Storyville: Orion - The Man Who Would Be King, BBC Four

STORYVILLE: ORION - THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING, BBC FOUR The strange story of the Elvis follow-up, who just wanted to be himself

The strange story of the Elvis follow-up, who just wanted to be himself

The story of Orion, aka Jimmy Ellis, really was a case of truth being weirder than fiction. “He couldn’t have failed, if Elvis had never lived,” we heard from Shelby Singleton, boss of Nashville’s Sun Records, which launched his career – meaning that Ellis was born with a voice so close to the King’s that he couldn’t escape becoming something of a stand-in. There was no other direction for his talent, despite efforts to clear matters up by recording a song, “I’m Not Trying To Be Like Elvis”.

ABC, Pavilion Theatre, Worthing

ABC, PAVILION THEATRE, WORTHING Eighties retro-modernists bring the party to the south coast

Eighties retro-modernists bring the party to the south coast

Martin Fry is unsure whether Worthing is enjoying itself enough for his liking. Clad in a sharply tailored grey three-piece suit, ABC’s frontman keeps asking us if we’re having a good time. The shouts of approval that greet the question suggest we are. In any case, he certainly seems to be.

CD: Enya – Dark Sky Island

Despite the soft focus, eighth album sticks with laser-like precision to the middle of the road

Like so much inspirational endeavour, it began in a garden shed. Enya (Eithne Ní Bhraonáin in her native Irish), dissatisfied with her role in Clannad, was experimenting with Nicky Ryan, the band’s manager, and Ryan’s wife Roma, a poet.

CD: Justin Bieber – Purpose

CD: JUSTIN BIEBER – PURPOSE From troubled child to grown-up star, the singer takes a leap of faith 

From troubled child to grown-up star, the singer takes a leap of faith

Justin Bieber’s undoubtedly had a tricky time of it, living in the full glare of the world’s media. While it’s demonstrably not “the toughest thing in the world”, as he recently suggested in Billboard magazine, it can’t be much fun having your every misdemeanour writ large. His fourth album, Purpose, purports to be his mea culpa, but I’m left wondering what he’s supposed to be apologising for. Surely a teenager who has been gifted unimaginable wealth should be forgiven for occasionally acting like an impatient dick and driving badly?

CD: Ellie Goulding – Delirium

Current and slickly produced pop throwing in all the beats from the EDM genres

Ellie Goulding's new album is one to be experienced rather than merely heard. With a bit of drum and bass, a touch of techno, a little bit of house and a flirtation with dubstep rhythms, it’s a full-on roster of proper pop tunes.

The 11 Best Gigs on Film (after Stop Making Sense)

THE 11 BEST GIGS ON FILM (AFTER STOP MAKING SENSE) As Talking Heads' masterpiece is restored on disc, we hail the great screen concerts

As Talking Heads' masterpiece is restored on disc, we hail the great screen concerts

In the arts there is never a best of anything. There is good, great and glorious. But best? There is, however, Stop Making Sense. Talking Heads invited the director Jonathan Demme to film them in performance over three nights in December 1983 at Pantages Theater in Hollywood. The result is (arguably) the greatest concert movie ever made.

CD: Jeff Lynne's ELO - Alone in the Universe

CD: JEFF LYNNE'S ELO – ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE Brummie soft rock demigod holds back the tides of progress

Brummie soft rock demigod holds back the tides of progress

There's something reassuringly resistant to modernity about Jeff Lynne. In much the same way that his cast iron Brummie accent and demeanour have remained unchanged despite decades in Los Angeles, so his music remains in a late 20th century interzone – its real concerns being the songwriting of the Sixties and the huge, glossy production values of the Seventies and Eighties.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Georgie Fame

REISSUE CDs WEEKLY: GEORGIE FAME Fantastic box set celebrating the unorthodox innovator who bridged the gaps between club sounds, jazz and pop

Fantastic box set celebrating the unorthodox innovator who bridged the gaps between club sounds, jazz and pop

 

GEORGIE FAME THE WHOLE WORLD’S SHAKINGGeorgie Fame: The Whole World’s Shaking – The Complete Recordings 1963–1966

CD: Squeeze - Cradle to the Grave

Wise old south London rockers wander fruitfully down memory lane

The album of the sitcom. You don’t get a lot of those, and technically – beyond the title song – you don’t get one here either. “Cradle to the Grave” is the theme tune for Danny Baker’s autobiographical comedy currently on BBC Two, based on his memoir of growing up in south London in the same vicinity as Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook. In fact, the song came first. Squeeze’s 14th studio album, their first since 1998, has been several years in the brewing: they resumed touring in 2007 and pondered writing new material four years ago.

Florence + the Machine, Alexandra Palace

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE, ALEXANDRA PALACE Pre-Raphaelite poster girl shouting with style

Pre-Raphaelite poster girl still shouting with style

There’s a new book out called Red: A Natural History of the Redhead, which gets to the heart of what it is to have the ginger gene, be it Boudicca or Jessica Rabbit. It says coppertops are more prone to bee stings, and perfume gives off a different odour on their skin. And then there are the more hackneyed ascriptions: flaming hair implies fieriness, wildness, total and utter otherness etc. This is not to solicit a visit from the ginger police, but can anyone picture Florence Welch with a short sensible peroxide crop?