Lead singer, guitarist and afro-drum-machine legend from the band Doves, Jimi Goodwin has brought a lot of magic to British music over the years (not least of all for making the trip to the 2005 T4 on the Beach actually worth the trip to Weston-Super-Mare). In 2011 he managed to get in on the might of BBC 6 Music with Halloween sessions and radio show takeover slots a plenty.
It all started on a cold weekend towards the end of October with a switch in the lineup on the radio station, with Goodwin swapping in for Guy Garvey on his Finest Hour Sunday night show (23rd October 2011). In a weird way they both sort of occupy the same mental space when you think about them, so the substitution worked on a number of levels.
Then on Halloween (Monday, 31st October 2011) Jimi Goodwin performed on Marc Riley’s all hallowed radio show between 7pm and 9pm. He played with The Bird Effect Ensemble, performing music that he has written for director Ceri Levy’s Bird Effect documentary, which looks at the issues of extinction and environmental conservation in bird species. It was a part of the Ghosts Of Gone Birds multimedia art project, which featured originally commissioned art, writing and music from the likes of Sir Peter Blake, Jamie Hewlett and of course Jimi himself.
Goodwin also teamed up with Guy Garvey, proving that they’re not really two different sides of an elaborate musical super hero, taking over Radcliffe and Maconie’s show earlier in the ghoul filled day between 1pm and 4pm. Normal service resumed to the R&M show from the 1st November onwards.
If you missed out on any of the Halloween treats or the Finest Hour takeover on the weekend it aired, you were initially able to find them again on BBC iPlayer after broadcast. However, now it would seem that they are to be confined to the vestiges of musical history as they’re no longer available.
