Over Our Garden Wall - Music Podcast

After a lovely summer sabbatical, we have been dragged kicking & screaming back to podcast-land ( thanks Colin McCredie!). However, what better way to get back in the groove than talk about Simple Minds. Original Self Abusers. Agitators . Innovators. Influencers. Stadium Rockers. Comeback Kings. Everyone has an opinion on a band that is still going strong almost 50 years down the line. So we have plenty to get our teeth into if we want to get agreement on our favourite studio album. Episode 1 can be a bit flat, but not this one. The panel debated/disputed our poll/pod name ( didn't agree) , how the polling might go on X ( didn't agree) and gave us their predictions for the polling ( didn't agree) We also had a couple of SM trivia questions, and even had Skin suggesting a name for a pod/poll on him that isn't happening ( yet...) Great to be back - and as ever, big thanks to our panel Caroline, Colin & Skin. They make a happy man very old Enjoy & stay safe

Very pleased that we finally managed to get some podcast diary time with the Scottish singer, songwriter & musician James Grant. Anyone who has been lucky enough to see James live will know that he is a very good storyteller ! And thankfully this carried over to our gig chat. From his first gig at Tiffany's seeing a groundbreaking Glasgow band, to his last gig seeing 2 groundbreaking artists honouring a 1950s/60s legend ( that we were at too!) all the bases were well and truly covered. We also got anecdotes aplenty, that included getting thrown off a Tina Turner support slot after just two nights, having a ticket to a must see gig at the Glasgow Apollo but choosing to stay at home and watch a movie - and meeting a world champion snooker player who was higher in the UK singles chart than Love & Money, the conversation flowed. And to finish James gave us a killer fav ever gig from New York City, and a live album recommendation that ROCKS. It was an absolute pleasure to record this one - biG thanks to James for giving us him time, and we look forward to seeing him live soon on the Clyde Riviera Enjoy & stay safe PS: James also mentioned that he has been recording new music, which should be out in 2027 supported by live performances. Happy days...

After a few aborted attempts, we finally managed to get Kevin McDermott into our virtual living room to record a Live Music & Me podcast. Kevin is an integral part of Scotlands musical backstory and Glasgow's in particular - therefore it was great to get a feel for how his gigs were part of his musical development. As expected, we got numerous references to the famous Glasgow Apollo ( including the x-ray vision of their bouncers), learning the guitar to Rock Lobster, missing a Clash gig he had a ticket for, and enthusing about being lucky enough to seeing the greatest post punk band ever. Kevin also threw in a Pete Shelley impersonation for good measure, a bit of gossip about David Byrne’s Dumbarton family - and we also got the first mention ever of Loch Lomond bear park. No, really… What we didn’t get was a Live Album recommendation from Kevin - however he did recommend a live album we definitely SHOULDN’T own…And to finish we got a wee update on what Kevin’s up to at the moment ( he is very active which is good to hear) Even allowing for a bit of audio bounce, it was a very pleasurable experience. Big thanks to Kevin - enjoy & stay safe PS “ If you don’t like The Beatles, you don’t like breathing”

All good things must come to end, even a tribute to the legend that is Mr BowieAnd hopefully, out final podcast pays due respect. However, as per normal, at least 50% of the chat has minimal connection to the great man! We of course do discuss the Final ( Hunky v Zizzy). Plus the panel sharing their own personal fav Bowie tunes ( and Caroline sharing super cool signed merch). And a wee chat about potential future podcast material. To finish, our good friend Skin also gave us an acapella version of a Bowie classic from the winning album ( that wasn't meant to be apacella!) All in all, a perfect way to finish our Bowie chat. Huge thanks to Caroline, Colin and Skin - they are the icing on the dodgy cake! Until next time - enjoy and stay safe.

How much can we pack into a 30 minute music chat? The answer on this episode is...quite a lot! With Colin, Caroline & Skin in top form our chat content included Bowie Quiz Lou Reed and New York toilets ( no, really) Mime dancing to Life On MarsSigned merch And of course, the panels Final predictions More importantly, we also took a moment to pay our respects to Brian McFie who had passed away just before our recording. A genuine legend, who will be sorely missed. Until next time

So we have made it to episode 3 discussing all things Bowie! Thats a surprise, and even more so that we managed to get Colin, Caroline & Skin to all rejoin us again...We went with 2 Bowie trivia questions on this one ( with mixed results from the panel), plus Skin telling us which colours all the Bowie albums are, and reflections on how our rock star friends on X don't always agree, especially on Bowie albums. More importantly, we also did the live draw for the semi finals, and they are VERY tasty...Will we get to episode 4? Ask us this time next weekEnjoy & stay safe

Episode 2 is mainly a discussion about how the last 16 knock out round went ( panel had mixed views!). We also managed to squeeze in chat about taking photos in the 1970s, singing Bowie covers, the most expensive album cover ever (!) and how Cilla Black was such an inspiration to Bowie We also did a live draw for the last 8 - and 4 belting match ups they are As ever, thanks to Caroline, Skin & Colin Enjoy & stay safe

So we said we were taking the summer off....however with the great man 10 years gone now, we thought it would be nice to tip our hat to Bowie by chatting ( and voting) on his studio albums, and ultimately come up with the album that we collectively think is our favourite ( picking the ' best' one almost impossible!) Episode 1 has our panel Caroline & Grahame talking with fondness about their favourite Bowie moments, has Grahame singing Paul Quinn singing Golden Years 4o odd years ago ( no, really) and the panel trying & failing to guess his 9 UK No 1 albums. More importantly, we also did a live draw for the last 16 knockout round, with at least 2 heavyweight clashes drawn.Big thanks to Caroline & Grahame - lets see how this one goes... Enjoy & stay safe

We actually grew up in the same town at roughly the same time as our guest on this episode - the singer/songwriter and virtuoso guitarist Marco Rossi. Therefore, apologies in advance if the chat gets a bit 'local' in places. Marco is very much his own man, and this comes across in his gig recollections. From a pre-schooler first gig at a local event watching a jazz legend, we pass through peak punk rock, a Beatle in Paris, and our first ever mention of pop-pysch rockers Gothic Chicken! Plus, we get a live album recommendation that we concur with 100%. And, of course, we manage to chat a fair bit about Kevin McDermott Orchestra ( including a personal message for Marco) This one was well overdue, and in turn we took our time making sure we covered all the bases ( its definitely a two coffee watch/listen). Marco was great company, as we are sure will agree. Enjoy and stay safe

Arguably saving the best till last, we recently spent around 30 minutes in the company of Mike Scott from The Waterboys. Our primary conversation was on Fisherman’s Blues, the album that came out on top of our Greatest Scottish Albums poll – and Mike was generous in both his recollections on making the record and some of the frustrations that it created for him. However, with the benefit of almost 40 years of perspective, Mike is now rightly proud of what he and his fellow musicians achieved. Mike also gave us a couple of cracking stories connected to the album, including a world-famous producer cold-calling his Mum’s house in Ayr, and reminding anyone who needs reminding of his Scottish heritage. Mike has been a big supporting of our polling and chat on X over the last few months, which has been appreciated by everyone connected to our music channel – and we are looking forward to the release of the Atlantic Rain album and the subsequent Fisherman’s Blues Revue Tour ( and we’re going too!) See you on the other side

We were keen to try and talk to some of artists involved in the making of some of the very best Scottish albums that make our final ‘greatest’ list. One of those albums was Rip It Up by Orange Juice (a semi-finalist, and we were therefore delighted to be joined by their (and many other great bands) guitarist, Malcolm Ross. Malcolm talked with fondness about how exciting music wasaround that time and gave us some lovely recollections, including being in two great bands in the space of 12 hours, recording the album in Soho London surrounded by goths, and of course making it onto Top Of The Pops. (and that infamous 2nd appearance!) We also collectively agreed that the album has aged verywell, and is fully deserving of the recognition it is now getting. Big thanks to Malcolm and check out the album if you haven’tfor a while. It might surprise you. Enjoy and stay safe

It was touch & go for a while there, however we now have a list of the 30 Greatest Scottish Albums, as voted on by our music friends on X. You may/may not agree with the albums on it or the order they are in, however we believe that it represents much of what makes Scottish music great. Therefore, on our final podcast we chat about the Final 30, and we compare this to a “Critics 30” that was put together in parallel. We also announced what the best albums cover art is, and the panel gave their own personal recommendation for a Scottish artist album that everyone should own a copy of. And, we also had a couple of initial ideas as to what our next podcast series subject matter might be ( it involves the M8 - no, really). We’ve had so much fun doing this one, and a personal thank you to Caroline, Colin ( and Donna) for adding both the glamour and the guile. See you all on the other side….

This one was a wee bit special - with our guest none other than the award-winning writer ( and musician!) Ian Rankin. Ian's CV as a writer is very impressive. However, his gig CV is a bit more mixed! From a first gig where he ended up watching a different band than planned, to a 'date gig' where his ( now) wife fell asleep during the gig, to getting an apology from Peter Hook for a cancelled Joy Division gig, Ian's chat covered all the bases. Oh, and he also had some performer gig stories of his own to share too. And to finish, Ian gave us our first mid 70's 'prog' reference for his ' one live album to own' recommendation. We can't thank Ian enough for taking the time to join us. It will be a busy year for him, with a new book due out late summer ( details at his website link below)Enjoy & stay safe https://www.ianrankin.net/

The Crossing by Big County has had a lot of love throughout our Greatest Scottish Albums debate - and is a worthy finalist. Therefore we were keen to get a bit more insight into the album from someone closely involved with the recording. And who better to talk about it than the producer of the record Steve Lillywhite ( who joined us all the way from Bali!) Steve shared lots of feedback and general love for both the album and the band, which included a marriage proposal, Stuart being better organised than Bono, and why Steve thought the band were a bit proggy ( in a nice way). Oh, and we also discovered what’s Stuart’s party trick in the studio was ( not for the faint hearted) We can’t thank Steve enough for taking the time to talk to us, and it was lovely to see how warm his recollections were. Enjoy and stay safe

We reached the semi final stage last weekend, and our polling on X proved to be both busy and eventful ( we ended up running 3 polls for only 2 ties - no, really). Therefore, this podcast was mainly about picking the bones out of that lot. We also chatted about the upcoming final, nominating artists for the 'Over Our Garden Wall Music Prize' , and re-visiting the age old question of when is a Scottish band not a Scottish band? Answer: well it all depends....Enjoy, and stay safe

Another winter weekend, another Greatest Scottish Albums poll on X, this time to determine our four semi finalists.And, as per the last few polls we have carried out, we ( and everyone else bar one person on X!) didn’t predict the four albums that would go through. Plenty therefore for our podcast panel to chew over, which they did, and then some. We also made the draw for the semi finals, discussed persuading the winning artist onto the last podcast, and gave the voters some advice on how best to maximise their own fav album’s chances when the polls kick off ( it involved fully utilising all family & friends to max effect, especially when they leave their phones unattended) All fair in love and war, sometimes…Enjoy and stay safe

Another weekend's voting on X ( last 16) - and yet nother cliffhanger vote, with the winner in the 98th minute! We talk about this and the other seven results on the chat. More importantly, we made the draw for the quarter final ties, and we reckon 3 out of 4 are coin tosses. We also had our first offer of bribery for a favourable draw ( in return for hot x buns). Tempting, very tempting....Enjoy & stay safe

Our ' World Cup' style knockout format proved very successful, so why change a winning formula! Therefore, on this episode, as well as discussing the results of the last 32 album match ups (with one of the votes going to the last minute after 36 hours!) - also had a live draw, where our panel ( sans Rod again) did the honours. 8 outstanding ties, with at least 3 of them Ali v Frazier match ups.... Onwards and upwards

After 3 years of podcasting, we had another first on this episode - a live draw!. We didn't have a drunk Rod Stewart to do the draw ( maybe next time), however Caroline & Colin coped admirably. 32 artists. 32 albums. 16 match ups ( and one which is an absolute) belter. All in 15 minutes. Only a matter of time before Premier Sports start a Premier Music channel and give us top billing. Enjoy, and stay safe

This podcast was recorded after the Group stages of the polling were completed. In theory, we had the 32 albums albums we need to move onto the knockout stage. However.... Our podcast pals stated discussing whether there was merit in restricting any artist to a max of one album. Bearing in mind that there were nine artists in the 32 with two albums each ( and all belters too) - agreeing this would be a very controversial decision. On the upside, it would mean nine other fantastic albums get their chance in the final 32. What decision did they take? Click the button to find out... Enjoy & stay safe PS. We also, for the first time, have a super cool intro/outro jingle, courtesy of our friend Stephen Peebles.( check out his band The Morning Early if you get the chance) Top man.