BeebRock - The BBC4/BBC3/BBC2/BBC1 Music Programmes thread

"What a disappointing 21st Century this has been so far"

Whenever you said that, David, it has only got worse since.

What a way to go out, bringing out new work and planning future acts right up to the end.


Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Hi there, Bits of Bowie still floating around the Beeb including a new compilation of performances you've probably already seen and chances to see both the new and old Bowie Docs if you missed them.

Elsewhere Neil Brand talks about Musicals, it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea but I enjoyed some of his other shows. Elvis Costello and Thread Favourite Great Guitar Riffs also to be found in there somewhere ...



Thursday
11.45pm David Bowie - The Last Five Years (BBC2) [The New One]
A portrait of David Bowie, told by the people who knew him best - his friends and artistic collaborators. It also takes a detailed look at his last albums The Next Day and Blackstar, and his play Lazarus. Through the prism of this last work, the film shows how, in his final five years, Bowie not only began producing music again but returned to the core and defining themes of his career. Among the contributors are Tony Visconti, Gail Ann Dorsey, Toni Basil and Michael C Hall



Friday
6am Tom Jones Live at Eden [BBC Red Button, All day/night Friday on a loop, various other times over the weekend]
Tom Jones and his band perform live at Cornwall's Eden Project in June 2016, his first performance in the county for more than 30 years, and a highlight of the 15th year of the Eden Sessions.

7.30pm & 12.30am Top of The Pops 1983 - January 13th
John Peel and David Jensen run down the January 13 chart, featuring Incantation, Men at Work, Sharon Redd, Keith Harris and Orville, the Belle Starrs, John Williams, Eddy Grant, the Maisonettes, Phil Collins and Donna Summer. Full details here http://thetvdb.com/?tab=episode&seriesid=78332&seasonid=479822&id=5857672&lid=7

9pm & 1.05am Sound Of Musicals with Neil Brand New!
Part 1/3 Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' New series. The composer and author reveals how the modern shape of the musical was established through a series of pioneering works, examining Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's Show Boat's bold look at America's racial divide in the 1920s. He also explores innovative uses of songs that further the narrative, referencing Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's My Fair Lady, which made a star of Julie Andrews in the late 1950s

10pm Bowie at the BBC New!
A chronology of clips from the BBC archive giving an overview of Bowie's career from 1964 until his death in 2016, offering a series of snapshots into his rapidly evolving career across music, films and the theatre. Among the many clips are performances for Top of the Pops, The Old Grey Whistle Test and Later with Jools Holland, plus Bowie in interviews about his roles in The Elephant Man, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence and Labyrinth

11pm & 2.05am David Bowie - Five Years In The Making Of An Icon [The Old One]
Documentary exploring five key years in the singer's career, which saw him redefine himself as an artist by adopting a different persona - each one marking a shift in musical direction. Featuring interviews with his collaborators, the programme focuses on 1971's ultimate glam-rock icon Ziggy Stardust, Bowie's reinvention as the impeccably dressed soul stylist the Thin White Duke in 1975, his regeneration in Berlin with the critically acclaimed 1977 album Heroes, 1980's Scary Monsters triumph and Let's Dance's global success in 1983



Saturday
11.45pm Top of The Pops 1983 - January 13th
Same as Friday

12.20am Elvis Costello - Mystery Dance
Mark Kidel directs a profile of the singer-songwriter, who began his career as part of London's pub rock scene in the early 1970s and later became associated with the British new wave movement later that decade. The story is picked up from the star's childhood under the influence of his father, Ross McManus, a Catholic education that left a big impression on him, and his overnight success with the Attractions. The musician talks openly about the shaping of his career and life, and revisits the places where he grew up

1.20am Later With Jools Presents ... Elvis Costello in Concert
Jools Holland introduces a studio performance by the singer-songwriter, featuring the classics Pump It Up and Watching the Detectives. The performer is accompanied by the Attractions and the Brodsky Quartet

2.20am Great Guitar Riffs at the BBC
A compilation of archive clips and performances which include some of the most memorable guitar riffs of all time. Featuring Jimi Hendrix, the Kinks, Cream, AC/DC, the Smiths, Rage Against the Machine, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Pixies and the Stone Roses



Sunday
10.30pm Bowie at the BBC
Same as Friday

12.25am Sound of Musicals with Neil Brand
Same as Friday



DavidBowie.com has full listings of all Bowie stuff on the BBC this month http://www.davidbowie.com/news/full-bbc-bowie-schedule-january-56636
You can stream all the radio shows in Ireland.


Sky Arts has a big Saturday with a double bill of U2 followed by that three and a half hour epic The Eagles Doc (with The Rolling Stones and Status Quo for dessert).

True Movies is back in the Cheesy Music Bio film game, this week it's Ring of Fire (True Movies 1, Sunday 9pm). It's the Johnny Carter and June Carter Cash story, only it's mainly about June. She deserved to be remembered in her own right, in fairness. Jewel the singer stars in this TV Movie which apparently works better if you aren't expecting a clone of Walk The Line