Classic Tunes of the Week: 5. H.A.P.P.Y. Radio by Edwin Starr (1979)

At the start of what looks to be a cold and fairly miserable week in the UK. Here's something that provide something of an upbeat musical lift in spirit. In short, a wonderfully cheesy and fun DISCO track from 1979, from one of the big names of the era, Edwin Starr. This is another Tune that automatically puts a smile on my face when I hear it. I defy anyone not to even slightly feel like moving when the Synth bassline kicks in.

H.A.P.P.Y. indeed. :)

5. H.A.P.P.Y. Radio by Edwin Starr (1979)

Plus a 12 inch mix for those who like the Extended Version

Classic Tunes of the Week: 4. Superman (Prelude and Main Title March) by John Williams (1978)

Yes, Tunes plural. Sorry I've been away for a while, but my sound work for live Theatre and Radio, plus my 26th Birthday kept me very busy for some time. I was originally going to post a big selection of my all-time favourites for my birthday, but as its long passed, it can wait till another time. To make up for the wait though, I will be posting a couple of other tunes over the next two days, so erm...stay tuned...as it were.

As it happens this particular track is one of my all-time favourites anyway. To celebrate John Williams' 81st birthday yesterday, here's one of my favourite ever pieces by the magnificent and superlative film composer, the main theme to Superman itself, from the original 1978 film starring Christopher Reeve. This track also includes the opening prelude Williams composed for the film, which in my mind is the perfect lead-in to one of the most perfect Film themes ever devised.

4. Superman: Prelude and Main Title March, by John Williams (1978)

Classic Tune of the Week: 3. Bossa Nova Baby, by Elvis Presley (1963)

Sorry its a bit late this week. This time its a golden oldie from the King of Rock & Roll himself, Elvis Presley, although its one of his lesser known pieces. Originally written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for the 1963 film, Fun in Acapulco, for a scene in which Elvis performs on stage, Bossa Nova Baby is a gloriously fun and catchy little number that always brings a smile to my face and a puts spring in my step, everytime it pops up on the iPod. I hope you enjoy it too.

First, here's the original studio version:

Bossa Nova Baby by Elvis Presley (1963)

Secondly, here's a good modern remix, which I also like, even if the original still comes off better I think:

Classic Tune of the Week: 2. Agatha Christie's Poirot (TV Theme), by Christopher Gunning (1989)

I make no secret of the fact that I'm a big fan of TV Drama, and Detective Shows in particular. My favourite of all of these is the long running ITV series of adaptions of Agatha Christie's Poirot stories, simply known as Agatha Christie's Poirot, and has been going since 1989, with all of them starring the fantastic actor David Suchet as the famous fictional Belgian detective. However, one of the other mostly regular parts of the show is Christopher Gunning's original soundtrack, lovingly and artistically crafted, while also very effectively reflecting the various moods, suspense, mystery and deadly danger that these stories weave with an expert musical talent that stands out from the crowd. I love a lot of Christopher Gunning's music, but by far his most memorable and my personal favourite is all his work on Poirot. It's a fantastic throwback to the romantic music of the early Twentieth Century, when Jazz was making its mark, but while Classical music was still very prominent in the culture of the time. Rachmaninov and Gershwin were the famous composers of the day, and a lot of Gunning's music for Poirot is a loving homage to that period, the period that a lot of the Poirot stories are set, in the mid-1930s. As a fan of this period of music myself, I loved it straight away, but I think Christopher Gunning's music stands up brilliantly on its own anyway.

I wish there were youtube links of more interesting Poirot music, than just the theme, but it is a superb introduction to the style and quality of music Christopher Gunning made for the show. Enjoy.

Agatha Christie's Poirot (Main Theme - "The Belgian Detective), by Christopher Gunning (1989)

Classic Tune of the Week: 1. The Bump, by The Haggis Horns (2007)

To help keep the blog busy, here's a new feature I've thought up. Being a passionate music fan (of several genres) and a worker in Radio, I like and love a lot of tracks from across the decades and genres, and my iPod is practically heaving full of pieces. I'm also pleasantly surprised at how much great music I continue to discover both old and new as every month passes.

So in short, I thought it might be good to share with you some of my eclectic musical tastes. The first track I've chosen this week is a funk track called:

The Bump, by The Haggis Horns (2007)

I hope the video works, if not, then just use the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItvQH4dDOc4

When I first heard it, I couldn't believe it was only recorded in 2007. Sure, the recording is sharp, and the tune is fresh to the ears, but the piece is perfectly composed in the classic funk style of the early 1970s, that one would tell little difference between this and the classic originals, some of which have been remastered already, and sound equally clear and sharp to the ear. The Haggis Horns are definitely a band to keep an ear out for, especially if you love funk music like I do. One of the exciting things about twenty first century music is how older music genres are having big new resurges in creativity, and come back sounding as good as ever. Fortunately, the increase in access to non-chart music via both the Internet and online music download shop sites like iTunes have helped music lovers like myself to find out and hear these wonderful new musicians that would otherwise be buried under the now faltering empires of the big record label companies.

My Top 3 New TV Shows of the Month (February 2012)

1.    The Tube (BBC Two, Documentary)

Normally I’m not a fan of ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentaries, but this one is particularly good. It follows the weekly routine lives of the staff working on the London Underground railway network, including on the areas we don’t get to see. The documentary follows everyone from the cleaners and ticket sellers to security, maintenance workmen and engineers, and gives us a snapshot of their everyday duties as well as the obstacles and challenges they are called to face on a near daily basis.

One reason I quickly liked this programme was because it’s the first time, the public have had a chance to fully see and understand how the London Underground operates behind the scenes, and one of the few times for something as complex and difficult to run as a railway network. We get to see just how much goes on, and how difficult it must be to keep it running both regularly, and fairly smoothly. It also effectively brings home how dedicated the staff of the Underground has to be in order to cope.

That brings me onto the main reason for liking the documentary, as it really highlights the human side to the Underground, and the side that many of its customers fail to appreciate. Most staff love their work, but even the ones who aren’t so passionate, clearly time and time again put themselves on the line to do their very best for the paying public, even when circumstances or problems stop them from being able to help their potential or paying customers.

I’m no Londoner, but as someone who has used the London Underground hundreds of times over two decades, I know that a large majority of the railway’s users take both it and the services of its staff for granted. However, what the documentary brought scarily home to me is just how insular most Underground users are. They seem to care only about their own needs, and often fail to recognise that there’s often a very good reasonable cause for why problems or inconveniences occur. As one railway replacement bus driver wisely commentated, Londoners are lucky to be able to have regular public transport, often within minutes, late into the night, when most of the country had little of it past the early evening. In fact the London Underground is party to some of the worst excesses of human life, at times straying dangerously close to barbarism. It’s probably not appropriate to mention them here, but it is suffice to say that it is shocking to see and hear, not just the lack of respect a person can have for another human being, but also the lack of decency, morals or public consideration sometimes on display. Fortunately, most Underground customers aren’t like this, but a lot of them do seem to remain rather selfish, narcissistic, ignorant and insensitive towards what happens on London Underground in general. In fact, I’ve often seen some people like this on everyday British railways. Which is why I hope this programme is a wake up call to all those who do take the service for granted.

I for one have a great respect for everything London Underground and workers do, and have to go through in order to deliver the efficient service many of us have enjoyed in recent times. Even if there just happens to a few temporarily-closed lines on the next trip I make.

Rating: 5/5

2.    Whitechapel – Series 3 (ITV 1, Crime Thriller)

I was originally quite sceptical of Whitechapel being a success when I heard the premise of the first series in 2009. Numerous Jack the Ripper dramas and films set in the present day had been made, and nearly all of them weren’t very good. While it was hardly a television classic, I was pleasantly surprised at just how fun and enjoyable, not to mention how cinematically interesting it was to watch. The cast of Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davis and Steve Pemberton were also superlative.

The second series in 2010 was sadly a big disappoint. A story and plot based upon a pair of modern mafia twins, resurrecting the ways of the Kray twins, was both ridiculously far-fetched and very convoluted, and I nearly didn’t bother to watch the end.

This entirely unexpected third series though, has proved to be something of a delight. A simplification of the programme’s formula to feature modern day crimes that are only similar to past ones, as opposed to being exactly identical has given the show a wonderful new lease of life. The plot construction and development may be rather predictable at times, but it’s I would say it’s now more enjoyable and slicker than the programme has ever been. The cast also remains superb and hold together the production nicely. Whitechapel 3 is a creepy, but disposable crime thriller that makes for a great evening’s telly.

Rating: 4/5

3.    Top Gear – Series 18 (BBC Two, Magazine Car Show)

I’m no car enthusiast, I can assure you, but Top Gear has to be one of the most entertaining shows of modern times. I may have a small interest in Transport in general, but this is far from some serious factual show about people endlessly obsessing about the details of cars. Of course, there has to be some of that, otherwise it wouldn’t be a car show, but Top Gear is so well packaged a programme that these parts almost fly by. In fact Top Gear is a magazine show, which means it’s a programme of many parts, and many short features, but it also means that any factual content has to be presented in an entertaining way. Top Gear’s answer to this over the last ten years, has been to offer a variety of fun car races, weird and wonderful challenges, and celebrity appearances, all delivered in a gloriously irreverent style that makes it very appealing and enjoyable to the majority, rather than the minority of automobile fanatics.

Series 18 in particular has seen a return to form for Top Gear, after the last couple of years seemed to show the programme getting a bit tired in its offerings (with the occasional memorable segment). Now that seems to be a thing of the past, with moments like the Top Gear team's attempt at creating a movie car chase, a fun disability scooter race, and a hilarious look at the history of the Chinese car industry.

Rating: 4/5

My thoughts on...Doctor Who - Series 6 (2011)

Matt Smith’s first year as the Doctor in Series 5 last year was an outstanding triumph. In fact it was the best series Doctor Who had produced since 1989, with classic episodes abound, and such a consistency in quality writing that I don’t think anybody expected to see so soon. In a previous post last year, I wondered if this was the beginning of Doctor Who’s second golden age (the first being 1970-1977). However, like many others I sadly spoke too soon.

The new Doctor Who series this year was something of a mixed bag. Very brave, experimental, with more complex writing than ever before, but it wasn’t always pulled off successfully. Steven Moffat’s season story arc in particular, tried to create a large narrative that played with the conventions and ideas about Time Travel, even having parts of the narrative itself travel through time to occur in different parts of the story arc progression, contrary to the logical progression of story narrative.

I don’t have a problem with this approach, although it’s clear that many of the casual and older audience did. Being in my mid-twenties, I enjoyed this fresh and different approach to storytelling. I found it simple to understand, but it’s clear that the older and casual audience did not, probably because they are less used to change in narrative storytelling conventions, and also because I suspect that the casual audience in particular use Television more as a medium for entertainment to have running in the background like the Radio, and move their attentions away for a five minute chat, before going to back to the TV, hoping they haven’t missed anything. Personally, I find this quite an insulting attitude to Drama on Television. No wonder the critics think its “dumbing down”. A TV Drama writer should be allowed to write a complex and clever script without fear of criticism from less intelligent or casual viewers. Having said that though, Steven Moffat’s story arc did have some quite noticeable flaws.

Although, the story arc successfully supported the events of The Impossible Astronaut two-part opener, you couldn’t help but think that in second half of the series, a lot of the developments were rushed, without proper room for the build up of dramatic tension and character development. Let’s Kill Hitler is a classic example of this. All the ideas and actions were good and sound, but they all happened so quickly we weren’t able to care about them. The Tesselecta and the people behind them are never really examined or explained, the backstory of Melody Pond is whizzed through in a few minutes, and Melody decides to save the Doctor only half an hour after poisoning him. The latter scene in particular was clearly meant to be a powerful and emotionally moving moment, but because there was no time for a believable character development that would lead up to it, I didn’t really believe in or feel for that moment. Let’s Kill Hitler and Steven Moffat tried to cram a 90-minute storyline into a 45-50 minute episode, and it doesn’t work. The episode is still rather good in its component parts, but it fails to make us care about it. The Wedding of River Song is much less rushed in comparison, but also feels somewhat hollow and sterile, perhaps as a consequence, because in the long term, the audience have never convincingly been sold River Song as a character to care for.

That was the main reason for series 6 feeling a disappointment, but there were others too. The Curse of the Black Spot and Closing Time felt like some of the weakest episodes for several years, which was a surprise considering the wealth of great talent on them. Closing Time was especially disappointing given how good The Lodger had been, completely wasting the inclusion of the Cybermen, and producing one of the most cringeworthy and risible resolutions I'v ever seen in a Doctor Who  episode. Thankfully, it wasn’t all bad news, there were still some amazing classics to behold and enjoy, particularly The Doctor’s Wife, The Girl Who Waited, and The God Complex, which stand high among the best of Doctor Who episodes. The Girl Who Waited was probably my favourite of the series, and showcased the best of a TARDIS team (Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill) that I've come to love over the last two years.

So in short, despite the failings of series 6 it was far from a failure, and still quite good in comparison to earlier David Tennant seasons, but I think series 5 raised everyone’s expectations to a degree higher than was possible to keep up. With the Doctor now back into the Universe, hoping to be be involved in more smaller-scale adventures, there’s still hope that one day Doctor Who’s new golden age will still take place.