The CAT Club (Classic Album Thursdays)

JOHN LENNON/PLASTIC ONO BAND with special guest Philip Norman. John Lennon’s stunning debut album is quite rightly regarded as his best. Bleak, exhilarating and soulful, ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’ is a true classic album. Legendary author & journalist, Philip Norman wrote 'Shout! The True Story Of The Beatles,' the multi million seller biography that was published in 1981. 'John Lennon: The Life' was published in 2008. In a classic conversation with Jason Barnard, PHILIP NORMAN reels off stories about the Fabs, Yoko, Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor, Margo Fontaine and David Bailey just to name a few. It’s a funny, sad, poignant and riveting interview that had the sold-audience captivated throughout. If you would like to learn more about Philip’s extraordinary life we highly recommend his memoir, ‘We Danced On Our Desks.’ Philip’s new blog, ‘Read Me Do’ can be found at: https://open.substack.com/pub/philipnorman/p/the-man-who-made-the-beatles?r=2uoo5g&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email JASON BARNARD was in the interviewer's chair. This event took place on 25th April 2024 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

BUZZCOCKS – A DIFFERENT KIND OF TENSION with special guest, Paul Hanley. Buzzcocks’ 1979 album, 'A Different Kind of Tension' may have been released the same year as ‘Singles Going Steady,’ but it is a different shape of beast to ‘Singles.' For a start it was recorded intentionally as an album rather than cobbled together by a naive U.S. label in search of punk dollar. Track three is “You Say You Don’t Love Me” which automatically rates the album a straight 10, but there are other objects d’interest up in this sweet, sweet bastard of a record. By this point, on their third studio album proper, Pete Shelley was firmly entrenched as the band’s driving creative force—yet songs by Steve Diggle like “Sitting Round at Home” and “You Know You Can’t Help It” are rough-hewn gems in the catalogue worth seeking out. For the most part, as for majority of their output, the songs are short, sharp, punk-pop shocks that electrify and energize—and while their formula may have been perceived by some as tired by this point, the band would continue on in various incarnations right up until the present day. Even now, with Shelley gone, Diggle has chosen to keep pushing Buzzcocks into the future. The eternal teenagers somehow continue their path, unswerving, and it’s a beautiful thing to both reflect on and behold. With special guest PAUL HANLEY Man of letters and former Fall drummer, Paul Hanley has written a book on Buzzcocks called ‘Sixteen Again: How Pete Shelley & Buzzcocks Changed Manchester Music (And Me),’ to give it its full title. The book mixes together biography, interview, critique and social history to create a full picture of the legendary Manchester group, equally beloved of fans of punk, post punk and indie. Route Publishing – who have also published Hanley's ‘Leave The Capital: A History Of Manchester Music In 13 Recordings’ and the masterful ‘Have A Bleedin Guess: The Story Of Hex Enduction Hour’ – have the following to say: "Paul Hanley's obsession with Buzzcocks peaked between the ages of 14 and 16, exactly the age when ‘favourite band’ actually means something important. An essential part of the charm of Buzzcocks to him were their proximity and approachability." Paul Hanley is also one half of the drumming duo who power recent Q Album Of The Year, House Of All, and co-host of the Oh! Brother podcast with kin Steve Hanley, JASON BARNARD of Strange Brew podcasts was in the interviewer’s chair. This podcast in association with Strange Brew podcasts. This event took place on 21st March 2024 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD – DUSTY IN MEMPHIS with special guest LUCY O'BRIEN Surprisingly unsuccessful at the time, the album has thankfully become a monument to the unique soulfulness of one of Britain’s finest-ever voices. The record that’s widely held to be the greatest album in the distinguished catalogue of Dusty Springfield – in fact, for many, one of the greatest albums, period – was released on March 31, 1969. Despite being surprisingly unsuccessful at the time, Dusty In Memphis has thankfully become a monument to the unique soulfulness of one of Britain’s finest-ever voices. The album was Dusty’s fifth, some five years into her hitmaking career. It marked a new era, as it was the first time that she had recorded an LP outside the UK. Masterfully overseen by three of the all-time giants of American soul and rock music production, Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, and Tom Dowd, it had a famously difficult birth. Happily, what endures is the brilliant quality of the songs and performances. Our special guest, LUCY O'BRIEN launched the paperback version of her updated & definitive biography, Dusty. Lucy has written critically acclaimed books about Karen Carpenter, Madonna, Annie Lennox as well as 'She Bop: The Definitive History Of Women In Popular Music.' IAN CLAYTON was in the interviewer's chair. This event took place on 29th February 2024 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons.

An Audience with TORIA GARBUTT The CAT Club's 'Sunday Showdown' presented the extraordinary ‘High Priestess of The Spoken Word,’ TORIA GARBUTT in a brutally honest conversation, followed by a stunning performance. Gary ‘Guestlist’ Lethbridge was in the interviewers’ chair. Since bursting onto the scene in 2014, Toria Garbutt has been a regular tour support for Dr John Cooper Clarke, most recently on his ‘Luckiest Guy Alive' tour on which Toria performed extensively at venues across the UK and Europe. In 2016, Toria released her début album 'Hot Plastic Moon’ with spoken word label Nymphs and Thugs and in 2018 her début poetry collection ‘The Universe and Me' was published by Wrecking ball press. Toria's second collection 'Another Time in Space' was published in December 2022. Toria’s words have also been featured in Not Too Tame’s Northern Souls show at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, and recently in The Guardian for their feature on The Rise and Rise of the New Poets. In September 2021, Toria featured on the front cover and centrefold of The Big Issue North. She was recently interviewed by Chis Hawkins on Radio 6 for National Poetry Day, and appeared on Radio 3's The Verb, with Ian McMillan and Radio 4's Front Row with Nick Ahad, as part of BBC's Contains Strong Language festival. Toria is currently writing Funerals for Birds, a radio drama about her experience of addiction. “Toria Garbutt is Saturday Night Sunday Morning in one woman and in our lifetime, we are lucky to have her. Glorious, brutal, sharp, and tender. She has written an extraordinary love letter to us all.” Salena Godden “Toria Garbutt is a beacon of a poet whose work draws us all together, closer to safety. Political, irreverent, warm, and necessary her performances are the stuff of legend. Superb.” Joelle Taylor “Joan Jett and Patti Smith’s better-looking kid sister.” John Cooper Clarke “Powerful, accessible, intelligent, and musical. Just about all the things I love in a poet.” Benjamin Zephaniah “Toria has a unique skill of wrapping an audience up in her arms and making them feel that everything is gunna be alright.” Mike Garry "A sage and a seer." Ian McMillan This event took place on 21st January 2024 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

CREAM – FRESH CREAM with special guest MALCOLM BRUCE Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker formed Cream and released their stunning blues based debut album in 1966. ‘Fresh Cream' represents so many different firsts, it's difficult to keep count. Cream, of course, were the first supergroup, but their first album not only gave birth to the power trio, it also was instrumental in the birth of heavy metal and the birth of jam rock. Our special guest offered some other unique insights into one of the great debut offerings from the fertile sixties. Like his father Jack, Malcolm Bruce is not only steeped in the blues, but also in the classical & jazz traditions. He is the co-executive producer, arranger and performer for 'Heavenly Cream,' a project headed by Cream lyricist Pete Brown. The album was released in late 2023 to critical acclaim. Malcolm Bruce’s new album is ‘Fake Humans And Real Dolls.’ Jason Barnard was in the interviewer's chair. This event took place on 11th January 2024 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

TELEVISION – MARQUEE MOON with special guest Will Sergeant. This interview took place before and after we listened to the vinyl album. 'Marquee Moon' is a revolutionary album, but it's a subtle, understated revolution. Without question, it is a guitar rock album – it's astonishing to hear the interplay between Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, but it is a guitar rock album unlike any other. Where their predecessors in the New York punk scene, most notably the Velvet Underground, had fused blues structures with avant-garde flourishes, Television completely strip away any sense of swing or groove, even when they are playing standard three-chord changes. Marquee Moon is comprised entirely of tense garage rockers that spiral into heady intellectual territory, which is achieved through the group's long, interweaving instrumental sections, not through Verlaine's words. That alone made Marquee Moon a trailblazing album – it's impossible to imagine post-punk soundscapes without it. Of course, it wouldn't have had such an impact if Verlaine hadn't written an excellent set of songs that conveyed a fractured urban mythology unlike any of his contemporaries. From the nervy opener, "See No Evil," to the majestic title track, there is simply not a bad song on the entire record. And what has kept 'Marquee Moon' fresh over the years is how Television flesh out Verlaine's poetry into sweeping sonic epics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. With special guest WILL SERGEANT Will is best known for his work as songwriter and guitarist with Echo & The Bunnymen with whom he has recorded and performed world-wide for thirty years. He also has long-term ties with the experimental side of life, in the fields of performance, recording and the visual arts. Here he talks about his life as a Bunnyman and more besides before waxing lyrical about his favourite album – Television’s ‘Marquee Moon.’ Ryan Walker was in the interviewer's chair. This event took place on 14th December 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

AN AUDIENCE WITH GLEN MATLOCK We were delighted when the Sex Pistols and Rich Kids legendary bass player, Glen Matlock joined us at The CAT Club to talk about his fascinating new book, Triggers: A Life In Music – which charts his life and career through the lens of thirty of his most formative songs – from the ones that influenced him as a child to the ones he wrote and played on as a star. CAT Club stalwart, JASON BARNARD of Strange Brew podcasts was in the interviewer's chair. The interview was followed by a live performance. Happy Trails. This event took place on 3rd December 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons.

THE BAND – The eponymous second album with special guest JOHN NIVEN. This interview took place before and after we listened to the vinyl album. The Band’s debut, ‘Music From Big Pink’ and their eponymous second LP are two of the most influential albums ever made. John Niven’s novella, Music From Big Pink caused the Band’s Robbie Robertson to ask, “Was that guy in the room?” John is one of the UK’s greatest writers and has published over ten acclaimed books. His latest offering is the truly wonderful O Brother. It’s a brutally honest family memoir about his young brother Gary, that is both hilarious and devastatingly tragic. CAT Club stalwart, Ian Clayton was in the interviewer's chair. THE BAND – edited review by Jason Draper (www.udiscovermusic.com) The self-titled second album by The Band honed everything from ‘Music From Big Pink’ with deft performances and an innate knack for storytelling. If The Band single-handedly created Americana with their debut album, on their self-titled sophomore effort (aka “The Brown Album”), they honed everything that made ‘Music From Big Pink' so quietly epochal. Initially, the group relocated from their iconic Woodstock home to a New York studio in order to work up the 12 songs that formed their self-titled second album, but the pro facilities didn’t suit the group’s laidback, down-home approach. Packing up and heading west, they recreated the Big Pink vibe with what lead guitarist Robbie Robertson called “a clubhouse feel” at 8850 Evanview Drive in West Hollywood, a house that had previously been owned by Sammy Davis Jr. The place had enough bedrooms that the group could reside there with their families and a pool house where they set up the studio. The Band’s second album came after a difficult period. Bassist Rick Danko had broken his neck in a serious car crash and had taken time to recover. The move from East Coast to West Coast proved an invigorating change. Crossing the vast expanse of North America was apt: The Band was almost simply titled America, and its songs are populated with characters from the continent’s past; like the lucky hopefuls who set off west in search of the American Dream in the mid-1800s, The Band struck gold. Truckers, sailors, Civil War soldiers: it’s the sort of roll call that would feel contrived in lesser hands, but Robertson and co’s deft performances and innate knack for storytelling allowed these disparate characters – like the wide array of instruments the group rotated through – to coalesce, working up a collection of songs that, as Ralph J. Gleason put it in his Rolling Stone review, are “equal sides of a 12-faceted gem, the whole of which is geometrically greater than the sum of the parts.” This event took place on 30th November 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

THE BEATLES – A HARD DAY'S NIGHT with special guests Peter Mills & James McGrath. This interview took place before and after we listened to the vinyl album. Considering the quality of the original material on 'With the Beatles,' it shouldn't have been a surprise that Lennon & McCartney decided to devote their third album to all-original material. Nevertheless, that decision still impresses, not only because the album is so strong, but because it was written and recorded at a time when the Beatles were constantly touring, giving regular BBC concerts, appearing on television and releasing non-LP singles and EPs, as well as filming their first motion picture. In that context, the achievement of 'A Hard Day's Night' is all the more astounding. Not only was the record the de facto soundtrack for their movie, not only was it filled with nothing but Lennon-McCartney originals, but it found the Beatles truly coming into their own as a band by performing a uniformly excellent set of songs. Peter Mills and James McGrath teach in the School of Cultural Studies and Humanities at Leeds Beckett University. They have been friends and colleagues for many years, and Peter supervised James's PhD on the music of Lennon & McCartney. So it seems only right that they have co-edited a book of 14 brand new essays on The Beatles, entitled 'The Beatles in Perspective: A Carnival of Light', published by Equinox Books in 2023. They chose 1964's 'A Hard Day's Night' album as their CAT Club subject. CAT Club stalwart, Ian Clayton was in the interviewer's chair. Happy Trails. This event took place on 16th November 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

GEORGE MICHAEL – FAITH with special guest JOHN ALTMAN. This interview took place before and after we listened to the vinyl album. It has to be said that John Altman is one of the great raconteurs and his stories caused many a jaw to drop in what was a truly classic CAT Club gathering. Unfortunately, George Michael didn't get much of a look in, but after listening this podcast you will understand why we've invited John back in 2024 for 'An Evening with John Altman.' So, back to George Michael's 'Faith' . . . One of the best selling albums of all time and the first album by a white solo artist to hit number one on the Billboard Top Black Albums chart. Faith featured JOHN ALTMAN on saxophone. John is also a composer, arranger and conductor who has worked with Muddy Waters, Jimmy Page, Nick Drake, Tina Turner, Barry White, Chet Baker, Alicia Keys, Amy Winehouse, Chaka Khan, Quincy Jones, Björk, Peter Green and many, many others. His tv and film work includes James Bond Movies, Monty Python, Titanic, The Sheltering Sky, The Rutles and Léon. In the interviewer’s chair, performing admirably under the circumstances, was JASON BARNARD. Happy Trails. This event took place on 26th October 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

'THE DOUBLE LIFE OF BOB DYLAN VOLUME 2 (1966-2021) Far Away From Myself' with CLINTON HEYLIN. We were delighted that author and leading rock journalist, Clinton Heylin chose The CAT Club to mark the official launch of his second volume of 'The Double Life of Bob Dylan.’ Clinton is one of the leading rock historians in the world and, according to Rolling Stone magazine, “the world's authority on all things Dylan.” The first half of this event featured readings from the book by Clinton and the evening concluded with a very interesting Q&A. Happy Trails. This event took place on 5th October2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons.

AN EVENING WITH CHAZ JANKEL On 31st August 2023 we at The CAT Club were lucky to be in the company of one of the most fertile talents in British pop music, Chaz Jankel was at the epicentre of Ian Dury & The Blockheads, acting as the mercurial Londoner's sidekick, songwriting partner and musical director. If Dury brought the rock and the roll to their music, then Jankel delivered the funk into punk. But there is another side to Chaz: that of songwriter and solo performer and thanks to cult club hits like 3,000,000 Synths and Glad To Know You, an underground dance hero. Working alongside studio wiz, Phlip Bagenal, who not only engineered many of his best works, and with whom he also founded Eastcote Studios, Jankel was responsible for some of best and most experimental dance records to come from these shores. Jankel's first solo collaboration was with veteran songwriter Kenny Young (who co-wrote Under The Boardwalk) whose lyrics had been inspired by a recent and controversial Japanese movie called Ai No Corrida. It eventually ended up in the hands of Quincy Jones, and it was enough to win a deal with A&M, which eventually yielded five albums. Glad To Know You, co-written with Ian Dury (and later covered by Kitty Grant), was a huge club hit in the USA, spending 6 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. His latest release is the acclaimed Flow album. Chaz was with us at The CAT Club in 2020 when the featured album was Ian Dury’s New Boots and Panties! Six of the album’s ten tracks were co-written by Dury and Jankel as was the legendary Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. We were delighted to welcome him back for what proved to be a truly wonderful evening with the great man. CAT Club stalwart JASON BARNARD was in the interviewer's chair. This episode has been edited for copyright reasons. Original music used in this podcast by kind permission of Chaz Jankel. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk Happy Trails.

SONIC YOUTH – EVOL with special guest Dave Hallam This interview took place before and after we listened to the vinyl album. EVOL – Sonic Youth Released in May 1986, Evol is the third full-length studio album by Sonic Youth. A raucous but beguiling mix of dissonance, attitude, weird guitar tunings, and beating rhythms (it was their first album with drummer Steve Shelley). Sonic Youth have been lauded by the likes of David Bowie who described them as the most Important group of the 1980s. Sonic Youth released two further albums in the Eighties, Sister and Daydream Nation, but in the opinion of the website Pitchfork, Evil is “the true departure point of Sonic Youth's musical evolution … where the seeds of greatness were sown”. With special guest DAVE HASLAM Dave Haslam is a DJ and writer whose 2018 memoir ‘Sonic Youth Slept on My Floor’ was hailed as book of the year by Gilles Peterson – he’s also the author of several other full-length and short format books. He staged two Sonic Youth shows in Manchester, in May 1986 and June 1987. He interviewed the band in Leeds for his fanzine and reviewed EVOL for ‘NME’ on its release. In the interviewer’s chair was RYAN WALKER. Happy Trails. This event took place on 27th July 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

“This sparky woman has done so much, lived so much, crammed so much in. Most of all, she has informed our appreciation of British and North American folk music, like very, very few people have. Then factor in her multiple roles in illuminating the folk, political song and feminist scenes and how her songs have enriched the folk idiom, and you have somebody worth getting amazed about.” - Ken Hunt / Folk Roots Magazine. PEGGY SEEGER was born on 17 June, 1935 in New York City. She is one of the most important figures in the history of folk music. An American folk singer who also achieved renown in Britain, where she lived for more than 30 years, as the wife of songwriter and activist Ewan MacColl. Seeger's father was Charles Seeger (1886–1979), an important folklorist and musicologist; her mother was Seeger's second wife, Ruth Porter Crawford. Ruth Crawford Seeger, who died in 1953, was a modernist composer and was one of the first women to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship. One of her brothers is Mike Seeger, and the well-known songwriter Pete Seeger is her half-brother. Among Peggy Seeger's first recordings in 1955 was ‘American Folk Songs for Children’, considered one of her most enduring, and probably the best-selling, collection of children's songs ever recorded. Together with MacColl, Seeger joined The Critics Group, performing satirical songs in a mixture of theatre, comedy and song. Seeger and MacColl recorded as a duo and as solo artists; MacColl wrote "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" in Peggy's honour. Her critically acclaimed classic biography, ‘First Time Ever – A Memoir’ was published in 2018. We were delighted to welcome Peggy to The CAT Club for a memorable evening. A splendid time was had by all. CAT Club stalwart IAN CLAYTON was in the interviewer’s chair. This event took place on 16 July 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk Music used in this podcast by kind permission of Peggy Seeger. Happy Trails.

THE BEE GEES – MAIN COURSE with special guest Bob Stanley This interview took place before and after we listened to the vinyl album. It may sound silly to call the twelth album by a group with an eight-year string of gold records behind them a "breakthrough," but that's what Main Course was. Released in 1975, the group's first disco album – and, for many white listeners, the first disco album they ever purchased – Main Course marked a huge change in the Bee Gees' sound. The group's earlier LPs, steeped in a dense romantic balladry, were beautifully crafted but too serious for any but hardcore fans. With special guest BOB STANLEY We were delighted that Bob Stanley was with us to talk about the Bee Gees’ album, the terrific Main Course. Bob’s latest offering is Children Of The World, a unique biography of the Bee Gees. Bob is a writer, musician, dj and film producer. Since founding influential pop group Saint Etienne, He has enjoyed a parallel career as a journalist and is the author of Yeah Yeah Yeah and 2023 Penderyn Music Book Prize Winner, Let’s Do It: The Birth Of Pop. In the interviewer’s chair was CAT Club stalwart, JASON BARNARD. Happy Trails. This event took place on 29th June 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

EDGAR ‘JONES’ JONES – SOOTHING MUSIC FOR STRAY CATS with special guest Edgar Jones This interview took place before and after we listened to the vinyl album. Soothing Music for Stray Cats is an innovative witches brew of Jazz, R ‘n’ B, Soul, Doo Wop mixed with Edgars’ own special ingredients to create something quite unique. One of this country’s greatest music talents, it seems incredible that this artist and his music are not better known. This gives a flavour of the man and his music: ‘It bent my head, man. It’s probably one of the best records I have ever heard’ Noel Gallagher, The Observer Music Monthly, June 2005. ‘Listening to this becomes an aural history of the world’s coolest music. A true Liverpool hero’ Matt Wilkinson, NME ( The 100 greatest albums You’ve never heard feature ), Jan 2011. ‘A cool brilliant sound all of his own, if there is any justice this will be massive’ Chris Brown Daily Post, May 2005. With special guest, the man himself: EDGAR JONES. CAT Club stalwart JASON BARNARD was in the interviewer’s chair. After we listened to the album Edgar gave a blistering solo live performance which culminated in a standing ovation from a delighted sold out audience. This event took place on 8 June 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

THE CARPENTERS – A SONG FOR YOU with special guest Lucy O'Brien. This interview took place before and after we listened to the vinyl album. Up to the release of A Song for You, the Carpenters' success had seemed an awesome if somewhat fluky phenomenon, built on prodigious talent, some beautifully crafted pop sensibilities, and a very fortunate choice of singles -- their albums Close To You and Carpenters, though they were top-sellers, both seemed just a bit thrown together. Then came A Song for You, a seemingly unified concept album written and recorded during a frantic period of concert activity, and brimming with lovely musical ideas even more lovingly executed, laced with good humour, and enough hits of its own to have established any artist's career on its own. And even in between the hits, the album was built on material that could have made a whole career for anyone. The duo's best album and a classic in its own right. With special guest LUCY O'BRIEN. Lucy O’Brien’s new biography is Lead Sister: The Story Of Karen Carpenter. She has written critically acclaimed books about Dusty Springfield, Madonna, Annie Lennox as well as She Bop: The Definitive History Of Women In Popular Music. CAT Club stalwart Ian Clayton was in the interviewer’s chair. This event took place on 18 May 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS – EXODUS with special guest Chris Salewicz. This interview took place before and after we listened to the vinyl album. What was it about Bob Marley that made him so popular in a world dominated by rock ’n’ roll? How is it that he not only has remained the single most successful reggae artist ever, but also has become a shining beacon of radicalism and peace to generation after generation of fans? His magnum opus. Exodus is a stunning testament to the great man himself and a true classic album. With special guest CHRIS SALEWICZ. Chris Salewicz, the bestselling author of Redemption Song, the classic biography of Joe Strummer, interviewed Marley in Jamaica in 1979 and had a series of adventures with the reggae king himself. Throughout Bob Marley: The Untold Story, Chris gives a thorough, detailed account of Marley’s life and the world in which he grew up, illuminating everything from the Rastafari religion and the musical scene in Jamaica to the spirit of the man himself. Interviews with dozens of people who knew Marley and have never spoken before are woven through the narrative as Salewicz seeks to explain why Marley has become such an enigmatic and heroic figure, loved by millions all over the world. CAT Club stalwart Heath Common was in the interviewer’s chair. This event took place on 27 April 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

THE SEX PISTOLS – NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS with special guest Clinton Heylin. This interview took place before and after we listened to the vinyl album. Never Mind the Bollocks perfectly articulated the frustration, rage, and dissatisfaction of the British working class with the establishment, a spirit quick to translate itself to strictly rock & roll terms. The Pistols paved the way for countless other bands to make similarly rebellious statements, but arguably none were as daring or effective. It's easy to see how the band's roaring energy, overwhelmingly snotty attitude, and Johnny Rotten's furious ranting sparked a musical revolution, and those qualities haven't diminished one bit over time. Never Mind the Bollocks is simply one of the greatest, most inspiring rock records of all time. With Special Guest CLINTON HEYLIN. Clinton Heylin is the author of one of the defining books about the explosive punk era, Anarchy In The Year Zero: The Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Class of ’76 (published by Route). Clinton is acclaimed as one of popular music’s leading journalists and biographers and we were delighted to welcome him back to The CAT Club for a fascinating insight into one of the most astounding and controversial albums of all time. This event took place on 13 April 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.

THE SPECIALS – SPECIALS with special guest Paul Williams. This interview took place before and after we listened to the vinyl album. A perfect moment in time captured on vinyl forever, such is the Specials' eponymous debut album; it arrived in shops in the middle of October 1979 and soared into the U.K. Top Five. It was an utter revelation -- except for anyone who had seen the band on-stage, for the album was at its core a studio recording of their live set, and at times even masquerades as a gig. Fourteen songs' strong, mostly originals, with a few covers of classics thrown in for good measure. That includes their fabulous take on Dandy Livingstone's "A Message to You Rudy," an equally stellar version of the Maytals' "Monkey Man," and the sizzling take on Prince Buster's "Too Hot." If those were fabulous, their own compositions were magnificent. The Specials managed to distill all the anger, disenchantment, and bitterness of the day straight into their music. A true classic album. Globalgroove. With special guest PAUL WILLIAMS. Paul ‘Willo’ Williams is the author of the acclaimed ‘You're Wondering Now- The Specials From Conception to Reunion.’ We were delighted that Paul, a close personal friend of the much missed Terry Hall, was with us to talk about the band’s eponymous 2Tone debut album. Paul also fronts ska legends, The Skapones and is the founder of The Specialized Project CIC, which is a social enterprise that aims to help young people in difficult circumstances. In the interviewer’s chair was CAT Club stalwart, Jason Barnard. This event took place on 9th March 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire. To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons. Happy Trails.