The Sigla Blog

Last night, in a slightly camp, dimly-lit room with metal walls, the last Mystery Train was playing out with sign-off themes and farewell narratives. In the studio, John Kelly was upbeat but ruminative. Bono rang for a chat. Elvis Costello also called and castigated the powers that be for their bad decision in axing the show. A bodhran skin was passed around for people to sign and still everyone wondered why such a quality show was being relegated to the annals. There was much speculation about the final artist, the final song and some folk made money by betting on Johnny Cash doing We’ll Meet Again.

By 10.30, John arrived, looking genuinely overwhelmed at everyone waiting to raise a glass and say “Job well done”. There was talk of never letting music die, or we’re all dead. Thankfully Mr. Kelly’s radio hiatus will be a short one. He returns in October to host a new afternoon show from 2pm to 4.30pm on Lyric. As he says himself, he’ll be able to bring much of Mystery Train’s music with him, but he won’t be playing The White Stripes.

In the interim, as we lament the absence of good music shows, an interesting offering starts on RTE Radio 1 this Sunday. Interpretations will examine how music adopts a newness when it’s reinterpreted. Whether it’s performed live, or by different artists, is a song meant to be a constant, or something malleable to be shaped by whoever feels the urge to? The show will also look at the difference between a cover version and reinterpretation.

It kicks off on Sunday with singer Camille O’Sullivan discussing various takes on Kurt Weill’s Mack the Knife and there will be four further shows looking at Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Nina Simone’s classic Summertime and Bach’s Goldberg Variations. I’ll be contributing to one of the shows discussing Radiohead’s Exit Music For a Film (it was relief to return to OK Computer - I’d forgotten how damn good it is - after the crests and troughs of Eraser).

Interpretations starts on Sunday July 16th at 21.45pm. More details here: