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

Young Johnny Logan on TOTP, when we won Eurovisions for fun.


What's another year was a terrific tune.


Well played. Shay Healy.

Hello, it's a quiet week with lots of compilations and very little new programming. Hopefuly there is something there for you.

There is one of the final TOTP 1980s before it disappears for nearly three months (unless the Musicians Union and the BBC come to an unexpected agreement soon)


Friday

7.35pm & 3am Sounds of The Eighties
Showcasing a selection of musical performances from the BBC archives, featuring UB40, Aswad, the Beat, Run-DMC, Public Enemy and Neneh Cherry. Last in the series

8pm Gershwin's Summertime: The Song That Conquered the World
How George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward's song Summertime became a standard around the world. The film tells the story of its first appearance in the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess, charts how it has been reinterpreted by artists including Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, Mahalia Jackson, Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald, and explores the many meanings that have been derived from it through the decades. Narrated by Pauline Black

9pm & 12.30am The Old Grey Whistle Test: 70s Gold
Archive performances from the BBC music series, featuring Elton John, David Bowie, Captain Beefheart, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Curtis Mayfield, New York Dolls, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Brinsley Schwarz, Gil Scott-Heron, Blondie, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Jam, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop, Cher and Greg Allman, Argent, Steppenwolf, Lindisfarne, Dr Feelgood and Johnny Winter

10.30pm I'm a Popstar
Documentary focusing on the mind of a particular type of music star, the one that prefers to go it alone, the one that craves the limelight, the one that prefers to share the stage with no one else - other than backing dancers and singers. Those discussing such a career include Kylie Minogue, Adam Ant, Sandie Shaw, Cliff Richard, Will Young, Craig David and Kelly Clarkson

11.30pm & 2am Top of The Pops Big Hits
A selection of performances from the show in the first year of the 1980s, when the rise of a new generation of pop stars signalled a new era for Top of the Pops and for British society. Featuring My Girl by Madness, Brass in Pocket by Pretenders and Geno by Dexys Midnight Runners, as well as appearances by Adam Ant, Spandau Ballet, the Piranhas, Hot Chocolate, OMD, Motorhead and the Beat

9pm (BBC1 NI) BBC Music Day: From Crumin Road Gaol
Coverage of the first-ever televised music event from the unique surroundings of the former Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast. Performers include flutist James Galway, the Ulster Orchestra, indie band Villagers, vocalist Andrea Begley and the Belfast Community Gospel Choir

11.05pm (BBC2 NI) Snow Patrol Live at Ward Park Bangor
The band responsible for hits including Run and Chasing Cars, perform in their home town of Bangor in one of the largest concerts to be staged in the country. Presented by Rigsy



Saturday

10.55pm TOTP2 Summertime Special
A red-hot selection of summer sounds, featuring songs by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, the Undertones, Shaggy, Bananarama, Bobby Goldsboro, Bay City Rollers, Fun Boy Three, the Style Council and Don Henley. Other archive sizzlers include DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, the Sundays, Sabrina, Chris Rea, the Barracudas, Zoe, Martha and the Muffins, Bryan Adams, Girls Aloud and ELO

11.55pm Top of The Pops 1980
Mike Read presents an edition first broadcast May 22, 1980. Includes performances by Michael Jackson, Johnny Logan, the Specials, Cockney Rejects, Jona Lewie and Gary Numan

12.35am Guitar Heroes at the BBC
Archive performances by celebrated musicians Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Peter Green and Johnny Winter. Other artists featured include Manitas de Plata, Ry Cooder, Thin Lizzy and AC/DC, while Fleetwood Mac's Albatross and In the City by the Jam are among the classic songs seen again in clips from the BBC's 1970s music shows


There's not much film action either ... Prince's Sign of the Times is on the Sky Arts on Saturday at 11pm



SkArts also has a big long Cream/Eric Clapton night from Sunday at 7.45

Grand stretch in the evenings all the same, hopefully there will be more to report soon!

Hey ho, its the big TFI Friday revival on Channel 4 this weekend. The show that launched a million Britpop groups returns for one night only, including a performance from a Supergroup of Liam Gallager, Roger Daltrey, Ian Broudie, Zak Starkey and anyone else they can find. More of that kind of thing here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057418620

Elsewhere, if you always wanted to see Mark Radcliffe's 'The Richest Songs in The World', but missed the previous 21 showings then you are in luck. Only the second outing this year, in fairness.

(All listings are for BBC4, unless the channel is mentioned)


Thursday

7.30pm Top of The Pops 1980
Kid Jensen presents an edition first broadcast on May 29, 1980. Includes performances by Liquid Gold, Hot Chocolate, Elton John, Thin Lizzy, Roxy Music and Stiff Little Fingers

10.50pm Punk Britannia
Punk 1976-1978 The documentary reaches the pinnacle of the punk era, 1976 to 1978, exploring how bands including the Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks helped spread the genre's popularity around the UK. The Roxy nightclub in London's Covent Garden became a hotspot for bands including the Jam to gain support, but the Sex Pistols' split in 1978 proved a blow to the future of punk. With contributions by John Lydon, Mick Jones, Paul Weller and Siouxsie Sioux. Narrated by Peter Capaldi


Friday

9pm TFI Friday (Channel 4)
Chris Evans hosts a one-off edition of the entertainment show that was at the heart of '90s Britpop, and featured some of the greatest British and international bands of the time. Hoping to remain contemporary yet be a little nostalgic, this special programme is broadcast from a new location in central London, with guests Blur, Shaun Ryder, Amanda Seyfried and Kirstie Allsopp, with contributions from Danny Baker and Will Macdonald. Also making their debut to mark the anniversary is a new supergroup comprised of Liam Gallagher, Roger Daltrey, Ian Broudie and Zak Starkey

9pm & 12.50am Otis Redding: Soul Ambassador
Profile of the soul singer, documenting his childhood and career, including unseen home movies that reveal how his 1967 tour of Britain dramatically changed his life and music. Plus, footage of rare performances and intimate interviews with Redding's widow, daughter and previous band members Steve Cropper and Booker T Jones, as well as celebrity fans Rod Stewart, Tom Jones and Bryan Ferry

10pm & 1.50am Classic Soul at the BBC
Performances from the BBC archive by acclaimed soul singers, including Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Isaac Hayes, Dusty Springfield, Solomon Burke and Percy Sledge

11pm & 2.50am I'm in a Girl Group
A look at life within that secret sisterhood, the girl group - a heady and combustible mix of talent, ambition and hairspray. Those lifting the lid on a life of girl power, baby love and walking like Egyptians are members of the Spice Girls, Bananarama, Girls Aloud, the Bangles, Sister Sledge, the Ronettes and the Supremes.

Midnight Blondie's New York and the Making of Parallel Lines
The story behind the rock band's third album Parallel Lines - a record that is said to capture the spirit of 1970s New York at a time of poverty, crime and artistic endeavour. The seven individuals who wrote, produced and performed its songs discuss their aim to create a game-changing album full of sure-fire hits. Including commentary from lead singer Debbie Harry who talks about writing music, the media's focus on her appearance and the lyrical content inspired by ex-boyfriends


Saturday

10.35pm The Richest Songs in The World
Mark Radcliffe presents a countdown of the 10 songs that have earned the most money of all time, along with the stories behind them. He also explains how music royalties work and reveals the biggest winners and losers in the history of popular music

12.05am Duets at the BBC
Performances of romantic duets from the BBC archives. Among the collaborations are Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue, Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, Shirley Bassey and Neil Diamond, Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, and Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. The show also features performances by specialist double acts, including Billy Preston and Syreeta, Peaches and Herb, Sonny and Cher, and Danish folk duo Nina and Frederik

1.05am Top of The Pops 1980
as above

Sky Arts (which is now just one channel, not two) has a Led Zeppelin night on Sunday

http://www.sky.com/tv/show/led-zeppelin-celebration-day
http://www.sky.com/tv/channel/skyarts/listings#?channel=4063&programme=0

And High Fidelity is on BBC1 on Sunday at 11.15pm! I like it a lot. Any film which has a band called Kathleen Turner Overdrive is off to a good start.



Slán!

the last with the chart rundown at the start

That's one thing that always seemed weird to me looking at the old shows - it seems anticlimatic to have the Number One revealed at the beginning. Maybe it was a ploy to get viewers to tune in from the start.

Shame about the interlude, but I'm looking forward to the new look TOTP when it returns.