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CNN Worldbeat

Ringo Starr Tours With Famous Friends; Brixton, England Remains a Creative Haven; Electric Light Orchestra Reappears

Aired September 09, 2001 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RINGO STARR, MUSICIAN: Hi, I'm Ringo Starr, and welcome to WORLDBEAT. Where's the girl with the thin arms?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE ALEXANDER, HOST: Hi, I'm Brooke Alexander in New York City, and today we turn to three of England's best known cities for the source of this week's WORLDBEAT, baby.

From Liverpool, Ringo on music, some famous friends, and his all- star band. From London, the Brixton sound of the suburbs. And from Birmingham, the Electric Light Orchestra.

Ringo Starr is the only member of the Beatles still touring, as the band's musical legacy continues to enrich the world. Well, a Beatle's compilation album released last year with their top hits, appropriately entitled "1" has sold more than 28 million copies worldwide and is on its way to becoming the best selling album ever.

But Ringo prefers to focus on the here and now, as his All-Star band gathers up great musicians from the past three decades. And in our exclusive interview with the legendary drummer, Ringo tells us that it is his love of performing live that keeps him on the stage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(Ringo Starr & The 2001 All Star Band, unidentified song)

STARR: I get a chance to play with all these players. You know, I'm not an electrician, I'm not a plumber. You know, I started in the dream of 13 to play drums. The dream came true, I then -- the second dream -- to play with really good people. And that's still there. I'm a band member, you know, I like being in bands. And so that's why I keep doing it.

(Ringo Starr & The 2001 All Star Band, "Act Naturally")

STARR: This year I just thought, well, I'm going to change the whole band. And that's what we've done. And, you know, the people who are onstage are interesting. We looked at the list, and we tried and just pick what I think would be good. No idea if it will be, of course, because I'd never met anybody -- you know, any of these guys -- and they hadn't met each other. So you're trusting God in a lot of ways.

SHEILA E, MUSICIAN: When Ringo Starr calls, you say yes.

IAN HUNTER, MUSICIAN: All of these guys have their own bands, and they kind of know how to behave after all these years. And so the egos were all left outside, and we work as a band, we work as a unit.

(Ringo Starr & The 2001 All Star Band, unidentified song)

RODGER HODGSON, MUSICIAN: I looked at the list of musicians and thought, how the hell is this going to work? But it's worked incredibly.

(Ringo Starr & The 2001 All Star Band, unidentified song)

MARK RIVERA, MUSICIAN: You have six shows in this. You have six amazing musicians, each one coming with great songs.

(Ringo Starr & The 2001 All Star Band, unidentified song)

GREG LAKE: I've never seen anything quite like it. It's stunning. Of course you've got six people here with -- all with huge careers, you know, from Supertramp...

(Ringo Starr & The 2001 All Star Band, unidentified song)

LAKE: ... to Sheila E...

(Ringo Starr & The 2001 All Star Band, unidentified song)

LAKE: ... Howard Jones...

(Ringo Starr & The 2001 All Star Band, unidentified song)

HOWARD JONES, MUSICIAN: I think the reason why it gels is because everybody wants to work as hard as possible for the other songs, not just their own.

STARR: Well it's the songs. It's always the songs. You have to have hits from the '60s -- which I have -- '70s and '80s in this band, with Howard Jones. You know, bringing those up to the '80s. So that's the first thing. And then, I always need a bass player, and Greg was on the list. And he's really great, and he's very dramatic.

LAKE: I sometimes have to pinch myself, that I'm playing "I want to be Your Man," you know. And I look around, and he'll be there. And I just go back 30 years, you know.

STARR: Rodger's lead guitar, Supertramp, so he brings that.

HODGSON: I was really looking forward to playing a magical song with Ringo playing because he's got a beautiful bass, and puts his back-beat, and it's just a groove. He's fantastic.

(Ringo Starr & The 2001 All Star Band, unidentified song)

RIVERA: I was about 10 when the Beatles played "The Ed Sullivan Show." And that is in my bio -- it says the same thing, John and Paul changed my life. And it's truth. I always wanted to be in The Beatles. I wanted to be a Beatle.

(The Beatles, "She Loves You")

STARR: You know, at 22 you don't think we're still going to be selling records. Well, at 22 we didn't even have a record deal, we only wanted a record deal. But the records we did then are selling today. It's far out. I mean, it's really far out.

SHEILA E: I think I was maybe seven or nine years old when they first performed on "The Ed Sullivan Show," and I remember that day. I remember watching it on black and white television and that day. And I just, it was like a life-changing experience.

LAKE: Ringo with The Beatles and their music really changed the world. I mean, I was in a successful rock 'n' roll band. But, I mean, The Beatles changed the world. So it's a real honor to play with Ringo.

RIVERA: Every night you do the same thing: You look to your left say something like, thank you God. It's a dream come true.

(The Beatles, "Hard Day's Night")

HODGSON: When I was growing up, The Beatles had a profound impact on me. I was a teenager. And really, I don't think I'd be here today if it wasn't for them. They really showed me what music can do to change the world, and put a lot of really beautiful energy out there.

STARR: So I think what they brought to the table in the early days was experimentation, which wasn't happening -- great songs, you know, pop songs, 2 minutes 10, 2 minutes 30 if it was long. And so what they brought to the table in the end was music. They loved music, those boys.

(Ringo Starr & The 2001 All Star Band, "With a Little Help From My Friends")

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDER: Well, we now turn to our star of the music critics, Luke Crampton, as he invites us into the universe of the "Fresh Cuts." It's the latest album releases.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(Maxwell, "Lifetime")

LUKE CRAMPTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More accessible than his last outing, "Embryo" smooth soul crooner Maxwell returns with the emotionally charged "Now." Thoughtful R&B storytelling mixing retro ballads and cool funk, all topped off by his trademark delicate falsetto used to greatest effect on a definitive update of the Kate Bush classic, "This Woman's Work" and the new single, "Lifetime."

(The Isley Brothers, unidentified song)

CRAMPTON: With so many modern soul wannabes dramatically missing the mark, the venerable and legendary Isley Brothers remain the real deal. Blessed by the eternal vocal sweetness of frontman Ronald Isley, their new album is a stunning return to form: silky vintage R&B with a contemporary edge courtesy of guest artists, R Kelly and Jill Scott.

(Bilal, unidentified song)

CRAMPTON: To witness the lasting influence of the Isley Brothers, one need look no further than the promising "1st Second Born" by neo-soul newcomer Bilal Oliver. The 22-year-old singer/songwriter/producer, also a prodigy of Erykah Badu, offers a remarkably mature, laid-back collection of jazzy grooves well suited to his Al Green-recalling vocal gift.

I'm Luke Crampton, those are the "Fresh Cuts."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Rock Top Ten:

10. Staind, "Break the Cycle" 9. Usher, "8701" 8. D-12, "Devil's Night" 7. Dido, "No Angel" 6. Destiny's Child, "Survivor" 5. Original Soundtrack, "Bridget Jones's Diary" 4. Linkin Park, "Hybrid Theory" 3. Gorillaz, "Gorillaz" 2. Shaggy, "Hotshot" 1. Manu Chao, "Proxima Estacion-Esperanza"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXANDER: That is WORLDBEAT's exclusive global album chart.

Well, London is our next destination, where Sham Ambiavarga reports from the musical hotspot of Brixton.

SHAM AMBIAVARGA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Brooke.

Now, Brixton's the sort of place where the street names turn into song titles, and none is more famous than "Electric Avenue." It's London's West Indian quarter, with a fair proportion of Africans, Latin Americans and Europeans thrown into the mix. So from Reggae to Salsa, from Hip-Hop to Trance, it's a musical melting pot second to none. And it is not surprising that it's now producing some of Britain's finest sounds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(Basement Jaxx, "Jump 'n' Shout")

AMBIAVARGA (voice-over): For a relatively new band, Basement Jaxx are impressive for the devotedness of their following and the fact that Britain's notoriously unpleasant music critics cannot between them seem to find a bad word to say about them. Perhaps it's because of the unpretentiousness of their feel-good sound. Perhaps it's because of their impeccable production values. Whatever it is, Basement Jaxx are now up for this year's coveted Mercury Prize.

(on camera): Is it true that you are a vicar's son?

FELIX BUXTON, BASEMENT JAXX: Yes, country vicarage. I learned the violin and I could read music and was singing in choirs and I was in orchestras.

(Basement Jaxx, "Romeo")0

AMBIAVARGA (voice-over): Basement Jaxx are almost too nice to be true Rock 'n' Roll. They do music for music's sake. There is no pose, no problem. Felix (ph) says one of his motivations for creating their mid-Atlantic sound was his disgust with the British dance scene in the early '90s.

BUXTON: British club culture had got very kind of washed away with drugs. And ecstasy became big, and then a lot of the people doing ecstasy did cocaine. And I think when people make music based around cocaine, the quality goes down.

From America there was real emotional music based on Jazz and Gospel and Latin and African, and just it took in loads of influences. And it was very sort of cerebral music.

AMBIAVARGA: "Rooty" is the follow-up to 1999's "Remedy," was written in less than eight months. The pair don't believe in gathering moss.

BUXTON: We like have a big break, and then you come back to it -- what are we going to do, who are we, what do we represent?

SIMON RATCLIFFE, BASEMENT JAXX: Yeah, we're very conscious of that. You don't want to be gone too long because there's -- I've known bands that do that. They kind of go away and then have no -- we want to just keep in there and not give us time to analyze or think too much. Just to get on with it.

(Stereo MCs, "Connected")

AMBIAVARGA: No group could be further from that viewpoint than fellow Brixtonians the Stereo MCs. Theirs is a much more Rock 'n' Roll story, with fame, burn-out and revival. Their 1992 album, "Connected," and in particular the single of that name, became an anthem for the decade, spawning 1 million mobile phone ads and keeping them on tour for two years.

NICK HALLAM, STEREO MCS: You're away from home for pretty much for two years. You know, you probably come back for a week every now and again. And obviously if you've got a relationship with somebody at home and you don't see them for that length of time, then they get their own life and you've got a different life as well. And I think it is very hard for the two to really gel again.

ROB BIRCH, STEREO MCS: If you milk a cow too much, he's going to have nothing to give, you know what I mean? It's like, you've got to keep, you know, feeding yourself up without becoming casualties from it all.

(Stereo MCs, "Deep Down and Dirty")

AMBIAVARGA: After nine years creative absence, the Stereo MCs return to a rapturous and hungry public and a predatory press. Critics hovered between a sharp complaint that the new album hadn't moved on in sound from "Connected" and a grudging appreciation that it was really rather enjoyable. Fans were less picky.

(Stereo MCs, "Deep Down and Dirty")

AMBIAVARGA: For both men, their environment is an important backdrop for their creativity.

HALLAM: You just hear music in the street, you know. I guess, you know, like Raggey (ph) and Reggae music and stuff. And there are great people like Dennis Bovell...

BIRCH: Yeah.

HALLAM: ... Linton Kwesi Johnson. I mean, you know, they've been probably here for the last 20, 30 years.

(Eddy Grant, "Electric Avenue (Ringbang Remix")

AMBIAVARGA: Brixton is both ambience and muse. Eddie Grant's "Electric Avenue," given a new lease of life by this year's dance (UNINTELLIGIBLE) remix was written at the start of the 1980s when the area was the focus of race-related riots, and synonymous with discontent in Britain's black community.

(Eddy Grant, "Electric Avenue (Ringbang Remix")

EDDY GRANT, MUSICIAN: "Electric Avenue" was prior to everything. And you know, I remember having a discussion with the head of the BBC at the time. And I was saying to him, you know, if somebody doesn't do something about this -- and somebody can -- then you will get riots.

AMBIAVARGA: Since then, Brixton has come a long way in terms of race relations.

(Eddy Grant, "Electric Avenue (Ringbang Remix")

HALLAM: I think Brixton's -- I mean, to me it's the only place that still exists in London with that, with a real kind of atmosphere that hasn't been totally consumed by, you know, sort of tourist kind of thing, or just made into a Hollywood movie. I'm sure it will happen, though.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDER: The English city of Birmingham has produced bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and UB40. Well, another of its famous sons is this week's "Inside Track," right after the break. Here's a hint.

(Electric Light Orchestra, unidentified song)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALEXANDER: The Electric Light Orchestra was due to return to the spotlight this week with a 25-city tour of the U.S. But instead the lights have dimmed with the cancellation of the tour due to slow ticket sales.

Well, it has been 15 years since ELO front man Jeff Lynne pulled the plug on the band, moving on to become one of the founding members of the supergroup, the Traveling Wilburys and producing some of the biggest names in Rock. Well ELO's latest album, "Zoom" features Lynne with a little help from his friends, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF LYNN, ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA: It just came to me one day, "Zoom," that's the name of the album.

It could be like, the fact that there hasn't been one since 1985 or '86. Now we are in 2001, and "Zoom," there they are.

(Electric Light Orchestra, "Do Ya")

LYNNE: I've been doing other people, doing my background work as you would call it in the industry, which is producing, which is actually the most important work of all. And getting to co-write a lot of the songs that I worked on with other people, like George Harrison and Tom Petty and Roy Orbison, God Bless him.

(Traveling Wilburys, "Handle With Care")

LYNNE: Yeah when I make it with George and Tom Mann (ph) again, we always have something, and we always end up saying, we must have been Traveling Wilburys again. And that's what we do every time we hooked up. And then next time we hooked up, we say the same thing. So there's a possibility one day, I hope.

But I realize that, you know, I haven't actually don't have any of me own music, especially written for me by myself for such a long time, that it was about time I did. (Electric Light Orchestra, "Moment in Paradise")

LYNNE: I got a house, locked it down, basically -- like remodeled it completely and built in microphone cables from every room in the house into the control room, all wired into the floor. So I write my first song in there, and finished that one. And I got another song, finished that one. It was kind of, you know, I didn't know where it was leading. And after about three songs it started to feel like an ELO record.

I have some very distinguished guest artists on it, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

STARR: I played with Jeff, Jeff Lynne, who is the ELO -- ELO is his middle name.

LYNNE: You know, Ringo said to me one day, I wouldn't mind playing on some of your new stuff. And I said I'd love you to. And he said, what about tomorrow?

STARR: He has the drums in his living room and next to the studio, and I was in there.

LYNN: We just started jamming for about an hour or two, and then I got the song ready to record. And we played a couple of live tracks, and Ringo's first take is the one. And you know, he's a great drummer, and it was a great pleasure for me to work with him.

(Electric Light Orchestra, "Evil Woman")

LYNNE: I think the differences between "Zoom," the new album, and the old ELO albums that I used to make is the experience I've gained from working with all these great people that I mentioned. In the past on an album, 15 years ago or whatever, I would have thought, like, there's a hole, like this little gap in the sound. And I want to fill that in with either two tons of cement or six pianos and, you know, anything. I think I've learned to have to live with a bit of space now and let the space be a part of the music.

(Electric Light Orchestra, "Alright")

LYNNE: The lyrics on "Zoom" came a lot easier to me than they used to when I was churning out lots of ELO records in the past. I used to have to make one every year or two, and come up with the words, mix it and then it was released and like a week later and you're on tour.

(Electric Light Orchestra, "Turn to Stone")

LYNNE: When you first write a song, you think it might be a single and it maybe gets in the top 20, you go, yeah, fantastic. And you think that's the end of it. But I didn't realize that 25 years later they'd still be playing them on the radio, so I'm very pleased and certainly humbled by that experience.

(Electric Light Orchestra, "Turn to Stone") LYNNE: I'd just like to try and keep making music. I love writing songs, I love producing records -- just keep doing it as long as I can.

(Electric Light Orchestra, "Evil Woman")

ALEXANDER: Well that is all from me, Brooke Alexander and an all-star line-up of musical marvels. Join us for another edition of WORLDBEAT next week.

Well, for all of you whose hopes of seeing ELO out on tour in the U.S. have been plunged into darkness, here is a final flicker of light.

(Electric Light Orchestra, "Turn to Stone")

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