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GREAT LIVES - JON RONSON PICKS TERRY HALL OF THE SPECIALS (320kbs-m4a/63mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 16th May 2023
When Jon Ronson was growing up, he went to see The Specials play in Cardiff. "I went on my own to Sophia Gardens," he says. "The crowd was fantastically wild. There's a lot to not like about the feral nature of British street culture – i.e. getting beaten up - but out of turmoil can come great art, songs like Ghost Town and Concrete Jungle. Anyway, before The Specials came on, I made a decision: I would pretend to faint in the hope that I could watch the show from the side of the stage. It worked like a dream. I was carried by the bouncers to the wings, and left there. This was probably the most exciting moment of my life, and as I stood there, Terry Hall noticed me and came over to ask if I was okay. Terry Hall, the coolest man in Britain, being kind and showing concern."
Years later Terry Hall publicly announced that he'd been abducted by paedophiles as a boy. Jon Ronson immediately remembered the care and concern Terry had shown him and wondered if this was why.
Programme includes Terry's bandmate, Lynval Golding, giving his first interview since Terry died in December; plus two of his friends, Shaun O'Donnell and Gary Aspden, and the voice of Terry himself.
Jon Ronson is the author of Adventures with Extremists and presenter of Things Fell Apart, about the culture wars.
The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde
TERRY HALL CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF 2TONE RECORDS (320kbs-m4a/258mb/1hr52mins)
BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 26th August 2019
Alongside playing some musical gems from his collection, Terry Hall shares stories from his career, talking about his early years, the formation of 2 Tone Records, working with David Byrne, life as part of The Specials and more recently receiving a Number 1 for their 2019 album, 'Encore.'
Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Blank Generation
David Bowie - Golden Years [EMI]
Jeff Buckley - Grace [Columbia]
Sly & The Family Stone - Runnin' Away [Epic]
Stevie Wonder - Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing [Motown]
Talking Heads - Life During Wartime [Warner]
Pixies - Debaser [4AD]
Roxy Music - Virginia Plain [Virgin]
Peggy Lee - Is That All There Is
Steel Pulse - Ku Klux Klan
Tyrannosaurus Rex - Debora [Telstar]
Cocteau Twins - Frou-Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires [4AD]
XTC - Making Plans For Nigel [Virgin]
Linda Lewis - Rock A Doodle Doo [Warner]
Peter Skellern - Hold On To Love [Decca]
Python Lee Jackson - In A Broken Dream [Polygram TV]
Patti Smith - Kimberly [Arista]
Feist - Inside And Out [Polydor]
Badly Drawn Boy - Silent Sigh [XL Recordings]
Canned Heat - On The Road Again [EMI]
Todd Rundgren - I Saw The Light [Rhino/Bearsville]
Big Star - September Gurls [Big Beat]
The High Llamas - Literature Is Fluff [V2]
The Beach Boys - Here Today [EMI]
Buzzcocks - Love You More [EMI]
The Breeders - Cannonball [Sony]
The Velvet Underground - Rock & Roll [Verve]
Television - See No Evil
THE FIRST TIME WITH... SERIES 6 - 2. TERRY HALL (320kbs-m4a/126mb/55mins)
BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 11th January 2018
Specials frontman Terry Hall discusses his musical milestones with Matt Everitt in a programme first broadcast in 2013.
As frontman of the Specials Terry Hall was totally at odds with other pop stars of the time. After leaving the band at the height of their fame in 1981 Terry went on to from Fun Boy Three and the Colourfield - before embarking on a career that's seen him work with Damon Albarn, Lily Allen, Sinead O'Connor and leap from style to style in way few artists do (or can). All while maintaining this deadpan sense of humour and his own unique vocal style.
Terry doesn't often do interviews, but in this show he talks about his early musical loves growing up in Coventry (Pinky & Perky and Edith Piaf - which says a lot about him), the early days and huge success of the Specials and the in-fighting and pressures that led him to quit the band.
He also discusses his passion for Patti Smith and Easy Listening, working with Albarn as a member of Gorillaz and his experience suffering a breakdown and the reasons for getting the Specials back together for their triumphant gigs in 2008 and his plans to start writing songs again.
The Specials - Rat Race [EMI]
Édith Piaf - La Vie En Rose [Columbia]
The Move - Fire Brigade [Regal Zonophone]
David Bowie - Kooks [EMI]
Pink Floyd - Echoes (Radio 1 In Concert, BBC Paris Theatre, 30 Sep 1971)
Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Blank Generation [Polygram TV]
The Specials - Gangsters [Chrysalis]
The Specials - Ghost Town [Two-Tone]
The Specials - Blank Expression [Virgin]
Fun Boy Three - The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum) [Chrysalis]
Terry Jacks - Seasons In The Sun [Disky]
Terry Hall & Mushtaq - A Gathering Storm [Honest Jon's]
The Specials - Enjoy Yourself [Chrysalis]
Jeff Buckley - Grace [Columbia]