Pulp Part 1 - Nick Banks joined Pulp in 1986 after seeing an ad outside Sheffield Leadmill & as a fan of the local band already decided to audition, making his live debut at the Adelphi Hotel in Hull shortly after. Following Jarvis Cocker's decision to relocate to London in 1988, Nick follows suit & Pulp begin to focus more on gigs in the capital. …

Join us to take a deep dive into the little known history of Joy Division right here on our home turf in Walthamstow, East London. Find out from a first hand source how the band came to play 2 gigs here in 1979 - how it came about, how many people were there, what happened & more. Joy Division's first trip to London had been in late 1978 when they …

Join us on our first trip to Scotland, Edinburgh to be precise to retrace the history of on elf post-punk's most iconic bands, Josef K. The band were only around a few years but their influence has grown enormously in the intervening years, biographer Johnnie Johnston takes us through our first look at C81, Postcard Records, & the Sound of Young Sc…

We welcome Jah Wobble to tell us about his time with PiL (Public Image Limited) - we start with how he joined the band, touch upon his youth with John Lydon, who came up with the name of the band & the brief early involvement of Richard Branson. We hear about how Keith Levene & Jim Walker joined the band (and Jim's departure later) as well as signi…

Biographer Lesley-Ann Jones joins us to talk about Paul McCartney's time in Scotland living on High Park Farm near Campbeltown. We talk about his decision to buy this property in a remote part of Scotland, his & John Lennon's links (or lack of) to Scotland, Linda's role in Paul & his family spending more time there & the privacy it subsequently aff…

Carrying on our chat with Tim Booth we continue on the early years of James with the recording of their first demo, signing to Factory Records & making their debut release with the Jimone EP in November 1983. From there Tim tells us about meeting The Smiths & playing with them at the Hacienda & subsequently touring Ireland with them & later joining…

Tim Booth joins us this week to talk about his new book 'When I Died For The First Time' out now on Constable (imprint of Little Brown). We talk about his writing influences from Doris Lessing & Patti Smith to Frank Herbert & then how his experiences in James influenced his writing. We also talk in depth about James latest UK number 1 album Yummy a…

Helen O'Hara joins us as we talk through her early career from getting a knock on the door to play with Kevin Archer's The Blue Ox Babes to later joining Dexys Midnight Runners. We talk about being renamed Helen O'Hara by Kevin Rowland & joining Dexys as one of the Emerald Express shortly after & Helen's difficult decision to join the band & turn d…

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 Midni…

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…

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 r…

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 detai…

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 sendi…

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, …

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 …

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,…

Acclaimed music writer Tom Doyle is our guide this week as we take a deep dive into the formative years & early career of Kate Bush. From her upbringing on East Wickham Farm near Welling, her early songwriting, learning to play piano, David Gilmour's involvement in her early career, the visual aspect of her work, her early gigs with the KT Bush Ban…

Join us & take a stroll down the Kings Road with writer Max Decharne as our guide. Our first stop is the Angry Young Men of 1956, before moving on to the Swinging Londoners of 1966 & finally the punks of 1976. With mentions along the way for Mozart, the Beatles, John Osborne, Henry VIII, Rolling Stones, James Bond, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Charles I…

Join us on our first trip to The Hacienda in Manchester as we talk to DJ Paulette about her early days & first DJ gigs, her influences, launching the iconic Flesh night at the Hacienda (Manchester's first gay club night), Manchester nightlife of the 80's & 90's, the 'it's queer up north' tagline, the birth of the LBGTQ scene in Manchester & much mo…

Join Penderyn Prize winning writer Michael Cragg to discuss all things pop in the 90's & 2000's. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us to hear about Paul Hanley's time in the fall including making his live debut at the Electric Ballroom age 16, recording Totally Wired & How I Wrote Elastic Man at his first recording session, the legendary trip to Iceland, recording Hex Education Hour, Slates, The Wonderful & Frightening World... and more. Hosted by Mark Hart & Simon Cardwe…

Suzi Ronson gives us a first hand account of the Ziggy Stardust years she spent with David Bowie from creating the iconic Ziggy haircut & costumes, the early days at Haddon Hall in Beckenham, hearing Starman for the first time, touring America with the Spiders, the UK tours leading up to the final performance at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1973. Hoste…

The second part of our chat with Miki Berenyi from Lush - from the release of the debut album Spooky, the Lolopoloza tour of the US, second album Split, the commercial success of the Lovelife album & the Single Girl & Ladykillers singles, 4AD, the end of the band in 1996 & the reunion in 2016. Hosted by Mark Hart & Simon Cardwell Produced by Tim Be…

Miki Berenyi joins us to talk about her upbringing & early life in Willesden Green, meeting Emma Anderson & the other members of Lush, making their fanzine Alphabet Soup, their first band the Baby Machines, changing the name to Lush, the first Lush gig at the Camden Falcon, signing with 4AD & more. Hosted by Mark Hart & Simon Cardwell Produced by T…

This week acclaimed writer John Robb takes us up north to put our first pin in our Music Map in the iconic city of Manchester. We detail the bands formation & early years, first gigs around the country, the release of Sally Cinnamon, their live debut in Manchester at the International 1, almost signing with Rough Trade, recording Elephant Stone wit…

Join us to celebrate the life & career of Karen Carpenter. Biographer Lucy O'Brien takes us on our first trip to the USA to chat all things Karen from her early years, the formation of the band with her brother Richard, signing to A&M Records, their peak years of success, her illness & tragic death. Help us put another pin in our Music Map in the L…

Join us as and Penderyn Prize winning author Daniel Rachel to take a deep dive into the formation of the Two Tone record label in Coventry - starting with the beginnings of the label, moving onto the early years of Jerry Dammers, The Specials & Madness meeting at the Hope & Anchor in Islington, the Two Tone Top of the Pops Episode, the Two Much Too…

Introducing Music Maps - the Rock n Roll Book Club Podcast, each episode we use a place as a jumping off point for a conversation about music - anywhere from the obvious to the obscure. Join us as we build our Music Map of the world. Hosted by Mark Hart & Simon Cardwell Produced by Tim Benton & Simon Cardwell Music by Rob Britton Hosted on Acast. S…