S7E1 - Special Episode: Interviewing Bob Stanley, music journalist and founder of Saint Etienne

Over/underrated: a music podcast with Fran and Babs

We're kicking off our new season with a very special episode! We're interviewing Bob Stanley, a very talented writer, musician, DJ, and film producer.

Since founding the band Saint Etienne, Bob has enjoyed a parallel career as a music journalist. He came on the podcast to talk about two of his books, which - together - span the entire history of pop, from the invention of the 78 rpm record at the end of the 19th century to the current modern pop age. This being Over/underrated, we still wanted to ask Bob for five of his most beloved underrated artists - and we have picks as far back as 1950!

Bob's book 'Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop' starts at the dawn of pop in the fifties to its increasingly digital existence in the 21st century. Re-released this year with a new chapter, Bob has successfully and engagingly charted the history of modern pop.

We also discussed Bob's latest book 'Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop' - a prequel to Yeah Yeah Yeah and "the only book that brings together all genres to tell the definitive story of the birth of Pop, from 1900 to the mid-fifties." Winner of the Penderyn Book Prize, Let's Do It shines an encyclopedic light on pop's pre-history.

Densely packed and consistently fascinating, we music nerds really enjoyed geeking out on both of Bob's books - and recommend you grab yourselves a copy of each also.

Check out Bob's website and find out more about his back catalogue of books and records. You can follow 'Rocking Bob' on Instagram, Twitter/X and Bluesky.

You can find ⁠the playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠ - it includes all songs from Bob's playlist, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media: it's ⁠@OUmusicpod⁠ on Twitter/X - and now also @OUmusicpod on Bluesky - as well as ⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠ on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠[e-mail]⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠Mark Abbott⁠ for our logo.