Whilst I'm in no position to talk, being vertically challenged myself, that piccy makes DH morph into a sort of, erm, how can I put this delicately, a Hobbit Clarkson....

Fire the PR Hep - Ashley Tisdale wouldn't stand for it!

Black Widow - Come to the Sabbat

when something called Closed Cell Sponge could return by popular demand.

going on there, Mr H.

I was at Bradford University from 1983-87 and we had a Social Sec during that time who I recall tried to cash in on the popularity of The Fall st the time. He was called Mark Smith but insisted on using his middle inital as well. Mark J Smith?

Can't remember what it was and he booked crap bands as well from memory.

I can't be overly critical as I was a Radio Ramair DJ (student radio station)during that period and was happy to see my name in print in the Telegraph and Argus each week as we were included in the listings section!

This snippet of a 1967 TV documentary offers a glimpse into the life of a second division band on the college and club circuit, as discussed in the podcast.
At the time The Action were signed to Parlophone and had released a few George Martin produced singles that hadn’t charted. The gig advertised on the poster above (it was their local) must have been one of their last as within a few months of this film the singer Reg King (who narrates the film) had left, they’d fallen out with the manager and the rest of the group had reconfigured as Mighty Baby. The manager Ricky Farr went on to organise the Isle Of Wight festival and is, I believe, currently doing a spot of porridge in Arizona for tax evasion. Guitarist Alan King, Reg’s brother, later formed Ace.

(The Action never recorded the two Ronettes songs they’e playing here - Do I Love You and You Baby - more’s the pity as they did some good cover versions: Vandella’s In My Lonely Room Temptations Since I Lost My Baby, Marvelettes I’ll Keep On Holding On.)

As someone who started going to concerts in the 1980s, that was a real eye-opener with regards the gig-going experience in the late 1960s and early 1970s. You should get Andy Murray on again.

Nice perm, Dave.

Andy Murray was.

The past may be a different country but a delightful one.

Leeds Met Ents are looking to organise something for their 40th anniversary. I have passed on details of The Word article to them and will do the same with this podcast. Do you have contact details for Rob Armstrong? Steeleye is still in hiding from the world.

Mmmm, no mention made of The Lummy Days society. It was a Stackridge gig that enticed me over to Leeds Poly and within 2 years I was Social Sec. Owe it all to the Percy The Penguin hitmakers!

Great 'cast as ever, gents, but I might have to come over all "disgusted of Tunbridge Wells" with you over a certain view expressed (admittedly a very minor point of the podcast).

You mentioned it was ridiculous that Edith Bowman wouldn't know "at least 8 Neil Young songs" - basically, why the hell would she? I'm in my 20s, listen to an awful lot of music, know my stuff (relatively speaking) and am a fully-paid up Word subscriber.

Now, due to your esteemed organ, I could probably name a fair few NY albums, but I only actually know one Neil Young song (Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, since you ask) and that's only because someone put it on a mixtape for me.

There's so much music out there and it's all discoverable that even someone as famous as Mr Young will remain pretty much untouched by those not of his era without someone to take their hand and guide them along.

Here's some Loudon Wainwright

Edith has probably no knowledge of him either.

http://open.spotify.com/track/5beLAIHBsBwPK4jXghSeBN

And here's some Kevin Bogaard

Maybe Edie B does know him - all pulsey trancey dancey

http://open.spotify.com/track/6UVHyQYsOnPQRtAU7DcvhN

Both are brill

Up with the grandads - and down with the kids - that's me. And I have nothing to do with the music biz

I do know about "positioning statements" however - and as they go - her's was shite

Fascinating podcast, but at one point I swear I could smell the hot waft of Ralgex and Horlicks coming out of the computer speakers. Possibly when Andy Murray started talking about Peter Green's "best three notes of the evening".

The notion that no contemporary rock act is epoch making and life-changing is true, but I don't think it's true of all contemporary music. When the average age on the podcast tips 50, the last twenty years seem to get forgotten (I imagine Hepworth recumbent, hugging a Gentle Giant album).

Dance music changed the way a whole generation behaved and I think the ex-soldier podcast last week probably proves that. Rock is the comfortable cardigan of music now, people will always want cardigans, but it's probably not where the really life-changing work in fashion is being done right now.

with an excellent choice of guest.

Any chance of a few more of these "eyewitness" style podcasts - maybe someone involved in the Punk scene in the late 70's, destroy a few myths maybe? Luke Haines about the "Britpop" years? That sort of thing.

Despite registering 9.5 on the old gitometer at times, I loved this podcast - although I have little interest in most of the acts mentioned your enthusiasm was totally contagious. Mark's deconstruction of the Black Widow chorus led to a mirth induced coughing fit in the frozen foods aisle of Tesco.

Also ... best sound yet?

At last, the truth can be spoken!

A fine podcast chaps; one of the best ever. A true return to form.

as I tried to suppress laughter on the train at the Black Widow chorus and drew querulous looks.
I'd quibble with the views expressed about reggae in the early 70's. At the time it was music that had strong association with skinheads. As they were the sort of people who would give me or my friends a good kicking just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time but having having long hair, there was little wonder that we had a degree of antipathy to the music they were so strongly associated with. It was little to do with the content - Dave and Ansell Collins singles Double Barrel and Monkey Spanner were fairly popular with us Jethro Tull / Wishbone Ash / Free / Rory Gallagher etc fans.

My guess is that he is the mysterious "FEd" who rather over-officiously minds the website at davidgilmour.com

I could hear the cheesecloth rustling & smell the patchouli. It's been a long time since the name Philip Goodhand Tait troubled these ears. As writers to Robert Robinson on Points Of View would say in those quondam days, "More Andy Murray, Word Podcast, more!"

today's music in 40 years time? I'm sure if you'd asked the panel for their "lasting" bands in 1969 they wouldn't have been the ones they were discussing in this podcast(with the exception as in all things of "the octopuss's garden" hit makers"). I do believe that the scarcity of music at the time made it more vital to those in love with it something that didn't change until very recently.
Modern life isn't rubbish nor neither is modern music .

Having been a late convert to the good doctor's superb Twitter feed-I rather expected a rash of Belle de Jour-esque media speculation as to the writer.

And there isn't any, that I can see. Has there been ?

I heard, in no particular order, Procol Harum, Traffic, Principal Edwards, Henry Cow, Genesis, Back Door, and forgotten others (for now). All at colleges/universities etc for fuck all.

I came from New Zealand where we got the NME 3 months late!

Heaven!

Can't say I see too many band introductions these days. Although I am at the 'classic rock' end of the market, I go to a fair few and its very rare to for the band to be introduced onto the stage. Its either an itroductory backing track, or just dimmed lights and the band stroll on. Only recent exception being Steely Dan, who send the backing band on for a 10 minute 'jam' ( as much as anything to do with the Dan is a jam) before Donald and Walter enter the proceedings.

for once with certain comments made on a podcast. This concerns the playing of "songs that evertyone knows" and that these are what should be performed. I am a diehard afficianado of Jimmy Webb and go and see him wherever and whenever I can. Or at least I have done until now. Seeing the set lists of recent shows however I am not at all sure that I wish to endure exactly the same songs with exactly the same stories in between them anymore. This is sad as I still adore the music. For the real hardcore like me (and there are a few Webbheads knocking about) there wouild be nothing better than hearing a bunch of unrecorded rarities even if it meant missing out on Wichita Lineman and MacArthur Park. Of course it might be hell for the rest of you...!

Oh and by the way this might be of interest:
http://www.proper-records.co.uk/artists.php?action=arview&arid=3954

I know this post isn't going to add to the sum total of human knowledge, but, well, I have to say it. Second fantastic podcast in a row.

I never was a fan of singles, and only bought about 10 in my entire life. 'Come to the Sabbat' was one of them.

Also, I agree that the criticism of Edith is unfair. At the grand old age of 52, I couldn't name a single Neil Young track - although I agree I would probably recognise some of them.