Did Billy Bragg and the Manic Street Preachers ever make up and get over their toilet differences after the Welsh rockers brought their own toilet to Glastonbury once.

 

It was at Glastonbury 1999 when the Manics came up with their own take on BYOB (Bring Your Own Bog), Billy Bragg accused them of going against everything the festival stood for and forgetting their socialist values. He took particular issue to the handwritten notice on the door, "These facilities are reserved exclusively for the Manic Street Preachers."

The case for Ricky & Tony is to find out if they ever got over the spat so as ever they have the experts at hand. Will Orchard is the organiser of Kendall Calling festival who booked the Manics in 2019, are they still in the habit of bringing their own toilets? And to find out how celebrities get over their differences, mediator to the stars, Gig Kyriacou in LA gives the inside scoop.

Never ones to get bogged down in the detail, it’s another case to solve for the Pop Detectives.

If you have a pop mystery you’d like solving get in touch at rickyandtony.com or email [email protected]

Tweet and follow the podcast @rickyandtonypod. See the office on Instagram

From Globe Productions 

Producer: Gareth Evans

Creative Producers: Will Nichols, Geoff Lloyd

Researcher: Eloise Carr

Did Avril Lavigne die and get replaced by a clone who’s been fooling fans for the last 17 years?        

The theory claims that Avril, struggling with fame having been thrust into the limelight at only 18, began using a body double named Melissa Vandella hired for her striking resemblance to Avril. At some point, the real Avril is said to have died, so the record company replaced her with Melissa full-time. 

The evidence is certainly intriguing but as always Ricky & Tony’s rolodex is on hand to get an expert opinion. Avril superfan Mika Itkin-Weinstein has spent an unhealthy amount of time looking into this case already having set up a petition to unite Avril and her clone Melissa for a photo, and to find out how cutting edge technology could help solve this case once and for all Ricky & Tony chat to the founder of face recognition app YOTI. 

A complicated case but for Ricky & Tony it’s another day in the office and no case goes unsolved...ever!

If you have a pop mystery you’d like solving get in touch at rickyandtony.com or email [email protected]

Tweet and follow the podcast @rickyandtonypod. See the office on Instagram

From Globe Productions 

Producer: Gareth Evans

Creative Producers: Will Nichols, Geoff Lloyd

Researcher: Eloise Carr

The latest case for Ricky and Tony involves the crazy world of SIlicon Valley and whether rapper Azaelia Banks was asked by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to make an amulet to ward off evil spirits, specifically, ISIS.                 

The story goes that in 2016, the Twitter boss sent some of his beard shavings to Banks so that she could make him an amulet that would protect him from ISIS in return for her promoting one of his apps. Firstly did this actually happen and if so does Azaelia Banks actually have the necessary magical powers?

To try and crack this strange case Ricky & Tony need some real experts, who better than an actual witch, ‘witch-for-hire’ Katrina Rusbold and someone who knows all about the strange goings on in Silicon Valley, undercover reporter and author Corey Pein.

It’s one of the more unusual cases to land on the desks of the Pop Detectives but if anyone can solve it, it’s these two!

If you have a pop mystery you’d like solving get in touch at rickyandtony.com or email [email protected]

Tweet and follow the podcast @rickyandtonypod. See the office on Instagram

From Globe Productions 

Producer: Gareth Evans

Creative Producers: Will Nichols, Geoff Lloyd

Researcher: Eloise Carr

Did Jimi Hendrix really conceal LSD beneath his famous bandana so that it seeped into his skin to get him high when on stage? It’s a new case for Ricky and Tony as they attempt to open their third eyes on the evidence.

As well as being part of his signature look, did the legendary Jimi Hendrix have another use for his bandana? Ricky and Tony receive a tip off that he used to use the headgear to conceal LSD when he played on stage and that it would actually keep him high as it seeped into his forehead.

Being committed pop detectives, Ricky and Tony are a bit in the dark when it comes to psychedelics and Tony was out in the North Sea for most of the 60s so have as always enlisted the help of experts in their field. 

They chat to Amanda Feilding, founder of psychedelic research group The Beckley Foundation who has spent her life researching drugs about how LSD works (and about the act of trepanation), and Dr Christian Lloyd, a Jimi Hendrix academic who knows a thing or two about the great man.

There’s a lot to get their heads around with this case but that won’t deter our pop detectives!

If you have a pop mystery you’d like solving get in touch at rickyandtony.com or email [email protected]

Tweet and follow the podcast @rickyandtonypod. See the office on Instagram

From Globe Productions 

Producer: Gareth Evans

Creative Producers: Will Nichols, Geoff Lloyd

Researcher: Eloise Carr

Did the famous rivalry between Prince and Michael Jackson get so heated in the early 80s that it could have changed music forever? It’s a new case for Ricky and Tony and naturally they’re on a mission to solve it!

 

The word on the street is that at a James Brown show in 1983, Prince felt he’d be made to look a fool on stage by MJ and got so mad that he asked his limo driver to try and run him and La Toya down. You can watch the YouTube footage for yourself here!

 

Luckily, Ricky & Tony’s intelligence web stretches deep into Hollywood and they have the experts on hand to shed more light on the situation. Ricky has Prince superfan Casey Rain on hand to give his side of the story and biographer and fountain of MJ knowledge Steve Knopper shares his intel. 

 

Could a moonwalk, a few body pops and some killer riffs have resulted in a pop showdown with a tragic end, or has the rumour mill gone into overdrive? The Pop Detectives are on the case!

If you have a pop mystery you’d like solving leave a review or get in touch at rickyandtony.com or email [email protected]

 

Tweet and follow the podcast @rickyandtonypod. See the office on Instagram

From Globe Productions 

Producer: Gareth Evans

Creative Producers: Will Nichols, Geoff Lloyd

Researcher: Eloise Carr

It’s rumoured the world-round that Jennifer Lopez insured her backside, but is there truth in it? Can Ricky & Tony: Pop Detectives, get to the bottom of this one?

The evidence first surfaced in the tabloids (The Sun and the New York Post) in 1999 when they reported that Jennifer Lopez took out an insurance policy on her famous backside for up to $1 billion! 

Luckily, as the world’s leading pop detectives, Ricky & Tony have the experts on hand who can help them crack the case. Their man in insurance, Charlie Boyd from Lloyds Of London knows all about insuring famous body parts and if there’s anybody who can give them the inside scoop on J.Lo, it’s the world’s most famous J.Lo impersonator, Connie Peña, direct from LA.

Could J.Lo really put in a claim for a billion dollars if she sat on a cactus? Ricky & Tony are on the case!

If you have a pop mystery you’d like solving get in touch at rickyandtony.com or email [email protected]

Tweet and follow the podcast @rickyandtonypod. See the office on Instagram

From Globe Productions 

Producer: Gareth Evans

Creative Producers: Will Nichols, Geoff Lloyd

Researcher: Eloise Carr

It’s Ricky’s first day on the job as a gumshoe apprentice and there’s a lot of evidence to go through. The story goes that one late night in Manhattan, Harry was picked up by a creepy but handsome man driving a VW Beetle but found she couldn’t get out. She luckily managed to make a run for it but years later was convinced the driver was none other than the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. 

 

Ricky & Tony’s black book is the envy of the pop detective world and to crack this case they need the best experts. An informant from the Alcatraz East Crime Museum who now own Ted Bundy’s car is sure to know the gritty details of that VW Bug and if there was ever an expert who could give the inside scoop on Ted Bundy, it’s self confessed ‘Bundyphile’ E.J Hammon.

 

Was the pop world very nearly deprived of Blondie, or was it a creepy case of mistaken identity? Ricky & Tony will find out, one way or another...

 

If you have a pop mystery you’d like solving get in touch at rickyandtony.com or email [email protected]

 

Tweet and follow the podcast @rickyandtonypod. See the office on Instagram

From Globe Productions 

Producer: Gareth Evans

Creative Producers: Will Nichols, Geoff Lloyd

Researcher: Eloise Carr

Coming Soon: Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson has taken up a new role as broadcasting legend Tony Blackburn's apprentice in Ricky & Tony's Pop Detective agency. The pair will be debunking pop myths and solving musical mysteries from their office just above a takeaway on the Holloway Road.