Music Maps Podcast

Black Sabbath & Ozzy Osbourne is our focus this week as Keith Kahn-Harris joins us to mark the release of his book The Beautiful Death of Ozzy Osborne - How Metal Teaches Us To Live. Out now in the US & the UK.

Our journey starts in Aston, a suburb of Birmingham where a young Ozzy Osbourne grows up.

His first band is the Pulka Tulk Blues Band who gig around the established circuit before eventually morphing into Black Sabbath.

Legend has it that Tony Iommi injured his fingertip in an industrial accident which inadvertently helped create the Black Sabbath signature sound.

Black Sabbath originated the metal genre almost by accident & Keith tells us how the genre grew from its earliest mentions in the bands early days.

We find out how Paranoid began as a throwaway track written in 5 minutes at the end of a session & we discuss some of their other key tracks including War Pigs & Iron Man.

We also cover the famous Live Aid performance of 1985, the infamous bat story, The Osbournes & Ozzfest.

Keith also takes us on a walk through Black Sabbath’s Birmingham leading up to the bands final gig the Back To The Beginning show at Villa Park in the summer of 2025.

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.

Join us to go back 25 years to the release of The Strokes debut album Is This It.

Steven’s new book Is This It: The Never-Ending Rise and Fall of the Strokes is out now in the US & also here in the UK.

The story begins when future Stroke frontman Julian Casablancas meets future bassist Nikolai Fraiture meet as kids.

They hold a shared interest in music as they grow up before Julian is sent to Switzerland to attend a boarding school where he meets guitar player Albert Hammond Jr.

They later reconnect in New York as Julian is putting together a band.

The lineup comes together with Albert becoming the final member to join.

The first Strokes gig takes place at The Spiral in Manhattan in September of 1999 & with the help of guru J.P. Bowersock they build the material which becomes their debut release The Modern Age EP, released on Rough Trade in the UK.

Is This It is released in the Autumn of 2001 & is an immediate success in the UK, however it is a slower process in the US with their star not rising until a year or so later.

We hear about the unique drum & vocal sounds on Is This It & the process behind some of the albums biggest songs as well as what Tom Petty made of the similarity between Strokes hit single Last Nite & his own American Girl.

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.

Marco Pirroni joins us to talk us through his huge success with Adam & The Ants - Marco’s new book Your Money Or Your Life is out now.

It all starts with a note through Marco’s door which simply says ‘Call Me, Adam’.

The next day Marco & Adam Ant meet & before long they are recording together at Rockfield Studios.

Drummers Chris Hughes, Terry Lee & bassist Kevin Mooney soon round out the lineup giving the band its unique 2 drummer sound.

Their first gig takes place at the Electric Ballroom & the band are soon signed to CBS, preferring a major to an indie label.

Kings of the Wild Frontier is the bands breakthrough & the album which follows featured some unorthodox recording techniques including creating giant ant noises & recording fire extinguishers.

Early gigs are marred by chaos & occasional crowd trouble as Dog Eat Dog becomes another success, bringing the band their first appearance of Top Of The Pops.

Stand & Deliver & Prince Charming both reach number 1 with their quirky & groundbreaking music videos becoming a key part of the bands marketing.

Prince Charming is the subject of a plagiarism claim from Rolf Harris while Diana Dors appears in the video.

Gary Tibbs formerly of Roxy Music joins Adam & The Ants & they undertake their biggest tour to date, the Prince Charming Revue.

However Marco dislikes touring & stops playing live with the band, although he continues use to write & record with Adam.

The band breaks up shortly after as Adam launches a solo career.

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.

Tony Fletcher joins us to talk about his new book POW!: When UK Punk Went Pop, 1980-84.

Starting with his Jammin’ fanzine at age 13, by the time he is 14 Tony writes a letter to Paul Weller & receives a reply.

He is invited to RAK Studios in London whereThe Jam are making what becomes All Mod Cons.

He begins a relationship with The Jam & amongst other tales nearly ends up with the famous WHAM! Roy Lichtenstein guitar from the Start! video, his band Apocalypse open for the band air their final gigs at Wembley Arena & in Brighton.

Concurrently Tony is also writing for The Face magazine & is dispatched to Nottingham with Madness, the thinking being they may open up to a 16 year old rather than an established music writer.

Tony puts on early gigs for his band Apocalypse along with other bands including The Birthday Party at The Africa Centre in Soho.

He has a ringside seat for the end of The Jam & shortly after Paul Weller simply gives him the Jamming record label they had founded together.

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.

Elliott Smith is our focus this week & we are joined by Jamie Fisher whose new book - Nobody Broke Your Heart: An Intimate Biography of Elliott Smith is out now in the UK & the US.

What differentiates Jamie’s book from others about Elliott Smith is the people who she spoke to when writing it - the Smith family were involved & talked to her at length.

Elliot Smith’s formative influences included Bob Dylan, Hank Williams Jr. & the Beatles & he started to write songs early in life, often holding onto melodies for years before finalising them into songs.

Elliott Smith’s parents separated when he was young & tensions with his stepfather led to his relocation to Portland, Oregon.

While there he formed Heatmiser with Neil Gust, Tony Lash & Jason Hornick.

All the while he was writing his own softer, gentler material but was hesitant to pursue it out of respect for his band mates.

The recordings that become his debut solo album Roman Candle are made for around $20 & despite never being intended for release, do come out on local label Cavity Search Records.

Elliott moved to the Kill Rock Stars label after meeting label founder Slim Moon & his self-titled follow up appeared in 1995, featuring Needle In The Hay, his best known work to date.

In 1997 film director Gus Van Sant becomes enamoured with Elliott’s music & approaches him to contribute music to his next film, Good Will Hunting, written by & starring Matt Damon & Ben Affleck.

Four of Elliott’s songs from the Either/Or album ultimately appear on the soundtrack & lead to an appearance at the 1998 Academy Award Ceremony, wearing a now legendary white suit, performing Miss Misery which closes the movie.

Elliott Smith sings with DreamWorks & now has a bugger budget & access not available to him before, his next album Figure Eight follows.

Despite the label being happy with the records sales, Elliott was not, constantly comparing himself to The Beatles & Bob Dylan.

Elliott passes away on August 6th 2003 & his final recordings, From a Basement on the Hill is released posthumously in 2004.

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.