Chelmsford artist Erin LeCount to play Radio 1's Big Weekend
"I've never been to Liverpool either, so I'm looking forward to a nice weekend."LeCount said she had been fully focused on a show in London next week - her first for some time - so it was a "nice surprise" to learn she had a slot on such a big stage in the summer.Her latest single, Silver Spoon, released on Friday, was about "the ways you grow up" and how that affects relationships, she said.
'Embrace the madness'
She counts Florence and the Machine and Kate Bush among her influences, along with Sampha, FKA twigs, and The xx."I love artists who produce their own music, of anyone who goes all-in and embraces the madness," she said.LeCount credited the Hermit Club in Brentwood for supporting her from a young age and allowing her to perform at open mics."I got into the habit of doing live music and I just wanted to keep performing as time went on," she said."I felt comfortable sharing it online when I was 17 or 18, and it's ended up here, which is quite nice."It feels I've had a nice break and now I'm back in full force, I've got the show, and lots of writing to do and lots of live prep for Big Weekend."I think I'll have to pull something special out of the bag."Radio 1's Big Weekend runs from 23 to 25 May, with a line-up including Tom Grennan, Mumford & Sons and Lola Young.LeCount will appear on Saturday, 24 May.You can hear Erin LeCount's interview with BBC Essex on BBC Sounds.
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Telegraph
2 minutes ago
- Telegraph
John Peel's signed Lennon LP could be yours – if you've got a spare £7,000
'I just want to hear something I haven't heard before,' the late Radio 1 DJ John Peel once said. His love of music would famously manifest itself in a record collection so vast that estimates of its precise size vary. Some people have put the collection at 26,000 albums and 40,000 seven-inch singles, while others have put the entire collection at 120,000 vinyl records and CDs. Whatever the number, the DJ, who died in 2004, is widely regarded as having one of the finest private caches of punk, indie, new wave, dance, folk and rock music in the world. Before his death, he even spoke to the British Library about how to preserve his collection (although ultimately it remained with his family). Peel knew his own tastes. He had a 'star system' to denote the records he'd played on air or should play on air. And, despite having thousands of them, he hated CDs. 'Somebody was trying to tell me that CDs are better than vinyl because they don't have any surface noise,' he said. 'I said, 'Listen, mate, life has surface noise.'' However, Peel's family has discovered that his celebrated collection contains many duplicates of records that he already owned. Auction house Omega Auctions has spent the last year sifting through the shelves at the family's Suffolk home, Peel Acres, to remove them. An auction of these duplicates – the first of at least three – takes place on July 29. What sets this sale apart from normal record auctions is that Peel's discs often came with hand-written notes from artists or managers; Easter eggs, if you will, between artists and the music tastemaker. The auction also contains plenty of quirky memorabilia. Paul Fairweather, director at Omega Auctions, says going through Peel's collection has been the pinnacle of his career as a vinyl sifter. 'For me, finding the little bits of memorabilia within the records, or hand-written on the records, makes it so much more exciting. It's the personal notes to John that make it so much better,' he says. Peel's family say they hope that record collectors will appreciate these items 'just as much as Dad did'. There are plenty of curios in this auction. Peel revelled in championing the underdogs; he famously introduced himself to viewers on his first Top of the Pops as the bloke 'who comes on Radio 1 late at night and plays records made by sulky Belgian art students in basements dying of TB'. We've ignored some of the more obscure records. But here are our highlights from an auction so great that rarities from Bowie and the Clash fail to make our Top Ten. 10. The Jesus and Mary Chain – test press of Upside Down 7' (Lot 14) It's not so much the disc that's of interest here, but the hand-written letter to Peel from Creation boss Alan McGee that comes with it. The year was 1984 and Creation Records – the future home of Oasis and Primal Scream – was in its infancy. McGee was on typically headstrong form in addressing the DJ. 'John,' the label boss starts, 'Just a quick line to tell you about The Jesus and Mary Chain … I honestly believe this band is classic in the mould of The Pistols, Stooges etc. This is beyond rock n roll as they say at [the] NME.' That's confidence. As Fairweather says: 'This was well before Oasis took Creation to another level, so at the time they had to do these hand-written letters to people like John basically selling the bands. It is one of the very early Creation releases.' The disc also has Peel's mark on it. 'You can see actually on the record itself that there's a little 2:55 in red. That's John's hand-written timings of the track. He's listened to that record, as he has done all the records in the collection, and noted the lengths of the track.' Estimate: £150-200 As well as being sent loads of records to Peel Acres, the DJ was sent a vast number of promotional T-shirts, many of which are for sale here. My favourites include a 1984 Frankie Goes to Hollywood T-shirt saying 'Frankie Say Arm the Unemployed' (it was always 'say' not 'says' on official Frankie merch as the band were a collective). There is also a great hand-painted Ramones T-shirt from 1977, a Sex Pistols one from 1980 and a Smiths shirt from 1987. 'John Peel's collection is predominantly about vinyl, but having memorabilia in the auction as well is very cool, especially all his T-shirts. There are tons of them, a really good selection,' says Fairweather. Estimates: range from £60 to £200, although the Smiths T-shirt is already attracting bids of £240 while the Frankie one has a bid of £420 8. New Order – World in Motion promotional bundle (Lot 404) The 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy was memorable for lots of reasons. Roberto Baggio. England vs Cameroon. Gazza's tears after his yellow card in the semis, meaning he'd miss the final (which we didn't get into). But right up there was New Order's official England song World in Motion, featuring that famous John Barnes rap. Originally called 'E is for England' (a title banned by the FA for its obvious drug connotation), the song is an absolute belter. As, it should be said, is this bundle of promotional memorabilia. The printed plastic bag contains a T-shirt, New Order and England-themed football shorts, a cap, a remix CD, a 12' single and a sticker. Altogether now, 'You've got to hold and give, but do it at the right time…' Estimate: £100-£150 7. Oasis – Columbia demo 12' disc (Lot 256) A rare copy of the band of the moment's first promotional release. In December 1993, Oasis's record label Creation sent a demo of the band's track Columbia to radio stations ahead of the release of their official first single, Supersonic, in April 1994. Columbia was one of the first songs that Noel Gallagher wrote after he joined Oasis and it would go on to appear on debut album Definitely Maybe. This version is in excellent condition, says Omega, and is extremely rare. 'This is Oasis's first promo that was sent out. It typically [sells for] £1,000. They only sent out 500 or 1,000 of them. Whenever you have Columbia coming through [in auctions] it's like the holy grail almost,' says Fairweather. The song is not featured, at the moment anyway, in the set list of Oasis's reunion tour. Still, I imagine this will get snapped up. Estimate: £600-£1,000 6. Pink Floyd – Animals promotional mobile (Lot 408) This is fun. To help promote their 1977 album Animals, Pink Floyd's record label gave out animal-themed mobiles to journalists and DJs (that's hanging mobiles, rather than mobile phones, not a thing back then). This one includes a sheep, a dog, a pig and a disc with the album's name on it. The packaging remains unopened and it comes in its original mailing envelope with printed instructions on the front. 'John would have been sent this when the album was coming out or given it at a launch party. He's actually had two of these, so we've got one in this auction and one for a future auction. It's a cool piece,' says Fairweather. The dangling pig will bring to mind a famous Pink Floyd story. The Animals album cover depicted an inflatable pig flying over Battersea Power Station. During the photo shoot, the pig broke free of its moorings, flew over Heathrow, delaying flights, before landing in a farmer's field in Kent. Estimate: £200-£400 5. Joy Division – first music and notes from Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson (Lots 401 and 403) There's a lot of Joy Division in this auction. The Manchester band, who went on to become New Order after the death of singer Ian Curtis, were a favourite of Peel. And his love of the band was no doubt spurred by Lot 403 – Joy Division's debut EP from 1978, An Ideal For Living, with a note from manager Rob Gretton. 'We are still awaiting the call from Broadcasting House to come down and record a session for your show,' Gretton wrote. These sessions came to pass; Joy Division's Peel Sessions from 1979 still sound phenomenal. Lot 401, meanwhile, comes with a note from Factory founder Tony Wilson inviting Peel to stay at his house. 'For me, being a Joy Division fan, I really like these. Similar to Alan McGee, you've got a letter there from Rob Gretton, who was Joy Division's manager. [This symbolises] Joy Division's launch into legendary status and then going on to become New Order,' says Fairweather. He describes the letter from Wilson to Peel as correspondence between 'two legends of music'. Estimates: £300-£500 (Lot 401) and £3,000-£5,000 (Lot 403) 4. U2 – debut 12' with note from Bono (Lot 260) U2's first ever release was a 12' EP called Three in September 1979. The record, as the name suggests, featured a trio of tracks: Out of Control, Stories for Boys and Boy/Girl. Re-recorded versions of the first two tracks went on to feature on U2's debut album Boy in 1980. This copy is an original Irish pressing, numbered 507/1,000. It's slightly unclear how it came into Peel's possession as a hand-written note from Bono says: 'For Kid Jensen, who had the good taste to make [The Radiators' 1979 song] 'Kitty Ricketts' single of the week. From Bono.' Says auctioneer Fairweather: 'This is so early in their careers that US decided to send it in to the DJs at Radio 1 at the time. I don't know how John has ended up with this. Maybe Jensen wasn't bothered by it but liked those particular releases by U2 so he's ended up with this.' Despite filching Jensen's record, Peel wasn't a U2 fan. He once listed them as one of the bands that he 'stoutly resisted playing' or letting perform a Peel Session, along with The Police and Dire Straits. Estimate: £3,000-£5,000 (bids at £6,000 at time of writing. Fairweather expects five figures on Tuesday) 3. Marc Bolan/ T. Rex – acetates, legal papers and unreleased music (Lots 215 and 264) Among the wealth of Marc Bolan and T. Rex memorabilia is an unreleased test pressing of Hard on Love, a 1972 album that was never released (Lot 215). 'Hard on Love was going to be released but Marc Bolan didn't like how it sounded. It was going to be a fan club release but it never made it. John Peel at the time was good friends with Marc Bolan so he obviously got a copy,' says Fairweather. The album, which features tracks produced by future Wham! manager Simon Napier-Bell, would later be released in 1974 as The Beginning of Doves (it was later withdrawn as Bolan still wasn't happy with its release by Track Records). Lot 264 is a Pye acetate of Hard on Love, and comes with legal papers from the High Court detailing Bolan's efforts to stop it being released. This is next-level memorabilia for Bolan fans. Estimates: £1,000-£1,500 (Lot 215) and £1,500-£2,000 (Lot 264) 2. Bob Dylan – The Basement Tapes Sessions acetates (Lot 266) A gem for Bobcats. The auction includes two single-sided Emidisc acetates of Dylan's Basement Tapes Sessions. Recorded in 1967 and 1968 but not released until 1975, these sessions were famously recorded at Dylan's house in Woodstock and then in the basement of Big Pink, the house with the pink wall that was rented by Band member Rick Danko. 'Any acetates for these classic albums are always scarce and very much desirable by collectors. The nature of an acetate is that they are pressed up before going to vinyl for the artist of producer to listen to and check that it sounds as it should,' says Fairweather. 'Probably only a handful, less than five normally, acetates would be pressed up. So for a Dylan collector it's gold, really.' Estimate: £2,000-£3,000 1. John Lennon – signed copy of 1969 studio album (Lot 428) Lennon and Yoko Ono's avant-garde 1969 album Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions failed to chart in the UK, selling just 5,000 copies (it did far better in America, shifting 60,000 copies). Just four months later, The Beatles – still a going concern – would release Abbey Road. But Peel's copy of Unfinished Music is special: it comes with a note and doodle from Lennon on its inner sleeve. 'To John the Peel, love John and Yoko,' Lennon wrote. The lot also contains a 1970 dollar bill from the so-called Spring Offensive to End the Vietnam War, which Lennon and Ono were involved with. 'It's so personal to John Peel. 'Love John and Yoko' with the little sketches on there as well. It may not be considered a classic album, but it's just the fact that it was gifted to John by them,' says Fairweather. 'It's a great piece linking John's career into that of John and Yoko.' Estimate: £5,000-£7,000 The John Peel Collection auction begins on July 29 at 10am;
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
🎧 'Amorim is same old moody'
A new episode of The Devils' Advocate is available to listen to and download now on BBC Drinkwater and Joe McGrath discuss United's time so far in the USA and celebrate England's Euro 2025 win with The Athletic's Cerys Jones. Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Jade Thirlwall makes history at BBC Proms as she pays tearful tribute to North East icon
Former Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall put on a show to remember as she returned back to her North East roots to make BBC Proms history Jade Thirlwall made an emotional return to her native North East with a powerful and intimate performance for BBC Proms. The former Little Mix star, 32, admitted she had gone "full circle" as she took to the stage at Gateshead's exquisite venue, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, on Friday night. It marked the South Shields star's first welcome home as a solo artist over a decade after catapulting to fame after her X Factor success. And the show she put on for her adoring fans was nothing short of spectacular. After being introduced to the stage by Radio 1's Greg James, Jade gave the crowd a show to remember on the history-making occasion. Accompanied throughout by the immensely talented Royal Northern Sonfonia, who were superbly orchestrated by Robert Ames, Jade's tunes had an added twist to them. She mixed things up with an entertaining blend of her own songs, beautiful covers and medleys to boot. Oh, and of course one of her favourite Little Mix numbers, too, which was made all the more special to her thanks to the orchestra. The venue on the banks of the River Tyne provided the perfect backdrop for Jade's powerful vocals to reverberate. AS well as her own huge tracks such as Plastic Box, FUFN, and Angel of My Dreams, the talented vocalist impressed with covered songs that meant a lot to her. After starting with Madonna's Frozen, she then treated the crowd one of her top three Little Mix numbers. Expressing how she had "waited years for this moment" she belted out Sweet Melody with the backing help of the sinfonia. Perhaps the performance of the night soon followed, though, before she dedicated a Clubland medley to her brother Karl, who was in attendance. Paying tribute to the "King of the North," Jade produced a flawless and spine tingling performance of Sam Fender's Remember My Name. The emotional number had fans in tears before Jade teared up while explaining the sentimental meaning behind her choice. With her voice breaking, she revealed the song had been played at a friend's funeral just weeks ago. The candid confession was met with huge support from the crowd, some of who shouted out to gush over their "Angel of the North". In between the tunes, Jade continued to shower praise on her north east roots at every given opportunity - including her love of homemade mince and dumplings. And the down to earth interactions saw her happily respond to outbursts of adoration from the crowd as she sipped on her tea. And she also had time for one last surprise at the end of the night - but insisted phones were put away to treasure the moment and keep the surprise in tact. Let's just say fans are in for a real treat! While the concert was being broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 on the night and will go out again on BBC Radio 1 on Sunday, it marked the first time the Proms had been filmed for television outside of London. The occasion on the night began with those in the bar area treated to an upbeat DJ set by DJ Becky Woodcock, before Middlesbrough's Finn Forster impressed with a warm-up performance on stage. Showcasing his vocal talents, Finn wouldn't have looked out of place headlining his own show on the night, with his dulcet tones and clever songwriting gripping the audience with his stripped back acoustic performance. But it was far from the only occasion on offer for the Proms in the region. The night marked four days of live music across the North East for the BBC Proms. Special performances, including Jade's, reflect on a region on the rise musically and culturally at the Glasshouse in Gateshead. And there was also a first as newly crowned Music City Sunderland also held its very first BBC Proms gig at The Fire Station on Thursday. Tonight, however, reinforced Jade's hugely powerful vocal range as she dominated the solo performance and had those watching in the palm of her hands. A fiercely passionate display that peeled back the layers to show an artist proudly returning to her roots. And she also found the time to urge the powers that be to ensure funding is available for the arts on a stage she first graced as a novice aged 15.
