Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland

Original version

BBC Four

BBC 4

Music: Classic Pop & Rock

A look at the music that came out of different parts of Britain and Ireland in the 80s.

Midge Ure and Kim Appleby explore the distinct sounds that came out of different parts of Britain and Ireland in one of pop's golden decades.

BBC Four HD

Kim Appleby

Midge Ure

James Routh

Sally Townend

Joanne Lees

Bill Bartlett

Paul Riley

Mark Stokes

Jessika Barcynski

Andrew Sheldon

Rick Goodwin

Paul Murray

Joel Gellard

True North Productions

Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland: Series 1: Episode 2

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Episode 2

Series 1

BBC Four - Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland, Series 1, Episode 2

Midge Ure and Kim Appleby explore the sounds that came from Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Midge and Kim explore the American influences that shaped Scottish music, look at the punk and folk backdrop to Irish music and delve into the Welsh merger of folk and punk.

Two 80s icons explore the distinct sounds that came out of different parts of Britain and Ireland in one of pop's golden decades.

Midge Ure, lead singer of Ultravox and one of the men behind Band Aid, and Kim Appleby, who had a string of hits with her sister Mel in the Stock, Aitken and Waterman-produced band Mel and Kim, go on a journey back in time to the 80s to figure out why certain cities produced their own diverse tunes.

It's a fascinating tale. Emerging from the ashes of punk, British and Irish music ripped up the pop rule book in the 80s and topped the charts worldwide. But there was no definitive 'British' pop sound. Innovative chart-toppers were being produced by artists hailing from all over the UK and Ireland.

In this second episode, Midge and Kim explore the sounds that came from Scotland, Ireland and Wales. They start in Glasgow with the American influences that shaped a substantial part of Scottish music, look at the punk and folk backdrop to Irish music and, finally, delve into the Welsh merger of folk and punk.

The show features evocative archive, superb music and interviews with significant figures, like Bob Geldof, Clare Grogan from Altered Images, Pat Kane from Hue and Cry, Moya Brennan of Clannad and Mike Peters from legendary Welsh band The Alarm.

Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Map of Britain and Ireland: Series 1

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