Ballads Of Thin Men

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

Dig Yourself

20110517

20150404 (R4)

Bob Dylan - one of the most significant and influential cultural figures of the late 20th and early 21st century - was 70 on 24 May 2011. The three stories in Ballads Of Thin Men were commissioned specially to mark the occasion.

Written by Nick Walker

The Savoy Hotel, London, 1965. In the Iolanthe Room, Margaret is holding a meeting to prepare for a memorial function in honour of the recently-deceased Sir Winston Churchill. She uses flash-cards to help her small audience. Staying at the Savoy is 'a chap ... who plays the guitar which is quite nice,' And he's been using flash-cards too ...

Nick Walker is part of Coventry-based mixed media experimentalists Talking Birds whose work has been presented extensively in the UK as well as in Sweden, Ireland, and the USA. He has worked with some of the country's leading new work theatre companies including Stan's Cafe, Insomniac, and Theatre Instituut Nederlands both in the UK and abroad.

He is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels Blackbox and Helloland. His plays and short stories are often featured on BBC Radio 4 including Arnold In A Purple Haze (2009), the 'First King of Mars' stories (2007 - 2010) and the Afternoon Play Life Coach (2010), all of them Sweet Talk productions.

Reader: Sarah Hadland

By Nick Walker. It is 1965, and something odd is happening to Margaret at the Savoy Hotel.

Stories written to mark the occasion of Bob Dylan's seventieth birthday.

Written by Nick Walker

Reader: Sarah Hadland

By Nick Walker. It is 1965, and something odd is happening to Margaret at the Savoy Hotel.

Stories written to mark the occasion of Bob Dylan's seventieth birthday.

The Night Ride

20110518

20150411 (R4)

Written by Simone Felice

The starting point for this story is the line from Bob Dylan's 'Joey': 'Born in Red Hook, Brooklyn, in the year of who-knows-when.' When the lights in his apartment fuse Adrian Young puts on a dress and takes to his bike to ride the borough's streets on a wintry December night.

Simone Felice is the author of two novellas, Goodbye, Amelia and Hail Mary Full Of Holes, and numerous short stories, poems and songs. He is a founding member of The Felice Brothers and his new band The Duke & King's first album 'Nothing Gold Can Stay' has been described as 'Neil Young meets Marvin Gaye on the kind of record that cults are made of.' His new novel, Black Jesus, publishes in April 2011. Simone lives in the Catskill Mountains of New York State.

Reader: Madeleine Potter

By Simone Felice. Adrian takes to his bike on a wintry Brooklyn night.

Stories written to mark the occasion of Bob Dylan's seventieth birthday.

People Carry Roses

20110519

Written by Toby Litt

It's 1985. A fifteen-year-old boy finds his entire LP collection vandalised after his sister's eighteenth birthday party. All except one - his only Bob Dylan record - which he'd lent out. But who has it? He goes all over the village to track it down, but his reasons for doing so aren't what they might seem...

Toby Litt was born in 1968 and grew up in Bedfordshire. In 2003, he was named one of Grant's Best of Young British Novelists. His most recent novel, King Death,was published in 2010. His story, The Melancholy, formed part of the Sweet Talk series Why, Robot? for the Afternoon Reading in 2010.

Reader: Matt Green

Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.

By Toby Litt. A teenager searches for his missing Bob Dylan record all over the village.

Stories written to mark the occasion of Bob Dylan's seventieth birthday.

People Carry Roses

20150418

Written by Toby Litt

Reader: Matt Green
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.

By Toby Litt. A teenager searches for his missing Bob Dylan record all over the village.

Stories written to mark the occasion of Bob Dylan's seventieth birthday.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
01	Dig Yourself	20110517	20150404 (R4)	Bob Dylan - one of the most significant and influential cultural figures of the late 20th and early 21st century - was 70 on 24 May 2011. The three stories in Ballads Of Thin Men were commissioned specially to mark the occasion. Written by Nick Walker The Savoy Hotel, London, 1965. In the Iolanthe Room, Margaret is holding a meeting to prepare for a memorial function in honour of the recently-deceased Sir Winston Churchill. She uses flash-cards to help her small audience. Staying at the Savoy is 'a chap ... who plays the guitar which is quite nice,' And he's been using flash-cards too ... Nick Walker is part of Coventry-based mixed media experimentalists Talking Birds whose work has been presented extensively in the UK as well as in Sweden, Ireland, and the USA. He has worked with some of the country's leading new work theatre companies including Stan's Cafe, Insomniac, and Theatre Instituut Nederlands both in the UK and abroad. He is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels Blackbox and Helloland. His plays and short stories are often featured on BBC Radio 4 including Arnold In A Purple Haze (2009), the 'First King of Mars' stories (2007 - 2010) and the Afternoon Play Life Coach (2010), all of them Sweet Talk productions. Reader: Sarah Hadland By Nick Walker. It is 1965, and something odd is happening to Margaret at the Savoy Hotel. Stories written to mark the occasion of Bob Dylan's seventieth birthday. Bob Dylan - one of the most significant and influential cultural figures of the late 20th and early 21st century - was 70 on 24 May 2011. The three stories in Ballads Of Thin Men were commissioned specially to mark the occasion. Written by Nick Walker The Savoy Hotel, London, 1965. In the Iolanthe Room, Margaret is holding a meeting to prepare for a memorial function in honour of the recently-deceased Sir Winston Churchill. She uses flash-cards to help her small audience. Staying at the Savoy is 'a chap ... who plays the guitar which is quite nice,' And he's been using flash-cards too ... Nick Walker is part of Coventry-based mixed media experimentalists Talking Birds whose work has been presented extensively in the UK as well as in Sweden, Ireland, and the USA. He has worked with some of the country's leading new work theatre companies including Stan's Cafe, Insomniac, and Theatre Instituut Nederlands both in the UK and abroad. He is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels Blackbox and Helloland. His plays and short stories are often featured on BBC Radio 4 including Arnold In A Purple Haze (2009), the 'First King of Mars' stories (2007 - 2010) and the Afternoon Play Life Coach (2010), all of them Sweet Talk productions. Reader: Sarah Hadland By Nick Walker. It is 1965, and something odd is happening to Margaret at the Savoy Hotel. Stories written to mark the occasion of Bob Dylan's seventieth birthday.
02	The Night Ride	20110518	20150411 (R4)	Bob Dylan - one of the most significant and influential cultural figures of the late 20th and early 21st century - was 70 on 24 May 2011. The three stories in Ballads Of Thin Men were commissioned specially to mark the occasion. Written by Simone Felice The starting point for this story is the line from Bob Dylan's 'Joey': 'Born in Red Hook, Brooklyn, in the year of who-knows-when.' When the lights in his apartment fuse Adrian Young puts on a dress and takes to his bike to ride the borough's streets on a wintry December night. Simone Felice is the author of two novellas, Goodbye, Amelia and Hail Mary Full Of Holes, and numerous short stories, poems and songs. He is a founding member of The Felice Brothers and his new band The Duke & King's first album 'Nothing Gold Can Stay' has been described as 'Neil Young meets Marvin Gaye on the kind of record that cults are made of.' His new novel, Black Jesus, publishes in April 2011. Simone lives in the Catskill Mountains of New York State. Reader: Madeleine Potter By Simone Felice. Adrian takes to his bike on a wintry Brooklyn night. Stories written to mark the occasion of Bob Dylan's seventieth birthday.
03	People Carry Roses	20110519		Bob Dylan - one of the most significant and influential cultural figures of the late 20th and early 21st century - was 70 on 24 May 2011. The three stories in Ballads Of Thin Men were commissioned specially to mark the occasion. Written by Toby Litt It's 1985. A fifteen-year-old boy finds his entire LP collection vandalised after his sister's eighteenth birthday party. All except one - his only Bob Dylan record - which he'd lent out. But who has it? He goes all over the village to track it down, but his reasons for doing so aren't what they might seem... Toby Litt was born in 1968 and grew up in Bedfordshire. In 2003, he was named one of Grant's Best of Young British Novelists. His most recent novel, King Death,was published in 2010. His story, The Melancholy, formed part of the Sweet Talk series Why, Robot? for the Afternoon Reading in 2010. Reader: Matt Green Producer: Jeremy Osborne A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4. By Toby Litt. A teenager searches for his missing Bob Dylan record all over the village. Stories written to mark the occasion of Bob Dylan's seventieth birthday.
03	People Carry Roses	20150418		Bob Dylan - one of the most significant and influential cultural figures of the late 20th and early 21st century - was 70 on 24 May 2011. The three stories in Ballads Of Thin Men were commissioned specially to mark the occasion. Written by Toby Litt It's 1985. A fifteen-year-old boy finds his entire LP collection vandalised after his sister's eighteenth birthday party. All except one - his only Bob Dylan record - which he'd lent out. But who has it? He goes all over the village to track it down, but his reasons for doing so aren't what they might seem... Toby Litt was born in 1968 and grew up in Bedfordshire. In 2003, he was named one of Grant's Best of Young British Novelists. His most recent novel, King Death,was published in 2010. His story, The Melancholy, formed part of the Sweet Talk series Why, Robot? for the Afternoon Reading in 2010. Reader: Matt Green Producer: Jeremy Osborne A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4. By Toby Litt. A teenager searches for his missing Bob Dylan record all over the village. Stories written to mark the occasion of Bob Dylan's seventieth birthday.