Tag Archives: John Peel

Beyond the Dandelion Adventure – having words with Ajay Saggar and Marcus Parnell

This story starts with The Membranes, because without that Lancashire post-punk band a singer known as Fat Mark and a lanky Asian indie kid called Ajay might never have met. That initial meeting came sometime in the mid-‘80s amid an … Continue reading

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Aboard the Mothership with Hawkwind – the Dave Brock interview

It takes a while for Dave Brock to reach the phone, his wife Kris – a former Hawkwind dancer, these days the band’s manager – searching for him at their Devon base while their ‘very stubborn’ Hungarian Sheepdogs prove their … Continue reading

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Beyond the ceiling with Blancmange – the Neil Arthur interview

As those who read these pages regularly (and I thank you all most sincerely, of course) may already realise, I’m prone to flashbacks these days. I should add though that it’s not some chemically-induced reaction to past demeanours in the … Continue reading

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Instant karma, Chameleons Vox style – the Mark Burgess interview

It’s difficult to get over to the younger indie kids how important BBC Radio 1’s John Peel Show was during the latter decades of the 20th Century. But I was hoping Mark Burgess could help, the front-man and bass player … Continue reading

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Taking the Big Red Bus to town – celebrating Tuff Life Boogie’s autumn return

If you follow the alternative and indie music scene and you’re based in the North West, you may know a little about Tuff Life Boogie. Then again, this is hardly a story of self-aggrandisement or any of that self-serving twaddle. … Continue reading

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Glad to be back – the Tom Robinson interview

You’d be forgiven for thinking Tom Robinson’s direct participation in the music business was way behind him. But it turns out that’s not the case. Regular listeners to BBC Radio 6 Music know Tom well, and those of us a … Continue reading

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Albania to Southport, via Brighton – with Attila the Stockbroker

It’s been some journey for Attila the Stockbroker, who publishes his autobiography Arguments Yard later this year, with little to suggest he’s slowing down. This is the radical performance poet and musician who toured East Germany four times before the … Continue reading

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Open season for the trunk of funk – the Craig Charles interview

According to your spheres of interest, you may know him best as Coronation Street’s Lloyd Mullaney or Red Dwarf’s Dave Lister, or just as that cheeky Scouse lad off Robot Wars or Takeshi’s Castle. But many more of us know … Continue reading

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Thirty years in the business – the David Gedge interview

It’s never easy preparing to interview someone whose music has played such a big part of your life. It was a similar tale with my recent That Petrol Emotion three-parter. Sometimes you know too much and overlook the obvious questions. … Continue reading

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Harle and Almond’s essence to fore in The Tyburn Tree

I know I’m getting older, I don’t really need reminding. But can it really be 33 years this coming summer since I first heard Soft Cell tackling Northern Soul classic Tainted Love? It was a while before I properly took … Continue reading

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