In which Barney Hoskyns talks to us about Woodstock and the part it played in the lives of Dylan, the Band, Albert Grossman and Van Morrison, as related in his book “Small Town Talk”.
Here’s the Bobby Charles record that gave the book its name.
Here’s the Band rehearsing in Woodstock back in the day
In which Jeff Evans returns from researching the full history of “Rock and Pop On British TV” for his new book and talks to Mark Ellen and David Hepworth about not just “Six Five Special” but also “Cool For Cats”, not just Legs and Co but also Ruby Flipper, not just “The Tube” but also “The White Room”, and wonders whether, now that we have YouTube, we have finally come to the end of music television as a genre.
In which Paul Gambaccini, that son of New York who became an institution of British broadcasting, talks to Mark Ellen and David Hepworth about how the Beatles changed his life, how he got into broadcasting, what brought him to Britain, his experience of Radio One in the 70s, his recent ordeal at the hands of the Metropolitan police – fully documented in an amazing book Love, Paul Gambaccini – and how this experience has changed his view of the BBC and the Labour Party but not the British people. It’s an extraordinary listen, one that goes the full distance from hilarity to horror.
In which Mick Houghton, the author of a book about the legendary folk-rock label Elektra, and Adam White, the man behind a huge tome about the history of Motown, talk to David Hepworth about the unique challenges faced by independent labels, the charismatic men who founded them, the occasionally difficult stars they had to deal with and what keeps both Jac Holzman and Berry Gordy going at an age when most people are happy just to look at their great-grandchildren.
In which Richard Houghton, the author of I Was There, a collection of first-hand reminiscences from people who saw the Beatles back in the sixties, from under-attended dance halls in England to over flowing stadia in the United States, talks to David Hepworth about how he wrinkled out their stories.
In which David Hepworth talks to legendary journalist and author Paul Morley about how David Bowie inflamed his young imagination and his new book The Age Of Bowie.
In which David Hepworth talks to legendary journalist and author Hunter Davies about his time as a fly on the wall with the Beatles in the middle sixties and his newly-published Beatles Book. Includes: a Chinese meal in Bangor in 1967, the writing of “Getting Better”, the time McCartney turned up in the middle of the night and the cost of a house in London in the mid-sixties.
In which we talk to the irrepressible Sylvia Patterson on how music provided some much needed structure in her chaotic teenage life and her career as a writer on Smash Hits, NME and beyond. Contains: Manics, Mick Hucknall, Happy Mondays, Blur and many more. Sylvia’s book is I’m Not With The Band.
In which we talk to the man who began taking pictures at Eric Clapton’s Rainbow concert and was there to document the brief moment when punk was invented in London. Some of these pictures are collected in his new book Punk London 1977.
In which we talked to the husband and wife team behind Maybe I’m Doing It Wrong: The Life And Times Of Randy Newman about this uniquely fascinating artist and whether he’ll be remembered for “Short People” or “Toy Story”.