Best Rocksbackpages Podcasts (2024)

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E179: Luke Turner & John Doran on The Quietus + Yoko Ono + James Chance 1:16:43

11d ago1:16:43

1:16:43

In this episode we welcome John Doran and Luke Turner to downtown Hammersmith and invite them to talk about their much-loved and newly-revamped Quietus "webzine". (That's Noughties-speak, for all you kids out there.) The intrepid duo look back on the 2008 birth of their baby and reflect on its survival and evolution over the subsequent 16 years. Qu…

1
E178: Ann Powers on Joni Mitchell + Tori Amos + Women in Pop 1:16:15

22d ago1:16:15

1:16:15

In this episode we're joined from Nashville by acclaimed critic, author and broadcaster Ann Powers for a discussion of her new Joni Mitchell book. Starting in Ann's native Seattle, we hear about her early '80s pieces for The Rocket before moving on to her stints at the San Francisco Weekly and the New York Times. Mention of Piece by Piece, the 2005…

1
E177: Val Wilmer on free jazz + photography + Lesley Gore audio 1:27:29

1M ago1:27:29

1:27:29

In this episode — our first-ever "field recording" — we travel up to North London to interview the legendary writer-photographer Val Wilmer. Val takes us back to her earliest musical memories in Streatham, South London, and her immersion in the capital's '60s jazz and blues scenes. We hear about her first pieces for Jazz Journal and her experiences…

1
E176: Simon Day on the Fast Show + Brian Pern + Steely Dan audio 1:08:25

2M ago1:08:25

1:08:25

In this episode we welcome Fast Show legend Simon Day to downtown Hammersmith and ask him about his musical passions and the immortal Life Of Rock With Brian Pern. We start with our guest's misspent youth in south-east London, where he frequently saw bands such as Dr. Feelgood and local lads Squeeze and even fronted his own punk combo Simon & the V…

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E175: Steffan Chirazi on Metallica + Jack Casady audio + John Sinclair 1:21:59

3M ago1:21:59

1:21:59

In this episode we welcome the splendid Steffan Chirazi to RBP Towers and ask him about his career as a metal/hard rock specialist and his long association with the mighty Metallica. We hear about our guest's lucky break as a 15-year-old Motörhead maniac when the band's frontman Lemmy gave up three hours to Steffan during the sessions for 1983's An…

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E174: Sean O'Hagan on Microdisney + The High Llamas + The Beach Boys 1:33:49

3M ago1:33:49

1:33:49

In this episode we welcome revered High Llamas leader (and arranger to the hip and the mighty) Sean O'Hagan to Hammersmith and ask him about his life and times from Microdisney to new album Hey Panda. We hear about Sean's Luton childhood, his family's move back to Ireland, and his 1980 encounter with the late Cathal Coughlan — the Corkonian with wh…

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E173: Ira Robbins on Trouser Press + Anglophilia + Nick Lowe audio 57:28

4M ago57:28

57:28

In this episode we welcome long-time RBP contributor Ira Robbins as he celebrates the 50th anniversary of the launch of his beloved Trouser Press. Ira tells us about the musical Anglophilia that began for him with the Beatles but surged with the 1968 release of The Who Sell Out. He then recounts the beginning of his friendship with schoolmate Dave …

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E172: Alan Light on Vibe + Prince + Taylor Swift + Townes Van Zandt 1:31:07

4M ago1:31:07

1:31:07

In this episode we welcome esteemed writer and editor Alan Light and ask him about the years he spent at Rolling Stone, Vibe and Spin — plus his close encounters with Prince, Taylor Swift and Townes Van Zandt. Vibe is the particular focus of interest for Alan's hosts, hence we hear about the magazine's inception, its co-founder Quincy Jones, our gu…

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E171: Kimberly Mack on Living Colour + Greg Tate + The Black Rock Coalition 1:08:09

5M ago1:08:09

1:08:09

In this episode the writer and academic Kimberly Mack joins us from Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to discuss the subject of "Black rock" in the context of her 33 1/3 study of Living Colour's Time's Up. We start by asking our guest about her childhood as the daughter of a rock-obsessed Black mother – and her experience of seeing Cheap Trick…

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E170: A Tom Hibbert special!! with Mark Ellen and Sylvia Patterson 1:18:59

5M ago1:18:59

1:18:59

In this extra-special episode we welcome into the RBP lair not one but two legends of music journalism. Former Smash Hits/Q/MOJO supremo Mark Ellen and Sylvia (I'm Not With The Band) Patterson join us to pay tribute to their late friend and colleague upon the publication of our book Phew, Eh Readers? The Life and Writing of Tom Hibbert – the single…

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E169: Penelope Spheeris on filming punk and heavy metal + Wayne's World 1:15:06

6M ago1:15:06

1:15:06

In this episode we welcome the legendary Penelope Spheeris and invite her to talk us through her extraordinary life and brilliant career. Barney wastes little time in asking the Louisiana-born filmmaker about the shocking traumas of her childhood and teenage years. We hear about her alcoholic mother's multiple marriages and the family's move to Sou…

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E168: Andy Schwartz on CBGB + New York Rocker + Mink DeVille 1:04:34

6M ago1:04:34

1:04:34

In the new episode of the Rock's Backpages podcast we welcome the admirable Andy Schwartz, who Zooms in from upstate New York to reminisce about New York Rocker, the much-missed monthly magazine he edited from 1977 to 1982. We hear about Andy's early years in suburban Westchester County and his first experiences of live music in Manhattan, which in…

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E167: Barbara Ellen on the NME + Madonna + Spinal Tap 1:11:32

7M ago1:11:32

1:11:32

Content warning: This episode contains discussion of sexual violence (22:45–24:55). In this episode we welcome the excellent Barbara Ellen, who joins us on Zoom all the way from... well, the other side of London, actually. (It's a long story.) Barbara talks us through her illustrious writing career from zines such as her own Wax Lyrical and Ooh Gar…

1
E166: Daryl Easlea on Slade + Peter Gabriel + Shane MacGowan R.I.P. 1:19:26

7M ago1:19:26

1:19:26

In this episode we welcome the delightful Daryl Easlea to Hammersmith for a pre-Xmas special on Slade and the sadly-departed Shane MacGowan. Daryl talks about his Essex childhood: the psychogeography of Canvey Island; his memories of seeing Dr. Feelgood at Southend's legendary Kursaal Ballroom; and how working at Our Price Records led to an eclecti…

1
E165: Michel Faber on music & sound + Nick Cave + Captain Beefheart 1:15:02

8M ago1:15:02

1:15:02

In this episode we welcome acclaimed novelist Michel Faber to RBP's Hammersmith HQ and ask him about his new book ... as well as about a 1979 interview he did with the young Nick Cave. Barney gets the ball rolling by asking the author of Under the Skin and The Crimson Petal and the White what he set out to do with Listen: On Music, Sound and Us. Vi…

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E164: Kate Simon on Bob Marley + Sounds + Joni Mitchell 1:12:28

8M ago1:12:28

1:12:28

In this episode we welcome the great Kate Simon, who Zooms in from New York City to answer our questions about her stellar career and the new edition of Rebel Music, her book of classic reggae portraits. Kate talks about the formative moments that made her a music photographer, plus the 1972 move to London that brought her into the pages of Disc & …

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E163: Evelyn McDonnell on Joan Didion + The Motels + Carla Bley R.I.P. 1:02:02

9M ago1:02:02

1:02:02

In this episode we welcome acclaimed critic, author and professor Evelyn McDonnell and invite her to discuss her new Joan Didion book, along with the Motels, Britney Spears and California's pop history in general. Evelyn talks about her early L.A. memories and childhood move to Wisconsin before we hear how she progressed from her college paper in P…

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E162: Billy Bragg on forty roaring years + Skiffle + Woody Guthrie 1:18:35

9M ago1:18:35

1:18:35

In this episode we welcome the left's very own "national treasure" Billy Bragg – beamed in from his adopted Dorset – and ask him about the long and remarkable career that's enshrined in forthcoming box set The Roaring Forty. Billy revisits his Barking boyhood and early pop and folk influences, culminating in the 1977 formation of Clash-inspired pun…

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E161: Mick Gold on Let It Rock + Pub Rock + Bruce Springsteen + Jann Wenner 1:11:58

10M ago1:11:58

1:11:58

In this episode we welcome music writer/photographer turned award-winning TV director Mick Gold and ask him to return to the mid-'70s to discuss pub rock, Bruce Springsteen and the wonderful Let It Rock magazine. Mick explains how he fell in with Let It Rock's "hard-up left-wing intellectuals" after penning a 5,000-word Beatles thesis at Sussex Uni…

1
E160: Richard Grabel on Hip Hop + Kool Lady Blue + Beastie Boys 1:06:03

10M ago1:06:03

1:06:03

In this episode we invite Richard Grabel to reminisce about his long career as a journalist and music-biz lawyer. We hear how Richard had his mind blown by an early CBGB double-bill of Television and the three-piece Talking Heads — and about his first reviewing efforts as a student at the University of Pennsylvania. He describes how he got his foot…

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E159: Vernon Gibbs on Marvin Gaye + Talking Heads + A&R at Arista 1:15:42

10M ago1:15:42

1:15:42

In this episode we're delighted to invite Vernon Gibbs to look back on his career as a pioneering soul scribe and A&R man. Vernon begins by describing his early years as a scholarship student who took the G train from Brooklyn to school on Manhattan's Upper East Side — and his formative years at NYC's Columbia University. He describes how he fell i…

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E158: Charles Shaar Murray on the NME + John Lee Hooker + Robbie Robertson 1:06:42

11M ago1:06:42

1:06:42

In this episode we welcome NME legend Charles Shaar Murray, beamed in from his adopted Ipswich to reminisce about his career from Oz magazine to his John Lee Hooker biography Boogie Man. We start by discussing Charles' 1970 interview with the mighty Muddy Waters, his "favourite singer since I was 12 years old". Our guest talks about the Oz "School …

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E157: Jim Farber on Glam Rock + Marc Bolan + Sinéad O'Connor 1:21:52

11M ago1:21:52

1:21:52

In this episode, we invite acclaimed New York writer Jim Farber to tell us about his 50-year career and his experiences of "growing up gay to a Glam Rock soundtrack", to cite the title of a superb 2016 piece he wrote for The New York Times. We start by asking the former Chief Music Critic of the New York Daily News about his Scarsdale childhood and…

1
E156: Richard Boon on Buzzcocks + Manchester + Morrissey audio 55:16

12M ago55:16

55:16

In this episode, Richard Boon joins us to talk about his life in music, taking in the birth of Buzzcocks, the Smiths on Rough Trade and his time as "the world's coolest librarian" in Stoke Newington. The punk instigator takes us back to 1976, when he went to see the Sex Pistols live in High Wycombe together with a certain Howard Trafford and Peter …

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E155: Robyn Hitchcock on the Soft Boys + David Blue + Mick Farren 1:28:26

12M ago1:28:26

1:28:26

In this episode we invite the inimitable Robyn Hitchcock to reminisce about his heroically nonconformist career from the Soft Boys to 2022's Shufflemania! After Robyn explains his recent return to London from his adopted Nashville, Barney, Mark and Martin hear about his hippiefied but not entirely psychedelic '60s youth – plus his early immersion i…

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E154: Richard Morton Jack on Nick Drake + Steve Marriott + Flashback magazine 1:20:38

1y ago1:20:38

1:20:38

In this episode we welcome the very personable Richard Morton Jack to "RBP Towers" and ask him to talk about his monumental new biography of Nick Drake – along with his marvellous Flashback magazine and an audio interview with Small Faces/Humble Pie frontman Steve Marriott. We commence by hearing how Richard was initiated into pop music (and its fr…

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E153: Lloyd Bradley on Black London + Tina Turner + Steve Barrow audio 1:27:31

1y ago1:27:31

1:27:31

In this episode we welcome Lloyd Bradley into our Hammersmith lair and ask him about his career as a journalist and as the acclaimed author of Bass Culture and Sounds Like London — the latter book celebrating its 10th birthday at the time of recording. We learn what London sounded like to Lloyd as a boy growing up in '60s Hornsey, and how his love …

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E152: Cliff Jones on Gay Dad + Brian Jones + Paul Simon audio 1:24:05

1y ago1:24:05

1:24:05

In this episode we welcome pop poacher-turned-gamekeeper (turned rockademic) Cliff Jones to RBP's Hammersmith HQ and invite him to talk about his shape-shifting career in music — as well as about Paul Simon and doomed Rolling Stone Brian Jones (no relation). Barney starts things off with his memories of Cliff coming into the MOJO office circa 1994-…

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E151: Sylvia Patterson on Smash Hits + George Michael audio 55:49

1y ago55:49

55:49

In this episode, we welcome the excellent Sylvia Patterson to RBP’s Hammersmith HQ and ask her all about her life as a music journalist from Smash Hits to the NME and beyond, referencing her excellent memoirs I’m Not With the Band and Same Old Girl. We begin with her start in writing at Dundee publisher D.C. Thomson, including as music editor for t…

1
E150: Edwin Pouncey & Sandy Robertson on rock and the occult + Andrew Lauder 1:10:05

1y ago1:10:05

1:10:05

In this episode we welcome Sounds legends Sandy Robertson and Edwin (Savage Pencil) Pouncey into our Hammersmith lair and ask them about their careers and shared fascination with the occult. After describing their routes into writing and their days at Sounds, Sandy and Edwin reflect on the dark history of occult rock from Black Widow to Norway's Bl…

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E149: Andy Beckett on Pop & Politics + The Beat + Everything But The Girl 1:18:18

1y ago1:18:18

1:18:18

In this episode we welcome author and Guardian journalist Andy Beckett to RBP's Hammersmith HQ and ask him to discuss politics and pop from the late '70s to the present day. Andy talks about his first musical passions as a teenager in the early '80s, as well as about Rock Against Racism, Red Wedge and the politicised postpunk era in general. He rec…

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E148: Rob Dickins on Warner Bros. + Leon Russell + Wayne Shorter 1:28:05

1+ y ago1:28:05

1:28:05

In this episode we welcome music-industry legend Rob Dickins and ask him to tell us about his "pop life" in the 27 years he worked with Prince, Madonna and other Warner Brothers superstars. Rob takes us back to his music-infused youth when his dad Percy worked for Melody Maker and New Musical Express and his brother Barry managed the High Numbers/W…

1
E147: Ellen Sander on rock life in the sixties + Robert Palmer audio 57:23

1+ y ago57:23

57:23

In this episode we welcome pioneering '60s rock writer Ellen Sander and invite her to discuss her classic 1973 book Trips: Rock Life in the Sixties, reissued in an "augmented" edition in 2019. Ellen recalls her New York upbringing and initiation into the folk scene in Greenwich Village, then explains how Danny Fields (episode 28) steered her toward…

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E146: Fred Goodman on Rock Films + D.A. Pennebaker + Burt Bacharach 1:10:17

1+ y ago1:10:17

1:10:17

In this episode we welcome the exemplary Fred Goodman and ask him about his journalistic career and highly acclaimed books. Fred talks about his early years as a jazz columnist for Cash Box, as well as his interest in the business side of popular music. He describes how a stint as a Senior Editor at Rolling Stone led to the idea of a book about "th…

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E145: Gary Kemp on Spandau Ballet + Pink Floyd + David Crosby R.I.P. 1:30:33

1+ y ago1:30:33

1:30:33

In this episode we welcome the excellent Gary Kemp to RBP's Hammersmith HQ and invite him to talk about Spandau Ballet, the New Romantics and Pink Floyd. After describing the pop baptism that was watching David Bowie sing 'Starman' on Top of the Pops, Gary recalls seeing the Sex Pistols at the Screen on the Green; the Bowie nights at Billy's; Steve…

1
E144: Pamela Des Barres on the GTOs + Peter Asher audio + Jeff Beck R.I.P. 56:32

1+ y ago56:32

56:32

In this episode we welcome the truly legendary Pamela Des Barres, all the way from her native San Fernando Valley, and invite her to reminisce about the all-girl GTOs, Frank Zappa, Lowell George... and plenty more besides. The bestselling author of 1987's groupie confessional I'm With The Band describes how she entered the Laurel Canyon orbit of ri…

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E143: Nick Hornby on Prince (& Dickens) + Boz Scaggs audio interview 1:23:19

1+ y ago1:23:19

1:23:19

In this episode we welcome bestselling author and screenwriter Nick Hornby to RBP's Hammersmith HQ and ask him to talk about his new book Dickens & Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius. We start by asking Nick if his original plan was to become a music journalist, then proceed to his first awareness of Prince in 1979. A broad discussion of the Minne…

1
E142: Paul Gorman on the rise and fall of the music press + Time Out's Tony Elliott 1:25:15

1+ y ago1:25:15

1:25:15

In this episode we welcome writer, curator and consultant Paul Gorman and ask him about his new book Totally Wired: The Rise and Fall of the Music Press. In a loose and free-ranging conversation, our guest reflects on various eras and aspects of all that Rock's Backpages is about, from the launch of Melody Maker almost 100 years ago to the online e…

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E141: RJ Smith on Chuck Berry + Ice-T + Black L.A. + Wilko Johnson 1:10:34

1+ y ago1:10:34

1:10:34

In this episode we invite esteemed author RJ Smith to tell us about his career, his adopted Los Angeles, and his new biography of Chuck Berry. We start in Detroit, where RJ was raised on a diet of AM radio, the Stooges and Creem magazine, then follow him to New York and his decade of writing for the Village Voice. He talks about the impact of Leste…

1
E140: Holly Gleason on Women in Country + Guy Clark + Taylor Swift 1:10:17

1+ y ago1:10:17

1:10:17

In this episode we welcome the splendid Holly Gleason, all the way from downtown Nashville, and invite her to tell us about her life as a country music writer and publicist. Holly explains how, as a teenage championship golfer, she first became enamoured of country in her native state of Ohio, later writing about it (as well as about rap and R&B) f…

1
E139: Billy James on Bob Dylan + Columbia Records + Laurel Canyon 1:08:51

1+ y ago1:08:51

1:08:51

In this episode we welcome the legendary Billy James, all the way from the Bay Area, and tap him for his memories of working with Bob Dylan, the Doors and more. We start with Dylan and the interview the young Minnesotan gave to Billy in October 1961 in the latter's capacity as a Columbia Records publicist. Billy reminisces about his early interacti…

1
E138: Kid Congo Powers on the Cramps + the Gun Club + Brian Eno audio 1:08:47

1+ y ago1:08:47

1:08:47

In this episode we welcome the delightful Kid Congo Powers, all the way from his home in Tucson, and ask him to talk about his former lives in the Gun Club, the Cramps and the Bad Seeds — as detailed in the riveting new memoir Some New Kind of Kick. The man born Brian Tristan looks back to his teen fanboy years from Frank Zappa to the New York Doll…

1
E137: Luke Haines & Peter Buck on R.E.M. + The Auteurs + Pharoah Sanders 58:55

2y ago58:55

58:55

In this episode we welcome the dynamic transatlantic duo of Luke Haines & Peter Buck and invite them to discuss their splendidly-titled new album All the Kids are Super Bummed-Out. Luke and Peter reflect on their musical partnership, working methodology, and relationships with music journalists — sometimes fractious, occasionally fruitful. Peter re…

1
E136: Richard Goldstein on 60s pop writing + The Shangri-Las + Shadow Morton 56:15

2y ago56:15

56:15

In this episode we welcome the great Richard Goldstein and invite him to relive his days as the Village Voice's "Pop Eye" columnist in the '60s — and his heady experiences in New York and California in that tumultuous decade. Richard takes us back to his Bronx youth and the early discovery of writers such as Joyce, Dostoyevsky and Voice co-founder …

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E135: Chris Blackwell on Island from Millie to U2 + Bunny Wailer 1:01:39

2y ago1:01:39

1:01:39

In this episode we welcome legendary Island Records founder Chris Blackwell and invite him to reminisce about key moments in his career at the helm of one of the UK's great independent labels. Chris describes his youth in Jamaica, his early exposure to Kingston's sound systems, and his move back to England in 1962. From Millie's 1964 smash 'My Boy …

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E134: Wayne Robins on Steely Dan + Donald Fagen + Denny Dias 1:22:52

2y ago1:22:52

1:22:52

In this episode we invite former Creem editor and Newsday critic Wayne Robins to reminisce about his journalistic journey from the Berkeley Barb to NYU's graduate school of journalism — and to hold forth on his (and our) beloved Steely Dan. Wayne recalls the suburban East Coast childhood he had in common with the Dan's Donald Fagen — and the music …

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E133: Jason King on Queen + Sylvester + Boy George + Beyoncé 1:32:54

2y ago1:32:54

1:32:54

In this episode, we invite Jason King to tell us about his multi-faceted career, from his Canadian upbringing to his chairmanship of Brooklyn's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. Along the way, Jason talks about his writing on LGBTQ icons from Sylvester and Luther Vandross to Queen's Freddie Mercury, of whom he is writing a major biography. J…

1
E132: Steven Daly on Orange Juice + Suede + Sugar Hill + Lizzo 1:29:41

2y ago1:29:41

1:29:41

In this episode we welcome "gamekeeper-turned-poacher" Steven Daly, who Zooms in from his adopted Brooklyn to tell us about drumming in Orange Juice and his stellar writing career in America. Steven revisits his musical youth in '70s Glasgow and his first encounters with Edwyn Collins and Postcard's Alan Horne. He talks about the creative divergenc…

1
E131: Robert Gordon on Memphis + Stax + ZZ Top + Robert Johnson 1:19:27

2y ago1:19:27

1:19:27

In this episode we welcome the very engaging Robert Gordon "all the way from" his hometown of Memphis and ask him to talk about the music of his city from Sun and Stax to Alex Chilton and Big Star. Robert tells us about his childhood, along with the blues epiphany that was watching Furry Lewis support the Rolling Stones on the Memphis leg of their …

1
E130: Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton on DJ history + Dom Phillips + Elvis 1:29:47

2y ago1:29:47

1:29:47

In this episode we welcome dynamic duo Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton to Hammersmith as they prepare for the publication of a newly expanded edition of their mighty Last Night a DJ Saved My Life. Bill and Frank talk about the original mission behind the book, as well as their different routes into dance music. They recall how they met and combin…

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