Pop Episodes

Dave Hill is a national treasure. Half a century after Slade’s first hit, surviving a stroke, depression and the departure of his former band mates, Dave is still going strong and entertaining Slade fans with live performances of the band’s hits - seventeen consecutive top twenty and six UK number …

Founding member of Buzzcocks, one of punk’s most seminal bands of all time that managed to fuse rapid-fire rebellious energy with pop craftsmanship, Steve Diggle is nothing short of a punk hero. With a plethora of hits under his belt including the classics Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You …

Owen Paul is everyone’s favourite waste of time. Singer, producer and co-writer of the 1986 pop hit My Favourite Waste of Time, Owen was the overnight sensation who spent years honing his craft and who went on to forge a very successful career in the entertainment business. Since that song toppe…

Carl Palmer is a drummer’s drummer. His dazzling speed and mastery of the drums has secured him multiple awards and well as a respected place in history as one of rock and roll’s greatest drummers. A consummate professional, a brilliant technician and a dynamic showman, he has thrilled audiences…

Tale 9… Scottish singer-songwriter Eddi Reader has three BRIT Awards to her name, fronted punk outfit Gang of Four, harmonized with Annie Lennox touring with the Eurythmics, and topped the UK charts with Fairground Attraction. But when I caught up with her at Cambridge Folk Festival she revea…

Tale 7… It was 30 years since The Proclaimers made their legendary TV debut on The Tube, performing the now classic song Letter From America.  Back then, the charts were dominated by the likes of Rick Astley and Sinita and The Proclaimers were unlike anything seen before. The response to the …

Tale 4: Roddy Frame is an absolute delight.  It’s rare for a performer armed only with an acoustic guitar to create a sound which could be mistaken for ten men and his charismatic stage-presence completely captivates any audience.  This style of performance is a long cry from Roddy’s days …

Original rude boy, 2-tone pioneer, and former frontman for The Specials, Fun Boy Three and Special Beat, Neville Staple has been at the forefront of the ska movement for over 40 years. Not only is his 2-Tone legacy huge, but Neville has also been credited with bringing ‘toasting’ (a forerunner of r…

Anyone living in 1982 couldn’t possible avoid signing, no dancing (well in my case anyway), to the iconic tune The Lion Sleeps Tonight by pop sensation Tight Fit. O-whim, o-whay! Lol Famed for their skimpy jungle outfits, the single reached number one in the UK charts where it fought off competi…

Dance anthem Everybody’s Free is the defining song of the 90s peaking at No.6 in the UK, selling more than 6 million copies, and catapulting Rozalla to international stardom. Hit after hit and a tour with Michael Jackson followed for the chart-topping Queen of Rave, but when musical tastes chang…

Steve Ellis is the Great White of soul singers who fronted 60’s mod, pop, soul group Love Affair best remembered for their stunning singles Rainbow Valley, Bringing On Back The Good Times, and of course the smash hit Everlasting Love, which become one of the defining songs of its era. Now Bright…

American singer-songwriter Dean Friedman first entered into the international pop consciousness in 1977 with the Top 20 chart success of his infectious hit single, Ariel.  And before anyone could attach the label ‘one hit wonder’, Dean scored again with the release of his follow up album, “Well,…

Mercury-nominated and The Icicle Works frontman, Ian McNabb has done it all.  The band’s 1984 debut album, The Icicle Works, brought them Top 40 chart success in both the UK and US, and Ian has also maintained a highly prolific solo career working with Waterboys, Ringo Starr, Crazy Horse, Peter …

From The Babys in the 70s via 80s solo smash ‘Missing You’ to the release of a stunning new album, John Waite is not stopping.  In a career spanning over four decades, John has written, recorded and amassed a back-catalogue of musical treasures and now unleashes Wooden Heart – Acoustic Anthology…

Power ballad queen Bonnie Tyler is proving that The Best Is Yet to Come still with a vibrant new album brimming with the same dramatic, full-bodied husky vocals that propelled her to fame with Total Eclipse of the Heart, It’s A Heartache and Holding Out For A Hero. The award-winning singer went …

I have a virtual girls nights in with one of life’s true survivors. Award-winning singer-songwriter Hazel O’Connor rose to fame over forty years ago starring in the ground-breaking film Breaking Glass. Hits and eye-catching appearances followed including Will You, Big Brother, Monsters in Disgui…

There are stars and then there are superstars. And my guest today is nothing short of a superstar.  Petula Clark is one of the most successful British female recording artist of all time. She established herself as a child performer during the Second World War and went on to achieve major succes…

Evolving from The Housemartins, whose impressive catalogue would keep any chart-watcher busy, The Beautiful South was almost ever-present in the charts from the late 80’s with hits like Song For Whoever, A Little Time, Perfect 10, Rotterdam, and Don't Marry Her. After they split up in 2006, foun…

My guest today is one of music’s octogenarians. Music icon and MBE, Marty Wilde has just made headlines around the world for being the first person in the entertainment industry to receive the COVID vaccine but he is better known for being the first British artist to achieve the incredibly rare fea…

Winning the hearts of a million teenagers in the 80s as the lead singer of synth-pop group Kajagoogoo, Limahl wowed us with debut smash-hit single Too Shy. Two more Top 20 hits quickly followed but after producing only one enormously successful album, he was unceremoniously sacked by his band mates…

Multi-platinum award winning Right Said Fred are one of the UK’s most enduring pop exports.  Brothers Fred and Richard Fairbrass have a list of achievements to their credit including number 1 hits in 70 countries, global sales total 30 million, and over 100 million plays on Spotify. The first…

Badfinger is a band that has had more than its fair share of drama and tragedy over the years, to say the least!  With a history that is more suited to a Tarantino film, Badfinger has been dogged with law suits and suicides but has risen from the ashes with its latest incarnation lead by long-te…

I’m Walking On Sunshine today with the musician who’s had a worldwide hit that that catapulted Katrina & The Waves to the forefront of the music industry in 1985 with over 2.5 million plays on US Radio and was the soundtrack of a host of films. But for many, Grammy nominated Katrina will be the …

In 1977 when singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke signed to Elton John’s Rocket label, she couldn’t imagine that over 40 years later she would still be performing. Her biggest success came a couple of years later with album Welcome to the Cruise with her single Stay With Me Till Dawn reaching number 16 in…