Pop: The History Makers with Steve Blame

Nearly fifty years after Rattus Norvegicus, Hugh Cornwell is still writing new songs—and still asking what a song can become when he takes it onstage. He’s preparing Succubus, revisiting a lifetime of music on All the Fun of the Fair, and calling his forthcoming solo acoustic tour Never Say Goodbye.

So what is he saying goodbye to, and what is he moving towards? Hugh declined to appear on camera for this interview, so this time, listen in as we talk about the music he made with The Stranglers, his solo work, and the songs he has yet to write. He also discusses the possibility of Stranglers-only shows for the fiftieth anniversary of Rattus Norvegicus, and a film about his life that he says is being made.

Tour dates and tickets: https://www.hughcornwell.com/live/

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Before 10cc, Graham Gouldman had already written some of the defining songs of the 1960s—including “For Your Love,” “Heart Full of Soul,” “Bus Stop,” “Look Through Any Window” and “No Milk Today.” He then helped form one of Britain’s most inventive bands, creating classics including “I’m Not in Love,” “The Things We Do for Love” and “Dreadlock Holiday.”

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In this extensive career interview, Graham talks bout discovering songwriting, the extraordinary chemistry of 10cc, working with Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, and the circumstances that changed the band. He also discusses Wax and his creative partnership with Andrew Gold, producing the Ramones and the craft of writing songs that continue to connect with audiences across generations.

Graham Gouldman and his semi-acoustic band Heart Full of Songs will tour the UK in October 2026, performing material from across his remarkable career. Tickets are available from the venues and at www.grahamgouldman.info. HEART FULL OF SONGS 2026 TOUR 8 October — Corn Exchange Theatre, Stamford 9 October — The Stoller Hall, Manchester 10 October — Playhouse, Whitley Bay 11 October — Memorial Hall, Sheffield 13 October — The Stables, Wavendon 14 October — The Gate, Cardiff 15 October — The Hafren, Newtown 17 October — Lowther Pavilion, Lytham St Annes 18 October — Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry 19 October — City Varieties Music Hall, Leeds 20 October — Drill Hall, Lincoln 22 October — Saint Luke’s, Glasgow 23 October — Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh 24 October — Epstein Theatre, Liverpool 26 October — Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury 27 October — St George’s, Bristol 28 October — The Apex, Bury St Edmunds 29 October — Cadogan Hall, London Subscribe to Pop: The History Makers for more candid, in-depth conversations with the artists, songwriters and producers who changed popular culture. If you enjoy these independent interviews, you can support the channel using the Super Thanks button beneath the video.

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Haddaway created one of the most instantly recognisable songs in pop history. Released in 1993, “What Is Love” became an international phenomenon and one of the defining records of the Eurodance era.

But Haddaway’s story is far more complicated than a single worldwide hit.

Born in Trinidad, raised in the United States and launched to fame from Germany, Haddaway’s life has crossed countries, cultures and musical traditions. Before success arrived, he studied political science and history, played American football, worked in fashion and made music at night.

In this candid interview, Haddaway explains how he fought to retain control of his identity, voice and work—and why he refused an early offer for “What Is Love.” He discusses his creative relationship with producers Tony Hendrik and Karin Hartmann, the intervention of legendary record executive Clive Davis and the personal heartbreak that gave “What Is Love” its emotional power.

He also reflects on the extraordinary success of “Life,” “I Miss You” and “Rock My Heart”; the importance of MTV Europe; the sacrifices demanded by international fame; and the unexpected afterlife of “What Is Love” through Saturday Night Live, A Night at the Roxbury, Eminem and Lil Wayne’s “No Love,” and David Guetta’s “Baby Don’t Hurt Me.”

More than three decades after first asking the question, Haddaway explains what love means to him now: respect, communication, understanding and space.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

00:59 Life beside Lake Garda

01:35 Trinidad, identity and finding somewhere to belong

02:58 Learning music through the trumpet

03:50 Studying political science and history

05:44 Why Haddaway left America for Germany

06:44 American football, fashion and surviving in Cologne

07:12 The Haddaway name and protecting his identity

08:23 Fighting for control of “What Is Love”

09:21 Tony Hendrik, creative differences and learning to share

10:24 Refusing to imitate Joe Cocker and meeting Clive Davis

11:30 The heartbreak inside “What Is Love”

12:30 Meeting the woman who inspired the song again

13:05 The voice and performance that defined the record

14:16 When “What Is Love” became a cultural phenomenon

15:13 How worldwide fame changed his life

16:19 MTV Europe’s role in Haddaway’s success

17:09 Controlling his image, name and rights

18:29 What fame gave him—and what it took away

19:37 “Life,” “I Miss You” and the Ayrton Senna connection

20:39 Escaping the Eurodance label

21:02 The early Haddaway song that represents him best

21:55 What singing dance music really requires

22:45 Saturday Night Live and A Night at the Roxbury

24:11 Eminem and Lil Wayne’s “No Love”

24:54 David Guetta’s “Baby Don’t Hurt Me”

25:38 Being placed in the one-hit-wonder box

27:00 “The Sun” and taking complete creative responsibility

28:31 Optimism, responsibility and music with meaning

30:18 “Lift Your Head Up”

30:49 What if “What Is Love” had never succeeded?

31:34 The story behind his first name, Nestor

32:30 Why “What Is Love” remains a gift

33:13 Haddaway answers the question today

34:10 Closing thoughts

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My guest today is Chris Difford — songwriter, musician and co-founder of Squeeze, one of Britain’s most distinctive and enduring bands.

Together with Glenn Tilbrook, Chris created songs that turned everyday life into sharply observed pop: “Cool for Cats,” “Up the Junction,” “Tempted,” “Labelled with Love” and so many more.

His lyrics are filled with characters, conversations and small domestic details. They can be funny, uncomfortable, romantic and heartbreaking — sometimes within the same song.

But Chris’s story goes far beyond the hits. It is also about friendship, ambition, addiction, recovery, fatherhood and the complicated reality of keeping a creative partnership alive across more than five decades.

He has written for other artists, pursued a solo career, published his memoir and helped new songwriters find their own voices.

Chris Difford has never been afraid to examine the less polished parts of life — or himself. So today, I want to discover the stories behind those remarkable songs, the experiences that shaped the man who wrote them, and what he has learned from a lifetime spent turning real life into music.

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Squeeze UK tour dates 2026

The following British dates are part of the Tried, Tested and Trixies Tour, with special guest Billy Bragg:

12 November — OVO Hydro, Glasgow

13 November — Opera House, Blackpool

14 November — Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham

16 November — O2 City Hall, Newcastle

17 November — The Globe, Stockton

19 November — Connexin Live, Hull

20 November — First Direct Arena, Leeds

21 November — M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool2

3 November — O2 Apollo, Manchester

26 November — The O2, London

27 November — Cardiff Arena, Cardiff

28 November — Utilita Arena, Birmingham

30 November — Swansea Arena, Swansea

1 December — Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth

4 December — BIC, Bournemouth

5 December — Brighton Centre, Brighton

Tickets;

https://www.squeezeofficial.com/home/

#ChrisDifford #Squeeze #GlennTilbrook #Trixies #UpTheJunction #CoolForCats #Tempted #PullingMussels #LabelledWithLove #BlackCoffeeInBed #TakeMeImYours #AnotherNailInMyHeart #Songwriting #BritishSongwriters #BritishMusic #NewWave #MusicInterview #MusicHistory #BehindTheSongs #PopTheHistoryMakers

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After a 21-year hiatus, Gene returned last year to perform three sold-out comeback shows, including a triumphant night performing to 5300 fans at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, where the band’s classic line-up of Martin Rossiter (vocals), Matt James (drums), Steve Mason (guitars) and Kevin Miles (bass) delivered one of the stand-out performances of their career. That performance was captured on the live album, ‘Apollo’, which upon its release in April this year reached Number 1 on the Official Record Store Chart, Number 2 on the Independent Albums Chart, and Number 8 on the Physical Albums Chart.

Gene return to London to play two shows at the Roundhouse in Camden on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th October, where they will perform a different set each night, before playing their first North American tour in 24 years in November. Tickets for all shows are on sale now, available from https://www.geneofficial.com/live/

Gene is the one of the most distinctive British bands to emerge during the 1990s. And Martin Rossiter is the singer, lyricist and unmistakable voice of Gene.

Gene’s first single, “For the Dead,” originally reached No. 86 in 1994—but when it was rereleased two years later, it climbed to No. 14, becoming the band’s highest-charting UK single. It formed part of an impressive run that included “Sleep Well Tonight,” “Olympian,” “Fighting Fit,” “We Could Be Kings” and “Where Are They Now?”

As Martin says of Gene’s extraordinary trajectory: “We took off like Concorde and landed like the Wright Brothers.”

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In this revealing and frequently funny conversation, Martin talks about the formation of Gene, the speed of their success and the pressures that followed. He discusses the stories behind the songs, the comparisons with Morrissey, the hostility and mockery he encountered during the Britpop years, and why the band eventually came to an end.

He also speaks candidly about sexuality, depression, fatherhood, becoming a teacher and the very different life he built after Gene. Now, with the band back onstage, Martin reflects on what those songs—and the people who created them—mean to him today.

This is Martin Rossiter: honest, provocative, self-deprecating and still entirely himself.

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Miles Hunt has never been interested in fitting neatly into anyone else’s idea of who he should be.

As the singer, songwriter and frontman of The Wonder Stuff, he became one of the most distinctive voices in British alternative music. Formed in Stourbridge in 1986, the band broke through with an unmistakable combination of guitars, sharp pop instincts and lyrics filled with humour, frustration and brutally honest observation.

Songs including “Unbearable,” “Give, Give, Give Me More, More, More,” “A Wish Away,” “Don’t Let Me Down, Gently,” “The Size of a Cow” and “Welcome to the Cheap Seats” captured the intelligence, irreverence and restless energy that made The Wonder Stuff stand apart. Their collaboration with comedian Vic Reeves on “Dizzy” took them to number one in the UK.

Miles brought the same qualities to interviews that he brought to his songwriting: honesty, directness and a refusal to hide behind carefully rehearsed answers. He could be provocative and cutting, but also self-deprecating, unexpectedly vulnerable and very funny. Behind the confidence was someone determined to question success, the music business and his own choices rather than simply repeat the accepted version of events.

In this interview, Miles talks about growing up in Stourbridge, the impact of punk, finding his voice and learning to trust his instincts. He reflects on ambition, friendship, loss, creativity, getting older and the courage it takes to remain yourself in an industry that constantly tries to tell you who to be.

An open, funny and thoughtful conversation with an artist who has spent four decades choosing authenticity over expectation—and who still has plenty to say.

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The Wonder Stuff & Inspiral Carpets — UK Tour 2026

1 October — Newcastle, O2 City Hall

2 October — Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse

3 October — Sheffield, The Octagon Centre

8 October — Brighton, Brighton Dome

9 October — Bournemouth, O2 Academy

10 October — Margate, Dreamland (Hall by the Sea)

14 October — Glasgow, Barrowland

15 October — Cardiff, Great Hall

16 October — Leeds, O2 Academy

17 October — Leicester, O2 Academy

22 October — Scarborough, Scarborough Spa

23 October - Bristol O2 Academy

24 October — Norwich, University of East Anglia

29 October — Lincoln, Engine Shed

30 October — Wolverhampton, Civic Hall

31 October — Liverpool, Olympia

8 December — London, O2 Academy Brixton

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Trevor Horn is one of the architects of modern pop music—a musician, songwriter and producer who transformed the recording studio into an instrument in its own right.

After achieving international success with the Buggles and “Video Killed the Radio Star,” Trevor briefly became the lead singer of Yes before establishing himself as one of the most innovative producers of his generation. Through records by ABC, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Grace Jones, the Art of Noise, Pet Shop Boys and Seal, he combined emerging technology with meticulous musicianship to create music that sounded bigger, stranger and more dramatic than almost anything else on the radio.

In this interview, Trevor talks about the instincts, accidents and extraordinary encounters behind those records—including the moment he first heard Seal’s voice and thought it was the best he had ever heard. He also discusses ambition, perfectionism, collaboration and what it takes to recognise something exceptional before the rest of the world hears it.

This is the story of the man who didn’t simply produce hit records—he helped invent the sound of the future.

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Trevor Horn and His Band

3 December — Leamington Spa Assembly

4 December — Independent, Sunderland

5 December — Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh

9 December — O2 Academy Leeds

10 December — O2 Academy Liverpool

11 December — O2 Academy Bristol

15 December — Tramshed, Cardiff

16 December — O2 Institute Birmingham

17 December — O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London

19 December — O2 Ritz, Manchester

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Mari Wilson is one of Britain’s most distinctive pop stylists — a singer who turned retro glamour, wit, and musical intelligence into a career entirely her own. Rising to fame in the early 1980s with hits including Just What I Always Wanted, Cry Me a River, and Wonderful to Be With, she became instantly recognisable through her iconic beehive image and sharply defined pop persona.

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But Mari’s story reaches far beyond chart success. She later sang with Stan Getz, toured with Ronnie Scott, appeared on stage with Soft Cell, and built a richly varied career spanning theatre, cabaret, and live performance. She also played Dusty Springfield in Dusty The Musical, a fitting role for an artist so closely associated with sophisticated pop and torch-song drama.

More than a decade after Pop Deluxe in 2016, Mari now returns with her forthcoming album Girl About Town, led by the single Good News, proving once again that style, individuality, and great songs never go out of fashion.

Good News, her brand new album - Girl About Town was out on the 4th of September 2026.

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More information at www.mariwilson.co.uk

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Tom Bailey joins me to discuss the rebellion, curiosity and creative experimentation behind the Thompson Twins—one of the defining British pop groups of the 1980s.

With their distinctive fusion of pop, new wave, percussion and synthesizers, the Thompson Twins achieved major success on both sides of the Atlantic with songs including Hold Me Now, Doctor! Doctor!, Love on Your Side, Lies, You Take Me Up, Lay Your Hands on Me and King for a Day.

They also appeared at Live Aid in Philadelphia, joined by Nile Rodgers on guitar and Madonna on backing vocals.

In this conversation, Tom reflects on the band's extraordinary journey, breaking America, his approach to songwriting and production, and the spirit of curiosity that has defined his entire career. We explore how his travels in India transformed his outlook on music and life, eventually leading to the formation of his Indo-Western fusion project Babble, before later embracing electronic music with International Observer and returning to the stage as Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey.

Today, alongside performing the Thompson Twins' greatest hits, Tom continues to celebrate a lifetime of musical exploration, including material from his solo album Science Fiction.

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Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey will perform the Thompson Twins' greatest hits across the UK in September 2026, with special guests Blancmange, led by Tom's longtime friend and fellow synth-pop pioneer Neil Arthur.

Tickets are on sale now:

https://www.alttickets.com/thompson-twins-tom-bailey-tickets

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Some artists become part of the soundtrack of a generation. Clare Grogan managed to do that before she was twenty.

As the singer of Altered Images, she helped create some of the most distinctive and joyful pop music of the early 1980s. Songs such as Happy Birthday, I Could Be Happy, See Those Eyes and Don't Talk to Me About Love combined infectious melodies with a sense of individuality that set the band apart from their contemporaries. At the same time, Clare became one of the defining faces of her generation through her starring role in the classic film Gregory's Girl.

More than four decades later, those songs continue to resonate. New audiences continue to discover Altered Images, while those who were there the first time around have never forgotten them.

Now Clare is preparing for a special UK tour celebrating Altered Images' landmark debut album Happy Birthday. Marking the album's 45th anniversary, the tour will see Clare and her band perform the record in its entirety for the first time, before returning for a second set featuring many of the group's biggest hits. The tour shines a spotlight on the album that launched one of Britain's most distinctive pop careers and remains one of the defining records of the post-punk era.

In this conversation, Clare looks back on growing up in Glasgow, discovering punk, forming Altered Images with fellow members of the Siouxsie and the Banshees fan club, the whirlwind years of chart success, working with producers Martin Rushent, Mike Chapman and Tony Visconti, balancing life as both a pop star and actress, and why these songs continue to connect with audiences more than forty years after they were first recorded.

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From Glasgow schoolgirl to pop icon, from Gregory's Girl to Happy Birthday, this is the story of an artist whose work remains as fresh, vibrant and relevant as ever.

Tour Dates

11 September 2026 Picturedome Holmfirth, UK

12 September 2026 Town Hall Birmingham, UK

13 September 2026 Lowther Pavillion Lytham, UK

15 September 2026 Band On The Wall Manchester, UK

16 September 2026 The Grove Newcastle, UK

18 September 2026 The Factory Live Worthing, UK

19 September 2026 Phoenix Exeter, UK

23 September 2026 St Lukes Glasgow, UK

24 September 2026 Old Fire Station Carlisle, UK

25 September 2026 Liquid Rooms Edinburgh, UK

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