In this episode we welcome Lloyd Bradley into our Hammersmith lair and ask him about his career as a journalist and as the acclaimed author of Bass Culture and Sounds Like London — the latter book celebrating its 10th birthday at the time of recording. We learn what London sounded like to Lloyd as a boy growing up in '60s Hornsey, and how his love for music led to writing for Blues & Soul and then NME and Q. He talks us through some of the key themes of Sounds Like London — his history of "100 years of Black music in the capital" — and particularly the homegrown reggae sub-genre known as "lover's rock" and the rise of grime as a hybrid of UK garage, hip hop, jungle and dancehall. Discussion of lover's rock leads us to clips from a 1998 audio interview with Steve Barrow, founder of dub/roots-reggae reissue label Blood and Fire — and then to how Lloyd came to write 2000's mighty Bass Culture: When Reggae was King. After a short discussion of soul legend Bettye LaVette — and her journey from early '60s Atlantic Records to the Anti- label in the mid-noughties — we pay tribute to the late Tina Turner and her epic story of survival and self-reinvention Mark quotes from highlights of his additions to the RBP library, including Richard Harrington's Washington Post review of the last gig Lowell George ever played and Tony Scherman's exhaustive Musician interview with session drummer Earl Palmer. Finally, Jasper talks us out with his remarks on pieces about Labrinth and London's hyper-eclectic jazz scene. Many thanks to special guest Lloyd Bradley. For more on Bass Culture and Sounds Like London, visit his website at lloydbradley.net. Pieces discussed: George Clinton, Beggar & Co, The Growth of Grime, Blood & Fire's Steve Barrow audio, Bettye Lavette, Bettye Lavette vs. Susan Boyle, Thankful N' Thoughtful, Ike & Tina, Tina Turner, Soulful Queen of Rock'n'roll, Tina Turner roars into Rock Hall, Lowell George, Earl Palmer, Labrinth live and London jazz.

In this episode we welcome pop poacher-turned-gamekeeper (turned rockademic) Cliff Jones to RBP's Hammersmith HQ and invite him to talk about his shape-shifting career in music — as well as about Paul Simon and doomed Rolling Stone Brian Jones (no relation). Barney starts things off with his memories of Cliff coming into the MOJO office circa 1994-5, plus we hear about long-form pieces our guest wrote about Peter Green and (for The Face) the Fugees. We also discuss Johnny Cigarettes' 1999 NME interview with Gay Dad, the band Cliff formed in the wake of Britpop. Nick Broomfield's new BBC documentary about Brian Jones prompts conversation about the self-destructive blues obsessive who was sidelined by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards — and ditched by Anita Pallenberg — after which we turn our attention to the rather different Paul Simon. Clips from Tony Scherman's 1993 audio interview with the other half of Art Garfunkel are jumping-off points for our collective thoughts on the New Yorker's career from his Brill Building days to the Hearts and Bones album and beyond. We pay heartfelt tribute to our guest's fellow RBP contributor Pete Silverton, who passed away on May 18th, and recall his crucial early Sounds interviews with the Clash, the Sex Pistols and other punk bands. Among the new library additions discussed, finally, are pieces about Flamingo Club owner Rik Gunnell (1966), Mick Hucknall's Frantic Elevators (1982), hip hop heroes the Jungle Brothers (1989) ... and, from 2007, Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse. Please note this episode was recorded before we learned of the passing of former Smiths bassist Andy Rourke. Pieces discussed: Talk Talk talk tech, The Fugees, Gay Dad, Brian Jones by Dawn James, Brian Jones by Greil Marcus, Brian Jones by Carol Clerk, Paul Simon audio, Hearts and Bones, Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious, Rik Gunnell, Average White Band, Danielle Dax, The Jungle Brothers, Frantic Elevators, Dave Matthews, Erykah Badu and Lily Allen/Amy Winehouse.

In this episode, we welcome the excellent Sylvia Patterson to RBP’s Hammersmith HQ and ask her all about her life as a music journalist from Smash Hits to the NME and beyond, referencing her excellent memoirs I’m Not With the Band and Same Old Girl.  We begin with her start in writing at Dundee publisher D.C. Thomson, including as music editor for the short-lived Etcetera, which led to her applying for a staff job at irreverent pop paper Smash Hits. Sylvia reminisces about what it was like working on a magazine that never took the business of popular music too seriously, reflecting that the lack of a cynical ulterior agenda engendered a fun atmosphere for both the writers and (most of) the musicians. Touching on Sylvia’s 1987 interview with newly inducted Rock Hall of Famer George Michael, whom she dubbed "the glummest man in pop", we hear clips from an Adam Sweeting audio interview conducted on the same day. The man born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou cut a serious figure at the time, contemplating his relationship with the press and the nature of political gestures from pop stars as well as rebuffing "rumours" that he’s gay after Boy George has outed him on the radio.  Moving on to the 90s and beyond, at which point Sylvia became a freelancer for publications including The Face and the NME, we talk about her experience interviewing The Artist Formerly Known as Prince before discussing the chaos of the Britpop era. Defending her chosen side in the Oasis vs Blur debate, she recounts the hilarity of speaking with the Gallagher brothers in 2001. To bring Sylvia’s story up to date, we ask her about her new memoir Same Old Girl, published in April, about her diagnosis in late 2019 with breast cancer and the treatment amidst a global pandemic that followed.  We then spotlight three articles on Donna Summer ahead of a new documentary directed by her daughter and pay tribute to recently departed Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. Finally, Mark and Jasper quote from a few new additions to the RBP library including interviews with Jet Harris and Chris Cornell and a profile of Christian Scott/Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah. Many thanks to special guest Sylvia Patterson. Same Old Girl is published by Fleet and available now. Pieces discussed: George Michael: The Glummest Man in Pop?, George Michael audio, Prince, Oasis, Blur, Donna Summer, Donna Summerer, Giorgio Moroder, Gordon Lightfoot, Jet Harris, Soundgarden, Smokey Robinson, Morrissey, Secret Affair and Christian Scott/Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah.

In this episode we welcome Sounds legends Sandy Robertson and Edwin (Savage Pencil) Pouncey into our Hammersmith lair and ask them about their careers and shared fascination with the occult. After describing their routes into writing and their days at Sounds, Sandy and Edwin reflect on the dark history of occult rock from Black Widow to Norway's Black Metal scene, via Jimmy Page, Kenneth Anger and Aleister "the Beast" Crowley. Clips from the late Andy Gill's 1990 audio interview with Liberty/United Artists executive Andrew Lauder give us an opportunity to honour the Hartlepool-born facilitator of musical freakiness and discuss the many acts he signed and/or A&R'd over the course of 50 years, from Hawkwind and the Groundhogs to the Stranglers and the Stone Roses. After saying our goodbyes to reggae sound-system operator Jah Shaka and small-trio jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, Mark and Jasper run through their highlights among recent additions to the RBP library, including pieces about Nancy Sinatra (1967), the Eagles (1972) and Kim Deal and Tanya Donnelly (1993)... and a 2011 tribute to hip hop star Dwight "Heavy D" Myers. Many thanks to special guests Edwin Pouncey and Sandy Robertson. Find their books, including Edwin's Savage Pencil Scratchbook and Sandy's Aleister Crowley Scrapbook, in all good bookshops.  Please note that we recorded this episode before learning of Mark Stewart’s death.  Pieces discussed: Mister Aleister Crowley, The Primer: Occult rock, David Bowie: White Lines, Black Magic, Andrew Lauder audio, Sound Systems & Jah Shaka, Ahmad Jamal, April Stevens, The Eagles, Shaun Cassidy, Nancy Sinatra, Kim Deal & Tanya Donnelly and Why Heavy D Matters.

In this episode we welcome author and Guardian journalist Andy Beckett to RBP's Hammersmith HQ and ask him to discuss politics and pop from the late '70s to the present day. Andy talks about his first musical passions as a teenager in the early '80s, as well as about Rock Against Racism, Red Wedge and the politicised postpunk era in general. He recalls his first pieces for The Independent in the early '90s and explains how his broader interest in popular culture informs his perspective as an op-ed columnist and the author of When the Lights Went Out and Promised You a Miracle. In a week that saw Finland joining NATO and the indictment of Donald Trump, we ask what musicians can and can't do to change the world. The imminent new album from proto-Woke duo Everything But The Girl gives us an opportunity to address the enduring political ideals of Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn, plus we travel back to 1981 via clips from an audio interview with The Beat's David Steele and Ranking Roger, who talk to John Tobler about youth unemployment and the menace of nuclear weapons. After we've paid our respects to departed legends Seymour Stein and Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mark talks us through his new additions to the RBP library, including pieces about the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper, Joan Armatrading, Talking Heads and Sun Ra. Jasper then wraps up the episode with his thoughts on a 2002 live review of Queens of the Stone Age and a 2015 piece exploring the influence of Spaghetti Westerns on reggae. Many thanks to special guest Andy Beckett. Pieces discussed: Andy Beckett on Dylan, on Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up, on The Face, Everything But The Girl, Peter Paul and Mary, War Between the Generations, Enoch Clapton, Red Wedge, Where are the political pop stars?, The Beat audio, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Seymour Stein, Sgt. Pepper, Joan Armatrading, Talking Heads, Sun Ra, Queens of the Stone Age and dub spaghetti.