I spent yesterday having my kidney stones lasered, and today I am feeling a bit delicate. I’m not in the mood for music, but nerding out in front of the telly with a cup of tea is in order for the next few days.
I have Prime, and Offspring the Younger has loaned me her Netflix login while she’s at work.
DEVO, Quincy, and What Happened, Miss Simone? are in the list.
What else should I watch to distract me from the string and pipework hanging out of my [redacted]?
I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol is on Sky Art’s at 10.00pm tonight if that’s your thing.
Perfect! Thanks.
I’m always looking for stories I don’t already know… so… even if you hate Rush, the documentary that they did is rather good, not run of the mill stuff. It’s about friendship and dealing with adversity as much as anything. You’ll love them as people.
Also the Metallica one, will have the opposite effect. The Bros reunion documentary from 2018-ish is also hilarious. I think it’s good to be reminded how silly some music people are.
Not quite music, but the Fyre Festival doc is another one.
The doc about the revived Woodstock festival is on Netflix (or at last was a couple of weeks ago). It would make anyone glad to be at home recuperating rather than being there.
I’ll second the Rush one. There are actually two, which are both good, but the one Leffe is referring to is Beyond The Lighted Stage. The scene at the end with them getting mildly drunk in each other’s company while having dinner will make you feel a bit better about mankind (or at least Canadians).
Get well soon Fents!
Yep that’s the one!
The story of Anvil is the gold standard of the ‘band toiling in obscurity get a shot at redemption with many a disaster along the way’ rockdoc. At the start the lead singer and guitarist is a school dinners delivery driver…
Seconded. It’s a beautiful film.
I very much enjoy the Classic Albums documentaries.
They work equally well whether it’s a favourite album or something you don’t know or think you don’t like.
And they standup to rewatching, especially if your resources are a bit depleted (voice of experience)…
I remember. Not much fun, is it? Pipework is coming out early next week, hopefully.
Something to aim for – as it were…
The Tom Petty one (its a long ‘un) is very good. Also, the Lewis Capaldi – How I’m Fereling Now on Netflix (I think) is excellent – he is very much not the shiny pop star and this is very much not that kind of documentary.
Not sure if it’s online, but Tony Palmer’s All You Need is Love documentary series from the mid-70s is essential viewing if – only for the interviews of many (most?) of the seminal figures in 20th Century music’s main genres
Assuming that only a smidgeon of the filmed interviews ever made it onto screen, there must have been hours of outtakes – all probably chucked in the bin as seemed to be the practice at the time
Might be worth chasing down a DVD copy (I know It’s out there as I have the set)
I’ve recommended this elsewhere and while not strictly a music doc the music is integral to the story and brilliant, while the film itself is way beyond brilliant. Not the cheeriest of stories so maybe leave til the second day at least of your recovery? Not too many redemptive arcs on show here but well worth your time.
It’s not the finest picture of The Company, but probably not the worst either.
An Up for the (extremely lengthy) Tom Petty mentioned above and, if you can find it, David Crosby – Remember My Name is both moving and tragic.
Argh, this is annoying. I had a great music documentary come up on my computer’s YouTube for some algorithmic reason a few weeks ago that I really enjoyed. I can’t remember much else about it! (I have an appalling memory.) I’ve tried looking online to no avail. It was about a completely unsuccessful band, I think working class lads from the north of England in the 70s. I think. Or maybe London. Somewhere, anyway. I remember they fell out with their manager. I can’t even remember their name, or any useful details. Ffs, I sound just like my late mother recommending a film to me.
The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle?
This is Spinal Tap?
@gary Could it have been the Kursaal Flyers documentary from the 70s. Although they are from Southend, the film shows them touring the North. It was a BBC documentary and very revealing.
Thanks for the suggestion, but no, I’ve heard of them and it was definitely an unsuccessful band I’ve never heard of. Plus just checked and that’s in black and white, this was in colour. I’ll persevere and if I manage to find it and let you know as it’s worth watching.
Found it! The Kursaal Flyers one led me to it, so thanks again, @kjwilly. This one, about the group The Span.
Is that the one where Paul Shuttleworth shaved his moustache off during a gig to mess up the continuity?
When Bruce Springsteen Came to Britain is on the iPlayer. An enjoyable watch if you like the Boss.
Although I’m no fan, Promises and Lies, the UB40 story is well worth a watch to see how lucky they were and bewilder at how much money they lost without even realising where it was going.
I’ll tell you something that annoyed me in that documentary. One of them, Ali I think, dissed the debut album, saying they didn’t really know how to play and only had cheap instruments and could do it much better if they did it again. As a big reggae fan, I’m of the opinion that their debut is not only far better than everything that they followed it with (except the magnificent and sublime The Earth Dies Screaming 12″), but is actually one of the best reggae albums of all time.
Correcting the OP, Offspring the Elder (note: I’m on Tramodol) it turns out also has Disney+, so I can watch the Fabs series on there when she gets back from work.
All the above look good, although I’ve already seen the Anvil and the Boss ones.
Keep ’em coming…
A Band Called Death is on YouTube, in case you’ve not seen it. Great documentary. “The first punk band”.
Summer of Soul is on Disney+ and is absolutely fantastic.
Disney+ also has Bluey. Not a music documentary, but if you haven’t seen it, you’ll thank me.
Not a documentary, but 24 Hour Party People is always worth a rewatch. I’d avoid ‘Control’ if you want to keep your spirits up.
But Grant Gee’s Joy Division doc is definitely worth a watch.
There was a New Order doc around the time of Factory collapse and the Republic album
(which I actually quite like!).
Think it was ITV (South Bank Show), but found it recently on SkyArts (or was it Prime?)
I remember enjoying Heavy Load when I saw it.
Synopsis here, courtesy of The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/oct/03/documentary.music
Penelope Spheeris’ first coupleof Decline and Fall of Western
Civilzation films – the one about punk and heavy metal – are well worth a look
Still Bill a BBC documentary about Bill Withers was really good.
I’d also recommend the documentary Home Again about Edwyn Collins’s recovery from stroke. There’s a more arty film The Possibilities are Endless but I preferred the first one. Quite uplifting in the end
Sam Fender’s Alan Hull documentary is well worth a watch.
Another vote for the Tom Petty.
A thumbs down for one about The Anti Nowhere League which I watched one wet Saturday afternoon rather than make an effort to do absolutely anything else.
I recommend Dig! and As the Palaces Burn. The former documents the very different paths taken by The Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre in the early 2000s. While the latter band start off in chaos and deteriorate in drugs and violence, the Dandy Warhols break out internationally and reap the rewards. The film does have contributions from tedious art bore Genesis P Orridge, but otherwise it’s compelling, ridiculous and even moving. Don’t bother with the extended cut that was released last year: it’s just more of the same.
As the Palaces Burn starts out as a documentary about metal band Lamb of God. Dreadful music, but interesting people. It plays like a fan documentary until halfway through, when the singer is charged with manslaughter in the Czech Republic.
Dig! Is great.
Also the disco and funk docs on the iplayer both excellent
Another thumbs up for Dig!
Beatles Anthology (about 6 hours long)
25×5 Stones
The Kids Are Alright (Who)
No Direction Home (Dylan)
This Byrd has Flown (Gene Clark)
Feel better soon
To go up a notch, so hope you’ve got that sofa booked in for the next month, the Ken Burns 10-part documentary series called, and on, Jazz is stunning. Well over twenty hours of A1 documentary – and the first seven are pretty much the history of popular music up to dawn of rock and roll.
Not sure who it is streaming with, can see an ebay dvd boxset would not be extortionate. The first episode on New Orleans, blues, ragtime etc. is truly awesome.
His one on country music is also very good. It turns up in BBC4 every now and again, so might be on iPlayer.
Not available on iplayer at the moment but it is downloadable and also on YouTube.
The Bros documentary elicited much sniggering, but I genuinely thought it was quite moving. I know there’s a lot to laugh at, but the bits about their sister dying – and the sibling rivalry – was rather affecting.
I’ve seen so many I can’t remember them all. I find they can be worth seeing even if you’re not mad about the act in question.
Don’t Look Back is one of the best since it was early on and DA Pennebaker had full rein.
Get Back because Jackson knew more was more in terms of footage.
Miles Davis – Birth of the cool
1959 the year that changed everything (jazz)
Synth Britannia
The Rock Family Trees series, Fleetwood Mac is a good one
Classic Albums, most of these, particularly Screamadelica, The Doors, DSOTM, Aja
Message To Love: Isle of Wight festival
There’s a recent one on Woodstock 69 in which survivors talk about their experiences.
Echo in the canyon with Jakob Dylan about Laurel Canyon acts
Queen Days of our lives
The Bee Gees doc, not sure of name
Synth Britannia is terrific. IIRC, Andy McCluskey of OMD pops up criticising people who said of the early keyboard-based acts, “They just press a button and the synth does all the work.”
He says something like “If there was a button you could press to create a hit song, we would have been pressing it all the time. But there isn’t, so we had to do it ourselves.” Bravo!
The John Otway documentary is a hoot!
Funnily enough, I had coffee earlier with Dave McLarnon, whose band are supporting Otway tonight in Belfast, at a large pub that hasn’t put on music in years, which seems odd. I had assumed he must have retired years ago. Seemingly not.
I did like how he grafted his entrance at the premiere of the film in Leicester Square to the end of the film as it was showing at the premiere.
Tis brilliant – an object lesson in how self-belief will pull you through no matter how mad your ideas
(and a healthy fanbase always helps)
This is Pop the XTC documentary is great as is Lawrence of Belgravia about the Felt/Denim/Go Kart Mozart frontman
The Filth & The Fury – Julien Temple Sex Pistols doc re-writing the McLaren myth Great Rock n Rll Swindle
Oil City Confidential – Feelgood getting some overdue recognition and coverage
Wilko Johnson doc
BBC4 was once a treasure chest for relatively minor interest music docs.
Rough Trade and Postcard Records are 2 I have saved somewhere.
And the Brittania strand was always worth a watch (often with Nigel Planer narrating)
Amazon Prime Music docs – general rule: avoid
Especially if the production company is Shoreline Entertainment – tend to be a talking heads doc (usually featuring Chris Welch, Malcolm Dome, someone from Classic Rock magazine, and an Australian DJ). Strewn with errors, which just makes the experience annoying (example: The Jam split up in 1981. In 1983 however they had recorded and released That’s Entertainment)
Quite a lot free on YouTube, including episodes from Arena like this on Polystyrene.
Very touching. I look at punk these days and I find it quite sweet.
There’s also The Wonderful And Frightening World Of Mark E. Smith to see. A good watch.
Was never a big fan of The Style Council, but the doc Long Hot Summers: The Story of the Style Council had me scrabbling around listening again to what I’d ignored
(OK, not everything was a winner, but there’s some good stuff there I missed)
There was a 1986 Omnibus documentary on BBC2 called Video Jukebox, about the history of music videos. It was presented by John Peel and John Walters and was 6 hours long. Youtube has clips, but I’d love to see the whole programme again.
Granada also did a great doc in 1987 called ‘It was 20 Years Ago Today’, about Sgt Pepper and the 1960s. That one is easy to find online.
Alan G Parker * did an updated version of the Pepper doc – It was 50 Years Ago Today
* Not Alan Parker of Bugsy Malone, Fame, The Wall, The Commitments, etc – this is Alan G Parker, who looks like a cross between Mike Batt and a Womble
(but has done some good books and docs)
He also did Hello Quo which is worth a watch
Couple from the Madness stable:
Before We Was We (originally broadcast on BTTV (or whatever it was called) found on SkyArts (I think?)
Suggs – My Story
Lee Thompson – One Man’s Madness
The Clash – Westway To The World
There’s a great documentary about the 808 drum machine, way more interesting than you might imagine.
“Everything – The Real Thing Story” was a good one.