Video of the week: Baggy Trousers

A perennial problem for pop bands is finding something to do during the instrumental break. Madonna went for an embarrased shuffle during the middle section of "Hung Up", Belinda Carlisle used to turn her back to the audience and have a drink of water, Bono usually shoves a camera down his trousers and runs around shouting "woo woo woo, I am the bishop of york".

But the real masters of the art are Madness, who invented the timeless technique of winching their saxophonist fifty foot into the air on a crane. Simple, yet effective.

Buy Madness' Greatest Hits on CD+DVD

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The world's most respected broadcasting organisation

Because of the unique way the BBC is funded, it can make risky, cutting-edge programming that other broadcasters would never contemplate.

That's why, when BBC local radio station Hereford and Worcester needed to illustrate the problems of inadequate housing provision in their area, they neatly side-stepped copyright law and re-wrote the lyrics to Madness's "Our House". They even got their producer, Bethan, to sing her new verses over the top of the original.

A commercial station, you see, could never made this. Not because of the dodgy legal implications, because their funders would have pulled the plug immediately. The item was one of the most poorly-conceived, amateurly-executed, should-never-have-made-it-to-air pieces of radio ever broadcast.

Needless to say, it is a classic.

Luckily for you, a 'source' sent us an MP3 of the broadcast. We suggest you play it all the way through to experience the full horror.

And when you're through, have a serious think about whether the BBC really deserves an extra £3.14 on the licence fee every year until 2013.

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