Music Maps Podcast

Roy Boulter joins us to talk about his time in The Farm & also his new film Algorithm Party starring PJ Smith, which marks Roy’s directorial debut.

The idea came from a football game, Roy’s band The Farm had played an informal football game on Fridays in Birkenhead for over 20 years. One day PJ Smith turned up to play & Roy later found out.

Algorithm Party was filmed in St. Georges Hall in Liverpool, features mucis by fellow Farm member Steve Grimes & is out now.

Roy also tells us about his time writing for Brookside & Eastenders, his career in film & documentary working with the likes of Terence Davies, building a wicker man for The Coral, making a Beatles documentary with Mark Lewisohn & meeting Yoko Ono.

He also toured with the Justice Tonight band with Mick Jones playing The Clash songs to raise awareness for the Hillsbrough campaign.

In 1987 Roy joined The Farm as their new drummer. The band had originally had more of. Punk sound but with the help of producer Terry Farley they change their sound, closer to what becomes known as baggy.

The Happy Mondays become a key band in The Farm’s story & another key ingredient is the Channel 4 documentary A Short Film About Chillin’ about the bands trip to Ibiza.

We hear how close Bill Drummond ever was to managing The Farm.

A cover of the Monkee’s I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone nearly becomes a hit but its Groovy Train which becomes the breakthrough.

All Together Now follows & becomes a hit around the world. The track has a long afterlife being featured in football coverage, in Hollywood movies & famously as the 1995 Everton FA Cup final song.

Suggs, Paul Heaton & other play a part in the production of the Spartacus album which goes to number 1.

If you have enjoyed Music Maps please subscribe for more. We would also hugely appreciate a review or star rating.

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

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

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.

This week we present an episode in 2 parts - in part 1 we welcome Holly Buckler daughter of The Jam drummer Rick Buckler.

Holly has organised a tribute gig to her Dad who passed away in February 2025. The gig will take place at Woking Theatre on October 12th 2026 & you can buy any remaining tickets here.

The gig is in aid of the Same Beare Hospice in Woking.

The lineup includes: A Band Called Malice, Steve Brookes (founding member of The Jam), The Highliners, Pretty Green, Instrumental support from Stuart Prosser (Style Council, trumpet player), Steve Grainger (Played on Culture Club Album, saxophonist), Jody Smith (Worked with Van Morrison, Nigel Price and Bill Shanley, keyboard player)

Stories and memories from: Dennis Munday - Polydor Record Label, Peter Wilson - The Jam Producer, Bill Smith - Album / Sleeve designer for The Jam, Luke Morgan (The Highliners) - Life after The Jam

Exhibition pieces from About The Young Idea Exhibition in the foyer on arrival and during the interval. Some pieces have never been displayed publicly before!

Holly tells us about her plans for the gig & who will be there on the night, how the tribute concert came together, growing up with a former member of The Jam for a Dad & more.

We are also joined by founder member of The Jam, Steve Brookes.

Steve met a young Paul Weller at Shearwater School after moving to Woking in the early 70s. The pair became close & Steve spent a lot of time at the Weller family home on Stanley Road.

They began to play some lunchtime gigs at school & this was soon followed by their first gig at Woking Working Mens Club.

They were originally joined by Dave Waller & Neil Harris to round out the lineup before Rick Buckler joined as drummer.

Rick was perhaps more into heavier music at the time, but liked the fact the band had gigs & appeared to be on an upward trajectory.

Bruce Foxton has similar thoughts when he joined originally on guitar, with Paul Weller still on bass, before swapping roles shortly after.

A very early Jam track, Takin’ My Love later appeared as a B Side to the debut single In The City a few years later. Although it sounded drastically different in its original guise as the band had not yet taken in harder punk influences later important in defining their sound.

Paul was still quite shy at this early stage, with Steve taking on more of a frontman role in the very early days of The Jam.

Notable gigs take place with a residency at Michael’s in Woking.

Steve Brookes left The Jam in 1975 as he wanted to keep more of a Beatles influenced sound whereas Paul has begun to take in harder influences including Dr. Feelgood & the Sex Pistols.

If you have enjoyed Music Maps please subscribe, like or leave a review or a comment.

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

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

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.

Black Sabbath & Ozzy Osbourne is our focus this week as Keith Kahn-Harris joins us to mark the release of his book The Beautiful Death of Ozzy Osborne - How Metal Teaches Us To Live. Out now in the US & the UK.

Our journey starts in Aston, a suburb of Birmingham where a young Ozzy Osbourne grows up.

His first band is the Pulka Tulk Blues Band who gig around the established circuit before eventually morphing into Black Sabbath.

Legend has it that Tony Iommi injured his fingertip in an industrial accident which inadvertently helped create the Black Sabbath signature sound.

Black Sabbath originated the metal genre almost by accident & Keith tells us how the genre grew from its earliest mentions in the bands early days.

We find out how Paranoid began as a throwaway track written in 5 minutes at the end of a session & we discuss some of their other key tracks including War Pigs & Iron Man.

We also cover the famous Live Aid performance of 1985, the infamous bat story, The Osbournes & Ozzfest.

Keith also takes us on a walk through Black Sabbath’s Birmingham leading up to the bands final gig the Back To The Beginning show at Villa Park in the summer of 2025.

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 to go back 25 years to the release of The Strokes debut album Is This It.

Steven’s new book Is This It: The Never-Ending Rise and Fall of the Strokes is out now in the US & also here in the UK.

The story begins when future Stroke frontman Julian Casablancas meets future bassist Nikolai Fraiture meet as kids.

They hold a shared interest in music as they grow up before Julian is sent to Switzerland to attend a boarding school where he meets guitar player Albert Hammond Jr.

They later reconnect in New York as Julian is putting together a band.

The lineup comes together with Albert becoming the final member to join.

The first Strokes gig takes place at The Spiral in Manhattan in September of 1999 & with the help of guru J.P. Bowersock they build the material which becomes their debut release The Modern Age EP, released on Rough Trade in the UK.

Is This It is released in the Autumn of 2001 & is an immediate success in the UK, however it is a slower process in the US with their star not rising until a year or so later.

We hear about the unique drum & vocal sounds on Is This It & the process behind some of the albums biggest songs as well as what Tom Petty made of the similarity between Strokes hit single Last Nite & his own American Girl.

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.

Marco Pirroni joins us to talk us through his huge success with Adam & The Ants - Marco’s new book Your Money Or Your Life is out now.

It all starts with a note through Marco’s door which simply says ‘Call Me, Adam’.

The next day Marco & Adam Ant meet & before long they are recording together at Rockfield Studios.

Drummers Chris Hughes, Terry Lee & bassist Kevin Mooney soon round out the lineup giving the band its unique 2 drummer sound.

Their first gig takes place at the Electric Ballroom & the band are soon signed to CBS, preferring a major to an indie label.

Kings of the Wild Frontier is the bands breakthrough & the album which follows featured some unorthodox recording techniques including creating giant ant noises & recording fire extinguishers.

Early gigs are marred by chaos & occasional crowd trouble as Dog Eat Dog becomes another success, bringing the band their first appearance of Top Of The Pops.

Stand & Deliver & Prince Charming both reach number 1 with their quirky & groundbreaking music videos becoming a key part of the bands marketing.

Prince Charming is the subject of a plagiarism claim from Rolf Harris while Diana Dors appears in the video.

Gary Tibbs formerly of Roxy Music joins Adam & The Ants & they undertake their biggest tour to date, the Prince Charming Revue.

However Marco dislikes touring & stops playing live with the band, although he continues use to write & record with Adam.

The band breaks up shortly after as Adam launches a solo career.

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.