Top Tip Jazz 625 , BBC Four Avoid.

[Channel Hopper]

I was looking forward to this, nostalgic return to the 70's LPs my father might put on when mum was out, Soho underground venues, the glass half full of walking home following a memorable live performance, unbridled talent.

The build up..

Why TV is taking jazz seriously again

The BBC's revival of revered Sixties show Jazz 625 reflects the recent explosion of exciting artists

www.telegraph.co.uk

They put on a rapper with tuba accompaniment.......

The Fast Show beckons.


Nice !

 

[Llew]

I deliberately avoided this programme after reading the list of contributors. All unknown to me. I'll stick with my real jazz records, and reread my Philip Larkin 'All What Jazz' - he stops around the Miles Davis middle period

 

[Channel Hopper]

I deliberately avoided looking for the list of 'artists' , as I do with music shows hosted by Jools Holland, which I find makes for more enjoyable listening. I could always go make a cup of cocoa if an artist fails to impress me after the first few bars.

Last nights show has kept me up all night and kidneys working overtime.

 

[rodscha]

but the Miles Davis documentary from PBS that came just after was wonderful and well worth the wait,
wasn t it?

 

[Llew]

but the Miles Davis documentary from PBS that came just after was wonderful and well worth the wait,
wasn t it?

Certainly was. BBC4 have excelled recently with similar jazz-oriented programmes, such as the Blue Note Record history and the Ronnie Scott Jazz Club documentary - I saw several visiting US musicians on my visit to Ronnie's two premises over the years.

 

[rodscha]

Lucky you ,as I won t be able to visit such places...
and let s hope music from English speaking countries improves again and rap becomes past at last!!
Usually a music style in pop doesn t exceed 20 years,why is rap lasting so long?

 

[ozumo]

Usually a music style in pop doesn t exceed 20 years,why is rap lasting so long?

'British rap' didn't really become mainstream until the mid/late 2000s when it evolved from grime. Even though they still called it grime it was really just a copy cat version of the US 'trap' style. So if your 20 year rule applies it means we're stuck with it for a while yet

 

[Channel Hopper]

Ah, I would have to disagree. Plenty of UK charters in the 80's following a move away from the foundation hip-hop. It differed trememdously from Euro hip and dub variants.

Whilst taking roots of bands such as Rock steady Crew, Beastie Boys, etc., there were a number of UK groups and solo artists appearing in the charts with a unique style. To name just a few:

Cookie Crew, The Brotherhood (which brought Roots Manuva onto the scene), Trevor Horn/Malcolm McLaren, The BeatMasters and Betty Boo, Stereo MCs, Demon Boys ,Wee Papa Girl Rappers, Neneh Cherry and slightly later, Soul II Soul.

And who could possibly forget this one, reached number 4 in the Mid 80's.

 

[ozumo]

Not disagreeing there, however there were a lot of American accents going on at the time. London Posse (though one of them has admitted assaulting his girlfriends recently) like to think they were some of the first to rap with a British accent. RIP Smiley Culture too.

Then in the 90s boom bap era you had the likes of MTV, Radio 1, Trevor Nelson and Tim Westwood only playing US acts despite them having hiphop specific shows.

Whereas today you have Stormzy headlining Glastonbury, acts on the Radio 1 daytime playlist and appearances on Jools Holland. Then there are the multiple national 'urban' radio stations, an ITV2 quiz show and Mercury Prize winners. Never has British 'hiphop' been more mainstream than it is now after the doldrums of the 90s.

And never has hiphop been more awful than it is now.

 

[rodscha]

and here in France rap & hiphop appeared back in 1985,
you were lucky to get them only 1990-ish,5more years of tranquility!
the main snag is,its lyrics carry violence,vulgarity,male chauvinism & homophobia!
And the school system has all the pains in the world trying to balance off such messages
My point is,why can 't the mainstream media just boycott this ,as it basically is a social nuisance!
As a teacher,I feel like I've spent 35 years of my life fighting the influence of rap on kids and trying to show them there s a life beyond that

 

[Channel Hopper]

Not disagreeing there, however there were a lot of American accents going on at the time. London Posse (though one of them has admitted assaulting his girlfriends recently) like to think they were some of the first to rap with a British accent. RIP Smiley Culture too.

Then in the 90s boom bap era you had the likes of MTV, Radio 1, Trevor Nelson and Tim Westwood only playing US acts despite them having hiphop specific shows.

Whereas today you have Stormzy headlining Glastonbury, acts on the Radio 1 daytime playlist and appearances on Jools Holland. Then there are the multiple national 'urban' radio stations, an ITV2 quiz show and Mercury Prize winners. Never has British 'hiphop' been more mainstream than it is now after the doldrums of the 90s.

And never has hiphop been more awful than it is now.

London Posse
Who ?

Smiley was 100% Reggae

You suggested

So if your 20 year rule applies it means we're stuck with it for a while yet

Last night's show was supposed to be a celebration of modern Jazz. What appeared was a dead / reincarnated/ shot to pieces reminder of why a crossover in the 80's was first accepted, then congratulated by chart success, before parody took over inside five years ( give or take a year).

What is currently showing is an insult to the talented individuals that worked hard to become mainstream a generation an a half ago. They succeeeded, have made their money and moved on.

Rap is dead, long live Rap

 

[ozumo]

London Posse
Who ?

London Posse

Explore the discography of London Posse. Shop for vinyl, CDs, and more from London Posse on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

Rodney P went on to have several solo releases in the 90s, a radio show with producer Skitz on BBC 1Xtra and has presented a few documentaries on BBC 4. Recent revelations will put an end to all that.

 

[ozumo]

the main snag is,its lyrics carry violence,vulgarity,male chauvinism & homophobia!
And the school system has all the pains in the world trying to balance off such messages
My point is,why can 't the mainstream media just boycott this ,as it basically is a social nuisance!
As a teacher,I feel like I've spent 35 years of my life fighting the influence of rap on kids and trying to show them there s a life beyond that

There's lots of hip hop out there without those themes.

 

[Channel Hopper]

London Posse

Explore the discography of London Posse. Shop for vinyl, CDs, and more from London Posse on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

Rodney P went on to have several solo releases in the 90s, a radio show with producer Skitz on BBC 1Xtra and has presented a few documentaries on BBC 4. Recent revelations will put an end to all that.

I recall ripping out a load of corroded wiring, then fixing a mixing desk at a studio under The Streets of London bar opposite Hampton Court railway station, apparently for somebody linked to The Clash. This would have been very late 80's though.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Forgot to mention Nellee Hooper, his beginnings with Maximum Joy before moving onto the Bristol scene with The Wild Bunch.

 

[Channel Hopper]

I recall ripping out a load of corroded wiring, then fixing a mixing desk at a studio under The Streets of London bar opposite Hampton Court railway station, apparently for somebody linked to The Clash. This would have been very late 80's though.

My error.

It was the Dogs D'Amour

The Dogs D'Amour - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

More glamrock than hip hop

 

[hexah]

How hard is it to show a few old editions of Jazz 625.

I am still irritated by this.

I bet some lucky git at the BBC has watched them all, and not just on ingest.

 

[hexah]

Still not a peep from the Beeb about this.

Useless!!!


rbb

tonight Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis - Wikipedia

(meant to post this yesterday but was very busy)

WDR
from tomorrow, for the next few Sundays, the Rock Hard Festival will be on WDR

NDR

NDR has some more full 1 hour versions of Musikladen coming up
(rbb only had the 45 minute versions)

 

[hexah]

Saw a few people wearing Pêpê (aka Fruitcake Frog) frog bucket hats during the coverage of the Rock Hard festival, like some people at the Isle of Wight festival and Glastonbury.



Order yours today!!!

 

[hexah]

I was looking through the Proms listings for anything «Radiophonic» and I found these two, on tomorrow and Wednesday on Radio 3.

Tue 22 Jul 2025 19:30 Mark Simpson

ZEBRA (or, 2-3-74: The Divine Invasion of Philip K. Dick) (20 mins) (unironically a) BBC commission: world premiere

It is not clear if this will involve the bleating of electric sheep...

Wed 23 Jul 2025 Boulez and Berio: 20th-Century Giants

with live electronics by IRCAM

Sadly there is a lot of crap in the television schedules, mostly BBC Two and BBC Four, that should not be in the Proms at all. All of this carp should be on Radio 2. Or in the bin.

️ The Great American Songbook and Beyond with Samara Joy

️ JADE & Royal Northern Sinfonia (Glasshouse)

wtf is Jade doing in the Proms?!

️ The Traitors

️ Soul Revolution

️ Classic Thriller Soundtracks

That is 5 whole television slots that could have been used for things that are broadcast on Radio 3, like a proper jazz effort, unusual things like Arooj Aftab, The Cavemen and some more classical stuff.

On top of that, the terrestrial television broadcast is in AAC 128 kbps which is far too low. That is what was used in portable mp3 players 20 years ago, today AAC 192 kbps is the minimum that is used on phones and portable players. Squeezing an orchestra into AAC 128 kbps is obviously cretinous because it can't sound good but some Proms like Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 have 2 full choirs and 2 full orchestras combined and trying to squeeze that into AAC 128 kbps is utter lunacy.

It is hard to believe the BBC invented NICAM.