Talent spotter

YOU have to hand it to Jools Holland – he is on to a winner with his long-running Later With Jools Holland show. If you missed it on Tuesday, you have another chance tonight.

And if you saw it the first time, you will have to catch this extended edition if you want all the bonus content, including extra performances from the top acts.

Holland consistently attracts the biggest and best names from the music world, whether they are long-standing favourites or up-and-coming performers.

He has launched the careers of everyone from Seasick Steve to Adele and KT Tunstall.

This week, the ever-affable host is joined by Sheffield rockers Arctic Monkeys, who perform tunes from their Mercury- nominated fifth album AM. The album earned rave reviews alongside the coveted Mercury nod. Perhaps that is down to frontman Alex Turner’s somewhat unorthodox songwriting process.

“I had a dartboard in the back garden and I’d throw arrows as I’d sit there trying to write,” he explains. “There was definitely some symmetry in how the words were going and where the darts would land – a fair amount of missing the board altogether brought me the occasional treble 20.”

Tracks from the Monkeys will bookend the show, but they are not the only act worth catching. Also appearing is Paul McCartney, who this month released his first album of new material in six years – titled, appropriately enough, New.

Guitarist Gary Clark Jr showcases his particular brand of contemporary Texas blues, while singer Katy B performs tracks from her forthcoming album Little Red.

Following the release of her acclaimed 2011 debut On a Mission, Katy B fans have been eagerly awaiting news of a new release for some time, so Little Red will be music to their ears. However, it is not due out until early next year, making this early opportunity to hear the R&B electronica songstress’s upcoming hits all the more enticing.

And while Ms B is on hand to demonstrate the future of funk, legendary soul group Earth, Wind & Fire drop by to remind us of where it all began. They join Holland to celebrate their 40-year career in the music industry.

From the old to the new, and Londonbased pianist and singer Benjamin Clementine makes his debut on the programme.

As some of the aforementioned acts will attest, this is one of the most sought-after slots in the music business for emerging talents, and a good performance here can be the start of something wonderful.

Clementine, a Londoner who was spotted on the Paris Metro and signed to French record label Behind, has already impressed a number of pundits with his blending of pop and classical music with poetry, and will be one of the more avantgarde acts to feature recently.

V IEWERS in some parts of the UK can see an advert involving a snowy-haired pensioner plugging a railway.

It is an endearing image, but it is hard to believe it is the same guy who dominated the British music industry in the 1980s and 1990s.

Yes, it’s Pete Waterman, the record producer, song writer, TV presenter and DJ who has left an indelible mark on the memories of millions.

How many grew up to Dead or Alive’s You Spin Me Round, Rick Astley’s Never Going to Give You Up, or Kylie Minogue’s I Should Be So Lucky?

In this week’s Piers Morgan’s Life Stories the train-loving music svengali talks about the highs and lows of his incredible career.

CHANNEL 5 makes a show first screened in 2011 reappear tonight.

Fittingly enough, it is TV’s 50 Greatest Magic Tricks.

These days, the problem with magic is there are so many high-tech advances being made, it is hard to keep up.

Nevertheless, there are a handful of illusions that do stand the test of time, and those are the ones that concern us here.

Among the highlights are escapes from peril, including handcuffs, straitjackets and ropes, or being suspended in water, fire or ice. You’ll see the Statue of Liberty disappear too, as well as far more intimate sleights of hand.