Change of heart at The BBC??

Subject: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 03:07 AM

I nearly fell off me kitchen stool and choked on me Wheatie-Bangs! I could hardly believe me ears - a track by Jay Ungar & Molly Mason played on the Sarah Kennedy 'Dawn Patrol' programme on Radio 2! Admittedly it was 6.30 this morning but Ms Kennedy waxed lyrical about it and said it was wonderful. Praise indeed from one who's usual twittering consists of horse-racing, the size of the strawberries at Henley Regatta, and daft stories about cheeky bloody kids.

Might this herald the dawn of a new age at the BBC, when mainstream programming isn't locked into the straitjacket of the lowest common denominator? Or is it too much to hope?

Johnny :0)

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 03:38 AM

Strange indeed when the way things have been going recently is towards Radio2 becoming more like Radio1. Radio4 is suffering from an identity crisis, and is trying to be all things to all men with programmes like Veg Talk, which is a good programme, but pure Radio2 material. Radio1 is trying to be all the local stations in the UK rolled into one, combining garage, hip hop, bangra, ska, etc, and all the other genres I've never heard of. Mostly though I worry about the concerted efforts of government ministers to rubbish the Today programme, with John Reid, and John Prescott being in the vanguard of this apparent search and destroy mission.
Giok

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: Morticia
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 03:56 AM

I have to say I thought the beginning of the end for radio 4 was hearing Eddie say on PM t'other night, 'So, Minister, how do you sleep at night?'.........a bit hackneyed to say the least!

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: el ted
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 04:20 AM

I doubt it! On radio 2 you are never more than 15minutes away from a bloody record by phil collins, annie lennox, tina turner or elton john!

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: GUEST,Chris
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 07:25 AM

Then isn't it nice if folk music can be played alongside mainstream???

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: Splott Man
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 07:59 AM

Radio 2 has had a very broad approach for some time. Amongst the general pop and rock (which seems to upset some of you) in the last few days I've heard a couple of tracks of Fado (selected by Nelly Furtado), Terry Wogan has always featured a high degree of Irish music, and the classier end of the singer/songwriter genre (for want of a better word), such as Sinead Lohan, Dylan, and hardly an hour goes by without a classic Paul Simon track these days, and there's going to be a lot of live stuff from Cambridge Festival this weekend.

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 08:16 AM

Did anyone else hear it, and can they tell me the title of the piece. I know it so well, but I'm buggered if I can remember what it's called, and I won't sleep until I get it :0)

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 08:40 AM

Sarah Kennedy Playlist

Ashokan Farewell, apparently.

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 08:56 AM

It's just bizarre the way that Irish music is treated with a sort of reverence on the BBC, whereas Irish villains are so much the norm in its dramas that if you see an Irish character, you might as well switch off; there's no question who dunnit - he or she dunnit; and the whole sense of mystery and expectation is lost. To be an Irishman is to be a villain, as Anatole the mouse might have said!

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: The Shambles
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 08:57 AM

If Radio 2 played Ashokan Farewell often enough (and not at three in the morning) it could prove to be very popular with their listeners and as a result a possible big hit.

I wonder if this would be a good or a bad thing?

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: Splott Man
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 11:35 AM

Oh a good thing without a doubt.

Good for Jay Ungar.
Good for us who love this music.
Good for those who are not so familiar with it, and may get to like it, or at least get to take it for granted, and consequently not be so ready to take the p***. (are you listening Radio Times?)

There I feel better now.

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: The Shambles
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 11:50 AM

Certainly a good thing for Jay and Molly.

If it worked that one popular tune or song made it more likely that others would become popular, it may be a good thing. Sadly it would probably just mean that it would just be added to the only two tunes that get requested at sessions: Captain Pugwash and 'Battling Banjos.

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 12:04 PM

Thanks Countess Richard, I knew it was Ashokan something. It's excellent.
JB :0)

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: The Shambles
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 01:08 PM

For more see
http://www.jayandmolly.com/ashokanfarewell.shtml

And various Mudcat threads.

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: The Shambles
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 01:14 PM

All of which you can find by clicking here.

Question Ashokan Farewell

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 02:45 PM

Morty I totally agree with your criticism of Eddie Mair, he is totally convinced that he is funny, but comes over as glib, flippant, and snide. We had to put up with him on Radio Scotland in the afternoon playing records and making inane remarks, long before he was inflicted on the nation as a [w]hole. He and Jonathan Dimbleby are me two betes noir, and both raise my blood pressure considerably.
Giok

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 05:59 PM

And as for ze Irish villains, watch the next episode of Waking the Dead. Betcha the villain's Irish.

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: Skipjack K8
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 07:18 PM

Morty, I have never been able to take PM seriously, going back to the great days of Brian Redhead on Today (before that clever bloody Humphreys 'saved' the programme), as it always had a 'poppy' feel to it, with lightweights like Valerie Singleton making a seamless transfer from Blue Peter.

I tried to listen to it tonight, but only lasted 17 minutes before I gave up and accepted I would have to listen to that plank Walker on the Light Programme

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: The Shambles
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 07:24 PM

Perhaps to be fair, we have of late been presented with some good folk music on the BBC, especially BBC4, most probably better to recognise this and write to thank them, than just to grumble?

And most of the silly remarks are at expense of the folkie stereotype, rather than the music, which remains a mystery to many at the BBC.

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: Roughyed
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 06:14 PM

Radio 2 is a real mixed bag though. Listen on a Saturday morning and then again on a Sunday morning and try to work out what happened. (Jonathan Ross would rather die than play phil collins, annie lennox, tina turner or elton john!). I think it is bumping into the problem of trying to cater to fifty plus listeners brought up on a diet of rock and roll, beatles and, yes, folk and those who are later on in their sixties who had an entirely different musical exposure. (Wild generalisation but basically accurate).

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Dec 11 - 03:16 PM

So I am not the only one that has noticed that if an Irish character appears in a BBC drama he/she is always the villain.

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 17 Dec 11 - 04:02 PM

James Nesbitt

Colin Farrell

Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Pierce Brosnan

Liam Neeson

Gabriel Byrne

Richard Harris

Brendan Gleeson

Colm Meaney

All fine Irish actors who have appeared in dozens of roles, including BBC ones, and are not at all stereotyped as villains.

What is this crap about the English BBC portraying the Irish as villains?

Just my 2 penn'urth but at least I put my name to it.

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: Change of heart at The BBC??
From: Dazbo
Date: 17 Dec 11 - 05:11 PM

That's 'cause all the brit actors are in the US playing villains -