This Is the BBC

Last updated

This Is the BBC
RHitchcock ThisIstheBBC.jpg
Live album by
ReleasedApril 2006
Recorded1995–1999
Genre Alternative rock
Label Hux Records

This Is the BBC is an album by Robyn Hitchcock, released on the Hux Records label in April 2006.

It rounds up fourteen tracks recorded for radio, primarily with Andy Kershaw between 1995 and 1999. It can therefore be viewed as a sequel piece to The Kershaw Sessions .

The tracks cover Hitchcock's contemporary material at the time of recording, and include a version of the evocative "I Saw Nick Drake" with lyrical amendments. It also includes a cover of Bob Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry".

The packaging features Hitchcock's artwork and significantly utilises a painting by his father Raymond as a cover, which dates to 1954. (Raymond Hitchcock is also pictured in the booklet.)

Track listing

  1. "Man With a Woman's Shadow"
  2. "Heliotrope"
  3. "De Chirico Street"
  4. "The Cheese Alarm"
  5. "Jewels for Sophia"
  6. "Polly on the Shore"
  7. "Where Do You Go When You Die?"
  8. "I Saw Nick Drake"
  9. "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry"
  10. "Andy Kershaw Jingle"
  11. "Birds in Perspex"
  12. "Sally Was a Legend"
  13. "Elizabeth Jade"
  14. "Madonna of the Wasps"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Drake</span> English singer-songwriter (1948–1974)

Nicholas Rodney Drake was an English singer-songwriter. An accomplished acoustic guitarist, Drake signed to Island Records at the age of twenty while still a student at the University of Cambridge. His debut album, Five Leaves Left, was released in 1969, and was followed by two more albums, Bryter Layter (1971) and Pink Moon (1972). While Drake did not reach a wide audience during his brief lifetime, his music found critical acclaim and he gradually received wider recognition following his death.

<i>Highway 61 Revisited</i> 1965 studio album by Bob Dylan

Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 30, 1965, by Columbia Records. Dylan continued the musical approach of his previous album Bringing It All Back Home (1965), using rock musicians as his backing band on every track of the album in a further departure from his primarily acoustic folk sound, except for the closing track, the 11-minute ballad "Desolation Row". Critics have focused on the innovative way Dylan combined driving, blues-based music with the subtlety of poetry to create songs that captured the political and cultural climate of contemporary America. Author Michael Gray argued that, in an important sense, the 1960s "started" with this album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nik Kershaw</span> English musician (born 1958)

Nicholas David Kershaw is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer.

<i>Pink Moon</i> 1972 studio album by Nick Drake

Pink Moon is the third and final studio album by the English musician Nick Drake, released in the UK by Island Records on 25 February 1972. It was the only one of Drake's studio albums to be released in North America during his lifetime. Pink Moon differs from Drake's previous albums in that it was recorded without a backing band, featuring just Drake on vocals, acoustic guitar and a single piano melody overdubbed onto the title track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robyn Hitchcock</span> English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the influential Underwater Moonlight, Hitchcock launched a prolific solo career. His musical and lyrical styles have been influenced by Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Syd Barrett, Captain Beefheart, Martin Carthy, Lou Reed, Roger McGuinn and Bryan Ferry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold Layne</span> 1967 single by Pink Floyd

"Arnold Layne" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd. Released on 10 March 1967, it was the band's first single and was written by Syd Barrett.

<i>Still</i> (Tony Banks album) 1991 studio album by Tony Banks

Still is the third solo studio album by English keyboardist and songwriter Tony Banks, released in 1991 on Virgin Records in the UK and Giant Records in the U.S. The album was originally going to be named after the track Still It Takes Me by Surprise, but was later shortened to Still. Despite a fairly heavy promotional effort by Giant Records, the album failed to sell well.

<i>Element of Light</i> 1986 album by Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians

Element of Light is the fifth studio album by singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock and his second with his backing band, the Egyptians. It was released in 1986.

<i>Garcia Plays Dylan</i> 2005 compilation album by Jerry Garcia

Garcia Plays Dylan is an album composed of various live performances featuring Jerry Garcia playing covers of Bob Dylan songs. It is culled from performances from 1973–1995, and features Garcia playing with Grateful Dead, Legion of Mary, Jerry Garcia Band, and Garcia-Saunders. Garcia takes lead vocals on all tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Man</span> 2004 single by Nick Drake

"River Man" is the second listed song from Nick Drake's 1969 album Five Leaves Left. According to Drake's manager, Joe Boyd, Drake thought of the song as the centrepiece of the album. In 2004 the song was remastered and released as a 7" vinyl and as enhanced CD single including a video to the song by Tim Pope.

<i>Leon Russell and the Shelter People</i> 1971 studio album by Leon Russell

Leon Russell and the Shelter People is the second solo album by the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Leon Russell. Released in 1971, it peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 200 in the United States. The album has gold certification for sales of over 500,000 albums in the US and Canada.

<i>The Kershaw Sessions</i> (Robyn Hitchcock album) 1994 live album by Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians

The Kershaw Sessions is an album by Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians, comprising nineteen titles recorded live between 1985 and 1991. The album was released in 1994.

<i>A Star for Bram</i> 2000 outtakes album by Robyn Hitchcock

A Star for Bram is an album released by Robyn Hitchcock in 2000, comprising outtakes from his then recent Jewels for Sophia. It was issued on Hitchcock's own Editions PAF! label. The cover art matches its partner album, but is printed in different colours.

"It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" is a song written by Bob Dylan, that was originally released on his album Highway 61 Revisited. It was recorded on July 29, 1965. The song was also included on an early, European Dylan compilation album entitled Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits 2.

<i>Live at Keystone</i> 1973 live album by Merl Saunders, Jerry Garcia, John Kahn, Bill Vitt

Live at Keystone is an album by Merl Saunders, Jerry Garcia, John Kahn, and Bill Vitt. It was recorded live at the Keystone in Berkeley, California on July 10 and 11, 1973, and released later that year as a two-disc vinyl LP. It was re-released in 1988, with additional tracks, as two separate CDs, called Live at Keystone Volume I and Live at Keystone Volume II.

<i>Keystone Companions: The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings</i> 2012 live album by Merl Saunders , and Jerry Garcia

Keystone Companions: The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings is a four-CD album by Merl Saunders and Jerry Garcia. It was recorded live at the Keystone in Berkeley, California on July 10 and 11, 1973, and released by Fantasy Records on September 25, 2012.

<i>I Cry When I Laugh</i> 2015 studio album by Jess Glynne

I Cry When I Laugh is the debut studio album by English singer Jess Glynne. It was released on 21 August 2015 in the United Kingdom and 11 September 2015 in the United States by Atlantic Records and Warner Music Group. I Cry When I Laugh was recorded over three years, with Glynne working with several record producers on it.

The Never Ending Tour is the popular name for Bob Dylan's endless touring schedule since June 7, 1988.

<i>Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings</i> 2019 live album box set by Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings is a box set of 1975 live recordings by Bob Dylan, released on June 7, 2019. For this tour, Dylan assembled a loose collective of a backing band called Guam and played across North America for several dozen shows. The tie-in Netflix documentary film Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese was released the following week. A similar compilation was released in 2002 entitled Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue, as part of Dylan's ongoing Bootleg Series. That compilation was re-released on vinyl as a companion to the later release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laugh Now Cry Later</span> 2020 single by Drake featuring Lil Durk

"Laugh Now Cry Later" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake featuring American rapper Lil Durk. It was released through Republic Records and OVO Sound as a single on August 14, 2020. The two artists wrote the song alongside producers Cardo, Rogét Chahayed, G. Ry, and Yung Exclusive. It was originally the intended lead single from Drake's sixth studio album, Certified Lover Boy (2021).