Radio 4 on Music

Radio 4 on Music episodes:

• 09.17.2014

  The Voices of Robert Wyatt

  Robert Wyatt has been recognised as a prog-rock drummer, jazz composer, avant-garde cornet player, artist and activist in a wheelchair. But, above all else, he has been known by one of the most instantly recognisable and distinctive voices of the...

  
• 09.10.2014

  Jay-Z: From Brooklyn to the Boardroom

  Ten years ago rap superstar Jay-Z was struggling to get a record deal after being spurned by every major label - so he started his own. A decade on, with 20 million CD sales under his belt, he is now...

  
• 09.03.2014

  Beat Mining with the Vinyl Hoover

  Broadcaster Toby Amies digs into the archives to discover the value and significance of old vinyl. He uncovers a network of dealers and buyers, supplying a community of 'crate diggers' and 'beat miners' and a world in which samples...

  
• 08.27.2014

  Kate Bush

  In November 2005, Kate Bush broke a 12 year silence with the release of her double album 'Aerial', In this programme she gives a very rare interview to John Wilson in a special edition of Front Row, where she talks...

  
• 08.20.2014

  Conjuring Halie

  Cerys Matthews celebrates the life of one of her musical heroines, the great gospel singer Mahalia ("Halie") Jackson, who died in 1972. Jackson became one of the most influential gospel singers in the world at the height of her popularity,...

  
• 08.13.2014

  Fela Kuti Comes Home

  Fela Kuti is Africa's most famous musician. Before his death in 1997 he recorded nearly 50 albums and invented his own genre of music: Afrobeat. In the 70s and 80s his legendary club in Lagos was famed for housing the...

  
• 08.06.2014

  Front Row - Neil Young

  In a rare interview, Neil Young talks to John Wilson about his album 'Americana' and his long, somewhat unpredictable career. He talks about his politics, the current state of the protest song and the joys of playing with his longterm...

  
• 07.30.2014

  Youssou N'Dour at 50: Africa's Greatest Star

  Robin Denselow profiles the musician Youssou N'Dour as he reaches his 50th birthday, and travels to Senegal to interview the singer in his home city of Dakar. Denselow analyses not just his music but the way N'Dour has used...

  
• 07.23.2014

  My Wizard

  John Aizlewood examines the oft derided genre of Progressive Rock, a catch all term for a variety of bands from Pink Floyd to Yes to Hawkwind to Jethro Tull. He talks to Floyd's David Gilmour, Rick Wakeman of Yes and...

  
• 07.16.2014

  Billy Preston: That's the Way God Planned It

  Billy Preston was a musical genius. A child prodigy, he was first seen as a small boy performing live on national TV with Nat King Cole. He was a star of the Hammond Organ, an accomplished dancer and a talented...

  
• 07.09.2014

  R.E.S.P.E.C.T - The Art of Backing Vocals

  Nick Barraclough pays tribute to arguably one of the least recognised jobs in pop, that of the backing vocalist. Tracing the evolution of vocal harmony from Medieval canon through to Gladys Knight and the Pips, he draws a straight line...

  
• 07.02.2014

  Ziggy Stardust Came from Isleworth

  Ziggy Stardust was a rock and roll fantasy. But David Bowie's fictional rockstar, around whom his 1972 album, stage show, and film were built, was inspired by a real performer, Vince Taylor, born in Isleworth, Middlesex. This programme uncovers the...

  
• 06.25.2014

  The Dream Time of Jazz

  In 1938, pianist and jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton was running a bar in New York, unable to get anyone to play his music and having failed to make much money out of his compositions. It was there that broadcaster...

  
• 06.18.2014

  Dexys Midnight Runners: Don't Stand Me Down

  Music critic Pete Paphides tells the story behind three 'follow-up' albums - from Dexys Midnight Runners, Fleetwood Mac and Suede - with tales of musical pressure, creative differences, personal politics and mixed results. How many bands have found themselves...

  
• 06.11.2014

  Between Rock and a Good Cause

  John Wilson tells the story of American music promoter Bill Graham. Through his work with the top bands of the day, Graham pioneered big concerts in well-equipped venues and was the first to use rock music to raise money for...

  
• 06.04.2014

  When the Levee Breaks

  Mark Lamarr looks at the little-known story of Memphis Minnie, known for her guitar skills, her rowdy ways and the song 'When the Levee Breaks' a musical celebration of a key moment in Blues history. 'Levee', later made famous by...

  
• 05.28.2014

  The Song Doctor

  Stephen Evans talks to record producer Rick Rubin, who resurrected the faltering career of Johnny Cash in the early 1990s. Rubin talks about his close relationship with the country star and the remarkably personal music that came out of it.

  
• 05.21.2014

  Southern Journeys

  The story of American traditional music is dominated by the father and son team John and Alan Lomax who discovered, recorded, and popularised the music of the poor, the dispossessed and voiceless. During Alan Lomax 's 1959 tourofthe southern states,...

  
• 05.14.2014

  The Smiths' Strangeways, Here We Come

  In the summer of 1987 Britain's best loved indie band abruptly came to end when guitarist Johnny Marr sensationally quit. The Morrissey/Marr partnership that had produced such a wealth of finely crafted pop tunes was over, just weeks after the...

  
• 05.07.2014

  Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

  In this BBC Radio 4 programme, Tracey McLeod rewinds over half a century to the golden age of the Girl Group. The songs of groups like the Chantels and Shirelles were songs sung by girls for girls. These groups, formed...

  
• 04.30.2014

  This Are 2 Tone

  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.

  
• 04.23.2014

  Fender Heaven

  David Stafford celebrates the Fender Stratocaster with the help of some of its key players including Hank Marvin, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, Jeff Beck and Johnny Marr.

  
• 04.16.2014

  Sampledelica! The History of the Mellotron

  Mark Radcliffe charts the history of the unwieldy Mellotron, a bizarre, tape-driven instrument that dominated the soundscape of the late 60s and 70s and featured on records by The Beatles, The Moody Blues, King Crimson and Tangerine Dream, to name...

  
• 04.09.2014

  Ian Curtis

  Series of biographical discussions with Matthew Parris. Poet Simon Armitage nominates Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, who took his own life in 1980 at the age of 23. Curtis's fellow band member Peter Hook remembers his friend.

  
• 04.02.2014

  Suede - Dog Man Star

  Music critic Pete Paphides tells the story behind three 'follow-up' albums - from Dexys Midnight Runners, Fleetwood Mac and Suede - with tales of musical pressure, creative differences, personal politics and mixed results. Programme 3: Suede - Dog Man...

  
• 03.26.2014

  Scott Walker

  Stuart Maconie talks to the reclusive singer/songwriter Scott Walker, recorded at the time of the seminal album 'Tilt' which broke an 11 year silence.

  
• 03.19.2014

  Star Spangled Hendrix

  When Jimi Hendrix returned to his native America as a star, the country he knew had changed. This programme, presented by Tom Robinson to tie in with the 40th anniversary of the guitarist's death, explores the pressure Jimi was under...

  
• 03.12.2014

  Bert Jansch

  Singer, songwriter and guitarist Joan Armatrading talks to leading guitarists about their music and guitar technique. Joan meets Bert Jansch, widely acknowledged as one of the most influential musicians of all time. Since the mid-1960s, every generation has been held...

  
• 03.05.2014

  Sculptress of Sound: The Lost Works of Delia Derbyshire

  The broadcaster and Doctor Who fan MATTHEW SWEET travels to The University of Manchester - home of Delia Derbyshire's private collection of audio recordings - to learn more about the wider career and working methods of the woman who realised...

  
• 02.26.2014

  The View from the Back - Charlie Watts

  In a rare interview, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts talks about his career, his love of jazz, keeping time for the Rolling Stones and why he prefers Stravinsky to Elvis.

  
• 02.19.2014

  How Folk Songs Should Be Sung

  Immediately after the success of the BBC Radio Ballads, Ewan MacColl set about the Herculean task of trying to drag British folk music into mainstream culture. Frustrated by the dreary amateurishness of folk song performance, he decided to establish his...

  
• 02.12.2014

  When Cassius Met The Beatles

  The tale of an unexpected encounter between 20th century legends - a meeting which created a new template for global celebrity. February 1964: The Beatles fly into Miami, sparking Beatlemania as they prepare to perform on The Ed Sullivan...

  
• 02.05.2014

  Black Is A Country

  Singer/songwriter Erykah Badu tells how the Black Power movement changed American music forever in the 1960s. From free jazz to the first stirrings of hip hop, this is a story of when the new music met the new politics. Amiri...

  
• 02.05.2014

  Black Is A Country

  Singer/songwriter Erykah Badu tells how the Black Power movement changed American music forever in the 1960s. From free jazz to the first stirrings of hip hop, this is a story of when the new music met the new politics. Amiri...

  
• 01.29.2014

  Leonard Cohen

  The Canadian songwriter reflects on his musical career, with observations from Jennifer Warnes , who sang in his live band and recorded an album of his songs, and Suzanne Vega, who was moved by his music while a teenager.

  
• 01.22.2014

  Kraftwerk: We Are the Robots

  Marc Riley presents the story of Kraftwerk, arguably one of the most influential bands of the 20th century and certainly one of the most enigmatic. Former Kraftwerk member Wolfgang Flür and fans including including Gary Numan, John Foxx, The Smiths’...

  
• 01.15.2014

  Like Blackpool Went Through Rock

  Sean Street recalls the Radio Ballads, a series which heralded a completely new form of radio feature making which began in 1958. Mixing original voices and sounds with specially composed music, producer Charles Parker and folk singers Ewan MacColl and...

  
• 01.08.2014

  Dread, Beat an Blood

  Benjamin Zephaniah reassesses dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson's 1978 debut album. Dread Beat an' Blood expressed the black British experience as it had never been heard before. Using his trademark spoken word style set to an instrumental reggae beat, the...

  
• 01.01.2014

  Steve Reich

  Lynne Walker talks to the hugely influential American composer about the evolution of his music, his interest in African and Indonesian music and jazz.

  
• 12.25.2013

  Fleetwood Mac - Tusk

  Music critic Pete Paphides tells the story behind three 'follow-up' albums - from Dexys Midnight Runners, Fleetwood Mac and Suede - with tales of musical pressure, creative differences, personal politics and mixed results. How many bands have found themselves...

  
• 12.18.2013

  Nick Drake -Unsung

  In this special edition of Kaleidoscope from 1997, John Wilson explores the life, death and most importantly the music of English singer songwriter Nick Drake with the help of those who knew him, including his producer Joe Boyd, friend and...

  
• 12.11.2013

  Nusrat Was My Elvis

  Jeff Buckley was just one of the Western musicians to fall under the powerful spell of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - a Pakistani singer of Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music whose origins can be traced back to the...

  
• 12.04.2013

  Blowing in the Wind: Dylan's Spiritual Journey

  To coincide with Dylan's birthday (24th May 2011) presenter Emma Freud explores the singers spiritual journey revealing a side to the performer often over looked. The programme opens with how Dylan grew up a small-town Jew in Hibbing, Minnesota. We...

  
• 11.27.2013

  Nina Simone

  The chanteuse, pianist, composer and civil rights activist Nina Simone is the choice of another female musician who has made a career of defying convention; Joanna Macgregor. Presented by Matthew Parris.

  
• 11.20.2013

  The Armstrong Tapes

  Jazz historian Helen Mayhew looks at the remarkable life of Louis Armstrong as told through his archive of tape recordings, covering his personal life as well as his music. This programme contains language that some may find offensive.

  
• 11.13.2013

  The Story of Township Music

  Johannesburg-based journalist Ofeibea Quist-Arcton looks at how music thrived alongside events such as the Sharpeville massacre, the Bantu Education Act, the Soweto Riots of 1976 and, of course, the fall of apartheid.

  
• 11.06.2013

  Good Vibrations: The Story of the Theremin

  Bill Bailey tells the story of the remarkable 'hands off' electronic instrument and its enigmatic inventor and charts its use from horror and sci-fi film soundtracks through to contemporary dance music and of course its use on the Beach Boys'...

  
• 10.30.2013

  Lou Reed

  Mark Coles talks to the famously difficult to interview Lou Reed alongside his former Velvet Underground colleagues including John Cale and Maureen “Moe” Tucker, as well as Reed's biographer Victor Bockris.with observations also from David Bowie. Coles recounts Reed’s...

  
• 10.23.2013

  Freak Out! The Frank Zappa Story

  Germaine Greer presents a profile of Frank Zappa, the 1970s icon of eccentric rock whose range of work included serious orchestral composition, film-making and social activism, particularly in the field of anti-censorship. Contributors include Gail Zappa, son Dweezil, guitarist...

  
• 10.16.2013

  The Who Live at Leeds

  Paul Gambaccini uncovers the stories behind the Who's seminal 1970 album, often cited as one of the best live rock albums of all time, with recollections from those who were there, from road crew to audience members to critics to...