In this episode of Music Maps, we welcome back Simon Wolstencroft, the former drummer of The Fall. His book You Can Drum But You Can't Hide is out now on Route Publishing.

Funky Si joined The Fall in 1986 after his previous band The Weeds had opened for them. Following a meeting at Mark E. Smith's house in Prestwich it became official.

'Hey Luciani' becomes the first Fall track he works on with producer Ian Broudie in Amazon Studios in Liverpool & his first gig follows at Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall in June 1986.

Sessions for the Bend Sinister album follow with John Leckie at Abbey Road, followed by Simon's first US tour. A one off gig with U2 at Elland Road in Leeds follows & non-album single There’s a Ghost In My House becomes the highest charting Fall single to date shortly after.

Hit The North follows close behind in October of 1987 & the next album is The Frenz Experiment in 1988, with I Am Kurious Oranj & Shift Work albums following.

With their commercial peak in the view mirror, Simon's final gigs with The Fall take place in 1997 & he leaves the band shortly after.

It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps

It is hugely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music Maps & can spare the time to do either we would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/live/

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

Blue Sky: @musicmaps.bsky.social

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted by Mark Hart & Simon Cardwell

Written & Produced by Simon Cardwell

Edited, mixed & spruced up by Andy Maxwell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we are joined by legendary photographer Gered Mankowitz to discuss his time with the Rolling Stones, focusing on 1965 to 1967.

Gered shares how he entered the world of music photography via a meeting with Peter Sellers, later opening his own studio in Central London, aged 17.

A photograph of Marianne Faithfull led to a meeting with Andrew Loog Oldham which in turn led to meeting the Rolling Stones.

Gered’s first session with the Rolling Stones takes place in Masons Yard close to his London studio, a picture from this session becomes the front cover for the Out Of Our Heads album.

He then became the bands photographer for the next 2 years - joining them on US tours, recording sessions, Ready Steady Go appearances & an infamous performance at the London Palladium.

While on this US Tour, Gered spends a few days in Arizona riding horses with Keith Richards & in 1966 took photographs of each member of the band at home. Many of these photos went unpublished until Gered’s new book - The Stones - Rare & Unseen.

We touch on the change in Brian Jones over the time Gered spent with the band leading to the classic cover photo for 1967’s Between The Buttons album taken on Primrose Hill - one of the iconic photos of 1960s London.

It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps

It is hugely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music Maps & can spare the time to do either we would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/live/

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

Blue Sky: @musicmaps.bsky.social

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted by Mark Hart & Simon Cardwell

Written & Produced by Simon Cardwell

Edited, mixed & spruced up by Andy Maxwell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Music Maps we are joined by Penderyn Prize winning writer Michael Cragg to dig into the history and impact of the Spice Girls.

We explore their formation in 1994 via an audition process & their early days sharing a house in Maidenhead. Originally they are known as Touch & original member Michelle Stephenson leaves after 3 months & Emma Bunton completes the lineup.

They part company with original handlers Chris & Bob Herbert (also known for Bros, 5ive, Bewitched & Hearsay) & bring in Simon Fuller.

The Spice Girls sign to Virgin Records in 1996 'Wannabe' becomes their debut single. The subsequent debut album quickly breaks 20 million in sales.

We also touch on the concept of 'Girl Power', who came up with 'zig-a-zig-ah', the BRIT Awards appearance, the huge tours, their significant success in America, the Spice World movie, Geri Halliwell's departure, the struggles surrounding their final album 'Forever' & more.

It takes anything from 5 to 40 hours to prepare each episode of Music Maps - if you’d like to make a contribution to help us cover the costs & time of producing these episodes for you, you can do so at this link: ko-fi.com/musicmaps

It is hugely important for us to get positive reviews & star ratings - if you have enjoyed Music Maps & can spare the time to do either we would hugely appreciate it.

You can see our upcoming live events here: https://rocknrollbookclub.co.uk/live/

Instagram: @rocknrollbookclube17

Blue Sky: @musicmaps.bsky.social

X: @simonmusicmaps

Facebook: E17rockbookclub

Hosted by Mark Hart & Simon Cardwell

Written & Produced by Simon Cardwell

Edited, mixed & spruced up by Andy Maxwell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.