Jammin'
Encyclopedia
Jammin' is a musical comedy show on BBC Radio 2
in the United Kingdom
. It is presented by Rowland Rivron
, who also plays drums. In addition to Rowland, there are two regulars in the band, and two guests - usually one comedian and one musician. The two regulars are usually Dave Catlin-Birch and Steve Brown
. When Dave Catlin-Birch is on tour, he is usually replaced by Honka James Roby. Brown replaced original regular Richard Vranch
in 2003.
Thus the show usually follows the format:
Mitch Benn, now a regular, has appeared as one of the guests on a few occasions.
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It is presented by Rowland Rivron
Rowland Rivron
Rowland J. Rivron is a British comedian, musician, writer and television presenter.-Early life: Rivron was brought up in Hillingdon, West London and attended Abbotsfield Secondary School...
, who also plays drums. In addition to Rowland, there are two regulars in the band, and two guests - usually one comedian and one musician. The two regulars are usually Dave Catlin-Birch and Steve Brown
Steve Brown (musician)
Steve Brown is a jazz guitarist, composer, arranger, and educator. He was the Director of Jazz Studies at Ithaca College, a position he held for 40 years until his retirement in 2008...
. When Dave Catlin-Birch is on tour, he is usually replaced by Honka James Roby. Brown replaced original regular Richard Vranch
Richard Vranch
Richard Leslie Vranch is a British comedian, actor and musician.Vranch improvises comedy on stage with the Comedy Store Players every Wednesday and Sunday at The Comedy Store in London. He has voiced British Airways TV and radio commercials since 2003, and he narrates TV documentaries...
in 2003.
Thus the show usually follows the format:
- Introduction Song in which the regulars and guests are introduced.
- Short interview with the guests, usually playing a snippet from one of their hits or a performance of the first song they ever wrote. This usually turns into an innuendo, and the performance is stopped by Rivron just before it becomes too explicit.
- Feature from one of the regulars (ABBA/Beatles backwards / "Two Songs for the Price of One" / "Beatles per Minute").
- Bass Line: the bassist plays a bass line, and the other member of the band (except Rivron) try to guess from which song it comes.
- Mixing Styles: One guest suggests a musical style, and other a singer/band, and styles are combined, eg. 'Roll with It' by OasisOasis (band)Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
in the style of Jerry Lee LewisJerry Lee LewisJerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
. The roles are then reversed, with the other guest performing. - Party Pieces Guests will perform their musical party piece, or they have to sing one of their well-known songs inserting words suggested by the rest of the band.
- Audience: Members of the audience call out different words and the band have to try to think of songs that include the word, and play a sample of that song.
- Concluding jam drawn from the last of the songs played from the feature above, or in earlier series, "they song we enjoyed playing most today", which could any song performed during the show.
- The programme is punctuated by snippets from a song sung in varying styles (eg. a-cappella, Country and Western, Bob Dylan-esque) as announced at the end of the programme "Jammin' was brought to you in association with...." However, the Autumn 2006 series did not include this information.
Regulars
- Rowland RivronRowland RivronRowland J. Rivron is a British comedian, musician, writer and television presenter.-Early life: Rivron was brought up in Hillingdon, West London and attended Abbotsfield Secondary School...
- host and drummer - Richard VranchRichard VranchRichard Leslie Vranch is a British comedian, actor and musician.Vranch improvises comedy on stage with the Comedy Store Players every Wednesday and Sunday at The Comedy Store in London. He has voiced British Airways TV and radio commercials since 2003, and he narrates TV documentaries...
- keyboards and guitars - Dave Catlin-Birch - guitar
- Mitch BennMitch BennMitch Benn is a British musician and stand-up comedian known for his humorous songs performed on BBC radio. He is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's satirical programme The Now Show, and has hosted other radio shows.Benn has performed at several music festivals, and at the Edinburgh Festival...
- bass and guitar - Steve BrownSteve Brown (composer)Steve Brown is a British composer.He wrote the book and lyrics and composed the score for Spend Spend Spend, which chronicled Viv Nicholson's rise and fall after winning a fortune in the football pools in the early 1960s....
- piano and occasionally guitar - Guy PrattGuy PrattGuy Pratt is a session bassist and also a songwriter, actor and comedian. He is the son of actor Mike Pratt. In Kensington and Chelsea, London, in 1996, Pratt married Gala Wright, the daughter of Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright...
- bass guitar
Guests
- Ade Edmondson
- Edwyn CollinsEdwyn CollinsEdwyn Stephen Collins is an Ivor Novello Award winning Scottish musician, playing mostly electric guitar-driven pop. Collins formed the musical group Nu-Sonics in 1976, which later became Orange Juice...
- Hils BarkerHils BarkerHils Barker is a British comedian and writer. She was a finalist in newcomer competitions So You Think You're Funny and The Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award, and went on to write and perform in two series of comedy show Radio9 for BBC Radio 4....
- Kate RobbinsKate RobbinsKatherine Robbins is an English actress, comedienne and singer.-Biography:Robbins is a first cousin once removed of Paul McCartney and older sister of Amy Robbins . She attended Wirral Grammar School for Girls and won the Drama Prizes each year, notably with her monologue "All this glitters is not...
- Barbara DicksonBarbara DicksonBarbara Ruth Dickson, OBE is a Scottish singer whose hits include "I Know Him So Well" and "January February"...
- Christian Reilly
- Kim WildeKim WildeKim Wilde is an English pop singer, author and television presenter who burst onto the music scene in 1981 with the number 2 UK Singles Chart new wave classic "Kids in America". In 1987 she had a major hit in the United States when her version of The Supremes' classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On"...
- Phil NicholPhil NicholPhil Nichol is a Canadian comedian, singer-songwriter, and actor.-Comedy:Nichol was born in Scotland to a Scottish mother, but raised in Canada. He first found fame as a member of the musical comedy trio Corky and the Juice Pigs, known for the song " Eskimo"...
(of Corky and the Juice PigsCorky and the Juice Pigs-Filmography:* 1996 - A Little Off the Top* 1996 - MadTV * 26 October 1998 - SketchCom -References:**...
) - Miles HuntMiles HuntMiles Hunt is the singer / guitarist and songwriter for the Stourbridge, England-based Alternative Rock band The Wonder Stuff.- Early life :His father was a union official for the TGWU...
(of The Wonder StuffThe Wonder StuffThe Wonder Stuff are a British alternative rock band, originally based in Stourbridge, West Midlands, in the Black Country, England.-Origins:...
) - Mike PetersMike PetersMichael Bartley Peters , better known as Mike Peters, is an American cartoonist.He draws the comic strip Mother Goose and Grimm, as well as syndicated editorial cartoons that appear in papers all over the United States...
(of The AlarmThe AlarmThe Alarm are an alternative rock band that emerged from North Wales in the late 1970s. They started as a mod band and stayed together for over ten years. As a rock band, they displayed marked influences from Welsh language and culture...
) - Kevin Eldon
- Justin EdwardsJustin EdwardsJustin Edwards is an English actor and writer.Born in Hampshire, Justin studied at Manchester University, before training at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. He was a member of sketch trio The Consultants, alongside Neil Edmond and James Rawlings...
- Jim DiamondJim Diamond (Scottish musician)James "Jim" Diamond is a Scottish singer-songwriter. Diamond is best known for his three Top 5 hits. The first was "I Won't Let You Down" , as the lead singer in the trio Ph.D., with Tony Hymas and Simon Phillips. His solo performance, "I Should Have Known Better", was a United Kingdom number one...
- James Robert MorrisonJim BobJim Bob is the stage name for James Morrison, the London born writer and musician best known as the singer of indie punk band Carter USM.-Biography:Jim Bob was born James Neil Morrison in the city of London, on 22 November 1960...
- Robert Newman
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- Nick HeywardNick HeywardNick Heyward is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the frontman of the early 1980s band Haircut One Hundred, and also had a briefly successful solo career after he left the band in 1983.-Haircut One Hundred:Nick Heyward formed Haircut One Hundred after the...
(of Haircut One Hundred) - Mel C
- Mark KingMark King (musician)Mark King is an English musician. He is most famous for being the lead singer and bassist of the band, Level 42. In the early 1980s King popularized the 1970s-era slap and pop style for playing the bass guitar by incorporating it into pop music.-Early life:King was brought up on the Isle of Wight,...
(of Level 42Level 42Level 42 are an English pop rock and jazz-funk band who had a number of worldwide and UK hits during the 1980s and 1990s.The band gained fame for their high-calibre musicianship—in particular that of Mark King, whose percussive slap-bass guitar technique provided the driving groove of many of the...
) - Neil InnesNeil InnesNeil James Innes is an English writer and performer of comic songs, best known for his collaborative work with Monty Python, and for playing in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later The Rutles.-Personal life:...
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- Steve PuntSteve PuntStephen Punt is a British writer, comedian and actor, best known for his long-time comedy partnership with Hugh Dennis. Punt lives in Wimbledon with his girlfriend and two children.-Life and career:...
- Ronnie GoldenRonnie GoldenRonnie Golden, born Tony De Meur, is a British singer, guitarist and comedian. He was the founder of the band The Fabulous Poodles. After the group broke up he worked as a stand up comedian as a member of The Comic Strip. From the early 1980s he made many appearances at The Comedy Store and on the...
- Neil HannonNeil HannonNeil Hannon is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter, best known as the creator and frontman of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy. The band's official website even goes so far as to say, "The Divine Comedy is Neil Hannon," and Hannon is quoted in an interview as saying, "The Divine Comedy...
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- Chas & Dave
- Rainer Hirsch
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- Beverley KnightBeverley KnightBeverley Knight MBE is a British soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer who released her debut album in 1995. Heavily influenced by soul greats such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, Knight has released six studio albums to date...
Mitch Benn, now a regular, has appeared as one of the guests on a few occasions.
Writers
- Robin InceRobin InceRobin Ince is an English stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is best known for presenting the BBC radio show The Infinite Monkey Cage .-Stand-up comedy:...
(Ince has commented that Rivron uses "few" of his lines) - Kevin DayKevin DayKevin Day is a British stand up comedian, comedy writer and sports presenter, born in London.He came to prominence in the British alternative comedy stand up scene of the late eighties and early nineties, playing clubs like The Comedy Store...