Three entries in one day…oo’er Missus. (That’s watching the brilliant Fatabulosa on BBC 4 last night – more about that later). Now stop messin’ about.
This entry is a note to myself that today I got my Iain Lee Rocks MP3 played on LBC. He liked it a lot, especially liking the slightly rude lyrics. On the radio it sounded a bit mushy and compressed. Not too happy with the production. Oh well, must clean out my lugholes.
Last night, I really enjoyed the aforementioend “Fantabulosa” on BBC4, a dramatisation of the life of Kenneth Williams. Now Williams wasn’t the easiest person to get along with for various reasons, but was hugely talented. I still remember him fondly on Jackanory and doing all the voices for the cartoon series Willo The Wisp. Anyway, Michael Sheen did a fantastic performance recreating the man and his many guises. It was amazing to watch. The story of Williams is two-fold: it’s either the story of a comedy genius who never found his level or its the story of a man looking for love and not finding it. Williams was gay (obviously) but brought up at a time where being homosexual was not easy, nor legal. His fastidious nature and his inability to connect with people meant that he was always going to be alone. He would have made a psychologist very happy as a case study.
His stomach problems are something I can totally sympathise with. I have suffered with terrible stomach cramps (well, they are bowel spasms if you must know) for nearly a decade. I have my condition under control, avoiding stressful situations and eating very carefully. Williams wasn’t so lucky and suffered with his stomach to the point of suicide. It’s a pain you cannot imagine and there’s no relief. They can swap hearts, kidneys and lungs, but with your bowels you are screwed – the most they can do is whip it out and give you a bag. The stomach pains I feelt are so bad you can’t even move. Thanks to this blog, I know my last bout of it was last year, causing me to miss the Tortoise concert at the RFH. When Sheen winced, I winced with him. At the end, it was very moving. Whenever I think of people in that condition, I often think of Kurt Cobain, who got hooked on drugs because they helped him overcome his own stomach problems.
Anyway, I digress. Fatabulosa was an excellent bit of TV, but what annoyed me was that it was on BBC4. This should have easily been on BBC1. The ghettoisation of broadcasting means that fine TV programmes are often marginalised and hidden away where Joe Q Public are unlikely to see them. It’s a terrible shame and a waste of resources, but I reckon the BBC wiill be showing this on the main channel real soon as it helped BBC4 get its biggest viewership in its history.
To end, more from Williams:
“Infamy, Infamy, they’ve all got it in for me.” 😉

« »