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Question
One:
How long have you been a producer for the BBC?
Can you give us a brief summary of your programmes.
I joined
Radio 1 as a producer in September 1981 and worked there until
April 1995. I left to set up my independent production company
and have made programmes mainly for Radio 2. I currently produce
the weekly Paul Gambaccini show 'America's Greatest Hits' on
Saturdays at 6.30pm and also produce Suzi Quatro's rock 'n' roll
shows 'Rockin' With Suzi Q' - returning in May on Monday nights
on Radio 2. In addition to my music programming, I am known for
my music documentaries - the first in 1982 was 'The Beatles At
The Beeb'. I've been lucky enough to make programmes about and
meet most of my musical heroes from Paul McCartney to Leonard
Cohen, Paul Simon to Pete Seeger, Art Garfunkel to Ray Charles,
George Martin to Jerry Wexler…and Dusty too!
Question
Two:
It’s a daunting task - running a poll to find the greatest
"Voices of the 20th Century". How can you compare Aretha
to Ella, or Sinatra to Otis. How do you think the public is going
to vote?
Although
there will be a great deal of subjectivity - the way a singer
moves you is a personal thing - voters will, I think, also consider
a singer's impact on popular music both in commercial and social
terms. Of course, any poll will, undoubtedly, arouse debate (along
the lines of 'Surely, Baby Washington should be in the 100 -
what's Mariah Carey doing there?!').
<P>Judging by the previous project I produced for Radio
2 along these lines - 'Songs Of The Century', the listeners and
'expert panel' were careful to consider the whole century and
the resulting chart did cover a wide time span pretty evenly.
I imagine the first few decades of the twentieth century may
not be so well represented with singers - but I am sure Bing
Crosby will be high up the chart!
Question
Three:
Is the public poll the only influence on the outcome?
No,
in addition to listeners voting, there will be a panel of singers
and other music business luminaries. Paul Gambaccini and I will
also look at record sales as a factor but most weight will go
to the choices of listeners and experts.
Question
Four:
Readers of these pages are particularly interested in Dusty.
Lately she has done very well in polls of critics & fellow
professionals. How do you think she will fare?
I think
Dusty will do very well. As often happens, her greatness is now
more valued and appreciated since her death.
Question
Five:
Are you allowed to tell us who your own votes would go to? (I
can reveal that my 3 choices are Dusty, Aretha, &; Levi Stubbs
Jr. Of the 4 Tops).
No!
Question
Six:
Your Radio 2 series "Remembering Dusty Springfield"
was well received by fans & friends alike. What drew
you to Dusty as a subject?
I was
six years old when 'I Only Want To Be With You' was a hit but
like so many of my generation (especially if you had an older
brother or sister), I lived through the sixties era absorbing
everything. I remember hearing her records at the time and seeing
her on TV. I always thought she was incredible! If you've heard
the series, you should know it was made as a labour of love -
I was delighted that the schedulers at Radio 2 let me do it.
Having four half-hour shows allowed me to play some less familiar
material. I have a reputation as someone who loves unearthing
archive material so I was keen to get a lot of that into the
series…also I wanted Dusty to be in it as much as possible!
Question
Seven:
What do you see as her lasting contribution to Popular music?
(what a question!!)
What
a question, indeed!
Firstly, a great singer and interpreter- soulful, accurate, with
great dynamics. Secondly, a great selector of material. Thirdly,
really independent minded so she pushed down some barriers in
the British music business. She was a great communicator. She'll
always be remembered and new generations - given the opportunity
- will discover her great recordings and the personality that
shines through her voice.
Question Eight:
Was there anything in the Dusty series that you would have liked
to have done, but couldn’t for some reason?
I'm pretty happy with it!
Question Nine:
I see there are to be programmes featuring the Top Jazz Voices,
Top Soul Voices, Top Rock Voices etc… How likely is it that
we might hear Dusty in all of those? Uniquely, she seems able
to fit in almost any genre.
<BR>
It depends on how the listeners to those specialist programmes
vote.
By the way, I hope Dusty fans will not do any block voting -
it would be much more interesting to see how she fares without
any tactical voting (We can spot that kind of thing and the votes
would be disqualified).
As a Radio 1 producer from 1981 to 1995, Kevin Howlett made a
variety of programmes - from award-winning music documentaries
to DJ shows broadcast at lunchtime and Saturday morning. In 1987,
he devised and produced the "Stereo Sequence "presented
by Johnnie Walker, Richard Skinner and Roger Scott. Since 1995,
his independent production company has made programmes primarily
for BBC Radio 2. Kevin has been nominated twelve times for Sony
Radio Awards and won three Gold Awards. In 1996, he received
a Grammy nomination for his involvement in the album "The
Beatles Live At The BBC". He is married with two sons and
two cats.
This interview
is (c) SIMON BELL(DUSTY DEVOTEDLY) 2000.
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