BBC4 folk - what would YOU do

Subject: RE: BBC4 folk - what would YOU do
From: Bounty Hound
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 06:28 AM

'Fred Slagg's spoons epiphany of 1973' Wow, I'd vote for that!

What would be really good would be to see 'grass roots' performers, rather than just the current media darlings.

Trouble is, of course, we live now in a celebrity obsessed culture and that is pervading the folk world too. Glueman's idea is excellent, but the danger would be that the 'someone who's outside of vested interests' ends up falling into the same trap.

John

Subject: RE: BBC4 folk - what would YOU do
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 06:19 AM

a weekly series on where English folk is really at today

And where would that be, glueman?

Subject: RE: BBC4 folk - what would YOU do
From: GUEST,glueman
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 06:10 AM

You have to understand that the revival is predicated on a mysterious and largely mythical notion of the 'ultimate performance', one to which every other rendition is crap in comparison. It's a fleeting thing this peerless song and impossible to pin down but it informs every debate on the subject.
The BBC, or any other broadcaster will get nowhere trying to please advocates of this myth. You could stick a £10m budget in and have three years in the making and someone would pipe up that Fred Slagg's spoons epiphany of 1973 wasn't mentioned and they'd thrown the TV in the canal as a result. What's needed is a folk revival historian, someone who's outside of vested interests, to anchor a weekly series on where English folk is really at today.

Subject: BBC4 folk - what would YOU do
From: GUEST,banksie
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 05:59 AM

The current thread on the BBC4 Christmas Sessions has raised the inevitable debate based around `great to have these programmes on' versus `the programmes are shite'. Both views of obviously valid because we're all different and therefore have very individual, subjective views.

This got me thinking: someone obviously produced those programmes, made the selections of old TV clips, and/or booked current artists to video new material. So what might be the result if mudcatters had the chance to be the producer? Who would you select from both past and present?

Having asked the question I'll admit that I'm not even too sure of what my answers would be yet, except to say that I would want a lot mnore English music (if one can say that these days without appearing to sign up to the BNP or EDL). I like Scottish and Irish music, but I do feel there is a current school in the `meeeja' where Cletic = good and Crap = everything else.