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West Heath Yard

Started by 23 Daves, August 08, 2012, 01:03:38 AM

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23 Daves

It's a generally forgotten fact that in the late nineties, Edwyn Collins was partly responsible for a late-night comedy on Channel Four called "West Heath Yard".  It quite viciously parodied the music industry of the time - the two main characters in it are ex-prog/ psychedelic pop stars with more money than sense who plough their resources into music production and management via their West Heath Yard studio development. 

Somebody's uploaded the series on to YouTube, and I'm finding these fantastic to rewatch.  Edwyn Collins always undersold the series at the time, self-deprecatingly calling it "bad television", but in reality it's far better than most parodies - obviously Collins had a huge advantage over the likes of Peter Kay by actually having spent an entire career dealing with music industry bullshit, so his take on what was going on at the time seems much more convincing as a result.  More to the point, his own albums often slipped when they became immersed in irony or parody, feeling cold and slightly savage as a result - in the series itself, these skills are put to much more effective use. 

If you don't mind starting halfway through (and it doesn't make much difference, in truth) Episode Four is a top notch parody of a late-night talent show which takes two hopeless unknowns and tries to make them stars. Even though this programme was made at least thirteen years ago, not much seems to have changed in the production values it's taking on:

http://youtu.be/iLqAon0gPV0 (Part One)

http://youtu.be/rlA-R-br_SU (Part Two)

Elsewhere, there's the hopeless Britpop band Expo 70 who the producers want to become "the next Gay Dad", endless references to dud Prog Rock, awful ironic attempts at awful nineties ironic pop songs such as "Lasagne For One", and... actually, this has aged staggeringly well.  At the time it was obviously taking a swipe at the music industry which existed around it, but I think it's matured if anything.  With the benefit of hindsight, it's much easier to laugh at appalling manufactured Britpop bands with their songs like "White Trash Holiday" - and the fact that it existed at the arse-end of the British music industry's nineties prime makes it more effective, in much the same way that Spinal Tap seems funnier for watching the band at the tail end of their careers.

It's not comedy gold, but it's certainly a good way of passing an evening.  I'm enjoying these much more than I thought I would.   

finnquark

#1
I watched the entire series in one go recently after a thread a few weeks ago about forgotten Channel 4 stuff, and really loved it. Collins performance is genuinely funny - his accent, mannerisms and delivery were really good, especially in episode 4 with a conversation with an accountant and then on the talent show. I love his catchphrase of sorts (
Spoiler alert
"Don't heavy me Jackson!"
[close]
), and I think the two producers work very well as a pair, with both getting a reasonably equal amount of screen time and character. Plot is passably entertaining, but obviously secondary to the parody of the industry. Totally agree with 23 Daves - funny and worth a watch.

23 Daves

There are quite a few entertaining subsidiary characters as well - such as, for example, the so-called busker who obviously spends half his life flattering ex-prog rock industry types in order to get a break ("Yours was the first album I ever bought!" is his constant catchphrase to several people).

I've managed to get more fun out of these old episodes than anything on television this evening, which admittedly isn't difficult in the middle of the Olympics, but in the space of one month some of them have only picked up 50 viewers on YouTube.  That seems more than a bit mad. 

NoSleep

Blimey... I've only just stumbled on these YouTubes of the entire series, which I've only ever heard of and never seen until now. I was going to suggest a "Let's watch West Heath Yard together" thing, but then I found this existing (largely ignored) thread.

I just found the Trouble At The Top - Dollar/Bucks Fizz documentary from 2002 too, so it's music biz comedy gold week.

Jake Thingray

"Thought he was a rent boy..."