Explore every episode of the podcast Bread Bin & Cartridge

Bread Bin & Cartridge Ep.32 r1 — Target Renegade — 20 October 1988.

Six months after it hit the shops, Ocean and Imagine's two-player street brawler was still in Gallup's full-price top twenty. Whitney Houston was at number one, D Mob's We Call It Acieed caused a stir on Top of the Pops, David Essex launched The River on BBC One, Count Duckula was new on ITV, and Sega was nine days from launching the Mega Drive in Japan.

Lee and Mark set the scene with the chart, telly, toys and shop prices, then get into a big Amstrad split (86% and a Mastergame in Amstrad Action, 6 out of 20 in Amstrad Computer User), Scumville's five levels, the Bob Wakelin box art, the Beastie Boys baddies, and a sound desk across the C64, Spectrum 128K and Amstrad CPC.

Hosts: Lee & Mark Webb.

Bread Bin & Cartridge Ep.31 r1 — Rise of the Robots — 18 October 1994.

One month to the day before the most hyped Amiga game of 1994 finally reached the shops. Take That were at number one with Sure, The Fast Show was four episodes old on BBC Two, GamesMaster was on Channel 4, Power Rangers were Toy of the Year, and Netscape had just announced its free web browser while the Amiga carried on without Commodore.

Lee and Mark set the scene with the chart, telly, toys and shop prices, then dig into the biggest magazine split the show has covered (92% in Amiga Action, 5% in Amiga Power), the rendered robots, Brian May's missing soundtrack, the hype machine, and a sound desk across Amiga, PC and Super Nintendo.

Hosts: Lee & Mark Webb.

Bread Bin & Cartridge Ep.30 r1 — Fairlight — 16 October 1985.

On this Wednesday in 1985, The Edge's isometric castle quest Fairlight sat atop the Gallup Spectrum chart. Jennifer Rush held the UK singles number one with The Power of Love, BBC One was repeating Tenko, Transformers were Toy of the Year, and Amstrad's new PCW word processor had just hit the high street.

Lee and Mark open the era with chart, telly, toys and shop prices, then dig into Crash Smash scores, Bo Jangeborg's Worldmaker system, Clever Music on the Sid chip, and the Fairlight II royalty row that ended in court.

Hosts: Lee & Mark Webb.

Bread Bin & Cartridge Ep.29 r1 — Last Ninja 2 — 12 October 1988.

System 3's Last Ninja 2 brings the ninja to modern-day New York in the autumn of 1988. Whitney Houston's One Moment In Time tops the singles chart, Wogan is on BBC One, Sylvanian Families take Toy of the Year again, and the Atari ST and Amiga 500 fight it out in the shops. Lee and Mark go through the prices, the magazine scores (including Amstrad Action's 31 percent against Cent Pour Cent's 90 on the CPC), the limited-edition box with its ninja mask and plastic throwing star, and Matt Gray's music on the Sixty-Four.

Hosts: Lee and Mark Webb.

Bread Bin & Cartridge Ep.28 r1 — Wednesday 14 October 1987.

Ocean/Imagine's Renegade is the beat-em-up of the autumn: number two on Gallup for the week to the tenth, back at number one the week after. Bee Gees You Win Again tops the singles chart, Only Fools and Horses is repeated on BBC One, Sylvanian Families take Toy of the Year, and the Amiga 500 has just landed in Britain. Lee and Mark walk through the shop prices, the magazine scores (including ACE's fifty percent on the Sixty-Four versus Zzap's ninety), the Kunio-kun licence story, and the music on the Sixty-Four, Spectrum and Amstrad.

Hosts: Lee and Mark Webb.

Bread Bin & Cartridge Ep.27 r2 — Saturday 10 October 1992.

Gremlin's Zool sits at number one on the Gallup all-formats full-price chart. Tasmin Archer's Sleeping Satellite is the UK number one single, Blind Date is on the Saturday telly, WWF Wrestlers take Toy of the Year, and the Amiga 1200 has just launched. Lee and Mark walk through the shop prices, the Amiga magazine raves, the later Mega Drive split, the Chupa Chups sponsorship story, and the music on Amiga, Atari ST and Mega Drive.

Hosts: Lee and Mark Webb.

Monday 9 October 1989: Ocean's Batman: The Movie was the game every shop was shifting, sitting at the top of Gallup's charts as Batmania swept the high street.

Lee and Mark dig into Black Box's Ride On Time at number one, cassette and Amiga pack prices in today's money, and the reviews — Crash Smash, Zzap Gold Medal, Your Sinclair Megagame — plus the mild Sinclair User cold shoulder at 76%. There's Neighbours and Blue Peter on BBC One, Sylvanian Families as Toy of the Year, and Commodore's famous Amiga 500 Batman Pack. Then the sound desk plays the title music on the Commodore 64, the Spectrum 128 and the Amiga, before the graphics and the hosts' own scores.

Short music and TV extracts are used for commentary and review.

Saturday 8 October 1994: Electronic Arts' Urban Strike, the third Strike helicopter game, had just gone to number one in Gallup's cartridge chart on the Mega Drive, knocking Mortal Kombat II off the top.

Lee and Mark strap in for Whigfield's Saturday Night at number one on an actual Saturday, Dixons and mail-order prices with every one in today's money, and the reviews, from Sega Power's 93% down to C+VG's 82%, with Sega Magazine, Mean Machines Sega, Mega, Total! and Super Play along the way. There's Casualty on BBC One, GamesMaster on Channel 4, Power Rangers as Toy of the Year and the Atari Jaguar's British launch. Then the sound desk plays the title music on the Mega Drive, the Super Nintendo and the Game Gear, before the graphics and the hosts' own scores.

Short music and TV extracts are used for commentary and review.

Sunday 7 October 1990: Ocean's Shadow Warriors, the conversion of Tecmo's ninja coin-op, was number one in Gallup's full-price software chart across every format, and the magazines could not agree on it.

Lee and Mark grab a lamp post and swing in: Maria McKee at number one with Show Me Heaven, the Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amiga packs in the shops with every price in today's money, and reviews ranging from C+VG's 93% for the Amiga to Amiga Format's 42%, with Your Sinclair, Crash, Sinclair User, Zzap!64 and Amstrad Action in between. There's Howards' Way on BBC One, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles for the kids and as Toy of the Year, and Amstrad's GX4000 console just launched. Then the sound desk plays Matt Furniss's title music on the C64, the Spectrum and the Amiga, before the graphics and the hosts' own scores.

Short music and TV extracts are used for commentary and review.

Wednesday 6 October 1993: three weeks after Mortal Monday, Mortal Kombat had five versions in the Gallup cartridge top ten, with the Mega Drive cartridge at number one.

Lee and Mark step into the tournament: Take That and Lulu at number one with Relight My Fire, Dixons selling the cartridges from £29.99 to £59.99, every price with its value in today's money, and the reviews from Mean Machines Sega (79%), Mega (82%), Nintendo Magazine System (92%), Super Play (81%) and GamesMaster's 55% for the Game Boy. There's Coronation Street and the brand new Live and Kicking on the telly, Thunderbirds as Toy of the Year, and the Amiga CD32 just launched. Then the sound desk plays The Pit on the Mega Drive, the Super Nintendo and the Game Gear, before the blood code, the graphics and the hosts' own scores.

Short music and TV extracts are used for commentary and review.

Saturday 5 October 1991: US Gold's home computer conversions of Capcom's Final Fight hit the shops, and the magazines could not agree on a thing.

Lee and Mark take a stroll round Metro City: Bryan Adams' Everything I Do at number one on its record run, the Amiga 500 Cartoon Classics pack at £399.99, every price with its value in today's money, and one of the great review splits (Amiga Action 92% against 60% from CU Amiga and Amiga Format, YC 89% on the Commodore 64 against Zzap!64's 22% and Commodore Format's 19%, and a Crash Smash on the Spectrum). There's Birds of a Feather and Knightmare on the telly, the Game Boy topping the toy charts, and Linus Torvalds posting Linux 0.02 on this very day. Then the sound desk plays Jolyon Myers' Amiga title tune, Dave Lowe's C64 theme and the Spectrum 128K's AY music, before the graphics and the hosts' own scores.

Short music and TV extracts are used for commentary and review.

Thursday 14 October 1999: Sega's Dreamcast goes on sale in Britain at £199.99, with Sonic Adventure leading the launch. Lee and Mark take in Christina Aguilera's Genie in a Bottle at number one, Dreamcast, PlayStation and N64 prices in today's money, the DC-UK, Official Dreamcast Magazine, CVG and Edge verdicts, The Royle Family, SMTV Live, Furby Babies and the Pokémon launch, and a sound desk tracing Sonic Adventure's tunes back to the Mega Drive, plus how the GameCube port compared.

Thursday 19 November 1998: Valve's Half-Life goes on sale in America, with UK shops getting it on the 27th. Lee and Mark take in Cher's Believe at number one, Half-Life and new sound cards priced in today's money, PC Zone's 95% and C&VG's perfect 100%, Victoria Wood's dinnerladies on BBC One, SMTV Live on Saturday mornings, Furby as Toy of the Year and the Game Boy Color, and a sound desk comparing Half-Life on plain software sound, a Sound Blaster Live! with EAX and an Aureal A3D card, plus software vs OpenGL graphics.

Friday 29 September 1995: Sony's PlayStation goes on sale across Europe at £299, and Psygnosis launch WipEout alongside it. Lee and Mark take in Simply Red's Fairground at number one, PlayStation and Saturn prices in today's money, the magazine verdicts, The Bill, Frank Bruno in the Live & Kicking Hot Seat, POGs as Toy of the Year, and a sound desk comparing WipEout's CoLD SToRAGE score, the PlayStation's Orbital track and the Saturn-only replacements.

Wednesday 10 June 1992. Capcom ships Street Fighter II on the Super Famicom in Japan while Britain is already SNES-hungry after the April launch. Erasure's Abba-esque EP owns the Official Chart, Neighbours is on BBC One teatime, and Lee and Mark compare Guile's theme on arcade, Super Nintendo and Mega Drive Special Champion Edition. Mean Machines 98%, Super Play 94%, toys from WWF wrestlers to Tracy Island shortages. Bread Bin & Cartridge.

Fair-use extracts: Erasure — Take A Chance On Me; Neighbours theme; Street Fighter II Guile (Arcade / SNES / Mega Drive SCE).

Sunday 23 June 1991. Sonic the Hedgehog hits UK Mega Drive shops, Jason Donovan holds Official Chart number one with Any Dream Will Do, and Hyacinth Bucket is keeping up appearances on the BBC. Lee and Mark walk the high-street console prices in today's money, dig through Mean Machines, C&VG, ACE and Sega Pro, pivot from Keeping Up Appearances to Going Live, and put Green Hill Zone on the Mega Drive, Master System and Game Gear sound desk. Game Gear lands in Britain the same week. Bread Bin & Cartridge — retro daily.

Fair-use short extracts: Jason Donovan — Any Dream Will Do; Keeping Up Appearances theme; Sonic Green Hill Zone (Mega Drive / Master System / Game Gear).

Saturday 4 October 1986: Elite's conversion of Atari's Paperboy sits at the top of the Gallup all-formats chart.

Lee and Mark take a bike round the day: Madonna's True Blue at number one, the brand new Spectrum +2 at £149 and other high-street prices, a big review split (Crash 88%, Your Sinclair 9/10 and Sinclair User 5/5, but Zzap!64 just 44%), Colin Baker's Doctor Who and Saturday Superstore on BBC One, plus the year's big toys (Transformers, Lazer Tag, Blockbusters) and Amstrad buying the Spectrum. Every price comes with its value in today's money. Then the sound desk compares Mark Cooksey's Commodore 64 tune, the Spectrum 48K's beeper tunettes and effects, and an early Amstrad CPC mix, before the graphics and the hosts' own scores.

Short music and TV extracts are used for commentary and review.

Friday 10 December 1993 — id Software release the shareware episode of Doom, and crash a university network doing it.

Lee and Mark dig into the day: Mr Blobby knocks Meat Loaf off number one, what a 486 PC and a Sound Blaster 16 cost that winter in today's money, Have I Got News For You on BBC One and Live and Kicking on Saturday mornings, Tracy Island and the Amiga CD32 as the period flavour, and the story of Doom — the engine, the deathmatch and the WAD files. The magazines couldn't agree: Edge gave it seven, PC Zone called it the best ever. Then a PC-only sound desk: FM synth vs Gravis UltraSound vs Roland SC-55.

Short music and TV extracts are used for commentary and review.

Thursday 14 February 1991 — Valentine's Day, and Psygnosis release DMA Design's Lemmings on the Amiga.

Lee and Mark dig into the day: The Simpsons' Do The Bartman at number one, shop prices in today's money, Red Dwarf series IV opening on BBC Two with "Camille" and Going Live on Saturday mornings, Hero Turtles and the Game Boy as the period flavour, and how a Deluxe Paint doodle in Dundee became one of the biggest British games ever. Magazine scores from The One, CU Amiga, Amiga Format, Zzap, Crash, Your Sinclair and Sinclair User, then the sound desk: Amiga vs Atari ST vs Spectrum 128.

Short music and TV extracts are used for commentary and review.

On this day in 1989, Monday the fourteenth of August, Sega put the Genesis on sale in New York and Los Angeles with Altered Beast in the box. Jive Bunny are at number one with Swing The Mood, grey import Mega Drives are under £200 in the mail-order ads (about £500 in today's money), Wogan is on BBC One and the kids are watching Why Don't You on summer mornings. Lee and Mark Webb rise from the grave with one of Lee's all-time favourites: the magazines that called it the best Mega Drive game and the ones that said evolution selected it for extinction, Sylvanian Families and Batmania in the toy shops, the Game Boy landing in America, and the music on the arcade, the Mega Drive and the Master System. Bread Bin and Cartridge.

Short music and TV extracts are used for commentary and review.

On this day in 1984, Wednesday the sixth of June, Alexey Pajitnov finished the first playable version of Tetris on a text-only Electronika 60 in Moscow. Wham are at number one with Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, a 48K Spectrum is about £130, the new Amstrad CPC 464 is a fortnight from the shops, and Countdown is ticking away on Channel 4. Lee and Mark Webb follow the falling blocks to Mirrorsoft's 1988 UK release, go through what Zzap, Sinclair User, Your Sinclair and Crash made of it, and play the music on three machines: Wally Beben's Commodore 64 score, and David Whittaker's Spectrum 128 and Amiga tunes. Bread Bin and Cartridge.

On this day in 1985, Thursday the third of October, Bubble Bus put Starquake on UK Spectrum shelves. Midge Ure holds number one with If I Was, Top of the Pops is on the BBC with Ure performing the same song, and Crash is about to Smash Steve Crow's planet-core maze at ninety-six percent. Lee and Mark Webb dig into the charts, the high street prices, the magazines, and a three-machine sound-and-graphics desk: Sixty-Four with Crow's Sid music, Spectrum, and Amstrad. Bread Bin and Cartridge.

On this day in 1988, Sunday the second of October, Ocean's Operation Wolf is shipping onto UK Spectrum shelves this week. U2 hold number one with Desire, Bread is on BBC One, and Crash is about to Smash the light-gun conversion at ninety-one percent. Lee and Mark Webb dig into the charts, the high street prices, the magazines, and a three-machine sound-and-graphics desk: Sixty-Four with Jonathan Dunn's Sid music, Spectrum, and Amstrad. Bread Bin and Cartridge.

On this day in 1986, Wednesday the first of October, Durell's Thanatos is landing on the Spectrum shelves. The Communards hold number one with Don't Leave Me This Way, Wogan is on BBC One, and Crash is about to Smash the dragon at ninety-three percent. Lee and Mark Webb dig into the charts, the high street prices, the magazines, and a three-machine sound-and-graphics desk: Sixty-Four with Rob Hubbard's Sid arrangement, Spectrum, and Amstrad. Bread Bin and Cartridge.

On this day in 1987 — Wednesday the thirtieth of September — Gremlin's Jack the Nipper II: In Coconut Capers is on the full-price shelves. M/A/R/R/S are at number one with Pump Up The Volume, and Coronation Street is on ITV at half past seven. Lee and Mark Webb walk through what a Spectrum +2, an Amstrad CPC464, a Commodore 64C and the new Amiga 500 cost on the high street, what Crash, Your Sinclair, Sinclair User, Zzap!64, Commodore User, Amstrad Action and The Games Machine said, then a three-machine sound desk and graphics compare: Commodore 64, Spectrum, Amstrad. Bread Bin & Cartridge.

Ois day in 91,78riday the twenty-ifth,Domark' Living Daylights Bond game is still on the full-rice wall after slipping from the summer film window. Rick Astley stuck at number one,Crash cold at sixty-hree,Zzap shrugging fifty-even while Commodore User cheers eight out of ten,and Crash readers later crown it Most Overhyped.Lee and Mark Webb dig into the charts,the high street,the mags,and a three-achine sound-nd-raphics desk:Sixty-our,Spectrum,Amstrad.Bread Bin and Cartridge.

On this day in 9911—Thursday the twenty-fourth —Code Masters' Sky High Stuntman lands on Spectrum Computing at £3..99Bryan Adams still stuck at number one,Crash cold on the Spectrum,Amiga Power cheering the sixteen-it desk,Commodore Format shrugging the Sixty-our.Lee and Mark Webb dig into the charts, the high street,the mags,and a three-machine sound-nd-graphics desk —Sixty-our, Spectrum, Amiga.Bread Bin & Cartridge.

On this day in 1985 — Monday the twenty-third — U.S. Gold's Bounty Bob Strikes Back lands on Spectrum Computing at £7.95. Bowie and Jagger on the chart, Crash cheering the Spectrum, Zzap loud on the Sixty-Four, Amtix cooler on the Amstrad. Lee and Mark Webb dig into the charts, the high street, the mags, and a three-machine sound-and-graphics desk — Sixty-Four, Spectrum, Amstrad. Bread Bin & Cartridge.

On this day in 1989 — Friday the twenty-second — Virgin's Shinobi is fighting for shelf space after the Spectrum Computing drop on the eighteenth. Black Box on the chart, Zzap cheering the Sixty-Four, Amiga Format shrugging. Lee and Mark Webb dig into the charts, the high street, the mags, and a three-machine sound-and-graphics desk — Sixty-Four, Spectrum, Amiga. Bread Bin & Cartridge.

On this day, 21 September 1988: UK charts and the high street, Crash Smash versus Zzap’s shrug, and Joe Blade II across Spectrum, C64 and Amstrad. Plus Sid clips—and a remaster paced for Out Run gold.

On this day in 1986, we look back at the UK charts and high street, with the magazines and TV flavour of the era, then take Out Run across the arcade, Master System, C64 and Spectrum — with SID clips along the way.

Pilot episode. On this day in 1984 Acornsoft put Elite on the BBC Micro. Lee and Mark look back at the UK charts, the high-street computer counters, and how Elite played across the Beeb, Electron, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum — with SID music snippets and scores out of ten.