Episodes

  • 18 - Dexys Midnight Runners with Nige Tassell (Birmingham)

    18 - Dexys Midnight Runners with Nige Tassell (Birmingham)
    Jul 3 2024

    This week we make our first visit to Birmingham to trace the history & early years of Dexys Midnight Runners - how Kevin Rowland & Kevin Archer formed the band, the strict rules for membership, how the various members came to join.


    Writer Nige Tassell, talks us through some of the stories, myths & legends from his new book Searching For Dexys Midnight Runners - published by Nine Eight Books.


    We start with early punk band project The Killjoys, how they jump to the soul inflected sound of Dexys, how it went against the grain at the time, the various venues the band played around Birmingham including gigs with Joy Division & UB40.


    Nige tells us about the brief possibility of Van Morrison coming in to produce the debut album Searching For The Young Soul Rebels - how the record was made, the heist that ensued after the recording with the master tapes.


    Bernie Rhodes brief involvement before the first single Dance Stance is released - signing to EMI after his departure. The huge success of Geno which followed & took the band to number 1 in the charts - how the label didn't want it as a single.


    We then detail how the bands fragment quickly leading to 5 members of this original lineup leaving at once to form The Bureau.


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    51 mins
  • FIXED AUDIO 17 - Bob Dylan & the Band with John Niven (Big Pink)

    FIXED AUDIO 17 - Bob Dylan & the Band with John Niven (Big Pink)
    Jun 26 2024
    FIXED AUDIO - sorry the original audio was the previous episode with Thurston Moore, meaning anyone who had already downloaded before we fixed it cannot update to the new audio. So here is a new version for anyone with the wrong audio.


    Join writer John Niven to have a chat about Bob Dylan & the Band & the time they spent in Woodstock. John talks us through his idea for a fictional book set when the Band were living in Big Pink & recording with Dylan in the basement downstairs. We discuss how Dylan & the various members of The Band came to be in Woodstock, how the Basement Tapes recordings came about, Bob Dylan's prolific songwriting in Woodstock, the lifestyle The Band were living in the relative anonymity of Woodstock & the surrounding area.


    We also talk about the new material Dylan wrote which is covered by others before he has even cut any of them himself (This Wheel's On Fire by Julie Driscoll, Too Much Of Nothing by Peter, Paul & Mary, Tears of Rage by Ian & Sylvia, The Mighty Quinn - a number one single for Manfred Mann, a few tracks by The Byrds & Fairport Convention).


    We mention some of John's favourite tracks from the eventual release of the Basement Tapes in 1975 & the various bootlegs available over the years, plus the original bootleg release The Great White Wonder.


    How the Band's songwriting improved suddenly & exponentially, signing with Capitol for their debut album Music From Big Pink (a deal broker by Dylan manager Albert Grossman), the impact the area ultimately had on their writing both for Dylan & The Band. We give our take on Bob Dylan's painting which ends up as the cover artwork for the first Band album & then we move onto the influence The Band subsequently have on music - the birth of the Americana genre & alt.country plus more.


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    53 mins
  • 17 - Bob Dylan & the Band with John Niven (Big Pink)

    17 - Bob Dylan & the Band with John Niven (Big Pink)
    Jun 26 2024

    Join writer John Niven to have a chat about Bob Dylan & the Band & the time they spent in Woodstock. John talks us through his idea for a fictional book set when the Band were living in Big Pink & recording with Dylan in the basement downstairs. We discuss how Dylan & the various members of The Band came to be in Woodstock, how the Basement Tapes recordings came about, Bob Dylan's prolific songwriting in Woodstock, the lifestyle The Band were living in the relative anonymity of Woodstock & the surrounding area.


    We also talk about the new material Dylan wrote which is covered by others before he has even cut any of them himself (This Wheel's On Fire by Julie Driscoll, Too Much Of Nothing by Peter, Paul & Mary, Tears of Rage by Ian & Sylvia, The Mighty Quinn - a number one single for Manfred Mann, a few tracks by The Byrds & Fairport Convention).


    We mention some of John's favourite tracks from the eventual release of the Basement Tapes in 1975 & the various bootlegs available over the years, plus the original bootleg release The Great White Wonder.


    How the Band's songwriting improved suddenly & exponentially, signing with Capitol for their debut album Music From Big Pink (a deal broker by Dylan manager Albert Grossman), the impact the area ultimately had on their writing both for Dylan & The Band. We give our take on Bob Dylan's painting which ends up as the cover artwork for the first Band album & then we move onto the influence The Band subsequently have on music - the birth of the Americana genre & alt.country plus more.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    53 mins
  • 16 - Thurston Moore - Part 2 (New York City)

    16 - Thurston Moore - Part 2 (New York City)
    Jun 19 2024

    Thurston Moore returns for the 2nd part of our chat including: bumping into Joey Ramone on the way to CBGBs for the first time, Wayne County, meeting Lee Ranaldo at a gig, being introduced to Kim Gordon via a mutual friend, the downtown art world including Jean-Michel Basquiat, his early band The Coachmen, even Madonna gets a mention. We also detail the formation of Sonic Youth & how he came up with the iconic band name.



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    49 mins
  • 15 - Thurston Moore - Part 1 (New York City)

    15 - Thurston Moore - Part 1 (New York City)
    Jun 12 2024
    This week we welcome Thurston Moore formerly of Sonic Youth - we talk about his childhood in Connecticut, some of the early records he including Iron Butterly, Abbey Road, Led Zeppelin & Black Sabbath, Buying the Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request, the influence of his Dad, seeing an early Patti Smith gig in Westbury, CT & later sending off for her Hey Joe 7” single. Sending money to Richard Hell, driving to 2nd hand bookstores with Tom Verlaine & the first mention of Tom's published poetry, finishing with his first trip to Max’s Kansas City to see the Cramps & Suicide. Part 2 next week.

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    42 mins
  • 14 - Willy Vlautin (Reno)

    14 - Willy Vlautin (Reno)
    Jun 5 2024
    Writer & musician Willy Vlautin (Richmond Fontaine, The Delines) joins us to talk about his new book The Horse on Faber & Faber - we also go deep on his formative years in Reno, Nevada, his love for the Pacific Northwest - specifically Portland, Oregon. We talk about his early influences including Green on Red, The Long Ryders & the Cowpunk bands, The Jam, The Pogues, Bruce Springsteen & Australian songwriter Paul Kelly. Writers that had an influence including John Steinbeck, Barry Gifford, Larry Brown & Raymond Carver. We touch briefly on movies & end up discussing Mad Max: Fury Road & Andrew Haigh's All Of Us Strangers & more.

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    52 mins
  • 13 - The Human League with Martyn Ware (Sheffield)

    13 - The Human League with Martyn Ware (Sheffield)
    May 29 2024
    Join us on our first trip to the mighty music city of Sheffield as Martyn Ware guides us through growing up in the city, meeting Phil Oakey at school, his formative early bands, the influence of science fiction on his work, he & Phil's shared love of Marvel & DC comics, seeing Star Wars on opening day at the Sheffield Gaumont, seeing Roxy Music at Sheffield University in 1972, coming up with the name the Human League, recording the demo that became Being Boiled, signing with Virgin Records, touring with Siouxsie & the Banshees & Iggy Pop, debut album Reproduction, their first headline tour, the early gig David Bowie attended, the quick follow up 2nd album Travelogue & it's Malcolm Garrett designed cover, the bands first TV appearance courtesy of Tony Wilson, his ultimate departure from the band & more.

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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • 12 - Acid House with Richard Norris (Ladbroke Grove)

    12 - Acid House with Richard Norris (Ladbroke Grove)
    May 22 2024
    Richard Norris talks us through the birth of Acid House at clubs such as Shoom, Future & Heaven, the Jack the Tab album, his time as a member of The Grid, their unexpected chart success, Alan McGee's brief tenure as manager, his early trips to Ibiza & collaborations with Andy Mackay and Phil Mazanera from Roxy Music, Robert Fripp from King Crimson, Brian Eno, PP Arnold, Sun Ra, Johnny Marr & surf guitar king Dick Dale.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 hr and 2 mins