Second Side Up: a Life Captured in Radio
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Second Side Up is the longest-running radio show that never was - the story of a life recorded to tape and edited into weekly radio show instalments. For over four decades, Mark Talbot recorded scenes from his life and used them to create a cassette radio show, which he called Second Side Up. Complete with music, interviews and phone-ins, Second Side Up sounded like professional work, but not a single episode was ever broadcast. The tapes were distributed to a tiny network of friends and family, a unique correspondence that came to define Mark’s life.
The resulting archive of tapes is a unique autobiography in radio-show format. Between the songs, we meet the people in Mark’s life; we hear him falling in love, growing old, mourning the death of the analogue era as his chosen medium becomes obsolete. Through all the changes, one thing remains constant - Mark’s addiction to producing Second Side Up.
Producer, David Waters Assistant Producer, Robbie MacInnes Executive Producer, Francesca Panetta A Phantom Production for BBC Radio 3.
