Old pal Owen Parker on Street Life, Message In A Bottle, Superstition and other recordings that accelerate and the nightmarish complexity of playing stadiums to a click-track. Plus we predict the fate of CDs, invent 'record collection wallpaper' and look

Mark Ellen talks to David Hepworth about his new book "Overpaid, Oversexed and Over There" which describes how British imitations came out from under the shadow of American originators in the early 60s, how a handful of acts from the UK went on to command

In which we rope in a real musician – aka our producer Magic Alex – to discover why bands always play their big hits too fast (‘are you a dragger or a pusher?’), decode stage names (Perry Farrell, Lipps Inc, Fay Fife ...), delight in Trump’s recent campai

In which we dig out a Smash Hits from ‘79 (entirely written by D Hepworth), wonder if Ian Brown’s gone stir crazy, watch it kick off between Dylan and the Beatles (in ’66), navigate the enriching waters of NTS Radio, remember when Kevin and Perry went Man

Author Justin Quirk on ‘the direct link between Kiss and Trump’. Writer and highly entertaining metal connoisseur Justin Quirk – the man behind Nothin’ But A Good Time: the Spectacular Rise and Fall of Glam Metal – on the age of big hair, frocks coats,

In which we're joined by our producer Magic Alex for a scenic tour of 'Landfill Indie' ("the Libertines were our Beatles!"), check the musicians incensed by Trump's use of their music, applaud the best wearers of Shorts In Pop (where Andrew Ridgeley meets

Author, renowned Beatles authority, 'Pop Professor' and old pal of the pod Kenneth Womack talks about 'John Lennon 1980: the Last Days In The Life', his riveting account of events in the Dakota and beyond. Things covered in fascinating detail: the fond an

In which we look at Chris Frantz's memoir and its exasperated take on David Byrne (bang goes the Talking Heads reunion), revisit late '60s Laurel Canyon, unravel some Zappa album titles, marvel at brave new adventures in vinyl sales and how Freddie Mercur

Writer and counter-cultural connoisseur Joe Banks joins us to talk about Hawkwind: Days Of The Underground, his sparkling account of the rise and 51 year trajectory of the unsung revolutionary heroes. All the following are entertainingly included - their

In which we salute the game-changing inventions of the Stones, Kinks and Louis Armstrong, watch the song catalogue sales boom, wonder if the age of spectacle is over, spot the fake alt.country and dark metal bands and take a closer look at the Williams tw