Long Live the BBC

[garthman]

One of the nicest things about living in the UK is the British Broadcasting Company - BBC - or the "Beeb" as it is affectionately known. I realize that many people may not be happy with the notion of paying an annual licence fee to fund its existence but, IMO, it is worth every penny - it gives them independence from the "market" and therefore the ability to produce non-mainstream programmes.

 

And one the very best things about the BBC is Radio 3 (but also lets not forget Radio 4, which is widely recognized as a British institution, and offers a myriad of wonderfully idiosyncratic programmes including 10 minute snippets like "Me And My Bug" about a scientist searching for bacteria in deep USA caves!) which offers the listener 24 hours of excellent music every day of every week of the year. They specialize in classical but there is also lots of jazz, world music etc.

 

My favourite programmes are (1) The Early Music Show which, although occasionally a bit dull (Bach's "Well Tempered Clavier" or Handel Oratorios, etc), is often enchanting with some wonderful old music played on wonderful old instruments (lutes, theorbos, sackbutts, cornetti, shawm, viols,etc); (2) Late Junction which showcases all sorts of music from all over the world and expands your notions of music in a big way, and (3) Jazz Record Requests which consists of listeners choices and can be very good. All these programmes are available as a "listen again" facility for a week after they are aired so to sample them , click on the link below, then on " Listen to Radio 3".

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/listen/index.shtml

 

Happy listening.

[Pascal]

BBC Radio 3 is

 

... and with Radio 4, the only radio worth listening to where I live. All my radios are tuned to it!

 

I love their saturday world music show, in particular.

OTOH, I'm not a big fan of their jazz offering (but my impression is that Jazz is dead in this country anyway).

 

 

 

If I may, I'll have to say, though, that Radio France is just as good, if not better, than the Beeb.

 

[C70man]

 

One of the nicest things about living in the UK is the British Broadcasting Company - BBC - or the "Beeb" as it is affectionately known.

 

 

Bravo! I remember the BBC bringing in such wonderful programs as: Monty Pythons Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers, Benny Hill. I think I would have paid for it, if I had to. I live in Tampa, Fl and they have a station called WMNF of which I am a member. They raise funds and do their own programming. The bulk of their programming is music. Saturdays 60's show and two hours of Blues everyday that delights my soul. I don't mind contributing because of the non-commercial format. They interview some of the best new and famous musicians performing. Hell, they even sponsor the local "Blues" societies with concerts and special events.

 

One of these days people are going to "get it" and support more of this.

 

OH, by the way they are 88.5 if you want to listen for free.

 

http://www.wmnf.org/

[tom_s252]

Long live the BBC indeed My band did a live session on Late Junction a couple of years ago. It is a great show, and you're right, it expands your horizons.

[Etienne Rambert]

I use BBC Mysteries (Holmes, Poirot) in a college class I teach in Viet Nam. I have the complete Sherlock Holmes & Miss Marple. I have a nearly complete Poirot collection.

[guitarist21]

OTOH, I'm not a big fan of their jazz offering (but my impression is that Jazz is dead in this country anyway).

 

I thought the same thing about the US. We have National Public Radio which on the whole has some really wonderful programming, but much of the jazz programming was cut not too long ago.

 

To the average Joe Schmoe, I would say that yes, jazz is dead. But since I've come to Boston, I've discovered that jazz isn't dead if you are looking in the right places! Jazz is alive and well in many cool venues such as Scullers Jazz Club and the Berklee Performance Center.

 

Just trying to give you a little hope.

 

Ellen

[Sisyphus2]

Well theres also been all those folk sessions on BBC3 which included that great slide player ( I cant remeber the names of any of this but it was great!).

[silmaneero]

And thanks to the Internet, those living outside the UK need not do without their daily fix of BBC Radio

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/mainframe.shtml?http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/index.shtml?button

 

Radio 4 is possibly the best thing in the world

[denvertrakker]

 

Bravo! I remember the BBC bringing in such wonderful programs as: Monty Pythons Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers, Benny Hill.

 

 

Long before all of those, there was an insanely funny programme (had to use the UK spelling!) called "The Goon Show". All but forgotten now, this free-form radio show featured Peter Sellers (long before he was a movie star), Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe doing a variety of voices. If I'm not mistaken it's Spike Milligan's voice you hear at the end of "Dark Side Of The Moon"...

[Pascal]

Just trying to give you a little hope. Ellen

 

well, thanks for this... but I don't know...

 

I'd be delighted to be shown wrong, though.

[garthman]

Well there is still a jazz presence in the UK, although I suspect it is in decline world-wide (I was at a jazz festival a year or so ago and everyone in the audience was 50+. HST, I went to the Burnley Blues festival a year or so ago too and everyone there was 50+ also).

 

If you are in Wales the 2nd weekend in August, try visiting the Brecon Jazz festival - a whole weekend of great jazz.

[Queequeg]

I leave my radio on all night.

The local NPR affiliate broadcasts a syndicated BBC news from 10:00pm until 5:00am. Excellent.

BTW, jazz is not dead and jazz will be around longer than anyone reading this.

It ebbs and flows with the culture de jour, but it doesn't go away.

[silmaneero]

BTW, jazz is not dead and jazz will be around longer than anyone reading this. It ebbs and flows with the culture de jour, but it doesn't go away.

 

Indeed. It may never be the choice of the masses again, but the same could be said of the many styles of classical and folk music. Music never dies. Even if the audiences are mainly the 50+ crowd it doesn't really matter; all the current younger folk are just waiting to mature into jazz fans

[Michael Martin]

Highly recommended: way-back-when performances on "The Old Grey Whistle Test", which was (is?) a sort of multiple-genre UK Austin City Limits, but without much of a studio audience. I assume it had to have been on BBC, what with the monopoly and all. You can buy DVD compilations, or find them on youtube for all I know. It's great because the show tended to feature up-and-coming acts rather than established stars. The studio performance setting was very intimate, and some of the performances amazing.

 

On another related topic: I've always been intrigued with the story of commercial "pirate" radio stations operating from boats offshore in the 1960s, to circumvent the BBC monopoly. The Who's "The Who Sells Out" album concept was very connected to that phenomenon...

[T.B.]

Thank god for the net and BBC; "free" radio in the U.S. is awful just awful. I find it ironic and damn ridicules I have to stream over to the BBC to hear classic Soul, R&B, and Funk. The Chicago Jazz scene, is still alive and well in terms of concerts and famous/local musicians playing some of the noted venues, but the days of radio play are gone. I regret NPR's decision eliminating jazz/blues from their programming, though they've launched NPR Music - http://www.npr.org/nprmusic/.

 

Trina

[Sparhawk]

Guess we're lucky here. Jazz 24/7 if you want it.

 

http://www.wjztfm.com/

[AndrewGG]

The BBC is my rock and I listen to the radio pretty much exclusively; from drama and vintage comedy (including The Goon Show) on BBC 7 to the more highbrow stuff on BBC 3.

On Radio 4 'The Archers', a drama series set in rural England, has been running daily for over 50 years.

I'm old enough to remember when BBC radio consisted of the Light Programme, the Home Service and the Third Programme.

[garthman]

I'm old enough to remember when BBC radio consisted of the Light Programme, the Home Service and the Third Programme.

 

Yes, I'm that old too but I didn't want to admit it!

[garthman]

 

Highly recommended: way-back-when performances on "The Old Grey Whistle Test", which was (is?) a sort of multiple-genre UK Austin City Limits, but without much of a studio audience. I assume it had to have been on BBC, what with the monopoly and all. You can buy DVD compilations, or find them on youtube for all I know. It's great because the show tended to feature up-and-coming acts rather than established stars. The studio performance setting was very intimate, and some of the performances amazing. On another related topic: I've always been intrigued with the story of commercial "pirate" radio stations operating from boats offshore in the 1960s, to circumvent the BBC monopoly. The Who's "The Who Sells Out" album concept was very connected to that phenomenon...

 

 

"The Old Grey Whistle Test" - used to be on BBC 2 (TV of course), late on Friday night's, with good old "Whispering" Bob Harris. It started in (I think) 1971 and was without doubt the best music show around at the time. I wonder if there are DVDs around of some of the shows?

 

Re the pirate off-shore radio stations (Radio Caroline, Radio London, etc) - wonderful, essential listening for we people who were teenagers at the time. I well remember hearing, for the first time, Dylan's "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands", late one night on Radio Caroline. Great nostaglic stuff.

[Pascal]

Well there is still a jazz presence in the UK, although I suspect it is in decline world-wide (I was at a jazz festival a year or so ago and everyone in the audience was 50+. HST, I went to the Burnley Blues festival a year or so ago too and everyone there was 50+ also). If you are in Wales the 2nd weekend in August, try visiting the Brecon Jazz festival - a whole weekend of great jazz.

 

Thanks for the recommendation.

 

I suppose that my 30+ years as a jazzfan on the continent spoilt me.

 

[simplygoodmusic]

Cheers...just wish I could listen to the stuff in the car.

 

We have only one decent station here, and its only decent half the time. The other half its mostly electronic music which I just can't get into.

[Michael Martin]

 

"The Old Grey Whistle Test" - used to be on BBC 2 (TV of course), late on Friday night's, with good old "Whispering" Bob Harris. It started in (I think) 1971 and was without doubt the best music show around at the time. I wonder if there are DVDs around of some of the shows?

 

Indeedy:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=dvd&field-keywords=old%20grey%20whistle%20test&results-process=default&dispatch=search/ref=pd_sl_aw_tops-1_dvd_3075711_2&results-process=default

I have the one listed first. Lotsa great great stuff on it...including excellent performances by the Edgar Winter Group ("Frankenstein"), R.E.M. ("Pretty Persuasion"), Tom Petty ("American Girl") plus many other wonderments--Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, Blondie, Bill Withers, The Damned, U2, Little Feat, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Randy Newman, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Talking Heads, Emmylou Harris, Rory Gallagher, etc. etc. etc...something for everybody!

[Chirpy_72]

Here in America, traditional old-fashioned radio is awful. Many of the stations are owned by the same companies and share the same programming. I got satelite radio ( Sirius ) about 2 yrs ago and I haven't listened to old fashion radio since. Channels devoted soley to classic rock, jam music, techno, rap, HOWARD STERN, BBC News, Fox ... Jazz

[Michael Martin]

 

Here in America, traditional old-fashioned radio is awful

 

However--in the US there's a huge array of station choices on both AM and FM dials, especially in larger markets. Maybe it's a guy-with-remote kind of thing, but I like punching the buttons to find what I want. There's almost always something interesting...and there are good commercial stations here and there that have programming unavailable on any satellite or public stations. If I get totally sick of hearing commercials (the ones on FM rock stations are the worst), I just go to the AM or FM public radio station.

[garthman]

 

Indeedy: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=dvd&field-keywords=old%20grey%20whistle%20test&results-process=default&dispatch=search/ref=pd_sl_aw_tops-1_dvd_3075711_2&results-process=default I have the one listed first. Lotsa great great stuff on it...including excellent performances by the Edgar Winter Group ("Frankenstein"), R.E.M. ("Pretty Persuasion"), Tom Petty ("American Girl") plus many other wonderments--Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, Blondie, Bill Withers, The Damned, U2, Little Feat, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Randy Newman, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Talking Heads, Emmylou Harris, Rory Gallagher, etc. etc. etc...something for everybody!

 

 

Thanks for this info - I'll start saving my pennies!