Our John

Tom Ravenscroft on BBC 6 Music

Tom Ravenscroft

Tom Ravenscroft

Marc Riley/Tom Ravenscroft programme page

Tom Ravenscroft will be in the chair for the week while Marc Riley is on holiday.

Programmes run from 24th August, Monday to Thursday on BBC 6 Music at 19:00 to 21:00.

• MONDAY 2009/08/24

Programme link
Tom Ravenscroft sits in for Marc Riley and is joined by American musician Bill Callahan.

Tonight he’s got Bill Callahan, formerly known as Smog, in the studio for a live session and we are very, very excited about this.

Bill Callahan is a prolific American musician who currently lives in Austin, Texas. In 2007, Callahan released Woke On A Whaleheart, his first solo album released under his own name. His current album Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle was released in March.

Cat Power recorded Callahan’s song Bathysphere on her 1996 album What Would the Community Think and also covered another Callahan song, Red Apples, on her Covers Record, released in 2000.

Smog’s Cold Blooded Old Times appears on the High Fidelity soundtrack and the song Vessel In Vain was also used on the soundtrack of the independent British film Dead Man’s Shoes in 2004. In 2009, Callahan contributed cover songs to three separate tribute albums to Judee Sill, Kath Bloom, and Merge Records.

• TUESDAY 2009/08/25

Programme link
Tom Ravenscroft sits in for Marc Riley with a session from AJ Holmes.

Tonight it’s Tom Ravenscroft’s second night in the steam cleaned chair of Marc Riley. His session band is A.J. Holmes & The Hackney, Empire who describe their unique blend of African and European pop music as “The New Electric Hi-Life”.

A.J. Holmes & The Hackney Empire is currently the resident band at the monthly London tropical party Secousse and have recently played with David Byrne at the Royal Festival Hall.

The band are A.J. Holmes on guitar and vocals, Ian Simon Andrew Darroue on bongos, tambourine, djembe and vocals, Simon Keer on drums, electric drums and sampler, Polly Soloman on maracas and vocals, Emile George Ogoo on bass and vocals and finally Martyn Pott on bass.

African musician and teacher Folo Graff emigrated from Sierra Leone, West Africa to the birth place of A.J. Holmes (the East End of London) in 1976. In 1999 they became neighbours and a year later Graff started to teach Holmes guitar music. Mixing this with his background in electric pop Holmes has developed irresistible dance tracks, instrumentals with a fragile swing, pop tunes with earworm qualities, or heart-warming love songs and they are crowned by his own emotional and self-ironic lyrics. The term hi-life is from ‘Highlife’ a musical genre that originated in Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria starting in the 1920s.

• WEDNESDAY 26/08/2009

Programme link
Tom Ravenscroft sits in for Marc Riley and is joined by UK post-rock band Sian Alice Group

It’s day three of Tom Ravenscroft’s stint on the Marc Riley show and tonight he’s booked Sian Alice Group, a band whose music has been described as “analog-synthtronica”

The band are a collective of UK Musicians: Sian Ahern, Rupert Clervaux and Ben Crook. In the past couple of years they’ve been very productive with the epic album 59.59, The Dusk Line EP and the experimental Remix 12″. They’re back now with a new second album Troubled, Shaken Etc which was released at the beginning of August.

• THURSDAY 2009/08/26

Programme link TBA
Tom Ravenscroft sits in for Marc Riley. Details TBA.

Ravenscroft at the Weekend & Archive Peel

• Archive Peel Recordings Online At The Beeb

Glastonbury isn’t the same without John, but then nothing is anymore is it? Anyway, some bright spark at the BBC – Thank You – has riffled the archives to replay several Peel shows from happier days.

Many thanks to Chris for initially drawing my attention to this and to Steve ’saipanda’ for saving me having to track down the links. Is that the best link to use for you Steve, you are the wikimaster are you not?

No doubt everyone has already checked out the old JP Glastonbury stuff that is still being streamed by the BBC. If not, here’s the links (I think):

• 24 June 1994 (60 mins), part 1, Madder Rose (60 mins)
• 24 June 1994 (60 mins) part 2, Dreadzone part 2 (60 mins)
• 27 June 1995 (120 mins) Ash, Sleeper (120 mins)
• 29 June 2004 (Belle and Sebastian, PJ Harvey) (120 mins)

Think the 2004 show is available via torrent (in of the 17 set), but as far as I know the others are not generally circulated. If anyone could mp3 these, I for one would really appreciate it – some technical issues at this end.”

• John at Glastonbury Festival Picture Gallery
• Don’t forget Paul Battley’s excellent Open Source cross-platform iPlayer Downloader!

If Steve or anyone else is still in need of mp3 links for the above, leave a comment and I shall see to it.

• Ravenscroft On BBC6 Music This Weekend

Tom Ravenscroft is back on BBC6 Music this coming Friday and Saturday.

• Friday 3 July 2009 19:00-21:00
“Tom Ravenscroft sits in for Tom Robinson with a session from Tinariwen.”

• Saturday 4 July 2009 00:00-02:00
“Tom Ravenscroft sits in for Tom Robinson with more great internet discoveries.”

• The BBC Introducing with Tom Robinson will doubtless have full playlists in due course.

“Kershaw welcome” Says Radio 3 Boss

Radio 3 boss hints at DJ’s return

The troubled DJ Andy Kershaw’s two-year stint in the wilderness may be about to end after his former boss at the BBC gave a clear signal that he wants him back. In an interview with The Independent on Sunday, Roger Wright, controller of Radio 3, who resuscitated Kershaw’s career in 2001, said he would welcome his old friend back on air. “I’m still in touch with Andy and the door is not closed… he’s ready. I’m in contact with him.”

Source: The Independent – Radio 3 boss hints at DJ’s return

With thanks to Rob at the Peel Newsgroup for this.

See also…
The land of the Three: Inside Roger Wright’s radio culture club
A bullet through the heart of Radio 3

New Music Free Downloads

Dinosaur Jr.

Part free and legal mp3 best of roundup, part indie record label featurette. Minimal maybe but what you lose in words you reap in aural stimulation. Go!

jagjaguwar Records

Dinosaur Jr. – I Want You To Know (From the album, ‘Farm’)
Bon Iver – Blood Bank (From the e.p. ‘Blood Bank’)
Julie Doiron – Consolation Prize (From the album, ‘I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day’)

Atomic Beat Records

Pete Green – The Ballad of Phil Jevons

This post is a quickie because something intervened. Something good for a change. (";) Top tunes though all the same.

Is Mark Damazer In Control?

Is the bbc running scared?

Humphrys’ final question was, “How do you see yourself now?” To which I answered: “The old Andy is back. I’m ready to rock and roll.”

As we left the studio, Humphrys slapped me across the shoulder and said: “I think you got the tone of that absolutely right.” The producer, Karen Gregor, was gushing that I’d been “absolutely brilliant” and that it was “the best On The Ropes we have ever recorded.”

I later learned that the programme was cleared by BBC lawyers that same Thursday for broadcast the following Tuesday. It was then trailed so heavily over the weekend that I found it embarrassing to listen to Radio 4.

• Kershaw: How the BBC left me on the ropes The Independent, yesterday.

Does Mark Damazer, the controller of Radio 4 and BBC7, come from the school of reactionary management or are his thoughts that of only protecting a family from further media glare? Does he see it, perhaps, as an easy way of making a name for himself along the lines of the, ‘Good managers must make controversial decisions’, philosophy? Whose interests does Damazer represent?

How’s that for a loaded question?

I’m not going to voice my opinion at great length on this, not today. But without doubt, the manner in which the BBC handle these type of incidents, is often seen as clumsy at best and has much wider and more serious implications than that of a single interview. Such decisions can only exacerbate the current atmosphere of intense sensitivity felt inside the BBC, and thus provide easy ammunition for critics outside it. In short, this is not a competent way in which to manage the country’s leading radio station.

Is Mark Damazer in control?

• Kershaw: How the BBC left me on the ropes

• Radio 4 Blog: ‘On The Ropes’

Mark Damazer is no stranger to unpopular decisions,
• New controller announces UK Theme on Radio 4 to be scraped.

Photo credit: Vic Bates

Radio 4 pulls Andy Kershaw interview

On and Off!

The BBC has made an eleventh hour decision not to broadcast an interview with Andy Kershaw today.

A BBC statement said: “The aim of the programme was to explore the events leading to Kershaw’s breakdown and his subsequent efforts to recover, whilst providing the other parties involved with an appropriate degree of privacy.

“This, however, did not prove possible.”

“The programme was recorded and edited very close to the day of broadcast, hence the lateness of the decision to cancel.”

The statement said that Kershaw’s “behaviour throughout the interview was in no way an issue and had nothing to do with the decision to pull the programme”.

The Radio 4 Blog:
You can comment directly on this decision to Mark Damazer, Controller of Radio 4, at the BBC’s website.

BBC News:
Interview with DJ Kershaw pulled

The Guardian:
Radio 4 pulls Andy Kershaw interview

The Times:
Andy Kershaw: ‘I’ve never laid a finger on anyone’

IOM Today:
Andy Kershaw radio show dropped by BBC Radio 4

Google News Results:
Interview with DJ Kershaw pulled

Also worth reading is this article by David Mitchell regarding the inner politics of the BBC.

Is Radio 4 too posh? Mark Damazer serves up his recipe for change.

Involved in this production? Work in programme resources?

How Peel and Kershaw First Met

Andy Kershaw & John Peel

Just happened upon this charming piece from 1995 over at the Independent: John Peel and Andy Kershaw : How We Met. Here’s the opening paragraph by Emma Cook.

John Peel, 55, was born in Heswell, near Liverpool. After finishing his military service in 1962, he began his career as a disc jockey in America. In 1967 he returned to Britain and joined Radio 1, where he has worked ever since. He lives in Suffolk with his wife Sheila and their four children. Andy Kershaw, 35, was born in Rochdale. After studying politics at Leeds University, he became a presenter for BBC2’s Old Grey Whistle Test in 1984. A year later he joined Radio 1, on which he still hosts a weekly show. He lives in north London with his girlfriend Juliette.

→ Read the complete article here.

→ I have also added it to John Peel links scrapbook where you can find numerous links to interviews and various newspaper articles relating to John that I’ve collected over a number of years.

Andy Kershaw on BBC Radio 4

Andy Kershaw talks about rebuilding his life and career.

Here’s an early notication that’s sure to be of interest to a great many that frequent this site.

On the Ropes
09:00-09:30 (repeated at 21:30-22:00)
Tuesday 28th April 2009
BBC Radio 4

John Humphrys talks to successful people who have weathered storms in their careers.

Andy Kershaw talks about rebuilding his life and career after losing his BBC radio show and spending time in prison for breaking a restraining order.

Andy has enjoyed a highly successful broadcasting career, winning a brace of Sony Radio awards and receiving critical acclaim for his reports from Rwanda, Angola, Haiti and Iraq. However, his outspoken opinions led to him being dropped by Radio One; he openly attacked Bob Geldof over his stance on Africa and in 2007 his personal life began to suffer.

He was arrested trying to break into the home of his former girlfriend and was found guilty of drink driving. A restraining order was placed on Andy, and his Radio 3 show was taken off air. In 2008 he breached this restraining order in an attempt to see his two children and ended up in jail. He is attempting to rebuild his life and career.

source: BBC Radio 4

// audio links to follow

Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle (+JP DL)

Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle

• The Format That Dare Not Speak It’s Name. Welcome Back To Adult Television.

I’ve only just got around to watching the first episode of Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle and it’s extremely rare these days I can empathise wholeheartedly with anything delivered via a sanctimonious mainstream media, but this was a wonderful exception.

For those that feel the merest hint of an insightful or intellectual thought made in public these days is likely to invoke a scene reminiscent of the threatening mob from Don Siegel’s 1956 classic allegory, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, switch your television to BBC2 at 10 O’clock on Mondays.

Armando Iannucci is Executive Producer. How much convincing do you need?

• John Peel Footnote
But that’s not all! Upon visiting Mr. Lee’s website I found a John Peel Show file for download. “16 October 1996 – Richard Herring and Stewart Lee appear on the John Peel show, a teenage dream”. You’ll find it in the archives section. I’ve not listened to it yet so I can’t advise on how it compares with the version/s already circulating. See also “John Peel stands in for Mark Radcliffe and Rich & Stew guest”

stewartlee.co.uk
Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle BBC2

• Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle is on Mondays at 10pm on BBC2

DVD & Music Update

Nice mash.

Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle is due out on DVD in September so no more posting links once it’s commercially available please. Once it’s released the links here will have to come down. What do you want, ‘The moon on a stick’? Actually while we’re on the subject, if you liked this series then seek out the two DVDs of him performing live. His comedy works even better in longer form.

“What’s that tune in Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle?”

The server logs reveal that quite a few people are arriving here as a result of searching for the theme music used over the opening titles of Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle. Well it’s Tom Hark by Elias & His Zig Zag Jive Flutes, from that ‘golden year’ 1958. It appears onJohn Peel and Sheila, The Pig’s Big 78’s – A Beginner’s Guide, and is available from Trikont Records, Klang, their UK distributor, or any one of these fine indie retailers. Also, via YouTube, the ‘58 original, plus Brighton band The Piranhas’ 1980 vocal version on Top of the Pops.