Neil Collins
neilcollins1986.bsky.social
Neil Collins
@neilcollins1986.bsky.social
Author of International Velvet: How Wales Conquered the ‘90s Charts. Co-host of the Welsh Music Podcast. Dysgwr. Liverpool fan.
Great to return for a guest lecture at @cardiffuni.bsky.social’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture.

Please drop me a message if you would be interested in hosting this lecture on Welsh music history.
November 25, 2025 at 8:59 PM
The new theme tune of the Welsh Music Podcast is No I in Teams by Keys! youtu.be/QRTKJsewkHw?...

Taken from their Welsh Music Prize-nominated 7th album Acid Communism, the single is about the need to regain human connection in the digital age after the rise of conference calls during the pandemic.
November 24, 2025 at 10:48 PM
🎙️ EPISODE / PENNOD 25 🎙️

We’re back and our first special guest is @aniglass.bsky.social!

Ani chatted to us about her brilliant new album Phantasmagoria and her award-winning debut Mirores, as well as the genius of the late, great Geraint Jarman.

🎧 linktr.ee/welshmusicpo...
November 24, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Had a blast chatting about International Velvet & Cool Cymru at Neath Arts Festival.

Great to meet Gruff Rhys, Lord Peter Hain, Joe Dunthorne and Neath artist Neale Howells, who provided the artwork for the Manics’ Know Your Enemy album in 2001.

Big thanks to the team for curating a fab festival!
October 22, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Here’s a shout-out to some of our favourite Welsh albums of the last year that weren’t nominated for the Welsh Music Prize.

Support these great artists by buying their music and merch, and attending their gigs!👇🏻
October 5, 2025 at 6:19 PM
The winner of the Welsh Music Prize will be announced tomorrow (Mon 6 Oct)!

Join all 15 brilliant nominees from 6.30pm at the Wales Millennium Centre at the 15th anniversary celebration of the awards.

🎟️🎟️🎟️ £10 bit.ly/48IZ6Sn

Check out the previous winners!👇🏻🎧
October 5, 2025 at 5:24 PM
In 2 weeks, I’ll be chatting at the Neath Arts Festival about Cool Cymru on Saturday 18 October at 4.15pm in Neath Town Hall.

The fab 5-day festival (Weds 15-Sun 19 Oct) includes Gruff Rhys, The Eggmen Whoooooo, Dame Siân Phillips, Ray Milland, Lord Peter Hain, Joe Dunthorne and more bit.ly/4mLdeOA
October 3, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Not long till the Welsh Music Prize!

Who will win? Find out at the Wales Millennium Centre from 6.30pm this Monday (6 Oct!)

Well done to all 15 brilliant nominees. The evening features live from Gwenno, Panic Shack, Sage Todz and Melin Melyn.

🎟️🎟️🎟️ £10 bit.ly/48IZ6Sn
October 2, 2025 at 7:27 PM
What will today’s big news be with Super Furry Animals?

Live dates? An anniversary album? A full reformation with new music?🙏🏻

I’ll be chatting on BBC Radio Wales at 8.50am ahead of the announcement!
September 29, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Reposted by Neil Collins
Happy 1st Birthday to International Velvet!🥳 linktr.ee/neilcollins123

Huge thanks to @calonbooks.bsky.social, @uniwalespress.bsky.social and everyone who has a bought a copy or attended the live events.

Please spread the word. Any reviews on Amazon or Goodreads would be much appreciated! Diolch.
July 25, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Reposted by Neil Collins
Thank you to author @neilcollins1986.bsky.social (pictured right) and special guest @billcummings80.bsky.social for chatting about the pop culture breakthroughs from Wales in the 1990s!

Neil’s book ‘International Velvet’ is available now.

cardiff.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spyd...
July 21, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Reposted by Neil Collins
I have been asked by @cdflibraries.bsky.social to be on a panel with @neilcollins1986.bsky.social on 17th July to discuss his new book International Velvet: How Wales Conquered the '90s Charts, and share our stories alongside @librarygordon.bsky.social

Tickets are free! 🔗 tinyurl.com/yrcxyc5e
July 11, 2025 at 1:59 PM
The Welsh Music Podcast is back soon and we’re looking for a new theme tune!

Please message us with your tune or email welshmusicpodcast@gmail.com

We’re also looking for song submissions to showcase artists, so please get in touch with your new music. Pob lwc!
July 11, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Libraries gave us power…

I’ll be chatting all things Wales in the 90s on Thurs 17 July at Cardiff Central Library at 5.45pm with @godisinthetvzine.bsky.social editor @billcummings80.bsky.social and Gordon Anderson.

🎟️🎟️🎟️ FREE! tinyurl.com/yrcxyc5e

@cdflibraries.bsky.social @calonbooks.bsky.social
July 10, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Neil Collins
Catatonia. Manic Street Preachers. Super Furry Animals....

Author @neilcollins1986.bsky.social joins us on 17th July to discuss International Velvet: How Wales Conquered the '90s Charts, alongside special guest, music writer Bill Cummings.

Tickets are free! 🔗 tinyurl.com/yrcxyc5e
July 9, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by Neil Collins
Needing a 90s pop fix?

Listen up, the Back to Now podcast revisits the memories, tunes and everything else in between from this iconic decade. Join @annadoble.bsky.social @neilcollins1986.bsky.social and more rock and roll star guests, here!

linktr.ee/poprambler
July 5, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Buzzing to see Oasis in Cardiff tonight - their first gig since 2009 and the first of the world tour!

I spoke to BBC Wales about their links with Wales from Rockfield to being managed by Marcus Russell of Ebbw Vale & produced by Caernarfon’s Owen Morris
bit.ly/4l6LvYB
#oasis
July 4, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by Neil Collins
I ddilynwyr cerddoriaeth Gymreig, bydd y 90au bob amser yn gyfnod arbennig, wrth i fandiau fel Catatonia ffrwydro i'r brif ffrwd. Mae INTERNATIONAL VELVET gan @neilcollins1986.bsky.social yn adrodd hanes sut y digwyddodd hynny, ac mae Neil yn ymuno â ni ar 17 Gorffennaf.... (1/2)
June 17, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by Neil Collins
For Welsh music fans, the 90s will always be a special time, as bands like Catatonia exploded into the mainstream.
INTERNATIONAL VELVET by @neilcollins1986.bsky.social tells the story of how it happened, and Neil joins us on 17/07 at @cardiff-hub.bsky.social. Tickets are free: tinyurl.com/yrcxyc5e
June 17, 2025 at 10:13 AM
On Wednesday 11 June at 7pm, I’ll be presenting Cool Cymru Revisited - an online lecture for Cardiff University.

Journey back to an unforgettable era when Wales came of age in music and culture.

This is a great opportunity if you missed the tour, and it’s FREE! bit.ly/3Zmj14l
June 6, 2025 at 5:20 PM
In May 2000, Mwng became the biggest-selling Welsh-language album ever.

Raised in the House of Commons as a “new wave of confidence in the Welsh nation”, Mwng is a masterpiece 25 years on. Here’s an extract from International Velvet celebrating its genius bit.ly/3SOIPlN
A celebration of 25 years of Mwng - the biggest-selling Welsh language album ever
Neil Collins From chart-topping albums to huge gigs, the ’90s was the decade when Cymru officially became Cool. As Cerys Matthews once famously sang, ‘Every day when I wake up, I thank the Lord I’m We...
bit.ly
May 24, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Pete Ham - 50 years gone, but never forgotten.

With Badfinger, he wrote classics like Baby Blue, No Matter What, Day After Day and the Ivor Novello Award-winning Without You.

A heritage blue plaque was unveiled in his hometown of Swansea in April 2013 honouring his legacy.
April 29, 2025 at 3:59 PM
RIP Mike Peters, who has died at the age of 66 after a courageous three-decade battle with cancer.

As the iconic frontman of The Alarm, he delivered an outstanding contribution to Welsh music and amassed a huge army of fans on both sides of the Atlantic.

Love, hope and strength.
April 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM