Everything you need to know about The Album Show with Simon Mayo
He's got his own show celebrating the greatest albums of the 70s, 80s and 90s!
In addition to his Drivetime show, presenter Simon Mayo has a programme dedicated to celebrating the greatest albums of the 70s, 80s and 90s.
You can catch Simon Mayo: The Album Show every Sunday from 1pm on Greatest Hits Radio, and we've gathered up information about what you can expect from the show as well as an insight into Simon's love of records.
What is The Album Show with Simon Mayo?
The Album Show is a three-hour celebration dedicated to the albums that shaped a generation. You can expect to hear all the iconic tracks and rediscover the musical gems that provided the musical backdrop to the three decades.
Speaking about The Album Show, Simon said: "Three hours of great album music will be a Sunday treat for me. I hope it will reconnect you to a time when your album collection was THE most important thing in your life. It said who you were.
"By the time we come off-air, you’ll want to listen to them all again! Insert that CD. Put the needle on the record. Press play on your cassette player. This will be fun!"
When is The Album Show with Simon Mayo on Greatest Hits Radio?
Join Simon Mayo for The Album Show every Sunday at 1pm on Greatest Hits Radio.
How can I listen to The Album Show with Simon Mayo?
You can catch Simon Mayo: The Album Show every Sunday from 1pm - 4pm on Greatest Hits Radio.
What was the first album Simon Mayo bought?
Simon told us: "It was 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' by Simon & Garfunkel, I remember specifically where I was – it was WHSmith at the Bullring in Birmingham. It cost me £2.17 and I still have it 20 years later, on 10th November 1990, I got him to sign it.
"I was in the middle of an interview with Paul Simon and he signed it ‘to Simon Mayo from Paul Simon, London’ and then he dated it. It is an honoured and treasured procession."
What is Simon Mayo's greatest album of all time?
We asked Simon to pick the greatest album of all time and he said: "An impossible question to answer but I will come up with a very unoriginal answer because I think the most important album of all time is 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' from The Beatles. It’s the Beatles at the peak of their powers.
"The whole album is an adventure from track one all the way through, it’s unmissable. The lyrics, the production, the sound, the art – never bettered."
What album has the best-ever opening track?
When faced with this question, Simon replied: "This is such a difficult and largely unfair question. I could go for 'Thunder Road', the opening of 'Born To Run' from Bruce Springsteen.
"How about 'Second Hand News' at the start of 'Rumours' by Fleetwood Mac? How about 'Baba O'Riley' at the start of 'Who’s Next'? What about 'Black Dog' at the start of 'Led Zep IV'?
"I might change my mind by tomorrow, but I’m going to go with 'Hotel California' by The Eagles which starts with the title track. What a majestic way to start an album."
WATCH: Get to know Simon Mayo
Where can I listen to Simon Mayo?
You can find Simon Mayo on Greatest Hits Radio presenting The Album Show from 1pm on Sundays as well as hosting his Drivetime Show weekdays from 4pm.
How can I listen to Greatest Hits Radio?
You can listen to Greatest Hits Radio on your good old traditional radio - we're on FM and DAB in lots of places. You can also download the free Rayo app for iPhone or Android, listen on our website or ask your Smart Speaker to "play Greatest Hits Radio". Find out more about how to listen to Greatest Hits Radio.
Check out the other big names you can hear on Greatest Hits Radio:
Ken Bruce
Greatest Hits Radio is the home of the legend that is Ken Bruce, weekdays 10am-1pm - including PopMaster, the UK's biggest music quiz for 25 years and counting.
Find out more about Ken and PopMaster.
Simon Mayo
Simon Mayo hosts Drivetime every weekday at 4pm and The Album Show on Sundays from 1pm.
Simon said of his Drivetime show: "I think the thing about Drivetime is that it is like the flip side of breakfast. You kind of know what an awful lot of people are doing, it's the end of most people's day, they're doing some final bits of work, they're shutting the laptop, they're doing a bit of food preparation, they're driving home. I think it is that sense of camaraderie, it's the end of the day, people want to be cheered up and they want to spend some time with some decent folk on the radio!"
Find out more about Simon Mayo here.
Paul Gambaccini
Paul brings us his famous America's Greatest Hits programme every Saturday between 5pm-7pm, featuring two hours of the Greatest Hits that made it big in America.
Sharing some of the things he loves about his show, Paul said: "Radio is the perfect form of one-to-one communication. TV can be direct, too, but the camera operator is always in your line of vision! I enjoy sharing my favourite music, and my admittedly freakish knowledge of it, with people who care about that music. I love the opportunity for challenging talk overs, too!"
Find out more about Paul Gambaccini here.
Alex Lester
The Dark Lord keeps you company in the small hours. Join him for the Music Marathon from 1am and the Best Time Of The Day Show 4-6am weekdays.
Alex brings: "Your favourite songs. Bizarre insights and unusual thoughts," to his show and told us that he loves that during his show: "It's just the two of us. You and me. (Against the world)."
Find out more about Alex Lester here.
Jenny Powell
Jenny plays the biggest songs of the 70s, 80s and 90s on Greatest Hits Radio to kickstart your weekend, every Saturday and Sunday from 6am.
On Jenny's show, listeners can look forward to The Breakfast Club, which she says is: "A warm-up for the weekend, full of positive vibes and feel-good factor when you wake up on Saturdays and Sundays. I insist you have a dance with me on the Kitchen Disco, I share some fun news stories from the previous week on The Headliners and get you smiling no matter what, sharing some of my favourite tracks from the 70s, 80, and 90s."
Find out more about Jenny Powell here.
Andy Crane
Join Andy's late-night community of music and company, Sunday-Thursday at 10pm.
Andy has three hours of the biggest songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s as well as The Top 10 at 10 and Midnight Music Marathon. His show is full of: "Great music and plenty of laughing."
Find out more about Andy Crane here.
Martin Kemp
Join our resident pop star Martin Kemp as he kicks off your Friday night with his Mixtape – three hours of handpicked essential weekend songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s to get you in the mood and dancing round the kitchen.
Then on Saturdays, it's side-two as he brings you nothing but the greatest decade of all time on The 80s Mixtape.
Get your teenage kicks in the company of THE 80s poster boy on Greatest Hits Radio!
Find out more about Martin Kemp here.
Jackie Brambles
Jackie Brambles hosts The Evening Show every Monday to Thursday from 7pm - 10pm.
Jackie promises to deliver: "Great music and great conversations! Every night we're joined by one of your favourite artists of the 70s, 80s and 90s for an in-depth chat about the highs and lows of their careers and their musical influences over the years."
Find out more about Jackie Brambles here.
Kate Thornton
Join Kate every weekday from 1pm, just after Ken!
Find out more about Kate Thornton here.
Richard Allinson
Weekend Good Times never sounded so good!
He's a broadcasting legend with a voice like silk that, alongside the Biggest Songs of the 70s, 80s & 90s, make the perfect weekend soundtrack – Saturday and Sundays at 9am.
Saturdays kick off with your chance to guess the year on The Top 10 Til 10, while Sundays are reserved for an hour of your special songs and dedications.
Speaking about his show, Richard said: "The idea is to recreate all those great memories I have of weekends growing up, a bunch of us meeting up to buy clothes, records, maybe sort a date…everything happened on a weekend and we remember the records we played at that time."
Find out more about Richard Allinson here.
Des Paul
Join Des for Rhythm Of The Night every Friday and Saturday night from 10pm, where he plays all the greatest soul, funk, disco and Motown hits to start your weekend.
Des explained what he loves the most about his show: "The favourite bit of presenting Rhythm of the Night is when listeners contact me to say how much they've loved hearing a particular track and then tell us all about when and where they used to hear it."
Find out more about Des Paul here.
Read more:
Simon Mayo returns to Drivetime with Greatest Hits Radio
Simon Mayo reveals the music that made him 🎶