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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
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/t
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 pro
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
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 e
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
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
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 wor
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 hav
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
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 marchi
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 befo
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
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 Berkele
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 f
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 S
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
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, Ch
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 a
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 e
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 19
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 legen
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 m
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 th
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 Rhyt
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 gue
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 Ja
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
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
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 b
