E223: AOR Special with Paul Rees + Boston audio interview

About this episode

The episode features an interview with Paul Rees discussing his book on AOR music and includes various clips and reflections on notable artists and tracks.

For this episode we welcome former Q/Kerrang! editor-in-chief Paul Rees to RBP Towers to discuss his riveting new book Raised on Radio: Power Ballads, Cocaine & Payola. An oral history of AOR (or Album-Oriented Rock), Raised on Radio gives us an eagerly-awaited chance to enthuse about an oft-maligned genre we all happen to adore. The conversation takes in most of AOR's major practitioners, from Kansas and Toto to Journey and Survivor, and incorporates clips from John Tobler's 1979 audio interview with Tom Scholz and Brad Delp of Boston. After we've exhausted these guilty-till-proved-innocent pleasures, Mark quotes from newly-added library pieces about Siouxsie & the Banshees (1982) and Chic's Bernard Edwards (1987), then Jasper talks us out with his reflections on archive interviews with George Clinton (1997) and Brutalist composer Daniel Blumberg (2025). Many thanks to special guest Paul Rees. Raised on Radio is published by Constable and available now from all good bookshops. Pieces discussed: More Than a Feeling: The 20 Greatest AOR Tracks of All Time!, American revolution: Aerosmith, Boston, Kansas and co., Hard Pop, Suburban Rock, Hall & Oates: Blue-Eyed Philadelphia Soul…

People in this episode

Hosts: Barney Hoskyns, Mark Pringle, Jasper Murison-Bowie

Guest: Paul Rees

Topics covered

• AOR
• music history
• interviews
• power ballads
• oral history
• rock music

Keywords

• AOR
• Paul Rees
• Raised on Radio
• power ballads
• rock music
• interviews
• music history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Kerrang!

Books & works: Raised on Radio: Power Ballads, Cocaine & Payola, More Than a Feeling: The 20 Greatest AOR Tracks of All Time!, American revolution: Aerosmith, Boston, Kansas and co., Hard Pop, Suburban Rock, Hall & Oates: Blue-Eyed Philadelphia Soul, The Buzz On Boz Scaggs, Nirvana: Smells like Success, Boston (1979), Heart

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