Truly, Madly, Deeply Vale
Encyclopedia
Truly, Madly, Deeply Vale is a 2004 television documentary
produced by David Nolan
for Granada Television
, about the history of the Deeply Vale Festivals
which ran from 1976 to 1979 in the North West of England. The programme makers tracked down many of the musicians who played there, including Mark E. Smith
of The Fall, Steve Hillage
and Vini Reilly
of The Durutti Column
. The hour-long programme is an elaborate pastiche
of the film Woodstock
and is largely presented in split-screen
. It follows the efforts of festival organisers as they attempted a Glastonbury
for the North, while the British musical landscape was changing from progressive rock
to punk
. It was narrated by Bob Harris
, former presenter of The Old Grey Whistle Test, and has since been released on DVD in a much extended form as the 3 hours plus The Deeply Vale Festivals DVD.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
produced by David Nolan
David Nolan (UK)
David Nolan is a British television producer and author, specializing in music and popular culture biographies, covering subjects from the Sex Pistols to Simon Cowell. He is also a lecturer at Salford University....
for Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
, about the history of the Deeply Vale Festivals
Deeply Vale Festivals
The Deeply Vale Festivals were a unique free festival held in northwest England in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979. It is regarded as the one of significant events that united punk music into the festival scene.-Deeply Vale Free Festival:...
which ran from 1976 to 1979 in the North West of England. The programme makers tracked down many of the musicians who played there, including Mark E. Smith
Mark E. Smith
Mark Edward Smith is the lead singer, lyricist, frontman, and only constant member of the English post-punk band The Fall.-Early life:...
of The Fall, Steve Hillage
Steve Hillage
Steve Hillage is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s...
and Vini Reilly
Vini Reilly
Vincent "Vini" Gerard Reilly is an English musician and leader of the post-punk group The Durutti Column.-Biography:...
of The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England. The band is an ongoing project of guitarist Vini Reilly who is often accompanied by drummer Bruce Mitchell. Other current members are Keir Stewart and Reilly's girlfriend Poppy Morgan...
. The hour-long programme is an elaborate pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of the film Woodstock
Woodstock (film)
Woodstock is a 1970 American documentary on the Woodstock Festival that took place in August 1969 at Bethel in New York. Entertainment Weekly called this film the benchmark of concert movies and one of the most entertaining documentaries ever made...
and is largely presented in split-screen
Split screen (film)
In film and video production, split screen is the visible division of the screen, traditionally in half, but also in several simultaneous images, rupturing the illusion that the screen's frame is a seamless view of reality, similar to that of the human eye...
. It follows the efforts of festival organisers as they attempted a Glastonbury
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
for the North, while the British musical landscape was changing from progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
to punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
. It was narrated by Bob Harris
Bob Harris (radio)
Robert Brinley Joseph "Bob" Harris, OBE , known as "Whispering" Bob Harris, is British radio host who currently works for BBC Radio 2, presenting music two nights a week...
, former presenter of The Old Grey Whistle Test, and has since been released on DVD in a much extended form as the 3 hours plus The Deeply Vale Festivals DVD.