E212: Greil Marcus on Mystery Train + Sex Pistols + Jamie Reid

In this episode we invite the highly entertaining Lisa Verrico to join us from her native Glasgow and talk us through her career from IPC's Vox magazine to The Times. Commencing with her memory of first hearing Prince's 'Little Red Corvette' as a kid on holiday in Spain, our guest recalls her days of raving (and working in radio) before describing how she got her foot in the door at Vox. Hair-raising Mancunian encounters with Happy Mondays and Mark E. Smith serve as preludes to Lisa's hilarious 1994 interview with Oasis. We hear her "bootleg recording" of the Gallagher brothers' competing impersonations of Mick Jagger on the band's impromptu rendition of 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'. A broad discussion of what the '90s meant for pop culture takes in Lisa's memories of Oasis hanger-on Evan Dando and of the altogether different My Bloody Valentine. Clips from a 1989 audio interview with the latter's Kevin Shields and bandmates prompt reflections on MBV's extraordinary sound and their somewhat dysfunctional relationship with Creation's Alan McGee. We return to Lisa's own story by asking her what happened after Vox folded in 1998 — and how she wound up  reviewing (and interviewing) for The Times for 25 years. We also discuss how much the live music experience has changed in that time. Finally, we hear about our guest's 2019 trip to L.A. to interview 17-year-old superstar-in-the-making Billie Eilish. After paying heartfelt tribute to cult neo-soul star D'Angelo — note that news of the death of former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley only reached us after this episode was recorded — Mark quotes from a 1984 interview with jazz giant Wynton Marsalis and Jasper takes us out with his thoughts on Joe Muggs' 2011 interview with the great James Blake. Many thanks to special guest Lisa Verrico. You can find her writing in The Times.  Pieces discussed: Oasis: Shake'n'vac, Evan Dando: Baby I'm Bored, Evan Dando: "I get the feeling I'm being bullshitted", Evan Dando: The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get, Evan Dando: Different Drum, My Bloody Valentine audio, Billie Eilish, D'Angelo: Soul Asylum, On D'Angelo and the Birth of Neo-Soul, D'Angelo: Black Messiah, Wynton Marsalis: The Hottest Lips in America and James Blake: Point Blake.

In this episode, the great R&B/hip hop writer Michael A. Gonzales joins us online from Baltimore to look back on his long career. We start with our guest's formative musical memories, from hearing Isaac Hayes' 'Theme from Shaft' and meeting Little Anthony & the Imperials to seeing the Jackson Five live at Radio City Music Hall in February 1975. His earliest inklings of New York's rap scene take us back to his 2008 piece about the trailblazing DJ Kool Herc playing block parties in the Bronx of the early '70s. We hear about Michael's first pieces for The Source, arguably the most important hip hop magazine of the late '80s and '90s, and about his collaboration with Havelock Nelson on the 1991 book Bring the Noise. We also discuss a Barry White interview he did for Danyel Smith at Vibe and learn about his friendships with fellow writers from Barry Michael Cooper to Amy Linden. The latter's audio interview with TLC ties in with Michael's own writing on the hugely successful Atlanta trio, and we listen to clips of Chilli, T-Boz and Left Eye talking to Amy in late 1998 about their upcoming third album FanMail. After Mark quotes from pieces about the Velvet Underground (1967) and Earth, Wind & Fire (1974), Jasper talks us out with his thoughts on reviews of Radiohead's Kid A (2000) and – by RBP's William Pike – the Bug Club live in London last month. Many thanks to special guest Michael A. Gonzales. Find him on Substack at substack.com/@michaelagonzales1 and on Instagram @bigmikeg151. Pieces discussed: Michael A. Gonzales, D.J. Kool Herc: The Holy House of Hip-hop, Barry White: Blackberry Jam, TLC Marks 20 Years of CrazySexyCool, TLC (1998), The Velvet Underground and Nico (Verve), Earth, Wind and Fire: The Sound of the Streets, Orrin Keepnews' Milestones, Radiohead: Kid A and The Bug Club at the MOTH Club.

For this special "bonus" episode of the Rock's Backpages podcast — fittingly number 211 (geddit?) — we're joined once again by The Guardian's Alexis Petridis for a discussion of timeless rock mockumentary This is Spinal Tap and its breathlessly-awaited sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues... With reference to A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever, the newly-published "story of Spinal Tap" told by Rob "Marty DiBergi" Reiner — with help from our good friend David Kamp (an excellent podcast guest back in 2021) – we reflect on what made the original 1984 film so special and what challenges its 2025 sequel faced. Along the way we celebrate the satirical genius of Michael "David St. Hubbins" McKean, Harry "Derek Smalls" Shearer and Christopher "Nigel Tufnel" Guest (as well as the latter's subsequent masterpieces from Waiting for Guffman to A Mighty Wind) and ponder the wisdom or otherwise of including cameos by Sirs Elton John and Paul McCartney in the new film. Meanwhile our highly-respected guest — who of course ghosted Sir Elton's autobiography Me — recalls his own close encounter with Tap in 2009. This end does not continue. Pieces discussed: Spinal Tap's Metal Memories, Spinal Tap: It's an Ill Wind..., Spinal Tap: Wembley Arena, London and Spinal Tap: Still smelling the glove.

For this episode we're joined by the immensely respected Alexis Petridis, The Guardian's principal pop critic since September 2001. Our guest tells us about his childhood in Yorkshire, his teenage years in Buckinghamshire and his initiation into the Acid House scene while at Cambridge University. Work experience at MixMag in the mid-'90s led to his becoming that dance/clubbing monthly's Features Editor – and then to a slightly less felicitous eight months as editor of Select. A short digression on "Britpop nostalgia" leads us to discussion of the changing role of music journalism and to our guest's near-quarter-century tenure at "the Graun". Jasper quizzes him about his encounters with Daft Punk and we bring matters up to date by discussing the fabulous Irish singer CMAT, whom Alexis interviewed this summer. The episode concludes after Mark introduces clips from Mat Snow's 1992 audio interview with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, 50 years after the double album Alive! made them a '70s rock phenomenon. Many thanks to special guest Alexis Petridis. Find his writing in the pages of the Guardian. Alexis Petridis: 'I used to dream about owning every record in the world', How Music Criticism Lost Its Edge, Britpop nostalgia, Suede: Roll Over, Jimmy Dean, Why Daft Punk's New Album Has Given New Life To The Music Business, A Celebration of Prince, CMAT interview and KISS audio.

In this episode we invite David Nathan to look back on his illustrious 60 years as "the British Ambassador of Soul". Our guest commences by recalling his gateway into Black American music: the covers of Shirelles and Miracles classics included on the first two Beatles albums. He furthermore describes the thrill of seeing Motown star Mary Wells supporting the Fab Four at Kilburn's State Cinema in October 1964, followed by his founding of the Nina Simone Appreciation Society. We hear about the Soul City record store David ran with the legendary Dave Godin – and about John Abbey's trailblazing Blues & Soul magazine, for which our guest began writing in 1968. Barney quotes from David's 1968 B&S profile of Aretha Franklin, with whom he later enjoyed a long friendship. The release of Make It Easy on Yourself – a box set David compiled of Dionne Warwick's immortal Scepter recordings – is the cue for us to hear clips from his 2012 audio interview with the Bacharach & David muse... and to learn about another "soulful diva" who became his close friend. We bring our guest's story more up-to-date with his reflections on yet another diva/pal, the one and only Chaka Khan. Mention of the former Rufus frontwoman's favourite producer, Arif Mardin, leads to discussion of Main Course, the Mardin-helmed album on which the Bee Gees "went disco" 50 long summers ago. David then reminisces about his own disco dalliances in '70s New York and his mid-'80s coastal switch to L.A.  We wrap up by paying tribute to another key white writer on Black R&B and soul: the late Michael Lydon, whose voice can be heard in this episode introducing his fabulous 1977 audio interview with the wicked Wilson Pickett. Mark and Jasper talk us out with their thoughts on (and quotes from) pieces recently added to the RBP library, including Jim Farber's 1978 interview with Earth, Wind & Fire's Maurice White and Ian Winwood's 2001 trashing of Creed live in Louisville. Many thanks to special guest David Nathan. Visit his website at davidnathan.com. Dionne Warwick: Make It Easy On Yourself – The Scepter Recordings 1962-1971 is out now on SoulMusic Records. Pieces discussed: Aretha Franklin: Aretha's Artistry, Dionne Warwick (2012), Chaka Khan: Back...From Back In The Day, Back on course with the Bee Gees, How the Bee Gees got into Disco: An Oral History of Main Course, Arif Mardin: Producer, Wilson Pickett (1977), Return of the Wicked Pickett, Top Tunes: The Beach Boys, Bobby Womack: Bobby's got Understanding, Earth Wind & Fire: Extraterrestrial R&B, Creed live and From Kingston with love.