Dominic Mohan in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://www.amazon.co.uk/1996-Backstage-Wildest-Britains-must-read/dp/0008767130

https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2026/event/1996-a-celebration-of-the-wildest-year-of-britains-wildest

1996. Britpop ruled the airwaves.

The tabloids framed reality long before Instagram.Football was finally coming home. Tony Blair was learning to play rock star – and rock stars were learning they could play politics. Everyone was partying hard, and Britain was the coolest place on earth.

Showbiz reporter Dominic Mohan wasn’t watching the party from afar – he was in the room.

Backstage at Knebworth with Oasis. In strip clubs with Robbie Williams. On the phone to Bowie. On the receiving end of Spice Girls gossip, Gallagher gobbiness and tabloid-era chaos. From Euro ’96 euphoria to Brit Awards anarchy, from rave culture to New Labour, Mohan witnessed the moment the UK went from scruffy indie island to global cultural powerhouse.

Part memoir, part cultural autopsy and part riotous tour through the 90s and its greatest year, 1996 is a jaw-dropping front-row seat to the madness, the music, the football, and the politics that reshaped Britain – and created legends along the way.

Three decades on, Mohan returns to the year everything peaked, and asks: what the hell happened, why did it matter, and can it ever happen again?

Alex Newport in conversation with David Eastaugh 

https://www.alexnewport.com/

https://fudgetunnel.bandcamp.com/music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb232BkAe6A

Fudge Tunnel formed in 1989. They released their debut EP on Pigboy/Vinyl Solution in 1989, Fudge Tunnel. Although marketed as an EP, due to its short length, it was named "Single of the Week" in NME magazine in January 1990, with NME declaring "Absolutely and totally the best single ever to be released in 1990. Total nine guitar attack-rock".

The band followed up with their second EP, The Sweet Sound of Excess, in 1990, again on Pigboy/Vinyl Solution. Fudge Tunnel also found support via DJ John Peel as they recorded a Peel Session in 1990. They then signed to Nottingham's Earache Records. Their full-length debut album was 1991's Hate Songs in E Minor, which attracted a large amount of press interest after the original album artwork was confiscated by the Nottingham Vice Squad

Neil Howson in conversation with David Eastaugh 

https://preciousrecordingsoflondon.bandcamp.com/album/prelp-8-age-of-chance-bbc-sessions-85-87

A stunning mix of Northern Soul, machine-like beats, electroclash, slogans and agitpop, Age of Chance were unquestionably one of the most exciting groups to emerge during the C86 era. They certainly didn’t sound like anybody else, that’s for sure.

Neil Taylor in conversation with David Eastaugh 

https://www.roughtrade.com/en-de/product/neil-taylor/document-and-eyewitness-an-intimate-history-of-rough-trade

Rough Trade is practically a byword for the history of independent music over the last thirty years. DOCUMENT AND EYEWITNESS: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF ROUGH TRADE tells the story from the inside of a phenomenally influential record label, through the voices of Geoff Travis, Jarvis Cocker, Robert Wyatt, Green Gartside and many many more.

From the early records of Cabaret Voltaire, Kleenex and the Swell Maps, through to groundbreaking releases by The Fall, The Smiths and Scritti Pollitti, on through the collapse of the independent collective and the rebirth of Rough Trade at the turn of the century, this is the definitive, essential account for any serious music fan.

Julia Round in conversation with David Eastaugh 

https://www.juliaround.com/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gothic-Girls-Misty-British-Comics/dp/1496824466

Award-winning writer and independent scholar. She is one of the founders and editors of the academic journal Studies in Comics (Intellect Books) and of the book series Encapsulations: Critical Comics Studies (University of Nebraska Press).

Today fans still remember and love the British girls’ comic Misty for its bold visuals and narrative complexities. Yet its unique history has drawn little critical attention. Bridging this scholarly gap, Julia Round presents a comprehensive cultural history and detailed discussion of the comic, preserving both the inception and development of this important publication as well as its stories.

Misty ran for 101 issues as a stand-alone publication between 1978 and 1980 and then four more years as part of Tammy. It was a hugely successful anthology comic containing one-shot and serialized stories of supernatural horror and fantasy aimed at girls and young women and featuring work by writers and artists who dominated British comics such as Pat Mills, Malcolm Shaw, and John Armstrong, as well as celebrated European artists. To this day, Misty remains notable for its daring and sophisticated stories, strong female characters, innovative page layouts, and big visuals.

bob Bert in conversation with David Eastaugh 

https://therealbobbert.bandcamp.com/album/beach-bongo-bloodbath

Many music gourmandizers know the name “Bob Bert” from his stint as drummer for Sonic Youth in their formative years. He also beat car gas tanks for Pussy Galore. In the years since, Bob has recorded albums and toured the world with Bewitched, Action Swingers, Chrome Cranks, Knoxville Girls, Five Dollar Priest, and in more recent times Lydia Lunch Retrovirus, coming full circle playing metal percussion with fellow Pussy Galore alumnus Jon Spencer in his HITmakers. 

With Beach Bongo Bloodbath Bob finally steps out under his own name with his first true solo album. For this outing he mixes original material with extensive re-workings of a number of covers to create a veritable soundtrack for the B-movie of his life. 

Surprisingly for a guy who has slammed away for some very noisy guitar outfits, this album has absolutely NO guitars; once you hear his beat-centric take on Mountain's "Mississippi Queen," you will never hear that song the same way again. Bob creates a new world of sound utilizing a variety of drums and percussion as well as a diverse array of keyboards and theremin. The results suggest Sandy Nelson playing with the Flying Lizards on their greatest hits collection of Kraut Rock influenced Cramps covers! 

The six originals and eight covers play to his love of campy teenage horror flicks, art damaged punk fuk-u-ness and Warholian underground groover vibes. In fact, let’s cue up some tracks from the album to help tell the Bob Bert story. 

Monica Queen & Johnny Smillie in conversation with David Eastaugh 

https://www.firerecords.com/thrum-announce-rifferama-reissued-reimagined-along-with-new-uk-tour-dates/

TOUR DATES

Jimmy Eadie in conversation with David Eastaugh 

Into Paradise were an Irish indie rock group from Dublin, whose influences included Joy Division and Echo & the Bunnymen. They formed in 1986 as Backwards into Paradise, and released their debut EP, Blue Light, in 1989 on the independent record label, Setanta. Soon after came the EP Change, and the band's first album, Under the Water.

Their most successful album and major record label debut, was the Adrian Borland-produced Churchtown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N_j7s1Ahjo

Anthony Reynolds in conversation with David Eastaugh

https://anthonyreynolds.bandcamp.com/

n 1993, Reynolds moved to London, where he formed the group Jack, on lead vocals, signing a music publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music as well as a record deal with independent label Too Pure.

Jack released three full-length albums, the first two of which – Pioneer Soundtracks (1996) and The Jazz Age (1998) – garnered excellent reviews and placed highly in critics' end-of-year polls. Despite the overwhelmingly positive critical reaction and extensive UK and European touring, sales for both records although respectable, were ultimately disappointing, and no Jack record would ever make the UK Top 40 singles or albums charts.

The third album, The End of the Way It's Always Been, was released on the Les Disques du Crépuscule label. The record featured collaborations with writer/musician Kirk Lake and American poet and novelist/screenwriter Dan Fante (son of John Fante). An extensive European tour promoted the record. The critical reaction in the UK to the album was less positive than for the first two Jack albums, but the album was markedly successful in France.

Janet Housden in conversation with David Eastaugh 

https://www.facebook.com/janet.housden

A fixture in the earliest days of the LA area punk scene, Janet Housden played drums with Redd Kross and was a member of several other bands, while also appearing in classic cult films. 

Janet Housden has been a creative force for decades in Southern California’s punk scene. She grew up alongside many of the South Bay scene’s iconic punk pioneers, including members of Black Flag, the Descendents and Minutemen, and played drums in the renowned Redd Kross (1982-83) and was a multi-instrumentalist in several other rock & roll bands. (Quote from Please Kill Me)