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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 m
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
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 freq
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 Mo
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, h
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 wit
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 o
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
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
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 chi
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 An
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 stor
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
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 Un
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 momen
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 ear
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
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 i
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 abou
E159: Vernon Gibbs on Marvin Gaye + Talking Heads + A&R at Arista
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
E158: Charles Shaar Murray on the NME + John Lee Hooker + Robbie Robertson
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 t
E157: Jim Farber on Glam Rock + Marc Bolan + Sinéad O'Connor
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.
E156: Richard Boon on Buzzcocks + Manchester + Morrissey audio
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 197
E155: Robyn Hitchcock on the Soft Boys + David Blue + Mick Farren
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,
E154: Richard Morton Jack on Nick Drake + Steve Marriott + Flashback magazine
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/H
E153: Lloyd Bradley on Black London + Tina Turner + Steve Barrow audio
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 o
E152: Cliff Jones on Gay Dad + Brian Jones + Paul Simon audio
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 Jo
E151: Sylvia Patterson on Smash Hits + George Michael audio
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
E150: Edwin Pouncey & Sandy Robertson on rock and the occult + Andrew Lauder
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 th
E149: Andy Beckett on Pop & Politics + The Beat + Everything But The Girl
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 e
