Martin Stephenson in conversation talking about life in music, table tennis & much much more

Martin Stephenson & the Daintees are a British rock/folk/pop band combining elements of "rockabilly, show tunes, rootsy pop, straight-ahead rock and punk". The band is fronted by songwriter/guitarist Martin Stephenson.

The band were signed to a recording contract with Kitchenware Records and released their first single in 1982. Like other Kitchenware acts the group had their origins in the North East England. The band enjoyed a high critical profile and some minor commercial success. Their best-selling and most acclaimed album is Boat to Bolivia released in 1986. In June 1989, Stephenson took part in that year's Glastonbury Festival. They recorded three further albums – Gladsome, Humour & Blue in 1988, Salutation Road, produced by Pete Anderson, in 1990 and The Boy's Heart in 1992 – but sales fell short of expectations and the band were dropped by their label.

After parting company with Kitchenware, Stephenson disbanded the group in 1992, but continued to record both solo and as part of a group. The Daintees reformed in 2000.

In April 2012 Martin completed an eleven-date high-profile tour with The Daintees playing The Boat to Bolivia album in full to critical acclaim. The touring Daintees line up since November 2010 features original guitarist John Steel (Boat to Bolivia/Jackdaw4), John's wife Kate Stephenson (Midge Ure/Sam Brown/Jackdaw4) on drums, and Lou Short (Martin Stephenson 1997/2000) on bass guitar who left the group March 2013.

Daintees have signed a major deal with Absolute music and also have a new agent Neil O'Brien and will be playing festivals in the summer months as well as another UK tour for late 2013

Dean Legget from BOB is in conversation - talking about life in music, BOB and much more

The initial line-up was Richard Blackborow (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Simon Armstrong (guitar, vocals). Jem Morris (bass guitar), joined the duo in 1986, and, augmented with a drum machine, they recorded the band's first release, a flexi disc, released in 1986 on their own House Of Teeth label, and containing three short songs: "Prune (Your Tree)", "Groove" and "Brian Wilson's Bed". The band gave a copy to John Peel in a fortuitous encounter in the Rough Trade record shop, and he played it many times. The drum machine was replaced by Gary Connors (drums) in 1987, and this line-up recorded 1987's What a Performance EP and the first of three BOB John Peel sessions. Blackborow stated in 1988 that the band had a diverse set of songs in their repertoire at that stage and that the songs on the EP were selected from "by doing a quick poll of our friends".

Early in 1988, Gary Connors was replaced by former Jamie Wednesday drummer Dean Legget, and the band recorded their second single, the Kirsty EP, a session for BBC Radio One's Simon Mayo, and their second John Peel session. Both singles received heavy play by John Peel.

The two singles were compiled together with the earlier flexi disc as Swag Sack, which was their final recording for the Sombrero label. All later releases were on their own House Of Teeth label.

In 1989, the band released the Convenience EP (which reached no.31 in John Peel's Festive Fifty at the end of the year), followed by a limited edition/fan club release containing three songs: "Esmerelda Brooklyn", "I Don't Know" and "Sink". After their third and final John Peel session, Morris was replaced by ex-Caretaker Race bassist Stephen 'Henry' Hersom, and this final line-up recorded the Stride Up EP in 1990, an LP Leave The Straight Life Behind and the Tired EP in 1991, and one last single, the Nothing For Something EP in 1992. BOB became one of the victims of the demise of Rough Trade's distribution arm, which limited sales of the album and forced the band to tour for an extended period to recoup the album's costs. A feeling of disillusionment with the 'business' side of the music caused a drop in morale, and they disbanded early in 1995.

The BOB single "Convenience" was released for the first time on a digital format on the John Peel compilation box set Kats Karavan in October 2009.

In February 2014, "Leave the Straight Life Behind" was re-released by British independent label 3 Loop Music as a 2CD expanded edition which included the remastered album plus a bonus CD of all the John Peel and BBC sessions, as well as extra tracks.

Damon Krukowski in conversation talking about life in music, Galaxie 500, Billy Krammer and much much more

Guitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang had met at the Dalton School in New York City in 1981, but began playing together during their time as students at Harvard University.

Wareham and Krukowski had formed a series of punk-influenced student bands, before Wareham returned to New York. When he returned in 1987 he and Krukowski formed a new band, with Yang joining the group on bass guitar, the new group deciding on the name Galaxie 500, after a friend's car, a Ford Galaxie 500.

The band began playing gigs in Boston and New York City, and recorded a demo which they sent to Shimmy Disc label boss and producer Mark Kramer, who agreed to produce the band.^[4] With Kramer at the controls, the band recorded the "Tugboat" single in February 1988, and the "Oblivious" flexi-disc, and moved on to record their debut album, Today, which was released on the small Aurora label.^[5] The band toured the United Kingdom in late 1988 and in 1989, then signed to Rough Trade and released their second album, On Fire, which has been described as "lo-fipsychedelia reminiscent of Jonathan Richman being backed by The Velvet Underground", and is considered the band's defining moment.^[4]On Fire reached number 7 in the UK Indie Chart, and met with much critical acclaim in the United Kingdom, but was less well received by the US music press, who cited Wareham's 'vocal limitations' as a weakness.

Galaxie 500 recorded two sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 programme, these later released on the Peel Sessions album. Their cover of Jonathan Richman's "Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste" was also voted into number 41 in 1989's Festive 50 by listeners to the show.

The band split up in the spring of 1991 after the release of their third album, This Is Our Music. Wareham, who had already moved back to New York, quit the band after a lengthy American tour.

Galaxie 500's records were released in the US and UK on the independent Rough Trade label. When Rough Trade went bankrupt in 1991, Krukowski and Yang purchased the masters at auction, reissuing them on Rykodisc in 1996 as a box set containing all three albums and another disc of rarities.

Jah Wobble in conversation, talking about life in music.

Jah Wobble - English bass guitarist, singer, poet and composer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but left the band after two albums. Following his departure from PiL, he went on to a successful solo career, continuing to the present. In 2009, he published his autobiography, Memoirs of a Geezer. In 2012, he reunited with fellow PiL guitarist Keith Levene for Metal Box In Dub and the album Yin & Yang. 

The Marine Girls special with Gina Hartman in conversation 

Marine Girls were a post-punk group from Hatfield, Hertfordshire. The group was formed in 1980, by two sixth form school friends: Tracey Thornand Gina Hartman. Originally, Thorn just played guitar and Hartman was the lead vocalist and percussionist. Thorn overcame her shyness and started singing too by the time they started making records. They were later joined by Jane Fox on bass and her younger sister, Alice, on joint vocals and percussion.

Kristin Hersh in conversation

Kristin Hersh is an American singer-songwriter, musician and author, known for her solo work and with her rock bands Throwing Muses and 50FootWave.

She has released eleven solo albums. Her guitar work and composition style ranges from jaggedly dissonant to traditional folk. Hersh's lyrics have a stream-of-consciousness style, reflecting her personal experiences.

Chumbawamba special with Danbert Nobacon in conversation - talking music, politics and life.

Chumbawamba were a British alternative band that formed in 1982 and ended in 2012. The band constantly shifted in musical style, drawing on genres such as punk rock, pop, folk, and experimental. Their anarchist or libertarian socialistpolitical stance exhibited an irreverent attitude toward authority, and the band have been forthright in their stances on issues including animal rights and pacifism (early in their career) and later regarding class struggle, feminism, gay liberation, pop culture, and anti-fascism.

The band are best known for their song "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", "Enough Is Enough" (with MC Fusion), "Timebomb", "Top of the World (Olé, Olé, Olé)", and "Add Me".

In July 2012, Chumbawamba announced their decision to end the band. On its website the members stated "That’s it then, it’s the end. With neither a whimper, a bang, or a reunion."

The band reunited for three last shows between October 31st and November 3rd, 2012.

Napalm Death special with Barney Greenway

Napalm Death are a British extreme metal band formed in Meriden, West Midlands, England, in 1981.While none of its original members remain in the group since December 1986, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent of the band's career since 1992's Utopia Banished, although, from 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they added Jesse Pintado as the replacement of one-time guitarist Bill Steer; following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece rather than replace him.

The band is credited as pioneers of the grindcore genre by incorporating elements of crust punk and death metal, using a noise-filled sound that uses heavily distorted, down-tuned guitars, grinding overdrive bass, high speed tempo, blast beats, and vocals which consist of incomprehensible growls, or high-pitched shrieks, extremely short songs, fast tempos, and sociopolitical lyrics. The band's debut album Scum, released in 1987 by Earache Records, proved substantially influential throughout the global metal community. According to the Guinness World Records, their song "You Suffer" is the shortest song in the world, at only 1.316 seconds long.

Napalm Death have released sixteen studio albums, and are listed by Nielsen SoundScan as the seventh best-selling death metal band in the United States.

Calvin Johnson special - talking about life in music, K Records, radio & much much more.

Calvin Johnson is an American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, music producer, and disc jockey born in Olympia, Washington.

Known for his uniquely deep and droning singing voice, Johnson was a founding member of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team and The Halo Benders.

Calvin Johnson is also the founder and owner of the influential indie label K Records (now Dub Narcotics) and has been cited as a major player in the beginning of the modern independent music movement.

As a prominent figure in the Olympia music scene, he was one of the major organizers of the seminal International Pop Underground Convention.

Cocteau Twins with Simon Raymonde in conversation.

Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Elizabeth Fraser (vocals), Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine), and Will Heggie (bass), with Heggie replaced by multi-instrumentalist Simon Raymonde in 1983.

The group has earned much critical praise for its distinctive ethereal sound and the soprano vocals of Fraser, which often abandoned recognizable language altogether. They have been recognized as pioneering the 1980s subgenres of ethereal wave^[7] and dream pop, and were associated with the UK label 4AD for much of their career.

Robyn Hitchcock in conversation

English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar.

After reaching prominence in the late 1970s with The Soft Boys, Hitchcock launched a prolific solo career. His musical and lyrical styles have been influenced by Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Syd Barrett, Captain Beefheart, Bryan Ferry and Roger McGuinn. Hitchcock's lyrics tend to include surrealism, comedic elements, characterisations of English eccentrics, and melancholy depictions of everyday life.

He has recorded for two major American labels (A&M Records, then Warner Bros.) over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, and was the subject of a live performance/documentary film (Storefront Hitchcock) by major motion picture director Jonathan Demme in 1998, but despite this, mainstream success has been limited. He has earned strong critical reviews over a steady stream of album releases and live performances, and a "cult following" for his songs.

Martin Phillips from The Chills in conversation.

The Chills are a New Zealand rock band formed in Dunedin in 1980. The band is essentially the continuing project of singer/songwriter Martin Phillipps, who is the group's sole constant member. For a time in the 1990s, the act was billed as Martin Phillipps & The Chills. In the 1980s and 1990s, The Chills had some significant chart success in their homeland, and were a cult band in other parts of the world as one of the earliest proponents of the Dunedin sound.

The band released Snow Bound its seventh album, on September 14, 2018

Laibach special with Ivo Saliger in conversation

Gina Birth in conversation talking about The Raincoats, Kurt Cobain, life in a punk band and much much more.

The Raincoats are a British post-punk and experimental rock band. Ana da Silva (vocals, guitar) and Gina Birch (vocals, bass) formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art in London.

Juliana Hatfield in conversation, talking about her new album 'Weird', Olivia Newton-John, The Lemonheads, Blake Babies & much much more

Brix Smith in conversation, talking about the new band, album, life in music and much much more. 

American singer and guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist and a major songwriter for the English post-punk band the Fall.

She is currently the lead vocalist and guitarist with Brix & the Extricated, along with brothers Steve and Paul Hanley.

John Robb in conversation talking about life in music, The Membranes, life and much much more.

John Robb writes for and runs the Louder Than War website and Louder Than Words monthly music magazine. He has written several books on music and occasionally makes media appearances as a music commentator.He is also the vocalist in the punk rock band Goldblade and bassist and vocalist in post punk band The Membranes.

Stuart Moxham in conversation with David Eastaugh - talking about life in the band and making music. 

Young Marble Giants were a post-punk band formed in Cardiff, Wales in 1978. Their music was based around the vocals of Alison Statton along with the minimalist instrumentation of brothers Philip and Stuart Moxham. Their early sound was a sharp contrast with the more aggressive punk rock that dominated the underground at the time. Young Marble Giants have only released one full-length studio album, Colossal Youth, in 1980.

Pauline Murray interviewed by David Eastaugh for the C86 Show - talking about life in music, Penetration, punk and much more. 

The band's lineup was lead singer Pauline Murray, Robert Blamire (bass), Gary Smallman (drums) and Gary Chaplin (guitar). Chaplin left in March 1978 being replaced with Neale Floyd, with second guitarist Fred Purser joining in July. The band dissolved in late 1979. They reformed in 2001 with original members Murray, Blamire and Smallman, and Steve Wallace and Paul Harvey drafted in as new guitarists.

David Gedge in conversation talking about life in music, John Peel and much much more. 

The Wedding Present are a British indie rock group originally formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, from the ashes of the Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, Buzzcocks and Gang of Four to more varied forms. Throughout their career, they have been led by vocalist and guitarist David Gedge, the band's only constant member.