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BBC Radio 4 10.30 am Saturday 16th April 2011 : Sylvie Simmons:the Rock Chick interviewed by
Nick Barraclough.
Should be very interesting.
- Dave

Very much enjoyed the interview. Not much insight into the forthcoming LC bio, but I have great confidence it is going to be a winner.

In addition to fun stories about the Jacksons, Steely Dan, Stevie Nicks, Johnny Cash and others, I also loved the preview of Sylvie's uke playing and songs.
We are all going to love her at the Madison 2012 Event!

Here is link to the show:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b010dd43

Thank you Dave for the heads up and Dick for posting the link.

I enjoyed the interview very much.

---Arlene

Fascinating interview. Thanks for the heads up on this Davido and Dick for the link. I kept waiting for her to talk about LC, but as Dick said, only a blurb re: the upcoming book.

What I found most fascinating about this interview was the fact that of all the genres of music performers that she had covered in her career, she found that the metal bands were the most normal. They have this 'bad boy' image and some of it is warranted. But, when we were in the record store business and would have different groups come in for autograph sessions with the public, afterwords, we would get together with them in the back areas of the stores for drinks and food. Without fail, these metal bands were the artists that more than anything else would want to talk about home and family and were usually homesick. We stayed away from the topic of music, because, as one of them once said to us, they get those questions all the time and for them it was nice to be able to discuss what they considered their number one priority. The managers always had a hard time getting them to leave for other commitments Again, maybe some of them did live up to the persona put forth by the media, management, etc., but on the whole these also were the most 'normal' artists that we had the chance to meet.

Can't wait for the opportunity to possibly meet her at the Madison 2012 event!

Best regards,
Mary

Thanks for your own interesting perspective, Mary. It would've been nice if Sylvie could have spoken with you before she published her book. I hope you make it to the 2012 Event and get to meet her, too.


~ Lizzy

programme audio now on website of bbc radio 4 extra.

Sylvie Simmons left Islington as a teenager in the seventies to freelance as a rock correspondent for the likes of NME, Sounds and Melody Maker. Music journalists were rare on the West Coast back then, female ones even rarer.

Sylvie talks to Nick Barraclough about how it was her dislike of English traditional folk music that drove her from her London home to California, where she encountered a burgeoning music scene. They received her, initially, with scepticism. Her love of the music, though, and her thorough understanding and encyclopaedic knowledge of the scene soon won her respect and affection from musicians and editors alike.

Sylvie recalls the trickier encounters she has had over the years; the blues player who expected more than just a review from her, a shy Michael Jackson who needed an interpreter, an ailing Johnny Cash, awkward but ultimately chummy Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan and a ticking off from Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks.

She reflects on the pros and cons of being a female in what is predominately a male world; the relief of some female stars that they can talk to one who understands, and the fact that of all the genres, heavy rock has the most courteous interviewees, sensitive singer-songwriters not so good, new romantics the worst.

Sylvie also shows Nick her new passion; her impressive ukulele collection and we're treated to an impromptu duet.

Producer: Nick Barraclough

A Smooth Operations production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2011.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010dd43

Speaking about Sylvie: she has written another major cover (?) story about Leonard and the new album for the MOJO magazine, for the January 2020 issue (available late November)