Mr Motivator picks Harry Belafonte

Great Lives

BBC

History, Documentary, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 January 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

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Summary

Harry Belafonte became the King of Calypso with hits like 'Day-O' and 'Jump in the Line' but he would later describe himself as an activist who became a musician and an actor.

Fitness guru Derrick Evans MBE AKA 'Mr Motivator' spent much of the 90s on TV wearing brightly-coloured spandex and encouraging people to be more active. He stresses the political messages that underpin Calypso music and celebrates the stand Belafonte took in the campaign for civil rights in America in the 1960s. Derrick moved from Jamaica to the UK when he was a boy and remembers the impact of the Belafonte film 'Carmen Jones'.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Guest: Derrick Evans AKA 'Mr Motivator' Producer: Toby Field for BBC Audio Bristol

Transcript

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0:00.0	Does talking to strangers make you happier?
0:04.5	Could aging disgracefully help you live longer?
0:08.0	I'm Dr Michael Mosley and in my Just One Long Thing podcast series, I'll be chatting to doctors and scientists
0:15.1	we'll be covering topics like sleep exercise happiness and staying young with each of
0:20.9	our experts choosing a health hack they claim is the single most effective way you can improve your life
0:27.0	Just one long thing listen first on BBC Sounds
0:37.0	BBC Sounds BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. It's August,
0:38.0	It's August 1958, and Harry Belafonte is making his debut on the BBC.
0:44.0	He's 31 years old, wearing dark high-waisted trousers and a shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest,
0:51.6	Harry sings Jamaica Farewell and Danny Boy, but halfway through the performance
0:57.1	he decides on something a bit different, to have some fun with a British audience.
1:09.0	In American folklore, we find a great deal of the European influence of music. Take our theme for instance.
1:15.0	When the Saints go marching in,
1:20.0	now if this had originated in England, it could have sounded
1:25.0	like an old English madrigal.
1:31.0	That's a bit of all right, I think. A when the seat will mott you in.
1:39.0	When the seat, when the seat, no mott you in,
1:42.0	when the seat, no, are you in.
1:44.0	L-d-d-d-dend-din-dend-din-dend-din-dend. of us it, go, my two infillen,
1:55.0	and then,
1:57.0	good show that,
1:58.0	and you. Harry Belafonte, singer, actor, entertainer, and as we'll discover civil rights campaigner.
	...

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