Everyone loves a music business survivor – and few have survived the vicissitudes of the exploitative music business quite like this week’s guest.

Dumped by his friends and former Friends Again bandmates when they decamped to form Love and Money in the mid-80s, Chris Thomson thought he had had weathered that perfect storm with a new Phonogram record deal. Until it was pulled. (The more observant listener may hazard a guess at who may have been behind that particularly ruthless move.)

Undeterred, he later released several albums as The Bathers - including the implausibly perfect Kelvingrove Baby; all of them signalling the revival of a rare talent; all of them failing to “do the units”. Then came the bailiffs. “They were a couple of friendly bailiffs, lovely, “ he tells me at one point in our interview.

“Nevertheless, they asked if I had 30 grand in my bank account. I said, ‘I’m overdrawn by about a thousand’.”

Huge thanks to Chris for this interview. It really is a tale like no other.

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As anecdote-tellers go, few can match Davy Henderson. This week’s podcast picks up where we left off last time with the Scottish cult hero talking about his band Win, which he formed after splitting Edinburgh-based act Fire Engines.

If you heard the first part, you’ll know Davy called time on Fire Engines after he accepted a publishing deal – with an advance of £2,000 – from Pop:Aural label boss Bob Last. As Davy candidly explained in last week’s interview, the split – and the way he handled it at the time – remains one of his major regrets.

What I enjoyed about interviewing Davy is he offers a fascinating insight into the mind of a songwriter in a way that many are unable to articulate (at one point in Pt 2, in an attempt to explain why he loves music and the art of songwriting he flip flops between the genius of Miles Davis and – oh yes! – the wigs of Carl Perkins).

Fascinating stuff. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

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From sonic adventurers Fire Engines and Win to industry-baiters Nectarine No. 9 and The Sexual Objects, Davy Henderson remains one of Scotland’s greatest cult heroes. Yet the story of the Edinburgh-born raconteur – who grew up living next door to the Bay City Rollers and BCR-nearly rans Bilbo Baggins in Clermiston – has never been fully told. Until now.

Davy's also back with a new band, Bubbles, featuring guitarist-about-town Douglas MacIntyre and former Orange Juice and Josef K legend Malcolm (now Dr) Ross – so it's the perfect time to hear how it all began.

This interview with Davy was originally conducted for a magazine feature but there was so much additional fascinating insight into the integral struggles within the music industry that I thought it would be great to include the interview in its entirety raw and (largely) unedited - with a bunch of noisy seagulls making an appearance at one pivotal moment. (Ah the joys of podcasting.) The interview was supposed to last 20 minutes but overran – by more than an hour. With Davy’s permission, I’ve split it into two parts.

This is Pt 1.

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