This week we get to talk about one of the best music books of recent years Revolutionary Spirit by Paul Simpson.

Paul was born in Liverpool but grew up in Lancashire alongside future members of Echo & the Bunnymen - Les Patterson & Will Sergeant. After relocating back to Merseyside Paul was frequented legendary Liverpool venue Eric's & became a founder member of The Teardrop Explodes alongside Julian Cope.

He left the Teardrop Explodes to form his own band The Wild Swans & their classic debut single Revolutionary Spirit is funded by Paul's flatmate, Echo & the Bunnymen drummer Pete De Freitas, who also played on the session. It comes out on Bill Drummond's Zoo Records.

After Courtney Love stays in Paul & Pete's flat for 9 months he disbands the Wild Swans & goes on to form Care with future Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie. Briefly a pop star, Paul shares an unexpected encounter with Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder while making a record at AIR Studios in London.

The 2nd incarnation of the Wild Swans end on Seymour Stein's Sire Records but also comes to a premature end. Inbetween Paul enjoys cult success under the name Skyray before a 3rd version of the Wild Swans comes into being & enjoys huge success in the Philippines.

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

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Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Music by Andy Maxwell

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It is truly a pleasure to welcome Donovan to Music Maps - a true legend of the 60s. His book The Hurdy Gurdy Man is available on Penguin.

We start with his early life in Glasgow in the 1950s & the family relocate to Hatfield in Hertfordshire when Donovan was a teenager. His early influences included Buddy Holly, Hank Williams & Jack Kerouac.

After a trip to Southend on Sea with the blue rock crowd from St. Albans, Donovan is spotted & taken to Tin Pan Alley to make his earliest recordings (The Rolling Stones were also making demos on Denmark Street at the same time).

Into 1965 & Donovan has key encounters with Bob Dylan (contributing to the video for Subterranean Homesick Blues) & The Beatles at the Savoy in London. He also saw the arrival of Jimi Hendrix to London in 1967 first hand.

An A to Z of session players appear on Donovan's records including 3 future members of Led Zeppelin - Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones & John Bonham as he scores big hits with Mellow Yellow, Sunshine Superman & more.

In 1968 Donovan travelled to Rishikesh in India with the Beatles, Mia Farrow, Mike Love & others to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, where he taught John Lennon a style of fingerpicking he later used on Julia & Dear Prudence.

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/live/

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

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Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Music by Andy Maxwell

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

This week we travel back to the 1950's & 60's to hear all about one of the most influential acts of all time The Everly Brothers with biographer Barry Mazor. Don & Phil's Dad Ike was a musician & the brothers are already playing live & on the radio as children.

They sign with Cadence Records in 1956 & record the iconic Bye Bye Love at their very first session. The record sells over a million copies but they follow it up with Wake Up Little Susie which is an even bigger hit.

We find out how they achieved their incredible acoustic guitar sound & hear about their pioneering techniques in the recording studio as well as their friendship with Buddy Holly.

The Everlys sign with Warner Brothers in 1959 & immediately deliver their biggest hit Cathy's Clown. Their first UK tour takes place in 1960 with George Harrison & Graham Nash amongst those in attendance. The duo become a huge influence on the Beatles particularly on their early hit Please Please Me. Their guitar sound can also be heard on Bob Dylan's Highway 51 & It's Alright Me (I'm Only Bleeding).

While they fall out of fashion in the US they remain a big act in the UK & Europe & make some of their best records in the late 60s despite lower sales than at their peak.

The brothers split after a final show at the Knott's Berry Farm theme park in California in 1973, but they return in 1983 for a reunion show at the Royal Albert Hall in London. They record a Paul McCartney track & release a number of new records. They continue until their victory lap on a 2004 farewell tour with Simon & Garfunkel.

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/live/

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

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Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Music by Andy Maxwell

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

This week we discover the history of The Raincoats - formed by Gina Birch & Ana De Silva in 1977 after they meet at Hornsey Art College in London. The Sex Pistols & The Slits are influences on the burgeoning band & they end up signing to Rough Trade.

The classic all female lineup debuts at Acklam Hall in London in January of 1979 & debut single Fairytale In The Supermarket is followed by their debut album later in the year.

The Raincoats release several further albums but the band comes to an end in 1984 however a huge resurgence in the band comes in the 90s spearheaded by super fan Kurt Cobain.

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/live/

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.

Join us for a LIVE episode with Lawrence, Will Hodgkinson & Sian Pattenden to discuss STREET LEVEL SUPERSTAR - one of the best music books of all time.

We retrace Lawrence’s career from Felt & Denim to Mozart Estate & through to the present day.

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/live/

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Music by Andy MaxwellIt 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/live/

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Recorded at The Ivy House, Nunhead

Music by Andy Maxwell

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

Join us & take a trip to Essex as we focus in on the early years of Blur with drummer Dave Rowntree. His new photograph book is called No One You Know: Early Blur Photos.

We begin in Colchester where a young Dave meets future Blur guitarist Graham Coxon on the local music scene. Graham later invites Dave to a mate's gig at local venue the Colchester Arts Centre, that mate turns out to be Damon Albarn.

The trio begin to play together in Colchester & London after Graham moves from saxophone to lead guitar. A vacancy on bass opens up & is filled by Graham's neighbour in his Goldsmiths College hall of residence, Alex James.

The first Blur (then known as Seymour) gig takes place at the East Anglian Railway Museum in the summer of 1989 & after a positive write up in the pages of Music Week, the band are signed within 6 months of forming. Blur end up on Food Records & following a name change become known for their chaotic & energetic gigs.

The label are keen for the band to pursue a 'baggy' sound with the Manchester scene still prominent in 1990 & debut single She's So High is released in October of 1990.

Things really take off once producer Stephen Street comes into the fold. Follow up single There's No Other Way breaks the top 10, peaking at number 8.

Debut album Leisure follows in the summer of 1991 & features a 1954 Charles Hewitt photograph on the cover.

Dave begins to document this early period by taking photographs, eventually taking hundreds which were edited down for the book. They cover the bands first trips to the US, Japan & Mexico & document a time when the world did not yet know Blur.

You can buy Dave's book here.

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/live/

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

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Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Music by Andy Maxwell

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

This week we have a world exclusive - we are the first podcast to discuss Freddie Mercury's recently discovered diaries/notebooks with biographer Lesley-Ann Jones.

You may have seen it reported in the press that Freddie Mercury left 17 volumes of notebooks to a daughter hardly anyone knew existed - we find a bit more out about these diaries which amount to 500,000 words in length & make up several autobiographies worth of information.

Within its pages we hear about Freddie's early years in Zanzibar, his summer holidays in Bombay, the fantasy land of Rhye, his lifelong passion for the royal family. the Bulsara family's sudden relocation to Feltham in South London & a Freddie the world never knew.

We hear new details regarding the writing or many of his most famous songs including Bohemian Rhapsody.

Freddie Mercury made his home at Garden Lodge in Kensington, the contents of which were sold off in a 2023 auction raising over £40m - what might Freddie have made of the auction? Or the suggestion the house should be turned into a Graceland style exhibit? Would Queen have toured again or would Freddie have retired?

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/live/

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.