The Beta Band have appeared on Mary Anne Hobbs’ Breezeblock show on BBC Radio 1 several times over the years – here’s a quick summary:
Mon 2nd March 1998 | Old Jock Radio |
Mon 24th Aug 1998 | The Beta Band (headline set) |
Wed 9th June 1999 | The Beta Band (make a song in one hour) |
Mon 19th June 2000 | Steve Mason (headline set) |
Mon 25th Dec 2000 | [repeat] Steve Mason (headline set) from 19 June 2000 |
Mon 16th July 2001 | The Beta Band (headline set) |
Tue 15th Jan 2002 | The Beta Band (headline set) |
Tue 6th Aug 2002 | [repeat] The Beta Band (headline set) from 15/16 July 2001 |
Sat 4th March 2010 | Steve Mason (headline set) |
I’d love some help clarifying the exact dates and tracklistings of these appearances (and any I might have missed).
Old Jock Radio Breezeblock Session (2nd March 1998)
Tracklist:
1. Old Jock Radio intro
2. Commercial: The Tattie Warehouse
3. Circus Intro by The Beta Band
4. Doctor Baker (session version) by The Beta Band
5. Old Jock Radio: Coming Up Later/Local News
6. She’s The One by The Beta Band
7. Old Jock Radio: A Bleather About The Weather
8. The House Song by The Beta Band
9. Old Jock Radio: Cheerio!
maggotcaviar has written about this Old Jock Radio Breezeblock (as well as the ‘track in one hour’ June 1999 show) on his blog.
Listen on mixcloud.com or check the embed below:
The Beta Band Breezeblock (24th Aug 1998):
Tracklisting:
Intro
Arrow – “Invitation to the Caribbean”(?)
Unknown – “For What It’s Worth” (Buffalo Springfield cover)
The KLF – “Elvis On The Radio, Steel Guitar In My Soul”
Beastie Boys – “Sounds of Science”
Ivor Cutler – “Barabadabada”
Unknown – unknown
William Burroughs – Cut-Ups
Aphrodite’s Child – “Such a Funny Night”
Studio chat
Porridge intro
Herman Kelly & Life – “Let’s Dance To The Drummer’s Beat”
Unknown – unknown rap
Billy Connolly – “Give Me A Little Of Your Time” (live)
Jolly Brothers – “Conscious Man”
Burning Spear – “The Sun”
Unknown – unknown Bollywood
Born Jamericans – “Boom Shak-A-Tack”
Cipher Complete – “Bring Hip Hop Back”
Old Jock Radio phone interview
Man in the street interviews
Funkadelic – “Red Hot Mama”
Bob Dylan – “Gotta Travel On”
The Beatles – “Hey Bulldog”
Frank Zappa – “Uncle Remus”
Funkadelic – “Can You Get To That”
News Announcements
The Beta Band – “The Beta Band Rap” (live)
Richie Havens – “No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed”
Bob Dylan – “Girl From The North Country”
The KLF – “Elvis On The Radio, Steel Guitar In My Soul”
Spiritualized – “I Think I’m In Love”
Outro
The Beta Band make a track in one hour (9th June 1999)
Listen on Soundcloud
Source: maggotcaviar
Steve Mason – headline set (19th June 2000)
Tracklisting
Karnak Temples – Thebes Of The Hundred Gates (Sound & Light)
John Williams – The Imperial March (Darth Vaders Theme) (RSO)
John Williams – Main Title & Mountain Visions (Arista)
John Williams – One Barrell Chase (MCA)
Asha Bhosle – Jawani Se Mile Jahan Jawani (Super)
Edwin Starr – Cloud Nine (Tamla Motown)
Digital Underground – No Nose Job (Big Life)
Steptoe & Son – The Gathe Art Of Totting (Golden Guinea)
The Smiths – This Charming Man (A Rough Trade)
ESG – My Love For You (Universal Sound)
P.I.L. – Memories (VS)
William Shatner – Spleen/Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (Decca)
Kraftwerk – Radioactivity (Capital)
Ennio Morricone – Carillion (Camden)
Buju Baton – Till I’m Laid (DJ’s Running Things)
Lady Shaw – New Checkie Book (Shocking Vibes)
Lauryn Hill – Lost Ones (DJ’s Running Things)
Proffessor Griff & The Last Asiatic Disciples – Pawns In The Game (Greyhound)
John Lee Hooker – Hobo Blues (Happy Bird)
Jeru The Damaja – Ya Playin Yaself (Payday)
Robert Johnson – Me & The Devil Blues (Columbia)
Isaac Hayes – Ikes Rap VI (Enterprise)
Ramesh Behl’s – Kasme Vaade Nibhayenge Hum (Polydor)
Pole – Tanzen (Kiff)
Eskar Brimkmahn – Voran (White Label)
Sex Pistols – EMI (Virgin)
Dead Kennedys – Police Truck (Alternative Tentacles)
Stone Roses – Where Angels Play (Silvertone)
The Last Poets – White Man’s Got A God Complex (Douglas)
Madonna – Borderline (Sire)
Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come (RCA)
Barrington Levy – Rob & Gone (Trojan)
Paul Williams – You Give A Little Love (Polydor)
The Breezeblock Mix (16th July 2001)
Below is a mix The Beta Band made for the show on 16th July 2001 that I found on Soundcloud tonight. The show was repeated on 5th (or 6th?) Aug 2002 according to this Geocities page). Here’s link to another Soundcloud user who’s uploaded the same mix from 2002. You can also find it on YouTube
Tracklist:
The Grooves Steel Orchestra – Here There & Everywhere (Sound News Studios)
Al Green – I’m Glad Your Mine (Harmless)
Beastie Boys – Hello Brooklyn (Grand Royal)*
Outkast – Drinkin Again (Arista)
The Castaways – Liar Liar (AM)
Marlena Shaw – California Soul (Cadet)
Dilenger – Funky Punk (Valdene)
The Alkaholiks – Only When I’m Drunk (RCA)
JJ Cale – Let Me Do It To You (Mercury)
Sly Johnson – I Hate, I Walked Away (Hostile)
The Upsetters – To Love Somebody (Trojan)
Kingstonians – Sufferer (Trojan)
Prince Buster – Madness (Jetstar)
James Brown – Release The Pressure (Polydor)
Bob Dylan – Drifters Escape (CBS)
Strictly Business – Strictly Business (Fresh)
Brand Nubian – Punks Jump Up To Get Beatdown (Electra)
Vital Dub – Well Charged (Virgin)
Prince Far I & The Arabs – Commandment Of Drugs (Virgin)
Bo Didldly – Hey! Bo Diddly (Green Line)
Rolling Stones – Love In Vain (London)
The Specials – It’s Up To You (Chrysalis)
Grace Jones – I’ve Done It Again (Island)
*note most tracklistings have the artist down as Paul’s Boutique (which is the name of the Beastie Boys’ album the song is taken from)
The Beta Band Breezeblock (15th Jan 2002)
Tracklisting:
Bob Dylan, Billy The Kid & Bob Garratt – ‘Turkey Chase’ (Columbia)
Big Jack Johnson – ‘Catfish Blues’ (Atlantic)
Pink Floyd – ‘Grandchester Meadows’ (EMI)
Beach Boys – ‘Disney Girls’ (Capitol)
Bob Dylan – ‘Gotta Travel On’ (Columbia)
Funkadelic – ‘Biological Speculation’ (Westbound)
Frank Zappa – ‘Willie The Pimp’ (Rykodisc)
J S Bach – ‘Tocata & Fugue in D Minor’ (Telarc)
Can – ‘Gomorra’ (Mute)
Paul Giovanni – ‘The Wicker Man’ (White Label)
The KLF – ‘Elvis On The Radio, Steel Guitar In My Soul’ (KLF Communications)
Les Baxter – ‘Simba – Taboo!’ (Ryko)
Add N To (x) – ‘King Wasp’ (Mute)
Velvet Underground – ‘Ocean’ (Mercury)
Aphex Twin – ‘Selected Ambient Works Track 2’ (Warp)
Prodigy – ‘Weather Experience’ (XL Records)
Photek – ‘UFO’ (Astralwerks)
Aphex Twin – ‘Didgereedoo’ (Warp)
Michael Bundt – ‘The Brain Of Oscar Panzzier’ (White Label)
Bobby & Betty Go To The Moon – ‘A Lunar Adventure’ (White Label)
The Beatles – ‘Across The Universe’ (Apple)
Kraftwerk – ‘Autobahn’ (EMI)
Steve Mason – headline set (4th March 2010)
Was this a repeat or a new performance?
You can find more Breezeblock tracklistings and links on mixesdb.com
– The Beta Band page on mixesdb.com
– 1998-08-24 – The Beta Band – Breezeblock – Headline Set
– 2002-01-14 – The Beta Band – Breezeblock – Headline set
– 2001-07-16 – The Beta Band – Breezeblock – Headline Set
I’ve been looking through the WayBackMachine on Archive.org to find some Breezeblock tracklisting sites eg. The Breezeblock Bomb and mixriot
I think swampmaster000’s Geocities site is probably the best
edit:- can also be found at swamptowers.weebly.com
and Breezeblock Bomb is also on the Reocities archive project
Here’s some Beta Band/Steve Mason Breezeblock dates Swamp’s site gives:
1998 overview
10th March 1998 The Beta Band – Live Session
3rd Aug 1998 The Beta Band – Live Session
1st Sept 1998 The Beta Band – Headline
1999 overview
8th June 1999 The Beta Band – Create a track live
2000 overview
19th June 2000 Steve Mason – Headline Orange Can – Showcase
25th Dec 2000 Steve Mason – Headline (repeat from 19 June 2000)
2001 overview
23rd July 2001 The Beta Band – Headline Roots Manuva – Showcase
Mixriot has the date as 17th July 2001?
2002 overview
14 Jan 2002 The Beta Band – Headline
5th Aug 2002 Beta Band – Headline (repeat from 16 July 2001)
More links
Mary Anne Hobbs links:
Mary Anne Hobbs’ official site
Mary Anne Hobbs’ Mixcloud page
Mary Anne Hobbs’ Twitter @maryannehobbs
Mary Anne Hobbs’ Facebook Page
John Maclean has his own Mixcloud page with more mixes at:
mixcloud.com/betaband/
Soundcloud user mark-martin-23 has collated a bunch of old Breeze Block sessions from many bands/DJs inc. Beta Band
Some of the tracklistings I found via the Bandfandango forum along with Swampy’s site
More info on The Breezeblock from a Wikipedia cut n paste:
The Breezeblock was a weekly radio programme on BBC Radio 1 that premiered on 17 February 1997 and focused on electronic music. The show’s earliest broadcasts were unmixed and featured individual songs, some of which were recordings of live sessions from BBC’s Maida Vale Studio. Soon, however, its format shifted to setlists mixed by a variety of electronic acts, both mainstream and underground. This change reflected the show’s increasingly eclectic musical sensibility as it equally embraced the populist and the avant-garde.
The style of music featured on The Breezeblock was consistently wide-ranging, and included (among others) alt-country, chillout, acid jazz, hip-hop, techno, funk, and reggae–with selections coming from all eras. Still, the show’s ostensible focus was on experimental (or “leftfield”) electronic music. As such, it was common to hear songs from more exotic genres like IDM, drum & bass, post-rock, glitch, and turntablism on many broadcasts. The show was also influential in promoting grime and dubstep, two subgenres—then little known—that arose from the London music scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The show was hosted by Mary Anne Hobbs throughout its history, with occasional fill-ins by other BBC Radio 1 personalities. Highlights of the show’s long run include ambitious sets by Jason Pierce of Spiritualized, DJ Shadow, and The Bug, and also special presentations that introduced listeners to specific topics—for example, the genre oldschool jungle or the urban music culture of Berlin. Notably, the tribute to Aphex Twin (an alias of Richard D. James) that aired on 7 December 2005 is also well-received despite the fact that James was not personally involved with the set. In 2000 Radio 1 listeners voted for Jon Carter as the Breezeblock Mix of 1999 at the NME Premier Awards, co-hosted by Mary Anne [1].
On 25 September 2006 the Breezeblock moniker was dropped and the show renamed to Mary Anne Hobbs: BBC Radio 1’s Experimental Show. Though accompanied by a time slot change, the show’s format, purpose, and breadth of genre have remained very similar. The last live Breezeblock/Experimental Show aired 2 September 2010, two repeats (Dubstep Wars from 10/01/2006 and Sonar 2010 Special from 24/06/2010) were aired on 9 September 2010.
The Breezeblock is named after the breeze block (cinder block) in the sense that the show was seen as a promotional foundation for emerging forms of electronic music.
The show briefly featured the comedy double act of Ricky Gervais and his mate Steve in a short comedy segment each show wherein they would appraise the latest goings on in the alternative music scene.