The Joe Jackson Interviews

Thirty years later, people might find it interesting to revisit this Gerry Adams interview. It should appeal in particular to fans of the Wolfe Tones

It's been more than a quarter century since Eamon Dunphy and I did this interview. The clip here was cut from an Irish rock magazine

My favourite memory of this interview is that Neil's manager couldn't believe I had asked Neil about his ties to the Mafia. But Diamond himself had no problem answering ther question! 

Interviewing was never just a job for me. I'm not even a trained journalist. I come from the world of the arts nad happily admit that I was searching for "timeless, universal truths" and "transcendence from the start. How's that for pretentiousness!!!

This is just a bit of fun I had interviewing in 1993, the future, and now current President of Ireland

My Ebook Gabriel Byrne: The Joe Jackson Interviews Plus, remains very popular. Here, for those who read it, is part of one of the interviews in the book 

There are those who say Bob let Phil down by not asking him to take part in Live Aid. Here, Bob remembers Phil fondly

Circa 1993, a rumour circulated that Elvis was discovered at Sun Records because he supplied musicians his mother's diet pills - speed - which he was using, it was claimed. To me, the rumours were bs perpetrated by a Britsh rock journalist called Roy Carr, so I phoned Sam and asked him and that. This is from my eBook, Elvis, Sam Phillips and Sun Records Revisited. 

This is one of my most popular podcasts. I am reposting it to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the interview .

A repost because the boys are back on tour. And I stand over my support for the band thirty years ago. I said their songs would be timeless and they have turned out to be. 

Anyone who loved the Baz Luhrmann movie about Elvis needs to listen to this. Especially in terms of the lie that Elvis used only prescribed drugs to get high. As a kid, when the King was alive, I defended Elvis against any suggestion that he used drugs. Many fans still can't accept this truth about the man. The truth shall set you free. This is the third of my Elvis podcast reposts to mark the ann...

After this interview, Nick Cav e chased me down the stairs of a hotel while other people were waiting to interview him. He wanted to talk some more about my having met Sam Phillips. That says it all.  This is the second of my three Elvis podcast reposts to mark the anniversary of his death

It's coming up to August 16th, a date in 1977 when the lives of every Elvis fan, including musicians such as Dylan, were upended after the King died. This is a repost of a radio tribute I made in 2018

To some rock fans, it is heresy to say that missing from The Band, one of the greatest roots records in rock, is the influence of Native American music but in 1994 the late Robbie Robertson agreed with me that it is. I repost this chat in memory of Robbie

Sinead was a healer. In this 2000 interview, part two of my podcast about her music, we talked about that. Her funeral is tomorrow. She is deeply missed but forever present. And her music still heals. R.I.P. Sinead

As I say in the intro to this short podcast, I was too upset to listen to my podcast re-post Sinead O' Connor: The Music That Made Me, the night I heard Sinead had died. It wasn't until a listener told me last night, July 27th, I realised that Sinead had told me what song she wanted played at her funeral. But I love what she says about death. It doesn't mean that a person's magic is gone." Amen

I never expected when I posted this podcast two or so years ago - today is July 28th 2023 - that Sinead would be dead by the time I reposted it. Her death, which has moved deeply millions of people all over the word, adds another dimension to this interview, which many saw was the most revealing she ever gave. 

I always loved this little exchange with Sinead. It's on The Music That Made Me podcast I posted of Sinead and me in 2000. But I cut the song. Following her tragic death this week - the response to which has proven to me she may be the most beloved Irish musician of all time – her plaintive singing of a song she first sang aged seven sounds more poignant than ever. She described Elvis as an "Angel...

anyone who, like me, was lucky enough to come in contact with the beautiful but troubled soul of Sinead, will be brokenhearted by the news of her death. May she rest in peace, finally.  

I am delighted that so many people listen to, and downloaded part one of this repost. It's good to know that Dermot is not forgotten. 

I love Tony Bennett's music and was blessed to interview the man three times and have dinner with him on one occasion, as his guest. May he rest in peace. 

It doesn't seem like thirty years since Dermot and I had this chat, as he set off to the UK to make a TV series, some may have since heard of, called Father Ted. Repost

Mr Fanning is the news in Ireland, having denigrated Christy Dignam before he was even buried and also attacked a government committee investigating misrepresented payments to his agent. But here, he talks some sense about how to deal with the death of a parent. A repost

Hard to believe it's been thirty years since Bono gave me a world-exclusive preview of the Zooropa album. This is a radio show - never broadcast - I made in 2016. To mark the 30th anniversary of this album, I am reposting this 2020 podcast

I am reposting this old podcast simply because a lot of people seem to have become more interested my own story since I published in 2022 my best-selling book in Ireland, Richard Harris: Raising Hell and Reaching for Heaven. It's all the same story, actually!