Fistful of Chords

Upbeat song about an all-encompassing love in a complicated world. Lyrics by Jim. Music, all instrumentation and backing vocals by Gary Parkinson.

Sentimental song about the passage of time. Lyrics by Jim, music by Tim Allard. Performed live at The Star Guildford by The Renegades in February 2022. The photo is of three of The Renegades taken at Sussex University in 1992, a period that this song is directly written about.

Comic song about the dangers of overdoing it with alcohol. Lyrics by Jim, music by Tim and Adam.

Raw studio rehearsal from The Premises (2022). Slightly sneering written from a Gen X perspective about Gen Z and social media! Lyrics by Jim and music by Adam.

A song about the pain of a fictional break-up. Lyrics by Jim and music by Adam.

Song about a visit by Jim to an old folks' home in Toronto. Lyrics by Jim, music by Adam, and piano by Tim Allard.

Song about a mythical annoying work colleague. Lyrics by Jim, music by Adam Miller, and keys from Tim Allard.

Song starts after about 8 seconds....Live rehearsal recording at Fiction Studios, Holborn. Lyrics by Jim and music by Adam Miller and Tim Allard.

Words by Jim. Music by Adam Miller and co-vocals by Marie Miller.

Lyrics and music by Adam Miller. Sung by Jim. Video link here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaBmDwE9wyQ

Song written by Jim and the Tall Man. Sung by Jim.

The obligatory COVID song! Written and sung by Jim, with music by Adam Miller. Video link here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vXyFFuD11E

Song about the Brexit debacle by The Renegades, with lyrics and vocals by Jim. Video link here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ivbokuoOY&t=40s

Song by The Renegades, with Jim on vocals. Lyrics by Jim Drury and music by The Tall Man. The song is about a horrible orange-skinned populist you'll know well. Video link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAHhDLXL3WI

Comedy and acting legend Nigel Planer has enjoyed an illustrious career over four decades. Enjoying No. 1 and No. 2 chart hits, in character as Neil from The Young Ones, Planer is no stranger to the music business. He's teamed up with songwriter Neil Avery to record an album of new songs, which the pair discuss here. Planer also talks about his music career, including dodging bottles of urine at The Monsters of Rock Festival and messing about outside the gents' toilets with Status Quo at the Band Aid recordings.

Ahead of the release of solo album 'Too Bold', Shingai tells Jim Drury about the new record and the many highlights of her career, both in The Noisettes and as a lone artist. Shingai also reveals how the exploitation of black female singers by the music industry riles her, how she performed weekly online concerts with her family during lockdown, and why she is optimistic about the future for entertainment, despite its current travails.

Preview of September 30 podcast interview with Shingai, ahead of the release of her solo album 'Too Bold' on October 12. Shingai tells Jim Drury about how the record contains the most personal songs of her career.

Mike Stock, creative genius at the heart of Stock Aitken and Waterman's 'Hit Factory', says a concerted attempt by the record industry to derail SAW's success ended the songwriting-production team's chart domination. In part 2 of this podcast, Stock also reflects on how the music business ignored his warning that the advent of the internet threatened their entire business model.

Cult with No Name frontman Erik Stein tells Jim Drury about recording 10 albums in 14 years, writing the music for the movie Blue Velvet Revisited, and how his early teenage gigs involved using an ironing board as part of his stage equipment!

As arguably the most vital member of the songwriting machine that was Stock Aitken Waterman, Mike Stock is one of the most successful songwriters of all time, holding the record for the most No. 1 records with different acts. In Part 1 of his interview, Stock tells Jim Drury how he started in the business, how some of the biggest SAW hits were created, and how Donna Summer could sing the phone directory and make it sound great....while other SAW artists couldn't.