Sirens and Shelter South East England Tour

V Festival on Channel 4 and 4Music

T4 alumni Steve Jones and Edith Bowman have been lined up to present V Festival 2013 on Channel 4.

Top acts from the two day live music event, which takes place this weekend, will be shown in live shows on Channel 4 and 4Music, while highlight shows will air nightly on Channel 4 on both days of the festival.

Music fans will be treated to live performances and interviews from some of the hottest acts in music right now, including The Kings of Leon, Jessie J, Paloma Faith, Maverick Sabre, The Script, The Saturdays, The Vaccines, Basement Jaxx  and many more. The 4Music stage is also returning to the festival this year, hosting acts such as Rita Ora, Tom Odell, Calvin Harris, Labrinth and James Arthur.

As well as the lives shows, 4Music is dedicating the whole week of programming to  V Festival. Highlights include:

Friday 16th August: Feelgood Friday - V Festival Warm-up - 5.30pm
Saturday 17th August: Live - 4.40pm/ Top 10 V Festival Acts 2013 - 7pm
Sunday 18th August:  Saturday Highlights - 2.15pm LIve - 4.40pm
Monday 19th August: Sunday Highlights - 6pm
Thursday 22nd August: The Best Bits – 6.30pm

Alternatively, viewers can watch live on the 4Music.com live player: http://www.4music.com/watch-now

Wordless Wednesday

3BT: Happy Tunesday

As you know, if you follow me on Twitter (via Blipfm), I had a bit of a Star Wars fest on Saturday (May the fourth etc ...) but it got me thinking about the wonderful composer that is John Williams, and how his memorable themes have graced some of the most iconic movies of a generation. The hard part is reducing them down to a trio. Since you can hear Star Wars here - I've resisted the urge and settled for these instead:

Harrison Ford is probably more synonymous with Indiana Jones now ...

... while this lovable little creature stole our hearts with an uplifting soundtrack - remember the cheering in the cinema, when the bikes took off?

And finally, clever producers knew there was only one man to turn to for the soundtrack to Harry's story.

I'm off to track down his 'Best of' on my Kindle ...

3BT: Happy Tunesday

Today: Reminiscing of school days - I've a school reunion coming up soon and these are three of the songs I associate with the youth centre:

On the cusp of Punk, The Stranglers produced the most often hummed but short harmony with Peaches ...

We followed this on the jukebox (proper old jukebox mind, not your modern rubbish!) with X-Ray Spex and Germ Free Adolescents (gotta love that title, so apt) ...

So far, so punk - which made this next choice quite a strange one. I put it down to the fact that the eighties were so much better than it gets credit for. We could wear what we wanted, listen to what we wanted, we weren't pigeon holed and if we wanted to listen to Diana Ross alongside punk, we damn well did! Here she is with Touch Me In The Morning:

Happy Tunesday

My new favourite song this week is a very groovy throwback to those heady disco days of the 70s and 80s. The Brand New Heavies with Sunlight. I dare you not to sway ...

Wordless Wednesday

Calling all composers!

Kent Arts are looking to commission an exciting musician/composer to create a 20 minute work celebrating Maidstone's part in the Cultural Olympiad next year.

With £5000 up for grabs, you don't want to miss out on this opportunity!

Maidstone is one of only two locations in Kent that will see the Olympic torch passing through it and the musical piece will premiere at the Olympic Torch event on 19th July at Leeds Castle.

'Maidstone' should be the theme and whilst the Olympics Games themselves need not influence this, the Olympic priorities should. The Arts development team are keen that the piece should be as eclectic as possible to appeal to as large an audience as possible.

Interested applicants should submit a CV, a recent piece of work both on CD/MP3 and scored and a short description of the kind of work they would like to produce for this project. Please bear in mind that this work should be accessible for a large number of performers.

The team will be shortlisting and interviewing in December 2011 and a final decision on the successful applicant will be made in January 2012.

For an informal discussion please call Mandy Hare on 01622 602178. For a full brief on this project please contact – mandyhare@maidstone.gov.uk

3BT: I know what it is! Don’t tell me ...

You know when you hear a song and you can’t quite place what it’s called or who it’s by? That.

Paul Anka swings rock ...

Alexander Stewart turns blonde ...

re:jazz keep things movin' ...

I know, it's been awhile since I posted here and as you can see the blog has had another re-design! I actually really like this template and background, wishing I'd found them sooner now. Lots of stuff's been happening, England are number one cricketing test team in the world, the McLarens are keeping up in F1 - but it's moving to Sky next year, boo, so we'll forget all about it. C'est La Vie Bernie - you wanna be the biggest spectator sport in the world you gotta be on the station most of us watch - BBC. But then, you're probably veiwing on the way to the bank, so whatever.

R.I.P Teena Marie: Long Live the Ivory Queen of Soul

I wasn't expecting my first post on this blog in over a month to be such a sad one.

Regretfully it is - Teena Marie, aka Lady T aka The Ivory Queen of Soul and aged just 54, was found dead by her daughter on Saturday night. No cause is as yet known, possibly a heart attack; Teena was also reportedly recovering from a Grand Mal seizure she had last week.

Teena's music first came to my attention in 1980, when Behind the Groove completely sold me on her unique style. I sought out the album, Lady T, and then her previous, first album, Wild and Peaceful, produced by mentor Rick James, also sadly no longer with us. With beautiful ballads and infectiously catchy dance rhythms, I was hooked. Her following Motown albums - Irons in the Fire and It Must Be Magic cemented my appreciation of her soulful yet jazzy, powerful yet gentle, pure and classy angelic vocal.

I'll admit she lost me when she went a bit rocky and the Motown years remained with me as the Epic years passed me by. I was fortunate enough though, and eternally grateful now, that I made the trip to Indigo2 earlier this year to see and hear Teena live: Incredible doesn't cover it. She knew her audience; it was made up mostly of people like me, those who had switched onto her during her early Motown years. Whilst the latest album Congo Square did hark back to her earlier, soulful roots, she concentrated on giving us everything she had on those songs most synonymous with her: Fire and Desire; Portuguese Love; I Need Your Lovin' to name just a few. And her voice was just as stunning live, thirty years later.

I'm not particularly religious, but Teena was devout - so God Bless you Teena, and your family, and may you rest in peace, forever missed but leaving us all the richer for having shared your beautiful music.

Why do all my nights out happen in the last week of the month?

I'm cruising along quite happily, bang up straight on everything and then, wham! Piles of paperwork and ironing to sort through today!

That's because I finally saw Les Miserables on Monday - which I've wanted to see since I first heard Susan Boyle sing I Dreamed A Dream on Britain's Got Talent (I wonder how many other viewers were inspired to check it out?) I did see the Through The Barricade show in a local theatre a little while after, but Cameron Mackintosh's production at The Queens Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue took my breath away. Jean Valjean and Javert were incredible, whilst Lucie Jones (remember her from X-Factor?) and Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers acquitted themselves very well. It's so moving and powerful and while you may think the subject matter a little depressing, the comic relief in the shape of the Innkeepers is brilliant - honestly, the wife could easily be Kathy Burke in character as Waynetta Slob, she was hysterical. GO SEE IT!

Not just nights out either, on Tuesday morning I was attending the How To Do Your Self Assessment On-Line course (I never said it was all exciting stuff) before enjoying a very nice Nibble.101 at a local Chinese buffet - and collaring the teenager to take me there and back (which obviously cost me petrol. But it was nice to have some Tia Maria, I've missed it so ...)

The MumUltrapreneur radio show I was interviewed for was aired on Thursday afternoon and then it was onto the girls-night-in-although-we're-actually-out fun night of the Mums in Biz meeting in the evening. A couple of exciting opportunities arose there, which I'll be exploring further!

Finally, last night was the preview of an exhibition in our local art gallery - local artists creating pictures of each other, which took so many forms it was completely inspiring! Plasticine, film, paint, spam ... yes, spam!

I feel like I'm beginning to catch up - two blogs down, website and one blog to go!

Teena Marie - Indigo2

My favourite singer and I'd never seen her live before Saturday night! That's an outrageous admittance isn't it! Not my fault though, the last time she appeared here I was either heavily pregnant with the Hobbit, or had just had him - approximately 18 years ago. So to say I was looking forward to this was a bit of an understatement.

There was a DJ warming up and he played to the crowd - the eighties throwbacks, mainly, much like myself! He said there was an after show party till 2am; dammit, I thought, we've only paid for parking till midnight! There was a lot of grooving in the seats to In and Out, Circles, You Know How To Love Me ...we knew we'd ache next day!

The Lady Tee didn't disappoint; in fact, she was even better than I thought she could be live - amazing, her vocal is incredible, each song delivered with the sweetness and purity I fell in love with back in 1979 - and what a trip down memory lane it was, with songs from that classic '79 album, Wild and Peaceful - I'm Just A Sucker For Your Love and De Ja Vu, plus a Rick James tribute (of course!), I Need Your Lovin', Square Biz, Behind the Groove - she did Milk and Honey (her daughters joined her on stage) and You Baby off Congo Square, every uptempo song had the audience on it's feet, the ballads offering the chance to savour every note of that awesome voice. Two words: Portuguese Love.

I've never seen a star involve a band so much - and the backing singers (including her nephew) weren't just that, they had a share of the stage with Teena accompanying them - on percussion; such is her talent she frequently had guitar in hand too.

I've only one criticism - and that's not of the Lady - but some of her noisy, fidgety "fans", who I can only assume just wanted to be able to say "I was there" since they didn't shut up or keep still, they were driving me nuts! I'm pretty sure they were the same ones who didn't take their seats until she was well into her second song! They'd have been chucked out back in the day ...

It didn't detract from a blinding show - no fancy costumes or dance troupes, no flashy lighting, no pretence - just the stage with the band, the singers and the Lady herself in complete harmony. In the last few months we've seen 'Mimegate' a number of times in relation to so-called stars: Teena Marie puts them to shame. She's coming back in the summer; I'll keep you posted. To see more rave reviews, log in to Facebook if you can and join the group 'Get Teena Marie in London' or just follow the links from each of those Youtube clips (in all honesty, the quality of the uploads from the Indigo2 don't do her justice) and hear more - enjoy!

PS - must say a big THANK YOU to the lovely man who gave me change for the car park and thus helped me avoid a tutting queue!

PopStar to OperaStar

I tuned into this out of curiosity, thinking it might be a bit car crash ... how wrong could I be? The show is an absolute delight - the popstars enjoyed every second, ergo, so did we - the panel (Meat Loaf, Laurence Llewelyn Bowen, Katherine Jenkins and Rolando Villazon) are all so totally different and compliment each other perfectly - the presenters are probably two of the nicest we possess - Alan Titchmarsh and Mylene Klass - Katherine and Rolando strike the perfect balance in mentoring the popstars - a very warm hearted show. I'll be tuning in (see what I did there?) again next week, Friday, ITV1! Here's the stats:

After a mere seven weeks of training and rehearsing, eight popstars have taken to the stage for their first performance in front of a live studio audience.

Performing to mentors Katherine Jenkins and Rolando Villazon as well as critics Meat Loaf and Laurence Llewellyn Bowen the popstars sang accompanied by a live orchestra.

Jimmy Osmond was first up singing O Sole Mio. After singing he received a standing ovation and said “It’s been so much fun.”

Meat Loaf said “Jimmy, that dog was hungry. You’re Jimmy os-solo mio!”

Katherine said “I loved that. I’m so pleased. There are still some things we need to work on, still a bit of Italian and you need to sing through your phrases. You start in your opera voice and finish in your pop voice but I loved it.”

Rolando said “You did a great job. Sometimes you uncover your sounds but most of the time you were covering the voice which is why you were able to sing the high notes.”

Laurence joked (referring to the song’s use in a famous ice cream advert) “If nothing else you’ve sold millions of tonnes of ice cream. I’d stop you and buy one!”

Next to perform was Kym Marsh singing Si Un Jour in a stunning silver dress. Greeted afterwards by her ex band mate host Myleene Klass she said “It was great. An amazing feeling. The orchestra are fantastic.”

Katherine said “I loved your performance and your interpretation. I know you’ve been ill but I thought you did really well.”

Laurence said “I loved the way you trickled down that staircase. I think the nerves got to the French but I don’t care. We won the Battle of Waterloo anyway.”

Next to perform was Alex James who sang Largo Al Factotum. Afterwards he said “My heart is beating.”

Rolando said “That was as far as opera singing can be but I saw you from the beginning and you have to enjoy the performance and you obviously did and the audience enjoyed it and that is also opera.”

Meat Loaf said “That was like watching two women kissing in the subway. That was the best opera by a bass layer in the world.”

Laurence said “You are such a scamp. I don’t know that Rossini envisaged that being done in the style of Dennis The Menace.”

Next up was Marcella Detroit singing Casta Diva. After her performance she said “I felt nervous. Sometimes it inhibits me. I don’t need anyone to tell me how bad I am.”

Laurence said “That is the holy grail of divadom. You were nervous but when you brought in the heavy artillery it exploded.”

Katherine said “The think about your voice, the top notes are just stunning and I feel relaxed listening to them. I do worry about the low notes. You need to support them a bit more.”

Meat Loaf said “That song is a prayer and darling your prayers were answered. Hallelujah!”

Next to sing was Danny Jones who sang La Donna e Mobile . It’s an honour and it was amazing and I enjoyed myself. I tried to be relaxed about it. It was hard but amazing.”

Rolando said “You tried to be relaxed and that’s not bad. I think you started a bit weak because you were nervous but you started to be confident and that is why you were able with the energy of this audience to sing from beginning to end.”

Laurence said “A rocky start but by the end you were the playboy Duke of Mantua.”

Meat Loaf said “All of these beautiful young ladies. You gave them a kiss. Commit to that kiss!!”

Vanessa White from The Saturdays was next to sing the classic O Mio Babbino Caro. After singing – and reducing her bandmates to tears - she said “I’m so nervous but I’ve got the girls here. It was so much fun but I was so nervous.”

Katherine said “The thing is about this aria is its really long phrases and you have to have the breath and control to get to the end of the lines. You did it better in the sessions. But your voice is beautiful and we can work on that. Well done.”

Rolando said “The reason you need to take more breaths is that you don’t concentrate on the sounds in the lower notes. When you sing the high notes you sound really beautiful. We need to work on concentrating that sound in the middle.”

Next up was Darius Campbell singing Nessun Dorma. He said “I didn’t know a week ago if I could sing this. I have to thank the mentors. Being a bass baritone I didn’t know if I could do it.”

Meat Loaf said “Dude you were locked in. He was so focused and locked in. It was about this!”

Rolando said “I have to say it’s not easy in a short period of time to work with hall these things like covering and placing your voice. Without a microphone we wouldn’t have been able to hear the first few notes in a theatre. It’s important to raise your voice.”

And finally Bernie Nolan sang Nuit D’Amour in a sparkling black dress. She said “I was nervous but towards the middle and end I started to enjoy it. I didn’t realise until this very moment how I felt about my mum.”

Katherine said “I thought you did so well. I think you’ve got a lovely voice. There were a few problems with the breathing but I think it must have been the nerves because in the sessions you did it really well.”

Laurence said “One of my favourite performances of the evening. It was like a huge embroidered shawl that you just wrap yourself in.”

Rolando “I think you were thinking about everything we have worked on. That’s what’s needed and why you got through the performance. You have been a very hard worker and I was very happy with your performance.”

Meat Loaf said “You were a lady in Venice and you were singing to the sky. I will be your sky darling.”

After all of the popstars had sung, guest classical singer Camilla Kerslake performed alongside Gary Barlow who was playing the piano.

No one wanted to be the first to go but it was Alex and Vanessa who found themselves in the bottom with the lowest number of votes from the public. The panel were divided after Rolando and Katherine chose to save Vanessa and Laurence Llewelyn Bowen and Meat Loaf chose to save Alex, with Meat Loaf saying: “You know what? I’m staying with roots, I’m staying with the low end, I’m saying Alex.”

As the panel failed to reach a unanimous decision, the choice went back to the public vote and Vanessa was announced as having the most votes out of the two and therefore stayed in the competition.

Asked about his dreams of winning, Alex said: “Dashed. It was great, what a blast thank you very much. I enjoyed every minute and I’ll never stop singing.”

3bt: Observations

So if FIFA are retrospectively investigating the Thierry Henry handball that knocked out the Irish, will they be doing the same to Diego Maradona for the Hand of God moment in '86?

Our sailors who strayed into Iranian waters did so due to a mechanical failure - so when they were released and the news said they were being towed back into international waters, was I the only one thinking: "Well, hang on, it might happen again if they haven't fixed the boat!"

When the Sex Pistols burst into our lives in the late 70's, did anyone seriously think, 30 years later, that John Lydon would be appearing on the Culture Show?

3BT: Best of Brits

The awesome voice of Miss Lisa Stansfield - Set Your Loving Free

Soulsista Corrine on lead for Swingout Sister - Butterfly

A Matt Bianco one I missed - Cha Cha Cuba - which sits nicely with my dance obsession!

4BT: Music - Strictly Songtime

The Strictly Come Dancing Band do a sterling job every Saturday night, so I thought I'd take time out to showcase the singers, Lance, Hayley, Priscilla and Tommy, each of whom bring their own unique style to Strictly.

The band itself also have a new CD out, full of those wonderful songs from across the series, such as Hot Hot Hot, A Time for Us, Sing Sing Sing and Vehicle.

Lance - Don't Ever Leave Me Again - official website here.

Priscilla - Lift Him Up - check out the Prophecy album here.

Hayley's website has samples of the songs on her new album, Just Songs.

And you can hear Tommy here if you click to download the snapshot of his music PLUS - you can see him live at the 606 Club on 7th December!

Two Favourite Things: Music and Sport

There's far too much info for me to copy, so here are the links to two terrific interviews with the Ivory Queen of Soul herself, Teena Marie, who is the subject of an American show 'Unsung' - which I'm hoping she'll have to hand on her website at some point; and cricket legend and former Strictly Come Dancing winner, Mark Ramprakash, who'll be taking part in the next Strictly tour. I got my tickets today!

4BT: Music - I'm sensing a theme ...

3BT Music: Big Band Night

With the American Smooth on one side and the Big Band on the other, these are my picks for dancing and singing to:

The Ivory Queen of Soul coming to London?

I hope so! According to the Lady Tee's Twitter page, the legend that is Teena Marie herself will be playing the Indigo on Saturdy 30th January - and maybe more! I think a WOO-HOO is in order don't you! They don't seem to have actually released it officially yet *note to self: check it out* And if you don't already have it, Congo Square is the latest release.

In the meantime, let us take a moment to reflect on the jazzy, funky and soulful Ms Teena Marie. And check out the official Teena Marie TV site on Ning plus her official website. And you can access her myspace and facebook pages there too! Have fun x