An anthology for October, highlighting some of the month's events in music, theatre, visual arts, books and film.
Introduced by Melvyn Bragg
Among the main events:

The Sound of Brass
This week the Arts Council is discussing a claim for grant aid from the National Youth Brass Band: Second House listens to the-arguments-and the music.
In the studio, the National Championship winners direct from their success at the Royal Albert Hall.

Illusion in Nature and Art
Does the eye see what is real or what the mind tells it to see? How much do we teach it to lie? The ICA in London have set up an exhibition in which scientists and artists have pooled their knowledge to try and answer these questions. Keith Albarn, who has put the exhibition together, will demonstrate some of the classic examples of illusion and how the eye can be deceived.
Introduced by Edwin Mullins

Don McLean
I was a lonely teen-age broncin' buck,
With a pink carnation and a pick-up truck
But I knew I was out of luck The day the music died.
The lyrics of Don McLean's most famous song, 'American Pie,' which sums up the recent history of pop music in America.
At the start of his British tour, Don McLean sings some new songs.

A Long Drawn-out Trip
A cartoon film drawn, devised and directed by Gerald Scarfe: a series of sketches recording Scarfe's personal impressions of Los Angeles on a six-week visit, and featuring many of the best-known American folk heroes, from history, from Hollywood, and from contemporary life.
The Scarfe face mob: pages 3 and 4; Creative loafing: page 4