I’m so happy to be sharing this week’s show with you because it’s not only a super interview, it’s also a response to one of our listeners’ requests. Shayne from Sydney wrote me asking if she could possibly hear from her long time favourite, Dr. Hook. The American country- rock band's core comprised of the late Ray Sawyer and the irrepressible Dennis Locorriere who met by accident and forged a gigantic musical path together. As Dr Hook (and the Medicine Show) the pair achieved 60 gold and platin...
Oct 21, 2022•52 min
Guitarist Martin Barre was an integral part of English band Jethro Tull for many years and had been joined at the hip with founder, Ian Anderson since 1969. The two had a massive falling out which led to the band breaking up in 2011 but Martin refused to lay down his guitar and today travels solo with his own band making wonderful music. We catch up with Martin to discover the roots of Jethro Tull and how being in that band, changed him forever. American singer, Merrilee Rush is best known for h...
Oct 14, 2022•52 min
Meet Lee Loughnane, founding member of the band Chicago who shares details about the band's 38th studio album release - Born For This Moment as well as their most recent tour. Lee reflects on the band's success over the years, including their 100 million in record sales, 21 top 10 singles, and 11 number one hits and discusses how the band has managed to stay together and remain relevant for over 50 years. The trumpet player tells us how music always came first in his life from the time he learne...
Oct 07, 2022•52 min
This week, Irish family band, THE CORRS , joins me for an interview. They're an outfit that combines pop rock with traditional Irish themes. The group consists of the Corr siblings, Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and Jim who all hail from Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. The Corrs have released seven studio albums and numerous singles, which have reached platinum in many countries, and have sold 40 million albums worldwide. SHARON CORR joins us to tell us all about what The Corrs are up to today and fi...
Sep 30, 2022•52 min
Meet one of rock’s most recognisable musicians – GRAHAM NASH . Graham’s been making music for more than 60 years - first with English band The Hollies then as Crosby Stills and Nash and later when Neil Young joined them, as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. At 80 years young, Graham Nash has recently released a new solo album. Graham Nash: Live - a new concert album featuring the acclaimed musician performing his first two solo LPs, 1971’s S ongs For Beginners and 1974’s Wild Tales , in their enti...
Sep 23, 2022•52 min
Meet THE RUBETTES - Mick Clarke and John Richardson who founded the UK band in 1973. They were the definitive one-hit-wonder band that came together after they had that instant smash hit with 'Sugar Baby Love’. Somehow they are still at it today delighting the crowds wherever they play. But there’s so much more to these guys than what meets the eye. Find out about their unlikely path to success which has seen them both on top of the world and wondering where their next hit will come from. Was MA...
Sep 16, 2022•52 min
Englishman KENNEY JONES has spent the best part of five decades at the heart of the rock music industry. As drummer with the Small Faces, Faces and The Who, he has been involved in three of the biggest bands the music business has ever known. From the moment he started drumming in the front room of his parents home, Kenney became hooked on music. He shot to fame with the Small Faces in 1965 and had his first hit single when he was just 17. The band were at the heart of the Mod revolution that sw...
Sep 09, 2022•52 min
His dad was known as 'The Father of Rock and Roll' but he was, unfortunately, no father to his own son. BILL HALEY JR has a new book out about his legendary dad and tells us that all Bill Haley wanted to do was get kids up and dancing again. Join me to hear that despite Bill Haley being way ahead of his time, playing ‘race music’ with a ‘hillbilly touch’ he enjoyed success for only a few short years before Elvis 'pipped him at the post', sending him spiralling into depression until his life was ...
Sep 02, 2022•52 min
Hi my friends, Hope you’re having a good one. STEPPENWOLF have always been one of my very favourite bands so nailing JOHN KAY for an interview was something of a coup. He speaks to the media very rarely these days and when he does, it’s usually about his charitable foundation - https://mauekay.org/ After months of hounding him, the founder and lead singer of the 60's Canadian American rock band, finally agreed to chat with me. He delves deep into his past with personal stories about his treacher...
Aug 26, 2022•52 min
A Breath of Fresh Air loves the music and the musicians of the 60's 70's and 80's. And, if you’re a fan of 80’s music, you’re likely a huge fan of English new wave band, SPANDAU BALLET . The group was inspired by London’s post-punk underground dance scene and became one of the most successful groups of the New Romantic era. We meet lead singer TONY HADLEY who tells us all about his time with the band, why he left it and we check in with some of his latest music that he's taking on tour. My next ...
Aug 19, 2022•52 min
DIRE STRAITS filled giant stadiums around the world and sold hundreds of millions of records. Throughout the eighties they were one of the biggest bands on the planet. Their classic songs - 'Sultans of Swing', 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Money for Nothing', 'Brothers In Arms' - formed the soundtrack of a generation and live on today: still racking up sales, still being played on the radio on every continent. This week we devote the entire episode of A Breath of Fresh Air to Dire Straits’ founding membe...
Aug 12, 2022•52 min
He’s a guitarist who’s played with Roxy Music since 1972; he’s produced albums and tracks for David Gilmour, Pink Floyd and Rod Stewart as well as for New Zealand’s Split Enz. Today PHIL MANZANERA has a new solo album with Crowded House's Tim Finn and he joins me this week to talk about how he and his friend collaborated on it. Phil also chats about his time in Roxy Music; how he joined the band, what it was like and how excited he is to be heading out on tour again with the guys for Roxy Music'...
Aug 05, 2022•52 min
This week: It's our 100th episode of A Breath of Fresh Air so we're celebrating by bringing you the most requested artists of all time. We hear from the stars and reminisce through their classic hits. You voted for these guys so here they are. We start with the inimitable GORDON LIGHTFOOT who at 83 years of age is still going strong and currently out on tour. Gordon walks us through many of the highlights of his mammoth career but also shares some of his deepest regrets. Don't miss an extraordin...
Jul 29, 2022•52 min
Welshman, VERDEN ALLEN founded the British hard rock band, MOTT THE HOOPLE in the early 70's. The band was a mix of glam, metal and attitude that was bolstered by Ian Hunter's clever and thoughtful songwriting. Mott The Hoople had a tough, muscular sound but their lack of mainstream success meant its members inevitably splintered apart. Most famous for a song given to them by David Bowie, this week Verden recounts those early days and previews his latest solo album. The 1910 FRUIT GUM COMPANY ha...
Jul 22, 2022•52 min
This week: Remember the UK band, the EQUALS? If you were around in the late 60's early 70's there's no way you escaped hearing their smash hit 'Baby Come Back' all over the radio. Well, this week, founding member Patrick Lloyd joins me to tell us what it was like being one of the world's first multi-racial groups, how difficult it was for EDDY GRANT to recover from injuries sustained in a car accident and what the band is up to today. Yes, they're still around! They even have a new single out. I...
Jul 14, 2022•52 min
If you, like me, have been into music for some time, the name RICHIE FURAY should be very familiar to you. He was a founding member of Buffalo Springfield with Neil Young and Stephen Stills and then formed Poco with Jim Messina. Today, Richie Furay runs solo and has just released a terrific new album of his favourite tunes, called 'In the Country'. He joins me this week to chat about the album and the highs and lows in his life to date. BARRY BLUE started out as a singer in the UK but quickly tu...
Jul 08, 2022•52 min
He's an Australian artist who's produced 20 singles and 7 studio albums, the first of which reached number one and stayed in the top 100 for two and a half years. He’s won countless awards and is known as the quiet achiever of the Aussie music scene. PETE MURRAY has just released a couple of new EP’s. I tracked him down to his home in Byron Bay, NSW to learn more about his latest music. BILLY SWAN epitomises the genre that is 'One-Hit-Wonders' and he couldn't be happier about it. He never imagin...
Jul 02, 2022•52 min
She's young, she's passionate and she is oh so talented. I'm talking about guitarist SAMANTHA FISH who's taking the world by storm with her latest album, Faster. I caught up with Samantha to discover a young woman hell bent on making the best music she can, and she's not fussed if that pursuit costs her the opportunity to become a mother. He's responsible for one of the best one-hit-wonders of all time but he is so much more than that. PAUL ROBERTS founded the band SNIFF AND THE TEARS in the ear...
Jun 24, 2022•52 min
Is she a one hit wonder or not? She certainly has only ever had one number one hit and it’s the song that everyone knows her for. We catch up with the gorgeous British singer, TINA CHARLES from her home in Caterham in the UK where she lives a modest life tending to her dogs, chickens and even to a skulk of foxes who visit her regularly. The man of 1000 voices TONY BURROWS has always been a group. He's never been allowed to record under his own name. Tony's been the voice of The Ivy League, Flowe...
Jun 17, 2022•52 min
The First Lady of Rock is 71 years old and proud of it. SUZI QUATRO has just celebrated her 50-year long career in the music industry with a massive 2.5 hour show at London’s Royal Albert Hall that audiences are raving about. This week she's releasing a 3 cd box set, a 2 CD box set AND her latest book - her 7th! It makes me tired just thinking about it. I caught up with the irrepressible pocket rocket from her 15th century home in the UK where she tells me all about her poems, her amazing energy...
Jun 10, 2022•52 min
Hi, this is Sandy, thanks for joining me for this week's episode. I'm so excited to be able to introduce you to three terrific musical guests. Grammy Award-winning music legend CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE is renowned worldwide as a master harmonica player, a seasoned, truth-telling vocalist and an original songwriter rooted deep in the blues tradition. He’s won 14 Blues Music Awards, been nominated for six Grammys, and received multiple Lifetime Achievement Awards. With a new album out now, I caught up ...
Jun 03, 2022•52 min
I’m excited to catch up with one of the best known and most loved singer- songwriters from the '60s and '70s. He’s written hundreds of tunes many of which you’ll instantly recognise. The extraordinary JIMMY WEBB takes us on a journey through his life, from humble beginnings on the farm in midwest America to Hollywood where he lived the life of excess, hobnobbed with the who’s who of showbiz and when honoured with multiple grammy awards, finally met the artist he’d most admired since childhood. W...
May 27, 2022•52 min•Season 2Ep. 11
If you grew up in the 70's you were probably a huge GRAHAM BONNET fan. Graham used to front Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow and Alactrazz. Now he has a new album called "Day Out In Nowhere." I caught up with Graham as he lounged in the Californian sunshine in LA. BILL MEDLEY from THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS has been enjoying a hugely successful career as a singer for more than 60 years. After Bobby Hatfield's death, Bill has reinvented the Righteous Brothers and is wowing audiences all over again. Bill wa...
May 21, 2022•52 min
Meet 80's band, THE ROMANTICS guitarist, MIKE SKILL who wrote the classic 'What I Like About You' - a song that became one of the classic party anthems of our generation. Mike has a new solo album out this week. It's a tribute to the motor city of Detroit. What a treat to catch up with 84 year old JERRY SAMUELS aka NAPOLEON XIV. Do you remember his one-hit-wonder? You certainly won't forget it after you hear this interview. 'You're Coming To Take Me Away' takes the cake for being the biggest sel...
May 12, 2022•52 min
We catch up with GAVIN SUTHERLAND from that 70's Scottish group THE SUTHERLAND BROTHERS and QUIVER to relive some of their biggest hits .. and misses. JESSE COLIN YOUNG is best known for the anthem he recorded in back in the 60's for the flower power generation. 'Get Together' catapulted THE YOUNGBLOODS' singer onto the world stage and a diagnosis of chronic lyme disease ripped him off it. We meet Jesse and find a gentle soul still keen on pushing his messages of peace and love, through his musi...
May 07, 2022•52 min
This week we check out new music from GILBERT O’SULLIVAN. We meet guitar virtuoso, JOE SATRIANI who's sold more than 10 million albums, has been nominated 15 times for Grammy awards and is well known for a member of Chickenfoot. Joe has just released his 19th studio album called The Elephants of Mars - it's amazing. Remember 80’s British- American rock band KATRINA AND THE WAVES? They had that huge hit with 'Walking On Sunshine' and won the Eurovision song contest in 1997. Well, now Katrina is b...
Apr 29, 2022•52 min
They were the band that first appeared on Victoria’s surf coast in 1977 at a time when Australians seemed ready for change. SHANE HOWARD's GOANNA wasn’t alone in its quest for social and environmental justice. Bands like Midnight Oil and Redgum were calling for it too. Shane joins me this week as the band gets ready for a national tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band’s first monster hit – 'Solid Rock’. Come with me and hear the stories from that legendary guitarist JEFF 'STICK' DAV...
Apr 21, 2022•52 min
Let me introduce you to the UK Blues-rock band BONHAM-BULLICK. Singer/songwriter DEBORAH BONHAM is actually sister to the late John Bonham who we all knew as the drummer for Led Zeppelin. Deborah and Peter Bulick are husband and wife and their new self-titled covers album is and an inspiring blend of blues, rock, and a bit of soul. Meet Deborah and Peter and check out their music. Ever wondered who George Baker from THE GEORGE BAKER SELECTION really is? The George Baker Selection, the iconic Dut...
Apr 17, 2022•52 min
This week we catch up with JOAN ARMATRADING who recently celebrated her 70th birthday. Born in the West Indies, she's been singing up a storm for 50 years. 22 albums, countless music awards and several honours later she's still on fire. JOEY MOLLAND was the lead singer for the band BAD FINGER. Today he is its sole surviving member. Joey tells us all about the good times and the bad. Everyone knows JOHN OATES as one half of the best-selling duo of all time, HALL & OATES. Together with DARYL H...
Apr 12, 2022•52 min
ELVIS COSTELLO joins me to share his thoughts on his latest album, “The Boy Named If” Elvis Costello, legendary singer-songwriter and iconic figure in modern music, is celebrated for his distinctive voice, clever lyrics, and genre-defying artistry. Emerging in the late 1970s as a pioneer of punk and new wave, Costello captivated audiences with his debut album My Aim Is True and hits like "Alison" and "Watching the Detectives." Backed by his band The Attractions, he delivered classics such as Thi...
Apr 12, 2022•52 min
