Rock's Backpages

Rock's Backpages

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.

Episodes

E202: Paul Gambaccini on the radio + Rolling Stone + Beyoncé audio

May 19, 2025 • 65 mins
In this episode we welcome the great Paul Gambaccini into RBP's world and ask him about his 50+ years as one of Britain's best-loved broadcasters. "The Great Gambo" tells us about his early radio days at Dartmouth College's WDCR station and explains how he slipped his foot in the door at Rolling Stone in 1970. He then recounts his first meeting with "underground deejay" John Peel (plus his BBC producer John Walters) while still an...
Mark as Played

E201: Bob Merlis on Warner Bros. + Little Feat + Neil Young audio

May 5, 2025 • 79 mins
For this episode we're joined – all the way from L.A. – by special guest Bob Merlis. The former head of publicity at Warner-Reprise Records in Burbank talks us through his musical odyssey from his Brooklyn childhood to his continuing PR work for the likes of ZZ Top and Carlene Carter. We hear about Bob's start at Record World in late '60s New York and the early '70s pieces he wrote for that trade publication and for Warners' short...
Mark as Played

E200: Celebrating 200 episodes of the Rock's Backpages podcast

April 22, 2025 • 81 mins
In this special episode we celebrate the last four years with clips from twelve of the best 100 shows we've recorded in that time.  Following an intro from Spandau Ballet mainmain Gary Kemp speaking in January 2023, we reflect on what we have (or haven't) learned over those four years, then play and discuss clips from these episodes: Record Mirror legend Norman Jopling on first seeing the "Rollin' Stones" in 1963 (December 2021...
Mark as Played

E199: Phil Sutcliffe on Sounds + Gang of Four + Eric Clapton

April 7, 2025 • 76 mins
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...
Mark as Played

E198: Havelock Nelson on Hip Hop + Missy Elliott + Atlantic Records

March 24, 2025 • 69 mins
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 t...
Mark as Played

E197: Siân Pattenden on Select + the Bangles + David Johansen

March 10, 2025 • 77 mins
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 198...
Mark as Played

E196: Daniel Wolff & Danny Alexander on Dave Marsh + Curtis Mayfield

February 24, 2025 • 75 mins
In this episode we welcome not one but two guests and ask them to talk about their long-time friend and mentor Dave Marsh. Daniel Wolff and Danny Alexander co-edited 2023's Marsh anthology Kick Out the Jams: on the eve of his 75th birthday they reflect on his powerful writing, his impassioned politics and his career from Creem and Rolling Stone to the Rock & Roll (subsequently Rock & Rap) Confidential newsletter he launched in 1983...
Mark as Played

E195: Danny Goldberg on Led Zeppelin + Nirvana + Gil Scott-Heron

February 10, 2025 • 78 mins
In this episode we're joined by music-biz legend Danny Goldberg to discuss his dealings with Led Zeppelin and Kurt Cobain — and the school days he spent with the great Gil Scott-Heron. Danny takes us back to his short-lived stint at Berkeley and his first port of call on returning to his native New York: clerking at trade bible Billboard, a job that led to the publication of his report on 1969's Woodstock festival. From there we ju...
Mark as Played

E194: Gene Sculatti on San Francisco + the Band's Garth Hudson R.I.P.

January 27, 2025 • 57 mins
In this episode, we invite the excellent Gene Sculatti to talk us through his career from Crawdaddy! magazine to the Atomic Cocktail radio show he still hosts at Luxuria Music. Commencing in San Francisco in the summer of 1960 — when Gene first heard Dion's 'Lonely Teenager' — we ask our guest about his lifelong love of surf music and the Beach Boys. From there we jump to his mid-'60s radio show "Blues and Such", then on to the fir...
Mark as Played

E193: Michael Goldberg on photography + Taj Mahal + Addicted to Noise

January 13, 2025 • 72 mins
For the first episode of 2025, former Rolling Stone staffer and Bay Area photographer Michael Goldberg joins us to reminisce about his music journalism and discuss his new book Jukebox. We start by asking our guest about the influences of San Franciscan "shooters" from Herb Greene to Annie Liebowitz, with special emphasis on Jim Marshall and Baron Wolman. Michael then recounts the story of how — as a 17-year-old living in Mill Vall...
Mark as Played

E192: Pat Kane on Hue & Cry + Sinatra + Chic + '80s Brit soul

December 23, 2024 • 74 mins
For the final episode of 2024 we're joined by the formidable Pat Kane, who answers our questions about his dual career as a musician and writer with what co-host Martin Colyer describes as "an almost frightening eloquence". Commencing with the formative memories of his late father singing Frank Sinatra songs to him at bedtime — and his lifelong fixation with Ol' Blue Eyes — Pat talks about Hue and Cry, the R&B-infused pop group he ...
Mark as Played

E191: Chris Charlesworth on Melody Maker in the '70s

December 10, 2024 • 67 mins
For this episode we're joined by Chris Charlesworth, mainstay of Melody Maker in its '70s pomp and subsequently editorial director of music imprint Omnibus Books. Starting out at Skipton's Craven Herald & Pioneer in his native Yorkshire, Chris talks us through key moments in the Maker years he documents in recent memoir Just Backdated. Paying particular attention to his stints as a '70s correspondent from L.A. and New York, we also...
Mark as Played

E190: Simon Garfield on Cher + Beyoncé + Luther Vandross

November 25, 2024 • 86 mins
In this episode we ask the former Time Out editor and acclaimed author of fascinating studies of fonts, maps and encyclopaedias about his long writing career; we also discuss semi-colons and listen to clips from audio interviews with Cher and Luther Vandross. Our guest reflects on Expensive Habits — his 1986 investigation of the music industry's "dark side" — and revisits two of his many great pieces: a hilarious 1987 encounter wit...
Mark as Played

E189: Beverley Glick a.k.a. Betty Page on New Romantics + Quincy Jones

November 11, 2024 • 75 mins
In this episode — recorded on the somewhat sombre Wednesday after the U.S. elections — we welcome the wonderful Beverley Glick to our Hammersmith lair and ask her about her New Romantic nom de plume Betty Page. Beverley tells us about her early days on Sounds, where she started out as editor Alan Lewis' secretary, and talks us through her seminal 1980 encounters with Spandau Ballet and Steve Strange. Her subsequent early interview ...
Mark as Played

E188: Chris Salewicz on the NME + Supertramp + Amy Winehouse

October 28, 2024 • 72 mins
In this episode we're joined by NME legend Chris Salewicz, author of acclaimed books about Bob Marley, Joe Strummer and others. We hear about our guest's boyhood in Yorkshire — and about the first gig he ever saw: the Beatles in Leeds in 1963 (followed in rapid succession by the Rolling Stones — plus a young David Bowie — in Huddersfield). Chris then describes how a move to London in the early '70s led to getting his foot in the do...
Mark as Played

E187: Simon Raymonde on Cocteau Twins + Dusty Springfield + Bella Union

October 14, 2024 • 82 mins
For this episode we're joined by the admirable Simon Raymonde, sometime Cocteau Twin, head honcho at Bella Union Records and author of the autobiographical In One Ear. We commence by asking our guest about growing up as the son of the legendary Ivor Raymonde, string arranger on umpteen hits by pop idols from Billy Fury to the Walker Brothers. We hear clips from Ira Robbins' 1989 audio interview with Raymonde Sr.'s most famous clien...
Mark as Played

E186: Robert Hilburn on L.A. + his Randy Newman biography

September 30, 2024 • 72 mins
For this episode we're joined – all the way from sunny Southern California – by L.A. Times legend Robert Hilburn. Bob beams in to discuss his new biography of the peerless Randy Newman, but we start by asking him about the early childhood memories (of his native Louisiana) that he shares with Randy himself. From there he takes us from the Eureka moment of hearing a then-unknown Elvis Presley on the radio for the first time – throug...
Mark as Played

E185: Andrew Smith on A.I. + Björk + The Notorious B.I.G.

September 16, 2024 • 78 mins
For this episode we're joined by the Brooklyn-based Andrew Smith, author of the bestselling Moondust, the "dotcom swindle" saga Totally Wired and the brand-new Devil in the Stack. We start by asking Andrew about the peripatetic childhood that took him from Greenwich Village to Hastings via San Francisco's summer of love. A riveting account of auditioning to replace Mick Jones in the Clash leads us to our guest's recollections of wr...
Mark as Played

E184: Joe Boyd on Global Music + Kate & Anna McGarrigle

September 2, 2024 • 77 mins
For this episode we're joined by a living musical legend whose career as an A&R man, manager, producer, label-owner and writer spans over 60 extraordinary years. On the day his monumental "journey through Global Music" And the Roots of Rhythm Remain is published, the peerless Joe Boyd visits RBP's Hammersmith HQ to talk about the book — and the 17+ years it took to write the follow-up to 2006's acclaimed memoir White Bicycles. Afte...
Mark as Played

E183: Darrell M. McNeill on the Isley Brothers + Isaac Hayes

August 19, 2024 • 63 mins
Joining us all the way from Santa Barbara for this episode is Darrell M. McNeill, director of operations at the Black Rock Coalition and author of a new 33 1/3 study of the Isley Brothers' mighty 1973 album 3 + 3. We start by asking our guest about his '90s contributions to the Village Voice and his involvement with the B.R.C.. Crediting his dad for his own childhood love of the Isleys, Darrell tells us how he came to write about t...
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    Dateline NBC

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial

    Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial

    Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.

    Stuff You Should Know

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Crime Junkie

    Crime Junkie

    Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

Explore

iHeart

Live Radio

Podcasts

Artist Radio

Exclusives

News

Features

Events

Contests

Photos

Information

About

Advertise

Blog

Brand Guidelines

Contest Guidelines

Subscription Offers

Jobs

Get the App

Automotive

Home

Mobile

Wearables

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.