Over Our Garden Wall Brian Davidson

Our latest Live Music & Me guest was the journalist, DJ and radio presenter Jim Gellatly, who was kind enough to give us an hour from his busy schedule.

Jim could remember what his first 2 gigs were ( but not in which order). Tbf, they were both belters.

He also regaled us with the time he patched a Bon Jovi gig to go and see Take That ( good decision!) , having a ticket to see Nirvana but not seeing them, and also being offered £800 for his U2 ticket ( and Jason Donavan was in that chat somewhere too). Oh, and also the small matter of moshing at The Sex Pistols gig for all of one song - AND being the first guest to mention the Anti Nowhere League.

We guessed Jim would be good company - and we weren't wrong.

Thanks Jim - top man.

PS Shout out to Stephen Cameron from Into Creative for the super cool backdrop screen image.

We have now recorded around 20 episodes of Live Music & Me, and every one of them has been very enjoyable. However, we were extra excited for this one, as our guest was the musician and singer/songwriter Robert Howard ( we have been Blow Monkeys fans for a long time)

It was also the first time we had attempted a pan European podcast with a time difference ( Robert lives in Spain now) ,and thankfully the technology passed the test ( and the time difference)

We never know where the guests will take us with their musical memories. Robert took us from Kings Lynn, Norfolk to Sydney, Australia with his first answer! ( If you want a good trivia question, ask a friend what Jethro Tull & Marc Bolan have in common)

We also found out that Robert actually wanted The Blow Monkeys to be like The Birthday Party, that you are never too old to say no to a guest gig pass from a good friend ( Mr Weller), and that Robert thinks there is more than one live album we should all own a copy of....

And, if you stick to your beliefs and values by making a political statement on the stage at Wembley Stadium you will upset a lot of Rod Stewart fans ( and Paula Yates too !)

We are really pleased with this one - our 30 minute chat flew in. Big thanks to Robert, both for the podcast chat and for The Blow Monkeys giving us 40 years of great music.

Although we love having guests from some of our favourite bands on the Live Music & Me podcast, its extra special when we welcome an actor as a guest. And, even more so, when the actor is the Scottish legend Colin McCredie.



Colin is well known for his acting prowess - however, from an early age, music has been an integral part of his world. Therefore, the discussion we had on his gig memories was full of cracking bands that he saw, and some brilliant stories connected to them. 

From a first gig seeing Hipsway in their prime at the cultural metropolis that is Perth City Hall in 1987, to being pleasantly surprised at how good  Paul MacCartney was in Glasgow, to sneaking in under-age to see Texas at Fat Sams Dundee, ( we think we were at the same concert!)  - Colin was in very fine form . 

He was also the first guest that managed to give the same answer to 3 different questions  ( a gig that he had a ticket to but missed, gig he travelled the furthest to see, and one Live Album we should all own a copy of!)  - and also the first guest to reference the same band for a bucket gig in the past he missed, and one that he still hopes to go to! 

And to top all that, Colin also managed to somehow secure a ticket to the opening launch night at King Tuts in Glasgow  in 1990! 

It was an absolute pleasure to host this podcast with Colin, and hope you enjoy watching it as much as we did making it! Enjoy, and stay safe

In 2023, we spent 12 months reviewing the Rolling Stone magazine 100 Greatest Albums list. After 20 podcasts, we had agreed that 66 of these albums were worthy of inclusion on our own 100 Album list.

So....we then decided to get nominations from our podcast panel and our music friends, and held 20 Voting Party's on Twitter/X that voted on circa 100 more albums. ( they were very good fun, thanks to everyone who took part in them)

When that was done, we had voted another 40 albums onto our list. This is course meant that we now had 106 albums on our list.

This podcast tackled the 106 challenge head on and, as per normal, our panel weren't backwards at coming forwards.

And, at the end of our 30 minute discussion, we had reduced the list, but not to 100! ( and we still have to decide what the final Top 10 will be too)

Confused, you will be....

Enjoy, and as ever, stay safe.

PS If we have now voted an album off the list that your really really love, then we suggest you start your own music podcast....

If you have been lucky enough to see/hear our guest Paul Simpson in other conversations, you will know that he is very good value for money ( and why his book Revolutionary Spirit is so well loved!) No surprise then that our podcast conversation about his live gigs covered a lot of ground!

In between Paul telling us about how his first gig actually wasn’t his first gig ( and also how he managed to ‘invest’ the bob-a-job money he had been keeping for his scout troop) – we were also treated to wonderful stories involving The Jam & Sting, and also why he set his dad’s shirt on fire. No, really...

When we got round to actually talking about his gigs, Paul covered everything from Roy Orbison to Hawkwind to The Fall to The Bathers ( and a must-see ‘gig that he had a ticket to but missed’ that beggars belief). Oh, and he also proved conclusively that, back in the day, Glasgow was indeed a bit ' tasty'.

Paul was great company and the time that we chatted literally flew in. We hope you enjoy this one as much as we did recording it.

Stay safe

We love The Pearlfishers, and therefore were absolutely delighted that Davy Scott agreed to join us for this latest recording of Live Music & Me.

Davy was honest enough to admit that some of the first gigs he went to was nothing to be proud of ( eg Clapton) - however we all did stuff when we were young we later regret!

We quickly moved on - and Davy then took us through his gig memories, talking with fondness about Macca/Wings ( Davy played a small part in him having a US No1 single) , the Scottish folk club circuit, and the same artist that most surprised him, good and bad!

He also told us what you should spend your student grant on ( gig tickets for you and your partner) , and finished off telling us all we must own a live album recorded in 1993/94 but not released in 2002 ( it's rather lovely)

It was a 45 minute chat that flew in - and as expected Davy was a wonderful guest

Enjoy, and stay safe