Sir John Betjeman- Banana Blush (1974)

Beautiful, fantastic stuff. You have these blissed-out memories of Betjeman's youth over wah-wah guitar*. It's odd and brilliant - and far more exciting than a lot of the modernist writers who shunned him at the time. There's this comic gravity that I've certainly found inspiring regarding my own work.
Nick Cave


You have these lovely images of somewhere like Hampshire, but you also have this darker undercurrent - and this fantastic music. That was what we were trying to do with Madness: show English life, but say it's not always jolly and, hopefully, have a few good tunes.
Suggs

Sir John Betjeman (1906 –1984) became Poet Laureate in 1972. Between 1973 and 1981 He recorded four albums on Charisma Records .
On the albums Sir John read a selection of his poems set to music by
Jim Parker (born 1934), a composer from Hartlepool who went on to win awards for his TV work (Midsomer Murders) and also wrote the 'novelty' hit Captain Beaky.

The instigator of the project was Producer Hugh Murphy, who later worked with Gerry Rafferty and Bonnie Tyler .

They were terribly clever, Sir John said of the studio team when interviewed for The Observer. Hugh Murphy, the producer, has long gold hair and one earring, but he's a wonderful fella. You know, I don't like any of my poems, but I think the music did the trick.




*Sadly Nick is referring to one of the later LPs . The sound became more experimental. As a bonus I've also included the Licorice Fields At Pontefract from Late Flowering Love (1974)- a great chugging guitar track.

Suggs- Desert Island Discs (2002)

Quintessential Englishmen?
Well, we're a class riven society and I suppose they fall into two categories:
Apparent toffs like Basil Rathbone, Terry- Thomas, Stephen Fry and Boris Johnson are undeniably quintessentially English. But then again so are Michael Caine, Stanley Holloway, Johnny Vegas and John Terry.
Suggs bridges the gap here...
Madness were undoubtedly one of the major successes of the eighties. Maybe they did appeal to kids who idolised Tucker off Grange Hill but they turned out a succession of catchy and humorous hits. The ‘Ska revival’ also missed out on a sartorial coup, with faux market stall pork pie hats and sta pressed trousers that were more like pantomime costumes replacing the authentic fashions of the late sixties. It was all a bit fake.
However, as their enduring popularity testifies, Madness had a place in the hearts of millions of working class Britons.
When frontman Suggs appeared on Desert Island Discs in 2002 there was also something quintessentially English about a number of his selections: The Kinks, Sir John Betjeman, Ian Dury and The Clash.

Despite the Englishness of her name Julie London was, of course, American- Suggs chose Cry Me A River (younger readers may know it from V for Vendetta) and you can't argue with that as a selection of a timeless classic.
Ian Dury represents a proletarian flavour of risque entertainmnet that dates back to the music hall era. It's easy to imagine Dury as a carachter from Dickens or the ragamuffin cabman providing Sherlock Holmes with some tipoff.
On London's Burning from their self titled debut The Clash give us a hefty chunk of urban dissaffectation from the western suburbs of London.
In terms of fogeyishness the genuine article here is Sir John Betjeman, the betweeded poet laureate who , in the words of Auden was so at home with the provincial gaslit towns, the seaside lodgings, the bicycle, the harmonium. (We'll be having more from Sir John in the near future).
Prince Buster pops up with the obligatory 'ska' number- Al Capone.
I've nothing against Peggy Lee and actually have a few of her albums (Black Coffee is highly recommended) but I don't really go for the number that Suggs selected (Is That All There Is?).
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society has been described as a concept album lamenting the passing of old-fashioned English traditions.
There is also something very British about Van Morrison's Cleaning Windows- the disaffected grammar school boy trapped in mundane labour whilst immersing himself in American beatnik culture of jazz, blues and Kerouac.

Sugg's overral choice was the Peggy Lee record. A book of Italian Verbs was his literary choice and a nucleus of bees was his luxury item.

Here are the records, but not the full programme:

Sadly gone from Rapidshare and I haven't got a clue what I did with the original file- never mind, worse things happen at sea.