Apologies that I haven't updated this 'news' page for...well, years now. I've been too busy to keep up with it, and social media and online listings have really made it rather redundant, so I hope you'll forgive me.  I may return to adding things one day if life gets less busy.....

 

On Friday, 3 April [I think this was 2012], Sky Arts 1 will show programmes on Led Zeppelin (12.55pm and 4pm), The Doors (1.30pm and 4.35pm), Queen Rock Montreal (9pm) and Queen--the Phenomenon (10.40pm).

 

BBC HD on Saturday, 4 April, at 12.35am will broadcast Kaiser Chiefs in Concert.

 

Pet Shop Boys play O2 Arena on 19 June.  Tickets are £30.

 

ITV2 will be showing all six episodes of the new comedy set in a radio station and starring The IT Crowd's Chris O'Dowd as well as Kevin Bishop, FM, on Friday, 3 April, from 10pm until 1am.  Most episodes have an appearance and usually part of a live performance from a band, including The Charlatans, The Wombats, Guillemots, Ladyhawke, The Subways and Sway, as well as appearances by Justin Hawkins, Marianne Faithfull and Toyah Wilcox.

 

Pet Shop Boys will perform on The Album Chart Show on Channel 4 at 11.50pm on Friday, 3 April.  That will be followed at 12.25am the next morning by a performance by Cambridge group Broken Family Band.  The latter will play London Scala on 7 May.

 

DEVO will be playing a one-off show at the Forum in Kentish Town on 6 May.

 

Little Lost David will be profiled on 4Play on Channel 4 on Saturday, 4 April, at 12.40am.

 

Antony and the Johnsons are expected to perform on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross  on BBC1 on Friday, 3 April, at 10.35pm.

 

The Times reports that a limited amount of cancelled tickets for this year's sold-out Glastonbury Festival will go on sale on 5 April at 9am from SeeTickets ie www.seetickets.com/g2009 .  Anyone who wants to purchase them would first need to register at www.glastonburyregistration.co.uk  .

 

Graham Coxon, formerly of Blur, is a guest on a live edition of The Verb on BBC Radio 3 at 9.15pm.  He is expected to perform songs from his new album.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Ben Taylor, singer/songwriter and son of James Taylor and Carly Simon, will appear on Janice Long's BBC Radio 2 programme after 12am on the morning of  Friday, 3 April, promoting his 2008 album The Legend of Kung Folk--Part 1 (The Killing Bite), which is released this month in the UK.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.  He will play the Union Chapel on 26 April.

 

M Ward will play Shepherds Bush Empire on 30 June.

 

The fantastic Lyle Lovett will be the guest on Bob Harris Country on BBC Radio 2 at 7pm on Thursday, 2 April.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

The Hyde Park Festival on 27 June will include performances by Neil Young, Ben Harper, the Pretenders, Seasick Steve and Fleet Foxes amongst many others.

 

BBC HD will show a 10-minute snippet on Wednesday, 1 April, at 8.50pm of Folk America at the Barbican: Billy Bragg, probably showing the singer perform Universal Soldier in the name of peace.

 

A gig not to miss is Nick Lowe playing the Royal Albert Hall on 18 May, with special guest Ron Sexsmith.

 

At 11.50pm on BBC1, a repeat of BBC One Sessions will be broadcast, featuring Duffy, on Wednesday, 1 April.

 

BBC1 will show the first of a two-part series called Queens of British Pop on Wednesday, 1 April, at 10.45pm, which initially looks at the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on Dusty Springfield, Sandie Shaw, Marianne Faithfull and even Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees.

 

Eddi Reader's new album Love is the Way is released shortly on Rough Trade, with guests including the great Boo Hewerdine.

 

Sky Arts 2 will show at 8pm on Wednesday, 1 April, Marvin Gaye: Greatest Hits Live, a 1976 concert recorded in Amsterdam.

 

Lisa Hannigan, heard by millions on the Damien Rice albums, will be playing the Shepherds Bush Empire on 13 April.

 

BBC2 will show BBC Four Sessions: Randy Newman at 12.50am on Wednesday, 1 April, a performance at LSO St Luke's.

 

6 Music Plays It Again at 12am on Thursday, 2 April, and Friday, 3 April, (ie Wednesday and Thursday nights) will be the two-part My Top Twelve, the magnificent Mama Cass originally of the Mamas and Papas talking to Brian Matthew 12 days before her death in 1974.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

An amazing treat on Sky Arts 2 on Wednesday, 1 April, at 11am will be Live at Ronnie Scott's, a performance by the late legendary jazz trumpeter and singer Chet Baker, joined by Van Morrison and Elvis Costello.

 

The Troggs will play the 100 Club on 3 April.  Tickets are £18.50.

 

Singer/songwriter and ex-Any Trouble frontman Clive Gregson will be Mike Harding's guest on BBC Radio 2 at 7pm on Wednesday, 1 April, discussing his forthcoming UK tour and new greatest hits release.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Eric Clapton Sessions for Robert Johnson will be shown on Sky Arts 1 at 9pm on Monday, 30 March, and again following another programme on Clapton, Standing at the Crossroads, which begins at 8pm on Monday, 30 March, and at 3pm, on Tuesday, 31 March.

 

The fantastic iconic classic mock-umentary This is Spinal Tap will be shown on ITV1 at 11.35pm on Monday, 30 March.

 

Ezio will play The Luminaire on 16 May.  Tickets are £10.

 

The Best of Later with Jools Holland 2008 will be shown as a precursor to the forthcoming new series at 1.20am on Tuesday, 31 March, on BBC2.

 

Dave Matthews Band will play Brixton Academy on 25 and 26 June, the latter date added after the first sold out.

 

Archive sets that Gideon Coe will play on his BBC 6 Music programme at 9pm on Tuesday, 31 March, will include The Psychedelic Furs as well as live tracks from others including Pink Floyd on Top Gear.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Tracy Chapman will play the Roundhouse on 24 June.  Tickets are £35.

 

BBC2 will show on Tuesday, 31 March, at 12.20am James Taylor: One Man Band, a retrospective of the American singer/songwriter's 40-year career.

 

At 8.10am on Tuesday, 31 March, Sky Arts 2 will show Procol Harum - Live at the Union Chapel, a record of the final performance of the band's 2003 world tour, taped in December at the wonderful Islington venue.

 

Following their 1999 High Court battle over songwriting royalties Spandau Ballet will reform for a reunion tour.  They play the O2 Arena on 20 and 21 October, and the first date has already sold out.

 

BBC Radio 2 is repeating Joan Rivers' 2008 tribute to Ed Sullivan and the Gateway to America at 10.30pm on Tuesday, 31 March.  Guests on Sullivan's Sunday night television variety show included Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Doors, Edith Piaf and just about anyone who was anyone over several decades.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Seth Lakeman plays the Union Chapel on 24 May.  Tickets are £20.

 

Piers Morgan on Monte Carlo, shown on ITV3 at 9pm on Monday, 30 March,

 

The Shepherd's Bush Empire will be the venue for a week of live shows celebrating the 50th anniversary of Island Records from Monday, 25 May, until Sunday, 31 May.  The many acts will include The Fratellis (27th), Cat Stevens and Baaba Maal (28th), Paul Weller (29th), Keane, Tom Tom Club, Ladyhawke (30th), Amy Winehouse and Toots & the Maytals (31st), with more yet to be announced.

 

BBC Radio 2 will broadcast on the Janice Long programme on the night of Monday, 30 March (Tuesday morning) at midnight Simple Minds' Jim Kerr picking his favourite records.  The group will soon release a new album, Graffiti Soul. You can listen online to the programme for up to a week afterwards.

 

Mott the Hoople will play extra dates at the Hammersmith Apollo, adding 5 to 6 October to their sold out 1-2 October gigs.  Tickets are £36-£42.50.

 

On Sunday, 29 March, at 8pm, Sky Arts 1 will show John Lennon: Gimme Some Truth, a documentary on the making of Imagine, courtesy of the channel's programmer for the night, journalist Jon Ronson, as well as Pixies Acoustic at 9.10pm (reformed to play the Newport Folk Festival), The Story of The Clash at 10.35pm, before David Bowie in Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars at 11.40pm.  The latter film will also be shown at 10pm on Tuesday, 31 March, and 9am and 5.25pm the next day.  A film on Bowie called David Bowie--an Earthling at 50, which was released originally to coincide with the release of his 1997 album Earthling, will be shown at 9pm on Sky Arts 1 and Sky HD, and repeated at 8am on 1 April.  The Pixies film will also be repeated on 1 April at 9pm.

 

Bio Channel will also show some programmes on David Bowie on Wednesday, 1 April, including David Bowie - a Reality Tour at 9pm and a documentary on him at 10pm.  They will be repeated on Thursday, 2 April, at 2pm and 12pm, respectively.

 

Moya Brennan of Clannad will be a guest on Aled Jones' show on BBC Radio 2 at 7am on Sunday, 29 March.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Pet Shop Boys perform and are interviewed on The Graham Norton Show Uncut at 11.35pm on Sunday, 29 March, on BBC2.  Their new highly-regarded album Yes is out now on EMI.

 

Seasick Steve performs at Folk America at the Barbican at 10pm on BBC HD at 10pm on Sunday, 29 March.

 

The great Nick Lowe and also Runrig will guest on Simon Mayo's programme on BBC Radio 2 at 4.30pm on Sunday, 29 March.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Elvis Presley will be the subject of a programme on the Bio channel at 12midnight on the morning of Sunday, 29 March.

 

Neil Young's latest single, Johnny Magic, is download-only, at www.neilyoung.com .

 

Songbook on Sky Arts 1 on Saturday, 28 March, at 8pm will be a two-part Duran Duran special, followed at 10pm by Arena: An Absurd Notion, a one-hour concept concert video filmed during the band's 1984 tour and directed by the then King of the new medium of music videos, Russell Mulcahy.  The programmes are repeated later that night, andc the two-hour Songbook will be repeated on Wednesday, 1 April, at 3pm.

 

Sky Arts 1 will show two Roy Orbinson documentaries on Saturday, 28 March, including In Dreams: The Roy Orbinson Story at 1.10pm, Roy Orbinson and Friends: a Black and White Night at 2.10pm and 5.50pm, and Roy Orbinson: Greatest Hits at 3.50pm.  Some of the programmes will be repeated on Monday, 30 March, from 8am and 3.50pm, and Tuesday, 31 March, at 1pm.

 

Sky Arts 2 (many Virgin Media subscribers now get the two wonderful Sky Arts channels) will show an early 1980s documentary on composer Philip Glass on Philip Glass and the Making of an Opera at 11pm on Saturday, 28 March.

 

Eminem stars in 8 Mile, which will be shown on ITV1 at 11.35pm on Saturday, 28 March.

 

Pete Doherty appears on the repeat of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, rather than The Doves as billed, on BBC1 on Sunday, 29 March, at 2.10am (just after the clocks "spring forward" an hour).  He will also play live that night at Troxy, E1.

 

BBC1 Sessions: Annie Lennox, showing the Eurythmics singer performing at the intimate LSO St Luke's with her band and members of the BBC Concert Orchestra, will be broadcast on BBC1 on Saturday, 28 March.

 

Marianne Faithfull's 22nd album, Easy Come, Easy Go, include duets with Nick Cave, Keith Richards, Dolly Parton and the Decemberists.

 

Dancing with the Stars, the American version of Strictly Come Dancing has begun again on Watch on Fridays, usually at about 9pm and repeated the next morning.  Belinda Carlisle was a competitor but was eliminated, Jewel was to be a competitor but dropped out owing to injury before the first programme was broadcast (but is frequently in the audience as her gentle rodeo champion husband Ty Murray is competing), rapper L'il Kim is partnered by the loathsome Derek Hough, and his sister Julianne, who is also a country singer, partners her boyfriend, country singer Chuck Wicks.  The show also has guest stars performing, usually on the results programme such as Adele and Hall and Oates.

 

Arctic Monkeys at the Apollo will be shown on Channel 4 at 11.35pm on Friday, 6 March.

 

Annie Lennox will perform on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on BBC1 on Friday, 6 March, at 10.35pm (which is repeated early Sunday morning).

 

Suggs appears on BBC Radio 4's I've Never Seen Star Wars on Wednesday, 4 March, at 6.30pm, when Marcus Brigstocke encourages him to do new experiences such as taking a tap-dancing lesson.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Sky Arts 1 will broadcast Radiohead: Meeting People Is Easy on Tuesday, 3 March, at 12pm and 6pm.  The behind-the-scenes documentary shows the band as they tour.

 

Ex-Crash Test Dummies musician Benjamin Darvill, now known as Son of Dave, will guest on Mark Radcliffe's programme on BBC Radio 2 on Tuesday, 3 March, at 8pm, and perform a live set. You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Ian Broudie of the Lightning Seeds features in Sky Arts 1's Songbook on Tuesday, 3 March, at 4.10pm and 7pm.

 

Billy Bragg looks at the House of Lords reform with Joanthan Freedland in The Long View at 9am on Tuesday, 3 March, on BBC Radio 4.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

James Taylor was one of the people interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Front Row programme on 2 March about miming to recordings when supposedly performing live (which he does not do, of course), following the recent what I would call 'scandals' at the Inauguration and Superbowl where performers were miming.  You can download the programme as an Podcast or listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Glenn Tilbrook and the Fluffers' new album Pandemonium Ensues is released on 2 March.

 

Glenn Tilbrook plays a live set on Jonathan Ross's show on BBC Radio 2 at 10am on Saturday, 28 February.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Gideon Coe's programme on BBC 6 Music on Monday, 2 March, at 9pm will include a 1968 session by Leonard Cohen.  You can listen online for up to a week.

 

Andrew Collins presents a programme examining gothic rock, called The G-Word, with input from Siouxsie Soux, Gary Numan and Steve Severin.  Tune in to BBC Radio 2 at 7pm on Saturday, 28 February, or you can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Sky Arts 1 will show The Who: The Kids Are Alright at 4pm on Sunday, 1 March.

 

Channel 4 will show 4 Music Presents...Snow Patrol at 11.45pm on Saturday, 28 February.

 

A programme on The Stereophonics will feature on the Biography Channel (now just 'Bio') at 12 midnight on Monday morning (Sunday night).

 

U2 will be the musical guests on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on BBC1 on Friday, 27 February, at 10.35pm, which will be repeated on Sunday at 2am.  An interview with the band also appears on The Culture Show Uncut on the same night (Friday) on BBC2 at 11.35pm.

 

Roger McGuinn will play Cadogan Hall on 6 June.  Tickets are £26.50.

 

Only Men Aloud! and Katherine Jenkins will appear in a special St David's Day version of Songs of Praise on BBC1 at 4.55pm on Sunday, 1 March.

 

The 1981 concert Queen Rock Montreal will be broadcast by Sky Arts 1 at 9pm on Friday, 27 February.

 

I have always recommended the wonderful singer/songwriter from the Faroe Islands, Teitur Lassen, and his latest album The Singer has finally been released in the UK.

 

Ezio will play The Luminaire on 16 May.  Tickets are only £10.

 

4Music on Channel 4 broadcasts The NME Awards on Friday, 27 February, at 11.35pm, with performances by The Cure, Elbow, Franz Ferdinand and Glasvegas.  Highlights will be shown on Saturday afternoon at 10.55am.

 

Seth Lakeman will play the Union Chapel on 24 May, and tickets are £20.  He'll also play on the same night as Kate Rusby at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust concert programme, on 25 March.  Tickets for that range from £19.50 to £46.

 

The final part of the series presented by Bruce Hornsby about Fats Domino will be broadcast at 7pm on BBC Radio 2 on Friday, 27 February.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Cara Dillon will play the Union Chapel on 10 October.  Tickets are £17.50.

 

Mary Wilson of The Supremes and The Acorn, who have opened for Elbow, will be the musical guests on Loose Ends on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday, 28 February, at 6.15pm.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Gideon Coe's programme on BBC6 Music at 9pm on Wednesday, 25 February, will include a rare live set by Kate Bush.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Mike Harding's programme on BBC Radio 2 on Wednesday, 25 February, at 7pm will be a tribute to the late John Martyn.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

BBC2 will show eight special editions of TOTP2, treating us to the archives of Top of the Pops performances.  The first one on Monday, 22 December, at 11pm will feature hits from Madness, the Police and Kylie Minogue amongst many others.

 

Channel 4 has been showing the Spectacle programmes where Elvis Costello plays talk show host, perhaps having got a taste for it when guest hosting for David Letterman when he had his heart operation.  On Monday, 22 December, at 12.15am (ie Sunday night-ish), he will be talking to Rufus Wainwright.   The programme shown the next night, on Tuesday, 23 December, at 1.25am, will feature interviews with Lou Reed, who should be a happier man thanks to all the revenue from the Christmas releases of Hallelujah (sadly the new X Factor version has apparently topped the charts; oh dear), and Julian Schnabel.

 

Damon Albarn may be on Front Row on Monday, 22 December, at 7.15pm, talking about reforming Blur.  Tune into BBC Radio 4 or you can listen online for up to a week afterward.

 

Razorlight plays at the end of Graham Norton Uncut at 11.30pm on Sunday, 21 December, on BBC2.

 

BBC Radio 2 will repeat Radio 2 Live: Coldplay, the concert recorded on 20 August, at 7pm on Monday, 22 December.   You can listen online for up to a week after the programme airs.

 

Highlights from the concert I was so sorry to have missed will be broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday, 20 December 2008, at 9pm.  Tune in to hear Teddy Thompson and Friends, a recording of the 17 December concert of the young singer/songwriter with his amazing parents, Richard and Linda Thompson.  You can listen online for up to a week after the programme airs.

 

BBC4 offers some wonderful treats from yesteryear on Saturday, 20 December, from 7pm, beginning with Legends: Louis Prima, a documentary on the outstanding bandleader and one-time husband of singer Keely Smith, followed at 8pm by Judy, Frank and Dean: Once in a Lifetime, a 1962 television special featuring Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.  That is followed at 9pm by Show of the Week:  Count Basie and his Orchestra, a performance from 1965.  The wonderful 1957 musical Pal Joey starring Sinatra and Rita Hayworth will be shown at 9.45pm, followed at 11.30pm by Artie Shaw: Quest for Perfection, a profile of the jazz bandleader who retired in 1954.  That will be shown again at 2.50am the next morning, following a repeat of the Sinatra/Garland/Martin concert at 1.55am.

 

Cerys Matthews, Il Divo and Tom Jones will be some of the performers on For One Night Only at 8.55pm on ITV1 on Saturday, 20 December.

 

Bob Harris will broadcast a live set by Calexico on his BBC Radio 2 programme on Saturday, 20 December, at 11pm.  You can listen online for up to a week after the programme airs.

 

Chris Difford and the Decorations's excellent more-than-Christmas single Let's Not Fight This Christmas can now be downloaded from Amazon.co.uk as well as iTunes and other outlets.  It's only 69p at Amazon, much less than many of us spend on a cup of coffee each morning, and proceeds go to Children in Need.  This is the song that has been much touted in the press as John Sergeant's novelty single, but in fact, it has little to do with him and has all the charm of a traditional Difford or Squeeze single, a la Cool for Cats or Up the Junction, but it switches from just Chris singing the excellent verses to a schoolkids' choir and a few others joining in for the chorus, the few others including the BBC One Show's presenters Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley as well as contributors such as the delightful Dan Snow and John Sergeant.  You can't distinguish their voices at all so the song barely qualifies as a novelty tune; it's really just an impressive modern Christmas single more in the category of the enjoyable Jona Lewie's Stop the Cavalry.  Apparently, Difford wrote the song with Kenton Hall, Kevin Malpass and Tom Houston at his Hurst House songwriting week.  You can listen to a sample to the song first to hear how catchy it is, but don't forget that it's only a few pence and goes to charity, as well.  Click on the link above now--or go to iTunes or your preferred shop--and download it now; it will keep you smiling 'til Boxing Day, and it's for charity!

 

Rufus Wainwright Sings Judy Garland, which I seem to recall includes an appearance by his sis Martha Wainwright  and mum Kate McGarrigle, will be shown at 4pm on Sky Arts 1 on Wednesday, 10 December.

 

The Pogues have added a date to their Brixton Carling Academy performances on 18 and 19 December and will now be playing the 20th as well.  If only Kirsty MacColl could be there, too, it would be the perfect Christmas....

 

Joan as Policewoman (Joan Wasser) will perform a live session on Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie's programme on BBC Radio 2 on Thursday, 11 December, at 8pm.  You can listen online for up to a week after the programme airs.  She also plays the Shepherds Bush Empire on Tuesday, 9 December.

 

Manu Chao plays the Forum on 16 December.  Tickets are £18.50.

 

Sky Arts 1 on Tuesday, 9 December, will show John Lennon: Live in New York at 4pm followed at 5pm with John Lennon: Gimme Some Truth on Tuesday, 9 December.

 

Franz Ferdinand plays Heaven on 20 January.  Tickets are £17.50.

 

David Byrne has released an album, Big Love: Hymnal, containing his compositions for the HBO series, and the album has been well received by critics.

 

Gideon Coe will play an archive set by Talk Talk from 1983 on Tuesday, 9 December, at 9pm on BBC6 Music between 9pm and midnight.   The next day, on Wednesday, 10 December, at 9pm, he will play concert highlights from the great Edwyn Collins. On Thursday, 11 December, at the same time, he will play archive sets from Electric Light Orchestra (1976) and Radiohead (1997).  You can listen online and for up to a week afterwards.

 

Annie Lennox will highlight the role of artists and musicians in generating support and awareness for Amnesty International in a programme that includes contributions by Pete Townshend, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Bono and the Edge of U2, Tom Robinson and others at 10.30pm on Tuesday, 9 December, at 10.30pm.  You can listen online for up to a week after the programme airs.

 

The Concert for George Harrison, which featured performances by Eric Clapton, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Jools Holland, Joe Brown and his daughter Sam Brown, Paul McCartney, Jeff Lynne, Billy Preston, Ringo Starr and Andy Fairweather Low, on Tuesday, 9 December, at 9pm on Sky Arts 1.  It will be repeated on Wednesday morning on 10 December at 9am and 12.15pm.

 

Herbie Hancock's recent performance at the Barbican Centre during the London Jazz Festival will be broadcast on Jazz on 3 at 11.15pm on Monday, 8 December, at 11.15pm on BBC Radio 3.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Late Junction on BBC Radio 3 at 11.15pm on Tuesday, 9 December, will focus on a new album by Susanna featuring the voice of Bonnie Prince Charlie and music by former Cocteau Twin Robin Guthrie.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Ex-Polecat Martin 'Boz' Boorer  will be the guest on Jools Holland's BBC Radio 2 programme on Monday, 8 December, at 10.30pm.  You can listen online for up to a week after the programme airs.

 

Take That  will appear in a one-off special on ITV1 on Sunday, 7 December, at 8pm in Take That Come to Town, "a grand spectacle" including performances of their greatest hits and songs from their new album.  It will be repeated at 8pm on ITV2 at 8pm on Tuesday, 9 December.

 

Mark Lamarr continues paying tribute to the great Roy Orbinson in the four-part series In Dreams--the Roy Orbinson Story on Monday, 8 December, at 11.30pm on Monday, 8 December.  You can listen online for up to a week after the programme airs.

 

John Mellencamp will perform on Johnnie Walker on BBC Radio 2 at 4.30pm on Sunday, 7 December. You can listen online for up to a week after the programme airs.

 

Sir Cliff Richard will be interviewed and perform on Songs of Praise on BBC1 on Sunday, 7 December, at 4.50pm.

 

The season finale of Gilmore Girls called "Partings", which will air on E4 on Saturday, 6 December, at 1.35pm (and on E4+1 at 2.35, of course), includes numerous cameos from various musical artists busking around the town.  The troubadours include the Mael brothers of Sparks, Sam Phillips, (ie the ex-Mrs T-Bone Burnett) who always provides the incidental music for the series, Yo La Tengo, Joe Pernice of The Pernice Brothers doing a great snippet of an acoustic version of Amazing Glow (which you can now download from Amazon.co.uk), Sonic Youth, Dave Allen, Grant Lee Philips, 24 actress Mary Lynn Rajsub, and others.  Definitely worth tuning in even if the episode lacks the usual humour as it struggles with more dramatic, depressing issues.  There are various clips online of the troubadour scenes including on YouTube.

 

BBC Radio 2's Dermot O'Leary programme at 2pm on Saturday, 6 December, will feature live sets from Snow Patrol and Travis and include guest Lily Allen discussing her new single.  You can listen online for up to a week after the programme airs.

 

Amazon.uk is finally offering music downloads like its American company.  Initially, many album downloads from such artists as Coldplay, Elbow, Il Divo, Seasick Steve, Katherine Jenkins, Leonard Cohen and the Kings of Leon will be a mere £3, with single prices more in line with their competitors.  I am not yet clear whether Amazon will have DRM or any other awful things.  I personally do not purchase from iTunes or others who use that and tend to buy downloads from Play.com, free of those limitations, although my preference is still for old fashioned CDs with booklets et al.

 

Duke Special will play Proud Galleries on 19 January 2009.  Tickets are £12.50.

 

King Creosote will perform on The Culture Show Uncut at 11.35am on Tuesday, 5 December, on BBC2.

 

Terry Wogan has stepped down from presenting the Eurovision Song Contest, and Graham Norton will take over, which should be interesting.

 

Franz Ferdinand will play Heaven on 20 January 2009.  Tickets are £17.50.

 

Scarily, respectable (so far) political journalist John Sergeant, having just escaped with his dignity from that dancing programme controversy nonsense, is now cashing in on the attention with a Christmas single, in collaboration with The One Show's Adrian Chiles and (also fellow former Strictly Come Dancing participant) Christine Bleakley.  I have not yet heard it but it does have a secret weapon in that the song has been written by champion wordsmith Chris Difford of Squeeze.  Check it out for yourself when the video will be shown on The One Show at 7pm on Friday, 5 December.

 

Channel 4's 4 Music on Thursday, 4 December, at 11.40pm will feature Lily Allen's new video for The Fear.

 

Barry Manilow is the featured guest on The Graham Norton Show on BBC2 at 9.30pm on Thursday, 4 December.  An uncut version is shown the following Sunday.

 

The Biography Channel will show Marc Bolan: Ride On at 1pm and Viva Joe Strummer at 2pm on Thursday, 4 December.

 

An excellent gig not to be missed will take place in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in the South Bank Centre on Wednesday, 17 December.  A Thompson family Christmas, featuring legends Richard, Linda, tremendously talented son Teddy, and their lesser known but also impressive daughter Kami (Kamila), will also have performances from a variety of amazing artists including Chris Difford, Eddi Reader, Bert Jansch, Badly Drawn Boy, Kathryn Williams, Ed Harcourt and others.  Not only is the bill amazing but Teddy Thompson's fee will be donated to Amnesty International.  Sadly, I've been too busy with life and missed out on these tickets so it will be a gig to be missed for me.  Heartbreaking (but touts needn't contact me!).  Incidentally, if you click on Kami's name above, you can listen to her husky-voiced songs on MySpace, if you've not yet had the pleasure of hearing the lesser-known Thompson, which will have to do until her debut album Love Lies is released.

 

BBC4 on Friday, 28 November, will show the Grammy award-winning The Clash: Westway to the World at 9pm, followed at 10pm by The Clash Live--Revolution Rock, a documentary including concert footage.

 

BBC4 will be showing two great concerts in its BBC4 Sessions on Thursday, 27 November.  Georgie Fame recorded live at LSO St Luke's will be shown at 11pm and again at 3am on Friday, with Van Morrison performing at the same venue being shown at midnight (ie Friday morning, Thursday night).

 

Fleet Foxes have added a date to their Roundhouse residency, and will now be playing from 22 to 24 February 2009 (the first two dates have sold out).  Tickets are £16.50.

 

The Tings Tings will perform on The Graham Norton Show at 9.30pm on Thursday, 27 November, on BBC2.  An uncut version of the programme is shown on Sunday, 30 November, at 11.10pm.

 

Christy Moore featuring Declan Sinnot will be performing at the Royal Festival Hall on 25 and 26 May 2009.  Tickets are £25-35.

 

An extra date, 7 December, has been added to Barry Manilow's performances at the O2 Arena.  He is also there on 4 December and 6 December.

 

Sky Arts 1 on Wednesday, 26 November, will show quite a bit of Elvis Costello.  Tune in at 9am to see him live with The Imposters (repeated at 11.30am, 4.35pm), at 10.30am to see him in live in Montreal (repeated at 1pm and 6pm).

 

Julien Temple's documentary charting the life of Clash frontman Joe Strummer, The Future is Unwritten, will be shown on Channel 4 at 11.40pm on Wednesday, 26 November.

 

Buzzcocks will be playing Shepherd's Bush Empire on 30 January 2009.  Tickets are £17.50 each.

 

The Cure will play the O2 Arena on 26 February 2009.  Tickets cost £30.

 

The surreal last episode of series three of the great Australian sitcom Kath and Kim will be shown on BBC2 at 3.30am on Saturday, 22 November, and includes a guest appearance by Kylie Minogue.

 

Fleet Foxes will be playing the Roundhouse on 22 to 23 February 2009.  The first date is already sold out.  Tickets cost £16.50.

 

Kings of Leon will play the O2 Arena on Monday, 15 June 2009, and tickets have already gone on sale.  Their new album, Only by the Night, is available now.

 

Shakira (2.20am) and then Pink (2.50am) will be profiled on Planet Rock Profiles in the wee hours of Saturday, 22 November, on ITV1.  Meanwhile, Sigur Ros will be profiled on 4Play at 2.15am Saturday morning.

 

Teddy Thompson will play Shepherds Bush Empire on 12 February 2009.  Tickets are £13.50.

 

Snow Patrol will play the O2 Arena on 14-15 March 2009.  The first date is already sold out.

 

ITV1 will show Now That's What I Call 1983 at 10pm on Friday, 21 November, which is billed to include performances by Paul Young, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, Heaven 17, Kajagoogoo and Tony Hadley.

 

Ultravox will play the Hammersmith Apollo on Friday, 24 April 2009.

 

Tracy Chapman's first solo tour in over a decade will bring her to London's Hammersmith Apollo on 15 and 16 December 2009.  Her guest will be Joseph Arthur.

 

BBC4 will be having a folky Friday on 21 November, beginning at 9pm with the episode of Folk Britannia that focuses on the rise of 1960s folk-rock; followed at 10pm with Steeleye Span's Maddy Prior at Electric Proms, where she performs songs from her current album at Cecil Sharp House; followed at 11pm by Electric Folk:  Steeleye Span, showing the band perform at Penshurst Place, Kent, complete with morris dancers.  The first two programmes are repeated at 1.50am.

 

Sky Arts 1, which even Virgin customers can get now, will show REM Road Movie at 9pm on Thursday, 20 November, and Zappa Plays Zappa at 4pm that day.

 

The Only Ones will play Shepherd's Bush Empire on 6 February 2009.  Tickets are £16.50.

 

More4 on Tuesday, 18 November, at 10pm will show True Stories: Kurt Cobain-About a Son, including previously unheard interviews with the Nirvana frontman.

 

Hue and Cry will play Shepherd's Bush Empire on 7 March 2009.  Tickets are £20.

 

The delightful Death Cab for Cutie are playing Brixton Academy (tickets for the original venue are still valid) on Wednesday, 19 November.

 

Grace Jones appears on the first of the new series of The Culture Show at 10pm on BBC2 on Tuesday, 18 November.  An "uncut" version of the show is aired at 11.35pm on Friday, 20 November.

 

A 1980 XTC set will be included in the archive footage played on Gideon Coe's  BBC 6Music programme after 9pm on Wednesday, 19 November.  Archive sets the following night will include Joni Mitchell (from 1968) and Depeche Mode (from 1983). You can listen online for up to a week afterward.

 

Another nostalgic radio programme presented by David Quantick is Long Players, an ode to the vinyl LPs, which will be broadcast at 11.30pm on Tuesday, 18 November, on BBC Radio 2.  The long line on of contributors includes Bob Harris, ex Sham 69 frontman Jimmy Pursey, Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, and Suzanne Vega. You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Simply Red will perform on GMTV after 6am on Monday, 17 November.

 

Jools Holland's guest on Monday, 17 November, at 10.30pm will be Tony Christie discussing his new album, as well as trumperter Guy Barker.  Tune into BBC Radio 2 to hear it.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

BBC4 will repeat at midnight and 3am on Monday, 17 November, its BBC4 Sessions - Paul Weller.

 

The legend Paul Anka will play the London Palladium on 8 February 2009.  Tickets cost £55-65.

 

David Quantick presents a programme, The Disappearing Art of the Mix Tape, on Sunday, 16 November, at 1.30pm, on BBC Radio 4, which includes contributions from Elbow's Guy Harvey.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

The Enemy will play Brixton Academy on 11 to 12 April 2009.  Tickets are £20.

 

The first of a two-part series called Come in from the Cold--the Return of Joni Mitchell where singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost interviews the legend is repeated on BBC Radio 2, beginning at 7pm on Saturday, 15 November.  The second part goes out on Tuesday, 18 November, at 10.30pm. You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Robyn Hitchcock will play the Union Chapel on Thursday, 12 February, with Catherine Feeny opening for him.

 

Tim Finn has a marvellous new album out, The Conversation, with former Split Enz bandmate Eddie Rayner playing throughout and co-producing.  You can hear some of the songs on Tim's MySpace page, but you might as well go ahead and buy it; it's worth it.

 

Homeboy Ryan Adams & the Cardinals will play the Brixton Academy on Thursday, 20 November.

 

BBC Radio 4 will be repeating the programme aired previously that week at 3.30pm on Saturday, 15 November, called 50 Years of Little Richard, where he speaks to Sarfraz Manzoor about his life.  You can listen online for up to a week.

 

Grace Jones' The Hurricane Tour will hit London on 27 to 30 January 2009, at the London Roundhouse.

 

If you are a fan of either of these things, you'll enjoy tuning into Strictly Come Dancing to see Tom Jones perform on Sunday, 16 November, at 8.15pm on BBC1.

 

Simply Red's final and Greatest Hits tour will land at the O2 on Thursday, 2 April, and remain through the 4th. Tickets are a whopping £40-50.  I've never been a fan but saw them live in Belfast years ago, as Brian Kennedy was opening for them, and I was surprisingly impressed--a very sharp, polished show full of numerous songs I was amazed I knew so well.  Their greatest hits album is out on 17 November.

 

BBC Four Sessions on Thursday, 30 October, at 11.55pm features David Byrne in concert at the lovely Union Chapel in Islington.

 

Martha Wainwright will perform on The Graham Norton Show on BBC2 on Thursday, 30 October, at 10pm.  An uncut version of the show will be shown on Sunday, 2 November, at 10.45pm.

 

The great Boo Hewerdine has released a fine EP called Toy Box No 2, which is available on Amazon.co.uk, Play and iTunes, amongst other retailers.

 

The fantastic singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith will play Scala on 2 November.  Tickets are £25.

 

Performances by guitar legends such as Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend and Jeff Beck will be shown on BBC4's Guitar Heroes on Later...with Jools Holland, at 10pm on Friday, 10 October, repeated a few hours later at 1.40am on Saturday morning.

 

Calexico will perform a live set on Mark Lamarr's BBC Radio 2 programme at midnight on Saturday, 11 October (ie Friday night).  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.  They will be playing the Forum Saturday night.

 

Julian Bream is featured in the BBC4 programme Legends on Friday, 10 October, at 9pm, which will show archive performances from 1962 to 1991, including collaborations with John Williams.  The programme is repeated on Saturday morning at 3.40am.

 

Bloc Party will play Olympia on 11 April 2009.  Tickets are £25.

 

Cyndi Lauper appears on The Graham Norton Show (shown on Thursday, 9 October, at 10pm, and then again as an uncut version the following Sunday) and on This Morning (ITV1) on Friday, 10 October, at 10.30am.

 

An exhibition of drawings by singer/songwriter Edwyn Collins, called Edwyn Collins' British Birdlife, will go on display at London's Smithfield Gallery from 21 October to 1 November.  Collins always loved drawing birds as a child, once did booklets and engravings for the Glasgow Parks Department, and returned to his old hobby more recently whilst recovering from his terrible brain haemorrhages. Check out the gallery's site at www.thesmithfieldgallery.com .

 

Folk veteran Roy Bailey is Mike Harding's guest on his BBC Radio 2 programme on Wednesday, 8 October, at 7pm, where he will perform tracks from his back catalogue including a version of the amazing Beeswing by Richard Thompson.   You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Hue and Cry have reformed and released a new album called Open Soul. They are, unusually, touring House of Fraser stores and will play in the Victoria Street store on 10 October at 1pm.  If you would like to see them, register for the event on their site beforehand.

 

Alanis Morissette features in a new programme of Private Sessions, including an interview and performance by her, on Biography on Wednesday, 8 October, at 10pm.  The show is repeated on Thursday at 1pm and 8pm.

 

The Futureheads will play the Astoria on 29 November.  Tickets are £14.

 

The day after BBC Radio 2 repeats a programme featuring his father, Richard Thompson, singer/songwriter Teddy Thompson performs a live set on Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie's programme at 8pm on Wednesday, 8 October.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Lindsey Buckingham has released a new album on Reprise called Gift of Screws.

 

Glen Campbell, who has recently released his 72nd album featuring covers of tracks by groups like Foo Fighters and the Velvet Underground, appears on Laster Live...with Jools Holland on Tuesday, 7 October, at 10pm, as does Coldplay, John (Cougar) Mellancamp, the Hold Steady, Amy LaVere and SIA.  The extended version of the show will be shown on Friday, 10 October, at 11.35pm.

 

Paul Weller has added a date following the sell-out of his Brixton Academy show on 25 November and will playing the next night as well.

 

Glen Campbell also appears on GMTV's This Morning (ITV1) after 10.30am on Wednesday, 8 October.  He is also Janice Long's guest on her BBC Radio 2 programme at midnight on Wednesday, 8 October (ie Tuesday night).  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards to Long's programme.

 

The Kooks play the Roundhouse on 1-3 December (tickets £22.50) and Brixton Academy on 10 and 11 December.

 

Don't miss BBC Radio 2's programme Richard Thompson: Walking on a Wire, which presents another chance to hear a 2005 interview between the great singer/songwriter/guitarist and Bob Harris.  Contributors include producer Mitchell Froom and ex-wife and singer Linda Thompson.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

The Levellers play the Royal Albert Hall on 27 March 2009.  Tickets are £27.50.

 

BBC Radio 2 begins a four-part series Choo Choo Ch'Boogie: the Louis Jordan Story at 11.30pm on Monday, 6 October.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

A Very Special Evening with Stephen Stills, which sold out at Shepherd's Bush Empire for 11 October, has added an extra show on 20 October.

 

Boy George will play the Pigalle Club on Tuesday, 16 December, and Wednesday, 17 December.

 

The Biography Channel will be showing a programme on the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury on Monday, 6 October, at 5pm and the next morning at 1am.  A profile of Mick Jagger begins circulation on Wednesday, 8 October, at 5pm.

 

Colin Macintyre, aka Mull Historical Society, will play London Cargo on Tuesday, 28 October, to promote his new album, The Water.

 

Joe Brown, who is also the father of singer Sam Brown, a regular with Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, appears as Jools' guest on his BBC Radio 2 programme at 10.30pm on Monday, 6 October, to discuss Brown's 50 years in the music business.  Brown's new album, More of the Truth, is released on 13 October, and he plays Fairfield Hall on 28 November. You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Kaiser Chiefs will play Wembley Arena on Friday, 6 March 2009.

 

Travis appears on Graham Norton Uncut, an extended repeat of the previous Thursday's show, on Sunday, 5 October, at 11.10pm on BBC2.

 

The Ting Tings will return to London following their sold out gigs in October at Shepherd's Bush Empire and the Forum to play London Brixton Academy on Friday, 6 March 2009.

 

Seasick Steve has released a new highly praised album on Warner Brothers called I Started Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of it Left.

 

BBC1 on Sunday, 5 October, at 10.20pm will begin a three-part series called The Story of the Guitar presented by Alan Yentob.  This first episode, called In the Beginning, will feature contributions from John Williams, Pete Townshend, Bert Weedon, comedian/musician Bill Bailey and actor/musician Jack Black.  The programme is repeated on BBC4 on Friday, 10 October, at 11pm.

 

Following Noah & the Whale's sell-out of their Koko gig on Thursday, 6 November, they have added a new date on Friday, 6 March 2009, at Shepherd's Bush Empire.

 

Jackson Browne, who has released his first album (Time the Conqueror)  in six years, is Johnnie Walker's guest on the latter's BBC Radio 2 programme on Sunday, 5 October, at 4.30pm. You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

José González will play London ULU on Tuesday, 14 October.

 

Channel 4's 4Music: Live from Abbey Road features famous talented offspring Teddy Thompson and Martha Wainwright as well as Brian Wilson on Sunday, 5 October, at 12.10am.

 

Ben Folds, who will be one of the support acts at Wembley Arena on Friday, 5 December, opening for Counting Crows, has released a new album on Epic called Way to Normal, which includes a duet with Regina Spektor.

 

Death Cab for Cutie will play Alexandra Palace on Wednesday, 19 November.

 

The brilliant Glen Hansard (of The Frames) and Markéta Irglová will perform, as The Swell Season, at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday, 24 November, including songs from the excellent film Once, such as their hauntingly beautiful Oscar-winning song Falling Slowly.

 

The great Eddi Reader will play the Shepherd's Bush Empire on 19 October.

 

The Biography Channel, as always, features several music problems this week.  Tune in on Wednesday, 17 September, at 2pm for Scissor Sisters; Thursday, 20 September, at 7pm for The Bee Gees - Keppel Road; at 8pm on Thursday and at 8am & 4pm on Friday, 19 September, for Barry Manilow: Songs from the 70s; Sting and Snow Patrol at 2pm and 2.30pm, respectively, on Friday; and Chicago featured on Private Sessions at 5pm on Friday.

 

Aimee Mann will be promoting her well-received recent album,  @#%&! Smilers , on 24 October at indig02.

 

Billy Bragg will play Shepherd's Bush Empire on Monday, 8 December.

 

BBC4 offers some delights on Friday, 19 September, in the form of Martha Wainwright performing at the Cambridge Folk Festival, shown at 8.30pm, followed at 9pm by The Roxy Music Story, which will include contributions from Alison Goldfrapp, Bono and Nile Rodgers (repeated at 12.35am on Saturday). That will be followed at 9.55pm by Roxy Music: Frejus, a live performance from 1982 in France.  Brian Ferry and Roxy Music will be shown at 1.25am on Saturday.

 

The always fantastic Sam Phillips, now divorced from producer T-Bone Burnett, has released a highly praised album, Don't Do Anything, on Nonesuch.

 

The Ting Tings and Pussycat Dolls will be shown on the last Transmission programme on Saturday, 20 September, at 12.10am.

 

Donavon will play the Shepherd's Bush Empire on Tuesday, 18 November.

 

Estelle will sing her new single on GMTV on ITV1 between 6am and 9.25am (probably after 7.30am) on Friday, 19 September.

 

Howard Jones is playing a 25th Anniversary Concert  on  indig02 on 20 September.

 

Amy Winehouse and Pendulum  are featured in the highlights from Bestival 2008 shown by Channel 4 on Friday, 19 September, at 12.30am.

 

BBC4 will be showing two of its fine BBC Four Sessions series on Thursday, 18 September.  At 11pm, you can see a concert by P J Harvey at LSO St Luke's in London, followed at midnight on Friday by a fine performance by Damien Rice.

 

The Feeling will play the Hammersmith Apollo on Tuesday, 4 November.

 

Eric Burdon of The Animals discusses music that has inspired him in Soundtrack to My Life at 11.10pm on Thursday, 18 September, on ITV1.

 

Gideon Coe's programme on Thursday, 18 September, at 9pm on BBC6 Music, will play archive sets including a 2006 performance by The Good, the Bad and the Queen.   You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

The magnificent Roddy Frame will be playing Cadogan Hall on Tuesday, 18 November.

 

Bob Harris Country on BBC Radio 2 will be broadcast on Thursday, 18 September, at 7pm from the Americana Music Association Awards.  Nominees include Alison Krauss and Robert Plant and Steve Earle.  You can listen online for up to a week.

 

The repeat of Never Mind the Buzzcocks being shown on BBC2 on Thursday, 18 September, at 10pm will include as panellists now newlywed K T Tunstall and Jon McClure of Reverend and the Makers.

 

The fantabulous Luka Bloom has released a new album, Eleven Songs,  via his website www.lukabloom.com , which should get a wider release after September.   Definitely worth getting your hands on (even though I've not yet heard it myself.)

 

BBC6 Music will repeat, in its 6 Music Plays It Again series, The REM Story, a two-part 2001 profile of the band presented by Stuart Maconie, on Thursday, 18 September and Friday, 19 September at midnight (ie Wednesday and Thursday nights).  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

The legendary Joan Baez, who has just released an album, Day After Tomorrow, 48 years after her first album, will be Mike Harding's guest on BBC Radio 2 on Wednesday, 17 September, at 7pm.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

The new nine-part series of Later Live....with Jools Holland begins at 10pm on Tuesday, 16 September, on BBC2.  As before, the Tuesday show will go out live and an "extended version" will be shown the following Friday, in this case at 11.35pm on Friday, 19 September.  I hope they don't continue with the irritating method of completely excluding some acts from Tuesday's show; I would much rather see a taster of all acts on Tuesday and then an extra song or two from most of them on Friday.  This week, we can expect to hear from the French First Lady, Carla Bruni, as well as Kings of Leon, Nicole Atkins, Metallica and "an exclusive performance by the Fireman, a collaboration between producer Martin "Youth" Glover and Paul McCartney.  Metallica fans should stay tuned on Friday as ITV1 will follow Jools with Metallica: A Culture Show Special at 12.35am on Saturday morning, to mark the release of their new album.

 

Mike Skinner of The Streets will be a guest on Steve Lamacq's programme on BBC6 Music at 4pm on Monday, 15 September.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

If you are a fan of Daniel Powter, you should tune into ITV1's This Morning programme on Monday, 15 September, between 10.30am and 12.30pm, as he will perform his latest single in the studio.  Similarly, Pussycat Dolls fans should tune into the same show on Thursday, 18 September.

 

Brett Anderson is touring to promote his new album, Wilderness.  The former Suede frontman's album is earning some praise.

 

Paul Gambaccini's For One Night Only series for its final programme on Sunday, 14 September, at 8pm on BBC Radio 4 revisits Elvis Presley's December 1968 NBC TV comeback special and hears from those who were there.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Intriguing country-bluesman Seasick Steve will by Simon Mayo's guest on his BBC Radio 2 programme at 4.30pm on Sunday, 14 September.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

ITV3 is running a series of shows called Celebrating - The South Bank Show, which shows impressive archive footage from the programme over the decades.  The programmes on Sunday, 14 September, at 8.30pm and 9pm will include spots on Paul McCartney and Pete Townshend.

 

Planet Rock will broadcast The Who - Live at Leeds Special at 6pm on Sunday, 14 September, and again at 6pm on Friday, 19 September.  You can listen online.

 

Eileen Rose will perform a live session on Bob Harris' show on BBC Radio 2 at 10.30pm on Saturday, 13 September.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Impressive live performer multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Liam Finn, son of Crowded House's Neil Finn, will be performing tracks from his debut album, I'll Be Lightning, which has finally been released in the UK, at La Scala on 2 December.  Tickets are only £10.

 

The magnificent Loudon Wainwright III's Joe Henry produced 23rd album, Recovery, sees him giving some of his old songs new treatments and is, in early September, available from Amazon.co.uk for only £7.98.

 

Dermot O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 programme on Saturday, 6 September, at 2pm will include a live set from Camera Obscura, who answered Lloyd Cole's brilliant classic, Are You Ready to be Heartbroken with their song, Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Lovers of free jazz can enjoy it for free on Friday, 5 September, at the Spitalfields Summer Stew at Bishops Square, E1, from 12.30pm to 6pm.  Performers will include guitarist Billy Jenkins and slide guitarist Steve Morrison, Led Bib, Liam Noble with Paul Clarvis, and (trumpeter) Harry Beckett Band with drummer Steve Noble.

 

An unusual combination can be found on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday, 6 September, at 10.30am when former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell travels to Paris to meet the friends and family of legendary singer/songwriter Jacque Brel to search through the secrets of his life and music.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Juliana Hatfield will be playing the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the South Bank on 10 October.  Tickets cost up to £15.

 

Cliff Richard will be signing copies of his autobiography at Waterstone's at 203-206 Piccadilly, SW1Y 6WW, at 12.30pm on Friday, 5 September.  The event is free but will no doubt be crowded.

 

Alanis Morissette and Elbow will be performing on Live from Abbey Road at 12.35am on Channel 4 on Sunday, 7 September.

 

The wonderful, Sam Cooke-ish James Hunter will be playing Dingwalls on Tuesday, 30 September.

 

Homeboy Ben Folds will be one of the support acts at Wembley Arena on Friday, 5 December, opening for Counting Crows.

 

Tracy Chapman plays the Hammersmith Apollo on Monday, 15 December, during her first solo tour in over a decade.

 

Sigur Ros will be shown performing on Channel 4's 4Play at 1.35am on Sunday, 7 September.

 

Siouxsie's Mantaray and More Tour will hit London Koko for its finale on Monday, 29 September.

 

Enjoy an Evening with Art Garfunkel at the Royal Festival Hall on Tuesday, 7 October.

 

Level 42, now including original keyboardist/vocalist Mark Lindup, will perform at the Royal Albert Hall on Thursday, 23 October.

 

Calexico's new album, Carried to Dust, where they're said to return to form with their Spaghetti Western sound, will be released on 8 September.

 

Music journalist and The Word editor, Mark Ellen, will appear on BBC Radio 4's The Music Group, on Wednesday, 3 September, at 11.30pm, selecting a track of his choice, along with comedians Alexei Sayle and Sue Perkins.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Ronnie Spector and her Band will play the Islington Carling Academy on Saturday, 27 September.

 

The Pogues will be playing the Brixton Academy from 18 to 19 December.  Tickets cost £30.

 

BBC4 will have a bit of a Mancunian festival on Friday, 5 September, showing at 9pm They Came from Manchester: The Story of Mancunian Pop, a compilation of BBC studio performances from some of Manchester's greatest bands.  Following that at 10pm will be a Rock Family Trees focused on the past 30 years of bands from that city, including New Order, and then at 10.50pm, Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays, featuring interviews with many artists including Shaun Ryder as well as the late Factory Records boss Tony Wilson.

 

Billy Bragg will appear on ITV1's Soundtrack to My Life on the repeat being shown on Thursday, 4 September, at 11.40pm.

 

The great Dar Williams releases a new album, Promised Land, on  9 September.  She's always worth waiting for, though you can hear a sample (It's Alright) of the new album, and enjoy related material and pre-order offers, on her MySpace page.  Sadly, it looks as though she'll be too busy touring the States for the rest of the year to hit the UK but she usually does pop in at some point.....

 

The would-have-been grand Drever McCusker Woomble gig, featuring the marvellous singer/songwriters Heidi Talbot and Boo Hewerdine as support for Kris Drever, John McCusker and Roddy Woomble (Idlewild lead singer), on 24 September at the Union Chapel has been cancelled.  The tour will start on the 27th, though sadly not in London, but here's hoping they'll reschedule.  (Samples of all their music can conveniently be heard in one place on the Last.fm page referring to this tour.)

The incomparable Canadian lyrical wonder and eternal suffering optimist, Ron Sexsmith, has blessed us with another album, Exit Strategy of the Soul, complete with some brass, strings, some excellent piano as well as backing vocals on one track provided by A Girl Called Eddy, aka Erin Moran.

 

A hub session by Eddi Reader performing tracks from her Peacetime album in 2007 will be one of the archive sets played on the Gary Crowley (sitting in for Gideon Coe) programme on BBC6 Music at 9pm on Tuesday, 2 September, along with old sets and sessions by The Beat (1982), Thom Yorke (2006) and Hot Chip (2006).  he archive sets he plays on Thursday, 4 September, will include a 1978 session by The Buzzcocks. Tune in online for up to a week afterward.

 

Sorry for months of neglect!   Illness, the day job and other awful things took over, but I hope normal service will resume shortly....

 

BBC4 will be focusing on Pink Floyd on Friday, 23 May, showing The Pink Floyd Story: Which One's Pink? at 9.30pm, chronicling the band's history including their Live 8 performance in 2005; at 10.30pm showing Classic Albums, featuring their 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon; and finishing at 11.20pm with Syd Barrett: Omnibus, profiling the founding member who withdrew from public life until his recent death.

 

The legendary singer/songwriter Neil Diamond will appear and perform on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on Friday, 23 May, at 10.35pm on BBC1, which will be repeated on Saturday.

 

Friday, 23 May's extended repeat of Later....with Jools Holland, which was shown live in shorter form on Tuesday, will feature Martha Wainwright and Paul Weller.  Tune in at 11.40pm on BBC2.

 

The Transatlantic Sessions being shown on BBC4 on Friday, 23 May, at 7.30pm is the old but fine one featuring Eddi Reader and Boo Hewerdine singing a foot-tapping Hummingbird, which is available on the series album.  Nanci Griffiths and Paul Brady also feature in that episode.  It's repeated at 3.20am.

 

The always excellent Boo Hewerdine is not only busy touring with Chris Difford promoting the latter's new album on which they collaborated, but also just released his own EP called Toy Box No 1, which at present is available from Amazon.co.uk for only £6.99.

 

You absolutely must watch BBC2 on Monday, 19 May, at 11.20pm, as they will be showing the BBC4 documentary Edwyn Collins: Home Again, about how the former Orange Juice frontman and solo singer/songwriter of hits like A Girl Like You survived a brain haemorrhage, endured  a lengthy and ongoing rehabilitation, and began re-learning the guitar in hopes of being able to tour again, which he is now doing.  Totally inspirational, it really puts your own problems in perspective.

 

Carlene Carter's gig on 12 May at the Shepherd's Bush Empire had been cancelled.

 

Steve Winwood will be promoting his new album, Nine Lives, at the London Scala on Monday, 19 May.

 

The great Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly aka singer/songwriter Sam Duckworth will appear on BBC Radio 3's The Verb performing and discussing comparisons of his work with that of Billy Bragg.  Tune in at 9.45pm on Friday, 9 May.  You can listen online for up to a week.

 

Beth Rowley will play Dingwalls on 3 June.

 

Robert Plant is expected to appear at 8.45am on Wednesday, 7 May, on BBC1's breakfast programme.  As he is without Alison Krauss, I believe, I expect he will just be chatting and not performing.

 

Brian Wilson will play at Kenwood House on Hampstead Heath on 28 June.  Tickets cost up to £36.

 

The Buzzcock's Pete Shelley, the Fall's Mark E Smith, Lily Allen, Don Letts and Phill Jupitus will contribute to BBC Radio 4's programme The Bard of Salford, profiling punk poet John Cooper Clarke, on Thursday, 8 May, at 11.30am.  You can listen online for up to a week.

 

We Are Scientists will appear on the BBC3 music/comedy show The Wall on Tuesday, 6 May, at 11pm.

 

The BBC4 documentary Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives, where Eels frontman Mark Oliver Everett learns more about his late father, quantum physicist Hugh Everett III, will be shown on BBC2 on Wednesday, 7 May, at 11.20pm.

 

Robbie Williams and Jon Ronson Journey to the Other Side will appear on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday, 6 May, featuring the journalist accompanying the singer to a UFO conference in Nevada.  You can listen online for up to a week.

 

Tune in to Later Live...with Jools Holland on Tuesday, 6 May, on BBC2 at 10pm to see Jools' old Squeeze bandmate Chris Difford promoting his fine new album.  As he's been touring with co-writer and producer Boo Hewerdine, an amazing singer/songwriter in his own right, there is hope we will at last see Boo on Jools' show, though it would be preferable to see him perform his own material as well.  Other guests include the Fratellis, Emmylou Harris and Robert Plant with Alison Krauss.  An extended version of the programme appears on Friday, 9 May, at 11.35pm.  (The Radio Times actually only mentions Difford in the listing for Friday, so it could be that he only performs in that programme, as Liam Finn only appeared in the Friday version of the programme on the previous week.  Frankly, I think that way of doing things is rubbish, that all artists should appear on both shows, but the extended version might include extra songs by them.)

 

BBC Radio 4's Great Lives on Tuesday, 6 May, at 4.30pm will focus on the late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis.   Poet Simon Armitage 'champions' the singer's status as great and will be joined by former Joy Division and current New Order band member Peter Hook.   You can listen online for up to a week.

 

Channel 4 shows Amy Winehouse: What Really Happened on Tuesday, 6 May, at 10pm, which will be repeated on Wednesday, 7 May, at 11.05pm.  In this last of these documentaries, Jacques Peretti seeks "to understand the forces that drive the singer and her troubled private life".

 

The Drifters will be performing on 8 June at Indigo2.  Tickets are £30 to £35.

 

Tune into BBC4 on Friday, 24 April, for a Van Morrison feast.  at 10pm, the station will broadcast BBC Four Sessions: Van Morrison, a concert filmed in the intimate and beautiful LSO St Luke's in London, followed at 11pm with a newly compiled selection of Van The Man's performances on Later....with Jools Holland.  They will be repeated a few hours later at 1.10am and 3.10am, respectively, on Saturday morning, with a great Soul Britannia programme, which will also be shown at 9pm about the impact of black American and Caribbean influences on British music, in between at 2.10am.

 

Seu Jorge, the Brazillian composer/singer who performed the wonderful covers of David Bowie songs in the film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, will be performing at the Royal Festival Hall on 21 May.  Tickets are £15-25.

 

Dancer in the Dark, the Lars von Trier film starring Bjork and Catherine Daneuve, will be shown on More4 at 9pm on Friday, 25 April.

 

Impressive singer/songwriter Jael Naim, who performs in both English and Hebrew, will be promoting her lovely album with musician Donald Donatien that includes the delightful song New Soul, used in the Apple Mac Book advert, with a concert at the Scala on 28 May.  Tickets are only £10, which should be definitely worth it.  Visit their MySpace site to hear samples of their work.

 

An extended edition of Tuesday's Later...with Jools Holland, featuring guests Eartha Kitt, Brenda Carlisle, The Pigeon Detectives, the Charlatans, and Was (Not Was), will be shown on BBC2 on Friday, 25 April, at 11.35pm.

 

Madness will appear at The 02 Arena on 19 December 2008.

 

Glen Hansard (of The Frames) and Markéta Irglová, the pair who starred in and performed the lovely music for the film Once, including the gorgeous Falling Slowly, will be playing the Barbican on 3 June.  Tickets are £10-20; surely you can't miss with that one.

 

Channel 4 will be showcasing tracks from the debut album of Foy Vance at 1.15am on Saturday, 12 April.

 

Chris Difford is due to play the Hard Rock Cafe at 7.30pm on Tuesday, 8 April.  Tickets are £25, his new album (in collaboration with the great Boo Hewerdine) The Last Temptation of Chris, released by the legendary Stiff records the previous day, sounds wonderful, and the proceeds will benefit Nordoff-Robins Music Therapy.

 

The important documentary Who Killed Kirsty MacColl? , which follows the campaign of the mother of the excellent and greatly missed singer/songwriter who seeks the truth about the boating accident that killed her daughter in 2000, will be shown again on BBC4 on Friday, 11 April, and repeated the next morning at 3.05am.  Be sure to see that one.

 

The brilliant Joe Jackson will be promoting his new album, Rain, at Cadogan Hall on 22 May.  Tickets are £28.50.

 

Billy Bragg will give a special St George's Day concert at the Barbican on Wednesday, 23 April, at 7.30pm, entitled Looking for a New England.  He'll be joined by Tom Clarke of The Enemy and Kitty, Rachel Unthank & the Winterset, and Daisy & Lewis

 

Karine Polwart is still doing well, having released another highly praised album, This Earthly Spell, on Proper.

 

The final of the current series of Transatlantic Sessions will be shown on BBC4 on Friday, 11 April, at 7.30pm and featuring a collaboration between the sensational Paul Brady and Cara Dillon, with Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas also performing a duet of sorts.

 

Boy Kill Boy will perform on 4Music on Channel 4 on Saturday, 12 April, at 12.20am.

 

Richard Thompson and Mary Gauthier play the Royal Festival Hall on 24 May.  Tickets range from £10 to £27.50.

 

Status Quo fans might be pleased to learn that they will be performing at Wembley Arena on Saturday, 13 December, promoting their album Pictures--40 Years of Hits, which will be released in November.  They'll also be playing Fairfield Hall on 7 October.  Tickets are £32.50.

 

Colin Meloy of The Decemberists has released an album of acoustic recordings called Colin Meloy Sings Live!, which is available on CD and download from 7 April.

 

It looks as though BBC4 will be repeating the controversial Proms on Four concert featuring West End star Michael Ball, shown on terrestrial television in August 2007, now on Friday, 11 April at 11pm.

 

Actress Scarlett Johannson is working on an album of covers of Tom Waits songs called Anywhere I Lay My Hat, with David Bowie providing backing vocals on two tracks.

 

Cat Power will play Hammersmith Apollo, with special guests Beach House, on Sunday, 8 June.  Old timers like me will be glad the performance will be all-seated.  Power's promoting her latest album, Jukebox.

 

Johnny Cash's step-daughter and the ex-Mrs Nick Lowe, Carlene Carter, has released her first album since 1995 called Stronger, no doubt referring to surviving a great deal of hardship since we last heard from her.  She also performs at Shepherd's Bush Empire on Monday, 12 May.

 

Midge Ure of Ultravox will present a two-part programme called Rocking Scots on BBC Radio 4, which begins on Thursday, 10 April, at 11.30pm when he returns to Glasgow to explore his musical roots, also looking at other Scottish contributors to rock and pop music.   This first programme will include contributions by Eddi Reader and Jim Diamond and will be repeated on Saturday, 12 May, at 10.30am.  The second programme, which apparently won't be broadcast until 10.30am on Saturday, 19 May,  will include Simple Mind's Jim Kerr, Texas' Sharleen Spiteri, Deacon Blue's Ricky Ross and Proclaimers Charlie and Craig Reid.  No mention of Glaswegian Roddy Frame, but one can always hope.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.

 

Former My Life Story frontman Jake Shillingford has released a solo album called A Collection of Acoustic Songs, including his version of the band's pretty Claret.

 

Ravi Shankar's Farewell to Europe tour will reach the Barbican Centre on Thursday, 29 May, and Wednesday, 4 June, at 7.30pm.

 

The Rolling Stones' soundtrack album Shine a Light is available on Polydor.

 

José Gonzalez will perform a live session for BBC 6 Music between 10am and 1pm on Friday, 11 April.  You can hear it online.

 

John Fogerty (ex-Creedence Clearwater Revival) brings his Revival tour to the Royal Albert Hall  on Tuesday, 24 June.

 

TCM will once again be showing the Michael Antonioni classic Blowup, which captures the swinging 60s wonderfully when a fashion photographer played by the late David Hemmings thinks he's stumbled upon evidence of a murder.  The film features a performance by The Yardbirds when both Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck were in the band.  Apparently their 'part' was meant to be taken by The Who but a contract dispute saw the Yardbirds take their place.  Tune in at 9pm on Thursday, 10 April.

 

Iron and Wine will play the Forum on Friday, 16 May.

 

Paul Weller is in the studio with a new album due out in June.

 

The great Joe Jackson will appear on Soundtrack of My Life on Wednesday, 9 April, at 11.40pm on ITV1 in the London region.

 

Do not miss Wednesday night on BBC Radio 2 on 9 April, as the absolutely magnificent Irish singer/songwriter Luka Bloom (brother of Christy Moore) will be Mike Harding's guest at 7pm, and then Billy Bragg will perform live on Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie's programme beginning at 8pm.  You can listen online.

 

The Long Blondes have released their second album, Couples, to a fairly lukewarm reception, though it's probably worth hearing and is available at some online outlets for just under £9 now.

 

Later Live...with Jools Holland on BBC2 on Tuesday, 8 April, will feature live performances from Goldfrapp and the Kooks.  The extended version will be shown on Friday, 11 April, at 11.35pm.

 

Loudon's daughter and Rufus' sister Martha Wainwright performs at the Royal Festival Hall on Monday, 19 May.

 

The King of Rock'n'Soul, Solomon Burke, will be performing at the Barbican on 3 July.  Tickets are £20-30.  I saw him at the Albert Hall years ago and he performed dressed in a white hat and suit, sitting on a red velvet thrown, with several James Brown-style attendants, and women from the audience queued up at his feet to receive roses from him as he sang with that incredible voice.  It's an experience.

 

The channel Dave continues to show TOTP2 regularly, usually weekdays at 6pm and 6.30pm and 8am on Sundays.  Tune in for some frequently amazing treats from the Top of the Pops archives (even bands like Split Enz), as well as some admirable modern performances recording when the TOTP2 shows were first broadcast by the BBC a few years ago.

 

Jesse Malin has released a covers album called On Your Sleeve.

 

Paul Gambaccini presents the history of Electra Records in a six-part series on BBC Radio 2, which begins on Monday, 7 April, at 11.30pm.  The first edition includes contributions from Carly Simon, and as the label included artists such as Love, Tim Buckley, Harry Chapin, Judy Collins, the Doors, Tim Paxton and Bread, there should be plenty of treats in store throughout the series.  You can listen online.

 

The archive sessions on BBC 6 Music played at 4am will include Divine Comedy at Glastonbury 2004 on Monday, 7 April; Teardrop Explodes in Guildford 1981 on Tuesday, 8 April; and Kathryn Williams at Summer Sundae in 2006 on Thursday, 10 April.  You can listen online.

 

On the magnificent David Letterman's programme, thankfully now shown in the UK on DivaTV, you can see Counting Crows close the show on Monday, 7 April (shown in the US on 24 March) at 9pm, and the enjoyable A Fine Frenzy do the same on the show broadcast on Sunday, 6 April, at 10pm (originally shown in the US on 6 February).  Additional forthcoming treats are the marvellous Cat Power on   15 April at 10pm, Norah Jones on  16 April at 9pm, and the wonderful Irish singer/songwriter Paddy Casey on  17 April at 9pm.

 

Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra will perform with Marc Almond at Excel on 24 July and 1 August.  Tickets are £25 to £33.

 

Curtis Hanson's 2002 film 8 Mile about a rapper starring Eminem will be shown on ITV2 at 11.35pm on Tuesday, 8 April.

 

Willie Nelson features in the episode of Monk that the Hallmark Channel is showing on Monday, 7 April, at 10am and 6pm.

 

Jools Holland's guests on his radio programme on BBC Radio 2 on Monday, 7 April, at 10.30pm will be Irish rockabilly/blues singer Imelda May and her husband, guitarist Darrel Higham.  You can listen online.

 

Squeeze will play Excel on 26 July.  Tickets are £25 to £33.

 

Singer/songwriter Adam Green will perform live on Tom Robinson's programme on BBC 6 Music on Monday, 7 April, at 7pm.  Some of you will know him from the Juno soundtrack, as half of Moldy Peaches performing Anyone Else But You.  You can listen online.  Green can also be seen at Koko on Tuesday, 8 April, from 7pm.  Tickets are £12.50pm, and the support will be Noah and the Whale and Turner Cody.

 

The original members of Level 42 will perform at the Royal Albert Hall on 23 October.  Tickets are £27-35.

 

Marc Almond plays a few nights at Wilton's Music Hall, from 28 April to 4 May.

 

James perform live on Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie's programme on BBC Radio 2 on Monday, 7 April, at 8pm. You can listen online.

 

You can see the legendary Leonard Cohen perform at 02 Arena on 17 July.  tickets cost £50 to £75.

 

ITV3 on Sunday, 6 April, at 9pm will broadcast Paul McCartney: The Space Within US,  a documentary charting his 37-stp US tour in 2005, including concert footage and interviews.

 

Blind Boys of Alabama will be Aled Jones' guests on BBC Radio 2 at 7am on Sunday, 6 April.  You can listen online.

 

Echo & the Bunnymen will be playing the Albert Hall on 16 September.  Tickets are £20 to £37.50.

 

Brian Kennedy has a new covers album out called Interpretations.

 

From Friday, 4 April, to Tuesday, 8 April, BBC 6 Music will continue repeating the ten-part programme In My Life--John Lennon Remembered, usually from 3am to 4am each morning.  That will be followed by a repeat of the Rolling Stones Story from Wednesday, 9 April. You can listen online up to a week after each episode.

 

Martha Reeves will play the Jazz Cafe on15 to 17 August.  Tickets are £30-35.

 

Kathleen Edwards has released her third album, Asking for Flowers, on Rounder/Decca.

 

The Biography Channel will be broadcasting plenty for music fans during the week beginning Saturday, 5 April. Most of the shows are repeated several times, so check their site for listings.  A few to mention: Tom Jones Live from Cardiff on Saturday, 5 April, at 8am, 1pm, and other days; a new profile of Duran Duran at 9pm on Saturday, 5 April, and midnight on Sunday, with other showings; Duran Duran: Extraordinary World on Saturday, 5 April, from 10pm, and other times/days; Pink profile at 5.30pm on Monday, 7 April; Meat Loaf and his Bat Out of Hell album at 6pm on Monday, 7 April, repeated at midnight the next day and other times; Red Hot Chili Peppers profile at 12.30pm on Wednesday, 9 April; John Entwistle of The Who, "Thunderfingers" at 6pm on Wednesday, 9 April, and again at midnight the next day; Child Stars: Kid Rockers including New Kids on the Block, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, the Jacksons, the Osmonds, Hanson and others, shown at 10am on Tuesday, 8 April; Anastacia at 5.30pm on Wednesday, 9 April; Scissor Sisters at 5.30pm on Thursday, 10 April and again on Friday; Led Zeppelin on Thursday, 10 April, at 6pm and at midnight and 8am on Friday, 11 April; Nelly Furtado at 5.30pm on Friday, 11 April; and highlights of performances by Elvis Presley at 6pm that day.

 

REM plays Twickenham Stadium on 30 August.  Tickets are £51.75.

 

The Kooks's second album, Konk, is said to be more of the same as the first, and will be released on 14 April by Virgin.

 

BBC Radio 2 continues to broadcast Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan, the American radio show hosted by his nibs, at 11pm on Thursdays.  You can listen online for up to a week afterwards.  The programme can also be found on BBC 6 Music at 9pm on Fridays, which can also be heard online.

 

The great singer/songwriter Josh Ritter is expected to be the musical guest on BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends on Saturday, 5 April, at 6.15pm. You can listen online.

 

Former Moloko singer Roísín Murphy is Pete Mitchell's guest at 3am on Sunday, 6 April, on BBC Radio 2.  You can listen online

 

Calvin Harris has cancelled his forthcoming UK tour dates, shortly after losing a laptop in the Heathrow Terminal 5 baggage debacle that apparently contained his next album.  The two events aren't meant to be related, and I trust that he had the sense to back up said album before the laptop disappeared....

 

BBC Radio 2 is sensibly re-broadcasting its Radio 2 Music Club Introduces....Duffy now that the Welsh singer is topping the charts, on Saturday, 5 April, at 8pm.  She closes the show with Mercy. You can listen online.

 

What excellent news that Edwyn Collins feels able to treat us with his presence (and what presence!) despite having to re-learn how to walk and many other basic things--never mind how to play basic guitar--after suffering two cerebral haemorrhages in 2005.  (I hope the Beeb eventually screens the touching BBC4 documentary on him, entitled Edwyn Collins : Home Again, the same as his last album, on terrestrial television.) Edwyn will be performing at the Shepherds Bush Empire on 29 April.  The concert will surely be much more subdued than the Edwyn of old but he is always worth seeing and supporting, and it is amazing that we have the opportunity to do so. Tickets are £23.

 

Don't miss the great Paul Brady playing the Royal Festival Hall on 26 May with Emily Maguire.  Tickets are £15-20.

 

The Beat are performing again, this time at the Shepherd's Bush Empire on Saturday, 5 April.  Sadly, former Fine Young Cannibals Andy Cox and David Steele have still not joined the reunion, but former frontmen for this band, known to as The English Beat in the States, and to General Public, Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, will be there, along with Saxa, Andy Pearson and others.  The Specials' Neville Staples will be joining them and providing support with his own band, and apparently the great Jerry Dammers also of The Specials will appear, apparently a nod to the forthcoming Specials reunion.  The mixed bag of Two-Tone heroes should be delightful; when I saw most of them a few years ago, absolutely no one could remain seated even in a usually sedate venue.

 

Tune in to BBC Radio 4 on Saturday, 5 April, at 10.30am to hear Phil Jupitus extole the many virtues of the 2Tone (Two-Tone) label, with contributions from members of the Beat, Madness, the Specials, and Pauline Black, lead singer with 80s ska band The Selecter. You can listen online, usually for up to a week afterwards.

 

Chrysalis has released a Specials CD and DVD compilation, even including the Jerry Dammers tracks such as What I Like Most About You is Your Girlfriend.  The CD has 20 tracks and the accompanying DVD has 16 videos.  Amazon.co.uk is currently selling it for only £8.98 and Play.com for £8.95.

 

Tom McRae and the Hotel Cafe will play the KCLSU on 30 April.  Tickets are £15.

 

Tickets for Glastonbury go on sale at 9am on Sunday, 6 April, to those who have already registered, via Seetickets and telephone.  The bill is officially announced nearer the festival date (27 to 29 June) but those expected to perform include Neil Diamond, Leonard Cohen, Solomon Burke, British Sea Power, the Editors, Hot Chip, Kings of Leon, Dirty Pretty Things, the Levellers, Kate Nash, the Verve, Elbow, Estelle and Fatboy Slim.

 

Roísín Murphy plays the Brixton Academy on Saturday, 29 November.

 

The reformed Portishead are playing the Brixton Academy on 17 April.  They will also be premiering their new album, Third, on Sky Digital channel CurrentTV at 10pm on 11 April, three weeks before it is released.  The show may then be available on Current's website for a few weeks.

 

The delightful Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly will play Shepherd's Bush Empire on Tuesday, 8 April, at 7pm.  Tickets are £14.50.

 

BBC Radio 2 is offering a free download of Radiohead performing Videotape live at the BBC Radio Theatre on 1 April 2008, as the voice at the beginning and end of the track (which is easily clipped out with Audacity) tells you.  Visit their site.

 

The Blockheads will be performing with Phill Jupitus at the Electric Ballroom on Thursday, 17 April, with special guests including actor/musician Ed Tudor-Pole of Tenpole Tudor.

 

Beth Rowley and Tom Baxter will, surprisingly, be guests on BBC Radio 2's Friday Night is Music Night on Friday, 4 April, at 7.30pm, in a special edition celebrating fresh UK talent. You can listen again online for up to a week.  Baxter will also appear at KOKO on Tuesday, 3 June.

 

Matchbox 20 will play Wembley Arena on 1 May.  Even if you think you don't know this band, you probably know lead singer Rob Thomas as the voice and co-writer of the Carlos Santana 1999 Grammy-winning hit Smooth.  Tickets are £27.50.  Santana meanwhile will be playing 02 on 22 June with Beverley Knight.  Tickets are £38-48.

 

K T Tunstall plays Hammersmith Apollo on Friday, 11 April, but even more interesting is her support act: Teitur, a fabulous singer/songwriter from the Faroe Isles who should be a real treat to see and hear live.

 

Play.com now sells MP3 downloads, and without the digital rights management restrictions you get with iTunes.  The first time you use them, there might be a slight delay of a few hours whilst they check your credit card details, but after that, you can download your choices right away.

 

Kylie fans might want to tune into Dancing with the Stars, the American version of Strictly Come Dancing (or whatever it's called here) on UKTV Gold on Saturday, 5 April, at 9am to watch her perform during the programme presumably with dancers doing the tango around her.

 

Supergrass have added a date and will now appear at the London Astoria on both Tuesday, 22 April (sold out), and Wednesday, 23 April.

 

Jens Lekman will play Scala on 20 May.  Tickets are £10.50.

 

One of the more talented reformed 80s bands is Yazoo, aka Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke,  who will be playing the Hammersmith Apollo on 18 and 19 June.  The first date has already sold out.  Tickets are £50.50.

 

The Boomtown Rats, without Bob Geldof, will appear at the Electric Ballroom on Thursday, 7 August, at 7.30pm, with special guests including The Vibrators.

 

Simone White, whose The Beep Beep Song (from her I Am the Man album) most of you will have heard on the Audi advert, will be performing, will be playing the north London Enterprise on 23 March.  Tickets are a mere £7.

 

Seasick Steve plays his blues to the cavernous Albert Hall on 1 October.  Tickets are £15.50 to £29.50.

 

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan appear on Tuesday, 10 June, at the Shepherd's Bush Empire.

 

Radiohead is expected to be the guest on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on BBC1 on Friday, 4 April, at 10.35pm, which is repeated on Sunday, 6 April, at 1.50am.

 

The unique Hawksley Workman will give a performance--surely like nothing you have seen before, complete with dancing--at the lovely Union Chapel on 3 May.  Tickets are £14.

 

The Stray Cats play the Brixton Academy on Wednesday, 10 September, on their Farewell European Tour.  Tickets are £29.50.