India's Magic Star Intro
BBC Radio 1Xtra’s MistaJam brings listeners the very best in Dubstep and Bass in his weekly Saturday night simulcast show across Radio 1 and 1Xtra. As well as celebrating the roots of Dubstep.
But what makes a musician want to join the Army? Courtney Pine marches with the military to find out, as he talks to the Guards bandsmen, who play at events like Trooping the Colour; former head of the Army, General Sir Mike Jackson; and to the young musicians planning on joining up.Although their enthusiasm and the quality of the music they create is undeniable, the cost for military music is £100m a year. Is that an absurd amount?
Guardian analyst Simon Jenkins thinks so and argues that state ceremonials could be done just as well by civilians - and it is “a ludicrous sum”.Presenter/ Courtney Pine, Producer/ Llinus Jones, for Terrier productions. ‘Sister George’ is a district nurse in the daily radio serial Applehurst. She is the nation's favourite character, but audience ratings are slipping. Mercy Croft, the BBC executive who has to solve this problem, is wondering whether a human sacrifice will be necessary. If so, how will it affect the lives of the rumbustious actress who plays George and her flat-mate, Childie? In John Tydeman’s adaptation - a radio premiere - Anna Massey is the BBC Executive, Sarah Badel is the actress who plays Sister George and Lucy Whybrow is Childie.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009.
Song Magic Star
Programmes like Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars At Number 42 opened the door for many comedians when there were no Asian comics around. Growing up in the 70s meant watching Mind Your Language, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Love Thy Neighbour and Alf Garnett. Asians were the butt of the jokes. They didn’t tell them.
But Meera Syal found people who had grown up in the same way she had done, who had the same cultural shorthand, and who were funny.Performers include Imran Yusuf (Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer nominee), Shazia Mirza ('Clever, ground-breaking and very funny' - London Evening Standard), Goodness Gracious Me star Kulvinder Ghir, and Mickey Sharma ('biting comedy with a backbeat and soul' - Eastern Eye).The evening also showcases rising stars including online sensation Humza Badman, and Pakistan's first stand-up comedian, Sami Shah.First broadcast on the BBC Asian Network in 2012. The movies, along with the directors, actors and actresses that Mark has interviewed, shed light on the mood and sensibility of the times that Mark has lived through and been shaped. We also track his rise in broadcasting to become one of the most respected movie critics and journalists working today.Across this hour, friends and colleagues such as Jason Isaacs, Danny Baker, Mark Radcliffe, Lauren Laverne and Simon Mayo share their insights and anecdotes. Plus interviews, news archive, movie clips and music capture the times and memories surrounding some of his favourite films. John was born and raised in Greenwich Village and, while still at school in the early Fifties, it became a focal point for a group of writers, poets, artists, and students known as the Beat Generation. Inspired by what he saw and heard around him, John became immersed in the folk and club scene that subsequently blossomed.His skills on guitar and harmonica made him an instrumental component of the folk scene and he worked with Bob Dylan, Judy Collins and Tim Hardin, before forming the The Lovin' Spoonful in 1965 and enjoying success with hits including Do You Believe In Magic and Summer In The City.The history of Greenwich Village is littered with influential names in contemporary music.
John's journey highlights the important role it played in the careers of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, The Velvet Underground, The Kingston Trio, Richie Havens, Maria Muldaur, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Nina Simone, The Mamas & Papas, The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Miles Davis, and the most famous resident to become a major musical star in recent years - Lady Gaga.The soundtrack to this journey features some of the most evocative and famous folk, rock, pop and jazz music recorded by residents of ‘The Village’. Contributors include Steve Earle, Jac Holzman, Rick Rubin, Lenny Kaye, Richie Havens, John Cale, David Bailey, Jack Douglas, Bob Gruen and Julian Lennon.This programme was first broadcast in 2011.Presenter/John Sebastian, Producer/ Des Shaw for Ten Alps TV. The African country sent just four Paralympians to the British games, none of whom made it to the victory podium. After the difficulties they faced getting there, April will be questioning whether there is still the will to work towards Rio 2016.Powerlifter Charles Narh Teye told the BBC World Service during London 2012 that his parents had rejected the doctor's suggestion that they 'put me to sleep' with an injection at birth. His team-mate and Ghana’s flag-bearer, Wheelchair Racer Raphael Nkegbe Botsyo, said there were those back home who still believed 'a disabled person in the family must be a grandfather's curse'.April travels to Ghana to meet the four athletes and to find out if that perception has changed since their performances in London. April sees first-hand whether their achievements have had any impact on disability sport in the country, and asks if the four have the desire and the backing to make it to Rio - and whether they will be part of a bigger team in 2016.
She also asks Ghana’s Minister for Youth and Sport and the Disabilities Commission what provisions are being made for the country’s Paralympic athletes. In the first programme, as he travels the well-trodden path north through the country, Will meets the Catholic priest and human rights campaigner Padre Alejandro Solalinde, who runs Hermanos en el Camino (Brothers in the Road), a shelter that provides Central American migrants with humanitarian aid and education.Padre Solalinde lives under the constant threat that the trafficking gangs will kill him, and has a 24-hour-a-day armed guard. The cartels call the trafficked people ‘mercancia’, or commodities, but Solalinde argues they are not goods but children of God. He is critical of the church and the government, and sees it as his vocation as a Catholic priest to help the people bought and sold through Mexico.Will Grant meets some of these trafficked people as they alight 'La Bestia', a huge train which carries them on part of this often deadly journey.
He hears their stories of torture, rape and violence as they search for a better life. Often all they have is their faith, and he learns how this has helped them through their treacherous journey. This week he's joined by the author Rachel Joyce, who was nominated for the 2012 Man Booker Prize with her novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry. Set in the Seventies, her new book, Perfect, uses the decade as a crucial plot device, with the addition of two seconds added to the clock in 1972. It was in order to balance clock time with the movement of the Earth. Together with Johnnie, she'll cover her favourite music of the decade, plus the memories of her formative years that remain so evocative today.Also on the show, another classic record will be loaded into Johnnie's Jukebox, and this week in 1978 will be revisited courtesy of a trip to the BBC archive.Presenter/ Johnnie Walker, Producer/ Mark Higgins for Wise Buddah.
Magic Star Karaoke
Broadcasting live from the grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall, Mark will introduce performances from some of folk and roots music's biggest and best-loved acts, including The Waterboys, Bellowhead, Steeleye Span, Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick, The Staves and LAPD (Liam O'Flynn, Andy Irvine, Paddy Glackin and Donal Lunny). Mark will also shine a light on some of the lesser-known artists performing at the 49th Cambridge Folk Festival.The festival was founded by Cambridge City Council in 1964 and its very first bill featured a relatively unknown Paul Simon. Since then the event has become widely celebrated for its relaxed atmosphere and diverse, high-quality acts.Radio 2 has been broadcasting live music and highlights from Cambridge for many years. This year's coverage includes a live three-hour programme hosted by Dermot O'Leary on Saturday 27 July and this two-hour special presented by Radio 2's Folk Show host, Mark Radcliffe.The headline acts in 2013 are The Mavericks, The Waterboys and Bellowhead.
The mighty, many-headed folk phenomenon - Bellowhead were formed nearly 10 years ago by acclaimed duo Spiers & Boden. Following in the footsteps of acts like Brass Monkey, Bellowhead combined folk music with a bombastic brass section, inspired arrangements and a theatrical live show that makes the most of the drama inherent in traditional songs.The Waterboys were formed by Mike Scott in 1983, and despite working in a number of musical fields, have consistently had a Celtic vein running through their enduring brand of acoustic rock. During the 1980s and 90s they released a number of top-10 singles and albums including The Whole Of The Moon and Fisherman's Blues. They split in 1993 but reformed in 2000, and their latest album, An Appointment With Mr Yeats, focusses successfully on arranging the poetry of WB Yeats.Miami-based Tex-Mex stars The Mavericks were formed in 1989, and are well-known in the UK for their 1998 hit Dance The Night Away. Lead singer Raul Malo gave a bravura performance at Cambridge in 2011 and returns this summer with his full band.Presenter/ Mark Radcliffe, Producer/ Kellie While for Smooth Operations.
Howard, often called 'the father of meteorology' was a chemist, whose ideas for cloud classification were stirred when he was a schoolboy. In his late twenties he composed the influential 'Essay on the Modification of Clouds', which was delivered at the Askesian Society - a fortnightly London science meeting.Howard's influence upon art and poetry is as impressive as his meteorological discoveries. His essay became the subject of poems by Goethe and Percy Bysshe Shelley and he is believed to have inspired some of John Constable's landscapes.Before composing a new poem dedicated to Howard, Lavinia goes cloud spotting in Somerset with Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of The Cloud Appreciation Society. Richard Hamblyn - Howard's biographer - describes how he gave the Romantics a new scientific language, and Constable expert Anne Lyles examines Howard's impact on the visual arts.Presenter/ Lavinia Greenlaw, Producer/Paul Smith for Just Radio productions. The British Museum was founded in 1753 after Sir Hans Sloane – a physician to King George II – had bequeathed over 70,000 curiosities for the benefit of the nation.He stipulated that the collection should be free to the curious, held in perpetuity, and curated by full-time specialists.Danny talks to some of these ‘full time specialists’ who are deeply committed to knowing more about our history and the wonderful objects on display and in the vaults of the museum. The ‘cabinet of curiosities’ attracts experts like Richard Parkinson, Assistant Keeper of Artefacts from Ancient Egypt, who joined the Museum after teaching at Oxford and who can read hieroglyphics from almost 4,000 years ago.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003 (originally to celebrate 250 years of the British Museum). Heard for the first time on Radio 4 Extra, Dickie talks to Sue Lawley about his church-going childhood in Barnsley, and his anxieties about punctuality - arriving as he has done at least four hours before time at Buckingham Palace, Chequers and The Oval.
Testament to his love of the game, Dickie Bird’s luxury on the island will be a TV and satellite dish, to allow him to watch Test matches.Castaways Jonathan Agnew and Fred Truman can also be heard in this run of Desert Island Discs revisited.First broadcast on Radio 4 in 1996. It's also time for a new don of Sharing Is Caring. Dom Servini is a DJ and boss of Wah Wah 45s label.
He'll be going deep into his record collection for his six track selection.For the tender-hearted souls, Huey will be Doo Wop-ping That Thing once again and celebrating the places and people listeners miss in Homesick Blues.Plus, as always he'll be wishing love, peace and soul as he turns the clock back and gets down with the Soul Train.Presenter/ Huey Morgan, Producer/ Tom Whalley for Wise Buddah. Just in the last few months another terrible gang rape hit the headlines. Women’s collectives are growing up all over the country and beginning to fight back: the most prominent and potent is the remarkable, courageous and flamboyant ‘Pink Sari Gang’.Sampat Devi Pal was raised in India's notoriously corrupt Uttar Pradesh region, was married off at 12, had her first child at 15 and is essentially illiterate. Yet she has risen to become the fierce and courageous founder and commander in chief of India's infamous Pink Gang, a 20,000-member women's vigilante group fighting for the rights of women in India. In narrating the riveting story of the Pink Gang's work on behalf of a young girl unlawfully imprisoned at the hands of an abusive politician, journalist Amana Fontanella-Khan explores the origins and tactics of a fiery sisterhood that has grown to twice the size of the Irish army.Amana is a Mumbai-based writer of Pakistani and Irish descent. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Financial Times and the FT magazine.Read by Meera Syal, Producer/ Clive Brill for Pacificus productions. In this first programme, Dr Linus Scott is confronted by two young women who appear to have the same nightmare.
Can Alice Pyper - the troubled visitor to the village of Ait - be connected to the phenomenon?With Greg Wise as Linus Scott, Amanda Drew as Alice Pyper, Susan Wooldridge as Maggie, Suzanne Burden as Mrs Wright, Gina Abolins as Stella Wright, Poppy Miller as Mrs Warren/Sue, India Harl as Charlene Warren, Joe Claflin as Matt and Richard Hope as Len/Paul.Producer/ John Taylor for Fiction Factory productions. Through interviews with gemstone cutters as they work, dealers at markets and through poetry, prose, stories and legends about them, this programme reveals what has made mankind treasure gemstones throughout history.Stephen travelled from Japan to Sri Lanka and the United States listening to gem dealers and stone cutters, gathering their stories and the sounds of their work. Michael Dyber – one of the finest gem-cutters in the world - recalls working with a crystal weighing 26 kilos!
Stephen delves into the history of the Chhatrapati Ruby, first documented in AD380, and Nimal Pathirana tells the story of the sapphire in Princess Diana's engagement ring.Presenter/ Stephen Gill, Producer/ Julian May for the BBC. Christopher William Hill's poignant comedy is based on real events in the life of the Sir Frederick Ashton, and imagines Ashton's struggles with a challenging commission and, simultaneously, his increasing difficulties in managing a fragmenting love affair.
In his early 70s, the celebrated dancer and choreographer had for some time been living with the mercurial Martyn Thomas. It was a volatile relationship in which Ashton, by many years the older partner, had become increasingly insecure, adding to his fairly constant anxieties about maintaining the success of his glittering career, and making enough money to live on.Over the years, Ashton had become fairly well connected to royalty and was an accustomed visitor to courtly functions. It was the Queen Mother with whom he established a particular friendship, inspiring Princess Margaret to ask Ashton to commission a new ballet for her mother's 80th birthday. Ashton decided to use the music from Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, with Leslie Collier and Mikhail Baryshnikov in the principal roles.With Phyllida Law as The Queen Mother, Jeremy Clyde as Sir Frederick Ashton, William Beck as Martyn Thomas, Benjamin Whitrow as William Chappell, Gunnar Cauthery as Baryshnikov/Roberts, Marlene Sidaway as Ruth Fermoy/Interviewer, Kim Wall as Nicholls/Reporter, Madeline Clements as Leslie Collier and Catherine Herriott as Pianist.Written by Christopher William Hill.Producer/ John Taylor, for Fiction Factory productions.
It's 1937 and Stephen Sefton is drifting. Just a year earlier, he'd left London in a fever of idealism to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Now he is back and injured both mentally and physically. He has turned into a seething mass of self-pity. He's at rock bottom and penniless. So when he sees an advert for an assistant to a writer, he applies. His interviewer is the People's Professor, Swanton Morley - whose type of learning is the sort scorned by academia but loved by the masses who lap up his books with titles like 'Morley's Art for All' and 'Morley's Old Wild West'.His latest project is to be called The County Guides.
It's a typically ambitious plan to celebrate the best of England, county by county, from the wheelwrights of Devon to the shoemakers of Northampton, and covering sport, natural history and every other conceivable subject in between. They're starting in Norfolk, but they're going to be distracted by a dark discovery and a host of eccentric characters - not all of whom react well to Morley's manner, his pedigree or his unflinching quest to reveal the truth.Abridged by Lauris Morgan-Griffiths.Reader/ Julian Rhind-Tutt, Producer/ Sarah Langan for the BBC. Andrea Levy's fourth novel, Small Island (2004) is set in London in 1948. It tells the story of a white landlady, Queenie Bligh, whose neighbours don't approve when she takes in Jamaican lodgers, and the racist treatment of Commonwealth men who risked their lives to join the fight against Hitler. Small Island won the Orange Prize for Fiction (now called the Women’s Prize for Fiction), was shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel award, and in 2005 was voted Best of the Best - the best Orange Prize for Fiction-winner over the 10 years that the Prize had been running.Starring Nadine Marshall as Hortense, Don Gilet as Gilbert, Lyndsey Marshal as Queenie and Stephen Tompkinson as Bernard.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006. In 1983, eminent historian Hugh Trevor-Roper receives a phone call from Colin Webb, the editor of The Times. Webb reveals that a German magazine is claiming to have discovered the private diaries of Adolf Hitler.Hitler was supposed to have given up writing around 1933 - which would make this one of the greatest finds of all times.
Rupert Murdoch is interested but wants an expert opinion, so he asks Trevor-Roper. None of the more than seventy accounts of Hitler’s life truly penetrates the man. A diary would be a momentous discovery, but Trevor-Roper is sceptical.On a trip to Zurich, Trevor-Roper is shown an apparent archive of diaries, the scale of which amazes him.
India's Magic Star Intro Song
Wilfred Sorge, Jan Hensmann and Peter Koch respond to his doubts point by point until he finally endorses the diaries as genuine. Rupert Murdoch then offers them three million dollars for the world rights.First broadcast on Radio 4 Extra in 2012.