Marc Riley's Musical Time Machine
Thursday 21 June
(6 parts)
2303 - 2330

Marc Riley dips into the BBC's archives and unearths seminal and tantalizing rock interviews.

It's funny how things can look so different many years down the line; once the dust has settled, tempers have calmed and much water has gone under the bridge. Not seeking to open old wounds or anything, Marc Riley goes back in time to the turning points in the careers of some of the biggest artists in music to check out exactly what they DID say in the heat of the moment, and to put it into today's context ....

Interviews over this 6-part series will include amongst others (NB not in order):

Liam and Noel Gallagher: It's a dream fix, getting one of the biggest bands in the world live on your show to promote their latest record 'Be Here Now'. It seemed like just another night of cutting edge music in 1997 when Liam and Noel Gallagher turned up at the studio for Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq's evening show, but as we'll hear in this programme, things went horribly wrong once the red light went on. In a beer-fuelled, expletive-filled interview Liam and Noel threatened to fight each other, as well as half the music community. Then Liam stormed out. It was great radio.
Lamacq says now: "We knew the press would be listening and that there would be a fuss. I just wanted to keep them on air. This was the first time in three or four years that they had been interviewed together. You knew this was history before they'd even opened their mouths. And then when they started swearing you knew they were going to end up in the press."

Madonna: In 1991 the Queen of pop (now committed wife, altruistic earth-mother and children’s author) had just completed the incredibly successful and controversial Blonde Ambition World Tour, released the sensational In Bed With Madonna documentary and was on MTV’s banned list for the video to Justify My Love. The ever-affable Terry Wogan sits Madge down for a quiet fire-side chat and attempts to charm the ice-queen into candid confessions asking…’ what are you frightened of?’, ‘how desperate for love are you?’ and ‘do you dream of having a normal relationship?’

Morrissey and Kid Jensen: It's 1983, and Stephen Patrick Morrissey is yet to release a record by his band The Smiths. Kid Jensen is at the peak of his career and decides to interview Morrissey, hotly tipped for the top. What followed was one of the most confident performances by an artist with no track record to date, and had The Smiths failed, Morrissey might have been haunted by these words for years to come. But Morrissey's confidence and self-belief carried The Smiths forward - it was all sweetness and light in The Smiths' camp then...

Jarvis Cocker post Brits Press Conference 1996:
On February 19, 1996 Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker got himself arrested for storming the stage during Michael Jackson’s performance of resent hit Earthsong. He insisted his actions were a protest against the distasteful act which included Jackson King Of Pop being suspended over the stage in a crucifxion pose. In the resulting pandemonium three children performing with Jackson were injured. After undergoing questioning at the local police station, Cocker was released without charge on March 11^th.
The press went crazy taking first an anti-Cocker then anti-Jackson stance. The story was reported everywhere making news broadcasts in the US and even Question Time in the UK. Jackson fans were appalled whilst Cocker became a hero to his (Melody Maker suggested he should be knighted!)
In this first interview after his arrest & acquittal Jarvis Cocker defends himself in front of a pack of salivating journalists.