I'VE interviewed Simple Minds more times than any other rock band. They are dear friends and always great company.
But Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill recently turned the tables when they talked to me about my new book, One Love, One Life: Stories From The Stars.
We recorded this chat a few weeks ago when they quizzed me about how the book was written and the inspiration behind it.
One Love, One Life is a collection of my favourite adventures over the last 45 years as a music journalist and broadcaster. Some of the stories are off-the-wall, not to mention downright bizarre.
I recount my experiences with stars such as U2, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Coldplay, Johnny Cash and many, many more.
There's also the story of interviewing Grace Jones in her bath, hanging out with Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher of Oasis and playing drums with This Is Spinal Tap.
As they say, you couldn't make it up. But I didn't have to ... every word in all 296 pages is absolutely true.
Thanks again to Jim and Charlie for their enthusiasm and support. I couldn't have done it without them.
And why not check out One Love, One Life. It'll make a GREAT Christmas gift for all music fans.
Here's another clip from my interview with Roger Daltrey talking about The Who's new orchestral album and forthcoming gigs at Edinburgh Castle on 8th+ 9th July.
Full Interview in in 2nd hour of programme: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001kvzh
I had a great chat with Roger Daltrey talking about The Who's new Live with Orchestra album and forthcoming Edinburgh Castle concerts. You can catch the whole interview in the second hour of last Saturday's programme https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001kvzh.
But here's sneak peak of Roger talking about about what drummer Zak Starkey brings to The Who.
IT was a rare privilege to watch The Rolling Stones at Anfield, Liverpool last night.
Their set list was fantastic … opening with a stunning Street Fighting Man and powering through classics such as Tumbling Dice, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Get Off My Cloud, Out Of Time (making its live debut on this tour) and You Can’t Always Get What You Want.
What really struck me was how the band almost regressed to their 1960’s roots as musicians.
The unit of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood - augmented by bassist Darrell Jones, drummer Steve Jordan, keyboard player Chuck Leavell plus backing singers Bernard Fowler and Sasha Allen - was super tight. It was impressive to see them work together at close quarters … even on such a vast stage.
And what can you say about Jagger? His vocals were impressive throughout, as he led the band from the front and had total command of the audience.
He STILL looks super cool too. Hard to believe he’ll be 79 years old in a few weeks time.
The sprint to the tape was incredible. Miss You, Midnight Rambler, Start Me Up, Paint It Black, Sympathy For The Devil and Jumpin’ Jack Flash … with an encore of Gimme Shelter and (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction blew me away.
This morning’s newspaper reviews were
five-star across the board with The Guardian and The Telegraph among those lavish in their praise.
If this is finally to be ‘the last time’ we see the Stones on stage - and on this form I hope not - I feel fortunate to have shared a glorious evening with a band who are at the very top of their game.
Billy Sloan talks to Johnny Marr about The Smiths
We had a great reaction to my interview with Johnny Marr on Saturday's show on BBC Radio Scotland. You can catch it again on BBC Sounds. Here's a video extract where Johnny talks about the legacy of The Smiths and the latest on his relationship with Morrissey Official.
Johnny Marr tells Billy Sloan about playing guitar with Talking Heads
Here's a sneak preview of my chat with guitar legend Johnny Marr. He told me about the day he turned up to play guitar on a Talking Heads (official) session and suddenly got "The Fear"....
Tune in tomorrow Saturday at 10pm on BBC Radio Scotland for the full one hour special.
You can still catch my interview with Tim Booth from james. Tim revealed many things including how he died and was brought back to life, touring with the Happy Mondays and in this extract Tim talks about appearing in the movie "Batman Begins" alongside 5 Oscar winners and discovering Batman was a huge James fan.
The whole interview is the 2nd hour of last Saturday's programme https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000wr79
Have you always wondered who would win a dance-off between Bez from Happy Mondays and Tim Booth from james? My guest tomorrow Tim Booth started off in James as their dancer before taking over the vocals. Here's the answer ...
Full interview tomorrow Saturday at 10pm on BBC Radio Scotland.
It was great to catch up with Gary Numan for yesterday's show. You can listen to the whole interview at BBC Sounds https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000wbqr .
Here's a video clip when the electronic music pioneer reveals how he wrote his classic song "Cars" and his uneasy relationship with the song since it hit the No.1 spot.
If you can't wait for my interview with electronic music pioneer Gary Numan here's a sneak peek. The whole interview will be on this Saturday at 10:00pm on BBC Radio Scotland.
Alice Cooper tells Billy Sloan about his first gigs in the UK...
Hard hearted Alice is back with a new album "Detroit Stories". Alice Cooper tells Billy Sloan Show on BBC Radio Scotland about his first gigs in the UK.
Tune in this Saturday 13th March at 10:00pm (UK Time):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000t4pj
Kelly Jones talking about the throat problem that threatened his singing voice forever.
Kevin Rowland joined me on tonight's show. Here's Kevin talking about that controversial cover of his "My Beauty" album, when he wore women's lingerie.
You can catch the whole interview in the second hour: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000mjdp
