We relive how comedy, concerts, and sheer grit brought modern live entertainment to the Gulf, from Billy Connolly and Lenny Henry to Bollywood stadium spectacles and ballet on the beach. Heat, customs, and failing gear tried to stop us; diplomacy, craft, and humour carried the day.

• British comedians breaking new ground across the Gulf
• Jasper Carrot’s late-career surge and Lenny Henry’s airport pranks
• Cancelled shows, customs hiccups, and strict cultural lines
• Bootleg tapes, censored artwork, and local media quirks
• Airport systems for moving bands and gear fast
• Indian and Arabic weddings with complex technical limits
• The Sharjah Bollywood epic with camels, horses, and balloons
• Gypsy Kings rescue plan after lighting failure
• Ballet under blistering lights and DIY power solutions
• Winning over electricians and hotel crews through respect
• Saudi gigs, Sadiqi stories, and a narrow escape
• Shout-outs to crews, mentors, and long-time colleagues

Go to YouTube for the video version of this podcast. There’s a link at the end of the page
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It's Only Rock and Roll is a Phil Blizzard Radio Production - for your production email philblizzardmedia@gmail.com

We trace how a small team of promoters and techs hauled second-hand gear, charmed airlines, and built a live music circuit across the Gulf in the 80s. Stories of burning dimmers, poolside plotting, cultural shows in ballrooms,

A concert scene doesn’t just appear; someone has to drag it across borders, bolt it together in the heat, and pray the dimmers don’t catch fire. We look back at how a handful of stubborn promoters and techs built a touring circuit across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Al Ain, Bahrain and Kuwait in the 1980s, bringing Tina Turner, Duran Duran, Meat Loaf, UB40 and more to a region with almost no infrastructure.

Russell is joined by lighting mastermind Graham Trudgeon and sound engineer Kevin Winder to unpack the grind behind the glamour. The stories are vivid: second-hand Tasco and Brit Row rigs arriving as “excess baggage,” lighting plans sketched from the swimming pool because the stage sat at the deep end, and follow spots that fought back with live shocks. There’s the Hyatt Ballroom turned into a three-hour Meat Loaf marathon with a smart blackout to dodge a kiss, UB40 dressing room brawls that vanished by breakfast, and Chris Rea touring with a plumber’s bag while borrowing socks from the crew.

Beyond rock, the team staged cultural shows that made improbable sense: Bolshoi stars on the beach with scene changes in the wind, Swan Lake in tracksuit bottoms for Kuwait’s conservative venues, and Cossack dancers leaping off stages that were a size too small. Local heroes like Sharif, the James Brown lookalike truck driver, powered the whole effort—hauling gear up mountains, surviving electrified follow spots, and delivering hot food to remote plateaus. Promoters and hotel GMs covered pools to build stages, charmed airlines for baggage, and kept audiences coming back for more, night after night.

It’s a portrait of resilience, ingenuity and mischief that laid the foundations for today’s polished Gulf live industry—air‑conditioned warehouses, reliable rigs, and arena-level shows. If you love live music, touring history, or stories of impossible projects pulled off with tape and nerve, this one hits hard. Enjoy the ride, then subscribe, rate and share so more people can discover the desert rats who made the music happen.

It's Only Rock and Roll is a Phil Blizzard Radio Production - for your production email philblizzardmedia@gmail.com

We tour Memphis Mansion with Hendrik Knudsen and Stan Urban, tracing the stories behind Elvis’s TCB chain, the Johnny Cash exhibits, and the spirit that keeps rock and roll alive. We balance myth and memory, dig into Colonel Parker, and plan a return when July’s residency hits.

From the sparkle of the first TCB chain to the quiet authority of gold records and stage clothes, we follow the artefacts that carry stories—why they exist, what they meant to the artists, and how they still teach us what great performance looks like.

We don’t dodge the complicated parts. Colonel Tom Parker’s shadow looms large, and we unpack his savvy early moves, his infamous contracts, and the instinct to turn grief into blame after Elvis’s death at 42. That nuance opens a wider conversation about how mid-century music was sold, the cost of fame, and the difference between myth and the machinery that keeps a career on the road. Hendrik shares candid memories of working with members of Elvis’s band—the Jordanaires, the Imperials, the TCB band—threading living voices into the archive.

The path then turns to Johnny Cash and the second museum built during COVID, where the American recordings help reintroduce a legend with stripped-back power. Add a replica of Elvis’s Tupelo house, a small cinema screening documentaries, and a lively diner where the Stan burger is a staple, and you’ve got a full-day experience that invites you to linger rather than rush. Stan’s July residency seals the deal: this isn’t a mausoleum, it’s a stage where rock and roll still breathes.

If you’re planning a visit, expect anywhere from an hour to a full day, with local hotels and clear info at MemphisMansion.com. We also tease our next on-location stop at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, the birthplace of classics like Bohemian Rhapsody. Subscribe, share with a fellow music lover, and leave a review—then tell us: which artefact would you most want to see up close? Rockfield Studios scheduled for Season 2 - early 2026

It's Only Rock and Roll is a Phil Blizzard Radio Production - for your production email philblizzardmedia@gmail.com