Down In The Basement Radio Show - 60's & 70's Soul, Funk and Rock 'n' Roll with your host, Alan Powell

On "Down In The Basement" you can expect to hear soul classics from the 60's and 70's interspersed with lesser known R&B, Funk, Rock and Roll, Northern, New Breed and Independent Soul. Your host, Alan Powell has been listening to 50's, 60's & 70's music for longer than he can remember.

He started listening to straight ahead rhythm and blues and slowly morphed into an obsession with soul and funk. When he's not driving you to work every morning on the London Underground, you can find Alan searching high and low for the rarest funkiest records.

You may even hear Alan slip in the odd gospel record, which just goes to prove that whilst the devil has most of the best tunes...He doesn't have them all..!

Listen to the show every Wednesday from 6pm GMT at  EN5 Radio or download Alan's Podcasts from his Podomatic site.

Retrosonic Podcast review on Pushblog...

We were very happy to notice the review of our first Retrosonic Podcast Episode from journalist and Author, Push, on his excellent Pushblog. The feature "Pod Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You", is very encouraging so we would like to thank Push for the kind words. Also mentioned in the feature is the influential Podrophenia, who have now expanded from Blog and Podcast to an eclectic live Radio show on Chance Radio. The show airs every Tuesday evening from 9pm. and has an interactive message board where you can pass comment during the show itself. Podrophenia has just celebrated its' 50th Episode, so we have a lot to aspire to with Retrosonic! Coincidentally, Mondo and Piley from Podrophenia will be DJ'ing at The Len Price 3 gig at The Railway Hotel in Southend-On-Sea on March 17th. More details on this to follow soon.

Please check out Pushblog too, as it features, not only a wide selection of interesting and often very funny musings, but also an Archive of Push's reviews and interviews from his time as a music journalist with Melody Maker and Mondo amongst others. Push has also co-written "The Book of E, All About Ecstacy" with Mireille Silcoff and most famously his collaboration with The Damned and (now...) The Members' Drummer, Rat Scabies on "Rat Scabies and The Holy Grail" under his real name Christopher Dawes. The Holy Grail book is a great read, part buddy-story, part road-movie travelogue and part, well...search for the Holy Grail...! It has been described as "The Da Vinci Code gets the Punk Rock treatment" and the cover carries great the tag-line "Can a Punk Rock legend find what Monty Python couldn't?!" There were rumours circulating that a film of the book was in production, which would be excellent, so I'll try to find out more.

Don't forget  to check out our Retrosonic Podcast, the first Episode features a selection of groovy tunes from The Chambers Brothers, The Rezillos, The Playn Jayn, The Carpettes and The Saints amongst others. There is a "bonus track" interview with Rock Photographer Paul Slattery too.

Retrosonic Podcast Episode 1: "We look like stars but we can't pay the rent..."

Welcome to the very first edition of the Retrosonic Podcast. Steve from the Retro Man Blog and Adam from The Jetsonics are joined in the Pod by Rock Photographer Paul Slattery. Throughout the series we will play and discuss some hidden gems and rare nuggets from Punk Rock, New Wave, Power Pop, Soul, Psychedelia, Mod, Garage Rock, Ska and Reggae from house-hold names to new and unsigned bands.

We'll also be broadcasting a "Bonus Track" where we will be inviting in various Special Guests from the world of music - including Musicians, Bloggers, Photographers and Artists, to discuss their work and their influences.

Retrosonic Podcast Episode 1: "We look like stars but we can't pay the rent" by Retrosonic Podcast

We have also set up a little Message Board/Forum called RetroBoard where you can register to comment on anything featured on the Retro Man Blog and RetroSonic Podcast. Discuss your thoughts and experiences about the music we play, we'd love to hear what you think.

There's a Facebook page too if you prefer to keep up to date there, or you can visit the Soundcloud page. The Podcast can be downloaded an MP3.

Contact us about the Podcast here retrosonicpodcast@gmail.com

 

Retrosonic Podcast: Episode One - Coming soon...!

I'm pleased to announce new for 2012, the RetroSonic Podcast, which we will hopefully be turning into a monthly release. The first episode is currently in "post-production", whatever that means...and will be released very soon. I'll be joined in the Pod by Adam from The Jetsonics and we will be playing and chatting about a selection of hidden gems from the worlds of Punk Rock, New Wave, Soul, Power Pop, Psychedelia and Garage Rock. Expect album tracks, new and unsigned bands, hidden gems and classic songs. We'll also be discussing some of the Bands and Events featured in the Retro Man Blog, and there will be news and hopefully some Special Guests along the way... 

Our first special feature will be part one of our interview with legendary Rock Photographer Paul Slattery who has captured many classic bands such as The Clash, Motorhead, Ramones, The Fall and Joy Division. He has also been there at the beginning with acts such as The Smiths, U2, The Stone Roses and Oasis. In this Episode Paul will be discussing his own "Early Years" and playing some choice cuts from the music that inspired him to take up Rock Photography, such as The Pirates, Dr. Feelgood and Link Wray.

"The Smiths: The Early Years" Photographs by Paul Slattery available from Amazon or any good bookstore

Many thanks to the following for testing the Pilot Episode and supplying us with valuable feedback, and more importantly encouragement to do more of the broadcasts! We really appreciate it.

Hasse - Selander Art (Sweden), Wayne - Ice Cream Man Blog (Sweden), Kurt - The Big Nothing (Tokyo), Francis B-W (U.K.), Mike A (New York), Susan - Jim Morrison's Paris web-site (Paris), Steve - Angels In Exile Records (U.K.), Phil - Stuff & Nonsense  Blog (U.K.), Carolyn - A Drake's Progress Blog (U.K.), Push - Author and Pushblog (U.K.), Del - The Godfathers (U.K.), Steve - The Len Price 3 (U.K.), Geoff - Kast Off Kinks web-site (U.K.), Roger - Tenek (U.K.), Ola - Fula Fula Ord Blog (Sweden), Jim E (U.K.) 

The Pilot Episode featured us discussing a selection of 12 songs that included The Rezillos, The Past Tense, Shonen Knife, The Len Price 3, The Ruts, The Soundtrack of Our Lives and Radio Birdman amongst others.

The Pilot was very a work in progress, but if you would like a copy then please email us and we will send you an MP3 version. It's worth it for the great music alone! We have also set up a little Message Board/Forum called RetroBoard where you can register to comment on anything featured on the Retro Man Blog and RetroSonic Podcast. 

Contact us about the Podcast here retrosonicpodcast@gmail.com