The Joe Jackson Interviews

This was an Irish Times interview I did with Garth Brooks in 1991. We did three major interviews at the time. It was said in public by Dave Pennyfeather, Garth's European representative at the time, that I "helped break Garth Brooks in Ireland." How do I feel about that, now that Garth is King of Country in Ireland again? Strange!

This is a repost and heavily edited version of my 'Elvis Fan responds to Baz Luhrmann's movie' podcast. I have cut out the twelve-minute section about my history as an Elvis fan which led to the powerful feelings I have about what to me are the lies Luhrmann tells in his all-flash-and-no-substance movie. The film has received enough praise, excessively so, globally, but, happily, at least some cri...

I love the fact that Baz Luhrmann's movie Elvis has brought the King of Pop, as we called him when I was a child, back into public consciousness globally.  And that Elvis's music is getting 67% more streaming than before the movie was released. Luhrmann must receive the highest praise for all that. But, as a so-called "Elvis expert" and someone who has written countless articles about Presley sinc...

Elvis is back in the building becuase of the Baz Luhrmann movie. But I believe that where he should have probed he skims over the soul of Elvis in so many ways. So, I'm reposting some of my in-depth conversations about the King. Here BB King, with whim Elvis did not have a friendship, despite what Luhrmann suggests in his move, talks about his own career and about Elvis

Elvis is back in the building becuase of the Baz Luhrmann movie. But I believe that where he should have probed he skims over the soul of Elvis in so many ways. So, I'm reposting some of my in-depth conversations about the King.

Elvis is back in the building becuase of the Baz Luhrmann movie. But I believe that where he should have probed he skims over the soul of Elvis in so many ways. So, I'm reposting some of my in-depth conversations about the King.

Elvis is back in the building becuase of the Baz Luhrmann movie. But I believe that where he should have probed he skims over the soul of Elvis in so many ways. So, I'm reposting some of my in-depth conversations about the King.

Elvis is back in the building becuase of the Baz Luhrmann movie. But I believe that where he should have probed he skims over the soul of Elvis in so many ways. So, I'm reposting some of my in-depth conversations about the King.

Elvis is back in the building becuase of the Baz Luhrmann movie. But I believe that where he should have probed he skims over the soul of Elvis in so many ways. So, I'm reposting some of my in-depth conversations about the King.

Elvis is back in the building becuase of the Baz Luhrmann movie. But I believe that where he should have probed he skims over the soul of Elvis in so many ways. So, I'm reposting some of my in-depth conversations about the King.

I am told there is a new Netflix documentary about the monster Jimmy Savile. I was the first Irish journalist to raise with him rumours about him being a paedophile.  I didn't get under his skin, I readily admit in this podcast which I made in 2020. But at least I raised the issue and got some strange answers

If the trailer is anything to go by, and it was premiered by Baz today, February 17th 2022, and the 'Elvis' movie makes Tom Hanks playing Colonel Tom Parker a hero in the Elvis movie it will be a travesty of Elvis's life and a historical lie. The signs are not good for the movie being anything but all flash and no substance, like Baz himself, sadly. 

Gabriel is back in Dublin doing his one-man show. I am re-posting this, the first half of a one-hour show I made for RTE radio in 2016. Included is what Gabriel described as "the first totally honest, soul-searching interview" he ever did

The Crown has returned for a new season on Netflix. That fact reminds me of a brutally honest interview Sarah Ferguson gave me in 2004. The most telling part, besides the comments about herself, and Prince Andrew, is her suggestion that the Royal Family damaged her marriage from the start. Listen, between the lines. 

I wrote the book, 'Nanci Griffith's Other Voices, ' which Nanci then read and loved. We lost her this year. On Christmas Even, I decided to make this podcast in her memory and by way of a tribute. Its' the first ten minutes or so of 15 hours of tape interviews we recorded at her home in Franklin, Tennessee, for the book. Nanci Griffith R.I.P

When I was a kid, I was a fan of Clapton, particularly Bluesbreakers. I photographed him in concert in 1977. I loved a few of his songs. But when I interviewed him in 1991 I didn't know the full extent of racist comments he once made. I am re-posting this, and stepping out of any kind of Clapton appreciation society, because I am so pissed off that multi-millionaire Eric, sued a woman who sold on...

One day in 2000, I was standing chatting to Mickey Dolenz in Dublin Hotel before we did an interview for radio. Billy Bob Thornton walked over, said, 'Hey, hey! I flew all the way to Dublin to see the Monkees show! Aren't they cool, man?" I said, "They always were." And they were. Even as a child I knew that. So, I am very sad to hear of Mike Nesmith's death. I never interviewed him but this is me...

In this podcast, following my first podcast about Peter Jackson's movie Get Back, I say that I now suspect it was meant to be a Disney version, in every sense, of the break up of the Beatles, an antidote to Let It Be, I include two clips from my 1999 documentary about the band. Gimme Some Truth sang Lennon, a teenage hero of mine. I am not saying my documentary was true or that Let it Be or Get ba...

As I say in this podcast when I saw let It Be, in a cinema, I thought 'this is all about Paul.' I didn't know he had asked the cameraman to focus on him a lot, and that he wanted to be seen as the great conciliator, which he wasn't. I hope Peter Jackson doesn't turn Get back into another promo for me, me, me Paul and a historical lie. 

This clip is from my eBook Tori Amos Soul Searching and Uncensored. It was recorded in 2001 when Tori released her album, Strange Little Girls. Here we allude to the other Joe Jackson and talk about Lennon's song Happiness Is a Warm Gun, and related matters

Astaire was a great dancer but also the singer of choice for many great songwriters. This is my appreciation of the man and his music. 

This is one of my "Singles" podcasts, running less than five minutes. I was part of a small group of journalists supposed to interview Paul McCartney about his Liverpool Oratorio. But Beatle fans and McCartney fans might enjoy this tiny clip from before the real interview started. 

I love Dean Martin's music, have done so since I was a child. He always struck me as infinitely cooler than Sintra! This a radio tribute I did after Dino died. 

A bit of fun I had in Galway in 1992 hours before attending a Sawdoctors gig. Here I interview for a laugh a member of their "support band" that night, The Popsuckers, aka The Sawdoctors themselves. Funny as it may be, it also may as well be me interviewing, say, Bono. 

Paddy Moloney died today, October 12th 2021. Here, from a radio show, we made in 2000,  he remembers - in the company of the other Chieftains at the time - the music that influenced him at the outset of his career. A small man, in stature, but a giant in the world of Irish music. He will be missed. By, among others, some of the greatest musicians in the world, who played with the Chieftains.