Monday, 17 December 2012

Behind the Fairytale

I really enjoyed this radio documentary about the making of Fairytale of New York yesterday lunchtime (the documentary was yesterday lunchtime, rather than the actual song, which was made yonks ago. Just for clarity's sake). If I was being really picky I'd say that Dermot O'Leary was a poor choice of presenter for a programme going out on, and made for, 6 Music; and that producer Steve Lillywhite comes across as slightly bumptious at times in his soundbites. But maybe that was just the editing or something. He was married to Kirsty Maccoll, after all, so can't have been all bad.

Minor quibbles aside, Behind the Fairytale was, much like the song it paid tribute to, quite marvellous, and you should definitely listen to it now, or preferably sooner, if you've not done so already.

Mildly Interesting Pop Fact: As befitting such a classic song, Fairytale has been covered dozens of times, by artists as diverse as KT Tunstall, Katzenjammer, The Wurzels, and, unforgivably, Ronan bastard Keating - a man with so little soul or empathy for the lyrics that he took out all the nasty wasty lyrics that might offend the army of easily-pleased simpletons who comprise his fanbase. Happy Christmas your arse, Ro-nan.

5 comments:

dickvandyke said...

Thanks so much for the tip-off Kips. Woulda missed it without your nod.

Now they mention it .. Tom Waits, Ennio Morricone, from the key of C to D, twilight .. it's all there. I was just thinking that Steve Lillywhite was coming across a bit like Mickie Most .. and then they mentioned the RAK studios!

Agree with the Dermot O'Leary blip. Not cos he's the duty BBC 2nd generation paddy, but just a bit young for such intense recollections.

Kippers said...

You're welcome Dicky old chum. There's another Fairytale documentary coming up on Sunday at midnight on BBC Two, by the way. I suspect it's probably a repeat, given the graveyard timeslot, but I've never seen it so will definitely be tuning in!

Kippers said...

That's except for viewers in Scotland. You get it at 1am.

Rol said...

Despite his Cowell link, Dermot actually has a really good taste in music and is very passionate about a lot of the same stuff we like. He needs to ditch the X-Factor and embrace that side more fully... but it must be difficult, considering the wedge he's getting for interviewing idiots every Saturday evening.

dickvandyke said...

Fair point Rol. He seems a decent bloke to me. Let's hope the XFactor dies next year. Perhaps he can count his cash and afford to do his own thing.