On this day in 1991 we said goodbye to one of the most iconic figures in rock, Freddie Mercury! The Queen frontman's funeral took place on this day at a West London Crematorium. With me to talk about his memories of Freddie and the legacy he left behind is Phil Aston from Now Spinning Magazine!

Give a Little Bit, Breakfast in America, The Logical Song, Take The Long Way Home, Dreamer - the list of instantly recognisable Supertramp hits is long! I'm delighted to be joined today by a man who was part of the band from their breakthrough with the Crime of the Century album, through the major successes of the 70s and 80s and has been a part of the group in it's various forms ever since. John Helliwell provides that unmistakable saxophone sound to the band, a sound so built into the success of the group and he joins me to talk about his time with the band, the major hits and albums and about his new record 'Don't Ever Leave Me'.To find out more about John's new album search for John Helliwell on challengerecords.com or johnhelliwell.com

Today's episode of Side 2 features an interview with the lead singer of 80s favourites T'Pau, Carol Decker!

Today, November 12th, we pay tribute to a 2-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee (should be 3-time argues my guest!) Turning 77 years old today is Neil Young! I'm joined by Pantheon Podcast co-founder Peter Ferioli who will convince you that Neil Young is greater than your favourite artist!

Sad news has just reached me about the passing of Nazareth legend Dan McCafferty. I wanted to record a quick episode to remember him and play out a short clip of an interview I did with his lifelong friend and bandmate Pete Agnew where he talks about Dan.

This is Volume 4 of Great Rock Stories from VRP Rocks and you'll hear some great stories told by some great rock stars! We've got 2 Woodstock veterans on the show plus a man who wrote of the biggest movie songs of all time. There's stories about the Sunset strip of the 80's, how one of the iconic classic rock songs was born and how an incredibly unlikely re-union came to pass!6 rock stars tell Great Rock Stories!

They were labelled the 'bad boys of rock' after a stint in jail, they broke through the LA blues scene in the 60s and played at the legendary Woodstock Festival - of course I'm talking about Canned Heat! The band went on to achieve huge success around the world with legendary songs like Going Up The Country, Let's Work Together and On The Road Again. My guest today is Fito de la Parra who joined the band in 1967 and he tells some brilliant stories from his 55 year career with the band. How he joined the group after arriving from Mexico, stories behind the big hits, how he signed up to make no money and of course about that very special festival!

On this day in 1973, The Who released Quadrophenia in the UK! This resounding rock opera remains the groups joint highest charting album in America. With me to talk about this record today is Martin Popoff!Martin Popoff is the author of 115 rock books (see martinpopoff.com for more) and creator of his own podcast here on Pantheon called 'History in Five Songs with Martin Popoff.' - Check out his work!

"I am the God of Hellfire and I bring you... Arthur Brown!!!" Ok, I'm not the God of Hellfire, but he sure as heck is! Arthur Brown is my guest on this weeks big interview show, the man who scored a worldwide hit in 1968 with the anthem, 'Fire'! He's dazzled and bewitched fans for decades with elaborate stage shows, a hat of fire, face paint and much more - and now, in the year he turned 80 years old, is back with more new music! Just months after releasing 'Long Long Road', he returns with the spooktacular 'Monsters Ball'! The guests he's got involved on the record is seriously impressive, including Deep Purple's Ian Paice, The Stooges James Williamson, Vanilla Fudge's Carmine Appice and Mark Stein, Hawkwind's Nik Turner and Alan Davey and many more! Arthur joins me to talk about this spooky new record which features a cover of the Syd Barrett written Pink Floyd song 'Lucifer Sam' and a new version of his hit 'Fire'. We also talk about that incredible song, his crazy stage shows, his friendship with Jimi Hendrix which saw them almost form a band together, his new documentary and so much more!This is one not to miss!!

"I Live Too Fast To Die Young" may be the name of his new album but it's also a line that could sum up Michael Monroe! The former Hanoi Rocks lead singer is an icon in Finland, he and his band credited as being pioneers of the hair metal movement, have been lauded by legendary icons such as Guns n Roses and the Foo Fighters and in 1985 Sounds magazine even ranked them the second best band in the world! But despite the adulation, they never achieved the commercial success they deserved. In this interview Michael discusses his time in Hanoi, the death of drummer Razzle which tore the bands bright future apart, and about how old wounds are heeling with his former bandmate. He also talks about the brilliant new documentary being made about his life, his new aforementioned solo album, this summer touring with Guns n Roses and Alice Cooper, his friendship with 'Little' Steven van Zandt and Stiv Bators, finally getting to remaster an old Hanoi album and the re-release of Demolition 23. It's an extensive interview with Michael both bright, engaging and incredibly open and honest about what he's been through.

This weeks episode is another Side 2 – because it features the return of a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee back to VRP, someone I first interviewed in May 2021, someone part of one of the biggest bands of the late 60s and early 70s – I'm talking about the wonderful Doug 'Cosmo' Clifford from Creedence Clearwater Revival! I wanted to get him back on to talk about previously unreleased music from the 70s that he made with former Derek and the Domino's man Bobby Whitlock, which he is now putting out called 'California Gold'. Plus I wanted to get the lowdown on the new Netflix release 'Travellin' Band', a brilliant live performance from CCR at London's Royal Albert Hall with some great documentary footage included from their tour across Europe! And of course I wanted to hear some more classic Creedence stories too!

2 years ago today the world lost one of rocks greatest guitarists - EDDIE VAN HALEN! On today's episode of THIS DAY ROCKS we hear memories of Eddie from his good friend, Ratt frontman STEPEHN PEARCY and former Black Sabbath lead singer TONY MARTIN.If you want to hear a longer episode which I released less than 48 hours after Eddie passed away, then please check out the special Vintage Rock Pod Tribute Show from October 2020.

Today is the second anniversary of the launch of Vintage Rock Pod! Episode 1, featuring an interview with Rock n Roll Hall of Famer, Kenney Jones, was released on October 5th, 2020! In this short episode I thought I'd play out a couple of fun short clips that never made the episodes, mostly for good reason!

Barry Goudreau is a founding member of the rock band BOSTON, playing with them on their first two iconic multi-platinum selling albums! In this open interview he talks about the early days before making it big, the impact that 'More Than a Feeling' had, touring with the likes of Black Sabbath and the circumstances surrounding his firing from the band. We also talk about his work with Brad Delp and his sad passing, plus his new band Barry Goodreau's Engine Room.

This week's big interview show see's the return of one of my favourite guests, legendary Vanilla Fudge drummer, CARMINE APPICE! The Fudge are releasing a new record called Vanilla Zeppelin, an album of Led Zeppelin songs re-imagined in a way that only Carmine and the boys can do. We dive deep into the history of this new recording, hear more from the 60's when Vanilla Fudge took Led Zeppelin on their first US Tour, the bands friendship and more. Plus, I have the difficult task of whittling the enormous Zeppelin catalogue down to a Top 5, picking my personal favourite Zeppelin songs. To hear more incredible stories from Carmine Appice's career, which includes working with Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck, being fired from the tour with Ozzy Osbourne by a vindictive Sharon, the huge anthem that made Vanilla Fudge a household name, and more about John Bonham and Led Zeppelin then check out EPISODE 43 of Vintage Rock Pod - it's a cracker!

Today's guest is the incredible KEVIN GODLEY!!Kevin's career spans such a wide course, as part of Hotlegs he had a number 2 hit in the UK and then along with Lol Creme, Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart formed 10CC who went on to score 5 top 10 albums in the UK, 3 number 1 singles and 8 other top 10 hits too! He and Lol Creme then left to form Godley and Creme and scored a couple more top 10 singles before switching their attention permanently to making music videos. As video producers they worked with U2, Paul McCartney, INXS, Status Quo, Elton John, The Police, ASIA and so many others!This is a fascinating chat with a very talented man!

On this day in 1983 we got to see the actual faces of the band KISS! Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent appeared on MTV without their trademark make-up to promote their new album Lick It Up! With me to talk all about this momentous event in Kisstory is Tom and Zeus from Shout It Out Loudcast!

STEWART COPELAND, rightly regarded as one of the greatest rock drummers of all time, joins me on this episode to talk all about his career with The Police, their struggles to start with, the dynamics between him and Sting and what caused the friction, how the studio and song writing process evolved as the success built, the band's split at the height of their fame, their subsequent re-union tour almost 30 years later and what the relationship is like between the members today. We also dive into Stewarts most recent work too, re-imagining The Police songs using an orchestra - and Stings reaction to this - a project about Italian witches involving Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders and of course about the recent Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert that Stewart performed at, at London's Wembley Stadium.It's a fascinating conversation with Stewart pulling no punches, his charismatic personality on show at all times. The Police were one of the biggest bands in the world in the 70's and 80's, the 3 members of the group, Stewart, Sting and Andy Summers, achieved incredible success during their short time together with 5 platinum selling albums between 1978 and 1983, 5 number 1 singles in the UK, multiple Grammy Award wins and ultimately induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Also on the episode you'll hear my Top 5 songs from the Police and your thoughts on last week's Top 5 Pat Travers songs.

Todays guest is PAT TRAVERS, a Canadian guitar legend whose career has spanned almost half a century! From travelling to the UK to make his name, having a surprise hit, touring with Ritchie Blackmore right through to his new album 'The Art of Time Travel' we get into it all!

One of the biggest selling songs of 1982 hit the number 1 spot in the UK 40 years ago today! The classic Eye of the Tiger by Survivor was written especially for Rocky III, and on this episode you'll hear from former Survivor member JIM PETERIK how it all happened, starting with a voicemail from Sylvester Stallone!Hear the full interview with Jim Peterik on Episode 27 of Vintage Rock Pod

My guest today has worked with some real legends over the years and has stories to tell about Rod Stewart, Jimi Hendrix and Grace Slick! Pete Sears came through the British music scene in the 60's and played on Rod's first 4 studio albums (including the platinum selling 'Every Picture Tells A Story' and worldwide number 1 single 'Maggie May') and then became an ever present member of Jefferson Starship during their first incarnation (1974-1984). He worked with Hot Tuna for the best part of a decade too. He's back with a new album playing with Steamhammer, a band he first worked with in 1969! It's a great interview not to be missed!

Released in the US on this day in 1988, LOVE BITES became the groups first and so far, only number 1 single in America. It came from the monster album Hysteria and ended up topping the Billboard Hot 100 on October 8th that year. With me to talk more about this song and the impact it had, not just on the fans but on the band too, is Neil from Def Lep Pod.If you're a fan of Def Leppard then check out Neil's podcast Def Lep Pod on all good podcast platforms!

Legendary Cream musician JACK BRUCE is the main subject of discussion today with my guest JEFF BERLIN! Jack famously said that Jeff was the best bass player he had ever heard, the two were friends and Jeff has now released an album of Jack's music in remembrance of how Jack helped him to find his own musical path. The album 'Jack Songs' is an All-Star tribute which also features an incredible cast of additional musicians including SAMMY HAGAR, ALEX LIFESON, GEDDY LEE and more! Plus you'll hear Jeff tell stories about his time working with other legends such as Bill Bruford and Frank Zappa too.Also on the show you'll hear my Top 5 Cream songs and I'll read out some of your suggestions for last weeks Top 5 songs from The Who!And if that wasn't enough - there's more! You'll get an update to the Artists Choice Playlist where you'll hear FEE WAYBILL (The Tubes), JOHN STEEL (The Animals), GERRY McAVOY (Rory Gallagher), RICHIE FURAY (Buffalo Springfield), CHRIS DIFFORD (Squeeze) and PETE JUPP (FM UK) all select one song from their own back catalogues to add to our special playlist!For more information about Jeff Berlin's new album 'JACK SONGS' visit jeffberlinmusicgroup.com/To see all the other brilliant songs already on the Artists Choice Playlist search for 'Vintage Rock Pod Artists Choice' on Spotify!

Today's guest is a guitarist thought of so highly that Pete Townshend personally asked him to join The Who, an offer he obviously couldn't refuse!! Steve Bolton, known as Boltz, first found fame in Atomic Rooster, a British rock band who scored big hits in the UK in the early 70's, before going on to work with a number of music legends. In this episode Boltz tells some great stories from his career and looks ahead to playing the Great British Rhythm & Blues, Rock Roots and Folk festival in Colne with Atomic Rooster at the end of August.For more information about Great British Rhythm & Blues, Rock Roots and Folk festival visit www.bluesfestival.co.ukVintage Rock Pod is part of the Pantheon Podcast network - find a huge range of fantastic music podcasts including "The Mistress Carrie Podcast", "The Imbalanced History of Rock and Roll", "Shout it Out Loudcast" and "The Ugly American Werewolf in London Podcast" Visit www.pantheonpodcasts.com for more information.

On this day in 1968, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham played together as a band for the very first time! They would of course go on to conquer the world. But for todays episode we hear from the other side, the bandmate Jimmy Page left behind when he took the Yardbirds name.