And the Hi there. Thanks for dropping by I'm Brian here with Simon and joining us for Soe to Jaquare on song rating episode 254 is an acclaimed English singer, musician and songwriter, known both for his solo work and as frontman Principal Songwriter and co-founder of Folk Pop Band, The Lyleck Time.

In a career spanning over four decades, he's worked with the likes of Robbie Williams, Stephen

Page, Booker T Jones, St. Etienne, Terry Hall, Andy Partridge, Nigel Kennedy and Amy Mann,

we are thrilled to welcome the sublime Stephen Duffy to the show.

As this reaches you, the Lylek Time have just put out their 11th studio album, Dance

till All the Stars come down. And Stephen joined us from his home in Cornwall a few weeks

back to tell us all about it, not to mention share some of his considerable songwriting wisdom.

Our guest was born at home in Allen Rock, Birmingham in 1960,

the family later moving across town to Selly Park.

He recalls first hearing the Beatles when he was three or four

and was a confirmed Bob Dylan fan from a very early age.

In fact he felt a strong affinity with folk music in general and as described seeing the

incredible string band at Birmingham Town Hall when he was nine as a pivotal moment in his life.

He picked up the guitar and started writing his own songs around the age of 12

and later performed with his elder brother Nick on the local folk circuit.

In 1978 he met John Taylor when they were both

art students of Birmingham Polytechnic which quickly led to the formation of

Duran Duran with Stephen on bass and vocals. However his tenure with the fledgling

gerans was brief and he left the band due to musical differences in late 1979, following which he formed the short-lived rock group The Hawks.

In 1982, Stephen put together the more electronic-based Tintin with which he signed to Warner

before being snapped up as a solo artist by Virgin two years later. In 1985, as Stephen Tintin

Duffy, he scored a UK and US hit with a new art of noise produced version of

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