If you missed out on tickets to see the former Head of BBC Music, Mark Cooper, talk at Ventnor Arts Club earlier this year, fear not.
This week presents another chance to hear from the former producer of ‘Later… With Jools Holland’, as Dimbola welcome Mark on the evening of Wednesday 23rd August.
The talk will encompass his whopping 26 years with ‘Later… With Jools Holland’, but will also cover his incredible career from his early days as a music journalist in the 1970s, to his rise to head of music television at BBC Studios.
An illustrious career
Mark has executively produced more than 250 music documentaries and led BBC TV’s coverage of Glastonbury, but since leaving his job as head of music television at BBC Studios in 2020, he’s not been idle.
He has also written a book, ‘Later…with Jools Holland: 30 Years of Music, Magic and Mayhem’.
A legacy in broadcasting
For 26 years, Mark attended every single recording of the show and its New Year’s Eve sister show, Jools’ Annual Hootenanny.
Mark Cooper, and director Janet Fraser Crook, came up with the idea for ‘Later… With Jools Holland’ back in 1992. This was a ground-breaking concept at the time.
Filmed ‘in the round’, the studio was full of different musical artists on different stages with the action switching from one to another – a revolution then, and probably still now!
Interview by Dimbola’s Chair
Dr Brian Hinton, Chair of Dimbola, will be interviewing Mark on the evening. He said,
“Mark Cooper pioneered how to capture the flash and crash of a live gig onto film, and forever.”
A connection with the Isle of Wight Festival
Mark will be giving his talk in the Experience the Isle of Wight Festival 2002 to 2023 exhibition.
Many artists who have played the IW Festival, including those on the walls, have appeared on Later…With Jools Holland.
Mark said,
“Later…with Jools champions all kinds of music as did the Isle of Wight festivals I attended in 1969 and 1970.
“I look forward to returning to the Island to share stories about everyone from Leonard Cohen to Jay-Z and from Seasick Steve to Christine and the Queens as they seized their moment in the gladiator’s ring of the Later…studio.”
The talk promises to be a riveting walk through the history of modern music, seen through the lens of one of the industry’s most influential figures. It is a unique opportunity for music enthusiasts to gain insight into the creation and evolution of a beloved music show that has shaped the industry for three decades.
Where and when
Later… With Mark Cooper takes place on Wednesday 23rd August at 7pm, Dimbola Museum and Galleries, Terrace Lane, Freshwater Bay PO40 9QE.
Tickets are £9 each, or £7 if you are a Friend of Dimbola. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start.
There will be a cash bar and an interval. All profits go to the Julia Margaret Cameron Trust to help keep Dimbola open for all of us to enjoy.
Buy your tickets from reception or by calling (01983) 756814 and pay over the phone.
