Friday Night Is Music Night on BBC4 TV (Page 18 of 18)

A good friday again. Takes me back to the IOW 1970 festival 

Fri   27th Sept 21:00 - 22:00   BBC 4

Joan Armatrading - Me, Myself, I

Joan Armatrading is one the most influential singer-songwriters in Britain. A national icon, she is known for her singular vision, both as a writer and as a performer. She has performed around the world to sell-out stadiums, releasing records and touring almost constantly from the early 70s to the present day.
In this documentary Joan talks about her self-belief and her unique ability to craft songs that have spoken to millions. Known for her reclusiveness, Joan has, for the first time, granted access to her life and music. Joan tells her story from Caribbean émigré to becoming one of the most revered songwriters of our generation.
The film covers Joan’s childhood growing up in Birmingham, and how she began writing songs from a young age. Joan met some of the key people in her life when she joined the rock musical Hair in 1968. She left home to go on tour and forged a musical partnership with songwriter Pam Nestor. Their collaboration led to a major record deal and an opportunity to work with Elton John’s producer, Gus Dudgeon. Her album, Whatever’s for Us, received rave reviews and chimed with the burgeoning songwriting movement on the west coast of America. The album signalled a new energy and freedom taking shape in the 70s in Britain among the black population. Joan was propelled into the musical stratosphere, signing with major American label A&M for over ten years. She created her own genre of songwriting, defying stereotypes and breaking barriers, becoming one of the first black singer-songwriters in Britain.
Joan went on to forge an unbeatable dynamic with rock producer Glyn Johns, who had produced seminal albums with the Rolling Stones, the Eagles and the Who. She created one of the most-loved and iconic songs of the 70s when she wrote Love and Affection in 1976. She was 26 years old. It was a song that took simple emotional fragility and made it somehow both sensuous and raunchy.
Joan made three more hit albums in three years with Glyn and her music would become anthemic to the feminist movement gathering pace since the early 70s. Despite her gold records, international status and touring worldwide, Joan had to overcome misogyny in the music studio and fight racism in the music business.
In 1978, Bob Dylan asked her to play at his festival BlackBushe. Joan, the only woman on the bill, played alongside rock gods such as Eric Clapton. Ask her how she felt, being up there, and you will hear Joan’s fearlessness - ‘The Rock Gods don’t scare me!’ - showing the determination and strength that contributed to her success.
By the 80s, Joan refused to be pigeonholed into a 70s guitar sound and she would diversify her style, experimenting with synths and finding a new direction to create music without a producer. Joan was also one of the first black British musicians to appear on MTV, creating innovative music videos and capturing the imagination of younger artists in the States who had never seen a British black woman play and sing like her before.
Joan was nominated for a Grammy three times, one of which was for the song How Cruel, a song that articulated the racism that many black British people encountered in the UK at the time. Notably, it highlighted to African-Americans that the same problems with race were happening on both sides of the Atlantic.
Songs like Me Myself I and Drop the Pilot became overnight hits in the 80s, testimony to Joan’s consummate songwriting ability. By the late 80s, Joan was one of the first women to write, arrange and produce all her albums, building a music studio at her home and working with the likes of Elton John, Pino Palladino and Mark Knopfler.
As well as unprecedented access to Joan, watching her play a sold-out tour, the film features exclusive, previously unseen archive and interviews with key collaborators from music producers Glyn Johns and Steve Lillywhite to musician Pino Palladino. The film also features interviews and cover versions of Joan’s songs, from Martha Wainwright singing Me Myself I and Meshell Negeocello covering How Cruel to Shingai Shoniwa from the Noisettes performing Love and Affection.

Friday 13th March - 23:00 - 00:00

Slipknot Unmasked - All Out Life
A unique and fascinating insight into the career and controversies of one of the most successful and contentious heavy metal bands of all time; Slipknot. The film combines new interviews, backstage access and an exclusive live session from the nine-piece group, performing six career-defining tracks at the legendary Maida Vale Studios in front of an intimate audience.
The six tracks, one from each of the band’s albums, transports the group, acknowledged by many as one of the most extreme live acts ever, from their usual arena sized shows to a uniquely intimate and intense setting. The film highlights the group’s phenomenal 25-year career, revealing how one of the most relentless and intense-sounding groups ever have struggled with drink, drugs, depression and the death of a band member, topped the charts, outsold their peers and picked up a Grammy along the way, whilst staying as bold, fearless and exhilarating as ever.

One for the Brit nostalgia crowd:-

Fri 20th March

9:00 - 10:00pm - The Story of Ready, Steady Go!
The story of Britain’s iconic 1960s music show, Ready Steady Go! The programme revolutionised television ‘for the kids’ and coincided with the tremendous explosion of British pop talent that took the world by storm. It championed emerging talent like The Beatles, The Who, Sandie Shaw, Cilla Black, Otis Redding and The Rolling Stones.
This definitive documentary covers every aspect of a pioneering show. Its style rewrote the rulebook for music programmes, with its intoxicating blend of performance, celebrity interviews and items on fashion. It often featured cameras in shot, live mishaps and the young audience interacting with their pop star heroes.
We go behind the scenes and speak to the people who made it all happen, including original producer Vicki Wickham and the programme’s pioneering director, Michael Lindsay-Hogg. Plus further contributions from Annie Nightingale, Eric Burdon, Chris Farlowe, Mary Wilson, Martha Reeves, Paul Jones, Gerry Marsden and Jools Holland.

10:00 - 11:00 - The Best of Ready Steady Go!
Documentary that features the very best bits of Britain’s first authentic 1960s pop show, Ready Steady Go! The iconic programme was an exciting combination of music performances, fashion commentary, celebrity interviews and mime competitions – all of which kids were thrilled to watch.
Kicking off in 1963, for over three years music fans around the country would religiously tune in to watch unmissable performances from some of the top recording artists of the time. Each week, the line-up offered an evocative snapshot of the British pop scene.
This priceless archive has rarely been seen and includes some of the most memorable performances from the greatest stars of the day. Tune in to see The Beatles perform Twist and Shout on a moving stage, The Rolling Stones presenting their very own episode, and Otis Redding’s sensational duet with Chris Farlowe and Eric Burdon. Other acts include Cilla Black, Lulu, and Martha and the Vandellas. Dusty Springfield also takes centre stage.

Friday 27th March

21:30 - 22:30 - Rock n Roll Island - Where legends Were Born
Award-winning documentary that celebrates the incredible musical history of Eel Pie Island, a small island in the Thames in south west London which became the epicentre of rhythm and blues in the 1960s.
In its heyday, the likes of The Stones, The Yardbirds, The Who, David Bowie, Elton John, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall, Long John Baldry and many others cut their teeth at the venue before becoming legends of the music industry.
Interviewed guests include Rod Stewart from The Faces, Top Topham from The Yardbirds, Mick Avory from The Kinks, Steve Hackett from Genesis, Dave Brock from Hawkwind, Andy Bown from Status Quo, Martin Turner from Wishbone Ash, Phil May from The Pretty Things, Don Craine and Keith Grant from The Downliners Sect, Geoff Cole from the Ken Colyer Band, Bob Dwyer from The Southern Stompers, Cleo Sylvestre from Honey B Mama, Blaine Harrison from The Mystery Jets, Paul Stewart from The Others, Sam Cutler, former tour manager with The Stones, as well as numerous fans known as Eelpilanders and island resident and inventor Trevor Baylis.
Combining these interviews with original black and white images and archive footage from the era, the documentary explores the unique experiences of the people who either played at the Eel Pie Island Hotel or went there to listen to music and dance on the famous bouncing dance floor.
Cheryl Robson, who created the project, says, ‘You can feel the incredible fondness for the Eel Pie experience when talking to those who actually went there. There was definitely something in the water in south west London, which affected all those who went, played, sang or danced. The energy was infectious.’
Narrated by actor Nigel Planer, who was once a resident of Eel Pie Island.

Thanks Lester; when I saw the write-up for the Eel Pie show I thought there's be one or two on the forum it would interest.