One of the most amusing aspects of doing "For One Night Illegally - The History of the Bootleg" on Radio Four (on the iPlayer for the next few days if you're interested) was the inclusion of extracts from the legendary Troggs Tapes. These are famously peppered with four-letter words; therefore we didn't expect to be able to broadcast them.
The producer spent a good deal of time involved in the "compliance" issues which, post-Brandgate, seem to occupy much of a BBC producer's time. (I met a Radio Three producer the other day who was complaining about how time-consuming all this was. On Radio Three? What are they doing over there? Placing prank calls to Daniel Barenboim? Asking him if he's got the hots for Mitsuko Uchida? Talking about being out on the lash with the Berlin Phil?)
Anyway, it was finaly agreed that we could use a section of the dialogue with the obscenities bleeped out. However we were also given a strict limit on exactly how many bleeps we were allowed. It's a bit like rationing asterisks.
A brilliant broadcast, that. Highlights abound, but the image of Shakespeare writing with his tongue out was a gentle touch of genius.
ReplyDeleteBy the by, I have long loved foul language, believing it to be entirely appropriate in a foul world. But it's dawning on me that the world might be foul because of the language used to describe it.
I can feel a leaf being turned.
Missed to original broadcast but managed to download it from a "dodgy" site - sort of audience participation gesture - good stuff too
ReplyDeleteA job well done. Enjoyed lots of it particularly the bit with Mrs. Yoko Ono Lennon explaining her husband's demeanour the particular day she was interviewed.
ReplyDeleteGreat show David. Perfectly evoked the joyful and much missed covetessness of bootleg seeking and ownership. The thesis that the industry began to terminally go up its own fundament when it started creating cod bootlegs and other 'rarities' was interesting and rang true - although I wonder if X raying Van Gogh's paintings similar to exhuming every developing take of Strawberry Fields?
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