The Joe Jackson Interviews

Many fans wonder what it might be like to sit and have a drink and chat with a singer they admire. If Joe Dolan fits into that category for you, why not join us, in a sense, for this chat we had in the Clarence Hotel in Dublin in 2000? 

This was only a phone chat, but as you will hear, I love the music of Ray Charles and have loved it since I was a child, and I got to thank him for that! A total joy, talking to Ray. 

A chat between people who love music - for people who love music! Simple as that! 

i made this podcast a few years back when there was a Phoebe Bridgers controversy about Eric Clapton. It's key question still stands. 

Jerry Lee Lewis has died since I first posted this podcast three years ago. I don't want to speak ill of the dead. So, I won't. But I've loved his music since I was a kid, still do, yet this was my less than pleasant encounter with the man in 1996

I championed the work of Dory Previn, who was my mentor and friend and one of my influences as a writer,  and I introduced her work to Tori Amos. Here, I compare them.  

I was set to broadcast this radio show the same week Glen died, so I had to change the intro. To me, it remains the most intense and personal interview I have ever heard with Glen Campbell. 

There is a lot of controversy surrounding the documentary Elvis's Women. I haven't seen it yet. But it seems timely for me to repost this chat with one of his first lovers, June Juanico. The documentary, which I heard about a year before it was released, seems to be agenda-driven. June Juanico isn't. Nor am I.

This was a remarkable conversation with Taylor, whose music I had loved since 1970. We did the interview in the Halcyon Hotel in London, and even though he was resistant at first to some of my questions, particularly those about Carly Simon, we connected, and it shows. His observation on pampered pop stars is not one you would hear many express. 

This is just a bit of a laugh between Cohen and myself during a phone interview when I informed him that Bono fluffed a lyric line in Hallelujah. 

The response in Ireland to this broadcast in 2022 was remarkable. I was told that it changed people's perspective of Richard Harris in fifteen minutes. That's what I set out to do with my first Harris interview in 1987. I hope the podcast does the same thing. 

I made this podcast a year ago, in late 2022, to coincide with the publication of my book, Richard Harris: Raising Hell and Reaching for Heaven, and the release of the movie The Ghost of Richard Harris - of which I was an associate producer and that was based on my Harris interview tapes from 1987-2001. I am reposting it because I feel that the film, in a sense, led people astray because it cut fr...

A repost of my second Savile podcast, to coincide with the broadcast of a new drama about him on BBC TV. 

This podcast is the second based on my 1998 print interview with Patrick. Be warned. Many will find offensive his jokes about Princess Diana and sexuality, Adams and Clinton performing a particular act outside the White House and Daniel O Donnell's sexuality.  But please remember this conversation took place e a quarter century ago and was true to Patrick's comedy act at the time. 

A new drama, starring Steve Coogan as Jimmy Savile, will soon air on BBC television. It feels like a good time to revisit my 2001 interview with Savile

Elvis brought rock 'n' roll to Las Vegas and ended up hating it because it stole his soul, he said. Bono is now on Elvis's stomping ground. So I'm reposting this podcast 

I am reposting this to offset the tsunami of hype surrounding U2's show at the Sphere

The world is awash with media hype about U2 and their Las Vegas gig, so I am reposting this podcast. 

This was a provocative section of an interview when I first published it in 1987. It remained as controversial in 2022 when I included it in my book Richard Harris: Raising Hell and Reaching for Heaven

Gabriel Byrne plays Samiel Beckett in a new movie. I believe that Richard Harris, who loved Beckett's work, was once asked to act in Krapp's Last Tapes, and who didn't rate Byrne highly as an actor, would not approve!

In my 2022 book Richard Harris: Raising Hell and Reaching for Heaven, I tried not to focus on the obvious side of Richard's life, the brawling. But many people seem to love these stories of his fights! 

Some sections of certain interviews deserve to be heard by those who may benefit from them. I dedicate this to all teenagers struggling with depression. Hold on, you can make it through. I did. So did Tiernan. 

They say you should never meet your heroes. I don't agree. But this podcast tells of a positively surreal meeting I had one night with Van Morrison. 

The new host of Ireland's Late Late Show, back when he was young and uncensored

My first meeting with Dolores, in Dublin's Central Hotel, in 1990, a sweet and innocent Dolores.