Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2022-06-20T09:48:03.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Smokey Robinson: "America's greatest living poet"
items: Brian Jones: the life and death of a Rolling Stone
items: Pete Mitchell: "Britpop irritates me"
items: Crowded House's Neil Finn: "Lorde may have blown me out of the water"
items: Learn your ABC: Pete Mitchell talks to the 80s band's frontman Martin Fry
items: Oscar Isaac on Inside Llewyn Davis and the impact of Bob Dylan
items: The Sex Pistols of fashion: the brothers behind label Gio-Goi
items: Cocaine, fine wine and Viagra: Alan McGee's rock 'n' roll life
items: The man who shot Jimi Hendrix, Kate Bush and Oasis: 50 years of photographer Gered Mankowitz
items: No ordinary person: Pete Mitchell talks to John Legend
items: Return of the Mac: Pete Mitchell praises rock's Scottish Svengali, Alan McGee
items: Pete Mitchell pays tribute to the late, great Tony Wilson
items: Chance, coincidence and Green Onions: Pete Mitchell on Otis Redding and Stax Records
items: Cool it for a minute: the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park, then and now
items: 2-4-6-8 celebrate: Pete Mitchell on Tom Robinson and Rock against Racism
items: What's going on?: Pete Mitchell on the first Isle of Wight festival and his most memorable gig ever
items: Should I deal or should I no? Pete Mitchell on the Clash
items: Standing up for Sit Down: Pete Mitchell on James
items: One of the greatest songs ever written: Pete Mitchell on Love Will Tear Us Apart
items: The greatest songs in the universe: five of the best from Bobby Womack

Smokey Robinson: "America's greatest living poet"
type: item
date: 2014-10-05T08:30:27.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: Absolute radio DJ Pete Mitchell speaks to the Detroit-born Motown icon
encoded: When an artist of the stature of Bob Dylan describes a fellow artist as 'Americas greatest living poet' then you sit up and take notice. He was describing William 'Smokey' Robinson, the kid from Detroit who changed music forever and helped turn Motown Records into a global phenomenon. He is as important as Dylan, Lennon and McCartney. At 74 years of age has just released one of his biggest-selling albums, which is no mean feat. The album comprises of some of Smokey's most enduring songs accompanied by a number of A-list duet partners, which has been put together by producer, bass player and the former judge of American idol Randy Jackson, who himself has worked with Aretha, Keith Richards and Maze. The album features the likes of John Legend, Cee Lo Green, Mary J. Blige and James Taylor with the Roots as the backing band. The guest vocalists recorded their vocals at various studios around the world, and Smokey’s dulcet tones were recorded at home in Los Angeles. He was the main architect of the Motown sound, made the vice chairman of the company in his early twenties and this record is a testament to his incredible songwriting. ‘Smokey & Friends’ highlights some of his greatest material ‘You Really Got a Hold on Me’, ‘The Way You Do the Things You Do’, ‘Ain't That Peculiar’ and of course his international anthem ‘My Girl’. The whole project was headed up by Randy Jackson. He contacted people and asked them what their favourite Smokey song was and if they’d like to sing on his new album. Smokey tells me rather enthusiastically when we meet one sunny afternoon in Soho “it’s an album of other artists singing my songs basically. Normally I'm in the studio writing, recording and producing, worrying about the arrangements and doing a bunch of other stuff. On this album all I had to do was turn up and sing. I'm a music fan, I'm not just someone who works in the music industry. I have everything from Bach to Nelly on my ipad, so it was an absolute pleasure to work with many…

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Brian Jones: the life and death of a Rolling Stone
type: item
date: 2014-07-01T15:16:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: The Stones' founder was forced out at the height of the band's success and died soon afterwards in mysterious cirucmstances - but there was much to admire about Brian Jones, says Pete Mitchell
encoded: The genius of Brian Jones propelled the early Rolling Stones into the higher echelons of the pop charts all over the world. He was a complete one off and there was much to admire about him. Jones was one of the ultimate sixties pop stars with a creative cutting edge, compounded with an out-there fashion sense, who remains a style icon to this day. It seems strange to think that he has almost been air-brushed out of the Rolling Stones history. Juggling his duties as a musician with heavy drink and drug use, he died in suspicious circumstances one summer's night at his rock star mansion in Sussex, forty five years ago this week. He was twenty seven. Brian was not exactly a child prodigy but he showed early signs that he was certainly gifted. During the mid to late 1950's, the skiffle craze was sweeping across Great Britain and the teenagers were going wild. Brian Lewis Hopkins Jones was besotted. He could play the piano and the clarinet proficiently and it would not long before he joined his first skiffle group. He bought a saxophone and formed a band, Thunder Odin’s Big Secret, and began playing venues and parties across London. He admired Blues musician Alexis Korner and met him after a gig in Cheltenham, where they exchanged phone numbers. He was introduced to the music of Elmore James by Korner, it was Brian's most important musical discovery and he was so enamoured by Elmore's work, that he went under the name of Elmore Lewis and began his career as a full time musician. In 1962 he formed the Stones, who built up a reputation as a tight live act almost immediately. Brian was the leader and responsible for the music they played, how they looked and where the band was going. He would soon suffer his first blow, losing control of the group to another young upstart. Andrew Oldham was a hustler on the London music scene who became a publicist for various music acts and for producer Joe Meek. Among his projects were stints publicising Bob Dylan on his first UK visit an…

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Pete Mitchell: "Britpop irritates me"
type: item
date: 2014-05-10T07:16:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: The Absolute Radio DJ rails against the "virulent flu" of the 90s genre and speaks to Stephen "Babybird" Jones and Ocean Colour Scene's Simon Fowler
encoded: The so called 'Britopop era' is celebrating some sort of anniversary this year. This widespread self-confidence and hedonism spread like a virulent flu bug down the streets of Great Britain, eventually stopping on the doorstep of Number 10 Downing Street as ‘Cool Britannia’. The term irritates me and I'm not too sure why, perhaps it is just the lazy journalism aspect of describing a phase in music, without any great explanation as to why there was a peak in a certain type of guitar music in the nineties. It was Loaded magazine, football, Blair and Britishness all rolled into one, with a hundred or so mainly pedestrian bands, who were snapped up by labels that for the most part were going nowhere. It was like an ill thought out British Tourist Board campaign. I remember appearing on News at Ten on the week of the ridiculous so called 'Battle of Britpop', the race to the number one slot between Oasis’s ‘Roll With It’ and Blur’s ‘Country House’. Usually this sort of hyped crap was reserved for the Christmas number one tussle around the tinsel. This musical arm wrestle between the two most victorious purveyors of the genre was for me a low point. Although looking back through those rose tinted spectacles, it's rather impressive to think that in between the more weighty world matters such as the Serbs' heavy weapons pounding of Sarajevo, the Rwanda massacre, a cease fire in Northern Ireland, American forces in the Persian Gulf and South Africa holding its first inter racial national election, the news channels saw fit to report on the UK music scene. The major record companies would give their left arm for this kind of coverage these days. Unlike the British Invasion of America from 1964 onwards, it did not travel across the Atlantic this time. The states saw this second coming as rude, brash, unimaginative and worst of all it was accompanied by bad teeth. Many lay claim to the term, rather like a bunch of over eager students trying to impress their tutor by sticking the…

Crowded House's Neil Finn: "Lorde may have blown me out of the water"
type: item
date: 2014-02-21T14:45:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: The New Zealand rock star tells Absolute Radio DJ Pete Mitchell he may no longer be his country's biggest music export
encoded: Neil Finn has just released Dizzy Heights, his third solo album and his first since 2001. It is only when you look back at his discography that you realise just how prolific this man has been over the years. I remember receiving a laser-etched 7" disc of I Got You by his band Split Enz in 1980. The band were roped into the New Wave genre but were probably a little too art school rock to be described as post punk. Neil had joined his brother Tim's band in the late 70s, which went on to have great success in Europe and America, as well as back home in New Zealand and Australia, where the song occupied the number one slot. View oEmbed on the source website When the band broke up in 1984, Neil formed the highly successful Crowded House, again having worldwide hits with Weather With You, Don't Dream It's Over and Fall At Your Feet. All in all, he has been extraordinarily prolific, recording around 20 albums throughout his career. The 55-year-old singer's new album features wife Sharon on bass and sons Liam on guitar and Elroy on drums and was recorded at the studio of producer Dave Fridmann, who has twiddled the knobs for Mercury Rev and the Flaming Lips in upstate New York. The title track has some beautiful harmonies and guitar and has a slight funk edge to it, which for me is very edifying. There are lovely falsetto moments on Recluse and White Lies and Alibis, which sound like two people trying to communicate across space. View oEmbed on the source website For any musician, the apprehension one feels before a new record is released is palpable. It is like sitting in limbo not knowing what to expect or wondering whether people will indeed like it. So what goes through his mind before the release of his latest work? “It's exciting because the record has been sitting there ready to go for a little while," explains Neil. "It’s great to have it coming out and it was a very enjoyable record to make with Dave in New York. Songs and albums are kind of amazing because you nev…

Learn your ABC: Pete Mitchell talks to the 80s band's frontman Martin Fry
type: item
date: 2014-02-11T09:49:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: Absolute Radio DJ Pete Mitchell talks to the lead singer of ABC about the influences behind the band's classic 80s album Lexicon of Love
encoded: Like a shaft of gleaming gold light the Lexicon of Love by ABC illuminated the dance floors across the UK, as the girls and boys got on down to some love strutting. The album's sharp, high-gloss production by the Sheffield- based band saw their long player top the charts in 1982. It took blue-eyed British funk to new heights with the help of the indomitable producer/musician wunderkind Trevor Horn. Along with Fry's heart-rending emotional lyrics, that every girl wanted to hear and every guy wanted to whisper, it connected and found an audience that took it to the top of the British charts with songs for the dance floor like The Look of Love, Poison Arrow, the funk-infused Tears Are Not Enough and its magnum opus, All of My Heart, all helped along by some magnificent orchestration by Anne Dudley. Lexicon still sounds sharp and focused and for me has lost nothing of its original appeal. [embed]http://player.vimeo.com/video/21068572?color=d12502[/embed] The Look Of Love from ABC on Vimeo. Sitting down with the very talkative lead singer and writer Martin Fry is a joy, for one thing you ask him a question and you can sit back and listen in detail to an era when synthesizers were becoming affordable and that huge high drama cinematic production was in its infancy: “We wanted to make something very emotional. A lot of music at the time was about electricity pylons and abstract concepts and we wanted to take our audience on an emotional rollercoaster ride,” explains Fry. “We tried to incorporate two different worlds. We were listening to the Cure and Joy Division along with Earth, Wind and Fire and Chic. It has been a lifelong attempt to try and fuse those two worlds together.” The roots of the album and its writing go back to Martin’s formative years in the north. He was born in Stretford, Manchester, before moving to Cheadle Hulme in Stockport and formed his first band Vice Versa, while he was studying English literature at Sheffield University. He had realised as a kid …

Oscar Isaac on Inside Llewyn Davis and the impact of Bob Dylan
type: item
date: 2014-01-23T15:41:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: Movies
subject: News
subject: Radio
subject: audio
subject: Interview
description: Absolute Radio DJ Pete Mitchell hears about the inspiration for the Coen Brothers' Oscar-nominated new movie
encoded: Inside Llewyn Davis is the new cinematic offering from the enigmatic Joel and Ethan Coen. It's inspired by the singer/songwriter Dave Van Ronk, a relative unknown to the mainstream but a folk luminary, who trawled the clubs, bars and cafés of Greenwich Village from the late 50s onwards until his death in 2002. He is now deemed “legendary”, and the film is loosely based on his posthumously published memoir, The Major of MacDougal Street. Born in Brooklyn in 1936, Van Ronk moved to the Village as a teenager and stayed. His debut album, Van Ronk Sings Ballads, Blues and a Spiritual, was released in 1959, leading Bob Dylan to pronounce that he “sang like a soldier of fortune and sounded like he paid the price”. His best known song is a cover of Fed Neil's Green, Green Rocky Road, which is used in the film. It’s a sparse, nervy and exquisite recording. View oEmbed on the source website I know it’s difficult to imagine a folk world without Dylan and this is exactly what the movie is all about. Set in the Village in 1961, it portrays an insular guarded and blinkered music scene that opposes change and is all about curating the folk songs of the old world. It was an intellectual and politically charged period but, dare I say it, slightly dull. It was a scene waiting for a charge of electricity and by 1966, much to the chagrin of the old establishment “Judas” Dylan had turned it up to 11. The folk messiah moved to New York in 1961 and began to play around various clubs in the Village. He wrote and performed Blowin' in the Wind for the first time at Gerde's Folk City in April 1962 – he was 21 at the time. The movie covers a particularly turbulent period in the life of a frustrated singer who doesn't want to move on and is teetering on a breakdown, meltdown or maybe both, in a world closing in on him. He is suffocating. View oEmbed on the source website Llewyn Davis is played by relative newcomer Oscar Isaac, who is totally believable as a paranoid singer who smells change and…

The Sex Pistols of fashion: the brothers behind label Gio-Goi
type: item
date: 2013-11-28T15:17:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: Absolute Radio DJ Pete Mitchell talks to the Donnelly brothers about the ups and downs of their fashion career
encoded: London has long been at the forefront of the fashion scene in the UK. Since the coffee bar culture and the birth of the teenager in the 1950s it has reigned supreme. During the 1960s Carnaby Street and “Swinging” London hit the heights with its mod look and target image, making front page news around the world. It was the birth of “Cool Britannia”. In the mid- to late-70s the capital was once again involved in another musical uprising. The beginnings of the punk movement began around the Kings Road in Chelsea at Sex, the notorious clothes shop headed by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren. The safety pin coupled with John Lydon's sneer exemplified the movement and once again made front page news. When acid house arrived a decade later, the focus of attention switched to the north of England. It was during the 1980s that Manchester began to prise the fashion crown away from the capital. The dawning of the acid house movement and street clothing changed nightclubbing in Britain for ever, as the streetwise fashion guru brothers Anthony and Christopher Donnelly took charge. They were at the forefront of the new movement organising and promoted Manchester's first illegal warehouse party, which was attended by 1,500 people including New Order and Noel Gallagher. They were way ahead of the pack and their northern grit would take them right to the top of the fashion world. View oEmbed on the source website Through the acid house haze and illegal raves rose Britain's most credible clothing range, Gio-Goi, the brothers’ very own fashion range. Manchester became as cool as Paris, Milan and New York. I seem to remember for a while that everyone was wearing their clothing. Gio-Goi became as ubiquitous as the James flowered t-shirt design. The label became a worldwide phenomenon as the “Madchester” scene took hold when the likes of Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and New Order all began sporting the country’s coolest clothing brand. The Donnellys made the front page of Vogue, leadin…

Cocaine, fine wine and Viagra: Alan McGee's rock 'n' roll life
type: item
date: 2013-11-08T10:57:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: Absolute Radio DJ Pete Mitchell hears some of the outrageous stories from the Creation Records boss's new biography
encoded: The founder of one of the UK's most out-there and exciting record labels has just published his first memoir. Creation Stories: Riots, Raves and Running a Label is Glaswegian Alan McGee's story. The 300-page biography tells of his working-class beginnings and his out-of-control life in rock ‘n’ roll. He famously signed Oasis, as well as Primal Scream, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride, Super Furry Animals and My Bloody Valentine. Talking with Alan is always a complete and utter joy. Only the other day we chatted for the best part of three hours about everything from family to the possibility of a Smiths reunion and his love of the new Morrissey biography. We covered the Stone Roses along with another truly hilarious McGee story about one of the most famous men in music — who shall remain nameless — who insisted that unless his promoter immediately supplied him with Viagra, he would refuse to go on stage. The promoter duly obliged and the international superstar went on at the SECC in front of 12,000 people with more than a smile on his face. There a hundreds of stories like these that never made the book; the lawyers had a field day. Everyone written about in this fascinating insight was sent a copy before publishing for approval and the majority went with it. I have heard many of those unpublished stories, and the ones left out for legal reasons are stuff of legend. “Someone suggested that I write a no-holds-barred account, naming names and incidents. It was suggested that I deposit it in a bank vault only to be published in the event of my death,” he says. I'm not sure if he's bluffing but he is always convincing. McGee is a brilliant raconteur who can talk the hind legs off a donkey. Noel Gallagher says of the man, “He gave me, and many people like me, a chance to change my life.” His oldest friend Bobby Gillespie states, “He was an instigator and motivator, a born upsetter.” We spend time talking about his addictions. His energy came from booze, pills, cocaine and …

The man who shot Jimi Hendrix, Kate Bush and Oasis: 50 years of photographer Gered Mankowitz
type: item
date: 2013-10-17T15:26:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: Absolute Radio DJ Pete Mitchell talks to the renowned music photographer about a half-century in pictures, accompanied by some of his most famous portraits
encoded: Renowned rock photographer Gered Mankowitz has just printed his half century in celluloid with a book called 50 Years of Rock and Roll Photography. Inspired to take up the profession by Peter Sellers, he opened his first studio in 1964 and found himself at the centre of “Swinging London”, the birth of Cool Britannia. He soon established himself as one of the most sought after music photographers, working with the Rolling Stones from 1964 to 67 and snapping the crème de la crème of British and American acts along the way. It’s hard to image now but the British music scene at that time was in its infancy and there was no precedent or blueprint mapped out for the burgeoning musical uprising. 1963 was a pivotal year for Gered; he began taking his first pictures at the same time as the Mersey Beat sound was being birthed. The Beatles had just released their second studio album and were touring with Helen Shapiro — they were fourth on the bill of 11 acts. The group trod onto American soil for the very first time in February of 1964, their stepping stone towards worldwide domination. This was an incredible achievement executed by a small number of creative individuals who were investing in the relatively new concept of “the teenager”. Mankowitz was one of those early architects and creators of “Swinging London”, giving Britain a cool image that was marketed with incredible effect around the world; it was brand Britain. He explains, “You didn't know what was happening. I think that a big part of it was that suddenly people of my generation felt empowered and that we had something to offer that the old establishment seemed to want.” He continues, “The realisation that within the stifled established music business of the time, certain individuals knew that there was a huge market out there to capitalise on and we needed to tap into it. They needed communicators, photographers, designers and art directors, who were plugged in naturally to the environment. We were given this ex…

No ordinary person: Pete Mitchell talks to John Legend
type: item
date: 2013-10-10T11:41:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: The Absolute Radio DJ hears from the award-winning R&B star about church music, Michael Jackson and the origins of his biggest hit
encoded: American R&B superstar John Legend has just released his impressive fifth solo album Love in the Future. Since he first got his big break playing piano on Everything Is Everything, a track on the multimillion-selling album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, the humble and reticent singer has gone on to sell records all over the world. Seven million in fact. His vocals can be heard on tunes by Jay Z, Alicia Keys, Dilated Peoples and Britney Spears. He also bears a striking resemblance to a young Marvin Gaye and has recently married his beautiful model wife Chrissy Teigen, who appears semi naked in the video to All of Me. Yes, he's got it all going on. View oEmbed on the source website John was born in 1978, so he missed Motown's golden years, although he was a Michael Jackson and a Boys II Men fan as a teenager and both acts were at one time signed to America’s greatest record label. He talks about the show he was working on with Stevie Wonder when the news came through that Jackson had died: “Stevie was so overcome. That night in concert he starting playing Michael Jackson records from the stage and the place erupted. He would play them from start to finish. It was very sad and yet incredible uplifting at the same time.” John is obviously in awe of the label and its incredible roster, and when you are short of inspiration all you have to do is put on a Motown record and the rest will look after itself. “We lived a few hours drive south from Detroit in Springfield, Ohio, so we are in the same cultural area of the states where Motown was born. My father was an auto worker just like the parents of the majority of musicians who worked at Hitsville.” John enthusiastically explains, “Growing up in the church and hearing Motown music was so important to me. I grew up around music, my grandmother was the church organist, my mom was the choir director, my grandfather was the minister, so the music of the church was a heavy part of my childhood. “That's where I developed my cho…

Return of the Mac: Pete Mitchell praises rock's Scottish Svengali, Alan McGee
type: item
date: 2013-09-18T09:41:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: The Absolute Radio DJ hears from the record label boss about discovering Oasis - and his latest signings
encoded: Scottish music Svengali, the irrepressible Alan McGee, returns to the fold with a new label, 359 Records, and his first autobiography, Creation Stories: Riots, Raves and Running a Label, which is out in early November. I can never be too sure whether Alan likes or hates the music business, but for now he's back and I'm glad about that. I have known him on and off for years; we used to DJ together at his Death Disco night at Notting Hill Arts Club and he has appeared on my radio shows many times over the years. He’s always exceptionally good value. His label, Creation Records, has gone down in the annuls of music history. He discovered Oasis, which is his defining musical moment, and he released records by the Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream, before selling on his label in 1999 and launching Poptones, signing the Hives and releasing their album, Your New Favourite Band, which crashed into the top 10 in 2002. View oEmbed on the source website There is more to McGee than meets the eye. He used to deal in drugs but these days dabbles in art and property instead and is now once again running his own record label. Alan is funny and a wonderful raconteur. He regaled me with a few tales that unfortunately will not make his forthcoming memoirs, due to legal reasons. One particular story about Knebworth had me rolling on the floor in laughter, gasping for air. His discovery of Oasis is legendary. Love them or loathe them, they inspired a generation with their anthems and antics and the very thing that made them stand out, the exhausting sibling rivalry of Noel and Liam, was the very thing that tore them apart. I am hearing rumours they have been offered a substantial amount to perform their greatest album, the debut Definitely Maybe, to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2014. Would anyone be surprised if a tour happened? Maybe not, but for me I think it's way too soon. Not enough time has elapsed in order to create "fever pitch", to have fans buying tickets up for thou…

Pete Mitchell pays tribute to the late, great Tony Wilson
type: item
date: 2013-08-19T14:57:40.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: The Absolute Radio DJ uses the 6th anniversary of the death of one Anthony H Wilson as an opportunity to look back on the life of Manchester's answer to Diaghilev
encoded: This month marked the 6th anniversary of the death of TV presenter and music entrepreneur Tony Wilson. From his devil may care style of TV presenting to his chaotic running of his record label, to the shambolic financially draining and influential night club the Hacienda, the man will never be forgotten – and if one or two leading luminaries get their way, we will see a permanent memorial to him. My attention was drawn to his anniversary by singer songwriter Richard McNevin-Duff on last Saturday's show who, along with his band the Space Monkeys, was signed to Tony's legendary label Factory Records (he started the company with the inheritance of £12,000 left to him by his mum). For me it was very satisfying to hear from one of his fledglings inspired by Wilson and his legacy years down the line, and still making music under his new guise as Giant Star (check out Happy Pills on iTunes). Richard owes his life in music to Tony, as so do an army of others including Joy Division/New Order, Happy Mondays and Duritti Column. The city and its people owe a great debt to his legendary efforts and shenanigans and of course to his eternal spouting off, to anyone who would listen, about tales and talent from his beloved metropolis in the north. The ubiquitous Anthony H entered my life through What's On, his weekly tea-time music slot on Granada Reports. He would feature non-mainstream new music on his fifteen-minute slot, much to the chagrin of his myopic bosses. The one thing I found off-kilter was his theme music, Bruce Springstein's Born to Run – but then he always was contrary. He would introduce anyone from Magazine, Buzzcocks, Iggy Pop, Joy Division and Blondie. Seeing Debbie Harry for the very first time on early evening TV in a leather mini-skirt, thigh-high boots and a shock of blonde hair, whilst my mum was frying chips in the kitchen, is something that is indelibly etched onto my fading memory. Tony looked besotted. When I was an apprentice electrician I would ring him…

Chance, coincidence and Green Onions: Pete Mitchell on Otis Redding and Stax Records
type: item
date: 2013-07-26T15:02:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: The Absolute Radio DJ hears from Booker T and the MGs rhythm guitarist Steve Cropper about his first meeting with the soul legend
encoded: Memphis, Tennessee, is the home of Stax Records, the studio and label that discovered one of the most magnificent singers this world has ever heard, Otis Redding. They also produced some of the greatest soul music of 1960s America. Along with Motown in Detroit, Atlantic in New York, Chess records in Chicago and Fame down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, they released records that went on to sell millions of copies worldwide. American R&B was as popular as Elvis and the Beatles, and Motown boss Berry Gordy observed, he knew who he was making records for and how to sell black music to white America, and the competition copied him. When you listen back to, say, Marvin, Aretha, Sam, Ray, Etta, Diana and Smokey, it's incredible to think that these artists and labels were releasing conveyer belt-style music almost daily struggling to cope with the enormous demand. It was the zenith of the 7'' single and teenagers bought them as regularly as a loaf of bread and a packet of cigarettes. When I was younger, aunties and uncles, older brothers and sisters, would proudly boast of how many Motown and Stax records they owned; it was kudos and currency all at the same time and above all, it was very cool getting on down to American soul music. Having trawled America making documentaries on this particular subject, what fascinates me most is how this actually happened: how did Berry Gordy gather so much talent in one place? What vision did Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton, the owners of Stax, have (look carefully at their names and you will see where the name of their company came from)? What I was looking for was the elixir, the magic potion, a secret locked away in the vaults of a large bank safe that explains how it was all done. They more I searched, the more cases of “chance” and “coincidence” seemed to crop up. This revelation was compounded recently when I met producer, songwriter, rhythm guitarist extraordinaire and founding member of the Stax house band Booker T and the MGs, Steve C…

Cool it for a minute: the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park, then and now
type: item
date: 2013-07-12T15:20:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: Absolute Radio DJ Pete Mitchell looks back the Stones gig in Hyde Park in 1969 and hears from Mick Jagger backstage at this year's concert
encoded: The current phase of the Rolling Stones’ 50 and Counting world tour goes on hiatus after their second sellout Hyde Park show this Saturday. Last week's show was hailed as “biblical” in some quarters, as 60,000 fans went home sunburnt and happy, safe in the knowledge that they had witnessed a performance by one of the greatest bands of the 21st century. Much has been said and written about the Stones first historical performance in the park some 44 years earlier, which according to some sources was attended by nearly a half a million people. How could the Tube, cabs and buses cater for that amount of people in one place at one time, virtually without incident? There has been much debate about the sound levels in the park — “turn it up” is the usual mantra from the crowd these days as noise pollution threatens all of human existence. You may remember the farcical “pulling of the plug” during Bruce Springsteen's duet with Paul McCartney as they audaciously dared sneak past the nightly 10.30 noise curfew one Saturday evening last year. Bruce had introduced Macca by saying “I've been waiting for this for 50 years,” just before silence fell over the park minutes later. Forty-four years previously, in July 1969, the Stones performed at a free outdoor festival in the park in front of a sea of human beings that stretched back as far as the eye could see. Check out the excellent Granada TV documentary filmed on the day. View oEmbed on the source website Dressed in an Ozzie Clark white outfit, Jagger opened with a eulogy to the recently deceased Brian Jones. He had died a few days earlier in a mysterious swimming pool incident at his home in Sussex. He was just 27. Mick quelled the over-excited crowd by telling them to “cool it for a minute”, then recited a Shelley poem and released hundreds of butterflies into the park. This gesture caused some consternation within the botanical and park keepers’ world, as Mick explained to me backstage before last week's show. “It was a sad …

2-4-6-8 celebrate: Pete Mitchell on Tom Robinson and Rock against Racism
type: item
date: 2013-07-06T05:15:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: The Absolute Radio DJ recalls the Tom Robinson Band's fight for equality and headline set at the first Rock against Racism gig
encoded: EMI have just released the Tom Robinson Band Anthology 1977-79, a four disc box set that contains both TRB albums, singles, sessions, live concerts and a hour-long Granada TV documentary broadcast in 1978. I worked briefly with Tom at BBC 6 Music and always found him affable and generous with his time; he was always excited by new music and would chat quite happily about something exciting that he had received in the post that day. He is a great champion of the up and coming and radio needs more of his type. I remember his debut hit single 2-4-6-8 Motorway in 1977, the year the band formed, which through a series of lucky breaks and plenty of diehard support from their then loyal following, hit the charts. We all enjoyed his uplifting sing-along ditty which sat rather uncomfortably among the Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks and the Clash, who were all part of the punk movement, and the Tom Robinson Band were part of this so-called attack on the establishment. View oEmbed on the source website He was miscast in this new musical uprising. For one Tom was older and maybe more wiser — his first foray into music was a semi-folk outfit called Cafe Society who were bizarrely signed to Konk Records and produced by Ray and Dave Davies of the Kinks. The project never really got off the ground. The thing about Robinson is that he had a conscience, he wanted to strive for fairness and equality in society, and had good reason to follow this turbulent and uncomfortable path. “For me, having grown up gay in 1960s Britain, where you could be imprisoned for falling in love with a person of the same sex, was very tough, but I started to embrace gay liberation when I came to London in the 70s,” explains Tom enthusiastically, “but it wasn't just about gay liberation, it was also about combating racism and inequality, it was about giving a voice to people who were marginalised by mainstream society. We were fighting for a fairer world. The Tom Robinson Band were about a fair society for everyone.…

What's going on?: Pete Mitchell on the first Isle of Wight festival and his most memorable gig ever
type: item
date: 2013-06-14T13:09:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: The Absolute Radio DJ looks forward to this weekend's Isle of Wight festival and recalls the best worst gig he ever attended
encoded: This weekend Absolute Radio decamps to the Isle of Wight for the annual weekend festival of live music, fun and frolics. Headline acts the Stone Roses, the Killers and Bon Jovi will entertain the 60,000 gig goers. This historic festival began in 1969 and featured Bob Dylan, who had been recovering from a motorcycle accident three years earlier. The rumour was that he might never play live again. Woodstock began that year and it was almost a given that Dylan would make his comeback there. The promoter put on the monumental gig at Yasgur's farm in White Lake, New York, a few miles from where Dylan lived, in the hope of enticing him to play. The expectation was mounting. It was one the most important gigs of all time – and Bob Dylan was nowhere to be seen. He gave Woodstock the middle finger and headed for the Isle of Wight, leaving on the day it began. The spindly Jesus-like figure performed in front of an estimated 150-250,000 followers and he could have parted the English channel. It was the second coming. View oEmbed on the source website For those that attended this messianic happening, it must have been extraordinary. This got me thinking about my gig-going experiences. One night stands out like no other. It was not necessarily the best performance, but the one that means more to me than any of the other thousands of gigs I have attended over the years. The most important gig of my life happened at ABC Theatre Manchester (now the Apollo) in September 1976. It was a grey day as my mate Tony and I boarded the orange and white 205 bus from Dane Bank, Denton, passing through Gorton and Belle Vue Zoo along the way, to the ABC Cinema some 15 minutes away. Tony was wearing a fairly expensive long leather black jacket that his parents had bought him. I looked bedraggled next to him and I was totally jealous of it. We had seats in the front row of the stalls and the tickets cost six quid each. We were looking down on to the stage, which had an orchestra and band set up, a…

Should I deal or should I no? Pete Mitchell on the Clash
type: item
date: 2013-06-07T14:41:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: The Absolute Radio DJ talks to the remaining members of the influential punk band about Joe Strummer and the delights of Deal or No Deal
encoded: The Clash release Sound System, a box set of the band's entire re-mastered works on 9 September. Conceived and compiled by the band, it's a unique collection by one of the most influential British groups of all time. The collection is a powerful and significant reminder of the band's enduring and important political legacy. A legacy that grows and does not diminish. Their music is just as powerful now as it was then when they first entered the fray with White Riot in March 1977. Time distorts this historical moment. Looking at the hit parade from that month, Leo Sayer was at number one with the saccharine When I Need You, Julie Covington belted out Don't Cry for Me Argentina and Mary MacGregor was Torn between Two Lovers. The only tune to cause any stirrings was David Bowie's glorious Sound and Vision. Yes, 1977 was the year of punk but the biggest selling single was Mull of Kintyre by Wings. David Soul was that year's poster boy. The impact that punk had on the top 40 was negligible. Although the Sex Pistols were deemed by the press, government and the majority of the country in Jubilee year as the anti-Christ, they should have crashed into the charts at number one with their second single God Save the Queen. Banned by the BBC and commercial radio it was the biggest selling single of Jubilee week but was mysteriously relegated to number two as the powers that be installed Rod Stewart's I Don't Want to Talk About It at number one. View oEmbed on the source website White Riot reached a lowly 38 on the charts, but it heralded a change. Punk protested against the monarchy and aristocracy and highlighted youth unemployment, racism and injustice. Culturally and politically punk was at the centre of everything. The Labour government of the time thought that this nasty youth uprising would fizzle and burn out as quickly as it arrived. As I sit in front of the assembled three remaining members of the Clash, reunited for the first time in 20 years, I think about the current …

Standing up for Sit Down: Pete Mitchell on James
type: item
date: 2013-05-11T05:57:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: The Absolute Radio DJ looks back at the unconventional career path of the Manchester mavericks
encoded: James have retreated into the confines of the recording studio to begin work on a possible new album that will follow up the experimental, simultaneous release of The Night Before and The Morning After in 2010. This current burst of creativity comes off the back of a much lauded and highly successful tour which saw them reconnecting with their loyal, fanatical, obsessive followers. I know it's a well worn and tatty old phrase but this band have always done it their way. Their ubiquitous flowered emblem t-shirt was a hit even before most people had even heard of, let alone seen, them. Every student in every refectory sported one. Never a band to flirt with convention, they reluctantly took a slow seven-year path to chart success in the early 90s and instructed their audience to Sit Down — obligingly they did. Their recent tour has featured Echo and the Bunnymen as support, which at first glance seems a little incongruous but they both have a number of similarities. They came out of "scenes", they were student-land superstars and their respective front men have a hint of the messiah complex about them. They are defiantly both eccentric and quintessentially English. The effervescent guitarist and fellow Dentonian (a small hatting town in Manchester where we both grew up) Larry Gott, shines some light on the subject when we meet. "You don't often see two bands of this calibre on the same stage, but for some critics it seemed off-balance, almost a mismatch. I guess there was some resentment towards us from the reviewers because historically the Bunnymen are influential and are much more quoted, whereas James don't have the same kudos and we are not thought of in the same light. I thought about this. Why is it that they have that perspective and we don't? I think we are seen as mavericks and mavericks are not as powerful as the movement. The Bunnymen were important and part of that Mersey/Indie movement, possibly the most important group of their generation. The whole Mad…

One of the greatest songs ever written: Pete Mitchell on Love Will Tear Us Apart
type: item
date: 2013-05-03T14:32:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: The Absolute Radio DJ starts his new regular column with a paean to Joy Division's anthem
encoded: Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division is undoubtedly one of the greatest songs ever written. Only the foolish would argue it has little or no merit. Released on Tony Wilson's Manchester record label Factory, a chaotic and shambolic company formed with his aunt's inheritance in 1978, it could have quite easily been long-lost and forgotten, if not for the surrounding set of tragic, heartbreaking circumstances. Joy Division defied commercial conventions and pop pretensions and are one of the most original and uncompromising bands this country has produced. The band to this day remain a powerful presence and absence. They were the musical half-light, bathed in a grey, mysterious and perturbing shadow, and Love Will Tear Us Apart reflects a band at their creative zenith. This generational anthem was written in late 1979 and produced by Martin Hannett at Pennine Studios in Oldham in January 1980. The foreboding 12’’ cover artwork depicting a tombstone was chosen before the tragic death of singer Ian Curtis in May. He had taken his own life on the eve of what was to be the band's first American tour. His beautiful epitaph has charted a dozen times since its original release. So how did the group produce this twisted and dark song of love? Peter Hook explains, "It was one of the quickest songs we ever wrote, the track was literally recorded in an hour and a half. Ian Curtis loved the riff and took it home that night to write the lyrics for it. He came back the next day with a scrap of paper with Love Will Tear Us Apart as a finished lyric. When you compare it to say Blue Monday, which took us six months to complete, Perfect Kiss nine months to finish, its remarkable. It's just so intangible as to what makes a certain song so anthemic, it’s extraordinary. In a strange way to be recognised as one of the greatest songs of all time is just so perfect for Ian. Where could we have gone after that, how do you follow up such a perfect piece of work?" Well we could talk about thei…

The greatest songs in the universe: five of the best from Bobby Womack
type: item
date: 2013-02-23T08:57:00.000Z
creator: Pete Mitchell
subject: audio
subject: News
subject: Radio
description: Absolute Radio 60s DJ and soul music aficionado Pete Mitchell counts down his top five Bobby Womack tracks - and Damon Albarn talks about persuading Bobby out of retirement
encoded: As Sony Award-winning DJ Pete Mitchell talks to Bobby Womack and Damon Albarn about Bobby's career and critically acclaimed comeback (Bravest Man in the Universe: the Bobby Womack Story, 6pm Sunday Absolute Radio 60s), he picks out five defining Womack tracks. Across 110th Street From the soundtrack of the 1973 crime drama film of the same name starring Anthony Quinn, this gritty, heartfelt song about everyday life in the ghetto was written and completed at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in just two weeks, which is remarkable. From the era of the “blaxploitation” movie, it followed in the footsteps of Shaft, Trouble Man and Superfly, and matches them for dramatic and cinematic quality. Accompanied by searing orchestration by JJ Johnson with hard-hitting lyrics and music by Womack that truly reflect the drug-infested poverty-stricken streets of Harlem, you can tell Bobby has lived this life. The Bravest Man in the Universe The title track from his 2012 comeback album after quitting the music business in 1994 through debt and drug addiction. After the persistence of Damon Albarn, who managed to coax Bobby out of retirement to work on his 2010 Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach, he returned to work on his first solo album in 20 years. Produced by Damon and XL Records boss Richard Russell, his new work has been described as one of the greatest comeback albums of all time. The track had been written by Bobby for Isaac Hayes and the Memphis Horns but was never completed and lay dormant for decades until Damon heard the song prior to recording the album. At Albarn’s insistence, it became the title track. A killer comeback. Hear Pete talking to Damon Albarn about persuading Bobby to come out of retirement I Can Understand It From the Understanding album of 1972, this was a top 10 hit for New Birth in 1973. Coming in at just under seven minutes long, this tribal-influenced tune has a touch of the native American about its rhythm, which is punctuated with a blistering sou…