TODAY’S RADIO

Johnnie Walker’s Sounds Of The 70s

3PM, RADIO 2 The writer Paul Morley got the news of David Bowie’s death on the morning of January 11, 2016. Morley went into a sort of seclusion that day, during which he decided to write a book about the effect Bowie had had on him and generations of other fans. Morley talks to Johnnie this afternoon about the resulting book.

Open Book

4PM, RADIO 4

Graham Norton, always a busy boy, has found time to write a novel. It’s called Holding, and is set in a small town in County Cork where, beneath a tranquil surface, the citizens live lives of quiet desperation. When human remains are dug up in the town, things begin to fall apart. Graham joins Mariella Frostrup on her regular book show to explain why he felt the urge to get a novel under his belt.

The Listening Service

5PM, RADIO 3

Some people have a form of synaesthesia, which means they experience music as both colour and sound. MRI scans show unusual brain activity for those with synaesthesia, which validates their claims. Many a fine musician, including Duke Ellington and Rimsky-Korsakov, had synaesthesia and, in this programme, Tom Service attempts to take us into their world, where music and colour are fused.

Sunday Feature

6.45PM, RADIO 3

Some 60 years ago, in a shop on a Paris boulevard, an artist and a paint supplier ‘invented’ a stunning new colour. Ultramarine pigment was suspended in a matte synthetic resin, which allowed the ultramarine to sing out as it never had before. The artist was Yves Klein, and the colour is known as International Klein Blue. This programme tells the odd story of Klein’s life and the vibrant blue that he created.

Ian Anderson’s Freak Zone

8PM, BBC 6 MUSIC

The Jethro Tull front man and flautist Ian Anderson sits in for Stuart Maconie, and looks at some of the slightly offbeat music of the 1970s. It was a musically dynamic decade, and the entertaining Mr Anderson does it full justice.

Graham Norton (4pm, Radio 4)