Music Talks

Music Talks as a Podcast may have finished but my desire to share my Favourite Albums of the Year has not abated and in fact this is the 25th year I have been doing it.  It started in 2000 with me, a Dual CD recorder and handmade artwork. Then it was on to a Spotify Playlists and for the last 6 years a Podcast where myself and my dear friend Steven Routledge each choose our favourite 10 albums of...

Music Talks as a Podcast may have finished but my desire to share my Favourite Albums of the Year has not abated and in fact this is the 25th year I have been doing it.  It started in 2000 with me, a Dual CD recorder and handmade artwork. Then it was on to a Spotify Playlists and for the last 6 years a Podcast where myself and my dear friend Steven Routledge each choose our favourite 10 albums of...

This is Part 2 of the 100th Episode of Music Talks, which is also the final episode of Music Talks.  Five years and 100 episodes felt to me like a good time to bring things to a close. It has been a fantastic, joyful, fulfilling and most importantly FUN experience doing this Podcast, and it is something I will always treasure.  To mark this occasion, I thought it was time for me to appear as a gue...

This is Part 1 of the 100th Episode of Music Talks, which is also the final episode of Music Talks.  Five years and 100 episodes felt to me like a good time to bring things to a close. It has been a fantastic, joyful, fulfilling and most importantly FUN experience doing this Podcast, and it is something I will always treasure.  To mark this occasion, I thought it was time for me to appear as a gue...

September 5th will see the 100th and final episode of Music Talks and I know the guest for that episode pretty well as its ……ME!!  Given I will be moving chairs I needed someone to be the host of that episode and who better than Steve Clayton, a dear friend, my very first guest on Music Talks and one of the best communicators I know. Given his role at Microsoft is ‘Chief Storyteller’ that’s no sur...

Welcome to Episode 99 of Music Talks, it’s a significant one with a very special guest. The guest in question is Kevin Clement who amongst other things is the host of the brilliantly named radio show ‘Mysterious Debris’ on Rockin’ the Suburbs Radio.  Kevin is special to me because prior to starting Music Talks I did some pilot episodes with my dear friend Jesse Jackson as a co-host under the name...

My guest in this episode is Nicki Cockburn.  Nicki now lives in Cardiff but was born in 1978 in Zimbabwe. At 5 months old, after her Mum insisted on a second opinion, she was diagnosed as being blind. For sighted people like me that would feel like a massive burden and challenge but in talking about it Nicki says “I’m really happy with it, you have to adapt’ and “it’s been a problem for a lot of p...

My guest today is dear friend and an ex-colleague, Derrick Mc Court.  Derrick and I first met in 2001 when he joined Microsoft in Ireland. Our paths crossed many times and in many ways over the years and it has always been a pleasure to spend time with him.  Today he is General Manager of the Customer Success Unit in Microsoft UK and sits on the UK Board.  A quick look at his LinkedIn Profile will...

My guest in this episode is Lynn Asher ( www.lynnasher.com ) who was introduced to Music Talks by a recent guest Paul Webb (Ep 92).   Lynn is a native of Portland Maine but she had a childhood dream to move to California. It took some time to fulfil her dream but this year Lynn celebrates 30 years living in California and her musical career spans a similar timescale.  Despite being a ‘late bloomer...

My guest in this episode is Claire Sanderson who was introduced to the show by an early guest and now a dear friend, Ian Braisby.  Claire was born and grew up in Cornwall with her parents and two elder brothers. She describes her childhood as being ‘surrounded by all types of music’ and that breadth is reflected in her song choices and the much longer list she sent to me. Her song choices are:  80...

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 a...

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...

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...

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 ho...

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...

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 t...

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 m...

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...

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 a...

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...

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...

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...

My guest in this episode is author, speaker & entrepreneur, Penny Power, OBE.  I first met Penny in the late 90’s when she had just started the first Social Network, Ecademy with the declared aim of helping business people achieve success through online tools, community, and friendship.  At that time there were a lot of people talking about online tools but very few talking about community, fr...

My guest in this episode has two names! In his day to day life he is Noury Bernard-Hasan , or in true rock star style simply ‘Noury’ to anyone who knows him.  However, for the last 15+ years he has also been a semi-professional Blues musician and he performs under the name of ‘Son Jack Jr’.   Born in 1962, shortly after his parents emigrated to England from India, Noury grew up around West Kensing...

My guest in this episode is renowned UK illustrator Ian Wright.  His work as a commercial illustrator has spanned four decades, starting with his illustrative cover of The Undertones’ Teenage Kicks 7” single in the late 1970s, progressing with his illustrative artwork in The Face magazine in their 1980s heyday and his famous weekly black and white portraits for the New Musical Express (NME). Ian’s...