The Strange Brew - artist stories behind the greatest music ever recorded

John Leckie joins The Strange Brew to talk through the Dukes of Stratosphear story, from his first sight of a young XTC through to the new Dolby Atmos edition of the complete Dukes recordings.

Leckie was the Abbey Road staff engineer who cut XTC’s 3D EP in three days, then White Music at the Manor, then Go 2 and the dub experiments released as Take Away / The Lure of Salvage under Andy Partridge’s Mr Partridge alias (later gathered on the Explode Together compilation). He explains how that dub habit of pulling a mix apart and rebuilding it shaped his production work and the Dukes sound years later.

He talks through the years between, freelancing after leaving Abbey Road in 1978, work with Simple Minds and Bill Nelson, the Lost Jockey orchestral project, a spell in the Rajneesh commune, and how a collapsed Mary Margaret O’Hara session left Andy Partridge with six spare weeks of studio time, which became 25 O’Clock. Leckie recalls the Chapel in Hampton Bishop, the sound effects tape run live during mixing so nobody knew what would come up when a fader was raised, and the move two years on to Psonic Psunspot at the boat-access-only Sawmills in Cornwall.

Further information

Psurroundabout Ride (Dolby Atmos)

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Podcasts also available: John Leckie on producing Be Bop Deluxe, Terry Chambers, Colin Moulding – Part 1, Colin Moulding – Part 2, Dave Mattacks

This podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Google apps and all usual platforms

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Steve Hackett and Steve Rothery discuss their joint album The Roaring Waves. They explore creative process behind it, their individual artistic histories in Genesis and Marillion, and their respective plans for future work. The conversation ranged from the nautical themes of the album and how it was assembled, to the broader philosophy of progressive music, the influence of early prog and blues-rock guitar heroes, and the personal and professional circumstances that shaped their life in music.

Further information

The Roaring Waves

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Podcasts also available: Steve Hackett – The Lamb Stands Up interview, Steve Hackett on Genesis Revisited and Hackett Highlights, Steve Hackett – on solo career and Genesis, Steve Rothery – Marillion

This podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Google apps and all usual platforms

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Mari Wilson was the beehived voice behind “Just What I Always Wanted”, the Neasden Queen of Soul who fronted the Wilsations, supported Roxy Music and appeared on Top of the Pops. Then a second album stalled, and she could see where pop stardom was heading: cabaret, built around a medley of her hits. So she turned her back on it and walked away, into jazz clubs, Ronnie Scott’s, the West End stage, and eventually a solo career that has outlasted the pop machine she left behind.

Four decades on, Mari joins Jason Barnard to talk about Girl About Town, her first full album of original songs since 2008, written with longtime collaborator Adrian York. They trace that reinvention from Top of the Pops to Ronnie Scott’s, with Mari talking openly about being pigeonholed by the beehive and why she still believes leaving pop at that time was the right call.

Further information

mariwilson.co.uk

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Podcasts also available: Judie Tzuke, Kiki Dee, Dave Ball – Soft Cell, Martin Fry – ABC

This podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Google apps and all usual platforms

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Ten years on, Jeremy Clyde is back. Chad Stuart left behind decades of unfinished Chad & Jeremy recordings. Jeremy and guitarist Jo Meacham have now finished them off, and the results are being crowdfunded as When All Is Said and Done. Jeremy calls it the album they always wanted to make and never got round to finishing.

Before any of that, Jeremy takes us back to 1960 and Central School of Speech and Drama, where he met Chad, and to Tina’s Bar in London, where John Barry heard them and took a chance on Yesterday’s Gone. He talks about the mic technique lesson that gave them their sound, handing the Tina’s Bar residency over to Peter and Gordon, watching Paul Simon play songs in his flat before anyone knew who he was, and Peter Asher introducing him to a young James Taylor. Jeremy also covers the late 60s shift into psychedelic material, his second career as a British TV actor, plus the nine albums of solo work he made with lyricist David Pierce, the Bottom Drawer Sessions.

Further information

When All Is Said and Done – Kickstarter (closes 25 September 2026)

chadandjeremy.com

Jeremy Clyde 2016 podcast tracks

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Podcasts also available: Jeremy Clyde – 2016, Peter Asher, Chris White – The Zombies – Inside The Vaults, Mike Vickers – Manfred Mann, Jenny Boyd

This podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Google apps and all usual platforms

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Devo co-founder Gerald V. Casale joins us for a career spanning conversation, starting with his new protest single “Just Do It” and moving through nearly every chapter of Devo’s story.

Casale explains his view on the current American administration and discusses the limits of music as a force for political change. From there the conversation moves through his collaboration with Czech act Die alten Maschinen, the songs taking shape for his forthcoming solo album Wetiko, and contributions from Steve Bartek and guitarist Steve Stevens.

Casale traces Devo’s story from the Kent State killings in 1970 through the founding principles of de-evolution, the band’s run of producers (Brian Eno, Ken Scott and Robert Margouleff), the writing of “Whip It” via Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow, David Bowie’s fascination with the group, and Casale’s video work alongside Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. Casale is direct about where Devo lost its way too, naming Shout and the Fairlight CMI as the point of “Devo suicide,” before explaining how a 2004 Dell commercial brought the group back to life.

Further information

Gerald V Casale’s new single “Just Do It” is out now

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Podcasts also available: Kimono My House at 50, Prescott Niles – The Knack, Ellen Foley, Terry Chambers – XTC

This podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Google apps and all usual platforms

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