Tracey MacLeod

A look at the life and reputation of the singer Janis Joplin.

Jeff Buckley's soaring falsetto was a beautiful freak, and force, of nature, its legacy still echoing in singers from Thom Yorke to Antony. Approximating the track list from his LP Grace, it's as thrilling as the original, with devastating performances from 1994 and 1995 that stretch nearly every phrase into cliffhanger improvisatory drama. And to see Buckley in all his self-possessed glory, trilling like a diva or waxing profound in a contrived TV interview, is to see an artist at his white-light peak.

A Stab In The Dark was a British television programme of topical monologues and discussion screened on Channel 4 in 1992. It was hosted by comedian David Baddiel, journalist, future Conservative MP and schools secretary Michael Gove and critic and television presenter Tracey MacLeod. The monologues, often containing very dark humour, were delivered straight to camera by each host in turn before a small studio audience on a stark set with numerous staircases. Sometimes relevant guests were invited on to further or contradict a point, including Conservative MPs Jerry Hayes and Alan Clark. One of the more memorable routines was Baddiel’s contention, in opposition to contemporary feminist orthodoxy, that the word "cunt" should be reclaimed as a term of abuse, and no longer be used to refer to female genitalia. His task was made harder by the fact that the producers would not allow him to say the word itself.