Author: stephaniedarkes

50 years of Pet Sounds and Brian Wilson on tour

Monday 16th May 2016 was the 50th Anniversary of Pet Sounds, an album most people aged 35 upwards have in their music library. It has touched the lives of generations, it is critically rated by many…

Podcast with Francis Rossi

A month or so ago I had the pleasure of bumping into Mr Francis Rossi of Status Quo and he was kind enough to help us promote Purley Festival by giving me an interview. I…

10 reasons why you should kill your television

A month ago we took a leap into the unknown (at least since our 20s). We decided to get rid of our Virgin box and relinquish ourselves from the millstone around our neck commonly know…

Down and out in Soho - My funny Valentine

We don't usually celebrate Valentine's Day but this year we decided to push the boat out and head up town, inevitably we ended up on a massive pub crawl but we found some real gems…

Interview with Joan Armatrading

Joan Armatrading, MBE and more importantly - according to her - (BA Hons) has won the coveted Ivor Novello Award, been nominated three times for a Grammy and twice for a Brit, written over 20…

Interview with Spin Doctor's front man, Chris Barron

You can pretty much guarantee that anyone in the UK who was in their teens or twenties in the early 90’s will have fond memories of dancing The Spin Doctors alt-pop chart toppers like Two…

I heart the 90's alternative scene

This evening me and the Mr took a trip down memory lane and played some of the tunes from back in the day, (we actually first met at 6th form college). We listened to Arrested…

Listen to this - interview with Squarepusher and Charles Hazlewood

'Listen to this' set to “engage, inspire and excite and generally blow the mind of the entire audience that come and witness it” (Charles Hazlewood) 2011 saw massive cuts to the arts budget in Croydon…

Interview with Baz Warne (The Stranglers)

In 2000 Stranglers fan, Sunderland native and Smalltown Heroes guitarist Baz Warne was invited to London to audition for The Stranglers.  He was given the gig on the spot.  Since then the band have made…

Return of the Bush

Today, tickets went on sale for Kate Bush's (allegedly) one off comeback show, I say 'allegedly' because the cynic in me is sure that these 'one off' gigs are just test gigs to build demand…

Radio Show: Croydon's music scene in the 70's - The Greyhound

Tune into Croydon Radio at 10 am tomorrow for my latest show, focusing on The Greyhound music venue, Croydon in the 70's and the bands who played there. Featuring music from: Queen, Mott the hoople, Genesis, Pink…

Heart of the Community Awards, Sept 2014

Last night I attended the Croydon Heart of the Community Awards, an award set up by the Croydon Advertiser to assist people working hard to make a difference in the community in Croydon. I was…