In this episode we welcome John Doran and Luke Turner to downtown Hammersmith and invite them to talk about their much-loved and newly-revamped Quietus "webzine". (That's Noughties-speak, for all you kids out there.)
The intrepid duo look back on the 2008 birth of their baby and reflect on its survival and evolution over the subsequent 16 years. Quotes from pieces they wrote about Kanye West (2008) and Britpop "fakestalgia" (2014) prompt thoughts on such much-missed Quietus writers – and RBP contributors – as S(teven)Wells, Dele Fadele and Neil Kulkarni.
Mention of a recent Quietus piece about Yoko Ono leads us to clips from Mark Kemp's 1992 audio interview with the pioneering avant-gardist whose life and work are celebrated in an exhibition at London's Tate Modern (15 February to 1 September, 2024). Ardent fans of Ono's woefully-overlooked solo albums, John and Luke talk about the relentless racist/misogynist abuse she's suffered as "the woman who broke up the Beatles" [sic].
Staying in the demi-monde of downtown New York transgression, we pay tribute to departed jazz-punk No Waver James Chance, another Quietus anti-icon, before Mark winds up the episode with quotes from newly-added library pieces about the Beatles (1963), the Temptations (1970), Kurtis Blow (1981), Jerry Dammers (1990) and Glen Campbell (1999). Finally, Jasper rounds things off with remarks on Atlanta's overshadowed rappers Goodie Mob...
Many thanks to special guests John Doran and Luke Turner. Read the Quietus at thequietus.com, and find their books, including Jolly Lad and Men at War in all good bookshops.
Pieces discussed: Kanye West: Sensitive Soul, Modern Life Isn't Rubbish: The Trouble With Britpop Nostalgia, Yoko Ono audio, Q: Why Interview James Chance? A: Because He's There, Bow To The Devilish Prince: James Chance Interviewed, Downtown icon James Chance cuts loose, It's the Beatles! Part 5: How To Avoid The Stage Door Crowds... Enter Through The Roof, Temptations: no trouble pleasing their audience, Kurtis Blow: Rap-sody in Blow, Mandela's Day — The Journey To Freedom, Glen Campbell: "I could have gone the same way as Elvis" and Goodie Mob: World Party