A collection of very 90s performances from the very 90s British music show
Curated by The Sadnesses
Total Runtime: 0:41:31
TFI Friday is an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. The show was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first 5 series. The final series was hosted by a number of guest presenters. It was broadcast on Fridays at 6 pm from 9 February 1996 to 22 December 2000, with a repeat later that night. Officially, the title stood for "Thank Four It's Friday", though a less innocuous interpretation of the initials, "Thank Fuck It's Friday", was clearly implied. The name was a reference to the popular phrase "Thank God it's Friday". The show's theme tune was Ron Grainer's theme from Man in a Suitcase.
Geri Halliwell & Kylie Minogue arm wrestling
Björk
Beck
Napalm Death
St. Etienne
Spiritualized
Kylie Minogue
Elastica
Iggy Pop
PJ Harvey
The Cure
Pulp
Foo Fighters
Super absurd and hilarious 90s British animated series starring the always brilliant Richard E. Grant!
Curated by The Sadnesses
Total Runtime: 0:22:26
Captain Star was an animated television series starring Richard E. Grant as Captain Jim Star, based on a comic by Steven Appleby:Rockets Passing Overhead. Only thirteen episodes of thirty-minutes each were produced and aired. The series ran on the British ITVand Canadian TELETOON networks from 1997 to 1998. The show was also later repeated on Nickelodeon UK.
The story of Captain Star take place on a rocket ship, The Boiling Hell, which has been ordered to a deserted planet known only as "The Nameless Planet" at the Ragged Edge of the Universe. The ship's crew consists of the egocentric and often paranoid Captain Star, Dana Scully-esque science officer Scarlette, nine-headed engineer Jones, and fish-keeping Navigator Black. They are later joined by a robot, Jim-Bob-Bob, who performs laundry duty and various other servitudes.
Captain Star is introduced in the opening theme as "the greatest hero any world has ever known". A legendary explorer who has hundreds of planets named after him, Captain Star's birthday is a holiday throughout the universe. Throughout the series, the characters await further orders from Mission Control which never come. It is unclear whether Mission Control has simply forgotten about Star and his crew, but the implication is that they have put the aging Star out to pasture, but spared him the indignity of forcing him to retire, and kept him on active duty so that he can continue to be a hero to the public. Events occurring on and off the planet, however, frequently require Star's intervention.
JG Ballard sits down for an in-depth interview with Melvyn Bragg on the South Bank Show
Curated by The Sadnesses
Total Runtime: 0:49:32
Melvyn Bragg hosts an in depth interview with the author, JG Ballard. Ranging from his earliest experiences living in China as a child and subsequent imprisonment by the invading Japanese army, through his early and wholly abortive career in medicine - though he says that that experience was totally beneficial to his writing career and that everyone should spend at least some time studing anatomy. Then on through his long career as a full time writer. Starting in 1962 when he gave up his then job as an assistant editor right up to the present day.
Subjects covered are the influence of Surrealist painting in the imagery of his work. How the sudden death of his wife affected his life, work and family. And the impact of his most controversial novel, Crash, which inspired one publisher's reader to write "This author is beyond psychiatric help. Do not publish" - which Ballard took as a huge compliment.
Other contributions in the show come from the likes of Will Self, Iain Sinclair and Martin Amis, all of whom are confirmed Ballard fans.
The complete history of Britpop in the 90s!
Curated by Nick Maher
Total Runtime: 1:19:48
Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop is a 2003 documentary film written and directed by John Dower. The documentary is a study of popular culture in the United Kingdom during the mid to late 1990s. The focus of the piece is British popular music (Britpop), which underwent a resurgence during the mid-1990s and then seemingly retreated with similar haste towards the end of that decade.
The political landscape of the time also features. Much is made of Tony Blair and New Labour's efforts to align themselves with the distinctly British cultural resurgence that was underway. The documentary features a number of prominent UK musical and artistic figures, but relies heavily on contributions from Noel & Liam Gallagher of Oasis, Damon Albarn of Blur and Jarvis Cocker of Pulp. Other contributors include 3D from Massive Attack, Louise Wener from Sleeper, fashion designer Ozwald Boateng and modern artist Damien Hirst.
Portishead team with director Alexander Hemming to create a noir-ish short film and an appropriately smoky soundtrack
Curated by The Sadnesses
Total Runtime: 0:08:55
To Kill a Dead Man is a short film made in 1994 by the trip hop group Portishead. The film is a spy movie which revolves around an assassination and what happens afterwards.
The film is featured in the bonus section on the DVD version of Roseland NYC Live released in 2002. The theme can be found on both the 1995 compilation album Glory Times and the 1994 CD single "Sour Times". The music video for "Sour Times" also uses footage from the film.
A still from the film is featured on the cover of their album Dummy and several other stills appear in the CD booklet. A miniature image of the poster for the film is visible in the upper left corner at the back of this album.