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For this episode we're joined by veteran music scribe and A&R man Mitchell Cohen to discuss his long career and his brand-new book. We start in the Bronx of Mitchell's youth and hear about the impact on him of local hero Dion DiMucci. From there we take the D train down to mid-'60s Greenwich Village and relive our guest's discovery of the scene he chronicles in Wake Me, Shake: New York City, the '60s & the Pop-Rock Youthquake. After celebrating the beloved Lovin' Spoonful we turn our attention to their fellow Village denizens the Blues Project, listening to clips from Sam Williams' 2022 phone interview with Project/Blood, Sweat & Tears alumnus Steve Katz. En passant we also touch on Laura Nyro, Shadow Morton and other New Yorkers who opted not to join the '60s exodus to California. Mitchell then talks about the years he spent at Arista Records – the subject of his first book and the label to which, in 1989, he signed Dion. The heartbreaking death of Dolly Parton demanded we pay tribute to the life and art of that extraordinary woman. Having written a beautiful piece about "America's sweetheart" back in 2019, our guest is perfectly placed to explain her unique appeal. Finally, Jasper and William talk us out with their thoughts on newly-added library pieces about Betty Davis, Kelis, Trent Reznor and Sleep Token. Many thanks to special guest Mitchell Cohen. Wake Me, Shake Me: New York City, the '60S and the Pop-Rock Youthquake is published by Trouser Press and available now. Pieces discussed: Shall We Dance? Shadow and the Shangs: a teenage melodrama, David Johansen: Position Of A Vagabond Missionary, Steve Katz audio (2022), How Dolly Parton Became America's Sweetheart, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton: Confessions of a Power Crazed Wig-Model, Dolly Parton: American Idol, New York Report: Betty Davis, Kelis: AfroPunk, Trent Reznor: The Great Dictator and Sleep Token.

In this episode we're joined by special guest Tim Page to trace the arc of his career from reviewing James Chance & the Contortions to winning the Pulitzer Prize. In a conversation that's as entertaining as it is erudite, Tim recalls his teenage discovery of Rolling Stone and the subsequent influence of rock criticism on his singular brand of classical music reviewing. After touching on the 1967 documentary A Day with Timmy Page, we hear about his journey as a critic from New York Rocker to the Washington Post via the New York Times. With reference to the 2002 collection Tim Page on Music, our guest reflects on his affection for Sean O'Hagan's High Llamas and Stephin Merritt's Magnetic Fields. Merritt and his electro-pop offshoot Future Bible Heroes are then heard in clips from an audio interview by the late Andy Gill. From there we turn to another of Tim's great passions – the tragic and long-neglected Judee Sill – and pay collective tribute to what he calls her "extraordinary gifts". After William quotes from newly-added library interviews with Janis Joplin (1970) and Ozzy Osbourne (2001), Jasper talks us out with his thoughts on pieces about country singer Tom T. Hall (1973) and Dallas Austin's Highland Place Mobsters (2014). Many thanks to special guest Tim Page. Pieces discussed: The Contortions + James White & the Blacks, Minimalism: Hey, DJ, The Everlasting Forever Of Arthur Lee, Future Bible Heroes audio (2002), Judee Sill: Lunch And Judee, Judee Sill: Heart Food, Judee Sill: A Brief Life, an Enduring Musical Impression, Miss Janis — Texas White Queen Of Rock, Ozzy Osbourne, Tom T. Hall and Make It Funky: The Rise & Fall of the Highland Place Mobsters.

For this episode we're joined in our Hammersmith HQ by James ("The Hardest Working Man In Show Business") Brown. The former NME star and founder of "lads' mag" progenitor loaded takes us back to his Yorkshire boyhood in Headingley. He recalls his parents' record collection, the first gigs he attended as the class "smart-arse" at Lawnswood School... and his acclaimed '80s fanzine Attack On Bzag! Our guest's account of how he came to contribute to Sounds leads to clips from the late Andy Gill's 1991 audio interview with the KLF, the maverick duo of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty whom James championed in the paper's pages in 1987. After waxing nostalgic about his days at the NME, James gives us the origin story of the hugely successful loaded ("for men who should know better") and talks us through the publishing phenomenon it triggered. A discussion follows of '90s sexism and its connection to the misogyny of today's "Manosphere". Many thanks to special guest James Brown. Animal House: Music, Magazines, Mayhem is published by Quercus and available now from all good bookshops. Zine Age Kicks is available through James' Instagram, @jamesjamesbrown. Pieces discussed: The Beastie Boys: Keep Taking The Tabloids, Mark E Smith, Nick Cave & Shane MacGowan: The Three Horsemen Of The Apocalypse, The KLF audio⁠ and The decline of lads' mags: Unloaded, and now the party is over.

In this episode we're joined by Pete Paphides, former rock critic for the London Times and author of 2020's acclaimed memoir Broken Greek. We start with our guest's unique "'Starman' moment" – seeing the Brotherhood of Man lip-sync to the ghastly 'Save Your Kisses for Me' on Top of the Pops in 1976 – and then plunge straight into a celebration of his favourite pop group ABBA. We hear about his love of the Swedes' countless classic songs; his interviews with Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson; and how the quartet was indirectly responsible for his marriage to fellow scribe Caitlin Moran. Pete talks us through his journalistic odyssey from ill-fated pubescent fanzine Pop Scene via the longer-lasting Perturbed to Jim Arundel's mentoring of him at Melody Maker. Talk of his tenures at Time Out and The Times leads to his memory of "falling back in love with music" after years of being glutted with free records. The 60th anniversary of the release of 'Uptight' takes us into clips from Amy Linden's 1995 audio interview with the musical colossus that is Stevie Wonder – and a broad discussion of the Motown legend's creative evolution from 'Uptight' to Songs in the Key of Life. After Mark quotes from a 1963 review of the Beatles' first album Please Please Me, Jasper talks us out with his thoughts on Jaan Uhelszki's 2015 interview with the extraordinary Joanna Newsom.

In this episode we invite the highly entertaining Lisa Verrico to join us from her native Glasgow and talk us through her career from IPC's Vox magazine to The Times. Commencing with her memory of first hearing Prince's 'Little Red Corvette' as a kid on holiday in Spain, our guest recalls her days of raving (and working in radio) before describing how she got her foot in the door at Vox. Hair-raising Mancunian encounters with Happy Mondays and Mark E. Smith serve as preludes to Lisa's hilarious 1994 interview with Oasis. We hear her "bootleg recording" of the Gallagher brothers' competing impersonations of Mick Jagger on the band's impromptu rendition of 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'. A broad discussion of what the '90s meant for pop culture takes in Lisa's memories of Oasis hanger-on Evan Dando and of the altogether different My Bloody Valentine. Clips from a 1989 audio interview with the latter's Kevin Shields and bandmates prompt reflections on MBV's extraordinary sound and their somewhat dysfunctional relationship with Creation's Alan McGee. We return to Lisa's own story by asking her what happened after Vox folded in 1998 — and how she wound up reviewing (and interviewing) for The Times for 25 years. We also discuss how much the live music experience has changed in that time. Finally, we hear about our guest's 2019 trip to L.A. to interview 17-year-old superstar-in-the-making Billie Eilish. After paying heartfelt tribute to cult neo-soul star D'Angelo — note that news of the death of former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley only reached us after this episode was recorded — Mark quotes from a 1984 interview with jazz giant Wynton Marsalis and Jasper takes us out with his thoughts on Joe Muggs' 2011 interview with the great James Blake. Many thanks to special guest Lisa Verrico. You can find her writing in The Times. Pieces discussed: Oasis: Shake'n'vac, Evan Dando: Baby I'm Bored, Evan Dando: "I get the feeling I'm being bullshitted", Evan Dando: The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get, Evan Dando: Different Drum, My Bloody Valentine audio, Billie Eilish, D'Angelo: Soul Asylum, On D'Angelo and the Birth of Neo-Soul, D'Angelo: Black Messiah, Wynton Marsalis: The Hottest Lips in America and James Blake: Point Blake.

In this episode, we ask one of the greatest music writers of the rock and roll era to talk about Mystery Train as he celebrates its 50th anniversary with a brand-new edition of his classic book. Talking to us from Oakland, 6,000 miles away in his native Northern California, Greil Marcus looks back on the pivotal moments that led to his starting work on Mystery Train in the fall of 1972: his experiences as a student at Berkeley, his discovery of film critic Pauline Kael and his early writing for Rolling Stone. From there we focus on the book's extraordinary chapters about Sly Stone and Elvis Presley before relating its overarching theme – America as an "invented nation" – to the Trump administration's assault on the diversity that produced so much great art from Walt Whitman and Herman Melville to Robert Johnson and Randy Newman. A somewhat abrupt switch takes us over to our side of the pond and our guest's second book: the vast "secret history of the 20th Century" that was 1989's Lipstick Traces, along with the 1993 collection of his punk writings entitled In the Fascist Bathroom. Clips from Paul Moody's 2018 audio interview with Jamie Reid – the subversive graphic designer who became Malcolm McLaren's principal partner in iconographic crime – prompt Greil's reflections on what made (the) Sex Pistols such a vital sea-change in the subculture of rock and roll. Many thanks to special guest Greil Marcus. The 50th anniversary edition of Mystery Train is published by Faber and available now. Pieces discussed: Greil Marcus⁠, ⁠Greil Marcus: A Life In Writing⁠, ⁠The Band: We Can Talk About It Now⁠, ⁠Jamie Reid audio⁠, The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Parlophone)⁠, Ray Davies: A Study In Frustration, The Pet Shop Boys: Hip, Clever and Pop and The Black Keys Acknowledge Their Muses on Delta Kream.

For this episode we're joined by the immensely respected Alexis Petridis, The Guardian's principal pop critic since September 2001. Our guest tells us about his childhood in Yorkshire, his teenage years in Buckinghamshire and his initiation into the Acid House scene while at Cambridge University. Work experience at MixMag in the mid-'90s led to his becoming that dance/clubbing monthly's Features Editor – and then to a slightly less felicitous eight months as editor of Select. A short digression on "Britpop nostalgia" leads us to discussion of the changing role of music journalism and to our guest's near-quarter-century tenure at "the Graun". Jasper quizzes him about his encounters with Daft Punk and we bring matters up to date by discussing the fabulous Irish singer CMAT, whom Alexis interviewed this summer. The episode concludes after Mark introduces clips from Mat Snow's 1992 audio interview with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, 50 years after the double album Alive! made them a '70s rock phenomenon. Many thanks to special guest Alexis Petridis. Find his writing in the pages of the Guardian. Alexis Petridis: 'I used to dream about owning every record in the world', How Music Criticism Lost Its Edge, Britpop nostalgia, Suede: Roll Over, Jimmy Dean, Why Daft Punk's New Album Has Given New Life To The Music Business, A Celebration of Prince, CMAT interview and KISS audio.