Best Ringo and George Podcasts (2025)

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Cowbells, maracas, gongs, castanets – classic percussion parts demonstrated! 45:48

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19m ago45:48

45:48

The raw ingredients of this week’s news gently diced, simmered and served as a nutritious broth. And flavoured with the following … … why Lily Allen’s divorce album doubled the value of her house … how can you play real living people as fundamentally bad after Steve Coogan’s ‘Lost King’ court case? … the cowbell on Honky Tonk Women, the guiro on Gi…

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2025.44 Got Back 2025 - San Antonio 1:12:22

1h ago1:12:22

1:12:22

"Help!" No longer "Coming Up" in the South, sir Paul and the Got Back tour. Lonnie and I discuss Sir Paul in San Antonio, both recent and through the mists of time. Has the Alamodome held up as well as Sir Paul over the thirty-plus years? What about the Tobin Center? Maybe even some thoughts on Hotel Emma. #madeonzencastr!…

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The Smiths’ Mike Joyce on triumph, gladioli & Morrissey when he was still ‘Steve’ 41:56

1h ago41:56

41:56

Morrissey and Marr both wrote memoirs but Mike Joyce hasn’t read either, preferring to publish ‘The Drums’, his version of one of the great success stories of the ‘80s, a book about “the beauty we’d given to people – and to ourselves”. At one point he and Andy Rourke shout, ‘Where did it all go right?”. He looks back here at … … the fateful meeting…

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IS IT WORSE THAN THE TOXIC AVENGER (2023)? pt. 2 23:59

1d ago23:59

23:59

Summon the Nutz.

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IS IT WORSE THAN THE TOXIC AVENGER (1984)? pt. 1 21:44

1d ago21:44

21:44

...And you can tell all your scum friends that things are gonna change in this town. I'm not just another pretty face.

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Covers Challenge Vol. 3 with Johnny White Really-Really 56:06

2d ago56:06

56:06

Friend of the show, the inimitable Johnny White Really-Really returns for a third edition of the Beatles cover challenge. As has become customary, Jack, Robin and Johnny pick three songs to cover, beaver away over many months, and return to discuss the results. We are back for the second batch of Series 4, with new regular episodes along with bonus…

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2025.43 Power to the People Evening Show and New York City (Discs 3 and 4) Review. 1:18:46

6d ago1:18:46

1:18:46

Marv and I continue our look at the next two discs of the "Power to the People" set before we take a bit of a break from this topic! We review, compare and contrast the evening show, and look at the relationship between "New York City" (disc four) and the original version of the album.By Ed Chen and Jon Stone, Lonnie Pena, Martin Quibell

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Beatles ’92 pt3 1:23:59

6d ago1:23:59

1:23:59

Summer 1992 is here and Ringo Starr is back on the road with his All Starr Band! This second installment of Ringo's successful tour formula (as evidenced in the triumphant 1989 version) includes familiar faces Joe Walsh and Nils Lofgren, plus new sounds from Todd Rundgren, Dave Edmunds, Timothy B. Schmit, Burton Cummings, Tim Cappello, and a very s…

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Records that sound unique and why all bands need a backlash 47:11

6d ago47:11

47:11

Boarding this week’s giddy carousel of news, we ride the following ponies … … the Sliding Doors moment that made a ‘50s star a fortune … Soft Cell’s Dave Ball and the art of being the Other One in a pop duo … Bohemian Rhapsody, O Superman, I Feel Fine: records that sounded like nothing before them … what links the Prodigy, Wet Leg, Daft Punk and Do…

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Paul Young – “Big in the ‘80s! What lucky bastards we were!’ 34:59

7d ago34:59

34:59

Paul Young was the bassist in a pub band playing Led Zeppelin and Patto covers ‘til his solo soul and blues slot launched him as a singer. He’s still touring nearly 50 years later, just back from filling Mexican stadiums with Rod Stewart. And next May launching his acoustic ‘Songs & Stories Tour’ in theatres, intercut with film clips and hoary old …

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Billy Bragg – 40 years, 2,700 gigs and what he learnt from Taylor Swift 34:38

10d ago34:38

34:38

‘Billy Bragg: A People’s History’ is just out, a new and wholly original kind of memoir written by himself, friends, collaborators and fans, and packed with old snapshots, concert bills, reviews and ephemera. It’s very good indeed. He looks back here with us at … … meeting Taylor Swift – “and we both knew who the other was!” … a total of 2,700 gigs…

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Mark Kermode tells us stories about music in movies 40:41

11d ago40:41

40:41

The Graduate, Trainspotting, Jaws, Star Wars, Citizen Kane – films you can’t picture without thinking of the music. Mark Kermode has been gripped by the marriage of movie and soundtrack since Dougal and the Blue Cat (aged 6) and, with Jenny Nelson, has just published ‘Surround Sound: the Stories of Movie Music’. We talk to him here about… … Scorses…

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2025.42 Power to the People Afternoon Show Review. 1:19:57

13d ago1:19:57

1:19:57

Sean Lennon provides an interesting look at the political Lennons from the early 1970's. Disc One (which we are not covering) is a modern "reimagining" of "John Lennon: Live in New York City" - a "best of" combination of the afternoon and evening shows. We start on the afternoon show. The mix, the setlist and more.…

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How many bands can you name every member of? 48:30

13d ago48:30

48:30

This week’s news put through the wringer and hung out to dry. On the line you’ll find … … Taylor Swift and Ophelia and other things pop videos turned into tourist attractions … the appeal of D’Angelo’s Voodoo: “he made albums with no disdain for the listener” …. David Hepworth and “the single most exciting thing that ever happened to me in my entir…

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The Zombies’ Colin Blunstone – a psychedelic showpiece then ‘washed up’ aged 21 36:59

15d ago36:59

36:59

The Zombies formed before the Stones and had huge hits with She’s Not There and Time Of The Season. Their baroque masterpiece Odessey and Oracle now gets ranked beside Revolver and Pet Sounds. Colin Blunstone has a solo tour in 2026 and looks back here in his wood-panelled den at the first shows he played, the people he met and being No 1 in Americ…

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Led Zeppelin’s fight for attention and how they fudged their backstory 39:42

18d ago39:42

39:42

This lavish, beautifully designed collection of late ‘60s news stories, reviews and press clippings sheds new light on the band’s roots and ascent from the days when the Kidderminster Shuttle would spell their name wrong and print their parents’ address. Richard Morton Jack, author and compiler of ‘Led Zeppelin: The Only Way To Fly’, looks back her…

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Stones, Blondie, Iggy and songs that make a movie & why we loved Diane Keaton 54:06

19d ago54:06

54:06

Shifting the pass-the-parcel of news and removing the wrapping when the music stops. Which this week happens here … … will rock bands get offered the Saudi money? … “there could be no British nightclubs in 2030” … Diane Keaton and why all men were besotted … the day Led Zeppelin played an Aqua Theatre for an audience swimming and in boats … “the op…

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2025.41 Single Fantasy Pt. 2 Ringo (and Paul!) 1:07:56

20d ago1:07:56

1:07:56

More fantasizing, hypothesizing and Beatle-izing on what might happen were Paul and Ringo to decide to go on tour together. Not advertised as "a Beatles reunion", just two old rock and roll friends joining their talents to play some music (both together and separately), and to pay tribute to some of their comrades in guitar-based arms.…

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Ringo and why the Beatles wouldn’t have worked without him 37:52

22d ago37:52

37:52

The look, sound, story and dynamic of the Beatles can’t be imagined without him. Nor can their success. Tom Doyle, author and drummer, examines the unexplored depths of the one at the back from 70 different angles, one per chapter, in his new memoir ‘Ringo: A Fab Life’ and talks to us here about …. … how he learnt to read by looking at his Dad’s Be…

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2025.40 Looking for Lennon (review/overview) 1:15:27

27d ago1:15:27

1:15:27

Lonnie Pena and I dive into YouTube (and BluRay/DVD) as we consider the 2018 Documentary "Looking For Lennon". David Bedford and Roger Appleton consider the Lennons as they came to Liverpool from Ireland, through to Alf and Julia, and then young John's unconventional upbringing from Mimi and Julia, and how all this would lead to Lennon's reaction t…

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Rock stars we envy, Madonna as a sister-in-law & the British obsession with poshness 52:50

28d ago52:50

52:50

Steering the supercar of enquiry round the rock and roll racetrack with the occasional stop for a tyre change. Foot-to-floor moments this week include… … why are the British so hung up about posh pop stars? … the 10-second moment of his stage routine that Springsteen must find addictive … the flaming bra, the flying dress, the human horse: Lady Gag…

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Beatles ’92 pt2 1:15:58

29d ago1:15:58

1:15:58

Time Takes Time

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Bowie, Boy George and the rise of the riotous Blitz club with Robert Elms 32:18

29d ago32:18

32:18

London’s Blitz club in 1980 had a huge impact on the way the decade looked and sounded, the launchpad for Boy George, Spandau Ballet, a new age of electro-pop and many writers, designers and photographers. The author and broadcaster Robert Elms was one of its cornerstones, “a place for people who’d outgrown the 20th Century”. We talk here about his…

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The Prince story by 200 people who knew him - and John McKie 39:07

1M ago39:07

39:07

Prince’s commercial peak was Purple Rain but John McKie thinks Sign O’ The Times was his creative masterpiece and tracked down over 200 collaborators, girlfriends, “Prince whisperers”, assistants and admirers to piece together the story of its construction (without allowing himself to use the word “genius”). Which leads us up some colourful, spot-l…

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The three London kids who invented rock style 34:42

1M ago34:42

34:42

Paul Gorman, biographer of Malcolm McLaren and friend of the pod, tells the extraordinary story of the three young hipsters behind Granny Takes A Trip, the Kings Road store that was a magnet for rock’s glitterati in the late 60s. •⁠ ⁠Sheila Cohen, the first queen of cool; she invented the whole idea of vintage •⁠ ⁠Nigel Waymouth, who never went to …

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2025.39 Single Fantasy! Paul and Ringo! 1:07:38

1M ago1:07:38

1:07:38

This week we play a little "What If" and consider what Paul might choose to play were he and Ringo to decide to go on the road for a tour of indeterminate length. More Beatles? More solo? Would he take advantage of the "Wings-mania" that (hopefully) will be running the country in the next few months? Marv and I consider the possibilities and playli…

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Danny Thompson’s bass adventures, Dylan’s women, TV satire and great sleeve art. 56:40

1M ago56:40

56:40

News, rants, theories, stories and assorted old hokum which this week stumbles into … … Kate Bush, Thunderbirds, Tim Buckley, the Blind Boys of Alabama … the magical bass adventures of Danny Thompson (and the time he headlined over the Beatles) … how Claudia Cardinale wound up on the sleeve of Blonde On Blonde … would Roxy Music have made it if the…

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Thea Gilmore on Joan Baez, Jake Thackray and Dave Pegg’s dog starting her career 26:17

1M ago26:17

26:17

We’ve always liked Thea Gilmore who once crossed America with Joan Baez in a pre-Election campaign tour and has released 21 albums (“I’ve got musical ADHD!)”. She looks back here at the first shows she ever saw and played which involves … … a deep dive into Jake Thackray – “Last Will And Testament still makes me cry” … spotting her dad in the crowd…

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How pioneer tape-rat Roger Armstrong found vintage America a whole new audience 48:40

1M ago48:40

48:40

Roger Armstrong co-founded the legendary Rock On record shop and was running the Chiswick label long before the punk rock explosion of independents, a believer that you could license rare R&B, soul and rockabilly classics while cutting new records with rising stars (Shane MacGowan, Kirsty MacColl and Joe Strummer among them). He then co-founded Ace…

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Why Van and Fairport make the perfect send-off, Robert Redford & the best-looking rock stars 47:59

1M ago47:59

47:59

On the menu at the rock and roll state banquet … … Into the Mystic, Meet On The Ledge, In My Life, Tom Waits’ Take It With Me and other perfect songs for a last farewell … the day we joined the world’s best band … Robert Redford’s blinding handsomeness and the greatest moment – all three seconds of it – in Butch Cassidy And the Sundance Kid … best-…

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2025.38 Hari, Oates ... and Idle? 1:24:34

1M ago1:24:34

1:24:34

Lots of funny costumes this month, as George, Eric, Neil, the Splinter Boys, Hall and Oates all hang out together. They are joined by Macca, Spinal Tap, news concerning Paul's additional tour dates, Ringo talking about Mae West (but not her sweaty vest), and others!By Ed Chen and Jon Stone, Lonnie Pena, Martin Quibell

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John Prine, Elvis Costello and a jukebox on fire 39:25

2M ago39:25

39:25

Novelist and journalist Tom Piazza struck up a friendship with the irreplaceable John Prine in the last years of his life. This relationship, which began as a profile for a magazine, almost blossomed into an autobiography and involved a road trip in an inadvisable vehicle, has resulted in a new book “Living In The Present With John Prine”. Which in…

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Alex's star-studded week in Hollywood 44:44

2M ago44:44

44:44

Having disposed of the surprising history of pop stars who posed for Playboy, discussing whether the universe really needs another album called "Play", come up with a couple of nominations for Best Album Title Of All Time, we hear about Alex's experiences seeing Oasis in the midst of 90,000 who have never been to Manchester and how he "used the for…

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2025.37 Splinter, Larry Hosford, Legs Larry Smith, Tom Scott, George Harrison ... and Wings? 1:12:47

2M ago1:12:47

1:12:47

The next disc in "Looney" turns into a discussion of the "Wings Anthology". We talk, clips of Paul (and friends) covering many of the songs on the LP, and chat concerning John and Paul in the seventies. We do finally get to "George and..." (it will be completed next week), as we talk about songs George guests on from Splinter (their second album, i…

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Beatles ’92 pt1 1:24:02

2M ago1:24:02

1:24:02

LIPA, The Royal Albert Hall, and a new LP for Ringo

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Peter Hammill on Bowie, other superfans & 47 albums of ‘self-sabotage and chaos’. 36:59

2M ago36:59

36:59

Peter Hammill, adored by Bowie, Mark E Smith and many others, co-founded Van Der Graaf Generator when he was 19. And he’s made 47 albums since, powered by “hubris, enthusiasm and sheer bloody-mindness” and celebrated in a new 18-CD box set. He talks to us here from Somerset about … … supporting Hendrix at the Albert Hall and being ‘the Shirley Bass…

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Talking Heads, where they came from and where they went - with Jonathan Gould 45:09

2M ago45:09

45:09

Has there ever been a group like Talking Heads? Jonathan Gould’s Burning Down The House explores their affluent background, the root of their ambition and the springboard of the New York scene of the late ‘70s (he was a regular at CBGB). Along with … ... the romanticised image of CBGB and the reality … their black music roots: “the same instrumenta…

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Freddie Mercury has a daughter’ – and Lesley-Ann Jones can prove it 31:44

2M ago31:44

31:44

Freddie Mercury had an affair with a close friend’s wife and, in 1977, became a father. He’s now a grandfather. That’s the foundation of a new book ‘Love, Freddie’ by his highly respected biographer Lesley-Ann Jones which details a four-year, detailed exchange with his daughter ‘B’, now 48, and the contents of the 17 notebooks he gave her before he…

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Oasis in 2026, the Troggs and what Morrissey’s only gone and done now! 52:37

2M ago52:37

52:37

All the leaves are brown and the sky’s a bit unruly but mellow fruitfulness abounds in this week’s pick of the rock and roll news. Add to basket … … is Morrissey hacked off, broke or just desperate for attention? … are stadium gigs the new tourism? … bucket hats, Man City, lads culture … how did America finally ‘get’ Oasis? … singles that weren’t o…

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2025.36 Lennon Acoustic 1:17:07

2M ago1:17:07

1:17:07

Martin and I go back a bit more than twenty years to a time before Superdeluxe Editions, when the Lennon estate was uncertain of the best way to proceed. Their decision? An album called "Acoustic." Part "Unplugged", part "Live", part "Unreleased" Unfortunately, too much of it felt like "Sampler for the Lennon Anthology we just released." Has time h…

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‘Hey Joe’, its miracle birth & why violent songs are like True Crime - by Jason Schneider 36:53

2M ago36:53

36:53

Immortalised by Hendrix, ‘Hey Joe’ had its roots in 18th century murder ballads, ‘60s folk and rock clubs before the world got to hear it. Jason Schneider unravels its twisted genesis in ‘That Gun In Your Hand’, and talks to us here about the miracles that allowed it to happen and the sad fate of Billy Roberts, the man who claimed he wrote it. Alon…

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IS IT WORSE THAN YOKO ONO? 1:11:23

2M ago1:11:23

1:11:23

IIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEEIIIEIEIEIEIEIEIEIEIAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAGH-AGH-AGH-GAHA-GAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. EEEE. EEEE. EEEE. EEEE. WHOOOOOOOOOOO-OOO-OOO-OOO. That's my Yoko Ono impersonation.

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Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span drove Rev Gary Davis round Britain in a Triumph Herald 37:17

2M ago37:17

37:17

Maddy Prior – folk royalty, an absolute hero of ours – is touring with Steeleye Span again this autumn 66 years after they started, a life someone should make into a movie. She talks to us here about her undimmed love of live performance and … … when the height of your ambition is a £3 ticket to Blackpool Pleasure Beach … “Rod Argent, the first boy…

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Beatles ’91 pt6 1:36:04

2M ago1:36:04

1:36:04

George Across Japan in the 1992 Finale

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Why reviews lost their sting - and what matters more, the song or the record? 41:17

2M ago41:17

41:17

Our pencil-chewing, critical assessment of this week’s news gets mainly * and *** reviews, among them … …. Sting v Summers & Copeland over Every Breath You Take, the goose that laid the golden egg … what John Lennon would have thought about the ‘cancelled’ track on Some Time In New York City … when did “critically acclaimed” come to mean unpopular?…

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2025.35 Revolver vs. Pepper 1:03:01

2M ago1:03:01

1:03:01

Lonnie Pena and I talk Anthologies 1-3, the previous video releases, and fun with Disney+. We follow with thoughts on the last twenty years of "Revolver" and "Sgt. Pepper". Rolling Stone Magazine has had Pepper on a bit of a downward trajectory (it was "the greatest album of all time in 2003"), while Revolver has maintained a higher standing. Why? …

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Debsey Wykes of Dolly Mixture wants you to read her teenage diary 37:33

2M ago37:33

37:33

Debsey Wykes was in Dolly Mixture, one of the very few all-girl groups in post-punk London, a time when bands with charisma won the battle for attention and you promoted singles on the back of a truck. Her memoir Teenage Daydream perfectly captures a slice of late ‘70s life, the thrill of playing the pub circuit and trying to storm Radio One. Along…

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IS IT WORSE THAN JOHN LENNON? 49:44

2M ago49:44

49:44

Part 5. Only one more to go. We finally made it to the... uh... what did they call John Lennon? The funny one? The goofy one? The abusive one? Probably that one. This guy really liked rock'n'roll and staying in bed. What's not to like. I couldn't see anything bad happening to somebody like that.

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2025.34 Woman is ... + Anthology 4 1:18:27

2M ago1:18:27

1:18:27

Jon Stone, Marv and I chat about the elephant in the room concerning the new Lennon "Power to the People" box, contemplate the original "Some Time in New York City", and (with a little help from our friendly neighborhood Tarot card reader) do some divination on the newly announced "Anthology 4". #madeonzencastr.…

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Singers’ vast egos explained and what’s the real definition of ‘a fan’? 36:35

2M ago36:35

36:35

A tub-thumping, snare-cracking, cymbal-simmering, two-way backbeat to this week’s rock and roll news, the on-beats including … … “Trauma-bonding?” Why being ‘a fan’ is like a love affair … Ian Brown, Morrissey, Siouxsie, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison … why singers who don’t play an instrument are a different species … the stadium-rock drummer transfer…

Ringo And George Podcasts