Radio Times

it’s only rock ’n’ roll…

THE PAST IS another country, but when it comes to Glastonbury it may as well be Brigadoon. Did the 90s at Worthy Farm really exist? Or were they merely a fleeting mirage of music and campsite capers, lost in a haze of hedonism? Certainly, some who waded through the mud baths of the “world’s greatest music festival” in the decade of Britpop frequently struggle to recall that they were even there. Jo Whiley, a faithful fan of the festival since before she began presenting on TV in 1994, happily admits as much in our interview on page 14 in which she talks about her four decades of music-filled days – and nights – at Worthy Farm. Of course, no memories will be made at Glastonbury this year as once again the festival…

this week 9-25 june 2021

WHAT I’M WATCHING… JO WHILEY ‘The only time I ever watch TV is when I’m on the train,” says the Radio 2 presenter. “But over lockdown, I was obsessed with Schitt’s Creek, and haven’t found anything to replace it. When it comes to radio, I love a bit of Liza Tarbuck on Saturday evening, in the garden with a vodka by my side.’ My memories of Glastonbury — page 14 TONY HADLEY ‘There’s nothing wrong with talent shows,” says the singer and radio presenter. “I find them entertaining and some of the singers are absolutely amazing, but I think pop music gets dismissed by TV. You’ve got Jools Holland on Later… and that’s about it really!’ The joy of singing posh — page 111 SARAH CRONIN-STANLEY ‘I love the original Upstairs, Downstairs,” says the managing director of Talking…

let our voices be heard

You don’t have to be a professional singer to understand the pleasure we get from using our own voices to make music: this is something we all share. We enjoy coming together to sing when we celebrate special moments and we sing to accompany our ordinary days: we hum while we are cooking, we belt out tunes in the bath. Yet the pandemic means many of us are unable to sing as freely as we would like. Covid has closed down choirs and singing groups, stopped opera and vocal performances. In doing all of this it has silenced one of the most powerful expressions of our common humanity – voices raised in song. Why does singing matter so much? My whole life has been about singing and connecting with audiences. Something special…

from the rt archive… 19—25 june 1999

WHAT WE WATCHED There was much talk of groom-to-be Prince Edward and his bride Sophie Rhys-Jones opting for a more personal, informal wedding day. The BBC’s royal correspondent Jennie Bond revealed that the prince, having watched the marriages of his brothers and sister fall apart, would have preferred a private ceremony away from the media spotlight, but “after much discussion, he and Sophie accepted that public interest was such that they should allow it to be shown on television”. The nuptials, broadcast from St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on both BBC and ITV, ended up attracting a combined audience of 14.8 million. WHAT YOU SAID Channel 4 had excavated David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser from the archives and Helen Harris of Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire couldn’t have been happier: “Car chases,…

‘i’ve been nervous for the last 45 years!’

LAST MONTH, THERE was that rarest of modern-day experiences: seeing a musician, in the flesh, in a venue. Paul Weller was backstage in a London theatre filming a hush-hush guest performance at a show by one of the few musical peers who, like the Modfather himself, are still music pioneers and still prolific, four decades on from their chart breakthroughs. “I’m happy to play anywhere at the moment, mate,” the songwriter, 63, states breezily when we catch up again, over Zoom, a week later. Both of us are sworn to secrecy regarding the details of his VIP walk-on. “Weddings, bar mitzvahs, whatever…” Into that “whatever” category we can add Weller’s next performance. As part of the At the Barbican series – being streamed and broadcast across the BBC – he’s playing in…

glory days

LAST MONTH, GLASTONBURY Festival organisers Emily and Michael Eavis welcomed TV cameras to their Somerset home for Live at Worthy Farm, a concert featuring a dozen or so artists, including Damon Albarn and members of Radiohead and Coldplay, which was live streamed over the internet. Instead of the usual Glastonbury crowd of some 200,000 people, the audience in the 900 acres comprised mostly the family’s prize-winning dairy herd. “It weirdly felt like one of the really, really early festivals,” says Emily, 41, sitting in an office next to the farmhouse where she grew up. “It reminded me of the 1980s, because (a) there were not many people here, and (b) all the bands used the house and offices as dressing rooms, so we had everyone around us.” After the pandemic-enforced cancellation of…