Track By Track: The TRASH Music Podcast

This really is it now - the final Track By Track. We're devoting the whole of the last ever episode to further listening for Pet Shop Boys 'Nonetheless', with so many great B-sides from the recent album/single campaign we just had to talk about as many as possible - an indulgence? For sure! ...Now ask yourself can you even forgive us?

It's the final Track By Track and we're finishing where we started back in 2018 - by talking about the latest Pet Shop Boys album. Back then it was 'Super' this time we're waxing lyrical about 'Nonetheless' which is also our album of the year, and a fitting end to our time with you. Enjoy.

Podcasters, play a Christmas episode. To get you into the Christmas spirit we're Cher-ing the ultimate gift: An episode going track by track through Cher's Christmas album, released last year and providing us with bangers, classics and collabs galore. Let us know your thoughts on the episode and the album on the socials @trackbytrackuk

It's our final selection from the Patreon vault, with an added bit of 2024 sparkle, this week we're getting into the seasonal spirit with a Christmas treat from last year. We're discussing Snow Globe, from one of our favourite synth pop duos, Erasure.

It's that time of year where we look back and celebrate some of the phenomenal pop music that's found its way into our ears over the last twelve months. And what a year it's been! (Have we said that every year?!) As well as our Top 20 tracks we're also revealing our Top 10 albums, and what the all important #1 is that we'll be going track by track through for our last ever episode. Let us know your thoughts on our choices, and what your tracks and albums of the year are, on the socials @trackbytrackuk

We've got a bumper edition of festive Further Listening for you this week, as we share the three episodes originally released in 2021, 2022 and 2023 on Patreon as one episode, stuffed with more treats than your stocking on Christmas morning. We've got over 30 yuletide deep cuts for your listening pleasure that might have passed you by while you were busy with the last-minute shopping. So if you've had too much Mariah, or listened to Last Christmas for the last time, we've got you covered. Let us know your thoughts on our choices and the episodes @trackbytrackuk

This week, as we head into the final weeks of Track By Track, it's Will's pick from the Patreon vault of treasures - its 'Three' from Sugababes, now available for all to dive in to in an updated, expanded episode. We couldn't resist one final girlband episode and this showcases the 'Babes in their prime.

As we bring Track By Track to a close we wanted to each choose one episode from the Patreon vaults from the artists we love the most. This time it's Dan's choice: New Order's epic compilation, Substance 1987, which brought together the band's singles up until that point - many of which hadn't appeared on an album before. Let us know your thoughts on the episode and the album @trackbytrackuk, and look out for Will's pick heading your way next week.

We just had to come back to Kylie in one of our final episodes, and this one is a biggie, the much beloved and creatively different 'Impossible Princess'. Join us for one last jaunt through an iconic Kylie Minogue album, and let us know your thoughts @trackbytrackuk on our socials.

Ahead of their musical, Here And Now, opening this week, we're sharing our Steps episode of Further Listening, where we've selected ten of our favourite deep cuts from the pure pop legends who defied the odds and remain one of the country's biggest selling live acts. Let us know your thoughts on the tracks and episode @trackbytrackuk

Today, we've got an announcement...

To celebrate the release of ABBA: The First Fifty Years, we're sharing ten of our favourite deeper cuts from the icons, including solo tracks, cover versions and more. Let us know your choices and your thoughts on the episode @trackbytrackuk

As voted for by you, we're celebrating 35 years of Erasure's fourth studio album, Wild! And it's our third brand new Erasure episode of the year, as we've also been track by track through I Say I Say I Say and The Violet Flame. Head over to Team Track By Track on Patreon to get our Chorus, Snow Globe and Further Listening episodes: https://www.patreon.com/trackbytrackuk Let us know your thoughts on the album and the episode @trackbytrackuk

Dusty Springfield on Track By Track - legends talking about legends. We're discussing Dusty's 1990 full out pop album 'Reputation' and with a great TBT-appropriate link.

Oasis make their Track By Track debut on this episode, and we're starting from the beginning of their career with the album that shot them into the public consciousness, as you'll hear with very good reason. Let us know your Oasis memories, and which album of their we should discuss next @trackbytrackuk and hellotrackbytrack@gmail.com

Can you believe it's been three years since we were joined by Mr. Pete Wiggs himself to discuss Saint Etienne's latest studio album, I've Been Trying To Tell You, as well as their debut, Foxbase Alpha? And what an absolute joy he was to talk to. (Dan accidentally says it's been two years on the episode...) To celebrate this momentous occasion we're releasing our Saint Etienne episode of Further Listening across all podcast platforms, where we share ten of our favourite deep cuts from the band. Pete, Bob and Sarah are incredibly generous with their content, so it wasn't an easy job to whittle it down. To get access to Further Listening episodes on many more bands, more unreleased album episodes, and two additional series, join Team Track By Track on Patreon and listen to 70+ episodes from the vaults: https://www.patreon.com/trackbytrackuk

We said there'd be more Erasure in 2024, and we've kept our 'Promises' (wink wink, nudge nudge). Didn't want to give you any, ahem, 'Reason' to fall out with us. And we'll leave the terrible puns there. This week we're celebrating 10 years of Erasure's The Violet Flame. Their sixteenth studio album saw them return to the Top 20 UK Albums chart for the first time in over a decade, as Richard X joined them on production duties. Let us know your thoughts on the album and the episode @trackbytrackuk

Surprise! For this epic album we couldn't squeeze it all into one episode (…we talked a lot), so here's side B of Introspective, and our Further Listening choices.

Happy 6th Birthday to us! And here we go with our penultimate track by track dive into a Pet Shop Boys album: the epic, but oh so short, IIntrospective.

All this Britpop talk has gotten us heading back into the archives for this new episode. We're talking about 1996's The It Girl from Sleeper — another band from the nineties out there showing their 'Cool Britannia' credentials, and still out there today.

As voted for by you, for our belated Duran Duran Appreciation Day celebrations we're going track by track through their third studio album, Seven And The Ragged Tiger. And there's much to discuss with this one, including new producers, huge chart positions and some stellar album tracks, despite what the original reviews might have said. Let us know your thoughts @trackbytrackuk, and to catch up with our episodes on Big Thing, The Wedding Album and Medazzaland (and many more by many other artists) head to our Patreon page where you can join Team Track By Track for just £3: https://www.patreon.com/trackbytrackuk

Following their only UK date this year, which we were lucky enough to be in attendance for, we're sharing our New Order episode of Further Listening, where you'll find ten deep cuts from the Manchester music legends. Let us know your thoughts on our picks (and what yours would be) on the socials @trackbytrackuk

If only we could turn back time... Well we have in this new episode where we dig deep into the archives for our fun and energetic take on Aqua's debut album, Aquarium. Is it a cheesy hit of dopamine or something more? You decide!

We've enjoyed Ian Wade's music musings for many years now, so we were thrilled when he announced his debut book, 1984: The Year Pop Went Queer. On our first bookish episode we're joined by Ian to discuss the book, 1984 (not the novel), and some of the key artists and tracks featured in the book and mammoth playlist that accompanies it. Let us know your thoughts on the episode, the tracks and the book on the socials @trackbytrackuk or hellotrackbytrack@gmail.com

Ahead of them headlining Latitude, we're sharing ten of our favourite Duran Duran deep cuts on the latest episode of Further Listening. It's unlikely any of these gems will make the setlist, but we're sure you're going to love them... Maybe you already do? As always do let us know your thoughts @trackbytrackuk or via good old email: hellotrackbytrack@gmail.com

In our second new episode this week we're talking about our favourite male pop duo (who are brothers), SPARKS! This time we're diving in to their 1979 record, ‘No. 1 in Heaven' a collaboration for the ages with Giorgio Moroder. If you haven't heard their work before join us to find out why we think they're one of the greats, with a lifetime spanning career, and still going strong now. Also a great episode to check out if you're a fan of Noël... Our first Sparks episode, Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins, is definitely worth your time and available over on our Patreon archive, Team Track By Track, for just £3 a month (or however long it takes you to get through 80+ exclusive episodes).

FINALLY, after being asked to feature Prince on the podcast for SO long, we're going track by track through one of his albums - and what an album! Purple Rain is one of those that appears on every 'best album ever' list, and was at #4 on Apple Music's recent Top 100 Albums. So join us as we discuss the album, some iconic singles, stunningly-titled b-sides and demos, the film, the stories from behind the scenes, and much more. Do let us know your thoughts on the album and the episode on the socials (@trackbytrackuk) or email us at hellotrackbytrack@gmail.com.

We're headed way back in this episode to early in Kylie's career and discussing Let's Get To It. Her fourth album saw Kylie start to branch away from her signature SAW sound in the first of many glorious reinventions. There is much to enjoy and reminisce about, so join us and let us know your memories @trackbytrackuk & hellotrackbytrack@gmail.com

It's Glastonbury week, which means this time last year we were counting down the days until Blondie took to the Pyramid Stage for the first time in 24 years. But on this episode we're celebrating 10 deep cuts that didn't fill the setlist. Let us know your thoughts on the band and our choices on the socials @trackbytrackuk

On this week's episode we're joined by Will Gregory to discuss the debut album from his Moog Ensemble: Heat Ray. Will takes us track by track through the collection that tells the story of Archimedes' life, and of course there's some Goldfrapp chat too. Let us know what you think to the episode and the album on the socials @trackbytrackuk

It's almost time for Glastonbury which means it's almost been a year since Elton John's monumental headline show, performing to one the biggest (if not *the* biggest) crowds the festival has ever seen. To celebrate we're bringing you an updated version of our Too Low For Zero episode, originally released on Patreon last year to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Let us know your thoughts not the episode and the album @trackbytrackuk

We are celebrating The Killers debut album on this brand new episode, as we talk through 'Hot Fuss', the start of a long and successful career for the cream of Las Vegas. The hallmarks were all there from the start including two of their biggest songs to date. What are your memories and thoughts on the album? Let us know @trackbytrackuk

On our second episode of Further Listening that we're sharing across all podcasting platforms, we're delving deeper and deeper into the Queen of Pop's back catalogue. Following her record breaking Celebration tour finale, we're discussing ten tracks that aren't greatest hits, but are of course great pop creations. Let us know your thoughts on the socials @trackbytrackuk

So far we've been track by track through three Erasure albums - The Neon, Chorus and Snow Globe, as well as the ABBA-Esque EP - so we know we've got a lot of catching up to do. This week we're celebrating the 30th anniversary of I Say I Say I Say - Andy Bell and Vince Clarke's sixth studio album, following the release of their first greatest hits collection. With Martyn Ware on board as producer, the pair delivered yet another synth pop stunner, including the huge single Always. Let us know your thoughts on the socials @trackbytrackuk

This week we're back with one of our favourite girl groups - Girls Aloud. This time we're talking about their fourth studio album from 2007 'Tangled Up'. As ever we celebrate the five princesses of pop and enjoy some deeper dives into the music scene of the time which will hopefully educate, entertain and stir up some old musical memories from seventeen (!) years ago.

In this brand new episode, we're celebrating 30 years since the release of this seminal Blur album. Join us as we travel back to the 90's and the rise of Britpop to see what this quartet of fresh faced Londoners did on their make or break third album, and why it still hits all the right notes three decades later.

Welcome to Further Listening, the series where we delve even deeper into the back catalogues of some of our favourite artists. We're kicking things off with the band who inspired the Track By Track podcast and the name of this series... It's Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe AKA Pet Shop Boys. This series was first released as a Patreon exclusive, however we're now sharing the episodes across all podcasting platforms AND we're bringing it bang up to date with some additional choices. Let us know your thoughts on the episode and our picks on the socials @trackbytrackuk - and if you haven't already please do leave us a rating and review.

We're back with our first episode of 2024! And this year we're doing things a little bit differently. Each month we're going to bring one updated episode previously released on Patreon, one updated episode from our Patreon exclusive series: Further Listening AND at least one brand new episode to all podcasting platforms. This week we're continuing the 50th anniversary celebrations of ABBA's Eurovision win by celebrating the album that started it all. Ring Ring was released a year before Eurovision, before ABBA were known as ABBA, but still features fan favourites and some real oddities. Do let us know what you think to the episode and the album, and if you haven't already please do leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Thanks for listening - it's great to be back!

Merry Christmas to all our lovely listeners wherever you are and whatever you are doing over the holidays. On a new episode, now available for all, we're going through the soundtrack to the fabulously festive feature film ‘ Love Actually' a Yule tide staple for us, expect film chat AND music chat for this seasonal special from us, a previous Patreon exclusive.

Here we go...our Top 30 songs of 2023. Join us for our epic countdown of favourites in the end of year chart music fans and industry insiders have been waiting for What are you expecting to hear in our list this year?

Join us as we round out the year counting down our top ten albums of 2023. Head over to Patreon and vote for which of these albums you would like us to go through track by track before the end of the year!

Time for another episode from the Patreon vaults, and this one celebrates one of our favourite seconds albums ever! It's synth-pop pioneers a-ha with their moody sophomore collection, Scoundrel Days.

On this episode from the Patreon vaults we're re-rewinding back a couple of years to September 2021, when we got our overalls on and entered the garage scene to celebrate Artful Dodger's hit-filled album, It's All About The Stragglers. Let us know your thoughts on the album and the episode, and to get monthly brand new episodes years before they're available on all podcast platforms (as well as exclusive series, episode voting and much more) join us and support Track By Track on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/trackbytrackuk

Surprise! We couldn't not mark the occasion... Pet Shop Boys' long out-of-print mini album Relentless - originally released as part of a special edition of 1993's Very - has been rereleased, and made available on streaming services for the first time. The collection is made up of six experimental lengthy numbers, with a much heavier focus on dance music, and on this episode we're going through them track by track. Let us know your thoughts on the socials @trackbytrackuk

We're continuing our look back over the last half a decade of Track By Track to celebrate 250 album episodes, and so much more. Let us know your thoughts and memories on the socials @trackbytrackuk

It's our fifth birthday, and true to form we're celebrating Pet Shop Boys style. We haven't got many left in the bank now so we hope you enjoy our penultimate PSB album episode, and it's a super sized one at that! This one is celebrating the joy of 'Fundamental'. If that isn't enough this is also our 250th album episode, what a double bubble milestone. Let us know your thoughts and memories and top tracks @trackbytrackuk

To celebrate five years of Track By Track, and the release of our 250th episode, we're looking back over some of our greatest bits. Let us know yours @trackbytrackuk

Somehow, after two brand new Steps albums, last year's #1 Platinum Collection, tours with the band, the War Of The Worlds tour, and endless TV shows including performing on the final of the Great British Sewing Bee (!), Claire Richards doesn't fancy a break just yet. Thank goodness! Her brand new album, Euphoria, sees her covering some of the voices that inspired her, including ABBA, Donna Summer, Babs and Celine. With production from our pal Steve Anderson and guest spots from Andy Bell and Delta Goodrem, this is a huge collection of classic dance tracks given a whole new lease of life, and giving life. We're joined by Claire to go track by track through the album. To hear what she says about the Deluxe Edition tracks (Love Is A Battlefield and Xanadu), get Early Access to future new release album episodes with the artists, catch up with 80+ episodes including new series (and our Steps episode of Further Listening), vote on future episodes, and get more every month, join us on Patreon from less than £4 per month: https://www.patreon.com/trackbytrackuk Let us know what you think to the album and the episode @trackbytrackuk

Here's a special one from the Patreon vaults. As Saint Etienne's debut album, Foxbase Alpha, celebrated its 30th anniversary, we were joined by Pete Wiggs to hear his memories on making the album that started it all. This episode was first released in September 2021 on Patreon, alongside early access to our Saint Etienne - I've Been Trying To Tell You episode, with Pete taking us track by track through their brand new LP. To get your hands on 80+ exclusive episodes including brand new series, and to vote on future episodes and get early access and exclusive content to new release album episodes with the artist, join us and support the podcast on Patreon from less than £3.50 per month! https://www.patreon.com/trackbytrackuk

On our last album proper we were joined by Jake Shears to go track by track through his new album, Last Man Dancing, so join us we head back 17 years to Scissor Sisters' second long player, Ta-Dah, which cemented Jake and the band as music icons. This album was originally released on Patreon in September 2020. To get brand new episodes weekly, exclusive series, Early Access to new album episodes with the artist, voting and access to 80+ Patreon episodes join us and support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/trackbytrackuk

In this special episode we're are sharing our thoughts and experiences from this year's Glastonbury Festival. Join us to hear about our musical highlights and some of the sights and sounds from Worthy Farm in what was another eventful year at the world's greatest music and performing arts festival. Let us know your highlights and memories @trackbytrackuk on our socials.