Classic Album Sundays

This interview was recorded at a Classic Album Sundays event at the KEF Music Gallery with Level 42 founding members Mike Lindup and Phil Gould. They take a look back to their worldwide breakthrough LP, 1985's World Machine. This is the album in which Level 42 transitioned from a straight up jazz-funk outfit into a funky pop band and reached number 3 on the UK Album Charts. The album featured a few singles including their US Top Ten hit ‘Something About You’, the ballad ‘Leaving Now’ and the funky World Machine which was remixed by Shep Pettibone and became a dancefloor classic. Wally Badarou also co-wrote and played on the album. 

Radiohead’s second album The Bends was released on the 13th March, 1995 and exactly 30 years later Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy interviewed producer John Leckie on the story behind the album at an event at The British Library. The interview was followed by an uninterrupted vinyl playback of the full album on British audio brand Bowers & Wilkins’ iconic 800 Series loudspeakers, which were used in the mixing of The Bends at Abbey Road Studios.  The Bends is generally considered to show the remarkable evolution of their sound, which soon made them one of the most acclaimed bands in the world. With a healthy dose of the guitar rock and melancholic pop that characterised breakthrough single “Creep”, it also features beautiful ballads, a new range to Thom Yorke’s voice, blistering riffs and solos from Jonny Greenwood and multiple acoustic treats. It was produced by John Leckie, one of the most important and distinctive producers in British music. John Leckie has had an extraordinary career. His early career at Abbey Road Studios, saw him working with John Lennon and George Harrison and then as an engineer for Pink Floyd’s Meddle and Wish You Were Here and Paul McCartney and Wings’ Red Rose Speedway. Among much else he then produced Public Image Ltd debut single, a brilliant early sweep of albums by Simple Minds, The Stone Roses, Muse and many others.

In this interview with Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy, Suede’s Brett Anderson and Mat Osman explore the stories behind the making of the band’s sophomore album and reflect upon its significance today. The interview took place on the 13th October, 2024, and was a feature of a Classic Album Sundays listening event at the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room in association with National Album Day.  Suede’s second album Dog Man Star smashed through the nascent boundaries of Britpop and reached number 3 on the UK Album Chart when it was released in 1994. It has garnered even more veneration with the passing decades and 30 years after its release, the band took a look back to this fan favourite. We send a special thanks to Danley Distribution, our audio partners for this event.

Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy walks the Guyana-born musician through his career starting with co-founding the first British multi-racial band, The Equals, to his classic album ‘Walking on Sunshine’, his Top 40 hit ‘Electric Avenue’ and the founding of his own genre, ringbang, with many insights and anecdotes in between.