Speechification

Jem, Beatles nut, recommended this one. Clever John Harris on John Lennon. Nice (MP3 - length: 27:37).

Picture by gw1. Used under licence.

Toby Amies, authentic crate digger, presented this. And Tamsin Hughes produced it. It's what Archive on 4 is for. Recent history bottled. Lovely (MP3 - length: 56:57).

Picture by Joshua. Used under licence.

Another Speechification exclusive (you won't hear this anywhere else). Steve Shepherd (the man who made the Lenny Bruce programme we published here in April), produced this portrait of divine eccentric Moondog for Radio 3 (MP3). The narrator is again Charles Shaar Murray.

Steve sent me these words about the making of the programme:

Moondog was another of my heroes/obsessions, a legendary NYC street performer and driven outsider who made some of the strangest records on the planet. Charles Shaar Murray shared my fascination with him and when I managed to sell the idea to R3 he jumped at the chance of presenting. The budget for these 30min jazzfile docs was very low so it was basically an illustrated talk but we managed to find two people who had actually experienced Moondog on the streets of New York: Charles knew musician Patti Palladin from way back and I was friendly with composer John Zorn. I think their eye witness statements bring this piece alive alongside the incredible Moondog interview I found buried in the BBC archive. The hardest thing to source when we were making the show was the Moondog / Julie Andrews collaboration. It's since been reissued but at the time it seemed as if someone had invented it just to give me something to search for. We eventually tracked down a copy via a Julie Andrews completist in Holland - the things we do for radio! Hope you enjoy Moondog - spread the word about him and if you're going buy some of his music get the early stuff.

(The video uses numbers from Flickr to illustrate a Moondog piece called 'Fog On The Hudson (425 West 57th Street)'. I found it on YouTube).

Billy Childish is the permanent outsider, but a few more people are starting to hear his name and - if very lucky - his music, too. The ICA is about to launch a large exhibition of his work, so his reputation will only be growing. John Wilson explores his work and his world. [MP3]

I've read a lot of obituaries of Malcolm McLaren in the last few days but few have mentioned his later career as a radio voice - a funny and distinctive one too. In the last few years he's done (to my knowledge): The New Look (a tribute to Christian Dior) and The Appalling Mr Dali for Radio 4; A Musical Map of London, The Game (featured here on Speechification two years ago, natch), The Great Jukebox Racket (pop music and organised crime), Le Chanson de Serge (about Serge Gainsbourg) and From Forties to Noughties (his personal musical journey) for Radio 2. The Radio 2 programmes are especially lovely - ambitious, playful, poetic (sometimes a bit gauche - but that's the man, I guess). From Forties to Noughties has just been repeated on 6Music so you can listen again there. So, by way of a tribute to the man, here's A Musical Map of London (my favourite) and his Salvador Dali tribute (only the former will show up in the podcast).

Thanks to Daniel Weir for the pic.

Some more Radio 3, and quite music-heavy this one, but justified by the voices:

Musician and writer Banning Eyre heads to the American state of Georgia, gateway to the Deep South, and southern end of the Appalachian Mountains, to record some of the unique vocal music that has been preserved in the area, and meet the personalities who have kept the traditions alive. [MP3]

Thanks to, um, someone, for the tip. Sorry. Remind me. Andy! It was Andy! Andy gave me the tip! Thanks/sorry Andy.

A brief little series of 15 minute episodes about music's power to move people geographically as well as emotionally, Musical Migrants ran in 2008 and again in 2009.

Here's the fourth programme from Series 1: Belgian bandoneon player Eva Wolff describes her arrival in Buenos Aires, and her introduction to Tango, in the context of Argentina's catastrophic economic meltdown. [MP3]

We proudly present another episode of The London Ear, from, er, sometime in the past. Partly because if we don't stick them up here then they won't be anywhere. This one features the songs, stylings and thoughts of Mr Bonnie 'Prince'  Billy. Otherwise known as Will Oldham etc. The initial ramshackle microphone techniques add to the charm and intimacy - but, don't worry, fairly soon you can actually hear what they're saying. And it's worth listening to. A must for Will Oldham fans, and a probably should for everyone else. MP3 here.

We're big fans of Andrew McGibbon here at Speechification, we've posted his 'I Was Douglas Adams' Flat Mate' and I was sure we'd put I Was Morrisey's Drummer up as well, but now I can't find it. Anyway, you can probably work out what this one's about. It's top radio. MP3 here.

For Radio 2, Stephen Fry looks at how Hitler's Germany pioneered many - if not most - of the recording techniques that made later music possible. This, the second episode, covers the Rock'n'Roll years and tells how the multi-track recording process changed the face of music production forever. [MP3]