MEDIA LIST
possibly live up to the build-up?
I Our Charlie (C4) Rpm—9pm. An extensive season of Charlie Chaplin movies. marking the centenary ofhis birth. is kicked off with this documentary. which explores his cultural impact through the testimonies of film-makers. artists and other distinguished persons. Followed by the classic The Kid at 9pm.
I Journey into Silence (BBCZ) 8.05—9.10pm. Sibelius' Sixth Symphony is introduced and discussed by Michael Tilson Thomas.
SUNDAY 16
I The Fragile Earth: Arctic Tragedy(C4) 7.15—8.15pm. We know the recent consequences of the oil trade on the shores of Alaska. but this instalment ofthe excellent eco/naturc series examinesthc effect of Soviet. British and Norwegian exploitation of the Arctic's resources.
I Theatre Night: Arms and the Man ( BBCZ) 7.45—9.3tipm. The unlikely-sounding teamingof l lelena Bonham Carter with Patsy Kensit starts a new series ofseven plays on Two. Dinsdalc Landen alsostars. I Everyman: Promises to Keep (BBCl)
It). Iii—10.50pm. Grim-sounding look at the problem of homelessness in the USA. and the attempts in Washington DC to improve the situation.
I This Sporting Lile (C4)
It). 15pn1—12.45ant. ()ne of C4‘s offerings in the British Films of the Sixties season. Lindsay Anderson's powerful story ofthe coalminer who decides to better himself by becoming a rugby player stars Richard Ilarris. Rachel Roberts. William llartnell. Colin Blakcly and Arthur Lowe. I Celebration: Body Language (Scottish) 10.30—1 1.30pm. A look at Nadine Senior's Northern Contemporary Dance School. based in a converted synagogue in Leeds. and looking to dominate the British dance
MONDAY 17 .
I The Reluctant Cook ( BBCZ) 7.40—8.1(ipm. A new series in which Kevin Woolford takes celebrities who can barely boil an egg and shows them what‘s within
READING THIS ARTICLE COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE
llThere is lead poisoning in potters; solvent over-exposure in printmakers, and painters, sulphur dioxide gas exposure in photographers and potters,solvent
’
their limitations. This week: Sue Pollard. I 2010 (C4) 9L1 l . 10pm. The most visually stunning SF film since Blade Runner. this sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey is more immediately accessible. but retains the head-scratching obscurity ofits predecessor.
TUESDAY 18
I Living With Waltzing Matilda (BBC 1) 8-8.50pm. Re-showingofAlan Whicker‘s acclaimed series on Brits in Australia. In
this first programme he visits Jane Makim.
the Duchess of York‘s sister, on her ranch. I Play on One: Master ol the Marionettes (BBCI)9.30—1().4Spm. Kenneth Cranham finds that being agood Samaritan is not necessarily worth the trouble.
I Fuhren Seduction ot a Nation (Scottish) 10.35—11.30pm. How could a maladiusted tailure become the all-powertul dictatortvho changed the taco oi the world? Hitler and 1930s Germany go under the microscope oi modern psychology.
WEDNESDAY 19
I OED: Keyhole Surgery (BBCI) 935—1005. Potentially enthralling or gruesome programme on the endoscope. which enables major surgery to be carried out through an incision no larger than a keyhole.
I The Late Show(BBC2)11.15—midnight. Details are unconfirmed. but BBCZ are planning to celebrate their 25th anniversary in this slot over the next few nights with some manner ofretrospcctive.
THURSDAY 20 a
I Every Day's a Holiday (C4) 5—6.30pm. Vintage Mae West from 1937, with cameo from Louis Armstrong.
I Forty Minutes: Two Sides ot a Street (BBCZ) 9.30—10. 10pm. How hasthe influx of yuppie culture affected urban life? Forty Minutes talks to Ilammersmith residents. old and new.
I Fantastic Voyage (Scottish) 12.20—
2. 15am.
Fondly-remembered SF classic. in which Raquel Welch emerges from a
and pesticide poisoning in museum conservators . . . . .
Look at the art students. Look at them silkscreening all day - and all day inhaling a
miniaturised submarine to play tag with red corpuscles. The 1966 film won several Oscars for its visuals.
RADIO
McCartney on McCartney (Saturday April 8th — Radio One) is the unintentionally ironic title of Radio ()ne‘s eight-part canter through the rattle-bag memory of rock‘s richest statesman. now reaching it‘s third instalment. Irony notwithstanding. it‘s a cheery affair. Mike Reid (for once. thankfully. sans guitar) pops the questions. spins the songs that changed the world and generally maintains a matey bonhomie that rarely causes Macca to break sweat.
The irony thrives in the manner by which McCartney places John. (ieorge and Ringo onto the substitutes bench of history in order that he can get on with some serious navel contemplation. Asa result. it‘s McCartney on McCartney and very little else. The ‘lads' receive only the an occasional nod. In addition. and more worryingly. our Paulie can on occasions be more than a little economic with the truth.
If. as George Melly once claimedfl‘he Beatles story is now as well known as'l'he Nativity. Auntie must assume there area lot of agnostics out in radio-land. at the very least a few lapsed followers.
Ex-disciples and non-believers alike are consequently swayed back into the told with the most tried and tested of Fab Four catechisms. McCartney recounting these chestnuts in the kind of user-silly slang that has come to be the trademark ofthe Sixties rock landed-gentry. a dialect in which people ‘split‘ from ‘scenes‘ and the good becomes the ‘gear'.
Such tales also usually involve some manner of Archimedes-like revelation in which the mundane cleaves to the Fab‘s irreverent jocularity and a new chapter of rock history opens up: ‘and Ringo said That was A Hard Day‘s Night and we thought Wooahh! That's great! Lets call
chemical mixture of solvent vapours. Those vapours go straight to your central
nervous system. Ever feel dizzy in the studio? So you go home and sleep it off. But suppose you go home and have a couple of martinis - now that’s a welcome invitation to'alter your central nervous system. But on top of all that solvent you’ve inhaled all day, and all those cigarettes, the cumulative effect is very dangerous. It’s an addictive effect - more damaging to your gray matter than you realise.
But supposing you were working with a different solvent, say carbon tetrachloride and you spill solvent on the floor, wipe it up and live to drinkthat martini. Boom! that’s a synergistic effect - like alcohol and barbiturates. You might just croak. ll
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An article on HEALTH HAZARDS TO ARTISTS BY Monona President of ACTS (Arts, Crafts Safety), New York, will appear in the next issue
Rossol,
and Theatre
I l i l i i
like Yellow Submarine. and then theother i
the film that!‘ With McCartney coyly dropping ‘is aitches here. there and everywhere the subtext of his homilies are clear: The Beatles were just four lucky scousers who had a Bit of a Laughand worte some nice tunes. Anyone could do the same.
All this would be par for the course were it not for the way in which McCartney rewrites even the most basic ofBeatle mythology. At one point he lowers his voice in a conspiratorial whisper and claims that the Lennon McCartney songwriting alliance was not all it seemed: ‘Yeh. one of us would dream up an idea.
would say (ireatl [.etsw rite a osngabout
thathhat the death of the duo's partnership was roughly commensurate
with their stepping out of short trousers
remains something Maccs prefers to ignore.
Bohm
As. it appears. was the Beatle penchant for wacky tobacco an ancecdote concerning irrepressible giggles on the set of I Ielp is put down to the hband having previously consumed ‘a particularly good lunch'. the base-man skimming over the fact that there was a time w hen most of Morrocco's‘ illicit output was bought up by the thrill-starved tyros and consumed hastin in back-stage airing cupboards. And film sets. If in fact. .\Ic(‘artney's explanation is the whole truth. it would appear that several gourmet slap-ups preceded the planning and recordingof thisozone-thin confection. History by numbers and dishonest to boot. (Allan Brown)
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4B The List 7 — 20 April 198‘)