Dennis Greaves took a week off from Nine Below Zero in 1980 but otherwise kept his nose firmly applied to the grindstone. They broke up in 1983 when he formed the Truth, who broke up in 1989 when he rebooted the old band. He looks back here at the first gigs he ever saw and played – a world with the attractive scent of spilt beer and tobacco – stopping off at various points, among them …

… why blues and R&B flourished in South London, police and villains drinking together at the Thomas A Becket and the folklore of the Old Kent Road.

... the great advantage of never having a hit.

… taking his parents to see Chuck Berry in 1972.

... the lasting appeal of R&B in a world of processed music.

… what he learnt from Glyn Johns when he produced them at Olympic Studios, “the man who invented phasing with Itchycoo Park”.

… buying singles at A1 Records in Walworth – “Progressive, Reggae, Artists A-Z …”

… seeing Blackfoot Sue and Scarecrow on the pub circuit, and the Groundhogs and Rory Gallagher at the Rainbow.

… Pete Townshend watching Nine Below Zero from the wings - “you remind me of us in the ‘60s”.

… seeing the Jam 11 times – “900 people in a 400 capacity venue!”

… “getting gyp is good as you learn how to control an audience.”

… 2am service station food and how touring has changed in 45 years.

... performing in the pilot for The Young Ones in 1982.

… “the song you should study for A-Level Pop”.

… memories of Mylone LeFevre, Capability Brown, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, BB King, Muhammad Ali, Henry Cooper, Uriah Heep, The Little Roosters, Deep Purple, Gary Moore, Greg Lake, Love Sculpture, Free, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Alvin Lee, Dr Feelgood and Charlie McCoy playing Lady Madonna on the harmonica on the Val Doonican Show …

… and the greatest record ever made!

Nine Below Zero tickets and tour dates here: https://www.ninebelowzero.com/tour

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Peter Capaldi – aka Malcolm Tucker, Dr Who, the universal screen delight and an Oscar-winning film director – was the singer in the punk band the Dreamboys in the late ‘70s who put out a single when he was at the art school in Glasgow. And then became an actor. And then - in the grand tradition of actors who’ve made albums, Hugh Laurie, Scarlett Johansson, Jeff Bridges and Keanu Reeves among them – released St Christopher in 2021. He’s just recorded a second, Sweet Illusions, and talks to us in this extremely funny and entertaining pod about …

… how his sole motivation was “a burning desire to be on the telly”.

… the difference between fronting bands and being in plays.

… how he grievously stitched up support band the Cocteau Twins at a gig in Grangemouth.

… a teenage love of Slade - “a bit terrifying but still a bit safe”.

… first-hand evidence of the connection between Blakey from On the Buses, Adolph Hitler and Beatles.

… “you have to write a hundred songs before you can write a good one”.

… arriving at art school in ’76 a Neil Young fan and his overnight transformation – “peroxide hair, PVC trousers and bright red crepe sole shoes”.

… seeing Simple Minds at the Mars Bar in Glasgow, Jim Kerr with his Shakespearian haircut, “strange, powerful, imaginative, post-glam”.

… forming the Dreamboys and “trying to be big, clever and Kafka-esque”.

… the stigma of being virtually the only band in Glasgow not to get a John Peel session.

… writing the “bizarro pulp” lyrics for the Dreamboys – “we couldn’t decide if we were the Cramps or Talking Heads”.

… what’s required, “apart from a terrible Scouse accent”, in playing John Lennon onstage and George Harrison onscreen.

… auditioning (comedian, actor, TV host) Craig Ferguson as the band’s drummer.

… how Bill Forsyth launched his acting career: “one minute you’re supporting Altered Images, the next in a movie with Burt Lancaster”.

… forming a duo with Keanu Reeves when filming Dangerous Liaisons in Paris – powdered wigs in the daytime, guitar/bass punk-thrash at night.

.. the romantic Edward Hopper charm of Glasgow in the ‘70s - proto-goths, street lights, rain.

… how Dr Robert of the Blow Monkeys and four months filming The Suicide Squad in Atlanta spurred him into writing songs.

… the greatest record of all time.

Order the Sweet Illusions album here:

https://shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com/products/peter-capaldi-sweet-illusions-vinyl-lp-cd-lossless-dl

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The teenage Alan Parsons was hired as a tape op by EMI and worked with the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Steve Harley, orchestras, comedians, Pinky And Perky and countless others in the control room at Abbey Road, and saw almost 60 years of technical revolution. He’s just finished a 50th anniversary box set of Harley’s the Best Years Of Our Lives and talks here from his Santa Monica home studio about …

… the things you find buried in old recordings.

… how AI will allow anyone to remix their favourite record.

… the miraculous transformation of Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) from a vindictive dirge to a No 1 pop hit, its backing vocalists and its DJ-baffling false ending.

… cutting the tape with John Lennon to end I Want You (She’s So Heavy).

… seeing himself - ‘in an orange shirt and black knitted tie’ - in the Get Back movie 52 years later. ‘It proves I was there!’

… recording the clocks, footsteps and airport announcer for The Dark Side Of The Moon - ‘playing Abbey Road studios as an instrument’.

… recording He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother with Reg Dwight on piano.

… the magical ‘60s technology that made Pinky And Perky.

… opening the door at Savile Row and first seeing the Beatles and all their girlfriends.

… recording Pilot, the Hollies and the Joe Loss Orchestra.

… the story of Clare Torry and The Great Gig In The Sky.

… Abbey Road recordings stored at a nearby squash court.

… working with David Gilmour on an Earls Court show from the 1990s.

… touring with the Alan Parsons Project (who never toured originally).

… why Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone is the greatest record of all time (clue: the hi-hat and bass figure).

Pre-order Steve Harley’s ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’ here:

https://SteveHarley.lnk.to/TBY

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