Our guest for this episode of Live Music & Me was the very wonderful musician, arranger & author Helen O Hara - and 25 episodes in we are still pulling rabbits out the proverbial gig hat. For example, we're pretty sure Helen was the first guest to get Ozzy Osbourne, James Brown & a Commonwealth Games closing ceremony into her gig answers. And it was definitely the first time that we could tell our guest that they were the answer to one of the hosts gig questions ( first date with a partner). And, on top of all that, we also managed to forget to chat about the legend that is Nicky Hopkin ( who Helen recorded with) until AFTER the cameras stopped rolling!

Thankfully there was more than enough content to keep the conversation flowing - and of course it was lovely to get a couple of Dexys Midnight Runners anecdotes thrown in too from Helen ( loads more in her memoir What's She Like which is highly recommended). Helen was a delight to chat to, and we hope that comes across when you get the opportunity to watch/listen. Until next time. Enjoy, and stay safe.

For our first Live Music & Me podcast of 2025, we were joined by our good friend the Scottish singer, songwriter & musician JJ ‘Jinky” Gilmour. You go into the New Year full of plans to make the podcast lean and mean, focus on the music etc. However, before we even got to the first gig question, we had discussed the ageing process, the relative merits of the Old Firm and hot water bottles. No, really.As a long-standing member of The Silencers, we were sure that JJ would have a few stories to tell – and he did. From a first gig at the Glasgow Apollo that JJ remembered more for what was happening in the crowd (it wasn’t moshing), paying tribute to the legend that is Phil Lynott, and playing Blenheim Palace even although the promoter didn’t know who he was – JJ was on very good form. JJ also clarified how many Coatbridge tramps were in The Silencers (clue- it wasn’t 100%) – and mentioned U2 & Simple Minds a couple of times during the chat. And for the last question, one of them got the ‘one live album we should all own’ nomination from him (and it’s a belter). We tried for thick end of 6 months to make this one happen, and we hope you agree it was worth the effort. Enjoy and stay safe PS. JJ mentioned that he has had a couple of personal challenges during his career and has always been a big supporter of those organisations that offer Mental Health support. For anyone interested in this area, check out Music Minds Matter Charity https://www.musicmindsmatter.org.uk

We have reached the 1990s! For this episode on our quest to create a list of the 30 Greatest Scottish Songs ever- as well as our resident Bay City Poller Caroline Binnie, we were joined by our friends, the actor Colin McCredie & Station Manager for Cumbernauld FM Gerry Duffy. In addition to the panel re-stating how great the 1980s nominated songs are ( all 42 of them!) we had a proper discussion on both the songs that have been voted into from the 1990s list, and more important those that weren't! Thankfully, all 4 panelist used their jokers wisely, adding a quality song each back onto the list. We also got Gerry & Colin to give us their ' die on a hill' Top 10 Scottish song nomination, and ended the chat by sharing some Wham trivia that aged us all in real time... A mighty fine time was had by all, hope that comes across when you have a look/listen. As ever, enjoy & stay safe