Bright Entertainment In “The Music Makers”

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32386, 27 August 1970, Page 3

Bright Entertainment In “The Music Makers”

The brightest spot on Tuesday’s programme, for viewers of more mature years, was almost certainly “The Music Makers,” the first of a new series which, each week, will spend about 45 minutes with the music of well-known modem song-writers. From the first brassy notes of a splendid and substantial band, to the final poignant “The Party’s Over”—which could have been written by Noel Coward—“ The Music Makers” was a pronounced success.

The first composer on parade was Jule Styne, who has written some delightful melodies. There was only one real fault with this show, and it might as well be mentioned straight away. It seems to us that a good many viewers who respond readily to this type of music would very much like to hear Garth

Young’s big band on its own, just now and then. But there was a vocalist for every number, and there were many numbers. The backing the band provided, with its satisfying brass and strings, was excellent: but this viewer hopes that in subsequent programmes those trumpets and trombones will be given a more prominent place, in music which lends itself especially to them. Not that there was much room for complaint about the quality of the vocalists. They were youngsters, in the main, and it was astonishing to discover just how much feeling they had for songs written in the 1940’s and 1950’5. This viewer had a faint suspicion, before it all began, that the young New Zealand singers in the show might behave rather like children amusing themselves by dressing up in their parents’ clothse: but if the sort of music Jule Styne wrote earlier in his career seems appalling square to the modern, these youngsters gave no hint of it. They were uniformly good, but Suzanne Donaldson probably deserves special mention, for her unsuspected flair for comedy. As a front man, Max Cryer has never appealed to us because his personality has seemed a little too sugary. But he certainly did nothing to lessen enjoyment of this show, with his occasional brief biographical details about Styne, used wisely to break up what would have been too long a succession of vocal numbers. Max Cryer may not be a particular favourite of this viewer, but at least he was restrained, and we did not have to suffer the sort of dreadfully forced vitality of Peter Sinclair with his pop shows. Not too much was attempted in the settings, or with the little sketches which served to introduce some of the songs. The confidence of the young performers, the quality of their singing—and, especially, that band—made “The Music Makers” a very pleasant programme and we will not be alone in looking forward to the remainder of the series. * * *

Another new programme on Tuesday did not appeal nearly so much. This was “Marcus Welby, M.D.” This hour-long programme was too close in format to the Kildare series, with the same old contrasts between the wisdom of the old doctor and the bouncy enthusiasm of his young partner. It even, near the end, resorted to the old gag of the young doctor—after the death of a girl patient—expressing doubts about the practice of medicine and the old one restoring his faith with a few wellchosen words.

CHTV3

NATIONAL LINK [lncluding 3YA, Christchurch (690 kilocycles); 2YA, Wellington (570 kilocycles); 4YA, Dunedin (780 kilocycles); and 3YZ, Greymouth (920 kilocycles).] 7.0 p.m.: N.Z.B.C. Sporting Service. 7.8: Sing with Kim Cordell. 7.30: In Your Garden This Week. 7.45: Rumanian Nights. 8.0: Prickly Thistle Club. 8.30: Weather and News. 9.0: 1970 National Band of New Zealand. 10.30: N.Z.B.C. News, Weather, Comment. 10.45: Outrageous Fortune. 11.0: 8.8. C. News and Commentary. 11.15: Basketball. 12.0: News and Weather. 12.6 a.m.: I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again. 1.0: Melody Time from Germany. 2.5: Down Your Way. 4.9: Nick Nicholson Quintet. 3YC, CHRISTCHURCH (960 kilocycles) 7.0 p.m.: Schumann: Six Poems by Lenau (1850) — Gerard Souzay (baritone), Dalton Baldwin (piano). 7.16: Bach: Concerto in A (BWV 1055) Heinz Holliger (oboe d’amore), Lucerne Festival Strings under Rudolf

It was a morbid sort of story. The acting was sound enough, but the whole business of television doctors seems a bit tired. James Broun, the young doctor, did his best to give the thing some urgency; no doubt he will have a whole succession of nice-looking girls to take out before the series is done. But it seemed to be just one more television programme, without special appeal or merit * sis “Gallery” did not have much to offer. The look at drug smuggling in New Zealand was interesting, but no more than that And the longish piece on air pollution in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Sydney and London was also interesting, but it did not seem to bear much real relation to the situation in New Zealand. This looked rather like another “Gallery” padding job: a few days ago for no apparent reason, this current affairs programme devoted much of its attention to Australian tax relief in Norfolk Island. On Tuesday, Gordon Parry’s “Column Comment” had nothing critical to offer: a quiet night, all round. A brief appreciation of the performance of Dick Weir at the Industries Fair: he was there running a talent quest for youngsters of six to nine years of age. Personally, it seems that requiring children to perform at such a tender age is undesirable. But Dick Weir handled a far from easy assignment admirably. He has a distinctive way with children. Parents like him too. —PANDORA.

2.00: Headline news. 2.03: On Camera. 2.45: The Iron Horse. Western. 3.40: Galloping Gourmet. Cooking. 4.05: Doris Day Show. “The Camping Trip.” Comedy. 4.31: The Archie Sabrina Show. 4.51: Men in History Christopher Columbus. Documentary. 5.13: Zorro. Adventure. 5.42: Headline news, weather. 5.45: Daktari. Adventure. 6.40: Gardening With John Oliver. 7.00: Network news. 7.15: Weather. The South Tonight. 7.40: Coronation Street. 8.10: Ironside “Bullet for Mark.” Detective. 9.08: Newsbrief. 9.10: Gallery. Current Affairs. 9.38: Journey to the Unknown “Miss Belle.” (George Maharis, Barbara Jefford). Drama. 10.34: Galton and Simpson Comedy “The Suit” (Leslie Phillips, Jennie Linden). 11.02: Late news, weather.

Baumgartner. 7.34: Brian Sayer (piano) Faure: Nocturne No. 13: Theme and Variations. 8.0: Time as History A Confrontation with Technological Society—Time as a Historical Process. 8.27: Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa. 9.0: Record Review by Larry Pruden. 10.0: Walton: Quartet in A minor (1947) —Hollywood String Quartet. 10.25: Mendelssohn: Two-piano Concerto in E (1824) Brenda Lucas and John Ogdon (pianos), Academy of St Mar-tin-in-the-Fields under Neville Marriner. 3ZB, CHRISTCHURCH (1100 kilocycles) 7.2 p.m.: Hit Wave '7O. 8.2: World Records on the Air. 8.30: Musiquest ’7O. 9.15: Have a Shot. 9.45: Looking Back. 3ZM, CHRISTCHURCH (1400 kilocycles) 7.30 p.m.: Billy Vaughn. 8.0: Jerry Vale. 8.30: Top Ten 1960. 9.0: Peter Sellers. 9.30: Soul Sounds. 10.0: from the Top Pops.