Spinners of Yarns

Bob Morris joins us to talk about growing up in East London, modernism, fashion of the 70s & 80s, music and football whilst following West Ham. He's often referred to as Bog Bob and if you've met him you'll know why.

We chatted man about town Tim Wells with regards growing up in London with music, fashion and pie & mash shops. Tim is known as a poet who came through during the early 80s with the ranting poets of the time such as Atilla the Stockbroker, Seething Wells and Porky the Poet. the interview also includes questions from political activist Saffiyah Khan.

Monkey from The Riders of the Night talks about his life from an early child through to present day with many escapades centred around his love of music and football. The Riders of the Night are best known as being the Arsenal band for their boys. Monkey also talks about his time playing with Jock McDonald in the Bollock Brothers.

We chatted to Steve Drewett of the Newtown Neurotics on moving to Harlow with his family, living in Harlow, the explosion of punk, the emergence of the band, politics, the bands history, the 'Kick Out' documentary and other things.

'Penknife' is the debut novel by author Jim Westover, which tells the story of rebel with a cause Jarrod Brook returning to his home town of Brightlingsea, Essex after being expelled from boarding school as a young teenager. The novel follows Jim and his escapades with best friend Colin during an eventful summer before being in the wrong place at the wrong time lands him in a Young Offenders Prison. We chat to Jim about growing up during in the late seventies and eighties in an a small Essex coastal town, the music that the book is based around, the local record shops, gigs and what's next on the horizon.

We chatted with Ryan about growing up in Aberdeen, football, fashion, music and moving to Dubai, which is where the inspiration from his debut novel 'Cola Boy' came from. The book has now been scripted for a stage play production, which is running at this years Edinburgh Festival. Ryan currently resides in London and is working on his second novel.

A man with many skills Chris Low talks about his coming through the ranks as a pre teenage punk in Stirling, Scotland during the late 70s through to his time as a drummer with Oi Polloi, The Apostles, The Parkinsons and many more, Chris also talks about his new 'Cease and Resist: Sonic Subversion and Anarcho punk in 1979-1986.

We chatted to Alastair McKay with his autobiographical debut novel 'Alternatives to Valium' about his growing up in a rural East Lothian town during the 70s around punk and his movements into becoming a music journalist as a career.

Iain has just had his first book published entitled 'The Boy With The Thorn In His Side.' The book mirrors the chat with this episode on growing up in Lanarkshire with music, fashion, drugs, alcohol and his survival. The book is a great read and well worthy of support.

Barry Mooncult is best known for his time with Flowered Up. Barry chats about his time with the band, acid house, Chelsea FC, Adult Magazines, Prison and Thailand.

Garry was the forefront of music journalism at the end of the 70s and early 80s whilst covering a wide variety of musical genres such as punk, ska, mod, heavy metal, rock, oi! and many more. We chatted to Garry about his time working for Sounds.

Ernesto was born in Chile with two politicised parents. His family escaped the Pinochet regime to Argentina before they eventually ended up in Cowdenbeath in Scotland in the mid 70s. Ernesto was the eldest child with 2 sisters and 1 brother. As a family then ended up moving to Edinburgh, where the doors opened up for Ernesto, He along with his brother Juan ran a club night called El Cambalache in the mid 80s before he relocated to London in 1988. Ernesto then became involved in many raves and club nights before establishing a record label called Arthrob with funding through Warner Brothers. In recent times, Ernesto and his brother Juan ran the successful arts space the Red Gallery in Shoreditch,

Neil Newton played lead guitar with punk legends the Angelic Upstarts between 2006 and their last show in memory of sadly departed singer Mensi at this years Rebellion Festival. Neil talks about how he first got into punk, his time on the terraces, learning to play the guitar, his time with the Upstarts, Hi-Fi Spitfires, The Sunflowers and others. We both did this as a show of respect and love for the input of Mensi on our lives. RIP Thomas Mensforth.

Gary Lammin is a musician and actor that's currently playing with his band Bermondsey Joyriders. He is a founding member of Cock Sparrer and the Little Roosters. During the interview we talking about East London, Millwall FC, Janus, Cock Sparrer, the Little Roosters and his time as an actor. I've worked with Gary over the years on various projects and he's a talented person indeed.

Johna Johnson has written two books on the early years of following Adam & the Ants with 'Blood Sweat, Leather & Tears,' which is published by Old Dog Books. We spoke about the early days of punk, Bradford, the Ants and what happened after Adam went pop. You can purchase the books via https://www.olddogbooks.net/

Tony Fletcher journey to a career as a writer started in his bedroom with the schoolboy production of a fanzine entitled Jamming! alongside friends. The fanzine went on to become one of the longest running fanzines of the punk generation which ran from 1978 until 1986. During this time Tony also formed a band called Apocalypse and ran a label with Paul Weller entitled Jamming! In recent times Tony has gone on to write numerous biographies within the world of music. https://linktr.ee/TonyFletcher