''This Is the BBC'' is an album by

Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

, released on the Hux Records label in April 2006. It rounds up fourteen tracks recorded for radio, primarily with

Andy Kershaw Andrew J. G. Kershaw (born 9 November 1959) is a broadcaster and disc jockey, predominantly on radio, and known for his interest in world music. Kershaw's shows feature a mix of country, blues, reggae, folk music, African music, spoken word ...

between 1995 and 1999. It can therefore be viewed as a sequel piece to '' The Kershaw Sessions''. The tracks cover Hitchcock's contemporary material at the time of recording, and include a version of the evocative "I Saw Nick Drake" with lyrical amendments. It also includes a cover of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's "

It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" is a song written by Bob Dylan, that was originally released on his album ''Highway 61 Revisited''. It was recorded on July 29, 1965. The song was also included on an early, European Dylan compilat ...

". The packaging features Hitchcock's artwork and significantly utilises a painting by his father Raymond as a cover, which dates to 1954. (Raymond Hitchcock is also pictured in the booklet.)

Track listing

#"Man With a Woman's Shadow" #"Heliotrope" #"De Chirico Street" #"The Cheese Alarm" #"Jewels for Sophia" #"Polly on the Shore" #"Where Do You Go When You Die?" #"I Saw Nick Drake" #"

" #"Andy Kershaw Jingle" #"Birds in Perspex" #"Sally Was a Legend" #"Elizabeth Jade" #"Madonna of the Wasps" {{DEFAULTSORT:This Is The Bbc Robyn Hitchcock albums BBC Radio recordings 2006 live albums 2006 compilation albums