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7. Edinburgh Festival Part 1
58:06||Season 1, Ep. 7This is the first of two special editions of The Cultural Crunch from Edinburgh Festival.There really is no better place to be in August, when the city become a vibrant beating hub of creativity.The Fringe has more than three thousand shows across hundreds of venues, including for the first time this year - a sauna.Before the madness commenced, I caught up with six writers, directors and performers as they prepared to take their shows to Edinburgh.And what a talented bunch they are! Will Usherwood-Bliss of NewsReview, the topical sketch comedy show celebrating almost half a century at Fringe; Kitty Falcon whose moving tribute to her late father Sitting (In Silence) is set in a silent retreat; Conor Dye writer of Tap Out (or I'll hit you again), a comic play about a man who starts picking fights with strangers- just to feel something; James Watterson who plays a library inspector in The Librarians: A Very Serious Comedy!; Electra Kolb, a Fringe veteran at just eighteen, who is returning to Edinburgh with her one woman show Father, Away She Goes and finally one half circus duo Ockam's Razor Alex Harvey, who is taking to the trapeze with his wife in a new show called Collaborator.Photo:Tim Allen and Kitty Falcon
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6. The Odyssey
49:07||Season 1, Ep. 6It has undeniably been the summer of The Odyssey. Homer's epic poem is almost 3000 years old and has finally been given the big screen treatment it deserves. Christopher Nolan's blockbusting film adaptation has been well worth the wait and is without doubt the cinematic highlight of the year. You will be familiar with the plot, Greek hero Odysseus uses his wits to survive a perilous journey home from The Trojan War to reclaim his family and kingdom, despite the best efforts of sirens, sorcerers and a cyclops. Through readings and thought-provoking discussions, this bonus episode of The Cultural Crunch serves as both an excellent introduction and a scholarly appreciation of one of the greatest stories ever told.This episode is a recording of a live event with Toby Brothers, Jane Wymark and Alexis Cambanis of The London Literary Salon at Theatro Technis in London.
5. Glastonbury The Movie
40:26||Season 1, Ep. 5Robin Mahoney has spent a lifetime working in film and television and has an infectious enthusiasm for his craft.We first met in the summer of 1993 when he was gathering a crew of fresh young creatives to make a film about a music festival on a farm in the Somerset village of Pilton. Glastonbury The Movie went on to become the definitive document of the festival before it became the internationally famous cultural phenomenon that it is today. It also captures British youth culture at the end of the analogue age, free from camera phones and corporate hype.It's a fallow year on the farm so while the festival is taking a break Robin decided to mark the 30th anniversary of his film with a UK- wide cinema release. We met up again to reminisce and celebrate this very special film.Photo: Tim Allen and Robin Mahoney in his Hackney home-studio.https://glastomovie30th.netlify.app/
4. Chelsea Flower Show
26:50||Season 1, Ep. 4In this special edition of The Cultural Crunch I took my roving microphone for a day out at one of the most glorious events of the English summer season - The Chelsea Flower Show. There I met designers and creative teams behind some of the gold medal-winning gardens. I discovered that ancient woodlands are making a much needed comeback and how a charity that aims to end food poverty has collaborated with a green-fingered genius to create a haven of tranquility. I began by taking a behind the scenes tour of one of the most talked about gardens at the show, a beautiful fusion of art and nature that will soon find a permanent home outside Tate Britain. Photo: Tim Allen and Honor Reekie in the The Tate Britain Garden
3. Carol Decker
43:20||Season 1, Ep. 3Carol Decker became internationally famous in the late eighties as the singer with the big hair and even bigger voice in T'Pau. Along with her song-writing partner and then boyfriend Ronnie Rogers, she was responsible for a string of hits including Heart and Soul and Valentine, but it was China In Your Hand that went on to define the band. It spent five weeks at the top of the charts in 1987 and remains one of the best loved songs of that era. Carol and Ronnie's relationship didn't last and the original line up imploded as the the eighties gave way to the nineties, with T'pau struggling to find their place in the new musical landscape. But this is a tale with a happy ending. Now happily married to other people, Carol and Ronnie have reunited in song. They have a new album out Be Wonderful and are currently touring the country once again.
2. Zeb Soanes
38:24||Season 1, Ep. 2Zeb Soanes has one of the most recognisable voices in the country. He trained as an actor, then went on to have a twenty five year career at the BBC as a continuity announcer and newsreader. He was one of the very few broadcasters trusted to deliver the shipping forecast, as much a part of the bedtime routine for millions of night-owls and insomniacs as it is a lifeline for seafarers and fishermen - public service broadcasting in its purest form. Now he's a presenter at Classic FM where his soothing tones are being put to good use in Relaxing Evenings each week night from seven. Zeb's found time to return to his theatrical roots and has been treading the boards in a touring production of Mark Burgess' play Two Halves of Guinness. It's a one man love-letter to the great Alec Guinness in which Zeb plays more than thirty characters including Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations, all eight members of the unfortunate D'Ascoyne family in Kind Hearts and Coronets, George Smiley and of course Obi-Wan Kenobi.
1. Nick Heyward
45:48||Season 1, Ep. 1Nick Heyward found fame as the singer and songwriter with Haircut 100 - a band who shone brightly but all to briefly in the early eighties. They scored four hit singes; Favourite Shirts, Love Plus One, Nobody's Fool and Fantastic Day, from one brilliant album Pelican West which reached number two in the charts in 1982. Nick's solo hits included Whistle Down The Wind, Take That Situation and Blue Hat for a Blue Day. In 2023 the band reformed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Pelican West and have now been together longer than they were the first time around. In a candid conversation Nick tells me how three school friends from South London went on to form a chart-topping band, he reflects on the highs and lows of pop stardom and reveals how the pressures of fame took a toll on his mental health. With a new album Boxing The Compass and a UK tour in full swing, Haircut 100 look set to become your new favourite band all over again.