dunno if any of you have come across this new series on the BBC yet? It is the third one in the Britannia collection (the first two being Jazz Britannia and the sublime Folk Britannia)

Telling the story of the British soul scene was always going to be such a tough call. There is no real linear development to tell a straightforward story, more a mish mash of british blues kids checking and copying their american heroes... That was how it started at least, and that story comes across well in the first episode (broadcast last friday), which concentrated on the birth of british soul - straight out of the melding of three important factors. They were, the white working class mods and r and b fans, the US servicemen stationed in this country who brought records with them and the growing confidence of the British West Indian community. These three groups met and melded into a new scene and style which in turn gave birth to the next generation of soulboys and soul performers.

Part two (broadcast by BBC 4 this friday) takes the story from the mid 70s through to the 80s - from The Average White Band, through the Real Thing, soulboys to Kevin Rowland and I for one am looking forward to it immensely.

Try and check it out, because I was interviewed for the third programme and cant for the life of me remember what I said