Rock's Backpages
Barney Hoskyns, Mark Pringle, Jasper Murison-Bowie 228 episodes Nov 9, 2026
Rock's Backpages is a podcast that explores the world's largest archive of music journalism, featuring interviews with notable figures like Neil Tennant, Billy Bragg, and Nick Hornby. Hosted by Barney Hoskyns and Mark Pringle, and co-hosted by Jasper Murison-Bowie, the show offers insightful conversations about popular music history, interspersed with clips from exclusive audio interviews dating back to the mid-'60s. It is part of Pantheon, the podcast network for music lovers.
Episodes
E239: Sid Griffin on Gram Parsons + the Long Ryders + alt.country
For this episode Sid Griffin joins us to talk about the great Gram Parsons on the 80th anniversary of the alt.country forefather's birth.
After we hear our guest's thoughts on the "Blue Tsunami' of the Midterms in his distant homeland, he reflects on his Kentucky upbringing, his years in journalism school at the University of South Carolina, and his late '70s move to
E238: Kodwo Eshun on Afrofuturism + Jeff Mills + More Brilliant than the Sun
In this episode we welcome the (more) brilliant Kodwo Eshun to west London and ask him about – among other things – his polemical 1998 book More Brilliant than the Sun.
In a wide-ranging conversation, we commence with our guest's memories of his north London childhood as the son of a Ghanaian diplomat. He is candid about his improbable teenage passion for Hawkwind and&nbs
E237: Tonya Pendleton on Prince + Lil' Kim + D'Angelo + Amy Winehouse
In this new episode we invite the splendid Tonya Pendleton to join us online from her adopted Philadelphia – in her own words "the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection".
The former Vibe scribe turned Philly radio host tells us about growing up in New York City and listening to WBLS legend Frankie Crocker and, later, DJ Red Alert. She also
E236: Nik Cohn and Ben Ratliff on Corner Boy + Awopbopaloobop
For this episode we invite the legendary Nik Cohn to join us from upstate New York to discuss his extraordinary career and his brilliant new book Corner Boy. Also joining us — from New York City — is the book's editor Ben Ratliff, himself the author of an acclaimed 2007 biography of John Coltrane.
We start by asking Nik about the epiphanic teenage moment he disc
E235: Tony Fletcher on Jamming! + The Jam + U2 audio interview
For this episode we're joined in Hammersmith by the much-travelled Tony Fletcher as he returns to his homeland to promote his new book POW! When UK Punk Went Pop, 1980–84.
We begin by asking our guest about Jamming!, the fondly-remembered fanzine he launched in South London at the tender age of 13. He recalls the huge impact of the Jam on his adolescent life and the friendship
E234: Mitchell Cohen on Dolly Parton + The Lovin' Spoonful + The Blues Project
For this episode we're joined by veteran music scribe and A&R man Mitchell Cohen to discuss his long career and his brand-new book.
We start in the Bronx of Mitchell's youth and hear about the impact on him of local hero Dion DiMucci. From there we take the D train down to mid-'60s Greenwich Village and relive our guest's discovery of the scene he chronicles in Wake
E233: Brian Cullman on Sandy Denny + John Martyn + Big Joe Turner
In this episode, we invite the marvellous Brian Cullman to join us onscreen from a French farmhouse in the Dordogne.
The author of How to Prepare for the Past talks us through his fascinating "travels in music and time" from New York City to North Africa via his writing for Crawdaddy, Musician and The Paris Review.
Beginning with his boyhood in midtown Man
E232: Tim Page on his Pulitzer Prize + Judee Sill + Stephin Merritt
In this episode we're joined by special guest Tim Page to trace the arc of his career from reviewing James Chance & the Contortions to winning the Pulitzer Prize.
In a conversation that's as entertaining as it is erudite, Tim recalls his teenage discovery of Rolling Stone and the subsequent influence of rock criticism on his singular brand of classical music rev
Episode 231: Geoffrey Cannon on the '60s + the Guardian + Jack Bruce audio
In this episode we invite the pioneering Geoffrey Cannon to reminisce about his stint as The Guardian's rock critic between 1968 and 1972.
Commencing with the pop baptism of his first hearing Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers in a Horsham record booth in 1956, our guest talks us through his early work for New Society and The Listener — including his presci
E230: Simon Reynolds on shoegaze + dream pop + Jay-Z audio
Acclaimed author Simon Reynolds joins us in Hammersmith to discuss his latest book. A journey through the many bands and scenes he wrote about between 1984 and 1994, Still in a Dream gives us a chance to ask our guest about shoegaze, C86 and the book's autobiographical threads.
Clips from an early 2000 Jay-Z audio interview by Dorian Lynskey prompt a general discussion of the hip hop superstar wh
E229: Funk special with Lloyd Bradley + Betty Davis audio
In this episode we welcome Lloyd Bradley back to Hammersmith to discuss his monumental new tome Funk Is Its Own Reward.
We ask our guest about what he describes as "Black America's second great cultural revolution" before learning of his own first awareness of funk as a new musical form. After we consider the parts played in the movement's evolution by James Brown, Earth Wind & Fire and Kool & th
E228: Maureen O'Grady on Rave + Pet Sounds + Miles Davis audio
In this episode we're joined by a legend of '60s pop journalism to discuss her days at Rave magazine and her friendships with the stars of that swinging decade.
Maureen O'Grady talks about the lucky break that brought her to Boyfriend magazine and her long friendship with the great Penny Valentine. She recalls her early interviews with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones before we digress into the
E227: An LGBTQ special with Barry Walters + a Grace Jones audio interview
For this episode we're joined all the way from San Francisco by Barry Walters to discuss his new history of LGBTQ music. And in our first recording since the retirement of Mark Pringle, William Pike becomes an official co-host of the RBP podcast...
Barry reflects on his upbringing in Rochester, N.Y., his move to New York City, and his early writing for the Village Voice. We then hear about his ye
E226: A Liverpool special with Penny Kiley and Paul Du Noyer
For this episode we're joined by not one but two very special guests to talk about one of the great music cities.
Penny Kiley is the former pop columnist for the Liverpool Echo, contributed regularly to Melody Maker and has just published the superb memoir Atypical Girl. Paul Du Noyer, meanwhile, wrote beautifully for the NME in its glory years and edited both Q and MOJO; he is also the author of
E225: Adele Bertei on New York's No Wave scene
In this episode we welcome back the marvellous Adele Bertei — five years after she first guested on our show — to talk about her amazing new book No New York.
Beginning with a definition of the postpunk sub-genre "No Wave", the former Contortion recalls her experience of living in Manhattan's perilous East Village in the late '70s and playing organ behind the unhinged James Chance. She also pays
E224: Jimmy McDonough on Neil Young + Gary Stewart + Al Green audio
For this episode we invite the very entertaining Jimmy McDonough to join us — all the way from Portland, Oregon — and discuss his career as "the king of the crazy biographers".
Our guest explains how he moved (back) to New York from Indiana in the '80s and how he got his foot in the door at the Village Voice with a 1988 profile of country singer Gary Stewart, the subject of his new book. We then
E223: AOR Special with Paul Rees + Boston audio interview
For this episode we welcome former Q/Kerrang! editor-in-chief Paul Rees to RBP Towers to discuss his riveting new book Raised on Radio: Power Ballads, Cocaine & Payola.
An oral history of AOR (or Album-Oriented Rock), Raised on Radio gives us an eagerly-awaited chance to enthuse about an oft-maligned genre we all happen to adore. The conversation takes in most of AOR's major practitioners, from K
E222: Jeff Walker & Kim Gottlieb on Tom Waits + Gram Parsons
For this episode we're joined — all the way from Laurel Canyon — by the husband-and-wife tag team that is Jeff Walker and Kim Gottlieb(-Walker). Married for 53 years, Jeff and Kim have worked in diverse capacities in the music business and talk about their experiences over those five-plus decades.
We start with the couple's work together on monthly freesheet Music World, focusing on their 1973 en
E221: Phast Phreddie Patterson on the world's biggest record collection
In this episode, we talk to Fred Patterson, aka Phast Phreddie, about his work at the ARChive of Contemporary Music, plus his own magazine Back Door Man and his band Thee Precisions.
Beginning with his early musical life teaching classes with Don Waller at UCLA's Experimental College, we hear about how he named Back Door Man after a Howlin Wolf song and wanted to cover "hard core rock n roll". Ph
E220: Bob Stanley on Saint Etienne + Connie Francis + Bob Weir R.I.P.
Content warning: This episode contains discussion of rape (40:37–42:20).
In this episode we ask Bob Stanley about his career as a writer and member of the beloved Saint Etienne, whose swansong year this is.
We start with Caff, the '80s fanzine which set out the eclectic pop aesthetic that underpinned Saint Etienne, proceeding from there to Bob's memories of life on Melody Maker in the late '80s
E219: Thurston Moore on free jazz + Sonic Youth + Derek Bailey
For this episode we're joined by Sonic Youth legend Thurston Moore to discuss his new book Now Jazz Now: 100 Essential Free Jazz and Improvisation Recordings, 1960-80.
We start by recapping on the story our guest told in his acclaimed 2023 memoir Sonic Life. In the course of the conversation about his early musical life in Florida and Connecticut we hear a clip from Steve Roeser's 1994 audio inte
E218: James Brown on Sounds + NME + Loaded + the KLF
For this episode we're joined in our Hammersmith HQ by James ("The Hardest Working Man In Show Business") Brown.
The former NME star and founder of "lads' mag" progenitor loaded takes us back to his Yorkshire boyhood in Headingley. He recalls his parents' record collection, the first gigs he attended as the class "smart-arse" at Lawnswood School... and his acclaimed '80s fanzine Attack On Bzag!
E217: Susan Compo & Derek Ridgers on punks, goths and new romantics
In this episode we welcome not one but two wonderful guests to RBP Towers. Susan Compo and Derek Ridgers have been trans-Atlantic pals for decades and first met on a FourFourTwo assignment to interview and photograph the L.A.-expats "soccer" team Hollywood United.
Starting with Susan's punk years in Southern California, we hear about her memories of seeing the Sex Pistols live in Dallas and Tulsa
E216: Pete Paphides on ABBA + Stevie Wonder + Broken Greek
In this episode we're joined by Pete Paphides, former rock critic for the London Times and author of 2020's acclaimed memoir Broken Greek.
We start with our guest's unique "'Starman' moment" – seeing the Brotherhood of Man lip-sync to the ghastly 'Save Your Kisses for Me' on Top of the Pops in 1976 – and then plunge straight into a celebration of his favourite pop group ABBA. We hear about his lo
E215: Simon Price on Melody Maker + Manics + Radiohead audio
For this episode — the first to feature RBP's editorial co-ordinator William Pike — we're joined by Melody Maker legend Simon Price for a discussion of his career, his championing of Manic Street Preachers, and Radiohead's first tour since 2018.
Beginning in the South Wales town of Barry, we hear about Simon's boyhood, his formative pop passions and the first of his distinctive sartorial metamorp
E214: Lisa Verrico on Vox + Oasis + Billie Eilish + My Bloody Valentine
In this episode we invite the highly entertaining Lisa Verrico to join us from her native Glasgow and talk us through her career from IPC's Vox magazine to The Times.
Commencing with her memory of first hearing Prince's 'Little Red Corvette' as a kid on holiday in Spain, our guest recalls her days of raving (and working in radio) before describing how she got her foot in the door at Vox. Hair-rai
E213: Michael A. Gonzales on TLC + The Source + DJ Kool Herc
In this episode, the great R&B/hip hop writer Michael A. Gonzales joins us online from Baltimore to look back on his long career.
We start with our guest's formative musical memories, from hearing Isaac Hayes' 'Theme from Shaft' and meeting Little Anthony & the Imperials to seeing the Jackson Five live at Radio City Music Hall in February 1975. His earliest inklings of New York's rap scene take u
E212: Greil Marcus on Mystery Train + Sex Pistols + Jamie Reid
In this episode, we ask one of the greatest music writers of the rock and roll era to talk about Mystery Train as he celebrates its 50th anniversary with a brand-new edition of his classic book.
Talking to us from Oakland, 6,000 miles away in his native Northern California, Greil Marcus looks back on the pivotal moments that led to his starting work on Mystery Train in the fall of 1972: his exper
This Episode Goes 2 11: A Spinal Tap special with Alexis Petridis
For this special "bonus" episode of the Rock's Backpages podcast — fittingly number 211 (geddit?) — we're joined once again by The Guardian's Alexis Petridis for a discussion of timeless rock mockumentary This is Spinal Tap and its breathlessly-awaited sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues...
With reference to A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever, the newly-published "story of Spinal Tap" told
E210: Alexis Petridis on Acid House + The Guardian + CMAT + KISS
For this episode we're joined by the immensely respected Alexis Petridis, The Guardian's principal pop critic since September 2001.
Our guest tells us about his childhood in Yorkshire, his teenage years in Buckinghamshire and his initiation into the Acid House scene while at Cambridge University. Work experience at MixMag in the mid-'90s led to his becoming that dance/clubbing monthly's Features
E209: David Nathan on Dionne Warwick + the Bee Gees + Michael Lydon R.I.P.
In this episode we invite David Nathan to look back on his illustrious 60 years as "the British Ambassador of Soul".
Our guest commences by recalling his gateway into Black American music: the covers of Shirelles and Miracles classics included on the first two Beatles albums. He furthermore describes the thrill of seeing Motown star Mary Wells supporting the Fab Four at Kilburn's State Cinema in
E208: Byron Coley on Beefheart + Lydia Lunch + Terry Reid R.I.P.
For this episode we're joined online from northwest Massachusetts by the legendary Byron Coley, champion of all things weird and non-mainstream.
After describing his somewhat peripatetic childhood, our guest explains – very amusingly – why as a teenager he hated the Beatles and what led him eventually to the more subversive sounds of the Mothers of Invention and their ilk. A digression on the Gra
E207: Val Mabbs on Record Mirror + Jimi Hendrix + Walker Bros. + Ozzy R.I.P.
For this episode we're joined by the excellent Val Mabbs, who talks to us about writing for Record Mirror in the late '60s and early '70s.
We start with our guest's early life as a mod in Hertfordshire – and her memories of seeing the Who/the High Numbers in 1964/5. Val then explains how she got her foot in the door at the Mirror and recalls colleagues such as Norman Jopling, Charlie Gillett and
E206: John Niven on rock fiction + Bobby "Blue" Bland + Lou Reed audio
In this episode we welcome novelist and screenwriter John Niven to "RBP Towers" to ask him about his career and his acclaimed novels.
We start with the Wishing Stones, the post-C86 combo for whom John played guitar in the late '80s, and progress swiftly to the subject of his caustic 2008 classic Kill Your Friends — the UK's drug-riddled music industry, in which he toiled through the '90s.
After
E205: Tony Cummings on soul music + The Sound of Philadelphia
In this episode we welcome the great soul scribe Tony Cummings to Hammersmith to discuss the subject of his classic 1975 book The Sound of Philadelphia.
Tony travelled all the way down from his adopted Stoke-on-Trent to answer our questions about his earliest musical passions in his native Plymouth and the launch of his pioneering '60s fanzines Soul, Soul Music and Shout. He goes on to talk about
E204: Chris Bohn in Europe + Sly Stone & Brian Wilson R.I.P.
For this episode we're joined in our Hammersmith lair by the highly respected Chris Bohn, known better these days by his alias Biba Kopf (cue a nod to Berlin Alexanderplatz author Alfred Döblin...) The veteran NME contributor and sometime editor-in-chief of The Wire talks about his long career as a Europhile connoisseur of extreme and out-there music.
We start by asking our guest about his mother
E203: Jonathan Gould on Talking Heads + Otis Redding + Richard Manuel
For this episode we're joined – all the way from Brooklyn – by acclaimed author and sometime drummer Jonathan Gould.
The native New Yorker recalls his early musical epiphanies, his introduction to the drums and his studying under famed jazz drummer Alan Dawson in mid-'70s Boston. He also reminisces about his years in Woodstock, N.Y., and his association with The Band's Richard Manuel.
Our very p
E202: Paul Gambaccini on the radio + Rolling Stone + Beyoncé audio
In this episode we welcome the great Paul Gambaccini into RBP's world and ask him about his 50+ years as one of Britain's best-loved broadcasters.
"The Great Gambo" tells us about his early radio days at Dartmouth College's WDCR station and explains how he slipped his foot in the door at Rolling Stone in 1970. He then recounts his first meeting with "underground deejay" John Peel (plus his BBC pr
E201: Bob Merlis on Warner Bros. + Little Feat + Neil Young audio
For this episode we're joined – all the way from L.A. – by special guest Bob Merlis. The former head of publicity at Warner-Reprise Records in Burbank talks us through his musical odyssey from his Brooklyn childhood to his continuing PR work for the likes of ZZ Top and Carlene Carter.
We hear about Bob's start at Record World in late '60s New York and the early '70s pieces he wrote for that trade
E200: Celebrating 200 episodes of the Rock's Backpages podcast
In this special episode we celebrate the last four years with clips from twelve of the best 100 shows we've recorded in that time.
Following an intro from Spandau Ballet mainmain Gary Kemp speaking in January 2023, we reflect on what we have (or haven't) learned over those four years, then play and discuss clips from these episodes:
Record Mirror legend Norman Jopling on first seeing the "Rol
E199: Phil Sutcliffe on Sounds + Gang of Four + Eric Clapton
For this episode we're joined by veteran music scribe Phil Sutcliffe to discuss his years on Sounds, Q and MOJO.
We start by hearing about our guest's Beatles-obsessed adolescence in the North London suburb of Barnet, then follow him up to Manchester University and his subsequent apprenticeship on the Newcastle Evening Chronicle.
Phil explains how he got his foot in the door at Sounds in 1974, i
E198: Havelock Nelson on Hip Hop + Missy Elliott + Atlantic Records
For this episode we're joined all the way from Harlem in New York City by venerable hip hop writer Havelock Nelson.
The first rap editor at industry bible Billboard talks about his early years in his birthplace Guyana and his love of marching bands in the country's capital Georgetown. From there we hear about his family's move to Brooklyn in 1973 and his early exposure to rap and breakbeat tapes
E197: Siân Pattenden on Select + the Bangles + David Johansen
For this episode we're joined in person by the delightful Siân Pattenden, author of the Agatha Bilke and Magical Peppers children's book series.
We start by asking our guest about her early years as a child actor and teenage playwright before she describes the fanzines she published with her pal Nicky Fijalkowska. We hear how these helped to get her foot in the door at Smash Hits, the million-sell
E196: Daniel Wolff & Danny Alexander on Dave Marsh + Curtis Mayfield
In this episode we welcome not one but two guests and ask them to talk about their long-time friend and mentor Dave Marsh.
Daniel Wolff and Danny Alexander co-edited 2023's Marsh anthology Kick Out the Jams: on the eve of his 75th birthday they reflect on his powerful writing, his impassioned politics and his career from Creem and Rolling Stone to the Rock & Roll (subsequently Rock & Rap) Confiden
E195: Danny Goldberg on Led Zeppelin + Nirvana + Gil Scott-Heron
In this episode we're joined by music-biz legend Danny Goldberg to discuss his dealings with Led Zeppelin and Kurt Cobain — and the school days he spent with the great Gil Scott-Heron.
Danny takes us back to his short-lived stint at Berkeley and his first port of call on returning to his native New York: clerking at trade bible Billboard, a job that led to the publication of his report on 1969's W
E194: Gene Sculatti on San Francisco + the Band's Garth Hudson R.I.P.
In this episode, we invite the excellent Gene Sculatti to talk us through his career from Crawdaddy! magazine to the Atomic Cocktail radio show he still hosts at Luxuria Music.
Commencing in San Francisco in the summer of 1960 — when Gene first heard Dion's 'Lonely Teenager' — we ask our guest about his lifelong love of surf music and the Beach Boys. From there we jump to his mid-'60s radio show "
E193: Michael Goldberg on photography + Taj Mahal + Addicted to Noise
For the first episode of 2025, former Rolling Stone staffer and Bay Area photographer Michael Goldberg joins us to reminisce about his music journalism and discuss his new book Jukebox.
We start by asking our guest about the influences of San Franciscan "shooters" from Herb Greene to Annie Liebowitz, with special emphasis on Jim Marshall and Baron Wolman. Michael then recounts the story of how — a
E192: Pat Kane on Hue & Cry + Sinatra + Chic + '80s Brit soul
For the final episode of 2024 we're joined by the formidable Pat Kane, who answers our questions about his dual career as a musician and writer with what co-host Martin Colyer describes as "an almost frightening eloquence".
Commencing with the formative memories of his late father singing Frank Sinatra songs to him at bedtime — and his lifelong fixation with Ol' Blue Eyes — Pat talks about Hue and
E191: Chris Charlesworth on Melody Maker in the '70s
For this episode we're joined by Chris Charlesworth, mainstay of Melody Maker in its '70s pomp and subsequently editorial director of music imprint Omnibus Books. Starting out at Skipton's Craven Herald & Pioneer in his native Yorkshire, Chris talks us through key moments in the Maker years he documents in recent memoir Just Backdated.
Paying particular attention to his stints as a '70s correspond
E190: Simon Garfield on Cher + Beyoncé + Luther Vandross
In this episode we ask the former Time Out editor and acclaimed author of fascinating studies of fonts, maps and encyclopaedias about his long writing career; we also discuss semi-colons and listen to clips from audio interviews with Cher and Luther Vandross. Our guest reflects on Expensive Habits — his 1986 investigation of the music industry's "dark side" — and revisits two of his many great pie
E189: Beverley Glick a.k.a. Betty Page on New Romantics + Quincy Jones
In this episode — recorded on the somewhat sombre Wednesday after the U.S. elections — we welcome the wonderful Beverley Glick to our Hammersmith lair and ask her about her New Romantic nom de plume Betty Page.
Beverley tells us about her early days on Sounds, where she started out as editor Alan Lewis' secretary, and talks us through her seminal 1980 encounters with Spandau Ballet and Steve Stran
E188: Chris Salewicz on the NME + Supertramp + Amy Winehouse
In this episode we're joined by NME legend Chris Salewicz, author of acclaimed books about Bob Marley, Joe Strummer and others.
We hear about our guest's boyhood in Yorkshire — and about the first gig he ever saw: the Beatles in Leeds in 1963 (followed in rapid succession by the Rolling Stones — plus a young David Bowie — in Huddersfield). Chris then describes how a move to London in the early '70
E187: Simon Raymonde on Cocteau Twins + Dusty Springfield + Bella Union
For this episode we're joined by the admirable Simon Raymonde, sometime Cocteau Twin, head honcho at Bella Union Records and author of the autobiographical In One Ear.
We commence by asking our guest about growing up as the son of the legendary Ivor Raymonde, string arranger on umpteen hits by pop idols from Billy Fury to the Walker Brothers. We hear clips from Ira Robbins' 1989 audio interview wi
E186: Robert Hilburn on L.A. + his Randy Newman biography
For this episode we're joined – all the way from sunny Southern California – by L.A. Times legend Robert Hilburn.
Bob beams in to discuss his new biography of the peerless Randy Newman, but we start by asking him about the early childhood memories (of his native Louisiana) that he shares with Randy himself. From there he takes us from the Eureka moment of hearing a then-unknown Elvis Presley on th
E185: Andrew Smith on A.I. + Björk + The Notorious B.I.G.
For this episode we're joined by the Brooklyn-based Andrew Smith, author of the bestselling Moondust, the "dotcom swindle" saga Totally Wired and the brand-new Devil in the Stack.
We start by asking Andrew about the peripatetic childhood that took him from Greenwich Village to Hastings via San Francisco's summer of love. A riveting account of auditioning to replace Mick Jones in the Clash leads us
E184: Joe Boyd on Global Music + Kate & Anna McGarrigle
For this episode we're joined by a living musical legend whose career as an A&R man, manager, producer, label-owner and writer spans over 60 extraordinary years.
On the day his monumental "journey through Global Music" And the Roots of Rhythm Remain is published, the peerless Joe Boyd visits RBP's Hammersmith HQ to talk about the book — and the 17+ years it took to write the follow-up to 2006's ac
E183: Darrell M. McNeill on the Isley Brothers + Isaac Hayes
Joining us all the way from Santa Barbara for this episode is Darrell M. McNeill, director of operations at the Black Rock Coalition and author of a new 33 1/3 study of the Isley Brothers' mighty 1973 album 3 + 3.
We start by asking our guest about his '90s contributions to the Village Voice and his involvement with the B.R.C.. Crediting his dad for his own childhood love of the Isleys, Darrell te
E182: Joe "Mr. C" McEwen on soul music + alt.country + Joe Tex audio
In this episode we're joined by the esteemed Joe "Mr. C" McEwen, who Zooms in from L.A. to reminisce about his storied career as a writer, DJ and A&R man.
We begin in our guest's native Philadelphia, where his teenage mind was blown by a James Brown show in 1966, and follow him up to his adopted Boston. He recalls his early reviews for The Boston Phoenix and revisits his 1975 homage to Sam Cooke f
E181: Mark Williams on Knebworth '74 + the underground press + Joan Jett
In this episode the marvellous Mark Williams Zooms in from mid-Wales to regale us with tales from the heyday of the UK's underground press and his later involvement with the L.A. punk scene.
We start in mid-'60s Newcastle – where our guest drummed with beat combo the Jailbirds – and move on to his days at the Birmingham Arts Lab via a flat above London's hallowed 2i's coffee bar. A return to the c
E180: David Toop on Dr. John + Collusion + Scott Walker audio
In this episode we welcome the esteemed David Toop to Hammersmith – on the UK's General Election day – to discuss his extraordinary new book about (and around) Dr. John's 1968 album Gris-Gris.
First we revisit the short-lived but splendidly eclectic Collusion magazine our guest co-founded in 1981: we hear about its inception and mission, as manifest in groundbreaking pieces about rap, surf, salsa,
E179: Luke Turner & John Doran on The Quietus + Yoko Ono + James Chance
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. Quotes from pieces they wrote about Kanye West (2008
E178: Ann Powers on Joni Mitchell + Tori Amos + Women in Pop
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 book she wrote with Tori Amos, leads us to clips
E177: Val Wilmer on free jazz + photography + Lesley Gore audio
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 of interviewing (and photographing) the likes of
E176: Simon Day on the Fast Show + Brian Pern + Steely Dan audio
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 Virgins. We hear about his early days on the standu
E175: Steffan Chirazi on Metallica + Jack Casady audio + John Sinclair
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 Another Perfect Day – and became a dear friend for l
E174: Sean O'Hagan on Microdisney + The High Llamas + The Beach Boys
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 whom he formed the brave and brilliant Microdisney.
E173: Ira Robbins on Trouser Press + Anglophilia + Nick Lowe audio
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 Schulps and explains how it led to a shared obses
E172: Alan Light on Vibe + Prince + Taylor Swift + Townes Van Zandt
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 guest's long interview(s) with The Artist No Longer
E171: Kimberly Mack on Living Colour + Greg Tate + The Black Rock Coalition
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 when theirs were the only Black faces in the Radi
E170: A Tom Hibbert special!! with Mark Ellen and Sylvia Patterson
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 funniest music journalist who ever lived.
Both gu
E169: Penelope Spheeris on filming punk and heavy metal + Wayne's World
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 Southern California that led to Penelope putting hers
E168: Andy Schwartz on CBGB + New York Rocker + Mink DeVille
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 included historic gigs by the Doors, the Dead and Ji
E167: Barbara Ellen on the NME + Madonna + Spinal Tap
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 Gary, Gary (a footie zine dedicated entirely to one G
E166: Daryl Easlea on Slade + Peter Gabriel + Shane MacGowan R.I.P.
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 eclectic taste palette that stretched from prog-rock to C
E165: Michel Faber on music & sound + Nick Cave + Captain Beefheart
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. Viewing music through a variety of prisms — from nos
E164: Kate Simon on Bob Marley + Sounds + Joni Mitchell
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 & Music Echo and Sounds. Her hosts quiz her about he
E163: Evelyn McDonnell on Joan Didion + The Motels + Carla Bley R.I.P.
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 Providence, RI, to becoming the pop critic for the
E162: Billy Bragg on forty roaring years + Skiffle + Woody Guthrie
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 punks Riff Raff. After a brief 1981 detour via the Br
E161: Mick Gold on Let It Rock + Pub Rock + Bruce Springsteen + Jann Wenner
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 University. We then hear about the magazine and its e
E160: Richard Grabel on Hip Hop + Kool Lady Blue + Beastie Boys
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 in the door at New York Rocker – reviewing one of
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