Music TV - March 3 - 9

Hello again, 

Music highlights this week come in the form of Motown, Ron Sexsmith and Maria Callas.

Enjoy;

Friday 4 March - BBC Four

1930 - 2100: Callas

Documentary about renowned opera singer, Maria Callas.

It tells a story that was previously unknown, about a great singer who had been brought low by love, and whose career was unbelievably short when considered against her extraordinary worldwide reputation.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z2nbw

2100 - 2230: Ron Sexsmith - Love Shines

Repeated - BBC Four - Sunday 2330

47-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith is a songwriter's songwriter admired by Elvis Costello, Steve Earle, Feist, Daniel Lanois, all of whom contribute tellingly to this intimate portrait of a writer approaching middle-age and still striving for his commercial breakthrough.

Although his songs have been covered by artists as diverse as Michael Buble and Rod Stewart, Sexsmith has never found mainstream fame. In Douglas Arrowsmith's touching full-length film, some eight years in the making, we trace Sexsmith's life and career and join him in the studio as he enlists big-league producer Bob Rock (Metallica etc) and together they struggle with Sexsmith's diffidence and ambition to record an album that can help him move forward in his career and even 'cross over'.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z2nby

2230 - 2330: Songwriters' Circle - Fran Healy, Ron Sexsmith and Graham Gouldman

Repeated - BBC Four - Sunday 2500

Fran Healy is best known as frontman of the best-selling British band Travis. He runs through many of their classics such as Driftwood and Writing to Reach You, along with a track from his recent solo album.

Canada's Ron Sexsmith, who is regarded by many as the songwriters' songwriter, reminds us of some of the songs he has written that other people have gone onto record, such as Whatever It Takes, which Michael Buble covered on his best-selling album, and Secret Heart, which has been covered by the likes of Rod Stewart, Feist and Nick Lowe.

Salford's Graham Gouldman, long time member of British band 10cc runs through songs he has co-written for them plus others for the likes of The Yardbirds and The Hollies.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z2rc1

2330 - 2435:In Concert - Gordon Lightfoot

Repeated - BBC Four - Sunday 2600

A classic concert by Gordon Lightfoot from 1972, accompanied by Red Shea and Richard Haynes. They perform songs including Summer Side of Life, Saturday Clothes, That's What You Get For Loving Me, Affair on 8th Avenue, If I Could Read Your Mind, Steel Rail Blues, Ten Degrees and Getting Colder, Early Morning Rain, Me and Bobby McGee, Minstrel of the Dawn and Canadian Pacific Trilogy.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z2nc2

Saturday 5 March - BBC Four

2325 - 2425: Motown at the BBC

To mark the 50 year anniversary of Motown, a compilation of some of the iconic record label's greatest names filmed live in the BBC studios. Visitors from Hitsville USA over the years have included Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops and the Jackson 5.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00hq4qr

2425 - 2525: Legends - Motown Invasion

Documentary revealing what made Motown special in Britain through the lens of two decisive moments in 1965 - the Motown Revue UK tour and the Sounds of Motown Ready Steady Go! television special.

Arriving in London in March 1965, the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder were bussed across Britain on a tough but crucial tour.

The television special, recorded during the tour, kicked open the door, thrusting Motown's slick routines and magical music into front rooms across the nation.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00hq4qt

Next week; the history of Blues and Island Records at the BBC.

Take care of yourselves.

Rory