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BBC Radio 4
Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe take us on a musical journey of discovery, exploring the web of connections between tracks across the breadth of all musical styles, from pop, rock, reggae and hip-hop to classical, jazz, folk and country.
Episodes
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May 30, 2025 • 47min
Claire Booth and Gavin Higgins on a few very famous notes
Composer Gavin Higgins and soprano Claire Booth take us from a massive Wembley chant to a ground-breaking early rap by a famous white rock group as they join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add five more tracks to the playlist.Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond
The Alien by Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow
Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple
In a Foolish Dream by Stravinsky
Rapture by Blondie Other music in this episode:Tickle Toe by Lyle Lovett and his Large Band
Horn Concerto III: Mycelium Rondo by Gavin Higgins
Rata de Dos Patas by Paquita La Del Barrio
Firestarter by The Prodigy
Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin
Highway to Hell by AC/DC
Enter Sandman by Metallica
I Love Rock 'n Roll by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Walk This Way by Aerosmith
Stay Another Day by East 17

May 23, 2025 • 43min
Errollyn Wallen and Neil Brand launch a brand new playlist
Errollyn Wallen, composer and Master of the King's Music, and musician and writer Neil Brand are the studio guests of Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe as they launch a brand new series. From Lady Gaga to an early Disney classic and ending up in Mexico, the journey begins.Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:Abracadabra by Lady Gaga
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas
Never Let Her Slip Away by Andrew Gold
You’re So Vain by Carly Simon
Rata de Dos Patas by Paquita La Del BarrioOther music in this episode:Good Thing by Fine Young Cannibals
Spellbound by Siouxsie and the Banshees

Apr 4, 2025 • 43min
Tawiah and Linton Stephens round off the series
Singer, songwriter and film & TV composer Tawiah and bassoonist Linton Stephens join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe as they add the last five tracks in the current series. Love and longing feature prominently, be it for a distant homeland, a parent to a child, or infatuation. But the curtain rises to a famous march representing the forces of darkness in the evil empire.Add to Playlist returns for a new series towards the end of May.Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme) by John Williams
Maria from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim
Boricua en la Luna by Roy Brown
Orange Moon by Erykah Badu
Mother and Child Reunion by Paul SimonOther music in this episode:Nut Rocker by B. Bumble & The Stingers
Mars by Gustav Holst
Dance at the Gym from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein
Vietnam by Jimmy Cliff

Mar 28, 2025 • 43min
Natalie Duncan and Richard Stilgoe celebrate the Red Planet
Lyricist Richard Stilgoe and musician and songwriter Natalie Duncan prepare for a square dance as they add five more tracks to the playlist. With Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye, they head from Scottish reels to Mars, via California's Santa Monica Boulevard.Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:Eightsome Reel by The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra
Scotch Rhapsody by William Walton & Edith Sitwell
All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow
Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
Mars by Gustav HolstOther music in this episode:King by Years & Years
Hoedown by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Boil 'em Cabbage Down, trad, performed by Mark O'Connor
Candy by Cameo

Mar 21, 2025 • 43min
Carol Jarvis and Keelan Carew head for a hoedown
Pianist Keelan Carew and trombonist Carol Jarvis join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add five more tracks to the playlist, as they take us from the great Winifred Atwell to an ambitious prog-rock reimagining of Aaron Copland's Rodeo ballet.Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:Tickle the Ivories by Winifred Atwell
Pas de Deux: Andante maestoso by Tchaikovsky
Stan by Eminem
Rather Be by Clean Bandit
Hoedown by Emerson, Lake & PalmerOther music in this episode:Radioactive by Carol Jarvis
Kaigara Bushi by Mitsune
Black and White Rag by Winifred Atwell
Hoe-Down by Aaron Copland, dir Leonard Bernstein
Bonaparte's Retreat by William H Stepp

Mar 14, 2025 • 43min
Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne and Anne Dudley salute Amy
Concertina and melodeon player Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne and composer and arranger Anne Dudley contribute to the next five tracks on the playlist. Alongside Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe, they take us on a journey from the elegant vocals of Amy Winehouse to a Japanese folk tune about hardworking fishermen.Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:Love is a Losing Game by Amy Winehouse
Sarabande by Claude Debussy
Lambada by Pinduca
The Bristol Sailorman/Will the Waggoner by John Kirkpatrick (Cohen)
Kaigara Bushi by MitsuneOther music in this episode:Why Do Fools Fall In Love by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers
There is no Greater Love by Billie Holiday
(There is) No Greater Love by Amy Winehouse
Love is a Losing Game (Demo) by Amy Winehouse
Gymnopédie by Erik Satie
Lambada by Kaoma

Mar 7, 2025 • 42min
Maya Youssef and Ben Gernon take us to Syria and Hamburg
British-Syrian Maya Youssef - virtuoso player of the Middle Eastern stringed instrument the qanun - and conductor Ben Gernon, join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add five more tracks to the playlist. Starting by the dock of the bay, they travel to Damascus, Hamburg and land on a 1950s familiar pop classic sung by a 14-year-old.Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:(Sitting on) the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding
The Waves of the Sea by Lena Shamamyan
Mache dich auf! Werde Licht! (Arise! Let there be light!) by Felix Mendelssohn
Blank Space (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift
Why Do Fools Fall In Love by Frankie Lymon & The TeenagersOther music in this episode:Parisienne Walkways by Gary Moore
Sweet Child O’Mine by Guns N’ Roses
Hard to Handle by Otis Redding
Blank Space by Taylor Swift

Feb 28, 2025 • 42min
Emma Rawicz and Neil Brand reach for the skies
Bandleader and jazz saxophonist Emma Rawicz and the writer and composer Neil Brand join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe as they add the next five tracks to the playlist. The journey takes them from Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, across the English Channel in a rickety aeroplane, then right up to the moon with Les Paul and Mary Ford.Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:The Bucket’s Got a Hole in it by Kid Ory
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines by Ron Goodwin
Conversation by Joni Mitchell
How High the Moon by Les Paul and Mary Ford
Sweet Child O’Mine by Guns N’ RosesOther music in this episode:Tamacún by Rodrigo y Gabriela
Double Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra: Mvt 1 by Philip Glass, performed by Katia & Marielle Labèque
My Bucket's Got a Hole In It by Hank Williams
Bucket's Got a Hole In It by Louis Armstrong
My Bucket's Got a Hole In It by Van Morrison
633 Squadron: Main Title Theme by Ron Goodwin
Amassakoul by Tinariwen
Some Unholy War by Amy Winehouse
Didn't It Rain by Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Feb 21, 2025 • 43min
Julian Joseph and Aoife Ní Bhriain open the new series
Irish violinist Aoife Ní Bhriain and jazz pianist and composer Julian Joseph are the first guests in the new series with Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe. Together they add the first five tracks, taking us from the Mercury Prize-winning jazz group Ezra Collective to a celebrated pair of sisters at the piano, via a 1975 pop classic heavily influenced by Frédéric Chopin.Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:God Gave Me Feet For Dancing by Ezra Collective
Nocturne No. 20 in C-Sharp Minor by Frédéric Chopin
Could it be Magic by Barry Manilow
Kabir by John McLaughlin, Shankar Mahadevan & Zakir Hussain
Double Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra: Mvt 1 by Philip Glass, performed by Katia & Marielle LabèqueOther music in this episode:Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac
Dollar Wine by Colin Lucas
Feeling Good by Nina Simone
Prelude in C Minor, Op 28, No 20 by Frédéric Chopin
Could it be Magic by Donna Summer
Could it be Magic by Take That

Jan 3, 2025 • 43min
Georgie Ward and Abel Selaocoe round off the series
Georgie Ward, composer and keyboard player to the stars, and cellist and composer Abel Selaocoe, head to the Add to Playlist studio to add the final five tracks of the series. Together with Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe, this episode takes us from a reinterpretation of a Bob Marley classic to a Sinatra father-and-daughter 'novelty' song via a ground-breaking aunt-and-niece double-act from Tanzania. Add to Playlist returns for a new series on 27 Feb 2025Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna PhoebeThe five tracks in this week's playlist:Redemption Song by the Kanneh-Masons
Cold Light by Ishmael Ensemble
The Feeling Begins by Peter Gabriel
Mapendo by The Zawose Queens
Somethin’ Stupid by Frank and Nancy Sinatra Other music in this episode:Be the One by Dua Lipa, Live from the Royal Albert Hall
Emmanuele by Abel Selaocoe
No Volvere by The Gypsy Kings
Redemption Song by Bob Marley
Bloom by Holysseus Fly
Somethin' Stupid by Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman