CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Welcome to the show. And welcome to The Divine Comedy.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# I saw a man this morning
# Standing on a foreign shore
# From his eyes, tears were falling
# As he made ready for war
# He shouted out a warning
# You slew my sweetest friend
# And as sure as day is dawning
# His death will be avenged
# Was it so hard to die, Achilles
# So very hard to die?
# You know and I know not, Achilles
# So much the happier I
# You breached the walls of Troy, Achilles
# Slaughtered a thousand men
# Patroclus is destroyed, Achilles
# And can't come back again
# I saw a man this morning
# Trudging through a muddy field
# From the sky, a shell was falling
# With his name scratched in the steel
# Lend him your shield, Achilles
# Ask the gods to be his guide
# All he has is "A Shropshire Lad"
# With this poem scrawled inside
# Was it so hard to die, Achilles
# So very hard to die?
# You know and I know not, Achilles
# So much the happier I
# Look to the starry skies, Achilles
# Look to the silver seas
# They do not live or die, Achilles
# And neither do we
# I saw a man this morning
# He was turning 53
# And his pampered mind was turning
# To thoughts of mortality
# One day I will be nothing
# Think how funny that will feel
# For we, the living
# Death is the Achilles heel
# Ah-ah-ah. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Wonderful to have them back on the show. Thank you, The Divine Comedy.
Who are our guests? Should we meet them?
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
From London, Sienna Spiro.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
From south-east London, Odeal.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
From Karratha, Australia, it is HAAi.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
From Arkansas, at the piano, it's Beth Ditto.
From Newton-le-Willows, also at the piano, it's Rick Astley.
But now, from Louisiana, we welcome Robert Finley!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Don't make me
# Please, don't make me
# Don't make me make a fool of myself
# Look like a clown in front of everybody else
# But I can't help the way I feel
# I'm so glad to be here
# I wanna thank You, Lord
# So I just wanna thank the Lord
# I wanna thank You
# For my change in my life
# I wanna thank You, Lord
# I just wanna thank the Lord
# You don't know what I've been through
# The same person then made a way for you
# That's who I, I've been talking to
# When I say to myself
# Oh, Lord, I just wanna thank You
# I wanna thank You, Lord
# I just wanna thank the Lord
# I wanna thank You
# You can do anything
# I wanna thank You, Lord
# In the morning, if I wake
# I pray for forgiveness for all my mistakes
# But if You just get me through the night
# I'll try to help somebody else get it right
# Oh, Lord, on my own
# Lord, I
# Right here on your word
# I got to do what you tell me to do
# Right here on your word
# And all my trust in You
# I wanna thank You
# I wanna thank You, Lord
# I just wanna thank the Lord
# I wanna thank You
# For the change in my life
# I wanna thank You, Lord
# Lord, don't let the Devil stop me now
# I wanna thank you, Lord
# Mmm, yeah
# I wanna thank you
# I do
# I wanna thank You, Lord
# I just wanna thank you, Lord
# I wanna thank You
# You've been so good
# You've been so-oh good. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
I Wanna Thank You from his new album,
Hallelujah! Don't Let The Devil Fool Ya.
Thank you, Robert Finley.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
And now, just a few paces away,
I go over to here and I can chat to the wonderful Rick Astley.
Rick, welcome to the programme. Thank you.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
It's great to have you here,
and since 1987, you've had number one records,
sold millions of records, retired, made a triumphant return,
and you're preparing for an arena tour next year.We are indeed.
What can we expect to see?Same old nonsense. Excellent.
Count me in, I'm coming.
Well, obviously, you just said 1987.
That feels like an aeon ago right now.
But I still kind of get a real joy out of singing the old
tunes as much as I do any new tunes that I've got.
So, yeah, it's always a mix of that, really.
I would never do a gig and not play Never Gonna Give You Up,
because they'd take me outside and give me a good hiding, I think.
APPLAUSE Thank you.
And I would say - I really mean this - I think
your voice is stronger than it's ever been.Thank you.
When artists make a return, which you did, you sort of retired
and went very quiet.
But if they were good in the first place,
their comeback is bigger than the "firstback",
if you see what I mean.
Yeah. Like Oasis. And that's what happened to you, isn't it?
You went and retired and thought, "I'll come and do some more."
And it's a phenomena that happens. People, they loved you even more.
I think also I've got to rely on the fact,
or I do rely on the fact, that I had some hits back in the day.
And they are, if you want to call it, my bread and butter.
They are why people come to the gigs. I'm not fooling myself.
But I just think they've given me a really good spot to be,
to be able to make some new music, where not 70% of the audience
go to the bathroom when I sing a new song, you know what I mean?
Those songs have sort of resonated with people.
But I never fool myself into thinking, like I said,
that I can get away with just playing new ones.
And like I say, they bring a smile to my face, the old ones.
Because I had a long break from it. I didn't sing them for 15 years.
The only time I sang them was when I was a bit tipsy in the pub
with someone and they made me over karaoke.
Or I sang them at friends' weddings. But why did you stop?
I'd just had enough of it.
I mean, let's face it, this business is wonderful and glorious
and beautiful, but it's also completely nonsense.
And there's times, I think, in the pop end, where I was,
I was in the really pointy, frothy pop end, it's super nonsense.
It's just... But it's also, if you're in pop,
it's the hardest thing to be in, because it's very competitive.
Because if you're not in the charts, what do you do?Yeah, it did feel...
Whereas if you're in a different genre of music, you don't
have that sort of huge challenge hanging over you.I agree.
And also, I was super lucky that my first song was a really big hit
and it was number one in a lot of countries.
And it's all been downhill from then.
Literally, how do you repeat that? This being the very sort of depth...
This moment now on this show is as low as we could get.
The absolute depth, yeah. No, but, you're absolutely right.
There's a sense of, "OK, we've got to match that."
And we did have some hits after that first one, obviously,
and I hung around for quite a few years.
But you're right, it's a chart for a reason.
There's a number one slot for a reason.
And it can get a bit ugly, that, sometimes.
We'll come onto this later in the show.
You're going to do a song with us.
Tell us about the song you're going to do
and where you heard that first. Yeah.
I think the first version I heard was Dean Martin did it.
It's called You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You.
And obviously all those great singers from that period did
different songs and they did them again
and they did their own version of them
and all the rest of it and they just kind of went round, didn't they?
Everybody did it. But I guess the Dean Martin one...
Frank did a great vision as well. Dinah Washington did it.Yeah.
And we'll be trying it a bit later in the show.
It's really great to have you.
We'll look forward to hearing that song in a bit very much indeed.
Thank you very much, Rick Astley.
We look forward to hearing him in a moment.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
But next, a British-Nigerian artist who releases two EPs a year
marking the seasonal changes. One for summer and one for winter.
With London Summers, please welcome Odeal.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Oh-oh-oh-oh
# Oh-oh
# Oh
# Oh-oh, oh-oh
# It's for certain
# Summer's outside
# That's why we're dancing
# Oh, no, no, no, no, no
# Look at what we lost, baby
# Oh
# Somewhere else
# Don't wanna be nowhere else
# I got it all
# Right here, right here
# That's my obsession with you
# Always feels brand-new
# There ain't nothing better now
# Name me something better now
# Feels brand-new
# Always feels brand-new
# There ain't nothing better now
# Name me something better now
# Uh, got your name
# Headed back to your place
# I done fell in love with your face
# Never get enough of your fragrance
# If it's a slow thing, no, thanks
# Unless it's a lips and slow dance
# Cos I've been holding it down
# So now that you're here, you've got to
# Stay with me
# Now I got you all to myself
# That's why you gotta stay with me
# I can't imagine you so far out
# Like I said, you're the soundtrack
# To bring me back in focus
# If a London summer's pending
# You're sure as hell to find me around
# Always feels brand-new
# There ain't nothing better now
# Name me something better now
# Feels brand-new
# Always feels brand-new
# There ain't nothing better now, no, no
# I'm missing on your touch
# All I wanna do, all I wanna
# Is go, baby, go, baby
# All I wanna do, all I wanna do
# Is go, baby, go, baby
# All I wanna do, all I wanna do
# Is go, baby, go, baby
# All I wanna do, all I wanna do
# All I wanna, wanna, I wanna
# All I wanna do, wanna do, wanna do
# Is go, baby, go, baby. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# You're nobody till somebody loves you
# You're nobody till somebody cares
# You might be the king, you might possess
# All the world and it's gold
# But gold won't bring you happiness
# Now you're growing old
# Now the world remains the same
# You're never gonna change it
# Change it
# Just as sure as the stars shine above
# You're nobody till somebody loves you
# So find yourself somebody to love... #
Go find it, Jools. Go find it.
# Now the world remains the same
# You're never gonna change it
# Change it
# Just as sure as the stars shine above
# You're nobody till somebody loves you
# So find yourself somebody to love
# Find yourself somebody
I said find yourself somebody to love. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
The wonderful voice of Rick Astley.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Dave Richardson and Dave Stewart. Lovely.
Thanks very much indeed, Rick. What a lovely voice.
So, that's just set me in the humour for our next artist.
A producer, a songwriter,
and a DJ who has just released her second album, HUMANiSE.
Joined by south London artist KAM-BU. Please welcome HAAi.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Never said I wouldn't try
# Never was against it at all
# You really held me as I was falling
# Never said I couldn't see
# The stars so clearly
# I really held you as you were falling
# And I can't read it
# It's in my head
# But I still breathe it
# It's all I taste
# But it's been a long time kicking round my mind
# I'll let the dizziness fade
# Still a long, long way till all my shit falls into place
# It's a lucid dream
# It's a final scene on the silver screen
# Still a long, long way till all my shit falls into place
# I'm living a lie, I'm living a dream
# I'm feeling alive, I'm living it free
# I'm sick of the sights, they're sicker than me
# I'm wishing for highs to trigger my deeds
# Still water's still deep
# There's a lot they don't see on the surface
# Trying to find a time for life's purpose
# Not a wordsmith
# Just a lion from the jungle they tamed in the circus
# Still got no love for cages
# Feel like we ain't spoke in ages
# I see your face in the crowd
# But it's mad cos you don't even know these places
# I don't bestow my hatred
# Feel like it's rogue to shapeshift
# Shapeshift, shapeshift, shapeshift, shapeshift...
# Still got no love for cages
# Feel like we ain't spoke in ages
# Still got no love for cages
# Feel like we ain't spoke in ages
# Still got no love for cages
# Feel like we ain't spoke in ages
# Still got no love for cages Still got no love for cages
# And I can't read it
# It's in my head
# And I still breathe it
# It's all I taste
# And I still read it
# It's in my head
# And I can breathe it
# It's all I taste
# Never said I wouldn't try
# Never was against it at all
# You really held me as I was falling
# Never said I couldn't see
# The stars so clearly
# I really held you as you were falling. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Shapeshift,
featuring KAM-BU,
thank you, HAAi!
So, our next guest has been opening for Sam Smith on the American tour.
So we now welcome her wonderful voice for the first
time on British television.
Please give it up for Sienna Spiro.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Got me to stay, said that you need me
# Stop, cos these words don't have a meaning
# No, they don't, at least not to me
# There'll be a day I'll be more creative
# A poetic way to say I'm not leaving
# To the world, not to your face
# Oh
# I'll take my pride, stand here for you
# No, I'm not blind, just seeing it through
# You take my life just for the thrill
# I'll take tonight and die on this hill
# I always will
# I know that I look stubborn and patient
# But you wrote the book, I just took a page out
# To be loved, to be loved and nothing more
# So you kept your word
# Do you want a medal?
# The way that someone leaves this world is all just levels
# Tell me now, oh, tell me now
# I'll take my pride, stand here for you
# No, I'm not blind, just seeing it through
# You take my life just for the thrill
# I'll take tonight and die on this hill
# I always will
# I'll be here the whole night
# I'll be here cos I care
# Yeah, I know you don't care
# I know nothing could matter
# God, I wish something mattered to you
# I'll take my pride, stand here for you
# No, I'm not blind, just seeing it through
# You take my life just for the thrill
# Well, I'll take tonight and die on this hill
# I always, always
# I always will. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# The last time I saw the old man
# He was moving very slowly
# And he didn't seem to know me
# His hands seemed so fragile and grey
# I was worried I might break them
# Showed him pictures but he didn't understand
# The last time I saw the old man
# He was talking very strangely
# In ever decreasing circles
# His eyes looked on landscapes afar
# Full of laughter and forgetting
# As we left, the sun was setting on the land
# The last time I saw the old man. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Sounding better than ever.
The Last Time I Saw The Old Man from their recent top-five album,
Rainy Sunday Afternoon.
Thanks to Divine Comedy.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
And before that, we enjoyed very much Sienna Spiro.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
And now I'm really excited because an old friend of mine
is back in the studio.
We welcome Beth Ditto!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Ah, hello. Lovely to see you. I ain't seen you in a minute.
I'm so pleased that you're here.
And in fact, not only are you here, but you've... First of all, welcome.
Thank you. Because you have now moved to London.
Yes. But how are you finding it? I love it here.
I always feel homesick for it when I'm gone, so it's just nice to
be out of the United States and it's nice to be here.
So thanks for having me. It's a pleasure.
APPLAUSE You're welcome.
And, of course, now you've actually got a new series on BBC 6 Music.
I do, yeah. Marvellous. What is it?
Well, I think it's called Indie Disco, or something like that.
I don't remember the name of it exactly.
But I'm playing all of these songs from my heyday.
I'm a 45-year-old woman now.
So it's like songs from back in the day.
But it's like... I don't know.
But I get to play songs that I love from bands that I like, basically.
And, basically, you've got the knowledge, you've got the love,
so we're looking forward to hearing it.I get to play these songs.
How great. And also... And talk. I love talking.
Well, you're featuring on Nick Grimshaw's, who is a dear
friend of the show. Nick Grimshaw's a marvel.
But you're going to be on his show, I believe, as an agony aunt.
Which is hilarious. What are your problems?
You are the doyen of good manners, so can I throw some at you?
SHE LAUGHS
Me? You're the doyen of good manners.
Oh, yes, I'm very, very well behaved...
It's called.....polished, coached. ..What Would Beth Ditto Do, right?
Yes. Yes. That's right. OK.
So, boom, through the letterbox, you open it,
it's an invitation to present an award to somebody you can't stand.
Oh, I don't know if there's anybody I don't really like, really.
I can figure out...
I can always find something I don't like about anybody
and something I like about people I don't... You know.
I'm the same, I love everybody.
But you do suck it up, because some day it might be your turn
and they might not like you. But they've got to give it to you, yeah.
That's right. You've got to love everybody. Correct answer.
That's right. I mean, you don't got to love everybody,
but you've got to get with them. Yeah, exactly.
OK, so, I've got a second personal thing that does happen to me.
I was heated. I'm so sorry, let me calm down.
It's a small problem, this one. It's a very small problem.OK.
But I go in often... World peace. What?
I go into hotels, right. You do?
Yeah, in the morning. I don't believe it.
I'm on tour and I say, "A bit of toast and butter."
The toast comes.OK.
And then the cold butter comes here, and by the time the toast has
come, you try and put the butter on it, it's cold.
So you're trying to spread cold butter on cold bread.
Therefore, the butter cannot infuse.
When you say, "Sorry, can you do this again,
"and as soon as it comes out the toaster, put the butter on?" "No."
What do you do? No, this is what you do.
You handle it yourself.
You don't ask people to do your job for you.
You get it done right doing it yourself the first time.
So I should take it...? The butter comes,
you've got your warm cup, you know,
you've got your tea or your coffee, you set it beside that,
your butter, then you put it on the toast. Voila, done.
Thank you, simple as that. APPLAUSE
Make my own toast. I've had this problem myself. Yeah.
Make your own toast, that's right.
Well, melt your own butter.
My last question is this.
If Beth Ditto... That's me.
..were appearing with me on the show, Jools, that's the two of us...
Nice to meet you. Yeah, lovely.
..what would it be and why would you choose it?What?
The song.The song... Oh.
Well, this was really fun.
We're doing a honky-tonk song by Kitty Wells. I love honky-tonk.
I love honky-tonk, too.
I was raised on it.
I'd actually like to say that I wish my dad was around to see this,
cos this is right up his alley
and his birthday was the day before yesterday. Well, there you go.
So, this is a really beautiful thing.
So this is Kitty Wells and, you know,
It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.
And I'm just so happy that you wanted to do it.
I'd love to do it. Ready for it?Thanks, you guys.
CHEERING
# As I sit here tonight, the jukebox playing
# Tunes about the wild side of life
# As I listen to the words you are saying
# It brings mem'ries when I was a trusting wife
# It wasn't God who made honky tonk angels
# As you said in the words of your song
# Too many times, married men think they're still single
# That has caused many a good girl to go wrong
# Woo, ooh... #
It makes me so happy.
# It's a shame that the blame is on us women
# It's not true only you men feel the pain
# Right from the start, most every heart that's ever broken
# Was because there always was a man to blame
# It wasn't God who made honky tonk angels
# As you said in the words of your song
# Too many times, married men think they're still single
# That has caused many a good girl to go wrong. #
Woo!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
We love you, Beth.
Oh, I did my best.
Thank you, Jules.
A great joy to have Beth Ditto in this room.
Beth Ditto!
CHEERING
And now, I'm delighted to welcome back the wonderful
sound of Robert Finley.
# Young man
# I need to talk to you
# I know
# You say you're old enough to do what you wanna do
# What you wanna do
# But I'm trying to tell you something
# That you really do need to know
# That you need to know
# Just in case nobody never told you before
# Told you before
# You need to get up Get up
# Off your behind Off your behind
# And stop Stop
# Wasting your time
# Yeah Mmm
# You're only in this world Only in this world
You're only gonna live for so long
# Live for so long
# You see, everybody's gonna die one day
# Whether they right or wrong
# Right or wrong
# You need to get up
# Yeah, that you need to know
# Own self back
# Instead of you tryin' to raise your children, teach 'em right
# You bought a Cadillac
# Bought a Cadillac
# You got to get up
# Change Change your ways
# Start doing right
# Learn how to walk in the light Walk in the light
# You got to Do
# The best you can Best you can
Come on, join, and give me a helping hand
# Give me a helping hand
# Get up off your ass
# I tell you
# You're growing up too fast
# Too fast
# Tell the truth
# You got to tell the truth Tell the truth
# Ooh
# You're burnin' Burnin'
# Smoking your weed Smoking your weed
# Kids at home, they're in need
# Babies in need
# Got to stand up and be a man
# Yeah
# Give that woman a helping hand
# Ooh-ooh-ooh. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Thank you, Robert Finley, and thank you to all of my wonderful guests
tonight in the studio.
Thank you to everybody. Have you had a lovely time?
CHEERING
And I hope you've enjoyed the show too at home.
And if you have, if you'd like to go on iPlayer, you can
catch up on all the shows from the last two series with all
the wonderful guests that we've had.
We will be back with the Hootenanny...
CHEERING
..on New Year's Eve.
In the meantime, let's enjoy The Divine Comedy.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Woo.
# Take the National Express when your life's in a mess
# It'll make you smile
# All human life is here
# From the feeble old dear to the screaming child
# From the student who knows that to have one of those would be suicide
# To the family man
# Manhandling the pram with paternal pride
# And everybody sings
# Ba-ba-ba-da, ba-da-ba-da Yeah
# Ba-ba-ba-da, ba-da-ba-da Uh-huh
# Ba-ba-ba-da, ba-da-ba-da All right
# Ba-ba-ba-da, ba-da-ba-da
# We're going where the air is free
# On the National Express there's a jolly hostess
# Selling crisps and tea
# She'll provide you with drinks and theatrical winks
# For a sky-high fee Yeah
# Mini-skirts were in style when she danced down the aisle
# Back in '63
# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
# But it's hard to get by when your arse is the size
# Of a small country
# And everybody sings Ba-ba-ba-da, ba-da-ba-da
# Yeah Ba-ba-ba-da, ba-da-ba-da
# Uh-huh Ba-ba-ba-da, ba-da-ba-da
# All right Ba-ba-ba-da, ba-da-ba-da
# We're going where the air is free
# Tomorrow Tomorrow belongs to me
# Belongs to me
# When you're sad and feeling blue
# With nothing better to do
# Well, don't just sit there feeling stressed
# Take a little trip on the National Express
# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
# On the National Express. #
Woo!
Come on, Tosh. Take me home.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# I'm missin' on your touch
# A-All I wanna do All I wanna do is go, baby
# Go, baby
# All I wanna do All I wanna do is go, baby
# Go, baby
# All I wanna do All I wanna do is go, baby
# Go, baby
# All I wanna do All I wanna do
# All I wanna, wanna, I wanna
# A-All I wanna do, wanna do, wanna do is go, baby
# Go, baby. #