Moore on Four [Chain Reaction]

[Michael Moorcock]

Alan Moore talks to Brian Eno on bbc.co.uk/Radio Four/Chain Reaction
Same programme Alan Moore was on last week.
Two extremely intelligent, courteous, humorous and interesting people
in conversation. Learn what famous comedy duo Brian Eno and David Bowie imitate in conversation... And more!
Highly recommended.

[CandyFlossCow]

Re: Moore on Four

Sadly I missed the programme Brian Eno is very impressive.

Didn't you work with Eno on Bob Calvert's Lucky Leif and the Longships, Mr M? I wonder how Bob and Eno got together. I guess Bob was almost famous at the time (1975, 76?) after the (relative) success of Captain Lockheed and Hawkwind back then. Eno would have done the early Roxy Music albums, but maybe not much else...? He hooked up with Bowie in Berlin about a year later, I think.

I still enjoy Lucky Leif. It's a bit of a mixture, but it shows a bit of Bob's flexibility, moving away from the early Hawkwind sound. And "Bar-Bar Barbarians" is still very funny. Bob's delivery is great. Some cool banjo work, too :D

[GuyLawley]

If you have RealPlayer (it's a free downlaod) you don't have to miss the programme.

This URL will get you there. You click on "Listen" under the programme name (in this case Chain Reaction) but beware, it will usually only stay up for a week from transmission date:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml

I'd concur with MM's opinion; this is great radio. Last week's Alan Moore / Stewart Lee was good, but this is better.

[CandyFlossCow]

If you have RealPlayer (it's a free downlaod) you don't have to miss the programme.

This URL will get you there. You click on "Listen" under the programme name (in this case Chain Reaction) but beware, it will usually only stay up for a week from transmission date:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml

Thanks :)!

[GuyLawley]

I just found 3 out-takes from the Moore-Lee conversation, worth a listen, here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/chainreaction.shtml

Don't know how long they will stay up. Could be replaced by Moore-Eno out-takes at any minute!

[Michael Moorcock]

As is my habit I have Radio 3 and Radio 4 running all the time. I've done it since I was a lad (when it was the Third Programme and the Home Service!) and that's where I hear so much good stuff. Still the BBC at its best, in my view. The News Quiz, on Fridays (rpt Saturdays)
remains usually very good indeed -- a format which has no model that I know of in the US -- comedy quiz about current news. I heard the Moore/Eno discussion by accident, just because I had Radio Four running.
Happily the archive enabled me to listen to it more carefully after I'd finished work.
I was incredibly impressed by Brian Eno when I worked with Bob Calvert on Lucky Lief. Actually, it was a great example of how coherent, well-educated middle class lads could get work done which might take days otherwise. This had not been my experience up to then, when
musicians would take horribly expensive studio time to stop to watch a football game or otherwise get bogged down in try-outs. I know this sounds snobbish, but I don't think I'm a snob -- it was just an observation. There was a clarity about working with Eno which I loved.
Bob also enjoyed it, though I'm not sure he was entirely happy with the whole experience. I still think Lucky Leif's his best album and play it regularly. I wanted to work with Eno on our next album (which actually never happened because no producer could understand what we were trying to do -- this was me and Pete Pavli) but Bob talked me out of asking him, saying that Eno was picky about who he worked with. A
missed opportunity which I still regret. It meant that I became too shy to ask him and that was that.

[CandyFlossCow]

I wanted to work with Eno on our next album (which actually never happened because no producer could understand what we were trying to do -- this was me and Pete Pavli) but Bob talked me out of asking him, saying that Eno was picky about who he worked with. A
missed opportunity which I still regret. It meant that I became too shy to ask him and that was that.

That's a shame. Maybe Eno would like to get involved in the music for the Elric movie? He could look quite Melnibonean, too! :D

I really like Lucky Leif (and most of Bob's stuff), but I'm probably most attached to Test-tube Conceived. It's very stark, very powerful, moving, and still hilarious in places. From On-line: "I use high level language/I just grab a sandwich" :lol:

[Michael Moorcock]

It's an idea. Whether it's one he'd like, I don't know.
But it will be worth sounding him out.

[steeltsar]

I heard it too. Eno's long been a favourite of mine, and it's seldom you hear him talk, so it was a real treat to catch the programme. I agree with you Michael, such an articulate and clearsighted and purposeful man. With a twist...

There's a heart in the table
There's a soul in the chair[quote]

[KevJo]

What a great show it was. Where else would you hear Alan Moore talking to Brian Eno?

BBC radio is one of the things that still makes me glad that I'm British. Most of the other things have either been dismantled, downsized, sold off or left to decay into decrepitude, but Radio 4 still keeps going. After waking up to the Today programme, and listening to our political leaders being given a good going over, you can hear some truely excellent comedy, such as the News Quiz, and finishing up with the shipping forecast, an almost mystical experience when you are slipping into sleep.

No owning a TV, I listen to the radio a lot. It was an episode of 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' which was the final straw. I can barely tolerate advertising at the best of times, but when the best thing that they can find to put between the adverts is rubbish like that, then it is time to act.

I've never missed my TV set for one second - it's like having an extra day in the week in which to do things. I've got the BBC website if I want to see something on the news, and I can watch DVD's on my PC for entertainment.

Anyway, just wanted to add my voice to the others - a wonderful programme - unfortunately, I believe that series has come to an end now, which is a bit of a pity.

[Michael Moorcock]

Can't agree more about BBC radio in general. Substantial news which does a lot of great vox pop (as well as challenging politicians). I also like the music programmes on Radio 2 which give background to what I'm hearing --
from the 'Classic Songbook' type shows to the latest rock and roll --
blues, country, reggae, rap. I must admit I don't listen to Radio One much, but if you're up late you'll frequently hear humour between me and Alex Lester. It's easier for me to hear his show because it's on at
9pm for me (3am for UK listeners). I can't imagine life without BBC
radio. Friends send the stuff I want to see on TV (Linda's dark secret is that she's an EE addict -- though she's going off the show as it gets worse and worse!) including Have I Got News For You, which has its own
spin on News Quiz. Even though the NHS can always be improved, that and the BBC remain two of the lynch pins of British society. Without them, we start to disintegrate as a society, much as the US has done.
Funny that Michael Howard has no ideas but the bad ones which the best people in the States already believe have proven useless at best. Rupert Murdoch lurks like the great mantanned white shark he is, waiting to gobble up the BBC. He has to be resisted in every way. Like Tony, he's a Born Again (and a mate of Tone's) and has to be watched. Friends at the BBC are anticipating serious trouble if not with this upcoming charter renewal, then definitely with the next. Given that it's a royal charter, with the Queen representing the State, we probably need to lobby the royals. It would be the one really positive thing they'd be good for!

[KevJo]

Not having lived in any other country, it is difficult for me to imagine not being able to turn on a radio or TV and know that the BBC will be there. I just take it for granted ( and probably shouldn't ) that the news that I will hear will on the whole be unbiased and impartial - as far as is possible given that the BBC is in some ways very much a part of the established order.

I'm very much afraid that the role that they played in the debate over the Iraq war might have convinced quite a few people in power that the BBC needs to be stripped of it's independence in no uncertain terms. As far as I can see, having downloaded and read some of the source documentation from the Hutton Enquiry website, almost all of the concerns that the BBC was giving voice to were entirely justified - a point that Lord Hutton, in his grotesque so-called conclusion neglected to mention.

We desperately need people, like John Humphrys, who are able to interview the Prime Minister of the day and ask him to justify taking the country to war based on a dossier that was plagiarised from someones old PhD thesis - and then changed to make things seem more urgent than they were. I still can't quite believe it. I have seen people thrown off their degree course for doing less.

As for Michael Howard - well, I hope he still has nightmares about Jeremy Paxman asking him the same question 12 times, live, on air - surely Paxo's finest hour.

You're right about the BBC and the NHS being lynchpins of British society - I just hope the NHS still exists in 40 or so years time, when I am most likely to be in need of it. The thought of Murdoch having anything remotely to do with the BBC makes me feel physically ill.

Another good thing that the BBC did: produce 'Yes Minister' - surely the most educational programme ever made - why does everyone think that it's a comedy?

Oh God - I've just heard the news - it looks like the Royals are going to dominate the media for the next couple of days - I'm off to read some George Orwell.....

[Michael Moorcock]

While I'm against them getting all the dosh they do get, I came to the conclusion, living in the US, that there's something useful about having someone who embodies the State which we, the citizens, can make deals with. This is actually a less cumbersome bit of political machinery than a written Constitution. I'm hoping that Charles will become the first 'citizen king' -- given a farm and a house in London where he can entertain visiting heads of state, but otherwise being made to give the rest of it all back to the country, perhaps for specific uses, like sprucing up the NHS. Mrs Bowels would make a good, hearty farmer's wife, after all and an ideal helpmeet to the old hippy himself.

[KevJo]

So they could act as a sort of counter-balance to the politicians now and then, a bit like the BBC. There might be something in that. Although they have no powers as such, if one of the Royals says something a bit controversiial it does tend to get people rushing to justify themselves. I'd be happier if they would do it more often.

Like a lot of people, I would imagine, one part of me likes all of the history - the old buildings, the battles, the rousing speeches that Shakespeare put into their mouths, and another part of me is annoyed when they are used to justify some of the things that the politicians do - or are used as a diversion from the real issues of the day.

It's always bugged me that the Queen has words put into her mouth by the Government, when she opens Parliament - although I suppose technically she could refuse to say them - that would cause a bit of a kerfuffle and no mistake!

I suppose that I would rather they were there than not, but I could do without the army of experts, advisiors, constitutional experts, commentators, butlers who decide to sell their story to the papers, newspapers that print the stories, and so on.

Charles being the first citizen king is something that I suspect he might be agreeable to - I think his heart is in the right place, but whether the politicians and civil servants would allow it is another matter. The higher up in a hierarchy you are, the more power you may have, but the less freedom you have in the way that you can use it. Which is a good thing on the whole, but it must be quite frustrating.

[Michael Moorcock]

I think a constitutional monarchy might actually be the best form of government we know, especially where laws are made by parliament rather than lawyers, following English common law, rather than constitutional law. Tony Blair has little in the way of original ideas but as a lawyer he clearly sees richer pickings for lawyers in a written constitution rather than an unwritten one. Having absorbed the universal Bill of Rights, we don't need to tart our own (last modified as I recall around 1851) up now. That would have been my suggestions once. Of course, they're a bit unhappy about having adopted now, seeing how well America has done by refusing to sign up.