Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music talks about interpreting the music of others, resents being called a country gent and loves vinyl. Your hosts Barney Hoskyns and Mark Pringle debate whether For Your Pleasure or Stranded is the better album, contemplate country and Americana and explore featured writer's Susin Shapiro's New York escapades, which include an interview with Patti Smith about Horses. Next, Barney and Mark consider Aretha Franklin's I Never Loved a Man, recorded at Muscle Shoals, and Joe Zawinul of Weather Report, probably their favourite 'fusion' band. Returning to New York, they reflect on New Wave in response to Robert Duncan's piece describing Television as being 'possessed of all the manners of an oyster', before rounding off with discussions of punk vs. prog, the rise of female sexuality in pop music, and the infamous Kim Fowley. Produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie Pieces discussed: Bryan Ferry, Uncle Tupelo, Alt Country, Wilco, Patti Smith, The Ramones, Lou Reed, Marianne Faithfull, Aretha Franklin, Grand Funk Railroad, Weather Report, Robert Duncan hates New Wave,  Rock Returns to Holy Rolling, Boy Toy Rock and Kim Fowley

Welcoming special guest and featured writer John Mendelssohn, RBP's Barney Hoskyns and Mark Pringle present an excerpt from an interview with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and discuss the finer points of rock criticism with John, including the glamour of being threatened by Led Zeppelin from the stage at one of their gigs. Ahead of the publication of a new book of Kate Bush's lyrics, the three of them consider Wuthering Heights (John liked it, Barney didn't, and Mark hated it so much that he didn't listen to her music again for two decades) and discuss Mendelssohn's own book on the singer, Waiting for Kate Bush. Their guest also regales Barney and Mark with tales of finding David Bowie 'really pretty' and how 'deeply appalling' he thinks Richard Meltzer is. Find John's own podcast at bit.ly/john_mendelssohn, his blog at johnmendelssohn.blogspot.com and visit his band's website at www.freudiansluts.co.uk. Produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie Pieces discussed: Led Zeppelin's Page and Plant, David Bowie, The Man Who Sold the World, Jefferson Airplane, Ashbone Wish, Kate Bush is Dreaming, Kate Bush takes charge, Kate Bush would rather be sophisticated, Manfred Mann, Giorgio Gomelsky, Leon Huff, Blue Öyster Cult and Motörhead, Kate McGarrigle, The Temptations and Massive Attack in Jamaica

Etta James considers her life in RnB up to 1978—'Roll With Me Henry', Johnny Otis, Chess Records and working with Rick Hall. Your hosts Mark Pringle and Barney Hoskyns in turn consider her impact on singers from Janis Joplin to Adele and discuss featured writer Rob Partridge, raunchy and/or art-rock Royal Trux, and Jobriath. Their attentions then turn to Burl Ives, Marc Bolan and the joy of seeing Willie Nelson live, before they start disagreeing about Portishead as well as The Fugees, with Barney stubbornly refusing to be snobbish about their album The Score.  Produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie Pieces discussed:  Etta James, Royal Trux, Royaler Trux, Royalest Trux, Professor Longhair, Jobriath, Tammy Wynette, Burl Ives, Marc Bolan, Willie Nelson, Fogerty—Self Plagiarism?, Portishead, The Fugees, Julian Cope

Berating "idiot" Malcolm McLaren and "poxy" Vivienne Westwood, Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious hold forth, slagging off everyone under the sun, or at least everyone they can think of, in a 1977 interview with John Tobler. RBP podcast hosts Barney Hoskyns and Mark Pringle do some holding forth of their own, about the Sex Pistols (naturally) but also about Chic, featured writer David Hepworth, Nico, Gene Clark and Luther Vandross. Hailing Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards as "two of the greatest players of any musical instrument in any musical medium", Barney and Mark enthuse about disco, discuss the state of electronic music in the 1980s and question whether or not music can enact political change (spoiler: it can't).  Produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie Pieces discussed: Interview with Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, Chic, more Chic, Sandie Shaw, Nico, Lou Reed, Gene Clark, The Concise NME Guide to Electronic Music, Luther Vandross, Marianne Faithfull, Neil Young and Neil Younger

"Massive Attack [...] bores me to tears", says Mark Pringle ahead of their 20th-anniversary tour of Mezzanine. Following some discussion of the Bristol Scene, he and Barney Hoskyns consider this week's featured writer Terry Staunton. They then present an excerpt from a 2014 interview with Roseanne Cash in which she talks to Adam Sweeting about revisiting the south of the USA, which plays at the end of the podcast. Talk then turns to Joan Baez, Steve Marriott of The Small Faces and Marianne Faithfull, the latter of which turns out to be the starting point for a conversation about addiction and drug abuse, further fuelled by Susin Shapiro's withering review of Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers. Produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie Pieces discussed: Massive Attack and their album Mezzanine, Cocteau Twins' Liz Fraser, Rosanne Cash, Joan Baez,  The Small Faces' Steve Marriott, Marianne Faithfull, Geoffrey Cannon on the arts in society, Kraftwerk, Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers, Suede, Nine Inch Nails, Fictitious bands from films, Lydia Lunch, Cherry Vanilla and a YouTube interview between Nick Cave and Marianne Faithfull

Hear an excerpt from a 1976 interview between Freddie Mercury and Robert Duncan of Creem about 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (among other things). Your hosts Barney Hoskyns and Mark Pringle then consider this week's additions to the Rock's Backpages archive, including pieces on Joni Mitchell, Lionel Richie, Randy Newman and the Rolling Stones at the height of their devilish mythology. While discussing Neil Kulkarni's rave review of Wu-Tang Clan's Forever, Barney and Mark recall the time they met Wu-Tang's U-God at San Francisco airport. Produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie Pieces discussed: Queen's Freddie Mercury, Keith Moon, Aretha Franklin, Bonnie Raitt, The Runaways, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Randy Newman, Wu-Tang Clan, Boybands, Larry Leblanc with Toby Mamis