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		Radio 2 Gallery - MIKE HARDING SHOW LIVE IN LIVERPOOL - 6th October 2004

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	1 of 20: MIKE HARDING LIVE IN LIVERPOOL October 6th 2004 As part of BBC's Live In Liverpool season, the Mike Harding Show broadcasts a special show from Europe's Capital of Culture 2008. The venue is the warm, intimate Rawhide Comedy Club within the city's Central Hall, and the guest list features playwright-songwriters Willy Russell & Tim Firth, seminal American singer-songwriter Janis Ian, and the UK's own national treasure, Ralph McTell. LINKS: Visit Radio 2's Live In Liverpool site.






	2 of 20: MIKE HARDING Your genial host for the evening ... Mike warms up the audience with a joke or two, as the countdown begins to link live into Radio 2's evening broadcast after the 8 o'clock news.






	3 of 20: WILLY RUSSELL AND TIM FIRTH Music was the first love of both of these celebrated playwrights, long before the award-winning work that made their names (Russell: Blood Brothers, Educating Rita, Shirley Valentine etc; Firth: Preston Front, Heartland, Neville's Island etc). Willy and Tim are also old friends and musical partners. They've recently collaborated on a hugely successful UK tour featuring extracts from their plays, films and novels all woven together into a blend of music, songs, verse, readings and anecdotes. Tonight we're lucky enough to get a taster of this magical mix.






	4 of 20: WILLY RUSSELL Willy, Tim and the band start their set with China, a track from Willy's album Hoovering The Moon. It's a beautiful, wistful song of unfulfilled ambition with a melody that lingers long after the last note ... LINKS: Willy Russell's website The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.






	5 of 20: TIM FIRTH Tim sings two songs from his album Harmless Flirting including the bittersweet lament, Same Thing Twice. According to Tim, it's the sort of song that's engendered by finding yourself in a garden centre with a retractable garden hose and a tray of bedding plants and realising you're getting old. The audience is in stitches at lyrics listing potential aging pitfalls, like buying elasticated slacks from Marks & Spencer and becoming repetitive. Then, over the continuing music, Willy reads an excerpt from his recent novel The Wrong Boy - an unconnected piece in the words of his teenage protagonist, initially hilarious but ultimately echoing the sentiment of the song in a poignant way. Willy finishes, Tim reiterates the final lyrics, now with a lingering sadness. It takes the listener from laughter to tears and is a brilliant piece of collaboration. Another Firth song, Jennifer Falls, follows - a love song for a friend who always picks the wrong man. LINKS: Tim Firth's website The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.






	6 of 20: WILLY RUSSELL, TIM FIRTH AND BAND "...Tupperware girls, they much prefer / To do the hokey-cokey in their underwear ..." Another of the perfectly-observed and hilarious vignettes of everyday life that are both songwriters' stock-in-trade. This song should come with a government warning: once heard, it's embedded in the brain. The 350-strong audience sing the chorus with gusto and will undoubtedly have gone home with it running round their heads!






	7 of 20: ANDY ROBERTS Willy and multi-instrumentalist Andy Roberts go back a long way. Andy helped form the legendary poetry/rock group The Liverpool Scene in 1967, co-formed legendary '70s band Plainsong and has worked with Pink Floyd, Cat Stevens, Monty Python, The Bonzo Dog Band, Grimms, Roy Harper, Billy Connolly, The Albion Band, The Hank Wangford Band, Rolf Harris and Twiggy! He has composed for theatre, TV, and scored numerous films. He worked on Willy's album as producer. LINKS: Andy Roberts' website The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.






	8 of 20: JANIS IAN Janis Ian is one of the great American troubadours. Her controversial tale of teenage interracial love, Society's Child, topped the charts in 1966 when she was 15 and her 1967 eponymous debut album earned her the first of nine Grammy nominations. Though probably best known for her Grammy-winning song At Seventeen, she's produced a exceptional body of work and three decades on, her poetic lyrics, exquisite melodies and stunning voice have rightly earned her a huge and loyal fanbase. LINKS: Janis Ian's official website The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.






	9 of 20: JANIS IAN An amazing opener: a song begun by Woody Guthrie and completed, with melody added, by Janis at the request of Woody's daughter Nora. I Hear You Sing Again has the audience in total silence and brings a storm of applause - and not a few tears. LINKS: Visit Radio 2's Live In Liverpool site






	10 of 20: JANIS IAN The stage presence of this small woman is colossal. Chet Atkins once said of her guitar-playing that she "could run rings round him" - a generous and wholly appropriate comment! From Me To You, from 1975's Between The Lines is incisive and tender and spine-chilling. When I Lay Down, engendered by being Jewish in bible-belt Nashville, is slow and soul-baring, with glacial spaces and heart-stopping minor changes; the opening chords of At Seventeen bring applause and nostalgia for the soundtrack of youth.






	11 of 20: RALPH McTELL Described by Billy Connolly as a "national treasure", Ralph McTell this year celebrates his 60th birthday and a lifetime of writing and singing some of the most memorable songs in folk music. Although best known for the classic Streets of London, which has been covered more than 200 times, Ralph McTell is a multi-dimensional guitarist and singer/songwriter who's influenced hundreds of folk singers around the world. LINKS: Ralph McTell's website The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.






	12 of 20: RALPH McTELL Ralph's warm, brown voice starts his set with Nanna's Song, written for his wife in 1968. Peppers and Tomatoes, a protest against ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, is as powerful and moving as if he was singing it for the first rather than the umpteenth time ...






	13 of 20: RALPH McTELL Ralph plays a ragtime piece that he says is difficult to play and dedicates to Oliver Hardy; it's cheeky and funny and full of difficult runs which he pulls off with panache and a grin or two. Much applause and cheering! He ends his set with the eulogy to hope, After Rain - "the earth smells sweeter after rain".






	14 of 20: JANIS IAN AND NICK BARRACLOUGH Before the show, Janis chats to BBC Radio 2 New Country Show presenter Nick Barraclough.






	15 of 20: MIKE HARDING, JULIE MATTHEWS, CHRIS WHILE Mike spots old friends Chris While and Julie Matthews in the audience and takes ten before the show. Chris and Julie are out on the town before their autumn tour starts on October 22nd. LINKS: The official While And Matthews website The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.






	16 of 20: CHRIS AND KELLIE WHILE Chris catches up with daughter Kellie, who's working on production backstage. When not working for Smooth Operations, Kellie can also be found touring solo these days, since leaving e2K and the demise of The Albion Band. LINKS: Kellie While's website The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.






	17 of 20: JANIS IAN, CHRIS WHILE, JULIE MATTHEWS Three songwriters reunite backstage! Janis Ian was a huge influence, particularly for Julie, on the girls' early writing careers.






	18 of 20: RALPH McTELL AND JULIE MATTHEWS Old friends! Chris and Julie have worked with Ralph on many occasions.






	19 of 20: JANIS IAN AND RALPH McTELL Both Ralph and Janis wanted a photo together for their respective websites. Our photographer Bryan Ledgard was happy to oblige.






	20 of 20: WILLY RUSSELL AND RALPH McTELL More happy backstage encounters! It's been a great night, enjoyed by performers as much as audience. Now we're all off to the Cavern to see Mark Radcliffe and Embrace! LINKS: Visit Radio 2's Live In Liverpool site

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