Blue Jam
Blue Jam was an ambient radio comedy programme created and directed by Chris Morris. It aired on BBC Radio 1 in the early hours of the morning from 1997 to 1999.
The programme gained cult status due to its unique mix of surreal monologue, music, synthesised voices, heavily edited broadcasts and recurring sketches. It featured the vocal talents of Kevin Eldon, Julia Davis, Mark Heap, David Cann and Amelia Bullmore. Morris himself delivered disturbing monologues, one of which was revamped and made into the BAFTA-winning short film, My Wrongs #8245–8249 & 117.
Writers who contributed to the programme included Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathews, Peter Baynham, David Quantick, Jane Bussmann, Robert Katz and the cast.
Format and style
Each episode opened (and closed) with a short spoken introduction (delivered by Morris) describing, in surreal, broken language, various bizarre feelings and situations, set to ambient music interspersed with short clips of other songs.
Common recurring sketches
- Doctor (played by David Cann): "The Doctor" is a seemingly "normal" physician working in a standard British medical practice. However, he has a habit of treating his patients in bizarre and often disturbing ways, such as prescribing heroin for a cold, making a man with a headache jump up and down in order to make his penis swing (while mirroring the patient's bewildered jumping himself) and making a patient leave and go into the next room so he can examine him over the telephone. His name is revealed to be Michael Perlin in several sketches.
- The Monologue Man (played by Chris Morris): Short stories, often up to 10 minutes in length, written from the perspective of a lonely and socially inept man. Invariably involving the man's acquaintance 'Susie', but in different capacities each time, Morris paints a picture of insanity with sober and reasonable clarity.
- Michael Alexander St. John: A parody of hyperbolic and pun-laden radio presenting, St. John presents items such as the top 10 singles charts and the weekend's gigs.
- Monged Sex: Short clips of two lovers (Julia Davis and Kevin Eldon) making increasingly bizarre erotic requests of one another, such as to "shit your leg off" and "make your spunk come out green".
- The Interviewer (played by Chris Morris): conducting real interviews with celebrities such as Andrew Morton and Jerry Springer, Morris confuses and mocks his subjects with ambiguous and odd questions.
- Mr. Ventham (played by Mark Heap): An extremely awkward man who requires one-to-one consultations with what seems to be his psychologist for the most banal of matters.
Radio stings
Morris included a series of 'radio stings', bizarre sequences of sounds and prose as a parody of modern DJs' own soundbites and self-advertising pieces. Each one revolves around a contemporary DJ, such as Chris Moyles, Jo Whiley and Mark Goodier.
Broadcasts
All episodes were originally broadcast on BBC Radio 1 between November 1997 to February 1999. Original broadcasts per series, one episode per week, with each having six episodes:
- Series 1 – (Fridays) 14 November 1997 to 19 December 1997, from 12:00 to 01:00.
- Series 2 – (Fridays) 27 March 1998 to 1 May 1998, from 01:00 to 02:00.
- Series 3 – (Thursdays) 21 January 1999 to 25 February 1999, from 12:00 to 01:00.
The first five episodes of series 1 of Blue Jam were repeated by BBC Radio 4 Extra in February and March 2014, and series 2 was rebroadcast in December.[1]
Episodes
(to come)
Series 1
Series 1 - Episode 1 - "ee arth welcome"
intro
Apollo 440 - "Electro Glide in Blue" - (monologue: The Gun & The Gibbon)
Barry Adamson - "Something Wicked This Way Comes" - (Doctor #1: Kiss)
Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot - "Bonnie & Clyde"
DJ Sting: Steve Lamaqc
Eels - "Beautiful Freak" - (Baby Fighting)
Unknown Track - (Interview: LWT Viewer)
Baby Fox - "Rain"
(Newsbeat!)
DJ Sting: Jo Whiley & Mark Goodier
Björk - "Isobel" - (Doctor #2: Kiss 4)
Ivor Cutler - "My Disposition” & R.E.M. - "Tongue"
David Byrne - "Finite=Alright"
Bomb The Bass - "Somewhere" - (C***s Of Gold)
Massive Attack - "Be Thankful For What You've Got"
Chemical Brothers - "The Private Psychedelic Reel" - (Doctor #3: Throat)
Stereolab - "Cybele's Reverie"
outro
Unknown Artist - "Everything Is Fine In Heaven" (Eraserhead Soundtrack)
Series 1 - Episode 2 - "oo ab welcome"
intro
DJ Shadow - "Long Stem" - (Doctor #4: Doc Joke)
The Cardigans - "Celia Inside" - (Weird Genital Transplants (x2): Baby & Duck)
DJ Sting: Simon Mayo
Olive - "Miracle" - (monologue: Swimming Pool Party) (also features a looped snippet of Alessi Brothers - "Oh Lori" at the end)
Coco And The Bean - "Versus The 90s"
Naked Funk - "Dreamland” - (Acupuncture = Crucifixion)
Elton John - "Candle In The Wind '97" - (Bernie Taupin Dream)
Sly And The Family Stone - "Babies Makin' Babies"
DJ Sting: Mary Anne Hobbs
(features samples of Nik Kershaw - "The Riddle" & "Wouldn't It Be Good")
Aphex Twin - "Rhubarb" - (Newsreader Nutrition Rant)
D'Angelo - "Brown Sugar" - (Bad Sex #1)
Olive - "Miracle" - (monologue: Art Installation)
Alessi Brothers - "Oh Lori"
DJ Sting: Steve Lamaqc
DJ Shadow - "Long Stem" - (Doctor #5: Doc Joke 2)
Plaid - "Rakimou"
outro
Series 1 - Episode 3 - "oo mug welcome"
intro
Dimitri From Paris - "Monsieur Dimitri Joue Du Stylophone" - (Payrise #1)
Baby Fox - "In Your Dreams" - (Doctor #6: Nice Knee)
Les Rythmes Digitales - "Kontakte" (unconfirmed) - (Swimming Builder)
Morcheeba - "Never An Easy Way"
Thomas Dolby - "Screen Kiss" - (Doctor #7: Pulled Tendon)
Spearhead - "People In Tha Middle"
DJ Sting: Steve Lamaqc
Moodswings - "The Great Sound Of Letting Go" - (monologue: Identity Parade)
Rolling Stones - "Fool To Cry" - (Payrise #2)
Jimi Tenor - "Outta Space"
Barry Adamson - "Miles" & "It's Business As Usual" - (DIY Gun Robbery)
Ambisonic - "Helicopter Kinda Girl"
DJ Sting: Simon Mayo
Dimitri From Paris - "Monsieur Dimitri Joue Du Stylophone"
Prefab Sprout - "Electric Guitars", The Teardrop Explodes - "Tiny Children"
and Dubstar - "Stars" - (Unflustered Parents)
outro
Series 1 - Episode 4 - "oo voof welcome"
intro
Labradford - "P" - (Doctor #8: Diagnosis By Telephone)
Chemical Brothers & Beth Orton - "Where Do I Begin?"
DJ Sting: Steve Lamaqc
Propellerheads - "Go Faster" - (Angry Man: 4 ft Car)
Moloko - "Day For Night" - (Pop Group Manager)
Beach Boys - "Surf's Up" (instrumental) - (monologue: The Actress & The Elephant)
Mulu - "Desire"
DJ Sting: Jo Whiley & Mark Goodier
Chris Morris / Adrian Sutton - (Michael Alexander St. John: Dance Chart)
John Lennon - "Dream #9"
The Williams Fairey Brass Band - "Pacific 202" - (Stomach Gun)
Finley Quaye - "Even After All"
Goldie - "Timeless: Inner City Life" - (Mr Bentham: Directory Enquiries)
Björk - "Jöga"
DJ Sting: Mary Anne Hobbs
William Orbit - "The Story Of Light" - (Landlord Monologue / Bad Sex #2)
Dance Chart outtake)
outro
Beth Orton - "Best Bit"
Series 1 - Episode 5 - "voo vak welcome"
intro
Tricky - "Overcome" - (Kids' Party: Ping Pong Trick Girl)
Common – “Reminding Me (Of Sef)”
DJ Sting: Steve Lamaqc
Sie - "Ruban D'Alpha" - (Doctor #9: Ugly Patient)
Morcheeba - "Moog Island" - (Dodgy Lawyer #1)
Moby - "Everything Is Wrong" - (monologue: Theatre Job)
Apollo 440 - "Stealth Mass In F#m" - (Bad Sex #3)
Beck - "Beercan"
Velvet Underground - "I'll Be Your Mirror" - (Reluctant Newsagent)
DJ Food - "Turtle Soup (Wagon Christ Mix)" - (Child Abduction Helpline)
Portishead - "Sour Times"
Air - "Soldissimo" - (Interview: Andrew Morton)
Olive - "Miracle" - (Dodgy Lawyer #2)
Etienne De Crecy - "Prix Choc" - (Dodgy Lawyer #3)
The Divine Comedy - "Ten Seconds To Midnight"
outro
(Andrew Morton Reprise)
Series 1 - Episode 6 - "oo vudge welcome"
intro
Unknown Track - (Weird Genital Transplants: Little Girl Balls)
Everything But The Girl - "Missing"
Massive Attack - "Weather Storm" - (Doctor #10: Doc Paranoid)
Baby Fox - "Curlylocks"
Soul Coughing - "Screenwriter's Blues" - (Archbishop Speech Edit)
[ fade out to Episode 1 - Serge Gainsbourg, etc... ]
Derivative shows
Blue Jam was later made for television and broadcast on Channel 4 as Jam. It utilised unusual editing techniques to achieve an unnerving ambience in keeping with the radio show. Many of the sketches were lifted from the radio version, even to the extent of simply setting images to the radio soundtrack. A subsequent "re-mixed" airing, called Jaaaaam was even more extreme in its use of post-production gadgetry, often heavily distorting the footage.
In place of closing credits the show had the website address of jamcredits.com
Blue Jam shares parallels with early editions of a US public radio show Work in Progress from the mid-1980s, that Joe Frank did on the NPR affiliate station, KCRW, in Santa Monica, California.
Blue Jam CD
A CD of some of the best Blue Jam sketches was released on 23 October 2000 on Warp Records. Although the CD claims to have 22 tracks, the last one, "www.bishopslips.com," is a reference to the "Bishopslips" sketch. Most of the sketches on the CD were remade for Jam.
CD tracks
- Blue Jam Intro
- Doc Phone
- Lamacq sting
- 4 ft Car
- Suicide Journalist
- Acupuncture
- Bad Sex
- Mayo Sting
- Unflustered Parents
- Moyles Sting
- TV Lizards
- Doc Cock
- Hobbs Sting
- Morton interview
- Fix It Girl
- Porn
- Kids Party
- Club News
- Whiley Sting
- Little Girl Balls
- Blue Jam Outro
- www.bishopslips.com (not a real track)
References
- ↑ Plunkett, John. "Chris Morris's Blue Jam back after 17 years". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
External links
- Blue Jam on the BBC Comedy site
- Blue Jam at BBC Programmes – series 1 repeats on BBC Radio 4 Extra
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