This week we are joined by Ride bassist Steve Queralt to discuss his new album Swallow - which is out now on Sonic Cathedral featuring contributions from Emma Anderson (Lush) & Verity Susman (Memorials).

We also delve into the history of Ride starting in Oxford in the late 1980s where Steve met Andy Bell & Mark Gardner at college, even making a recording of Freedom by George Michael with Andy.

What we now know as the classic Ride sound comes together organically in rehearsals & after almost signing for Warners the band come to the attention of Alan McGee & end up signing with Creation Records.

The first 3 EPs come out in quick succession followed by debut album Nowhere in the autumn of 1990. Tours with Lush, Slowdive & the Pale Saints follow & 2nd album Going Blank again is produced by Alan Moulder following a positive experience with Alan mixing the previous album.

The lead single Leave Them All Behind clocks in at over 8 minutes in length & breaks the top 10 of the singles chart, reaching number 9, marking probably the commercial peak of the shoegaze genre.

Things start to unravel on 3rd album Carnival of Light with John Leckie producing. The album comes out in 1994 but fails to reach the heights of its predecessors - and amid tensions within the band & after quickly releasing the Tarantula album, Ride come to an end in 1996.

Ride do reform in 2015 & it becomes one of the more successful reunions of recent years producing 3 albums & a number of tours & high profile festival appearances, including playing debut album Nowhere in its entirety.

It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps

It is hugely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music Maps & can spare the time to do either we would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/events

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

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Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Music by Andy Maxwell

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This week we travel back 20 years to 2005 with writer Paul Vallely to hear about Live 8, the G8 summit, Bob Geldof & Bono & more.

So it starts in 1997 with the landslide general election win for Tony Blair & New Labour. The government will ultimately be sympathetic to the issues of debt & aid which come to the fore eight years later with the huge gig in Hyde Park in London the week before the crucial G8 leaders summit in Gleneagles.

We hear about Bono's appearance at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton where he famously likened Tony Blair & Gordon Brown to Lennon & McCartney.

Also in 2004 is the new Band Air recording headed by Nigel Godrich featuring Paul McCartney, Chris Martin from Coldplay & Bono amongst others.

But Bob Geldof doesn't think another gig would have the same impact as the original Live Aid in 1985 at Wembley Stadium, but he changes his mind when Bono pitches to him 'it was 20 years ago today' with Paul McCartney opening the show with U2.

We hear about the difficulty in getting Hyde Park as the venue & convincing the Royal Parks people to allow an extra 200,000 people to watch on screen in addition to the 300,000 attendees. Bob also convinces original Band Aid cover artist Peter Blake to produce a new artwork for the 2005 edition.

But perhaps the toughest feat he pulls off is convincing Pink Floyd to appear for their first gig in years - we hear how he convinced them to reform & share the stage with more modern acts such as Coldplay with Richard Ashcroft, Elton John with Pete Doherty, Dido, Razorlight, , Ms Dynamite, Travis, Scissor Sisters, Mariah Carey, Joss Stone & Stereophonics with Bill Gates, Will Smith & Brad Pitt all appearing too.

We hear about the near misses including the Rolling Stones & a possible mini Beatles reunion & the old guard are also represented with Paul McCartney closing the show & George Michael returning after also appearing back in 1985.

It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps

It is hugely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music Maps & can spare the time to do either we would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/events

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Music by Andy Maxwell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are joined by Peter Jesperson as he tells us about his time spent with R.E.M. & his role in Twin Tone Records in the twin cities of Minneapolis/St.Paul. We also squeeze in a couple of stories about his time around Alex Chilton & the 1993 Big Star reunion.

Peter's career began importing records into Minneapolis from the UK at legendary record store Oar Folk, specifically the first release Beatles albums with the UK tracklistings.

While at Oar Folk the store pioneered in-store appearances & gigs from bands passing through Minnesota including Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson, Graham Parker, Pere Ubu, Blondie, the Dead Boys, Devo, Ian Dury, The Only Ones & The Ramones (on no less than 3 separate occasions.

We hear about the important Twin Cities venues of the time - The Longhorn, The Depot, First Avenue, The Labor Temple & the 7th Street Entry,

From there Peter plays a key role in the founding of legendary indie label Twin Tone records with over 300 records released over 20 years & distributed by Rough Trade.

Bands based in the area during this time include Soul Asylum, The Replacements, Husker Du, the Suicide Commandos, Flamingo & more.

In 1981 Peter first hears 'Radio Free Europe' the debut release by R.E.M. & they play their first gig in the area on Thanksgiving of that same year. Over the next year the band are back in Minneapolis on 3 separate occasions & Peter gets to know them & starts joining them at gigs elsewhere.

The band invite him to become their Tour Manager & he unexpectedly ends up sharing a room with Michael Stipe. Peter drives the van into Shea Stadium as one of seven dates the band share with Sting & The Police.

After a year or so with R.E.M. Peter joins back up with the Replacements & his time with the band comes to an end.

It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps

It is hugely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music Maps & can spare the time to do either we would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/events

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Music by Andy Maxwell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.