Anneka Rice – Strawberry Fields, Stormzy and the art of storytelling

Love songs are as old as love itself. And there are thousands to choose from. So with Valentine’s Day almost upon us, what might make the perfect love song for your own true love?

Hello and welcome to this special Christmas edition of All About The Music, with me, Neil Brand. Today the guest chair is empty, but instead my studio sleigh is bursting with Christmas songs – from Slade’s joyfully raucous “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day” to Chris Rea’s bittersweet drive home and the timeless grace of David Bowie and Bing Crosby’s unlikely collaboration. 

Find the Spotify playlist here

What a joy to be contacted out of the blue by a legend of British TV. “Please Neil, let me be a guest on your podcast!”

Hello and welcome to another All About The Music, where I’m delighted to say that my guest is Anneka Rice – known to all of us who owned a television in the ‘80s and

‘90s, when she was jumping out of helicopters for Channel 4’s Treasure Hunt, before achieving the impossible week-in week-out on the BBC’s Challenge Anneka.

Furthermore her entire life – quite clearly – has been filled with music, and it’s a joy to discuss her favourites from across the decades with her. As a young girl she was listening to the Beatles (of course) but was influenced by 60s female role model Dusty Springfield. Both these artists also established Anneka’s love of great storytelling in music.

Musical theatre has made a big impression on her too – from Tim Rice’s take on cold war politics in Benny and Bjorn’s Chess, to the more off-beat world of Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Above all, Anneka loves how music can reach across divides and bring people together - as demonstrated perfectly by Stormzy and his memorable headline performance at Glastonbury.

Featured artists & tracks:

Dusty Springfield, “I Only Want To Be With You”, “Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa”

Rocky Horror Picture Show, “Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me”

Chess (Tommy Körberg), “Anthem”

The Beatles, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Golden Slumbers”

Dmitri Shostakovich, “Piano Concerto No.2 in F Major, II. Andante”

Stormzy, “Blinded By Your Grace, Pt. 2”