Podcast Episodes

Paul Weller – ‘gloriously chippy’ – as seen by friends, family, fans and collaborators

Episode 839

Dan Jennings’ podcast ‘Desperately Seeking Paul’ is so successful he’s used 250 of the interviews in a best-selling oral history. ‘Dancing Through The Fire’ has voices from right across the spectrum …

Published on 8 hours ago

Did rave kill dancing in couples? Stars seen in strange places?

Episode 838

Marking our dance card at the rock and roll hop this week you’ll find …

… And Then He Kissed Me, I Saw Her Standing There, Springsteen’s All The Way Home: songs about the theatre of dancing

… is ther…

Published on 2 days, 3 hours ago

David Bowie and why we need him more than ever. Paul Morley looks back in wonder

Episode 837

David Bowie’s significance just keeps expanding and the look and sound of him never age. Paul Morley has been gripped from the start and his new book ‘Far Above The World’ explores the many reasons w…

Published on 1 week ago

‘Bob Dylan is my father’ - and why Sam Sussman is convinced it’s true.

Episode 836

Sam Sussman’s mother Fran had a year-long love affair with Dylan when he was working on Blood on the Tracks – she’s mentioned in Tangled Up In Blue – and they met again in 1990. What she told him abo…

Published on 1 week, 1 day ago

Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey had a ‘manifesto for success’. Here’s how it worked

Episode 835

Tom Bailey’s been based in New Zealand for the last 30 years, making records, DJing and avoiding British winters. He tours the UK in 2026 playing the Thompson Twins’ greatest hits and looks back here…

Published on 1 week, 1 day ago

Cowbells, maracas, gongs, castanets – classic percussion parts demonstrated!

Episode 834

The raw ingredients of this week’s news gently diced, simmered and served as a nutritious broth. And flavoured with the following …

… why Lily Allen’s divorce album doubled the value of her house

… h…

Published on 1 week, 2 days ago

The Smiths’ Mike Joyce on triumph, gladioli & Morrissey when he was still ‘Steve’

Episode 833

Morrissey and Marr both wrote memoirs but Mike Joyce hasn’t read either, preferring to publish ‘The Drums’, his version of one of the great success stories of the ‘80s, a book about “the beauty we’d …

Published on 1 week, 4 days ago

Records that sound unique and why all bands need a backlash

Episode 832

Boarding this week’s giddy carousel of news, we ride the following ponies …

… the Sliding Doors moment that made a ‘50s star a fortune

… Soft Cell’s Dave Ball and the art of being the Other One in a…

Published on 2 weeks, 4 days ago

Paul Young – “Big in the ‘80s! What lucky bastards we were!’

Episode 831

Paul Young was the bassist in a pub band playing Led Zeppelin and Patto covers ‘til his solo soul and blues slot launched him as a singer. He’s still touring nearly 50 years later, just back from fil…

Published on 2 weeks, 5 days ago

Billy Bragg – 40 years, 2,700 gigs and what he learnt from Taylor Swift

Episode 830

‘Billy Bragg: A People’s History’ is just out, a new and wholly original kind of memoir written by himself, friends, collaborators and fans, and packed with old snapshots, concert bills, reviews and …

Published on 3 weeks ago