Music Talks

My guest in this episode is Lynn Asher ( www.lynnasher.com ) who was introduced to Music Talks by a recent guest Paul Webb (Ep 92).  Lynn is a native of Portland Maine but she had a childhood dream to move to California. It took some time to fulfil her dream but this year Lynn celebrates 30 years living in California and her musical career spans a similar timescale. Despite being a ‘late bloomer’ Lynn has performed and recorded with many big names in the music business including:·       Big Brother & The Holding Company·       Jerry Harrison - Talking Heads, ·       Bob Weir- Grateful Dead ·       Narada Michael Walden - Producer - Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Barbra Streisand. Drummer for Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jeff Beck, Aretha Franklin, & Journey. Lynn writes her own original material, one of which is the song choice for the 2000’s and was also the assistant to Tracy Chapman for a time. As you will hear at the start of the episode there was also a live appearance with a big musical hero of mine ……In 2009, Lynn became a vocal coach and it has become a real passion, particularly working with young singers, one of which provides her song choice for the 2020’s (www.annaharrell.net )Lynn’s story is a great musical journey but there is also a personal journey and adversity to be dealt with. In Lynn’s case this was dealing with Breast Cancer on three occasions, and I hope you find her insight into how she thought and dealt with that as inspirational as I did. Lynn’s song choices are. 60’s -    Hey Jude                                                        - The Beatles70’s -    You Should Be Dancing                         - Bee Gees80’s -    You Can Sleep While I Drive               - Melissa Etheridge90’s -    Why                                                                   - Annie Lennox00’s -    Now That You’re Gone                           - Lynn Asher10’s -    Freedom                                                         - (From ‘Django Unchained’) 20’s -    Night Light                                                    - Anna HarrellIf you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Claire Sanderson who was introduced to the show by an early guest and now a dear friend, Ian Braisby. Claire was born and grew up in Cornwall with her parents and two elder brothers. She describes her childhood as being ‘surrounded by all types of music’ and that breadth is reflected in her song choices and the much longer list she sent to me. Her song choices are: 80’s      I Should Be So Lucky                                                             Kylie Minogue 90’s      I’ll Do Anything For Love (But I Wont Do That)    Meat Loaf00’s      Song For The Road                                                                 David Ford10’s      F**kin’ Perfect                                                                           Pink20’s      I’ll See You In My Dreams                                                   Bruce Springsteen  At 18 Claire moved to Cardiff to study Music at the University and has had the good sense to stay in the city ever since. By day she is a Civil Servant, but flexible working enables her to follow her passion for music as a serious amateur musician who plays in an orchestra and sings in a choir. She also recently started doing on-line talks about music which you can find at https://events.restless.co.uk/event-calendar/?categories=musicMusic has been a constant in Claire’s life, and it has provided both comfort and joy. But she also talks very openly about the challenges she faced in studying and playing at the highest level and there are great lessons for all of us in that story. A recent convert to the delights of Bruce Frederick Springsteen the episode closes with a poignant song choice from his most recent album ‘Letter To You’ and a Music Talks first where we play two versions of the same song ! Enjoy 😊 If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Mark Dempsey who comes to Music Talks via my dear friend Jesse Jackson at the great Podcast ‘SetLustingBruce’. Like all Springsteen fans Mark is passionate about Bruce’s music but the joy of this episode is how much passion Mark has for all his song choices. If any of them are new to you I’m certain you will be seeking them out after having heard Mark talk about them and they are great choices: 70’s -     Three Steps To Heaven                  Showaddywaddy80’s -     Dancing In The Dark                       Bruce Springsteen90’s -     Polaroids                                                Shawn Colvin00’s -     Stuck Between Stations               The Hold Steady10’s -     The Ceiling                                            The Wild Feathers20’s -     No Mercy                                               Nils LofgrenBristol born and bred Mark celebrated his 50th birthday at the end of 2023 and so doing Music Talks was a good opportunity to look back and reflect. He has lived most of his life in the South West of England but for five years between 2011 and 2016 he and his wife Catherine lived in Toronto. With the same passion and enthusiasm he shows for music, Mark talks us through the delight of moving from ‘sleepy Wiltshire’ to the most multicultural and multiracial city in the world. As you would expect that experience also informs his song choice for the 2010's.In 94 episodes of Music Talks there have been many great stories, but Mark’s closing story in ‘Final Thoughts’ is one of my absolute favourites. It’s also where the title of the episode comes from but that’s all im going to say ……….Enjoy 😊If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

This time of year isn’t just the season of goodwill it’s also the season of “Best Of” lists and it’s part of the musical year that I love.  It’s always good to know that things you like are also enjoyed by others but the real joy for me is gaining new insight into albums I’ve enjoyed or discovering albums that I have missed.  My hope is that this episode will do some of that for you.  As in previous years I am joined by my Podcast pal Steven Routledge and we both talk through our Top 10 albums and play a short clip from each of them.  In this Part 2 we each count down from 5 to 1 and reveal our ‘Album of the Year '‘Chapter Markers’ contains full details of songs/artists/albums and there is a summary list below. You can also use 'Chapter markers ' to play individual choices if you wish.  Steven's Album Choices: 5 – ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’             - Teenage Fanclub 4 – ‘Rat Saw God’                                  - Wednesday3 – ‘The Ballad of Darren’                 - Blur 2 – ‘It All Began With Loneliness’ - The Anchoret1 – Roll Up A” Song                                - Gonzalez Smith  My Album Choices:5 – ‘IDES’                                                     - King Creosote4 – ‘Joy’All’                                                  -Jenny Lewis3 – ‘Strays’                                                   - Margo Price 2 – The Great White Sea Eagle       - James Yorkston/Nina Persson/ The Second Hand Orchestra1 – ‘The Candle and the Flame’      - Robert Forster Please do let me know what you think of these choices and particularly if there is new music you like. You can do that by emailing me at musictalkspod@outlook.com , I really look forward to hearing from you.   Wishing you a very Happy New Year and lets hope 2024 is another great year for music. Music Talks will be back with the first episode of the New Year on Thursday February 1st, 2024. If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is award winning author and playwright Gabriel Bergmoser. Gabriel is one of my youngest guests at 32 but, as you will hear, he has packed a lot into those years and he describes himself as ‘crime author, playwright, podcaster, actor, dog lover and massive Springsteen fan’. He was born in New Zealand but moved to Australia when he was a few months old and that has been home over since. He now lives in Melbourne but does a great job of painting a picture of what growing up in rural Australia was like for a creative, non-sporty boy who was an aggressively average student (his phrase not mine!) A visit to the cinema to see ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ lit his creative spark and it has stayed with him ever since. A quick glance at his Wiki page (Gabriel Bergmoser - Wikipedia) will show how prodigious and successful he has been over the past 10 years. Highlights include winning the Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award in 2015 and four years later signing a two-book deal with Harper Collins. The first of the books was ‘The Hunted’ which was a worldwide success and resulted in a book deal with Faber in the UK and a subsequent film deal. Despite all that success Gabriel is clear eyed about the reality of being a creative in 2023 and the fact that there will always be ups and downs whoever you are. Similarly, he delivers a strong message about hard work and application being more important than talent and the need at times to ‘Just Do It’. As you would expect he tells a great story around each of his song selection which were: 90’s        Kiss Me                                Sixpence None the Richer00’s        Mr. Brightside                  The Killers10’s        Unbelievers                       Vampire Weekend20’s        Dorothea                            Taylor SwiftIf you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Giorgos Gavriil who generously allowed me to use his English name of ‘George’ through our chat. Born in 1975 in the port city of Piraeus in Greater Athens, George continues to live in Greece but has moved to the mountains from the sea where he lives with wife and his two young children.He was a late bloomer in terms of music but when things clicked in his late teens there was no looking back. He describes himself as ‘compulsive’ and ‘obsessive’ and this has driven a lifelong passion that’s produced a deep love and an encyclopaedic knowledge of popular music. In recent years those same characteristics have driven his learning to play guitar which he impressively practices an hour a day! George was good enough to provide me with his list of 101 Favourite Albums and it makes for fascinating reading.  We tale about some of those albums during the episode but if anyone would like to see the full list, please email me at musictalkspod@outlook.comThere is a strong theme of passion and emotion that runs through all of George’s song selections and it’s a list I really love. His song selections were: 70’s        Mind Power                                                                   James Brown80’s        Tango Till They’re Sore                                            Tom Waits90’s        Love You Should’ve Come Over                         Jeff Buckley 00’s        A Thousand Kisses Deep                                        Leonard Cohen 10’s        Conversation 16                                                          The National20’s        Love Is The Main Thing                                             Fontaines D.C. Enjoy :-) If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Craig Colby, a master storyteller with a successful 30-year award winning career in television working for The Sports Network and the Discovery Channel amongst others. In 2017, the opportunity of losing his job presented itself and he set up his own story telling company Colbyvision. He now spends his time helping production companies broadcasters and business owners make top-notch programs & tell their stories.  He also has one of my favourite Lockdown stories. Craig connected with people over Facebook by wearing a different hat each day for 125 days and people then shared their hats in the comments. At the behest of his mother this then became his first book ‘ALL CAPS: Stories That Justify an Outrageous Hat Collection’ which won the Non-Fiction Category at The Canadian Book Awards in 2022. Craig comes to Music Talks via my dear friend Jesse Jackson from the Set Lusting Bruce Podcast. Jesse’s intro mail included the great line ‘Craig’s book is Music Talks with hats!’ – how could I resist. The book is available on Amazon but if you are in the UK and want a physical copy it currently ships from the U.S. but believe me its worth the wait! It’s no surprise that Craig has a compelling story to tell with lots of great insights and observations. He also put a lot of work into making song selections that have a personal connection but also have a connection to what was going on in the wider world.  Craig’s song selections were: 60’s      -           Love Child                                         -           Diana Ross & The Supremes 70’s      -           Don’t Take Away The Music   -           Tavares80’s      -           Modern Love                                   -           David Bowie90’s      -           Fumbling Towards Ectasy        -           Sarah McLachlan00’s      -           Lonesome Day                                -           Bruce Springsteen10’s      -           Tightrope                                           -           Janelle Monae20’s      -           As It Was                                             -           Harry Styles Enjoy :-)If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Marian Jago, Senior Lecturer in Popular Music and Jazz Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Marian comes to Music Talks through the miracle and wonder of social media and a shared love of the music of Bruce Springsteen. I saw a post in a fan group on Facebook that said, ‘my course on Bruce Springsteen’ and that was Marian. We got into a dialogue and to my amazement she was teaching her course ‘Three Minute Records’ at my local university in Edinburgh.  Inevitably we talk about Bruce and the course, but we cover a lot more ground than that in this episode.Prior to becoming an academic Marian was a Producer of Live Concerts and Events before dedicating herself to becoming a Jazz Saxophonist. It’s a remarkable story of commitment and determination where she gets to meet, and is consistently helped by, a host of jazz luminaries from Canada and the US, and this culminates in Lee Konitz the composer and saxophonist being her tutor for eight years. Like many people I have a very romantic view of the life of a professional musician and Marian does a great job of painting a picture of the harsh reality whilst also saying ‘this was the happiest time of my life’. Though now living in Edinburgh Marian is Canadian and that is a theme that runs through our conversation and not just in terms of some of her choices. Regarding choices Marian is transparent about her dislike of rules and authority and so she submitted two sets of song choices to me for the episode – ‘The Rule Abiding List’ and ‘The Alternative List’. You will need to listen to get the full story but here is the ‘Rule Abiding List’. 70’s - Another Brick in The Wall  -               Pink Floyd80’s - Down in The Bottom              -               Colin James90’s - The Obvious Child                   -               Paul Simon 00’s - It’s Alright with Me                  -               Murley-Bickert-Wallace  10’s - At Transformation                    -               The Tragically Hip 20’s – If I Was The Priest                    -               Bruce Springsteen Outro – Welcome to Hard Times  -               Charley Crockett Enjoy 😊If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Brian MacKay who was introduced to Music Talks by Roy Sharples my guest in Episode 61. (Thanks Roy!) Bryan is just 50 and works in a third sector charity.  He lives in Peterhead, a large fishing port in Aberdeenshire, with his wife, 4 children and a Cockapoo acquired during Covid. Like me Bryan is the youngest in his family but in his case, he had three older sisters and on his own admittance was spoilt rotten as a child. Since 2015 he has been a keen runner and next month, he will run his first Marathon and an Ultra Marathon is the eventual goal. That sort of commitment and determination can also be seen in Bryan’s obsessive love of bands and music, and he has some great stories to tell, including how Lana Del ray made him late for work.!. His musical taste is genuinely wide ranging, and I can’t wait to pull together the Playlist for this episode as he touched on so many great artists in our chat. Bryan’s song choices are: 70’s -     Please Mr. Postman -                                  Carpenters80’s -     Waterfall -                                                        The Stone Roses90’s -     Dead Flag Blues -                                         Godspeed You! Black Emperor    00’s -     Slow Show                                                       The National10’s -     Video Games                                                  Lana Del Rey 20’s -     Death Is Not The End                                Embrace                                                           If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Henrik Johnson, who is my first guest from Sweden. Henrik was born and grew up in a small town called Karlskoga which is between Stockholm and Oslo. Whilst not ‘desperate to get out ‘he left Karlskoga at the first opportunity and has subsequently lived & worked on three continents including stints in Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Greece. For the past 20 years home has been Southern California where he lives today in Newport Beach with his wife Lisa and their 6-year-old daughter Sarah. Henrik’s story is one of grabbing opportunities when they come up (even if it takes you to a war zone) , making what you enjoy your guiding light and recognising that necessity is the mother of invention.  It also contains a brilliantly romantic story of him, very uncharacteristically, inviting Lisa his wife on a sailing holiday in the Caribbean after their first date! Like many of my guests Henrik shares a twin passion for music and technology and you can see this running through his music choices. Not surprisingly though he starts with Abba and the delights of Eurovision, and because of the brilliant story above I made an exception and allowed Henrik to choose his first dance song at his wedding for the 2010’s His song choices are: 70’s        Waterloo                                                              Abba80’s        Just Can’t Get Enough                                  Depeche Mode90’s        Friday I’m In Love                                             The Cure00’s        Nothing But You (PvD Radio Mix)          Paul Van Dyk 10’s        What A Wonderful World                           Louis Armstrong 20’s        You Are                                                                   Gareth Emery                                                  If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest on this episode is Christina Boubalou who comes to the show via an introduction from a previous guest Roy Sharples (Ep.61). Thanks for the intro Roy, and your continued support. I’m delighted to say that Christina is my first guest from Greece, and she is a true Athenian. She has lived there all her life and continues to live there today along with her husband who was her best friend in high school! Christina always thought she would become a chemist but through a set of happy accidents she started her working career in 1997 in the music industry with Virgin Records. She later moved into Marketing & PR in the corporate world but describes her time in the music industry as ‘the best job I ever had’. In her own words she has always been ‘obsessed with music’ and on numerous occasions it has been her ‘saviour and salvation’. She talks fondly about the challenges of getting to hear music and see live shows in Greece and for me that was a timely reminder of how spoiled we were musically growing up in the UK or the US. At the end of the day though music lovers will always find a way. Whilst I wasn’t aware when Roy made the introduction Christina is also a big fan of Springsteen and on July 23rd she will be in Munich for the first time to see him live, I just wish I could be there with her 😊 In addition to her song choices Christina also chose a word to describe each decade and I have included these below. Enjoy! 70’s -     Birth                     Love Is The Drug                              Roxy Music 80’s -     Dream                 Livin’ On A Prayer                            Bon Jovi 90’s -     Adulthood         Dance Of The Bad Angels          Tim Booth, Angelo Badalamenti 00’s -     Reinvention      Hung Up                                                Madonna 10’s -     Maturity             Jenny Of Oldstones                       Florence + The Machine 20’s -     Cycle                      Nightshift                                            Bruce SpringsteenIf you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is author, speaker & entrepreneur, Penny Power, OBE. I first met Penny in the late 90’s when she had just started the first Social Network, Ecademy with the declared aim of helping business people achieve success through online tools, community, and friendship. At that time there were a lot of people talking about online tools but very few talking about community, friendship and love , all of which have permeated Penny’s work throughout her career. The intro to her 2018 book ‘Business is Personal’ says ‘Penny has poured her heart into this book, and it is incredibly revealing’ and I feel very privileged that she did the same in our conversation. It would be easy for Penny to paint a rose-tinted picture of the journey she has been on, and she is the first to say she has much to be grateful for. But alongside that, life has thrown up some massive challenges, awful luck, and real tragedy. Penny takes us through both sides of that story in the open, honest, and authentic way that is her trademark and I find it genuinely inspirational. I always tell my guests:  ‘it’s completely up to you how you want to approach the episode and the story you want to tell. All episodes are a mix of music nerdery and life story but the balance between them is different for each guest/episode which is one of the joys for me. This is an episode that is more focussed on the life story, but Penny’s song choices enhance her story so much and I would be surprised if you don’t choke up to at least one of them (and I’m very glad I allowed Penny two songs from the same artist) Her song choices are: 60’s        Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da                                    The Beatles 70’s        Solitaire                                                                Carpenters80’s        One Moment in Time                                   Whitney Houston90’s        Get There                                                            Oleta Adams00’s        I Didn’t Know My Own Strength           Whitney Houston10’s        Just the Way You Are                                   Bruno Mars20’s        The Rose                                                              Bette MidlerIf you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode has two names! In his day to day life he is Noury Bernard-Hasan , or in true rock star style simply ‘Noury’ to anyone who knows him.  However, for the last 15+ years he has also been a semi-professional Blues musician and he performs under the name of ‘Son Jack Jr’.  Born in 1962, shortly after his parents emigrated to England from India, Noury grew up around West Kensington and the Hammersmith Road. His love of music started at an early age when he was given his first guitar by Manny Elias who went on to be the drummer with Tears for Fears in their heyday. Noury was not a fan of Progressive Rock or Disco and in 1973 the film American Graffiti resulted in in a dalliance with playing Rock & Roll over the next couple of years. But all that changed on his 15th Birthday (7/02/77) when he went to The Nashville Room and saw a band he’d never heard of – The Jam! The world was never the same for Noury after that night and subsequently he was in a band who released an album and were well known on ‘the London Scene’. As is so often the case though the band eventually petered out and in the early 80’s, encouraged by his girlfriend at the time, Noury enrolled on a programming course convincing himself this was another creative outlet. Cobol and writing Capex systems for Hertz didn’t initially deliver against that brief but it did lead to a successful 30-year career with Microsoft and then Amazon from which he recently retired at the end of last year. Whilst working for Microsoft he moved to Seattle in 1997 which reignited his interest in music and resulted in a massive life change. In the city of grunge Noury developed an interest and then a deep passion for the Blues which kick-started his semi pro career as Son Jack Jr. His passion for the Blues comes across loud and clear in this episode and I for one learnt a lot. It’s also great to hear him talk how he got to support Charlie Musselwhite and Chuck Berry amongst others. Noury moved back to the UK in the summer of 2020 with his wife and their 17-year-old daughter and in December of last year he announced his retirement from corporate life. Which of course leaves a lot more time for music. A new band is being put together as we speak, and I can’t wait to see them live. I hope you enjoy our conversation half as much as I did. If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is renowned UK illustrator Ian Wright. His work as a commercial illustrator has spanned four decades, starting with his illustrative cover of The Undertones’ Teenage Kicks 7” single in the late 1970s, progressing with his illustrative artwork in The Face magazine in their 1980s heyday and his famous weekly black and white portraits for the New Musical Express (NME).Ian’s subsequent work has involved collaboration with many famous names and brands including Issy Miyake, Givenchy and portraits of Sun Ra, Motorhead and Grandmaster Flash. In a delightfully wide-ranging chat, in both musical choices and subject matter, amongst other things we talk about: ·        Ian’s love of Radio, initially inspired by his dad ‘streaming’ Radio Luxembourg into his bedroom on a Friday night ·        The life-changing impact of Hendrix’s appearance on the Happening for Lulu         show in January 1969 ·        The influence of Bob Harris and John Peel·        Developing a passion for Reggae in the 70’s that continues to this day ·        What is was like working on NME & The Face in the 80’s ·        Pete Townsend making him a coffee (Ian doesn’t drink coffee) ·        Moving to New York in the 00's & working to a soundtrack of the (then unreleased) Beatles Remasters ·        Coming full circle and in March last year getting his own Radio show on Charlie Bones Do!! You!! Radio (https://doyouworld/) Ian’s song choices are appropriately wide ranging and were: 50’s      Summertime                             Ella Fitzgerald. Louis Armstrong       60’s      If 6 Was 9                                    The Jimi Hendrix Experience70’s      Dub With A Difference       Harry Mudie 80’s      Kalimankou Denkou              The Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Vocal Choir90’s      All Is Full Of Love                      Bjork00’s      King In My Empire                    Rhythm & Sound10’s      Rock The Machine                    Lisa O’Neill 20’s      Time Is Precious                         SAULT             If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

This time of year isn’t just the season of goodwill it’s also the season of “Best Of” lists and it’s part of the musical year that I love. It’s always good to know that things you like are also enjoyed by others but the real joy for me is gaining new insight into albums I’ve enjoyed or discovering albums that I have missed. My hope is that this episode will do some of that for you. As in previous years I am joined by my Podcast pal Steven Routledge and we both talk through our Top 10 albums and play a short clip from each of them. In this part we count down from 10 to 5 and in Part 2 (released on 29/12/22) we go from 5 to 1. You can use 'Chapter Markers' to see our choices (they are shown as artist & album) and also listen to individual choices if you wish. Please do let me know what you think of these choices and particularly if there is new music you like. You can do that by emailing me at musictalkspod@outlook.com , I really look forward to hearing from you. Have a great Christmas and here’s to 2023 being another great year for music. If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

This is part 2 of my chat with Dermot McCormack which was an absolute delight to do and so much fun. As was the case in Pt.1 the episode has some great music choices and a wealth of fantastic stories including Dermot : Running the Digital business at MTV Breaking the world record for most concerts in 24 hours with The Flaming Lips Almost becoming CEO of Fender Guitars Getting 1 million concurrent users on a live stream Meeting Elvis Costello and so many more! Dermot's song choices were: The 00's - Do You Realize - The Flaming Lips The 10's - Give Me Everything - Pitbull, Neyo, Afrojack, Nayer The 20's - Fairytale of New York - The Pogues with Kirsty McColl And with that final song selection all that is left to say is "Happy Christmas" If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Dermot McCormack. Given his name it will be no surprise to hear that Dermot was born in Dublin in 1969 and grew up in the working-class area of Ballyfermot in the city. In the early 90’s, after a formative year in France and a summer spent in the US, he emigrated to the US which is still home to him today. For a long time, he lived in New York, but he recently moved with his wife Donna to the sunshine and sand of Manhattan Beach in California. Whilst his degree was in Electrical Engineering, he has spent his working life at the intersection of Technology, Music, Content & Entertainment. He has worked at several major companies including Viacom, AOL & MTV and highlights for me include him being part of the team that produced Rock Band Beatles Edition, powering all the music in Tesla’s and owning a Podcast company! Like all my guests Dermot has a deep love of music and wide-ranging tastes, with Tom Waits, Ska and a certain Irish band called U2 being deep favourites. Whatever your views on U2 I challenge you not to be moved and inspired by Dermot’s story of walking 10 minutes from home in 1983 to see U2 at Phoenix Park and 17 years later having dinner with Bono where he was given the nickname ‘Digital Dermot from Dublin’. Dermot's song choices in this Part. 1 episode are: 60’s       Here Comes The Sun                                                          The Beatles 70’s       I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You               Tom Waits 80’s       Ghost Town                                                                               The Specials 90’s       One                                                                                                 U2 Enjoy :-)If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

This is Part 2 of my Music Talks chat with Geoff Sutton.If you enjoyed Part 1 you will be delighted to hear that the stories and music just ‘keep on coming’ (as they used to say on the radio!) In this episode Geoff talks about a whole host of things including:  ·         His time at The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Express and Today ·         Visiting Cuba ·         Becoming a father to his two children Helen and Daniel ·         Joining Microsoft in 1996 to launch MSN News & start of an 18-year journey ·         Almost being sacked by Bill Gates because of the ‘ iLoo Project’ ·         Working on the People’s Vote Campaign ·         Learning to play the Saxophone in Lockdown ·         Becoming a Powerboat Skipper His Music choices are: 90’s - Chan Chan                               Buena Vista Social Club 00’s – All Fall Down                         Kanye West, Syleena Johnson 10’s – Waiting All Night                 Rudimental (Ft. Ella Eyre) 20’s – Betty et Zorg                         Gabriel Yared Enjoy :-)If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Geoff Sutton. The stereotype of a Microsoft employee is a Computer Sciences nerd in a check shirt and chinos. Whilst they do exist Geoff is a great example of the diversity of background and experience that existed in the company as was my previous guest Neil Jordan (7 years as a Choirister at Windsor Castle) and indeed myself with my English Lit Degree (specialist subjects - Anglo-Saxon Poetry and Medieval Mystery Plays) Geoff joined Microsoft in 1996 to set up MSN News after 16 years as a journalist, including spells at the Daily Mail, Today, Sunday Express and Daily Mirror. It’s no surprise then that he has a raft of stories and in this episode, we hear hilarious and fascinating stories about his time on Mail Showbiz including: ·       Running with Madonna ·       Being a waiter at Bill Wyman’s Wedding ·       A one-off appearance as Elvis on the West End Stage·       Motivating Boy George to kick his heroin addiction ·       Princess Di and Fergie pretending to be WPCs at Annabel’s He then moved over to News and had the challenging experience of covering three major tragedies in the UK in 87/88 namely the King’s Cross Fire, the explosion and sinking of the Piper Alpha Oil Platform and Lockerbie Terrorist Attack. \Born in Hackney but today Geoff lives in Bermondsey with his wife Asli and he has two grown-up children Helen and Daniel. He is a lifelong Arsenal fan, and he describes his early teens as being all about “Football and Music’. His passion for both continues to shine through and that includes learning to play the Saxophone in lock down (but more on that in Part 2!) . His song choices in this episode are: 60’s – Three Coins in The Fountain          Frank Sinatra70’s – No Action                                                   Elvis Costello80’s – Club Tropicana                                        Wham Enjoy 😊 If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

Neil is a 30-year I.T. veteran, the last 23 years of which have been spent at Microsoft where today he is the WW General Manager for Retail & Health Innovation. Born in Bristol he now lives in Kirkland, WA with his wife Ciara and their three young children Oliver, Archie and Ophelia, and their cat Boris. Despite a love of technology, that started at a young age, Neil’s story at its core is a musical one and he describes himself as having a lifelong ‘addiction’ to music, whether that be listening, playing, or singing. During our chat he describes the impact of music on himself in numerous ways including ‘soothing, stimulating,  solace, a release, healing and of course magic’. Some of his performance highlights include: ·       As a teenager being in a 6 piece Acapella group, ‘Ok Chorale’ who performed at the BBC, made records, & won an award at the Edinburgh Fringe·         Getting a Choral Scholarship at Trinity College Cambridge and travelling all over the world performing at the highest level·         Being a Tenor Lay Clark at St. George’s Windsor Castle and singing in the chapel each day ·         Singing the Tenor Solo at the Queen’s 70th Birthday celebration and having a ‘nice chat’ with her afterwards·         Getting a chance side-gig with the Seattle Opera that he thought was for one show (Tosca) which lasted for nine years. He also talks very honestly about having to leave the role in Windsor Castle due to the breakdown in his singing voice and facing the challenge of vocal nodules in recent years. Neil is a real student of music and I guarantee you will learn something from our chat.  I am also pretty sure it will be the only time you will hear the phrase ‘crazy enharmonic chord progression’ on Music Talks. Neil’s song selections were 60’s        Good Vibrations                               The Beach Boys 70’s        More Than A Feeling                      Boston80’s        He Knows You Know                      Marillion90’s        Something To Save                          George Michael 00’s        Just Listen                                            Ocean Lab10’s        Ophelia                                                  The Lumineers20’s        Happiness Is Easy                            Talk Talk Enjoy 😊If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod . You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .