Gbh - The Garry Bushell Hour

Shortly after the NME announced that punk was dead, The Ruts came along and proved that it wasn’t. Their driving, reggae-infused punk embodied the whole late 70s Rock Against Racism ideal. And their amazing anthems, such as Babylon’s Burning, Staring At the Rude Boys and Something That I Said carried them into the charts and into the hearts of a generation…before tragedy struck. The Ruts story is told at length in Love In Vain - a massive tome written by Roland Link with a foreword by Henry Rollins of Black Flag and Sons Of Anarchy fame. I’ve dubbed the band “inspired, brilliant, tragic and thrilling in equal measure” so I’m genuinely delighted to welcome the surviving Ruts – Segsy and Dave Ruffy on to the show tonight!   Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes The Garry Bushell Hour: A Talk Show The Way It Should Be Done: Raw, Honest And Very, Very Funny!  

Hugh Cornwell was one of the major figures in early British punk rock. He was the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter in The Stranglers, the hugely influential band who scaled the charts with hits like No More Heroes, Peaches, and Always The Sun, and always marched to the beat of their own drum. Hugh smuggled Leon Trotsky into the charts and more covertly heroin – the real subject of their 1981 hit single Golden Brown. But he left the band 25 years ago to concentrate on his own recordings – earlier this month he released The Fall And Rise Of Hugh Cornwell, the first anthology of his post-Stranglers career, and he’s just begun a major acoustic tour of the UK. Here Hugh talks about his formative years in Kentish Town, North London, the band he formed with schoolmate Richard Thompson (later of Fairport Convention fame), and why he decided to go solo. Along the way he discusses the drug bust that saw him do time in Pentonville prison, biochemistry, his novels and his journey from entertaining gobbing yobs

To mark National Poetry Day, Garry’s guest tonight is one of the brightest and most brilliant of British poets – Salena Godden. Funny, poignant, outrageous and guileless, Salena is every inch a successful 21st century poet. Includes selections from her anthology Fishing In The Aftermath featuring the immortal My Tits Are More Feminist Than Your Tits ( the world premiere exclusive to GBH!), A Letter To An Air Stewardess Found In The Back Of Seat 67 as well as Salena reading from her autobiography, Springfield Road. Salena is a regular renaissance woman – savour! Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes The Garry Bushell Hour: A Talk Show The Way It Should Be Done: Raw, Honest And Very, Very Funny!  

Strong female artists have been a part of pop and rock since the beginning: incredible singers from Etta James and Janice Joplin to Adele and Paramore’s Hayley Williams have wowed the world with their talent. But for many it’s been an uphill battle, fighting exploitation and ingrained attitudes. Joining Garry tonight to discuss this fraught subject are three very different performers – Dominique Olliver, Danie Cox and Kristina Oberzan. Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes The Garry Bushell Hour: A Talk Show The Way It Should Be Done: Raw, Honest And Very, Very Funny!  

Mancunian Steve Diggle is the guitarist and singer songwriter with the Buzzcocks… the seminal punk band who infiltrated the charts with brilliant, infectious songs such as ‘Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t)’, ‘Promises’ and ‘Harmony In My Head’ – back at a time when punk really did want to subvert mainstream music. Tonight’s show is a tour-de-force of punks on tour.  The Buzzcocks opened for the Sex Pistols at Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall, performed at the 100 Club punk festival in 1976 and toured with more recent household names Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Now clean, former Mod Steve speaks with devastating honesty about his experiences with hard drugs. As the Buzzcocks approach their 40th year, this complex and creative musician continues to perform both with them and as a solo artist. Why? It’s still a buzz, cock. Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes The Garry Bushell Hour: A Talk Show The Way It Should Be Done: Raw, Honest And Very, Very Funny!  

Garry’s guest tonight Patti Boulaye shot to fame on ITV’s talent show New Faces. But hers is not a normal showbiz story.  Nigerian-born Patti lived through one of the worst genocides of the 20th century, growing up during the horrific Biafran civil war where one million people died either in fighting or from famine. Patti emigrated to London at 16, where she became an actress by accident… and a star through her pure talent. On tonight’s GBH, you’ll have an intimate encounter with a huge star… whose an heart is even bigger. Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes The Garry Bushell Hour: A Talk Show The Way It Should Be Done: Raw, Honest And Very, Very Funny!  

How are you going to vote in the forthcoming Euro-referendum? Conventional wisdom says that if you’re on the political right wing, you’ll probably vote against staying in the EU, and if you’re to the left, you’ll probably vote in favour of staying. Well, Garry’s guest tonight, Brian Denny of the RMT Union, has got some mind-opening surprises in store for you. “The EU means fascism at home”, says Brian, “and war abroad.” So he’s in Nigel Farage’s camp, then? By no means. UKIP comes across as psychotic, he says – and in reality, UKIP agrees with many of the EU’s positions on nationalisation and labour. Seems like there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors involved in this whole EU debate. As always, Litopia concentrates on bringing you the raw, unvarnished voices of those who don’t normally get a fair crack of the whip from mainstream media. Tonight’s show will make you think long and hard about such things as corporatism and fascism; the Enlightenment and post-rationalism; and what may happen to the concept of democr

If you can remember the nineteen eighties... you probably weren’t there. Barry Cain was – and he’s got 27 incredible issues of Flexipop magazine to prove it! It was a publishing phenomenon. Launched in 1980 by Barry and Tim Lott, every issue came with a flexible music disc. Flexipop was an overnight success rapidly reaching sales of more than 100,000... but it only lasted for 27 issues before it folded in 1983. Why? Get out your flares and big hair extensions... tonight, we’re gonna party like it’s 1980! Follow Flexipop on Facebook Buy 77 Sulphate Strip from Amazon Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes  

There is only one Steven Berkoff. Perhaps there’s only room for one. What happens when an enfant terrible of the British theatre grows up? They become Steven Berkoff, that’s what. Prepare yourself for an encounter like no other. Bad boy Berkoff is every bit as bad as you’ve heard, and then some. But in this searingly honest encounter with Garry, he bares the soul of a great actor. “Great actors are stupid” he spits out, contemptuously. Typical Berkoff. Uncensored, unrestrained, unleashed. The sort of radio you only get right here, on Litopia. Pass it on. Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes  

From The Two Ronnies to Blackadder…from Benny Hill to Marty Feldman… the golden years of British television comedy produced some of the funniest shows and larger-than-life characters the world has ever seen. Garry’s guest tonight COLIN EDMONDS has dominated British television comedy writing for four decades – and he knew them all… the stars, the monsters, the legends and the lunatics! Click to buy from Amazon If names such as Les Dawson, Lilly Savage, Paul Daniels, Julian Clary, Barbara Windsor and – of course – Bob Monkhouse – evoke fond memories… then you’re going to love tonight’s show! Of course, the tradition of bawdy British comedy goes right back to the world of the music hall… from which Colin draws his inspiration for his new novel, Steam, Smoke & Mirrors: with insights and extracts from the secret journals of Professor Artemus More PhD (Cantab) FRS.  Set in a Steampunk vision of Victorian Britain Steam, Smoke & Mirrors is “Victorian science fiction”, says Colin: “It’s so sexy! Men i

Garry is joined in the studio by the award-winning stand-up comedian John Moloney (twice won Best Live Performer at the London Comedy Festival) whose four-part Radio 4 series The John Moloney Show kicks off on Tuesday 12th May. Influenced by Les Dawson, Dave Allen, The Jam and West Ham United, John’s stand-up comedy is a finely crafted blend of wordplay, one-liners and cat molesting. His radio producer says that observing him at work is “like watching a masterclass unfold. He’s like a conductor and the audience is his orchestra.” Born in on the fringes of East London in Ilford, a part of Essex where he says “a man feels over-dressed if he has two ears”, ex-teacher Moloney is now the driving force behind the acclaimed Balham Comedy Festival which returns in July. He has strong and perhaps unexpected views on class, comedy and stadium comedians, and a background in traditional Irish music. The Balham Comedy Festival runs from the 10th to the 18th of July this year... click here for full programme and booking!

Garry’s guest tonight is Terry Alderton, one of Britain’s most exciting comedians and a man Frank Skinner dubbed “a flipping genius”… only he didn’t say flipping. Famous for his roles in TV hits such as EastEnders and London’s Burning, Terry’s first love was Southend United Football Club – he played in goal for their youth team – but the stage was where he really scored. Terry’s gift for mimicry made him a rising star in what we used to call old school mainstream comedy. But his originality and risk-taking appealed to young club audiences too and in 1999 he was nominated for a Perrier Award. Prime time Saturday night entertainment shows like Red Alert and The Joy of Text beckoned…he was only weeks away from Masonry and a round of golf with Lynchy and Tarby. But that wasn’t where Alderton wanted his career to go. In 2005 he experienced an epiphany that made his act far from mainstream – he started having conversations on stage with the voices in his head. The new act proved a hit with audiences the world over

In the early 80s, Britain’s pubs and clubs were full of angry, funny, working class poets inspired by punk, reggae and protest. This brave new wave of radical wordsmiths made folk heroes of Seething Wells, Garry Johnson, Ginger John, Attila The Stockbroker, Porky the Poet and one of Garry’s guests today Tim Wells – all of whom will be celebrated next month at the British Library’s Taking Liberties event, ‘Ranting poets, 'zines & Angry Kids of the ’80s’.  Tim is also the founding editor of poetry zine Rising and a mean Ska DJ. Who were these funny, chippy backstreet upstarts, what did they want then - and what do poets want today? Joining Garry and Tim in the studio is young, spiky Swindon poet Emily Harrison - Bang Said The Gun’s Poet in Residence and one of eight poets to have their work on the theme of London showcased at Boxpark, Shoreditch.  She is currently working on her next collection, confronting a search for love against the stark, yet humanising backdrop of the psychiatric institutio

What does it mean to be a conservative in 2015? Garry’s guest tonight is Professor Roger Scruton, one of England’s leading philosophers and the author of How To Be A Conservative, along with many other provocative and intelligent books which question the dominant left-liberalism of modern Western thought. The son of a working class Mancunian Labour Party supporter, Roger’s contrary views were shaped by the 1968 Paris uprising when he realised that he was on the other side: the side that wanted to preserve rather than destroy. Scruton went on to champion dissidents in Eastern Europe before the fall of Communism, and was banned from Czechoslovakia for his pains. One of the many subjects that concerns the professor more recently is the fate of England. He criticised English voters being excluded from the debate about Scottish independence last year, and has said that given the opportunity he would vote for English independence. His book England an Elegy was a stout defence of English values and virtues. In a fr

Without doubt, Jimmy Jones is the biggest British comedy star never to have had his own television series. For five decades, Jimmy has been Britain’s most successful live comedian – performing around 275 sell-out live shows every year. Jimmy’s life in comedy is the subject of Garry’s show tonight – and what a life it has been.  Summoned by Michael Jackson to his suite at the Dorchester... swapping gags with Prince Philip... pouring brandy for Princess Margaret out of a teapot... performing for some of Britain's most notorious gangsters...  Jimmy  is very much in the vulgar but popular tradition of Max Miller... which isn’t surprising, since it was a youthful encounter with Max that inspired him to go into show business! The Beatles. Dudley Moore. Tom Selleck. The Rolling Stones. Iron Maiden. Pink Floyd, Benny Hill. They’re all fans, most  have been friends, and Jimmy has hilarious tales to tell.  An unforgettable, uncensored show about a true comedy legend – and a little piece of Bri

Rhoda Dakar is one of the UK Ska scene’s feistiest characters, making her mark originally with the Bodysnatchers and then with Jerry Dammers in the Special AKA. Rhoda’s talent, intelligence, and heartfelt socialist ideals made her stand out from the pack. Like Dammers, she wanted 2-Tone to mean more than a good time…cue songs like The Boiler and Free Nelson Mandela that added real politics to the movement's in-built message of racial tolerance. Rhoda was a teenage glam rocker caught up in the rush of punk. She was working in a South London unemployment exchange when bassist Nicky Summers saw her skanking to The Selecter and asked her to join her band on the spot. The Bodysnatchers, 2-Tone's first all-woman combo, were signed up quickly and burnt out fast, notching up just one Top 30 hit, Let's Do Rocksteady. Their split was not amicable and a reunion will never be on the cards, but Rhoda recently released an album of Bodysnatchers songs funded by her fans via Pledge Music. Here Garry (who was the first to wr

From Axl Rose to Sharon Osbourne, legendary rock journalist Mick Wall knows them all. A world-class raconteur, Mick joins Garry tonight for an evening of absolute rock nirvana. Mick’s story is a real-life Almost Famous with balls on. And goats. And many, many other substances. What a long, strange journey it’s been! Stopping-off points include The Police, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Dire Straits, Lou Reed, and many more. Currently, Mick has just concluded an investigation into the death of Jim Morrison, lead vocalist of the Doors. Love Becomes a Funeral Pyre: A Biography of The Doors carefully blows apart all the myths that have accumulated around one of the most popular and influential singer-songwriters in rock history. You will be riveted. Mick’s Kindle-only biography of Pink Floyd, The Endless Journey: 50 Years Of Pink Floyd has also just been published - timed to coincide with The Endless River, the first all-new Pink Floyd album for 20 years. >>>>>> Download the show as mp3 file Subs

He’s a threat to democracy, as dangerous as ISIS, and keeps bees. He’s a freaky dancer, a maestro of the maracas and a brewer of fine old, traditional ale. Oh yes - and the icon that is Bez from the legendary Mancunian band Happy Mondays also wants to be your MP. Garry’s guest tonight is Mark Berry, known universally as Bez. By the late 1980s, the Happy Mondays were a central part of the Manchester music scene and personified rave culture. Musically, the band fused indie pop with house music, funk and northern soul. In terms of style and dress, they crossed hippy fashion and ideals with 1970s glamour. Sartorially and musically, the band helped to encourage the psychedelic revival associated with acid house. Fast forward to now. Bez has won Celebrity Big Brother, twice been declared bankrupt, and is more interested in reality than in the drug-fuelled excesses of previous decades. Today, the parties he attends are more likely to be political than rave. What’s on Bez’s agenda? Fracking, for one thing. The Infra

Football hooligans! The words are enough to strike terror into the hearts of the upstanding middle classes and have entire towns boarded up and quaking with fear. Garry’s guest has more than a casual acquaintance with the subject. Dougie Brimson, a former hooligan himself turned bestselling writer, is an expert. Join us tonight as we explore this controversial topic in depth. With over half a million books sold worldwide, Dougie’s first title was Everywhere We Go - first published in 1996, it remains a cult classic. His first novel, The Crew, held the #1 slot on the soccer charts of both Amazon and iTunes for over two years and was the most downloaded football related title of 2012 and 2013! In 2003 Dougie made the move into screenwriting with It's a Casual Life, a 15-minute film looking at the world of football violence from a Casuals perspective. His first full length feature, the Hollywood funded Green Street starring Elijah Wood, was released in September 2005 and has won numerous awards. >>>>

Rancid are one of the world's biggest ever punk bands. Formed in California in 1991, they have sold more than four million albums worldwide. Vocalist and guitarist Lars Frederiksen has been with them since 1993, and he also fronts his own streetpunk band The Old Firm Casuals. Son of a Danish mother and an Italian-American father, Lars has devoted his life to his vision of punk and the old ideals of uniting different youth tribes against the system. Tonight, he speaks frankly to Garry about his childhood experiences growing up with gang violence, and how UK rock weekly Sounds helped him survive the US equivalent of borstal. >>>>>> Download the show as mp3 file Subscribe in iTunes Be a wonderful human being and support us with a donation