Rapido – Nostalgia Central

1 9 8 8 – 1 9 9 2 (France/UK)
49 x 25 minute episodes

Rapido was a fast-paced English-language version of a French music show, boasting 1950s kitsch stylings with rapid-fire presentation from the immaculately dressed Antoine de Caunes.

The BBC2 show – which aired under the Def II youth programming umbrella – also featured movies, fashion, and design. Janet Street-Porter, the newly appointed Head of Youth and Entertainment Features at the BBC, had spotted the show on French TV and commissioned an English-language adaptation.

Antoine de Caunes – a cross between Inspector Clouseau and a 35-year-old schoolboy with a breakneck delivery that even put Ben Elton to shame – was a well-respected media mogul in France, where he presented a 60-minute daily talk show, spoke on various French radio stations, and wrote for newspapers and music magazines.

Featured artists on the series included David Bowie, Nirvana, The Verve, Soup Dragons, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, The Kinks, BB King, The Pogues, Eurythmics, The Beautiful South, The Ramones, Throwing Muses, Midnight Oil, The Pixies, The Sugarcubes, Robert Cray, Marianne Faithfull, Chris Isaak, Tina Turner, Janet Jackson, The Beach Boys, Terence Trent D’Arby, LL Cool J and Run-DMC.

Underlying report voice-overs were handled by Radio 1 DJ Lisa I’Anson.

Antoine de Caunes went on to co-create and host the highly successful, adult-themed cult hit Eurotrash alongside Jean Paul Gaultier for Channel 4 in 1993.

Host
Antoine de Caunes