Category: 5. Entertainment

Chris Goreham/BBC

Andy Bowles

Until 1982, if you wanted to go on holiday, you had to go to a high street travel agent, who would generally make a bunch of phone calls and tell you to come back later. Then Thomson Holidays introduced the first computerised booking system and pricing was deregulated – enter the golden age of Brits-on-tour package trips to Benidorm, Torremolinos and the other resorts scattered along the Costa del Sol.

It created a curious phenomenon of its own: the hit single the holidaymakers brought home. Plenty of 1980s European artists won a single hit, perhaps two, in the UK before slinking back into obscurity or – just as often – back into the domestic or continental stardom they already had before the British deigned to take an interest. For a few weeks, their names were inescapable: Spagna, Sabrina, Modern Talking, Desireless, Baltimora, Opus, Nena. Then they became pub quiz answers.

Among the travellers going out to Spain was the Radio 1 DJ Gary Davies, who championed many of the big 80s Europop hits on his afternoon show. “There were two main places I would go,” he says. “Marbella and then Ibiza, which I discovered in 1986. I’d be out in bars and in clubs all the time and hearing a lot of European music. For example, I heard Bamboléo by Gipsy Kings in Ibiza and it just blew me away. I got hold of a copy while I was there, brought it back, played it on the radio and the reaction was so great that they got a record deal in the UK.”

Europop hits could grow from seemingly infertile soil. Opus were an Austrian band who made music not unlike Supertramp – prog-inflected pop-rock – and had grown an audience first in their home country and then in Italy. After four albums, they were popular enough to justify recording a live album, for which the guitarist and songwriter Ewald Pfleger decided to write a new song. “We were playing to about 5,000 people and my aim was to compose a song for them [to sing],” he says. “So I had to use a simple melody and simple words. We had to do it twice, the second time at the end of the show, and of course the second time was much better, because the audience knew the song. They sang and clapped with us – and that was the birth of a worldwide hit.”

The song was the cheesily stirring Live Is Life, which in 1985 and 1986 spread around the world, its one-size-fits-all lyrics finding universal popularity: “When we all give the power / We all give the best / Every minute of an hour / Don’t think about the rest.” For the best part of two years, Opus toured globally to promote it. “We had been together for 12 years and our aim was to get successful outside Austria, outside Europe. So when it happened, we took it as it was,” Pfleger says.

But when Live Is Life had faded, those outside the Germanic world no longer cared. “It’s just a fact,” Pfleger says. “It’s not easy for Austrian acts. Falco didn’t get the chance to have a second hit after Rock Me Amadeus and it was the same for us.”

Nena were a young West Berlin band, loosely associated with the neue Deutsche welle (new German wave) of the early 80s, who wanted their third single to be an anti-war rock song called 99 Luftballons. “That created quite a panic at our record label,” says the band’s eponymous singer (born Gabriele Kerner). “Their main argument was that the song didn’t have a chorus and wasn’t commercial enough.”

But the song became a huge smash in Europe – full of brash energy, it had “one of the best hooks of the 80s”, according to the musician and writer Scott Miller, despite its “embarrassingly out-of-place disco-funk interlude”. And like so many other Europop smashes, it owed success in the anglosphere to a DJ.

“Rodney Bingenheimer of KROQ in LA caused our breakthrough,” Nena says. “Christiane F [the German actor and musician] was invited to Rodney’s radio show and she brought a suitcase of her favourite German music, which included our first album. He loved the song and played it up to seven times a day and other radio stations followed suit. Before any label even realised it would be worth releasing us, we already had a chart entry in America.”

99 Luftballons reached No 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1983. Britain (and Canada, Australia and South Africa) had to wait until the following year for 99 Red Balloons, an English-language version whose lyrics the band didn’t really warm to, but which became a monster hit in turn.

Nena remained a huge star – the most successful female singer in German chart history – but those 99 balloons were the beginning and end of her UK chart career (the follow-up, Just a Dream, peaked at No 70). But, as she points out, they were all so young that no thought was given to capitalising on that hit.

“The word career didn’t even exist in our vocabulary,” she says. “We never analysed or sought explanations. I was just fulfilled experiencing so many beautiful and exciting things. None of us expected our success and when it happened we celebrated and lived it to the fullest.”

Europop smashes often live on in the mind, partly because they are unusual, and partly because that novelty makes them powerful signifiers, easy to use in films to mark a time and place. Nena’s hit was used in, among many others, Grosse Pointe Blank, Boogie Nights, The Wedding Singer, Atomic Blonde and Despicable Me 3; even Baltimora’s Tarzan Boy ended up on a few soundtracks.

Live Is Life, though, secured a strange afterlife. For one thing, it became a staple of sports arenas around the world (and its popularity soared again once YouTube came along, thanks to a clip of Diego Maradona doing keepy-uppies in time to it). For another, it was given one of pop’s most extraordinary reimaginings when the Slovenian art band Laibach rearranged it into a terrifying martial statement, in English and German.

In the bland call to unity of the original lyrics, Laibach found something else and rewrote it as Leben heißt Leben.

“Mediocrity in language is a powerful weapon – it strips words of resistance and makes them infinitely adaptable,” they say via email. “The hollow optimism of old Eurohits offers a perfect canvas for reinterpretation, subversion and reappropriation. These songs were never truly about any meaningful meaning – popular culture rarely understands itself – and when we reinterpret these songs, we simply help them discover their deeper, often unintended, potential.”

But why remake it in that way? “Songs are not innocent; beneath every sweet song lies a hidden command. Our version only amplifies what was already present: the spirit of order, discipline and collective will. If it now sounds like a marching anthem, it is because the DNA was always there, waiting to be activated. Nostalgia, nationalism, conformity – these are not our inventions. They are the silent architects of European history, European order, and they are behind much of European pop culture, too. We only turned up the volume.”

And what does Pfleger make of that rendering of his song? “I don’t like it,” he says, his face souring. “You know, they never contacted us since they did it. It has no positive feeling and more a dark, bad energy.”

Big holiday hits flourished in the 90s and 00s, too – The Ketchup Song, Macarena – but they were clearly recorded as novelties, in a way most of the 80s hits had not been. Today, Europop hits blossom in micro-moments on TikTok, while globalised streaming culture means that when you’re poolside in Spain or Greece, you are more likely to hear Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter or some generic tropical house than a homegrown hit to export back home alongside a novelty fridge magnet.

That means Pfleger and Nena seem all the more like outliers – but they remain delighted by the songs that changed their lives for a summer or two. “I’m very proud that an Austrian band had this success,” Pfleger says. “I wrote more than 200 songs and it is very special to have one that so many people liked.” 99 Luftballons means Nena’s name is instantly recognisable: she will be touring this October, with a London show lined up. “I love that song,” she says.

Nena plays O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, on 11 October

Canadian singer Justin Bieber has surprised fans by releasing a new album titled Swag.

The record features 20 songs with track names including Dadz Love, Devotion and Therapy Session and follows online concern for the singer’s mental health after a confrontation with paparazzi.

Promotional pictures shared by the singer feature his wife, Hailey Bieber, and their son – at points being held over his head.

Fellow artists and fans have reacted with glee to the new music, which comes four years after Bieber’s last album, Purpose.

With a run time of just under an hour, the once-teen-icon turned megastar collaborates with a host of rappers on Swag including Sexxy Red, Cash Cobain and Gunna.

Its title appears to hark back to the singer’s 2012 hit Boyfriend, featuring the line “swag, swag, swag, on you”.

American rapper Big Sean was among the famous names to welcome the news of the album’s release, commenting on the singer’s Instagram post “Yes!!!!”.

The album drop also comes on the back of fans’ worries for Bieber’s mental health. In recent months, the singer has shared multiple posts online about the intrusion of paparazzi in his personal life.

One video, filmed on Father’s Day when he confronted a photographer, shows the singer saying “I’m a dad. I’m a husband. You’re not getting it. It’s not clocking to you. I’m standing on business.”

The video was widely circulated and remixed online. Now, it not only features as part of the promotion of the singer’s new album, but is sampled in one of its songs, Butterflies.

Bieber’s marriage has also been under the spotlight recently after another controversial social media post. The singer celebrated his wife featuring on the cover of Vogue with a social media post detailing an argument between them.

The lyrics of Daisies, the second song on Swag, appear to allude to the couple’s relationship with “falling petals do you love me or not” and “you said forever babe, did you mean it or not?”

Other song titles on the album seem to touch on religious themes including Devotion, Soulful and Forgiveness, in keeping with Bieber’s Christian faith.

Sara Stacey

Sara Stacey

Sara Stacey

‘Good track record’

Noel Edmonds’ Kiwi Adventure

9pm, ITV1

It’s been the unexpected eccentric hit of the summer, but it’s time to say goodbye to Edmonds and his new life in New Zealand. First, though: he wants to marry Liz … for a fifth time! After all, there is a chapel on their estate. He calls on his global operations director (“GOD”) to prepare the ceremony, while Edmonds tries to rescue his flailing business. “I totally accept that there are people who totally dismiss me as being crazy,” he says. “Am I bothered about that? No, I’m not.” Hollie Richardson

Our Yorkshire Shop: A Victorian Restoration

8pm, Channel 4
With one week until the grand reopening of Peacock & Verity, volunteers in Masham race to perfect their beloved Victorian grocers. Although the cafe is complete, a striking window display is still needed, so the team visits Castle Museum in York in search of inspiration. Ali Catterall

Chicago Fire

8pm, Sky Witness
It’s a triple-whammy for the Windy City series, with this bumper crossover episode bringing together the Fire, Med and PD strands. The catastrophic event uniting all the responders on this occasion is a gas explosion, which causes a fire and results in a subway tunnel caving in. HR

And Just Like That

9pm, Sky Comedy
Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and friends have more light drama to deal with as the third season of the now much less cringeworthy Sex and the City sequel continues. Old flames, new romances and the intoxicating promise of Carrie becoming a (pretty cheesy) novelist are all swirled together in another sweetly escapist update. Jack Seale

First Dates

10pm, Channel 4
Look out for a couple of new waiters in this series: Gerald and Kyle, who love to entertain. They will be serving Rebecca, who needs to find someone half-decent (anyone?) who is also a fan of Boris Johnson. Then there is Anna, who wants a beach buddy – will a surfer do? HR

St Denis Medical

10.50pm, BBC One

A double bill of the warm and amiable US mockumentary that shows flashes of greatness. Supervising nurse Alex is horrified to discover that she is the executor of her colleague Joyce’s will. Elsewhere, poor online reviews irk the medics, even as a fed-up Dr Ron declares: “Who cares … it’s a hospital, not a Mexican restaurant!” Hannah J Davies

Film choice

Wicked (Jon M Chu, 2024), 10am and 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
If you consider yourself a musical agnostic, Wicked might be best enjoyed on a television screen. Consumed in one sitting – so long, so many songs performed at such an unwavering high intensity – anyone undecided might find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer onslaught of the thing. But if you are ready for the plunge, Jon M Chu’s Wizard of Oz prequel is an extravaganza. The performances are fantastic, especially Ariana Grande, whose years spent toiling down the Disney Channel mines manifest themselves in a remarkable lightness of touch. The ambition is faultless. And if you aren’t moved by the walloping final performance of Defying Gravity, you may be dead inside. Stuart Heritage

Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires (Paul Hoen, 2025), Disney+

If you are an adult with unfiltered access to the broad sweep of horror, perhaps Disney’s Zombies franchise has passed you by. But if you are a child – sufficiently interested in horror to want to dip your toes in, but not quite ready for outright gore – Zombies is manna from heaven. It’s High School Musical, in essence, but with a vaguely supernatural bent. Previous instalments have introduced werewolves and aliens; this time, we get vampires. Featuring songs such as Don’t Mess With Us and Kerosene, it’s lightweight fluff, but highly enjoyable. SH

Actor Dean Cain, who played Superman in the past, recently reacted to director James Gunn’s recent remark about the protagonist in ‘Superman’ (2025) being an immigrant. Cain objected to Gunn’s opinion and even called out Hollywood for making ‘Snow White’ (2025) too woke.

Cain, who played the role of the superhero in the television series ‘Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman’ (1993-1997), in an interview with TMZ, stated that it was wrong to make changes to iconic characters. He said, “How woke is Hollywood going to make this character? How much is Disney going to change their Snow White? Why are they going to change these characters to exist for the times? For Superman, it was ‘truth, justice, and the American way.’”

The actor further said, “Well, they dropped that. They came up with ‘truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.’ Changing beloved characters I don’t think is a great idea. If you want to create a new character, go ahead and do that.”

“Superman has always stood for ‘truth, justice and the American way,’ and the ‘American way’ is immigrant-friendly, tremendously immigrant-friendly. But there are rules. You can’t come in saying, ‘I want to get rid of all the rules in America, because I want it to be more like Somalia.’ Well that doesn’t work, because you had to leave Somalia to come here. There have to be limits, because we can’t have everybody in the United States,” Cain went on.

“We can’t have everybody, society will fail. So there have to be limits. I think bringing ‘Superman’ into it – that was a mistake by James Gunn to say it’s an immigrant thing, and I think it’s going to hurt the numbers on the movie. I was excited for the film. I am excited to see what it is. I’m rooting for it to be a success, but I don’t like that last political comment,” he added.

‘Superman’ features David Corenswet in the titular role, alongside Rachel Brosnahan and Nicolas Hulot as Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, respectively. It is backed by DC Studios, Troll Court Entertainment and The Safran Company.

‘Superman’ releases worldwide on July 11.

– Ends

A cedar tree climbed by The Beatles, an oak that may have inspired Virginia Woolf, and a King of Limbs near Marlborough are among ten nominees to be named Tree of the Year 2025.

The shortlisted entrants, chosen from across the UK, were selected to meet the theme of “Rooted in Culture”, highlighting how trees have inspired creative minds and become ingrained in our cultural landscape.

Voting opens on Friday for the Woodland Trust’s annual competition, which aims to celebrate and raise awareness for rare, ancient or at-risk trees across the country.

The winner will be announced in September and will progress to represent the UK in the European Tree of the Year finals.

A panel of experts selected nine trees of differing ages and species for the shortlist, while the public chose the 10th as a wildcard entry.

Amongst the nominees are trees from all four UK countries, which have either featured, or inspired, poems, films, music videos and peace agreements.

Wiltshire is particularly heavily represented with both the King of Limbs near Marlborough and the Lollipop Tree on Salisbury Plain, featuring on the list.

Also included is the Beatles’ cedar tree in Chiswick, which can be seen in the music video for their 1966 song Rain and the Tree of Peace and Unity in County Antrim, which played a role during the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

Knole Park Oak in Kent, believed to have inspired an epic poem in Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando, also made the list.

Last year’s winner was Skipinnish Oak, in Lochaber, Scotland, which claimed 21% of the vote.

In urging people to vote, Woodland Trust patron, Dame Judi Dench, said that “our oldest trees hold more stories than Shakespeare; some were putting down roots long before he began writing, more than 400 years ago”.

“They are as much part of our heritage as any literature,” she added.

A cedar tree climbed by the Beatles, an oak that may have inspired Virginia Woolf and a lime representing peace in Northern Ireland are among those shortlisted for tree of the year 2025.

Voting opens on Friday for the Woodland Trust’s annual competition, which aims to celebrate and raise awareness of rare, ancient or at-risk trees across the UK.

The winner will be announced in September and will represent the country in the European tree of the year finals.

Ten nominees have been chosen to meet this year’s theme of “rooted in culture”, which seeks to highlight how trees inspire creative minds and become ingrained in the cultural landscape.

The actor Judi Dench, who is patron of the Woodland Trust, said: “Our oldest trees hold more stories than Shakespeare; some were putting down roots long before he began writing, more than 400 years ago. They are as much part of our heritage as any literature.”

A panel of experts selected nine trees of differing ages and species for the shortlist, while the public chose a 10th as a wildcard entry.

This year David Treanor from Glasgow put forward the Argyle Street Ash, pointing to its reference in James Cowan’s 1935 book From Glasgow’s Treasure Chest as “quite the most graceful ash I have seen”.

The shortlist also includes the Borrowdale Yews in Cumbria, a huddle of ancient trees described by William Wordsworth in his 1803 poem Yew Trees.

The Beatles’ Cedar Tree in Chiswick, west London, which is about 300 years old, was nominated because the band perched on one of its low-swooping boughs in a video for their song Rain in 1966.

The King of Limbs in Wiltshire made the list after Radiohead named their 2011 album after the ancient oak, which they spotted when recording at nearby Tottenham House.

Also nominated is the Tree of Peace and Unity in County Antrim, Northern Ireland – a lime formed of two trees that grew together into a single trunk and became a symbol of reconciliation when leaders met there in 1998 at the signing of the Good Friday agreement.

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The nominated Lollipop Tree on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire played a starring role in the final scenes of Sam Mendes’s first world war film 1917, and the Lonely Tree in Llanberis, Wales, may feature in Netflix’s upcoming series of The Witcher.

The Knole Park Oak in Kent made the list as the tree believed to have inspired an epic poem in Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando.

Voting is open until 19 September via the Woodland Trust website, with the winner to be announced on 26 September.

It’s Friday, and as of the stroke of midnight, following a 16-year absence, Clipse has returned. Malice and Pusha T have released a number of solo projects since that time, but the rap duo made up of two brothers from Virginia Beach is finally back together with new album, Let God Sort Em Out, and we can’t help but be excited.

But that’s not the only major comeback from a beloved duo today. The Swell Season — the pairing of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, the Oscar-winning stars of the 2007 film Once — has released Forward, which also happens to be that band’s first album in 16 years.

NPR Music’s Stephen Thompson and WNXP’s Celia Gregory dive into these two albums, plus Wet Leg’s knockout sophomore record and a few more releases on this new music Friday.

The Starting Five

Our hosts share the backstory and best songs on the following albums:

💿 Wet Leg, moisturizer

💿 The Swell Season, Forward

💿 Clipse, Let God Sort Em Out

💿 Allo Darlin’, Bright Nights

💿 Burna Boy, No Sign of Weakness

New Music Friday is a feature of NPR’s All Songs Considered podcast. Hear the discussion on the NPR App, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Lightning Round

Five more albums we wish we had time to discuss on the podcast:

💿 Ólafur Arnalds & Talos, A Dawning

💿 Martha, Standing Where It All Began – Singles and B-Sides 2012-2025

💿 Open Mike Eagle, Neighborhood Gods Unlimited

💿 Petey USA, The Yips

💿 Tony Njoku, All Our Knives Are Always Sharp

Listen to each album’s best songs on our New Music Friday playlists on Spotify and Apple, or wherever you stream music.

The Long List

For those who want to dig even deeper, here are the week’s new albums sorted by genre:

Rap/Hip-Hop

• 81355 (BLESS), Bad Dogs
• Che, Rest In Bass
• Saekyi, LOST IN AMERICA
• Loe Shimmy, Rockstar Junkie

Electronic/Out There

• Charlotte De Witte, Charlotte De Witte
• Jackie-O Motherf*****, Flags of the Sacred Harp (20th Anniversary)
• Leo Luchini, Slug It Out
• Lewis Fautzi, Unwritten Chapters
• Midwife + Matt Jencik, Never Die
• Molly Joyce, State Change
• Nicolas Bougaïeff, Sunday Summer
• Raz Ohara, Memories Of Tomorrow
• Reid Willis, Reliquary
• Rollo Doherty, Strings EP
• Sarah Sommers, VIVID
• North Not South, Shifting Dunes EP
• Marina Mello, Deságua
• Barry Can’t Swim, Loner
• Patricia Wolf, Hrafnamynd

Global

• Africa Express, Africa Express presents… Bahidorá
• Paloma Mami, CODiGOS DE MUNEKA
• Plunky & Oneness of Juju, Made Through Ritual

Jazz

• Dom Salvador, DOM SALVADOR JID024
• Olga Amelchenko, Howling Silence
• Qur’an Shaheed, Pulse
• Dino Saluzzi, El Viejo Caminante
• Fuubutsushi, Columbia Deluxe
• Kokoroko, Tuff Times Never Last
• Nate Mercereau, Josh Johnson and Carlos Niño, Openness Trio

Pop

• Cian Ducrot, Little Dreaming
• Dean Lewis, The Epilogue (Deluxe)
• Fly By Midnight, The Fastest Times of Our Lives
• Petey USA, The Yips
• Jessica Winter, My First Album

Country/Folk/Americana

• Brent Cobb & The Fixin’s, Ain’t Rocked in a While
• Sam Williams, Act II: COUNTRYSTAR
• Tami Neilson, Neon Cowgirl
• Tanner Usrey, These Days
• Winterpills, Winterpills (20th Anniversary Edition)
• Ketch Secor, Story The Crow Told Me
• Murry Hammond, Trail Songs of the Deep
• Noah Cyrus, I WANT MY LOVED ONES TO GO WITH ME
• Poor Creature, All Smiles Tonight
• The Wildmans, Longtime Friend

R&B/Soul

• Alina Bzhezhinska & Tulshi, Whispers of Rain
• GIVĒON, BELOVED
• Harvey Scales, Trying To Survive (Reissue)
• Leroi Conroy, A Tiger’s Tale

Rock/Alt/Indie

• Brutus VIII, Do It For the Money
• Cosmorat, POOSHKA
• Flooding, Object 1
• Half Japanese, Adventure
• Jethro Tull, Still Living in the Past (5xCD)
• Joey Waronker & Pete Min, King King
• Mark Stewart, The Fateful Symmetry
• N8NOFACE & Chico Mann, As Of Right Now
• Pat Hatt, Pat Hatt
• Somerset Thrower, Take Only What You Need to Survive
• Split Chain, motionblur
• The Kinks, The Journey Part 3
• Vinnie Stigma, The Outlaw Vinnie Stigma
• Aunt Katrina, This Hear is Slowly Killing Me
• Autocamper, What Do You Do All Day?
• Gina Birch, Trouble
• Gwenno, Utopia
• Jake Minch, George
• Mal Blum, The Villain
• Midnight Rodeo, Chaos Era
• Mike Polizze, Around Sound
• Sister., Two Birds
• sunking, I DON’T LIKE MY TELEPHONE

Credits

• Host: Stephen Thompson
• Guest: Celia Gregory, WNXP
• Producer: Simon Rentner
• Editor: Otis Hart
• Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed