Between The Ears: Tomorrow Never Knew (Saturday, 10pm, Radio 3) marks 50 years since the release of the Beatles’ Revolver. Despite the impressive amount of time that has elapsed since its release, it remains eternally young – 23 to be precise, as McCartney was when it was made. Reminiscent contributions from people such as Gwen, Barrie and Keith – who knew John Lennon through Quarry Bank School or having sung with him in the choir – are interwoven with location atmospheres and music from and inspired by the record, to celebrate a relationship between people and pop unlikely ever to be equalled.
For his show on BBC Music’s DAB jazz pop-up – open for business until Monday – British musician Neil Cowley doesn’t just explain how a self-taught American swing pianist managed to turn apparent weaknesses into strengths; he’s also unashamedly nostalgic for the time when jazz was part of the broad stream of popular entertainment. In Erroll Garner’s Concert By The Sea (Saturday, 9am, BBC Music Jazz) Cowley remembers his mother playing Garner’s 1955 album of the same name again and again. I have been doing that this week too.
The first time you visit Los Angeles, you spot a familiar address and naturally assume you’re in the heart of the city. It’s only with experience that you realise that this is just an illusion. In Los Angeles you never reach the centre; you just keep moving. 24 Hours Of Sunset (Thursday, 11.30am, Radio 4) is the first of a two-part series in which Guardian regular Laura Barton walks the length of the city’s storied thoroughfare, from its beginnings in Chinatown, through its sinful stretch in Hollywood, and on to Bel Air and the sea, discovering how it has both changed and remained the same over the years.
The basic premise of Mark Watson’s Inner Child (Saturday 10.30am, Radio 4) is that the boom in adult play, as represented by men and women gathering in the pub to fill in colouring books and cafes selling nothing but breakfast cereal, is a long overdue reaction to societal pressure to grow up. Judging by how many people on social media currently express their excitement about upcoming events by counting down the number of sleeps, it seems he’s on to something.
The Lumber Room With Saki (Saturday, 9am, Radio 4 Extra) marks the 100th anniversary of the death on the Somme of Hector Hugh Munro, Britain’s greatest short story writer. In this Radio 4 Extra original, Shaun Ley goes back to the Devon that bore him and brings together adaptations of many of Munro’s best-known works, including Mrs Packletide’s Tiger.
Finally, The River Of Music – the much-lauded, uninterrupted stream of music with which Radio 3 recently celebrated its 75th birthday – can be streamed and downloaded from the BBC site for the next few weeks.
