This week on the channel +592K views this week

VHS tapes and a two-day deadline for Johnny Marr

BBC Radio 6 Music's Indie Icons Only pairs Marr with Shaun Keaveny for stories about The Pretenders, Blondie and his musical influences.

Channel:

BBC Radio 6 Music Story of October 13, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.

Johnny Marr on the time he had just 48 hours to learn The Pretenders’ set 🎸

Learning a tour set from VHS tapes is a very particular kind of homework. Johnny Marr tells Shaun Keaveny how he had just two days to prepare to join The Pretenders while they were supporting U2, and that story drew the largest audience among BBC Radio 6 Music's nine uploads this week: roughly 91,000 views.

The short excerpt arrived before a fuller Indie Icons Only conversation, which gives the deadline some musical context. Marr discusses the influence of Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott on his playing, writing for Blondie and what guesting with other bands is actually like. For the guitarist who helped shape The Smiths' sound, this is a chance to talk about the musicians who shaped his own.

Viewers are asking whether recordings of Marr playing with The Pretenders are available. Another picks up on his connection with Chrissie Hynde, finding the musical pairing easy to understand. The practical curiosity suits a story about getting ready for a gig, rather than simply remembering one.

Marr also supplies the channel's strongest momentum beyond the week's uploads. An earlier excerpt about Andy Rourke's basslines is attracting the most daily views, while the longer conversation covering Television, Talking Heads and a formative Patti Smith concert continues to draw attention.

Elsewhere, Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw's Sidetracked conversation moves from Annie's Ivors Academy honor to Glastonbury headliner predictions and Tinashe. Josh Brolin brings Black Sabbath and No Country for Old Men into the mix.

The channel added about 1,000 subscribers over the week, although its current daily views are below their usual level. Its particular draw this week is Marr's musician-to-musician storytelling, with the bassline discussion giving listeners another route into those familiar Smiths records.

Published on Trari

Where next?

Also in Music labels, platforms and music mediaThis week on the channel +7.1M views this weekSlayyyter and Marvel robots share BBC Radio 1's weekRachel Chinouriri brings a pop cover to the Live Lounge, while Ali Plumb gathers the VisionQuest cast.Channel: BBC Radio 1 · Story of October 24, 2026

A different discovery todayVideo people are talking about 11x its usual commentsZelenskyy tells Steven Bartlett why he needed "ammunition, not a ride"In a nearly two-hour conversation, Ukraine's president moves from sleepless nights and grieving parents to Bucha, Paddington Bear and the morning the invasion …Channel: The Diary Of A CEO · Story of October 24, 2026

What viewers say

Love ‘em both. Is there any video or audio of Marr with The Pretenders?
@jonimoroni7475See it on YouTube
Hard to believe he and Chrissie hadn't met at this point. But musically, the connection makes so much sense.
@ScottWDoyleSee it on YouTube

Public comments from the video's page on YouTube