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Ken Russell's ABC of British Music poster

Ken Russell's ABC of British Music (1988)

A feat that fully matches its title, an alphabetical trawl through both the history of British music and Russell's own likes and dislikes, the latter summed up by a scene in which he takes a phone call and listens for a bit before concluding that 'it's either an obscene call or the beginning of Michael Tippett's Fourth Symphony.' Gleefully exploiting an already contrived format, Russell uses alphabetical coincidence as an excuse to throw wildly disparate material together: Elgar is fused with Elton John, Holst with Heavy Metal and Punk with Purcell.

Release: 1988-02-04
Runtime: 74 min
Rating: 10 / 10
Cast
Ken Russell
Ken Russell
Himself
Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar
Self (archive)
Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Self (archive)
John Lennon
John Lennon
Self (archive)
No Image
Janet Baker
Self (archive)
No Image
Vernon Handley
Self (archive)
Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Self (archive)
Elton John
Elton John
Self (archive)
Thomas Dolby
Thomas Dolby
Self (archive)
Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Self (archive)