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Showing 20 · updated from the feed

E235: Tony Fletcher on Jamming! + The Jam + U2 audio interview

For this episode we're joined in Hammersmith by the much-travelled Tony Fletcher as he returns to his homeland to promote his new book POW! When UK Punk Went Pop, 1980–84

Sep 14
1 h 15 min

E234: Mitchell Cohen on Dolly Parton + The Lovin' Spoonful + The Blues Project

For this episode we're joined by veteran music scribe and A&R man Mitchell Cohen to discuss his long career and his brand-new book. We start in the Bronx of Mitchell's y

Sep 1
1 h 13 min

E233: Brian Cullman on Sandy Denny + John Martyn + Big Joe Turner

In this episode, we invite the marvellous Brian Cullman to join us onscreen from a French farmhouse in the Dordogne. The author of How to Prepare for the Past talks us t

Aug 17
1 h 22 min

E232: Tim Page on his Pulitzer Prize + Judee Sill + Stephin Merritt

In this episode we're joined by special guest Tim Page to trace the arc of his career from reviewing James Chance & the Contortions to winning the Pulitzer Prize. In a c

Aug 3
1 h 07 min

Episode 231: Geoffrey Cannon on the '60s + the Guardian + Jack Bruce audio

In this episode we invite the pioneering Geoffrey Cannon to reminisce about his stint as The Guardian's rock critic between 1968 and 1972. Commencing with the pop baptis

Jul 20
47 min

E230: Simon Reynolds on shoegaze + dream pop + Jay-Z audio

Acclaimed author Simon Reynolds joins us in Hammersmith to discuss his latest book. A journey through the many bands and scenes he wrote about between 1984 and 1994, Stil

Jun 22
1 h 10 min

E229: Funk special with Lloyd Bradley + Betty Davis audio

In this episode we welcome Lloyd Bradley back to Hammersmith to discuss his monumental new tome Funk Is Its Own Reward. We ask our guest about what he describes as "Blac

Jun 8
1 h 15 min

E228: Maureen O'Grady on Rave + Pet Sounds + Miles Davis audio

In this episode we're joined by a legend of '60s pop journalism to discuss her days at Rave magazine and her friendships with the stars of that swinging decade. Maureen

May 26
1 h 22 min

E227: An LGBTQ special with Barry Walters + a Grace Jones audio interview

For this episode we're joined all the way from San Francisco by Barry Walters to discuss his new history of LGBTQ music. And in our first recording since the retirement o

May 11
1 h 14 min

E226: A Liverpool special with Penny Kiley and Paul Du Noyer

For this episode we're joined by not one but two very special guests to talk about one of the great music cities. Penny Kiley is the former pop columnist for the Liverpo

Apr 13
1 h 14 min

E225: Adele Bertei on New York's No Wave scene

In this episode we welcome back the marvellous Adele Bertei — five years after she first guested on our show — to talk about her amazing new book No New York. Beginning

Mar 30
1 h 06 min

E224: Jimmy McDonough on Neil Young + Gary Stewart + Al Green audio

For this episode we invite the very entertaining Jimmy McDonough to join us — all the way from Portland, Oregon — and discuss his career as "the king of the crazy biograp

Mar 16
1 h 05 min

E223: AOR Special with Paul Rees + Boston audio interview

For this episode we welcome former Q/Kerrang! editor-in-chief Paul Rees to RBP Towers to discuss his riveting new book Raised on Radio: Power Ballads, Cocaine & Payola.

Mar 2
1 h 03 min

E222: Jeff Walker & Kim Gottlieb on Tom Waits + Gram Parsons

For this episode we're joined — all the way from Laurel Canyon — by the husband-and-wife tag team that is Jeff Walker and Kim Gottlieb(-Walker). Married for 53 years, Jef

Feb 16
1 h 17 min

E221: Phast Phreddie Patterson on the world's biggest record collection

In this episode, we talk to Fred Patterson, aka Phast Phreddie, about his work at the ARChive of Contemporary Music, plus his own magazine Back Door Man and his band Thee

Feb 2
1 h 02 min

E220: Bob Stanley on Saint Etienne + Connie Francis + Bob Weir R.I.P.

Content warning: This episode contains discussion of rape (40:37–42:20). In this episode we ask Bob Stanley about his career as a writer and member of the beloved Saint

Jan 19
1 h 08 min

E219: Thurston Moore on free jazz + Sonic Youth + Derek Bailey

For this episode we're joined by Sonic Youth legend Thurston Moore to discuss his new book Now Jazz Now: 100 Essential Free Jazz and Improvisation Recordings, 1960-80. W

Jan 2
1 h 26 min

E218: James Brown on Sounds + NME + Loaded + the KLF

For this episode we're joined in our Hammersmith HQ by James ("The Hardest Working Man In Show Business") Brown. The former NME star and founder of "lads' mag" progenito

Dec 15 2025
1 h 38 min

E217: Susan Compo & Derek Ridgers on punks, goths and new romantics

In this episode we welcome not one but two wonderful guests to RBP Towers. Susan Compo and Derek Ridgers have been trans-Atlantic pals for decades and first met on a Four

Dec 2 2025
1 h 19 min

E216: Pete Paphides on ABBA + Stevie Wonder + Broken Greek

In this episode we're joined by Pete Paphides, former rock critic for the London Times and author of 2020's acclaimed memoir Broken Greek. We start with our guest's uniq

Nov 17 2025
1 h 31 min

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Position in the Music History chart (US), last 90 days.

#1#100#199JunJulAugSep

#24

all-time peak

102

days in the top 50 since Nov 2024

Chart positions

Where Rock's Backpages ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 23, 2026).

#77 ▲ 95 Music History US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

Brilliant podcast. These guys love music and those who write intelligently about it. They have deep knowledge of their subjects but speak with humility and humor. Wish the ratings went up to 11 because they deserve it.

in cale we trust · Apr 2024

Wonderful show. Learned a lot as these guys have been at it for years. And unlike so many other Podcasts they aren’t full of themselves and are obviously just having a good time and talking about a subject they love.

Les Hall · Dec 2023

It's like an education on rock through the ages (starting around 1956). Barney, Mark, and Jasper -- and their various FANTASTIC guests-- go into delightful and remarkably erudite discussions about all the stars across popular music who touched or crossed their paths, and ours -- who were squarely the movers of Rock through the Rock ages. The three hosts remind us that rock journalism was once a vital movement that helped a culture understand and appreciate what was happening in it musically. So, if you want to know who sang what, who wrote what, and how today's popular music has changed compared to how it started and blossomed throughout the 60s to today -- or didn't -- then the RBP Podcast will leave you wonderfully fulfilled, educated, and perhaps left with a hope that the future will learn from the past. Maybe modern music will once again be a force for thoughtful change in attitudes and a relevant commentary on society. All of this is discussed, and more. Check it out, and see what you think. And subscribe to the RBP archive! Articles and audio by major rock journalists from the past 55 years. There is nothing like RBP. Highly recommended!

TinyPriest · Jun 2021

All topics discussed come from a wide variety of popular music and the hosts are informed in giving their opinions, if not already informed through first-hand experience and/or memory. Sensitive, thought-provoking discourse on the subjective nature of music, culture, and taste. They value writers and critics whose work has influenced other writers and critics with respect to writing style and personality— more so than writers who sought to uncover objective truth (and those writers are still seeking, the ones still alive anyhow). A must-listen for aspiring musicologists and music journalists.

Kevin A. Jones · Nov 2019

We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.