July 9, 2008
MeeBOX UPDATE!
GET BACK BACK IN THE BOX!
I keep bumping into people at gigs who are nice enough to ask what’s happening with MeeBOX, so here’s the deal. BBC3 have decided against taking it further because they don’t feel it caters to their 16-24 target demographic. It’s disappointing news because although you might imagine that TV companies everywhere are desperate to give me millions of pounds to make programmes for them and be their king, this was in fact the closest I’d got to getting a show off the ground since the last series of The Adam & Joe Show in 2001. I’ve always done other things of course but making a whole show, either with Joe or solo has been the most fun.
I’m aware that left to my own devices the kind of stuff I produce is not particularly in synch with the world of Lilly Allen and Gavin & Stacey and it may never have the potential to cross over the way those chaps have but I hoped there might be room for a diversity of shows on BBC3, especially as a series of MeeBOX would have cost less to produce than a couple of episodes of The Wall, so it could hardly be thought of as a costly risk.
Most people seemed to like the show although I heard some criticism that it didn’t work as a parody of You Tube. Although that was one way I explained it to people in interviews and such, it was never meant to be the whole point of it. The vague on-line look was more just a peg on which to hang the videos. What was important to me was that each individual element was funny in some way. If it had been commissioned I guess I would have gone further with the You Tube spoof angle or perhaps pulled back from it completely but as it was a pilot I didn’t get too hung up about it.
I think MeeBOX is funny, not particularly obscure and very televisual. The BBC said they agreed absolutely but it had been a case of unfortunate timing. When the pilot was commissioned BBC3 was still a place where wonderful shows like Snuff Box (more BOX based marginalia!) could co exist with the channel’s more obviously teen-brained fare. Now that’s apparently no longer the case and there is a ‘brand’ in position that needs to be consistently maintained, or some such. I guess that’s the reality of life in the dirty UK multi channel world: get successful or fuck off. Well, duh! you may say, but in TV as with most other things ‘successful’ is by no means always the same thing as ‘good’.
As you can see, it’s impossible to analyse these kinds of policies without sounding like a bitter and twisted old fartcake so I’ll try to resist and say instead that I hope you watched the show and if you liked it, you might find some way of letting BBC3 know. They’re unlikely to reverse their decision but hey, who knows? If on the other hand you thought the show should have been called ShiteBOX, then I guess your interests are being well served.
Either way I was pleased with MeeBOX and I’m very grateful the nabobs at the Big British Castle gave me the opportunity to make it in the first place. I’m also indebted to everyone who helped on the show, especially Dougal Wilson who directed several segments, Garth Jennings who made Sausages with me, Jonny Greenwood who wrote and recorded the title music, David O’Reilly who worked tirelessly to create the title sequence and most of the graphics for the show, John Pocock who produced it, Robin Hill who edited it with me and tied it all together, Jack Cheshire who exec-produced and championed it from the start (along with Armando Iannucci) and all the actors and comedians who were kind enough to be in it. Thanks too to the rest of the crew and production team who helped it turn out exactly the way I hoped it might.
Love Adam
9th July 2008
July 6, 2008
ADAM & JOE’S SONG WARS VOLUME ONE OUT NOW!
DOWNLOAD IT FROM I-TUNES HERE
It’s our first ever album and it’s only £6.32 so if you bought it we’d be delighted. The songs sound better than they ever did on the radio or our podcasts thanks to Radiohead’s producer Nigel Godrich who took a few hours one afternoon to give them a quick polish to make them sound more shiny. So in a way it’s like a new Radiohead album. Admittedly it’s an infinitesimally small way, but hey, a Godrich polish is a Godrich polish even if (on this occasion) what’s being polished is occasionally a little turd-like. The Video Wars competition is now closed and the results will be announced when we return to the radio on 2nd August or possibly the following saturday (9th August).
Here’s a video I just finished for my song The Hours. Because of the kaleidoscope effect in the background the compression on the You Tube version has gone mental and it looks quite shitty which is a shame because it looked great when I showed on the big screen at the BFI the other night for Out Of Focus Group (thanks for coming if you did. It was a blast!) Hang on, you can now look at it in better quality if you watch it from here and click ‘watch in high quality’ which makes a big difference…
One thing that’s missing from the artwork and track listing, which you can find on the MySpace page here is an indication of which the winning tracks were. Here’s a track by track guide to the album with notes.
01. Song Wars Song (album exclusive) 2:51
This is a track I made especially for the album which starts out as the Song Wars jingle and ends as a piece of semi prog electronica with samples of a particularly fraught Song Wars discussion. In the song you’ll hear snatches of conversation from a show when we had to come up with ring tones and Joe brought in 3 different attempts; something I considered to be a heinous infraction of the Song Wars rules. Passive aggressive middle class radio chat ensued, preserved forever now on this Hot-Chip-but-better style song.
02. European Supermarket (by Joe) 1:56 / 03. Jane’s Brain (by Adam) 0:32
This was the first time we did Song Wars, while filling in for Sean Keavney back in October 2007. There was no theme. Joe’s song won and I must say, it is a fine piece of work. Hang on, just received this message from Joe:
“I’m pretty sure Jane’s Brain won the first session. European Supermarket had it all week but then a sudden Jane’s Brain surge won the day on the friday I believe. I never forget when I lose, and this is, after all, rock history being written…”
04. T.A.L.L. (by Joe) 0:50 / 05. 4 Foot Club (by Adam) 0:39
The theme was Height. Joe’s song won.
06. The Public Transport Song (by Joe) 1:36 / 07. Tiny Mobile Speakers (by Adam) 1:18
The theme was Public Transport. I was very pleased with my song, which sampled I Walk The Earth by King Biscuit Time and took me ages. Joe went for a more Ben Folds/Chas’n’Dave vibe and beat me convincingly perhaps due to his genuinely affecting middle eight/chorusy thing about wanting to be at home rather than on the tube.
08. Jack Meller’s Song (by Joe) 1:33 / 09. James Rohan, Neanderthal Man (by Adam) 1:21
These were songs inspired by descriptions of friends sent in by listeners. I went for a cheesy reggae tune and unbelievably managed to beat Joe this time!
10. Global Warming Song (by Joe) 2:09 / 11. Sincere Whistling Eco Song (by Adam) 1:57
The challenge this time was to record a song with singing that sounded sincere (ie. no silly voices) about climate change. Inspired by the song Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John, we decided it should also feature whistling. Again, tried hard but Joe won.
12. Meatballs (by Joe) 1:00 / 13. Meatballs (by Adam) 2:17
A listener suggested we compose songs using the cooking instructions from IKEA frozen meatballs. This was the first track that I constructed from scratch, playing all the keyboard parts myself. They’re very basic but it took a long time. I was very pleased with the final song, which was kind of inspired by the Suicide track, Girl. Got beaten again.
14. IACGMOOH (by Joe) 1:33 / 15. I’m a Celebrity Song (by Adam) 1:39
Songs about I’m A Celebrity Get Me out Of Here, a reality show that I like very much but Joe doesn’t care for. I often fantasise about being on I’m A Celebrity but I know that if I ever was I’d almost certainly be voted out first for being too dull. My song is written from the point of view of just such a loser. And guess what? I lost out to Joe AGAIN!
16. All Night Garage (by Joe) 2:12 / 17. Christmas Country Party Time (by Adam) 2:08
Our Christmas songs. This might be my favourite of mine. I had a very good time recording it and the cheers and whoops in the middle 8 are genuine hoots of pre Christmas excitement. However Joe’s garage based mini drama was a powerful adversary and I was beaten yet again. By this time I was getting quite annoyed. I vowed that next time I would be victorious.
18. The Shining (by Joe) 1:56 / 19. The Hours (album version) (by Adam) 2:15
These were songs designed to be played over closing credits of our chosen films. I used samples from The Hours (Oscar scooping Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf with plastic nose) and did some Euro rapping in the middle and secured my second Song Wars win! We couldn’t clear the samples for the album so I re-recorded them myself and I’m pleased with the results.
20. Bigfoot (by Joe) 1:38 / 21. Loch Ness Song (by Adam) 2:07
Cryptozoology this time. I phoned mine in rather and was predictably clobbered by Joe’s admirably demented Bigfoot song. I’ve got a soft spot for my effort though.
22. The Right and Wrong Song (by Joe) 1:48 / 23. Toothpaste Brush (by Adam) 0:58
The theme was Instructional Songs For Children. Didn’t spend too long on this one but again, I liked it. Forgot that Joe had used the same Garage Band backing track for his Meatballs Song. Joe was on very strong form this week though and I got the kicking I so richly deserved.
26. No More Song Wars (by Joe) 1:45
After so many merciless drubbings I requested we take a break from Song Wars, a state of affairs that inspired Joe to bring in his own hiatus lament, a fitting conclusion to Song Wars Volume 1.
Volume 2 should be along before too long and that’ll have the full versions of our Kate Nash songs, our festival songs, Dr Sexy, The BaaadDad Rap, The Mind Of A Pirate and many more. I’ll keep you posted.
July 1, 2008
FAMOUS GUY AT 93 FT EAST!
BOOKSLAM BBQ, JULY 8th, 8PM
This Friday’s Out Of Focus Group is now sold out but if you’re up for catching me as Famous Guy as well as Alabama 3, Irvine Welsh and others next Tuesday evening, come along to the Bookslam in East London. If the weather’s good it should be like an amazing barbecue with interesting people and a twat dressed in a flightsuit pretending to be American. If it rains it’ll be more or less the same but inside. Details and tickets here.
