If you listened to last night's show - 'My Boy Lollipop – The Caribbean comes to Britain' - you’ll have heard the usual mix of people's reminiscences alongside the vibrant music that allows us to focus on key moments from our collective past. It's rapidly becoming apparent that what people are enjoying most about this series is the emotional power of real people's memories.
Rodney recalls his vivid memories of first landing on British soil
This lovely review of the show in The Independent by Fiona Sturges is testament to the power of the show to touch listeners in unexpected ways. In Fiona's words:
"Presented by Stuart Maconie – who, of course, one should never, ever doubt – it was a reflection on everyday people and the extraordinary times in which they have lived, told in their own words. It was also about the songs that have soundtracked these extraordinary times, and how they contributed to a shift our culture and identity and helped bring Britain to where it is today. It was pretty damned wonderful."
And, if you read my last post, you’ll also know that while the shows air only once during the year of the series, we'll be collecting far more of your memories for use both on our website and on our Audioboo channel.
Since that last post, we've begun to receive some great soundbites from people who have used the special touchscreen terminals located in our People's Songs Gallery at the British Music Experience. Here's Alfred Aarons talking about what Vera Lynn's We'll Meet Again (the first song to be featured in the series) means to him:
Alfred Aarons, recorded at The British Music Experience, remembers listening to Vera Lynn
And speaking of the 49 episodes… whither (I hear you ask) is episode 50? We can now reveal that our final episode's song and subject matter will be chosen by YOU, the listeners. Episode 50 is... The People's Choice.
We invite you to have a look at the list of
episodes on our website, and put your thinking caps on. Is there a period of
Britain's history that we've overlooked? What aspects of British life and
culture haven't we covered? And which song should be the focal point of our final
show?
You can make a suggestion by emailing thepeoplessongs@bbc.co.uk or tweeting
your ideas to @stuartmaconie and @bbcpeoplesongs. We can't wait to read your
suggestions.
- Listen again to episode 6: 'My Boy Lollipop – The Caribbean comes to Britain'
- Hear more clips on our Audioboo channel
- Read more about The People's Songs Gallery (BritishMusicExperience.com)
