The BEST episodes directed by Benjamin Whalley
#1 - Synth Britannia
BBC Documentaries - Season 2009 - Episode 26
Documentary following a generation of post-punk musicians who took the synthesiser from the experimental fringes to the centre of the pop stage. In the late 1970s, small pockets of electronic artists including the Human League, Daniel Miller and Cabaret Volatire were inspired by Kraftwerk and JG Ballard and dreamt of the sound of the future against the backdrop of bleak, high-rise Britain. The crossover moment came in 1979 when Gary Numan's appearance on Top of the Pops with Tubeway Army's Are Friends Electric heralded the arrival of synthpop. Four lads from Basildon known as Depeche Mode would come to own the new sound whilst post-punk bands like Ultravox, Soft Cell, OMD and Yazoo took the synth out of the pages of the NME and onto the front page of Smash Hits. By 1983, acts like Pet Shop Boys and New Order were showing that the future of electronic music would lie in dance music. Contributors include Philip Oakey, Vince Clarke, Martin Gore, Bernard Sumner, Gary Numan and Neil Tennant. With Moogs turned up to 11, a 1970s/80s journey through the BBC's synthpop archives from Roxy Music to New Order. Track listing: Roxy Music — Do the Strand Tubeway Army — Are 'Friends' Electric? Sparks — Beat the Clock The Human League — The Path of Least Resistance Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark — Messages Ultravox — Vienna Depeche Mode — New Life New Order — Temptation Soft Cell — Say Hello, Wave Goodbye Japan — Ghosts Yazoo — Don't Go Tears for Fears — Mad World Eurythmics — Love is a Stranger Heaven 17 — Temptation Howard Jones — What Is Love? Pet Shop Boys — Opportunities
#2 - Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany
BBC Documentaries - Season 2009 - Episode 29
Documentary which looks at how a radical generation of musicians created a new German musical identity out of the cultural ruins of war. Between 1968 and 1977 bands like Neu!, Can, Faust and Kraftwerk would look beyond western rock and roll to create some of the most original and uncompromising music ever heard. They shared one common goal - a forward-looking desire to transcend Germany's gruesome past - but that didn't stop the music press in war-obsessed Britain from calling them Krautrock.
#3 - Motor City's Burning: Detroit from Motown to the Stooges
BBC Documentaries - Season 2008 - Episode 28
Documentary looking at how Detroit became home to a musical revolution that captured the sound of a nation in upheaval. In the early 60s, Motown transcended Detroit's inner city to take black music to a white audience, whilst in the late 60s suburban kids like the MC5 and the Stooges descended into the black inner city to create revolutionary rock expressing the rage of young white America. With contributions from Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, George Clinton, Martha Reeves, John Sinclair and the MC5.
#4 - Once Upon a Time in New York: The Birth of Hip Hop, Disco and Punk
BBC Documentaries - Season 2007 - Episode 30
How the squalid streets of '70s New York gave birth to music that would go on to conquer the world - punk, disco and hip hop. In the 1970s the Big Apple was rotten to the core, yet out of the grime, grit and low rent space emerged new music unlike anything that had gone before.
#5 - The Joy of Disco
BBC Documentaries - Season 2012 - Episode 35
Documentary about how a much-derided music actually changed the world. Between 1969 and 1979 disco soundtracked gay liberation, foregrounded female desire in the age of feminism and led to the birth of modern club culture as we know it today, before taking the world by storm. With contributions from Nile Rogers, Robin Gibb, Kathy Sledge and Ian Schrager.
#6 - The Joy of Abba
BBC Documentaries - Season 2013 - Episode 237
Combining European musical influences, perfect production and lyrics of love and loss, ABBA made us fall in love with the sound of Swedish melancholy. This documentary explores the music of ABBA and chronicles how they conquered both Sweden and Britain in the face of constant criticism.
#7 - If It Ain't Stiff
BBC Documentaries - Season 2007 - Episode 93
Documentary about the UK record label Stiff Records
#8 - Flamenco: Gypsy Soul
BBC Documentaries - Season 2013 - Episode 275
Writer Elizabeth Kinder embarks on a journey through Andalusia from Malaga to Cadiz to find the soul of flamenco, the beguiling mix of guitar, song and dance strongly associated with southern Spain's gypsies. Featuring performances from gypsy blacksmiths to goat herders, the documentary reveals a glimpse of a timeless way of life as it has been preserved down the centuries. The history of this mysterious music and its relationship to Spain is explored in chocolate box locations including Moron de la Frontera, Granada, Seville and Jerez and the programme also features rare archive of notable artists such as Camaron de la Isla and Diego Del Gastor.