The Twilight Turntable

Tone brings Nick Lowe's 1978 box of tricks to the Turntable. Effortless pop sensibility. Biting criticism of the music industry. The occasional gruesome lyric. What will Paul make of this musical smorgasbord?

To find out, please try listening.

Tone slips Kate Bush's 1980 LP on to the Turntable. How will Paul receive the Fairlight-inspired work? What schoolday memories will the album evoke for Tone? What will the pair of them make of Kate's legendary 1979 BBC special?

For the answers to these questions - and more besides - please try listening.

It's all gone rather dark at The Twilight Turntable as Tone offers the Sisters of Mercy for Paul's consideration. Is Andrew Eldritch an admirable musician or "Gary the Goth"? Are we to take him seriously or is the joke on us? Who or what is Doktor Avalanche? And what's the deal with former bandmates the Mission and leather hats?

To find out, please try listening.

Steve Pringle joins Tone and Paul at the Turntable, bringing with him the Isley Brothers' 1973 album. Tales of lazy, hazy days and a glass of something nice; a relatively unheralded guitar hero; the Isleys as a family business; close harmonies; outlandish synth; multiple cover versions; and a "record in transition", bridging the gap between soul and funk.

How will Paul fare with two schoolmasters and "did he like it"? To find out, please try listening.

"Like a warm summer breeze", the Zombies' 1968 album blows through The Turntable. The pinnacle of a turbulent career? Something of a forgotten classic from a band that had already run its course? To find out...please try listening.

Tone offers up Billy Joel's 1982 album for Paul's consideration. But is he Billy the Balladeer? One of the finest and most under-rated song-writers of the twentieth century? Or a really good John Lennon tribute act? To find out, please try listening.

To kick off the new year, Tone asks Paul to consider Roxy Music's 'retro-futurist' classic from 1973. Is it - as Morrissey has suggested - "the only truly great British album"? Or a triumph of process over product? Please try listening to find out.

The estimable Ian Forth of Sombrero Fallout fame joins Tone and Paul at the Turntable. What will Paul make of The Human League's transition to a more commercial sound? What effect did the departure of two founding band members have? And what on earth happened to Phil Oakey on Tiswas?

To find out...please try listening.

Prefab Sprout's founder and bassist Martin McAloon joins Tone and Paul at the Turntable. Incredible technical insight. First-hand accounts of the recording process. Tales of minibar-dwelling musicians.

How will the lads react to the presence of one of their musical heroes? Please try listening to this bumper episode to find out.

B.C. Camplight arrives at the Turntable. What on earth will Tone make of it?

Please (oh please) try listening.