"Actor: John Cooper Clarke"

• The Old Grey Whistle Test -- Two Disc Set | DVD | (17/09/2001) from £9.35   |  Saving you £15.64 (167.27%)   |  RRP £24.99

  For better and for worse, The Old Grey Whistle Test was probably the most resolutely serious music programme ever broadcast on television. During its 16-year run it showcased only the most earnest exponents of whichever musical style was currently popular, and given that the programme's heyday coincided with the early 70s, some of the footage included here will provide mirth as exquisite as only unintentional comedy can. The absurd prog noodlings of The Edgar Winter Group and the belief-beggaringly awful Focus now seem as unfathomable in retrospect as trench warfare or child labour. However, the good stuff collected here is very good, both in terms of performance (Tom Petty snarling "American Girl", a pre-irony U2 whooping up "I Will Follow") and historical interest, notably a shockingly youthful Elton John crooning "Tiny Dancer" and reminding us, in the process, of a time when he was regarded as a cool and hip singer-songwriter, rather than understudy to the Queen Mother. --Andrew Mueller On the DVD: Wonderful performances all captured in remarkably pristine picture and extraordinarily vivid sound, regardless of vintage (it doesn't even crackle during "Hocus Pocus"!). However, the menu is pretty clunky and won't allow direct access to the individual songs (other than selecting the "Random play" option). Instead, you can only jump into the programme year by year, not song by song. The track listing itself is unhelpfully hidden behind the discs in the gatefold packaging. --Mark Walker

• Great Noises That Fill The Air (2-Disc DVD) | DVD | (16/08/2021) from £15.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  From the streets of Brixton, Bristol and Manchester, to junk yards, punk venues and inner-city community centres, the rich backdrop and background to each artist and performer is evocatively captured as they develop and hone their practices, challenging social boundaries as they go. In Dread Beat and Blood, directed by Franco Rosso (Babylon), the dub poet master Linton Kwesi-Johnson uses his poetry as a weapon in the pursuit of justice against racism and violence. His contemporary John Cooper Clarke presents a despairing hymn to urban devastation and human causalities of the Thatcher era in Ten Years in An Open Necked Shirt. From jazz to contemporary composition, tape experiments, spoken word, rap and innovative DJ excellence, the styles and approaches vary; and so to do the manner of each film. By turns poetic and impressionistic, personal and experimental, these bold, unusual works highlight the wide-ranging, inspiring potential of documentary.

• The Old Grey Whistle Test 2 | DVD | (13/10/2003) from £7.07   |  Saving you £12.92 (182.74%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In some ways The Old Grey Whistle Test Volume 2 is more interesting than its predecessor, as it covers the show's enjoyably uncomfortable period of transition from beard-rock to punk/new wave. Hence, the music ranges across the likes of Loggins and Messina (the frightful "The House at Pooh Corner"), the Who, Judee Sill, Argent (doing "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You", which all Bill and Ted fans probably think is a Kiss original), Roy Harper, the Adverts, the Undertones (not playing "Teenage Kicks", sadly), Patti Smith and Siouxie and the Banshees. There's also some arty stuff that doesn't really fit into either camp, including Kevin Ayers and Roxy Music at their uncommercially weirdest. There are a few nicely revelatory moments, too, such as the realisation that Thomas Dolby's "Hyperactive" was in fact a nu-jazz masterpiece born 20 years too soon and that Robbie Williams should cover Aztec Camera's wonderful "Walk Out to Winter" immediately. This is an enjoyable and diverse collection of music from a fairly fraught period in the history of more-or-less popular music, so it's good to be reminded just how much good stuff was actually happening amidst the melée. On the DVD: The Old Grey Whistle Test 2 comes on only one disc (the first was a two-disc set), but you still get 30 or so excellent tracks plus all the trimmings, so that's hardly a fault. The layout features the same kind of horribly overdesigned menus as its predecessor: there's no obvious chapter sub-menu, believe it or not; instead, you have to access individual tracks through the artists' gallery in the extras section! Aargh! Other extras include contributor profiles, additional linking material and the wonderful Old Grey Squirrel Test animation, which mere words would only spoil for those who have yet to see it. --Roger Thomas

• John Cooper Clarke - South of the Border: Live from London's South Bank | DVD | (01/04/2013) from £20.23   |  Saving you £-9.24 (N/A%)   |  RRP £10.99

  'John Cooper Clark is unique; a performance poet whose elongated pipe-cleaner physique is as distinctive as his machine gun-patter delivery, he straddles music, stand-up and literature like no one else.' - Daily Mail Live from London's South Bank the legend that is John Cooper Clarke brings to you a blistering performance of his own unique mix of hilarious comedy and insightful poetry. In a dynamite sell-out turn filmed at the Queen Elizabeth II Hall at London's South Bank, JCC performs a stack of poems old and new including, Beasley Street, Hire Car, Attack Of The 50ft Woman, Things Are Gonna Get Worse and many more. Along with his own brand of comedy John delivers a hilarious night to remember.

• Golden Saddles And Silver Spurs - The Story Of Movie Westerns | DVD | (21/11/2005) from £3.99   |  Saving you £2.00 (50.13%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Out of a cloud of dust and across the silver screen...the American West came to life in the movies. From the very beginning audiences came to love the 'old West' even though the movies did not always represent the 'real west'. Cowboys and Indians good guys and bad guys - it was and remains one of the most popular film genres ever even though the heyday of the Western has long passed. This is the story of the early western movie pioneers. Among those featured John Wayne Tom Mix Randolph Scott Gary Cooper Clarke Gable and many many more! Features chapter points for easy scene selection.