Its the first episode in our quest to create our 40 greatest Scottish Albums list. Therefore there is a bit of scene setting, rules of engagement chat etc.

However, we also had time to look at the 30 albums voted on X already ( with Zoom cutting half of the hosts head off screen!) , extract some 'die on that hill' Top 5 nominations from the podcast panel, and get Mike Scott from The Waterboys to confirm that, he is indeed, Scottish!This is the river, who knows where the sea is....Till next time. enjoy and stay safe.

For this episode of Live Music & Me, our guest was The Farm’s singer/songwriter, Peter Hooton. We had a hunch that Peter would have stories to tell, and we weren’t wrong.

Our chat started off with Peter telling us that A.I. doesn’t know that the Sensational Alex Harvey Band could have been his first gig, to getting caught by his dad bunking off school to buy gig tickets, to being barricaded in an Edinburgh venue dressing room with Madness, the gig memories came thick and fast.

We also discovered that Alan McGee ( Creation Records) stands his round at the bar, and that pub crawls with The Clash around Paris are as much fun as they sound. AND, although Peter isn’t a fan generally of Live Albums, he did recommend an absolute belter from the Main In Black to finish with.

In addition to all that, we managed to squeeze in a bit of chat about The Farm’s recent album release ( it’s very good!), and as importantly, their three night residency at the mighty Barrowlands with The Happy Mondays in the spring of 2026.

Big thanks to Peter ( the original Urchin Rocker)

Enjoy, and stay safe

We have covered a lot of musical ground across the 30 odd Live Music & Me podcasts we have done so far. However, on this episode, our guest, the singer/songwriter and artist Peter Coyle ( The Lotus Eaters) covers more than most.

From a first gig that could have been Queen, Bush, Magazineor Ultravox (no, really) – to sharing the same stage as Bowie (but not at the same time), to being in a phone box next to Costello (who was also in a phone box), Peter brought his A-game throughout.

We also covered celebrities who can’t drive, bands with multiple drummers on stage at the same time, and carrying 15 books from the library with Pete Wylie (who also had 15 apparently!) Lastly, we also got ourfirst ‘ prog’ live album recommendation...

We always have great fun doing these, and this one was no different, and a big merci beaucoup! to Peter for taking the time to join us from the south of France.

Enjoy and stay safe.

NB. Peter continues to actively record and perform and has anew single coming out towards the end of September 2025. Full details on his Facebook page or at www.petercoyle.com

We love all of our podcast guests - however there are a couple of guests that we have been that little bit extra excited to chat to. The music writer/journalist Paolo Hewitt was on that list.

The first music biog we purchased in 1983 was A Beat Concerto ( The Jam) - written by Paolo, so we go back a long way. And so does Paolo as his gig memories confirmed. From a first gig at The Reading Festival in the rain in 1973, ( when he wished he was in Jamaica), to multiple teenage gigs at Guilford Civic Hall seeing the great & the good , to falling out with Springsteen, Paolo was on top form.

And of course, we couldn't help but chat a bit about his close connections to The Jam, Weller & Oasis ( including being the DJ at Knebworth 96) To top it all off, we got a couple of killer live albums recommendations ( one we were very pleased to get!) Our 45 minute chat flew by, and hope that the fun we had making it comes across when you give it a listen.

Thanks again for listening. Until next time, enjoy & stay safe.

Paolo is still very active - and you can catch up with him on YouTube @paolohewittmavericks  and Facebook @paolohewitt1

For our latest episode of Live Music & Me, our guest was the Scottish singer/songwriter & musician Dean Owens.

Deans live music journey has been ‘ eclectic’ to say the least, and his gig list includes a first gig seeing a famous TV presenter and a second gig seeing an equally famous children’s TV group. We also managed to discuss margarine, and one of Dean’s band members getting police protection in the local hospital. No, really…

In between all that, we did manage to chat about some cracking gigs, including Simple Minds, The Waterboys & the SBSW Festival. AND,Dean gave us 2 great live album recommendations, one of which was new to us (and it’s a belter).

It was an hour in Dean’s company that flew by. Big thanks to Dean, and we are sure you will get lots of enjoyment from this one.

Until next time, enjoy, and stay safe.

PS If anyone knows a Julie Pentland from Edinburgh, can you let her know that Dean says hello :-)

After 6 months, and voting on over 350 songs, we came to our final podcast discussion on Scotland's 30 Greatest Songs. Our friends on Twitter/X had already decided that Nothing Ever Happens by Del Amitri was the No 1 song - our podcast panel had the chance to debate this, and indeed the full top 10 that was voted in. Suffice to say, they weren't in agreement! We also managed to chat about tin hats, Anchorman & punching Danny Wilson ( no, really). And, we also had an offer from Colin to sing at Donna's wedding ( and a quick song rendition from Colin too) More importantly, our panel & friends got the chance to put together an alternative Top 10 ( which in turn generated a new number 1) Its been so much fun doing this series, and big thanks to Caroline, Donna & Colin for helping us sign this one off.( and for putting up with a couple of Zoom gremlins) We did chat about possible topics for our next podcast series, however thats all for another day...Until next time, enjoy and stay safe.

The title of our podcast suggests that our guests will havesome sort of musical connection. However, it doesn’t preclude us from getting guests on from other genres that are keen to talk about their gig history!

Therefore, for this episode we were delighted to be joined bythe comedian & writer Jo Caulfield. We were pretty sure that Jo would talk with passion & humour about the concerts she has been to, and from the get-go trying to work out whether her first gig was at Rock City or De MontfordHall, we were right!

We got stories about seeking forgiveness for sneaking to agig in London whilst still in school ( from the Midlands!) , to seeing The Skids leading a mass TV Stars/Albert Tatlock singalong in a support slot, to her husband going to one of her bucket list gigs without her, Jo was on very good form. And, 28 podcasts in, we also got first time name checks for bothGeorge Melley & the Bluberry Hellbelly’s.

We have so much fun doing these podcasts, and it wasabsolute pleasure to have Jo on as a guest. Just don’t ask her about playing a stand up gig in Belfast….

Until next time, enjoy & stay safe.

It was all going so well. Voting Party's going great on X, lots of love in our virtual room, some amazing songs getting voted through to the Finals. And then....we get to the 2000-2025 nominated songs. In a word, carnage.

107 songs voted on, only 14 voted through. Lots of big hitters missing out, and recriminations aplenty amongst our music friends. It is with this backdrop that our latest podcast was recorded, with our resident BCP panel member Caroline Binnie & the ( award winning) writer Julie Rea tasked with steering our music boat into calmer waters. Did they succeed? In a word, no.

The panel did manage to vote 4 songs from the 2000-2025 'red' list back into the Finals ( all bangers too) - however, they also insisted that our ' max 2 songs per artist' remains a hard backstop. This in turn means that songs from four of our very favourite bands will have to be voted on again ( Julie & Caroline kindly gave us their suggestions)

However, we finished the chat on a high, by agreeing how we should get from our current position of having over 100 songs in the Finals, to arriving at our Final 30 ( and ultimately our overall No1). Whatever the final 30 looks like, you cant say we didn't have a go...

Until next time, enjoy & stay safe.

Our latest Live Music & Me guest was the singer/songwriter Xan Tyler. We were pretty sure that Xan would have some pretty good stories to share, and she did. From a first gig at Knebworth, to travelling to NYC for a first gig date, to missing Patti Smith playing at the Doune The Rabbit Hole festival, there was plenty going on.

Xan also got mentions for 2 gig venues we haven't had before ( the Panopticon Glasgow & the Byron Bay Blues Festival, Australia), and, more importantly, gave us the lowdown on how to get the best seats at Ronnie Scotts ( if you are female) Oh, and let's not forget the tribute band WhamDuran. No, really....We had great fun doing this one, hope you enjoy it too.

Stay safe

PS Her 'one live album to own' recommendation was so good, we purchased a copy.

Our guest for this episode of Live Music & Me was the very wonderful musician, arranger & author Helen O Hara - and 25 episodes in we are still pulling rabbits out the proverbial gig hat. For example, we're pretty sure Helen was the first guest to get Ozzy Osbourne, James Brown & a Commonwealth Games closing ceremony into her gig answers. And it was definitely the first time that we could tell our guest that they were the answer to one of the hosts gig questions ( first date with a partner). And, on top of all that, we also managed to forget to chat about the legend that is Nicky Hopkin ( who Helen recorded with) until AFTER the cameras stopped rolling!

Thankfully there was more than enough content to keep the conversation flowing - and of course it was lovely to get a couple of Dexys Midnight Runners anecdotes thrown in too from Helen ( loads more in her memoir What's She Like which is highly recommended). Helen was a delight to chat to, and we hope that comes across when you get the opportunity to watch/listen. Until next time. Enjoy, and stay safe.