Advertise on podcast: Music Talks

My guest in this episode is Mark Dempsey who comes to Music Talks via my dear friend Jesse Jackson at the great Podcast ‘SetLustingBruce’.  Like all Springsteen fans Mark is passionate about Bruce’s music but the joy of this episode is how much passion Mark has for all his song choices. If any of them are new to you I’m certain you will be seeking them out after having heard Mark talk about them and they are great choices:  70’s -     Three Steps To Heaven                  Showaddywaddy 80’s -     Dancing In The Dark                       Bruce Springsteen 90’s -     Polaroids                                                Shawn Colvin 00’s -     Stuck Between Stations               The Hold Steady 10’s -     The Ceiling                                            The Wild Feathers 20’s -     No Mercy                                               Nils Lofgren Bristol born and bred Mark celebrated his 50th birthday at the end of 2023 and so doing Music Talks was a good opportunity to look back and reflect. He has lived most of his life in the South West of England but for five years between 2011 and 2016 he and his wife Catherine lived in Toronto.  With the same passion and enthusiasm he shows for music, Mark talks us through the delight of moving from ‘sleepy Wiltshire’ to the most multicultural and multiracial city in the world. As you would expect that experience also informs his song choice for the 2010's. In 94 episodes of Music Talks there have been many great stories, but Mark’s closing story in ‘Final Thoughts’ is one of my absolute favourites. It’s also where the title of the episode comes from but that’s all im going to say ………. Enjoy 😊 If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at [email protected] Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

This time of year isn’t just the season of goodwill it’s also the season of “Best Of” lists and it’s part of the musical year that I love.    It’s always good to know that things you like are also enjoyed by others but the real joy for me is gaining new insight into albums I’ve enjoyed or discovering albums that I have missed.    My hope is that this episode will do some of that for you.    As in previous years I am joined by my Podcast pal Steven Routledge and we both talk through our Top 10 albums and play a short clip from each of them.    In this Part 2 we each count down from 5 to 1 and reveal our ‘Album of the Year ' ‘Chapter Markers’ contains full details of songs/artists/albums and there is a summary list below. You can also use 'Chapter markers ' to play individual choices if you wish.    Steven's Album Choices: 5 – ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’             - Teenage Fanclub  4 – ‘Rat Saw God’                                  - Wednesday 3 – ‘The Ballad of Darren’                 - Blur  2 – ‘It All Began With Loneliness’ - The Anchoret 1 – Roll Up A” Song                                - Gonzalez Smith   My Album Choices: 5 – ‘IDES’                                                     - King Creosote 4 – ‘Joy’All’                                                  -Jenny Lewis 3 – ‘Strays’                                                   - Margo Price  2 – The Great White Sea Eagle       - James Yorkston/Nina Persson/ The Second Hand Orchestra 1 – ‘The Candle and the Flame’      - Robert Forster   Please do let me know what you think of these choices and particularly if there is new music you like. You can do that by emailing me at [email protected] , I really look forward to hearing from you.    Wishing you a very Happy New Year and lets hope 2024 is another great year for music.  Music Talks will be back with the first episode of the New Year on Thursday February 1st, 2024.  If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at [email protected] Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

This time of year isn’t just the season of goodwill it’s also the season of “Best Of” lists and it’s part of the musical year that I love. It’s always good to know that things you like are also enjoyed by others but the real joy for me is gaining new insight into albums I’ve enjoyed or discovering albums that I have missed. My hope is that this episode will do some of that for you. As in previous years I am joined by my Podcast pal Steven Routledge and we both talk through our Top 10 albums and play a short clip from each of them. In this part we count down from 10 to 5 and in Part 2 (released on 28/12/23) we go from 5 to 1.  'Chapter Markers' contains full details of songs/artists/albums and there is a summary list below. You can also use 'Chapter markers ' to play individual choices  if you wish. Steven's Album Choices: 10 - 'Stone' by BARONESS    9 - 'In Between Thoughts ...A New World' by Rodrigo y Gabriela    8 - 'The Storm Rages On by James McKeiver & The Starry Sky Band    7 - 'Bird Machine' by Sparklehorse    6 - 'Oromet' by Oromet My Album Choices: 10 - 'Black Bay' by Silver Moth    9 - 'Folded Landscapes' by Erland Cooper & the Scottish Ensemble    8 - 'My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross' by Anohni & The Johnsons    7 - 'First Two Pages of Frankenstein' by The National     6 - 'Every Acre' by H.C. McEntire   Please do let me know what you think of these choices and particularly if there is new music you like. You can do that by emailing me at [email protected] , I really look forward to hearing from you.  Have a great Christmas and here’s to 2024 being another great year for music.  If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at [email protected] Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is award winning author and playwright Gabriel Bergmoser.  Gabriel is one of my youngest guests at 32 but, as you will hear, he has packed a lot into those years and he describes himself as ‘crime author, playwright, podcaster, actor, dog lover and massive Springsteen fan’.  He was born in New Zealand but moved to Australia when he was a few months old and that has been home over since. He now lives in Melbourne but does a great job of painting a picture of what growing up in rural Australia was like for a creative, non-sporty boy who was an aggressively average student (his phrase not mine!)  A visit to the cinema to see ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ lit his creative spark and it has stayed with him ever since. A quick glance at his Wiki page (Gabriel Bergmoser - Wikipedia) will show how prodigious and successful he has been over the past 10 years.  Highlights include winning the Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award in 2015 and four years later signing a two-book deal with Harper Collins. The first of the books was ‘The Hunted’ which was a worldwide success and resulted in a book deal with Faber in the UK and a subsequent film deal.  Despite all that success Gabriel is clear eyed about the reality of being a creative in 2023 and the fact that there will always be ups and downs whoever you are. Similarly, he delivers a strong message about hard work and application being more important than talent and the need at times to ‘Just Do It’.  As you would expect he tells a great story around each of his song selection which were:  90’s        Kiss Me                                Sixpence None the Richer 00’s        Mr. Brightside                  The Killers 10’s        Unbelievers                       Vampire Weekend 20’s        Dorothea                            Taylor Swift If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at [email protected] Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Paul Webb who comes to the show via an introduction from a previous guest Nick Sheppard (Ep.53) – Many thanks Nick.  Paul is a self-confessed ‘Music Talks Junkie’ and I love the fact that he listens to the episodes on his journey to and from Fly Fishing. Originally from the UK he’s lived in the U.S for over 30 years and now has the joy of living in Bend, Oregon which I am very jealous of having had a couple of delightful holidays there and at one point we seriously considered retiring there.  Music is a clear passion for Paul, both listening but also playing guitar. He describes himself disparagingly as ‘a hack’ but I hardly think that’s fair particularly given he’s a left hander who plays right-handed. His musical passion is complemented by several others including: ·        Family – his wife Talley and their two children Ellis & Dylan. ·        Climbing – Paul shares several fun, inspirational stories about climbing as well as one about climbing the Royal Arches in Yosemite and almost not making it down.  ·        Cycling – with three friends he did The Race Across America, which is 3200 miles in 7 days. This was the inspiration for one of his song choices and the title of the episode.  He also shares openly and movingly about the challenges his son Ellis faced with addiction and how he came very close to death. I’m delighted to say that Ellis is now well into his recovery and in Paul’s own words is thriving.  Paul finishes his song selections with a performance of an original song by himself and his younger child Dylan. There’s a great story behind it and the performance is just exquisite.  Paul’s song selections are:  60’s -     Moon River                                                                   Audrey Hepburn 70’s -     Carillon                                                                            Sky 80’s -     Love Is A Stranger                                                     Eurythmics 90’s -     Signe                                                                                 Eric Clapton 00’s -     Fix You                                                                             Coldplay 10’s -     Catch & Release (Deepend Remix)                 Matt Summers 20’s -     Made It Out of Clay                                                  Dylan Webb  If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at [email protected] Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Giorgos Gavriil who generously allowed me to use his English name of ‘George’ through our chat.  Born in 1975 in the port city of Piraeus in Greater Athens, George continues to live in Greece but has moved to the mountains from the sea where he lives with wife and his two young children. He was a late bloomer in terms of music but when things clicked in his late teens there was no looking back. He describes himself as ‘compulsive’ and ‘obsessive’ and this has driven a lifelong passion that’s produced a deep love and an encyclopaedic knowledge of popular music. In recent years those same characteristics have driven his learning to play guitar which he impressively practices an hour a day!  George was good enough to provide me with his list of 101 Favourite Albums and it makes for fascinating reading.  We tale about some of those albums during the episode but if anyone would like to see the full list, please email me at [email protected] There is a strong theme of passion and emotion that runs through all of George’s song selections and it’s a list I really love. His song selections were:  70’s        Mind Power                                                                   James Brown 80’s        Tango Till They’re Sore                                            Tom Waits 90’s        Love You Should’ve Come Over                         Jeff Buckley  00’s        A Thousand Kisses Deep                                        Leonard Cohen  10’s        Conversation 16                                                          The National 20’s        Love Is The Main Thing                                             Fontaines D.C.  Enjoy :-)  If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at [email protected] Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Craig Colby, a master storyteller with a successful 30-year award winning career in television working for The Sports Network and the Discovery Channel amongst others.  In 2017, the opportunity of losing his job presented itself and he set up his own story telling company Colbyvision. He now spends his time helping production companies broadcasters and business owners make top-notch programs & tell their stories.    He also has one of my favourite Lockdown stories. Craig connected with people over Facebook by wearing a different hat each day for 125 days and people then shared their hats in the comments. At the behest of his mother this then became his first book ‘ALL CAPS: Stories That Justify an Outrageous Hat Collection’ which won the Non-Fiction Category at The Canadian Book Awards in 2022.  Craig comes to Music Talks via my dear friend Jesse Jackson from the Set Lusting Bruce Podcast. Jesse’s intro mail included the great line ‘Craig’s book is Music Talks with hats!’ – how could I resist. The book is available on Amazon but if you are in the UK and want a physical copy it currently ships from the U.S. but believe me its worth the wait!  It’s no surprise that Craig has a compelling story to tell with lots of great insights and observations. He also put a lot of work into making song selections that have a personal connection but also have a connection to what was going on in the wider world.   Craig’s song selections were:  60’s      -           Love Child                                         -           Diana Ross & The Supremes  70’s      -           Don’t Take Away The Music   -           Tavares 80’s      -           Modern Love                                   -           David Bowie 90’s      -           Fumbling Towards Ectasy        -           Sarah McLachlan 00’s      -           Lonesome Day                                -           Bruce Springsteen 10’s      -           Tightrope                                           -           Janelle Monae 20’s      -           As It Was                                             -           Harry Styles  Enjoy :-) If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at [email protected] Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Marian Jago, Senior Lecturer in Popular Music and Jazz Studies at the University of Edinburgh.  Marian comes to Music Talks through the miracle and wonder of social media and a shared love of the music of Bruce Springsteen. I saw a post in a fan group on Facebook that said, ‘my course on Bruce Springsteen’ and that was Marian. We got into a dialogue and to my amazement she was teaching her course ‘Three Minute Records’ at my local university in Edinburgh.   Inevitably we talk about Bruce and the course, but we cover a lot more ground than that in this episode. Prior to becoming an academic Marian was a Producer of Live Concerts and Events before dedicating herself to becoming a Jazz Saxophonist.  It’s a remarkable story of commitment and determination where she gets to meet, and is consistently helped by, a host of jazz luminaries from Canada and the US, and this culminates in Lee Konitz the composer and saxophonist being her tutor for eight years.  Like many people I have a very romantic view of the life of a professional musician and Marian does a great job of painting a picture of the harsh reality whilst also saying ‘this was the happiest time of my life’.  Though now living in Edinburgh Marian is Canadian and that is a theme that runs through our conversation and not just in terms of some of her choices.  Regarding choices Marian is transparent about her dislike of rules and authority and so she submitted two sets of song choices to me for the episode – ‘The Rule Abiding List’ and ‘The Alternative List’. You will need to listen to get the full story but here is the ‘Rule Abiding List’.  70’s - Another Brick in The Wall  -               Pink Floyd 80’s - Down in The Bottom              -               Colin James 90’s - The Obvious Child                   -               Paul Simon  00’s - It’s Alright with Me                  -               Murley-Bickert-Wallace   10’s - At Transformation                    -               The Tragically Hip  20’s – If I Was The Priest                    -               Bruce Springsteen  Outro – Welcome to Hard Times  -               Charley Crockett  Enjoy 😊 If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at [email protected] Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Brian MacKay who was introduced to Music Talks by Roy Sharples my guest in Episode 61. (Thanks Roy!)  Bryan is just 50 and works in a third sector charity.  He lives in Peterhead, a large fishing port in Aberdeenshire, with his wife, 4 children and a Cockapoo acquired during Covid. Like me Bryan is the youngest in his family but in his case, he had three older sisters and on his own admittance was spoilt rotten as a child.  Since 2015 he has been a keen runner and next month, he will run his first Marathon and an Ultra Marathon is the eventual goal.  That sort of commitment and determination can also be seen in Bryan’s obsessive love of bands and music, and he has some great stories to tell, including how Lana Del ray made him late for work.!. His musical taste is genuinely wide ranging, and I can’t wait to pull together the Playlist for this episode as he touched on so many great artists in our chat.  Bryan’s song choices are:  70’s -     Please Mr. Postman -                                  Carpenters 80’s -     Waterfall -                                                        The Stone Roses 90’s -     Dead Flag Blues -                                         Godspeed You! Black Emperor     00’s -     Slow Show                                                       The National 10’s -     Video Games                                                  Lana Del Rey  20’s -     Death Is Not The End                                Embrace                                                             If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at [email protected] Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Henrik Johnson, who is my first guest from Sweden.  Henrik was born and grew up in a small town called Karlskoga which is between Stockholm and Oslo. Whilst not ‘desperate to get out ‘he left Karlskoga at the first opportunity and has subsequently lived & worked on three continents including stints in Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Greece. For the past 20 years home has been Southern California where he lives today in Newport Beach with his wife Lisa and their 6-year-old daughter Sarah.  Henrik’s story is one of grabbing opportunities when they come up (even if it takes you to a war zone) , making what you enjoy your guiding light and recognising that necessity is the mother of invention.  It also contains a brilliantly romantic story of him, very uncharacteristically, inviting Lisa his wife on a sailing holiday in the Caribbean after their first date!  Like many of my guests Henrik shares a twin passion for music and technology and you can see this running through his music choices. Not surprisingly though he starts with Abba and the delights of Eurovision, and because of the brilliant story above I made an exception and allowed Henrik to choose his first dance song at his wedding for the 2010’s  His song choices are:  70’s        Waterloo                                                              Abba 80’s        Just Can’t Get Enough                                  Depeche Mode 90’s        Friday I’m In Love                                             The Cure 00’s        Nothing But You (PvD Radio Mix)          Paul Van Dyk  10’s        What A Wonderful World                           Louis Armstrong  20’s        You Are                                                                   Gareth Emery                                                    If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at [email protected] Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest on this episode is Christina Boubalou who comes to the show via an introduction from a previous guest Roy Sharples (Ep.61). Thanks for the intro Roy, and your continued support.  I’m delighted to say that Christina is my first guest from Greece, and she is a true Athenian. She has lived there all her life and continues to live there today along with her husband who was her best friend in high school!  Christina always thought she would become a chemist but through a set of happy accidents she started her working career in 1997 in the music industry with Virgin Records. She later moved into Marketing & PR in the corporate world but describes her time in the music industry as ‘the best job I ever had’.  In her own words she has always been ‘obsessed with music’ and on numerous occasions it has been her ‘saviour and salvation’. She talks fondly about the challenges of getting to hear music and see live shows in Greece and for me that was a timely reminder of how spoiled we were musically growing up in the UK or the US. At the end of the day though music lovers will always find a way.  Whilst I wasn’t aware when Roy made the introduction Christina is also a big fan of Springsteen and on July 23rd she will be in Munich for the first time to see him live, I just wish I could be there with her 😊  In addition to her song choices Christina also chose a word to describe each decade and I have included these below. Enjoy!  70’s -     Birth                     Love Is The Drug                              Roxy Music  80’s -     Dream                 Livin’ On A Prayer                            Bon Jovi  90’s -     Adulthood         Dance Of The Bad Angels          Tim Booth, Angelo Badalamenti  00’s -     Reinvention      Hung Up                                                Madonna  10’s -     Maturity             Jenny Of Oldstones                       Florence + The Machine  20’s -     Cycle                      Nightshift                                            Bruce Springsteen If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at [email protected] Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is friend and colleague Mike Palmer.  A Middlesborough lad, Mike moved to Manchester in 1984 to study Computing at UMIST where his degree supervisor was Bernard Richards, one of Alan Turing’s last students. Mike has never left the Northwest and he and his family have become committed ‘Mancophiles’, not least because of the great environment the city provides for music and the arts. Mike is a passionate music lover but it’s words that really impact him and as per the title of the episode on occasions make him cry. Similarly, recorded music is great but for him it’s all about the live performance. He inherited this love from his parents (who met Ella Fitzgerald!) and he and his wife Gerri have passed that on to his two daughters Emily and Anna. Consequently, each of his song choices are from bands he has seen live.  Mike has a wealth of great stories including:  ·         The Clash at Manchester Apollo in 1981 ·         Bowie at Murrayfield in 1983 on the Let’s Dance Tour  ·         The Smiths at Middlesborough Town Hall Crypt in 1984 ·         Chatting with Michael Stipe at Leeds Warehouse in 1984  ·         Asking Don Letts to move out of his seat at a Big Audio Dynamite gig in 1986 ·         Radiohead at Glastonbury in 1997 ·         The XX at a secret venue under Victoria Station with 60 people in 2013 ·         The joy of attending Green Man every year with about 20 family and friends Mike’s song choices are:  70’s        (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais         The Clash 80’s        New England                                                             Billy Bragg 90’s        Fake Plastic Trees                                                   Radiohead 00’s        One Day Like This                                                   Elbow 10’s        Make Me Feel                                                           Janelle Monae  20’s        The 345                                                                         Self Esteem  If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at [email protected] Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .