Challenging the status quo
I have to make a confession here. Sometimes, I can't be everywhere at once.
And on occasions, it is a colleague, not me, on the other end of an TV or radio interview.
It is known in TV world as "a legging job" - and no one likes doing them.
Not least, my esteemed colleague Tim Reid, who agreed to swap weightier Westminster matters for a sit down interview with Francis Rossi of Status Quo.
The band are headlining this year's - to raised eyebrows everywhere.
I wanted Tim to find out if Francis and co, knew any Burns poetry, or knew why they'd been picked to headline the festival.
Between bites of his sandwich, a grumpy and defensive Rossi (the PR tells us he had a fallout with band members just before the interview) said he had no idea why the band had been selected.
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He'd followed the rants in the press from Burns purists and reckoned they had a point.
Pressed on his knowledge of the Bard, Rossi said he thought he recalled one poem from his ex-mother in law's bathroom wall - "the spider jobbie, if at first you don't succeed" - which sounds to me more like Robert the Bruce than Robert Burns.
Our man in London - a proud expatriate - tried to offer some Burns poetry to break the ice, but found his advances rebuffed. Sorry Tim, I'll do my own dirty work next time!
Legging the Ayrshire bit of the filming meant I got to meet the winners of Ayrplay - the festival's new competition for young unsigned bands.
As festival director Michael McDade points out, Robert Burns' reputation for wine, women and song, means he'd have been right at home in the Spiegeltent in Wellington Square, where Cumbernauld band White Ace won the title.
Their prize - to play the biggest gig they've played so far, warming up for Status Quo at Ayr Racecourse. Go guys.
Not London’s South Bank, but the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow - every bit as lively in cultural terms as its namesake. I’m Pauline McLean, Ö÷²¥´óÐã Scotland’s arts correspondent, and I’ll be blogging here about arts events and issues happening across the country.
Comment number 1.
At 23rd May 2008, gpod17 wrote:In this interview Rossi isn't being defensive or grumpy, he's taking the mickey - unless you are a Quo fan you won't understand Rossi's humour. Quo have been berated by all sections of the press, so why should he have to justify himself in an interview ( especially when the interviewer asks the same question half a dozen times! ). Most bands these days couldn't lace Quo's boots. What other band tours for 7 months of the year, every year? Yes, they are out to make a living but they don't rip their fans off unlike most of the "legendary" acts these days. Nobody in the press ever mentions the amount of charity work they do, it's much easier to take cheap shots at a band who still manage to fill venues and produce quality material after 40 years. It's no wonder they do so few interviews.
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Comment number 2.
At 24th May 2008, digitalpuppy wrote:I dont think Pauline McLean bothered to watch this interview. She has tried to 'hype' the story saying Francis Rossi was "grumpy and defensive". Well, he didnt look it! What she fails to realise is that despite Tim Reid asking some inane questions, what she got was humorous, yes, but more importantly, Francis Rossi giving an extremely good interview and being honest and serious in his answers. This is a very good result for her/Tim Reid, and neither of them, it would appear, has picked up on that. So why hype it eh??
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Comment number 3.
At 24th May 2008, newtownboy72 wrote:Love reading your work - even from Australia! Keep up the good work!
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Comment number 4.
At 24th May 2008, amicusalba wrote:Eh? - I wonder what nationalistic pipe Pauline was smoking or was it just to conjure a (non) story.
I also bet that there is hardly a Scot that could give you a recital of Burns from memory.
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Comment number 5.
At 24th May 2008, macgilleleabhar wrote:I know who Robert Burns was but who were Pauline Mc Lean and the sad old man with the mastication problem?
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Comment number 6.
At 25th May 2008, Pete wrote:All I can say is - are you after a job at "the Sun" or "News of the World" - becuse with writing and interview techniques like the two of you have - I think you would fit right in...
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Comment number 7.
At 27th May 2008, U11655018 wrote:Yikes, don't mess with the Quo, purveyors of Heads Down No Nonsense Mindless Boogie, they're worse than Star Wars fanatics
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