1993 all over again: 18 - Paul Weller

18. Paul Weller - Sunflower

Because Paul Weller was in The Jam, he has been forgiven an awful lot of decidedly average albums (most of which were destroyed through over-production, to be fair - live, many of the songs can stand up.)

If Paul McCartney had made this, the 1993 NME would have laughed it off the page - although the 2013 version of the magazine would have given it a cover.



[Part of 1993 all over again]

Decade Null: 2009 - Little Boots

Yes, yes, it's nearly over. One last year to get through.

I say 'get through', but look at this: Little Boots, off of Hands, out on Jools Holland.



[Part of Decade Null 2009]

Decade Null: 2004 - Graham Coxon

To be fair, I haven't tasted Alex James' cheese, but even so, I feel confident in asserting that Graham Coxon wins the 'who had the best post-Blur experience'.

Yes, really. Put down that copy of the Good, The Bad And The Queen, you're not making a point, you're just embarrassing yourself.

From Happiness In Magazines, this is Freakin' Out:



I'm aware, by the way, that 'Freakin' Out' and 'appearing on Jools Holland's show in front of an audience consisting, probably, of Stella McCartney and Trigger from Only Fools And Horses' has a degree of internal contradiction contained within.

[Part of Decade Null: 2004]

An overhyped indie band, a blues singer, an African legend and an Americana act walk into a TV studio...

They're looking for people to sit around in the background of Later With Jools Holland to add some atmosphere to the bit where Jools interviews Neil Diamond while neither of them touch their beers.

Apply for tickets now. If I'm not overselling it.

PJ Harvey weekend: Taut

With former Chesterfield John Parish, in the Later With Jools studio, from 1996:



[Part of the PJ Harvey weekend]

Suede weekend: The Next Life

More Suede now, as they turn up in the Jools Holland studio to do The Next Life. DOG lovers will be thrilled to spot the BBC Prime channel identifier hovering in the top left of the screen here.



[Part of Suede weekend]

Catatonia Bank Holiday: Bleed

Later With Jools, 1996, and Catatonia settle into the studio to shake Bleed from between the long periods of Boogie-woogie piano.



[Part of the Catatonia Bank Holiday]

Beth Orton weekend: Dolphins

Live, with Terry Callier, from Later With Jools Holland:



[Part of the Beth Orton weekend]

The death of innocence: Mail discovers not all TV is live

The Daily Mail is outraged - outraged - at the discovery that Jools Holland's Hootenanny isn't actually live at all, but prerecorded. It's found some people who have managed to get through the last twenty years or whatever it is believing that all those people have nothing better to do on News Year's Eve than sit around watching Jools play boogie-woogie piano, and it feels their pain:

It meant the Hootenanny was riddled with anomalies that left many people baffled and angry.

And it came at the end of year in which the BBC was embroiled in controversy over faked programmes misleading the public.

But who's actually "mislead" by this? Frankly, the programme never sets out to decieve - as the list of "anomalies" the Mail lists demonstrates. It suggests that having Kylie on the programme while she was in Melbourne on New Years Eve, and David Tennant while he was elsewhere, was a "mistake" which revealed the programme was on tape, rather than just an indication of who was around at the time it was programmed.

The actual upsetment seems to be restricted to some people who post to the Points Of View message board:

"I personally find all this a complete insult to the viewer. The Hootenanny would work just as well without all the constant 'lying' about the time/date."

But it's not lying, is it? It's a programme for New Year's Eve, going out on New Year's Eve. It's tailoring the programme for the viewer. And what does this poster want? The programme to be renamed "the shortly before Christmas hootenanny" and to have the big count-down to 7.38pm on December the 20th instead of midnight on New Year's Eve.

The hilarious bit comes at the end:

This is the second time that the Hootenanny, a festive spin-off from Holland's Later With ... show, has sparked controversy.

Five years ago, British rapper Ms Dynamite left viewers baffled when she appeared on the programme at the same time as performing at the Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh.

So, in two decades, only twice has anyone cared that it's been recorded. Funny that.

Thanks to James P for the link.

Stereolab weekend: Les Ypers Sound

Live on Later with Jools



Stereolab weekend

Stereolab weekend: Cybele's Reverie

A 1997 live performance:



Stereolab weekend menu

UPDATE: Same performance, different source: