Good music and B.B.C. in

same sentence shocker.

Yeah I know hard to believe but was flicking through last night, setting up to record the Sopranos – yeah I’ve seen them all before but I’m still watching the repeats night after night – when I notice that they’re showing a Chuck Berry concert followed by The Stones.

Part of their “Pop! What Is It Good for?” season of programmes, I hadn’t really paid much attention previously but tuned into the Berry gig, must have missed it the last time it was on.

Cracking show full of Chuck’s best known rock and roll classics, some good blues and an excellently funny sing-a-long version of “My Ding-a-ling” with Chuck on top wink wink form. I can see why this track is just being shown as it was filmed and originally broadcast in ’72 and I can’t quite see all the innuendo getting past the stuffed shirts back then. Yeah his only number one hit is not Chuck’s best ever song and he pretty much admits that on the show when he called it a “fourth grade” song so it doesn’t deserve the scorn many dish out. It’s a bit of throw away fun.

Then they showed the Rolling Stones film “Gimme Shelter” – title of their best ever track – which chronicled their ’69 US tour that ended with the infamous Altamont Speedway gig that killed the sixties.

Listening to their gigs from that ’69 tour is why I wouldn’t stump up to see them now, back then their sound filled the place now when I hear them they sound tinny and distant, Keef and Ron need some more guts in their tone a bit more gain and sustain, it’s just too weedy these days, no grunt like Keef and Mick Taylor had back then.

So tonight on B.B.C. 4 they’re showing the Slade film “In Flame” a “fictitious” account of life in a band which is one of the best of that era, more gritty and realistic than many of their fans of the day expected and probably wanted. It wasn’t Don Powell that was going to marry serial killer Rose West.

Then after some talking heads waffle pretentiously about pop music the Led Zeppelin film “The Song Remains The Same“. Which means the Channel 4 programme from a few weeks back along with all the tracks from the ’73 Madison Square Garden shows they didn’t fit into 30 minutes 🙄 oh and all the spaced out stuff.