Achtung Baby, rock fantasy friends and the band that inspired the Bad News Tour

Its tyres pumped, its engine tuned, its air-con still on the blink, the rock and roll charabanc trundles off on its circuit which, this week, makes the following stops …

… the singer who sold vials of her tears as part of a merchandise range.

… when Billy Bragg entered a Paul Simon lyric in his school poetry contest and only got 7 out of 10.

… why our favourite music still tends to be the stuff we heard in our teens.

… how Bill Graham’s “Electric Ballroom Experience” changed the landscape – “we were out there with no compass”.

… former Kursaal Flyers drummer Will Birch re-watches their ’76 TV film documentary: “There are only two good things about Scotland - the whisky and the road out of there.” “Five autographs? Wasn’t like this at the Carnegie Hall!”

… “creamy mousse with ripe stone fruits, bright citrus and a biscuity length”: home-brewing with Alex James.  

… and how Wreckless Eric’s made a living for 46 years out of just one song.

That Bill Graham interview …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVeuDS0n3XI

Melvyn Bragg introduces the Kursaal Flyers on the BBC’s 2nd House in 1976 …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQKNeWlQzdI&t=11s

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