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MASTERTAPES SERIES 5 - 8. DONOVAN (THE B-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 12th January 2016
John Wilson continues with his fifth series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios.
Programme 6 (B-side): Having discussed the making of 'Sunshine Superman' (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 11th January and available online), Donovan responds to questions from the audience and performs exclusive live acoustic versions of some of the key tracks from the album.
Producer: Clare Walker
MASTERTAPES SERIES 5 - 7. DONOVAN (THE A-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 11th January 2016
John Wilson continues with the fifth series of Mastertapes, the programme in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios.
Programme 7. Donovan talks to John Wilson about 'Sunshine Superman', which according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame "ignited the psychedelic revolution virtually single-handedly" when it was released in the summer of 1966.
'Sunshine Superman' is Donovan's breakthrough third album and a radical departure from his previous work. Born in Glasgow, Donovan Phillips Leitch grew up listening to his father reading him poetry and his family singing Scots Irish folk music. He began playing guitar when he was 14 and was 18 when he had his first hit, 'Catch the Wind'. A year later he began work on the album that first introduced meditation, Celtic mythology and Flower Power to the world.
Creating a unique fusion of classical, jazz, folk, pop, Celtic, Latin and Indian music, the album veered from the LA-influenced 'The Trip' and 'The Fat Angel' (written for Mama Cass) to the medieval tinged 'Guinevere' and 'Legend of a Girl Child Linda' (written for Brian Jones' ex-girlfriend Linda Lawrence who became Donovan's life-long muse and wife). Linda is also the Sunshine Super-Girl of the song 'Sunshine Superman' which topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and featured a young Jimmy Page on lead guitar.
The B-side of the programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard on Tuesday 12th January at 3.30pm.
Producer: Clare Walker
MASTERTAPES SERIES 4 - 10. NOEL GALLAGHER (THE B-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/63mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 7th October 2021
John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.
Programme 10, the B-side. Having discussed the making of 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds', his first studio album since leaving Oasis, Noel Gallagher responds to questions from the audience, performs acoustic live versions of some of the tracks from the album and looks forward to his next musical project "Chasing Yesterday" due out in 2015.
Producer: Paul Kobrak
MASTERTAPES SERIES 4 - 9. NOEL GALLAGHER (THE A-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 6th October 2021
John Wilson continues with the latest series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.
Programme 9, A-side. 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' with Noel Gallagher
In 2009 Noel Gallagher left Oasis – one of the seminal bands of the Britpop era with seven multi-platinum albums including: 'Definitely Maybe', '(What's The Story) Morning Glory?' and 'Be Here Now' – which became the fastest selling album in UK chart history. Two years later Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds also went to Number 1 in the UK with tracks like "Everybody's On the Run", "AKA... What A Life!" and "The Death of You and Me". Praised for its psychedelic tinges and eternal themes of love, loss and hope, it's been described as the best collection of songs "since his Morning Glory days".
With tracks inspired by New Orleans ragtime rhythms and Ennio Morricone-like strings, it put paid to rumours that its creator entered into a state of inertia after the end of Oasis. Noel Gallagher said of the album: "I won't criticize anything about Oasis because I loved being in that band and I was in charge of it, but there was always the feeling: how will this go down in Wembley, with 70,000 people braying for good times? This time I didn't have to think about that. I've got a guy playing wine glasses on one song, a saw on another. This is not Oasis."
Producer: Paul Kobrak
MASTERTAPES SERIES 4 - 8. THE BOOMTOWN RATS (THE B-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/63mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 4th October 2021
John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.
Programme 8, the B-side. Having discussed the making of "A Tonic For The Troops", their 1978 hit album, Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats respond to questions from the audience and performs acoustic live versions of some of the tracks from the album which brought them their first Number 1 single with 'Rat Trap'.
Producer: Paul Kobrak
MASTERTAPES SERIES 4 - 7. THE BOOMTOWN RATS (THE A-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/63mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 4th October 2021
John Wilson continues with the series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.
Programme 7, A-side. 'A Tonic For The Troops'
Named after a gang in Woody Guthrie's autobiography, The Boomtown Rats had a series of hits between 1977 and 1985. Signed by Mercury records the same year that punk rock exploded in Britain, it was their second album 'A Tonic for the Troops', with tracks like "She's So Modern", "Like Clockwork" and "Me and Howard Hughes", that brought them their first Number 1 hit with "Rat Trap".
It's an album that treats dark themes like suicide and euthanasia in an often upbeat, pop-punk style - one critic described the track "Eva Braun" as "the happiest, cheeriest, best upbeat song about Hitler ever written." And another said "Vintage superstars who look like eyesores and sound like dinosaurs should carefully study this album."
The band broke-up in 1986, but reformed in 2013 to tour the UK. This will be a unique opportunity not only to hear them talk about their album but also to see them perform exclusive versions of key tracks.
Producer: Paul Kobrak
MASTERTAPES SERIES 4 - 6. MANIC STREET PREACHERS (THE B-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/63mb/27mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 18th November 2014
John Wilson continues with his series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.
Programme 2, the B-side. Having discussed the making of "The Holy Bible", the career defining third album (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 17th November and available online), James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire and Sean Moore respond to questions from the audience and performs acoustic live versions of some to the tracks from the album which was released twenty years ago.
Producer: Paul Kobra
MASTERTAPES SERIES 4 - 5. MANIC STREET PREACHERS (THE A-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 17th November 2014
John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios.
Programme 3. Manic Street Preachers' 'THe Holy Bible' with Sean Moore, James Dean Bradfield and Nicky Wire.
Released a mere five months before the disappearance of main lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards, The Holy Bible reflects his fragile mental state. On its release, Q said "even a cursory glance at the titles will confirm that this is not the new Gloria Estefan album". And with tracks like "Yes", "Of Walking Abortion", "Mausoleum" and "4st 7lb", the lyrics deal with everything from prostitution and serial killers to the Holocaust and self-starvation.
With Manic Street Preachers about to take this career defining album back on Tour in December, when they played some of the songs from it for this special edition of Mastertapes, it was the first time in two decades that Nicky, James and Sean played some of them in front of an audience.
Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (as well as some that weren't) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website.
Producer: Paul Kobrak
THE MASTERTAPES GUIDE TO WRITING THE PERFECT SONG (320kbs-m4a/393mb/2hrs51mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 1st to 15th September 2021
John Wilson has talked to 45 acclaimed songwriters for BBC Radio 4's series 'Mastertapes'. In each episode, recorded with an audience of fans at the BBC Maida Vale Studios, the guest focusses a key album from their career, describing in detail how dozens of much loved hit songs were written.
Presented and produced by John Wilson.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in May 2021.
THE MASTERTAPES GUIDE TO WRITING THE PERFECT SONG - 1. FROM MACCA TO MCLEAN (320kbs-m4a/131mb/57mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 1st September 2021
Sir Paul McCartney, Emeli Sande, Suzanne Veja, Natalie Merchant, Paul Weller, Corrine Bailey Rae, Richard Hawley, Jimmy Webb, Laura Marling, Billy Bragg, Ray Davies and Don McLean give a masterclass in the art of songwriting.
Now, the 'Mastertapes' guests are brought together to offer a unique how-to guide to writing the perfect song. Sir Paul McCartney demonstrates the building blocks of songwriting, reveals how a chord 'borrowed' from a Picasso painting became the basis of a collaborative composition with Kanye West. McCartney also talks candidly about his songwriting partnership with John Lennon in The Beatles. Suzanne Vega and Emeli Sandé remember - and try to play - the very first songs that they wrote as children.
Ray Davies reveals how the character studies he created for his songs with The Kinks - including 'Dedicated Follower Of Fashion' - were based on real people. Paul Weller breaks down the words and chords to 'A Town Called Malice', and remembers how, as a younger songwriter, he would ritually destroy his lyric books after completing a new album. And Don McLean is delightfully evasive about his greatest hit, 'American Pie'.
THE MASTERTAPES GUIDE TO WRITING THE PERFECT SONG - 2. PROTEST AND PROCLAIM (320kbs-m4a/131mb/57mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 8th September 2021
Elvis Costello, Sinead O'Connor, David Crosby, David Hinds and Selwyn Brown of Steel Pulse, Billy Bragg, Benjamin Clementine, James Dean Bradfield and Nicky Wire of The Manic Street Preachers, Craig David, Robbie Williams, Guy Chambers and Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp and Tony Hadley give a masterclass in the art of songwriting.
Now, the 'Mastertapes' guests are brought together to offer a unique how-to guide to writing the perfect song. In this episode, Elvis Costello denies his role as a protest singer and David Crosby describes the process by which the song 'Ohio' became an anthem for '70s American counterculture.
THE MASTERTAPES GUIDE TO WRITING THE PERFECT SONG - 3. WHO'S IT FOR? (320kbs-m4a/131mb/57mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 15th September 2021
Randy Newman, Laura Marling, Lily Allen, Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn (The Good, The Bad and The Queen), Elvis Costello, David Gray, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze), David Crosby, Graham Nash, Emeli Sande and Sir Paul McCartney give a masterclass in the art of songwriting.
Now, the 'Mastertapes' guests are brought together to offer a unique how-to guide to writing the perfect song. In this episode, Randy Newman reflects on writing for films and Graham Nash recalls Neil Young's unique playback system.
MASTERTAPES - ACCESS ALL AREAS (320kbs-m4a/402mb/2hrs55mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 19th August to 2nd September 2020
Mastertapes is a BBC Radio 4 series in which John Wilson talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them.
In this three-part series made for BBC Radio 4 Extra, John goes behind the scenes of the iconic BBC studios at Maida Vale in London where over 40 episodes of Mastertapes were recorded.
Producer: Sarah Shebbeare
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in December 2018.
MASTERTAPES - ACCESS ALL AREAS - 1. MACCA TO MODFATHER (320kbs-m4a/137mb/60mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 19th August 2020
For starters, John returns to the very first series recorded in 2012.
This series features the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Robbie Williams, Guy Chambers, Corrine Bailey Rae and Paul Weller.
MASTERTAPES - ACCESS ALL AREAS - 2. FROM FOUR SEASONS TO TIME OF THE SEASON (320kbs-m4a/130mb/57mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 26th August 2020
John continues his behind the scenes tour of the iconic BBC studios at Maida Vale in London where over 40 episodes of Mastertapes were recorded.
Series featuring the likes of Nigel Kennedy, Noel Gallagher, Bellowhead, Soul II Soul, Wilko Johnson, Natalie Merchant, Emeli Sande and The Zombies.
MASTERTAPES - ACCESS ALL AREAS - 3. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT TO DAVID GRAY (320kbs-m4a/134mb/58mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 2nd September 2020
John concludes his behind the scenes tour of the iconic BBC studios at Maida Vale in London where over 40 episodes of Mastertapes were recorded.
Series featuring the likes of Nigel Kennedy, Noel Gallagher, Bellowhead, Soul II Soul, Wilko Johnson, Natalie Merchant, Emeli Sande and The Zombies.
MASTERTAPES - ELVIS COSTELLO (THE B-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 13th October 2018
In the second part of a special edition of Mastertapes, broadcast to celebrate the first ever National Album Day, Elvis Costello takes questions from the audience and premiers exclusive tracks from his new album, Look Now. He is accompanied through out by his career-long collaborator, pianist Steve Nieve
The first part of this special was broadcast earlier in the day and they are both available as a single podcast.
This programme is part of BBC Music’s support for the first ever National Album Day, which takes place on Saturday 13th October with programming on Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, 5 Live, 6 Music, BBC One and BBC Four across the week or on the day itself.
MASTERTAPES - ELVIS COSTELLO (THE A-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 13th October 2018
From his critically acclaimed debut album, My Aim Is True, released in 1977 to his about-to-be-released Look Now, his first new album in five years, Elvis Costello has been widely recognised as one of Britain’s best songwriters.
In a special edition of Mastertapes to celebrate National Album Day, the consummate album artists talks and plays his way back through a career that has spanned five decades.
From early classics like Watching The Detectives, Accidents Will Happen, and Almost Blue, all the way through to Jimmie Standing In The Rain, Unwanted Number and Under Lime his talent for wordplay has remained undimmed. He remains a composer who works across a range of styles, always mining a deep, rich seam of melodic and harmonic treasures - all of which is on display in this programme recorded in the iconic BBC studios at Maida Vale. Accompanying him is his career-long collaborator, pianist Steve Nieve.
This programme is part of BBC Music’s support for the first ever National Album Day, which takes place on Saturday 13th October with programming on Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, 5 Live, 6 Music, BBC One and BBC Four across the week or on the day itself.
MASTERTAPES SERIES 7 - 6. JIMMY WEBB (THE B-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 12th December 2017
John Wilson continues his music series, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about their musical craft. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios.
Having discussed his early song-writing career, writing for the likes of Frank Sinatra, Barbara Striesand, Richard Harris and Glen Campbell (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 11th December and available online), Jimmy Webb responds to questions from the audience.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
MASTERTAPES SERIES 7 - 5. JIMMY WEBB (THE A-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 11th December 2017
The legendary JIMMY WEBB talks to John Wilson about a career of song-writing that began in High School and went on to include platinum selling hits for Donna Summer, Frank Sinatra, R.E.M., Barbara Streisand and, of course, Glen Campbell.
The youngest person ever to have been inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame and the only artist to have won Grammy Awards in music, lyrics and orchestration, Jimmy Webb's compositions include 'MacArthur Park', 'Wichita Lineman', 'Up, Up And Away', 'Galvaston' and the third most performed song in the fifty years between 1940 & 1990 - 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix'.
Series Producer: Paul Kobrak.
MASTERTAPES - PAUL MCCARTNEY (320kbs-m4a/130mb/56mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 28th May 2016
Paul McCartney joins John Wilson at BBC Maida Vale studios to discuss songwriting, his solo career in the years immediately after The Beatles and to answer questions from the audience. He also reflects on his recent collaborations with Kanye West, as well as recalling working with George Martin, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and - inevitably - John Lennon.
Producer Paul Kobrak.
MASTERTAPES SERIES 5 - 6. STEEL PULSE (THE B-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/65mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 5th January 2016
John Wilson continues with his fifth series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios.
Programme 6 (B-side): Having discussed the making of 'Handsworth Revolution' (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 4th January and available online), David Hinds and Selwyn Brown respond to questions from the audience and perform exclusive live acoustic versions of some of the key tracks from the album.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
MASTERTAPES SERIES 5 - 5. STEEL PULSE (THE A-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/65mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 4th January 2016
John Wilson continues with the fifth series of Mastertapes, the programme in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios.
Programme 5. Steel Pulse's 'Handsworth Revolution' with David Hinds and Selwyn Brown.
Originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School in 1975, Steel Pulse were initially refused live dates in Birmingham's Caribbean venues because of their Rastafarian ideals. Instead they aligned themselves With Rock Against Racism and appeared alongside the likes of the Clash, XTC, the Stranglers, Tom Robinson and X-Ray Specs.
It was Burning Spear who brought the group to the attention of Island Records who in February 1978 first released Ku Klux Klan as a single - a full five months before the album itself, which also included Prodigal Son, Prediction and the title track, Handsworth Revolution.
Here David Hinds and Selwyn Brown talk about the album that is widely regarded a milestone in the development of British Reggae, but also perform exclusive acoustic versions of some of the key tracks.
The B-side of the programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard on Tuesday 29th December at 3.30pm.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
MASTERTAPES SERIES 3 - 10. SOUL II SOUL (THE B-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/63mb/27mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 21st September 2018
Soul II Soul, the B-side. Having discussed the making of "Club Classics Vol 1", the breakthrough album from Soul II Soul (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 25th November and available online), Jazzie B and Caron Wheeler respond to questions from the audience. Jazzie talks more about his own roots as a musician and Soul II Soul perform live versions of tracks from the album.
MASTERTAPES SERIES 3 - 9. SOUL II SOUL (THE A-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 14th September 2018
John Wilson talks to Jazzie B and Caron Wheeler of Soul II Soul about their 1989 album 'Club Classics Vol 1' including the global hit Back to Life. Including exclusive performance by the whole band.
Soul II Soul is one of the most successful British black groups of all time. Their ethos of 'a happy face, a thumping bass for a loving race' and the sound of their debut album, released in 1989, defined a time and place in the UK's musical history. Featuring the huge hits 'Back To Life' and 'Keep On Moving' the album took London's multicultural underground club culture into the mainstream and achieved worldwide success. 'Club Classics' mixed the sounds of a burgeoning DJ scene with Jazzie B's distinctly British take on rap and the colossal vocal talents of Caron Wheeler.
Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed.
Mastertapes is new programme in which John Wilson talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.
The B-side of this programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard tomorrow at 3.30pm.
MASTERTAPES SERIES 3 - 4. DAVID CROSBY (THE B-SIDE) (320kbs-m4a/63mb/27mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 24th August 2018
John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.
Programme 2, the B-side. Having discussed the making of "If I Could Only Remember My Name", his 1971 album (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 18th November and available online), David Crosby responds to questions from the audience and performs live versions of some the tracks from that debut solo album and from his as yet unreleased solo album, "Croz"
Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.