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132-582: Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer , journalist , radio DJ and screenwriter . Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television. Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class family and raised in Bermondsey . From 1977 he wrote for the punk zine Sniffin' Glue , and from there was hired by the New Musical Express , where he worked as

264-508: A "serious error in judgement" that went against the values of the station. Baker expressed disagreement with the BBC's decision to fire him, receiving support from several media figures. In November 2019 Baker launched a twice-weekly podcast entitled The Treehouse co-hosted by Louise Pepper. The format is a continuation of previous non-football radio shows being based upon humorous stories from listeners, often relating to pop culture. From August 2020,

396-501: A BBC Saturday night chat show , called Danny Baker After All which borrowed its style from Late Night with David Letterman , but his style and guests ( Rick Wakeman of prog rock band Yes was a regular) did not attract the mainstream audience the slot demanded. Film critic Mark Kermode 's band The Railtown Bottlers were the show's house band. Later he fronted television adverts for Daz washing powder and Mars bar confectionery. Baker parodied his Daz ads by appearing as himself on

528-696: A Billy's and Blitz era DJ set by Rusty Egan . John Keeble and Gary Kemp revealed current musical influences as The Killers , Kaiser Chiefs , MGMT and Florence and the Machine . The band began a world tour in October 2009, starting with eight dates across Ireland and the UK, the first of which was in Dublin on 13 October 2009. The tickets for the UK and Ireland shows went on pre-sale on the official Spandau Ballet website on 25 March 2009. They went on general release on 27 March 2009. For

660-498: A Long Story Short" was sampled by Shakka on his 2015 single, " Say Nada ". Actor Edward Norton appeared on the ABC sitcom Modern Family as Izzy LaFontaine, a fictional bass player/backup vocalist for Spandau Ballet ("between Richard Miller and Martin Kemp"), in the episode " Great Expectations ". DJ Paul Oakenfold, a close friend of the band, created a special 12-inch remix of "Gold" for

792-407: A Sunday lunchtime show with Danny Kelly, Baker & Kelly Upfront . On leaving Radio 1, Baker returned to Radio London to present a three-hour Sunday show from 10   am to 1   pm. Baker and Kelly Upfront also returned, now at Saturday lunchtime, while Baker also took on a new show, The Baker Line , a Wednesday evening version of the 606 phone-in show. While Baker and Kelly Upfront

924-595: A UK cinema release. It was directed by George Hencken, produced by Steve Dagger and Scott Milaney with archive producer Kate Griffiths and included never-before-seen footage of the band playing and being interviewed at NYC's Underground club in March 1981. It was confirmed on 31 July 2014, that Spandau Ballet were working on new material in the studio with Trevor Horn . In the UK, the band appeared in an ITV show, Spandau Ballet – True Gold , in which they performed several hits and were interviewed by Christine Bleakley in front of

1056-1612: A break to pursue other acting and musical solo projects. Gary and Martin Kemp took the leading roles as notorious East End gangster twins Ronald and Reginald Kray in The Krays which premiered in London in April 1990. The film won two Evening Standard British Film Awards for Best Film and Most Promising Newcomer (writer Philip Ridley ). Tony Hadley recorded his first solo album in Los Angeles produced by Ron Nevison . Steve Norman moved to Ibiza to collaborate on chilled out Balearic records with local producers. John Keeble continued as drummer with Tony Hadley and formed his own band, 69 Daze, with former Sigue Sigue Sputnik guitarist Neal X, followed by 99 shows across Europe with The Herbs and Pacific with guitarist John McGeoch . Gary Kemp enjoyed further acting success, moving to Hollywood with actor wife Sadie Frost , to film both The Bodyguard (with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner ) and Killing Zoe , directed by Academy Award winner Roger Avary , produced by Quentin Tarantino . In 1995 Gary released his solo album, Little Bruises . Martin Kemp also appeared in films and TV series in Los Angeles such as The Outer Limits, Murder Between Friends , Highlander: The Series and Sugar Town which also starred John Taylor from Duran Duran. In

1188-408: A costumed chimpanzee. His accompanying text, "Royal baby leaves hospital," referred to the (at the time) recent announcement of the birth of Archie Mountbatten-Windsor , but was interpreted by many as Baker mocking The Duchess of Sussex's racial heritage. Baker denied any racial motivation for the tweet. Baker was born in Deptford in south-east London to Fred "Spud" Baker, a dockworker , and Betty,

1320-777: A critically acclaimed feature-length archive-only documentary of the band's story and the pop cultural history of the Eighties, Soul Boys of the Western World. It world premiered at South By Southwest with Spandau also playing as part of the music festival, their first public appearance in North America since 1985. The band played five numbers for the film's European premiere at the Royal Albert Hall. There were gala screenings in Sydney, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Auckland and Hamburg. The film had

1452-712: A factory worker. He grew up in Bermondsey and attended Rotherhithe Primary School and then, instead of taking up a grammar school place, went to the nearby West Greenwich Secondary Boys' School, Deptford. After leaving school at 14, he worked in One Stop Records, a small but fashionable record shop in South Molton Street in the West End of London . The youngest of three children, he has an older sister, Sharon, and had an older brother, Michael, who died aged 29 when Danny

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1584-505: A fall in listeners at Radio 1 but despite his tendering his resignation on at least two occasions, management added extensions to his contract. From October 1995, his Saturday show went out from 12:30 to 2:30   pm. He left the station in September 1996. His co-hosts during this period included BBC continuity announcer Danny Kelly . While continuing with his Saturday morning show on Radio 1, in 1996 Baker joined BBC Radio 5 Live to present

1716-453: A global audience estimated at 1.9 billion. The "Spandau Ballet World Parade 84–85" was the group's biggest tour to date, spanning Europe, America, the Far East and, for the first time, Australia and New Zealand. Their UK tour ended with six record-breaking nights at Wembley Arena. During the second show at LA's Universal Amphitheatre, Steve Norman tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and

1848-409: A handful of shows alongside Danny Kelly until he left the station in 2000. In September 2001, Baker joined BBC London 94.9 presenting a Saturday morning show from 8 to 11   am. Just six months later, in March 2002, and with a new co-presenting team which included Amy Lamé , Mark O'Donnell and David Kuo , he took over the breakfast show from 6 to 9   am, with a new theme tune in the form of

1980-415: A hiatus from recording, the band released their next album, Heart Like a Sky , initially titled Home , in September 1989. For the first time, new working methods were employed, as Gary Kemp demoed his new songs programming the drums, keyboards and bass on a porta-studio with Toby Chapman, Spandau's session keyboard player, rather than rehearsing with the band. The album and its singles were not successful in

2112-581: A limited period that summer, Baker hosted six shows during Euro 2008 . He made a long-term return to 606 in September 2008, hosting a Tuesday night show for the duration of the 2008–09 football season. He also had a short stint with Zoe Ball on Radio 2 on Saturday mornings after Jonathan Ross had been suspended for three months by the BBC . At the end of the 2008–09 season, Baker's 606 Tuesday night show that he co-hosted with Issy Clarke shifted to an expanded Saturday morning slot, starting in September 2009 on 5 Live. The show returned in September 2010 after

2244-490: A marionette to a hand puppet, and he became, really, a spirit of Britain — a subversive maverick who defies authority, a kind of puppet equivalent to our political cartoons ." In early 19th century England, pantomime acquired its present form which includes slapstick comedy and featured the first mainstream clown Joseph Grimaldi , while comedy routines also featured heavily in British music hall theatre which became popular in

2376-547: A new recording of the Candyman theme tune. On Saturday 15 December 2007 Baker posted an open letter on both the ADBS and Baker and Kelly sites, saying that "there will be no more All Day Breakfast Show s nor Baker & Kelly's. There has now been an irreversible and utter breakdown between the on-air team and the company who have, with varying degrees of success, provided it to you online." Wippit responded on 17 December 2007 saying that

2508-622: A number of positive gig reviews from the British music press in Sounds and the New Musical Express . The band changed personnel and name once more when their manager, friend and fellow Dame Alice Owen's schoolmate Steve Dagger suggested Martin Kemp be brought in as their bass player after seeing how much attention he got from the Makers' female fans when he was their roadie. The band was now called Gentry and Martin played his first gig on 1 July 1978 at

2640-473: A result, much of their art was intentionally amusing. A famous example is Marcel Duchamp 's Fountain (1917), an inverted urinal signed "R. Mutt". This became one of the most famous and influential pieces of art in history, and one of the earliest examples of the found object movement. It is also a joke, relying on the inversion of the item's function as expressed by its title as well as its incongruous presence in an art exhibition. The advent of cinema in

2772-439: A reunion was imminent. Jonathan Ross mentioned during his BBC Radio 2 programme on 21 March 2009, that the band were re-forming and that he had been invited to the reunion party. The band confirmed the rumours at a press conference on 25 March 2009, on board HMS Belfast in London, a return to the venue of one of their first gigs to launch their comeback tour. They were introduced by friend and broadcaster Robert Elms after

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2904-581: A similar format to Baker's radio show on BBC London, where the listeners and presenters share humorous anecdotes, interspersed with obscure recordings. Originally launched in March 2007, the All Day Breakfast Show was rebranded in September that year as the All Day Breakfast Show in Colour , and a weekly download fee of £2 was applied to the podcast. The full-length podcast was made available solely through Wippit and edited highlights were made available as

3036-613: A six-part series which featured coverage of teams involved in the fourth division of the East London Sunday Football League . The series was later released on DVD. Baker began writing for television programmes in 1992 after being asked to prepare a piece for one of the first archive clip shows: TV Hell , which was a collection of the worst TV programmes ever. Since then he has presented television shows such as Win, Lose or Draw , Pets Win Prizes and TV Heroes , which

3168-493: A studio audience. The band performed their 1980s hit single " True " and a new song called " This Is the Love " on Jimmy Kimmel Live on 11 November 2014. It was their US late-night TV debut and their first US TV appearance since 1985 when they played on Soul Train . They were there to promote their new greatest hits collection called The Story – The Very Best of Spandau Ballet , which also contained three new songs. The album reached

3300-535: A subversion of audience's expectations, so that amusement is founded on unpredictability , separate from a logical analysis of the situation. The humour derived gets its appeal from the ridiculousness and unlikeliness of the situation. The genre has roots in Surrealism in the arts. Surreal humour is the effect of illogic and absurdity being used for humorous effect. Under such premises, people can identify precursors and early examples of surreal humour at least since

3432-464: A sympathetic character. Aristotle divides comedy into three categories or subgenres: farce , romantic comedy , and satire . On the other hand, Plato taught that comedy is a destruction to the self. He believed that it produces an emotion that overrides rational self-control and learning. In The Republic , he says that the guardians of the state should avoid laughter, "for ordinarily when one abandons himself to violent laughter, his condition provokes

3564-400: A teaser through iTunes. The podcast went into hiatus after one week, numerous downloaders from Wippit being unable to access the material due to restrictions on available bandwidth. No official announcement was made for the cause of the hiatus, or whether the podcast would return. However, after several weeks of silence, the All Day Breakfast Show officially announced its return to the air on

3696-402: A television show presented by Baker, following bottom-division East London Sunday League football teams, was released on DVD through Revelation Films on 24 May 2010. In 2009, he released a book co-written with Danny Kelly entitled Classic Football Debates Settled Once and for All, Vol. 1 . Despite the title, the book itself makes clear that a sequel is not planned, though some extra material

3828-461: A venue they had last played 40 years earlier in 1978 as Gentry when it was called Acklam Hall. Their first song as the new line-up was "Through the Barricades". Wild said: "If it wasn't for Spandau so much stuff wouldn't have happened. They are pioneers." Spandau Ballet finished the year showcasing Wild with five live gigs abroad (Milan, Rome, Padova, Utrecht, Tilburg) concluding with another at

3960-460: A violent reaction." Plato says comedy should be tightly controlled if one wants to achieve the ideal state. Also in Poetics , Aristotle defined comedy as one of the original four genres of literature . The other three genres are tragedy , epic poetry , and lyric poetry . Literature, in general, is defined by Aristotle as a mimesis , or imitation of life. Comedy is the third form of literature, being

4092-628: A wall on a weekend trip to Berlin: “ Rudolf Hess , all alone, dancing the Spandau Ballet”. Their first performance was an invitation-only showcase on the morning of Saturday 17 November 1979, at Halligan's Band Centre rehearsal studio, 103 Holloway Road, to test the reaction of the key influencers of the new scene. Having passed that 'audition', the band's first gig as Spandau Ballet was at the Blitz 's Christmas party on 5 December 1979. A series of exclusive 'secret' gigs in 1980 at unique non-rock venues like

Danny Baker - Misplaced Pages Continue

4224-499: A writer, reviewer, and interviewer. Moving into television in 1980, he began presenting London Weekend Television 's Twentieth Century Box and reporting for The Six O'Clock Show . In 1989 he began radio presenting for BBC Radio London and in 1990 joined the newly established BBC Radio 5 . In 1997 he was dismissed from the latter, accused of inciting threatening behaviour toward a football referee. That decade, he also began writing for television. From 2002 to 2012 Baker presented

4356-454: Is characterized by a form of humor that includes darker aspects of human behavior or human nature. Similarly scatological humor , sexual humor, and race humor create comedy by violating social conventions or taboos in comic ways, which can often be taken as offensive by the subjects of the joke. A comedy of manners typically takes as its subject a particular part of society (usually upper-class society) and uses humor to parody or satirize

4488-789: Is not only a genius, he is the man who originated slapstick comedy. We in Hollywood owe much to him." American vaudeville emerged in the 1880s and remained popular until the 1930s, and featured comedians such as W. C. Fields , Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers . Surreal humour (also known as 'absurdist humour'), or 'surreal comedy', is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, producing events and behaviours that are obviously illogical . Constructions of surreal humour tend to involve bizarre juxtapositions, incongruity, non-sequiturs , irrational or absurd situations and expressions of nonsense . The humour arises from

4620-425: Is otherwise a serious commentary on the state of foreign relations serves to frame the segment comically, creating a serious tone underlying the comedic agenda presented by Stewart. Comedy may be divided into multiple genres based on the source of humor, the method of delivery, and the context in which it is delivered. The different forms of comedy often overlap, and most comedy can fit into multiple genres. Some of

4752-408: The 1998 World Cup squad, Baker went on Have I Got News for You to defend his friend and criticise the omission. He also appeared on The Terry and Gaby Show from 2003 to 2004 (where he burnt his hand trying to perform a trick with a microwave and a piece of soap) and has appeared on BBC Two quiz show QI , becoming the show's first ever winner. Baker worked again with Charles Shaar Murray on

4884-458: The Anthony Newley song The Candy Man . Although not drawing a large listenership, Baker won " Sony Radio DJ of the year " for the show. However, the day after winning the award, he announced his intention to leave the show at the end of the month. The last show was on Friday 27 May 2005. On Monday 17 October 2005, after a sabbatical at home, Baker rejoined BBC London 94.9, where he took over

5016-671: The Australian comedian Paul Hogan , famous for Crocodile Dundee . Other centres of creative comic activity have been the cinema of Hong Kong , Bollywood , and French farce . American television has also been an influential force in world comedy: with American series like M*A*S*H , Seinfeld and The Simpsons achieving large followings around the world. British television comedy also remains influential, with quintessential works including Fawlty Towers , Monty Python , Dad's Army , Blackadder , and The Office . Australian satirist Barry Humphries , whose comic creations include

5148-541: The Middle Ages , the term expanded to include narrative poems with happy endings. It is in this sense that Dante used the term in the title of his poem, La Commedia . As time progressed, the word came more and more to be associated with any sort of performance intended to cause laughter. During the Middle Ages, the term "comedy" became synonymous with satire , and later with humour in general. Aristotle's Poetics

5280-642: The National Theatre in 2004 and A Terrible Beauty , with Guy Pratt and Shane Connaughton . He continued acting on stage, in film and on television. He played Serge in the West End production of Art in 2001. Films included Dog Eat Dog and American Daylight and TV shows Murder in Mind and Casualty . Steve Norman formed chilled lounge band Cloudfish with Rafa Peletey and Shelley Preston in 2001. Tony Hadley released three studio albums. He played Billy Flynn in

5412-715: The Ramones documentary End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones , providing an audio commentary. More recent TV projects include The Sitcom Showdown which began on UKTV Gold in April 2006, a 2014 show featuring archived television footage for BBC4 named Brushing Up On... and a music discussion show for BBC4 named Danny Baker's Rockin' Decades . He also did Comic Relief Does The Apprentice in 2007 for Comic Relief . He also performed in The Rocky Horror Show , as

Danny Baker - Misplaced Pages Continue

5544-571: The Three Stooges , Abbott and Costello , Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis , Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller during the mid-20th century, to performers like George Carlin , Bill Cosby , Joan Rivers , Robin Williams , and Eddie Murphy toward the end of the century. Hollywood attracted many international talents like the British comics Peter Sellers , Dudley Moore and Sacha Baron Cohen , Canadian comics Dan Aykroyd , Jim Carrey , and Mike Myers , and

5676-457: The "art of reprehension", and made no reference to light and cheerful events, or to the troubling beginnings and happy endings associated with classical Greek comedy. After the Latin translations of the 12th century , the term "comedy" gained a more general meaning in medieval literature . In the late 20th century, many scholars preferred to use the term laughter to refer to the whole gamut of

5808-568: The 1850s. British comedians who honed their skills in music hall sketches include Charlie Chaplin , Stan Laurel and Dan Leno . English music hall comedian and theatre impresario Fred Karno developed a form of sketch comedy without dialogue in the 1890s, and Chaplin and Laurel were among the comedians who worked for his company. Karno was a pioneer of slapstick , and in his biography, Laurel stated, "Fred Karno didn't teach Charlie [Chaplin] and me all we know about comedy. He just taught us most of it". Film producer Hal Roach stated: "Fred Karno

5940-523: The 19 October 2007. No announcement on the main website was given, but in a five-minute mini-show downloadable initially only to paid subscribers, Baker and Leonard announced the return of the show. They confirmed that from "next week" they would be broadcasting three times a week. They also suggested (possibly only partially in jest) that due to BBC cuts announced the previous day, that they may be planning to end their official BBC London show and move to being an "internet only" show. The mini show also introduced

6072-530: The 1990s, the band split up after a disagreement about royalties. Hadley, Norman and Keeble launched an unsuccessful court case against Gary Kemp for a share of Kemp's songwriting royalties from his work with Spandau Ballet. Although they vowed to appeal the verdict, they later decided against this. The three non-Kemp members then continued to tour as a trio, but they had to sell their shares in Spandau Ballet's company to Gary Kemp to pay off legal debts. Because

6204-511: The 19th century, such as Lewis Carroll 's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass , which both use illogic and absurdity ( hookah -smoking caterpillars , croquet matches using live flamingos as mallets, etc.) for humorous effect. Many of Edward Lear 's children stories and poems contain nonsense and are basically surreal in approach. For example, The Story of

6336-527: The American crooners Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett . The band's classic lineup featured Gary Kemp on guitar, synthesiser and backing vocals; his brother, Martin Kemp , on bass; vocalist Tony Hadley ; saxophonist Steve Norman ; and drummer John Keeble . Gary Kemp was also the band's songwriter. Their debut single " To Cut a Long Story Short " reached No. 5 in the UK in 1980 and was the first of ten UK top-10 singles. The band peaked in popularity in 1983 with

6468-627: The Barricades" for the Prince's Trust at Wembley Arena with the 'house band' of Eric Clapton , Midge Ure and Phil Collins , and " With a Little Help from My Friends " with George Harrison and Ringo Starr . In 1988, the band played for the King of Spain in front of the Royal Palace in Barcelona, on the same bill as Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé , to launch the campaign for the 1992 Olympics . After

6600-748: The Best Comeback of 2009 in the Virgin Media Awards. Spandau Ballet went on tour in Australia during April 2010 with Tears For Fears as part of a world tour. After a headline set at the Isle of Wight Festival on the same bill as Paul McCartney , The Strokes , Jay-Z and Pink , the group played their last UK show of the Reformation Tour at Newmarket Racecourse on 25 June 2010. In 2014, all five played live again with an anthology world tour to promote

6732-626: The Eventim Apollo in London on 29 October, and attracted favourable reviews. On 16 October 2018, Hadley played the London Palladium with The Tony Hadley Band. Within five months cracks were appearing in Spandau's new line-up. In March 2019, Wild joined a new band called Mercutio, saying: "I can't wait around for Spandau! Unfortunately Gary [Kemp] has commitments, so we're waiting him to finish until we crack on." One month later Gary Kemp, touring

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6864-553: The Four Little Children Who Went Round the World (1871) is filled with contradictory statements and odd images intended to provoke amusement, such as the following: After a time they saw some land at a distance; and when they came to it, they found it was an island made of water quite surrounded by earth. Besides that, it was bordered by evanescent isthmuses with a great Gulf-stream running about all over it, so that it

6996-646: The Middlesex Polytechnic in Cockfosters. Inspired by London's new underground nightclub scene, which began in Autumn 1978 with a weekly Tuesday night hosted by Steve Strange and DJ Rusty Egan at Billy's in Soho, the band switched musical direction to embrace the new electronic music. Friend and writer Robert Elms suggested they change their name to Spandau Ballet, a phrase which he told them he had seen written on

7128-659: The Neapolitan stock character of Pulcinella . The figure who later became Mr. Punch made his first recorded appearance in England in 1662. Punch and Judy are performed in the spirit of outrageous comedy — often provoking shocked laughter — and are dominated by the anarchic clowning of Mr. Punch. Appearing at a significant period in British history, professor Glyn Edwards states: "[Pulcinella] went down particularly well with Restoration British audiences, fun-starved after years of Puritanism . We soon changed Punch's name, transformed him from

7260-623: The Our Price chain and its chart return shops refusing to stock any CBS singles, which affected the record sales of their first single release, " Fight for Ourselves ". Though it peaked at 15 in the UK, it was a top 10 hit in Italy and the Netherlands. The title track, a personal favourite of Kemp and Hadley and inspired by the killing of a friend, Thomas "Kidso" Reilly in Belfast by Private Ian Thain, reached

7392-491: The Scala cinema and the cruiser HMS Belfast , advertised only by word-of-mouth, created the hype for a major record companies bidding war. After the band signed with Chrysalis Records , they released "To Cut a Long Story Short", produced by Landscape ’s Richard James Burgess . It became a top five hit on the UK charts in late 1980, as well as reaching the top 20 in Australia, Ireland and Spain. Their second single, " The Freeze ",

7524-569: The UK and the album was not released in the United States. Nevertheless, the band continued to have success in Germany, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands, where the singles " Raw " and " Be Free with Your Love " entered the top 40. The album included "Motivator", the first song written by Steve Norman for the band since The Makers. On Tuesday 6 March 1990, the band played the final date of their 10th anniversary tour at Edinburgh Playhouse before taking

7656-479: The UK top 10. Both "Steal" and "This Is The Love" appeared on the US Adult Contemporary chart. The band embarked on another world tour in 2015. In January 2015, they appeared on The Today Show , performing "True". They also appeared on The Talk on 27 July 2015 to perform "True". On 3 July 2017, Tony Hadley left the band due to, as he stated on Twitter , circumstances beyond his control. The rest of

7788-458: The UK top 40 at all. Trevor Horn remixed the track "Instinction", which was released as the fourth single from the album. Backed with a special dance remix of "Chant No. 1" on the 12-inch single version, the release was very well received. It returned the band to the UK top 10 after the poor chart performance of their previous two singles. The band released their third album, True , in March 1983. Produced by Tony Swain and Steve Jolley ,

7920-449: The US with Nick Mason's band Saucerful of Secrets, said in an interview: "There are no plans for Spandau going into 2020." He said he struggled to imagine Spandau Ballet without Tony Hadley, adding: "I still think that's the ultimate goal". Then on 23 May 2019, Wild tweeted at 6:15am: "I have formally quit the band @SpandauBallet to pursue my own music with my band Mercutio." By 10:30am Martin Kemp

8052-626: The West End production of Chicago and won the ITV reality show, Reborn in the USA in 2003 singing "Through the Barricades" to beat Michelle Gayle in the final. He appeared as a guest vocalist on the Alan Parsons album The Time Machine , performing lead vocals on the song "Out of the Blue". In early 2009, the official Spandau Ballet website encouraged fans to sign up "for an exciting announcement", fuelling rumours that

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8184-641: The Western World , was world-premiered at SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. It was officially screened at the Rome, Ghent (Belgium) and NYC Doc film festivals and received its European premiere at the Royal Albert Hall , London. In 2017, Hadley left Spandau Ballet. A year later, singer and actor Ross William Wild became their new frontman for a series of European live dates and a one-off show at Eventim's Hammersmith Apollo . In May 2019, Wild tweeted that he had quit

8316-482: The Year awards for the British Soap Awards , Inside Soap Awards and TV Quick Awards . He left EastEnders in 2002 for a golden handcuff deal with ITV drama and wrote his best-selling autobiography, True . He also wrote and directed his first film, Martin Kemp's Stalker . Gary Kemp wrote songs with Paul Stratham, who had written songs for Dido , continued acting on stage, in film and in television, and wrote music and additional lyrics with Guy Pratt for Bedbug at

8448-417: The aims. "Comedy", in its Elizabethan usage, had a very different meaning from modern comedy. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has a happy ending, usually involving marriages between the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more light-hearted than Shakespeare's other plays. The Punch and Judy show has roots in the 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte . The figure of Punch derives from

8580-448: The album True , as its title track reached No. 1 in the UK and the top 5 in the US. In 2011, it received a BMI award as one of the most-played songs in US history with four million airplays. In 1984, they received a Brit Award for technical excellence and were the first act to be approached by Bob Geldof to join the original Band Aid lineup. In 1985, they performed at the Live Aid benefit concert at Wembley Stadium. In 1990,

8712-520: The album featured a slicker pop sound and was recorded at Compass Point in the Bahamas . It was at this point that Steve Norman began playing saxophone for the band. The title track gave the band their first UK No. 1 single. It was a multi-format hit in the US, reaching No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and US Cash Box and also entering the US R&B charts. The band played four sell-out shows at The Wilton and The Palace, Los Angeles, in December 1983. The song

8844-539: The band "to pursue my own music with my band Mercutio", while Spandau bass player Martin Kemp confirmed there were no further plans for Spandau to tour without original singer Hadley. Gary Kemp and Steve Norman first decided to form a band, both playing guitar, in October 1976 after witnessing the Sex Pistols perform that summer at Islington's Screen on the Green. Close friends and school mates at Dame Alice Owen's in Islington, they were joined by John Keeble on drums, Michael Ellison on bass and Tony Hadley on vocals when

8976-426: The band played their last live show before a 19-year absence. In 1999, Hadley, Norman and Keeble launched an unsuccessful case in the High Court against Gary Kemp and his Reformation Publishing Company for a share of the band's songwriting royalties. Spandau Ballet reformed in 2009 for The Reformation Tour, a sell-out "greatest hits" world tour. In 2014, their archive-only feature-length documentary biopic, Soul Boys of

9108-495: The band released their own statement explaining that Hadley had made it clear to them in September 2016 that he did not want to work with the band any more and that they had now reached the decision "to move on as a band." On 6 June 2018, after a lengthy audition process Spandau Ballet revealed their new lead singer, Ross William Wild, who had previously performed with Martin Kemp in the West End musical Million Dollar Quartet . The band played live at Subterania Club in West London,

9240-405: The band's last American hit. The band's first top 10 single in Italy was " I'll Fly for You ", a success they repeated later with the singles " Fight for Ourselves " and " Through the Barricades ." At the end of 1984, the band performed on the Band Aid charity single alongside chart rivals Duran Duran , Culture Club and Wham! , and in 1985 performed at Wembley Stadium as part of Live Aid to

9372-506: The behavior and mannerisms of its members. Romantic comedy is a popular genre that depicts burgeoning romance in humorous terms and focuses on the foibles of those who are falling in love. Dean Rubin says the word "comedy" is derived from the Classical Greek κωμῳδία kōmōidía , which is a compound of κῶμος kômos (revel) and ᾠδή ōidḗ (singing; ode). The adjective "comic" (Greek κωμικός kōmikós), which strictly means that which relates to comedy is, in modern usage, generally confined to

9504-404: The boys I was quitting and then never heard back from them." The band's sax player Steve Norman also said: "I was neither involved in nor informed of any discussions or decision-making regarding the future of my band, least of all Ross's position in it." Wild was subsequently arrested in March 2021 and charged (under his real name, Ross Davidson) with a series of sex offences dating back to 2013. He

9636-886: The capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids , playing "European Dance Music" as "The Applause" for this new club culture's audience. They became one of the most successful groups of the New Romantic era of British pop and were part of the Second British Invasion of the Billboard Top 40 in the 1980s, selling 25 million albums and having 23 hit singles worldwide. The band have had eight UK top 10 albums, including three greatest hits compilations and an album of re-recorded material. Their musical influences ranged from punk rock and soul music to

9768-462: The charitable attitude towards people that is required for purposes of persuasion and co-operation, but at the same time maintains our shrewdness concerning the simplicities of 'cashing in. ' " The purpose of the comic frame is to satirize a given circumstance and promote change by doing so. The comic frame makes fun of situations and people, while simultaneously provoking thought. The comic frame does not aim to vilify in its analysis, but rather, rebuke

9900-720: The circus clown also continued, with such as Bozo the Clown in the United States and Oleg Popov in Russia. Radio provided new possibilities — with Britain producing the influential surreal humour of the Goon Show after the Second World War. The Goons' influence spread to the American radio and recording troupe the Firesign Theatre . American cinema has produced a great number of globally renowned comedy artists, from Laurel and Hardy ,

10032-483: The civilization of a country ... I take to be the flourishing of the Comic idea and Comedy, and the test of true Comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter." Laughter is said to be the cure for being sick. Studies show that people who laugh more often get sick less. American literary theorist Kenneth Burke writes that the "comic frame" in rhetoric is "neither wholly euphemistic, nor wholly debunking—hence it provides

10164-486: The comic, in order to avoid the use of ambiguous and problematically defined genres such as the grotesque , irony , and satire . Starting from 425 BCE, Aristophanes , a comic play and satirical author of the Ancient Greek Theater , wrote 40 comedies, 11 of which survive. Aristophanes developed his type of comedy from the earlier satyr plays , which were often highly obscene . The only surviving examples of

10296-456: The company owned the rights to the name of Spandau Ballet, the trio had to tour under the moniker "Hadley, Norman and Keeble, ex-Spandau Ballet". After successful surgery for the removal of two brain tumours in the mid-Nineties, Martin Kemp joined EastEnders in 1998 as one of the British soap's most popular bad boy characters, Steve Owen , winning Most Popular Actor at the 2000 National Television Awards and numerous Best Actor and Villain of

10428-675: The current evidency to incorporate all instances of the comic in the analysis, while the classification in genres and fields such as grotesque, humour and even irony or satire always poses problems. The terms humour and laughter are therefore pragmatically used in recent historiography to cover the entire spectrum. That Comedy sprang up and took shape in connection with Dionysiac or Phallic ritual has never been doubted. Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet ( / ˈ s p æ n d aʊ ˈ b æ l eɪ / SPAN -dow BAL -ay ) were an English pop band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by

10560-475: The daily morning radio show on BBC Radio London and in 2007 also presented the channel's all-day podcast , the All Day Breakfast Show . Between 2012 and 2017 he published a three-volume autobiography , which was used as the basis for the 2015 BBC sitcom Cradle to Grave . In 2019, the BBC dismissed Baker after he posted a tweet that featured a vintage photograph of a couple holding hands with

10692-484: The first UK pop band to perform live at the world-famous Ku Club in Ibiza. Reflecting the rapidly evolving club scene and Soho's hippest new nightspot, Le Beat Route on Greek Street, the band changed musical directions again, releasing the funk single " Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On) ", which was a No. 3 hit in the UK while reaching No. 17 in the US on Billboard magazine's Disco Top 100 in 1981. The song

10824-686: The first series documented the burgeoning new wave of British heavy metal ( NWOBHM ) scene, including an early TV appearance of Iron Maiden performing at The Marquee Club and interviews with " air guitarists ". Other editions also featured early appearances from the likes of Spandau Ballet and Depeche Mode . Baker's first mainstream break was as roving reporter - presenter on the Michael Aspel LWT regional magazine The Six O'Clock Show alongside former Mastermind winner and former London black cab driver Fred Housego . Paul Ross (brother of Jonathan Ross whom Baker had as his best man )

10956-475: The first series of Baker's TV show. Baker joined BBC Radio 1 in October 1993, taking over the weekend mid-morning show from 10   am to 1   pm from Dave Lee Travis who had resigned on air following the sackings instigated by Matthew Bannister and Trevor Dann during the early 1990s. However, due to poor ratings, from November 1994 he was heard on Saturdays only from 10   am to 12 noon. Simon Mayo took over Sunday mornings. Baker's style led to

11088-530: The general release tickets, the London O2 arena tickets sold out within 20 minutes and an extra two dates were added there because of demand. The band also added Liverpool and an extra date in Birmingham to the tour. Members gave their "first public performance and interview anywhere in the world for 19 years" on the BBC television show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 24 April 2009 performing "Chant No.1" with

11220-610: The guests' latest or most famous work, and shows would be interspersed with relatively obscure rock tracks from bands such as Yes , Todd Rundgren , Steely Dan , Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart . The programme was axed in November 2012 as part of a programme of cuts at the station. Although due to continue its run until the end of the year, Baker announced on air on the day of the announcement that that day's show would be his last, branding his BBC London employers as "pinheaded weasels" for

11352-418: The housewife and "gigastar" Dame Edna Everage , for his delivery of Dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, was described by biographer Anne Pender in 2010 as not only "the most significant theatrical figure of our time ... [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin ". By 200 BC, in ancient Sanskrit drama , Bharata Muni 's Natya Shastra defined humour ( hāsyam ) as one of

11484-401: The intimate details of life in and around the game". In attempting to lampoon privilege and the news cycle I went to a file of goofy pictures and saw the chimp dressed as a Lord and thought, 'That's the one!' Had I kept searching I might have chosen General Tom Thumb or even a baby in a crown. But I didn't. God knows I wish [I] had... Minutes later I was alerted by followers that this royal baby

11616-399: The late 1990s he made guest appearances on comedy shows including Have I Got News for You , Shooting Stars and Room 101 . During this period he appeared in the press as a result of nights out with friends Chris Evans and England footballer Paul Gascoigne . Gascoigne was under media scrutiny for drinking and socialising while preparing for tournaments. After Gascoigne was left out of

11748-413: The late 19th century, and later radio and television in the 20th century broadened the access of comedians to the general public. Charlie Chaplin , through silent film, became one of the best-known faces on Earth. The silent tradition lived on well into the late 20th century through mime artists like Marcel Marceau , and the slapstick comedy of artists like Rowan Atkinson (as Mr. Bean ). The tradition of

11880-400: The most divorced from a true mimesis. Tragedy is the truest mimesis, followed by epic poetry, comedy, and lyric poetry. The genre of comedy is defined by a certain pattern according to Aristotle's definition. Comedies begin with low or base characters seeking insignificant aims and end with some accomplishment of the aims which either lightens the initial baseness or reveals the insignificance of

12012-593: The narrator, at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley and the New Wimbledon Theatre . Baker was announced as part of BT Sport 's football coverage in 2013, hosting a Friday evening show with Danny Kelly . In 2016, Chris Evans hired Baker to work as a writer on the 2016 series of Top Gear . In November 2016, he entered as a latecomer in reality television show, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here . Baker

12144-534: The newly launched BBC Radio 5 , presenting Sportscall , a phone-in sports quiz broadcast every Saturday lunchtime. From October 1991 to October 1992 he presented 606 and, from February 1992 until October 1993, he presented Morning Edition every weekday morning. The show blended Baker's love of unusual trivia with "grown-up" music. This was where Baker first teamed up with Danny Kelly and Allis Moss. Mark Kermode added weekly film reviews, and would later appear with his band "The Railtown Bottlers" every week on

12276-441: The nine nava rasas , or principle rasas (emotional responses), which can be inspired in the audience by bhavas , the imitations of emotions that the actors perform. Each rasa was associated with a specific bhavas portrayed on stage. In the case of humour, it was associated with mirth ( hasya ). The phenomena connected with laughter and that which provokes it have been carefully investigated by psychologists. They agree

12408-467: The original Beggar & Co and "Gold." On 19 October 2009, the group released a new album, Once More , which featured reworked semi-acoustic versions of 11 Spandau favourites and two new songs, the title track, written by Gary Kemp and Steve Norman, and Love Is All, the first Spandau song to be written by Tony Hadley. The album went Gold in Italy and Silver in the UK. Virgin Media honoured Spandau Ballet as

12540-418: The origins of comedy are obscure because it was not treated seriously from its inception. However, comedy had its own Muse : Thalia . Aristotle taught that comedy was generally positive for society, since it brings forth happiness, which for Aristotle was the ideal state, the final goal in any activity. For Aristotle, a comedy did not need to involve sexual humor. A comedy is about the fortunate rise of

12672-414: The podcast moved to a paid-only subscription model on Patreon . Baker has presented a number of popular football videos and DVDs including Own Goals and Gaffs (1992), Right Hammerings , Whose Season Was It Anyway? (both 1993), Own Goals and Gaffs 2 , Best Short Corners (both 1994), Fabulous World Of Freak Football (1995) and The Glorious Return Of Own Goals And Gaffs (2009). The Game (1990),

12804-497: The predominant characteristics are incongruity or contrast in the object and shock or emotional seizure on the part of the subject. It has also been held that the feeling of superiority is an essential factor: thus Thomas Hobbes speaks of laughter as a "sudden glory". Modern investigators have paid much attention to the origin both of laughter and of smiling, as well as the development of the "play instinct" and its emotional expression. George Meredith said that "One excellent test of

12936-479: The rest of the tour was cancelled. This also resulted in the cancellation of a proposed summer tour of Spain and Italy and a planned six-week tour of the United States supporting the Power Station. During this same year, Spandau Ballet achieved platinum status with the compilation The Singles Collection , which kept the focus on the band between studio albums and celebrated its five years of success. The album

13068-463: The ridiculous behaviour exhibited by his rock star interviewees. In the later 1990s, Baker wrote a weekly sports column for The Times and was briefly a columnist for early issues of film magazine Empire . Baker started his TV career in 1980 at London Weekend Television (LWT), as the presenter of Twentieth Century Box – a series of regional documentaries on elements of youth culture in London, produced by Janet Street-Porter . One edition in

13200-428: The same role. Self-deprecation is a technique of comedy used by many comedians who focus on their misfortunes and foibles in order to entertain. Stand-up comedy is a mode of comic performance in which the performer addresses the audience directly, usually speaking in their own person rather than as a dramatic character . The deliberate use by Menard of the term 'le rire' rather than 'l'humour' reflects accurately

13332-441: The satyr plays are by Euripides , which are much later examples and not representative of the genre. In ancient Greece, comedy originated in bawdy and ribald songs or recitations apropos of phallic processions and fertility festivals or gatherings. Around 335 BCE, Aristotle , in his work Poetics , stated that comedy originated in phallic processions and the light treatment of the otherwise base and ugly. He also adds that

13464-531: The school dining room. The band changed their name to the Cut when Michael Ellison left, with Steve Norman filling in on bass. In 1977 another Alice Owen pupil, Richard Miller, took over on bass guitar and the band changed their name to the Makers, playing power pop compositions by Gary Kemp or Steve Norman, with titles like "Fantasy Girl" and "Pin-Ups", inspired by mid-sixties bands like the Small Faces . They received

13596-591: The school relocated to Potters Bar . They rehearsed at lunchtimes in the school's music room, playing sped-up versions of the Rolling Stones ' "Silver Train", the Beatles ' " I Wanna Be Your Man " and the Animals ' "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place". They also played an original Gary Kemp composition, "I've Got Roots", which inspired their band name, Roots. Their first gig was a fourth-form Christmas party December 1976 in

13728-449: The sense of "laughter-provoking". Of this, the word came into modern usage through the Latin comoedia and Italian commedia and has, over time, passed through various shades of meaning. The Greeks and Romans confined their use of the word "comedy" to descriptions of stage-plays with happy endings. Aristotle defined comedy as an imitation of men worse than the average (where tragedy

13860-545: The show's cancellation was due to "a breakdown in contract negotiations between our company and Danny Baker", alleging that Baker "did not wish to meet his agreed obligations regarding exclusivity", and Wippit rejected the terms proposed by his agent. Wippit offered Baker 100% of the programme's revenues and declared no further interest in the podcast, but this offer was rejected by Baker's agent. Having announced on his BBC London radio show on 21 May 2008 that he would be returning to present Radio 5 Live's 606 football phone-in for

13992-435: The sitcom Me, You and Him . During this period, Baker began presenting on BBC Radio 5 's 606 football-related phone-in programme as well as the job of presenting Match of the Eighties , a six-part BBC series of football during the 1980/81 and 1985/86 seasons. Baker was a writer on Chris Evans' TFI Friday show, as well as contributing material for presenters such as Angus Deayton and Jonathan Ross . During

14124-659: The stupidity and foolery of those involved in the circumstances. For example, on The Daily Show , Jon Stewart uses the "comic frame" to intervene in political arguments, often offering crude humor in sudden contrast to serious news. In a segment on President Obama 's trip to China, Stewart remarks on America's debt to the Chinese government while also having a weak relationship with the country. After depicting this dismal situation, Stewart shifts to speak directly to President Obama, calling upon him to "shine that turd up." For Stewart and his audience, introducing coarse language into what

14256-472: The subgenres of comedy are farce , comedy of manners , burlesque , and satire . Some comedy apes certain cultural forms: for instance, parody and satire often imitate the conventions of the genre they are parodying or satirizing. For example, in the United States, parodies of newspapers and television news include The Onion , and The Colbert Report ; in Australia, shows such as Kath & Kim , Utopia , and Shaun Micallef's Mad As Hell perform

14388-780: The summer break with Lynsey Hipgrave replacing Clarke as co-host. The Saturday morning show gained critical acclaim, winning the Gold Sony Radio Award in the Speech Radio Personality of the Year award for 2011, 2012 and 2014, and the Gold Award for the Entertainment Show of the Year in 2013. Between November 2018 and March 2020 Baker co-hosted 35 episodes of a podcast titled Lineker & Baker: Behind Closed Doors with Gary Lineker and described as "a regular show full of

14520-726: The top 10 in the UK and in Europe, as did the album. This was followed in 1986/87 by the band's largest European concert tour to date, "Through the Barricades – Across the Borders", with six record-breaking nights at the Ahoy Stadium in Rotterdam, another six nights at London's Wembley Arena, 80,000 at Casa de Campo in Madrid and 50,000 at an open-air concert in Treviso. Hadley and Gary Kemp performed "Through

14652-709: The top 100 albums chart and reached No. 19 on the US Billboard 200. The singles "Gold" and " Communication " peaked at numbers 29 and 59 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. On their UK tour they were the first rock band to play Sadler's Wells and the Royal Festival Hall . The follow-up album, Parade , was released in June 1984, and its singles were again big successes in the charts in Europe, Oceania and Canada. The album's opening song, " Only When You Leave ", became

14784-467: The way in which they cancelled the programme. On 15 March 2007 until September the same year, Baker hosted the All Day Breakfast Show , a podcast to reach listeners beyond BBC London's FM radio reach. Regulars Amy Lamé , Baylen Leonard and David Kuo all contributed and the first show featured an appearance by comedian and actor Peter Kay . Created by and starring Danny Baker, the show also featured Amy Lamé, Baylen Leonard and David Kuo . It followed

14916-410: The weekday 3 to 5   pm show from Jono Coleman , who had moved to co-present the breakfast show with former actress JoAnne Good . His BBC London 94.9 shows tended to feature off-the-wall phone-ins, toast and discussions with his on-air team, Amy Lamé and Baylen Leonard , often regarding music and entertainment nostalgia of the 1960s and 1970s. His interviews focused on offbeat trivia rather than

15048-450: Was 24. In 1977, Baker started writing for the punk fanzine Sniffin' Glue which was founded by his old schoolfriend Mark Perry which in turn led to an offer from the New Musical Express , then edited by Nick Logan . Baker began working as the office receptionist, but was soon contributing regular articles and reviews before progressing to interviews. He often refers to these times during his radio shows , regularly citing examples of

15180-594: Was a series of 10-minute homages to some of Baker's entertainment idols including Fanny Cradock , Peter Glaze (from Crackerjack ) and the Top of the Pops audience. The episode on the Top of the Pops audience includes a clip of Baker leaping around to a performance of "Ooh What A Life" by the Gibson Brothers in 1979, captioned as "Danny Baker's first TV appearance". Baker also began

15312-552: Was added from 11:30   am to 1   pm. After moving to the Saturday breakfast slot (8   am to 12 noon), he engineered his own dismissal after a matter of weeks by refusing to centre the show on football, preferring to intersperse chat with his own music selections. After leaving Talk Radio UK , he joined Virgin Radio in early 1999, taking over from Jonathan Ross on Sundays from 10   am to 1   pm. Not long after, Baker

15444-547: Was also a No. 1 in Ireland and Canada and top 5 in the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and Spain. It won a BMI award as one of the most played songs in history when it passed four million airplays in the United States, the equivalent of 22 years' continuous play. The follow-up single, "Gold", reached No. 2 in the UK and the top 5 in Belgium, Ireland and Spain. The album topped the charts internationally, spent 64 consecutive weeks in

15576-455: Was an imitation of men better than the average). However, the characters portrayed in comedies were not worse than average in every way, only insofar as they are Ridiculous, which is a species of the Ugly. The Ridiculous may be defined as a mistake or deformity not productive of pain or harm to others; the mask, for instance, that excites laughter is something ugly and distorted without causing pain. In

15708-457: Was another top 20 hit in the UK, Ireland and Spain, followed by the double A-side "Musclebound/Glow" and the gold-certified debut album Journeys to Glory in early 1981. The band played their first US showcase in May 1981 at New York's Underground Club, on 17th and Broadway, with a fashion show by Axiom, a co-operative of the London club scene's new clothes designers including Sade Adu . Spandau were

15840-482: Was approached by the BBC and was asked whether he wanted to present a Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 2 , which at the time was being hosted by Steve Wright . (Wright was being promoted to the station's Weekday Afternoon slot). Baker turned down the offer by saying "the time wasn't right", and the show was given to Jonathan Ross. Baker also deputised on Virgin's Saturday lunchtime football show from 12 noon to 2   pm for

15972-582: Was championed by DJ Frankie Crocker on WBLS . The follow-up album, Diamond , also produced by Burgess, was released in 1982. This album was certified gold by the BPI. The band had Burgess remix every single from both albums for inclusion on each single's B-side and for 12-inch club releases. These mixes were later released as a boxed set. However, the second single from Diamond was " Paint Me Down ", which broke their run of top 20 hits by stalling at No. 30. The third single, " She Loved Like Diamond ", failed to make

16104-406: Was convicted in 2024 of voyeurism, raping a woman and sexually assaulting two others. The song "True" has been sampled in many songs including PM Dawn 's " Set Adrift on Memory Bliss " (1991), Queen Pen 's "It's True" (1998), Nelly 's " N Dey Say " (2004) and Lloyd 's " You " (2006). It has also been covered by will.i.am and Fergie , Rui da Silva and Paul Anka , among others. "To Cut

16236-405: Was his researcher. During his stint on The Six O'Clock Show , Baker was filmed having an altercation with a British Rail press officer. This clip is often resurrected for clip shows and can be seen on YouTube. Baker appeared regularly on LWT's regional output during the 1980s and early 1990s – working on such programmes as Six O'Clock Live , Danny Baker's Londoners , and in 1991, The Game –

16368-410: Was light-hearted, The Baker Line was darker and emotionally charged. Baker was at his most outspoken, and in early 1997 he was dismissed from Radio 5 Live when station bosses alleged that he had incited threatening behaviour during an angry outburst about a referee. Baker joined Talk Radio UK to present a similar football phone-in with Kelly each Saturday from 5:30 to 7:30   pm. A pre-match show

16500-508: Was of course mixed race and waves of panic and revulsion washed over me... What had I done?... It was a genuine, naive and catastrophic mistake. —Baker's response to the racism incident, 2019 In May 2019, Baker posted an image on Twitter of a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee dressed in clothes. He had added the caption: "Royal Baby leaves hospital," referring to the recent birth of Archie Mountbatten-Windsor , son of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex . Baker

16632-412: Was on ITV's This Morning confirming that Spandau would not be touring "until Tony [Hadley] comes back". The next day Spandau thanked Wild via Twitter for "his brilliant performances with them last year and wish him every success with his band, Mercutio". Within the next few days Wild explained further: "I'd put my whole life on hold and was sick of waiting around for them to make up their minds. I told

16764-441: Was perfectly beautiful, and contained only a single tree, 503 feet high. In the early 20th century, several avant-garde movements, including the dadaists , surrealists , and futurists , began to argue for an art that was random, jarring and illogical. The goals of these movements were in some sense serious, and they were committed to undermining the solemnity and self-satisfaction of the contemporary artistic establishment . As

16896-493: Was released by Chrysalis Records without the band's approval and the band instigated legal action against the label. After a bitter court case with Chrysalis, Spandau Ballet signed to CBS Records for £1.5 million in 1986 and released their fifth studio album, Through the Barricades . With producer Gary Langan , the band moved away from their pop and soul influences to create a stadium rock sound. A dispute between Our Price Records and Sony over trading arrangements resulted in

17028-482: Was subject to a backlash on social media, accused of mocking the Duchess of Sussex's African-American heritage with the tweet. Baker deleted the tweet and apologised, stating that he had made a "naive and catastrophic mistake" with his choice of image, but denied racist intent. He stated that the choice of a chimpanzee "dressed as a Lord" had been made "to lampoon privilege". The BBC sacked Baker, maintaining that he had made

17160-438: Was the first person to be voted off in the series. Baker began his radio career on BBC Radio London in 1989, presenting Weekend Breakfast from 6   to 9   am on Saturdays and Sundays. The show was produced by Chris Evans , who became a good friend to Baker. With GLR eventually opting for a more orthodox breakfast show at weekends, Baker moved to the 10   am to 1   pm slot on Sundays. In 1990, Baker joined

17292-409: Was translated into Arabic in the medieval Islamic world , where it was elaborated upon by Arabic writers and Islamic philosophers , such as Abu Bishr , and his pupils Al-Farabi , Avicenna , and Averroes . They disassociated comedy from Greek dramatic representation and instead identified it with Arabic poetic themes and forms, such as hija (satirical poetry). They viewed comedy as simply

17424-565: Was written for the paperback edition, released to coincide with the 2010 World Cup . Comedy writer Satire and political satire use comedy to portray people or social institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, thus alienating their audience from the object of their humor. Parody subverts popular genres and forms, critiquing those forms without necessarily condemning them. Other forms of comedy include screwball comedy , which derives its humor largely from bizarre, surprising (and improbable) situations or characters, and black comedy , which

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