In Praise of British Music Shows

It's PBS pledge time again. Last time, we saw rare a rare Who concert.

This time, it's Billy Joel on the Old Grey Whistle Test circa 1978. I haven't thought of the OGWT since my good friends did a film about Lynyrd Skynard ages ago. They found amazing early footage of the band from that show; OGWT was famous for having the rarest early footage of some of the greatest bands in pop history.

With Top of the Pops in the news lately and my eternal admiration of Later with Jools Holland, it seems that the UK has the advantage when it comes to classic (not classical) music shows. I hear The Tube, which ran in the 80s was pretty amazing as well.

I guess we had Don Kirshner's Rock Concert stateside. But aside from that, we had to wait for some of our heroes to lip sync on the Merv Douglas Show.

Maybe that's why my head exploded when I saw Elvis Costello on Saturday Night Live ... In the UK, they actually had a tradition of showing bands in a natural setting and they'd do things like Elvis: start a song, then stop, then trash the drum kit.

Gorgeous stuff.

Manuel's Granddaughter Speaks

Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross are still off the air due to that rediculous kerfuffle over Ross saying a nasty word on Andrew Sach's answerphone -- a nasty word for what Brand and Sach's granddaughter, Georgina, did together.

Now, we get a chance to see the real Georgina ....

Top of the Pops

The show that invented the music video back in the 1960s -- giving rise to MTV and the phenomenon of creating little films to go with each single on an album -- was given the axe after decades on the air a couple of years ago. But the Christmas special remained, in which the best-selling singles of the year were shown in one go. Then even that was sacked.

It's good to hear the BBC have reversed their decision and the show is back on.

Some wonder whether Simon Cowell's offer to buy the show from the Beeb and put it on ITV had anything to do with it.

The Bank Job

The last several days, I've been full-tilt into a new project ... a British topic, in point of fact ... No, not the one from which I was hoping to be paid in pounds sterling. But it just got killed (it happens to us writers from time to time as producers and publisher's plans change) so I can talk about it just a little.

Don't want to say too much about it, but suffice it to say that it forced me to finally rent The Bank Job. If you missed it too, you've got to see it -- it's a cracker. It's based on 1971's "walkie talkie robbery" in which a bunch of Eastenders tunneled underneath a Lloyd's safe deposit vault and made away with millions of pounds. The case was busted because a radio ham tuned into their two-way communications and alerted the constables and Scotland Yard.

It stars Lock, Stock and Barrel's Jason Stratham.

Good fun.

Thank you to Maura Ortega for the snap.

We Wish You All Happiness

It's finally happening. The creator of Lord Foppington (or the other way round) and the lovely Lady Monica are getting married this weekend.

We truly wish you the best.

The Once and Future King -- Well, the Future King

Charles, the Prince of Wales, turns 60 today. I'm not much of a royalist, but it seems worth mentioning.

Many happy returns of the day.

Nextbook is Back in the UK

I know it seems like I'm addicted to Nextbook.org, but in case you don't subscribe, you have to hear Hugh Levinson's latest dispatch from London. This time, it's a very thought provoking tour of London's shuls.

Joanna Lumley is Absolutely Fabulous

Blimey.

It turns out that Joanna Lumley has done more than AbFab and The New Avengers. Loads more. Check out this piece from the Guardian, where they hail the career of this 62-year-old bombshell (oh, behave!) Seriously, she looks great and good on her!

And to add to the list of TV shows, the Guardian don't even mention film triumphs like her two Pink Panther films.

Mod. Gear. Fab.

Absolutely Fabulous.

I Don't Agree With This

Hey, I think she's great ... but this was too funny not to share.

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day (as it is called in the Commonwealth -- observed on a Sunday) had me more moved that usual. Tuesday is Veterans Day here in the US. Both commemorate November 11, 90 years ago, when the madness briefly came to an end.

Below, please find a link one of the best pieces of art on the topic, Blackadder Goes Forth. Actually, you can find probably the best bit of that show, the best four or five minutes in comedy history here. But I didn't want to make it too easy for those who haven't seen the whole series to watch this by accident. (I reckon the spoiler alert still applies even when your talking about a comedy in which the main character is reincarnated into a new person each season, innit?)

So put a poppy on your lapel and enjoy the best opening credits in comedy history -- how they explained the entire dynamic of the show with only the words "Eyes Right!" is a thing of beauty.

The Times Aren't A-Changin'

Things have been pretty stagnant the last several days.

Ross and Brand are still in trouble, and heads are rolling at the BBC just because Ross said a naughty word to Andrew Sach's (pictured left) answerphone.

Chelsea are back on top of the football tables, as it has been most of the time for the past couple of years.

And the UK are trying to cope with America's winning the Black-leader sweepstakes. Including a furor over a BBC presenter asking rapper Dizee Rascal if he "feels British."
Thank you to:

phil chappell from Crowthorne, U.K. for the snap.

A Parliament That Looks Like Britain

Interesting column in the Guardian entitled "When Will We See a British Obama?"

As noted before, things are so different there ... after all, if your Asian or Jewish or Black, you're not ethnically "English" or "Scottish" or "Welch." But the face of Britain is getting more and more brown.

According to the piece, it will take 75 years to get a completely representative Parliament. But with their lead in the female- and Jewish-leader races, maybe it isn't so long until there is a PM with African or Asian roots.

Never Give Up, Never Give In

Soldiers used to carry letters around letter labeled "in the event of my death."

Winston Churchill's letter to Clementine from WWI has been discovered and is currently on display at the Cabinet War Rooms (which I have visited -- very cool).

Talk about stiff-upper lip:
"Do not grieve for me too much ... Death is only an incident, and not the most important that happens to us in this state of being. On the whole, especially since I met you, my darling one, I have been happy and you have taught me how noble a woman's heart can be.

If there is anything else I shall be on the look out for you. Meanwhile look forward, feel free, rejoice in life, cherish the children, guard my memory. God bless you, goodbye, W."

The Day After