DiscoverRock's BackpagesE190: Simon Garfield on Cher + Beyoncé + Luther Vandross
E190: Simon Garfield on Cher + Beyoncé + Luther Vandross

E190: Simon Garfield on Cher + Beyoncé + Luther Vandross

Update: 2024-11-25
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In this episode we ask the former Time Out editor and acclaimed author of fascinating studies of fonts, maps and encyclopaedias about his long writing career; we also discuss semi-colons and listen to clips from audio interviews with Cher and Luther Vandross. Our guest reflects on Expensive Habits — his 1986 investigation of the music industry's "dark side" — and revisits two of his many great pieces: a hilarious 1987 encounter with Guns N' Roses and a 2003 interview with the newly-solo Beyoncé for the Observer Music Monthly

Cher's new autobiography leads to discussion of the singer-actor's remarkable life and work, while the new documentary Luther: Never Too Much prompts thoughts on the sadness of Vandross's double life as a closeted gay man and object of romantic female desire. Among the newly-added library articles we consider, aptly, is Lucy O'Brien's 2001 Q piece "Why Is Pop So Gay?"; we also hear quotes from the late great Eve Babitz's 1979 Rolling Stone celebration of L.A.'s Troubadour club and from Del Cowie's 2009 Exclaim! interview with hip hop elder Big Daddy Kane.

Many thanks to special guest Simon Garfield. For more Simon, visit his website at simongarfield.com

Pieces discussed: Guns N' RosesCher audioBeyoncé: Uh-Oh! Uh-Oh! Uh-Oh!Pete Townshend: Who He IsLuther Are Good For The SoulLuther Vandross: Let's Start with PacmanLuther Vandross: The Sadness Behind the SoulShel TalmyThe Good Old Days at L.A.'s TroubadourStock Aitken and WatermanPet Shop BoysWhy Is Pop So Gay?Snoop Dogg live and Big Daddy Kane.

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E190: Simon Garfield on Cher + Beyoncé + Luther Vandross

E190: Simon Garfield on Cher + Beyoncé + Luther Vandross

Barney Hoskyns, Mark Pringle, Jasper Murison-Bowie