One last post on the bugle from us today before we scarper.

Following the news that The Old Grey Whistle Test is set to return to our screens for one night only (scroll down) our #TBT today takes us back to May 1973 for the first ever UK TV appearance of a little known Jamaican collective.

Bob and the boys performed Concrete Jungle, as well as Stir It Up.

So instead of pretending to work why not grab yourself a hot drink and do exactly as Bob suggests... for a few minutes at least.

While the reggae legends Wah you into a trance, scroll down to read Quincy Jones incredible rant about The Beatles and Michael Jackson (and everyone else in between), plus news from Beyonce's dad, Elton John, Spice Girls, Drake, The Folk Awards, festival news and much much more.

See you tomorrow for New Music Friday.

And he's got a cracking new fur-lined leather coat too, by the looks of it.

The former One Direction star has revealed to Elle India that he has recorded a tune in Hindi for a forthcoming Bollywood movie.

The singer, from Bradford, whose dad is British Pakistani, said: "It's one of the first songs I've sung in full Hindi, so it's going to be cool to see what the response to that is."

As well as bigging up his almost-missus; model Gigi Hadid, Zayn, 25, also suggested his next album would have more subcontinent vibes due to working with Grammy-winning Bollywood soundtrack composer, AR Rahman.

“There’s definitely a lot of Urdu, some nice Qawwali sounds. There might even be some Bhangra vibes."

Many of you are liking the sound of that concoction.

The much-loathed newspaper columnist has been added to the prohibited list of items for those attending the Oxfordshire event in July.

Festival goers CAN see Friendly Fires, George Ezra, De La Soul and Jake Bugg but they CANNOT take selfie sticks, pyrotechnics, or, well... Katie.

The reason being:

BBC Radio 2

Now whether she reminds you of Annie Lennox or not, SuRie will be the UK's representative in Portugal in May.

She's been telling Radio 2's Ken Bruce that she can't wait to get to Lisbon.

Ken told her he thinks the public made the right call this year. Suppose it would've been awkward if he'd said anything else.

"I couldn't hear anything but the screaming" she said of last night's live televised performance.

"It was amazing."

Listen above.

Image source, PA

Puerto Rican musician Ricky Martin is to be honoured with an international icon award at the British LGBT Awards.

Organisers hope Martin, 46, will attend the annual ceremony - to be held in London on 11 May - to receive his award.

The Livin' La Vida Loca singer announced that he had married his partner Jwan Yosef last month.

Other celebrities nominated for the award include US singer Demi Lovato, who is nominated alongside Orange Is The New Black's Laverne Cox and British TV stars Rylan Clark-Neal and Paul O'Grady, for celebrity of the year.

One Direction star turned solo artist Harry Styles is shortlisted in the straight ally of the year category alongside the likes of Dawn French, James Corden, Ariana Granda and John Bishop.

"It is a fantastic event that does so much to celebrate people in the LGBT community who are making a real difference, as well highlighting the straight allies who give their much-needed support," said host Alan Carr.

Last year's winners included Caitlyn Jenner and Prince William.

Cactus is a funky little electronic afro-punk number by London band The Fish Police, who will perform in front of industry execs at SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, next month.

Frontman Dean Rodney Jr, who like guitarist Matthew Howe, has autism, will also feature on a panel exploring neurodiversity and its impact on music and the arts.

Dean Rodney Jr said: "I’m really happy to be going to Texas. It feels really exciting to be performing there and I’m looking forward to meeting different people.”

Listen above.

Image source, Getty Images

John Perry Barlow, a renowned poet, essayist, activist, and former lyricist of the Grateful Dead, has died at the age of 70.

News of Barlow's death was announced, external yesterday by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit digital rights group that he co-founded.

He was the one-time writing partner of Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, and is credited for co-writing Grateful Dead classics like Estimated Prophet, The Music Never Stopped, Hell in a Bucket, and I Need A Miracle.

Barlow and founding member Weir met at Colorado’s Fountain Valley School as youngsters and he remained a non-performing lyricist with the band from 1971 to 1995, as well as running a cattle ranch.

In a tribute online, Bob wrote: "John had a way of taking life's most difficult things and framing them as challenges, therefore adventures.

"He'll live on in the songs we wrote."

Read more.

Other tributes have come from the likes of Sean Ono Lennon and Julian Assange.

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier we brought you news of Quincy Jones's lengthy diatribe - in brief.

Among the many digs at his fellow collaborators that we didn't cover was a pop at rapper T-Pain.

T-Pain was persuaded to record Michael Jackson's Pretty Young Things, with Robin Thicke, for the 2010 album Soul Bossa Nostra. Quincy labelled the album a mistake.

"I was not in favor of doing it, but the rappers wanted to record something as a tribute to me, where they’d do versions of songs that I’d done over my career," Jones told Vulture.

"I said to them, 'Look, you got to make the music better than we did on the originals'. That didn’t happen.T-Pain, external, man, he didn’t pay attention to the details.”

Alive and well (unlike so many others name-checked by Quincy), T-Pain took to Twitter to respond, arguing that he "begged for direction" from the producer.

Over to you, Ringo...

Dinner is on Drake - and breakfast, and lunch, and tea - for the rest of the week.

The rapper turned up at a supermarket in Miami and offered to pay for everyone's groceries - picking up a $50,000 (£36,000) shopping bill in the process.

The 31-year-old star is currently shooting a video for God's Plan in the city of Miami, and has been splashing his cash in all sorts of unlikely venues.

On Tuesday, the singer surprised a young student at the University of Miami with a $50,000 (£36,000) scholarship after reading one of her essays.

He also donated $25,000 (£18,000) to the Miami school where he was filming.

And after Wednesday's supermarket sweep, it is also reported that he gave $50,000 to a homeless shelter.

He later wrote on his Instagram: "Last 3 days were the best I have had in a very long time...there’s nothing like seeing people experience a joyful moment when you can tell they need it the most."

Drake for president? Sorry, he's Canadian.

Image source, PA

Well they've got to pay the overheads on their new Margate hotel somehow.

Following on from yesterday's Y Not? announcement, the likeliest of lads, external will also top the bill at Cumbria's Kendal Calling event, which runs from 26-29 July.

And they're in good company, alongside Run DMC and Catfish and the Bottlemen.

Image source, Getty Images

The pocket-sized Aussie pop princess will play a pair of similarly small-ish venues in March.

The singer, who returned recently with her new track Dancing, will play an intimate show at London's Cafe De Paris on Tuesday 13 March, followed by another at Gorilla in Manchester the following night, as part of her latest European tour.

She said:

In a genius piece of marketing, the UK shows are only available to fans that pre-order Kylie’s forthcoming album Golden from the official store., external

Image source, BBC/Getty Images

Some of David Bowie's best-loved hits will be covered by an array of stars in a tribute show hosted by former shock-jock Howard Stern.

Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan and Daryl Hall are among those who will perform Bowie tracks in the 25-song show to be broadcast on Friday on Sirius XM.

The retrospective, co-hosted by Bowie's longtime producer Tony Visconti, will include Corgan performing Space Oddity, and Hall - of Hall and Oates - taking on Fame.

Electronic rockers Garbage will cover another classic track, Starman.

"I want to make sure that people remember David Bowie," said Stern, in a statement.

Other artists on the show will include pop star Lisa Loeb, retro pop act Bleachers and folk rockers Dawes.

Bowie died in January 2016, at the age of 69.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Ariana Grande cried for days after the Manchester Arena attack and "felt every name" of the victims who died in the bombing, according to her manager.

Scooter Braun said he and the singer met 19 families who had lost loved ones, which was the "hardest two hours of either of our lives".

Ariana suffered from trauma after the attack on 22 May last year, which killed 22 people and questioned whether she could sing her songs ever again, he added.

But ultimately she decided to go ahead with the One Love Manchester concert so the victims didn't "die in vain".

"The terrorist made a mistake... They picked the wrong God damn show," Scooter said of the bombing.

"When she found out that fans of hers had died she was so sad. She cried for days,"

"She felt everything - every face they announced, every name, she wore on her sleeve. Every bit of emotion - because that's who she is."

Scooter was speaking about the Manchester terror attack during the Big Questions with Cal Fussman, external podcast.

Re-live our coverage of the One Love Manchester concert as it happened.

BBC Radio 1

Annie Mac spoke to Sean from the London rock 'n' roll band, directly from a beach in Sydney as the sun was rising.

While the joggers and surfer dudes Down Under were starting their day, sounds like Sean was just ending his.

Rock 'n' roll...

He told Annie that the title of their chose track Lampoon was a reference to cult UK TV comedy series, Peep Show.

"It's a Peep Show reference. We were gonna change the name but we didn't"

So there you go, now you know.

The track is taken from their 2018 debut album Songs of Praise, and you can hear it above.

Image source, Getty Images

He's not one to miss a spot of royal mingling, so it should come as no surprise that Sir Elton John has cancelled his final two performances in Las Vegas to attend the nuptials of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on 19 May this year.

Due to a "scheduling conflict", earlier this week Elton John rescheduled two performances of his Million Dollar Piano show, external on Friday 18 May and Saturday 19 May to Sunday 6 May and Wednesday 16 May respectively.

The final performance in his long-running Vegas residency will now be 17 May, after playing more than 200 shows.

Sir Elton was a close friend of Prince Harry's mother, Princess Diana, and attended the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton.

Image source, Reuters

Last month, the 70-year-old said he had yet to receive an invitation to the forthcoming ceremony in Windsor, adding: "I’m playing in Vegas so I don’t know what’s going to happen.

“It will be nice because I love him very dearly," he told The Sun.

The British singer's Vegas residency comes to an end later this year, ahead of the start of his three-year farewell tour.

Read more: Pop legends plan 'final' tours - but does farewell mean farewell?

BBC Radio 2

Irish singer-songwriter Paul Brady is to perform at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards which are being held in Northern Ireland for the first time.

The 70-year-old instrumentalist will join acts including Cara Dillon, Eliza Carthy & The Wayward Band (above) and Lankum at the event in Belfast on 4 April.

Honours given out will include folk singer of the year and the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award.

The night will also see a lifetime achievement award presented. Last year it was given to Woody Guthrie.

Mark Radcliffe, who is hosting the show alongside Scottish folk singer Julie Fowlis, said: "I'm genuinely thrilled to be making my first ever visit to Belfast for the Folk Awards.

"I plan to spend a good few days absorbing the history and the culture and then, what an honour it will be to take to the stage with home-grown legends Paul Brady and Cara Dillon - it promises to be a very special night."

Read more.

Find out how you can get tickets, vote for album of the year and learn more about this year's nominees over on the Folk Awards website.

Image source, PA

US publication TMZ are reporting that the Spice Girls will kick off a world tour this summer.

Earlier this week, we told you that all five members of the '90s girl band had confirmed they were reuniting to explore some "incredible new opportunities together".

Latest news is that the tour will hit the stage in the UK this August, before crossing the Atlantic and landing in the US.

But their comeback will not involve any new music (sighs of relief all round), or a Las Vegas residency (sigh of relief for Bruno Mars).

No mention of the Backstreet Boys either.

Simon (ker-ching) Fuller will return to manage the tour - and there will be "merchandising opportunities". Shock horror.

Of course all this is "according to sources", but Geri Horner (aka Ginger Spice) told the Sun, external: "Whatever we decide to do, however it unfolds, it will be something joyful and very connective."

“We love our fans, we love the music, we respect them. And we want to share that spirit of the Spice Girls. All I can say is: Watch this space.”

Read more: Here are our 10 possibilities for the Spice Girls reunion

BBC 6 Music

If you're old enough to remember this first time around, then well done for getting to grips with the internet.

In the history of live music on telly, there's some important names: The Tube. Ready Steady Go, Soul Train. Later With Jools, Top of the Pops and Sounds Like Friday Night, of course.

But one show, which ran from 1971 to 1988, showcased maybe more iconic bands performing live than any other, and that's The Old Grey Whistle Test.

The show will return for one night only, with a special 446th episode on BBC Four on Friday 23 February.

Image source, Getty Images

Presenter Bob Harris has been telling 6 Music this morning all about the return of the classic BBC TV show, which hosted the first British TV performance of Bob Marley and the Wailers.

"The more I thought about it the more I began to feel growing pride that I was in the middle of it all and that's how I feel today" he told Matt Everitt.

Listen above.

Vulture

Image source, Reuters

Quincy Jones is having a moment.

The man is musical royalty and he's about to turn 85; he has 28 Grammy Awards, a Bel Air mansion and - we're guessing - a full piggy bank. What does he have to lose?

His friends, maybe?

Pretty sure Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr won't be dropping by for a cup of cocoa anytime soon...

In an extensive interview with Vulture, external, he called The Beatles "the worst musicians in the world".

Image source, PA

The music producer recalled an occasion in the studio with the fab four, when Ringo "had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix... He couldn’t get it."

Quincy called in jazz drummer Ronnie Verrell while Ringo took some time out to "get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie".

"Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up. Ringo comes back and says, 'George, can you play it back for me one more time?' So George did, and Ringo says, 'That didn’t sound so bad.' And I said, 'Yeah... because it ain’t you.'

"Great guy, though.

Image source, Getty Images

And then there's Michael Jackson. Quincy says the star's excuses for plastic surgery were "bullshit" and "he stole lots of songs".

"The notes don’t lie, man. He was as Machiavellian as they come. Greedy, man. Greedy."

Quincy's stream of consciousness also covers racism, Trump, Marlon Brando's sex life - oh, and who killed Kennedy, but you'll need a decent chunk of your lunch hour to read it.

As the veteran himself puts it: "I've never been so creative."

BBC Radio 5 live

On Tuesday we first heard Mathew Knowles claim that his megastar daughter's success was largely down to her relatively lighter skin tone.

Now in an interview with BBC Radio 5 live, he's gone on to say that 'colourism' is prevalent within showbiz in the States.

"There's different shades of colour around the world and it appears that the darker shade of colour that you are is always treated differently" he told presenter Tony Livesey.

He added: "Because in america you can't name in the last ten years - maybe one person in the last ten years - that wasn't a lighter shader of black at pop radio."

The film industry has come under scrutiny in recent years with #OscarsSoWhite trending ahead of its showpiece event.

Now according to Bey's dad, who has a book out about racism, the music industry has some serious questions to answer too.