Radio, DJs, payola etc.
139 articles
Radio London: It's Funny That Way!
Report by Dawn James, Rave, July 1965
A RAVE look at the popular pirate pop ship — RADIO LONDON ...
Report and Interview by Dawn James, Rave, September 1965
Dave Cash and Kenny Everett are known as the Kenny and Cash Combine, and they broadcast on Radio London, 266 Metres, Medium Wave. Their programmes ...
"Opry", 40, Shows No Sign Of Aging
Report by Robert Shelton, The New York Times, 23 October 1965
Nashville Marking Event's Birthday on Joyous Note ...
That Queen of "Soul" Martha Jean
Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 23 October 1966
LORAINE ALTERMAN'S DJ OF THE WEEK ...
Donovan, Hearts & Flowers, Jefferson Airplane, Mother Earth: The West Coast And Hippieland
Report by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 6 October 1967
BACK FROM two weeks in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Back to Detroit where the man on the street still gets uptight seeing long-haired, bearded ...
The Beach Boys, Taj Mahal: How Goes It Underground?
Report and Interview by Tom Nolan, Los Angeles Times, 18 February 1968
IT WAS A big day for me, for I had just met Andrew Oldham, the brains behind the Stones. He was very thin and he ...
Essay by Geoffrey Cannon, Oz, December 1968
Update, 2019. My Oz episodes — 1. IN DECEMBER 1968, age 28, I was interviewed for the post of editor of Radio Times, the BBC's ...
John Peel: "It's Very Scary This Whole Personality Cult" — Number One Disc Jockey John Peel
Interview by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, 21 December 1968
IT'S IRONIC that the top number one ace disc-jockey of the year in our poll is one of the few people in the business who ...
Pop On The Air: Facelift for the station of the stars
Report by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 8 February 1969
MELODY MAKER MEETS THE MEN WHO DECIDE WHAT YOU LISTEN TO ALAN WALSH REPORTS FROM RADIO LUXEMBOURG ...
Poetry is Revolution: Underground Radio
Essay by John Sinclair, Ann Arbor Argus, 13 February 1969
"In a modern telecommunications society, the radio station is one of the real seats of authority; its seizure the seal of a successful revolution." — ...
Max Romeo: This Is The Record That Will Give The BBC Troubles — If It Reaches The Top...
Report by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 21 June 1969
HOVERING AROUND the lower end of the charts is a record that has had no plugs, and certainly no air plays – nor is it ...
"I'm a Fairly Normal Person" — John Peel
Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 19 July 1969
FEW PEOPLE in this day and age can understand or accept a man who does not wish to sell himself; who will try to employ ...
The Isley Brothers, John Peel: Isleys and Peel 'Do Their Thing'
Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 2 August 1969
THERE IS no obvious connection between John Peel and the Isley Brothers. Both are in a different "bag," yet both have one thing in common ...
Tom Donahue: Clean Up Your Face And Mess Up Your Mind
Report and Interview by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, 17 March 1971
Author's note, 2018. This piece on Tom Donahue was one of a number I wrote for The Guardian that was not published. Bah! Nor ...
Jeff Dexter: Dexter's Job — Creating Good Vibes
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 24 April 1971
"WELL, who else could do it? Maybe Jimmy Savile because he's got lots of blond hair as well," replied Jeff Dexter when asked why he ...
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 24 April 1971
In the three years since he first won the Top DJ title in the MM Poll, John Peel has been mocked and worshipped. Today he wipes the ...
Radio KBIM: Radio Fun in Roswell
Report by Philip Norman, The Sunday Times, 1972
CLOSE TO Albuquerque, New Mexico, as we hung motionless on the streaming white trans-America road, the voice on the radio-dial faded and returned in yet ...
Report and Interview by Steve Turner, Beat Instrumental, January 1972
KID JENSEN IS probably more able to make or break an album than any other radio jockey in the free world. His two-hour show is ...
John Peel: Peel And The Pig — An Everyday Story Of Country Folk
Interview by Andrew Tyler, Disc, 17 February 1973
JOHN PEEL is a sensitive figure with a sturdy patch on the crotch of his jeans and a tendency towards schoolgirls and sensible underwear. A ...
Davis Case Stirs Wide Probe on Federal Level
Report by Ian Dove, Billboard, 16 June 1973
NEW YORK — Rumor, speculation, innuendo and fact — all rocked the music industry in the wake of Clive Davis' dismissal as president of CBS ...
CBS Records: U.S. Attorney Bows Probe — Leiberson Upholds Code
Report by Ian Dove, Billboard, 23 June 1973
NEW YORK — Support for the Billboard editorial (see last week's issue) calling for the RIAA to create a committee of industry lenders to structure a code ...
Report by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 21 July 1973
Scores of reggae records sell enough copies to qualify as pop hits. But you won't see them on the charts and you won't hear them ...
Wolfman Jack: What’s Happenin’, Jack?!
Interview by Pete Wingfield, Let It Rock, January 1974
WAS HE BLACK? Was he white? Was he young? Was he old? Was he human? Until the seventies he was just a disembodied croak, howling ...
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 8 May 1975
LOS ANGELES — 'Shaving Cream', a 1947 song by Paul Wynn, was an unlikely candidate for the Number One rating on the nation's most popular ...
10cc, Donna Summer, Jane Birkin, Max Romeo, Serge Gainsbourg: Banned — Why?: What Turns Censors On…
Report by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976
It's Donna Summer at the moment, but the Beatles, Stones even Lena Horne have all run into radio censorship. So this week, MM examines that ...
Johnny Walker: The Rock Assassination Takes Place On Tuesday Between 11 .30 And Four
Interview by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 8 May 1976
JOHNNY WALKER has seen a lot of bloodshed, and a poor disc jockey can only take so much... To cut a long story out, he's ...
Report by Bob Spitz, Crawdaddy!, March 1977
NEW YORK — "Disc jockeys' mortgages were being paid, women were being provided; it was a slimy era." ...
Interview by Mick Brown, Sounds, 21 May 1977
THERE IS no need to ask where John Peel was in the summer of love. Anybody with enough brain-cells left to recall the era will ...
Automated Radio: The Future Is Upon Us
Report by Todd Everett, High Fidelity, September 1977
DOES YOUR favorite radio station sound better lately? Do the announcers sound more professional, the music brighter and more consistent? Or don't you pay enough ...
Interview by Howie Klein, Rock's Backpages Audio, 14 May 1978
Ms Smith regales the listeners to KSAN, San Francisco, with stories about Tina Turner, Sandy Pearlman and the Clash; sings the praises of Fred 'Sonic Smith and Tom Verlaine; gives respect to Bill Graham. She also makes Public Service announcements, and comments on the commercials!
File format: mp3; file size: 81.9mb, interview length: 1h 29' 27" sound quality: ***
Annie Nightingale Joins The Old Grey Whistle Test
Profile and Interview by Bob Woffinden, New Musical Express, 30 September 1978
WHY THE BBC MAKES YOUNG WOMEN CARRY OUT THIS HIDEOUS ANCIENT RITUAL ...
Bob Harris: The Bomber bales out
Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 2 December 1978
Carved up by the critics since his tube debut in 1972, Bob Harris is blowing the whistle on his TV career. It wasn't just the ...
Rodney Bingenheimer: A Child of the Myth
Profile and Interview by Lisa Jane Persky, L.A. Weekly, May 1979
KEEPING MY fingers on the minimal pulse of the musical movement in L.A. which, gratefully, is growing, I cannot ignore one of its prime gardeners. ...
Interview by Karl Dallas, Rock's Backpages Audio, 20 July 1980
The Personality Jock numero uno takes us through his entire career bestriding the airwaves: after his East Coast initiation, heading South of the Border to the big Mexican stations – pistoleros, gunfights, corruption and R&B; the move to Los Angeles, TV with Midnight Special and starring in George Lucas' American Graffiti, and he also runs down his pretty immaculate Top Ten tunes.
File format: mp3; file size: 53.1mb, interview length: 57' 59" sound quality: ***
Overview by Tony Russell, The History of Rock, 1981
The men who turned the USA on to rock DISK JOCKEYING IS AN OLD TRADE – but not perhaps, an old name: music-biz archaeologists have ...
Smart Radio — Fun at the Low End of the Dial
Report and Interview by Tom Nolan, L.A. Weekly, 3 September 1981
KCRW: Cutting Through The Hum And The Humdrumby ...
Retrospective by Bill Millar, The History of Rock, 1982
ALAN FREED, the man responsible for giving rock'n'roll its name, was many things to many people. To some, he was the original Mr Clean, an ...
The Beatles, Murray the K: Murray the K Dies; "Fifth Beatle" Was 60
Obituary by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 23 February 1982
SUBMARINE RACE watchers walked hand-in-hand listening to golden gassers on the Swingin' Soiree. Teens jabbered in a peculiar language, taunting parents and teachers by inserting ...
Tune In If You Rankin': Night Of The Living Dread
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, New Musical Express, 24 March 1984
A ROOFTOP RENDEZVOUS WITH THE DREAD BROADCASTING CORPORATION ...
Janice Long: The Janice Long Story
Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, 17 January 1985
How do you get a job as a Radio 1 DJ? Simple – you go to a "really posh" school, then become an insurance clerk, ...
Steve Wright: Radio Ga-Gagging
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 21 September 1985
Mister Angry from Bradford, STEVEN WELLS, paints a colourful portrait of hip, sensitive Radio One DJ STEVE WRIGHT. ...
Radio 1: Pleasing All The People
Report and Interview by Jon Savage, The Observer, 23 February 1986
Pop station or pap station? The head of Radio 1 talks to JON SAVAGE ...
Independent Promotion: The Inside Story
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 24 April 1986
IT WAS GOING to be easy money. The cash would be sent, each week, in an unmarked brown paper envelope to the home of the ...
Grand Juries Investigate Mob Ties to Record Biz
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 8 May 1986
MCA linked to criminal activities ...
Profile and Interview by Dave Rimmer, Q, December 1986
JOHN PEEL IS sitting in his pyjamas in the kitchen of his Suffolk home. It is a Sunday afternoon. On the wall is a Radio ...
John Richbourg: The Grandaddy Of Soul
Retrospective and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Soul Survivor, Summer 1986
OF THE MANY white disc jockeys who pioneered the airplay of black rhythm 'n' blues through the 1950s and 60s, perhaps the most influential in ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 14 January 1988
ROLLING STONE has uncovered details of alleged cash payoffs — payola — to radio-station personnel by the operation of the California-based independent promotion man Joe Isgro. ...
Payola: The Record-Label Connection
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 21 April 1988
How much do record-industry executives know? ...
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 23 April 1988
From presenting the only four nights a week show to play the Primitives next to Prince, JANICE LONG has felt the cold shoulder from the ...
MCA and the Mob: Risky Business
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 2 June 1988
How did a reputed mobster become a deal maker for MCA Records? ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 1 June 1989
Is the classic-rock format dictating which acts record companies sign? ...
Audio transcript of interview by Martin Aston, Rock's Backpages Audio, July 1989
This is a transcript of Martin's audio interview with John Peel. Hear the interview here ...
Interview by Martin Aston, Rock's Backpages Audio, July 1989
The DJ attempts to explain himself; argues he's more a fan than part of the machine; discusses the diversity of his listenership; touches on his kids' relationship with music; holds forth on his paymaster, Radio 1, and what gets played on it; bemoans the poor quality of current UK music; disputes his status as an indie figurehead; and ruefully answers Martin's questions about his commercial voice-overs...
File format: mp3; file size: 52.8mb, interview length: 55' 00" sound quality: ***
Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, November 1989
Guru to innumerable pale and interesting persons, champion of all things noisesome and "challenging", fully paid-up Good Bloke... When John Peel celebrated his 50th birthday ...
Comment by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 31 December 1989
MYRIAD GENRES and subgenres make up the world of pop music, some complementary, some clashing. Look around, and you'll find heavy metal, hard rock, post-modern, ...
Report and Interview by Cynthia Rose, Sunday Correspondent, 29 April 1990
The duties of KISS pirate radio DJs once included rigging rooftop transmitters and guarding the door. Now Saatchi’s are telling them: "Your account is worth ...
KISS 100 FM: The Embrace Is On
Report and Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 1 September 1990
WHEN KISS 100 FM starts broadcasting legally on September 1, sending the freshest of dancebeats into the ether around London, it will be the final ...
Frankie Crocker: Radio Renaissance
Interview by Carol Cooper, Spin, October 1990
A maverick talent in a sea of mediocrity, radio renegade Frankie Crocker has made New York's airwaves listenable again. ...
Who The Hell Does Sir Jimmy Savile Think He Is?
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, November 1990
There's something unsettling about the tireless benevolence, something irksome about the infantile banter and spangly self-satisfaction, something eerie about this strange old uncle patting the ...
Interview by Jeff Tamarkin, Goldmine, 28 December 1990
THE MOST AMAZING thing about Dick Clark is not that "America's Oldest Living Teenager" still fits that role at age 61. It's not that he's ...
The Ramones: Radio Tracks: DJ Joey Ramone
Report by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 28 December 1990
HOW MANY OF you, if given the shot, would like to host your own radio show? ...
Interview by Alex Ogg, Spiral Scratch, May 1991
NOT THAT any introduction is really necessary, but how about this: ...
Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 7 April 1992
As the disco boom strikes UK club-land again, B&S touches base with New York DJ, remixer/producer, Frankie Knuckles, to trace disco's roots and chart it's ...
Interview by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 19 August 1993
"HELLO, I'M A little fat chap that plays records on the radio," DJ John Peel announced at the start of a recent broadcast. ...
LTJ Bukem, Coldcut: A step ahead of fashion — and the law
Report by David Toop, The Times, 26 November 1993
The hottest sounds buzzing around our cities are frequently also illegal. David Toop reports on the wild and wilful world of pirate radio, and its ...
Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra: Juggy Gayles: Leader of the Old School
Profile and Interview by Holly George-Warren, Rolling Stone, 24 March 1994
JUGGY GAYLES hyped records the old-fashioned way-with style ...
Interview by Eric Weisbard, Spin, May 1994
Broadcast cowboy, spends his Sunday nights hidden in the dark hills of Berkeley, California, illegally transmitting his version of alternative radio. Is he a transistor ...
After 40 Years, the Homeboys Are Still Cruisin' With Dick "Huggy Boy" Hugg
Retrospective and Interview by Kirk Silsbee, Los Angeles Reader, 11 November 1994
AT LAST SUMMER'S Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona, one of the most popular attractions wasn't a thrill ride, exhibit, installation or culinary offering. ...
Report by Gillian G. Gaar, Rolling Stone, 23 February 1995
"HEY... AM I on?" were the uncertain first words delivered by Pearl Jam singer-cum-DJ Eddie Vedder at the start of the band's latest frolic on ...
John Peel, Pulp: The Jarvis & John Show!
Report and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 30 September 1995
This Saturday, JOHN PEEL will interview JARVIS COCKER on Radio 1FM and play tracks from PULP'S forthcoming album. ANDREW MUELLER goes to Peel Acres to ...
The Mean, Mean Month of March: Judith Sims and Les Malloy
Memoir by Ben Fong-Torres, The Gavin Report, 5 April 1996
IT'S BEEN a miserable month. I lost two friends, from two different worlds and generations, yet somehow connected with you and me. ...
Interview by Push, Muzik, September 1996
PETE TONG. His Essential Selection show on Radio One is the nation's choice on a Friday night. It's a dry run for a night out, ...
Interview by Ian Fortnam, New Musical Express, 21 September 1996
Thousands, if not millions, owe their pop sensibilities to JOHN PEEL, indie's very own godfather. But at 58, IAN FORTNAM asks the "old feller" if ...
Interview by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, November 1996
Chopper fanatic, sound system supremo, founder member of Kiss FM, former Talkin' Loud A&R guru, all-round celebrity and man of the people... What more do ...
Report and Interview by David A. Keeps, Details, July 1997
MTV listens to them, so does your local DJ. From the Go-Go's to Beck, KROQ has always played tomorrow's hits today. David A. Keeps goes ...
Report by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 9 May 1998
Take an assorted bunch of like-minded skunk rockers, big beaters and eclectic groovers, ply with brain-curdling tequila'n'ale cocktails, and then put them out LIVE! on ...
Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim: Ibiza: Big Beach Boutique
Report by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 15 August 1998
When Radio 1 decamped to Ibiza for a weekend of daft dancing, super funky anthems and celebs behaving badly, it seemed only polite for NME to join them. ...
Gloria Gaynor, Tom Moulton, The Trammps: Interview: Tom Moulton
Interview by Bill Brewster, djhistory.com, September 1998
The man responsible for the 12" record talks about his incredible career ...
Mikey Dread, King Tubby, Duke Reid, Scientist, Sir Coxone, U-Roy: Blood & Fire's Steve Barrow (1998)
Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 10 September 1998
The reggae historian and Blood & Fire founder looks back on the evolution of Jamaica's sound system culture: early pioneers such as Count Matchuki; the selector/DJ split; Ruddy Redwood and the pre-release dub plate; sound system rivalry; Duke Reid and Coxone Dodd; and DJs and selectors becoming producers. Steve then explains how he got into reggae in the early-'70s and talks about Jamaica's relationship with hip hop. Finally, he talks about King Tubby and Scientist's dubs via an illustration of Bernard Purdie's 'Funky Donkey'.
File format: mp3; file size: 68.3mb, total interview length: 1h 11' 10" sound quality: ****
Comment by Brian Torff, Green Mountain Jazz Messenger, October 1998
THERE ARE A lot of worried people these days, particularly in the arts. Music styles, such as rock, jazz and classical music in a state ...
Interview by Bill Brewster, djhistory.com, 5 March 1999
From Charlie's childhood in Stockton-on-Tees and his early fascination with black American music, through to his days as a journalist and broadcaster, taking in The Sound of the City, Ian Dury, Dire Straits and his increasing fascination with World Music.
File format: mp3; file size: 105.3mb, total interview length: 1h 49' 39" sound quality: **
Simon Garfield: The Nation's Favourite – The True Adventures of Radio 1 (Faber)
Book Review by Andy Beckett, London Review of Books, 15 April 1999
RADIO 1 USED to sound like Surrey to me. Perhaps it was the disc jockeys they used in those days, with their creamy car-dealer's voices ...
Report by Adrian Deevoy, Q, May 1999
In summer 1998, and to a chorus of indie-kid disapproval, Capital Radio took over London station XFM and, preposterously, put Bob Geldof in the drive-time ...
Profile by Barney Hoskyns, The Independent, August 1999
"WHY DO people always have a go at Belgium?" These are the first words uttered by John Peel on the night of Tuesday 24th August, ...
Book Review by Dave Rimmer, The Wire, November 1999
ONE NIGHT IN the summer of 1996 I went to a rave in an unfashionable district of Prague. It was in a community hall on ...
All Ears: Disney Dreams Up the Best Radio Station in 30 Years
Essay by Metal Mike Saunders, The Village Voice, 14 March 2000
THE SEMINAL moment of the teenpop era is of course in the Clueless movie, where Cher refers to college-rock R.E.M.-crap as "mope rock", or "dope ...
Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 9 September 2000
Word up homie, knowwhatI'msayin'? Tim Westwood may talk like a herbert, but his contribution to hip-hop is unsurpassed on this side of the Atlanic. Now ...
Interview by Marc Weingarten, Rock's Backpages, 23 December 2000
How a Brummie came to host the most respected public radio show in L.A. ...
Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Observer, 24 June 2001
IT'S 7AM AND the tall, pretty young woman I'm watching work has clearly not been out of bed too long. Her blonde hair is tied ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 6 October 2001
Two decades on, 'The Unheard Music' is still the music you need to hear ...
Report and Interview by Fred Shuster, Los Angeles Daily News, December 2001
REMEMBER THE first stirrings of cable? The general feeling was nobody would pay for television. ...
John Peel: An Audience With John Peel
Interview by Nick Doherty, Jockey Slut, 2002
Celeb 1: Howie B: With this playlist culture, when do you decide what's going to be played on your radio show? ...
Report and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 2 March 2002
The musical genre finally gets its day in the sun with an intimate and detailed documentary that's a coup of sorts for the lower-profile station. ...
Tony Wilson: Home entertainment: Tony Wilson on Factory Records
Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 29 March 2002
The man behind Manchester's chaotic Factory Records, Joy Division and Happy Mondays takes us through his own back catalogue ...
Radio Patter From the Past: Vintage DJs Rock On
Essay by Marc Weingarten, The New York Times, 9 May 2002
THE DISC jockey's voice, oddly compelling, comes booming out of the computer speakers as if shot from a cannon. ...
Wyclef Jean, Tom Jones: Tom Jones: Soul mates
Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 2 November 2002
What do you get if you cross hip-hop superstar Wyclef Jean with the voice from the Valleys? The most soulful record of Tom Jones's career, ...
John Peel: Peelin' In The Years
Interview by Daryl Easlea, Record Collector, January 2003
Radio 1's venerated platter spinner John Peel has just released his first dance mix CD. Daryl Easlea polishes up the wheels of steel ...
Interview by Graham Reid, The New Zealand Herald, 21 March 2003
SILVIO DANTE, Tony Soprano's loyal soldier and owner of the famous Bada Bing strip club, is in the lobby bar of a Sydney hotel and, ...
Interview by Kirk Silsbee, LA CityBeat, 28 August 2003
WHEN BRUCE Springsteen slipped into his Baptist-preacher mode and acknowledged E Street Band members at the Forum in Inglewood last year, he concluded his round-robin ...
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Rock's Backpages, 2004
DICK CLARK IS ONE of the most recognized personalities in entertainment in America: He hosts two nationally syndicated radio shows ("Rock, Roll and Remember" ...
Report and Interview by Simon Garfield, The Observer, 3 October 2004
He's a white DJ who became the most powerful European voice in hardcore hip-hop. Here, on the 10th anniversary of his Radio 1 show, Tim ...
John Peel: Pied Piper for Four Generations
Comment by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 27 October 2004
IF YOU WANT to know what influence John Peel had, and what he stood for, listening to Radio One in the hours after his death ...
John Peel: When Robert Sandall met John Peel
Interview by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 31 October 2004
Last words of middle England's accidental hero. ...
Dizzee Rascal, So Solid Crew, Wiley: London Calling
Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, November 2004
Dizzee Rascal is the first artist to score two five-star MOJO reviews with successive albums. Yet Britain's freshest music star is only the most visible ...
Obituary by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, December 2004
LONG BEFORE we met, John Peel felt like a good friend. For those millions of us who spent our adolescence glued to his late-night radio ...
Audio transcript of interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages Audio, 4 February 2005
This is a transcript of Bill and Frank's audio interview with Fabio. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...
A Single-Minded Pair: Rescuing Radio 1's Official Chart Show
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 28 February 2005
Tuned-in kids are turning off Radio 1's chart show. Can a new double act help it shake off its staid image, asks Caroline Sullivan. ...
Murray the K: Great Unsung Heroes Of Rock'n'Roll Radio
Overview by Gary Pig Gold, In Music We Trust, August 2005
Do you remember Murray the KAlan Freed and high energy?Do you remember rock'n'roll radio?Do you remember rock'n'roll radio?(The Ramones) ...
Obituary by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 January 2006
Beloved Bay Area jazz and blues critic ...
The Beatles, Lonnie Donegan, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates: Hello Me Ol' Mateys: the BBC's Saturday Club
Retrospective by Spencer Leigh, Now Dig This, March 2006
Spencer Leigh returns to the BBC Written Archives for an appraisal of Saturday Club. ...
Bob Dylan: Dylan's deadpan debut as a DJ
Report by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 4 May 2006
Robert Sandall reports on Bob Dylan's first turn at the decks spinning his favourite tunes. ...
R.I.P. Tawn Mastrey, the voice of KNAC
Comment by Deanne Stillman, L.A. Observed, October 2007
I DON'T KNOW how I could have gotten through a certain part of my life without KNAC, the late, great heavy metal station that played ...
The Feeling, The Hoosiers, Scouting for Girls: Is radio whistling the right tunes?
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 25 January 2008
Things are changing on the airwaves. Caroline Sullivan finds Radio 1 ditching rock for "pop". ...
The Clash, Mikey Dread: Mikey Dread, 1954-2008
Obituary by Alan Clayson, The Guardian, 25 March 2008
A pioneering reggae artist and broadcaster, he worked with the Clash and UB40 ...
Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt: Q&A: Little Steven Van Zandt
Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 14 April 2008
WITH JAMES BROWN no longer around, Steven Van Zandt might just have the title of the Hardest Working Man in Show Business. ...
Comment by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 13 November 2008
Radio 2, beset by scandal, is still the home of gloriously odd programming ...
All Bands on Deck: Pirate Radio and The Boat That Rocked
Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 27 March 2009
FOR A FEW WEEKS last spring, a corner of Shepperton Studios became the nerve centre of the fictional pirate station, Radio Rock. Mounted on a ...
BBC 6 Music: The Beauties and the Beast
Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 27 February 2010
Passion, intelligence and wonderful tunes — 6 Music has it all, and found many fans despite its tiny budget. So why on earth is it ...
David Bowie, John Peel: God's DJ: John Peel
Memoir by David Buckley, MOJO, 1 September 2010
God's DJ would have been 71 on Monday. David Buckley recalls a birthday encounter for MOJO online... ...
Interview by James Medd, The Word, August 2011
"THE FIRST 50 years have been eventful, haven't they?" asks Andy Kershaw, reassuringly still the cocky young'un off The Whistle Test despite 2009's half-century. ...
Mary Anne Hobbs: Things I Like
Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, September 2011
Music-deprived teenager turned DJ, bikini motorcyclist, Raymond Carver fan. Reads Stuart Maconie on repeat. ...
Interview by Kirk Silsbee, Our Ventura Blvd, November 2012
By day, you'll find him on the quiet streets of Toluca Lake. But at night, DJ Vice, one of the most popular disc jockeys in ...
Jimmy Savile: DJ Originator Or More Smoke And Mirrors?
Comment by Greg Wilson, Rock's Backpages, November 2012
JUST OVER 12 MONTHS AGO, on October 29th 2011, the TV and radio personality Sir Jimmy Savile died two days before his 85th birthday (he ...
Report and Interview by Frank Broughton, GQ, 8 November 2012
As the fallout from the Jimmy Savile abuse allegations continues, dance music historian Frank Broughton asks whether the next revelations may be his connections to ...
Memoir by Michael Simmons, Huffington Post, 5 April 2013
"I WANNA BE a neuron – I don't wanna be the brain," said all-night radio host Bob Fass in the 1960s to his audience. "We're ...
Tom Moulton: Zing Went The Strings: Tom Moulton's Disco Remixes Reviewed
Review by John Doran, The Quietus, 5 November 2013
"You wait forty years for a boxset of Tom Moulton Philly disco remixes on heavyweight vinyl, and then two turn up at once." John Doran ...
Book Excerpt by Kirk Silsbee, Turn Up the Radio!... (Santa Monica Press), 2014
MOST AM RADIO DEEJAYS of the 1960s used airtime to cultivate their own images between records; very few paid serious attention to the music they ...
Black Sky Thinking: White Power And Black Pop: The Real Problem With 1Xtra's Power List
Comment by Neil Kulkarni, The Quietus, 16 July 2014
Neil Kulkarni dissects the recent BBC 1Xtra Power List which featured three white acts in the top four... ...
The Beatles: On Air – Live At The BBC Volume 2
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, 7 September 2014
WHAT DO Gwendolyn Hopkins of Nottingham, Diane and Jenny of Bedford, Jill, Janet, Mary, Brenda and Lynn from Wakefield, Carolyn Hill and Jane Richards from ...
Book Excerpt by Harvey Kubernik, 'Turn Up The Radio! Pop!' (Santa Monica Press), October 2014
NO ONE IN the history of Los Angeles radio did more to promote the music throughout Southern California – and indeed, the world – than ...
Jack Jackson: Ooh… It's Saturday!
Retrospective by Spencer Leigh, Now Dig This, December 2014
Spencer Leigh on a forgotten hero, the radio DJ, Jack Jackson ...
The Faces, Michael Jackson, The Police, Slade: John Pidgeon, 1947-2016
Obituary by Richard Williams, The Guardian, 21 July 2016
Rock writer turned broadcasting executive who did much to reinvigorate BBC radio comedy. ...
The Beatles: Interview: Cousin Brucie Morrow
Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access, 6 February 2020
IT'S THE PERFECT American fantasy of the '60s. Riding in a Mustang down a rural stretch of highway to the strains of the car radio ...
Oneohtrix Point Never: the warped genius behind Uncut Gems's spine-chilling score
Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 27 October 2020
His soundtrack shredded audiences' nerves. Now producer Daniel Lopatin is using radio to bring Trump's America together. ...
Gilles Peterson: Lockdown FM: Broadcasting in a Pandemic
Book Review by John L. Walters, Eye, Fall 2021
GILLES PETERSON is known for his unfeasibly large record collection and an unstoppable enthusiasm for Black music. The pandemic forced radical changes to the DJ's ...
The Beatles: My City: Keith's Wine Bar
Memoir by Spencer Leigh, Liverpool Echo, March 2023
IN THE LATE 1990s Bob Wooler, the former Cavern DJ, used to live off Lark Lane, and I would meet him every Saturday at Keith's ...
back to LIBRARY
