Rock's Backpages

By: Barney Hoskyns Mark Pringle Jasper Murison-Bowie
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  • Summary

  • Tales from the world's largest archive of music journalism: entertaining interviews with luminaries such as Neil Tennant, Billy Bragg, Pamela Des Barres, Gary Kemp, Vashti Bunyan, Midge Ure, Nick Hornby and Robyn Hitchcock. Thoughtful and informative conversations about all aspects of popular music history, interspersed with clips from exclusive audio interviews that date back to the mid-'60s. The RBP podcast is hosted by Barney Hoskyns and Mark Pringle and co-hosted & produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie. We're a proud part of Pantheon — the podcast network for music lovers.
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Art Music
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Episodes
  • E199: Phil Sutcliffe on Sounds + Gang of Four + Eric Clapton

    E199: Phil Sutcliffe on Sounds + Gang of Four + Eric Clapton
    Apr 7 2025
    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, initially reviewing gigs on Tyneside before moving back to London to become one of the weekly magazine's key '70s writers. We discuss the paper's transition from Gentle Giant and Back Street Crawler to the Damned and the Sex Pistols — and to the interviews Phil did with County Durham punks Penetration and beloved Salford bard John Cooper Clarke. From JCC's visit to the Oxford Poetry Festival in 1980, we turn our attention to the week's featured act — politicised post-punks Gang of Four — and thence to the more controversially reactionary Eric Clapton. Clips from John Hutchinson's 1981 audio interview with the guitar "God" prompt conversation about his musical evolution and the infamous 1976 outburst that inspired the launch of Rock Against Racism. After Mark quotes from newly-added library pieces about Joe Harriott (1964), Miles Davis (1969) and Al Green (1973), Jasper takes us out with his thoughts on articles about Courtney Love (1991), Snoop Dogg (2003) and Cardi B (2019). Please note that this episode was recorded before we learned of the very sad passings of former Gang Of Four bassist Dave Allen and Malian superstar Amadou Bagayoko — along with Phil Sutcliffe's fellow Sounds contributor Sandy Robertson. Many thanks to special guest Phil Sutcliffe. Pieces discussed: The Beatles: I Was A Beatlemaniac, Penetration: Anarchy In County Durham, The Bard Of Beasley Street At The Seat Of Learning, Gang of Four: Dialectics Meet Disco, Gang Of Four: The Revolution Lightens Up, Andy Gill meets Andy Gill, Eric Clapton audio, Eric Clapton: Out of the Darkness, Joe Harriott: Jazz Abstractionist, Miles Davis: In a Silent Way, Hole: Calling the Tune, Snoop Dogg and Welcome to the Cardi Party.
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • E198: Havelock Nelson on Hip Hop + Missy Elliott + Atlantic Records

    E198: Havelock Nelson on Hip Hop + Missy Elliott + Atlantic Records
    Mar 24 2025
    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 in high school. Havelock recalls the pioneering hip hop fanzines Word Up! and Black Beat – plus the seminal rap writings of Greg Tate and Nelson George – before recounting his experiences as a columnist on Billboard. He also explains the genesis of Bring the Noise, the 1991 "guide to rap music and hip-hop culture" he co-authored with fellow RBP contributor Michael A. Gonzales. Mention of our guest's 1994 interview with the Notorious B.I.G. takes us into discussion of the synergy between hip hop's rising stars and rap media such as The Source magazine. Havelock also reflects on memorable interviews he did with the likes of KRS-One, Slick Rick, LL Cool J and Salt-N-Pepa. The latter duo takes us into audio clips from an audio interview with a Virginia-born artist who was profoundly influenced by them: the one and only Missy Elliott, speaking to Sara Scribner after the release of 1997's debut album Supa Dupa Fly... followed by the voices of her collaborators Timbaland and Magoo. The publication of Taschen's monumental new 75 Years of Atlantic Records prompts reflections on the legendary label co-founded by the late Ahmet Ertegun, plus our thoughts on the present-day roster that includes Charli XCX, Bruno Mars, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran. The episode concludes with quotes from newly-added library pieces about artists such as Wee Willie Harris, Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich, the Pharcyde and André 3000. Many thanks to special guest Havelock Nelson. Find his writing on Rock's Backpages and join his Going Way Back group on Facebook. Dr. Dre: The Chronic, B.I.G.: Rap's Next Big Thing, The Rap Column: Media’s Rap On Rap Is Out Of Balance, Missy Elliott audio, The Age of Atlantic: Jerry Wexler, Rick Rubin: Def Jam's Man With The Plan, Ahmet Ertegun and The History of Atlantic Records, The Age of Atlantic: Making Tracks, Wee Willie Harris, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, The Pharcyde: New Rap Masters and André 3000: New Blue Sun.
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • E197: Siân Pattenden on Select + the Bangles + David Johansen

    E197: Siân Pattenden on Select + the Bangles + David Johansen
    Mar 10 2025
    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-selling pop bi-weekly she joined in 1989. Quotes from classic Hits pieces she wrote are interspersed with hilarious recollections of working alongside Tom Doyle and Sylvia Patterson. From "Ver Hits" we move on to the more indie-tastic Select and Siân's part in the Britpop wars – with special attention to Elastica, Jarvis Cocker and a pulped July 1994 issue that contained her guide to "legal highs". After reminiscences of a stint teaching music writing at the London School of Journalism, Siân explains the genesis of her 1998 book How to Make It in the Music Business. Mention of a 2007 Guardian Blogs piece bemoaning the "boy-rock" template established by the Beatles leads into reflections on the all-girl Bangles, subject of a new authorised biography by two-time RBP podcast guest Jennifer Otter Bickerdike. The desperately sad passing of David Johansen prompted us to dig out and digitise a 1994 audio interview with the sometime New York Dolls frontman. We hear three clips of David talking very amusingly to Q's Mat Snow – and in the process pay tribute to the singer and his fellow Dolls. After Jasper marks the 70th anniversary of the death of Charlie Parker with quotes from the late Richard Cook's magnificent 1995 piece about the bebop genius, we pay additional tribute to jazz-funk vibraphonist Roy Ayers and neo-soul queen Angie Stone. Many thanks to special guest Siân Pattenden. Visit her website at sianpattenden.co.uk for more info on her books, art and music. Pieces discussed: En Vogue: Dawn! Maxine! Terry! Cindy!, At Home in L.A. with Paula Abdul!, This is the Future: Elastica — the Bash Street Kids, Meet the Sheatles, The Bangs: Not Just Another Girl Group, The Bangles: a Female Fab Four?, The Bangles: Globe Trotters, The Bangles: Eternal Flame, The New York Dolls' David Johansen (1994), Charlie Parker: The Prince of Wails, Roy Ayers, Angie Stone: Precious and Pure, Dancing in New York Emmylou Harris: Emmylou on the Verge and The Swede Smell of Success.
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    1 hr and 17 mins
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