Yesterday I recorded an edition of Private Passions, Radio 3's very superior version of Desert Island Discs. The show is made in Michael Berkeley's house. Bob Dylan, it is said, once lived there. The recording studio is a tiny bedroom. The guest - me - is seated between two single beds. Berkeley admitted he gets a little embarrassed about this setup when a glamorous woman is involved. Isaiah Berlin and countless others have sat in that chair between those beds. The recording is 'as live'. They play all the music you have chosen though an antique radio emblazoned with the show's name. Berkeley does not take the direct question approach of DID. Instead, he asks for stories. 'I think it brings out more,' he says. He's right, I babbled. People often tell Berkeley before the show that they cannot possibly discuss their feelings for music, but they always do. He talks about each track with lucid exactitude and, as they play, he conducts and sings along, beaming with delight at moments of particular quality. Intensely musical people, I have often noticed, live in the joyous condition of not being fully in the world of the less musical. They are very lucky. The picture shows how I felt when I left. Long live Michael Berkeley! Long live Private Passions! And, most importantly, long live Radio 3!
Friday, October 12, 2007
A Happy, Happy Post
Yesterday I recorded an edition of Private Passions, Radio 3's very superior version of Desert Island Discs. The show is made in Michael Berkeley's house. Bob Dylan, it is said, once lived there. The recording studio is a tiny bedroom. The guest - me - is seated between two single beds. Berkeley admitted he gets a little embarrassed about this setup when a glamorous woman is involved. Isaiah Berlin and countless others have sat in that chair between those beds. The recording is 'as live'. They play all the music you have chosen though an antique radio emblazoned with the show's name. Berkeley does not take the direct question approach of DID. Instead, he asks for stories. 'I think it brings out more,' he says. He's right, I babbled. People often tell Berkeley before the show that they cannot possibly discuss their feelings for music, but they always do. He talks about each track with lucid exactitude and, as they play, he conducts and sings along, beaming with delight at moments of particular quality. Intensely musical people, I have often noticed, live in the joyous condition of not being fully in the world of the less musical. They are very lucky. The picture shows how I felt when I left. Long live Michael Berkeley! Long live Private Passions! And, most importantly, long live Radio 3!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A blog about, among other things, imaginary ideas - What ifs? and Imagine thats. What if photographs looked nothing like what we see with our eyes? Imagine that the Berlin Wall had never come down. What if we were the punchline of an interminable joke? All contributions welcome.
It's always good to see a man so happy that he wants to hold a black cat in the air. Makes me proud to call myself British.
ReplyDeletestation of choice for this man. (but let's face it, what choice is there? not much). you felt in the dark? eclipsed? a shadow of your former self? beached?
ReplyDeleteI can't abide casual karaoke (I'm not too taken by formal karaoke, but I see the point of it). Hearing people sing along is about as charming as listening to someone mumbling while reading. no, actually it's much worse.
you had a good day and that's what counts!
It is strange but I've always found people have a reluctance to disclose what music rocks their boat. allsorts, most things or eclectic tastes, is what you get. Even when pressed they play safe - Dylan, Beatles... then you doubt they actually like music at all.
ReplyDeletebut then I can imagine chosing 8 books, 8 movies, 8 meals, 8 holiday destinations, 8 beautiful ladies.... but just 8 tunes is almost impossible to narrow down.
what is this problem we have with music?!
Must check it out. Anything recorded with the guest sitting on a chair between two beds just has to be good...
ReplyDeleteOh Bryan, you are so coy. When is it likely to be broadcast?
ReplyDeleteBetween a man's choice of books and his choice in music we can make a fair summation of his character, so I am waiting for a revelation.
Splendid! i hope Cpt Beefheart's 'Do the low yo-yo' features somewhere...
ReplyDeleteI clicked on the photo to see just what it was you had in your hand, but then was struck by something descending from your coat. What is it? A stick? A lace? A catheter?
ReplyDeleteExplique-nous!
I have no idea what it is, Susan, possibly a string from that impossibly stringy anorak. I don't remember a catheter, but things can get a little weird in Gnawfuck as we like to call it.
ReplyDeleteOh and the thing in my hand is a hat.
ReplyDeletePlus I don't yet know when it will be broadcast.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't see the details of the photo at work (dark monitor). You look pleasingly happy, though i feel a dog should be present in this photo. Men who dress like that and go for walks along beaches are either:
ReplyDeletea) Walking the dog;
b) Exchanging information with men from rival Intelligence agencies.
Well, I'm even more impressed by a man who wears a black cat as a hat. It must bring you plenty of good luck and be very warm in the winter. I should imagine it also makes you very attractive to old ladies who crochet.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't forgiven R3 for dumping 'Mixing It'...be fascinated to hear your musical passions Mr A, but I hope you're not just waxing lyrical about '60s baby boomer MOR-nonsense like Dylan...
ReplyDeleteWindbag! the boys from Mixing It have crossed over to Resonance FM. Apparently they had to change the title to 'where's the skill in that?' for legal reasons but I'm assured it's the same format in most other respects.
ReplyDeletealso, there was a link on the R3 MB for mixing it! downloads earlier in the month, if you want it..
Ian - thank you...you've made my day!
ReplyDelete