Podcasts about Streatham

Comedian Ed Night joins the Loreboys to share legends of Streatham in South London. These stories range from contemporary urban legends to tales from when all this were fields. Plus, a cameo from the Vincent Van Gogh of the art world: Vincent Van Gogh. Check out Ed's tour here. Content Warning: Self-harm, in reference to Van Gogh. We also discuss the case of the supposed "Croydon Cat Killer". And we're as tactful about it as we can be, but the name should give you a sense of the subject matter. This episode was edited by ⁠⁠Joseph Burrows - Audio Editor⁠⁠ Join the LoreFolk at ⁠⁠patreon.com/loremenpod⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ko-fi.com/loremen⁠⁠ Check the sweet, sweet merch here... ⁠⁠https://www.teepublic.com/stores/loremen-podcast?ref_id=24631⁠⁠ @loremenpod ⁠⁠youtube.com/loremenpodcast⁠⁠ ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/loremenpod⁠⁠ ⁠⁠www.facebook.com/loremenpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The second episode of Placements 101 focusses on money – how to manage your finances while on placement. Everyone's financial situation is different and how you manage money is a personal choice. In this episode Anya and Immy share their experiences and offer practical advice on how they handled their finances during their placements.    If you're unsure what you want to do with your third year, or need some extra support/guidance from students who have recently returned from a year out, then check out our new placements 101 mini-series. Join Anya and Immy, fourth year students as they share their experiences of placement life. Find more support on our work placement webpages: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/students/careers/jobsandworkplacements/workplacements/ Explore wellbeing support for Streatham students: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/students/wellbeing/ Explore wellbeing support Penryn students:  https://fxplus.ac.uk/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support/

If you're unsure what you want to do with your third year, or need some extra support/guidance from students who have recently returned from a year out, then check out our new placements 101 mini-series. Join Anya and Immy, fourth year students as they share their experiences of placement life. The first episode of Placements 101 focuses on prioritising wellbeing whilst on placement - a really important topic. Life abroad or working can be a huge shift from student life and many struggle with the initial adjustment period. Take reassurance in the fact that you are not alone and the majority are feeling the same way. Anya and Immy discuss what they did whilst on placement and what they would appreciate knowing in hindsight with regards to wellbeing and mental health. Useful Links: Find more support on our work placement webpages: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/students/careers/jobsandworkplacements/workplacements/ Explore wellbeing support for Streatham students: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/students/wellbeing/ Explore wellbeing support Penryn students:  https://fxplus.ac.uk/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support/

ITS CUP FINAL TIME as Zero Pucks Given is right across both legs! Match reports from both games as Chelmsford and Solent go head to head! Streatham host Cardiff on Saturday & Oxford visit Wales on the Sunday, ALL with EXCLUSIVE Coaches Thoughts from Alex Murray, Lewis Clifford, Elis Sheppard and Mark Saunders! Zero Pucks Given finished 3rd Bronze Medal Position in the Sport Podcast Awards 2025 Zero Pucks Given is part of the Sport Social Podcast Network - all episodes are available to listen to through the ZPG landing site on their website (Link in Bio) Zero Pucks Given is sponsored by Hockey Art Co. Worn By The Best, Hated By The Rest; listeners to ZPG get 10% discount site wide from clothing just listen in for the code Zero Pucks Given is also sponsored by Manscaped™️ listeners to ZPG get a 20% discount + free shipping on ALL Manscaped™️ listen in for the BRAND NEW CODE! Follow Zero Pucks Given on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, X and Threads so you don't miss a thing! The whole podcast episode is also available on YouTube as well as EVERYWHERE you can get podcasts. #ZeroPucksGiven #IceHockeyPodcast #Podcast #HockeyArtCo #UKIceHockey #BritishIceHockey #HockeyContent #CardiffFire #ChelmsfordChieftains #LetsGoChieftains #NIHL #Britton #South #InvictaDynamos #StreathamRedhawks #SolentDevils #SloughJets #SwindonWildcats2 #RomfordBuccaneers #OxfordCityStars #MiltonKeynesThunder #SportSocialPodcastNetwork #ItsNotWeakToSpeak #HockeyNightLive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After not rejoining Chelmsford Chieftains after a successful first season there, Damon took a little break, had some HUGE moments in his personal life but then found a new home at the High Road we he joined the Redhawks... Damon gets candid and personal on his situation at Chelmsford and how he mentally made his way back to hockey Zero Pucks Given finished 3rd Bronze Medal Position in the Sport Podcast Awards 2025 Zero Pucks Given is part of the Sport Social Podcast Network - all episodes are available to listen to through the ZPG landing site on their website (Link in Bio) Zero Pucks Given is sponsored by Hockey Art Co. Worn By The Best, Hated By The Rest; listeners to ZPG get 10% discount site wide from hockeyartclothing.co.uk clothing just listen in for the code Zero Pucks Given is also sponsored by Manscaped™️ listeners to ZPG get a 20% discount + free shipping on ALL Manscaped™️ listen in for the BRAND NEW CODE! Follow Zero Pucks Given on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, X and Threads so you don't miss a thing! The whole podcast episode is also available on YouTube as well as EVERYWHERE you can get podcasts. #ZeroPucksGiven #IceHockeyPodcast #Podcast #HockeyArtCo #UKIceHockey #BritishIceHockey #HockeyContent #CardiffFire #ChelmsfordChieftains #LetsGoChieftains #NIHL #Britton #South #InvictaDynamos #StreathamRedhawks #SolentDevils #SloughJets #SwindonWildcats2 #RomfordBuccaneers #OxfordCityStars #MiltonKeynesThunder #SportSocialPodcastNetwork #ItsNotWeakToSpeak #HockeyNightLive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Residents in Langi Logan, Maroona, Mininera, Nerrin Nerrin, Rossbridge, Streatham, Tatyoon, Tatyoon North, Westmere have been told to leave immediately.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gary and Carys are joined by Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the Labour MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, to discuss the need for reconciliation within the Labour Party, the importance of representation in politics and why Diane Abbott gets a better office.Bell Ribeiro-Addy was born and raised in Brixton Hill. She has been an MP continually since 12 December 2019 and is the Labour MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill. Prior to the boundary changes that took effect at the last election, she served much of the same area as the MP for Streatham.Our partner for this episode, Movement brings all your digital campaigning tools into one place. You can inspire change by interacting with members via SMS, email, WhatsApp and phones on their platform. They work with campaigns great and small, having helped the likes of Hope Not Hate, Unison and Labour in the General Election. They're free up to the first 10,000 users, so If you're running a campaign for progressive causes then get in touch with Movement at https://www.movement.industries/over-under-promotion to see how they can help you succeed.This podcast was recorded live at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre.Support us on PATREON - to get bonus episodes, a weekly newsletter and become a part of our members-only WhatsApp community, plus many other extra features.Email us at info@overunderpod.comProduced & Edited by Sarah MylesExecutive Producer - Bernard P AchampongVisuals by J10XJJ Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, we heard about Roderick McLean who was sent to prison when police and customs officers captured a gang of eight drug smugglers off the Caithness coast. During the raid customs officer Alastair Souter was killed when he fell and was crushed between a customs cutter and the gang's boat. The drugs haul netted three tons of cannabis, valued at £10 million. McLean, the gang leader, was convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison.This week we follow McLean in prison, but not for long as he soon escaped - was this with the help of the Security Services? - and his death in a seedy hostel in Streatham, London. We discover that his death poses many more questions than answers.Find out more about the UK True Crime Podcast:https://uktruecrime.comSupport me at Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/UKTrueCrimeSourcesThe Death Of Roddy McLean - UK True Crime Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

JJ Pitchley makes his ZPG debut as we complete the set of at least one member from every Britton Division team! We discuss JJ's time at Streatham, his time in Dallas and a possible restructure to re-invigorate the UK hockey scene Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, a police officer has been cleared of murdering Chris Kaba who he shot in south London.Martyn Blake, shot Chris Kaba, who was unarmed, during a police vehicle stop in Streatham in September 2022. The officer denied intending to kill the 24-year-old. Adam speaks to UK Correspondent Adina Campbell who has been following the case, and Danny Shaw, Former BBC Home Affairs Correspondent & now commentator on police and crime issues. And Michael Gove reflects on his career as an MP and talks about his new Radio 4 series ‘Surviving Politics'. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhere Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Gemma Roper and Ruchira Sharma. The technical producer was Philip Bull. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham.

Metropolitan Police firearms officer Martyn Blake has been found not guilty of the murder of Chris Kaba. Blake shot the 24-year-old dead during a police stop in Streatham, south London in 2022. Kaba's family said the verdict was "painful proof that our lives are not valued by the system". We're joined by Chris Kaba's local MP, Bell Ribeiro-Addy. Also tonight: US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken heads to Israel as part of his eleventh visit to the Middle East since the October 7th attacks. Nine years after one of Brazil's worst environmental disasters, a mass civil claim begins at the High Court in London. We speak to one of the claimants.And as a New Zealand airport introduces a limit of three minutes per hug, we ask how long a good hug should last. (Picture: People gather outside the Old Bailey after British police officer Martyn Blake was acquitted of the 2022 murder of Chris Kaba, October 21, 2024. Credit: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy)

Dave's love for football is undeniable. The Streatham rapper took his very own Santan Cup to St George's Park where his family and friends lived the life of professional ballers for one day only. The VERSUS team breaks why the tournament is so influential. From the talent involved to authentic brand collabs between Stone Island and New Balance, this tournament sets the standard for how football should exist within contemporary culture. We also discuss Central Cee's exploits within football following his collaboration with PSG during Paris Fashion Week, and revisit the subject of football's inability to tackle gambling brands. ‘The Future of Football' is a podcast from VERSUS bringing you closer to the people, the stories and the ideas shaping the future of the game we love. Host: Mayowa Quadri (@mayowaquadri_) Corey Pellatt (@coreypellatt) Ahmed Shooble (@AhmedShooble) Johnny Kay (@ojhnyn)

In which Julia Farman and Tom Rogers talk about their experience of scoring at The Oval (in London) on Refugee Day 2024. Also mentioned are: Streatham & Marlborough CC; Displaying milestones; Refugee cricket; Publishing players' names and images; Play-Cricket display names; Registering players; Merging players on Play-Cricket; Asking permission; Scoreboard operators.There must be a serious lack of cake at The Oval, as it doesn't get a single mention in this episode!Thank you to Tom for being an avid supporter of Cricket Scorers Untallied and for sharing your experiences with us in this episode.Don't forget to keep in touch with Cricket Scorers Untallied via the usual channels.Email: cricketscorersuntallied@gmail.comX (Twitter): @cricketscorers1

Election 24, Episode 29 Today's episode is best enjoyed with some fine wine. And a pint of ale. And a Sunday roast. Today's candidates are: Steve Reed, Labour, Streatham and Croydon North @SteveReedMPhttps://www.stevereedmp.co.uk/ Tom Pridham, Conservative, Battersea@tom_pridhamhttps://www.wandsworthconservatives.co.uk/people/tom-pridham Helen Baxter, Lib Dem, Queen's Park and Maida Vale@HelenBaxter_LDhttps://www.westminsterandcityoflondonlibdems.org.uk/meet-helen James Nelson, Green, Filton and Bradley Stoke @JamesNe78081707https://southglos.greenparty.org.uk/2024/03/13/candidates-ge24/ Just 531 to go...If you are a candidate or know one who'd like to come on the show, email politicalpartypodcast@gmail.com SEE Matt at the Edinburgh Festival in August: Matt Forde The End of an Era Tour Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode — our first-ever "field recording" — we travel up to North London to interview the legendary writer-photographer Val Wilmer. Val takes us back to her earliest musical memories in Streatham, South London, and her immersion in the capital's '60s jazz and blues scenes. We hear about her first pieces for Jazz Journal and her experiences of interviewing (and photographing) the likes of blues singer Jesse Fuller. We also hear about her remarkable DownBeat interview with Jimi Hendrix from early 1968. Val's classic 1977 book As Serious As Your Life — reissued in 2018 — provides the pretext for asking about her passionate championing of the "free jazz" of John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and others. We focus on her 1966 Melody Maker encounter with the extraordinary Albert Ayler and the unsolved mystery of his death in 1970. A discussion of Val's deep involvement in the women's movement leads us to clips from Ira Robbins 1994 audio interview with the late Lesley ('It's My Party') Gore — and in particular her startling photo-feminist classic 'You Don't Own Me', six decades young this year. Jasper talks us out with his thoughts on Alan Light's 1991 Rolling Stone interview with Queen Latifah. Many thanks to special guest Val Wilmer. As Serious As Your Life is published by Serpent's Tail and available from all good bookshops. Pieces discussed: Jimi Hendrix: An experience, Once Upon A Time In Williamsburg, Ayler: Mystic tenor with a direct hot line to heaven?, Memories of Hoppy: An interview with Val Wilmer, The New Jazz Gets With It (That Means With Contemporary Art), Tempo: Coltrane, Shankar and All That Rock & Roll, Coltrane, Davis, Monk, Mingus, Lesley Gore audio and Queen Latifah's New Gambit.

Maurice Burton joins Will and James for this week's show. Burton became Britain's first black cycling champion in 1974, and by 1975 was on his way to a stellar career racing track and Six-Day events on the Continent. Here he tells Will and James about his early days living in a butchers shop with a man who never washed, trading bikes or cars, competing in 56 Six-Day races and being sabotaged numerous times. Today, Burton runs De Ver Cycles in Streatham, London, and has just had his biography published by Bloomsbury, The Maurice Burton Way, which is out on 28th March and available to pre-order now.--This episode is brought to you by ketones experts deltaG. deltaG makes a variety of ketone drinks to use for different situations, so head over to deltaGketones.com to explore the science, and use the code CYCLIST for 20% off your first purchase.--This episode is also brought to you by JOIN, the training platform that sets you up with training plans that adapt on the go. Listeners of the podcast can get a 6 month subscription for the price of 4. At a monthly price of £8.49 GBP you now pay £33.96. So head to https://join.cc/promo/cyclist-magazine-podcast/ and start training with JOIN's adaptive and flexible training plans now.---Did you know Cyclist is also stunning monthly magazine? Subscribe now at store.cyclist.co.uk/cycpod and get every issue for less than in the shops, delivered straight to your door. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Val Wilmer has photographed and interviewed many of the most significant musicians of the post-war years, including Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin and many more. Val grew up in Streatham in South London, where a local record shop helped to nurture her love of music, especially jazz. Her lifelong passion for jazz and photography began at an early age: when she was just 14 years old, she persuaded her mother to take her to London Airport to see off the jazz legend Louis Armstrong who had been playing in the UK. She asked him for an autograph, then took a picture of him as he broke into a huge smile. The image was the first of many classic shots. Alongside her work as a photographer, Val has written extensively about music, as a journalist for numerous publications and as an author: her book As Serious As Your Life, examining the evolution of free jazz within the wider context of racial and sexual politics, has been widely acclaimed as a classic text. In 1983 she co-founded Format, the first all-female photographic agency, which aimed to champion women photographers and to widen the range of images available to newspapers and magazines. Her photographs are held in the collections of the V&A and the National Portrait Gallery. DISC ONE: Potato Head Blues - Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven DISC TWO: Black, Brown And White - Big Bill Broonzy DISC THREE: Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8_1. By Kodaly, First movement performed by Janos Starker DISC FOUR: The Weary Blues – Langston Hughes DISC FIVE: My Lovely Elizabeth - S.E. Rogie DISC SIX: Criss Cross - Thelonious Monk DISC SEVEN: Dogon A D - Julius Hemphill DISC EIGHT: Love and Affection - Joan Armatrading BOOK CHOICE: The Collective Works of Langston Hughes LUXURY ITEM: Nail scissors CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Criss Cross - Thelonious Monk Presenter Lauren Laverne Producers Tim Bano and Sarah Taylor

After our build up episode last week, we have the match reports from the two legged final + exclusive thoughts from Ben Paynter, next weeks fixtures and player of the week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The tough guy, the most brutal smile in NIHL 1 South... I sit down with Brandon Miles to discuss the man behind the fists who, incase you missed it, can actually play a bit too! Top fella, hope you enjoy it! (Occasional audio issues) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week Abigoliah and Joe talk about navigating a neurotypical world with cinematographer Tom WattsMake sure you follow Tom on all the socials @tomwattsdopRate, Review and Subscribe and we'll see you again in two weeks with a wonderful special guest or if you can't wait two weeks there'll be a bonus episode on our Patreon next week.See Abigoliah live in Streatham on the 7th of February, tickets here: https://www.streathamspaceproject.co.uk/whats-on-calendar/lauralexxabigoliahschamaun-7feb24If you've had a Neurodivergent moment you're happy to share with us then email neurodivergentmomentspod@gmail.comfollow us on social media @NDM_PodcastMusic by Savan De Paul check out their work on Bandcamp! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome along to episode 65! This weeks chat comes from the champions and current league leaders Leadership as assistant captain, Ziggy Beesley makes his ZPG debut, and what a top man he is too! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/zeropucksgiven/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A former Paisley, Slough & Streatham player, a 4000 & Counting original member, a commentator and a twitter officianado- the man, the myth, the Mac --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/zeropucksgiven/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome Along to ZPG! Details from Streatham vs Chelmsford, Slough vs Invicta, Solent vs MK, Oxford vs Solent, Invicta vs Streatham & MK vs Romford + player of the week and those EXCLUSIVE coaches thoughts AND former Chelmsford Chieftain's d-man Will Polston --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/zeropucksgiven/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to the 3rd episode of this incredibly busy week… we've got all the latest news from around the NIHL structure as well as a great guest, Streatham Storm forward Chantelle Air discusses her move to the WNIHL Elite, the growth of womens hockey and the crazy travel expenses to get from the Isle Of Wight to wherever she is playing! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/zeropucksgiven/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

WOW HALF A CENTURY!! On this 50th Episode of ZPG we've match reports from all this weekends exciting fixtures and some EXCLUSIVE coaches thoughts! We also have an esteemed guest! The current champs brick wall, Danny Milton joins to discuss all things goalie! Zero Pucks Given is in Partnership with Blades Belong On Your Feet; The Charity fighting knife crime with Ice Skating all over the UKZero Pucks Given is sponsored by Hockey Art Co. Worn By The Best, Hated By The Rest; listeners to ZPG get 10% discount site wide from hockeyartco.co.uk clothingFollow Zero Pucks Given on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, X and Threads so you don't miss a thing! The whole podcast episode is also available on YouTube as well as EVERYWHERE you can get podcasts.#ZeroPucksGiven #IceHockeyPodcast #Podcast #BladesBelongOnYourFeet #HockeyArtCo #UKIceHockey #BritishIceHockey #HockeyContent #ChelmsfordChieftains #LetsGoChieftains #NIHL #Britton #South #InvictaDynamos #StreathamRedhawks #SolentDevils #SloughJets #RomfordBuccaneers #OxfordCityStars #MiltonKeynesThunder #PlayOffs #Chiefs #BlackAndGoldArmy #EIHA #GBIceHockey #EnglandIceHockey --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/zeropucksgiven/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome along to episode 49... almost at the half a century point!!! This episode is also coming out on the 1 year anniversary of Zero Pucks Given!!! So we've got all the Action from the Britton Division as Slough and Streatham go head to head and Sunday gives us a full program!!! Bucc's v Stars, Chiefs v Devils, Thunder vs Jets & Redhawks v Dynamos! Plus we have a guest, Slough Jets d-man Charlie Ottowell! (23:50) We discuss everything from Charlies junior career, upto his small break from hockey then MK to Slough! Feedback and sharing greatly appreciated, really hope you enjoy the episode! Zero Pucks Given is in Partnership with Blades Belong On Your Feet; The Charity fighting knife crime with Ice Skating all over the UK Zero Pucks Given is sponsored by Hockey Art Co. Worn By The Best, Hated By The Rest; listeners to ZPG get 10% discount site wide from hockeyartco.co.uk clothing Follow Zero Pucks Given on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, X and Threads so you don't miss a thing! The whole podcast episode is also available on YouTube as well as EVERYWHERE you can get podcasts. #ZeroPucksGiven #IceHockeyPodcast #Podcast #BladesBelongOnYourFeet #HockeyArtCo #UKIceHockey #BritishIceHockey #HockeyContent #ChelmsfordChieftains #LetsGoChieftains #NIHL #Britton #South #InvictaDynamos #StreathamRedhawks #SolentDevils #SloughJets #RomfordBuccaneers #OxfordCityStars #MiltonKeynesThunder #PlayOffs #Chiefs #BlackAndGoldArmy #EIHA #GBIceHockey #EnglandIceHockey --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/zeropucksgiven/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

***TRIGGER WARNING*** References of child sexual abuseThis week I am chatting to 30 year old May in Streatham, London, who is 8 months sober at the time of this recording. Like many people her age she is into traveling, eating out, catching up with friends and reading. Her story with alcohol was relatively tame for most of her teenage years and early 2o's but it ramped up after a significant break up, and then 'tipping point' being shut away alone in covid lockdown. This is a great episode. Enjoy!

In the second episode of Love Thy Neighbourhood, unstoppable stand up Chloe Petts shows Time Out editor Joe around her beloved Streatham. And go to the pub. Book tickets for her Edinboro show ‘If You Can't Say Anything Nice' right here.Follow Chloe on Twitter.Like the podcast? Stay on top of all things London with Time Out's truly excellent newsletter, Out Here.Production, editing and sound design by David Clack at Perfect Loop Productions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 166 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Crossroads", Cream, the myth of Robert Johnson, and whether white men can sing the blues. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-eight-minute bonus episode available, on “Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips" by Tiny Tim. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Errata I talk about an interview with Clapton from 1967, I meant 1968. I mention a Graham Bond live recording from 1953, and of course meant 1963. I say Paul Jones was on vocals in the Powerhouse sessions. Steve Winwood was on vocals, and Jones was on harmonica. Resources As I say at the end, the main resource you need to get if you enjoyed this episode is Brother Robert by Annye Anderson, Robert Johnson's stepsister. There are three Mixcloud mixes this time. As there are so many songs by Cream, Robert Johnson, John Mayall, and Graham Bond excerpted, and Mixcloud won't allow more than four songs by the same artist in any mix, I've had to post the songs not in quite the same order in which they appear in the podcast. But the mixes are here -- one, two, three. This article on Mack McCormick gives a fuller explanation of the problems with his research and behaviour. The other books I used for the Robert Johnson sections were McCormick's Biography of a Phantom; Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson, by Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow; Searching for Robert Johnson by Peter Guralnick; and Escaping the Delta by Elijah Wald. I can recommend all of these subject to the caveats at the end of the episode. The information on the history and prehistory of the Delta blues mostly comes from Before Elvis by Larry Birnbaum, with some coming from Charley Patton by John Fahey. The information on Cream comes mostly from Cream: How Eric Clapton Took the World by Storm by Dave Thompson. I also used Ginger Baker: Hellraiser by Ginger Baker and Ginette Baker, Mr Showbiz by Stephen Dando-Collins, Motherless Child by Paul Scott, and  Alexis Korner: The Biography by Harry Shapiro. The best collection of Cream's work is the four-CD set Those Were the Days, which contains every track the group ever released while they were together (though only the stereo mixes of the albums, and a couple of tracks are in slightly different edits from the originals). You can get Johnson's music on many budget compilation records, as it's in the public domain in the EU, but the double CD collection produced by Steve LaVere for Sony in 2011 is, despite the problems that come from it being associated with LaVere, far and away the best option -- the remasters have a clarity that's worlds ahead of even the 1990s CD version it replaced. And for a good single-CD introduction to the Delta blues musicians and songsters who were Johnson's peers and inspirations, Back to the Crossroads: The Roots of Robert Johnson, compiled by Elijah Wald as a companion to his book on Johnson, can't be beaten, and contains many of the tracks excerpted in this episode. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript Before we start, a quick note that this episode contains discussion of racism, drug addiction, and early death. There's also a brief mention of death in childbirth and infant mortality. It's been a while since we looked at the British blues movement, and at the blues in general, so some of you may find some of what follows familiar, as we're going to look at some things we've talked about previously, but from a different angle. In 1968, the Bonzo Dog Band, a comedy musical band that have been described as the missing link between the Beatles and the Monty Python team, released a track called "Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?": [Excerpt: The Bonzo Dog Band, "Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?"] That track was mocking a discussion that was very prominent in Britain's music magazines around that time. 1968 saw the rise of a *lot* of British bands who started out as blues bands, though many of them went on to different styles of music -- Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After, Jethro Tull, Chicken Shack and others were all becoming popular among the kind of people who read the music magazines, and so the question was being asked -- can white men sing the blues? Of course, the answer to that question was obvious. After all, white men *invented* the blues. Before we get any further at all, I have to make clear that I do *not* mean that white people created blues music. But "the blues" as a category, and particularly the idea of it as a music made largely by solo male performers playing guitar... that was created and shaped by the actions of white male record executives. There is no consensus as to when or how the blues as a genre started -- as we often say in this podcast "there is no first anything", but like every genre it seems to have come from multiple sources. In the case of the blues, there's probably some influence from African music by way of field chants sung by enslaved people, possibly some influence from Arabic music as well, definitely some influence from the Irish and British folk songs that by the late nineteenth century were developing into what we now call country music, a lot from ragtime, and a lot of influence from vaudeville and minstrel songs -- which in turn themselves were all very influenced by all those other things. Probably the first published composition to show any real influence of the blues is from 1904, a ragtime piano piece by James Chapman and Leroy Smith, "One O' Them Things": [Excerpt: "One O' Them Things"] That's not very recognisable as a blues piece yet, but it is more-or-less a twelve-bar blues. But the blues developed, and it developed as a result of a series of commercial waves. The first of these came in 1914, with the success of W.C. Handy's "Memphis Blues", which when it was recorded by the Victor Military Band for a phonograph cylinder became what is generally considered the first blues record proper: [Excerpt: The Victor Military Band, "Memphis Blues"] The famous dancers Vernon and Irene Castle came up with a dance, the foxtrot -- which Vernon Castle later admitted was largely inspired by Black dancers -- to be danced to the "Memphis Blues", and the foxtrot soon overtook the tango, which the Castles had introduced to the US the previous year, to become the most popular dance in America for the best part of three decades. And with that came an explosion in blues in the Handy style, cranked out by every music publisher. While the blues was a style largely created by Black performers and writers, the segregated nature of the American music industry at the time meant that most vocal performances of these early blues that were captured on record were by white performers, Black vocalists at this time only rarely getting the chance to record. The first blues record with a Black vocalist is also technically the first British blues record. A group of Black musicians, apparently mostly American but led by a Jamaican pianist, played at Ciro's Club in London, and recorded many tracks in Britain, under a name which I'm not going to say in full -- it started with Ciro's Club, and continued alliteratively with another word starting with C, a slur for Black people. In 1917 they recorded a vocal version of "St. Louis Blues", another W.C. Handy composition: [Excerpt: Ciro's Club C**n Orchestra, "St. Louis Blues"] The first American Black blues vocal didn't come until two years later, when Bert Williams, a Black minstrel-show performer who like many Black performers of his era performed in blackface even though he was Black, recorded “I'm Sorry I Ain't Got It You Could Have It If I Had It Blues,” [Excerpt: Bert Williams, "I'm Sorry I Ain't Got It You Could Have It If I Had It Blues,”] But it wasn't until 1920 that the second, bigger, wave of popularity started for the blues, and this time it started with the first record of a Black *woman* singing the blues -- Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues": [Excerpt: Mamie Smith, "Crazy Blues"] You can hear the difference between that and anything we've heard up to that point -- that's the first record that anyone from our perspective, a hundred and three years later, would listen to and say that it bore any resemblance to what we think of as the blues -- so much so that many places still credit it as the first ever blues record. And there's a reason for that. "Crazy Blues" was one of those records that separates the music industry into before and after, like "Rock Around the Clock", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", Sgt Pepper, or "Rapper's Delight". It sold seventy-five thousand copies in its first month -- a massive number by the standards of 1920 -- and purportedly went on to sell over a million copies. Sales figures and market analysis weren't really a thing in the same way in 1920, but even so it became very obvious that "Crazy Blues" was a big hit, and that unlike pretty much any other previous records, it was a big hit among Black listeners, which meant that there was a market for music aimed at Black people that was going untapped. Soon all the major record labels were setting up subsidiaries devoted to what they called "race music", music made by and for Black people. And this sees the birth of what is now known as "classic blues", but at the time (and for decades after) was just what people thought of when they thought of "the blues" as a genre. This was music primarily sung by female vaudeville artists backed by jazz bands, people like Ma Rainey (whose earliest recordings featured Louis Armstrong in her backing band): [Excerpt: Ma Rainey, "See See Rider Blues"] And Bessie Smith, the "Empress of the Blues", who had a massive career in the 1920s before the Great Depression caused many of these "race record" labels to fold, but who carried on performing well into the 1930s -- her last recording was in 1933, produced by John Hammond, with a backing band including Benny Goodman and Jack Teagarden: [Excerpt: Bessie Smith, "Give Me a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer"] It wouldn't be until several years after the boom started by Mamie Smith that any record companies turned to recording Black men singing the blues accompanied by guitar or banjo. The first record of this type is probably "Norfolk Blues" by Reese DuPree from 1924: [Excerpt: Reese DuPree, "Norfolk Blues"] And there were occasional other records of this type, like "Airy Man Blues" by Papa Charlie Jackson, who was advertised as the “only man living who sings, self-accompanied, for Blues records.” [Excerpt: Papa Charlie Jackson, "Airy Man Blues"] But contrary to the way these are seen today, at the time they weren't seen as being in some way "authentic", or "folk music". Indeed, there are many quotes from folk-music collectors of the time (sadly all of them using so many slurs that it's impossible for me to accurately quote them) saying that when people sang the blues, that wasn't authentic Black folk music at all but an adulteration from commercial music -- they'd clearly, according to these folk-music scholars, learned the blues style from records and sheet music rather than as part of an oral tradition. Most of these performers were people who recorded blues as part of a wider range of material, like Blind Blake, who recorded some blues music but whose best work was his ragtime guitar instrumentals: [Excerpt: Blind Blake, "Southern Rag"] But it was when Blind Lemon Jefferson started recording for Paramount records in 1926 that the image of the blues as we now think of it took shape. His first record, "Got the Blues", was a massive success: [Excerpt: Blind Lemon Jefferson, "Got the Blues"] And this resulted in many labels, especially Paramount, signing up pretty much every Black man with a guitar they could find in the hopes of finding another Blind Lemon Jefferson. But the thing is, this generation of people making blues records, and the generation that followed them, didn't think of themselves as "blues singers" or "bluesmen". They were songsters. Songsters were entertainers, and their job was to sing and play whatever the audiences would want to hear. That included the blues, of course, but it also included... well, every song anyone would want to hear.  They'd perform old folk songs, vaudeville songs, songs that they'd heard on the radio or the jukebox -- whatever the audience wanted. Robert Johnson, for example, was known to particularly love playing polka music, and also adored the records of Jimmie Rodgers, the first country music superstar. In 1941, when Alan Lomax first recorded Muddy Waters, he asked Waters what kind of songs he normally played in performances, and he was given a list that included "Home on the Range", Gene Autry's "I've Got Spurs That Jingle Jangle Jingle", and Glenn Miller's "Chattanooga Choo-Choo". We have few recordings of these people performing this kind of song though. One of the few we have is Big Bill Broonzy, who was just about the only artist of this type not to get pigeonholed as just a blues singer, even though blues is what made him famous, and who later in his career managed to record songs like the Tin Pan Alley standard "The Glory of Love": [Excerpt: Big Bill Broonzy, "The Glory of Love"] But for the most part, the image we have of the blues comes down to one man, Arthur Laibley, a sales manager for the Wisconsin Chair Company. The Wisconsin Chair Company was, as the name would suggest, a company that started out making wooden chairs, but it had branched out into other forms of wooden furniture -- including, for a brief time, large wooden phonographs. And, like several other manufacturers, like the Radio Corporation of America -- RCA -- and the Gramophone Company, which became EMI, they realised that if they were going to sell the hardware it made sense to sell the software as well, and had started up Paramount Records, which bought up a small label, Black Swan, and soon became the biggest manufacturer of records for the Black market, putting out roughly a quarter of all "race records" released between 1922 and 1932. At first, most of these were produced by a Black talent scout, J. Mayo Williams, who had been the first person to record Ma Rainey, Papa Charlie Jackson, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, but in 1927 Williams left Paramount, and the job of supervising sessions went to Arthur Laibley, though according to some sources a lot of the actual production work was done by Aletha Dickerson, Williams' former assistant, who was almost certainly the first Black woman to be what we would now think of as a record producer. Williams had been interested in recording all kinds of music by Black performers, but when Laibley got a solo Black man into the studio, what he wanted more than anything was for him to record the blues, ideally in a style as close as possible to that of Blind Lemon Jefferson. Laibley didn't have a very hands-on approach to recording -- indeed Paramount had very little concern about the quality of their product anyway, and Paramount's records are notorious for having been put out on poor-quality shellac and recorded badly -- and he only occasionally made actual suggestions as to what kind of songs his performers should write -- for example he asked Son House to write something that sounded like Blind Lemon Jefferson, which led to House writing and recording "Mississippi County Farm Blues", which steals the tune of Jefferson's "See That My Grave is Kept Clean": [Excerpt: Son House, "Mississippi County Farm Blues"] When Skip James wanted to record a cover of James Wiggins' "Forty-Four Blues", Laibley suggested that instead he should do a song about a different gun, and so James recorded "Twenty-Two Twenty Blues": [Excerpt: Skip James, "Twenty-Two Twenty Blues"] And Laibley also suggested that James write a song about the Depression, which led to one of the greatest blues records ever, "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues": [Excerpt: Skip James, "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues"] These musicians knew that they were getting paid only for issued sides, and that Laibley wanted only blues from them, and so that's what they gave him. Even when it was a performer like Charlie Patton. (Incidentally, for those reading this as a transcript rather than listening to it, Patton's name is more usually spelled ending in ey, but as far as I can tell ie was his preferred spelling and that's what I'm using). Charlie Patton was best known as an entertainer, first and foremost -- someone who would do song-and-dance routines, joke around, play guitar behind his head. He was a clown on stage, so much so that when Son House finally heard some of Patton's records, in the mid-sixties, decades after the fact, he was astonished that Patton could actually play well. Even though House had been in the room when some of the records were made, his memory of Patton was of someone who acted the fool on stage. That's definitely not the impression you get from the Charlie Patton on record: [Excerpt: Charlie Patton, "Poor Me"] Patton is, as far as can be discerned, the person who was most influential in creating the music that became called the "Delta blues". Not a lot is known about Patton's life, but he was almost certainly the half-brother of the Chatmon brothers, who made hundreds of records, most notably as members of the Mississippi Sheiks: [Excerpt: The Mississippi Sheiks, "Sitting on Top of the World"] In the 1890s, Patton's family moved to Sunflower County, Mississippi, and he lived in and around that county until his death in 1934. Patton learned to play guitar from a musician called Henry Sloan, and then Patton became a mentor figure to a *lot* of other musicians in and around the plantation on which his family lived. Some of the musicians who grew up in the immediate area around Patton included Tommy Johnson: [Excerpt: Tommy Johnson, "Big Road Blues"] Pops Staples: [Excerpt: The Staple Singers, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken"] Robert Johnson: [Excerpt: Robert Johnson, "Crossroads"] Willie Brown, a musician who didn't record much, but who played a lot with Patton, Son House, and Robert Johnson and who we just heard Johnson sing about: [Excerpt: Willie Brown, "M&O Blues"] And Chester Burnett, who went on to become known as Howlin' Wolf, and whose vocal style was equally inspired by Patton and by the country star Jimmie Rodgers: [Excerpt: Howlin' Wolf, "Smokestack Lightnin'"] Once Patton started his own recording career for Paramount, he also started working as a talent scout for them, and it was him who brought Son House to Paramount. Soon after the Depression hit, Paramount stopped recording, and so from 1930 through 1934 Patton didn't make any records. He was tracked down by an A&R man in January 1934 and recorded one final session: [Excerpt, Charlie Patton, "34 Blues"] But he died of heart failure two months later. But his influence spread through his proteges, and they themselves influenced other musicians from the area who came along a little after, like Robert Lockwood and Muddy Waters. This music -- or that portion of it that was considered worth recording by white record producers, only a tiny, unrepresentative, portion of their vast performing repertoires -- became known as the Delta Blues, and when some of these musicians moved to Chicago and started performing with electric instruments, it became Chicago Blues. And as far as people like John Mayall in Britain were concerned, Delta and Chicago Blues *were* the blues: [Excerpt: John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, "It Ain't Right"] John Mayall was one of the first of the British blues obsessives, and for a long time thought of himself as the only one. While we've looked before at the growth of the London blues scene, Mayall wasn't from London -- he was born in Macclesfield and grew up in Cheadle Hulme, both relatively well-off suburbs of Manchester, and after being conscripted and doing two years in the Army, he had become an art student at Manchester College of Art, what is now Manchester Metropolitan University. Mayall had been a blues fan from the late 1940s, writing off to the US to order records that hadn't been released in the UK, and by most accounts by the late fifties he'd put together the biggest blues collection in Britain by quite some way. Not only that, but he had one of the earliest home tape recorders, and every night he would record radio stations from Continental Europe which were broadcasting for American service personnel, so he'd amassed mountains of recordings, often unlabelled, of obscure blues records that nobody else in the UK knew about. He was also an accomplished pianist and guitar player, and in 1956 he and his drummer friend Peter Ward had put together a band called the Powerhouse Four (the other two members rotated on a regular basis) mostly to play lunchtime jazz sessions at the art college. Mayall also started putting on jam sessions at a youth club in Wythenshawe, where he met another drummer named Hughie Flint. Over the late fifties and into the early sixties, Mayall more or less by himself built up a small blues scene in Manchester. The Manchester blues scene was so enthusiastic, in fact, that when the American Folk Blues Festival, an annual European tour which initially featured Willie Dixon, Memhis Slim, T-Bone Walker, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, and John Lee Hooker, first toured Europe, the only UK date it played was at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, and people like Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones and Jimmy Page had to travel up from London to see it. But still, the number of blues fans in Manchester, while proportionally large, was objectively small enough that Mayall was captivated by an article in Melody Maker which talked about Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies' new band Blues Incorporated and how it was playing electric blues, the same music he was making in Manchester. He later talked about how the article had made him think that maybe now people would know what he was talking about. He started travelling down to London to play gigs for the London blues scene, and inviting Korner up to Manchester to play shows there. Soon Mayall had moved down to London. Korner introduced Mayall to Davey Graham, the great folk guitarist, with whom Korner had recently recorded as a duo: [Excerpt: Alexis Korner and Davey Graham, "3/4 AD"] Mayall and Graham performed together as a duo for a while, but Graham was a natural solo artist if ever there was one. Slowly Mayall put a band together in London. On drums was his old friend Peter Ward, who'd moved down from Manchester with him. On bass was John McVie, who at the time knew nothing about blues -- he'd been playing in a Shadows-style instrumental group -- but Mayall gave him a stack of blues records to listen to to get the feeling. And on guitar was Bernie Watson, who had previously played with Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages. In late 1963, Mike Vernon, a blues fan who had previously published a Yardbirds fanzine, got a job working for Decca records, and immediately started signing his favourite acts from the London blues circuit. The first act he signed was John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and they recorded a single, "Crawling up a Hill": [Excerpt: John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, "Crawling up a Hill (45 version)"] Mayall later called that a "clumsy, half-witted attempt at autobiographical comment", and it sold only five hundred copies. It would be the only record the Bluesbreakers would make with Watson, who soon left the band to be replaced by Roger Dean (not the same Roger Dean who later went on to design prog rock album covers). The second group to be signed by Mike Vernon to Decca was the Graham Bond Organisation. We've talked about the Graham Bond Organisation in passing several times, but not for a while and not in any great detail, so it's worth pulling everything we've said about them so far together and going through it in a little more detail. The Graham Bond Organisation, like the Rolling Stones, grew out of Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated. As we heard in the episode on "I Wanna Be Your Man" a couple of years ago, Blues Incorporated had been started by Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies, and at the time we're joining them in 1962 featured a drummer called Charlie Watts, a pianist called Dave Stevens, and saxophone player Dick Heckstall-Smith, as well as frequent guest performers like a singer who called himself Mike Jagger, and another one, Roderick Stewart. That group finally found themselves the perfect bass player when Dick Heckstall-Smith put together a one-off group of jazz players to play an event at Cambridge University. At the gig, a little Scottish man came up to the group and told them he played bass and asked if he could sit in. They told him to bring along his instrument to their second set, that night, and he did actually bring along a double bass. Their bluff having been called, they decided to play the most complicated, difficult, piece they knew in order to throw the kid off -- the drummer, a trad jazz player named Ginger Baker, didn't like performing with random sit-in guests -- but astonishingly he turned out to be really good. Heckstall-Smith took down the bass player's name and phone number and invited him to a jam session with Blues Incorporated. After that jam session, Jack Bruce quickly became the group's full-time bass player. Bruce had started out as a classical cellist, but had switched to the double bass inspired by Bach, who he referred to as "the guv'nor of all bass players". His playing up to this point had mostly been in trad jazz bands, and he knew nothing of the blues, but he quickly got the hang of the genre. Bruce's first show with Blues Incorporated was a BBC recording: [Excerpt: Blues Incorporated, "Hoochie Coochie Man (BBC session)"] According to at least one source it was not being asked to take part in that session that made young Mike Jagger decide there was no future for him with Blues Incorporated and to spend more time with his other group, the Rollin' Stones. Soon after, Charlie Watts would join him, for almost the opposite reason -- Watts didn't want to be in a band that was getting as big as Blues Incorporated were. They were starting to do more BBC sessions and get more gigs, and having to join the Musicians' Union. That seemed like a lot of work. Far better to join a band like the Rollin' Stones that wasn't going anywhere. Because of Watts' decision to give up on potential stardom to become a Rollin' Stone, they needed a new drummer, and luckily the best drummer on the scene was available. But then the best drummer on the scene was *always* available. Ginger Baker had first played with Dick Heckstall-Smith several years earlier, in a trad group called the Storyville Jazzmen. There Baker had become obsessed with the New Orleans jazz drummer Baby Dodds, who had played with Louis Armstrong in the 1920s. Sadly because of 1920s recording technology, he hadn't been able to play a full kit on the recordings with Armstrong, being limited to percussion on just a woodblock, but you can hear his drumming style much better in this version of "At the Jazz Band Ball" from 1947, with Mugsy Spanier, Jack Teagarden, Cyrus St. Clair and Hank Duncan: [Excerpt: "At the Jazz Band Ball"] Baker had taken Dobbs' style and run with it, and had quickly become known as the single best player, bar none, on the London jazz scene -- he'd become an accomplished player in multiple styles, and was also fluent in reading music and arranging. He'd also, though, become known as the single person on the entire scene who was most difficult to get along with. He resigned from his first band onstage, shouting "You can stick your band up your arse", after the band's leader had had enough of him incorporating bebop influences into their trad style. Another time, when touring with Diz Disley's band, he was dumped in Germany with no money and no way to get home, because the band were so sick of him. Sometimes this was because of his temper and his unwillingness to suffer fools -- and he saw everyone else he ever met as a fool -- and sometimes it was because of his own rigorous musical ideas. He wanted to play music *his* way, and wouldn't listen to anyone who told him different. Both of these things got worse after he fell under the influence of a man named Phil Seaman, one of the only drummers that Baker respected at all. Seaman introduced Baker to African drumming, and Baker started incorporating complex polyrhythms into his playing as a result. Seaman also though introduced Baker to heroin, and while being a heroin addict in the UK in the 1960s was not as difficult as it later became -- both heroin and cocaine were available on prescription to registered addicts, and Baker got both, which meant that many of the problems that come from criminalisation of these drugs didn't affect addicts in the same way -- but it still did not, by all accounts, make him an easier person to get along with. But he *was* a fantastic drummer. As Dick Heckstall-Smith said "With the advent of Ginger, the classic Blues Incorporated line-up, one which I think could not be bettered, was set" But Alexis Korner decided that the group could be bettered, and he had some backers within the band. One of the other bands on the scene was the Don Rendell Quintet, a group that played soul jazz -- that style of jazz that bridged modern jazz and R&B, the kind of music that Ray Charles and Herbie Hancock played: [Excerpt: The Don Rendell Quintet, "Manumission"] The Don Rendell Quintet included a fantastic multi-instrumentalist, Graham Bond, who doubled on keyboards and saxophone, and Bond had been playing occasional experimental gigs with the Johnny Burch Octet -- a group led by another member of the Rendell Quartet featuring Heckstall-Smith, Bruce, Baker, and a few other musicians, doing wholly-improvised music. Heckstall-Smith, Bruce, and Baker all enjoyed playing with Bond, and when Korner decided to bring him into the band, they were all very keen. But Cyril Davies, the co-leader of the band with Korner, was furious at the idea. Davies wanted to play strict Chicago and Delta blues, and had no truck with other forms of music like R&B and jazz. To his mind it was bad enough that they had a sax player. But the idea that they would bring in Bond, who played sax and... *Hammond* organ? Well, that was practically blasphemy. Davies quit the group at the mere suggestion. Bond was soon in the band, and he, Bruce, and Baker were playing together a *lot*. As well as performing with Blues Incorporated, they continued playing in the Johnny Burch Octet, and they also started performing as the Graham Bond Trio. Sometimes the Graham Bond Trio would be Blues Incorporated's opening act, and on more than one occasion the Graham Bond Trio, Blues Incorporated, and the Johnny Burch Octet all had gigs in different parts of London on the same night and they'd have to frantically get from one to the other. The Graham Bond Trio also had fans in Manchester, thanks to the local blues scene there and their connection with Blues Incorporated, and one night in February 1963 the trio played a gig there. They realised afterwards that by playing as a trio they'd made £70, when they were lucky to make £20 from a gig with Blues Incorporated or the Octet, because there were so many members in those bands. Bond wanted to make real money, and at the next rehearsal of Blues Incorporated he announced to Korner that he, Bruce, and Baker were quitting the band -- which was news to Bruce and Baker, who he hadn't bothered consulting. Baker, indeed, was in the toilet when the announcement was made and came out to find it a done deal. He was going to kick up a fuss and say he hadn't been consulted, but Korner's reaction sealed the deal. As Baker later said "‘he said “it's really good you're doing this thing with Graham, and I wish you the best of luck” and all that. And it was a bit difficult to turn round and say, “Well, I don't really want to leave the band, you know.”'" The Graham Bond Trio struggled at first to get the gigs they were expecting, but that started to change when in April 1963 they became the Graham Bond Quartet, with the addition of virtuoso guitarist John McLaughlin. The Quartet soon became one of the hottest bands on the London R&B scene, and when Duffy Power, a Larry Parnes teen idol who wanted to move into R&B, asked his record label to get him a good R&B band to back him on a Beatles cover, it was the Graham Bond Quartet who obliged: [Excerpt: Duffy Power, "I Saw Her Standing There"] The Quartet also backed Power on a package tour with other Parnes acts, but they were also still performing their own blend of hard jazz and blues, as can be heard in this recording of the group live in June 1953: [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Quartet, "Ho Ho Country Kicking Blues (Live at Klooks Kleek)"] But that lineup of the group didn't last very long. According to the way Baker told the story, he fired McLaughlin from the group, after being irritated by McLaughlin complaining about something on a day when Baker was out of cocaine and in no mood to hear anyone else's complaints. As Baker said "We lost a great guitar player and I lost a good friend." But the Trio soon became a Quartet again, as Dick Heckstall-Smith, who Baker had wanted in the band from the start, joined on saxophone to replace McLaughlin's guitar. But they were no longer called the Graham Bond Quartet. Partly because Heckstall-Smith joining allowed Bond to concentrate just on his keyboard playing, but one suspects partly to protect against any future lineup changes, the group were now The Graham Bond ORGANisation -- emphasis on the organ. The new lineup of the group got signed to Decca by Vernon, and were soon recording their first single, "Long Tall Shorty": [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Long Tall Shorty"] They recorded a few other songs which made their way onto an EP and an R&B compilation, and toured intensively in early 1964, as well as backing up Power on his follow-up to "I Saw Her Standing There", his version of "Parchman Farm": [Excerpt: Duffy Power, "Parchman Farm"] They also appeared in a film, just like the Beatles, though it was possibly not quite as artistically successful as "A Hard Day's Night": [Excerpt: Gonks Go Beat trailer] Gonks Go Beat is one of the most bizarre films of the sixties. It's a far-future remake of Romeo and Juliet. where the two star-crossed lovers are from opposing countries -- Beatland and Ballad Isle -- who only communicate once a year in an annual song contest which acts as their version of a war, and is overseen by "Mr. A&R", played by Frank Thornton, who would later star in Are You Being Served? Carry On star Kenneth Connor is sent by aliens to try to bring peace to the two warring countries, on pain of exile to Planet Gonk, a planet inhabited solely by Gonks (a kind of novelty toy for which there was a short-lived craze then). Along the way Connor encounters such luminaries of British light entertainment as Terry Scott and Arthur Mullard, as well as musical performances by Lulu, the Nashville Teens, and of course the Graham Bond Organisation, whose performance gets them a telling-off from a teacher: [Excerpt: Gonks Go Beat!] The group as a group only performed one song in this cinematic masterpiece, but Baker also made an appearance in a "drum battle" sequence where eight drummers played together: [Excerpt: Gonks Go Beat drum battle] The other drummers in that scene included, as well as some lesser-known players, Andy White who had played on the single version of "Love Me Do", Bobby Graham, who played on hits by the Kinks and the Dave Clark Five, and Ronnie Verrell, who did the drumming for Animal in the Muppet Show. Also in summer 1964, the group performed at the Fourth National Jazz & Blues Festival in Richmond -- the festival co-founded by Chris Barber that would evolve into the Reading Festival. The Yardbirds were on the bill, and at the end of their set they invited Bond, Baker, Bruce, Georgie Fame, and Mike Vernon onto the stage with them, making that the first time that Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Jack Bruce were all on stage together. Soon after that, the Graham Bond Organisation got a new manager, Robert Stigwood. Things hadn't been working out for them at Decca, and Stigwood soon got the group signed to EMI, and became their producer as well. Their first single under Stigwood's management was a cover version of the theme tune to the Debbie Reynolds film "Tammy". While that film had given Tamla records its name, the song was hardly an R&B classic: [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Tammy"] That record didn't chart, but Stigwood put the group out on the road as part of the disastrous Chuck Berry tour we heard about in the episode on "All You Need is Love", which led to the bankruptcy of  Robert Stigwood Associates. The Organisation moved over to Stigwood's new company, the Robert Stigwood Organisation, and Stigwood continued to be the credited producer of their records, though after the "Tammy" disaster they decided they were going to take charge themselves of the actual music. Their first album, The Sound of 65, was recorded in a single three-hour session, and they mostly ran through their standard set -- a mixture of the same songs everyone else on the circuit was playing, like "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Got My Mojo Working", and "Wade in the Water", and originals like Bruce's "Train Time": [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Train Time"] Through 1965 they kept working. They released a non-album single, "Lease on Love", which is generally considered to be the first pop record to feature a Mellotron: [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Lease on Love"] and Bond and Baker also backed another Stigwood act, Winston G, on his debut single: [Excerpt: Winston G, "Please Don't Say"] But the group were developing severe tensions. Bruce and Baker had started out friendly, but by this time they hated each other. Bruce said he couldn't hear his own playing over Baker's loud drumming, Baker thought that Bruce was far too fussy a player and should try to play simpler lines. They'd both try to throw each other during performances, altering arrangements on the fly and playing things that would trip the other player up. And *neither* of them were particularly keen on Bond's new love of the Mellotron, which was all over their second album, giving it a distinctly proto-prog feel at times: [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Baby Can it Be True?"] Eventually at a gig in Golders Green, Baker started throwing drumsticks at Bruce's head while Bruce was trying to play a bass solo. Bruce retaliated by throwing his bass at Baker, and then jumping on him and starting a fistfight which had to be broken up by the venue security. Baker fired Bruce from the band, but Bruce kept turning up to gigs anyway, arguing that Baker had no right to sack him as it was a democracy. Baker always claimed that in fact Bond had wanted to sack Bruce but hadn't wanted to get his hands dirty, and insisted that Baker do it, but neither Bond nor Heckstall-Smith objected when Bruce turned up for the next couple of gigs. So Baker took matters into his own hands, He pulled out a knife and told Bruce "If you show up at one more gig, this is going in you." Within days, Bruce was playing with John Mayall, whose Bluesbreakers had gone through some lineup changes by this point. Roger Dean had only played with the Bluesbreakers for a short time before Mayall had replaced him. Mayall had not been impressed with Eric Clapton's playing with the Yardbirds at first -- even though graffiti saying "Clapton is God" was already starting to appear around London -- but he had been *very* impressed with Clapton's playing on "Got to Hurry", the B-side to "For Your Love": [Excerpt: The Yardbirds, "Got to Hurry"] When he discovered that Clapton had quit the band, he sprang into action and quickly recruited him to replace Dean. Clapton knew he had made the right choice when a month after he'd joined, the group got the word that Bob Dylan had been so impressed with Mayall's single "Crawling up a Hill" -- the one that nobody liked, not even Mayall himself -- that he wanted to jam with Mayall and his band in the studio. Clapton of course went along: [Excerpt: Bob Dylan and the Bluesbreakers, "If You Gotta Go, Go Now"] That was, of course, the session we've talked about in the Velvet Underground episode and elsewhere of which little other than that survives, and which Nico attended. At this point, Mayall didn't have a record contract, his experience recording with Mike Vernon having been no more successful than the Bond group's had been. But soon he got a one-off deal -- as a solo artist, not with the Bluesbreakers -- with Immediate Records. Clapton was the only member of the group to play on the single, which was produced by Immediate's house producer Jimmy Page: [Excerpt: John Mayall, "I'm Your Witchdoctor"] Page was impressed enough with Clapton's playing that he invited him round to Page's house to jam together. But what Clapton didn't know was that Page was taping their jam sessions, and that he handed those tapes over to Immediate Records -- whether he was forced to by his contract with the label or whether that had been his plan all along depends on whose story you believe, but Clapton never truly forgave him. Page and Clapton's guitar-only jams had overdubs by Bill Wyman, Ian Stewart, and drummer Chris Winter, and have been endlessly repackaged on blues compilations ever since: [Excerpt: Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton, "Draggin' My Tail"] But Mayall was having problems with John McVie, who had started to drink too much, and as soon as he found out that Jack Bruce was sacked by the Graham Bond Organisation, Mayall got in touch with Bruce and got him to join the band in McVie's place. Everyone was agreed that this lineup of the band -- Mayall, Clapton, Bruce, and Hughie Flint -- was going places: [Excerpt: John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Jack Bruce, "Hoochie Coochie Man"] Unfortunately, it wasn't going to last long. Clapton, while he thought that Bruce was the greatest bass player he'd ever worked with, had other plans. He was going to leave the country and travel the world as a peripatetic busker. He was off on his travels, never to return. Luckily, Mayall had someone even better waiting in the wings. A young man had, according to Mayall, "kept coming down to all the gigs and saying, “Hey, what are you doing with him?” – referring to whichever guitarist was onstage that night – “I'm much better than he is. Why don't you let me play guitar for you?” He got really quite nasty about it, so finally, I let him sit in. And he was brilliant." Peter Green was probably the best blues guitarist in London at that time, but this lineup of the Bluesbreakers only lasted a handful of gigs -- Clapton discovered that busking in Greece wasn't as much fun as being called God in London, and came back very soon after he'd left. Mayall had told him that he could have his old job back when he got back, and so Green was out and Clapton was back in. And soon the Bluesbreakers' revolving door revolved again. Manfred Mann had just had a big hit with "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", the same song we heard Dylan playing earlier: [Excerpt: Manfred Mann, "If You Gotta Go, Go Now"] But their guitarist, Mike Vickers, had quit. Tom McGuinness, their bass player, had taken the opportunity to switch back to guitar -- the instrument he'd played in his first band with his friend Eric Clapton -- but that left them short a bass player. Manfred Mann were essentially the same kind of band as the Graham Bond Organisation -- a Hammond-led group of virtuoso multi-instrumentalists who played everything from hardcore Delta blues to complex modern jazz -- but unlike the Bond group they also had a string of massive pop hits, and so made a lot more money. The combination was irresistible to Bruce, and he joined the band just before they recorded an EP of jazz instrumental versions of recent hits: [Excerpt: Manfred Mann, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"] Bruce had also been encouraged by Robert Stigwood to do a solo project, and so at the same time as he joined Manfred Mann, he also put out a solo single, "Drinkin' and Gamblin'" [Excerpt: Jack Bruce, "Drinkin' and Gamblin'"] But of course, the reason Bruce had joined Manfred Mann was that they were having pop hits as well as playing jazz, and soon they did just that, with Bruce playing on their number one hit "Pretty Flamingo": [Excerpt: Manfred Mann, "Pretty Flamingo"] So John McVie was back in the Bluesbreakers, promising to keep his drinking under control. Mike Vernon still thought that Mayall had potential, but the people at Decca didn't agree, so Vernon got Mayall and Clapton -- but not the other band members -- to record a single for a small indie label he ran as a side project: [Excerpt: John Mayall and Eric Clapton, "Bernard Jenkins"] That label normally only released records in print runs of ninety-nine copies, because once you hit a hundred copies you had to pay tax on them, but there was so much demand for that single that they ended up pressing up five hundred copies, making it the label's biggest seller ever. Vernon eventually convinced the heads at Decca that the Bluesbreakers could be truly big, and so he got the OK to record the album that would generally be considered the greatest British blues album of all time -- Blues Breakers, also known as the Beano album because of Clapton reading a copy of the British kids' comic The Beano in the group photo on the front. [Excerpt: John Mayall with Eric Clapton, "Ramblin' On My Mind"] The album was a mixture of originals by Mayall and the standard repertoire of every blues or R&B band on the circuit -- songs like "Parchman Farm" and "What'd I Say" -- but what made the album unique was Clapton's guitar tone. Much to the chagrin of Vernon, and of engineer Gus Dudgeon, Clapton insisted on playing at the same volume that he would on stage. Vernon later said of Dudgeon "I can remember seeing his face the very first time Clapton plugged into the Marshall stack and turned it up and started playing at the sort of volume he was going to play. You could almost see Gus's eyes meet over the middle of his nose, and it was almost like he was just going to fall over from the sheer power of it all. But after an enormous amount of fiddling around and moving amps around, we got a sound that worked." [Excerpt: John Mayall with Eric Clapton, "Hideaway"] But by the time the album cane out. Clapton was no longer with the Bluesbreakers. The Graham Bond Organisation had struggled on for a while after Bruce's departure. They brought in a trumpet player, Mike Falana, and even had a hit record -- or at least, the B-side of a hit record. The Who had just put out a hit single, "Substitute", on Robert Stigwood's record label, Reaction: [Excerpt: The Who, "Substitute"] But, as you'll hear in episode 183, they had moved to Reaction Records after a falling out with their previous label, and with Shel Talmy their previous producer. The problem was, when "Substitute" was released, it had as its B-side a song called "Circles" (also known as "Instant Party -- it's been released under both names). They'd recorded an earlier version of the song for Talmy, and just as "Substitute" was starting to chart, Talmy got an injunction against the record and it had to be pulled. Reaction couldn't afford to lose the big hit record they'd spent money promoting, so they needed to put it out with a new B-side. But the Who hadn't got any unreleased recordings. But the Graham Bond Organisation had, and indeed they had an unreleased *instrumental*. So "Waltz For a Pig" became the B-side to a top-five single, credited to The Who Orchestra: [Excerpt: The Who Orchestra, "Waltz For a Pig"] That record provided the catalyst for the formation of Cream, because Ginger Baker had written the song, and got £1,350 for it, which he used to buy a new car. Baker had, for some time, been wanting to get out of the Graham Bond Organisation. He was trying to get off heroin -- though he would make many efforts to get clean over the decades, with little success -- while Bond was starting to use it far more heavily, and was also using acid and getting heavily into mysticism, which Baker despised. Baker may have had the idea for what he did next from an article in one of the music papers. John Entwistle of the Who would often tell a story about an article in Melody Maker -- though I've not been able to track down the article itself to get the full details -- in which musicians were asked to name which of their peers they'd put into a "super-group". He didn't remember the full details, but he did remember that the consensus choice had had Eric Clapton on lead guitar, himself on bass, and Ginger Baker on drums. As he said later "I don't remember who else was voted in, but a few months later, the Cream came along, and I did wonder if somebody was maybe believing too much of their own press". Incidentally, like The Buffalo Springfield and The Pink Floyd, Cream, the band we are about to meet, had releases both with and without the definite article, and Eric Clapton at least seems always to talk about them as "the Cream" even decades later, but they're primarily known as just Cream these days. Baker, having had enough of the Bond group, decided to drive up to Oxford to see Clapton playing with the Bluesbreakers. Clapton invited him to sit in for a couple of songs, and by all accounts the band sounded far better than they had previously. Clapton and Baker could obviously play well together, and Baker offered Clapton a lift back to London in his new car, and on the drive back asked Clapton if he wanted to form a new band. Clapton was as impressed by Baker's financial skills as he was by his musicianship. He said later "Musicians didn't have cars. You all got in a van." Clearly a musician who was *actually driving a new car he owned* was going places. He agreed to Baker's plan. But of course they needed a bass player, and Clapton thought he had the perfect solution -- "What about Jack?" Clapton knew that Bruce had been a member of the Graham Bond Organisation, but didn't know why he'd left the band -- he wasn't particularly clued in to what the wider music scene was doing, and all he knew was that Bruce had played with both him and Baker, and that he was the best bass player he'd ever played with. And Bruce *was* arguably the best bass player in London at that point, and he was starting to pick up session work as well as his work with Manfred Mann. For example it's him playing on the theme tune to "After The Fox" with Peter Sellers, the Hollies, and the song's composer Burt Bacharach: [Excerpt: The Hollies with Peter Sellers, "After the Fox"] Clapton was insistent. Baker's idea was that the band should be the best musicians around. That meant they needed the *best* musicians around, not the second best. If Jack Bruce wasn't joining, Eric Clapton wasn't joining either. Baker very reluctantly agreed, and went round to see Bruce the next day -- according to Baker it was in a spirit of generosity and giving Bruce one more chance, while according to Bruce he came round to eat humble pie and beg for forgiveness. Either way, Bruce agreed to join the band. The three met up for a rehearsal at Baker's home, and immediately Bruce and Baker started fighting, but also immediately they realised that they were great at playing together -- so great that they named themselves the Cream, as they were the cream of musicians on the scene. They knew they had something, but they didn't know what. At first they considered making their performances into Dada projects, inspired by the early-twentieth-century art movement. They liked a band that had just started to make waves, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band -- who had originally been called the Bonzo Dog Dada Band -- and they bought some props with the vague idea of using them on stage in the same way the Bonzos did. But as they played together they realised that they needed to do something different from that. At first, they thought they needed a fourth member -- a keyboard player. Graham Bond's name was brought up, but Clapton vetoed him. Clapton wanted Steve Winwood, the keyboard player and vocalist with the Spencer Davis Group. Indeed, Winwood was present at what was originally intended to be the first recording session the trio would play. Joe Boyd had asked Eric Clapton to round up a bunch of players to record some filler tracks for an Elektra blues compilation, and Clapton had asked Bruce and Baker to join him, Paul Jones on vocals, Winwood on Hammond and Clapton's friend Ben Palmer on piano for the session. Indeed, given that none of the original trio were keen on singing, that Paul Jones was just about to leave Manfred Mann, and that we know Clapton wanted Winwood in the band, one has to wonder if Clapton at least half-intended for this to be the eventual lineup of the band. If he did, that plan was foiled by Baker's refusal to take part in the session. Instead, this one-off band, named The Powerhouse, featured Pete York, the drummer from the Spencer Davis Group, on the session, which produced the first recording of Clapton playing on the Robert Johnson song originally titled "Cross Road Blues" but now generally better known just as "Crossroads": [Excerpt: The Powerhouse, "Crossroads"] We talked about Robert Johnson a little back in episode ninety-seven, but other than Bob Dylan, who was inspired by his lyrics, we had seen very little influence from Johnson up to this point, but he's going to be a major influence on rock guitar for the next few years, so we should talk about him a little here. It's often said that nobody knew anything about Robert Johnson, that he was almost a phantom other than his records which existed outside of any context as artefacts of their own. That's... not really the case. Johnson had died a little less than thirty years earlier, at only twenty-seven years old. Most of his half-siblings and step-siblings were alive, as were his son, his stepson, and dozens of musicians he'd played with over the years, women he'd had affairs with, and other assorted friends and relatives. What people mean is that information about Johnson's life was not yet known by people they consider important -- which is to say white blues scholars and musicians. Indeed, almost everything people like that -- people like *me* -- know of the facts of Johnson's life has only become known to us in the last four years. If, as some people had expected, I'd started this series with an episode on Johnson, I'd have had to redo the whole thing because of the information that's made its way to the public since then. But here's what was known -- or thought -- by white blues scholars in 1966. Johnson was, according to them, a field hand from somewhere in Mississippi, who played the guitar in between working on the cotton fields. He had done two recording sessions, in 1936 and 1937. One song from his first session, "Terraplane Blues", had been a very minor hit by blues standards: [Excerpt: Robert Johnson, "Terraplane Blues"] That had sold well -- nobody knows how well, but maybe as many as ten thousand copies, and it was certainly a record people knew in 1937 if they liked the Delta blues, but ten thousand copies total is nowhere near the sales of really successful records, and none of the follow-ups had sold anything like that much -- many of them had sold in the hundreds rather than the thousands. As Elijah Wald, one of Johnson's biographers put it "knowing about Johnson and Muddy Waters but not about Leroy Carr or Dinah Washington was like knowing about, say, the Sir Douglas Quintet but not knowing about the Beatles" -- though *I* would add that the Sir Douglas Quintet were much bigger during the sixties than Johnson was during his lifetime. One of the few white people who had noticed Johnson's existence at all was John Hammond, and he'd written a brief review of Johnson's first two singles under a pseudonym in a Communist newspaper. I'm going to quote it here, but the word he used to talk about Black people was considered correct then but isn't now, so I'll substitute Black for that word: "Before closing we cannot help but call your attention to the greatest [Black] blues singer who has cropped up in recent years, Robert Johnson. Recording them in deepest Mississippi, Vocalion has certainly done right by us and by the tunes "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" and "Terraplane Blues", to name only two of the four sides already released, sung to his own guitar accompaniment. Johnson makes Leadbelly sound like an accomplished poseur" Hammond had tried to get Johnson to perform at the Spirituals to Swing concerts we talked about in the very first episodes of the podcast, but he'd discovered that he'd died shortly before. He got Big Bill Broonzy instead, and played a couple of Johnson's records from a record player on the stage. Hammond introduced those recordings with a speech: "It is tragic that an American audience could not have been found seven or eight years ago for a concert of this kind. Bessie Smith was still at the height of her career and Joe Smith, probably the greatest trumpet player America ever knew, would still have been around to play obbligatos for her...dozens of other artists could have been there in the flesh. But that audience as well as this one would not have been able to hear Robert Johnson sing and play the blues on his guitar, for at that time Johnson was just an unknown hand on a Robinsonville, Mississippi plantation. Robert Johnson was going to be the big surprise of the evening for this audience at Carnegie Hall. I know him only from his Vocalion blues records and from the tall, exciting tales the recording engineers and supervisors used to bring about him from the improvised studios in Dallas and San Antonio. I don't believe Johnson had ever worked as a professional musician anywhere, and it still knocks me over when I think of how lucky it is that a talent like his ever found its way onto phonograph records. We will have to be content with playing two of his records, the old "Walkin' Blues" and the new, unreleased, "Preachin' Blues", because Robert Johnson died last week at the precise moment when Vocalion scouts finally reached him and told him that he was booked to appear at Carnegie Hall on December 23. He was in his middle twenties and nobody seems to know what caused his death." And that was, for the most part, the end of Robert Johnson's impact on the culture for a generation. The Lomaxes went down to Clarksdale, Mississippi a couple of years later -- reports vary as to whether this was to see if they could find Johnson, who they were unaware was dead, or to find information out about him, and they did end up recording a young singer named Muddy Waters for the Library of Congress, including Waters' rendition of "32-20 Blues", Johnson's reworking of Skip James' "Twenty-Two Twenty Blues": [Excerpt: Muddy Waters, "32-20 Blues"] But Johnson's records remained unavailable after their initial release until 1959, when the blues scholar Samuel Charters published the book The Country Blues, which was the first book-length treatment ever of Delta blues. Sixteen years later Charters said "I shouldn't have written The Country Blues when I did; since I really didn't know enough, but I felt I couldn't afford to wait. So The Country Blues was two things. It was a romanticization of certain aspects of black life in an effort to force the white society to reconsider some of its racial attitudes, and on the other hand it was a cry for help. I wanted hundreds of people to go out and interview the surviving blues artists. I wanted people to record them and document their lives, their environment, and their music, not only so that their story would be preserved but also so they'd get a little money and a little recognition in their last years." Charters talked about Johnson in the book, as one of the performers who played "minor roles in the story of the blues", and said that almost nothing was known about his life. He talked about how he had been poisoned by his common-law wife, about how his records were recorded in a pool hall, and said "The finest of Robert Johnson's blues have a brooding sense of torment and despair. The blues has become a personified figure of despondency." Along with Charters' book came a compilation album of the same name, and that included the first ever reissue of one of Johnson's tracks, "Preaching Blues": [Excerpt: Robert Johnson, "Preaching Blues"] Two years later, John Hammond, who had remained an ardent fan of Johnson, had Columbia put out the King of the Delta Blues Singers album. At the time no white blues scholars knew what Johnson looked like and they had no photos of him, so a generic painting of a poor-looking Black man with a guitar was used for the cover. The liner note to King of the Delta Blues Singers talked about how Johnson was seventeen or eighteen when he made his recordings, how he was "dead before he reached his twenty-first birthday, poisoned by a jealous girlfriend", how he had "seldom, if ever, been away from the plantation in Robinsville, Mississippi, where he was born and raised", and how he had had such stage fright that when he was asked to play in front of other musicians, he'd turned to face a wall so he couldn't see them. And that would be all that any of the members of the Powerhouse would know about Johnson. Maybe they'd also heard the rumours that were starting to spread that Johnson had got his guitar-playing skills by selling his soul to the devil at a crossroads at midnight, but that would have been all they knew when they recorded their filler track for Elektra: [Excerpt: The Powerhouse, "Crossroads"] Either way, the Powerhouse lineup only lasted for that one session -- the group eventually decided that a simple trio would be best for the music they wanted to play. Clapton had seen Buddy Guy touring with just a bass player and drummer a year earlier, and had liked the idea of the freedom that gave him as a guitarist. The group soon took on Robert Stigwood as a manager, which caused more arguments between Bruce and Baker. Bruce was convinced that if they were doing an all-for-one one-for-all thing they should also manage themselves, but Baker pointed out that that was a daft idea when they could get one of the biggest managers in the country to look after them. A bigger argument, which almost killed the group before it started, happened when Baker told journalist Chris Welch of the Melody Maker about their plans. In an echo of the way that he and Bruce had been resigned from Blues Incorporated without being consulted, now with no discussion Manfred Mann and John Mayall were reading in the papers that their band members were quitting before those members had bothered to mention it. Mayall was furious, especially since the album Clapton had played on hadn't yet come out. Clapton was supposed to work a month's notice while Mayall found another guitarist, but Mayall spent two weeks begging Peter Green to rejoin the band. Green was less than eager -- after all, he'd been fired pretty much straight away earlier -- but Mayall eventually persuaded him. The second he did, Mayall turned round to Clapton and told him he didn't have to work the rest of his notice -- he'd found another guitar player and Clapton was fired: [Excerpt: John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, "Dust My Blues"] Manfred Mann meanwhile took on the Beatles' friend Klaus Voorman to replace Bruce. Voorman would remain with the band until the end, and like Green was for Mayall, Voorman was in some ways a better fit for Manfred Mann than Bruce was. In particular he could double on flute, as he did for example on their hit version of Bob Dylan's "The Mighty Quinn": [Excerpt: Manfred Mann "The Mighty Quinn"] The new group, The Cream, were of course signed in the UK to Stigwood's Reaction label. Other than the Who, who only stuck around for one album, Reaction was not a very successful label. Its biggest signing was a former keyboard player for Screaming Lord Sutch, who recorded for them under the names Paul Dean and Oscar, but who later became known as Paul Nicholas and had a successful career in musical theatre and sitcom. Nicholas never had any hits for Reaction, but he did release one interesting record, in 1967: [Excerpt: Oscar, "Over the Wall We Go"] That was one of the earliest songwriting attempts by a young man who had recently named himself David Bowie. Now the group were public, they started inviting journalists to their rehearsals, which were mostly spent trying to combine their disparate musical influences --

In this week's 'News Roundtable' episode, host Chris Wright is joined by journalist and broadcaster, Emily Carver, Labour Councillor for Streatham, Martin Abrams, and journalist, writer, and broadcaster, Christina Patterson.The conversation kicks-off with an analysis of Dominic Raab's resignation following the outcome of the inquiry into his bullying allegations. The panel discusses the lack of grace in his resignation and explores whether this is an ongoing pattern in the recent Tory exits. Together they debate whether Sunak was weak not to sack Raab in the first place. We have a good long look at Tory leadership, opening up to discussion on the new book Boris at 10  by Raymon Newell that provides a damning exposé of his premiership. The panel moves to Dianne Abbott's universally condemned comments about racism, on which we were graced by an impassioned speech from Labour Councillor Martin Abrams with a commentary on how Keir Starmer has handled this situation and similar situations throughout his leadership.Finally, the panel looks at Andrew Bridgen – the long-time anti-vax proponent who compared the covid vaccine rollout to the horrors of the Holocaust. Developing into an exciting discussion about Big Pharma and whether it should be nationalised!We'd love to hear your thoughts on the episode on Twitter!'I Hit The Nail Right On The Head' by Billy Bremner. © Fridens liljor/Micke Finell.Rock around the clock productions AB.www.rockaroundtheclock.coCreated & produced by Podcast Partners: www.podcastpartners.comSign up to receive updates by email when a new episode drops at www.wrightonthenail.FMThis podcast is published by New Thinking: www.newthinking.com Explore New Thinking podcasts via our website: www.newthinking.com/podcasts

-Getting to play with your old man and becoming a legend of Streatham just like him -Getting the fellas to buy in by building relationships and changing the culture of fitness in the UK -Moving to Canada as a 19 year old with your hockey gear and a dream -The different cultures of a squad, on the ice, off the ice, in the room and away from the rink -May 27th we will meet in person at Josh Batch's Testimonial in Cardiff, Wales

Streatham Redhawks Coach Ben Paynter and Solway Sharks coach Jamie Thomson stopped by ahead of the NIHL 1 North vs South. Both teams coming into this fixture on the back of league and playoff success!You can listen to tall of our other Podcasts on the link below.https://www.buzzsprout.com/267850Don't forget to hit that subscribe button. Ring that bell and never miss another podcast story again.If you love listening to the episodes and watching the videos on our page then please help us grow by becoming a patron!https://www.patreon.com/4000andcountingSupport the show

Watty is joined by Younger brother Ryan for this in person episode. We look ahead to a huge weekend for Streatham as they chase their 3rd title in a row!You can listen to tall of our other Podcasts on the link below.https://www.buzzsprout.com/267850Don't forget to hit that subscribe button. Ring that bell and never miss another podcast story again.If you love listening to the episodes and watching the videos on our page then please help us grow by becoming a patron!https://www.patreon.com/4000andcountingSupport the show

The new Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, faces big challenges in his first week in office. The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II will be at the top of his agenda, but also improving the reputation of the force. The Met was heavily criticised following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving policeman and the sharing of racist and sexist group chat messages by officers at Charing Cross police station. Public trust in the force was strained even further last week when an unarmed black man, Chris Kaba, was fatally shot in Streatham. Born in Birmingham, Mark Rowley attended Handsworth Grammar School before studying mathematics at Cambridge. After university he joined the West Midlands Police force, rising through the ranks to become the Head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, overseeing the response to the terrorist attacks in 2017. He retired from the Met in 2018, and co-authored a crime thriller. Now Sir Mark Rowley aims to restore public confidence in the force. So, what kind of leader will he be? CREDITS The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Diane Richardson and Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Editor: Richard Vadon Studio Manager: James Beard

Today on The Day After, (07:41) Headlines: Liz Truss chooses the members of her Cabinet (13:43) What You Sayin? What are your priorities? (38:51) Headlines: Gareth Thomas receives abuse due to current court case, Saudi's demand Netflix remove inappropriate content (58:28) Word On Road: Nicki Minaj's nail is up for sale, Big Sean says we can expect another Twenty88 album, Tiffany Haddish speaks out about sexual assault lawsuit, Davide & Ekin speak out on the cab situation lol (01:09:01) Headlines: Man shot dead by armed police in Streatham has been identified (01:25:56) Outro --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thedayaftertnb/message

Today on The Day After, (04:50) Headlines: Liz Truss announced as the new Prime Minister, Priti Patel resigns as Home Secretary (20:40) What You Sayin? Should you be paid more to work from home? (47:23) Headlines: Kenya's 2022 election, Earthquake in Chinese province of Sichuan (50:15) Word On Road: Jesy Nelson's music leak, going independent & next single, Indiyah's PLT profits donation to Jamaica basic schools foundation, British vogue editor in chief can't get a cab because of racism, Did Harry Styles spit on his co-star Chris Pine?, “This Morning” viewers criticise 4 month energy bill payment prize (01:08:09) The People's Journal: Liz Truss expected to freeze energy bills, More shared banking hubs due to open, Bullitt are trying to compete with Apple and Tesla (01:16:16) Asking For A Friend: (01:46:10) Headlines: Man shot dead by armed police in Streatham, Man arrested for the murder of his 3 siblings (01:48:59) Outro --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thedayaftertnb/message

Tayo launches his second Estuary group this time in his home church and in the town where he lives. It was a large gathering and challenging in other respects but he handled it well.  https://benburbpriory.com/event/the-meaning-crisis-modernity-and-the-christian-way-a-benburb-priory-conference/  Then we fly back to London on Saturday, 3rd Saturday at Oakhill Collage in Southgate in North London,  We have two events we have at 4 pm we have a seminar on 'Meaning Truth and Trust' led by Kristi Mair who is doing a PDd in the work of Michael Polanyi and will be chaired by Podcaster and writer Glen Scrivener. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/meaning-truth-trust-tickets-388043016107 Then after that at 6.30 pm I discuss 'mission and the meaning crisis' with The historian Tom Holland and Glen Scrivener. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mission-and-the-meaning-crisis-tickets-388066044987?aff=erelpanelorg The following day Sunday 4th I'm be preaching at 10 am at Streatham central church in South London. Then in Streatham for a Q&A and Estuary at 5pm onward. On Monday 5th I'll be at Lee Abbey London near Earls Court Tube Station, at 7:30  Tuesday 6th of September, I'm to Salisbury Evensong 5:00 at Salisbury Cathedral, 6:30 for a meal, 7:30 for drinks and discussion.  The Pheasant Restaurant, 19 Salt Lane Salisbury SP1 1DT If you're in the UK it would be great to see you in real life!

Tayo and John report on the first ever UK Estuary meeting in Birmingham. Join us August 31 2022 in Swinton, Manchester at Kings Church Salford (M27 8TD) from  7:30 - 9:30 Then cross over to our friends in Northern Ireland and on 2nd September we have 'The Meaning Crisis, Modernity, and the Christian Way Writer', with writer Paul Kingsnorth, Deacon, and TV Presenter, Fr. Calvin Robinson https://benburbpriory.com/event/the-meaning-crisis-modernity-and-the-christian-way-a-benburb-priory-conference/  Then we fly back to London on Saturday, 3rd Saturday at Oakhill Collage in Southgate in North London,    We have two events we have at 4 pm we have a seminar on 'Meaning Truth and Trust' led by Kristi Mair who is doing a PDd in the work of Michael Polanyi and will be chaired by Podcaster and writer Glen Scrivener. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/meaning-truth-trust-tickets-388043016107 Then after that at 6.30 pm I discuss 'mission and the meaning crisis' with The historian Tom Holland and Glen Scrivener. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mission-and-the-meaning-crisis-tickets-388066044987?aff=erelpanelorg The following day Sunday 4th I'm be preaching at 10 am at Streatham central church in South London. Then in Streatham for a Q&A and Estuary at 5pm onward. On Monday 5th I'll be at Lee Abbey London near earls court Tube station, again we will talk bit about how and why to dialogue well and run a local estuary group No, the next day Tuesday 6th of September, I'm to Salisbury in the West of England savouring the sights and sounds and then a chance to chinwag with a few people at an Evening meal at “The Pheasant” from 6.30, and a Discussion over drinks from 7.30pm Why not book and join us If you're in the UK it would be great to see you in real life!

John Van Donk will be in Birmingham  30th August at  7.30pm in The Baccus Bar. Paul will not be there because he'll be visiting a friend in another town. This will be the only event Paul will not attend.  The next day, in Manchester 31 August we will be meeting 7.30pm at Kings Church Salford. We will talk a bit about how and why to dialogue well and run a local estuary group Look for the links in the comments section.  Then cross over to our friends in Northern Ireland and on 2nd September we have 'The Meaning Crisis, Modernity, and the Christian Way Writer', with writer Paul Kingsnorth, Deacon, and TV Presenter, Fr. Calvin Robinson https://benburbpriory.com/event/the-meaning-crisis-modernity-and-the-christian-way-a-benburb-priory-conference/  Then we fly back to London on Saturday, 3rd Saturday at Oakhill Collage in Southgate in North London,    We have two events we have at 4 pm we have a seminar on 'Meaning Truth and Trust' led by Kristi Mair who is doing a PDd in the work of Michael Polanyi and will be chaired by Podcaster and writer Glen Scrivener. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/meaning-truth-trust-tickets-388043016107 Then after that at 6.30 pm I discuss 'mission and the meaning crisis' with The historian Tom Holland and Glen Scrivener. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mission-and-the-meaning-crisis-tickets-388066044987?aff=erelpanelorg The following day Sunday 4th I'm be preaching at 10 am at Streatham central church in South London. Then in Streatham for a Q&A and Estuary at 5pm onward. On Monday 5th I'll be at Lee Abbey London near earls court Tube station, again we will talk bit about how and why to dialogue well and run a local estuary group No, the next day Tuesday 6th of September, I'm to Salisbury in the West of England savouring the sights and sounds and then a chance to chinwag with a few people at an Evening meal at “The Pheasant” from 6.30, and a Discussion over drinks from 7.30pm Why not book and join us If you're in the UK it would be great to see you in real life!

This week Lara Prendergast and William Moore talk to James Forsyth and the academic, Dr Alexander Clarkson about Zelensky's possible path to peace (00:42). Followed by Owen Matthews, The Spectator's Russia correspondent on Turkey's power over Nato expansion (13:28). Finally, a chat between two bowls fanatics, Michael Simmons, The Spectator's data journalist and Andrew Gibson from the bowls green in Streatham (22:00). Hosted by Lara Prendergast & William Moore Produced by Sam Holmes Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher: www.spectator.co.uk/voucher

This week Lara Prendergast and William Moore talk to James Forsyth and the academic, Dr Alexander Clarkson about Zelensky's possible path to peace (00:42). Followed by Owen Matthews, The Spectator's Russia correspondent on Turkey's power over Nato expansion (13:28). Finally, a chat between two bowls fanatics, Michael Simmons, The Spectator's data journalist and Andrew Gibson from the bowls green in Streatham (22:00). Hosted by Lara Prendergast & William Moore Produced by Sam Holmes Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher: www.spectator.co.uk/voucher

Emmanuel Dzotsi, originally hailing from Streatham and now co-host of hit US podcasts Reply-All and Serial, joins Janet this week with his choice 'Danny Champion of the World' by Roald Dahl.Join us @twiceuponpod for images of the books chosen and pictures from the recordings.Twice Upon A Time is a Hat Trick PodcastExecutive Producers Caroline Raphael and Claire BroughtonEdit Producers John Wakefield and Diggory Waite See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We finally did it. At 19:30 on the 8th of April, we slew the coward James Bond in front of an audience of 125 at the Streatham Space Project. This is the audio of that event. Find bonus episodes at our reasonably-priced patreon! https://www.patreon.com/killjamesbond   *WEB DESIGN ALERT*  Tom Allen is a friend of the show (and the designer behind our website). If you need web design help, reach out to him here:  https://www.tomallen.media/   Find us at https://killjamesbond.com and https://twitter.com/killjamesbond

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, MD of Rubber Cheese.Download our free ebook The Ultimate Guide to Doubling Your Visitor NumbersIf you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this episode.Competition ends April 29th 2022. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Show references: https://www.madametussauds.com/london/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-dolanSince recording this podcast Neil has since joined Little Lion Entertainment as their Operations Director. Neil Dolan's Bio: My career in Visitor Attractions started at The Edinburgh Dungeon while I was at University in Edinburgh studying Chemistry when I quickly realised I was more passionate about working in attractions than working in a lab.After graduating I stayed with Merlin Entertainments and moved to the London Eye (EDF Energy London Eye at the time) and held a couple of different operational roles before moving into the Head of Operations role at the start of 2018. Working in the Attractions and Hospitality industry had never been a specific plan but our industry is so unique in terms of the amazing people that work within it that it has become my passion area and I moved across to Madame Tussauds London in December 2020 to further grow that experience.I believe that an attraction is only as good as the Guest Experience it delivers and I truly believe that a guest first mentality is what turns a good attraction in a world class attraction. Guests and People have been the focus at Madame Tussauds London in 2021 and the work we have done together as a team over the last 12 months is something I'm truly proud of.Outside of work, I'm kept busy by my 3 year old son Brodie and when I can I try and keep up with my ice hockey and a bit of exercise, albeit the exercise consistency probably needs working on in 2022.  Transcriptions: Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host Kelly Molson.In today's episode, I speak with Neil Dolan, Head of Operations at Madame Tussauds, London.We'll talk about Neil's experience of switching the attraction from a predominantly international market to a domestic, how they've heavily invested in the experience and what cocktail making has to do with all of this. If you like what you hear, subscribe on all the usual channels by searching to Skip the Queue.Kelly Molson: Neil, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. It's really lovely to see you.Neil Dolan: No, it's great. Thanks for inviting me on. I was really looking forward to it.Kelly Molson: Good. Well, you might not say that after we've done the icebreaker questions. Okay. Let's go straight in. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?Neil Dolan: I always have to do this comparison in my head that, because I think when I was probably 10, I got to go to Disneyland for the first time and absolutely loved it and became that sort of kid that every year, just almost like "We're going back to Disneyland. We're going back to Disneyland." And it was almost that amazing moment I remember when I was a child. And then me and my partner went again before we had a child and it was still just as amazing. So whenever me and my partner are talking about holiday, we use almost Disney as the par. It doesn't matter if we're going to the most luxurious resort, we always talk about the first time we get to take him to Disneyland.Kelly Molson: Oh, my god.Neil Dolan: Because that magic is just awesome.Kelly Molson: How old are your... You have children?Neil Dolan: Yes, I've got a son who'll be three in April.Kelly Molson: Okay. Right.Neil Dolan: And so I actually spent a good three hours of my night, last night, sleeping on his bedroom floor.Kelly Molson: Oh gosh. I'm so with you on Disney. I think it is just the most magical place. Your child is three now. What age are you like waiting until they're ready to go?Neil Dolan: And this is where we were a little bit selfish, because we were almost like, "How tall will he be when he's six? How tall will he be when he's seven? And does that mean we can go on these rights? I think it does." So we want to have that perfect... Because, when you're there, you see all those amazing play areas that they can play when they're really, really young. But we almost want that magical age where they really associate everything with films. And then when you almost walk through the gates at Magic Kingdom for the first time, they get what that is. And that amazing look on the face is what we're aiming. So we think probably six or seven.Kelly Molson: We have just had this same debate, but I've actually had it with my parents because they're massive Disney fans as well.Neil Dolan: Right.Kelly Molson: And they turned 70 this year. And so Edie is nearly eight months old now. And they're like, "Well, so we are thinking five because then we'll be 75 and we won't be too old that we won't enjoy it still." And I'm like, "Well, okay. I get it. But also that's a bit selfish."Neil Dolan: We've got the same train of thought. Everybody absolutely got themselves at the forefront because it doesn't matter how old you, it's just such a great place.Kelly Molson: No. And I'm five 5'2 and Lee's only about 5'8. So there's no hope that she's going to be a tall grower at so we're "Yeah, I think six is all right." Thank you for sharing that. That's so weird that we've all have the same chat about that. Okay. What did you want to be when you grew up?Neil Dolan: So I actually read through my primary school yearbook about three, four months ago. And I read, we got asked the same question and I've played ice hockey for about 25 years and I was really specific. There's a team called Colorado Avalanche. And I wrote in my yearbook because I wanted to be the left defender for the Colorado Avalanche.Kelly Molson: Wow.Neil Dolan: And I was like, "That's a really specific position and team and everything." So yeah, for years I wanted to be an professional ice hockey player.Kelly Molson: Oh my goodness. But you still play? So you got to a certain point.Neil Dolan: Yeah. I still play. I played when I was at university, played for the Edinburgh team for a year and it was significantly detrimental to my studies. And so I continued to play for fun when I was at university. And then, when I moved to London, there's not as many ice rinks and they're more difficult to get to. And I played a little bit in Streatham, when I lived in old street and I had to get two night buses back from Streatham at half past midnight. And I thought, "Maybe I'll wait until I move somewhere else."Kelly Molson: Yeah.Neil Dolan: So I played with a team in slack which is great. It's just a good bunch of guys having a laugh.Kelly Molson: It is absolutely brilliant to go and watch. Yeah. And quite brutal as well. Quite like that.Neil Dolan: Yeah, they do it and everyone always says, "Were you one of the people that was absolutely brutal?" And in my head I want to say, "Yes." Definitely not, as much as I would love to hold that up, I was not that guy.Kelly Molson: Okay. It's good that you're still doing it, though. I love how niched that was. Okay. What show on Netflix did you binge watch embarrassingly fast?Neil Dolan: Embarrassingly fast? It's probably not so much embarrassing, but the one which is almost like one of those golden nuggets was, there was a show called Lilyhammer that was about six years ago, which was a dark comedy drama about a mob boss who becomes an informant in America then goes to live in Lilyhammer because they hosted the Winter Olympics in the nineties. And it's the actor from The Sopranos, whose name always escapes me. But it's one of those embarrassing things that I can never do it justice. So, whenever I try and explain it to someone, they think, "That sounds terrible. It's an awful show."Kelly Molson: It's not something that I've watched. I haven't heard of it.Neil Dolan: It's so funny. If you're into that kind of dark sarcastic humor, it's honestly brilliant.Kelly Molson: All right.Neil Dolan: Whether or not it's still on Netflix or not.Kelly Molson: I'm going to add that to my list. That wasn't as embarrassing as I was expecting it to be. Mine's Cobra Kai, which is pretty embarrassing. I got a little bit obsessed with Cobra Kai. Okay. What is your unpopular opinion?Neil Dolan: So, this is probably the most difficult one to think of actually, but I think it's probably that I think that the Sunday roast is overrated.Kelly Molson: What?Neil Dolan: I think I would prefer to have an expertly made pizza than a Sunday roast because I think they look better. I think the product looks amazing on Instagram and there are very good Sunday roasts, but the effort to make a Sunday roast, I don't know. I just don't think the hype is.Kelly Molson: I can't agree with you on this. And I love pizza, don't get me wrong. But a Sunday roast is my favourite meal of the whole week. It is a lot of effort, I know what you're saying, to cook it all and it's gone really quickly, isn't it?Neil Dolan: Yeah, it is.Kelly Molson: But, no. Okay. All right, listeners, Tweet me. Let me know what you feel about that. I reckon I might get some stick about that, Neil. Okay. Neil, you began as Head of Operations at Madame Tussauds, in December 2020, which must have been quite an interesting time to start a new job, I can imagine.Neil Dolan: Yeah, it was my first day at Madame Tussauds, it was actually the first day of lockdown three. I basically didn't get to meet anyone. In fact, the first conversations I had with my new team was almost telling them about furlough coming back. So it began this really weird phase where I was in the role for quite a long time, but I just hadn't really met anyone. There was only a very small number of people who were still working. And, fortunately, we had weekly Zoom calls where I got to meet some of the team and get to know people to an extent. But it was nowhere near as good as it is when you actually get to go in and meet people for the first time and get to understand who people are, what makes them tick and actually get to know people.Kelly Molson: Yeah.Neil Dolan: So it was a really, really, really bizarre time. But, in many ways, it was quite exciting because I almost got to look at everything. While you're closed, you ought to look at almost the bare basics, which you don't always get to do when you're caught up in, I guess, the business as usual, the normal trading.Kelly Molson: Yeah. That's quite interesting, isn't it? Because you're looking at it from the perspective, "Okay, well, no one can come anyway." So actually this is almost like a blank canvas, so to speak, to see where the pitfalls are or the challenges are, or what's working well and what isn't working well.Neil Dolan: Yeah. And I'm still so fortunate here because the team I've got are incredible. And what I knew in the very... I mean, we're talking days where I got to speak to some people. I guess the passion that the people who work at Madame Tussauds have for Madame Tussauds I've never seen anything like it. They're so in love with this place. It's very difficult to get people to be passionate about something that they may not be. But that passion was already there. So when I started, I was like, "Well, I don't have to worry about that because they're already so far gone. They just absolutely love what they're doing.Kelly Molson: Yeah. So there wasn't a lot of, you didn't have to be really motivational for them. You didn't have to-Neil Dolan: Absolutely not. No, because they have that. We've got some people who are in my team that have been here for 30 years and they just love their job. And, when you get to sit down and speak to them about what is it that they love, they just like, "Well, I just love this place. I always worked here." That's so nice to hear. You don't always get that in new establishments or I guess different sectors.Kelly Molson: Yeah. Oh, that's really lovely, isn't it? I guess that helped with some of the things that we are going to talk about as well, because you've been through some quite big changes, haven't you? So one of the things that you needed to do was make quite a significant switch in terms of who your audience was, because you've gone from predominantly having an international market to domestic because they're international travel. Where do you even start with that?Neil Dolan: Yeah. So we were a little bit unique, I guess, in comparison to some of the market, because just before one of the lockdowns, there had already been some plans for, I guess, some renovations and some investment. And there was probably a stop/go time where the decision was made. Do we keep investing, given all the challenges that are going to come and cash flow being such a topic amongst our industry in particular? And what was really nice when I came was the view was, "We need to invest in the product, we need to invest in the experience." So we almost went the opposite way. So, rather than going into a shell of, "We need to be really conservative." It was, "We need to invest back in the experience," because London's one of those places that tourism will bounce back because London as a city is just such an amazing place.Neil Dolan: And Madame Tussauds London is such an institution that I think there is good confidence that, once the markets are back, they'll come back when they're back in the city. But to get that domestic side it was almost to think about, "Well, what is that maybe the domestics think? Or what is it domestics are passionate about?" And fine tailor the investment we were going to do to ensure that we were speaking to them.Neil Dolan: So, when we reopened, we launched our new Awards Party and we'd moved Harry and Megan, which the press jumped at because originally they were with the Royals in our Royal area. And then, when they decided to take a different step down from Senior Royals, we moved them into our new Awards Party area to be with the likes of your Leonard DiCaprios and Dwayne Johnsons. And that PR hook that we got was amazing because we were then able to speak to our domestic audience of, "Look what we're doing at Madame Tussauds. Look what you can come and see. Come and see what's on your doorstep."Kelly Molson: Yeah.Neil Dolan: And that was the first thing that we did when we reopened, that we would've probably done anyway. But the message we were trying to get to people is, "This attraction has always been here and now it's probably going to be slightly quieter. So even better, come and enjoy."Kelly Molson: It's funny, isn't it? Because I guess you've had to go through changing the perception of what Madame Tussauds is for the domestic market, because I've been there, years ago, with my parents. I can remember it. I've got my Novelty eraser from there. I've got it. I've got it right next to me, I've got my rubber from Madame Tussauds, it's for my collection. But, in my head, I do see it as a tourist destination. It's somewhere that I would love to take my daughter one day for her to experience it. But it's changing that perception of what it is in people's heads, isn't it? And that's quite a difficult thing to do.Neil Dolan: Yeah. And it's come with some with some challenges. And, going back to the benefit that I had of being able to, I guess, look under the bonnet when I started, was there was probably some things that as a team we focused on quite heavily when we reopened that have probably gone to benefit, I guess, that domestic market to maybe see a different side of us. So, when we reopened, we were very much like, "Experience. Experience. Customer service. Customer service." And what has been really, really nice is that we've probably, I guess, focused quite a lot on what our external reviews are looking like. And we don't have to shy away from the fact that we've probably had a reputation for queues. You know, everyone who used to talk about Madame Tussauds would start with the queues.Neil Dolan: So we are very much focusing on, "Let's get that reputation down about us having queues and being crowded." And what's been really nice because we've done that focus, and ultimately, I guess, simplify it a little bit, make things a lot easier. We've seen our review scores go up, we've seen the theme of our reviews completely change. And that's really good because when domestics are looking at reviews, they're rightly seeing that there are long queues and it's over crowded. And I guess by us taking a step back, looking at, "Okay, why is that the case?", we've actually been in such a better place. And the fact that that's now showing in our reviews is great because you can do all the marketing you want in the world, but if your advocacy's not strong enough, or people go into Google Reviews and have a look at what people are saying and it's all negative, people won't go there.Kelly Molson: Just talk us through a little bit what you did there, because the queue issue is the big issue to address. What did you put in place to make that better?Neil Dolan: So we've always had almost a time ticketing system. It probably improved over 2017 to 2019. But there were some technological challenges we still had, where there were some guests who still had the old school paper voucher who then had to come to the attraction to exchange that, to then get a time ticket, to then almost come back later. So already that guest has had this really mixed experience because it's not their fault. They've already bought their ticket from someone. And then the system has then almost said, "Well, yeah. But you have to come back later and queue again." So that already is completely confusing and it's a bad experience. And potentially, because we are quite an international audience, if that person doesn't speak English particularly well, it's even more frustrating.Kelly Molson: Yeah.Neil Dolan: So, when we reopened, we worked really hard with our partners so that everyone who books, I guess, even through a third party has a ticket that they only have to queue once, that has a time on it with very clear information. So we almost, instead of having, I guess, the bulk of our guests turning up within, I guess, the two to three hours in the middle of the day, when everyone tends to go to attractions, just spreading them out through the day means that there's less queues, there's less people going into the building. It's just a better experience. And it sounds really simple, but the pandemic was horrible for so many reasons. But in some ways for, I guess, the technology side businesses had to adapt and we had to do things better. And that's been a massive change for us.Kelly Molson: Yeah, definitely. We've had this conversation numerous times on the podcast about pre-booking and the benefits of it and why most will want to keep it past the pandemic, as well. So, how does it work with the international audience for you? Would people predominantly buy tickets in advance or were you more a walk-up attraction?Neil Dolan: I guess, again, that's changed or we've seen it change at the moment, since the pandemic. So we used to do quite a lot of tickets from a walk-up perspective and we do a good proportion on online and, because we are quite internationally heavy in some respects, we would do a lot through third parties and through the trade industry, what we've seen at the moment is there's been a massive swing from walk-up tickets to online booking. And it's difficult to draw conclusion from it because it's very domestic heavy at the moment. And we are just so used to doing that, it's almost ingrained. In fact, I pre-booked to go to the swimming pool the other day.Kelly Molson: Oh, yeah. I have to do the same.Neil Dolan: Which we usually just wouldn't do. You just turn up with your arm band, or I turn up with my arm bands anyway.Kelly Molson: Don't we all?Neil Dolan: Yeah, we all. Absolutely. In some ways that's really helpful because it allows you to make sure that you've got the right resource in, it allows you to plan throughout the day properly, you don't always get caught off guard. So, again, it's a massive benefit for us be able to actually manage the experience. Whereas walk-up is great and I don't think it's anything we would ever stop doing, but if you get a massive surge of people who just turn up on the day, you could be caught off guard and that, again, can be detrimental.Kelly Molson: That's an interesting question, isn't it? So, how much of your market did you lose overnight? What did it go from?Neil Dolan: Well, we're probably the majority international and even the minority domestic that we had before, there was a good proportion of that with schools. So you almost turned off the majority of our market and then, of the domestic market, we lost the school bookings because they weren't doing that either. And that's not just for us, that's almost for London, that these people just weren't there. In fact, I walked through Covent Garden two Fridays ago, on a Friday night, and it was dead.Kelly Molson: Wow.Neil Dolan: And you just think that there's, I don't know, 6 million tourists or whatever it is that comes in a short period of time that just aren't in the city. So we knew it was going to be challenging and we knew, in particular, it was going to be challenging in the times when schools weren't off because you're more reliant on, I guess, overnighter couples or families who aren't in school. So people with really young children. So just a really tough position to be in.Kelly Molson: Thinking about what you said about the pre-booking and you are always going to welcome walk-ups as well. I think that's the nature of where you're located and what you do and the market that you have. How did you counter that? For example, if you're going to keep pre-booking and you're still going to keep the time slots where you've got people, and then you get an influx of people that just want to come on that day for those times, how are you going to keep the experience as good as it is now when that market comes back and that shift happens?Neil Dolan: Yeah. So, a big part of it is communicating. A lot of it is communicating to our guests really, really, really clearly. So the benefits of almost a high percentage pre-booked model are you can get in, in the morning, and know where your full slots are. And what we've kind of got into a good position of doing now, when we know we've got capacity challenges and I'm hoping that you want to have capacity challenges in some instance, because it means you're busy, is being quite honest and telling people. So I know certainly when I was in my previous role at the London Eye, when we had a busy day and it was almost sold out, we would put that on the website, or we would maybe put it on Twitter or try and tell people in advance as best we can.Neil Dolan: What we did, and this weekend was a good example of it, where we were really busy, was that we just made the decision that we'll just stay open for a little bit longer and we can add additional availability after we would've closed. So, for anyone who does turn up, we keep the doors open a little bit longer, because we don't want them to go away disappointed. From a business perspective, we want to capitalise when there's people there to buy the ticket. And I would like to think we probably would've done that before, but I think certainly this post-COVID rebuilding time we've been trialing lots of different things and thinking probably a lot more differently than we probably would've. Less rigid, I suppose.Kelly Molson: That was going to be one of my questions. And, just to go back to address that about staying open longer, that's really surprising for me because I wouldn't have expected that level of flexibility from such a large attraction because that's... Okay. You make the decision, "Are we going to stay open an hour later tonight?" That's a lot of people that you've got to get to agree to do that, isn't it? That's really great.Neil Dolan: It is. And, again, going back to my comment about the team here, they generally just love this place and they love it when it's really busy. And I think that's probably anyone who's an operator. As much as they think, "Oh, I'm really tired after that peak period," the off peak period comes and, "Oh, wish it was peaking again."Kelly Molson: Yeah.Neil Dolan: The credit of that needs to go to my team of management, because they've got that relationship with the team that the team also know it's more beneficial because they would rather we were open a little bit longer rather than us trying to put more people through the doors, because that could be the other way of doing it. But then, going back to that whole point of you need to protect the experience to improve the advocacy, to make the business more appealing, we're very honest with our team in terms of what our strategy is. And our strategy is we need to maintain the experience. And it was one of those proud moments actually, when one of the team messages say we're going to stay open later because we're really busy, I was like, "That's awesome." And that's almost them feeling that they're empowered to make that decision. I was just like, "That's great. Do it."Kelly Molson: That is lovely. You've done your job well, that's it. Like you say, you've empowered them to do that and that's the benefit of the visitors as well. That's really fantastic. I was genuinely really surprised by that. You mentioned doing things differently and that was one of the questions that I had for you is some of the benefits of the pandemic for organisations is that we've had to think really quickly and change what we do in and take chances on stuff. Are there things that you've tried that you previously wouldn't have thought about?Neil Dolan: Yeah. So, one of the phrases that I used a couple of times was, "Let's try it because if it's 5% wrong, it's 5% of not a lot."Kelly Molson: Yeah.Neil Dolan: Whereas, if you do it in summer peak period and normal times, that could be quite massive. So we tried different promotions, we tried different pricing strategies, we tried new products. So we did a product where, last year, the last hour of the day tended to be the quietest. So we did a product with a gin company that it'd be almost a discounted ticket. And someone got a free glass of this cocktail that was made. And normally you wouldn't have been able to do it because you'd be so nervous that not too many people buy it, and we won't be able to serve the cocktails enough, who's going to make the cocktail? And in the end we was thought, "We'll just make it work. It'll be fine." So we ended up doing a cocktail making class.Kelly Molson: At Madame Tussauds?Neil Dolan: Yeah, they came in, they taught us-Kelly Molson: That's really cool.Neil Dolan:... How to make a cocktail. And then members of our frontline team, if they were happy to do it, the last hour of the day, it was called Fame & Fizz. And they were on the Fame & Fizz position, were they had to make cocktails for people who bought this ticket.Kelly Molson: Nice.Neil Dolan: And, if I'm honest, we wouldn't have done it before because I think everybody was probably in that mindset like, "Well, it wouldn't work," because operationally it wouldn't work. And no one would be able to tell you why. And I was always guilty for it. If I went back a good few years, I probably would've said the same thing, but we thought, "Let's try it. Let's see what happens." And it was good for what it was. And the guests obviously loved it, because who doesn't like a cocktail?Kelly Molson: Who doesn't have a cocktail? And if you don't, crazy. Like one of those crazy people that like pizza over roast dinners.Neil Dolan: Probably gonna be the same.Kelly Molson: So, it's quite liberating to try new things, isn't it? Like, "Let's just give it a go and see what happens." Do you feel like you can embrace that now with things going back to normal? Do you think that you'll still have the opportunity to try different things?Neil Dolan: Yeah. I think you have to. And I think, again, it's one of those things that we've... I'm going to put enjoyed in a certain way, because for some of the team, they'll be like, "Ah, it's another idea. Oh, no." But, again, it's almost that point of, "What have you got to lose?" And, if it's a success, then amazing. We'll ride that success throughout. And the important thing even with the things that don't work, what we made a really conscious effort of is make sure that we almost document why it doesn't work and keep that somewhere really available. Because the worst thing, if I use the example of some of the team that have been here for 30 years, they probably will have seen the same thing tried over and over again. And it's never fair for those people to provide almost experience of why something hasn't worked and for someone to go, "Yeah. But it's just being amusing." And actually, sometimes it hasn't worked for a very good reason, but sometimes with turnover people don't remember why.Kelly Molson: Yeah.Neil Dolan: And if there's anything certainly from the last year, is that just trying things and seeing what happens and, if it doesn't work, just don't try it again. We'll keep doing that.Kelly Molson: I like that idea of documenting it because you could get into that situation where you just think someone's being a bit of a Debbie Downer, but actually no, you have tried this before.Neil Dolan: We've tried it, yeah.Kelly Molson: Let me get the book out and tell you exactly why this didn't work. I'm intrigued to know what other crazy ideas might be your sleeves. I bet your team is quite intrigued, as well.Neil Dolan: Yeah. When I open my door, they're just about their eyes.Kelly Molson: So what about your marketing? You would've had to have made quite a significant switch in terms of what you were doing with your marketing, because domestic and international audiences, you would market to them in a completely different way. What was that shift? What did you change?Neil Dolan: So, there is some similarities we would still have selling the peak periods. We still had an element of out of home, we would still do your more traditional location advertising. And it's speaking about London here because you don't have all of the internationals in the city, you can't really focus on that location domination in the same way, because you're talking to not that many people. And that kind of marketing is just incredibly expensive. So when we were looking at, "Okay, so we've got an element of which are going to be day trippers." So we need to be speaking to them either through social media, which everybody uses more than anything else in the world now, and to an extent PR. But you also need that reach of working with the right partners, because we want to be speaking to probably people in the Northeast of England, the people in the Southwest of England, people in Scotland, because we want them to come to Madame Tussauds when they're in London and that's half the battle.Neil Dolan: But the other half, which was incredibly difficult for us, wasn't something we could do by ourself was, was getting involved in the Let's Do London campaign, because what came out of the pandemic was this buildup of demand amongst the domestic market who couldn't go abroad, but then the coastal areas did incredibly well. Cornwall I don't think will have ever recovered from the influx of people that it had. But everything you saw on the news was, "The underground's unsafe. There's too many people. It's too busy," when actually it was the complete opposite. London was dead. There was just no one around. So, whereas we would normally never have done it, a lot of what we were trying to say to people was, "We are safe. Here's the measures that we've got in place. We know what we're doing." The good-to-go thing was a great initiative that we could shout out about.Neil Dolan: So, rather than always talking about the product, we had to do an element where we were talking about, I guess, the health and safety side. And a lot of that, again, was done through PR, was, when we did have these launches, trying to caveat a bit of both like, "Come see this amazing figure. We've preserved the experience. It's absolutely safe. We can't wait to see you."Kelly Molson: Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? The couple of times that I went into London during the pandemic, just thought London was really lovely.Neil Dolan: It was amazing.Kelly Molson: It was so nice. Just walking around, no one was bumping into you. I could get a seat on the tube. It was glorious. I wasn't in anyone's armpit.Neil Dolan: Yeah.Kelly Molson: That should be the marketing campaign.Neil Dolan: That's the marketing campaign. Absolutely.Kelly Molson: "Come now. You won't be in anyone's armpit on a tube." So what next? International travel is resuming.Neil Dolan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).Kelly Molson: You mentioned that you were really busy this weekend, which is fantastic.Neil Dolan: Yeah.Kelly Molson: So what is next for Madame Tussauds? What can we see on the horizon?Neil Dolan: A couple of things, really. So some of it is the learnings that we've taken from having a domestic focus, is not to lose it, because I guess what's been really reassuring is that we've and if it wasn't probably for, I guess, the Omicron variant over Christmas, we'd probably be further down a recovery in London than we are because October, half-term last year was really promising. And we've learned a lot about what it is that domestics like about the product, we've learned a lot about what is hopefully driving domestics here. So the main thing that we're going to do is to keep that focus, because we done to drop it. For us, that investment continues. We're continuing to invest in the product. So we've got a brand new music zone, which will open for Easter, which is going to be incredibly exciting. We had Zendaya launch in February, which has been received incredibly well. We did a documentary. That was the other thing we did last year, Madame Tussauds' documentary where it was talked about the return of the Chamber of Horrors, will come back to Madame Tussauds.Kelly Molson: Wow.Neil Dolan: So, that product focus is going to stay because if it there's one thing that I think we certainly learned from the pandemic is that you can never take your experience for granted, because your market share is not guaranteed and advocacy is not guaranteed. And we've been probably really proud of the fact that we've not been scared away from our plans because what guests are telling us, and it's also great for the team here because they're seeing great amounts of investment and areas of building just just looking amazing. Our new Awards Party is just so, so good.Neil Dolan: That continued investment, that continued focus on PR that continued focus on the experience will do us absolute wonders when internationals come back. And we talk a lot about one of our, I guess, target audiences being families with younger to middle teens who come, just really getting excited about celebrities. We talk a lot about we really want to show how amazing this is because we then want those teens to come back with their families, later on. And that continual evolution, because celebrity landscape changes all the time. That continual change at Madame Tussauds is important because we need to reflect what the landscape is. And who knows what it will look like in five or six years?Neil Dolan: So that's something we're very aware of and something we're going to have to, I guess, keep an eye on, as time goes on. Because, as we found, I think it was in 2020, there was a petition from people to not take away the One Direction figures. People are really passionate about our product, as well. So, we have to take what's being said seriously.Kelly Molson: Yeah. Gosh. People do get really upset about things, don't they? I hadn't thought about it.Neil Dolan: One Direction is a very, very passionate subject.Kelly Molson: Are they still there or did you take them away?Neil Dolan: One Direction, they were in a music zone just now, which we'll launch, as I said, it'll be for Easter. They may or may not be there when we opened, but we'll see what's the public saying.Kelly Molson: They're gone, but not forgotten.Neil Dolan: Never forgotten.Kelly Molson: Never forgotten. Neil, thank you so much. This has been such an enjoyable talk. Thanks for coming on and sharing everything that you've been through. It's been a bit of a whirlwind, I can imagine. We're at the end of the podcast. And I always ask our guests to share a book that they love. So something personal, something work related, just something that you really enjoy, that you think our listeners might, as well.Neil Dolan: Particularly, when I was coming to work, I guess, during the third lockdown, lockdown has been confusing. When you've been at work and you always use the train journey to switch off from work. I said, my son is absolutely obsessed with dinosaurs, to the point where, by virtue, now I am obsessed with dinosaurs. So I spent a good part of those train journey to reading Jurassic Park books, because I'd never read them before. I'd watched the films hundreds of times, but I'd never read the books. And I used to do this and my partner was probably sick of me talking about it. I just basically go home and tell her about what I dread in Jurassic Park. And it was such a good way to switch off because, particularly when you've got little one, you definitely need that separation of work and home. And that was almost the transition where my son, who was pretty good at talking, but was correcting me on dinosaur pronunciation, when they were years olds was bizzare.Kelly Molson: Where does this come from? Because Edie is too young for this right now, but I really liked dinosaurs when I was a kid. But our friend's little boy is obsessed, obsessed with dinosaurs. Knows all of the complicated words that I can't even pronounce.Neil Dolan: Yeah.Kelly Molson: I have no idea where it's come from.Neil Dolan: No, I have no idea. I have no idea. But being corrected by a two year old was [crosstalk 00:34:41] I didn't know what a Zuniceratops was, but when I Googled it and I was like, "He's right. Okay. I'll take that one away."Kelly Molson: Mind blown.Neil Dolan: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Okay. So we're recommending the Jurassic Park books. This is so great.Neil Dolan: Absolutely.Kelly Molson: I love this. Okay. Well, listeners, if you want to win Neil's books, then if you head over to our Twitter account and you Retweet this episode announcement with the words, "I want Neil's books," then you may be lucky enough to win them. Who knows? Neil, thank you. That's been a really lovely chat. I've really enjoyed it. Thank you for coming on.Kelly Molson: Thank you to Paul Griffiths of Painshill Park, who put me in touch with you in the first place after I put my little shout out about my Novelty rubbers. And let's try and get all of the attractions on the podcast. I'm very pleased you did because it was a really great chat. So, thank you.Neil Dolan: No, thanks for having me on. It's been great. It's been really enjoyable.Kelly Molson: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, rubbercheese.com/podcast.

Nick Hancock, (who comes all the way from a windy Barbados), and Chris England, (back in Streatham), discuss the England team call ups, the sports-washing derby, Chelsea's continuing saga and Chris catches Nick up on all the rest of the week's football news.  Nick and Chris are also joined by actor and Leeds fan, Matt Lewis, (in Florida). Nick, Chris and Matt chat about the loss of Bielsa, his Leeds podcast and watching football in the US.  We're now on Twitter. Please, please, please follow us @slopingpitch Matt's podcast is available here - https://podfollow.com/leedsthat/view If you have any thoughts, feelings or queries, please feel free to contact us on slopingpitch@gmail.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

TRUE CRIME: The UK Cat Killer & Canadian Serial Killer Rober Pickton...   TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains references to animal cruelty and grim descriptions of violence agains animals and women. Listen with caution.    Hello Eavesdroppers! This week, Geordie and Michelle talk about The UK Cat Killer, aka The Croydon Cat Killer, aka The Streatham Cat Murderer, as well as pig farmer and serial killer Robert Pickton and TRIGGER WARNING - it's not easy listening...  But firstly, the pair kick off with a quick round up of new info on the Lynn Dawson case (well, Chris Dawson, actual, who now has a trial date for the murder of his wife, Lynette), Melissa Caddick and Allison Mack of NXIVM... And yes, Keith Raniere IS still alive, for anyone who's wondering (ie, Michelle) - he's just been put in prison for 120 years... Now onto the true crime... Back in 2014, Geordie first became aware of a series of cat killings in the Streatham and Croydon areas of London. Listen to discover how the killer has stumped UK police and how the Croydon cat killer has widened his circle of cruelty... Michelle then goes on to discuss the horrific case of Canada's most notorious serial killer - Robert Pickton. How are pig farming, pork snags and the Piggy Palace Good Time Society all connected? Listen to find out! The pair then wrap it all up with a scintillating conversation about toilet paper, the merits of scrunching versus folding and how people sell fried bats in Thailand. It's a rough ride so saddle up and get Eavesdroppin'!

We're in previously uncharted Broken Records territory this week, as Steve and Remfry take a deep dive into the 1994 debut album from Naomi Campbell. Yes, that's right, Streatham's very own supermodel released a (predominantly) R&B record, because it was the 90s and the 90s was a weird ole' time for the music industry. We take a look back at the inescapable celebrity culture that surrounded Campbell and her supermodel chums which allowed them to take part in a variety of extra-curricular activities above and beyond wearing clothes and looking pretty. As well as making this album, she's (ghost)written a book, released 25 fragrances for women via her eponymous perfume house and made light of her various assault convictions by wearing a t-shirt that reads "Naomi Hit Me...and I Loved It" ... how noble of you Naomi. But we're not here to drag all that up again. Instead, we talk about the relative merits of babywoman, the album that Campbell managed to rope in a surprising amount of talent for, including The Virgin Prunes founding member Gavin Friday, English musician and producer Tim Simenon aka Bomb the Bass, American hip hop and R&B double act P.M. Dawn and Killing Joke bassist Youth! In fact, there are many surprises surrounding this album, not least the reaction of one of our hosts to it. But where will it end up on our ever-expanding chart of Broken Records?

45 years ago, two working class South Londoners took over a decrepit seedy gay bar in Neal Street, then a rather desolate and deserted part of central London. At a time when the Sex Pistols' Anarchy in the UK antics had resulted in a virtual blanket ban on venues hosting anything associated with the word 'Punk', they provided a home for an astonishing array of bands including The Clash, The Police, The Jam, Wire, XTC, The Damned, Generation X, The Stranglers, Siouxie and the Banshees and many, many more. Their tenure lasted for just 100 intense, crazed nights before they were kicked out, but The Roxy became a punk legend.   Susan Carrington and Andrew Czezowski enter the Bureau to talk about their life in music, clubs and the counterculture - from meeting at a mod night at the Locarno Ballroom in Streatham in the 60s to opening The Fridge, one the of the longest running and most influential clubs of the 80s, 90s and 00s. We will return to the latter in a future episode, but today we hear their tales of The Roxy, of managing The Damned and Generation X and of the DIY can-do punk spirit that has infused all their adventures in the underground.   For more on Susan and Andrew and their book about The Roxy check out  www.roxyclub.co.uk    For more on the Bureau of Lost Culture www.bureauoflostculture.com       

Both the London Bridge and Streatham attackers had just been let out of prison. An independent reviewer thinks the Goverment's plans could be illegal - but Mr Gove says something needs to be done.