One year ago, when COVID lockdown in the UK began, Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess started hosting listening parties of classic albums where the artists who made them live-tweeted stories about them, track by track, as we listened to the album. Things kicked off March 23, 2020 with The Charlatans' debut, Some Friendly, and the series grew quickly; during the height of the pandemic there were as many as five listening parties happening in a single day, with the likes of Paul McCartney, Talking Heads, The Smiths, Kylie Minogue, The Breeders, Michael Kiwanuka, Kurt Vile, New Order, Joy Division, Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Belle & Sebastian, Cocteau Twins, Sleaford Mods, Madness, The Pogues, My Bloody Valentine, and many, many more. It's still going strong.
Tim said he started the series "thinking these would go on for a week or two. Here we are 730 something listening parties later!" On the one year anniversary of the first listening party, Tim has announced that the series is getting a book, The Listening Party, featuring 100 of the best conversations and albums from the last year. The book will be out in September (pre-order) and proceeds will go to the Music Venue Trust which has helped music venues stay afloat during lockdown.