Tim's Listening Party

Tim is delighted to welcome back Jim Kerr & Charlie Burchill from Simple Minds for another listening party. Previously they looked at their 1982 album New Gold Dream - make sure to check that episode out if you haven’t already - and now they become the first ever returning guests on the show, this time to talk about 1985 record, Once Upon a Time, on it’s 40th anniversary. Once Upon A Time was...

This episode Tim is joined by Grant Nicholas from Feeder. Feeder were one of the most successful British guitar bands of the early 00s, with hits like Buck Rogers, Just a Day and Feeling a Moment. Their fourth album Comfort in Sound, released in 2002 went Platinum in the UK. Comfort in Sound was released on 21st October 2002 on Echo.

This episode Tim Burgess is joined for a Listening Party by JJ Burnel from the Stranglers to talk about their La Folie, their sixth album that was released in 1981. Over their career they have refused to be defined by category or genre. They have strayed from punk, with an initially aggressive ethos, to expanding into new wave and art rock, as their output became more sophisticated but always rema...

This episode Tim is joined by Shirley Manson from Garbage, to talk about the band’s debut album on its 30th anniversary. The album was one of the best alternative debuts of the 90s, standing out in a decade typified by grunge in the States and Britpop on this side of the pond. Garbage formed in 1993 with Duke Erikson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig, who was fresh off the back of the success of produci...

This episode, Tim was joined by Joan Armatrading and Glyn Johns to talk about Joan’s self-titled third album from 1976. In the 1970s, Joan Armatrading became one of the first British female singer-songwriters to achieve international success thanks to her brilliant musicianship and vivid songwriting. Glyn Johns, meanwhile, boasts a CV to parallel any record producer, having worked with the Beatles...

This episode Tim Burgess is joined by Graham Lambert & Clint Boon from Inspiral Carpets to talk about their debut album, Life on it’s 35th anniversary. Life hit the number 2 spot in the UK album charts in 1990 and Inspiral Carpets were one of a number of bands from the Greater Manchester area to have success during that period. The Charlatans being another who were also deemed to be part of th...

This episode Tim Burgess is joined by John Power from Cast. Having left legendary Liverpool band the Las, John Power, took inspiration from the last line of the last song on the sole album by the Las… ‘The change is cast’. And it certainly was. Emerging from the Britpop movement of the mid-90s, Cast gained plenty of admirers, including the Gallagher brothers, who taken them on tour with them as pa...

This episode, Tim Burgess is joined by Holly Johnson for a Listening Party. Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Welcome To The Pleasuredome stands out as one of the most iconic album releases of the 1980s. Musically it soundtracked the middle of the decade as Frankie dominated the charts, this album containing 3 consecutive number one singles in the UK. They also dominated the conversations of the time, t...

This episode, Tim Burgess is joined by one of Britain’s best bands to talk about their brilliant debut on its 10th anniversary. Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher from Royal Blood remember their self-titled first album that gave us hits like Figure It Out and Little Monster. Their debut record went to Number One in the UK, went double platinum and won them the Brit award for Best Briti...

This episode Tim Burgess is joined for a Listening Party by Elvis Costello, to talk about his 1986 album, King of America. Which has been re-released as King of America and Other Realms, a new 6 disc box set including the remaster of this classic album, a previously unreleased live concert, demos, outtakes, live recordings, so much there to discover. Elvis Costello has rightly been lauded one of t...

This episode, Tim Burgess is joined for a listening party by Nile Rodgers, to talk about Chic’s 1979 album, their third record, Risque. Nile Rodgers, along with his band Chic’s contributed to music cannot be understated. They are one of the most important artists in the popularisation of disco music in the 1970s. Nile Rodgers himself is one of the greatest guitar players of all time, with a unique...

Earlier in 2024, Tim Burgess recorded a very special episode with Kjartan Sveinsson from Sigur Ros for their 2002 album, (), at Iceland Airwaves Festival. It was the first time we had held a Listening Party Live in the actual space that the album was recorded, so we'd like to give a huge thanks to everyone at Sundlaugin Studio for making that happen. Thanks also to Iceland Music and the Record in...

This episode, Tim is joined by Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol, to talk about the band’s brand new, eight album, The Forest Is The Path. Over the years, Snow Patrol have racked up multi-platinum selling albums and singles worldwide, they’ve achieved having a song with over a billion Spotify streams, as well as winning a prestigious Ivor Novello award. Having just entered their 3rd decade as a band...

This episode, Tim Burgess is joined for a Listening Party by Alex Kapranos & Bob Hardy from Franz Ferdinand. Just as British indie rock exploded in the noughties, Franz Ferdinand’s debut represented something a bit different. It had elements of indie rock, but also funk, punk and dance. It stood out at the time as an arty take on indie, and remains incredibly and effortlessly cool. A commercia...

Tim Burgess is joined for a listening party by Robert Smith from The Cure, to talk about the band’s brand new album, Songs of a Lost World. The band’s long-awaited and much-anticipated 14th album marks 16 years since their last release and has received universal acclaim from fans & critics. As well as going through the band's latest release, Robert opens up about channelling grief into his son...

This episode, Tim Burgess has a listening party for one of the biggest and best bands of all time. Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers from the Police will be chatting to Tim about the band’s fifth and final album, Synchronicity. Grammy award winning, hall of fame inducted, number 1 both sides of the Atlantic, critically acclaimed and multi-platinum selling, Synchronicity is a record that cemented t...

This episode Tim is joined by Jon Bon Jovi. One of the biggest rock stars ever fronting one of the most successful bands of all time, they have sold out stadiums, won Grammys, been inducted into music Halls of Fame. Here, Jon goes through one of the biggest albums ever, Slippery When Wet. Jon discusses the success of singles You Give Love A Bad Name and Livin’ On A Prayer, his time working as a te...

This episode Tim is joined by Caleb & Jared Followill, half of Kings of Leon. A band who have headlined pretty much every musical festival worldwide, playing the biggest stages across the globe. They are multi-Grammy award winning and multi-platinum album selling. Just play Sex on Fire wherever you are in the world, and everyone will know that song. It’s safe to say they are one of the biggest...

Tom Chaplin and Tim Rice-Oxley from Keane join Tim to talk about their debut album, Hopes And Fears, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. One of the best-selling albums in UK history, it went 9xplatinum in the UK, selling over 10 million copies worldwide, and wracking up billions of streams online. The year of the album’s release, 2004, saw Keane hold the crown of being the biggest selling B...

Kate Pierson & Keith Strickland from the B52s are Tim's guests this episode for a Listening Party about their 1989 album, Cosmic Thing. The B52s are a band so unique, so unorthodox yet completely distinctive, it’s not often you get to say that a musical artist is totally original, and that is exemplified by this weird and wonderful album in its 35th year. Kate & Keith talk about how they w...

This episode Tim is joined by Fran Healy & Dougie Payne from Travis to talk about the Man Who on its 25th anniversary. The Man Who is one of the most successful British albums of the last 25 years, spending 11 weeks at Number One, a further 134 weeks in the Top 100, and going 9 times platinum in the UK. It has sold 3.5 million copies worldwide. The album garnered critical recognition with 2 Iv...

This episode, Tim is joined by one of the stars of the 1980s, Martin Fry. With a career spanning over 4 decades, since the release of his band ABC’s dazzling debut in 1982, he continues to sell out concert halls up and down the country. The Lexicon of Love is an incredible debut record, going to number 1, achieving platinum in the UK, and it remains a captivating listen to this day, 42 years on. H...

For the first episode of this series of Tim’s Listening Party, Tim is joined by one of the most renowned song-writing duos in British music history, Pete Doherty & Carl Barat of the Libertines. Notorious, raucous, shambolic and ramshackle but brilliant, poetic, smart and witty, they are the indie heroes for a generation. Defined by extreme ups and downs, their music has survived through it all...

Over the past year, Tim's Listening Party has seen Tim Burgess bring his world famous Twitter Listening Parties to the radio, as he's sat down to go through classic albums with the likes of New Order, Def Leppard, U2, Skunk Anansie, the Kinks, Tears For Fears, Simple Minds and many more. The show will return on April 14th with brand new episodes looking at some of the best albums ever made, with s...

For this very special episode, Tim Burgess is was joined for a live Listening Party by Andy McCluskey, the lead singer and bassist of one of the most influential synth-pop acts in history, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Pioneers of electronic music, OMD were one of the earliest synthesizer-led bands to emerge from the post-punk scene, influencing many artists since, and making their presence f...