RADIO CHOICE

SUKIYAKI was recorded in 1961 by Kyu Sakamoto, who died in an air crash in 1985. Sukiyaki is the name for a Japanese dish and was used as the song’s title as it was easy for Westerners to pronounce. The sincerity of Sakamoto’s singing overrode the silly name. SOUL MUSIC (RADIO 4, 11.30AM) hears from a few of the many who have taken comfort from Sakamoto’s song about looking up at the stars and whistling while trying not to cry

THE most popular names for houses in the UK are dull. Homeowners tend to go for the obvious, such as The Cottage and The Mill. Laura Wright joins Michael Rosen on this week’s WORD OF MOUTH (RADIO 4, 4PM) to talk about house names, look at their history and explore some of the outlandish ones people have given their homes.

TANITA TIKARAM, who had big hits with Twist In My Sobriety and Good Tradition, performs a live session of new songs on IN TUNE (RADIO 3, 4.30PM).

LUCREZIA BORGIA got through husbands and lovers at a rate that raised eyebrows in Renaissance Italy. She was a great beauty and was seen by many as a political femme fatale. In the second of the latest series of GREAT LIVES (RADIO 4,

4.30PM), Nancy Dell’Olio (pictured) explains in her distinctive — but not always distinct — way why she thinks Lucrezia was an important historical figure.