks and in the sessions themselves was heart-warming, from people giving up their seats, to chatting to the stranger next to them to find out what their music was like.

The industry sessions I attended were clear, well structured, extremely informative and thankfully not void of humour. Often geared to the DIY or ‘bedroom’ artist I was pleased that the speakers were realistic but encouraging, highlighting the fact that there is a lot of good music out there, but that doesn’t mean that yours isn’t just as good or valuable.

I spoke to staff at one of the publishing companies who had run a number of the sessions, they were pleasantly surprised at the huge turnout and eager to be involved in the next one.

So, happy birthday �� Music Introducing, and keep up the good work.

Jen Macro is Digital Producer, About the ��

An hour long show about �� Introducing and containing highlights of the Brixton gig will be shown on �� Four on Friday 20 October and will be available on �� iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast.
Watch the full �� Music Introducing Live show
Find out more about Amplify 2017
Find out more at the �� Music Introducing website and follow @bbcintroducing on Twitter.

Radio 2 Country returns for the third year

2017-03-07T13:59:56+00:00

In 2013 the first C2C: Country to Country festival was held at the O2 in London. After many years of country music being the domain of a niche but loyal fan base, a new audience had started to discover the music, and country was becoming cool. With the UK’s voice of Country music ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris at the helm, Radio 2 became the broadcast partner for the festival, making two programmes of C2C highlights for its regular Bob Harris Country slot.

After two years of doing this however, it was becoming apparent the UK’s increasingly enthusiastic and ever growing audience were wanting even more. And then we had a thought. We knew that Radio 2’s four day pop-up station devoted to the Eurovision song contest had been a huge hit with the Eurovision fans, so why didn’t we do something similar for Country music? We could broadcast the festival live and exclusively on our own pop-up...

'Whispering' Bob Harris

Fast forward to 2017 and, with its third incarnation just around the corner, Radio 2 Country is now the most successful music pop-up DAB ever provided by �� Radio. Certainly on our launch day in 2015 we had an incredible audience response on social media – and the reaction then and in 2016 was resoundingly positive with the overwhelming sentiment on twitter being “Radio 2 Country - #makeitpermanent”!

We know that one of the biggest reasons for our listeners to tune in is our live coverage of performances from the C2C festival. Across three days this year, twelve of the biggest country acts in the world will take to the main stage at the O2, and Radio 2 Country is the only place you can hear it all broadcast live. This year coverage includes performances from one of country music’s biggest selling artists of all time, Reba McEntire; multimillion selling artist Brad Paisley; genre defying country rock group the Zac Brown Band; CMA New Artist 2016 Maren Morris and traditional country royalty - Marty Stuart - with his band of ace musicians, The Fabulous Superlatives. In between these acts our on-air Radio 2 country team, made up of Bob Harris, Baylen Leonard, Jo Whiley, Paul Sexton and Bobbie Pryor will be on hand with all the backstage action, including interviews and live sessions with some of the bands appearing on the festival’s other stages, including our very own Radio 2 Country stage.

When we’re not live from the O2, Radio 2 country will be broadcasting a rich variety of programmes which really show the wide spectrum of country music. Some of Nashville’s biggest stars will be taking a turn behind the microphone including Reba McEntire (Reba’s Gospel Hour), Marty Stuart (Marty Stuart’s Country Pickers) and Alison Krauss (Bluegrass and Beyond).

Alison Krauss will host 'Bluegrass and Beyond' on the pop-up station

We’ve also invited the UK’s only digital country station Chris Country onto the pop-up. Fronted by broadcaster Chris Stevens, Chris Country first launched online in 2013 and on digital radio two years later. A massive country fan, Chris is a huge advocate of the music and artists here in the UK and it’s great to have him involved in Radio 2 Country.

And of course Radio 2’s own presenters will be out in force showing off their country credentials – with programmes from country experts Ricky Ross, Patrick Kielty and Bob Harris. Plus this year we welcome Trevor Nelson who will be taking listeners into the musical space where Country meets Soul; Sara Cox presents a country version of her popular Sounds of the 80s show; comedian and country fan Susan Calman looks at the comedy of country and plays ‘classic’ tracks such as ‘You’re the reason our kids are ugly’ and ‘Did I shave my legs for this?’; Mark Radcliffe pays tribute to one of his musical heroes, Hank Williams, and Colin Murray literally takes to a barstool to explore country music’s fascination with all things alcoholic.

'Did I shave my legs for this?' Susan Calman looks at 'The Comedy of Country'

But it’s not all about cowboys, whiskey and beer. If you’re someone who thinks they don’t like country music then prepare to be surprised. The tentacles of country music stretch far and wide …Lady Gaga, Al Green, The Rolling Stones, Leonard Cohen - listen out because they all make a musical appearance at some point across the four days. And if that’s not enough to make you retune your digital radio there’s always the John Denver and Miss Piggy duet. I’m not joking…

Al Booth is Editor, �� Radio 2 Production.

Radio 2 Country launches at midday on Thursday 9th March on Digital Radio, online and on the �� Iplayer Radio app.
Find out more about the pop up station on the �� Radio 2 Country website.
Follow �� Radio 2 Country on twitter and/or facebook.
Download the to pop-up station's schedule.

Hely-Hutchinson: The �� man who created the ultimate Christmas music

2016-12-13T13:58:14+00:00

Jon Jacob praises the unsung hero of Christmas music who started his �� career in 1926 as a piano accompanist and finished as �� Director of Music.

Composer Victor Hely-Hutchinson (above) has a deep, dark, perhaps even cold stare in our archive pictures. Underneath a bristling trimmed moustache is a mixture of a business-like pout and mischievous grin. Or am I projecting?

Suave, handsome, and maybe even a bit of a dandy? Maybe. In 1926 when he began his career at the �� as a pianist and accompanist, wax secured a strong parting. By 1933, it was securing a windswept fringe. By 1936, the hair had thinned slightly, so too the budget for hair product. But there was still the playfulness in his eyes evident in his earlier shots.

Born in Cape Town, he was educated in England, but returned to Cape Town as Lecturer in Music at the University from 1922 to 1925. He became a member of the �� music staff the following year, went to Birmingham as Music Director of the Midland Region in 1933, and the next year resigned this position to succeed Sir Granville Bantock as Peyton Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham.

I know little about the man, other than the Christmas music – his Carol Symphony - which he composed in 1927.

The Carol Symphony – a series of four variations on Christmas carols – exudes playfulness. It takes familiar carol melodies – O Come All Ye Faithful, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Here We Go A-Wassailing – and applies all sorts of musical, textural and harmonic treatments to the melodies. As he does so – like any other composer using the variation form – he extends the blissful expectation of Christmas beyond the length of the carol we recognise.

During the third movement of the work, Hely-Hutchinson’s mastery is on potent display where he buries each of the carols’ melodies deep in the musical material, and makes recognising them part of the listener’s entertainment. It’s not immediately obvious what we’re listening to at the beginning, but a potent example occurs around 2 minutes into the introduction of this movement: one steady note in the strings hangs in the air; a harp creates an eerie music-box effect. A counter-melody joins soon after. A vague sense of menace threatens to overpower the delicate beginning of life.

The unsettling feeling doesn’t last for long: it’s resolved with the quietest of bassoons playing one suspended note transforming the moment into a quiet triumph and, the introduction of a familiar carol – The First Noel. In that deft moment of musical transformation, Christmas is announced.

Everything else that follows is a joyous orchestral celebration of the musical resolution we heard close to the beginning of the movement culminating in one of the most gloriously indulgent of chords in all of Christmas (beaten only by the final chords of the final verse of O Come All Ye Faithful).

In the case of Hely-Hutchinson’s masterful creation (musically orthodox and conservative given that it was written 14 years after Stravinsky's iconoclastic Rite of Spring), the music creates intense musical depictions of the Christmas story the carols themselves sought to celebrate in the first place. The symphony as a whole is a musical melange that sounds as though it could well have been created for TV. The fact it pre-dates the format’s prevalence by about forty years makes Hely-Hutchinson’s creation makes the work all the more an achievement.

The third movement was used in a Children's Hour adaptation of John Masefield's Box of Delights broadcasting during the Second World War. When the series finally came to TV in the 1980s the music was used again for the opening and closing titles. That's where I first heard it. It still brings a tear to my eye now.

Hely-Hutchinson's other compositions – largely incidental music - are sprinkled throughout the Genome Radio Times Archive, popping up in various plays, including an adaptation of CS Lewis’ Through the Looking Glass, and Dumas’ The Man In The Iron Mask. He performed in chamber music concerts as a pianist, conducted various �� orchestra, and presented programmes ‘designed to broaden music-lovers appreciation’.

Hely-Hutchinson left the �� in 1934 after set up the Midland Studio Orchestra and worked as the ��’s Midland Regional Director of Music. He returned to the corporation in 1944 to become Director of Music, and continued to broadcast on the �� Service right up until his death in 1947, at the age of 45.

Jon Jacob is Editor, About the �� Blog

All Together Now: The Great Orchestra Challenge - celebrating amateur music making

2016-09-22T10:53:24+00:00

The Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra

There are moments when I watch or listen to programmes on television or radio and have a sixth sense that this programme has been made especially for me – a treat or a personal indulgence for which I can legitimately wrest control of the TV remote from my partner and make some demands. All Together Now – a four episode challenge to find the most inspiring UK amateur orchestra – is a good example.

Gemma McAusland from Stirling Orchestra, one of the groups who participated in the Final of the competition staged at the Royal Albert Hall, helped illustrate the common misunderstanding about the word ‘amateur’ during an interview a few days before.

"It’s a strange word to describe things. My perception of it is that there is this stigma that ‘you’re not quite good enough to be professional’. For me we need to define the word. For example, we have some amazingly talented musicians in our orchestra, but the expertise they’re paid for is in a different field."

Stirling Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall

I’ve written before on this blog about my love of classical music – a lifelong friend that has always delivered, never let me down, and always surprised and delighted. A lot of that appreciation comes from my experiences as a teenager playing in training orchestras and amateur groups. For some of those who learn how to play an instrument, playing in an orchestra is the next step. But the amateur scene also brings a wide range of different people together.

"Our cello section in the Stirling Orchestra has a real mix of ages," continued Gemma during the interview. "We are a group of people who just have the same sense of humour. We love music of course, but it’s more about the fun for us. We play because it is our hobby: it’s that fine balance between not wanting it to be professional or perfection. If it’s professional it’s no longer is a hobby. Amateur means you’re doing something because you love it; it doesn’t mean you’re not good enough’."

Broadcasting has a habit of insisting on the very best exponents in a particular field. It showcases professionals - audiences have come to expect that – and puts them on the screen or behind the microphone. In other cases it creates entertainment with the tantalising prize of being a professional at the end of the process.

All Together Now differed by celebrating the amateur and in the process encouraging others to do the same. That’s why seeing the North Devon Sinfonia and Stirling Orchestra join forces for a special performance of Nimrod from Elgar’s Enigma Variations when the finalists convened at the Royal Albert Hall was such a special affair.

Stirling Orchestra and North Devon Sinfonia join together to play Nimrod from Elgar's Variations

There was an egalitarian quality to the concert experience which made for an emotional interpretation. The music – seen by many as the epitome of British identity in musical form – is made all the more potent we identify with the performers. To see people like us perform in an iconic concert space like the Royal Albert Hall brought a new energy to the piece.

Something similar occurred in episode one of the series when all of the competing orchestras got the chance to perform their symphonic extracts in �� Maida Vale studios – the iconic home of the �� Symphony.

We weren’t listening out for the ‘best’ performance; we were experiencing a different kind of performance, one hyped-up by playing in one of many aspirational spaces for an orchestral musician. The energy from the London Gay Symphony Orchestra’s excerpt from Tchaikovsky’s sixth symphony was electric. The Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance of a section of Rachaminov’s second symphony was similarly gripping. As a demonstration of the inclusivity of participatory music-making, the People’s Orchestra rendition of the March to the Scaffold highlighted the fun in playing classical music which is often overlooked.

These, like all of the repertoire each orchestra had to learn during the series, challenged the players. Winners North Devon Sinfonia performed an excerpt from Beethoven’s fifth symphony.

Winning amateur orchestra North Devon Sinfonia

Speaking before the final, conductor Emma Kent explained the impact having to learn what was unfamiliar repertoire for the orchestra:

"When you’re dealing with Beethoven or Mozart – you have to be clear and precise. Broad brush strokes – our specialty – is not what works. Broad brush strokes helps amateur orchestras engage emotionally with the music – it’s easier to take people on that emotional journey.

But where the music of Mozart or Beethoven is concerned for example, precision and neatness is incredibly important. That can present a real challenge for amateur musicians. So to be presented with Beethoven 5 like we were in the first episode was a really good way of forcing us to look at the detail.”

That challenge is evident in each performance too. Above all else, I appreciated the fragility evident in the playing. With fragility comes an authenticity which helps give familiar music a human angle that we miss with the standard of professional performances we’ve come to expect. It is through amateur music making that players and listeners alike come to understand a work a little better. And there are – as far as I recall – very few occasions in broadcasting where that opportunity arises.

Jon Jacob is Editor of the About the �� website and blog.

Watch all four episodes of 'All Together Now: The Great Orchestra Challenge' on �� iPlayer.
Read Jon Jacob's interview with the �� Symphony Orchestra's Chief Conductor 'In Conversation with Sakari Oramo'.

�� Comedy Sitcom Signature Tunes

2016-09-02T09:42:06+00:00

Left to right: Keeping Up Appearances, Game On, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Are You Being Served, and Ever Decreasing Circles

Our sitcom season is underway with screenings of Are You Being Served? and Porridge complimenting a new selection of comedies for �� Two and Three. You can find out more about the season in Head of Comedy Shane Allen's blog post we published a few weeks ago.

There is one element in the sitcom which is overlooked - the signature tune. Evocative 30 second sequences of tightly-composed music which set the tone for the half-hour which follows. Without you realising it, that signature tune embeds itself in your psyche. From now until the end of your life, that tune will be a shortcut to the time when that sitcom made the first and greatest impact on you.

But take a closer listen to the signature tune and they reveal themselves as a surprisingly complex (or simple) creation. The greatest exponent was the much-loved ��'s Head of Music, Television and Light Entertainment, Ronnie Hazlehurst. Other greats have followed, some of which I've included in this post. It's not exhaustive by any means, but it is brimming with adoration.

Are You Being Served?

This external content is available at its source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz6wvKUsP6M

Ronnie Hazlehurst’s most well-known musical creations is a classic of the genre. Jazz, soul and funk influences ooze from the signature tune to Are You Being Served?

The funk-powered bass line crawls effortless around as though in its own blissful world, momentarily interrupted by gentle trumpet calls. Heard in Matt Berry and his band’s live rendition at the 02 in Islington (below), it gives the entire number an air of much-overlooked sophistication.

What transforms the opening titles soundtrack is the sound-effect of the cash register and the eerie but strangely reassuring lift-announcement. It is as bizarre as it is beguiling, and at 24 seconds it’s also a breathtakingly efficient creation.

This external content is available at its source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09zEaf8-GQc

Butterflies

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‘Love Is Like A Butterfly’ was originally a Dolly Parton hit from 1974.

In Hazlehurst’s arrangement of the song for the opening of Carla Lane’s comedy Butterflies, the song takes on more a dreamy quality.

A soft bass line (considerably less ‘oompah-pah’ than the original) underpins Clare Torry’s gentler vocal style. The inclusion of three flutes playing in close harmony adds a sense of sun-kissed abandon to the proceedings.

I always found it left me with a vague sense of something awful about to happen to the central characters, though this might be an over-active imagination on my part.

Dear John

This external content is available at its source: https://youtu.be/7vzs8CPPCEs

Another Hazlehurst arrangement, this time of a song written by the sitcom’s writer John Sullivan (him of Only Fools and Horses fame). Dear John wasn’t a favourite comedy of mine, but it did expertly establish the premise within a short space of time.

The overall effect of the alto sax responding to the wispy vocals of Joan Baxter was that of a fading memory disowned by all parties. Wendy – wife of the central character Ralph Bates’ who announces her intention to split with him in a letter – immediately annoyed me whenever I heard the tune.

Perhaps that was the point. Within 30 seconds we were made to feel sympathy for the lead character. Unfortunately for me, he also reminded me of my geography teacher at school.

Don't Wait Up

This external content is available at its source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngcG3SO_bIQ

Nick Ingman (also known for Keeping Up Appearances) wrote the signature tune for the tea-time sitcom about father and son doctors who lived together in ‘domestic bliss’. The middle class chintz wasn’t far from my own as a teenager (I’m happy to admit that – it wasn’t my fault), and there was also something vaguely aspirational about young Doctor Latimer’s good looks and floppy hair.

Don’t Wait Up and the lives of the two Latimers made the prospect of adulthood exciting and dynamic, projecting a positive image my potential future working life with my Dad (he is a photographer who ran his own business and at that stage in my life I thought I was destined to work with him – it didn’t quite work out that way).

Ingman’s music underpins that sense of excitement with a broad sweeping melodic line punctuated with a mid-tempo beat. The overall effect is unashamedly middle of the road, but the 40 second introduction is tight and strangely satisfying.

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin

This external content is available at its source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J4PGiJl2dQ

On a personal level, Reginald Perrin is Ronnie Hazlehurst’s best creation.

Taut, efficient, and evocative, the sparse ensemble consists of two flutes, characteristic Hazlehurst-bass, a tortured horn melody, a mournful counter-melody in the cello, and an electrifying ride cymbal.

There is a manic quality to the 35 second intro which begins each half hour episode with so much musical tension that the final chord (in the major key) is a much-needed but often over-looked release. A masterful composition.

Game On

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Like Butterflies, Game On's signature tune had a previous life. US 'power pop group' Gigolo Aunts' When I Find My Heaven was first released in 1993. It was re-released in 1995 to coincide with the song appearing in the film Dumb and Dumber, before making it to the opening sequence of the ��'s late 90s sitcom about three twenty-something flat-mates.

Cut with the video clips, the opening sequence catapulted me back to university at the same time as acting as a TV representation of the working life I had just embarked upon in my twenties. Me, and two other contemporaries in my new workplace would regularly sit to watch the sitcom, (sort of) picturing ourselves in the fictional scenario. I was the agrophobe.

Gimme Gimme Gimme

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Strictly speaking, Gimme Gimme Gimme, is a hybrid signature tune like Game On. It’s origins as an ABBA song are obvious, but it’s the arrangement for Jonathan Harvey’s brilliant comedy which sets the tone for the entire programme.

Hearing it now reminds me how perfect the entire package – script, actors and set - seemed to me when I first saw it in 1999. A sitcom I never thought I needed, but now I’ve seen it I can’t imagine it not being in my life. I even wanted to know someone like Kathy Burke’s Linda La Hughes and (secretly) wanted to be a bit like James Dreyfus’ withering Tom Farrell.

The strained vocals in the signature emphasised the close bond the two characters had in the drama. Don't tell my ABBA-loving partner, but I think I probably like the sitcom version of the band's classic song more than their original.

Ever Decreasing Circles

This external content is available at its source: https://youtu.be/wPvqtEiMEB4

I was surprised to discover that the signature tune to Ever Decreasing Circles was in fact a Prelude written by Shostakovich. It's not as fiendish to play as it might sound - it was part of the Associated Board's Grade 7 repertoire for 2015/16.

The music's quality echoes the darkness of the comedy itself. Martin Bryce is an order-loving bureaucrat with an insatiable appetite for committees, Gesteteners and in-trays.

But Martin was a man on the brink - aware enough of the impact his needs had on himself and on others around him. One small step from mental oblivion. He always struck me as a man ever so slightly out of shift with everyone else, someone who needed just the tiniest of nudges to get on track.

And that is reflected in the way in which Shostakovich's seemingly sweet, innocent and childlike melody subtly gets out of control and veers into something a little bit twisted.

Keeping Up Appearances

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Another creation by composer Nick Ingman. The opening titles of Keeping Up Appearances saw my first exposure to the importance of and joy to be found in carefully laid out envelopes. As a teenager I rather appreciated the way Hyacinth measured the exact position of the stamp and, by doing so, introduced me to the joys of margins and gutters.

The music underlined the folly of all that attention to detail. A sprightly march punctuated by a pompous-sounding bassoon, over which a sprightly self-important melody tries to convince us that everything Hyacinth does really matters, if only we’d take time to notice the detail.

The effect is hollow and meaningless, only serving to remind us of how equally meaningless all that dusting and enunciation is too.

Some Mothers Do Av' Em

This external content is available at its source: https://youtu.be/AxamCCjDl3Q

Yet another Hazlehurst creation. His most inventive. Two piccolos bash out a melody set to the rhythm of Morse Code that spells out the show's title. Simple. Playful. Effortless. What a way to make a living.

Sorry!

This external content is available at its source: https://youtu.be/CNdgVUaxnAM

Keyboards and saxophones and rich range of percussion instruments make the never-ending quality of Sorry!’s signature tune dark and ever-so-slightly depressing at the same time.

It sounds fun, but the musical ‘sorry’ hook has a feeling of resignation about it all. The music is constantly trying to resolve into something in the major key (when it does there’s a much-needed feeling of relief because it brings things to an end).

It is a marvellous creation, but like a thick sauce, I can only take a little of it without feeling a little sick.

Vicar of Dibley

This external content is available at its source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAZN1oVir5A

The internet is awash with opening credit clips of sitcoms and television dramas. That was one of the motivating reasons for penning this blog post in the first place - internet search results can sometimes reveal a previously unacknowledged appetite for content previously overlooked.

The Vicar of Dibley opening titles are surprisingly difficult to find. This might indicate the music's popularity outside of the series. Composer Howard Goodall set Psalm 23 The Lord is my Shepherd for boy treble originally for the series but intending it to have a life beyond the series.

It is a delightfully lyrical number which deftly establishes a mood almost at odds with the comedy which follows. The melody's apparent simplicity may also help explain its popularity with choirs up and down the country: its accessibility makes it's relatively straightforward to sing.

Goodall was also responsible for the signature tune to ITV's Mr Bean and the theme from Blackadder.

Miranda

This external content is available at its source: https://youtu.be/CU1Ylb7EOXk

Sweet, straightforward, and uncomplicated with a hint of shabby-chic. Miranda's a favourite of mine because it's so jaw-droppingly punctual.

Terry and June

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John Shakespeare’s signature tune for the Purley-based Terry and June is a fitting creation.

The combination of high flute, trumpet and bass clarinet and saxophone is a strange one. The horn responses give the piece some much-needed depth, while the off-beat tambourine lends an air of absent-minded lounge-based ‘jigging about’ of the kind I did catch my mother doing in our lounge whenever Terry and June was on television.

If music can conjure up an era of synthetic fabrics, shampoo and sets, and over-bearing flower prints, then Shakespeare’s composition is the blueprint.

I like it, but I’m also slightly terrified by it at the same time. It’s as though the melody is threatening to go on until the end of time and cannot be stopped by anyone or anything.

Jon Jacob is Editor, About the �� Blog

Read Head of Comedy Shane Allen's Blog introducing the �� Landmark Sitcom Season.
The �� Landmark Sitcom Season features revivals on �� One, new comedies on �� Two, new comedy feeds on �� Three and lost sitcoms on �� Four. See all of the programmes here.
A full schedule of programming can be found on the sitcom season website.
Follow @��Comedy on Twitter.

Winning �� Young Musician 2016

2016-07-21T09:00:00+00:00

Winning �� Young Musician 2016 still feels very fresh and exciting. That evening in the Barbican, playing in front of such a wonderful audience, will stay with me forever. And from the moment my name was called out, my life has changed enormously.

I gave a couple of concerts shortly after the �� YM finals that I had already booked prior to the competition which were really enjoyable to perform. I played a short recital with my sister Isata (organised by Dominic John) in Notting Hill and then later on played the rarely performed Schumann Cello Concerto with the Angel Orchestra. But one of the most enjoyable concerts was back in my home city of Nottingham.

Guy Johnston (who won the competition in 2000 playing the same Shostakovich concerto as I played) gave a concert in Nottingham where he was planning to play solo Bach. Having seen me win and having worked with him prior to the competition, Guy decided to change his concert into a celebration of cello playing. He also invited my teacher Ben Davies, my first (and only other teacher) Sarah Huson-Whyte and my younger sister, Jeneba. We played a mix of ensemble pieces to a packed crowd and it really felt like a home coming.

I have had a huge number of offers to perform later of this year and next year. Some interesting ones include: playing next April with the National Youth Orchestra; my Royal Festival Hall debut in London on the 4 September where I will play the Haydn Cello Concerto no 1 in C with the Chineke! Orchestra; Royal Albert Hall Elgar Rooms next March where I will play trio music with my sister, Isata and brother, Braimah; and numerous music festivals around the country. I am also going to The Colour Of Music Festival in South Carolina to play trio music (with Isata and Braimah) this autumn – the first time I will have visited the USA.

Perhaps the most exciting news is that I have a new Artistic Manager. After �� Young Musician, I was very well looked after by YCAT and they were wonderful. However, I was approached by Kathryn Enticott of Enticott Music Management and felt that this was an exciting opportunity. Kathryn and her team are very nurturing and have already given me some really good advice.

I'm also appearing on a couple of TV programmes: The One Show are filming a piece called 'Thank You Mum and Dad' about my gratitude to my parents and family for all the support that they have given me over the years.

I’m going to be performing on �� Two’s Proms Extra this Saturday (23 July) with my sister Isata where I will play Song of the Birds by Casals (a piece I actually played in the second round of �� Young Musician) and later on in the season I’m also going to be appearing at the �� Proms in the Park taking place in Colwyn Bay North Wales. I can’t believe how much has happened in such a short space of time.

�� Four are also filming a documentary about me and my family life. It doesn’t just cover the music (although that is a significant part of it), but also what it is like to be part of a large family who all play classical music to a high level and about how I’m getting on in the industry. The programme will culminate with me playing the Haydn Concerto no 1 with the Chineke! Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall. I really hope this programme will inspire other young people from all backgrounds to take up classical music and perhaps the documentary can go somewhere towards showing that classical music should be for everyone.

I entered �� Young Musician 2016 because I wanted the opportunity to perform and make music around the world having seen how other winners have done so well. So far it is going very well, I'm very happy and the future is very exciting.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason is winner of �� Young Musician 2016

Glastonbury (avoiding the mud)

2016-06-23T12:17:40+00:00

From June 22nd-26th, Worthy Farm hosts the 34th Glastonbury Festival. If you weren't able to get tickets, fear not, over the weekend the �� has a plethora of coverage from the festival:

On Television:

The �� One Show hops channels to kick off �� Two's coverage on Friday at 7pm. Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings will see Jo Whiley, Mark Radcliffe, Lauren Laverne, Huw Stephens and roving reporters Gemma Cairney and Martin Dougan introduce a wide range of performances from across the site.

Over the weekend �� Four will be broadcasting performances from artists including James, Foals, PJ Harvey, New Order and Charles Hazlewood conducting members of the Paraorchestra for a performance of Philip Glass's Heroes Symphony, inspired by Bowie's 1977 album Heroes.

Broadcasts from Glastonbury will also be available on �� Red Button.

On Radio:

Between them, �� Radio 1, �� Radio 1Xtra, �� Radio 2 and �� 6 Music will broadcast over 50 hours of coverage from the festival.

Online:

You can dart between the Pyramid, Other, West Holts, Park, John Peel and �� Introducing Stages without donning your wellies via �� Music. You can even curate your own 'bands to see schedule' (without fear of losing your print-out in a field or worrying your phone battery might die) by signing in/logging on to My Glastonbury.

If it's all too much for one weekend, over 100 performances will then be available to watch until Tuesday 26th July 2016, on the �� Glastonbury website and �� iPlayer.

At your leisure:

Have a listen to the ��'s Glastonbury playlist on �� Music, or download the �� Music app to get tailor made content on your phone or tablet - watch sets from your favourite artists and catch-up with the best interviews from the day.

Just for fun:

Take the 'How Glastonbury are you?' quiz (we got a fair to middling 5/10).

Or read good and bad memories people have shared from past festivals in #GlastWhoa or#GlastWoe.

Share the love:

See something that blows your mind? You can embed a video by pressing play on your selected clip and using the icon to copy the embed code. To share on your social media accounts click on the green box beneath the time stamp.

Keep up to date with what's going on at the festival via @bbcglasto on twitter.

6 Music Recommends Day

2016-06-06T06:07:07+00:00

�� Radio 6 Music plays a bigger range and breadth of new music than any other radio station, and on Tuesday 7th June our annual 6 Music Recommends Day is set to celebrate this commitment with a daylong playlist of brand new music selected and presented by 6 Music’s talented and highly-respected family of music specialists.

Instead of the regular daily schedule, our presenters will each host a show for one hour, starting with Shaun Keaveny from 9-10am through to Don Letts from 11pm-midnight. In what will be a daylong celebration of new music, listeners will be treated to Michael Kiwanuka live in session for Lauren Laverne (10-11am), Spring King live in session for Steve Lamacq (4-5pm), and Teenage Caveman live in session for Marc Riley (6-7pm), and Mary Anne Hobbs will be playing some fantastic exclusive new tracks – never heard on the radio before - from Mala, Nonkeen and Paleman.

Radio 6 Music is the sum of its roster of DJs and 6 Music Recommends is upfront new music hand-picked by these brilliant DJs broadcasting each week from midnight to 1am, Monday to Thursday and hosted by Lauren Laverne, Mary Anne Hobbs, Steve Lamacq and Tom Ravenscroft each curating hour-long programmes showcasing their favourite new music. These shows can also be downloaded from the iPlayer Radio App. 6 Music Recommends provides the shows and the playlists to guide listeners to the best new releases which have been given their seal of approval. Great new music we like, that we want to share with you – the listener.

Over the last few years, talking to listeners I’ve noted a greater interest in discovering new music. Tastes are becoming less fixed and there’s a growing curiosity. People of all ages are seeking new music.

The digital evolution is partly responsible for this growing trend in drawing new music to people’s attention. It has enabled an ocean of choice for curious music-lovers. But how best to navigate this ocean? It has become clear to me since I arrived at 6 Music in 2007 that traditional, non-algorithmic, human judgement is more important than ever in this respect. It is part of the purpose of 6 Music and 6 Music Recommends to guide people to the best music as quickly and consistently as possible.

Even though music is available in a plethora of digital platforms, the number one way people find new music is still via listening to the radio. By radio I mean “steam radio” not “stream radio” - great musical selections made by real music lovers, who like to talk a little in between the tunes. It keeps the interest going, and gives listeners a few surprises.

In most weeks we can demonstrate that nearly 100% of the songs we play are only heard on 6 Music. Day in day out what other radio station can claim to play new music by artists like Mogwai alongside Cate LeBon, Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve and Kendrick Lamar during the daytime. Last year, the weekly new release playlist has averaged out at nearly 80% of music from independent labels and 66% from UK artists.

But 6 Music Recommends Day isn’t simply a way to celebrate our commitment to a unique selection of new music it also celebrates the individuals who present and put together the programmes on our station. The enthusiasm of these people, of 6 Music’s presenters and production teams for new music is boundless, and it can be heard every day in the Station’s programming.

My hope is that listeners will love 6 Music Recommends Day - our dedicated day of great new music programming from some of the best new music radio practitioners.

Jeff Smith is Head of Music for �� Radio 2 and 6 Music.

6 Music Recommends Day programmes will be broadcast on �� Radio 6 Music from 9am until midnight on Monday 6th June.
6 Music Recommends is available On Air and Online, via its Playlist and the �� Music App.

The road to Eurovision 2016

2016-05-09T09:14:10+00:00

Joe and Jake, the UK's Eurovision entry 2016

As Saturday 14 May and the Grand Final of Eurovision draws ever closer now seems like a great time to reflect on my last 8 months working for the �� as Music Consultant with the responsibility of finding songs and acts to represent the United Kingdom in 2016.

My search started at the end of September and it entailed me re-connecting with a myriad of song writers, writer managers and music publishers with whom I’d worked before as well as building a whole host of new relationships. Before getting into more detail, I should probably mention the past roles I've held that have lead to me working with the �� on Eurovision.

My career actually started in the advertising world but after a few years in it the lure of being a full time musician and writer was too great and I left a career with security and potential for the exact opposite....the very uncertain existence of a full time musician. For a number of years, I played in various groups and wrote songs before moving into management and then eventually a corporate job as Marketing Director of RCA Records in 1992. My first initiative on joining was to immerse myself, with my colleagues, in the business of helping Take That get their career on track after a shaky start. Happily, the band went on to achieve huge levels of success which, unlike a lot of groups at the time, they were able to sustain due to the fact that, at their core, they had an extraordinary song writer in the shape of Gary Barlow.

Songs, songs, songs

Through my time in the music industry I have never ceased to put maximum emphasis on the song... It sounds obvious but a brilliant song is the key to true and effortless success in the industry. An amazing artist without a hit song is going nowhere. The examples of this being the case are manifold but would take too long to list here. Whilst at RCA I was lucky enough to work with a fantastic array of artists including David Bowie, M People, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart, Kylie Minogue, Natalie Imbruglia and 5ive amongst many others. I also spent a few years working with Simon Cowell when he was still just a record executive and before he became a TV star... that was fun.

I eventually left RCA having been offered the opportunity to start a joint venture record company with Virgin Records... Virgin had just broken The Spice Girls worldwide and wanted to start a pop label to bring them more mainstream music... I called the label Innocent Records and had an amazing seven years running it and working with a passionate, hardworking team.

We launched Billie Piper who became the youngest UK female to hit the top of the charts and we also had a string of No. 1’s and sold millions of albums all over the world with Blue and Atomic Kitten. After Innocent, I moved to Sony and started another label called Brightside Recordings... Here I launched a number of great acts but I was most proud of the record sales we achieved with Newton Faulkner whose song ‘Dream Catch Me’, which was co-written by one of my song writers, went on to be a huge hit in the UK and elsewhere in the world. It also helped Newton achieve a double platinum album (600,000 sales) in the UK.

After years on the corporate side of the music business I eventually decided to strike out on my own and the last few years have been spent running a recording studio in West Sussex and building my own publishing company which has become a home to some very exciting young song writers.

Why Eurovision?

As mentioned before, I love great songs and the challenge of trying to unearth them which is why I jumped at the chance of helping the �� find some strong song options (and artists too) for Eurovision 2016.

The search, which predominantly took place from October through to January, was exciting and a little challenging too. However, for the most part it was a fantastic experience. The challenges were borne out of the fact that, in the UK, Eurovision isn’t currently held in the same high regard as it is around the rest of Europe, neither by the music industry nor by the general public, so it wasn’t going to be easy to secure the best songs.

Understandably, writers would rather allocate their song to a well-known artist than enter it into a song contest. This isn’t the case elsewhere in Europe where it is seen as the highest honour for your song to represent your country in the competition. Eurovision is, after all, a MASSIVE event and, with its audience of around 200 million, is by far the biggest TV entertainment show on the planet.

This year saw the �� undertake their biggest song search ever where tracks were not only coming in from top industry writers but also from any member of the general public wanting to enter.

My time was spent listening to hundreds of submissions and when I thought a song was fantastic or simply had potential I would then meet up with the writers and we would discuss ways in which we could best take the song to conclusion for Eurovision. Every song has to be less than three minutes long and needs to be immediate in its appeal as some people may only hear it once in the Grand Final (the UK does not compete in the semi final stage). Consequently, the production values need to be high and the chorus needs to be compelling and heard enough times to hook in the listener. On top of finding the songs, I also spent a lot of time searching for exciting, enthusiastic singers who could sing the them. It should be said that a couple of the songs were actually sung by the people who wrote them.

Having whittled the vast number of entries down to a shortlist of around 20, these songs were then played to senior industry people from the worlds of radio and TV as well as some top executives from the music industry in order to help us select the final six songs for Eurovision: You Decide – a televised selection show where the public made the final decision on which song was to go forward to represent the UK in Stockholm.

Fan engagement is a crucial part of Eurovision therefore we also enlisted the help of the UK branch of the OGAE (the biggest Eurovision fan club in the world) to help us select the best entries from the general public. From a strong selection of entries the public chose Joe and Jake and the song, 'You’re Not Alone'. Joe and Jake are two very talented and lovely young guys who are relishing the whole Eurovision process and winning new friends wherever they go. The guys are now about to experience the true enormity of the Eurovision experience as they touch down in Stockholm and embark on exhaustive rehearsals before the big night on 14 May!

A marathon…not a sprint

So, what does the future hold for the UK in Eurovision? We must not forget that, in recent years, some massive pan European hits have been spawned by the competition and, in the more distant past, the show has been responsible for two of the biggest pop acts of all time, ABBA and Celine Dion. My strong feeling is that there has never been a better time for a huge new act to break out of Eurovision... The audience can stream or download tracks on the night if they fall in love with a song and this, in turn, can give an artist the opportunity to literally become an overnight sensation right across Europe.

Sweden, currently home to some of the most successful songwriters in the world (songs for Taylor Swift, Rihanna, One Direction, Katy Perry and many more) recognise the power of the contest and for some years now have been totally invested in upping their game at Eurovision. And they have most certainly done this which is why the show is coming from Stockholm in 2016.

My hope is that, slowly but surely over the next few years, the UK will also attract more and more writers and acts of calibre and that we too will be truly back in the Eurovision game in the future.

Hugh Goldsmith is Music Consultant to the ��

Watch the grand final of the Eurovision Song Content 2016 live on the �� on Saturday 14 May at 8pm

Radio 2 Folk Awards 2016 at Royal Albert Hall

2016-04-26T08:10:22+00:00

Joan Armatrading at the Free Nelson Mandela concert (1988)

The �� Radio 2 Folk Awards represents one of the biggest nights in the UK’s folk music calendar, and tomorrow night, in their 17th year, the event will be held in the splendid surroundings of Royal Albert Hall in London.

The awards, hosted once again by Radio 2’s Mark Radcliffe and singer and musician Julie Fowlis, celebrate the absolute best of the UK’s thriving folk music scene, and over the last few years familiar names in the nominees’ lists have been joined by a new wave of folk artists.

This year, more than ever, the number of new names dominating the nominations really does reflect how exciting, vital and creative this genre of music has become. And many of these artists are pushing the boundaries of folk music, and bringing with them a new generation of music fan. Lynched and Stick in the Wheel, two acts in the Best Group category, have their roots in punk and electronic music respectively and Folk Singer of the Year nominee Rhiannon Giddens , from North Carolina, blends jazz, country, blues, gospel and world music to create a distinctive style which is winning her legions of fans inside and outside the folk world.

Norma Waterson (2001)

Whilst the awards celebrate the best new music of the last 12 months, they also honour key figures whose influence has helped to shape folk music in this country. This year’s Lifetime achievement awards go to two women whose contrasting musical styles reflect the breadth of the folk genre. Joan Armatrading, with one of the outstanding voices in British music since the Seventies blending folk, rock, blues and jazz styles has influenced a generation of singer-songwriters. Norma Waterson was a key figure in the British folk revival of the early Sixties with North Yorkshire vocal group The Watersons. Her influence has been felt throughout British folk music for decades, through her Mercury nominated solo albums and her collaborations with daughter Eliza and husband Martin Carthy. Beloved in the Folk World Norma’s performance on tomorrow night’s show will doubtless be a moment to remember.

One of the most hotly contested categories of the night is the Young Folk Award, which has provided the springboard for many careers including those of Bella Hardy, Jim Moray and Tim van Eyken. Radio 2 is proud to support young musicians, not just through the Young Folk Award, but with the annual Young Chorister competition and the Radio 2 Young Brass Award, which just last week saw 21-year-old euphonium player Daniel Thomas from Rhymney, South Wales pick up the title for 2016.

The Folk Awards is one of the key events that I work on as Editor of Specialist music at Radio 2, a role in which I also oversee more than a dozen programmes including the weekly jazz, country, rhythm and blues, brass band, big band, orchestral and organ music shows. It’s a job which puts me right at the heart of Radio 2’s distinctive and diverse output, and it’s hugely rewarding to work with passionate music experts in these specialist fields, both in-house and from independent production companies. I also get the opportunity to set up exciting new music projects, like the recent DAB pop up stations Radio 2 Country (which broadcast live coverage from the Country to Country festival) and Radio 2 50s, which ran in April as a part of the �� Music My Generation series. Marty Wilde, Imelda May, Len Goodman and Mark Radcliffe all presented programmes so if you didn’t catch it, do listen again via �� iPlayer Radio on bbc.co.uk/radio2.

�� Radio 2 broadcasts over 1,100 hours of specialist music each year, including 260 hours of live music. In the past year we’ve had many superb sessions on the Radio 2 Folk Show including sets from The Unthanks, Lau and Fishermans’ Friends.

Radio 2 also plays a greater variety of music than any other radio station in the UK with 4,423 different tracks every month, including specialist music tracks which can be heard in our daytime programmes. Radio 2 gives its audience a radio station like no other and we’re very lucky that our listeners are so appreciative and supportive of what we do.

The Folk Awards will be broadcast live on �� Radio 2 from 7.30pm and Simon Mayo will also be presenting a specially extended Drivetime show live from the venue at 5pm. You can also watch online via the Radio 2 website, on iPlayer from Thursday morning and the Red Button from Saturday.

Al Booth is Editor of Specialist music at Radio 2

Celebrating choral music at the Songs of Praise School Choir Competition 2016

2016-04-21T13:13:47+00:00

Blackheath Preparatory School, one of three school choirs competing in the Songs of Praise School Choir Final (Junior School category) sings 'Lord of the Dance'.

On Sunday 24 April from 3.50pm on �� One, six school choirs will compete in the Grand Final of the Songs of Praise School Choir Competition. In anticipation of the event, we asked producer Karen Hannah some questions about the competition.

Tell us something you think will surprise us about the Songs of Praise Choir of the Year competition.

About fifty thousand singers have entered since the Competition began in 2003!

Why was the competition set up? What does it seek to celebrate?

Choral Music is at the heart of Songs of Praise but back in 2003 there was a feeling that fewer children were singing in schools and so we decided to test the waters with a competition for Junior and Senior schools. We were amazed with the response and the standard of the choirs who applied.

What music has featured in the competition?

It's ranged from Mozart to Westlife and just about everything in between. For example this year we had a mixture of classic choral hymns and songs in four part harmony, modern worship songs, inspirational music and spirituals.

What is the judges criteria for judging those who progress throughout the competition? What feedback does each competing choir receive after they've participated?

The judges have a tough job. They're looking for a perfectly tuned choir who sing with one voice that really connects with the audience - and the winner has to have the wow factor! Every choir that enters gets detailed constructive written feedback from the selection panel even if they're not selected for the televised semi-finals.

What feedback do you get from the choirs taking part? Why do they want to take part? What motivates them, do you think?

It's a competition first and foremost but there is always a fantastic atmosphere on the day and we do everything we can to make it a positive experience as it's something the singers will remember for the rest of their lives.

The feedback we get from choirs is that they really enjoy it. They tell us that being in a choir is a lot of fun. It's a place where you can make friends and learn about team work as well as experience the sheer joy of singing. We always gets lots of entries, even though we can only select 12 to go through to the televised finals, so it remains very popular!

What does a competition like this do to help sustain choral singing in the UK do you think?

We provide a platform on �� One for choral singing schools across the UK to showcase their talents. The choir leaders and music teachers and supportive parents are the unsung heroes as they do all the hard work, but competitions like ours are motivational because they demonstrate the incredible standard school choirs can aspire to. We're hoping everyone who enters will be bitten by the singing bug and go on to be life-long choir members.

Who will be singing in the final this weekend?

Following two competitive semi-finals rounds televised on Sunday 3 and 10 April, this year’s finalists in the Junior Category are:

Lindley Junior School, performing The Lord’s Prayer from African Sanctus
Blackheath Preparatory School, performing On Eagles Wings
Hereford Cathedral Junior School, performing Just One Small Voice

Competing in the Senior Category are:

Oakham School, performing I Want Jesus To Walk With Me
Tring Park School For The Performing Arts, performing Daniel, Daniel Servant Of The Lord
St George’s College, performing Every Time I Feel The Spirit

You can find watch clips of all of the choirs performing on the �� Songs of Praise website.

Karen Hannah is Producer, �� Songs of Praise School Choir Competition

The Grand Final of the Songs of Praise School Choir competition comes from Sheffield City Hall, with judges Katherine Jenkins, Connie Fisher and Ken Burton deciding 2016's Junior and Senior School Champions.
Both Junior and Senior School Choir semi-finals are available to watch via �� iPlayer.

People's History of Pop - My Nineties

2016-02-08T16:30:00+00:00

The People's History of Pop is a �� project crowdsourcing photos and audio/video of our audience's cherished music memorabilia - ticket stubs, diary entries, teen band recordings, wrist bands, rare footage and more - to tell the stories of British rock and pop music from the Fifties to the noughties. Here �� Manchester presenter Stephanie Hirst explains why the Nineties is her favourite musical decade.

I was born in the mid-Seventies and recently celebrated my 40th birthday, so naturally the decade I really should devote my love towards is the Eighties.

Right at the beginning of that decade my Mum bought me my first record Madness’ - "Baggy Trousers" when I was just five years old, starting an obsession with music and collecting records. Yes, I know I really should have been collecting those scented rubbers which all my school friends seemed to do… but no, for me it was the 7-inch single, locking myself in my bedroom with a hairbrush and singing along to my favourite music.

The Eighties was magical for me as it’s also when I first developed my love of radio, but if I bring that love of radio and my obsession of music together it’s the Nineties that really does have a huge place in my heart.

You see, by the early Nineties I was on the radio daily, and very much part of the hit-making machine. It’s all well and good having a great single, but if it doesn’t get played on the radio, listeners can’t hear it, and it fails to sell: thus becoming a flop and one of the many reasons why radio is so important.

Thursdays seemed to be the day when radio stations added new songs to the playlist and I can’t tell you how amazing it was to be one of the first to play the new Oasis or Blur single, during Brit Pop fever. I also remember vividly being one of a limited number of DJs to play the new Beatles song "Free As A Bird" in 1995 – to be behind that microphone, pressing the play button and announcing that this is the first new single in 25 years from the Fab Four, for people to hear for the very first time, was a huge thrill.

Growing up between the ages of 15-25 in the Nineties, saw me get my first radio show, pass my driving test, have my first relationship and also live the life of ‘Nightclub DJ’, all to a wonderful soundtrack.

The Nineties was the era of the super-club, where we had moved on from the mirrored Eighties nightclub look to sound systems of Nineties clubs becoming almost stadium-esque with full on theatre laser light shows. Up on the DJ stand surrounded by 3,000 people on a weekend really did make me feel like Queen of the decks, playing the biggest floor fillers. I was in the thick of it and I couldn’t get enough.

I know it feels almost too early to celebrate the Nineties, but it’s 26 years ago since the decade began and I remember going to Seventies nights in the Nineties, so now is the time to revisit that decade. Remember If you were 25 in 1990, you’ll be 51 this year, and ripe for looking back at a time when you were still very much in your youth.

But, I feel that the Nineties still aren’t musically loved as much as other decades, due to a perception that it was all ‘bang bang bang’ music on ‘Rave FM’. On the surface of course there's the obligatory over-played hits like Snap’s "Rhythm Is A Dancer" and Robin S' "Show Me Love" - but dig a little deeper and you'll soon find the rich depth of music the decade has to offer, every bit as rewarding as tunes from the Seventies and Eighties.

Artists such as Sheryl Crow, Jamiroquai, Brand New Heavies, Gabrielle, Tori Amos, Lighthouse Family, Cast, Space, The Verve, Des’ree, The Charlatans and Massive Attack, all gave us some wonderful music which I love showcasing every Saturday night on Nothing But The Nineties, along with the staple diva’s such as Whitney and Mariah.

Each week as I compile the show, I surprise myself with tracks I’ve completely forgotten about, and even during the show listeners will get in touch with their favourite Nineties tracks too, for which I can’t thank them enough.

All decades have their place in history, and trust me the Nineties was the last truly great decade for all genres of music in the charts.

Stephanie Hirst presents Nothing But The Nineties on �� Radio Manchester

Visit the Nothing But The Nineties programme page
Find out more about �� Music's the Peoples History of Pop

Music Moguls: Masters of Pop

2016-01-15T14:05:44+00:00

A new series exploring the untold history of the pop and rock worlds, told by the producers, managers and PR giants, starts tonight on �� Four, 10pm. We asked series producer Francis Whately some questions about it.

Music Moguls. What’s the pitch?

"The music business is a cruel and shallow trench where thieves & pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There is also a negative side." Hunter S. Thompson

Where did the idea come from?

We wanted to tell the Rock Story from a different point of view. For too long it’s all been about the artists, as though they work in a vacuum. We wanted to shine a light on the unsung heroes – the men and women behind the scenes (the Svengali’s; the Melody Makers; the Puppet Masters, the Mythmakers etc.) to show the crucial role they have played in the success of the rock and pop industry. At a time when we are at saturation point with pop and rock biographies, now is the time that the stars behind the stars moved centre stage.

No-one likes a spoiler, so give us a taster of what we’ll see

The series tells the story of the music industry not from the frayed and tired yarns of the artists, but from the managers, producers and PR gurus who orchestrated their careers: the unsung heroes, and sometimes villains, behind the scenes. Where would Elvis Presley be with Colonel Tom? Where would be Led Zeppelin be without Peter Grant, or Justin Bieber without Scooter Braun.

Each film uses and expert in their field to tell the story. Episode one – Money Makers - we collaborated with Simon Napier Bell, the brilliant former manager of amongst others Mark Bolan, The Yardbirds and Wham; for Film Two – Melody Makers - the mighty Nile Rodgers, who produced everyone from Madonna to David Bowie, Diana Ross to his own band Chic; and for film Three – Mythmakers - Alan Edwards is our PR Svengali. Edwards was behind everyone from Prince to the Rolling Stones, David Bowie to the Spice Girls.

One great contributor in episode one is Adele’s manager, Jonathan Dickens. He talks about what it is to be a manager, and the music industry today:

“Managers are only as good, I believe, as the artists they manage. That is so important."

“I've never really chased the money first, and a lot of people say they never really chase the money – and most people do. The biggest thing of that is when you actually have success, when the money really starts to be significant. Opportunity to Adele presents itself by the truckload every day. Any and every opportunity to make money in non-traditional or branding exercises, we've been offered it - everything. Clothing ranges, perfumes, nail polishes ..it goes on. For us, the first thought isn't the branding opportunity, it's the music, and I want to protect what it is we do with her music and her content - absolutely I do. And that will never change.”

Episode two looks at the Melody Makers - the Music Producers. The men and women who have created the signature sounds that have defined key periods in rock and pop history. Led by the genius that is Nile Rodgers, the film discusses his work with Chic, and others, but also how he gave super Producer Mark Ronson his first Sony Walkman to start producing his own sounds.

Mark Ronson tells us: “The role of a producer really is just to take the song at hand, or the album, and make it as great as it can be for that artist.”

“The first artist that I really clicked with was probably Amy (Winehouse) when working on ‘Back to Black’. Amy had played me this stuff by The Shangri-Las, and we obviously both loved Motown and 60's and early 70's soul music.”

“I never started making music because I wanted to be in the limelight.”

The third episode concentrates on the dark arts of PR – the Myth Makers. With exclusive access to one of the biggest PR’s in the music business, Alan Edwards, we tell the extraordinary story of how PR in Britain was born in the music industry, thrived and spread like wildfire throughout all the media. Today it is reckoned that 90% of what we read is PR orchestrated. We tell the story of how you can have a hit single without PR but you can’t have a career.

On being involved with the programme, Alan Edwards said: “We all know what a significant role PR plays in British public life nowadays, but not many people realise that its roots go back five decades to the start of the Music Business as we know it now. In this film I lift the lid on the unseen, uncredited, often unappreciated and unsung PR’s that helped create an industry that now employs something like 60,000 people.”

We hear how he and other major PRs, such as Barbara Charone and Andy Saunders, cultivate new bands, manage crises and attempt to maintain the reputation of their longstanding clients. They feature alongside artists such as the Sex Pistols, Uriah Heep, Brett Anderson and Hugh Cornwell.

What surprised you making these films?

As a team we were surprised just how important managers, producers and PRs are to the whole music-making process. Managers are therapists, accountants, confidants and friends. Producers can turn what sounds like nothing into a hit and while you can have a number one without PR you can’t have a career without it.

What do you reckon we’ll think about the music industry after we’ve watched it?

We hope the audience’s eyes will be opened wide by this series as it shows the immense work and brain power that goes into the soundtrack of our lives. The story is surprising, erudite and often very amusing.

Francis Whately is series producer of Music Moguls: Masters of Pop.

Episode 1 of 'Music Moguls: Masters of Pop' will be broadcast on �� Four at 10pm on Friday 15 January and available to watch on �� iPlayer after that for 30 days.
Find out about the '10 most influential moguls in pop history - and what you can learn from them' on the �� Music website.

Hourglass: Paying tribute to Gravenhurst

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On Saturday 5 December at 8pm, �� Introducing in the West will broadcast 'Hourglass' a special programme about Bristol singer/songwriter Nick Talbot, aka Gravenhurst who died last December aged just 37. Here presenter of the 60 minute documentary, Richard Pitt talks about what it was like paying tribute to the local musician who he had known for over ten years.

I first met Nick Talbot in 2002, just as he was heading out on the path of solo performer as Gravenhurst. We recorded a session with him for Bristol Uncovered, just Nick and his acoustic guitar. It struck me immediately that he had something truly remarkable.

His death last year was an absolute tragedy, but it’s given me the opportunity to thank him by paying tribute in a radio programme and not many people get that privilege. I can’t say it’s been an easy process, but it’s been wonderful to hear the music again with fresh ears, to talk to Nick’s friends and hear their stories. He was a remarkable musician, but also a remarkable man.

Nick Talbot. Photo by Lucy Johnston

Nick’s sound was truly unique. He had the choirboy voice and the intricate finger-picking guitar style, but he delivered dark tales with difficult subject matter that were heart-breakingly beautiful.

I got to record 3 sessions with Nick over a decade. His first coincided with the inception of Gravenhurst - “I haven’t played a guitar in front of anyone in over a year.” For the next, 5 years later, when he played songs from the new album The Western Lands, he brought his pedalboard and explained what everything did. Deep down, he actually wanted to be Jimmy Page. And in 2012, he released what turned out to be his final album The Ghost In Daylight. He signed my copy - “For Richard - all the best mate.” The conversation would be about his new songs, the next album on the way, the challenges of sustaining a music career. He’d be gregarious, welcoming, always very funny.

I get to play great new music every week on �� Introducing. It’s a privilege and a pleasure - finding something new, inspirational, just plain catchy. The time I spent talking to Nick, listening to his glorious music, sitting wide-eyed while he played those stunning songs in session, will live with me forever.

Richard Pitt is presenter of �� Introducing in the West.

'Hourglass. A Tribute to Nick Talbot' will be broadcast on �� Radio Bristol, �� Radio Gloucestershire, �� Somerset and �� Wiltshire at 8pm on Saturday 5th December 2015 and repeated at 1am.
Find out more about '�� Introducing in the West' on their website and facebook page.
You can follow @bbcintrowest on twitter.
Watch '7 music documentaries that will leave you feeling moved, uplifted and inspired' on the �� Music website.

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