Rock's Backpages

E161: Mick Gold on Let It Rock + Pub Rock + Bruce Springsteen + Jann Wenner


Listen Later

In this episode we welcome music writer/photographer turned award-winning TV director Mick Gold and ask him to return to the mid-'70s to discuss pub rock, Bruce Springsteen and the wonderful Let It Rock magazine.

Mick explains how he fell in with Let It Rock's "hard-up left-wing intellectuals" after penning a 5,000-word Beatles thesis at Sussex University. We then hear about the magazine and its eclectic agenda, along with our guest's parallel career as a photographer and his 1976 photo-essay book Rock on the Road.

This in turn leads to a conversation about the "pub rock" scene that mushroomed in London during Let It Rock's 1972-75 lifespan. Along with Mick's 1975 Dr. Feelgood interview, Mark, Martin and Barney share their memories of gigs by Kilburn & the High Roads and Chili Willi & the Red Hot Peppers. The gradual transition from Pub to Punk is recalled and analysed with passing reference to Mick's 1976 Street Life interview with Patti Smith.

The mid-'70s theme takes us into clips from a 2016 audio interview in which Bruce Springsteen talks to Vanity Fair's David Kamp about 1975's breakthrough classic 'Born to Run' — and then to a further discussion of the Boss' inclusion in Jann Wenner's controversial new book The Masters.

After Mark quotes from interviews with Dizzy GillespieJames BrownTodd Rundgren, Chic and Wham!, Jasper talks us out with his notes on pieces about Nona Hendryx and Rammellzee.

Pieces discussed: The Band, Rock on the Road introduction, Bob Dylan at 60, Brinsley Schwarz, Dr. Feelgood, Pub Rock Proms, Bruce Springsteen on 'Born to Run', Dizzy Gillespie, Ike & Tina Turner, James Brown, Todd Rundgren, Chic, Wham!, Bruce Springsteen, Nona Hendryx and Rammellzee.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Rock's BackpagesBy Barney Hoskyns, Mark Pringle, Jasper Murison-Bowie

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

43 ratings


More shows like Rock's Backpages

View all
Desert Island Discs by BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs

2,002 Listeners

Backlisted by Backlisted

Backlisted

593 Listeners

THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST by ADAM BUXTON

THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST

1,197 Listeners

Sodajerker On Songwriting by Sodajerker

Sodajerker On Songwriting

390 Listeners

Full Disclosure with James O'Brien by Global

Full Disclosure with James O'Brien

277 Listeners

Nothing Is Real - A Beatles Podcast by Beatles Pod

Nothing Is Real - A Beatles Podcast

376 Listeners

Life of the Record by Life of the Record / Talkhouse

Life of the Record

223 Listeners

Rockonteurs with Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt by Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt

Rockonteurs with Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt

329 Listeners

Word In Your Ear by Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold

Word In Your Ear

68 Listeners

The Rest Is Politics by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Politics

3,030 Listeners

Kermode & Mayo’s Take by Sony Music Entertainment

Kermode & Mayo’s Take

338 Listeners

The News Agents by Global

The News Agents

983 Listeners

The Rest Is Entertainment by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Entertainment

851 Listeners

Origin Story by Podmasters

Origin Story

115 Listeners

Strong Message Here by BBC Radio 4

Strong Message Here

68 Listeners