E12: Big Star + Prefab Sprout with special guest Jennifer Otter Bickerdike

Welcoming special guest, featured writer and hilarious raconteur Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, hosts Mark Pringle and Barney Hoskyns hear stories of Jennifer's days in the record business, including the time her car broke down with Kurt Cobain in it... as well as her subsequent decision to give it all up to write a PhD on Joy Division. Having moved to a rat-infested flat in London's New Cross, Jennifer's initial thought was: "My god, what have I done?" She has since gone from strength to strength as the queen of rockademia and global music ambassador for BIMM. Her books Joy Devotion and Why Vinyl Matters serve as the springboard for discussion before talk turns to her biography-in-progress of the doomed Nico. Mark, Barney and Dr. Bickerdike then listen to 1986 audio of Alex Chilton talking about cult Memphis band Big Star and about his decline into alcoholism in the mid-'70s. Barney's attempts to sing the praises of Prefab Sprout are met with unbridled disdain by both Mark and Jennifer, who shut him down in order to move on to the subjects of P. J. Proby's ripped trousers, Van Halen's David Lee Roth and much, much more...

Visit Jennifer's website at https://www.jenniferotterbickerdike.com and buy Why Vinyl Matters and Joy Devotion on Amazon.

Produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie

Pieces discussed: Why Vinyl Matters with Henry Rollins, Lars Ulrich and Fat Mike, Alex Chilton, Prefab Sprout, Andromeda Heights, Paddy McAloon audio,  P. J. Proby, David Bowie, Van Halen, Madonna @ Wembley, Kylie Minogue, EMF and Paul Oakenfold