It’s well known that the 1960s had seen a revival of interest in the US and the UK in folk music – most particularly in its crossover to more contemporary styles. In the UK, traditional folk music preservation, academia and performance had long been part of the culture, but by the 1960s it seems there was conflict between those who wanted to play the music “authentically” (thus ignoring that folk songs had always evolved over the centuries), those who wanted to play those songs in a more contemp...
Jul 22, 2025•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 187
In July 2011 (14 years ago as I write this), I recorded episode 1 of Love That Album podcast. The period wasn't ground zero for podcasts, but it was still early days, and people were still asking, “What's a podcast?” At the time, there seemed to be very little in the way of music discussion shows, so I decided to create one of my own to talk about music in the same way film podcasters of the time that I enjoyed discussed films. So.....ahh....welcome to episode 1 of Love That Album – Redux. I ask...
Jul 03, 2025•45 min
It's been said that the mark of a great city is how it promotes the arts. Thinking specifically about busking or street performing, some cities actively encourage musicians to perform in parks, streets, and other outdoor surrounds. THAT is a town devoted to the arts. Welcome to episode 186 of Love that Album. Cary Baker is a native of Chicago who has had a great career in music publicity and has worked with some of the most well known bands in the US during his stint at IRS and Capitol records. ...
Jun 29, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 186
The 1990s was a particularly exciting time in Australian rock music. The musical movements that started in the US and the UK in the 90s have been well documented (particularly in reference to certain bands), but not so much has been written about the purple patch of creativity that took place in Australia over that decade. Over the last few years, my guest for this episode has taken it upon himself to rectify that, showing particular dedication to his favourite band....that just happens to be of...
Apr 23, 2025•1 hr 53 min•Ep. 185
For those who haven't caught up with episode 183 of LTA, I came up with the idea of speaking with a range of previous guests from the show (musicians, podcasters, TV and radio broadcasters) to talk with me about their earliest recollections of walking into the sacred temple that is a record / CD store. I wanted to know what drew them to the stores they went to, what the guys / gals behind the counter were like, hijinks that went on in the stores, how their musical tastes were influenced by LPs t...
Mar 21, 2025•2 hr 52 min•Ep. 184
Being music fans (especially of a....ummm...certain age), we've all been in a record or CD store as a regular. I like to think that the best record stores I've been in are like walking into Cheers – everybody knows your name, and will treat you as family, be it dysfunctional or not. Welcome to episode 183 of Love That Album. I've been in small family record stores, big impersonal chains where the staff couldn't care less what your musical interests are, specialist record stores, stores run by gr...
Mar 06, 2025•2 hr 22 min•Ep. 183
How many podcasts must a listener download before they can hear about Bob Dylan? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind......actually it's probably anytime you damn well like. Welcome to episode 182 of Love That Album podcast. There are tons of Bob Dylan specialist podcasts out there....why on earth would I feel the need to add to the contemplation and rumination about Bob already being discussed? A fair question....not one I'm sure I have the answer to. How's this? I love his second 1970...
Feb 21, 2025•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 182
We've come to the end of another year at LTA headquarters. Normally, I'd be doing a wrap up with friends in the music community as to their favourite discoveries of the year.......I wasn't feeling like doing that this year. If there's one thing that's consistent with this podcast, it's inconsistency. Welcome to episode 181 of Love That Album. For ages, I'd been wanting to put together a show to discuss a selection of records from the ECM label. ECM was started in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. The labe...
Dec 24, 2024•2 hr 20 min•Ep. 181
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 gav...
Nov 21, 2024•2 hr 20 min•Ep. 180
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 ...
Sep 07, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 179
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...
Aug 24, 2024•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 178
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’...
Jul 29, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 177
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 ...
Jun 23, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 176
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 episo...
May 08, 2024•2 hr 12 min•Ep. 175
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 ear...
Mar 21, 2024•2 hr 2 min•Ep. 174
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 P...
Dec 28, 2023•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 173
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 s...
Dec 19, 2023•2 hr 24 min•Ep. 172
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 t...
Nov 22, 2023•1 hr 57 min•Ep. 171
There are some artists who make a career of changing their musical styles between albums. They took risks to remain artistically relevant or just because they don’t want to repeat themselves. David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Wilco, The Beatles, John Cale, XTC are all examples…..a ton of others could be nominated. Let’s talk about Suzanne Vega. Welcome to episode 170 of Love That Album podcast. From the mid-80s, Suzanne Vega had recorded some great records featuring songs that sounded like a mix of old sc...
Oct 19, 2023•2 hr 2 min•Ep. 170
Buddy Guy put out an album in 1991 called Damn Right I Got The Blues. The song sounds like so much of a form of catharsis. However, blues can also represent a form of celebration. There's pre-war country blues, jump blues, swamp blues.... There's blues styles from Chicago, Texas, Louisiana and other American regions. The blues is not one thing. It's old...it's contemporary. It's relaxed...it's heart pumping. It has old and young practitioners. It has iconic practitioners and some bloke playing i...
Sep 23, 2023•58 min•Ep. 169
The process of recording music in 2023 has changed drastically to what it was in the latter half of the 20th century.....sort of. Sure, musicians can go in to a recording studio with an engineer and record in a way not dissimilar to the days of old. However, as technology changed inside professional studios, it changed for musicians who wanted to get a great sound in their bedroom. Many studios couldn't compete and only their legacy remains in our record collections. ....yet, EMI Studios at 3 Ab...
Jul 17, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 168
There's a quote attributed to Louis Armstrong: “All music is folk music. I ain't never heard a horse sing a song”. Apocryphal? Who knows? Still, it does raise the question as to what folk music actually is. It can be contemporary contemporary or traditional. It can be associated with any number of cultures. It can be instrumental or songs without instrumental accompaniment. The songs can be about tales of heroes, cads, fair maidens, murder, politics, or.....that very infrequent topic of song – l...
Jun 21, 2023•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 167
Growing up in the eighties, commercial AM and FM rock radio in Australia was very supportive of local bands (well...... to a point). The biggest of them all was Cold Chisel which had hit after hit. They broke up in 1983, but their songs never left Australia's consciousness. Their original era and reformation albums are the soundtrack to Baby Boomer and Gen X music fans.....and their offspring. ….but this episode isn't about Cold Chisel. Welcome to episode 166 of Love That Album. A case can be ma...
May 21, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 166
Easybeats April continues at LTA HQ. Welcome to episode 165 of Love That Album. On the last episode, I spoke with author Jeff Apter about his book Friday On My Mind: The Life of George Young. His book looks at Young as musician with The Easybeats, and Young as songwriter and producer for Alberts Productions after the band broke up. This time around, I am joined by host of Let It Roll podcast, “Kid” Nathan Wilcox to discuss the actual music of The Easybeats. Of course as in any of these shows, we...
Apr 23, 2023•2 hr 49 min•Ep. 165
Ask any Australian rock fan who is the greatest Australian performer or band over the history of the last 70 odd years and you'll get a multitude of answers (as you would anywhere). It's a subjective question and there are generational factors to be taken into account. However, an Australian Performing Rights Association panel declared “Friday On My Mind” by The Easybeats to be the greatest Australian song ever. That's gotta put The Easybeats somewhere in the pantheon of the greats, right? Welco...
Apr 16, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 164
There was a time where Australian bands felt that the only way they were going to get noticed was to leave the country and head to London. Sometimes, this would translate to great popularity ...and sometimes, it meant bands would live under difficult financial circumstances while their music was not in danger of bothering the top 40. Welcome to episode 163 of Love That Album. I'm joined by previous guest Doug (aka Fnord) Buissuant and first timer, Darrin Irvine to talk about The Go Betweens and ...
Mar 20, 2023•1 hr 45 min•Ep. 163
The 1980s have often been derided musically. The truth is there was interesting stuff happening that we've conveniently forgotten. An interesting question is how the 80s treated musicians considered important in the 60s. How did they adapt with the technology and change in direction for songwriting? Once again, there are some who handled it better than others. Dylan started and finished the decade well, but.....what happened in between? For the purposes of this conversation, we're going to focus...
Feb 08, 2023•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 162
It's been 3 months since I recorded the most recent episode of Love That Album. Real life interfered with being able to do something fun like speak into a microphone about great music. The show had to go into hiatus. It's with the utmost joy I can say.....welcome to episode 161 of Love That Album. The hiatus is going into....ummm...temporary hiatus as I present my annual episode of favourite discoveries / first time listens of the year. Normally, I speak with a number of my favourite co-presente...
Dec 10, 2022•1 hr 10 min
Without repeating the details, over the years, John Hiatt has assumed the status of legend in LTA lore....go back to episode 100 if you need a refresher. His life story is the focus of episode 160 of the show. Is this episode any good? Have a little faith...... Welcome to episode 160 of Love That Album. My friend of many years and fellow Hiatt fan Geoff Smith joins me as we welcome radio announcer and author Michael Elliott to the show. He has written the first ever biography of John Hiatt calle...
Sep 20, 2022•1 hr 23 min
In the days before music streaming services became a ubiquitous, when physical media ruled the music world, the first thing a music fan encountered before playing the music on a record, a CD or a cassette was the artwork on the cover. The cover was the always gateway to the music. Some cover art is tastefully done, some covers have Facebook groups devoted to their awfulness. If done very well (or very poorly), cover art can come to define the music the listener is about to play. Welcome to episo...
Jul 26, 2022•1 hr 25 min
