Friends in the north put it up to national broadcaster No chance of teenage kicks on RTE TV:Watching So Hard To Beat on BBC Northern Ireland this week, it was startling to realise how rare quality music TV shows such as this have become on our TV screens. In fact, it's hard to remember any other music shows in recent years which could rival the knowledge, enthusiasm and thoroughness of Stuart Bailie's two-part documentary on Northern Irish music's many twists and turns.
This was a yarn and a half and veteran journalist and broadcaster Bailie drew it out with great skill and passion in his role as writer and narrator.
While many will have tuned in to hear what Van Morrison had to say for himself in his first TV interview in an age, Bailie's documentary also rewarded viewers with insightful interviews and performances from many others.
Tim Wheeler of Ash talked about how listening to Morrison's Astral Weeks helped cure homesickness while he was on tour, Portstewart's Henry McCullough recalled his Woodstock experiences and Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody was his usual enthusiastic self. At every turn, there was much great music to be heard, turning the documentary into a joyous TV jukebox of tunes.
If RTÉ had any sense, it would purchase So Hard To Beat and screen it right away. It might go some way to make up for the appalling dearth of quality music shows on the national broadcaster's channels of late.
It would also, though, highlight the meagre fare it has foisted on audiences in recent times. While RTÉ will point to the likes of You're A Star and Other Voices as proof of its commitment to music shows, the truth is that Irish music TV has become a shoddy, shabby corner of the schedules.
That Other Voices is tucked away into the wee small hours, for instance, is another exasperating example of RTÉ's sure-it-will-do attitude to music TV. The broadcaster obviously still believes that music TV shows are only late-night affairs.
The rap for this fiasco lies solely with the station's commissioning editors. They are the ones who have elevated an obsession with audience interaction, text polls and pointless add-ons above quality content and have succeeded in turning music broadcasting in this country into music narrowcasting.
A show like So Hard To Beat on RTÉ as it currently stands? Not in a million years. Unless, of course, it comes with text voting.
When rappers clash (part 1,478)
While hip-hop beefs rarely bother the headlines any more, here's one which has been generating significant heat in New York of late.
G-Unit rapper Tony Yayo is facing assault charges after he allegedly confronted and hit a 14-year-old boy. The teenager is the son of Jimmy "Henchmen" Rosemond from Czar Entertainment management, a mogul not on the G-Unit gang's Christmas card list.
The story sprouted legs when the kid claimed that 50 Cent was present at the attack, something vehemently denied by Fiddy's people.
However, this didn't stop protestors armed with such banners as "Save Your Children" and "Ban 50 Cent" picketing the offices of 50 Cent and G-Unit's parent label Universal Music. Civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton and opportunist Fiddy rival The Game have also entered the fray. The next outing for this circus? A New York courtroom on April 25th.
Eno's you know
It's not every day Brian Eno tells an interviewer that a band makes him "fucking angry", but that's what how the producer described The Books to The Ticket in 2005.
"I think 'I should have done that!' That's when I know I am really impressed by something," said Eno about the New York duo's out-there electronica.
Feted for their albums such as Lost and Safe, The Books will be making their Irish debut at Dublin's Sugar Club on May 17th.
Vault hitting the heights
The website Wolfgang's Vault is an extraordinary treasure trove of vintage poster art and memorabilia, but the real crowdpuller is legendary San Francisco promoter Bill Graham's archives, especially audio recordings of nearly 400 concerts from 1965 until the late 1980s promoted by the man born Wolfgang Grajonc.
Currently available as free streams (and as paid-for downloads from April), the Vault includes shows by Van Morrison, Miles Davis, U2, Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, Elvis Costello (left), Rolling Stones and many more. Buy your tickets at www. wolfgangsvault.com.
Tip of the hat to colleagues Martin Noonan and Colm Banville for pointing us towards them.
Gig of the Week
Balloons bounced and dayglo sticks shone at Enter Shikari's visit to Dublin's Ambassador on Monday night, as an adoring crowd of teenagers and twentysomethings fed - and fed off - the band's near-hyperkinetic energy.
Here, bass player Chris Batten looks like he's just found out that the band have hopped to number five in the US charts, which later in the week, they did. And all without the support of a major label or a single fan over the age of 30. Photograph: Dave Meehan.
jimcarroll@irish-times.ie
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