For a man as mythologised as Nick Drake, it’s still surprising how much mystery surrounds his personal life. His sister, actor Gabrielle, joined Mark Radcliffe (Radcliffe and Maconie, BBC Radio 6 Music) this week to talk about Remembered For A While, a book that collects together handwritten lyrics, letters and personal recollections from those who knew him.
Most interestingly for Drake fans, Radcliffe unpicks the sibling dynamic, with Gabrielle calling herself a “terrible exhibitionist” as a child who would burst into song “at the drop of a hat”. Younger brother Nick? Not so much. “His voice does not sound good, it sounds forced,” she says of a rare live recording that highlighted the confidence problems he had on stage.
During the course of the interview it becomes clear that Nick’s story is also the story of a family’s attempt to understand depression. Drake’s father even kept a “depression diary” during the singer-songwriter’s final days in a vain attempt to make some sense of it. Posthumously, there was some catharsis: Drake’s mother had tea parties on the anniversary of his death, inviting troubled superfans into the house. “It’s a terrible and sad irony from his point of view,” says Gabrielle of the success he achieved after his passing, “but he would have been pleased.” He probably would have been tickled too that there are “still requests for him to appear at festivals”.
Fresh Air’s Terry Gross (NPR) talks to the two authors of The New Puberty, which investigates why children as young as seven are showing signs of puberty. “We have to be careful to (not) immediately leap to sexualising seven-year-old girls,” says Dr Louise Greenspan, who explains the multiple, worrying sources of this phenomenon: ingredients in soap and toothpaste, and oestrogen in plastics.
Good news! Chris Morris is returning to radio, after a Kate Bush-like absence of 17 years. A new sketch starring Noel Fielding and Richard Ayoade will feature on the Mary Anne Hobbs show (BBC 6 Music) on Sunday.
