Sooner rather than Later...

The combination of rock stars and live television can be combustible but the BBC is looking to take a big gamble by broadcasting its big music show live for the first time. Despite its party atmosphere, Later . . . with Jools Holland, a BBC Two fixture for 15 years, has always been recorded days before its Friday evening broadcast. When it emerged recently that the special New Year’s Eve Later. . . was actually recorded weeks in advance there was a flood of viewer complaints. A show that promises “live music” should be broadcast live, like its famous predecessors, they said.

BBC bosses have now decided that from next month, Later. . . will move to a 10pm slot on Tuesdays, and be broadcast live. The move is causing nervousness among stars and at the broadcaster. Adam Sherwin quotes an insider as saying: “Big American stars are nervous that something could go wrong on live television and it will be all over YouTube. But live TV gives a music show a real edge.” Previously, a technical fault or duff note could be corrected by another take. For the BBC, the danger is that any artist seeking cheap publicity or a soap box could hijack the airwaves in the slot before Newsnight.

Despite the surface bonhomie, artists see the show as a competitive fixture. Mark Cooper, the BBC’s head of musical entertainment, said: “Putting people in a room together makes them play better: someone observed that it is ‘communal but gladiatorial’.” Going live adds extra spice to the musical one-upmanship. The first live show will feature a rare performance by the Only Ones, a 1970s punk group famed for their sole hit, Another Girl Another Planet. Singer Peter Perrett once fled the US to avoid an arrest warrant on charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and also admits he has been a drug addict for nearly 30 years.

The producers are on safer ground with Adele, the teenage soul-jazz singer, who has also accepted the live challenge. Adele was invited on Later . . . last year, on the strength of a demo tape and has now become a chart-topping star. Gnarls Barkley and the singer-songwriter James Taylor also appear on the live debut on April 1, with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss and Portishead to follow.

The cameras will continue to roll during Newsnight on Tuesdays for an extended hour-long Later . . . which will then be shown on BBC Two on Friday nights as before.

There is, of course, a rich history to remind us of the perils of live music on television. It started with the ensuing outrage over Elvis Presley and his suggestive “gyrations” during his 1956 Hound Dog performance on the Milton Berle show. Then there was the "Filth and the Fury" of the Sex Pistols and a purple tirade by Steve Jones, egged on by Today show host Bill Grundy.



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