How Jools Holland’s seasonal lies ruined the annual Hootenanny

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Once it was revealed that the ‘live’ show was in fact a pre-record, the glamour of spending NYE with your favourite musicians lost its appeal

Nobody in recorded history has ever actually planned to watch the Hootenanny. Since its debut in 1993, Jools Holland’s televised New Year’s Eve bash has been the nation’s eternal fallback plan: a last resort when parties are cancelled, babysitters pull out, water pipes burst, theatre tickets are torn up by toddlers and girlfriends catch gastroenteritis. Publicly, there was less social shame in claiming you spent the stroke of midnight lancing your boils.

Yet, when safely behind closed doors, the show quickly worked its magic. Like Later … on steroids, the Hootenanny was a two-hour hug where the whiff of British naffness and stage-managed revelry only added to the charm. And occasionally, like a drunk finding a £50 note, the show stumbled across a truly dynamite performance, such as Amy Winehouse belting out a rabble-rousing Monkey Man or Mavis Staples cleaning the pipes on I’ll Take You There.

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from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2LEwtJy

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