''Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music'' is a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

series, taking a satirical look at

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

. It is written by and stars

Mitch Benn Mitchell John Benn (born 20 January 1970) is an English comedian, author and musician known for his comedy rock songs performed on BBC radio. He was, until 2016, a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's satirical programme ''The Now Show'', and ha ...

and

Robin Ince Robin Ince (born 20 February 1969) is an English comedian, actor and writer, known for presenting the BBC radio show ''The Infinite Monkey Cage'' with physicist Brian Cox (physicist), Brian Cox, and his stand-up comedy career. Education After ...

. It also features Mitch's group ''The Distractions'' (

Kirsty Newton Kirsty or Kirstie is a feminine given name and nickname. It is a Scottish diminutive of Christine in English-speaking countries and is also linked to Kirsten — the Scandinavian version of Christine. People * Kirstie Alley (1951–2022), Ameri ...

and Tash Baylis) and in the first two series

Alfie Joey Alfie Joey is a writer, comic, actor, impressionist, singer, presenter, and artist/cartoonist. He hosted the flagship breakfast show on BBC Radio Newcastle from 2009, until his last show on 28 October 2022. He was nominated Best Compère at th ...

. It began in 2004, and has run for three series so far.

Format

Series One and Two

The first two series had a discussion format in which, every week, the presenters would talk about some aspect of the music industry, inevitably tying into whatever songs Mitch had prepared (something Robin would comment sarcastically upon). Running gags included regular appearances by

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

(Robin Ince) complaining that heavy metal was getting soft; Robin's obsession with

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

and talking head clip shows he had appeared in; Alfie's obsession with

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...

; and, in the first series, Mitch's paranoia that

Richard Stilgoe Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (born 28 March 1943) is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician, and broadcaster who is best known for his humorous songs and frequent television appearances. His output includes collaborations with Andrew ...

is a better musical satirist. In both series the final episode was a "format-buster" with a special guest star. The last episode of series one started out as a discussion of manufactured bands, but was derailed when Richard Stilgoe appeared and attempted a coup, with Robin taking his side. The series two

finale Finale may refer to: Pieces of music * Finale (music), the last movement of a piece * ''Finale'' (album), a 1977 album by Loggins and Messina * "Finale B", a 1996 song from the rock opera ''Rent'' * "Finale", a song by Anthrax from ''State of Eu ...

, ''Journey to the Centre of Rick Wakeman'', a parody of 1970s

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

concept albums A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

", was set in the near future (2009, to be exact), when

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

are on the point of war and the ''Crimes'' team must reform to bring

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born and raised ...

out of a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

so he can bring peace.

Series Three

The third series worked the musical satire into a

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

format. The concept was that Mitch and Robin were taking the show on tour, but consistently failing to arrive at their destinations and performing wherever they ended up. The first two episodes were set in fictional small towns in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

, respectively. In the third they were trapped at

London Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...

, trying to get to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. This led directly into the final episode, in which their plane crashed on a mysterious island, in a parody of ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

''. Recurring jokes in this series included

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

(played by Ince) appearing at some point, and the fact the Distractions were present during the musical numbers, and occasionally referred to, but almost never directly involved in the plot.

''Crimes Against Music'' album

'' Crimes Against Music'' is a 2005 album by Mitch Benn and ''The Distractions'' named after and featuring songs from the show, as well as ''

The Now Show ''The Now Show'' is a British radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, which satirises the week's news. The show is a mixture of stand-up, sketches and songs hosted by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. The show used to feature regular appearances by J ...

'' and ''

It's Been a Bad Week ''It’s Been a Bad Week'' is a British radio comedy on BBC Radio 2, that first broadcast on 11 February 1999. It is presented by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, and is also referred to as ''Punt and Dennis: It's Been a Bad Week''. More than 100 epi ...

''.

"The Curse Of Robin Ince"

Series one made a regular feature of Robin Ince's celebrated impression of the well-loved DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. Peel's death in October 2004 required that this feature be dropped for series two; accordingly Ince wrote and recorded a series of sketches using his impression of rock DJ

Tommy Vance Richard Anthony Crispian Francis Prew Hope-Weston (11 July 1940 – 6 March 2005), known professionally as Tommy Vance, was an English radio broadcaster. He was an important factor in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), al ...

. By a bizarre quirk of fate, Vance himself died shortly before series two was due to begin broadcasting; Ince had to be hurriedly smuggled into a recording of ''

'' in order to record re-written versions of the Vance sketches in his "

" persona, Satan being less vulnerable to The Curse. Ince's John Peel impression was resurrected for the last episode of series two, where he played "The Ghost of John Peel".

External links

* {{bbc.co.uk, id=programmes/b00cnqyb/, title=''Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music'' BBC Radio comedy programmes BBC Radio 4 programmes 2004 radio programme debuts