2020 was a year to remember. but what were you listening to? What were your stand-out tracks? My mate Pete Davies and I belatedly sat down and discussed out favourite tracks of last year. Then I belatedly sent to to my good friend Mark Cotton to clean up. So, four months into 2021 I present to you the best tracks of 2020 plus a load of chat.

PRS Music Licence number: LE-0021472

The Best Tracks Of 2020 With Peter Davies

This is the first of three collaborations with Blenders. We talk to musicians about the music they may, why they make it and how. The first is with the marvellous ENNE. ENNÈ [N] is a Soul Singer & song creator with mixed cultural influences that blends sounds of Reggae, Soul, Jazz, Funk and whatever else can be thrown in the mix. Enne will captivate and enthral you with her high energy, uplifting vibes & always brings an abundance of Joy.

ENNE celebrates life and art relentlessly, and wants to share it with you.

ENNE - Nakisha Esnard: Blender x RTBC - The people behind the music.

Back in March 2021, we pulled together a line up of three artists to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Morning Communion hosted by the Reasons To Be Cheerful Crew and now we're making these available via three special colab podcasts.

The idea was a simple one - delve deeper in to the minds of the people and their processes behind the music. We asked each artist to select one of their own tracks to go under the microscope.

This episode features Lee Vernon - the front-man from Pearl Handled Revolver. The band have travelled a long way over the last decade and have thankfully had the decency to send regular updates of their escapades. Four EPs, two live albums and four studio albums chart a journey from the limits of primal blues, via unlikely liaisons between bare-bones stoner rock to blackened psych soul music. The underlying aim has always been to move the feet while the head slowly succumbs to a barrage of ideas regarding states of madness induced by the modern world.  They have an uncanny ability to achieve this with freakish regularity.

Lee Vernon - Psych rocker: Moving minds and feet.

Wayne Hemingway started-off selling clothes. He and partner Gerardine sold all their clothes on Camden Market in order to make ends-meet. They had started something bigger than them. Their stall grew and grew and became a shop then a company then a worldwide brand. Now they run Hemingway Design with their children and are the people behind The Good Business Festival https://thegoodbusinessfestival.com/

This is a lovely conversation recorded at the end of last summer.

From market trader to business leader.

Meet my friend Sara. Designer and company builder. Sara started as a marketeer in London before legging it off to Australia.  We talk about mid-90s London, changing career, her love of the freedom water brings, what it feels like to submerge yourself in a city after being a dive master, and starting a business that brought pattern to life. After a cancer diagnosis and a move to small-town New Zealand Sara now makes beautiful swimwear "If you cant find what you're looking for I thought fuck it I'll do it". She's back in the water but the cancer is back too. This time it doesn't look good. "There is no stage five". How do you keep on keeping on? This is a beautiful conversation with a pure soul who has dropped beautiful breadcrumbs as she has walked through life.

Follow Sara @hakinakina.active @sarac_prints

Sara Cohen: Getting wetter makes you better.

Mira Manek is a cook, an author and a wellness consultant. In an earlier life she was a journalist but following a series of trips overseas was able to see herself more clearly. She returned to the UK and changed what she did. She wrote two beautiful books 'Saffron Soul' (a cookbook) and 'Prajna: Ayurvedic Rituals for Happiness'. In so doing changed everyone that reads them. She is owner of chai brand Chai by Mira. This is a gentle and uplifting conversation with a beautiful soul.

Mira Manek: Prajna and Soul

Wow, I loved this chat. It was like sitting down with a mate from school. A self-proclaimed "useless kid" who sat under the table and drew.  Dave died at 14. Properly died. Left for dead by the ambulance drivers until his Mum suggested they try and "get him going again". And boy did he get going. A trailblazer in advertising. Each agency he started was created on the back of a crisis. A serial success, he gave it all up and became an artist. He is now accidentally successful there too. 

Only, it isn't an accident. Dave is a brilliantly original thinker. He is brave. He trusts his gut-instinct. He goes all-in.

This is a brilliant conversation that shines a light on a real talent. His art is bold, collectable and often pink. All the things I love.

Real Hackney Dave: How chaos breeds creativity and the gift or respawning.

Will and his brother Harry are accidental olive farmers and purposeful entrepreneurs. They bought two fields with 200 olive trees in and now sell the finest olive oil I have ever tasted. But more than that. They are part of a community now. Their feet and hearts deeply embedded in the soil of Zakros. They want to do good and spread good. Their approach is based on traditional soil-improving agricultural techniques. Regenerative agriculture as it is sometime known. This is brilliant. But they are regenerative in more ways than this. They are building social venture into the heart of what they do. Take a listen to find out more.

How to strike oil, olive oil. A conversation with co-founder of Two Fields Will Rolph

Another in my occasional chats with my mate Pete Davies about music. In this one we each pulled together a playlist of the songs we think we play the most (not measured at all) and why. It was fascinating. Particularly the reasons why. We agreed on Stone Roses 'Fools Gold', who wouldn't?

I have a PRS licence.

Mark & Pete's Most Played

Matt Pritchard is a diamond. One of life's good guys. He's a professional stuntman, skateboarder, one of the founders of Dirty Sanchez, and author of two vegan cookbooks. His story is as beautiful as it is gnarled. We cover running, growing-up, picking-up rubbish on his morning walks, getting up early, veganism, cooking, finding a different meaning in life, avoiding people, and Wales. One of my favourite chats. Thanks Matt.

From Dirty Sanchez to mushrooms (not that kind).

Chrissy is extraordinary. A firebrand and a passionate campaigner for the power of creativity in solving the world's environmental problems.

To me creativity is simply imagining a world that hasn't arrived yet, and you wouldn't imagine a worse one would you? Chrissy is on a mission to bring the World's creative industries together to and use their collective imaginations for good.

We dig into that and also into why Chrissy started on this journey. 

A lovely listen. Recorded in the summer behind Kings Cross station with kids playing in the water features.

A tough audio edit by the remarkable Mark Cotton.

Sometimes you need a leader: A conversation with Creative Conscience's Chrissy Levett.

Malcom Garrett is a design legend. This is a wonderful and rich conversation about his work for bands including The Buzzcocks and Duran Duran. But more than that it is a conversation about the very nature of design and creativity. There is much in here that made me think but this line "you can't do good work for a client that doesn't want it" really struck me. 

It's a wonderful conversation that reflects the nature of the man.

Thanks Malcolm.

A massive shout-out to Mark Cotton for the audio engineering of the podcast.

Putting the Pop into Art, and Art into Pop

Jess was a much bigger influence on my life than she realised. One of a group of art students that i met when i moved to London for my placement year in 1990.

Jess is an artists that works with geometry and nature. Sustainability runs through her like "Blackpool" through a stick of rock.

This is a rich conversation about the value of art in society, growing up in a slightly bohemian house in a normal street, and a tale of two fish pies.

Utterly wonderful.

What would the world be like without artists?

Rusty Egan is one of the most influential DJs ever. He chose the music that went on to shape and define the movement that became the New Romantics. It was music for misfits. Inspired by the German band Kraftwerk, Bowie and American bands like Devo, Rusty chose the soundtrack to the post-punk movement that shaped a generation. His choices influenced the way bands made music and the music that was played in clubs across the world. 

Along with co-collaborator Steve Strange, Rusty started the legendary Blitz club, was one of the founding members of Visage and was the drummer in the Rich Kids. He is a total legend in the music industry and is still producing the most amazing tracks. Listen here: https://soundcloud.com/rusty-egan

I was walking through central London one night and bumped into him. He was wearing wonderful loafers and the warmest smile. Fortune favours the brave and a couple of months after asking him I found myself in a soho studio recording this sparkling conversation.

There are laughs, drum beats, stories, and even tears. Dive in.

He is @rustyegan on Instagram and you'll find him on all the music streaming services. His work with Visage was epoch-defining. 

Thanks Rusty.

Rusty Egan: Music for misfits.

I met Kerri in the warm Californian sun and it was an instant connection. We've been friends ever since and we have both grown in that time. This is a joyous and love-filled conversation about her journey, leaving people behind (sometimes when they are taken away) and the need to heal and repair society (and how this starts inside). 

A genuinely uplifting conversation. You can feel Kerri's trademark smile throughout. She is a beautiful soul who single-handedly changed my perception of yoga and in so doing, of myself.

Kerri is a yoga teacher, activist, author and a "souldier".


Audio editing my Mark Cotton.

Kerri Kelly: Get off the mat and change something, maybe everything.

Helena is an incredibly successful photographer, the co-founder of a drinks company, a business mentor and one of the kindest humans i've ever met. Her child smelled of dirt and hard work. Making the most of what she has is the raspberry ripple that runs through the ice cream of her life.

This is a wonderful conversation, rich with insight around bravery and self-awareness.

Helena Price Hambrecht: change and chapters

2023 was a decent year for music. In our annual ramble about what we did and dint like we pulled out our favourite 11 tracks each (I know, neither of us are sure how that happened).

Have a listen to our re-cap of last year.

If you want to listen to the full playlist it is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0aJevK011RrY9V8KJ8Znnw?si=50543222e297407e

Recorded at the great All is Joy studios on Dean Street. Post-audio engineering by Josh Brand who did a sterling job with my average mics. Photos from when we were 20 or so, and no I don't think i realised my The The tee had an enormous penis on it.

Now That's What We Call Music.The best tracks of 2023 by Mark and Pete

Frank Adlington-Stringer is standing for Mayor of the East Midlands. I hope he gets it. He has a suite of great ideas that will boost the economy as well as the ecology.

This is a heart-warming conversation about Frank, his upbringing and his vision. We touch on grandparents, favourite smells, and how we love the Midlands. 

Disclaimer: I'm not a member of any political party but I think Frank would be a brilliant Mayor.

A green Mayor for a green region.

Natalie is better known as stylemesunday on Instagram. She started her career as a midwife then became a blogger, then a blogger with a mission. Her mission is important. The work she does is essential. Natalie's journey and her story is beautiful and incredible. She's one to watch, she's going places and doing great work.

Warrior Woman Natalie Lee.

Ben from Seedlip wants to change drinks forever. He also wants to change the way we do business.  "Being a nature company is the fucking best recruitment tool ever". This episode stretches from peas to alzheimer's, from soil to soul. A fantastic discussion with someone who is fired up and yet still learning what he's good at.

How and why Seedlip are changing drinks and so much more

Anna Jones places vegetables at the heart of every meal. She also places cooking at her own heart. We talk about how cooking helped define her as a kid and then redefine her as an adult. We talk about vegetables. And i bravely give her advice on how to poach an egg.

How cooking can define you, refine you and nourish you.

Steve Chapman is an artist. He's also many more things. This is a beautiful conversation about the value of the outsider, about art and why it matters, about how school sometimes isn't good for you. About hope. One of my favourites. So good that i'm planning a second with him soon.

The rise of the outsider.  How self doubt is the most effective employee retention tool

Devita is one of the most powerful people i have ever met. Her parents were part of the Great Migration, the mass movement of the black population in the USA from the south to the industrial north looking for a future. The Great Migration built Detroit and Detroit built cars and music. Then Detroit collapsed. Devita is at the heart of its rebirth. She is leading a food and health revolution. She is quite simply extraordinary. We cover everything from the civil rights rebellion, to plant-based eating, to New Edition, to building businesses that sustain a body, a community and a city.

Soulfood is political: How food & health became a racial issue, & how fixing it will rebuild a city

Duncan runs Dalston Sodas. They make great soft drinks, they make great soft drinks with no and low added sugar. They make the best cherryade I have ever had. They are on a mission. Duncan set the business up in a nightclub in 2012 and they have gone from strength to strength. They use the best natural ingredients and this focus on provenance comes from Duncan's time working as a chef. He is utterly charming and driven to do things better. It's a great listen.

How to effervesce well: How Dalston Sodas are changing the market.

A lovely and funny conversation about so many things. From the challenges of running a company single-handedly, designing sex toys, growing up a hippy, measuring up to herself, how dyslexia has shaped her and how we can create a better world. Sam is a joy to be with and this was a fab conversation. My boots squeak a bit - sorry.

Sex and chat in the Chapel. Sam is a revolutionary, a pirate entrepreneur, and totally human.

Recording this podcast was an absolute joy. James is one of my mentors, a great friend and a massive inspiration to me. I utterly loved this conversation. James is an artist, a teacher, an author, a fighter, a lover. He teaches you how to think for yourselves and how to find who you are. This conversation starts in Wales, rushes through the 70s, praises solitude and loneliness, reflects on the use of the word "creative" as a criticism, and ultimately what sets us apart from other. A rich and beautiful conversation. James has a new book out and it is a belter. It is called Feck Perfuction and you can get it at the all the usual places.

Feck Perfuction: why the thing that made you weird as a kid makes you brilliant today.

How do you know when to clap? Rob Ryan is an artist, a poet, a Northern Soul aficionado, and a totally human being. He's also one of my best mates. I loved this conversation that lists and lurches from why punk was dead before it was dead, getting late night buses to Wigan for soul all-nighters, why scarcity isn't a good thing, why the thing that keeps him going is the thought that there is something else out there that he hasn't seen or heard yet. This appetite and drive is about curiosity. It runs through Rob like "BLACKPOOL" through a stick of rock. He embraces "never quite knowing what he is doing" in terms of the media he is using, as do I. He says he has "kind of made it work". I think that's an understatement. One of the most humble and nicest people I know.

Rob Ryan: It's not where you're from, it's where you're at.

I went to school with Graham (or Wiggy as we called him). He was two years younger than me but we usually played in the same rugby team. We both played county rugby and both got trials for Leicester Tigers youth team. One of us got in and the other is me. 

12 years on from those trials I played a game of Rugby League for Yorkshire Water against Yorkshire Electricity. My opposite number was the Featherstone Rovers first team centre. I got marmalised. I split my lip in a friendly "cuffing" incident, damaged my hand in a retaliatory incident,  and took a kick to the knee. I hobbled home and turned the TV on only to see Wiggy playing for England and shaking hands with my hero Nelson Mandela. 

We didn't play in the same team anymore. 

I sat and wondered at how far he'd come. I shouldn't have wondered. He was dedicated to this. There was no way he wasn't going to succeed in Rugby. He spanned the professional and amateur eras, he played for Tigers 398 times, played for England 54 times and played for the British and Irish Lions 3 times. He was forwards coach for Tigers, England, the British and Irish Lions and now Georgia. Fierce on the pitch, funny in the changing room, and one of the most humble people I know. I'm proud to have played with him, and to call him my mate. This is a long one, well it would be - it's two old school mates having a chat 32 years after they last played together.

Graham Rowntree: A humble giant.

I met Jonathon 20 years ago this year. At about this time. At an incredible building in Austria where the Sound of Music was filmed. Jonathon has lead on sustainability from the beginning. From when the first roots of the "green" movement began to poke through. This shows extraordinary foresight and bravery. He has both. This bravery was supremely evident when he went on anachronistic buffoon Jeremy Clarkson's TV chat show and not only held his own but destroyed Clarkson's arguments. A joy to watch. 

We talk about many things including what it feels like now that the world has caught-up with his thinking.

This conversation covers the first part of his career and as we were in danger of a) Having too much of a good time and b) Going on too long; we have arranged to do a second part.

There are some lovely gems in here and Jonathon's warmth radiates through.

40 years early: Conversations with one of the original eco-warriors.

Mills set up Ustwo with his best mate. It's boomed. Mills is a beautiful man. The way he expresses himself, the way he talks, the love that shines from him is unique. This conversation oscillates from weight-loss and strength, to hyperactivity, to yoga, to dyslexia, to shame, to identity, to extremes.

This is a lovely conversation that ebbs and flows from subject to subject. It is very honest, from both of us. 

I hope you enjoy it.

Any comments please get in touch.

Meet Mills. An eclectic and energetic conversation with Mills from Ustwo.

I love that Gil Scott Heron track “Running”. The one that says “I always feel like running, never away because there’s no such place”. All the way through this talk with Matt of Seven feet apart that track was running through my head. This is a lovely conversation about shoes, making stuff to last, and the benefits of running. Never away, but towards enoughness.

Matthew Bagwell. Always running. Towards enoughness.

Jonathon is a leader in sustainability and always has been. One of the heavyweights of sustainability and was there from the start. We met nearly three decades ago and he continues to inspire me and everyone he has contact with. we talk music, fashion, sustainability and so much more. We travel from coal to an old open-cast coal mine in South Yorkshire. Part one of a two-parter.

Jonathon Smales: You've got to have dirt under your nails. From coal to Greenpeace.

This is a belter of a podcast. Sadly marred by poor sound: acoustics, differential volumes of interviewer and interviewee, and some weird distortion. But the conversation is too good not to go out. Lucy is a truly great artist and one of the kindest people i've spent time with. We cover some creative ground and we cover some crunchy ground. Her strength shines through and what she sees in others is beyond the ordinary. 

Trigger warning: in the middle of the conversation Lucy mentions something that may trigger some of you. She does so in passing with no detail at all. It floored me and i just about held it together. But if you have experienced sexual violence then maybe this isn't the one for you.

Lucie Sheridan is an artist. She sees things in people that they don't see in themselves.

I first heard Mike Garry on his beautiful ode to Anthony H Wilson. You know the one - Saint Anthony. It made Number 1 in the charts. It featured Manchester's finest, it features strings, it was beautiful. At that point I didn't know Mike. I met him a year or two later at one of the best festivals I've been to, The Good Life Experience. I stood and watched as Mike wove emotions and images with words. He started a poem about his son and the tears started with me. I won't tell you why, suffice to say that I missed my son who was off to University. Over the next few years I got to know Mike. He is a lyrical genius. He comes from Manchester and we share a youth. we share a love of the same bands. We share an era. We share a decade-defining movement. we are also both open and vulnerable, but not weak. This podcast is exactly that: open and vulnerable. We talk about Mike's youth in Manchester, caring for his dad, and the chaos of a beautiful big family.  I absolutely loved recording it. Mike is a great man and this is a great conversation

Mike Garry: Morrissey used to come round our house.

Libby glows. She shines with possibility and hope. She is an aspiring pilot, a wannabe international DJ, and is considering midwifery.Growing-up in Connecticut it took a spell in Ireland and the smell of a horse stable as a teenager for her to become comfortable with herself. A truly remarkable woman who has embraced not quite fitting in.

Libby Delana: Navigating the world from your backyard.

Simon talks us through his journey, from poverty trap to  strategist. Simon's childhood was free-range. Climbing trees and riding bikes. He helps people up trees (metaphorically) and occasionally gets stuck up them (metaphorically and physically). Simon's life changed with a diagnosis of lung cancer. In his own words, this, and the birth of his daughter, turned him into a nice man. Such a gentle, lovely and wide-ranging conversation. We talk about music, the darkside of pop songs, the '70s, vertigo,  and so much more. Make a cup of tea, headphones on, settle-in.

Recorded over Zoom so the usual occasional blip.

Simon White. How lung cancer made me nice.

Naomi is a self-taught chef. She is a teacher and chef at River Cottage. She grew up in a commune. She grew up in a collective. She grew strong as a result. Ity takes a village to raise a child - literally. This is a lovely conversation that travels from the edges of society to the centre and back again. She is an author and has written about gut health and gluten free baking, amongst other things. RECORDED OVER ZOOM SO THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PAUSES AND GLITCHES - APOLOGIES.

Naomi Devlin: Growing up wild.

Ashtin Berry is incredibly articulate. With her words and with flavours. She's a bartender, one of the best. but more than that, an entrepreneur, a campaigner, and a leader. This is an unbelievably powerful conversation. We talk about flavours in the deep South, her family, the Great Migration, levels of racism, fairness, activism and equity. We talk about the racism inherent in financial systems, red-lining, wealth accumulation, and legislation.  This is one of the most powerful and awakening conversations I've had. It was recorded before the murder of George Floyd. It was recorded over Zoom and is subject to a couple of delays and wifi dropouts.

Ashtin Berry: activism and alcohol.

Pete Davies and I sat down over Zoom to discuss our Christmas playlists. Here is our discussion with short snippets of the songs we discussed.

We have a PRS licence for music in podcasts.

You can listen to the podcast on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0WY1JFk40SD4LaFE0K0wMv?si=IYS33J2mS4GCxIMSWLl9Vg

Mark and Pete's Christmas Playlist

Podcast of Mark Shayler at Ape. Works with businesses to do things better and do better things. Founder of innovation and sustainability company, Ape. Founding partner of the Do Lectures and Green Lab. Author of Do Disrupt: Change the Status Quo or Become it.

Doing things better and doing better things.

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