Join us to go back 25 years to the release of The Strokes debut album Is This It.

Steven’s new book Is This It: The Never-Ending Rise and Fall of the Strokes is out now in the US & also here in the UK.

The story begins when future Stroke frontman Julian Casablancas meets future bassist Nikolai Fraiture meet as kids.

They hold a shared interest in music as they grow up before Julian is sent to Switzerland to attend a boarding school where he meets guitar player Albert Hammond Jr.

They later reconnect in New York as Julian is putting together a band.

The lineup comes together with Albert becoming the final member to join.

The first Strokes gig takes place at The Spiral in Manhattan in September of 1999 & with the help of guru J.P. Bowersock they build the material which becomes their debut release The Modern Age EP, released on Rough Trade in the UK.

Is This It is released in the Autumn of 2001 & is an immediate success in the UK, however it is a slower process in the US with their star not rising until a year or so later.

We hear about the unique drum & vocal sounds on Is This It & the process behind some of the albums biggest songs as well as what Tom Petty made of the similarity between Strokes hit single Last Nite & his own American Girl.

It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps

It is hugely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music Maps & can spare the time to do either we would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/events

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Music by Andy Maxwell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marco Pirroni joins us to talk us through his huge success with Adam & The Ants - Marco’s new book Your Money Or Your Life is out now.

It all starts with a note through Marco’s door which simply says ‘Call Me, Adam’.

The next day Marco & Adam Ant meet & before long they are recording together at Rockfield Studios.

Drummers Chris Hughes, Terry Lee & bassist Kevin Mooney soon round out the lineup giving the band its unique 2 drummer sound.

Their first gig takes place at the Electric Ballroom & the band are soon signed to CBS, preferring a major to an indie label.

Kings of the Wild Frontier is the bands breakthrough & the album which follows featured some unorthodox recording techniques including creating giant ant noises & recording fire extinguishers.

Early gigs are marred by chaos & occasional crowd trouble as Dog Eat Dog becomes another success, bringing the band their first appearance of Top Of The Pops.

Stand & Deliver & Prince Charming both reach number 1 with their quirky & groundbreaking music videos becoming a key part of the bands marketing.

Prince Charming is the subject of a plagiarism claim from Rolf Harris while Diana Dors appears in the video.

Gary Tibbs formerly of Roxy Music joins Adam & The Ants & they undertake their biggest tour to date, the Prince Charming Revue.

However Marco dislikes touring & stops playing live with the band, although he continues use to write & record with Adam.

The band breaks up shortly after as Adam launches a solo career.

It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps

It is hugely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music Maps & can spare the time to do either we would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/events

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Music by Andy Maxwell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tony Fletcher joins us to talk about his new book POW!: When UK Punk Went Pop, 1980-84.

Starting with his Jammin’ fanzine at age 13, by the time he is 14 Tony writes a letter to Paul Weller & receives a reply.

He is invited to RAK Studios in London whereThe Jam are making what becomes All Mod Cons.

He begins a relationship with The Jam & amongst other tales nearly ends up with the famous WHAM! Roy Lichtenstein guitar from the Start! video, his band Apocalypse open for the band air their final gigs at Wembley Arena & in Brighton.

Concurrently Tony is also writing for The Face magazine & is dispatched to Nottingham with Madness, the thinking being they may open up to a 16 year old rather than an established music writer.

Tony puts on early gigs for his band Apocalypse along with other bands including The Birthday Party at The Africa Centre in Soho.

He has a ringside seat for the end of The Jam & shortly after Paul Weller simply gives him the Jamming record label they had founded together.

It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps

It is hugely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music Maps & can spare the time to do either we would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/events

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Music by Andy Maxwell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.