Later with Jools Holland has been running (without a break) since 1992 now. That's eighteen glorious years of what is possibly the best music entertainment show on air today. An eclectic and diverse mix of music from all genres and countries, always interesting, always enjoyable, and always presented by the most charming man in music entertainment.
Why the sudden fascination in Later, then? I'll admit, if I were announcing mind-blowing news about amazing line-ups for new shows, it would be fantastic. If I were announcing the show was disappearing from our screens for good, it would be an emotional farewell to a show that has wormed its way into my heart and made a nice little home there, as something to sit in front of with a cup of tea, a cigarette, and relax. Alas, it is neither of these things. In fact, the real reason is much more mundane. Yesterday, whilst perusing the DVDs in the campus CD/DVD store (the name for one of these escapes me) I happened to pass the Later with Jools Holland DVDs. Upon picking it up, reading the line-up of artists, nodding my head in great approval, I turned to my friend and articulated my view that this was an awesome DVD; another great Jools Holland show. Her response? 'I've never heard of it.'
Now, this obviously floored me then and there, and I was only to sink lower into my pit of disbelief, and my jaw was only to drop lower as more and more people professed their ignorance of Jools. They had to be educated. But there was no way to immediately implant the idea in their heads of such a long running, diverse, entertaining, relaxing, intriguing, foot-tapping, head-bobbing, smile-drawing show like Later. this is because Later is more than a simple television show. It is a weekly roller coaster of musical styles, artists, feelings, rhythms, melodies and music. The show itself seems to have a kind of atmosphere about it. Jools himself seems to draw you in with his charmingly toothy grin and staccato sentences, and the artists take turns to show you just what they're about, taking their five minutes of fame to create an event; a demonstration of their genre, their music, themselves.
So I think it's fair to say I'm fond of the show. Originally a spin of of The Late Show, Later hit the tube in '92, as Nirvana's Nevermind hit number one in the US Billboard 200 chart, Prince, Billy Idol and David Bowie were all hitting the headlines with court cases and marriages, and Madness re-formed. There was no shortage of musical talent around, and Later found a new and unique format in which to showcase acts both old and new.
Today, however, our screens are washed out with talent shows, with Simon Cowell making us all feel nauseous and Andrew Lloyd Webber crooning over how great he is, with the latest sob-stories of contestants who need to make a headline in The Sun every day in order to ensure they don't have to return to singing badly on a cruise ship for old age pensioners who probably can't hear them anyway (and sometimes it's just as well). But with Jools you get something different. You get something that seems rather rare in music entertainment these days... honesty. You get sincere, genuine artists playing music for the sake of playing music, trying to be nothing more than they are. Each performance is not subjected to the opinion of three or more 'celebrities' who we'd all like to shoot anyway, and we're let off hearing raucous crowds scream at the stage as though they were chimps at a football match. Instead, we get a true sense of gratitude, some applause, perhaps a short interview with an iconic musician, and on we go. It's brilliant. Pure bliss. I don't feel like flicking my cigarette butts at the screen. I don't feel like punching my television. I don't despair at the state of humanity. If anything, Later is the kind of show that gives me hope in humanity.
So perhaps I've glorified good ole' Jools' show a little. But hey, no one ever got far with moderation. Good ole' Jools has a show to be proud of, an eighteen-year-old weekly festival of music. It showcases and celebrates the best talent around, new and old, loud and quiet, fast and slow, hard and soft, good and... always good. So if you have yet to become a fan of Later, in the interest of your ears, I implore you to give it a try. The DVDs are out there, the TV repeats are too, and once a year Jools' Annual Hootenanny brings in the new year.
Later with Jools Holland: an under-rated institution of a show.
No comments:
Post a Comment