Jazz on screen at The Barbican

Here are a couple of chances to see some jazz on the big screen, courtesy of The Barbican in London.

The classic film of jazz trumpeter-singer Chet Baker in his drugs-fueled '50s heyday, Let's Get Lost, is to be re-released on the big screen on June 6th. Made in 1988 by Bruce Weber, it features a series of interviews with Baker, his friends, families, associates and lovers, interspersed with footage of his early performances days.

And to complement this the Barbican is also screening for one night only the fictional 'Round Midnight. Bebop tenor sax player Dexter Gordon stars in Bertrand Tavernier's tribute to 1950s jazz, inspired by the lives of Bud Powell and Lester Young. Herbie Hancock provides the musical arrangements. This rare screening is on June 8th at 3.30pm, tickets are priced at £8.50.

See more at The Barbican film website here .

Retro TV W/C 16th May 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 16th May to Thursday 22nd May.

Highlights of the week

Fast approaching his 50th birthday and with a new album due for release next month, Paul Weller seems to be all over the media at the moment. He appears on BBC 2's Later Live... with Jools Holland (Tues 20th, 10pm) performing tracks from his new 22 Dreams album, while BBC Radio 6 has a two-part special Sold on Song (Weds 21st/Thurs 22nd, 9.30pm) in which he talks to Mark Lamarr about his methods and sources of inspiration, as well as performing songs from his vast repertoire.

Other bits to look out for this week include a screening of  Lindsay Anderson's cult 1968 movie If... (Film4. Tues 20th, 11pm), while on the radio BBC Radio 4 repeat The Blues Dance (Sat 17th, 3.30pm) a look at the world of the blues dance or Jamaican private club and screenwriter Kay Mellor explores the legacy of Shelagh Delaney's iconic play A Taste of Honey (BBC Radio 4. Thurs 22nd, 11.30am).

Barbican's Best of Bond Weekend

London's Barbican centre is hosting a Best of Bond weekend over the weekend of 7th and 8th June, with the films shown based on the votes of the cinema's audiences over the past couple of months.

The winners have just been announced, with the four films being shown:

Saturday 7th June
6.00pm - From Russia With Love (1963)
8.45pm - Goldfinger (1964)

Sunday 8th June 
6.00pm - Casino Royale (2006 - not the 'spoof' version from 1967)
8.45pm - Dr No (1962)

You could sit through the whole weekend if you wanted, but it doesn't look like you get a discounted ticket for doing so - admission is £8.50 per film, £6 for the unwaged.

Find out more at the Barbican website

Jason King - The Complete Series

Britain's dandiest crime investigator heads to DVD next month with the launch of Jason King - The Complete Series Special Edition.

As the name suggests, this is everything - seven discs with all 26 episodes complete and uncut, with Peter Wyngarde in the title role, mixing life as a crime fighter, author, playboy and late 60s clothes horse. Extras include a documentary, stills gallery, music suite and the TV play The Cross Fire starring Peter Wyngarde.

It's out on 30th June 2008, selling for £59.99. But watch out for a competition on this very site in the very near future.

Find out more about the DVD at Amazon.co.uk

Retro TV W/C 9th May 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 9th May to Thursday 15th May.

Highlights of the week

BBC 4 broadcast The Music from Mad Men night on Friday 9th May, featuring a new biography of Peggy Lee (9pm), Kings of Cool: the Classic Crooners (10pm), and The World of Nat King Cole (11.50pm). The other bit of TV that looks at all interesting this week is Love Music Hate Racism 08, a look at the evolution of the Rock Against Racism movement (channel 4, Friday 9th,12.25am).

Radio wise, the most interesting listing to be found this week is on Radio 4 (Tuesday 13th, 1.30pm)
The Blues Dance - a look at the world of the blues dance or Jamaican private club in the history of black Britain. Johnnie Walker presents his own tribute to Dusty Springfield in Icons Revisited (BBC Radio 2. Tuesday 13th.10.30pm) and the world of public information films is celebrated in The Archive Hour - The Terrible Truth (BBC Radio 4. Saturday 10th. 8.00pm)

Gimme Shelter DVD release

The classic Rolling Stones 1969 tour documentary Gimme Shelter is to be released on DVD this summer.

The film, directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, chronicles the Stones' infamous tour which ended up with the chaotic Altamont Free Concert. The stellar supporting cast includes Ike and Tina Turner, Jefferson Airplane, and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Gimme Shelter has had the full colour and sound restoration treatment, and comes accompanied with a lavish 40-page booklet with photos and essays on the Altamont show. Extras include directors' audio commentary and backstage footage of the Stones at Madison Square Gardens in New York.

Gimme Shelter is set for release by Warner Home Video on August the 11th.

New film: Honeydripper

A new film about the birth of rock'n'roll, Honeydripper, is shortly to be released in the UK.

Directed by American independent cinema stalwart John Sayles, it stars Danny Glover and is set in Harmony, Alabama during the 1950s. The Honeydripper's focus is, we're told, about 'the complexities and shifting identities of American sub-cultures'. Glover's character Tyrone Purvis owns blues joint The Honeydripper Lounge and its' future depends on a show by Guitar Sam. But when he doesn't show Tyrone is determined the show will happen, and drifter Sonny Blake may just be the answer to his prayers...

The film is notable for featuring many blues artists, including Mable John, Arthur Lee Williams, Keb' Mo', and Eddie Shaw. Honeydripper is on UK general release from Friday May 9th. Visit the official movie site here. The trailer is below.

Retro TV W/C 2nd May 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 2nd May to Thursday 8th May.

Highlights of the week

Jean Seberg was only 17 when Otto Preminger plucked her from obscurity—and a pool of over 18,000 casting hopefuls—to star in his controversial retelling of the Joan of Arc epic Saint Joan (BBC 4, May Day Holiday 5th 10pm). The actress, an enduring female style icon who inspired a million pixie cuts, led a short and tragic life. Hounded by the FBI, she suffered a miscarriage and on every subsequent anniversary of her child's death she attempted suicide. She had been missing for two weeks when she was found dead in the back seat of her car in a Paris suburb on 7th September 1979. She had taken a massive overdose of barbiturates, and had been dead for eleven days.

Armchair Thriller DVD winners

One last competition to draw for now - for a pair of Armchair Thriller DVDs.

Three winners, each receiving the first two volumes of this cult 70s TV series. They are:

Alex Baxter - London
Jane Bullough - Derby
Keri Vagges - Glasgow

A number of new competitions will be starting soon.

Small World of Sammy Lee at the NFT

The Scenester has been out and about, taking in the latest Flipside screening at the NFT - The Small World of Sammy Lee, part of a Soho night of screenings. Over at Cinedelica, you can check out his review of the event and the 1962 film itself - one you should track down, he assures us.

The next Flipside event has just been announced - Sinister Folk. And the one after that promises a night of 60s psych - although details of that night have yet to be confirmed.

Read The Scenester's review of The Small World of Sammy Lee

London Nobody Knows DVD winners

Another competition comes to an end - The London Nobody Knows (1967) / Les Bicyclettes de Belsize (1969) DVD. And we have five winners for the five DVDs. They are:

Darren Whitehead - Manchester
Mikki Francis - London
Kevin Barclay-Jay - Shanklin (Isle of Wight)
Cathy Littlejohn - London
Alison Brown - Newbury

All have been contacted and prizes will be sent out this week.

Retro TV W/C 25th April 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 25th April to Thursday 1st May.

Highlights of the week

BBC 4's latest session from the LSO sees legendary Celtic soul curmudgeon Van Morrison playing tracks from his recent (rather good) album as well as a smattering of classics (BBC 4 Friday 25th 10pm - repeated Sun 27th 10.50pm). Also showing as part of BBC 4's Friday night Van-fest is another repeat showing of the first episode of Soul Britannia, which, if you haven't already seen it, is essential viewing. (BBC 4, Friday 25th 9pm).

On the radio this week, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings have a session on Craig Charles's always excellent Soul & Funk show (BBC Radio 6, Sat 26th, 6pm), Duffy joins Jools for a quick rendition of Northern Soul classic Tainted Love (BBC Radio 2,  Mon 28th 10.30pm) and BBC Radio 6 repeat the Smokey Robinson narrated Stubborn Kind of Fella - Remembering Marvin Gaye (Week nights 9.30pm)

Fashion In Film Festival

Returning for a second year is the Fashion In Film Festival, mixing talks, exhibitions, newly-commissioned film works, but best of all, some rarely-seen cinema classics that show how fashion of the day was just as important as a good plot and scenery.

Some superb films on show this year too, with highlights (for me) including the visually stunning (see image above) 10th Victim (La Decima Vittima) from 1965 and Get Carter (1970) at the ICA, Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace (1964) at the Horse Hospital, as well as a double bill of delinquency curated by fashion designer and former mod Roger K. Burton (The Violent Years from 1956 and The Boys from '62), Dario Argento's The Bird With Crystal Plumage (1970) at the BFI plus Plein Soleil (1960) and Fata Morgana (1965) Ciné lumiére.

Much more besides, including some rare silent flicks and classic US film noir. Check out the full programme at the website - the event runs from 10th - 31st May 2008.

Fashion In Film Festival website

Via Cinedelica

Retro TV W/C 18th April 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 18th April to Thursday 24th April.

Highlight of the week

Director Murray Lerner's excellent rockumentary Amazing Journey: the Story of the Who comes to BBC 4 this weekend (Friday 18th 9.30pm - repeated Sun 20th 10.50pm).
One of the most innovative and explosive bands in music history and the greatest live act the UK has ever produced, the Who have already been well served by the excellent music documentary The Kids Are Alright. But while TKAA is a compilation of great performances, Amazing Journey is their story. An authorized portrait of the band, this is an honest authentic account of their ups and downs as they have evolved through four decades of rock. It includes recent and extensive interviews with surviving Who members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend as well as close friends and family of the band.

What do you want on the site?

We're about to start our re-design of the website and to go along with it, we want to stick up a load of new content. We hope to expand and improve existing sections, but we need to know specifically what you are interested in.

Do you want more listings? More news? More reviews? And if so - what kind of reviews do you want - clubs, events, films, books, music or anything else?

And do you want more articles - and if so, what kind of articles? And who do you want us to interview? Or perhaps you want something more technical - like a radio station or downloads? Would you be interest in well-designed merchandising?

Please let us know your thoughts abut the above and anything else by contacting the site or leaving a comment below. And if you fancy contributing in any way at all, we're ALWAYS happy to hear from you.

Contact the site

Sixties Soho night at London's BFI

Another great night planned by The Flipside at London's BFI on Thursday 24th April 2008, celebrating the seedy world of 60s Soho.

That means a screening of The Small World Of Sammy Lee (1962), with Strip club compere and small time wideboy Sammy (played by cockney crooner Anthony Newley) losing his shirt at an all-night card game, with the heavies looking to collect. That means a race against the clock around the streets of Soho as Sammy tries to raise the readies, and escape with the girl who loves him, before his luck runs out.

James Bond exhibition in London

London's Imperial War Museum is the location for a major Ian Fleming and James Bond exhibition - For Your Eyes Only.

A look at the man and the character, it features a large amount of material on show for the first time, including  a selection of annotated Bond manuscripts and Fleming’s Colt Python .375 Magnum revolver, along with material from the films including the ‘blood–splattered’ shirt worn by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, Rosa Klebb’s flick–knife shoes in From Russia With Love and Halle Berry’s bikini from Die Another Day.

There's also a number of events and family activities relating to Bond, plus free screening of some early Bond classics - Dr No, From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. The exhibition opens on 17th April 2008, running until 1st March 2009. See the website for full listings.

Find out more at the Imperial War Museum website

Via Retro To Go

Retro TV W/C 11th April 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 11th April to Thursday 17th April.

Highlights of the week

Blimey, you know it's a poor week for retro TV when even the ever reliable BBC 4 has nothing in its listings to write about. New and worth mentioning this week is Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings appearance on Later Live... with Jools Holland (BBC 2. Tuesday 15th, 10pm). And, if you haven't caught it before, Michael Sheen's award winning portrayal of the tortured funny man in Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! (BBC 4, Wednesday 16th, 10pm) is as brilliant as you'd expect from possibly the greatest British actor of his generation.

He Kills Coppers heads to DVD

If you missed its showing on TV or just want to re-live it again, you can now get your hands on He Kills Coppers on DVD.

This ITV adaptation of Jake Arnott's novel kicks off in 60s Soho, but takes the main characters through three decades as both policeman Frank Taylor (Rafe Spall) and journalist Tony Meehan (Steven Robertson) are on the trail of cop killer Billy Porter (Mel Raido).

The DVD features all episodes, along wth a 'making of...' documentary, including interviews with the cast. Available from this week, it's officially priced at £19.99 (although Amazon are selling it at £12.98).

Find out more about the DVD at Amazon.co.uk

Retro TV W/C 4th April 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 4th April to Thursday 10th April.

Highlights of the week

In Radio 4's This Are 2 Tone (Saturday 5th, 10.30am) Phill Jupitus celebrates the phenomenon that was 2-Tone music. Thirty years ago bands such as the Specials, the Beat, Madness and the Selecter created a new sound born from a blend of punk, reggae and ska.

Meanwhile on TV, BBC 4 conclude their Curse of Comedy season with Frankie Howerd: Rather You than Me (Wednesday 9th, 9pm). David Walliams stars as one of his own comedy favourites in this moving, humorous and poignant story of Howerd's fight with his inner demons, following by an Arena documentary, Oooh er Missus! The Frankie Howerd Story, about the great man himself. 

BFI's 60s French cinema season

This month, the BFI Southbank will be hosting a season of films relating to the spirit of revolution in the era called “Pop Goes the Revolution: French Cinema and May '68”.

Curated by Bob Stanley, the season shows how the enfranchisement of youth in the mid-60s was turning the world on its head. As you might expect, there are films here by Jean Luc Godard (“Masculin Féminin”, “Alphaville” and “Weekend”), Francois Truffaut (The Bride Wore Black”) and a double-bill starring Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin.

Perhaps the highlight of the season is the chance to see William Klein’s op-art satire on the fashion world “Who are You, Polly Magoo?” which is showing on 26th and 29th April.

For full listings, visit the BFI website.

Via Retro To Go

Updated: Modculture films section

As part of an ongoing update of the site, the Modculture films section has had an update - and will continue to be updated over the coming days and weeks.

We've tidied things up a bit and added a pile of new reviews to the database - more will be added on an almost daily basis or when time permits and some of the old/tired reviews will be improved.

If you have any ideas on films to feature or dig out, we're always happy to hear from you. If time allows, a TV database could be added in future.

Modculture films section

Love Story gets UK release

The Love documentary Love Story is at last coming to DVD in the UK.

Love Story charts the life and times of '60s psychedelic warrior Arthur Lee and his Los Angeles band Love.  The film features extensive interviews with Lee (his last ever), plus band members Johnny Echols, Michael Stuart, Alban 'Snoopy' Pfisterer, Bryan Maclean, Elektra Records boss Jac Holzman, The Doors' John Densmore, producer Bruce Botnick, as well as testimonials from fans Bobby Gillespie, Mani, John and Mick Head (Shack), and (surprisingly enough) London Mayor Ken Livingstone.

The film was premiered on both sides of the Atlantic last year but is not to be on general release in cinemas. Instead it will be available on DVD in June. Check the usual retail outlets closer to the time for price details. In the meantime unedited parts of some of the film interviews are available to watch on the Love Story Myspace page here.

Retro TV W/C 28th March 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 28th March to Thursday 3rd April.

Highlights of the week

It's not often that a Radio 3 programme appears in this weekly listing, let alone in the highlights, but the most intriguing radio programme this week must be A Long Way from Home (Sunday 30th, 9pm). Caryl Phillips' original drama imagines the conflicting forces in the iconic singer Marvin Gaye's life, including family, stardom, love, sex and drugs. The story focuses on his final years, when he was offered a lifeline in the unlikely setting of Ostend in Belgium, where he composed the song Sexual Healing before he returned America and was murdered by his own father.

ITV 1 continues it's excellent adaption of Jake Arnott's He Kills Coppers (Sunday 30th, 9pm). Episode two begins just after the killing of three police officers by the ruthless psychopath Billy Porter. The country is in uproar. Calls for the return of the death penalty follow and Porter goes on the run.

Finally, a long overdue night of appreciation for 1970s comedy icon Marty Feldman is held on BBC 4 (Monday 31st, 9pm). A new documentary pays tribute to this under-rated funnyman followed by a compilation show for some of his greatest sketches.

The Specials DVD

After a few months delay, The Specials DVD of their music videos is now out.

Too Much Too Young is the only official Specials DVD available in the UK. Narrated by superfan Tim Lovejoy, the DVD features all 13 of the bands music videos, plus two Super 8 Films shot by band associate Brian Zabawski of New York City gigs in 1980.

Music Video Tracklisting:
The Specials
1. A Message to You Rudy
2. Gangsters
3. Concrete Jungle
4. Too Much, Too Young
5. Rat Race
6. Do Nothing
7. Ghost Town
8. Enjoy Yourself.
Special AKA 
1. Free Nelson Mandela
2. War Crimes
3. Alcohol
4. Housebound
5. Girlfriend

The Too Much Too Young DVD is available from Play for a very reasonable £9.99 here.

YouTube: Smashing Time TV spot

We haven't done a YouTube clip for some time and as I've just found this superb TV spot for classic swinging sixties flick Smashing Time, seems like a good time to re-start the best of YouTube slots.

Enjoy the clip below - and if you want more cult film and TV like this, you'll get it by the bucketload at our Cinedelica site.

Retro TV W/C 14th March 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 14th March to Thursday 20th March.

Highlights of the week

The tumultuous events of 1968 are recalled in a number of radio and TV programmes this week, looking at the role of writers, actors and musicians in the street battles that marked the year - and whether they helped to change western society and culture. The South Bank Show - Revolution 68 (ITV 1. Sun 15th.11.15pm) includes extracts from two never before broadcast interviews from 1968: one with Mick Jagger, shortly after he attended the rally in Grosvenor Square; and another with an angry John Lennon as he responded to attacks from the far left at the end of 1968. John Tusa and guests discuss the impact in 1968: the Year of Revolutions (Radio 4. Tues 18th. 9am), while a daily spot on Radio 4, 1968: Day-by-day (Beginning Mon 17th. 4.55pm) recalls the major political, cultural and social events of that day in history.

On a lighter note, BBC 4 begins it's Curse of Comedy season with the evolution of innuendo on the Beeb in Auntie's War on Smut (Tues 18th. 9pm) and the first of a short series of docu-dramas exploring the inner demons of some of Britain's most loved entertainers opens with The Curse of Steptoe (Weds 19th, 9pm) starring Phil Davis and Jason Isaacs. Finally, ITV 4 begin another of their re-runs of classic sixties TV with The Prisoner (Weds, 19th. 8pm), while earlier the same day Paul Jackson tells the story behind the making of the show in Britain in a Box ( BBC Radio 4. 1.30pm).

Spirit of 1968 on screen

As we approach the 40th anniversary of the tumultuous events of May 1968, film-makers and broadcasters look over the period with new documentaries and srceenings of period films.

The South Bank Show this Sunday (16th, ITV1, 11.15pm) runs Leo Burley's Revolution 68. The film "explores the art and the artists at the heart of 1968" and alongside the usual interviews with those who lived through it (and the obligatory footage of strikes and demonstrations) are never-before-broadcast comments recorded in 1968 by Mick Jagger and John Lennon.

More substantially is the British Film Institute season entitled All Power to the Imagination. Over three months starting in April the BFI will host cultural events across London to commemorate 1968. The BFI Southbank will review the student riots in Paris with a series of screenings of films from the time, including Jean-Luc Godard's classic Alphaville. Then in May the Hayward Gallery will stage the first UK exhibition of propaganda posters produced by Paris students and workers. More events are planned and will be announced shortly.

Look out for more screenings as May approaches. For more on the BFI season keep checking their website here.

Retro TV W/C 7th March 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 7th March to Thursday 13th March.

Highlight of the week

Friday 7th March is Detroit night on BBC 4. Motor City's Burning: Detroit from Motown to the Stooges (10pm, repeated Sat 8th, 11pm) documents the city in the 60s and 70s and tells the story of those who escaped their factory birthright to create revolutionary music in a blue-collar city without pity.

Also repeated over the weekend are What's Going On? The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye (Friday 7th, 9pm), Iggy Pop and the Stooges at Glastonbury (Friday 7th, 12.35am), George Clinton: Tales of Dr Funkenstein (Friday 7th, 2.35am), Soul Deep: the Story of Black Popular Music (Saturday 8th, 8.30pm) which tells the story of Berry Gordy's Motown label, and finally Standing in the Shadows of Motown (Saturday 8th, 12Midnight), a celebration of Motown house band the Funk Brothers. All highly recommended. 

Win The London Nobody Knows on DVD

The much-anticipated Optimum DVD release of The London Nobody Knows (1967) / Les Bicyclettes de Belsize (1969) finally hit the shelves this week. But if you want to save yourself some cash, you can win one of the five DVD copies we are giving away in our latest competition.

Two widely differing mini-features, The London Nobody Knows is a fascinating snippet of the lesser-known side of London in 1967 - think decaying housing and theatres, street entertainers, down and outs and street markets. Not to mention the sites of jack The Ripper's murders and the obligatory shots of swinging London - all overseen by veteran actor James Mason. Les Bicyclettes de Belsize is the complete opposite - a frothy swinging love story set to music on the streets and parks of late 60s Hampstead. And yes - there are bikes involved.

You can check out a full review at our Cinedelica site. Or you can just enter the competition via the link below.

Enter the London Nobody Knows / Les Bicyclettes de Belsize competition

Retro TV W/C 29th February 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 29th February to Thursday 6th March.

Highlight of the week

After being heavily trailed over the last couple of weeks, Mad Men finally comes to our screens (BBC 4, Sun 2nd 10pm & BBC 2, Tues 4th 11.20pm). Written and produced by Matthew (The Sopranos) Weiner, this polished drama is set in the world of 1960s Madison Avenue advertising executives.

BBC 4 are showing related programming throughout the month, with documentary series Selling the Sixties starting Sunday 2nd at 9pm. Interviews with advertising execs from the 1960s tell the story of how they sold the American dream. 

Retro TV W/C 22nd February 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 22nd February to Thursday 28th February.

Highlights of the week

BBC 4 precedes a month of programming relating to the advertising industry with The Hard Sell, A new six part documentary series exploring 50 years of British TV advertising which begins on Tuesday 26th, 10.30pm. The 1980s indie record label Postcard is recalled in a new documentary Caledonia Dreamin' (BBC 4, Friday 22nd,10.00pm).

On the Radio this week Paul Sexton begins a 4 part series profiling Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons in Jerseybeat - the Four Seasons Story (BBC Radio 2, Weds 27th, 11pm), while Tracey McLeod presents Will you Still Love me Tomorrow? (BBC Radio 4, Thurs 28th, 11.30am) examining the role in pop of the girl group.

Retro TV W/C 15th February 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 15th February to Thursday 21st February.

Highlights of the week

Not much to highlight this week I'm afraid. BBC4's excellent Saville Row series concludes on Monday 18th 9pm, while for old nostalgics and young 'newbies', ITV4 screens a double bill of Quadrophenia  followed by The Kids Are Alright on Thursday 21st from 10pm. 

Barbican's Jamaican film season

London's Barbican centre is hosting The Harder They Come season, celebrating the best of Jamaican cinema.

In terms of movies, The Harder They Come is obviously heading things up, followed by director Perry Henzell's follow-up movie, No Place Like Home, 70s cult classic Rockers, Smile Orange from 1976 and recent flick One Love. Also featured in the season is the stage version of The Harder They Come and a live show headed up by Linton Kwesi Johnson.

Full details are on the Barbican site, with the season kicking off on 6th March.

Find out more at the Barbican website

Retro TV W/C 8th February 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 8th February to Thursday 14th February.

Highlights of the week

BBC Radio 4 provides the real highlight this week with Mods! (Saturday 9th), documenting the history of the mods from the modern jazz-loving Soho underground of the late 50s to the seafront clashes with rockers in the early 60s. 1960s news reports are spliced around archive interviews with original mods and a soundtrack provided by the Who, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames and Jimmy James and the Vagabonds.

Meanwhile back on the telly, the recent Scott Walker documentary: 30th Century Man gets another airing on BBC 4 (Friday 8th, 9pm), and the second episode of Saville Row continues on the same channel Monday 11th at 9pm. Preceding it at 8.30pm is Ready To Wear, which disappointed last week with a sketchy overview of the history of the suit. Hopefully this weeks programme will be better,  focusing on the 50s phenomenon of being a teenager and charting the rise of Teddy Boys, mods, rockers and hippies. 

Two Marvin Gaye films in production

Hot on the heels of the news of a Chess Records movie being made comes news that not one, but two Marvin Gaye films are in production.

First up is Marvin: The Life Story of Marvin Gaye: a straightforward biopic of Gaye's whole life, directed by veteran film-maker D. Stevens. It apparently will incorporate 24 of the soul legend's songs into a script written by Gregg Guss and Robert Scharrer. No news of who is playing Gaye yet, but but we do know that Roberta Flack will serve as music supervisor on the $40 million production.

And second up is Sexual Healing, loosely based on Steve Turner's book 'Trouble Man', which chronicles Gaye's self-imposed exile in Belgium and his return to the mainstream with the assistance of Belgian friend and promoter Freddy Cousaert. Jesse L. Martin (star of Law and Order) has been cast as Gaye in the film, and will be joined by James Gandolfini (famous for his role in The Soprano's), who will play the part of Cousaert. The $15 million production will be directed by Lauren Goodman and produced by Gandolfini's production company Attaboy Films.

Both films are set for release in 2009. No doubt both productions will be in a rush to beat the other to release first, so if we're lucky we may even see one out by the end of this year.

Keep up to date with further news and developments on Marvin: The Life Story of Marvin Gaye here and Sexual Healing here.

London Nobody Knows DVD reviewed

Two widely differing cult 60s mini movies are soon to be reissued on DVD - The London Nobody Knows (1967) / Les Bicyclettes de Belsize (1969). And that DVD is reviewed way ahead of release on Cinedelica.

The London Nobody Know is a fascinating snippet of the lesser-known side of London in 1967 - think decaying housing and theatres, street entertainers, down and outs and street markets. Not to mention the sites of jack The Ripper's murders and the obligatory shots of swinging London - all overseen by veteran actor James Mason. Les Bicyclettes de Belsize is the complete opposite - a frothy swinging love story set to music on the streets and parks of late 60s Hampstead. And yes - there are bikes involved.

Check out our review following the link below. The DVD is released on 3rd March 2008.

Read the DVD review at Cinedelica

The Who DVD competition winners

A slightly delayed drawing of the winners for our Amazing Journey: The Story Of The Who DVD competition (due to a delay in getting hold of the prizes), but we have now got the DVDs, which will be sent out to the folowing people:

Tim Watkinson (Manchester)
Gill Torri (Aberystwyth)
Mike Taylor (Walsall)
Michael Brown Fort William

- we will be in touch shortly for your postal details. And for those of you who won the Addams Family competition, but had your prizes go missing, I now have replacement DVD sets, which will also be going out this week.

Retro TV W/C 1st February 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 1st February to Thursday 7th February.

Highlights of the week

Everybody's favourite un-pc PC is back on our screens on Thursday 7th Feb, when beer swilling, spaghetti hoop-munching hardman DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) returns in Ashes to Ashes, the sequel to Life on Mars. This time the action is set in London in 1981, and joining Gene and his faithful sidekicks Ray Carling (Dean Andrews) and Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster) is DCI Alex Drake (Keely Hawkes) a female detective from the 21st Century who is stuck in the past after an accident.

In other highlights, BBC 4 devote a night of programming to jazz pianist Oscar Peterson on Friday 1st, and on Monday 4th broadcasts two shows of interest to any sartorially minded modernist - Ready to Wear - a look at how the suit has changed from the sixties to the eighties, followed by Saville Row, the first in a 3 part series, looking the tailoring houses of Mayfair's famous street.

Chess Records story to be made into film

The legendary blues label Chess Records were responsible for some of the best blues and rock'n'roll records of last century. Established by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess in Chicago in 1949, artists that appeared on their releases included John Lee Hooker, Elmore James, Bo Diddley, Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, and Etta James. And now the story of Chess Records is to be turned into a Hollywood movie.

The picture, entitled Cadillac Records (a reference to when the Chess brothers would sell records from the trunk of their car) will see Beyoncé once again on the big screen (following her appearance in Dreamgirls), this time playing Etta James! Also signed up for the film is Adrien Brody will play the role of Leonard Chess, and Jeffrey Wright will star as the one and only Muddy Waters.

The film, produced by Sony BMG Film, begins shooting in March in New Jersey and Mississippi (although why it isn't being shot in Chicago is baffling), with an expected released date of early next year. So plenty of time to get excited and once again listen to those old records in anticipation. May we recommend you start with Etta James, and perhaps some Chuck Berry too.

Win copies of Armchair Thriller on DVD!

Not something that comes under the 'mod' header, but if you're a fan of British cult TV, you might want  to win DVD copies of Armchair Thriller. If you're not familiar with the show, Armchair Thriller was a series of mini-dramas made by ITV, very much like other 'creepy' shows of the era (Thriller, Tales of the Unexpected and Hammer House of Horror), except this one was played out over a series of weeks, with each episode ending on a cliffhanger.

The show hasn't been available since on either video or DVD - until now. Network is reissuing all episodes, kicking off with Rachel In Danger and A Dog's Ransom. Both received high praise over at our cult film/TV site Cinedelica, both are available to buy now for £12.99 each and both are available to win in our latest competition.

Three lucky people will each receive a copy of the first two Armchair Thriller DVDs. To be in with a chance, all you have to do is enter your details on the competition page. Good luck!

Enter the Armchair Thriller DVD competition

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Retro TV W/C 25th January 2008

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 25th January to Thursday 31st January.

Highlight of the week

Radio 2 pays tribute to blues musician and broadcaster Alexis Korner (1928 - 84) on Thursday 31st January 11.00pm, with Alexis Korner: Rhythm and Blues Champion. Korner is generally seen as the catalyst for the 1960s British blues explosion that greatly influenced the Rolling Stones, the Animals, Led Zeppelin and many others. The series starts with a look at Korner's troubled early life, his role in the 1950s blues and skiffle scenes in London's Soho, and his championing of American blues masters. Expect to hear a tape of him performing in his front room with Muddy Waters and Otis Spann. Contributors include Charlie Watts, guitarists Andy Frazer, Danny Thompson and Big Jim Sullivan, trombonist Chris Barber, musician Zoot Money, and, in a new interview recalling his early days at Korner's Ealing Club, Mick Jagger, whose musician brother Chris Jagger presents this show.