Matt Chorley (BBC Radio 5 Live) | BBC Sounds
Transmissions: The Definitive Story of Joy Division and New Order | Cup & Muzzle
In the Studio: Laurie Anderson (BBC World Service) | BBC Sounds
Matt Chorley, late of Times Radio, has a new daily show on 5 Live, in Nihal Arthanayake’s old afternoon slot. The programme, which broadcasts live from a studio close to Westminster, was announced a while ago; timed, you assume, to coincide with a UK general election. But Rishi Sunak decided to jump earlier than expected, the election’s done and dusted, and so Chorley is left to burst through the door, all political guns blazing, into a rather quieter parliamentary saloon than expected.
Make no mistake, Chorley is a politics guy, and this is a politics show. His opener, Back to School, on Monday, explained exactly how parliament works (where people sit, what the lobby is), and boasted a scoop about Number 10! Well, about No 10’s feline situation. Keir Starmer has acquired a Siberian kitten for his kids, which may put long-term No 10 resident Larry the Cat’s nose out of joint. Or, as Chorley said in a fun little promo video, might give Larry “paws for thought”. Yes, I know. But the kitten news came from a real-life interview with the prime minister, recorded earlier on that day at a school in Orpington. “Did anyone get you Oasis tickets for your birthday?” asked Chorley. (They hadn’t.) Re dynamic pricing, the topic du jour: “This isn’t just an Oasis problem,” said Starmer, and affirmed that the government would be looking at the practice. So, two small scoops – not bad for a first day.
As always happens with a new show, Chorley has some new features, the oddest of which is MMPs – “Member of Matt’s Parliament” – where he and his guests pick out three numbers that correspond with a constituency and then listeners have to call in with reasons why they should be that area’s MP. “Did you live there, have you been there, did you once get up to no good there, did you once drive through it?” asked Chorley. “The person with the best claim will be the MMP.” By Tuesday, this was already falling apart a bit. Chorley got his guests – former Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth, and former Tory MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan, – to choose the number, but then “I can’t find the full list!” said Chorley, to the sound of rustling papers. “If anyone in the gallery is listening, can you help me find the list?” The constituency turned out to be the resolutely dullish Mid Dumbartonshire. If I were his producer, I would have fixed the first few constituencies.
Still, Chorley is immensely likable, and the show rattles along (it’s shorter than Arthanayake’s: 2-4pm instead of 1-4pm, with an hour now added to preceding shows presented by Naga Munchetty and Adrian Chiles). I wonder a bit about the public’s appetite for all things politics – two ex-MPs as guests on the second show seems a bit unstarry – but time will tell. It should be noted that fans of Arthanayake’s show will find Chorley’s new offer a shock: Arthanayake prided himself on his longform interviews, and was unashamed in his promotion of new music and excellent TV. This is a very different offer, but Chorley is great fun, so perhaps even politics refuseniks will succumb.
Here are a couple of shows for those of a more artsy bent. First up, the second series of Transmissions: The Definitive Story of Joy Division and New Order, which does exactly what it says on the tin, with panache and insight. As with the first series, this a lively listen, packed with quotes from all of the band (yes, Peter Hook too), and their friends and compadres. Its jump-around style reminds me a little of Radio 1 documentaries, which is a compliment: you won’t ever get bored.
The second series starts in 1984, but there’s some upbeat recapping. Occasionally a little too upbeat: after Ian Curtis’s suicide, presenter Elizabeth Alker says: “That might well have been the end of it, but out of the ashes, something new!” I’m not entirely convinced by the analysis either, but the stories are excellent. Keith Allen describing being booked for a miners benefit in London was hilarious, as was the tale of New Order’s US manager, Tom Atencio, who turned up at the benefits gig to sign them and ended up having a fist fight with Rob Gretton, the band’s UK manager.
Bernard Sumner describing going to hispanic New York clubs was great, as was Hooky recalling the genuine experimentalism of the band: “We were testing songs out in front of an audience, really, seeing if we could make them better. Barney [Sumner] wouldn’t have a vocal, he’d just have a few Pernods … and if he felt inspired he’d sing and if he didn’t, he wouldn’t.” And, of course, there’s the music, moving from melancholy grandeur to full-on dance frenzy. Atencio described hearing Blue Monday in a club for the first time. “As the kick drum hit, everyone in the club started running to the dancefloor. Running!… I saw my generation go: ‘This is the song’.” Spine-tingling stuff.
Over on the World Service, in the In the Studio slot, there was a sweet interview with Laurie Anderson. She has made an album based around Amelia Earhart’s last flight, and describes how it actually began more than 20 years ago. It was Anderson’s first ever orchestral piece, written for the American Composers Orchestra. “I thought how hard could it be?” she says. “But it was literally the worst thing I’d ever heard.” Years later, conductor Dennis Russell Davies got in touch and said, there are some nice bits here, why not have another listen, which is how this new record came about.
The parts of the programme where you hear Anderson working are the highlights: “I love knob-twiddling and looking at things analytically,” she says. Witnessing a woman in charge of a creative project is still unusual enough for it to make an impression, and Anderson, friendly, funny, is immensely impressive throughout. Gentle and inspiring.
• This article was amended on 8 September 2024. An earlier version said that season 2 of Transmissions: The Definitive Story of Joy Division and New Order was presented by Maxine Peake when it was in fact Elizabeth Alker.
