Phil McDonald

Archival footage provides a glimpse into the life of Cameron Mackintosh; the storied producer famous for Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Cats and many more.

An account of the short life of genius musician Jimi Hendrix (1942-70), probably the most talented and influential guitarist of the twentieth century: his humble beginnings in Seattle, his time in New York, his rise to fame in swinging London… Live fast, love hard, die young.

Documentary which celebrates, over the period covering the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 60s, the phenomenon of the Everly Brothers, arguably the greatest harmony duo the world has witnessed, who directly influenced the greatest and most successful bands of the 60s and 70s - The Beatles, The Stones, The Beach Boys and Simon & Garfunkel to name but a few.

A documentary tracking the life and career of the model-musician turned first lady of France.

During their 1976 world tour, Paul McCartney and Wings gave a magnificent performance to 67,000 fans at the Kingdome, in Seattle, Washington. The concert features 30 songs of the Beatles and Wings.

The making of Duran Duran’s film arena.

It is 1947, the year of the communist rebellion in Malaya and the British army's SADUSEA (Song And Dance Unit South East Asia) are called to the Malayan Jungle to entertain the troops. The eccentric, bible-bashing Major Giles Flack (John Cleese) is in command of the unit. Flack is accompanied by an ageing, theatrical drama queen, Terri Dennis (Denis Quilley) who hopes to entertain the troops with his flamboyant impressions, but the bored troops find other ways to enjoy themselves.

Documentary following the life of rock 'n' roll legend Buddy Holly.

On Saturday May 26th, 1973 before 100,000 plus fans on the Great Lawn of Central Park in New York City, a generational talent singer-songwriter at the undeniable top of her game enjoyed a humbling homecoming a mere 14 miles from the house in Brooklyn where she grew up. The historic event highlighted the earth-moving power she’d unleashed with her watershed Tapestry (already being touted as one of the highest selling albums in history a mere two years after its release), all the way through her soon-to-be released song-cycle album Fantasy, (her fourth consecutive Lou Adler-produced album to land in Billboard’s Top Ten), Carole King’s performance that day was, according to Jack Nicholson, one of only two current events “proper” to be seen at in public.

Among the first half-dozen debuts by rock ’n’ roll’s original founders, more significantly it was the first rock album credited to a band rather than a solo artist, as well as a landmark in the history of independent recording methods. Crowned by four of Holly and The Crickets’ best-loved and biggest-selling singles - That’ll Be the Day, Not Fade Away, Maybe Baby and Oh, Boy! - The Chirping Crickets was one of only two albums Buddy Holly recorded in his tragically brief career.

Anthropologist Max Scarry mysteriously disappears while doing excavation/research of a lost New Zealand tribe on a remote island. His wife and his twin brother Edward are clueless as to what could have happened, a situation complicated by their city's police suspecting that one of the brothers murdered a local prostitute who was found with a strange tribal charm on her body matching one found in Max's abandoned hut. What most certainly isn't helping matters is the strange behavior of Max's daughter as she seems to have visions beyond possibility, warnings of a supernatural threat and her uncle's fate - and she's the film's narrator, to boot. Edward decides to go to the island to find out exactly what happened, but the deeper he goes into the mystery the more perilous and unknowable his world becomes, leading towards a shocking fate that raises more questions than it answers. (cont. http://view-from-the-paperhouse.blogspot.de/2014/10/the-threat-of-ancient-echoes-lost-tribe.html)

A documentary about the original "Phantom of the Opera" stage show and its creation.

This addition to the acclaimed & award winning Classic Albums series tells the story behind the making of Peter Gabriel's 1986 album "So". It was Gabriel's fifth solo album and the first one to have a title (the others all having just been called "Peter Gabriel" ). The album spawned a number of hit singles on both sides of the Atlantic including "Sledgehammer", "Big Time", "Don't Give Up" (a duet with Kate Bush) and "In Your Eyes" which drove "So" to multi-platinum sales, the No.1 spot in the UK and No.2 in the US. So was very much an album of the MTV generation and the distinctive videos for tracks like "Sledgehammer", "Red Rain", "Big Time" and "Don't Give Up" were key factors in the album's success.

Max Richter recomposed Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in 2012, premiered by superstar violinist Daniel Hope. This reimagining brought one of the classical canon’s greatest hits to new audiences in techno clubs and on music platforms. To celebrate the tricentennial of the original, ARTE is showing a filmed staging of Richter’s work from 2014.

Jazz sensation Melody Gardot's grief-stricken, yet inspirational, journey to stardom is captured in this inspiring documentary. After being struck by a car in 2003, an accident that left her with life-altering injuries, Gardot began the emotional expedition towards healing. This special follows her path to recovery, intimately revealing how she used music as therapy to heal her spirit and ultimately impress the world. Featuring candid interviews and performances of her most famous songs from albums "Worrisome Heart" and "My One And Only Thrill".

In January 1956, a new pop phenomenon appeared in the UK charts: a British artist playing a guitar. His name was Lonnie Donegan and the song he sang was Rock Island Line. Donegan’s rough-and-ready style was at odds with the polished crooners who dominated the charts. He played the guitar in a way that sounded like anyone could do it. Rock Island Line sounded like nothing else on the radio and it inspired a generation of British youths to pick up guitars and begin a journey that would take them to the top of the American charts.

Recorded in St. Goarshausen, Freilichtbuhne, Loreley, Germany 18 July, 1987. The recording, made during the first leg of the 1987 Clutching at Straws tour, documents the band at the peak of their commercial success in the mid/late 1980s. The show was attended by an audience of 20,000; support acts were Magnum, The Cult (cancelled), and It Bites. Featuring Fish on vocals, it comprises songs from the four studio albums they released up to that point, i.e. Script for a Jester's Tear (1983), Fugazi (1984), Misplaced Childhood (1985), and Clutching at Straws (1987).