Time to get your surfboards waxed, get into your togs,and head to the beach.....if you're in the Southern Hemisphere. While you're splashing in the southern waves, you might want to soundtrack your time with music from the band most identified with Northern Hemisphere beaches....except we're not discussing any beach songs. Huh? Welcome to episode 180 of Love That Album. It had been a while since I had my beloved team of Shane Pacey and Kerry Fristoe on the show, so I invited them to join and gave Kerry the pick of album to discuss. She selected the 1971 Beach Boys release, Surf's Up. I added t ..read more

As music lovers, we've all had a soundtrack to our lives....it's provided to us by the radio. Maybe at this point in the 21st century, that's less of a given. Was it the internet that killed the radio star? Who can truly say, but for most of the rock era, radio has provided songs that millions of music fans would discover, sing along to, discuss with their friends, learn to play on their instrument of choice, get amorous to, get stoned to, or cherish for some personal reason. Welcome to episode 179 of Love That Album. It's been said that in the early days of rock and roll, tyranny of distance ..read more

In some previous episodes, rather than speaking about a single album for a long time, myself (and maybe a guest) will speak about 3 albums each for a short time In some previous episodes, rather than having a guest to chat with me about music, I'll carry on by myself. I'm not a fan of this notion, but if it's a choice between no who or a solo show, I'll do the latter. Welcome to episode 178 of Love That Album. This episode is a hybrid of both concepts. I am doing a partial solo show discussing 3 records in short form – two by myself, one with my friend Pat Monaghan. Circumstances dictated the ..read more

Sorry for this episode being a little late….I’d meant to get it out earlier, but who knows where the time goes????? If you’ve not deserted me…..Welcome to episode 177 of Love That Album. Carrying on with the Fairport Convention connection of episode 176, I welcome three wonderful guests to the podcast this time around – all connected to the great Sandy Denny. Firstly, there’s a return visit from John Penhallow, the first manager of Fairport. He’s done a lot of archival work in relation to Sandy’s music over the years, and we discuss that. Then, there’s Sandy’s daughter, Georgia Rose Lucas and ..read more

I could write a lengthy blurb for this episode of the show as I normally do, or I could just say, “Ladies and gentlemen, I present my interview with Richard Thompson”......what's that? You need more? Okay. Welcome to episode 176 of Love That Album. If you've listened to early episodes of the show or hung around the Facebook group for the podcast or know me in real life, you'd know that Richard Thompson looms large in my love of popular song. He's always been a triple threat: one of the greatest guitarists (acoustic AND electric) in contemporary music. He has a wonderfully expressive singing vo ..read more

In the history of pop music, how often has a performer had the chance to try something radically different from what they were known for? Sure, there are some artists who evolved over the course of their career, so where they ended up was radically different from where they started. I suspect, however, the list of performers who were known and appreciated for a style who then made a big change is a lot smaller. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re here to present the case of Grace Jones. Welcome to episode 175 of Love That Album. Grace Jones is that rare case of artist who was a model, then went o ..read more

When the history of late 70s punk music is discussed, a point often raised is that bands like The Sex Pistols and the Damned and The Saints were reacting to the over complexity of prog bands. Certainly, it makes for a good quote, but Steve Jones is on the record as being a fan of Fleetwood Mac and Queen and other “dinosaur” bands punk was supposed to sweep away. I can’t recall for sure, but I THINK I read somewhere that Yes was some punk guitarist’s favourite band. Really, if so much of that early era of British punk was about great pop songs with buzzsaw guitars, I believe I can make a case t ..read more

Welcome to episode 173 of Love That Album. In episode 172, I started my investigation of what were the favourite albums of the year from some great music writers and broadcasters. If you haven't caught up with that one, check out what Brian Nankervis, Jeff Jenkins and Pat Monaghan had to say (as well as a couple of great emails from listeners to the show). Concluding this investigation for episode 173, I speak with Ian McFarlane (author of The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop) and Billy Pinnell (presenter of The Album Show on EON-FM / MMM-FM). Also, podcast listener (and huge supporter ..read more

Welcome to episode 172 of Love That Album. It's December, so once again, it's time for me to reach out to 5 wonderful music media people in Melbourne to discuss with me their favourite music for 2023 – new or old (but recently discovered). As per usual, these magnificent people I admire brought some great “logs to throw on the conversational fire” (to steal from David Hepworth and Mark Ellen). However, to play all 5 people on the one episode would have made this a 4 hour plus episode.....not a sin in my book, but some people prefer shows with a more digestible time frame. To that end, I presen ..read more

We tend to think more of the guitar as a rock and roll instrument, but Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Fats Domino were a big part of the early sound of rock and roll. While there are plenty of great rock piano players, that lead guy or gal mostly tends to be playing a six-string. In the 70s and 80s, the big piano frontmen were Billy Joel and Elton John – hugely popular with what they did, but much (though not all) of it was balladry. Where were the trouble-makers and the pisstakers behind the 88s? One of them was hiding out in North Carolina. Welcome to episode 171 of Love That Album. By ..read more