Jig Blog

BBC spending 08-09

My favourite radio station, BBC 6 Music is being threatened with closure. It costs 9 million pounds a year to run, and has had a growing audience since its inception, and "had an average weekly reach of 695,000 listeners in the final three months of last year". I agree with Richard Bacon's comments about 6 music that "6 Music is a beautiful example of the BBC at its best."

This chart shows spending of the BBC in 08-09. Click for bigger. From here

The obvious cuts the BBC should be making, in my opinion, are in talent. If times are hard, they should be investing in fresh presenters. Removing Ross, Robinson and Clarkson alone would keep 6 music afloat. I'm a fan of Top Gear, but I'd be happy watching reruns of the first 12 series on iplayer if they had to drop the presenters. Jonathan Ross is great on radio, but on TV he is cringe-worthy and doesn't deserve the slot (or the money) he gets.

6 music is a fantastic station, with a brilliant variety of witty, intelligent DJs who are passionate about the music they play. I've been a great fan of Adam & Joe, Jon Richardson, Lauren Laverne, Steve Lamacq to name but a few. How many stations can land Bob Dylan to present a radio show?

It goes on every morning in my house, and often throughout the day too. Nothing else comes close to the quality of this station's output. The fact that they deliver it on such a small budget is incredible.

Support the petition here

Update: Jiggers Ceilidh Band on Scotland's BBC Live hogmanay show?

I have a theory that if everybody spoke like Robbie Shepherd, there wouldn't be any wars.

Sadly, this year the Jiggers ceilidh band will NOT be performing on Radio Scotland's live Hogmanay show. A bit gutted. That would have been fun. It was an honour to be asked, though! We've got some of our musicians playing at Hampden, others at the Hilton, AND (to further disappoint those of you who like fortuitous alliteration) at the Mormon Church. (maybe they could call it a Hootenanny?) It's going to be a pretty tight stretch as it is...

Good news, however, is that I discovered the DV tapes from the original BIG JIG were NOT corrupted after all, it was just the video camera I was playing them in! D'oh! Well, that means that I'll have TWO events to get a new Jiggers video from (the other being the Wee Jig on Saturday night there). So all in all, things are going OK.

 www.bbc.co.uk

An interview with Pete Waterman

Paul Morley, on his "Showing Off..." series talks to Pete Waterman about Simon Cowell and the x-idol-pop-factor phenomenon.

Pete Waterman is experienced in the mechanisms of music and business, so I'm always interested to hear what he says. The work Stock, Aitken and Waterman produced in the 80s and 90s is a brilliant example of people who knew how to work the music industry.

One thing that frustrates me, though, in conversational interviews is that a question gets asked, but rarely answered properly. Waterman, seems to struggle with decisively articulating the nature of the x-factor show, or the role of Simon Cowell. He talks, certainly, but after 15 minutes, I'm still not sure of much of what he was trying to say... He doesn't sound like Bob Dylan or anything, but I'm not sure I'm enlightened by this discussion.

This is strange to me, as I would assume that a key to success in one's own industry is the ability to define it with precision. But perhaps that's not the case with media-related enterprises. Maybe that mystery and ambiguity is at the root of success, and why they even named the show "X-Factor". People talk about Simon Cowell being the only star of his show, and I believe they're right. Every interview he does simply reminds us of his mystery: the part he doesn't reveal about himself.

When I read or watch interviews with masters of industry,I often find they are rarely capable of holistically encapsulating the nature of their job. They give examples of "lessons", describe "behind the scenes" events, but rarely is there an overall guiding principle, a law by which they are governed.

They seem like specially engineered products of their environment, with their subconscious senses guiding them, but often without the intellectual capacity to fully rationalise their environment, or explain their actions. Perhaps this is true: maybe they are like the unthinking popstars that are so valuable to the likes of Waterman and Cowell, and that's why they themselves are so successful.

But perhaps these people, when being interviewed, are not concerned with revealing their own secrets? I wonder whether exposing the true motivations of their heart is too uncomfortable? Each interview becomes an opportunity to propagate their own mystique, so why should they make themselves smaller by articulating themselves into a box? They may have made their millions, but they still have their mystique to lose. The magic trick is forgotten about once you understand how it is done.

Dancing shoes

If you're attending an event with our ceilidh band, make sure and bring your dancing shoes. We've seen even strip-the-willows done in the most flimsy of footwear, but we don't advise it. Keep those high heels for the catwalks, ladies. Though, on second thoughts...maybe just leave them off altogether...

Top 10 records every wedding DJ needs (no 4.)

Hi all. Back from a nice blog-holiday break with...

Top ten records every wedding DJ needs: no 4

Scissor Sisters: I don't feel like dancing.

Ironically of course, play this record at a wedding, and people do.

It annoys me that the Scissor Sisters made this record. It’s just the right tempo for the “walking to the dancefloor dance”. Since I don’t tend to play more than one song by the same artist (unless it’s a very long DJ set), it means that I rarely get to play what I think is their absolute best single, the abounding-in-funk, groovetastic and often forgotten-about “take your mama out”.

Still, lyrics in the chorus for this record deserve a special mention, just because they’re especially indecipherable (how many teenagers know what "that old joanna" is?). 

“I don’t feel like dancing when that old Joanna plays, my heart could take a chance but my two feet can’t find the way, you’d think that I could muster up a little soft-shoe gentle sway, but I don’t feel like dancing, no sir, no dancing today”

PS Don't you love that fun Youtube video?

Performance FAIL (fun Friday)

There's something magical about being a performer. What makes the performing arts so compelling is the fact that it's done by human beings, and human beings sometimes fail.

No matter how much you rehearse and polish your act, there's always the underlying tension that things will go wrong. Why do people still enjoy a play instead of movies? Why does live music have an exciting edge over recorded music? It's the excitement of the "stabilisers off" moment...you're going through it and inviting other people to identify with you in it.

It's not that people are hoping that you fail. An audience genuinely enjoys sharing in the triumph of your success when you manage to nail a performance. But you're not always going to nail it, and something is going to go wrong one day. It's worth cultivating the ability to laugh at yourself early on. Learn that at the end of the day common humanity is more important than reputation. And keep repeating that when find yourself crowdsurfing where there is no crowd...

Jigblog Musician Spotlight: Seonaid Aitken

Name: Seonaid Aitken
Instrument: Fiddle, Voice, Piano
Myspace
Website

It's pronounced "Show-na"...Itinerant musician, composer, fiddler, singer...Seonaid Aitken has been gigging with the Jiggers Ceilidh Band for a number of years. Her musical pedigree is varied and significant, crossing genres and continents.

Seonaid has performed throughout the world as the lead with the International touring dancing violin show Barrage , as a singer and Irish fiddler at Tokyo DisneySEA , Japan, and she regularly plays as a classical violinist with the Scottish Opera .

 She has over 10 years of experience as a professional recording artist (violin, fiddle, vocals and arrangement) and has recently finished her debut album entitled 'Souvenir' which combines all of her musical talents. (click here to order Seonaid's CD)

I've heard her album, and it's great. Excellent songs and really nice folk recordings interspersed with some of her other performance pieces, covers and instrumentals. Definitely worth buying, in my opinion.

If you're trying to sell something, advertisers tell you to include a clear call to action. I'm not taking a percentage or anything, but I'll give a clear call to action all the same. Are you ready? Here it comes...

Buy "Souvenir" now.

Apprentice-watch. Hotly tipped...

I'd just like to smugly point out that my previous finalists prediction came to pass. Surprised?

I will hazard a guess that Yasmina will win unless for some reason her team completely messes up on the final task.

This is not based so much on competence but rather on the fact that she is a more amenable personality, and would not be uncomfortably difficult to envisage in a business situation.

 Kate does play her cards close to her chest, and is very self-assured. She's obviously competent, but business (especially as Alan Sugar sees it) is about relationships.

Add to the fact that if Kate won, Sugar would have lost her within a year to a better offer from a cosmetics or fashion sponsor.

So you think Britain's Got Talent?

After my Susan Boyle mashup, various conversations about the relative merits of variety and talent shows ensued. I mentioned the great John Daker, but no-one I spoke to seemed to have heard of this heroic titan of a man. Imagine, if you will William Topaz McGonagall embarking on a singing career.

HT : Ed

The truth about Susan Boyle!

I've managed to get hold of an exclusive copy of Susan boyle's performance MINUS the audio editing and wizardry they add to make these things ready for TV. Prepare for a surprise!

*edit* vimeo didn't like me using ITV's footage. Fair do's. Youtube don't either, but the video is currently still available until they decide to censor it.