CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Yes, I am delighted to welcome the wonderful St Vincent!
# On the street I'm a king-size killer
# I can make your kingdom come
# On my feet I'm an earthquake shaking
# So open up, my little one
# Hey, what are you looking at? Ah
# Who the hell do you think I am? Ah
# And what are you looking at? Ah
# Like you've never seen a broken man
# Lover, nail yourself right to me
# If you go, I won't be well
# I can hold my arms wide open
# But I need you to drive the nail
# Like, what are you looking at?
# Who the hell do you think I am?
# And what are you looking at?
# Like you've never seen a broken man
# Ah
# How do you see me now?
# Ah
# You built my tower to tear it down
# Ah
# But how could you see me now?
# Ah
# If I stopped cracking up myself
# If I stopped cracking up
# Who the hell do you think I am?
# Like you've never seen a broken man
# Like you've never seen it
# Hey
# Lover, nail yourself right to me
# If you go, I won't be well
# I can hold my arms wide open
# I need you to drive the nail
# What are you looking at?
# Hey, hey, hey
# What are you looking at?
# Hey, hey, hey. #
APPLAUSE
Yes, what a fantastic way to start the show!
In fact, I can't think of a better way!
Thank you!
From Dallas, Texas - St Vincent!
APPLAUSE
Best start of the show we've had for ages!
That'll set the tone.
We have an amazing selection of guests.
Are you ready to meet them?
CHEERING
From Coventry, it's Pauline Black! APPLAUSE
From east Wales, Joe Webb!
APPLAUSE
From New York, Arooj Aftab!
APPLAUSE
From Maryland, by way of Liverpool, Jalen Ngonda!
APPLAUSE
From Ghana, K.O.G!
APPLAUSE
But now, from London and Paris, Yannis & The Yaw!
APPLAUSE
# Now between the Devil and the deep blue sea
# No rest for you and no peace for me
# You sail the sea A far-out goal
# Flee a fire for all to see
# You break through wind and you burn through bone
# Look for a place that you call your own
# You once were king
# But now you're beat
# Long past the time to concede defeat
# Well, I walk through fire and I walk through flame
# The city burns while it says my name
# I feel like war now
# I feel the heat
# The time has come to reclaim the street
# Keep, keep, keep, keeping on
# Keep, keep, keep, keep, keep, keeping on, I keep
# Keep, keep, keep, keeping on
# Keep, keep, keep, keep, keep, keeping on, I keep
# Now between the Devil and the deep blue sea
# No rest for you and no peace for me
# You stand your ground with the powers that be
# Flee under fire for all to see
# You break the windows You burn the lines
# Lay waste the spires and you walk back time
# Start it over, start anew
# Salvation comes but for the few
# Well, I walk through fire and I walk through flame
# The city burns while it says my name
# Feel the war now Feel the heat
# The time has come to reclaim the street
# I walk through fire
# I walk through flame
# I walk through fire
# You said my name
# You said my name. #
APPLAUSE
Thank you, Yannis & The Yaw!
Yannis is of course the front man of Foals
but is here tonight with his wonderful new project.
Let's big up his amazing musicians!
Yes!
APPLAUSE
Including Dave Okumu, who's here almost every week.
Marvellous to have him back.
Next, over in this corner, a man with an incredible voice
who is here tonight performing his latest single,
Anyone In Love.
Please welcome Jalen Ngonda.
CHEERING
# Anyone in love
# Knows that you can't just leave
# Roll up your sleeves and say bye
# Knows that hearts break in two
# This can happen to you
# We all play the silly little games
# Call each other names
# And so
# But those in love
# Face each day that hits their eyes
# And it comes with no surprise that they
# Could never let go
# Oh, anyone in love
# Fears the past is complete
# No sign of repeating its joys
# Feels each memory, each touch
# But still ain't enough
# Sometimes we look up at the moon
# Hoping very soon
# They'll come
# But those in love
# Spend each night and reminisce
# The days when subtle kissing was fun
# But those days are gone
# Oh, anyone in love
# Hears a voice through the town
# Though no-one's around at all
# Nearly dies to the thought
# Of a thrill that's lost
# Anyone
# Anyone in love
# Take heed what I say
# One of these days you'll learn
# Those walks in the park
# Will soon lose its spark
# Anyone
# Yeah
# Oh
# Anyone, oh, anyone
# Oh, anyone, oh, babe
# Anyone
# Anyone. #
APPLAUSE
What a voice!
Jalen Ngonda!
The wonderful Jalen Ngonda, who can be seen on tour
next year in Britain and the Netherlands,
all over Europe.
In fact, I had a nice time with him one night
after a festival in Zurich. What a marvellous man.
Let's hear it once again! Yes, Jalen Ngonda!
APPLAUSE
Now, in a moment I'll be talking to a true icon of British music.
Before we meet her, let's have a look
at this fantastic footage of Top Of The Pops in 1979.
This is The Selecter
# But when I switch on I rotate the dial
# I could see it there driving him so wild
# I bought my baby a red radio
# He said he loved me but he had to go
# It's just the same old show On my radio
# On my radio On my radio
# On my radio... #
APPLAUSE
That was... That was The Selecter.
And I'm delighted to say this is the wonderful Pauline Black.
My dear pal!
Er, so, welcome to the show.
That was an amazing bit of archive.
Top Of The Pops, 1979.
Video evidence of 2-tone music being born
and coming into the mainstream.
But first, we should pay tribute to a very important person
in that clip, Gaps Hendrickson.
What were Gaps' qualities as an artist and as a human?
Oh, Gaps was just wonderful.
I mean, he was such a gentleman.
Er, he was...
The way he rocked a suit,
the way he performed onstage,
it was just elegance itself.
I miss him, absolutely.
Yeah, it was very sad. We lost him earlier this year. I know.
But I tell you, he was never so proud
as when you came and visited him.
Oh, it was... To the end, he had fantastic vibrations.
You can see it in that film. I know.
You can see his energy, his life force.
And as soon as he was onstage,
his movement would make the whole stadium move.
It was unbelievable, wasn't it? No, no, he was wonderful.
As one of the inventors of 2-tone music,
what do you think was important about it?
I think that it was important because, really,
we had got the idea of multiculturalism -
in our music, in the way that we were,
in the way that we were onstage, offstage -
long before anybody in this country.
I mean, everybody talks about diversity
and inclusivity these days.
But we were doing it back then, and that's what it was about.
It was melding musics together -
using ska, the danceability of ska, but rock music as well.
You know, having a touch of Tamla in there,
soul in there.
Everything was just put into the pot.
And it was just great, you know?
And as one of two lead singers who were female within that genre -
the other being Rhoda Dakar of The Bodysnatchers -
I mean, what a fantastic thing for us to have memories of.
Now, there's a wonderful new film, Pauline Black: A 2-Tone Story.
Let's have a little look at that.
Right - hello, everybody.
# Out on the streets again
# Looking for something... #
I think you grow your identity over time.
# I don't wanna care... #
# I wanna have some fun. #
When I look back over my life, it feels full of scenes
and stories, all knit together.
# I feel like a roller-coaster. #
This is how I used to feel in 1979.
Black and blue.
No-one notices a little black girl sat in a room
full of white older people.
I was never going to be a nice little white girl.
APPLAUSE
It really is...
I mean, what a fantastic story.
It's a social history of Britain.
It's the story of music that was being invented in a little place
and then goes around the world. Yeah.
Where does your story begin?
My story begins in 1953
in Romford in Essex.
We called it Pauline Black: A 2-Tone Story
because I am a two-tone story, I mean, literally.
You know, my father was Nigerian.
My mother was Jewish and English from this country and she had me
in a mother-and-baby home, which would be an unmarried mothers' home.
And from there I was adopted into a white family,
white working-class family, in this country,
so I grew up eavesdropping on what white people thought.
And I have to say that some of my family had some
what we would call casual racist views in those days.
So I was always looking.
I was always looking to see what I could find,
if you like, in that family to take forward and do something about.
I don't like it that people think that way.
What happened here in August when, you know,
some of the people on the far-right decided that it was OK to have
those views and make them very explicit again,
I'm not going to sit here, having dedicated 45 years of my life
to fighting those ideas, to have those resurrected upon the streets
of this country.
And I don't think the British people are interested in that either
because, let's face it...
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Thank you.
I quite agree.
People came out in their droves and that was stopped.
That was stopped. We have better values than that in this country.
Yeah.
Now, going back to Coventry, where the music came from,
that was a different time and a different place.
When you first went to Coventry, what was...
When you were sent to Coventry!
What was the stuff that was going on?
Well, there were all sorts of things going on there.
I mean, there were lots of people who were getting into reggae bands.
We'd got Steel Pulse in Birmingham.
You know, everybody remembers, who was black in this country,
when you first saw Steel Pulse and, you know,
with the pillowcases on their heads doing Ku Klux Klan, it was like,
"Whoa, you can do that, can you? "I didn't realise that."
So, I mean, it was a hop, skip and a jump, I suppose, for us to say,
"Yeah, let's do that."
But, I mean, at the same time,
you had white folks who were listening to ska music.
Because it's a very small place, Coventry - 350,000 people -
so everyone went to school with each other
and they had their parents' records if you'd come from Jamaica,
and there they were, so we were listening to that kind of thing,
as well, but we really ran with it in this country.
As you said, very few women in it.
Was that challenging for you?
Um...
It was challenging in respect of the fact that I think that women
join a band for entirely different reasons for what boys join a band.
I mean, you'd have to tell me about that.
What are those two different reasons? Those different reasons?
Well, I think largely it's to drink a lot of beer,
get laid and make some music. Yes, but why do the boys join?
LAUGHTER
APPLAUSE
I'll ask some of them. You've been rehearsing that!
You've been rehearsing that.
Well, the film Pauline Black: A 2-Tone Story
has been showing in theatres and cinemas
with you doing a question-and-answer session.
You've got a couple more. One in Exeter and Newcastle.
Are you enjoying doing them? Oh, they're fantastic.
I mean, it's beyond my dreams as to how people have received this film.
It is just great and I'm just so, so grateful to the London Film Festival
and to Doc'n Roll Festival for taking it on,
all these wonderful dates.
The Q&As have gone great.
People really love it.
They want to ask questions.
You know, here we are 45 years later,
I want to answer those questions for them.
Thank you so much for joining us.
Pauline Black, my dear old pal!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Thank you, my darling. Well done.
Thank you, Pauline Black.
Marvellous to have her here.
Now, with the title track from his album Don't Take My Soul,
from Ghana, we welcome K.O.G.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
CHANTS
Ha!
Yeah!
Ya!
# I don't dull try to make it on my own
# Live my very best and I want my throne
# I know reaping all the seeds I sow
# Counting all my blessings Let the Lord control my soul
# Even though the lights go low
# Even though I never been lost never felt at home
# Oh, Lord, carry this load
# Oh, Lord, tell them leave me alone, alone
# Leave me alone, alone
# Leave me alone, ah
# Don't, don't, don't, ah
# Don't take my soul, don't take my soul
# No-no, na
# Don't take my soul
# Don't take my soul, don't take my soul
# You can't take my
# Don't take my soul, don't take my soul
# They wanna take my soul
# Don't take my soul, don't take my soul
# All right, ya
# In the morning
# You hear the stories
# Who know no go know
# Don't you worry
# They been talking, your soul they wanting
# They wanna take control
# Eh, no-no happen
# You no go take my life, ay-ay-ay
# Dey push ago do something
# I keep on
# You no go take my life my hewale
# Ago dey push ago Do something
# Don't take my
# Don't take my soul, don't take my so-o-o-oul
# Don't take my soul Don't take my-y-y
# Don't take my
# Don't take my soul, don't take my so-o-o-oul
# Ay, don't take
# Don't take my soul, don't take my so-o-o-oul... #
Feel it!
Yo! Ow!
# Take my body, my soul will survive
# On my time I live by my lie
# By my side I feel the divine
# By my side when I'm reaching the sky
# Caution, warn them Tell them we rise
# We don't watch nobody for life
# Tell them we rise, no compromise
# Don't take my soul, don't take my soul
# No, no
# Never take mine
# Don't take my soul, don't take my soul
# They wanna take, they wanna take my
# Don't take my soul, don't take my soul
# Oh, Lord, save my soul
# Don't take my soul, don't take my soul
Ow!
# Don't take my soul, don't take my soul. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
How does he do it?
Wonderful band. Wonderful singing.
And them...
..fantastic.
Thanks, K.O.G!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
The opening of this show was one of the most extraordinary
we've witnessed, and I'm going to talk to the person that
opened the show for us - the wonderful St Vincent!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Lovely to see you.
Now, that was one of the most extraordinary openings
we've ever had.
Oh, thank you.
I mean, actually, between K.O.G and you, the acrobatic
and the energy has been absolutely the best I've ever seen.
Let's have a round of applause for that opening because...
APPLAUSE
And the song, of course, is Broken Man.
What inspired that song?
I think what inspired that song
is a full feeling that I've had.
You know, it's like the high point of feeling on top of the world,
but then realising actually what's beneath the sub-floor is...
..is pain and sadness, and then how you take that out is rage,
so it's a very human...
Right? Very human.
Yes, and All Born Screaming, your latest album, there's a song
on there, I was thinking of this, So Many Planets,
which is another great song,
but it's got almost like a little bit of a 2-tone styling to it.
Was 2-tone a music that ever hit you when you were growing up?
That particular song is 100%
an homage to Pauline and Selecter
and 2 Tone Records.
I was like, "What if I tried to do this but wrong?"
and that's what the song became.
And then it became right. That's the thing with music.
What's wrong turns out right.
But I think the thing that the people at home won't know about you,
which I discovered when we had a chat in the lockdown,
was that you were doing some DIY.
Was it for practical or therapeutic purposes, the DIY?
Well, it was for both, but if you asked me how much it cost to
undo the DIY that I did, that's another conversation entirely.
Don't tell me...
The book shelves, did they stay up?
I learned plumbing.
I learned electrical. That's what you were doing.
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I learned plumbing the hard way, as one does.
Well, you're multi-talented. Thanks. It's wonderful to have you here.
What's the next thing you're going to do for us at the end of the show?
I'm going to play a song called Flea with this incredible band here.
They are a great band, aren't they? Yeah. It's great to have you here.
Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me.
St Vincent!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Wonderful to have St Vincent in the studio.
Next, a New York-based Pakistani artist who has won a Grammy
and toured the world.
With a song from her latest album, Night Reign -
that "reign" like a king and a queen would do -
please welcome Arooj Aftab.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Raat ki rani
# Aate he chaa gaye
# Patata ye hoga
# Leiken phir be
# Raat ki rani
# Aate he chaa gaye
# Patata ye hoga
# Leiken phir be
# Chamak ti niga hoga
# Houa kafi saamna
# Behel jao uhse me
# Itna hai kafi
# Raat ki rani
# Aate he chaa gaye
# Patata ye hoga
# Leiken phir be
# Raat ki rani
# Aate he chaa gaye
# Patata ye hoga
# Leiken phir be
# Chamak ti niga hoga
# Houa kafi saamna
# Behel jao uhse me
# Itna hai kafi
# Raat ki rani
# Aate he chaa gaye
# Patata ye hoga
# Leiken phir
# Be. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Troubled times
# Running away from day to day
# Low, we're hiding from the sky
# The rain can't reach us
# The fear of the day
# Lord, when I hear you
# The weight I carry go-o-o-oes
# And the fear about the da-a-a-ay
# Time will tell
# If white horses in the sky
# Will come
# Take our eyes
# Black tornados in the night
# That weight that I feel
# When I fly the field of go-o-o-old
# No trouble up ahead
# Oh, Lord, when I see you
# All the weight I carry goes
# The fear about my day
# All alone
# And a veil to carry me home
# Will come, see my friends
# Under the shadows of the pines
# And in my time
# With protection from the sky
# Rain can't reach me
# Or the fear of the day
# Lord, take my weight
# Give me a better day to day. #
APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
Thanks.
Yannis & The Yaw, with Rain Can't Reach Us.
From their EP, Lagos Paris London.
Now, Hamstrings And Hurricanes is the new album of our next artist.
He's an extraordinary young pianist and writer,
who can also illuminate the works of the great masters.
We're now going to hear a medley of his own composition,
Collblanc, and Fats Waller's Squeeze Me.
Please welcome Joe Webb.
APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
Thank you. The wonderful, amazing Joe Webb.
Thank you to all my guests tonight, and on the series.
You can catch up on iPlayer if you've missed anything.
In the meantime, I hope I'll see you on New Year's Eve
for the...Hootenanny.
AUDIENCE: Hootenanny!
But for now let's finish where we began,
with the wonderful St Vincent!
APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
# I'm just like a hungry little flea
# Jumping on somebody's warm body
# When you start to itch and scratch and scream
# Once I'm in, you can't get rid of me
# Drip you in diamonds, pour you in cream
# You will be mine for eternity
# Hair in my shears Fall at your feet
# You will be mine for eternity
# When you're walking down your sunny street
# I got it
# Thinking of your bills or where to eat
# I got it Oh, I got it
# Then you'll feel that little prick from me
# I got it Oh, I got it
# I look at you and all I see is meat
# Drip you in diamonds, pour you in cream
# You will be mine for eternity
# I'll bring you china Milk for your tea
# You will be mine for eternity
# Drip you in diamonds, pour you in cream
# You will be mine for eternity
# Hair in my shears Fall at your feet
# You will be mine, my everything. #
APPLAUSE AND CHEERING