Music Maps Podcast

Join us for a deep dive into an iconic gig venue, the legendary Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom.

The building was first opened by Maggie McIver on Christmas Eve 1934 & hosts dances for the East End of Glasgow for decades, however once the big band era passes the venue begins to decline & loses popularity following the infamous Bible John murders in the late 1960s.

After a brief period as a Roller Disco the venue is revived following Simple Minds filming their Waterfront video in 1983.

In 1985 the famous neon sign goes up on the exterior of the building & the venue is still family ran to this day.

We hear about what makes the venue so famous from its legendary acoustics, to the ceiling stars & original features & also the famous Barrowlands atmosphere.

Some of the famous performances at the Barrowlands include The Pogues debuting Fairytale of New York with Joe Strummer on guitar, Noel Gallagher finishing an Oasis gig solo after Liam Gallagher walks off stage, debuting Whatever on acoustic guitar.

Unknown local acts Lewis Capaldi & Rianne Downeyt play early gigs at the venue while Scottish band The Saw Doctors hold the record for the most appearances at the Barrowlands.

Others to play the venue include Bob Dylan, David Bowie & dozens 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 Maps & can spare the time to do either we would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/events

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell
Music by Andy Maxwell
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So today we take a deep dive into the early life of Ringo Starr, how he joined the Beatles & their subsequent unprecedented success.

After overcoming various serious Illnesses as a child, a young Ringo first develops an interest in drumming while in hospital recovering.

His first arrives courtesy of stepfather Harry Graves & before long Ringo is drumming in skiffle bands around Liverpool before moving on to join Rory Storm & the Hurricanes where he comes known as Ringo for the first time.

Having met the other Beatles briefly back in Liverpool, Ringo finds himself in Hamburg at the same time as them. After sitting in with the band for the increasingly unreliable Pete Best, Ringo is asked to join the band in 1962.

His first gig with the band takes place at Hulme Hall in Port Sunlight in August of that year. Back at The Cavern some fans take a dislike to Pete’a replacement & some dissent & altercations follow.

The Beatles debut album comes out in February of 1963 & features Ringo’s debut vocal performance with the band, Boys.

I Wanna Be Your Man follows on With The Beatles but by now the Starkey family home in The Dingle is besieged with Beatle fans, eventually forcing the family to relocate.

The Beatles arrive in the US in February of 1964 & Ringo plays a starring role in their debut press conference in New York.

Ringo goes on to become the most popular Beatle stateside inspiring a number of novelty releases about him.

One of Ringo’s catchphrases becomes the title of the Beatles debut feature film A Hard Days Night later in 1964 & he receives positive reviews for his acting in the film.

Other notable Ringo tracks include Act Naturally & What Goes On but it’s 1966’s Yellow Submarine which gives Ringo his first number one.

Another memorable Ringo vocal is released the following year on Sgt. Pepper with A Little Help From My Friends.

Some of Ringo’s most memorable drum parts appear on Rain, Ticket To Ride & A Day In The Life.

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 would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/events

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell
Music by Andy Maxwell
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us for a very special live episode to mark the release of Dreaming Of You - The Making of the Coral - the new documentary available now to rent or buy.

Our starting point is the faded seaside town of Hoylake, on the Wirral Peninsula near Liverpool, where The Coral meet & come together to form the band.

Before music James & Ian Skelly live in a fantasy world of Ghostbusters, Transformers, Thundercats & Turtles - aided partly by their Dad’s market stall selling toys in Liverpool.

Its drummer Ian Skelly & bassist Paul Duffy who start the band with singer James Skelly eventually joins them & guitarists Bill Ryder-Jones & Lee Southall follow.

Nick Power completes the lineup & James stumbles on the name The Coral & it sticks.

Early influences include Captain Beefheart, Pink Floyd, The La’s, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes, The Beach Boys, Dr. Dre, Peter Green & Oasis. In time this morphs into a love for The Beta Band, Super Furry Animals & Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci.

A scene develops in Liverpool around The Zanzibar & The Bandwagon involving Tramp Attack, The Skylarks, The Bandits & The Zutons.

The Coral begin to play regularly at The Cavern, entertaining Beatles tourists in a regular Sunday afternoon slot.

The band are introduced to Deltasonic founder Alan Wills & not long after release debut single Shadows Fall.

Shortly after the band sign to Sony after a gig at Night & Day in Manchester.

Ian Broudie comes in as producer for what becomes the debut album which reaches 5 in the charts when released in July 2002.

Hit single Dreaming Of You almost doesn’t appear on the album when the band are reluctant to include it, but ultimately have a change of heart.

2nd single Goodbye gets the band on Top Of The Pops & also gives the band the chance to build a full size Wicker Man for the accompanying video.

A large headline gig takes place in a big top in New Brighton dubbed A Midsummer Nights Scream with The Libertines, The Bees, The Zutons, The Thrills & The Basements & makes the end of the first chapter of The Coral.

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 would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/events

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell
Music by Andy Maxwell116 - The Coral with James Skelly, Nick Power & James Slater (Hoylake)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Altman

John’s Uncles Sid Phillips & Wolf Phillips were big band conductors at the London Palladium so John grew up around the likes of Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong & Jack Benny.

At a young age he played with the likes of Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green, John Martyn, Nick Drake, Bridget St. John & Kevin Ayers.

He joined Hot Chocolate & also found time to jam with Jimi Hendrix, have a laugh with Freddie Mercury & have Muddy Waters attend his 21st birthday party.

John also had a hand in the music of Monty Python playing a key role in the Life Of Brian spinoff hit Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life.

Beatles spoof The Rutles featured John’s work & we hear how he recreated the famous Beatles sound on record.

Moving into the world of cinema & John had a hand in the music of Pierce Brosnan’s first turn as James Bond in 1995’s Goldeneye & also in 1997’s Titanic which became the biggest movie of all time up to that point. We hear about a frantic phone call from James Cameron during the making of Titanic.

John has also played on an estimated 4000 TV adverts ranging from Sheila’s Wheels to You Can Do It If You B&Q It, working with the likes of John Frankenheimer, Ridley & Tony Scott, Alan Parker, Elliot Erwitt, David Bailey & Terance Donovan. He also worked with Salman Rushdie as a lyricist, but never knew he was also a writer.

Fans of Raymond Briggs’s The Snowman can hear about John’s work on Walking In The Air with Aled Jones.

In the late 90s, a club in London known as 10 Room was founded, at first it started slowly but picked up once Lionel Richie & Chakak Khan turned up & played. In the coming years it hosted the likes of Nas, Will Smith, Chris Tucker, Kanye West, John Legend, Backstreet Boys, Ja Rule, Wycliffe Jean, Joss Stone & Amy Winehouse.

We hear about proposed albums with Amy Winehouse & Dusty Springfield which do not come to fruition.

And if that isn’t enough John throws in stories about Prince, Bjork & working on George Michael’s Faith for good measure.

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 would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/events

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell
Music by Andy Maxwell
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jon King joins us to talk about the early years & formation of the Gang of Four - formed at Leeds University while Jon studied art.

Jon was born in South London but moved to a village near Sevenoaks in Kent & while the King household rarely featured music, Jon grew up listening to Motown & Trojan Records before discovering Bob Dylan & the Velvet Underground.

Another notable formative experience was bumping into John Lennon on Sevenoaks high street, the Beatles were in the area to film the video for Strawberry Fields Forever. Lennon also purchased the circus poster which inspired Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite on the same visit.

Once up in Leeds, Jon blagged a trip to New York under the guise of needing to see Jasper John’s paintings in the flesh. While there he attends CBGBs & sees Richard Hell & the Voidoids, the Dead Boys & the other seminal New York bands.

Gang Of Four’s first gig takes place in the basement of the Corn Exchange in Leeds & not long after Buzzcocks manager Richard Boon invited them to open for them on tour.

The bands debut single Damaged Goods comes out on Fast Product Records but the band soon sign with EMI.

The band’s debut album Entertainment! is released to universal acclaim & leads to a deal with Warner Brothers in the US & similar praise from the likes of Greil Marcus & Jerry Wexler.

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 would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/events

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell
Music by Andy Maxwell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.