Misadventures in Music with Ian Prowse & Mick Ord Urbanista Magazine

Nobody embodies the spirit of Rock n Roll more than Little Richard.

It could be argued that his whole career was a misadventure in music so he's THE perfect subject for our latest podcast. Our
guest is the much-respected author/broadcaster, Spencer Leigh, whose biography of the man himself, Send Me Some Lovin', is out now.

Born Richard Wayne Penniman, Little Richard claimed he invented rock'n' roll.  He didn't, but his songs - Tutti Frutti, Lucille, Good Golly Miss Molly and many more - changed the rock 'n' roll landscape forever.

He was a huge influence on the Beatles, Hendrix and Prince and he lived his life as though he was continually on stage. There really was no one like Little Richard."



find out more here:   http://www.spencerleigh.co.uk/

There aren't too many bands from the 70's and 80''s who're still producing compelling new music and not just replaying their biggest hits, but then Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark have always ignored the prevailing musical trends and ploughed their own furrow, which is why the Wirral band's blend of classic Synthpop and contemporary Electronic Dance Music is still wowing audiences.They're smack bang  in the middle of a European tour and their last album The Punishment of Luxury was greeted with widespread critical acclaim, but Andy McCluskey says OMD's next release, Bauhaus Staircase, will be their last.  


No, really. 

He's our special guest in this month's Misadventures in Music podcast, with Ian Prowse and Mick Ord.Andy talks candidly about OMD's history, their musical influences and looks to the future with optimism as fans await the release of Bauhaus Staircase, their 14th studio album.


A big thanks to Roy and Clare from the Podcafe in Liverpool for use of their recording studios.
Track Listing



Autobahn by Kraftwerk  (extract)


Warm Leatherette by The Normal  (full track)


Electricity by OMD   (full track)


Pyjamarama buy Roxy Music (full track)


Dazzle Ships/ Genetic Engineering by OMD  (extracts)


Radio Prague by OMD  (extract)

In 1969 they sold more records in America than any other band including the Beatles and the Stones but within a few years Creedence Clearwater Revival had split up with a bitterness rarely matched, even in the topsy-turvy world of rock music.

Fast forward 50 years, and former leader and main songwriter John Fogarty is back on tour, including the UK and Ireland, so now seems as good a time as any to look back on his former group's unique musical legacy and discover what made them one of the biggest bands in the world....and what destroyed them.

In 1993 Bruce Springsteen said that CCR  were "not the hippest band in the world, but the best".

Writer John Lingan has written a critically-acclaimed biography of the band - 'A Song for Everyone - the Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival.' It's an engrossing tale.

John's our special guest in this month's episode of Misadventures in Music,  with Ian Prowse and Mick Ord."

It's difficult to imagine now but back in the early sixties, soul was  'underground' music in the UK - rarely played on the radio, and only appreciated by a small number of aficionados. 

Within a few years, records by artists on the Tamla Motown label would sell in their millions but in the very early 60s, very few people had heard of it.

Among a small cult of fans was a Liverpool teenager Frank Collins who went on to form a blue-eyed soul band The Excels who later played at the Cavern Club, not singing rock n roll or Merseybeat, but soul music with intricate harmonies.

Frank's 60-year career would take him onto the singles chart with the band Arrival then the British soul/funk pioneers Kokomo and later working with Bob Dylan, Bryan Ferry, Tom Robinson and many more.

He's still writing and performing regularly today.

We're delighted to have Frank as our special guest on this month's Misadventures in Music with Ian Prowse and Mick Ord



'Bill Harry's Sixties Snapshots - on Arrival/Kokomo' -  https://sixtiescity.net/Mbeat/mbfilms191.htm

BBC Four soul documentary- 'When Motown Came to Britain'.

Urbanista Music Podcasts



Playlist :

Money  - Barrett Strong

Be My Baby - The Ronettes

Friends - Arrival

I Will Survive - Arrival

A Little Bit Further Away - Kokomo

Romance in Durango -Bob Dylan

Swansong - Kokomo

Millions of words have been written about The  Beatles so why would James Campion spend 2 years writing ANOTHER one?

You  could be excused for thinking, "Either he's jumping on the bandwagon to earn a quick buck or because he has something genuinely original and thought-provoking to say."

Thankfully 'Take a Sad Song - the Emotional Currency of Hey Jude' charges headlong into the latter category.

In  Misadventures in Music episode #14 Ian Prowse and Mick Ord meet New  York based author, journalist and broadcaster James who reveals many of  the fascinating layers to Hey Jude.

Yes, it was written by Paul McCartney for John Lennon's son Julian who'd just seen his parents split up after John left the family home for Yoko Ono, but the song is SO  more than that, as James explains in his  critically-acclaimed book.

He takes us back to 1968 (the Year of Revolution, according to many social historians) when  the band appeared on the David Frost show in front of the cameras to sing Hey Jude in front of a studio audience (well, THREE studio audiences actually) for the first time in 2 years, having given up  touring in 1966.

James takes us behind the  scenes of that performance and  explains why and how the song became a  worldwide number one single and why, in his view, it's the best song  they ever recorded.

As one of the contributors to the book says, " It was 7 minutes we needed at the time'

Find out more on James' website - www.jamescampion.com

In the new season of Misadventures in Music' (episode 13) Ian Prowse and Mick Ord take a deep dive into the UK's Post-Punk music scene (1978-1982) with New Jersey-based writer and filmmaker Russell Craig Richardson who has been working on a documentary film about the genre, having lived among many of the musicians in the UK at the time.

He talks about some of the leading characters, including those he interviewed such as Jah Wobble from Public Image Ltd. and Paul and Steve Hanley from The Fall.

Russell's a great storyteller and his musical choice contains more than a few surprises as well as post-punk classics.

Watch the trailer for the documentary on the website here