In this week's episode, we welcome the great Jonh Ingham into RBP's "virtual cupboard". In a fascinating conversation, he revisits the peripatetic childhood that took him to California in the '60s – and to San Francisco's Fillmore West, where in 1971 he reviewed a famous Aretha Franklin show for Creem magazine. Mark & Barney ask him about his return to the UK, where he wrote for NME and then Sounds, championing London's nascent punk scene in early '76 and conducting the first interview with the Sex Pistols. He also reminisces about running the Fake Club in L.A., working in advertising in Tokyo, and ending up as CompuServe's head of content back in the UK. 

After a brief digression on the subject of Stefani "Lady Gaga" Germanotta – with Mark & Jasper almost coming to cultural blows – Jonh offers his thoughts on John Peel, subject of the week's knew audio interview. We hear clips of the beloved DJ talking to Martin Aston in 1989, prompting recall of the great man's self-effacing radio personality and his incalculable impact on all forms of alternative music. Mark talks us through highlights of the week's new library pieces , including Nat King Cole's last-ever interview before his death in 1965 and a 69-year-old Cab Calloway speaking to Philip Elwood in 1976. Jasper concludes matters by discoursing on French quartet Phoenix, Malian master Ali Farka Touré and jazz legend George Russell. 

Many thanks to special guest Jonh Ingham, whose book Spirit of '76 is available online at Blackwell's and all other good bookshops.

The Rock's Backpages podcast is proud to be part of the Pantheon podcast network.

Pieces discussed: Aretha Franklin, Sex Pistols, Punk, Lady Gaga, Lady more Gaga, Lady most Gaga, John Peel audio, Nat King Cole, Hendrix etc., Grateful Dead + Miles Davis, Cab Calloway, Earth, Wind & Fire's Maurice White, Aphex Twin, Phoenix, Ali Farka Touré, Daft Punk and George Russell.