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Rock's Backpages

Rock's Backpages

Written by: Barney Hoskyns Jasper Murison-Bowie William Pike
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Tales from the world's largest archive of music journalism: entertaining interviews with luminaries such as Neil Tennant, Billy Bragg, Pamela Des Barres, Gary Kemp, Vashti Bunyan, Midge Ure, Nick Hornby and Robyn Hitchcock. Thoughtful and informative conversations about all aspects of popular music history, interspersed with clips from exclusive audio interviews that date back to the mid-'60s. The RBP podcast is hosted by Barney Hoskyns and William Pike and co-hosted & produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie. We're a proud part of Pantheon — the podcast network for music lovers.© 2026 Backpages Limited Art Music
Episodes
  • E237: Tonya Pendleton on Prince + Lil' Kim + D'Angelo + Amy Winehouse

    E237: Tonya Pendleton on Prince + Lil' Kim + D'Angelo + Amy Winehouse
    Oct 12 2026
    In this new episode we invite the splendid Tonya Pendleton to join us online from her adopted Philadelphia – in her own words "the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection". The former Vibe scribe turned Philly radio host tells us about growing up in New York City and listening to WBLS legend Frankie Crocker and, later, DJ Red Alert. She also remembers the internship that led to her becoming music director at WILD in Boston, where she befriended New Edition and New Kids On The Block! After recalling her stints at Def Jam and Arista Records in New York, Tonya talks about her move from New York to Philly, where she fell in with the scene around the Roots and Jill Scott. We ask our guest about the early pieces she wrote for YSB (Young Sisters and Brothers) magazine, including her 1994 interview with the infamous and now-incarcerated R. Kelly. We then move on to her fascinating XXL cover story about the late great D'Angelo, who died a year ago this week, plus Tonya revisits her 1998 trip to Paisley Park for an audience with the Prince then known as The Artist. After discussing X-rated female hip hop pioneer Lil' Kim, we mark the 20th anniversary of the classic Back to Black album by listening to clips from Amy Linden's exclusive 2007 audio interview with the amazing Amy Winehouse. Finally, William quotes from pieces about former Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock (1983) and Geese (2026), after which Jasper talks us out with his thoughts on pieces about Boyz II Men et al. (1992) and early rap icon Coke La Rock (2012). Many thanks to special guest Tonya Pendleton. Follow her on Instagram @iamtonyapendleton. Pieces discussed: Voodoo Chile: D’Angelo brings something wicked this way A Portrait of The Artist: His Purple Reign Continues When And Where I Enter: The Lil’ Kim Story Amy Winehouse (2007) Neil Kinnock: It’s My Party Geese: Barrowlands, Glasgow Voicing alarm Coke La Rock: The Bronx’s unsung hero has the distinction of being hip-hop’s first rapper
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    1 hr and 35 mins
  • E236: Nik Cohn and Ben Ratliff on Corner Boy + Awopbopaloobop

    E236: Nik Cohn and Ben Ratliff on Corner Boy + Awopbopaloobop
    Sep 28 2026
    For this episode we invite the legendary Nik Cohn to join us from upstate New York to discuss his extraordinary career and his brilliant new book Corner Boy. Also joining us — from New York City — is the book's editor Ben Ratliff, himself the author of an acclaimed 2007 biography of John Coltrane. We start by asking Nik about the epiphanic teenage moment he discovered rock'n'roll in Derry, Northern Ireland, before jumping forward to his early pop writing for Queen in the mid-'60s. Along the way, Ben explains Corner Boy's conception and the book's collaborative process. Inevitably we revisit the writing and publication of 1969's explosive Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom, plus its enduring reputation as rock's first great book. We also Nik about his close relationship with the Who and their manager Kit Lambert, and about Guy Peellaert and Rock Dreams; the 1976 article that gave birth to Saturday Night Fever; and our guest's abiding love of New Orleans. Mention of Nik's 2005 book Triksta: Life and Death and New Orleans Rap leads us into clips from David Toop's 1984 audio interview with hip hop forefather Grandmaster Flash, and to a general discussion of rap's impact on our guests. After Nik reflects on the 1983 drug bust that inspired the Corner Boy piece 'Apprehension', Jasper and William talk us out with their highlights from recent additions to the Rock's Backpages library. Pieces discussed: ⁠James Brown: Walthamstow Granada, London⁠, The Shangri-Las, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Close-Up: Nik Cohn, Nik Cohn: My Book is Rubbish but it's the Best, Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The book that declared pop music dead, Grandmaster Flash audio (1984), Lawrence Welk & Johnny Hodges, Love You, New Orleans, Is Elvis Belittling His Early Hits?, and Kim Gordon: from Sonic Youth to self-proclaimed "sociologist".
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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • E235: Tony Fletcher on Jamming! + The Jam + U2 audio interview

    E235: Tony Fletcher on Jamming! + The Jam + U2 audio interview
    Sep 14 2026
    For this episode we're joined in Hammersmith by the much-travelled Tony Fletcher as he returns to his homeland to promote his new book POW! When UK Punk Went Pop, 1980–84. We begin by asking our guest about Jamming!, the fondly-remembered fanzine he launched in South London at the tender age of 13. He recalls the huge impact of the Jam on his adolescent life and the friendship with Paul Weller that grew out of his passion for the band. After discussing how Jamming! evolved into a proper monthly magazine — scooping early '80s interviews with Paul McCartney, Morrissey and U2 along the way — we ask Tony about the hyper-tribalism of the period POW! covers. He ponders the way punks like Adam Ant "went pop" while other bands forged a rearguard return to rock. A conversation about '80s "rockism" and its foes leads to clips from the late Richard Cook's February 1982 audio interview with U2, conducted in America just as the Irish quartet was commencing its full-scale ascent into the stadium-rock stratosphere. After we hear about our guest's post-Jamming! life as an author and biographer based in Brooklyn — and then upstate New York — Jasper talks us out with quotes from (and thoughts on) Chris Bohn's 1981 NME piece about Budapest's "semi-legal" musical underground... and a great Dua Lipa interview from 2022.
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    1 hr and 16 mins
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