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 N...
Nov 10, 2022•51 min•Season 4Ep. 21
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 liste...
Oct 27, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 20
My guest in this episode is Michael Elliott a DJ, radio exec, writer and a man who has overcome a lot of adversity to get to a better place today. He lives in Raleigh NC and is a southerner born and bred with all the challenges and contradictions that brings. An only child he was born with cataracts in both eyes and was partially blind until the age of 50. He grew up surrounded by a music loving family and imagination and creativity were his best friends. He developed an interest in radio at an ...
Oct 13, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 4Ep. 19
This is Part 2 of my chat with Ian Rogers .There were simply too many good stories to keep this to a single episode . Ian , in his own words: Is a skateboarder from Northern Indiana Has been a record collector since the age of 5 Started programming a few years later Became a father at 17 and a grandfather at 50 Dropped out of Grad School in 1995 to go on tour with Beastie Boys Spent 20 years building digital music with Winamp, Yahoo!, Beats, & then Apple Music. Moved to Paris in 2015 to star...
Sep 29, 2022•53 min•Season 4Ep. 18
My guest in this episode is Ian Rogers who (in his own words): Is a skateboarder from Northern Indiana Has been a record collector since the age of 5 Started programming a few years later Became a father at 17 and a grandfather at 50 Dropped out of Grad School in 1995 to go on tour with Beastie Boys Spent 20 years building digital music with Winamp, Yahoo!, Beats, & then Apple Music. Moved to Paris in 2015 to start a new career as Chief Digital Officer at LVMH Became, in Jan 2021, the Chief ...
Sep 22, 2022•55 min•Season 4Ep. 18
A MILESTONE COMPILATION Recently Music Talks has passed several significant milestones: · It’s Third Anniversary · 20,000 downloads · 500 Followers on Facebook · 75 Episodes I have done celebratory episodes at 25 and 50 episodes, and this felt like a good opportunity to look back over the past year and choose some of my favourite moments. I have chosen a different guest for each decade, and I believe these clips show the mix of music nerdery and great life stories that the show has become. I’m h...
Sep 08, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 4Ep. 17
My guest in this episode is Jeff Smith, MP. A recent press article highlighted that the number of ‘career politicians’ in Westminster who have never had what most of us would recognise as ‘a proper job’. It also said working class politicians were ‘an endangered species. I’m delighted to say that Jeff bucks both of those trends. Whilst Jeff grew up in a political household and studied Politics at Manchester University being an MP was never in the plan, as can be seen by his subsequent career cho...
Aug 25, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 4Ep. 16
My guest in this episode is Randy Brown who is another introduction from my dear friend Jesse Jackson at the Set Lusting Bruce Podcast. Randy has two major passions in his life, Basketball and Music. The former was his career for over 20 years and is the reason for the title of the episode as he was a College Basketball Coach at seven different Universities across America. As for music, it’s been a lifelong passion that ‘has been there at the best of times and the worst of times.’ Randy has had ...
Aug 10, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 15
My guest in this episode is Kirsten Walker who I got to know and work with during my last few years in Seattle. Since then, we have kept in touch, our friendship has grown, and I am delighted to have finally got Kirsten on the show. In this episode we discuss a wide range of topics including · Being born in Copenhagen and a rather unusual claim to fame · Being raised by a single parent who was her music loving Dad · Colorado to California in a Red 74 Corvette Stingray with two dachshunds · Livin...
Jul 27, 2022•57 min•Season 4Ep. 14
My guest in this episode is Beth Collier, a notoriously curious person who loves storytelling, pop culture and learning. Originally from Indiana, USA, Beth has lived abroad for the last 17 years. That means she knows how to drink tea with milk, but still appreciates it over ice. Over her career she’s worked in the entertainment and travel industries in the US, the government in New Zealand, and financial services in London. Beth now helps corporate leaders improve their public speaking, writing,...
Jul 13, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 4Ep. 13
My guest is this episode is my friend Kevin Ackhurst. Kevin was born in South Africa but spent his early years in Zimbabwe and that is where he feels 'he comes from' and 'that's his origin’. As is always his way Kevin talks openly and honestly about growing up in a white and segregated world and how strange that feels to him now looking back. He also talks about developing a deep-seated sense of fairness and that, along with his strong social conscience, can clearly be heard in his first four so...
Jun 29, 2022•54 min•Season 4Ep. 12
This is the second part of my conversation with Malcolm Garrett. It really is more of the same in a good way. The opinions are as strong, the energy is as high, the connections are great, and the stories are fascinating. In between a set of eclectic and considered song choices we cover a lot of topics including: Malcolm’s love of Sigue Sigue Sputnik and how influential and prescient they were. His fascination with the future, his Jerry Andersen collection and James Bond. The move into Digital &a...
Jun 15, 2022•45 min•Season 4Ep. 11
My guest in this episode is Malcolm Garrett MBE who rather modestly describes himself as ‘a UK-based graphic designer working across a variety of disciplines and media.’ Malcolm has a global reputation for his influence on graphic design and popular culture, both through his landmark designs for clients including Buzzcocks, Duran Duran, Boy George, Simple Minds and Peter Gabriel, and through his pioneering role in championing interaction and digital communications since the early 1990s, with an ...
Jun 08, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 11
My guest in this episode is David Wilner who was born in Dover, New Hampshire in 1963 on the day Dion was recording ‘Drip Drop’! His formative years were spent between New Hampshire and Washington State, but he has subsequently lived In Ohio, Tucson, Boston, and Minneapolis as well as spending four years in the UK, indulging his Anglophilia, in the Noughties. He now resides in Prague and is adamant that he won’t be moving again. I have always believed that travel and living away from home gives ...
May 25, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 10
In a first for Music Talks my guest in this episode is Rachel King who is married to my previous guest Harris King, 'the love of her life'. They share a deep love and passion for music and as per the title of the episode they live in 'A House of Music' . Rachel was born in Chattanooga, a couple of hours from Nashville but is not a great lover of country music. She has a music loving sister, and they grew up listening to Motown from her parents and Big Bands from her grandmother, along with 40's ...
May 11, 2022•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 9
My guest in this episode is Harris King. Harris was introduced to Music Talks by previous guests Steven Routledge and Justin Steiner who are fellow members of the brilliant community that has grown up around the Rockin’ The Suburbs Podcast and now Radio Station - suburbspod.com Like many of my guests Harris isn’t just a music lover he’s a music scholar who immerses himself in the music he listens to and the bands that he likes. As he says at one point in our chat “I’m always listening”. As you w...
Apr 21, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 8
My guest is Julie Simpson, a delightful, fun lady who I met in the late 90’s and I have always viewed as ‘a force of nature’ and you will hear a lot of her energy, enthusiasm, and humour in this episode Julie is the youngest of 9 children and was born in Germany but grew up in Basingstoke. Her story is an inspirational one of starting with little and triumphing over adversity. This started at 14 when her much loved father, a Sergeant Major, died of a heart attack whilst she was with him. Leaving...
Apr 07, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 7
In this episode my guest is Mat Bancroft, Independent Curator, Archivist and Art Director specialising in 20th Century Pop Culture. Mat has many strings to his bow but the first thing that will pop for any music fan is that he has been Johnny Marr’s Art Director since 2012 and has produced a distinct and impressive body of work over that period. Mat was born in Nottingham in 1979 but very deliberately went to University in Manchester in 1998 because of his love of the city’s culture, both art an...
Mar 23, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 6
My guest in this episode is Justin Steiner who comes to Music Talks through his friendship with Music Talks regular and long-time supporter, Steven Routledge. They describe themselves as ‘mind meld musical brothers’ but the interesting thing about their friendship is that, to date, they have not actually met face to face as Justin lives near Chicago and Steven near Stirling, in Scotland. They met through the brilliant Rockin’ The Suburbs Podcast ( https://www.suburbspod.com ) which, when Covid h...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 5
My guest in this episode is Dave Cronen who like many of my guests has an encyclopaedic knowledge of music and pop culture. What makes Dave unique is that he has spent all 37 years of his working life in the music industry and I saw little sign of him stopping any time soon. Interestingly , he doesn't play an instrument or a note of music and is fiercely proud of that fact. Today Dave is an artist manager and the owner of Trust Management but his career started in retail at Virgin Records in 198...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 4Ep. 4
In this episode my guest is Mark Croft who I describe as a ‘musical scholar’. All my guests have a love and passion for music, but Mark takes that to a different level and to every aspect of music. In a wide-ranging conversation, we explore (amongst other things) the magic of live performance, the importance of shared experience, the joy of playing live, the art of song writing, and the fact that music was around 40.000 years ago in Europe with the bone flute! It’s fair to say that we both belie...
Feb 09, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 3
My guest today is Roy Sharples, the Founder and CEO of Unknown Origins whose mission is to build a better future by “saving the world from unoriginality by unleashing the power of creativity”. When you start a company with as bold and inspiring a mission as that you must have strong views and a real belief in them. Roy shares a lot of those views and thoughts during our conversation and whilst I don’t necessarily agree with everything, he says to his immense credit he’s never anything less than ...
Jan 26, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 4Ep. 2
My guest in this episode is Elisa Doucette a writer, editor, and entrepreneur who currently travels the world looking for great stories to live and interesting tales to share. Elisa was born and grew up in rural Maine, with a strong Scottish and Irish cultural heritage. That was undoubtedly a key influence in words, language and music becoming a lifelong passion and in latter years (after a successful 10-year sojourn into Insurance sales) a writing and editing career. She has travelled and worke...
Jan 13, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 4Ep. 1
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. A n...
Dec 26, 2021•59 min
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. A n...
Dec 16, 2021•1 hr 7 min
My guest in this episode is friend and colleague Stephen Boyle. Stephen was born and grew up in a small fishing town in the Northeast of England called North Shields with the city metropolis of Newcastle only eight miles away. After University in Sheffield and then a time living and working in London, he took the big step in 1995 to move to the US which is where he has lived for almost all of the last 26 years. Most of that time has been spent in Southern California although there were spells in...
Dec 01, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 3Ep. 23
My guest in this episode is writer, editor, and educator Yi Shun Lai. Born in Taiwan, she moved with her parents to the U.S. at the age of four. She grew up in California before moving to New York in her twenties, where she spent a total of 12 years. In her own words she has now “fulfilled her filial duty” by moving back to California where she now lives, and her parents are a mile up the road. Yi Shun has published two books and has a young adult novel “in the works”: · Pin Ups , a memoir (Litt...
Nov 17, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 3Ep. 22
My guest in this episode is friend and colleague Phil Atkinson . Like many of my guests he has had a long and successful career in the I.T industry, but as you will hear his route into that career is far from typical. In this episode we discuss: · Being born in Barking, East London into very humble beginnings. · At age 7, the family move to Basingstoke to try and better their situation · His lifelong love affair with Liverpool FC. · His parents’ divorce and the impact that had both at the time a...
Nov 04, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 3Ep. 21
My guest in this episode is Mark Harrison. A friend of a previous guest Dan French, Mark listened to episode 52 and liked it so much he decided he wanted to come on the show, which is a process that always pleases me. In amongst the music we talk about: · His Grandfather’s houseboat, Calisto, on the Grand Union Canal · Born in West London in 1962 then moving to South Africa as a 10-year-old. · Returning from that strict and strait-laced environment four years later to a UK at the height of the p...
Oct 21, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 3Ep. 20
This is Part 2. of my fascinating conversation with Mark Spickett and takes us from the 90’s through to the present day. Mark entitled the 90’s “The Roller Coaster Years” and that should tell you that his life continued to be exciting, challenging, full of change and filled with fantastic stories. Mark also makes a great set of musical choices a three of which were new to me. His choices are : 90’s Massive Attack Blue Lines 00’s Federico Aubele Maria Jose (Toy Hernandez Remix) 10’s Michael Kiwan...
Oct 07, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 19
