'Lust is a great creative force': David Bowie reveals what drove him in exclusive interview
A new BBC podcast presented by Kate Moss features Bowie and stars like Elton John, Lady Gaga, Robbie Williams and Tilda Swinton reflecting on his life and legacy – plus, Radio Times has acquired exclusive extracts from interviews not used.
The chameleon figure of David Bowie is one of the most scrutinised personas in rock and pop, as commentators continue to attempt to capture his essence, like bottling lightning. The subject of innumerable books and documentaries, Bowie has also had a touring exhibition that ran, appropriately enough, for five years, and now the Victoria & Albert Museum in London is opening on 13 September a David Bowie Centre at its new Storehouse facility in the east of the city, to house a wealth of material from his archive, including notes on his uncompleted final project – a musical set in 18th-century London. Given all that, it seems unfeasible that there is anything new to learn about Mr David Jones from Brixton. Yet the BBC 6 Music podcast Music Uncovered, David Bowie: Changeling has unearthed a previously unheard interview the Starman gave to producer Des Shaw in 2001, in which he looks back at his progression from wannabe rock star to global superstar in the early 70s, often guffawing at the absurdity of it all with a cackle to rival Grayson Perry’s. In the interview, the Starman reflected on how he reacted to the fame and success he enjoyed in the early 70s, telling Shaw: "I think that throughout the 60s and most of the 70s I was driven by lust, as much as anything. It's a great creative force. That in turn is replaced by anger, when you ask where the money is. And then you get depression, and then you go to Berlin and write really moody instrumental stuff. It’s the triptych of the 70s. Lust, anger, moody." Bowie also reflected on the differing views on what he was doing – his fusing of music, fashion, performance and art – “I think people are split into two very separate attitudes. One was that I was just this charlatan and other that I was, sort of, this rock god. There was no halfway measure. And I was rather scared of both sides!” There’s no doubting on which side the contributors to the podcast fall, including its presenter Kate Moss, who became friends with Bowie through his deep interest in fashion. She recalls how their friendship began in the sweetest manner, “David, whose nickname for me by the way was Smasher, started phoning me on my birthday. I didn’t need any other presents after that.” They formed a close relationship, to the extent that when Bowie won a lifetime achievement award at the Brits in 2014, he asked his friend Kate to collect it for him. She agreed, on one condition, that she could wear something from his archive: “I wore the original Kansai Yamamoto bodysuit that David had worn for his [Ziggy Stardust] Rainbow Theatre gigs in 1972 - it fit me like a glove. It was a very surreal experience.” But then the surreal is part of the appeal of the Bowie legend and that otherworldliness is summed up rather well by an entertainer many would consider a down-to-earth chap, Robbie Williams: “He was basically a celestial, angelic member of a fraternity that exists outside of this planet and this ‘normie’ realm and there are very few that are sent to teach us, love us, show us the way, but he was one of them.” There are quotes in the podcast from so many stars – across music, film, art, fashion – who felt taught, loved and shown the way by Bowie that his legacy comes through loud and clear. Actor Tilda Swinton, for one, sees it clearly: “I think that what Bowie contributed and contributes still - and presumably always will contribute to the culture - is a model of flexibility, curiosity. [He] was clearly a deeply experimental spirit, so dedicated to not repeating himself and very healthily not invested in minding when other people didn’t like what he was up to.” That single focus on doing what he wanted proved influential worldwide. Fashionista Edward Enninful, the former editor-in-chief of British Vogue who grew up in Ghana, says, “I was always obsessed with music. I was always obsessed with imagery and I remember I would see images of David Bowie in magazines and I knew how he looked was something that was just mind-blowing for a kid from Africa. “That fact that he was not scared of his sexuality, the fact that there were so many young people in small towns who would go out in their ‘Bowieness’ - dressed like him, probably getting beat up every night in night clubs - but he was bold and he was unafraid and there was something that always sort of attracted me to him.” A pop star who made a similar splash with his look in the 1980s, Boy George saw that Bowie’s impact was more profound than perhaps widening what music fans were able to wear: “[He] was unique because he was so contradictory in every way. He wasn’t the archetypal homosexual – or bisexual, I don’t think he was even that — and we were part of a new breed of gay people who weren’t apologetic. We weren’t going to apologise for being gay.” Lady Gaga, who treads a similar path to Bowie in the way she encompasses the worlds of music, art, fashion and theatrics, and who pays a huge debt to his Aladdin Sane persona, makes the point that what people found so moving and profound always came wrapped in pure entertainment: “I always felt that his glamour was something he was using to express a message to people that was very healing. You can use the theatre of your imagination to entertain people beyond their wildest dreams.” Yet it’s left to a superstar peer of Bowie’s to sum up everything in the simplest of terms. Elton John, who amazingly said at the time that Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust gigs were “too camp” (though he did later recant and admit the influence Ziggy had on him), now states clearly, “His music speaks for itself - he’s a giant, a ground-breaking artist, songwriter, performer, actor - and his legacy will be there for ever.” Radio Times has exclusive access to some extracts from the interviews conducted for the podcast, but which didn’t make the final cut and which we can share with you now. First up we find that Bowie laugh well deployed in the 2001 interview as he reflected on the wealth of online commentary about his early work: “The great thing about the internet these days is that there are some brilliant sites that stoke the myth and mystique about the early period stuff. “It’s mostly wrong and kind of irrelevant, but what it does do is - they have got amazing photographs that they’ve collected over the years and what they do write actually prompts me and then I can remember from what they’ve said whether it’s mistake or reality. It doesn’t matter really because it all becomes nonsense anyway in the end [laughing]!” That willingness to laugh about what many think is an important and enduring legacy is something that actor Tilda Swinton will always hold dear as she revealed to Shaw: “I think probably the most important, the most resonant thing that I managed to kind of ‘download’ from David, knowing him as a person, was just glorying in how happy he was.” “He was certainly happy at the time of his life when I was fortunate enough to know him and I know - because he told me - there had been times in his life when he hadn’t been as happy, but by the time we met he was so incandescent with appreciation for life and that, I would say, is the most important base note of what he meant to me as a friend. Curious in every way and engaged and up for it - and full of mischief, vim and vigour - and all the good stuff.” Another close friend, and collaborator, who admits to being influenced by working with Bowie is his Berlin flat-mate, Iggy Pop. He told Shaw: “We were visually absolutely influenced and pressured by what was going on in Britain at the time - and David would come around in his gigantic lavender platform heels with a new hair colour every week and we’d all go off and drink tea [...] this led to all sorts of ramifications within the group and you can see on the back of [the 1973 Iggy Pop and the Stooges album co-produced by Bowie] Raw Power album - the kabuki make-up and my black lipstick - absolutely in reaction to what was happening. Very human reaction - 'The guys down the street are doing it then we’ll do that too'.” Ground-breaking 60s model Twiggy was also struck by the Bowie look: “Visually he was stunning. I do remember seeing him on Top of the Pops for the first time and just being bowled over by how he looked - no one in the pop scene had ever dressed like that. I’d seen [Marc] Bolan wear make-up but Bowie had the amazing costumes. I just thought he was extraordinary and to me, David’s music was so new and different. He was so bright and sweet and lovely. I just thought he was gorgeous and I loved his clothes and his music and bought his albums.” There’s one album that is more dear to her than any others, as she features in the lyric, “His name was always Buddy, And he'd shrug and ask to stay. She'd sigh like Twig the Wonder Kid, And turn her face away”. She told Shaw about the first time she heard it: “I was in my little kitchen and I heard [Drive-in Saturday] on the radio and thought I heard my name, so I went to my local record shop and told the guy behind the counter I thought I’d heard my name in a song and he said, it was the new David Bowie album, so I bought Aladdin Sane.” What these quotes and all the interviews used in the podcast make clear is that Bowie touched and guided the lives of so many people, from those he made music with to his fans and friends, that his legacy continues to burn bright in contemporary culture, however much he might think the myth-making is nonsense. Music Uncovered, David Bowie: Changeling is available now on BBC Sounds and broadcasts on 6 Music at 12 midnight Sunday 21 September. Check out more of our Audio coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Glastonbury 2025 presenters: Who is fronting BBC coverage for festival?
As the BBC prepares to cover every inch of the festival, here's who will be guiding us through the weekend.
With so much going on at Glastonbury Festival this year, it's hard to keep up with the essential performances we need to see – but thankfully, the BBC has our backs. While we try and wrap our heads around whether to catch Charli XCX or Doechii due to the time clash, a host of BBC presenting favourites will be there to make sure we can catch up later and not miss out on the best bits of the weekend. So, who will be joining the revellers at Worthy Farm this year? Well, more than two dozen broadcasters will be there to make sure that, whether you're catching up on TV, radio or streaming, you're fully in the know. Here's everything you need to know about the presenters hosting this year's coverage, and where you'll find them. Glastonbury 2025 presenters: Who is fronting BBC coverage for festival? The BBC is bringing out its biggest names on both TV and radio to cover every inch of the festival – from the biggest sets to live interviews and in-studio performances. The main presenters are as follows. Read on for where you'll find them across the weekend. Anita Rani One broadcaster who'll be at the helm of the BBC's coverage of Glastonbury this year is Anita Rani, who's best known for her work on BBC One's Countryfile, Watchdog and The One Show. Annie Macmanus Author, broadcaster and DJ Annie Macmanus will also be fronting the BBC's coverage this year. She rose to fame as a DJ on BBC Radio 1, and is best known for her best-selling novel Mother Mother. She also has a podcast, Changes, which she hosts on Spotify. Arielle Free Arielle Free is a Scottish DJ and broadcaster. She began her presenting career on ITV's children show Scrambled, but she's best known for presenting on BBC Radio 1. Cerys Matthews Cerys Matthews is a singer/songwriter and BBC Radio presenter. She hosts and programmes a weekly Sunday morning show on BBC 6 music. Clara Amfo Former Radio 1 DJ Clara Amfo will also be on hosting duties this year. She kicked off her career at Kiss FM, before joining BBC Radio 1Xtra in 2013, hosting the weekend breakfast show. She is best known for hosting Future Sounds on BBC Radio 1, and has also hosted ITV2 coverage of the BRIT Awards, the BBC Proms and Radio 1's Big Weekend. Craig Charles Actor, presenter and DJ Craig Charles will also be presenting BBC coverage of Glastonbury this year. He became a household name when he bagged the role of technician Dave Lister in Red Dwarf back in 1988, and went on to star in Robot Wars and Coronation Street. He has also worked as a DJ, and has hosted The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show on BBC radio since 2002. Danni Diston Danni Diston is the co-host of BBC Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast show alongside Sam MacGregor. Danny Howard Danny Howard is a British DJ, producer and radio presenter, and the current host of BBC Radio 1's Dance Party. Deb Grant Deb Grant is a DJ, writer and broadcaster, and the current host of the New Music Fix show on BBC6 Music. Dermot O'Leary Television and radio presenter Dermot O'Leary will also be on hand this year to host the BBC's coverage of Glastonbury. He is best known for presenting This Morning, Channel 4's Big Brother Little Brother, and The X Factor. DJ Target DJ Target is a broadcaster who's best known for being part of grime collective Roll Deep, and presenting on BBC Radio 1Xtra. Gilles Peterson Giles Peterson is a radio presenter best known for hosting a weekly Saturday afternoon show on BBC Radio 6 Music. Greg James Greg James will also be fronting the BBC's coverage this year. The author, broadcaster and presenter is best known for hosting the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Huw Stephens Another voice fronting the BBC's coverage of Glastonbury this year will be presenter, DJ and host Huw Stephens, who is best known for his work on programmes such on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio Cymru. Huw holds the record for being the youngest ever radio presenter on BBC Radio 1, having joined the station at just 17. Jack Saunders Saunders is a radio DJ and television presenter who's best known for hosting Radio 1's flagship New Music Show. Jamz Supernova Jamz Supernova is a broadcaster, DJ and boss of record label Future Bounce. She's best known for her weekly Saturday slot on BBC Radio 6 Music. Jo Whiley DJ and radio presenter Jo Whiley has enjoyed a successful career across radio and TV. She got her break as a presenter for WPFM, Radio 4's youth culture and music show, and has gone on to present several shows on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. Lauren Laverne The radio DJ, TV presenter and broadcaster is best known for presenting Desert Island Discs on Radio 4, as well as BBC Radio 6 Music's breakfast show and The One Show. She was also the lead singer and guitarist in the band Kenickie. Nathan Shepherd Broadcaster Nathan Shepherd is best known for hosting BBC Radio 6 Music's Indie Forever show. Nick Grimshaw Nick Grimshaw will also be broadcasting live from Worthy Farm this year. The broadcaster and author is best known for hosting the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show, a role which he stepped down from back in 2018 and was replaced by Greg James. He is currently the host of the BBC Radio 6 Music Breakfast Show, having taken over from Lauren Laverne earlier in 2025. Sam MacGregor Sam MacGregor is the co-host of BBC Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast show alongside Danni Diston. Sarah Story Radio DJ Sarah Story is best known for presenting Radio 1's Future Dance. Steve Lamacq Steve Lamacq is a DJ and journalist, who co-presented The Evening Session on Radio 1 with Jo Whiley from 1993-97, before moving to BBC Radio 6 Music. Zoe Ball Broadcaster and presenter Zoe Ball will also be fronting the BBC's coverage of the festival this year. She is best known for hosting the Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2, a role she stepped down from late last year, and Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two. She made history back in 1998 as the first female presenter of BBC Radio 1's Breakfast Show. TV Coverage The Glastonbury Channel: Clara Amfo, Huw Stephens, Jack Saunders, Jamz Supernova, Jo Whiley and Lauren Laverne will be hosting on rotation to keep you up to date with the latest goings on thanks to the BBC’s specialised streaming channel. Sidetracked by Glastonbury Podcast: Annie Macmanus and Nick Grimshaw will present three visualised episodes of the podcast, featuring interviews with acts and more. Rod Stewart’s interview is available now, with the other two airing on BBC Radio 6 Music on Friday and Sunday, 6-7pm. A live episode will be recorded and broadcast from the BBC Introducing stage on Thursday at 12pm. Glastonbury 2025 Live (BBC Two): Clara Amfo and Lauren Laverne will be hosting throughout the weekend. All Day Glastonbury (BBC Radio 6 Music) On top of focusing on Glastonbury festival highlights from this year and years past, the following DJs will be on site to host their shows live from Worthy Farm. Nick Grimshaw (Wednesday and Thursday 7-10am). Deb Grant and Nathan Shepherd for New Music Fix Daily (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 7-9pm). Lauren Laverne (Thursday and Friday 10am-1pm) Craig Charles (Thursday 1pm-4pm, Saturday 1pm-4pm) Jamz Supernova (Friday 1-4pm, Saturday 10am to 1pm) Huw Stephens (Friday 4-6pm, Saturday 9pm-midnight, Sunday 4-6pm) Steve Lamacq (Friday 9pm-12am and Sunday 9pm-12am) Cerys Matthews (Saturday 4-7pm, Sunday 10am-1pm) BBC Radio 1, Radio 1 Dance and 1Xtra On top of the BBC Radio 6 Team being on site, the following DJs will also be at Worthy Farm broadcasting live from the site Jack Saunders (Thursday 6-8pm) Greg James (Friday 7-10am) Sam MacGregor and Danni Diston (Saturday 1-4pm) DJ Target presents 1Xtra’s Pre-Party show (Saturday 7-9pm). There will also be stage takeovers, with Danny Howard, Arielle Free and Sarah Story leading the BBC Introducing Stage, which will be simulcast on BBC Radio 1 and Radio 1 Dance from 8-11pm on Thursday and 6pm on Friday. BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 also isn’t missing out from the action, with the following stars broadcasting their shows on site to bring you the latest from the weekend. Dermot O’Leary (Saturday 8-10am) Zoe Ball (Saturday 1-3pm) Jo Whiley (Sunday 5-8pm) BBC Radio 4 Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour at Glastonbury (Friday 10-11am) hosted by Anita Rani. Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
BBC confirm Pulp will perform world exclusive concert for few lucky fans
The shows will see the group play both new and old material.
Pulp are set to perform two world exclusive live shows for BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio 2 In Concert, the BBC has confirmed. Both shows will take place in May and will be recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre in London’s Broadcasting House. It comes in the wake of the Sheffield-formed band, which is fronted by Jarvis Cocker, announcing their new album More, and will see the group play some of their most loved hits, as well as new material. For the intimate session for 6 Music and BBC Sounds, the group will perform as part of a show called 6 Music Session: Pulp Live, which will be broadcast on Nick Grimshaw’s show on Thursday, 29th May, alongside an interview with the band. For the other show, titled Pulp: Radio 2 In Concert, the band will perform in front of a small audience of fans at the BBC Radio Theatre on 7th May. The performance will then be broadcast on Jo Whiley’s Radio 2 show and on BBC Sounds on Thursday, 29th May. On Friday 30th May, some exclusive tracks from the recording will be broadcast on The Scott Mills Breakfast Show at 9am. "We are really looking forward to this," said Cocker of Pulp. "From my time at 6 Music, I remember that the BBC Radio Theatre is a very intimate venue. As long as we can fit all our equipment in there it’s going to be great to play some songs for Radio 2 and 6 Music." Both performances will also be available to watch on demand. Pulp’s 6 Music performance will be available on BBC iPlayer for 30 days from 29th May, while the band’s Radio 2 in Concert will be broadcast on BBC Two in June and then be available on BBC iPlayer. Nick Grimshaw said: "It was amazing to hear Pulp’s new music exclusively on Lauren’s show last week. I’m so excited to hear more from their new album as part of their 6 Music session and to speak to the band about the process of writing and recording their first album in almost 24 years." Jo Whiley said: "I have been a fan of Pulp for as long as I have been presenting on the radio, and it’s a joy to still be following their hugely successful career all these years later. I’m so looking forward to hearing all those songs that have such personal significance to me – and to our Radio 2 listeners – as they play to a small audience of lucky fans in the BBC Radio Theatre next month." Jeff Smith, Head of Music for Radio 2 and 6 Music, added: "Pulp are one of the UK’s most loved bands, with a steady stream of hits and songs that have grown in popularity and status over the years. I’m delighted that the band have agreed to give the BBC two contrasting sets, one for Radio 2 appealing to musical mainstream audiences and another for 6 Music whose listeners’ tastes lie beyond the mainstream." Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Lauren Laverne officially leaving BBC Radio 6 Breakfast Show – confirms replacement
Laverne will be returning to the station with a new show in the mid-morning slot.
Lauren Laverne has announced that she will be stepping down from the BBC Radio 6 Breakfast Show after six years – but she will be returning to the station in a different slot. Laverne temporarily stepped back from her presenting duties last August after sharing that she was undergoing treatment for a cancer diagnosis, and has now revealed that she will be back in a mid-morning slot for a brand new weekday programme in the near future. The show will include several of the features already made popular in her time at the station, including Desert Island Disco and People’s Playlist, as well as live sessions and a huge assortment of music from an eclectic array of artists. She made the announcement during an appearance on this morning's Breakfast Show, while also revealing that Nick Grimshaw – who has been hosting in her absence – will now be a permanent fixture in the early mornings. "As listeners will know, I had a really tough 2024 and worried at times that I wouldn’t be able to return to the station I love so much," Laverne explained. "It has been a huge honour (and so much fun) to host the Breakfast Show for six wonderful years, but it is time to pass the baton on, and to set my alarm a little later." She added: "During my recovery I learned all over again about the power of music, the people you surround yourself with and the emotional support and joy radio can provide. "I’m so grateful to be able to get back to doing what I love and sharing those things with our brilliant listeners every day." Meanwhile, speaking about his new role, Grimshaw thanked listeners for having "made me feel so welcome" while he had been covering for Laverne. He continued: "6 Music is a precious place, a station I love, I’m honestly honoured to be asked to work there and can’t wait to continue supplying the best new music from the world’s most interesting artists." Both new shows will begin in February, with Nemone stepping in to present the Breakfast Show in the interim, from Monday 13th January. Meanwhile, current daytime host Mary Anne Hobbs will be taking a sabbatical before returning to the station later in the spring with a new show. "It really is wonderful news that Lauren is feeling better and is ready to return to 6 Music," 6 Music's chief Samantha Moy said of the news. "Like our listeners, we have missed her enormously and we can’t wait to have her back on air." Of Grimshaw, she added: "Since the summertime, Nick has hosted our Breakfast show, and it’s been clear how much our listeners have taken him into their homes and hearts. "He is one of the finest broadcasters of his generation and we are thrilled that he is going to become the brand new presenter of the 6 Music Breakfast show." She also described Hobbs as "the very best of us at 6 Music", and said that "we look forward to our wild horse’s return later this year". Check out more of our Radio coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
BBC presenter Lauren Laverne shares cancer diagnosis – thanks colleagues for support
She revealed the news on social media this morning.
BBC presenter Lauren Laverne, who currently presents Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, has revealed she is undergoing treatment for cancer. In an Instagram post shared today (21st August), Laverne announced the news, letting her followers know the cancer was "caught early and unexpectedly during a screening test" and that she is "expected to make a full recovery". "I'm in hospital at the moment and wanted to take this moment to say thank you," she wrote. "Firstly to the medical teams who have got me this far with incredible skill and kindness. To my family and friends who have been absolutely extraordinary every step of the way - I am so very grateful and love you so much. "And of course thank you to my colleagues - including those at @itg_ltd, @bbc6music, @bbctheoneshow and #DesertIslandDiscs for their support - and for giving me the time off that I need to get better." She also used the moment to urge people to get themselves "checked out" if they find themselves "avoiding a test or putting off an appointment". "Please do it today," she wrote. "Half of us will get cancer at some point, and if you do, finding out asap is everything. It's usually my job to bring the good vibes on air but any you have to spare are very much welcome here. Sending loads of love to anyone in a similar boat, or who has made it back to shore." Colleagues and friends alike have been sharing their well wishes in the comments of her post, with football pundit Ian Wright commenting a number of heart emojis in the comment section. Journalist Bryony Gordon commented she was "sending all the healing vibes", along with Myleene Klass, who wrote: "You are incredible and have been every step of the way. Love you Lala." Fellow presenter Gabby Logan wrote, "Sending you all the love and positive healing Lauren," with BBC Radio 2 broadcaster Dermot O'Leary sharing a heart emoji beneath the post. Laverne is best known for her TV and radio presenting work, and has hosted the likes of The One Show, Late Night Woman's Hour and this year's Ivor Novello Awards. Visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what else is on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
How to listen to The Beatles' final song Now and Then
The Beatles' highly-anticipated emotional farewell song Now and Then is being made available today (Thursday 2nd November), with the Peter Jackson-led music video set to premiere the following day. This marks Jackson’s first foray into music video production, and he has admitted he was initially "reluctant" to take on such an immense challenge. "To be honest, just thinking about the responsibility of having to make a music video worthy of the last song The Beatles will ever release produced a collection of anxieties almost too overwhelming to deal with," he said. "My lifelong love of The Beatles collided into a wall of sheer terror at the thought of letting everyone down. "This created intense insecurity in me, because I’d never made a music video before, and was not able to imagine how I could even begin to create one for a band that broke up over 50 years ago, had never actually performed the song, and had half of its members no longer with us. It was going to be far easier to do a runner." If you’re wondering how to listen to Now and Then, and how to watch the accompanying music video, read on for the latest information. How to listen to The Beatles' final song Now and Then In the UK, Now and Then will first be played on BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music at 2pm on Thursday. Simultaneously, the song will become available on various streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Prime Music, while CD, vinyl and cassette releases will debut the following day. You can now listen to the official audio on YouTube. View oEmbed on the source website From 10th November, the song will be included on the newly remastered and expanded editions of The Beatles' Red and Blue greatest hits albums. Now and Then was originally written and recorded in the late 1970s by the late John Lennon, but artificial intelligence has been used to separate Lennon’s vocals from an old demo. As well as bringing the icon's vocals back to life, the track also features electric and acoustic guitar recordings from 1995 by the late George Harrison, back-up vocals from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, drums by Starr, and bass, piano and a slide guitar solo from McCartney. How to watch the Now and Then music video The accompanying full music video will premiere worldwide on Friday, 3rd November at 2pm GMT on The Beatles’ YouTube channel. Until then, we have the official audio video above. It will also become available on 3rd November on Disney Plus. How to watch the documentary Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song A 12-minute documentary film has also been produced, telling the story behind the last Beatles song, featuring exclusive footage and commentary from Paul, Ringo, George, Sean Ono Lennon and Jackson. Written and directed by Oliver Murray, the short film first premiered on 1st November on BBC One at 7pm, and is now available to watch on Disney Plus. You can also watch it on YouTube below. View oEmbed on the source website Read more: Taylor Swift albums in order - Taylor's Versions and first albums For All the Dogs album release date speculation: What is Drake's album track list? Speaking about the short film, Oliver Murray said: "The legacy of The Beatles set one of the most important foundations for modern youth culture. "It is a great honor to be given the responsibility of telling this story, and I think it will conjure up a lot of different emotions for people as we all have a very personal relationship to the band’s work. "Now and Then is a story of musical archaeology and a brotherly bond between four guys that gave the world some of the most popular entertainment in history." Check out more of our Radio coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guideto find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
George Harrison's son moved to tears by Now and Then
Peter Jackson has detailed the "overwhelming" task of creating the music video for Now and Then.
The music video for The Beatles' highly-anticipated emotional farewell song Now and Then will premiere worldwide on Friday (3rd November). The film, which marks filmmaker Peter Jackson’s first foray into music video production, celebrates the band's enduring love for one another as they create the last Beatles song. And now Jackson has revealed that the son of late guitarist George Harrison – who was part of the legendary band alongside Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr – was "immediately" moved when he saw the music video for the track. Talking about how he approached the immense task of creating the last ever video for the band, Jackson (The Beatles: Get Back) said in an interview on the official Beatles website: "Their contribution to the world is too immense, and their wondrous gift of music has become part of our DNA and now defies description. "I realised we needed the imagination of every viewer to do what we couldn’t, and have each viewer create their own personal moment of farewell to The Beatles – but we had to gently steer everyone to that place. "I had some vague ideas, but didn’t really know how to achieve this." Talking about the late Harrison's son's reaction to the music video, he continued: "Fortunately, Dhani Harrison happened to be visiting NZ at this time. I discussed the ending with him, and described one vague idea I’d been toying with. "His eyes immediately filled with tears - so that is the way we went." Reflecting further on how he was initially reluctant when Apple asked him to make the music video, Jackson added: "To be honest, just thinking about the responsibility of having to make a music video worthy of the last song The Beatles will ever release produced a collection of anxieties almost too overwhelming to deal with. "My lifelong love of The Beatles collided into a wall of sheer terror at the thought of letting everyone down. "This created intense insecurity in me because I’d never made a music video before, and was not able to imagine how I could even begin to create one for a band that broke up over 50 years ago, had never actually performed the song, and had half of its members no longer with us." Now and Then was originally written and recorded in the late 1970s by the late John Lennon after The Beatles broke up, but is being released with the help of artificial intelligence, which was used to separate Lennon’s vocals from an old demo. As well as this, Now and Then also features electric and acoustic guitar recordings from 1995 by the late Harrison, back-up vocals from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, drums by Starr, and bass, piano and a slide guitar solo from McCartney. In the UK, Now and Then will first be played on BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music at 2pm on Thursday, with the music video set to premiere 24 hours later on The Beatles' YouTube channel. Read more: Taylor Swift albums in order - Taylor's Versions and first albums For All the Dogs album release date speculation: What is Drake's album track list? Check out more of our Radio coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Peaky Blinders' Cillian Murphy to return with BBC Radio 6 show
The actor returns to his musical roots in his BBC Radio 6 show.
Cillian Murphy may have last been seen on the big screen in the starring role in this year's box office hit Oppenheimer, but the acclaimed actor is going back to his musical roots with a return to BBC Radio 6. The Peaky Blinders actor is returning to the radio show with a Sunday night slot from 17th September. Announcing the news on Twitter, which has recently rebranded as X, BBC Radio 6 Music marked the return of Murphy's show, writing: "His weekly nocturnal playlist sees Cillian explore music from all corners of his record collection & share why they hold a special place in his life." View oEmbed on the source website Murphy joined host and DJ Nemone this morning (Friday 1st September) to announce the news. He said: “It’s been a while, but I am thrilled to be back playing tunes on 6 Music, my favourite radio station in the world. The show will be a sound collage of new, old and limited edition tunes for your discerning ears. Can’t wait.” The first series of Cillian Murphy’s Limited Edition aired in autumn 2020 and the second in autumn 2021 so it's safe to say that fans have been waiting patiently for the actor to return to the airwaves. One excited fan wrote on Twitter that they've been "praying for times like these" while another wrote: "Absolutely cannot recommend these shows enough. Impeccable music taste and guaranteed new finds." Although the Irish actor is best known for his roles in films like 28 Days Later and the Dark Knight trilogy, as well as series like Peaky Blinders, the actor sang and played guitar in several bands in his teenage years and early 20s. The actor previously appeared on Lauren Laverne's BBC Radio 6 show to chat about Oppenheimer, but also talk about his love of music in his creative process. He said: "Music is like a constant companion to me, I'm obsessed with it. It's what I wanted to do originally – it didn't work out." Read more: Cillian Murphy gives opinion on Oppenheimer: 'I tried not to judge him' Cillian Murphy nearly played Oppenheimer on TV almost a decade ago His previous Radio 6 collections have featured music both old and new, ranging from afrobeats to electronica, jazz, spoken word and poetry. Most recently, Murphy has received widespread critical acclaim for his starring role in Christopher Nolan's biopic film with Murphy as Robert J Oppenheimer. In an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com (conducted prior to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike), Murphy said of his character and real-life figure: "I was so immersed in it and so involved in it, and I was trying not to judge the character at all times, and just trying to kind of understand it and give Chris [Nolan] the raw materials for his script." He added: "I have lots of kind of varying opinions on him, but not one consistent." View Green Video on the source website Cillian Murphy's Limited Edition returns to BBC Radio 6 on 17th September at 10pm. Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
BBC Radio stations to join together for "Great British Singalong"
BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, 6 Music, 1Xtra and the Asian Network will host a singalong at 9am on Thursday 3rd April
The BBC's most popular radio stations are coming together later this week for a mass singalong that aims to "lift the nation’s spirits" amid the coronavirus pandemic. BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, 6 Music, 1Xtra and the Asian Network will take part in the singalong in a simulcast at 9am on Thursday 2nd April—with all five stations picking one song each. The Great British Singalong will be hosted by Radio 1's Greg James, Dermot O'Leary on Radio 2, Lauren Laverne on 6 Music, Dotty on 1Xtra, and Harpz Kaur on the Asian Network, with the presenters choosing the songs after asking for listener suggestions. Greg James said, "Nothing brings people together quite like radio does. It’s been a great comfort for me to have a focus during this extraordinary time. "I’m so glad the listeners find what we’re currently doing a useful distraction as well. I can’t wait to annoy all the 6 Music listeners with my choice." Lauren Laverne added, "I’m so glad that as radio presenters we can continue to unite and entertain listeners during such a challenging time and what better way to bring people together than a singalong? "I hope you’ll join us on Thursday—and I look forward to hearing your suggestions. I know they will be fabulous." Meanwhile, Lorna Clarke, the controller for BBC Popular Music, said, "In these challenging times, we know that many people have been turning to radio as a lifeline. "The live broadcasts from our amazing presenters are providing people with a sense of community and some much-needed escapism at a time where many of us are feeling distant from our loved ones. "We’ll be keeping that spirit up on Thursday morning as all our pop music stations come together in what is sure to be a very special moment." If you're looking for what to watch during lockdown, check out our TV Guide to stay up to date with the latest programming from the BBC and more.
Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy to turn radio presenter for BBC 6 Music
The actor will be filling in for Elbow frontman Guy Garvey from March 2019
Actor Cillian Murphy is moving from the mean streets of Birmingham to the sound booths of BBC Radio 6 Music. The Peaky Blinders star – who plays gangster Tommy Shelby in the acclaimed period drama – is set to present a regular slot on the digital BBC radio station from March. Murphy, who has presented various one-off shows for 6 Music over the years and once performed as a rock musician, will be taking over Elbow frontman Guy Garvey’s slot while Garvey works on new music. Cillian Murphy on 6 Music will on Sundays from 2-4pm from 3rd March until the summer. When is Peaky Blinders back on TV? Who’s in the cast, what’s the plot and will there be a movie? Who were the real Peaky Blinders? View oEmbed on the source website "As a music lover, mixtape obsessive and long-time 6 Music fan I couldn’t be more chuffed to be asked to sit in for Guy on his hiatus," Murphy said. “His show has been a constant companion for me and my family on Sunday afternoons for many years now, and it will be an honour to pick the tunes in that slot for a while. 6 Music is the best radio station in the world and I look forward to becoming a temporary houseguest!" "I am taking a couple of months off to concentrate on the final stages of Elbow’s next record,” Garvey added to explain his absence. “Murphy is a bit too good actually, I’ve heard him before and he knows his onions. I obviously have to watch my back, but he’s nowhere near as good looking as me so I’ll win on that front." “We’re delighted Cillian will be joining 6 Music for the next few months,” continued 6 Music Head Paul Rodgers. “His music selections are always interesting and I think listeners will love hearing him on 6 Music on Sunday afternoons.” Sounds like the perfect way to (flat) cap off the weekend this spring.
BBC 6 Music changes: Stuart Maconie gears up for his new weekend morning slot
The Radcliffe and Maconie show swaps its previous afternoon slot for Saturday and Sunday mornings
At the end of a week of big changes at BBC Radio 6 Music, the Radcliffe and Maconie show moves from an afternoon slot to Saturday and Sunday mornings, 7am till 10am, starting 12th January. The first run of shows see Stuart Maconie go it alone, as co-host Mark Radcliffe recovers from treatment for cancer. Radio Times caught up with Maconie as he prepares for the new show Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music's schedule shake-up: "You have to keep listening and looking ahead" BBC 6 Music changes: Mary Anne Hobbs breaks new ground with new weekday show BBC 6 Music is not ”completely safe” from closure says station boss Stuart, you’re starting the new-look Radcliffe and Maconie show without Mark because of his illness. How is he getting on and when can we expect him to join you? He’s doing great. He’s pre-recorded a couple of his Radio 2 Folk Shows. His treatment has finished, and he’s in recovery. I mean, it’s a slow and difficult process but he’s in good spirits. He’s been around this week and hopefully will be up for his first live Radcliffe and Maconie in February. The listeners have got a few weeks just with me and then then the old team will be reunited, which will be wonderful. View oEmbed on the source website We’ll look forward to that but for now it’s just you: have you ever presented a show this early before? I’ve never done it regularly. I’ve sat in on breakfast shows. I’ve deputised for Terry Wogan and Shaun Keaveny, so I’ve done it for short periods but never as a regular gig. I have to say it will be a bit of a shock to the system, but sometimes shocks to the system are good things. I’m past the age when I’m out all night on a Friday night. How’s the preparation going? Does it feel like a new show? Well, yes, it does. We’re going to continue elements of what we’ve done before, but I’ve been keen that we don’t set it in stone. Having said that, we’ve got quite a lot of things planned, plus some old favourites that will be coming with us — The Chain and Tea-Time Theme Time. People will still be having a cup of tea at nine o’clock on a Saturday morning, I’m sure, but I am in the market for better suggestions for what we can call it. I’m also conscious that we’re taking over from Mary Anne Hobbs and that she would include quite a bit of left-field music and I think we’ll keep that going, certainly in the first hour of the show. View oEmbed on the source website Are there any specific new features you can tell me about? We’ve got one we’re calling Sampled Underfoot. I’m aware that there might be a generational relationship going on at that time on a Saturday morning — that younger listeners might know a Kanye West or a Drake record, but only their mum or dad might know what it is they’ve sampled. So we’ll play the two records together. And we’re reviving the “First, Last and Everything” feature that Mark had on his solo Radio 2 show a few years ago — with people telling us about the first record they bought, the last record they bought, and the record that means everything to them. It just seemed perfect for the new slot. it’s a nice, self-contained thing and in Salford Media City we’re perfectly placed for politicians, footballers, poets, people from all walks of life, to come on the show and contribute. We’ll have guests from music and guests from beyond music. Right now I’m on my way to interview Will Poulter from Black Mirror. What else are you up to? I know you have The Freak Zone on 6 Music and you’re writing another book, yes? Called The Nanny State Made Me? That’s right, yes. I was very aware that for 40 years we’ve had this dominant kind of narrative in our political discussion which is that in the 1970s Britain was a mess, that the state was a bloated failure that had to give way to private enterprise. I think this is an idea that’s been almost entirely discredited by what’s happened in the past year or two. So the book is going to be me trying to redress the balance a bit, saying that the post-1945 welfare state was actually a magnificent institution. It’s going to be kind of a love letter to the benevolent state. You know, I don’t want my state to make my curry or my pop music, but I do think the state might be best to run the schools, the hospitals, the prisons, the national parks. Sign up to the RadioTimes.com email newsletter
New year, new show: Lauren Laverne leads the BBC Radio 6 Music schedule changes
The presenter discusses taking over from Shaun Keaveny as the host of 6 Music's breakfast show – and why radio needs to be more diverse
Lauren Laverne has had a busy morning, even by her never-stand-still standards. Her BBC 6 Music programme (10am-1pm) was an outside broadcast, with Laverne hosting from London’s Tobacco Dock. With Gaika and Soak playing live, plus an on-the-spot Desert Island Disco mix from Riton and Kah-Lo, the show was a packed one. Before that, she managed to squeeze in a voiceover. Laverne is also the stand-in host of Desert Island Discs while Kirsty Young takes some time off due to fibromyalgia, she presents Radio 4’s Late Night Woman’s Hour, narrates Tee and Mo on CBeebies, hosts awards ceremonies and BBC events, writes columns and does all the prep required to do such jobs properly… BBC Radio 6 Music’s Shaun Keaveny unveils his new afternoon show – and explains why he had to leave breakfast Laverne, 40, remains unfrazzled. She arrives at the photographer’s studio with a let’s-crack-on attitude, chatting with photographer, stylist and make-up artist, grabbing a vegetarian sandwich before sitting down for our chat, jokey but efficient. She’s in the moment and time, as ever, is of the essence. BBC 6 Music changes: Mary Anne Hobbs breaks new ground with new weekday show We’re here to talk about her new gig: 6 Music’s breakfast show, which she will present from 7 January. 6 Music, along with Radios 1 and 2, has had a schedule shake-up, resulting in Laverne moving to the weekday breakfast slot; Mary Anne Hobbs taking Laverne’s old morning show; Shaun Keaveny, the current breakfast-show host, moving to weekday afternoons; and Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie shifting to weekends. It’s a refresh that gives 6 Music’s women presenters more airtime. Does Laverne think that’s important? View oEmbed on the source website “Well, it’s not for me to make decisions about who goes on air,” she says. “But yes, it’s really exciting to have Mary Anne there. For there to be two of us is great. Personally speaking, I feel that it’s important to reflect the audience that you’re talking to. The BBC is a public service… So, in terms of what I do, I make sure my show is diverse and engaging in all sorts of different ways: genre, era, ethnicity, gender.” Zoe Ball’s move to Radio 2 is big news – and so is the enduring appeal of radio This hasn’t gone unnoticed: her 6 Music show has long been admired for its welcoming eclecticism. She’s as happy playing West African jazz as she is German experimental rock. But no matter how open-minded 6 Music listeners are, the reshuffle will change the station’s feel... “If people get upset, I can understand it,” she says. “Live radio is such an intimate medium. If someone you’re not keen on comes on a TV channel, you switch over and don’t think anything about it. But it’s not like that on the radio, is it? It’s a personal affront: ‘I don’t like this record!’ It’s like someone coming into your house and swearing at you.” Still, Laverne is quietly confident about her new job: “I’m excited!” She does her homework, she knows her stuff. She’s presented “all across the dial”, and indeed, all across the clock: she’s hosted on Radios 1 through to 6, presented breakfast and drivetime in the five years she worked at XFM, as well as late night programmes. So her new 6 Music show won’t be exactly like her old one, though some existing features will transfer. “I’d get beaten up if Desert Island Disco didn’t come with me,” she says. “I want listeners to be able to feel like it’s an easy listen. I don’t want them to turn the radio on and be bashed over the head with loud, honky, brand-new things. That’s going to just feel like hard work.” Anyhow, if the show doesn’t gel at first, she can cope. Her general approach is to be as prepared as possible (she looks at listening data, programmes the music with her team), but also flexible enough to throw preparations into the air if something changes; for instance, when David Bowie and Prince died, and 6 Music responded by playing their records all day. “It’s like any DJ,” she says, “you read the room.” Laverne has been a presenter for over 20 years, moving from being in a band (Kenickie) to TV presenting “for shoe money”. She still loves hosting telly – “It’s like going to a great party, putting your glad rags on, loads of people” – but in radio, she says, she “found my people, my tribe”. Still, being a music radio DJ is very different from her other gig presenting Desert Island Discs (including interviewing Tom Daley, above). Laverne has a couple of analogies for being asked to step in. First, she likens it to house-sitting Buckingham Palace; then she says, “It’s like being a cab driver and Prince gets in the back. I mean, you know how to drive and you know the routes, your competence isn’t a big deal, but it’s not an ordinary day at work.” Luckily, she has the ability to see the bigger picture while focusing in on the details: “It’s not about how you feel, it’s about what you are here to do.” This pragmatism serves her well, as does her curiosity about the world. “I’m the kind of person who will walk past a building and think, ‘Oh, that’s interesting’, so then I Wikipedia it, and find out the architect, and before I know it, I’m deep into the architect’s life.” Her curiosity comes from her upbringing. She was born and raised Lauren Gofton in Sunderland, Laverne’s parents came from working-class families; her dad, Lesley, one of six, her mum, Celia, one of nine. They both passed their 11-plus and went to grammar schools, and Laverne and her younger brother Pete were brought up in a house they call “the culture Tardis”: full of books, music and philosophical ideas. “Son House would be playing on the stereo, and your mam’s off to Greenham Common… it was a house full of ideas.” A few days after we meet, Laverne’s dad dies, and she puts up a lovely tribute on Instagram: “His life was unusually and extraordinarily rich in the things he cared about – music, ideas and us… small in number but infinitely and endlessly meaningful.” It reminds me of something she says when we meet – that her dad taught her not to be intellectually intimidated. “I’ve never felt not good enough to try and understand something,” she says. Laverne is exceptionally well-informed, but she wears her knowledge lightly. She’s not a show-off, she’s a sharer – someone who tells you about interesting things because they’re interesting, rather than to score points. In the past, she’s likened her job to a dinner-party host, the person keeping everyone happy while hiding the carnage in the kitchen. https://www.instagram.com/p/BsUyps1HTKD/ I’ve seen her present in a hectic live situation, and her calm and humour never deserted her. In fact, the only time she’s seemed uncomfortable, work-wise, was during her 2011–14 stint on Channel 4’s late night politics show, 10 O’Clock Live, when she had to do rant pieces about her political opinions. “It was tricky for me,” she says, “because nothing I’ve ever done has been about me.” After coming out of that show, Laverne set up the online women’s magazine The Pool with ex-Red editor Sam Baker. “The Pool came out of that experience,” she says. “I thought, well, I could continue working as part of big organisations, or I try something where I have more control.” Both she and Baker have now stepped back from day-to-day control of The Pool, but Laverne is “proud” to keep co-founder on her Twitter bio. I press her on why they left, but Laverne won’t give much away. Certain things are off-limits (she’s careful not to reveal too much about her two sons, aged 11 and eight). So I ask her about her broadcasting heroes. “Oh, I’ve had so many! Annie Nightingale – sensational and pioneering. John Peel: he changed my life twice. Because he played our records on the radio and then the first big TV job I got was working with him at Glastonbury. In one of the breaks he said, ‘You’re made for this s***, aren’t you?’ And I thought, ‘I must be, because John Peel has said so.’ “I adore Jo Whiley for how she broadcasts and how she lives her life. When I had my first son, I was thinking, ‘I can’t imagine how I’m going to do telly jobs after having a baby.’ And Jo was there, going, ‘It’s going to be all right, don’t worry.’ Vanessa Feltz, who I worship. And, obviously, Kirsty Young. Sometimes I go back to my favourite Desert Island Discs, and every time I’m like, ‘How did she do that?’” Laverne sits back, happy. She loves talking about other people’s talents. So it remains for me to say: Laverne is very good at what she does. Long may she continue. Lauren Laverne starts on BBC 6 Music (10am-1pm) from Monday 7th January 2019
Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music's schedule shake-up: "You have to keep listening and looking ahead"
The DJ is one of the few presenters retaining his regular radio slot – but he says the station is ready for a change
Despite major shake-ups across the BBC Radio 6 Music schedule – Mary Anne Hobbs is moving from weekends to weekdays, while Shaun Keaveny starts up an afternoon show – Steve Lamacq is staying put in his 4pm slot. Radio Times caught up with the presenter as the station enters a new era. BBC Radio 6 Music’s Shaun Keaveny unveils his new afternoon show – and explains why he had to leave breakfast BBC 6 Music changes: Mary Anne Hobbs breaks new ground with new weekday show So amid all these schedule changes, Steve, you’re staying put in your normal daytime slot? Yes, well, I’ve got to have that slot —finish at 7, go to a gig at 8! It wouldn’t work otherwise, would it! How do you feel about not being moved around? Well, I mean, for me it’s perfect. And over the years, we’ve come to understand the people who are listening to the show, and you’re always thinking, where is the listener right now? Because it’s not like a lunchtime programme or a breakfast show, where you pretty much know where people are. You’ve got people who are finishing work, probably travelling home. Then you’ve got the moment where they’re in the kitchen, or they’re having tea. But all the time, we’re trying to pace the show in the right way, so yes I’m really pleased to still be able to do it. View oEmbed on the source website How many gigs do you go to a week? Two or three. In some cases, you’ve got to go and see bands that you might not be sure about. I don’t like having an opinion on a band without having seen them. And the content of the show? Well, part of it’s from the daytime playlist: the new records. Then you get some older records which have come out of the computer, but I can always say, "Not so keen on this", and change it for something else. The rest of it is me picking half old records, and half new records, really. Records that sort of tell a story, or you think might be interesting. I mean, I still work on the Peel Principle — that you play one record that you know the audience will like, one record that you think the audience will like, and one record which you don’t care whether they like it or not, because you like it yourself. I think, if you balance that right, you pretty much please everyone, and you save your soul in the process. How has interaction with the listeners changed the job in terms of your enjoyment of it? It’s slightly easier in a way because you can have conversations with listeners, and you’d never have got as many letters as you get emails. These days you get a much better impression of what people like, and the breadth of what people like, during the course of the week. So what do you like most about the job? Being able to play the records of bands that you think are really good — bands which might be on the periphery, I suppose. Slightly unfashionable. I’ve always liked misfit-style bands, or underdogs. You get a record by an underdog band, play it, and then somebody writes to you and says, “I really liked that record.” Or comes up to you at a gig and says, “That record that you played the other day, I downloaded two of their tracks,” or, “I went to see them live,” and it can just be one person. But it’s a great responsibility, because you can’t abuse that sort of position, so you have to work very hard to earn it. You have to listen to a lot of stuff, I think, and that’s why I go to so many gigs, and spend seven hours on a Sunday going through the post bag. You mentioned pioneering the underdog. Give us us some bands and some acts that you’re proud of having played a part in their success? I suppose, Blur from the early days, and Teenage Fanclub from the early ‘90s. Elastica, who I was involved with – I actually put out the first Elastica album I liked it that much. And Coldplay, a band who had been turned down by 23 record labels when I saw them. View oEmbed on the source website Does Chris Martin still send you chocolates? Well, he hasn’t sent us a box of chocolates. If this gets in the Radio Times, though, Chris, I’d quite like a box of chocolates! But he did send us a very nice message when I celebrated my 25th anniversary on the BBC, which was very nice of him. And 6 Music itself – what’s the secret? Keeping in touch with the audience, I think. I’ve never worked at a radio station where I’ve known the audience so well. I think that’s always going to be key. And we’re not complacent. I think the changes coming in the new year suggest that everyone’s aware of that. We have to always keep thinking — where is music going, where do we want the station to go, how do we represent the musical landscape and the people who are making the music and the people who are listening to it. You have to keep listening and looking ahead, I think. That’s the only way we’ll carry on.
BBC 6 Music changes: Mary Anne Hobbs breaks new ground with new weekday show
The DJ and presenter discusses the latest move in her remarkable radio career
Mary Anne Hobbs is one of a number of BBC Radio 6 Music DJs making big moves in 2019. The presenter will no longer host her show on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Instead, she's launching a new weekday show from 10.30am until 1pm as part of a major shake-up of the BBC Radio 6 Music schedule. Radio Times caught up with the DJ to discuss her plans ahead of the first show on Monday 7th January 2019, the latest chapter in an incredible music career... BBC Radio 6 Music’s Shaun Keaveny unveils his new afternoon show – and explains why he had to leave breakfast 6 Music listeners bid a begrudging farewell to Shaun Keaveny as he hosts his final breakfast show Zoe Ball’s move to Radio 2 is big news – and so is the enduring appeal of radio How do you feel about the big move? I’m incredibly excited about it. I guess for the first time in my entire career, I’ve landed right at the epicentre of the daytime schedule. I’ve been given an opportunity to reimagine what a morning show can actually be, which is incredibly exciting for me, really. I’m thrilled. What will it be like to like to leave behind the weekend show? It feels like it’s gone by in a heartbeat but actually it’s six years I’ve been doing it. And I think that because that show has become so beloved of the listeners, there are certain ideas we can bring across to the daytime show — the arts coverage, for example, that the listeners have responded to so favourably. View oEmbed on the source website What about the type of music that you’ll be playing? I think the music is going to be really diverse. It’s going to feel really vital, very contemporary, and multi-dimensional. So we might be looking at anything from a Japanese master like Ryuichi Sakamoto, all the way through to the most exciting electronic producer in Addis Ababa. He’s called Ethiopian Records. And then obviously via classic music like Talking Heads or Jon Hopkins. So I think it’s going to feel really rich. Because it was the weekend, the old show always had passages of contemplation. Will we still experience those moments? Yes, absolutely We’re working on very specific moments that will land in the show in the form of particular individual tracks and also mixes. But I guess you’re right, it is a real step change and I’m very mindful of that. And it’s a challenge for me because I suppose I’m possibly known as the quietest of all the presenters on 6 Music. But I remember David Bowie saying to me – I interviewed him a couple of times – he talked to me about the idea that actually you were never really moving forward as a creative force unless you stepped outside of your comfort zone. That’s how to determine the fact that you’re actually making progress in this life. And what about in terms of your own lifestyle changing? Weekends lying in bed? I think I’ll probably do quite the opposite. When I was working at Radio 1, I was also DJ-ing live, which I did for seven years right across the world. Now I’ll have an opportunity to do some more of it. And I think that’s going to be something that will be really valuable in terms of the development of programmes and getting right in the thick of the response of people who are listening. How did you first get into music? My story’s quite an interesting one, actually, because when I was a little girl, my dad had banned all music from the house. And I wasn’t allowed to buy records at all. But obviously that didn’t stop me being the belligerent child that I was. But every time he would find another Sex Pistols single in my sock drawer he’d smash it up, unfortunately. But the only thing he never found was a tiny little transistor radio, which was about as big as a can of tuna fish. And I used to lie in bed at night with the blankets pulled over the top of my head and I used to scroll across the dial of this radio, looking for John Peel’s programme. Because I guess, for me, Peel stood at the gateway to an ultimate universe, if you like. And it was a place that I never would have known existed at all in that era had it not been for Peel’s transmissions. I thought to myself, this is a place... I want to reach this place. Sounds like that that was a lifeline for you... Absolutely, yes. Without a shadow of a doubt. I had the great privilege and pleasure of working with him for 10 years when I was at Radio 1. And in spite of the fact that he was never a formal mentor, I was able to watch very carefully the way that John worked and the way that John operated as a human being. Why was your father so against you listening to music? I couldn’t tell you that, to be honest. Myself and my brother and sister, we never really understood the reasons for many such decisions that he made. But he used to have some records of his own that he was very fond of, actually. But they were recordings of old steam trains on 78s and he had an old gramophone with a copper needle in it. And we occasionally would find him sitting on the floor playing these recordings of steam trains. But I think he felt that pop music of any kind was trash and was entirely disposable. But I couldn’t give you a specific reason. Those are the days in which I suppose parents were very much in control of their own domain, really. And they didn’t have to explain things to you; they just implemented them. I think, really, in some ways, it gave me the drive that I needed to go and seek the world that John Peel had shown to me. And so when I was 18 years old, I ran away to London and I lived in a bus in a car park for a year. I lived with a rock band and we lived in this terrible old broken-down vehicle in Hayes in Middlesex, which we called the Blue Goose Hotel. What did you do? Myself and the band always used to work terrible jobs. A couple of the band were gravediggers. The singer and I used to work in a sweet factory. And we saved all our money to repair broken equipment that we’d managed to acquire. And then go out on tour. View oEmbed on the source website How did you break into the music business? I sent a CV to the editor of Sounds music paper, explaining my responsibilities to the band. I said, well, I design their record sleeves and I make their costumes and when we go out on tour I’m their lighting engineer. And of course I’m also the bus mechanic. I’ve also created this little fanzine. And I submitted a couple of issues with my rather colourful CV to the editor of Sounds. He called me into the office and sat me down and he said, “So you live on a bus?” And I said, “Well, yes.” And he said, “Well, what are you doing living on a bus?” And I said, “Well, I always wanted to write for the music press, really, but I imagined I would have to demonstrate that I’d actually worked for a band before you would take me seriously.” And he looked at me incredulously and he said, “Why didn’t you just send a review in?” It had never occurred to me. That’s kind of where it started. And after that? I went to LA at 21 and I lived in a garden shed for a year. And I was working as Sounds’ American music correspondent. But when I came back from there, I was approached by the NME. I got a call from a friend of mine called James Brown, and he said, 'The NME, we’re really good on Marxist politics, but we don’t actually know anything about rock music'. At that point I’d been out in LA writing about artists like Metallica and Jane’s Addiction, Guns N’ Roses, all that generation of rock musicians. So at 23 I was writing for the NME. So that’s the back-story. Was it an unstable existence? I think... that’s a really interesting question. For me it felt like a great adventure. And it felt that there was no pathway to this world that Peel had shown me. I had to forge my own pathway one step at a time. And I guess every time I saw an opportunity or a tiny chink of light or something that looked really exciting and interesting, an opportunity to move forward, I would take whatever risk was necessary. You had a hell of an education, didn’t you? Yes. Nothing formal to speak of. But I think it worked out pretty well for me in terms of a grounding in the industry that I wanted to become involved with. Mary Anne Hobbs' weekday mid-morning show begins on Monday 7th January at 10.30am on BBC Radio 6 Music
BBC Radio 6 Music's Shaun Keaveny unveils his new afternoon show – and explains why he had to leave breakfast
The presenter is excited about not having to get up too early, and tells fans not to be worried about the new show: "this has come along at the perfect time for me"
This January, radio presenter Shaun Keaveny starts a new 1pm show after 11 years presenting the BBC 6 Music breakfast show. But what does Shaun think of the new time slot (and not having to get up so early)? And what plans does he have for his new show? Find out more from the man himself below... 6 Music listeners bid a begrudging farewell to Shaun Keaveny as he hosts his final breakfast show Zoe Ball’s move to Radio 2 is big news – and so is the enduring appeal of radio How does it feel to finish with the breakfast show and move to daytime? It’s a very unusual experience. I was talking to my Dad on the phone yesterday funnily enough, about just general life and it all sort of poured out, I think I was a bit tired and broken, you know? Because it’s two things at once isn’t it? Three things in fact. It’s exciting and it’s terrifying and it’s sad because when you build a radio programme, it’s unlike anything else, I think. Television doesn’t come close to it in the sense of building relationships with audience. Why not? What's so special about radio? I’ve thought a lot about this over the years. It’s like... I don’t know... you know, if you’re like a big film star or something and you do a film, it’s a huge splashdown isn’t it? Everybody in the world wants to speak to you and everybody knows who you are, but with radio it’s just like lots and lots of tiny ripples on the pond every day. It creeps up on you. And before you know it, it’s sort of meaningful to you in some way. View oEmbed on the source website How different will a middle-of-the-day show have to be? Well, glad you asked. It will be very high-energy. There will be a lot of veracity to my statements, everything will be well researched, I will be ‘up and at ‘em’, smiling constantly. Raining down good vibes and general bonhomie... I honestly don’t know how to answer that because we’ve worked pretty hard on trying to reposition it. My current listeners will be slack-jawed to hear that we’ve even tried to come up with a couple of new features. But we’re carrying some of the old favourites across. The thing is, what you begin to realise is that 80 per cent of any good radio programme is just what comes up on the day between you and the listeners. You can’t synthesise or predict that. It’s like trying to predict what’s going to come up in a conversation with your friend at the pub next Wednesday night. It’s absolutely pointless in a way. I suppose one obvious change that’s going to happen is you haven’t got to get up so early in the morning... Yes, it hasn’t crossed my mind actually. No, that’s disingenuous. I’ve thought of nothing else for the past nine months! If I’m completely candid, I would say that for the sake of my family and my sanity, I had to change the time at which I got up. And so this has come along at the perfect time for me. Right. How old are your children? Ten and eight. So you know, they’ve known nothing else apart from their dad being a tired and broken man. So I think it’s an opportunity to give them another aspect of me, really. In the past I’ve taken take time off work just so I can take them to school really and enjoy that horrible maddened panic that every other parent has at that time of the morning. I’ll look for socks and lunchboxes for a couple of weeks. View oEmbed on the source website What about the actual music you’ll be playing? Any adjustments there? I think that inevitably, one of the things I’m looking forward to is getting out more. A combination of getting a bit older and having kids and getting up early means that it precludes you from doing a lot of stuff in the evenings, and that’s when all the music happens. So, we are really looking forward to getting out and about more and seeing more bands. The knock-on effect of that will be I think we’ll be able to inject a bit more passion into that side of things than we’ve perhaps been able to do in the mornings. So your gig going experiences will inform the programme? Yes. That exactly. Also we’re going to get one session per month as well which is perfect for us. We can pick some of our favourite artists and have a little live session and chat with them. So that’s going to be really cool. We’ve already got a few good ones lined up. So that will be a nice new thing for us. Shaun Keaveny's afternoon show on 6 Music kicks off on Monday 7th January at 1pm
6 Music listeners bid a begrudging farewell to Shaun Keaveny as he hosts his final breakfast show
Listeners admitted that the "drunken uncle" of breakfast radio had set the bar "at a mediocre height"...
"Mediocre", "rambling", "drunken uncle" – those were just some of the plaudits levelled at Shaun Keaveny as he hosted his final BBC 6 Music breakfast show on Friday morning, after 11 years in the lukewarm seat. As listeners slightly mourned the end of some studied traditions, including the ceremonial playing of the Hill Street Blues theme tune... View oEmbed on the source website ...and regular links to music news presenter Matt Everitt... View oEmbed on the source website ...some couldn't help but give Keaveny begrudging praise, admitting he had set the bar "at a mediocre height" and even that they were "actually sad" he was leaving... View oEmbed on the source website View oEmbed on the source website View oEmbed on the source website View oEmbed on the source website View oEmbed on the source website There was even a message from fellow BBC radio presenter John Humphrys, who called Keaveny a "lightweight" and suggested he "try doing a breakfast show for 32 years, mate". View oEmbed on the source website Keaveny moves to a weekday afternoon slot next year, as Lauren Laverne takes over on the breakfast show with some really average-sized shoes to fill...
Lauren Laverne takes over Radio 6 Music breakfast show as major 2019 schedule changes are announced
Shaun Keaveny, Mark Radcliffe and Anne-Marie Hobbs are all moving slots as the weekday and weekend schedule gets a massive overhaul next year
BBC Radio 6 Music has announced big shake-ups for its daytime and weekend schedules set for 2019. From the new year, presenter Lauren Laverne will become the station's new Breakfast Show host, moving from her current slot of 10am-1pm. Speaking about the new role, Laverne said: "I’m so excited about our new show and delighted to be part of the next phase of 6 Music’s evolution. "Whatever the day brings for our listeners we intend to get them ready for it with a fantastic selection of music and guests who have something worth hearing to say. I can’t wait to get started!" View oEmbed on the source website After 11 years in the Breakfast slot, Shaun Keaveny will shift to weekday afternoons. Meanwhile Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie will front a brand new weekend Breakfast show, taking over the slot that is currently presented by Mary Anne Hobbs. She will switch from weekends to weekday mid-mornings. Steve Lamacq’s show will stay in its regular weekday slot, and the evening schedule remains. The brand new schedule will run as follows: Monday to Friday 5am-7.30am Chris Hawkins (slot extended; previously 5am-7am) 7.30am-10.30am Lauren Laverne (moving from weekdays 10am-1pm, replacing Shaun Keaveny) 10.30am-1pm Mary Anne Hobbs (was previously weekends from 7am-10am, replacing Lauren Laverne) 1pm-4pm Shaun Keaveny (moving from 7am-10am, replacing Mark Radcliffe) Saturday and Sunday 7-10am Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie (moving from weekdays 1pm-4pm, replacing Mary Anne Hobbs) Paul Rodgers, Head of 6 Music, says: "Much-loved presenters playing amazing music is at the heart of what 6 Music does, and these schedule changes will help deliver an even greater range of music on the station across daytime and weekends."
New Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker to host her own Christmas Eve radio show
Over the festive period, Whittaker, Beth Ditto and Sharon Horgan will be the “Three Wise Women” taking over the airwaves on BBC Radio 6 Music
Jodie Whittaker, Beth Ditto and Sharon Hargon will be curating three nights of radio on BBC 6 Music over the Christmas holidays. Across Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, the BBC has announced its three “Wise Women” will curate 6 Music each night from 6pm to 2am. The celebrity hosts will also be selecting their favourite 6 Music programming from the archive. Lucky Doctor Who fans can see the 2017 Christmas special over a week early – but there’s a catch Doctor Who fans really want Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor to keep her Northern accent All the Doctor Who references in Jodie Whittaker’s new costume View oEmbed on the source website New Doctor Who star Whittaker will take the helm on Christmas Eve, and is set to play music based on theme of travel (including time travel perhaps?), plus revealing some of her favourite artists, from Elbow to Foy Vance. The actress is a regular Breakfast Show guest on 6 Music with Shaun Keaveny and a big fan of the station. “I’m absolutely over the moon to be asked to be a part of this year’s three Wise Women," she said. "I’ve never been called a wise woman before, but I’ll take it! Maybe even print up a t-shirt! “It’s been brilliant revisiting shows that I loved listening to the first time round and also getting to choose two hours worth of my favourite tracks, most of which I discovered through listening to 6 Music. So thanks for that, and hope you enjoy it.” American singer-songwriter Ditto will take the Christmas Day slot and writer-actress Horgan will curate the Boxing Day show. Meanwhile, Radio 4's Today programme will be getting the royal treatment from guest editor Prince Harry - the exact date has not yet been announced but it will be at some point over the Christmas holiday.
BBC Radio 6 Music regains top spot as most listened to digital station in the UK
2.2 million listeners tuned in to the digital-only station in the period from September to December last year
BBC Radio 6 Music has regained its place as the nation’s most popular digital station. 6 Music recorded an audience of 2.202 million listeners in the period from 21st September to 20th December 2015 to regain its position as the most popular digital station from BBC Radio 4 Extra. Its audience is up on the 2.08m figure it reported for the same period last year according to research body Rajar, setting a new record for the alternative music station which was threatened with closure back in 2010. BBC Radio 4 Extra still continues to be popular, with 2.11 million listeners per week – from a record 2.201m last quarter and 1.72m last year. BBC Radio’s weekly reach as a whole over the period was 34.95 million – compared with 35.10m last quarter and 34.80m last year. This amounts to an overall share of the total radio audience of 53.5% – the same figure in the last quarter and up from the 52.8% share figure of last year. Helen Boaden, director of BBC Radio, said: “This is yet another fantastic and well-deserved quarter for BBC Radio 6 Music. With its unique range of music and expert presenters, the station continues to grow its loyal listenership. It’s good to see digital listening to BBC stations in such great health. One of radio’s strengths is its convenience and digital devices make listening even easier."
BBC 6 Music is not ”completely safe” from closure says station boss
“It feels very difficult to say anything is completely safe because we’re in a period of great flux and great change," says Bob Shennan, "but I don’t hear any clarion call for closure of 6 Music from any part of the media landscape"
BBC 6 Music, the radio station that was saved from closure following a huge public outcry five years ago, is not necessarily safe from BBC cutbacks. Asked if the station could face the threat of closure again, Bob Shennan, controller of Radio 2 and 6 Music and director of BBC music, said: “At the moment it feels very difficult to say anything is completely safe because we’re in a period of great flux and great change. But I don’t hear any clarion call for closure of 6 Music from any part of the media landscape. “The BBC came very close to closing 6 in a different time for different reasons to the circumstances which surround us today and under a very different regime. “ BBC 6 Music was lined up for the axe but was saved in July 2010 after a concerted public campaign. In his interview with the Media Masters podcast, Shennan did say that the output of the station improved following the closure threat. "In truth I think 6 Music has got a lot better in the past few years. It was almost galvanised by the experience of near closure. “It is certainly talked about as one of the great marketing campaigns of the BBC to threaten to close something. It brought a lot of attention to the station and the station has grown enormously. “The great thing about the BBC is that it realised it was the wrong decision and it was big enough to change its corporate mind about 6. I think that’s a great thing that we were able to see the testimony of audiences and as an organisation, do a bit of a volte face – and thank goodness for that because the station has become such a fundamental part of the portfolio of BBC Radio.” However, the fact that the BBC cannot absolutely guarantee 6 Music’s safety will add fuel to the arguments put forward by some commentators and commercial rivals who believe the Corporation is using the threat of closing services to its own advantage. This week, ITV chief executive Adam Crozier accused the BBC of presenting a threat to much-loved services as a way of diverting attention from what he sees as its bloated management structure. He told the House of Commons Media and Sport select committee that the BBC could achieve its savings target by making the organisation more efficient instead of closing services. On the subject of charter renewal, Shennan said: “It’s a challenging time. If you’ve got a popular radio station across all platforms it has an impact on others outside of the BBC and they want to voice their concerns in a time of change. The BBC has to be held to account and to explain why we do what we do. We’re not a government funded broadcaster, we’re not a state broadcaster. We’re paid for by the people and we’re for the people so it’s important everyone listens to the public about our content and services. “I know we have the great privilege of the licence fee. Our competitors don’t have that privilege. We have well-funded stations.” However, Shennan went on to defend the huge success of Radio 2 which has been regularly trumping its commercial competitors in the ratings. “Radio 2’s audience has increased from 13m to 15.5m in the last seven years. The audience appetite is as high as ever. I believe its distinctiveness is even greater than in the past. “I don’t think there’s another station remotely like Radio 2. If you’re delivering 15 million listeners every week and one third of all hours listened to on the BBC then you’re a target. People constantly challenge us that we are only big because we’re like everyone else. I would argue the opposite is the truth. We’re only big because we’re totally distinctive. I’m perplexed why other people don’t follow the formula. “We want to continue to entertain audiences and continue to play a big range of different musical genres but we’ve got to do it in a changing economic, political and technological age."
Iggy Pop and Lauren Laverne help 6 Music break 2 million audience mark for the first time
The BBC music station, which had been facing the axe in 2010, records its best ever ratings according to the latest Rajar figures
BBC 6 Music, the radio station which had been lined up for closure in 2010, has recorded its highest ever audience. A combination of talents including Lauren Laverne, Iggy Pop, Cerys Matthews, Guy Garvey, Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie has seen the station attract more than two million listeners for the first time in its 13-year history. 6 Music’s average audience between September 15th and December 14th last year was 2.08m, up on the figure of 1.99m from the previous quarter and 1.96m on the figures for the same time last year, according to data compiled by ratings body Rajar. It is a record figure for the station that was saved after a public outcry and concerted campaign eventually saw it reprieved by the BBC Trust in July 2010. Once again 6 Music outperformed BBC Radio 3 which recorded a weekly reach of 2.03m in the same quarter last year, up on the previous three-month figure of 1.91m. In July 2014 it overtook Radio 3 for the first time ever. Radio 2 breakfast show presenter Chris Evans also continues to thrive. His programme attracted 9.6m listeners per week – compared to 9.3m last quarter and a record 9.82m last year. The Radio 2 man now regularly gets 4m more listeners a week than his Radio 1 breakfast rival Nick Grimshaw, who registered a weekly audience of 5.90m, up from 5.82m for the last quarter but down on the 6.29m figure from last year. The overall weekly audience for Radio 2 was 15.28m, which is slightly down on the record figure 0f 15.51m it notched up at the same time last year. Radio 1’s audience was slightly down with 10.43m listeners during the period – down from 10.55m for the previous quarter and 10.97m last year. BBC Radio’s total weekly reach over the period was 34.8m listeners compared with 34.85m in the previous quarter and 36.22 million for the same period last year. Overall BBC Radio attracted 52.8% of the available audience in the three month period, slightly down on last year’s figure of 55.2%. Bob Shennan, the controller of Radio 2, 6 Music, Asian Network and BBC Director of Music, said: “I’m thrilled that after a huge amount of hard work by everyone at Radio 6 Music, we now have a weekly audience of 2.08m. Huge thanks to our passionate and dedicated audience who have played such an important part in making 6 Music a unique and exciting destination.” Helen Boaden, director of BBC Radio, added: “The unique output of our digital-only stations has enhanced the appeal of radio in an era of ever-increasing digital competition.”
Radio 3 gets fewer listeners than 6 Music for the first time ever
The BBC’s classical music station slips behind its digital rival in the latest set of listening figures
Radio 3 has seen its audience fall below 6 Music for the first time ever. The classical music station's audience dropped by 120,000 weekly listeners to 1.88 million, according to the latest Rajar figures for the second quarter of 2014 which have been published today. This pushes it below 6 Music which recorded a listenership of 1.87m between April and June, 10,000 more than Radio 3. Specialist music station 6 Music – which launched in 2002 and had been lined up for closure by the BBC – has seen its audience triple since a successful campaign was launched to prevent its demise in 2010. Under the latest set of figures, key presenters saw their audiences increase with Shaun Keaveny (823,000), Steve Lamacq (882,000) and Liz Kershaw (239,000) achieving record audiences. There was also good news for Radio 2 breakfast host Chris Evans who has hit a new audience high, with 9.91 million listeners a week for his morning show. This gives it the biggest audience for a radio programme since the current Rajar measurement system was launched in 1999. The Radio 2 man now gets 4 million more listeners a week than his Radio 1 breakfast rival Nick Grimshaw, whose audience improved slightly with 5.97 million – up from 5.89 million this time last year. Evans' figures also mean that his audience has increased by almost two million listeners since his predecessor Sir Terry Wogan bid an emotional farewell to the station with 8.1 million listeners in 2009. As a whole, Radio 2 now has 15.5 million listeners, up slightly from the 15.44 million a year ago. Radio 3, whose controller Roger Wright has just departed for a new job at the Aldeburgh Music Festival after 16 years in charge, issued a statement which read: “Since Rajar records began, BBC Radio 3 has retained its audience whilst traditionally fluctuating around the 2 million mark – we’re pleased to bring so many people to our distinctive blend of Classical, Jazz, World and Cultural programming which is a model of public service broadcasting.” BBC Music director Bob Shennan said: “I’m delighted that Radio 6 Music continues to perform well in the digital space, and that Shaun Keaveny [pictured above] and Steve Lamacq are reaching record audiences.” Helen Boaden, the director of BBC Radio, said of Evans: “Chris is a brilliant presenter and a unique talent. “The Radio 2 breakfast show is unlike anything else on radio, with great music, news, sports updates and Pause for Thought alongside features like the 500 Words children’s writing competition, and shows that utterly distinctive, high-quality programmes can also attract large audiences.”
BBC 6 Music Festival in Manchester focuses on the sound
Jessica Lever sorts the sound from the naff at a largely successful inaugural outing for the BBC's alternative radio station
With its capacity to play tunes from any era and make them seem automatically trendy, it's no surprise that BBC radio station 6 Music has jumped on the festival bandwagon. And where better to host it than the home of hip northern music, Manchester? Aside from the practicality (considering the BBC’s recent shift up north) the city’s combination of underground musical history and an exciting, rejuvenated vibe seemed perfect for a celebration of a much-loved, niche public radio station. Held at the Victoria Warehouse – once a cotton mill, now a club venue – the 6 Music Festival featured a mini daytime fringe and a record sale, as well as two stages with huge acts and a Silent Disco (everyone wears headphones and has a great time dancing around while appearing, to the outside observer, like a bunch of maniacs). Indoor music festivals are something of a contrast to a typical summer festival. Think leather jackets rather than daisy headbands, no wellies in sight and a massive dark warehouse to explore rather than muddy fields. But because BBC 6 Music is a beautiful and welcome contrast to mainstream radio this unfamiliar set up worked as a festival environment. The crowd boogied in smiling soundlessness to Mr Scruff’s silent disco set, fairy lights and trees turned the main stage into an ethereal garden party and a serious Damon Albarn played none of his best hits. Stood in the midst of it, dancing, swaying and breathing it all in, I really felt that the brilliantly awkward ambience of cool radio had been joyfully recreated for both its loyal audience and the enthusiastic newbies. If this is what being alternative is, it worked, and I’ll willingly testify to Funk Messiah Craig Charles’s closing salutation: “God Bless you. God Bless 6 Music”. So in keeping with the Manc theme here's a list of the ‘Sound’ and the ‘Naff’ of the inaugural 6Music Festival... Sound Matt Berninger of The National climbing into a spellbound crowd during a performance of Mr November. James Blake, just being James Blake and filling the smaller stage with some incredibly heavy bass lines. Craig Charles, enjoying himself more than a robot wars competitor, being interviewed by Philippa Forrester, manically mouthing every song in his set and commanding the audience to "bounce" and "rest". Kelis, so far from the I Hate You So Much Right Now days, was a surprising Diana Ross style diva in a gorgeous dress. Lykke Li’s sultry Swedish dream pop set. Jake Bugg's constant delivery of great music and hearty vibes…all of which I swear he performed staring at me (dreamy). Haim being the greatest of pop rock acts with an amazing drummer (side note: his name is Dash Hutton, now that is rock and roll) Franz Ferdinand’s stream of songs pounded the crowd with thoroughly enjoyable commands, such as “ake me out”, “do y’wanna?” and “walk away”…luckily no one did the latter. The silent disco, which hosted a range of eclectic DJs, and changed what is normally a novelty late night festival billing into an engaging and innovative way to experience a live show. Naff Damon Albarn When your least melancholic song is Melancholy Hill, I don’t really think you’ve got the festival vibe down. Although his current repertoire is steeped in seriousness, and it was fantastic to hear his first live solo debut, it would have been nice to bop along to Park Life or at least mosh to Song 2. Even Kelis managed to bring Milkshake back to the warehouse’s yard, so take note Damon, we love you for a reason. Disability access Although this was rectified on Saturday, Friday proved very difficult for my visually impaired friend. There is a viewing platform for disabled access, but unable to get in to it due to the sheer number of people, the event proved impossible. The key seemed to be going straight to the box office, and ensuring security staff would be able to help out. Stage 2 was so, so full I loved the venue but I couldn’t help but think that somewhere with a larger capacity, or at least some video replay facilities, would have made Stage 2 more enjoyable. Toilets It wouldn’t be a festival review without a toilet complaint. In this case, breeze block toilets were the criminal, with a friendly reminder that “it’s drip dry only ladies” solidifying the rankness... Catch highlights from the 6 Music festival on BBC iPlayer, or by listening to the station itself this week
Jarvis Cocker takes a year out of presenting his BBC Radio 6 Music Show
Pulp frontman says that he needs to freshen up, comparing the year-long break from presenting the popular Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service to Crop Rotation in farming
Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker is taking a year off regular presenting duties on his popular BBC 6 Music show. The singer confirmed that he wanted to refresh his show, Jarvis Cocker’s Sunday Service which he has presented for three years and that this Sunday's edition on December 29 would be the last for a year. "Crop Rotation has long been recognized as a way of preserving the fertility of the soil. Every now and again a field has to be left fallow for a year in order to make sure it has time to recover. In 2014 I will be that field. T’is done with the firm conviction that it will lead to a stronger and more vigorous Sunday Service when I return to 6 Music’s pastures. “Oh yes - and of course I'll keep popping up on 6 Music from time to time just to make sure that you haven't forgotten me. We wouldn't want that would we? Just call me the ‘Turnip Townshend of the Airwaves’." His last show will be on December 29 in the usual slot of 4pm to 6pm on a Sunday and sees the singer looking back over some of his favourite moments from the Sunday Service across the past year, including extracts from the time he met David Attenborough who talked about musicality in the animal kingdom. He will be replaced by what appears to be a rolling roster of presenters. In January it will be performance poet John Cooper Clarke and in February it will be Terry Hall, lead singer of The Specials. The BBC declined to elaborate on what he was up to, insisting that he was “concentrating on other projects”. A spokeswoman confirmed that he would be appearing on the network next year with special appearances and said that he would be returning to the show after the year out. And so far his publicist at Rough Trade Records has not responded to our queries. However it seems unlikely that he will be reforming the band Pulp which has recently got together for a series of live shows, including a date earlier this month in their hometown of Sheffield. "I've enjoyed the fact that we haven't been doing any new stuff, because I felt that's kept it quite simple... We haven't been in the studio or anything. I don't know what will happen in the future,” he told Q. "It was a big enough challenge to learn how to play all the old songs and, hopefully, perform them in a convincing way," he said. "We haven't got any [shows] planned after the New Year... We'll just be cruising off into the sunset. Seems poetic. Not wishing to make a big deal, but we've played for a while and it's been really good, but you can't keep doing that forever. Will you see Pulp again? Who knows." Cocker began presenting the 6 Music Sunday afternoon slot in January 2010. Follow @RadioTimes
6 Music to air previously unheard David Bowie "radio show"
A promotional mock radio show for Bowie's 1973 album Pin Ups will be played on the station on Wednesday 23 October
To celebrate 40 years since the release of David Bowie's album of covers, Pin Ups, BBC 6 Music has been given exclusive access to a 15-minute mock radio show made as a promotional tool for the release of the album in 1973. Created by Bowie and record producer Ken Scott, the show, which features five tracks from the album, never made it to the airwaves. It was only discovered years later, in an old tape vault, by the man who oversees Bowie's back catalogue, Nigel Reeve. "It was in an old tape vault on 1/4” tape with simply the words ‘Radio Show’ written on it," revealed Reeve. "This is such a rare find. No one knew of its existence, apart from David and Ken. To play it for the first time was quite simply a jaw-dropping moment." The five covers – the Pretty Things' Rosalyn, Them's Here Comes the Night, the Yardbirds' I Wish You Would, the Merseys' Sorrow and the Who's I Can't Explain – are interspersed with Bowie's musings and insights into the London music scene of the early 70s, delivered in the style of his music-loving, club-going man about town alter ego, Londoner David Jones. His idiosyncratic presentation offered up such gems as: "“The Liddyball [Liverpool] thing didn’t mean a light up Richmond. It affected one band who dropped the ‘beat’ bit and became The Merseys. Never saw ‘em play but they hung about a lot.” View oEmbed on the source website The promo will be played out across the day on 6 Music, with the first part being broadcast during Shaun Keaveny's breakfast show at 9:30am, and further clips airing during Lauren Laverne, Radcliffe and Maconie and Steve Lamacq, before the final part is heard in Marc Riley's evening show. Keaveny is clearly thrilled to be playing the promo: “It’s beyond exciting for 6 Music to be showcasing the first-ever airing of this historic recording, in a year that has been all about the Bowie comeback,” he said. The commemoration of Pin Ups is also being used to celebrate cover versions as a whole on the station, with listeners being asked to nominate their favourites, culminating with Gideon Coe's show being comprised entirely of covers suggested by the listeners.
Paul McCartney returns to Maida Vale Studios with live gig for 6 Music
Ex-Beatle to take to same stage he played on with Beatles - and you can win tickets to watch him
Paul McCartney is to be the star attraction at next month’s 6 Music Live at Maida Vale. The ex-Beatle will join will join Goldfrapp, Manic Street Preachers and Sigur Rós in the week of live playing presented by Lauren Laverne. Starting on October 14 with Minnesota five-piece Politica followed by Godfrapp the next day, the live performances will be part of Laverne’s show between 10am and 1pm. McCartney will take to the Maida Vale stage on Wednesday October 16, returning to the same BBC studios he played in with John, George and Ringo in the 60s. The Manic Street Preachers will play the following day with Icelandic band Sigur Ros rounding off the week on Friday with their first ever live session for BBC Radio 6 Music. Tickets for all the performances are available from the 6 Music website with registration open until 7pm on Friday 27 September. Jeff Smith, Head of Music for Radio 2 and 6 Music, said:“6 Music Live at Maida Vale has come of age in 2013. And to have such a diverse line-up including the world's most loved singer songwriter is a dream come true, especially for the lucky listeners who will also be able to watch Paul McCartney perform live.”
Iconic punk rockers The Clash will reunite for a Q&A with the British public, Cerys Mathews announced today
Speaking on her BBC Radio 6 Music radio show, Matthews revealed that she will be bringing together bassist Paul Simonon, drummer Topper Headon and guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones for an intimate show at the BBC’s Maida Vale studios on September 6th. Matthews says, “I am thrilled to be talking with Mick, Paul and Topper at length on 6 Music and will be asking them about their early years, their inspirations and where life has taken them since. Out of the smouldering wreckage of the late Seventies The Clash broke onto the scene with a searing honesty that cut a clear message through the smoke. Their music questioned and defined the world around them and with a folk troubadour mentality and a boom box aloft they created a potent soundtrack for the times.” The band, whose third album London Calling was voted Rolling Stone’s ‘best album of the 80s’, dissolved between 1983-86 in a turbulent break-up, in which lead singer Joe Strummer fired his co-writer Jones for allegedly behaving like a “prima donna”. There were rumours of a possible Clash reunion shortly before Strummer’s death in 2002. Speaking to The Guardian in 2012, Strummer’s daughter Jazz said, “I think if Dad hadn't died, it would have happened. It felt like it was in the air." The band have not performed together since 1986, but many fans might see this reunion as the first step towards future live performances. The show will be pre-recorded on Friday 6th September and broadcast soon after on 6 Music. The public can apply for tickets to attend the show from now until midday on Sunday 25 August via the BBC 6Music website. Headon, Simonon and Jones also appeared together on 9 August for BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, where they told John Wilson about the difficulties of preparing the band’s new re-mastered box-set, Sound System. “There was stuff that even I don’t remember,” says Jones. “The tapes were literally rotting […] you have to take the tapes and bake them in an oven, then you can only play it about once or twice.” Sound System is released on 9 September.
How Twitter could make Billy Bragg sign up for The X Factor
The famously political singer/songwriter on how hateful tweets could make him try a different career path
In an interview to be broadcast this weekend on the Mary Anne Hobbs show on BBC 6 Music, Billy Bragg talks about his relationship with Twitter. One of the things that most upsets him on the micro-blogging site is the cynicism displayed by many of its users. Although he acknowledges his own cynicism he believes he has a healthier outlet for it in his music, from which he can receive validation. The negative messages he has received can be hard to cope with, as he admits to Hobbs: "If I was just starting out now and every time I formed a sort of political idea, I got the vitriol I sometimes get on Twitter, before I'd got my confidence, before I'd got my world view together, I might think I'd be better signing up for The X Factor." Bragg does have a rather lopsided relationship with Twitter. He has 148,350 followers but only follows 22 people. He claims this is because he sees it as a way of gathering information, and that he follows people he thinks have something interesting to say (which does leave a very large amount of people he thinks don't have anything interesting to say). Twitter accounts he picks out as favourites are Naomi Klein, The New Statesman, The Spectator and Johnny Marr. Though he admits that he is not keen to expand on his select group, "I have enough trouble keeping up with those 22." In the interview he also talks about a strange encounter with skiffle legend Lonnie Donegan in the canteen at Broadcasting House, engineered by John Peel. Bragg's plugger had told him that Peel had invited him to meet with Donegan, but not why. When he arrived at Broadcasting House, Peel took Bragg and Lonnie Donegan to the canteen where they sat having a cup of tea and talking about skiffle and folk music. But not Peel, he just sat there drinking his tea, not saying a word. Afterwards, Bragg had to ask what was happening with the great DJ, upon which his plugger replied, "You don't get it, do you? Peel needed you there to speak to Lonnie Donegan because he's so in awe of him he can't bring himself to speak to him."
6 Music is doing its bit for Comic Relief this year, but which comedians can boast the best tunes?
Red Nose Day is on the horizon, and 6 Music is getting involved by letting two comedy veterans hijack the playlist for an hour each over the next couple of Sundays. First up, on 3 March, is award-winning actress and erstwhile Harry Enfield collaborator Kathy Burke. The following Sunday sees the turn of Spinal Tap and Simpsons legend Harry Shearer. Comedians usually claim to have an affinity with music, but letting them loose in a recording studio can lead to unpalatable results. Of course, there are always exceptions. In no particular order, here are six of the best tunes by comedy acts from the past few decades. Eddie Murphy: Party All the Time: Ok, so it's more funky than funny, but Party All the Time is actually a pretty decent Michael Jackson pastiche. Producer Rick James gives the track a credibility boost and also allows his fabulous "Carlos Valderrama on Soul-Glo" hair to star in the video, as Eddie and the lads horse around eightiesly in the studio. Turn this one up loud and try not to dance; it's impossible. View oEmbed on the source website Flight of the Conchords: Business Time: It's tough to choose one track from the Conchords' potpourri of parodies, but the "erotically charged" Business Time perhaps showcases the duo's talents best of all. Jermaine's rubber-faced falsetto combines with Bret's lascivious strumming to electrifying effect. View oEmbed on the source website The Rutles: Cheese and Onions: Ah, the Rutles — only the band the Beatles could have been. Cheese and Onions is so sublime it could almost pass for a lost Fab Four composition from 1968; and there's no higher praise than that. George Martin's production is aped beautifully, while Neil Innes's vocals are even more Lennon than John himself. View oEmbed on the source website Spinal Tap: Big Bottom: It's crude, it's childish and its squelchy keyboard sound is horribly dated, but it's a virtuoso skit of bands like Judas Priest, Scorpions and Saxon. And it contains the priceless line "how could I leave this behind?" View oEmbed on the source website Steve Martin: Tonight You Belong to Me: This dainty ditty from 1979's The Jerk manages to combine humour with genuine poignancy. An accomplished bluegrass banjo plucker, Steve Martin has quite a few LPs under his belt, and a new one is on its way next month. View oEmbed on the source website Monty Python: The Galaxy Song: We're a bit sick of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, aren't we? So here's The Galaxy Song from the Pythons' final film The Meaning of Life: as educational, existential and statistically accurate as comedy songs get. View oEmbed on the source website
Are Coldplay really the favourites of 6 Music listeners?
Coldplay's Clocks has been voted as the "Greatest Hit" of 6 Music's lifetime, but is the online poll actually representative of the station's listeners' tastes, asks Gary Rose
Today 6 Music unveiled its 100 most popular songs since the station began; and the biggest shock was just how conservative the top ten is. OK, nobody expected Lower Dens (a choice clearly bearing the Tom Ravenscroft seal) to garner many votes, but Coldplay at number one? Surely not. Of course, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, the Killers et al are good at what they do, but they're nothing you can't hear in any branch of Argos on a Saturday afternoon. Let's cut to the chase: they're not exactly "cutting edge". When 6 Music listeners petitioned, pestered and harassed the BBC Trust to save the station from closure a few years back, were we striving to salvage the last remaining nationwide outlet for innovative, "alternative" music, or simply standing up for our right to listen to Coldplay's Clocks? True, the shortlist was uninspiring, but I don't want to be too critical of the station; with Tom Ravenscroft, Jarvis Cocker, Marc Riley, Cerys Matthews and Gideon Coe on board it boasts some of the finest music broadcasters on the radio. However the fact is, in recent years its daytime output has often swerved dangerously towards the mainstream. For instance, a couple of Saturdays ago I was surprised to hear (I kid you not) Pump Up the Jam by Technotronic. Whether or not this was a clever, ironic, postmodern gag is irrelevant. Pump Up the Jam by Technotronic is rubbish, and if I want to hear Pump Up the Jam by Technotronic I will purchase a copy of Big Tunes: Back 2 the 90s Vol II. This is obviously an extreme example, and perhaps if the licence-fee payers want a more pop-centric 6 Music, featuring Coldplay and chums, then that's what they should get. But hold on, there might be more to this than meets the eye. Coldplay are a hugely popular band; they have nine and a half million followers on Twitter. So when they tweet their fans, as they have done three times over the past few weeks, asking them to vote in the 6 Music poll, it's a powerful weapon in their battle against relative minnows like Mclusky and Peter Bjorn and John. Voting was easy too; just follow a link and click on your favourite. No need to register, and no need to prove you've ever listened to 6 Music. So perhaps this top 100 is not as representative as it initially appeared. Maybe the panel selected the more middle-of-the-road entries as token gestures, not anticipating they would trounce the opposition through the power of social networking. That might be wishful thinking, but there MUST have been a few despondent sighs in 6 Music towers when the votes were tallied.