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BBC Radio 4


Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe take us on a musical journey of discovery, exploring the web of connections between tracks across the breadth of all musical styles, from pop, rock, reggae and hip-hop to classical, jazz, folk and country.


Add to Playlist

How did the greats become the greats? And what did it cost them to get there? Legend is the award-winning music biography series from BBC Radio 4 exploring the lives of pioneering artists who shaped modern music.

In Legend: The Bruce Springsteen Story, we discover how a scrawny, long-haired introvert from New Jersey became the iconic, muscular – and oft-misunderstood – rock star of the 1980s, and ultimately the eloquent elder statesmen he is now. What does his story reveal about America today?

Across the series, Laura Barton takes a front-row seat at five key gigs which illuminate a different side of The Boss. She travels to Asbury Park in 1971 to hear how teenage Bruce began to learn his magic trick at The Upstage Club. She hears about his nerve-wracking London Hammersmith gig in 1975, the electrifying final night of the Born in the U.S.A tour in 1985, and his emotional homecoming show at St Rose of Lima school gym in 1996. Lastly, Laura heads to Milan to witness the final concert of his 2025 Land of Hope and Dreams tour.

Featuring Bruce in his own words across the decades, alongside voices from the E Street Band, devoted fans, biographers, and critics.

Listen first on BBC Sounds.

A BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4
Producer: Eliza Lomas
Sound Design and Original Music: Hannis Brown
Series Developer: Mair Bosworth
Production Coordinator: Stuart Laws
Additional Research: Sarah Goodman
Series Editor: Emma Harding
Commissioning Editors: Daniel Clarke and Matthew Dodd
Assistant Commissioner Podcasts: Will Drysdale

Introducing - Legend: The Bruce Springsteen Story

Musician and songwriter Joe Stilgoe and Oscar-winning composer and arranger Anne Dudley join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add the final five tracks of the series, taking us from calypso to K-pop via Beethoven and Brubeck.

Add to Playlist returns on 14 November.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Calypso Queen by Calypso Rose
Concrete and Clay by Unit 4 + 2
Piano Concerto in G Major: III (Rondo) by Beethoven 
Blue Rondo à la Turk by Dave Brubeck
Gangnam Style by Psy

Other music in this episode:

Disco Inferno by The Trammps
WHO AM I by Berwyn
Abatina by Calypso Rose
I Love to Love by Tina Charles
Rock the Boat by Hues Corporation
Concrete and Clay by Eddie Rambeau
Take Five by Dave Brubeck

Anne Dudley and Joe Stilgoe round off the series

Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and musician and composer Rhodri Marsden join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe as they add five more tracks, with unexpected and surprising connections. The eclectic music choices range from an Americana classic knocked off in just 30 mins to the winner of this year's Ivor Novello Award for Best Album, via a reworking of a Bach organ sonata for piano.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Louie Louie by The Kingsmen
I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
Organ Sonata No.4 movt II (Andante) by Bach, played by Víkingur Ólafsson
My Dearest Dear by Ivor Novello – sung by Mary Ellis
WHO AM I by Berwyn

Other music in this episode:

P.I.M.P. by Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band
Killing Me Softly With His Song by Fugees
El Loco Cha Cha by René Touzet
Louie Louie by Richard Berry
Fly Me To The Moon by Bart Howard, sung by Frank Sinatra
Someone Like You by Adele
Hotel California by The Eagles
It's a Sin by Pet Shop Boys
Organ Sonata No.4 movt II (Andante) by Bach, played by Robert Quinney

Catrin Finch and Rhodri Marsden on absence and resilience

Trombonist, arranger and big band leader Callum Au, and composer, pianist and singer Natalie Duncan, are today's studio guests as they look for unexpected links that connect five disparate tracks. With Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye, they head from an early Adele classic to a reinterpretation of a Roberta Flack hit via a 15-minute reworking by Duke Ellington of one of his most celebrated works.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Chasing Pavements by Adele 
Mood Indigo by Duke Ellington
Tuba mirum by Mozart 
Back Together Again by Roberta Flack, ft Donny Hathaway
Killing Me Softly With His Song by Fugees
 
Other music in this episode:

Krupastrophe by Callum Au & Louis Dowdeswell
Heaven by Emeli Sandé
Sinfonia 'Infernali' from L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi
Killing Me Softly With His Song by Roberta Flack
Empty Chairs by Don McLean

Callum Au and Natalie Duncan and the beauty of brass

Saxophonist and Radio 3 broadcaster Jess Gillam and pianist Keelan Carew are Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe's studio guests as they add the next five tracks, taking us from an east London housing estate to Heaven, via a certain celebrated Norwegian hall of a Mountain King.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Ill Manors by Plan B
The Coronation scene from Boris Godunov by Modest Mussorgsky
King by Years & Years
In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg
Heaven by Emeli Sandé

Other music in this episode:

Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
Hùg air a’ Bhonaid Mhòir (Celebrate the Big Bonnet) by Julie Fowlis
Alles Neu by Peter Fox
Fourth movement of the Symphony No 7 (The 'Leningrad' Symphony) by Dmitry Shostakovich
In the Hall of the Mountain King by The Who
In the Hall of the Mountain King by ELO
Sonic the Hedgehog Theme
Inspector Gadget Theme

Jess Gillam and Keelan Carew with music fit for a king

With three weeks remaining of this year's BBC Proms, Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe present a Proms-themed edition. Studio guests are the celebrated trumpeter Alison Balsom, who'll be performing in this year’s Last Night of the Proms, and bassoonist, Radio 3 and Proms presenter Linton Stephens. Expect music from the Proms and beyond as we head from a live, scaled-back Springsteen anthem to the Outer Hebrides, via Mendelssohn, Shostakovich and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
 
Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Born in the USA (live) by Bruce Springsteen
2nd movement of the Symphony No 10 in E Minor by Dmitri Shostakovich
Superstar from Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice
Andante: 2nd movement of the Violin Concerto in E minor by Felix Mendelssohn 
Hùg air a’ Bhonaid Mhòir (Celebrate the Big Bonnet) by Julie Fowlis 

Other music in this episode:

A Night on the Bare Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky
Trumpet Concerto in E flat major by Johann Nepomuk Hummel
The Lovecats by The Cure
Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen
I Don't Know How to Love Him by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice, sung by Yvonne Elliman
Touch the Sky (from the film Brave) by Julie Fowlis

You can listen to every Prom and unmissable moments from across the season on BBC Sounds. Just search ‘Proms’.

Alison Balsom and Linton Stephens celebrate the BBC Proms

Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe return with a new series, in the company of two studio guests - Spanish-American singer-songwriter and composer Victoria Canal, and baritone and composer Roderick Williams. Kicking things off with that Rickrolling earworm, the first five tracks include a celebrated Bizet composition and some playful Lovecats with a very distinctive bassline.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley
Au fond du temple saint by Georges Bizet
Paper Planes by M.I.A.
Paper Bag by Fiona Apple
The Lovecats by The Cure

Other music in this episode:

Finale of the William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini, arr Hans Zimmer
Paradise by Coldplay
Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley (from Pianoforte)
Straight to Hell by The Clash

Victoria Canal and Roderick Williams launch a brand new series

Wolf Hall composer Debbie Wiseman and conductor Ben Gernon join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe as they add the final five tracks to the playlist for the current series. From the UK's first Eurovision winner to a heavy metal classic via Europe's second-longest river, the team wrap up the series before returning in August.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Puppet on a String by Sandie Shaw
The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II
Hai, Dunărea mea by Elena Roizen
3rd movement of the Piano Concerto in A Minor by Edvard Grieg
Overkill by Motörhead

Other music in this episode:

Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye
Petit Pays by Cesária Évora
Always Something There To Remind Me by Sandie Shaw
Congratulations by Cliff Richard
Back Home by the 1970 England World Cup Squad
Shang-a-Lang by The Bay City Rollers
1st movement of the Piano Concerto in A Minor by Edvard Grieg

Debbie Wiseman and Ben Gernon round off the series

Star organist Anna Lapwood and singer/songwriter Andrew Roachford join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add tracks 496-500 in this 100th edition of the show! What better way to celebrate than a double dose of organ, and a trip to Mumbai, Hawaii and Cape Verde?

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Thunder and Blazes (Entry of the Gladiators) by Julius Fučík
Star Wars: Throne Room – End Titles by John Williams, arr Harald Feller 
Jai Ho! by A R Rahman & The Pussycat Dolls 
Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
Petit Pays by Cesária Évora

Other music in this episode:

Top Hat, White Tie & Tails by Fred Astaire
Old Town Road by Lil Nas X
The Bells of Notre Dame, performed by Anna Lapwood
Only to be with You by Andrew Roachford
I Heard it Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye
Entry of the Gladiators by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Thunder and Blazes - Sounds of the Circus
Afro Circus from Madagascar 3
Throne Room: End Titles by John Williams
Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean performed by Anna Lapwood
Jai Ho! (Hindi version) by A R Rahman
Believe by Cher
Somewhere Over the Rainbow by by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg, sung by Judy Garland

Anna Lapwood and Andrew Roachford celebrate the 100th episode

Jazz pianist Ashley Henry and bassoonist Amy Harman join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add five more tracks to the playlist, taking us from a Bowie dance classic to Marvin Gaye via an unexpected rare, live, performance by a jazz icon in a school in California, surprisingly recorded by the caretaker in 1968.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Modern Love by David Bowie
Piano Sonata No 32 in C Minor by Beethoven
Epistrophy (Live) by Thelonious Monk
Apple by Charli XCX
I Heard it Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye

Other music in this episode:

Take it Higher by Ashley Henry
The Magdalene Laundries by Joni Mitchell
Starman by David Bowie
Fame by David Bowie
Under Pressure by David Bowie

Ashley Henry and Amy Harman on Bowie and Beethoven

British-Syrian Maya Youssef - virtuoso player of the Middle Eastern stringed instrument the qanun - and conductor Ben Gernon, join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add five more tracks to the playlist. Starting by the dock of the bay, they travel to Damascus, Hamburg and land on a 1950s familiar pop classic sung by a 14-year-old.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

(Sitting on) the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding
The Waves of the Sea by Lena Shamamyan
Mache dich auf! Werde Licht! (Arise! Let there be light!) by Felix Mendelssohn
Blank Space (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift 
Why Do Fools Fall In Love by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers

Other music in this episode:

Parisienne Walkways by Gary Moore
Sweet Child O’Mine by Guns N’ Roses
Hard to Handle by Otis Redding
Blank Space by Taylor Swift

Maya Youssef and Ben Gernon take us to Syria and Hamburg

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