Prog Brittania
Posted by Five-Centres on 11 September 2008 - 10:32am.
I'm glad to see this is happening on BBC4 this autumn. I enjoyed the folk, jazz and pop Britannias, and I really enjoyed the Folk Hibernia.
There are some great interviewees lined up for this latest foray, like current Word star Rick Wakeman, Phil Collins, the bloke from Egg.
So what next in the Britannia line? Ska Britannia, Punk Britannia - it could run and run.
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Wow!
Are you serious here? I really hoped this would happen, it's about time this genre was given a serious documentary instead of the usual 'year zero' attitude of 'pompous'/'overblown'/'pretentious' bullshit that fans usually have to endure.
The Folk/Jazz ones were really excellent. Only saw the first part of the Soul one but that was great too.
Folk Britannia
Got me seriously into the music so I'm looking forward to Prog Britannia blowing away any remaining Year Zero cobwebs in my attitude.
Fab!
Which bloke from Egg? Dave Stewart? I only ask because I will add the details to this website
http://www.myspace.com/davestewartbarbaragaskin
Mmmm Barbara Gaskin
The wonderful singer on Spirogyra albums such as St Radigunds. Quite lovely.
Do you have a link?
Sounds interesting!
No links, I'm afraid
But it was unveiled at the BBC4 autumn launch last night. I was beside myself.
the rock Britannia
one was patchy I thought, the prgramme on indie music was rubbish
I just hope...
the programme makes the point that every genre of music has its good and bad... prog being no exception.
'In The Court Of The Crimson King', 'The Yes Album', 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'... these are great records, no debate, no argument...
Yes indeed...
...if you're gonna judge all prog by Rick Wakeman's on ice escapades and ELP's orchestra tour, you might as well judge all punk by Sham 69 and The Lurkers! ;)
Pop Britannia was excellent...for the first two episodes, then we got the rhetoric that the 'rock dinosaurs' like Queen, Pink Floyd and Genesis were all blown away overnight when punk hit, no coverage at all on post-punk and received wisdom contributions from people like Alex Kapranos (for all the slagging off Britpop acts like Menswe@r and Northern Uproar get- arguably rightly so- I'm unconvinced that contemporary bands like The Fratellis or The Kooks are any better).
Was there a documentary on indie? I must have missed that.
I thought the pop one
though good, left a lot out. But unless it was a 100-part series it would be hard to cover it all.
That said, why not make a 100-part series?
Shoegazing Britannia
That would be my dream. I suspect it may remain so.
Also...
...Metal Britannia. I don't think British metal is anywhere near the force it once was (most of the genre's biggest newer acts are American or Scandinavian) but again, this is a genre which has scarcely been given any serious documentary analysis despite being a massively successful genre.
the seven pillars of rock
spent more time talking about Motley crue than zep and didn't mention Lemmy at all
'New Wave' Britannia
78-82. The Undertones, The Jam, XTC, The Police, Stiff Little Fingers, PIL, The Skids etc... might even extend it to include The Specials, Madness, Dexys.
This
I would really love. That era is more or less neglected, except for the recent Stiff stuff.
Having just read
Simon Reynolds' Rip it up and Start Again, I too would love that.
I'll vote for that...
A New Wave Britannia - or a Punk Britannia that does not mention The Clash Or The Pistols! How about some of the great bands that always get airbrushed out of the trendy retrospectives...Rezillos, Wire, Skids, Ruts, Magazine, Generation X...
Or how about the bands that were there in the thick of it but, due to what I can only guess is blatant snobbery, get ignored like The Stranglers, Adam & The Ants (pre-Cowboys,Indians & Pirates they were a great sleazy band), UK Subs (surely Charlie Harper is old enough to be a prime candidate for the next Word cover star!?).
Slaughter and The Dogs anyone..err..anyone?
Emo Britannia
Guaranteed to be a ratings smash, since the entire target audience only ever stay in and watch TV anyway.
Perhaps this is a good home for this:
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=403455
Prog rock devotee Greg Walker takes an affectionate look at an intelligent and gloriously ambitious genre, and asks us to celebrate the era when rock's dinosaurs roamed the Earth
Good piece
And refreshing to read something that suggests the writer has devoted something more than the time it takes to do a couple of Wikipedia searches to thinking a bit about his subject.
Yes...
...good article. In recent times it's good to see some have seen the value of the best progressive rock, particularly when so many British acts these days lack any kind of ambition and are content to peddle the same old rock, as Roy Harper had it!
I'd welcome a documentary on post-punk, this was another very notable omission from that 'Pop Britannia' series. Hard to believe Spandau Ballet were featured in that series and bands like Joy Division weren't!
what next...
Goth Britannia?
one can dream
It may yet happen
But first we'll probably have to sit through Acieed Britannia
Bedwetter Brittania?
Blunt, Keane, Coldplay, Snow Patrol...
Progtastic
This is great news, about time we has some decent prog on the television. Lovely.
Smelling salts
Quick. Hepworth has fainted. This is not what he fought the punk wars for.
Please...give him some air while I waft him with my Gentle Giant LP sleeve.
If Mr Hepworth WAS in the punk wars....
..he surely would have been the Swiss.
Stand back
That Gentle Giant Octopus sleeve is only a double. Let me use this triple album sleeve of Yessongs (*) for extra waft.
Did DH fight the punk wars? Surely he was too old to be called up?
* That's the reissue, which I think folded out, whereas the original that I have didn't.
Stop Press
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/09_september...
Halfway down the page, click on relevant BBC iPlayer link.
May only work in UK.