On this episode I chat with Richard Evans who is the author of the fantastic new book Listening To The Music The Machines Make: Inventing Electronic Pop 1978-1983.

Richard has worked in the music industry for over thirty years in a variety of roles, including positions at London Records, Factory Records and MTV Europe.

In 1998 he set up marketing consultancy The Fan Base and has been connecting musical artists with their audiences ever since. He is the founder of the This Is Not Retro website and record label and has worked for Andy Bell, Vince Clarke and Erasure since 2009.

Drawing from years of extensive research, as well as from conversations with many of the personalities from that time, the book sets out to examine the many influences that led to the synthpop revolution that spanned the late 70s and early 1980s. It tells the definitive story of a true golden age of British pop through the careers, records and stories of the era’s pioneers, mavericks and chart superstars.