This week we are joined by ex The Fall drummer Simon Wolstencroft AKA Funky Si - after meeting Ian Brown & John Squire at Altrincham Grammar School he & John follow The Clash around the UK travelling to gigs as far away as Bristol & London. In addition to a huge interest in The Sex Pistols & The Clash, other bands they follows as teens included The Slits, The Ramones, Siouxsie & The Banshees & the 2 Tone movement.  Simon, Ian Brown & John Squire along with Pete...

Introducing DETOURS - occasionally we come across something which does not fit directly into our Music Map but we think our listeners will like anyway - this week we are joined by James Brown, founder of Loaded Magazine, NME features editor (at age 22), fanzine creator & originator of the GQ Man of The Year. Changing the landscape of the publishing world with Loaded - the magazine achieved instant stratospheric success & at its peak counted among its contributors Irvine Welsh, Vic...

Jakko Jakszyk joins us to take us on a tour through his wide ranging career encompassing his current role as singer of King Crimson, stints in The Lodge, Level 42, solo albums on Stiff Records & Chiswick Records, working with Tom Robinson, remix work for the likes of Emerson Lake & Palmer, Jethro Tull & Yes. Briefly being a member of The Kinks, a sideline in comedy, a brief interaction with Michael Jackson, Robert Fripp's dealings with Kanye West, initially joining The 21st...

Join us on a trip to Zanzibar by way of India & Feltham as we trace the early years of Freddie Mercury. It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps It is hugely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music Maps & can spare the time to do either we...

Kathy Valentine joins us to talk about her career, her new book, her time with The Go-Go's, her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & more. It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps It is hugely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music...

Join us as we present our first live episode - recorded at one of our live events here in Walthamstow, East London - talking all things Britpop & the 90's with Miranda Sawyer & Sian Pattenden. Including Suede, Blur, Elastica, Sleeper, Pulp, Oasis, The Verve, Robbie Williams, Tricky, Glastonbury & a lot more. It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these...

The 1989 album is 10 years old on October 27th 2014 - so we thought we'd take a deep dive into the story behind this iconic record. It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps It is extremely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music Maps & can spare...

Bella Union label founder Simon Raymonde joins us this week to talk us through his time with the Cocteau Twins. It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps It is hugely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music Maps & can spare the time to do either we...

Join us to take a deep dive into the life & career of LBGTQ icon Dusty Springfield - starting with her early life first in West Hampstead in London & then briefly in High Wycombe, Dusty attended a convent school but reinvented herself after leaving school into the glamorous blonde icon she became famous as. It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes...

Steve Wynn joins us to tell us all about his time with the Dream Syndicate, the formation of the band & the Paisley Underground scene. Steve's new book is out now on Jawbone Press & his latest record Make It Right is out on Fire Records. It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps It is hugely...

Featuring exclusive clips from Jah Wobble, Stewart Lee, Caroline Catz & Richard Norris sharing their memories of the Scala Cinema - documentary makers Jane Giles & Ali Catterall join us to share the history of the cinema from its original Soho location & its 2nd home in Kings Cross in London. It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you,...

Clem Cattini tells us about the birth of British rock & roll - Clem has played on over 40 number 1 singles, including Shakin’ All Over by Johnny Kidd & The Pirates & of course Telstar with his band the Tornados, the first British band to top the charts in America.  We start in late 1959 when Clem leaves Larry Parnes represented backing band The Beat Boys & subsequently ends up as a member of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates. In early 1960 they hit the top spot with the iconic...

Part 2 of our chat with Prince biographer Matt Thorne picks up where we left off with the release of his debut album For You in 1977 on Warner Bros. We find out about Prince's fast way of working in the studio along with his decision to produce, sing & play most of his records himself. Prince put a full time band together following the release of his debut album & heads out on his first proper tour since singing to Warners. His second album titled simply Prince follows in 1979...

Join us as we chart Prince's formative years in Minneapolis, Minnesota with biographer Matt Thorne. We discuss his family background, how he came to be named Prince, his early bands & songwriting (he wrote his first song at the age of 7). Prince's early influences remained pretty consistent throughout his life & included Larry Graham, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, George Clinton, Sly Stone, the Jacksons, Tower of Power, Miles Davis, Carlos Santana, Joni Mitchell, Rufus and Chaka...

Pulp Part 1 - Nick Banks joined Pulp in 1986 after seeing an ad outside Sheffield Leadmill & as a fan of the local band already decided to audition, making his live debut at the Adelphi Hotel in Hull shortly after. Following Jarvis Cocker's decision to relocate to London in 1988, Nick follows suit & Pulp begin to focus more on gigs in the capital. The Separations album is recorded the following year but doesn't come out until 1992. Island Records eventually become interested &...

Join us to take a deep dive into the little known history of Joy Division right here on our home turf in Walthamstow, East London. Find out from a first hand source how the band came to play 2 gigs here in 1979 - how it came about, how many people were there, what happened & more. Joy Division's first trip to London had been in late 1978 when they played the Hope & Anchor in Islington just after Christmas, at that gig they met some punks from Walthamstow & later come to play 2...

Join us on our first trip to Scotland, Edinburgh to be precise to retrace the history of on elf post-punk's most iconic bands, Josef K. The band were only around a few years but their influence has grown enormously in the intervening years, biographer Johnnie Johnston takes us through our first look at C81, Postcard Records, & the Sound of Young Scotland. We talk about the Scotland of the 1970s & how it differs from today, how the band met & came together, The band's connection...

We welcome Jah Wobble to tell us about his time with PiL (Public Image Limited) - we start with how he joined the band, touch upon his youth with John Lydon, who came up with the name of the band & the brief early involvement of Richard Branson. We hear about how Keith Levene & Jim Walker joined the band (and Jim's departure later) as well as signing with Virgin Records shortly after. Jah describes the chaotic finances of the band & the key part photographer Dennis Morris played...

Biographer Lesley-Ann Jones joins us to talk about Paul McCartney's time in Scotland living on High Park Farm near Campbeltown. We talk about his decision to buy this property in a remote part of Scotland, his & John Lennon's links (or lack of) to Scotland, Linda's role in Paul & his family spending more time there & the privacy it subsequently afforded them. We move onto discuss some of the key songs written at the farm over the years including Heart of the Country, The Lovely...

Carrying on our chat with Tim Booth we continue on the early years of James with the recording of their first demo, signing to Factory Records & making their debut release with the Jimone EP in November 1983. From there Tim tells us about meeting The Smiths & playing with them at the Hacienda & subsequently touring Ireland with them & later joining the Meat Is Murder Tour in 1985. James are touring with Johnny Marr across the USA in the autumn & Tim tells us how this came...

Tim Booth joins us this week to talk about his new book 'When I Died For The First Time' out now on Constable (imprint of Little Brown). We talk about his writing influences from Doris Lessing & Patti Smith to Frank Herbert & then how his experiences in James influenced his writing. We also talk in depth about James latest UK number 1 album Yummy as well as their recent appearance at Glastonbury 2024 & their other appearances they have coming up over the summer & an autumn USA...

Helen O'Hara joins us as we talk through her early career from getting a knock on the door to play with Kevin Archer's The Blue Ox Babes to later joining Dexys Midnight Runners. We talk about being renamed Helen O'Hara by Kevin Rowland & joining Dexys as one of the Emerald Express shortly after & Helen's difficult decision to join the band & turn down an offer to join the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra. recording for the first time with the band at AIR Studios in London with producers...

This week we make our first visit to Birmingham to trace the history & early years of Dexys Midnight Runners - how Kevin Rowland & Kevin Archer formed the band, the strict rules for membership, how the various members came to join. Writer Nige Tassell, talks us through some of the stories, myths & legends from his new book Searching For Dexys Midnight Runners - published by Nine Eight Books. We start with early punk band project The Killjoys, how they jump to the soul inflected...

FIXED AUDIO - sorry the original audio was the previous episode with Thurston Moore, meaning anyone who had already downloaded before we fixed it cannot update to the new audio. So here is a new version for anyone with the wrong audio. Join writer John Niven to have a chat about Bob Dylan & the Band & the time they spent in Woodstock. John talks us through his idea for a fictional book set when the Band were living in Big Pink & recording with Dylan in the basement downstairs. We...