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Terence Trent D'Arby: "I was killed when I was 27": the curious afterlife of Terence Trent D'Arby

Interview by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 9 October 2015

Terence Trent D'Arby's 1987 debut album sold a million copies in three days. The music press went mad for him. Where was there to go ...

Billy Joel Gets the Blues

Interview by Ira Robbins, Newsday, 10 August 1993

JOHN SEBASTIAN of the Lovin' Spoonful was all of 22 when he sang, "I think I've come to see myself at last." ...

Bright Eyes: That Vision Thing

Interview by Stevie Chick, MOJO, April 2007

As Bright Eyes he's spent half his 27 years as the boozy Dylan of disaffected youth. On the eve of a new album, Stevie Chick ...

Kate Bush: Not Drowning But Waving

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, January 2017

Forty years into her career, Kate Bush is still looking for fresh ways to exhaust herself. Before The Dawn, her run of 22 live shows ...

Warren Zevon: How L.A.'s 'Excitable Boy' Won the Battle with the Bottle

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 10 April 1980

"L.A. rock's newest darling desperado, Warren Zevon, likes to start his day with a screwdriver, then clear his head with coffee and a side of ...

Pretenders, The, Chrissie Hynde: The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde (2010)

Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages Audio, 22 January 2010

The Pretenders frontwoman on songwriting and songs; being a band member, and an extended exposition on her vegetarianism and the brutality of the meat business.

File format: mp3; file size: 70.8mb, interview length: 1h 17' 22" sound quality: *** (phoner)

Elton John (1971)

Interview by Rick McGrath, Mike Quigley, Rock's Backpages audio, 22 April 1971

Elton chats backstage about doing interviews; the Friends soundtrack and the 17-11-70 live album; on being hyped and the hype machine; doing TV with Andy Williams; on why he likes Canada; on Liberace; on his own style, and his hero worship of Leon Russell.

File format: mp3; file size: 11.7mb, interview length: 27' 56" sound quality: **½

Warren Zevon (2000)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages Audio, May 2000

Taking tea in Soho's brand-new Sanderson Hotel, the great singer-songwriter talks about... well, almost everything: getting older; being perceived as a "dark" moralist; not being commercial; his good pal Jackson Browne; David Geffen; addiction, sobriety and therapy; his parents; plus songwriting and his diffidence in talking about it.

File format: mp3; total file size: 43.6mb, interview length: 45' 22" sound quality: ***

Bob Dylan (1991)

Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages Audio, 4 April 1991

Bob on why he writes songs, how he writes songs, what he writes songs about, what he doesn't write songs about, the keys he writes songs in, where he likes to write songs, what songs are and aren't, and some memories of his own songs.

File format: mp3; file size: 75.5mb, interview length: 1h 22' 29" sound quality: **½

Tony Joe White (1977)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages Audio, June 1977

The Louisiana Swamp God on having his best stuff rejected by Warner Bros.; selling songs to others, and his pleasure at some of their versions; Elvis doing 'Polk Salad Annie'; on songwriting; on being compared to Barry White; on going fishing with his mom, and eating catfish; his new album, Eyes, and looking back at how he got started.

File format: mp3; file size: 21.9mb, interview length: 22' 47" sound quality: *****

David Crosby, Crosby Stills and Nash, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash: Joni Mitchell (1983)

Interview by Dave Zimmer, Rock's Backpages Audio, February 1983

Joni talks about the Canyon scene: the people, her house, what it was like; she talks about playing the coffee house circuit in New York, and meeting David Crosby; leaving New York for Los Angeles; Crosby producing her first album; meeting the foppishly dressed Graham Nash; and Crosby, Stills & Nash getting together; she then talks about not getting to Woodstock, and subsequently writing the song.

File format: mp3; file size: 26.8mb; Interview length: 27' 54"; sound quality: **

Beatles, The, Paul McCartney: The Untold Stories of Paul McCartney

Interview by Chris Heath, GQ, 11 September 2018

He's as famous and accomplished as a man can be. He could just stay home, relax, and count his money. But Paul McCartney is as ...

Supremes, The, Four Tops, The, Lamont Dozier: Holland-Dozier-Holland: This Tamla Trio Top The Hitmakers Chart

Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 28 January 1967

HOLLAND-DOZIER-Holland may sound like a firm of solicitors, but they must rank among the most prolific songwriting teams in history. ...

Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel: Paul Simon: 'I Thought I Was a Has-Been at 19'

Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 30 April 1966

PAUL SIMON is the composer of 21 songs, most of which have been put to work for him very profitably. ...

Ivy League, The: The Ivy League: Songwriting Hit-Makers

Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 13 February 1965

FROM INSIDE the music publisher's office came the familiar sounds of creation, Tin Pan Alley style — tentative chords being hammered out on a piano ...

Delaney & Bonnie, Jackie DeShannon: Jackie DeShannon: The girl who began when she was two

Interview by Maureen Cleave, The Evening Standard, 24 October 1964

JACKIE DeSHANNON might be considered an alarming girl. She is one of those prodigies in whom the Americans seem to specialise. She appeared on the ...

Tom Paxton: A Portrait of Paxton

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 7 October 1967

THERE ARE just seven clear free days in the crowded schedule of Tom Paxton, who arrived in Britain this week for a three-week stay which ...

Judee Sill Leaves Out the Juicy Bits

Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 8 April 1972

"WHERE WOULD you like me to start? Past, present or future?" exclaimed the cat-like figure that swooped in and instantly slid on to the sofa. ...

Crosby and Nash: Harmony and Discord

Interview by Sid Griffin, MOJO, May 2005

In the UK for the first time since 1978, David Crosby and Graham Nash discuss their musical and personal bond. ...

Paul Weller: Sins Of The Modfather: Paul Weller Speaks About Leaving His Comfort Zone

Interview by Julian Marszalek, The Quietus, 19 April 2010

After running into Paul Weller at a Sunn O))) gig last year, The Quietus have been obsessed with finding out exactly how deep Paul Weller's ...