TAPE: George Michael

TAPE : George Michael

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Rewinding the History of Music

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Dave Grohl is the co-author of only one Nirvana song: Scentless Apprentice, on the 1993 In Utero album. Frontman Kurt Cobain said, "I found it a bit stupid." But since the end of Nirvana, Grohl went on to release ten albums with the Foo Fights, wrote 76 songs and had 9 US hits. Not bad for a once-overlooked drummer.

Foo Fighters

Was Dave Grohl's talent ignored in Nirvana?

Since his birth, Keith Richards has been burning the candle at both ends, and yet he's still fighting fit. He's even survived 2016. Is the Rolling Stones guitarist too rocky for The Reaper? Quite possibly... 

Since his birth, Keith Richards has been burning the candle at both ends, and yet he's still fighting fit

Keith Richards

Satanist texts and bloody imagery are standard fare for Iron Maiden. But at the beginning of the 90s, the US government decided to use them in a road safety campaign. Road deaths fell significantly in the space of a year.

Iron Maiden

All his life, Lou Reed spat in the face of the establishment. Politicians, bigots, the self-righteous… All have drawn the ire of the Velvet Underground founder. But he reserved the worst of his contempt for journalists.

Lou Reed

Austere face, dark looks, tormented psyche: at first glance, Nick Cave is a gothic hero. But the king of indie music and the world of darkness have more of a love/hate relationship.

Nick Cave

The child-star of the Cosby Show, Raven-Symoné signed her first contract by the age of five. In 1993, Raven-Symoné came out with the hit song That's What Little Girls Are Made Of, featuring Miss Elliott - but in the music video, Missy was replaced by an actress. Missy didn't look the part. That was devastating to her... but it didn't stop her rise and rise. 

Missy Elliott

The music industry tried to break Miss Elliott - but she changed the game instead. 

Freddie Mercury and Queen brought Queer culture into the family home in a series of audacious music videos and live performances shown on TV at a time when homosexuality was still taboo in the media.

TAPE: Queen

Sting was an ecologically-conscious yogi hipster before it was even a thing. He's always been fighting for our right to enjoy a better future than the one we are making for ourselves. Perhaps a strange mission for someone with punk musical roots?

Tape

Sting was an ecologically-conscious yogi hipster before it was even a thing

Sting

To accompany the release of their first album in 1967, the Doors send their biographies to the press. The bio of their singer Jim Morrison is worth a second look. Full name: Jim Douglas Morrison. Eye color: blue. Parents: dead. Hmm… Really?

The Doors

Why did Jim Morrison lie to the press about his parents being dead?

1974: ABBA’s victory at the Eurovision Song Contest was a taste of things to come. But a year later, when it was up to Sweden to host the Eurovision, the counterculture mobilised big time. On Channel 1 was the Eurovision and on Channel 2, a rival, parody version of the competition designed to mock ABBA and mainstream music as hopelessly capitalist and try hard.

ABBA

When it was up to Sweden to host the Eurovision, the counterculture mobilised big time in a bid to take down ABBA

Miles Davis made his comeback on the stage of the very prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in 1984. In his tracklist, the trumpeter includes Time After Time, a cover of a slow song by Cyndi Lauper. And that, for jazz purists who considered Miles Davis a living God, was an act of high treason.

Miles Davis

How the God of jazz, Miles Davis, shocked jazz purists

January 20, 1997. Daft Punk released Homework and began their conquest of the planet. But Inrockuptibles music critic Christophe Conte was scathing. 24 years, 6 grammys and 11 million albums sold later, he's had to eat his words. Daft Punk's victory begs the question: what if everything the journalist hated about them was precisely what made the band so successful?

Daft Punk

What if everything that critics hated about Daft Punk was precisely what made the band so successful?

On October 1, 2014, Snoop Dogg made the guests of his Youtube show laugh by attacking Migos and their signature flow. But the Atlanta's technique is nothing new! So what annoys Snoop so much about the Migos rap style?

Migos

What annoys Snoop Dogg so much about the Migos rap style?

Phil Collins is the king of pop who doesn't make waves. Patrick Bateman, the anti-hero of American Psycho. But Bateman is quite the Collins fan... how come?

Phil Collins

Patrick Bateman, the anti-hero of American Psycho, is a Phil Collins fan

At a time when the climate emergency is being felt everywhere, we need to be all hands on deck to solve it. And that includes rock stars. Even Deep Purple might need to get a little green...

Deep Purple

Last year, Lil Nas X drew the ire of  American pastor Greg Locke, who filmed himself reacting to the Montero music video. Lil Nas X broke onto the music scene with his country-rap hit Old Town Road in 2019, but this new song was different. It features inverted pentagrams, devilish cosplay, and a lapdance to Lucifer. What is the meaning of Lil Nas X's satanic twerking?

Lil Nas X

What is the meaning of Lil Nas X's satanic twerking?

United States, Gabon, Bahamas... Serge Gainsbourg wasn't just an artist, he was also a traveller. The wanderings of this icon led him to Jamaica, the Mecca of musical renewal.

United States, Gabon, Bahamas... Serge Gainsbourg wasn't just an artist, he was also a traveller

Serge Gainsbourg

Apple launched its streaming service in 2015, and to celebrate, the company made their customers an offer they couldn't refuse: three months free subscription. The problem: during these three months, the artists streamed will not receive a penny. But that was without reckoning for Taylor Swift, who published an open letter to the firm on her Tumblr detailing why refusing to pay artists for their work was unacceptable. Apple backtracked. 

Taylor Swift

In 2017, Justin Bieber attended the Hillsong Church conference with his pal Carl Lentz, the star pastor of this powerful evangelical church. Thanks to him, and after going through an existential crisis, the pop star said he was finally saved. But their close relationship wasn't to last...

Justin Bieber was close to star pastor Carl Lentz, member of a powerful evangelical church

Justin Bieber

At first glance, nothing connects Lil Wayne to Donald Trump: one is an African-American rapper from the poor neighborhoods of New Orleans, the other a rich white heir turned President of the United States. And yet without Donald Trump, Lil Wayne could have gone to prison for up to a decade. TAPE tells you all about this surprising relationship.

Lil Wayne

Without Donald Trump, Lil Wayne could have gone to prison for over a decade

Elvis Presley had a bone to pick with the Beatles. Their worlds couldn't have been more different. TAPE analyses the tensions between the icon of the 50s and the band of the hippie generation.

Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley had a bone to pick with the Beatles

July 4, 2020. To pay tribute to the doctors on the frontlines of COVID-19, the Japanese consul in New York, Kanji Yamanouchi, performed a Jimi Hendrix-style rendition of the American national anthem. 50 years after his death, the artist has become the patron saint of all apprentice guitarists in the world.

Jimi Hendrix

What if guitar enthusiasts who love Jimi Hendrix have got the wrong end of the stick?

In 1998, Johnny Cash received the Grammy Award for best album of the year. But that only came after a decade of being shunned by the industry and his peers in Nashville. 

Johnny Cash won a Grammy but only after a decade of being given the cold shoulder

Johnny Cash

August 19, 2014. Nicki Minaj releases the music video for Anaconda. The message is clear: down with the dictatorship of skinny pop stars and make way for XXL shapes and XXX speech. Provocative? Maybe. Feminist? Definitely.

Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj says down with the dictatorship of skinny pop stars, and make way for XXL shapes and XXX speech

Flavor Flav, a liability or a bankable asset for Public Enemy? There's an ideological chasm that separates the MC from the rest of the group. TAPE investigates.

Public Enemy

Flavor Flav, a liability or a bankable asset for Public Enemy?

Incredible but true: Dexter Holland, the frontman of The Offspring, has a doctorate in molecular biology. But a punk researcher in hard sciences isn't such a rare breed after all...

The Offspring

Incredible but true: Dexter Holland, the frontman of The Offspring, has a doctorate in molecular biology.

Drake gives us a little crash course in humanitainment. The Canadian rapper has a knack for helping his neighbour… when the cameras just so happen to be rolling. These publicity stunts see the artist make money on the backs of people in need.

Drake

These publicity stunts see the artist make money on the backs of people in need

The number one rule of being a gangster? You never, ever rat out your friends. And yet that's exactly what Tekashi 69 did when he betrayed the Nine Tray Bloods. The entire world of hip hop turned its back on him, and he even got death threats.

The number one rule of being a gangster? You never, ever rat out your friends...

Tekashi 69

Wanting to smell like a slut doused in blood and sperm, and having a polite meeting the Dalai Lama may sound like contradictions. But they're just different sides of the same coin when it comes to Lady Gaga. She speaks out on behalf of the voiceless, insists on expressing herself and her strangeness. 

 Lady Gaga speaks out on behalf of the voiceless, and insists on expressing herself and her strangeness

Lady Gaga

Bono is on a mission to make the world a better place, from charity fundraisers, meetings with the Pope and humanitarian trips... Bono is rock's Mother Teresa. But can celebrities save the world?

In the track Godzilla, Eminem hits a record-breaking 7.46 words per second: listening to him is like being hit with a wall of words. But breaking and making records is just a part of Eminem's MO.

Breaking and making records is just a part of Eminem's MO

Eminem

At a party organized by GQ magazine, Noel Gallagher admitted it: the Oasis secret sauce for success is good old-fashioned plagiarism. How did the greatest rock band of all time manage to copy all the other greatest rock bands of all time - and get away with it?

At a party organized by GQ magazine, Noel Gallagher admitted it: the Oasis secret sauce for success is good old-fashioned plagiarism

Oasis

When Cardi B won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album of the Year 2019, haters around the world piled on to her; saying she didn't deserve it and that she was a bimbo. The backslash was so bad that Cardi B temporarily left the platform. 

When Cardi B won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album of the Year 2019, haters around the world piled on to her

Cardi B

On December 25, 2006, the whole of America went into mourning: James Brown was dead. His funeral was of an opulence that matched his luxe, zany life, with a solid gold coffin and a stadium full of mourners.

James Brown's funeral was of an opulence that matched his luxe, zany life

James Brown

Thanks to her 1994 smash hit 'All I Want for Christmas is You', Mariah Carey is almost as Christmassy as Santa himself. The diva has managed to not only storm the charts but turn Christmas into her very own money-making machine.

Thanks to her 1994 smash hit 'All I Want for Christmas is You', Mariah Carey is almost as Christmassy as Santa himself

Mariah Carey

TAPE - Rewinding the History of Music

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Back in the early 1990s Madonna’s provocative sexual persona was seen as a threat to the Catholic Church.

Madonna

Radiohead has had a 25-year career, sold 30 million albums and won 3 Grammy Awards. Rolling Stone magazine declared their 4th album, Kid A, the best album of the decade. But each new album is a global event. What is their secret to longevity?

Radiohead has had a 25-year career, sold 30 million albums and won 3 Grammy Awards

TAPE: Radiohead

The trio led by Matthew Bellamy is one of the most explosive and creative forces in rock music over the past two decades. There is no one else quite like Muse. Be impressed by their committed performance at Berlin’s Tempelhof Sounds Festival.

Tempelhof Sounds 2022

 There is no one else quite like Muse. Be impressed by their committed performance at Berlin’s Tempelhof Sounds Festival.

Muse

After fifteen years with the White Stripes and The Raconteurs, Jack White started his solo career in 2012. 2022 marks a milestone for the Detroit-born artist with the release of two new albums: Fear of Dawn and Entering Heaven Alive. White is live in Paris at the legendary venue, the Olympia.

The White Stripes star is live in Paris to perform Fear of Dawn and Entering Heaven Alive.

Jack White at the Paris Olympia

The Days Off festival invites former Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker to revisit classic French pop songs from the 1960s, tracks immortalised in the Wes Anderson film, The French Dispatch.
Live from the Philharmonie de Paris, 2 July 2022.

Days Off 2022

Former Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker revisits classic French pop songs from the 1960s, tracks immortalised in the Wes Anderson film, The French Dispatch.
Live from the Philharmonie de Paris, 2 July 2022.

Jarvis Cocker

To celebrate 50 years of French radio station FIP, Sting gives a special performance in the monumental surroundings of the Pantheon in Paris.

50 Years of FIP Radio

Sting at the Pantheon in Paris

American indie rocker and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird goes symphonic with the Orchestre National de Lyon.

Nuits de Fourvière 2022

Andrew Bird and the Orchestre National de Lyon

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One hundred years ago, on February 2nd 1922, James Joyce’s Ulysses was published by Sylvia Beach in a small bookshop in Paris. The book, which consumed 7 years of Joyce’s life, years in which his family’s circumstances were very difficult, would have a profound and unprecedented impact on the literature and culture of the century to follow. 

Though Ulysses was banned initially in the US and UK, Joyce’s epic was soon celebrated as a masterpiece of modernism.

100 Years of Ulysses

Kitschy trash or misunderstood genius? Italo disco was the euro sound of the 1980s that many loved and many hated. This documentary looks at how big names of the genre like Sabrina Salerno and duo Righeira conquered the charts.

The Sparkling Sound of the 1980s

Kitschy trash or misunderstood genius? Italo disco was the euro sound of the 1980s that many loved and many hated

Italo Disco

Israeli choreographers Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar present their show Chapter 3: The Brutal Journey of the Heart at Nuits de Fourvière.

Nuits de Fourvière

The Brutal Journey of the Heart by Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar

Young Korean musicians have been taking the world of classical music by storm. A new generation are winning the big prizes and pursuing successful careers in Europe and around the world. What makes these Korean classical artists so good? A documentary following the rising stars of K-Classic

The Korean Musical Mystery

Generation K-Classics

Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong was the most densely populated area on Earth. 33,000 people settled on 2.5 hectares of land that was disputed between Chinese and British - meaning neither country asserted its authority there. This vertical slum was a hotbed of crime, but also full of factories, cheap shops and a strong community. This is a case for Crazy Borders. 

Kowloon: The Lawless Super City

This vertical slum was a hotbed of crime, but also full of factories, cheap shops and a strong community.

Crazy Borders

How can you misplace 80km2 of territory? In Mexico, the island of Bermeja had been on maps for generations. But when it came to actually finding the island... it seemed as if it had disappeared into thin air. And with the loss of Bermeja, Mexico lost a huge windfall of oil revenue in the Gulf of Mexico. This is a case for Crazy Borders. 

The Lost Island of Bermeja

The sea absorbs our carbon emissions, gives us plentiful food, and regulates our climate. A healthy sea is a healthy planet. But we can't stop stripping the sea of resources. Whether through overfishing or deep sea mining, humanity is destroying an ecosystem it can't live without.

Whether through overfishing or deep sea mining, humanity is destroying an ecosystem it can't live without.

Overexploited Oceans

Did you know that the Middle Ages is only a few kilometers off the French coast? A lord and his vassals live peacefully on the island of Sark where cars are not allowed. This is a case for Crazy Borders! 

Sark: A Modern Day Feudal Island

A lord and his vassals live peacefully on the island of Sark where cars are not allowed.

Yousra and Othman live in France, but both have decided to get married in Fez, the birthplace of the bride. Pulling off a huge traditional Moroccan wedding is no mean feat, and both families are hurriedly preparing for the party of a lifetime.

Weddings in Morocco

 Traditional Moroccan weddings are huge, lavish affairs where the bride becomes princess for a day.

Princess for a Day

If a woman gave birth at the top of Mont Blanc, what nationality would the child be? For France, of course, the baby would be French. But not for Italy! The quarrel has been going on since 1860, when the divison of territory at the top of the mountain was unclearly defined... leaving each country to interpret the boundary more or less as they saw fit. This really is a case for Crazy Borders!

Mont Blanc: A High Altitude Dispute

If a woman gave birth at the top of Mont Blanc, what nationality would the child be?

Planting trees against climate change: Ireland is reforesting its territory by growing spruces. But it's not just about being green, it's about profit. Wood is a big business... much to the displeasure of local environmental activists who want Ireland's forestry policy changed. 

Growing trees to be harvested for wood is big business - but what are the environmental ramifications? 

Re: Money Grows on Trees

Peatlands contain more carbon than all the ground vegetation combined.
Melting permafrost peatlands can become a major source of greenhouse gas emissions,
and damaged bogs will speed up global warming. If the carbon in the peatlands is released into the atmosphere, it would be an ecological disaster. But if we harness the power of these carbon sinks, we could slow down climate change.

 If the carbon in the peatlands is released into the atmosphere, it would be an ecological disaster.

The Secrets of Bogs

Did you know that the last war between France and Spain took place in the 1970s? It was the war of the stop signs in Llívia, a Spanish town - but in France, in the Pyrenees. This bizarre quirk is due to a treaty signed centuries ago. This really is a case for Crazy Borders! 

Llivia, Between France and Spain

Did you know that the last war between France and Spain took place in the 1970s?

According to the latest calculations by the OECD, South Korean women could live to be over 92 years old on average in 2070, and men over 89. That would be a world record. What's the secret?

South Korea: An Obsession With Health

South Koreans are on track to be the longest-lived people in the world

ARTE Reportage

Can a state in the EU prohibit women from accessing its territory? In the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos women are not allowed in - even tourists - and any woman who enters could be arrested by police. It's a peninsula from another, bygone world and yet benefits from taxpayer funding (including female taxpayers, presumably...).

Mount Athos: Off Limits for Women

Can a state in the EU prohibit women from accessing its territory?

In the town of Baarle, a body of a woman was discovered in a house... but before police could intervene, first authorities had to call a surveyor. Baarle is crisscrossed over with a winding frontier between the Netherlands and Belgium, and police needed to know which country was responsible for investigating the killing. One half of the house was Dutch, the other half was Belgian. This is a case for Crazy Borders! 

Baarle, a Town of Two Nations

A city divided between Belgium and the Netherlands, and scene of a murder? Welcome to Baarle.

Martin Ritter is a German organic farmer, with land in both Germany and Ukraine. All of a sudden, his livelihood is located in a war zone. With the help of the municipality of Ostheim, he decides to send aid to Ukraine and to welcome refugees.

Martin Ritter is a German organic farmer, with land in both Germany and Ukraine. When war broke out, everything changed.

Re: Farming in a War Zone

The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad sits between Lithuania and Poland. Once German East Prussia, it is now home to 1 million Russian citizens. What is life like in this small territory now practically cut off from its EU neighbours since the war in Ukraine began?

Kaliningrad: Putin's Enclave

The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad sits between Lithuania and Poland and is now practically cut off from its EU neighbours since the war in Ukraine began.

The former military base Camp Zeist in the Netherlands was once lent to Scotland. It was where the two men accused of orchestrating the Lockerbie bombings were put on trial. Libyans saw them as unfair victims. Meanwhile bereaved families demanded justice.

A Scottish Court in the Netherlands

The former military base Camp Zeist in the Netherlands was once lent to Scotland for the Lockerbie bombing trial

Did you know that people from Cyprus can cross the border into the UK every day? The British have a sort of autonomous state on the island: the Sovereign Base Areas. This is a case for Crazy Borders.

Dhekelia: Divided Between Cyprus and Britain

Did you know that people from Cyprus can cross the border into the UK every day?

TAPE - Rewinding the History of Music

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TAPE

Foo Fighters

Keith Richards

Keith Richards

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Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden

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TAPE

TAPE

Lou Reed

Nick Cave

Nick Cave

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TAPE

TAPE

Missy Elliott

TAPE: Queen

TAPE: Queen

Sting

Sting

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TAPE: George Michael

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