'Reasonably enjoyable'

Well, we managed to get a lot of press coverage for our R2 documentary in the end. The show was mentioned, in some capacity, in every major broadsheet, and was singled out as a Pick of the Day in most of them. It was also a RT Choice in the Radio Times. The reviews are also in and, well, they're mixed to say the least. A couple of positive ones, which obviously we'll keep and show to everyone, quite a few that mention the show and specific aspects, but don't really say if they loved or hated it, and a few that are very harsh. Two of which were by women. Not sure if that means anything. This one was from Elizabeth Mahoney in The Guardian

Earth, Wind for Hire (Radio 2), presented by Bill Bailey, takes a long look at tribute bands. It's more of a stare, really, an intense scrutiny lasting four weeks. I know it's summer and the schedules are all a bit empty, but really: four weeks? This could have sat very happily as a one-off documentary, not feeling quite so overstretched. Still, there were some fine moments, mostly in the playful names of tribute bands - my favourite was Once More Into the Bleach, a Blondie emulation - and the jocular mood of postmodern tomfoolery characterising some acts. The Bootleg Beatles once performed Imagine, breaking off so that the fake John Lennon could tell the crowd, "I can't play that - I haven't written it yet." Then there was a stage-door man advising someone asking for Nick Dagger, the lead singer of the Counterfeit Stones: "Now, you do know it's not the real Nick Dagger, don't you?" Bill Bailey's delivery of the script was, disappointingly, a bit wooden, apart from the obvious funny lines. Perhaps it was the thought of three more programmes.

Now, this piece strikes me as a bit odd. It seems to be criticising the fact that this is a four-part documentary, obviously feeling that tribute bands shouldn't warrant such in-depth treatment, but then only reviews the first part. I have no idea if she's heard any of the other shows, but it does seem strange to pour scorn over a series for being too long, but then only mention the first bit. It's like saying I read 'Genesis' and there's like loads more books in there which I haven't read, but this Bible thing's a bit overstretched in my view.

Weird. Particularly when she admits that there were 'some fine moments' in it after all. Well, did you like it or not woman? Have a go at the way Bill reads the script if you must, but let's have a bit of consistency. Reviews like this are so irritating. And then there was this one from everyone's tenth favourite Newsnight Review contributor Miranda Sawyer in The Observer, which is part of a longer rant about the state of R2 documentaries...

Earth, Wind, For Hire, the tribute bands doc, was a case in point. What a hilarious and intriguing topic and what a dull, dull programme. Perhaps it's because Radio 2, for some reason, has decided to stretch the subject over four half-hours rather than the more obvious single hour, but the programme sounded laboured from the start. Bill Bailey, a funny, lively man, must have been given the script late. It's the only excuse for an introduction that intoned: 'We'll be examining why they do what they do and discovering just what it takes to do it well and how they carve out a niche for themselves in what's become an increasingly crowded market.' What is this? A power-point presentation to napping marketing executives? Come on. We're talking tribute bands. Comedy gold, surely?

The problem we seem to encounter with some of these reviewers is whenever you mention Tribute Bands, people think it's just gonna be half an hour of funny names and taking the piss. Indeed, 'funny names' are often the first thing people mention. I started a thread on a website recently to promote the show, and within a couple of posts people were simply posting names of tribute bands (the same was true on the R2 message board). The fact is, these shows were always designed to be something a bit less frivolous. We could quite easily have spent a couple of minutes having Bill simply reel off a list of tribute band names (which is pretty much what Andrew Collins did in his slightly sneering 'Send in the Clones' R4 show from last year) and generally ridicule and belittle everyone, but that's neither fair nor true. These are music based documentaries that seek to celebrate just how good many tribute musicians are. Go and see The Bootleg Beatles. Yes, you'll have fun, yes you'll laugh along with the postmodern quips and pastiche of it all, but most of all you'll come away saying how good they were. Of course we play up the humour as and when we feel it's required, but you're not gonna get very far on R2 if that's all you do. Unfortunately, some people just can't see past that.

We realise, all of this has been a very sharp learning curve for us. Our first music documentary. We were specifically told not to 'funny it up' too much, for various reasons, but we were always adamant that we wouldn't simply take the mick. It's true that we would have loved Bill to have been more involved, and I'm sure the show would have been stronger as a result, but we have to accept that in the end he read the script as if it were just another voiceover gig. That's the problem - certain criticisms are all the harder to take when there's a grain of truth to them.