Tara: Hi everybody. It's Tara. Welcome to our 100th episode. I can't believe we made it this far. We are so thankful that you've joined us along this journey from our friends all the way in Japan, New Zealand, Brazil, the UK, Canada, from the West Coast in the United States to the East Coast.

Thank you so much for being with us, and and happy Record Store Day. Stay tuned to the end of the podcast to hear more Record Store Day picks from our friends of Record Store Society. And check out our website and our social media for a special surprise.

Natalie: Hey, Tara. You know what today is?

Tara: Is it 4:20?

Natalie: Sorta. Getting there.

I love that answer. Your your head is in the right place. But even cooler than that, it's my 100th day in the store.

Tara: No way. What? Yeah. That's crazy. I

Natalie: can't believe it's been that long. It's just like it's sped by. I guess that's what happens when you have such a good time and you're around such cool people.

Tara: Yeah. Listening to music, alphabetizing records.

Natalie: It can hardly be called work. Right? Right.

Tara: Right. Oh, hi. How are you? I'm Tara.

Natalie: I'm Natalie.

Tara: Take a look around, see if you see any special edition albums you have to get. Let us know if you have any questions. Oh, yeah. 100 days.

Natalie: Yeah. And we have another pretty big deal coming up in the music store too. Another very special record store holiday. Oh, what could that be? A sacred a sacred day among our store patrons.

Tara: Oh, look who it is. It's Eric Levin.

Eric Levin: Hello.

Tara: Hi. Hi. I'm so glad you're here. We were just talking about special days.

Natalie: It's perfect timing. It's like it's as if you were summoned to us from the stars.

Eric Levin: Well, I'm happy to be here.

Natalie: Because, Tara, you were just about to say It's record store day. It's totally record store day.

Tara: And you, not only do you own one of the coolest record stores in Atlanta, you're also a founder of Record Store Day.

Eric Levin: That's right. I went to a music industry convention of my fellow record store owners, and I came with experience from our free comic book day as Criminal Records is certainly, both a comic shop and a record shop, and, I thought, hey, we should do this. And everybody agreed, And, I still sit on the Record Store Day board. It's my part time, full time job.

Tara: That's so cool. But can we go let's go back a little bit further. Pre record store day. How and why did you start Criminal Records? How did that start?

Eric Levin: It was a beef. I worked at a mom and pop rec shop in Daytona Beach where I'm from since I was 13, and and I got fed up with the owner who was, how do I put it, a civil war reenactor.

Tara: Oh, no. Oh, gosh. How Kuwait.

Eric Levin: Yes. So at that at at the end of my tenure, at the end of my rope, pretty much on a whim, I opened the store at 19.

Natalie: Wow.

Eric Levin: Yeah. So I really had no plans for a life in it. I just thought this would be a gas and, ended up moving up to Atlanta.

Tara: Wow. So you opened a store at 19 in Atlanta or you moved

Eric Levin: to Atlanta?

Tara: Oh, okay.

Eric Levin: Ran for Florida then. A year and a half, and then I decided, this was pre Olympics, but it had been announced and, I don't know, had the hometown blues, I guess. All my friends had gone to college, and I was kinda ready to move out of my parents' house, so I moved my childhood bedroom and my record store in a big van and set up shop in low 5 points.

Tara: It's still there today. Yep. It's amazing.

Natalie: That's pretty spectacular. I mean, at 19, how do you even have the wherewithal to launch a store? How did how?

Eric Levin: Well, I my personal inventory of records. It was painful each sale.

Natalie: Oh, wow. Oh, gosh.

Eric Levin: I'd amassed a large collection from when I started collecting at, like, 7 years old, and, didn't really get paid at the record store. I I got records, which is a truth you'll find among most record store employees. And, you know, $300 in my pocket, so enough gas to get to, Atlanta.

Tara: I mean, I used to work in the music department at, like, a books and music combo sort of box store, and I certainly did spend a large portion of my check on CDs and music. So I get that.

Eric Levin: Oh, yeah.

Tara: But how many records do you own now, do you think?

Eric Levin: Oh, oh, that's a good question. I, it's not an impressive amount because,

Tara: Really?

Eric Levin: Yeah. I also helped out at a comic shop that my best friend owned with his dad, and, his early lesson was don't don't collect what you sell. Oh. So I consider my personal collection kind of a lending library. You know, I keep it tight, but there are also special precious items that I I'll never part with.

Natalie: Yeah. That's a pretty spectacular entrepreneurial origin story, really. Yeah. And and not only did you start this business, you've kept it afloat now for decades.

Tara: That's And changed the game with Record Store Day.

Natalie: Yeah. You

Eric Levin: know that I'm very happy with Record Store Day. I hear complaints worldwide, as any limited edition expensive items will cause. But when I've had stores tell me that this made them stay in business or, you know, this reignited my fire. I've had label people say, I still have a job because of this and minor manufacturers who've opened, you know, cool, creating jobs, creating ideally goodwill. The offshoot of these special releases is just one part, what record store they should be.

The original notion we actually launched that meeting I mentioned of record stores, was the same day that Tower Records closed, and all anybody could ever talk about is Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and Amazon and we were all having a good time, having good business in our local communities. We want to get journalists interested and those 1st couple years it was really hard because the editors weren't biting, they just didn't believe the thesis. So it took a couple of years to, party's over here. You know, you're you're you're missing it.

Tara: Yeah. And that was so that original meeting was that that was early 2000. Right? Because didn't record store officially kind of kick off 2007 or was it that same year?

Eric Levin: Yeah. We it went from, like, let's do this to alright. Like, 4 months later, I think, was our first event. There were I think, Warner Brothers made, like, 4 CDs. You know, they're this the idea was still free comic book day.

So Oh, yeah. I was pushing to get things made to give away and throw, you know, throw a party, throw a barbecue. My first year, we had Janelle Monae played. And Wow. It was just, you know, as she is still, a local.

And, god, we had a lot of Manchester orchestrators play played that day as well. It kinda went yeah. It was big and bold, and it's only gotten progressively better. The talent that we've had over the years appear, it's it's staggering.

Tara: Yeah. Do you have any insight into what albums get picked every year?

Eric Levin: I'm on the selection committee.

Tara: Oh, no way.

Eric Levin: But I demure, unless I see it, the it going what I feel is wonky.

Tara: Wonky. You

Eric Levin: know, it's a group of about 12 record store owners who are anonymous because they I don't know why we did them anonymous, so

Tara: not not

Eric Levin: like it's politics or anything, but we vet what the labels and artists send our way. So it's really hard to say, you're not special enough. Or Yeah. Sometimes it is easy. It's like, oh, you're just doing a different color of that one?

You know? And we do deep research on each title, like, this hasn't been out on vinyl. Okay. That's cool. But nobody wants it.

Or, you know, this is on Discogs for $500. Like, let's make 25100 of those. Or we suggest the quantities. And it's, you know, there's a hippie dippy store in the northeast that does, you know, old hippie rock. So he's always like, oh, yeah, but far out, man.

And, and I'm like the eighties guy, like, you know, what do you what do you mean? You're not you don't want the fun boy 3. Actually, that's on my list, and, a lot of a lot of that buying group pooh poohed it. And, you know, we just lost, the leader of Funboy 3.

Tara: Oh, yeah.

Eric Levin: Yeah. Terry Hall, and, you know, he's godhead in England, but leader of the specials, of course. You know, when we consider numbers, we think, okay, a1000 for the US, a1000 for the UK. And I was certain we could do 4000 for the UK on that title. And again, my partners were like, I was like, dude, they just named a street after him in London.

It's

Tara: Yeah. It's a big deal.

Eric Levin: This is important. I had the same fight with, his other band Colorfield. Oh, that's too obscure, Eric. Because, like, no, it's not. It's all the it's all the b sides.

Tara: It's a

Eric Levin: British Ants collection. You're wrong. And so if I don't get my way, then I just go behind everybody's back and tell the label to do what I want. Yeah. And then there's the the vast majority of things I don't give a fuck about.

Can it's in your store?

Tara: Oh, right. Yes. You can. Let her rip. We only swear in this store.

No. I'm just kidding. It is always a really good blend of, like, popular and then all the way to the deep cuts because sometimes I feel like I'm probably the only one with certain things on my list, and they usually are still there when I finally get there because I'm not one of those people that shows up at, like, 5 AM. That's for sure. So Yeah.

Eric Levin: I hate

Tara: that's a good thing for me. But

Eric Levin: Yeah. I hate I hate getting to work at 8 AM just to get it started.

Natalie: Oof. Yeah.

Eric Levin: And I So I'm very cognizant of I have this top ten list here, and I might not get one of them. You know, we get our records at the end of the day after everybody's had a chance to shop.

Tara: Oh, that's nice of you.

Eric Levin: You know, I for me, that's part and parcel. That's part of the whole deal. And, I'll be brokenhearted if I don't get some of these hard to get ones, but I also I,

Tara: You have connections. I have connections. I have connections.

Eric Levin: Pull them out, but, like, if I miss the funboy31, for example, yeah, I'll be pissed. But I ordered enough Probably have some leftover the next day.

Natalie: That's good. You mentioned a a board, a selection board for each event. Does that stay the same or does it change for each event? How does that work?

Eric Levin: We have some stalwarts that have been on that board since the start. Some of our smarter, more open minded record store owners, some stores just by their nature. They're busy, busy people, families, hobbies and stuff. And they drop off their communication and then we it's not like we disinvite them. We're like, hey, we're gonna take you off this or hey, we're gonna replace you with this person.

There is a shuffle every year. And we yeah. We do do this as you mentioned, Natalie, for Record Store Day, in April, but also for the Black Friday event in November.

Natalie: I was hoping you were gonna say it was some kind of American Ninja Warrior obstacle course face off.

Tara: Well Name this vintage name this, barcode of this release. I know some nerd something about vinyl releases. I don't know. While scaling this wall. Yes.

Something like that.

Eric Levin: Yeah. Most record store owners do not scale walls. We do have a summer camp every August in New Orleans, which is just a gathering of record stores. It's like the one Oh. We've launched records for today with, but it's really just it's it's a business convention.

We have vendors. We have labels and distributors. We have music. So it's it's not a competition, but it's like, hey, we could give out ribbons or badges or something for Well,

Natalie: it's it's a community effort. It sounds like you really try to nurture those relationships first, then the business. Maybe that feeds into the longevity.

Eric Levin: That's the hardest thing with this summer camp is that everybody wants to play with their friends.

Natalie: Yeah. And it's

Eric Levin: like, okay, everybody gather together. We're in a big big room talking about business, and and people are just as they should be talking about their businesses.

Natalie: That's great.

Tara: It's cool

Natalie: to hear that how you're sustaining the heart of the whole mission after all this time,

Eric Levin: you know. No. It's just it's grown so much. Yeah. You know, we have international people coming in for the summer camp, which is cool.

I mean, I when I was a part of thinking of this, I I never thought it didn't occur to me to think about others other countries. It just wasn't on my agenda. Well, now it's so big internationally. I've got friends and faraway places. I always not always.

I don't travel that much, but I've got my counterpart in Paris, got a lovely guy named David. I've got a counterpart in Amsterdam who I really look forward to seeing one day, and, her record store and the UK are mad about record store, Danny. They're just crazy.

Natalie: Oh, I bet.

Eric Levin: 250 stores on that small island, and the fans are just like, I couldn't get my Pete Lewis. This is Shrek. You know? It's like,

Tara: oh god.

Eric Levin: You know? And I'm answering the emails like, well, shit, do the math.

Natalie: Funny. You

Eric Levin: know? She made a 1,000 units in their 250 stores. Were you 1st in line, 4th in line? It's the same thing here. You know, people wanna know when to line up, and it's like, well, before the person that wants the record that you want.

This this year, Sabrina Carpenter is one of the biggest, most citable record, and, I think criminal records ordered 60, and we got 1. And now we're like,

Tara: what do

Eric Levin: you do with 1? You know? Because every kid in line is gonna want 1.

Tara: I have no idea who that even is.

Eric Levin: Well, it's just last year's or this year's Olivia Taylor. Or the year before's Taylor Swift.

Tara: Yeah. I mean, actually, what I have questions about that. What are you how do I how do I say this in a way that isn't scandalous. What are your thoughts on those big artists that get priority pressing sometimes for record store day over, like, indie bands that maybe had wanted to release their albums around record store day? Do you have

Eric Levin: Currently, it's a myth.

Natalie: Is it? Oh, okay.

Eric Levin: Misreporting propagate I mean, there was a time during the pandemic that it was difficult to source wax vinyl pellets, and, there were production issues, but it wasn't a Dell printing 12,000,000. Those were already contracted and, you know, Sony buys, you know, the number of vinyl. So they they can do Beyonce's Cowboy Carter and not have it do their pipeline because they got 20 presses rolling on cowboy carder. Same thing with Taylor, that comes out the day before record store day this year. You know, she's got that record.

I've already ordered a 190 in this week. She, her label announced that, okay, you MD record stores can have the 3 colored variants that have a bonus track each. They let us know yet like Tuesday of the day, you know, so we don't even I already ordered a 190 of the regular version, which is still a really cool color. It's like a Yeah. Opaque white For most stores, mine mine, assuredly, it's the money outlay.

That's tough. Because you're it's still a gamble. So anybody gonna come to your party And

Tara: Yeah.

Eric Levin: You know, you spent a mint on it. But if you ask for the, crowded space at the, pressing plants, I can get a record turned around in 6 weeks. Any indie band can. There are indie dedicated pressing plants. There are women owned and women only plants, which is such a new and cool thing.

Tara: That is cool. I didn't know that was a thing.

Eric Levin: There's a whole organization called Women in Vinyl that records today

Tara: I've seen that.

Eric Levin: Sponsors. They're doing great work from DJs to stores to vinyl pressing. The market is so much bigger now and international. Canada is very easy to to get pressings, but so is the US. There's lots of capacity.

Tara: Cool. Well, speaking of records to our day, I'm really curious what your picks are. Sometimes when we have friends in the store, we play this thing called the high fidelity game, where we rank a top 5, whatever music themed something. Would you be down to play with us today?

Eric Levin: Absolutely.

Tara: Awesome.

Eric Levin: The the real fun part of the day is, is when your boyfriend, Sean,

Tara: and I,

Eric Levin: who works at my store, are

Tara: Our competition. Just kidding.

Eric Levin: In front of the customers, like, just pulling things off the shelves with them, helping them find things, running outside to say, oh, I'm sorry. We ran out of that. You know? We only got 10. Sorry.

We'll take down your name and number to see if we can find it next week from another store or, you know, all of the things we do. And it's the first four hours are pretty exhausting. And then, Porschean has to join 2 bands on stage starting in 2, which are great. He, he helped us buy these records and, is helping me sell them.

Tara: He's he's a good one for sure.

Eric Levin: Well, we need to get you some more T shirts.

Tara: Oh, yeah. More t shirts, more records. Hook me up. Well okay. So I'd love to know what your top 5 record store day 24 picks are.

Do you wanna go first? We'll take turns.

Eric Levin: Okay. Yeah. Well, my first one is fun boy 3. Terry Hall's second band, after the specials. This collection is amazing.

It's the it's all the extended 12 inch releases, a sides and b sides. It's never been on vinyl before, and I've collected those records since they came out in the eighties. To have them all in one package, one program is very exciting.

Tara: You know what? I gotta say, I feel like I must have totally skimmed over that one in the list. I don't remember seeing that one because I don't have it in mind, and I feel like I need it in my list.

Eric Levin: Well, Terry Hall, we lost him 2 years ago. It was heartbreaking.

Tara: Yeah.

Eric Levin: He's definitely in the Mount Rushmore of UK, eighties new wave. So to celebrate him with this release is pretty exciting.

Tara: Yeah. Well, my number 5 record is nightmares on wax, car boot. It is the 25th anniversary of this release. Nightmares on wax is George Evelyn, and it originally was a group consisting of George, Evelyn, and John Halman, and then also later Kevin Harper. But George Herbert Evelyn is an English DJ and record producer.

And, yeah, he's been nightmares on wax for a while. And Car Boot Soul is the 3rd studio album by nightmares on wax and was released in 1999. But I think it's kinda perfect because the original album was issued had, like, a special issue with cigarette papers, rolling papers in 1999. So I think it's kinda perfect to be reissued again on 4:20 for record store day and also includes an exclusive 7 inch with 2 unreleased songs. So that's pretty awesome.

And it's also in collaboration with Dale Assault.

Natalie: Nice. I'm

Tara: pretty excited about it. Yeah.

Eric Levin: Very cool.

Tara: Very cool.

Natalie: Actually, I have a question that's interesting. You mentioned the cigarette papers or whatever. But, for you, Eric, and also you, Tara, I love, like, the the subcultures that kind of have these crossovers, you know, with music lovers. And I know comic books, you know, is a really popular one and gaming and movies and things like that. What is the coolest additional collectible that you've seen packaged in one of these releases?

Eric Levin: Wow. Over the years?

Natalie: Yeah.

Tara: I

Eric Levin: mean, the originals Cheech and Chong Big Bamboo came with a album sized rolling paper. Even as a kid, I knew that was special.

Natalie: That's awesome.

Eric Levin: But KISS Love Gun came with a pop out cardboard love gun that you could play with. And, I've got over the years, Alice Cooper, had a pair of panties instead of an inner sleeve, for school layout. The fun thing is when these things still are in there when you get them in used.

Natalie: Yeah.

Eric Levin: It was always, Steve Martin's wild and crazy guy. It came with a a picture of him with his white suit and a fish sticking out of his lapel, and he signed it best fishes, And you'll pretty much see one of those in every record store bathroom in America, if not the world.

Natalie: That's funny. I'm gonna have to keep my eye out for that now. That's that's great.

Tara: I always hear about the cool things that I but I never get them. I'm not ever too lucky to get any of those cool versions. But I did recently just get that box set, Alice in Chains, box set. And it's got like a jar of flies in it that has a light on the cap, and then you can put it inside those boxes itself. And it looks like it's like a diorama that looks like a child from within looking through the jar, and it's got flies sort of on the front.

It's very, very well done. I love it.

Eric Levin: There have been some really bad choices over the years. There was a from the nineties grunge era. Rhino Records did a pack that was sealed plastic sealed with coffee beans. And if you find them now, they're disgusting.

Tara: Oh, yeah.

Eric Levin: And they brought in.

Tara: Oh, wasn't there a a new order record with, like, blood in it or something? Is that New Order?

Eric Levin: Slayer did a blood filled record. I don't know.

Natalie: It makes more sense.

Eric Levin: Yeah. It does make more sense. I don't know. I'm a pretty big new order completest. I don't remember them.

Prove me wrong.

Tara: What was that? I don't know which one it was. Oh, well, it was somebody who had, like, blood in the packaging or something like that.

Natalie: I don't remember.

Eric Levin: And Factory Records, new orders, label, they had a band named Darudey Collum, and their records came packaged, in sandpaper, which was really a fuck you.

Tara: Yeah. You have to be very careful with that one too. Yeah.

Eric Levin: You gotta your vinyl. You can't ever find them clean.

Tara: Oh, yeah.

Eric Levin: So I had the vinyl the best pull ever. Cassette. The Casale was like, who cares?

Tara: It's funny. I love Darude Collin, though. Good choice.

Eric Levin: Me too.

Tara: Oh, but speaking of, like, maybe that same vibe, more nineties. Did you Criminal Records called Eric's trip or something like that before?

Eric Levin: That's the name of my corporation.

Tara: Nineties and their 1st debut album.

Eric Levin: I know I love them, but it's after Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation.

Tara: Which is also one of my absolute favorite bands of all time. Yeah. We talk about them all the time in this store. Well, so it's your turn. What's your number 4?

Eric Levin: Probably not a big surprise considering, my tastes. English beats second record will happen. Just a monster record for me in my youth, not my youth today. You know, it's still, you know, front and center in my lobe. And this one is packaged with, you know, a beautiful remaster, not a useless remaster and not a modern remaster, just a real cleanup job.

Sonically, it sounds amazing and an incredible second l b that's just b sides and extended mixes and live tracks. I just I've always, as time has gone on, I was always bummed out in the early days of my store that only, like, the hippie rock bands got preferential treatment, box sets, and archival goodness, and I was just, where's my where's New Order? Where's Joy Division? Where you know, where's the stuff that I love? Getting the Deluxe cases.

Natalie: It could've been

Eric Levin: that era.

Tara: I'll just

Eric Levin: end it. To me, the second will be better. Deluxe the second group you

Tara: ever gave me.

Eric Levin: The last time it's just my number one.

Tara: I've seen them live. They're really good live. They sound exactly like the record. I mean, not exact, but really close.

Eric Levin: I miss ranking Roger and Saxa, but I am excited that they are signing this record at my friend's store, Cactus, in Houston, Texas.

Natalie: Cool.

Eric Levin: Didn't have to be my own store. I'd probably go try and meet Dave Wakelin.

Tara: Okay. My next choice is not a singular band or artist. It's a soundtrack, and it's probably not the best pick. I don't know if it's the best pick, but I'm excited about it because I do love this soundtrack. I'm excited to actually have it on vinyl If I can get my hands on it, it is lost in translation.

And lost in translation, as you know, is a movie that came out in 2003, Sofia Coppola movie. And, of course, in true Sofia Coppola fashion, it's very moody, has songs from My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Jane, Kevin Shields from My Bloody Valentine, Square Pusher, Air, the most moody French band of all time probably, and also includes a bonus LP that includes the some additional songs that were included in the film, but not actually on the original soundtrack from Peaches and Chemical Brothers and of course, that famous karaoke scene. So I'm very excited to have that one.

Eric Levin: We ordered a ton.

Tara: Oh, good.

Eric Levin: I'm sure that'll end up in my lower fifteen if there's any leftover. It's, it's a gorgeous Sweden music.

Tara: It really is. It's a it's a good good choice selection of songs. Alright. What's your next one?

Eric Levin: I'm actually not going out on any limb. People who have been forced to listen to my selection of music knows that I'm a sucker for the, shouty, beady, dreamy, girly pop. This artist, I don't know where she's from. I don't know her story. Ashnikko.

I heard new album

Tara: on the kill.

Eric Levin: It was just a menu from start to finish. Like Charlie xX or Olivia Rodrigo. It's just wonder. Girl discovery. This is her mixtape that came out prior, and I like all mixtapes.

How can a record store owner say it came out if it was just on the Internet? I mean, it's something I listened to and liked, but if I can't sell it, it's not a record. And, so this is the first time this is on vinyl. And it's just, I haven't seen it yet. I've only seen a picture of it, but it's transparent pink, one of those echo records, which is really cool.

It's got a sleek mirror board, silver sleeve, and she's the future. I just can't wait to have this piece in my collection.

Tara: I don't

Natalie: know this person. Yeah. I've never heard this name before. Can you give us a sounds like a and b kinda thing?

Eric Levin: Oh, she's definitely part of, Sophie's

Tara: computer music thing.

Eric Levin: Yeah. Charli XCX again, Sky Ferrera.

Tara: Mhmm.

Eric Levin: Oh, god. Why can't I name all my favorite women?

Tara: That's a good list you've already listed there. It kinda seems, Natalie, like this would be up your alley.

Natalie: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you're you're you're speaking my language for sure, and she looks super cool. Yeah. I'm excited to check this out.

Eric Levin: Oh, it's very boys disappoint me, but girls don't vibe.

Natalie: Okay. I feel like that. I've been there. Yeah.

Eric Levin: Filthy naughty. You know, I'm just like, oh, oh my. You know? It's like, who girls shouldn't be talking like that? You know?

Uh-huh. But, I mean, that's or rather, I've never heard girls talk like that. I'm showing my age.

Natalie: Sweet. I'll check her out.

Eric Levin: Yeah. If I had That's why

Tara: I like peaches.

Eric Levin: Yep. If I had a daughter, I would, like, hope that she would be an Ashnikko fan.

Natalie: Oh, that's cool. That's high praise for Ashnikko.

Tara: Yeah. That's true. Okay. Well, my next one is Dean and Britta Laventura. 1st vinyl release of this pressing or this, album.

So, yeah, it's Dean and Britta, musical duo consisting of Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, both members of Luna. And Dean Wareham actually formed Luna in 1991 after he left his first band, Galaxy 500. So he's been in, like, some of the coolest bands ever. And then Britta Phillips, who was I had the album was released in 2003. And I had the CD.

So, again, I am very excited to have it on vinyl. Hopefully, I can get my hands on this one. But what's also exciting about this record store day release is that it comes with a bonus LP, which contains the other, EPs from them, Sonic Souvenirs and Words You Used to Say. So also both of those are on vinyl for the first time. So you're getting essentially 3 albums in 1, all never been pressed to vinyl before.

So this is very special and has some super cool covers, Madonna song, Buffy Saint Marie song, and Silver Jews, which, RIP, Berman.

Eric Levin: I believe there's an Atlantic connection for Dean or Britta.

Tara: Oh, really?

Eric Levin: I would urge your customers to look up a, editorial that, Dean did this year, or last year about the royalty rates from Spotify and other streaming services. It's very eye opening. He makes a plea to buy for people to buy his stuff physically, because he's not making any money streaming.

Natalie: Oh, god.

Eric Levin: So to have this cut, you know, from them, is is very exciting.

Tara: But, I mean, how much of a cut would they really get? Because my friend was in the band, the Judy Bats, which, you know, there was a release not too long ago for Record store day, but I think they still owe their label so much money from when they got signed back in the nineties that they just don't ever get any cut from it. And in fact, he had trouble finding a copy of his own, which is sad.

Eric Levin: Well, yeah. I mean, a lot of the music I like is major label. A lot of the music I like is pure indie. It's hard to get hard to get money out of any of those people.

Tara: Yeah.

Eric Levin: I mean, the contracts are, were, and historically bad. I mean, they're

Tara: It's a bummer.

Eric Levin: Labels don't make money by giving artists money. No, it's tragic. Yeah. It needs to be addressed along with the royalties from streaming.

Tara: Mhmm. Definitely.

Eric Levin: And that's actually the crux of Dean's article is that he's talking about. Why am I doing this for Paul and Eddie? Because he's an artist. Mhmm.

Natalie: I'm wondering if how intensely the music industry and the whole landscape has shifted. Has that had any impact on, you know, how you think about the trajectory of your businesses and of the future of Record Store Day?

Eric Levin: There's a term in the record industry called a 3 60 deal.

Natalie: Mhmm.

Eric Levin: Which basically means that the labels are controlling every aspect of an artist's work from merchandise to direct to consumer marketing, to cuts of their live shows, stuff that was usually offhand, stuff that was usually the stuff bands made money on. Well, you know, if you sign to a major record label, I mean, it's exciting. I've tried to get bands I love to get signed by labels. And, you know, even though I look at contracts and go, god, this part sucks, this part sucks. I'm not a lawyer, but this is not right.

And it's just the oldest story.

Tara: Mhmm.

Eric Levin: Yeah. How how does it affect my businesses?

Natalie: Yeah. Or just your your outlook on your activities, if at all. Maybe it doesn't, you know.

Eric Levin: I do local consignment. I purchase stuff outright. I provide a stage for local artists and for touring artists. I give away tickets to shows, and help promote them. All this is gratis, and this is part part of what any good record store should be doing.

And, politically, I don't fight with labels because my dog's not in that fight. I tried to get I tried to do criminal records, the label from the nineties through about 2015, and, it hurt my soul so much. None of my artists, all I thought all were wonderful, ever did made anything or any that's a failure. Something I'm always deeply troubled by.

Tara: That's a bummer, but, it is you should consider it still an accomplishment that you've, you know, done or tried to do, I would say.

Eric Levin: I've got accomplishments filling up my warehouse.

Tara: Oh, gosh. Well, on that note, let's talk about filling up your record shelves.

Eric Levin: Yes.

Tara: What's your next pick?

Eric Levin: There's a band with an Atlantic connection called Come, though. Definitely, they were international. Feli Zadig and Chris Brokaw, their drummer, Arthur Johnson, is from Atlanta. Still lives here. It's quintessential outsider nineties.

It rocks, but it's rumming and shoegazy and pained, and largely unavailable for many, many years now, decades now. But, man, that was a record that we played probably 3 or 4 times every day in Criminal Records. It's so nostalgic. And this one is I only ever had the CD. I don't there's no reason why.

But for me, this was just in the car, in the store, constant replay. So this has the 9 original tracks are extended, including, the first single, which was never on, well, never on the CD or vinyl, and the flip side of the Rolling Stones, I Got the Blues, which is cool to have on one continuous album. And then I like this. I love when records have, download links for something special inside. Because I like my digital music too.

So with this, you also get, them live at the At the Vermin Stress Festival of 92, which is when they were just at the peak of their power. And I think anybody likes Queens of the Stone Age or Slothrust or Chuck, just any of that juicy stone or rock, usually the progenitors.

Tara: Juicy stone or rock. Yeah. Perfect for 420. You know, I've never heard of this before, but, I mean, it's on the, record store day site says it's acclaimed by dinosaur juniors, Jay Mascus, Husker Du's Bob Mould, and Kurt Cobain. And this is, like, right up my alley too.

I am Yeah. A nineties girly.

Eric Levin: Oh, get this one. Move this to the top of your list.

Tara: I guess I need to. Yeah.

Natalie: My interest is peaked as well. So if if I wanted to introduce myself to the sound, is there, like, a track I should start with, an album I should start with?

Eric Levin: This one, I mean, put on, put it on. I mean, I

Natalie: What's what's the song?

Eric Levin: I don't think I could name a song. It's an album.

Natalie: Oh, okay.

Eric Levin: It was where I just

Natalie: No skips.

Eric Levin: Yeah. Lyrically, it's not there's nothing there's not a vocal that catches reaches out to me. It's just, how cool. Come.

Tara: Sweet. Cool. I'm definitely gonna check that out. See, I'm learning things. I'm learning things.

Well, appropriate that that was a nineties one because I got another nineties band for you. And this one, get ready to hear me ramble because, again, you could probably guess what it is. It's Sonic Youth. Let's be real. Perfect.

Sonic Youth, hits are for squares. Actually, this was created for Starbucks, essentially, this compilation of all of these songs that sort of maybe the the hits, if you will, the things that the squares could listen to that aren't going to scare them away from listening to Sonic Youth. And it was created because and similar to record store day, maybe a little bit is that whole, like, declining of record record stores because of digital media and Napster and faster Internet and, you know, yada yada yada. Same old story. But they also wanted to just kind of expand their audience.

So Sonic Youth was out there trying to do some marketing a little bit, and they originally were gonna have Starbucks release rather ripped, but it was just, like, needed to go through too much approval, and it was just taking too much time. So they came up with this compilation, which was actually curated. The songs were curated by a bunch of really cool people like Mike d from Beastie Boys, Radiohead, Portia de Rossi, Dave Eggers, the writer, Mike Watt, Eddie Vedder, Gus Van Sant, Chloe Segni, and Flaming Lips. So oh, and Flea, of course. So really cool that that was how some of the songs were chosen.

And I I feel like Thurston was really smart here because he was essentially saying, like, Sonic Youth is a brand name. Like, everybody knows this band, Sonic Youth, but not everyone's actually listened to the music of Sonic Youth. So let's put this shit in Starbucks and see how it goes. Kinda smart though. Right?

A 1,000 copies of the album were printed as CDs that you could buy at star at your local Starbucks, but the album was also made for digital download. And then in 2010, it was reissued for Record Store Day. And so now it's for the first time again reissued since 2010. So this record store day 2024, it's going to be pressed on gold nugget vinyl with gold foil jacket. So fancy.

I'm very excited.

Eric Levin: Well, I have to I hate to rain on the parade, but you have to imagine you're a punk rock record store in the nineties

Tara: Oh, yeah.

Eric Levin: Who only drinks indie coffee and whose corporation is named after a Sonic Youth shop, and you couldn't have this CD. You weren't allowed to sell it.

Tara: Right. I don't have it on CD. And I have every studio album made by Sonic Youth. I have almost every SYR, I think, and I have everyone's solo stuff, but I don't have this CD.

Eric Levin: I definitely gave Thurston on many, visits hung one time of his many visits, grief about it. So he took it. He took it right. I'm sure why wasn't the 1st record store owner who tsk tsked.

Tara: Or anyone, yeah.

Eric Levin: He's got a good soul and a good heart. So

Tara: Actually, I just saw him performing live on stage, an improv set with John Paul Jones.

Eric Levin: Wow.

Tara: It was it it was insane. It was crazy.

Eric Levin: That reminds me of a story, and I don't know how long you until your store closes, but, I happen to be at Bonnaroo, and I was the guest on Dave Matthews' bus for some reason.

Tara: Oh, interesting.

Eric Levin: Probably that's where the weed was, if I recall. And, we were playing the high fidelity game and, debut records best songs. And, the gentleman on one of the bunks, after we played for a few minutes, said, oh, what about my band? And it was John Paul Jones.

Tara: What? Yeah. No way.

Natalie: Yeah. That's crazy.

Eric Levin: It was a very funny line. He got a big laugh. Of course, everybody was laughing on that bus.

Tara: I'm sure. That's that's amazing. Also, Bonnaroo is a Ashley Capps production, and I saw Thurston Moore and John Paul Jones at, Big Ears Fest, which is also an Ashley Capps production. Knoxville.

Eric Levin: Right on. There's a wonderful bunch of record stores in Tennessee as well, so it's

Tara: Yeah.

Eric Levin: Fun state to hop around.

Tara: Yeah. Wait. What's your favorite Tennessee record store?

Eric Levin: I love Grimy's.

Tara: Oh, yeah. Nashville. Nice.

Eric Levin: But, I can't there's a new Knoxville store, not new. They're about 10 years old now.

Tara: Magnolia?

Eric Levin: I thought it had dog in the name. I visited a bunch in Knoxville just because that's what you do when you go to a new city, and I wasn't disappointed with any of them.

Natalie: Yeah. That's cool. I have a question for you, Eric. So we're talking about locations and participating record stores, for Record Store Day. Is there and maybe there's not really an answer to this question, but is there a city or a country whose participation in Record Store Day kinda shocked you where you thought, oh, wow, this thing really has scale?

Eric Levin: My favorite thing is when record stores make records and, you know, live at Shakin Records, live at Grimes. He's had dozens of releases for record store day. Saint Louis record store owner Papa Ray releases these deep archival reggae releases, that are just impeccable, truly better than any uncaring label could put together. This year's record store day piece from them is, Ika Maus, which isn't on my list because he's given me one. But also Jackpot in Portland.

They do the coolest stuff, and they've got 4 releases coming out, this year, and all of them are compelling. They're difficult. They're like zombie rock and psychedelic blues, you know, stuff that's not my forte, but he also gives them to me as well. And, they're always perfect. They're always just like lost treasure and beautifully mastered and beautifully printed.

So, yeah, anytime like I mentioned the Secret Buying Group, It's kinda it's a gift. You know? If a record store makes a record, then it's a record store IPs, and we're all giving it our attention.

Tara: You know, I just had a a thought while you were saying that, and you mentioned Portland. But our friend of the store, Scott Leeds, just released this book that you might be interested in. It's called Schrader's Chord, and it's it's kind of a horror horror and music book. It's very Stephen King esque, but, it's about these, like, forbidden records that this guy is gifted in his dad's will, and it they're kind of like haunted or cursed. That's all we'll say, but it's also there's part of the plot is that the dad owned a record store.

Eric Levin: Oh.

Tara: And they sort of play this cursed record in the record store, and there's a lot of talk about Big Star and other bands. And there's it seems like it has an amazing soundtrack for a book. You know what I mean? We're hoping one day this will be a movie and there will be an official soundtrack, but you should definitely check out this book. I feel like you would like it.

Natalie: It's got a lot of fun Easter eggs for music aficionados. Yeah. I think you'd appreciate it.

Eric Levin: There aren't many record store based books I haven't read. So

Natalie: Add

Tara: that one to your list.

Eric Levin: I will.

Tara: There's also an accompanying playlist if you're very curious.

Eric Levin: That sounds

Tara: great. That I'm thinking about it, it could be really cool as a comic book series as well, kind of like, not paper boys, but, what's Blue Monday, the comic book that always references all the songs. And, of course, Scott Pilgrim Saves the World has the songs listed usually. Yeah. Super cool.

Anyways, side tracking us there. I think it's your turn. Right?

Eric Levin: It's my turn?

Natalie: This is the The number one ticks?

Eric Levin: The last of the 5

Tara: Yeah.

Eric Levin: Is the meat puppets.

Tara: Oh, snap.

Eric Levin: Talk about nineties psychedelic weed based, memory based. This was recorded in 1988 in, their hometown in Montana, and they've just always been one of my favorite bands. They did a in store criminal records that was an out store. They played in front, and this was 91, one of my first biggest in stores. And, they were on an old festival called the Horde Tour, and they were just kinda the 2 o'clock band.

Didn't really get a good crowd response, didn't have fun. So the label guy said, you know, I'm sure Eric would love for you to play in the store. And it was a beautiful, beautiful day in Little Five Points, and there was a really good acid going around, that's very plentiful and, you know, dogs and kids and carriages and, you know, punk rockers and hippies. And it was it was a real scene. And, you know, they thought in store, you know, 3 songs, 3 to 4 songs, and then we're out.

But it was so cool. I watched a police officer pull up in front of them drive by, and, I could see he was shaking his head, you know, the window's down. He was kinda shaking his head, grooving for, you know, probably 30 seconds. And he drove on, and the crowd went wild. Just like

Tara: Oh my gosh.

Eric Levin: Super cool. And it was just, you know, Kirk Kirk would look at me, and I was like, dough. Dough, man, go. And, it ended up being just a righteous long jam. So good.

Tara: That's amazing. That's awesome.

Eric Levin: Yeah. To hear this record, double album live, far out, man. Right on.

Tara: Yeah. What do you like most about owning an Orchid store? Is it those moments, things like that?

Eric Levin: Those are great memories. I mean, I've I've made wonderful connections that have lasted forever. You know, it is like, when you see the nurse walk in, it's like, hey, how are you? Chris Morris from Circle Jerks came in the other day and asked for me, and I was like, oh, wow. Cool.

You know, just Wow. You know, he was in town with Serval Jerks and, you know, I've known him for years, since the eighties. And, yeah, I've mentioned weed a lot. I am sober now, but I was also an Amsterdam record store guy with in Atlanta, we go we can visit. So that was Yeah.

Always fun.

Natalie: That is fun. Good memories.

Tara: Yeah. I'm down to my last pick.

Natalie: Well, Tara, I'm I'm eager for this one because I'm not shocked to hear Sonic Youth make your list, but I'm shocked they weren't number 1. So I know. Right? Who could possibly top them?

Tara: And it's not the fact that it's this group that has made it the number one. I think it's the fact that record store day is giving this is providing this to the public because it's not been released in so long. And that's why it's on the top of my list because it's such a special release, I guess. And that is actually, Natalie, you I know I'm just gonna, like, keep dragging this out, but you're gonna like this one because we've talked about this one in the store before with Rachel Hayden.

Natalie: Oh, yeah.

Tara: The roaches, their debut album.

Natalie: That's great.

Tara: It's their 45th anniversary of their debut album. The roaches are American vocal trio of sisters, Maggie, Terry, Susie Roche from Park Ridge, New Jersey, but is also produced by Robert Fripp, who plays guitar and, a version of his Frippertronix, which we've also talked about in our our tech convos, our music history convos about looping. So very cool. This record, again, it's it's 45th anniversary, and it's the first US LP reissue in 40 years. 40 years.

That's crazy. And it's gonna be on ruby red vinyl, which is so fun. Yeah. It's it's really just that, that the fact that it's 45th anniversary and first US reissue in 40 years. It just feels special

Natalie: Wow.

Tara: For a a cult classic album like this. I mean, back in the day 1979, Rolling Stone gave it 5 stars and New York Times called the best pop record of 1979, but you don't never really hear anyone talking about the roaches, you know, so Well I'm excited about it.

Natalie: Obligatory shout out to the Animaniacs, of course. Right. Which is, like, how I discovered them, and it's still my favorite band discovery of all time. That's super cool.

Tara: The Animaniacs. Yeah. The cartoon roaches sisters. And it was them, actually. What didn't it be great?

Them.

Natalie: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. In 91.

Eric Levin: That was a hard record to order. It's like Oh. Because the younger staff who have their opinions had no idea. And then the older staff are like, oh, man, gotta have at least 30.

Natalie: Oh, gosh.

Eric Levin: Yeah. And it's that was pretty uneven split where, like, no. We just buy more Taylor. Like, no. Sell the roaches to Taylor's fans.

Tara: Yeah. We played the high fidelity game with Rachel Hayden of that dog. We talked about bands or groups that had siblings in them, and this was on her list, I believe. So it was a fun conversation with her. I'm gonna get that one for sure.

Natalie: Excellent. That's super cool. That leads to another question. And, you know, I'm kinda kinda new to this game, so, hopefully, I can ask it in a way that makes sense. But is there a record for the both of you that has eluded you for years, for decades, that you would love to see love to see a reissue for, or maybe there's something that you've never seen in the wild that you would it would just be your dream discovery, your dream pick.

Tara: Guys, I have a list of them, on my phone saved. I really do.

Natalie: Just in case. Right?

Tara: Yeah. So, Eric, if you ever need any suggestions for record store day releases, just let me know if we ever need any stuff that's probably not very popular for nerdy people like us that haven't been issued. Really? I'll send it to you. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, like, the features, for example, they're an East Tennessee band, but they have a bunch of albums that are just CD only. And I don't think anyone would buy this except for me and maybe a couple of other people regionally, maybe. It's things like that that I miss. There's even like, the Super Jag, Regretfully Yours.

It's so hard to come by. It's so expensive. If there's anyone you can find that wants to sell it, I was a little bit like that with Alice in Chains Jar of Lies, but thank goodness they they reissued that one. So

Eric Levin: That was always a

Tara: So many.

Eric Levin: On the want list for sure.

Tara: Yeah. Ben Folds 5, whatever and ever amen. I had that one on my want list forever from Discogs, and it was always like $200 or more. They just had a reissue, and I preordered it. So hopefully that comes in May.

Yeah. I have Very cool. A massive list.

Natalie: I know you're not tired. Yeah.

Eric Levin: I've asked Warner Brothers for years now to make Talking Heads Stop Making Sense came out in a Robert Rauschenberg package. It was clear vinyl when nobody was making see through vinyl, and Robert had 3 pieces of film, yellow, blue, and red, with his imagery as part of the this big plastic package that, he did before the release. And every single one you see now is brittle and yellow. You can barely touch them because they've all barked. And my suggestion to Warner Brothers was just make the package.

There are enough records out there that people I'd buy that for $30 just to put my old record in.

Natalie: Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah.

Eric Levin: And that's BSMART history. See, I think that's the job of Record Store Day, to really do cool things like that. Yeah. The 3 inch records that, we've been doing in Japan, this year, there's, the Beatles and, Metro Boomin', Spider Man branded turntables and little records. Like, okay.

Awesome. That might be gimmicky and too expensive for some customers, but I wanna measure boom and turntable on my desk.

Tara: I mean so in the eighties, I remember getting an ALF record. It was just like cardboard that had grooves on it from, like, as some sort of Happy Meal situation, not a Happy Meal because that's McDonald's, but it was I'm pretty sure it was Arby's or Hardee's or something like that. Yeah. And it was ALF. Like, what?

I wish we had more things like that.

Natalie: Like, those little special ALF. Arby's had, like, the really wacky kids' meals prices.

Tara: It felt like it should be Arby's. It feels like it's Arby's. It might yeah. 1 of the 2. Hardee's, Arby's.

It rhymes, those 2. Yeah.

Eric Levin: We've got something really coming out, really cool coming out in Atlanta that, you'll have to next time in the store, I'll have to tell you about it. Oh. It's it's it's right up there with an ALF Arby's record.

Tara: Nice. Okay.

Eric Levin: Even better.

Natalie: Oh, man.

Eric Levin: Well, in in Atlanta institution, they're making about 10,007 inches to give away to their fans. So it's a big promotion, but they have to announce it first. There's a little sneak peek.

Natalie: Oh, stay tuned. Well, I am really excited about both of your lists. I've learned a lot. I've got some some things to listen to, some old things to revisit. I wanna hear what you guys have on your list for, like, honorable mentions.

What things didn't make the top 5? What about you, Eric?

Eric Levin: Well, I thought I was picking 10. So my next 5 are easy ending with my truly the number one release that I hope to get. But The Replacements Live works out perfectly with all my other replacements records, which is all the other replacements records. These guys were running a noun from putting on horrible shows and were wonderful shows. So my guess is this will be a wonderful one.

The Talking Heads Live is the extended version of Talking Heads 77. So okay. And they played more songs on that epic 2 album set, so that's that's a must have. The various sort of jazz dispensary, like the replacements, I've got every other jazz dispensary release, and they're pretty much perfect and perfect for 420. The first album by Electra Fiction, which is Ian McCullough and, Will Sargent from Echo and the Bunnyman.

Never before on LPE. I love them. I don't think I've heard it in 25 years. So, that's a must have. And just one of the greatest people I've ever met, just a beautiful soul, beautiful person, Kristin Hersh's first solo record, Gibson Makers.

First time on vinyl, beautiful package again, but just if it reminds me of her in my short time hanging out with her, then it'll be wonderful.

Tara: So she's actually on my list too. She's from Atlanta. Did you know that? No. I only just learned that.

She's from Atlanta, born in Grady, I think, but now she lives in Louisiana, of course. I just saw her live at Big Ears also. It was just her acoustic set. It was beautiful. It was amazing.

Yeah. Her voice is, like, one of a kind. I mean, a little bit like Sam Phillips too, but I love her voice so much. And, of course, nineties throwing muses, love them so much. Yeah.

So, yeah, I'm excited to get that one. Another one is probably I'm probably gonna get the cure top even though I get very annoyed with all the picture discs that they always put out for records today. Like, why does it have to be a picture disc, please?

Eric Levin: But I don't disagree. They're expensive, and Ugh. At least they sound better than the old picture discs.

Tara: That's true. They're so hard to see, though, if I'm, like, trying to actually DJ with them.

Eric Levin: Yep.

Tara: But I love the Curacao. I'll get it anyways. The slits in the beginning will be super cool. And this is so silly, but I have the Dazed and Confused soundtrack already on vinyl, and I so I have to have the even more Dazed and Confused 30th anniversary release. And then

Eric Levin: That's not funny at all.

Tara: Yeah. Is it not okay? Another one probably perfect for 420. I mean, there's so many I have on my list, but I don't know what I'll really boil it down to, the Everything But The Girl.

Eric Levin: Oh, those are great. I could I got a digital preview of that.

Tara: Oh, it's good.

Eric Levin: It's so good.

Tara: Okay. Well, then you've sold me on that one. Hopefully, Criminal Records has enough copies to go around.

Eric Levin: We ordered up on that because I had heard it.

Tara: And Oh, good.

Eric Levin: Yeah. Another record, sir, on her friend, out of Indianapolis at Luna Music is, like, vacation buddies with them.

Tara: Oh, wow.

Eric Levin: Hey. You know? Check this out. It was, like, a year ago, and I was like, oh, I think that might be a record for the piece. He's like

Tara: I'm sorry. What? How can you be vacation buddies with Tracy Thorne? I can I? A k

Natalie: a how can we be vacation buddies with Tracy Thorne? That's the question.

Eric Levin: Ben Watt. I mean, I'm, you know We're

Tara: Ben Watt. For sure.

Eric Levin: We all have buddies, you know. He has done enough for them. He released early stuff on his label.

Tara: Yeah. Schoology d, Saturday Night, the first final reissue of that.

Eric Levin: Bookie Down Productions. Edutainment. One of the most important hip hop records of all time.

Tara: That's super cool.

Eric Levin: And it's a double. You get a spread out sounding fine.

Tara: Nice. I mean, there's a bunch, but those are, I guess, the highlights of my shortlist.

Natalie: Cool. Cool. Well, I know you mentioned a little bit of this earlier, Eric, but can you let the folks in the store know what to expect if they come out to hang out for record store day? What else can they expect?

Eric Levin: Well, per usual, we printed up 500 for the first 500 people, obviously, of our Ronnie Land designed tote bag, and, it's gorgeous this year. And we have tons and tons of, giveaways and really well, the theme of the day, the theme of the entire month is a tribute to Dexter Bromweber who recently passed. He's the founder of the Flat Duo Jets and a stalwart Southern gentleman, amazing performer, touched a lot of lives, and affected a lot of musicians. And first and foremost, Sean Marshall of Cap Power who taped a lot of her early stuff just from his influence. Sean was in town doing her Dylan tribute, the day when Dexter passed away and, she had a bit of a wake in her home with local musicians impromptu playing, Texas songs.

That led to a tribute at the IRRRL on 25th which we just wanted to promote. Like, we would do an in store for any anybody's main performance. This is, 10 bands doing their preview sets for that show, and we'll have tickets for the show and giveaways. But we also have the really cool raffle prizes, that we'll do oh, actually, not raffle, auction. Sound on auction.

And we got a full arcade machine that, like, I I just started asking label and distribute our friends. So we got this arcade machine. REM sent a surprise package, all this cool archival stuff and patches.

Natalie: What?

Eric Levin: We got a Def Jam box set that's like 8 LPs and a turntable flip up lid and t shirts, And the prices are still rolling in. We got a Devo prize package

Tara: that

Eric Levin: I might bid on. It's so

Tara: sweet. Amazing.

Eric Levin: So, yeah, that's gonna be a and that was just when it came together and it came together perfectly, including 2 of Sean's bands. So we're gonna we're gonna use this drum kit for all 10 bands to get it set up.

Tara: Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Well, I'm very excited, and I will be in line very early that day. So, hopefully, I'll see you there.

Eric Levin: I will be there.

Natalie: Yeah. It's going to be a blast. It sounds like it's a celebration, really. Right? Just fun for the whole family, something for everybody.

Just come out and support.

Tara: It's a party. Yeah. It's starting to get dark here. I think we should start closing up. What do you think, Natalie?

Natalie: Yeah. I think so. Eric, thank you so much. It's been an absolute honor that you would stop by on such a special day to chat with us for a bit. Thank you so much.

Eric Levin: Thank you all.

Tara: Yeah. Thank you. Maybe we could do this annually. Just rank our record store day picks.

Eric Levin: Very cool.

Tara: Yeah. Sweet. Cool. Okay. Well, yeah, I'm tired.

I'm gonna sign off. It's a wrap. Alright.

Natalie: Goodbye, everybody.

Tara: Bye. Congrats. You've made it to the end. Now let's see what some of the friends of the store have to say about what their top picks are.

Jayda Abello: Hey. This is Jada Abello here in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and the RSD releases I'm most excited about are Harmonia, Music Von Harmonia, anniversary edition, Mejor De Los Nuggets, Saiken Garage from Latin America, mister Bongo's latest Brazil 40 fives collection curated by DJ Coco, and last late, Soul Jazz Records reissue of their punk 45 comp, kill the hippies, kill yourself. Happy record store day.

Stuart Myerberg: My number one record store day pick is Kristen Hirsch's Hips and Makers. It's finally getting a vinyl reissue, and it includes all the b sides from the album along with the Strings EP. My second choice is Kate Bush's Eat the Music 10 inch. I don't really need yet another version of Eat the Music, but I can't resist a 10 inch vinyl and I can't resist a Kate Bush release.

Sean Zearfoss: This is Sean from Atlanta. My top RSD releases for this year include the television live at the academy release. This was taken in 92, and these songs are from, primarily from television's 3rd album. These songs have never been given the dude that they deserve, so I'm excited to have the final copy of this one. Next is the related Tom Verlaine box set of his first four solo albums.

This is the first time these have been re released, so I'm super excited for that set. Next is the Willie Nelson Phases and Stages release. This is honestly Willie at his best. It's a seventies release after he signed to Atlantic and kind of reignited his career. Finally, is Rain Parade's emergency 3rd rail power trip reissue.

This is really difficult to find in original format, and even the previous reissues are also difficult to find. So this Paisley Underground staple is one I'm very excited about.

Tara: Record Store Society is hosted by Natalie White and Tara Davies. If you'd like to contact the show, visit our website at record store society dot com, or you can find us on all your favorite social media sites with the handle at record store society.

Tara: Spring is getting closer. Finally. Not finally. It's here. It's here.

Natalie: It is it is here. Yeah. I can't believe it.

Tara: I know I can't believe it either. But do you know what that means?

Natalie: New month, new music.

Tara: New month, new music, new album of the month.

Natalie: Mhmm. Mhmm. I feel you.

Tara: As we all in the store know, album of the month is where we like to chat about a particular album that we've chosen to discuss.

Natalie: Yeah. New

Tara: or old. And, yeah, we just talk about it and check it out together. Kind of a kind of a, like, album review, but not really. Just kind of an exploration discovery share, if you will. So, yeah, I have a very exciting, not very exciting, kind of sad actually, album, but exciting news.

Oh, hi. How are you? I'm Tara.

Natalie: I'm Natalie. Welcome to the store.

Tara: Go ahead and take a look around. We'll be over here talking about our albums of the month. But, yeah, I selected an album for this discussion that just recently had a reissue, but it's not a very upbeat and happy album at all.

Natalie: Oh, what's that?

Tara: It is Alice in Chains Jar of Flies.

Natalie: Oh, wow. Oh, nice. That got reissued. Yeah. Bummer.

Amazing album. Just masterpiece of an album, but pretty dark.

Tara: Pretty dark. And, also, I think, technically well, not technically, but it is kind of an EP. Although I think by definition, an EP is under 30 minutes, and this one is just slightly over at 30 minutes, 50 seconds, 7 songs. But, yeah, I actually remember the first time ever hearing Jar of Flies as a teenager. I was staying at my dad's house over the summer, and he was in the Navy and had some young men roommates.

And I got to borrow some of their CDs. There was Jar of Flies, Red Hot Chili Peppers was 1. I feel like there was another one too, but I'm drawing a blank on which one that was. Oh, it might have Pearl Jam 10, actually. And it really stuck with me, this record, and I loved it so much.

And lately, because I collect vinyl, I've been just waiting for a reissue or just constantly waiting for someone to sell their copy for, you know, less than a $100.

Natalie: And your wish has come true. That's cool. Yeah. It's been 30 years.

Tara: To come true.

Natalie: I can't believe that album is 30 years old. That's crazy. No.

Tara: It's crazy. Finally reissued. So I have pre ordered my copy.

Natalie: Oh, congratulations.

Tara: It will finally be mine.

Natalie: Yes. I am happy for you.

Tara: Thank you. But yeah, let's get into it. So Jar of Flies, as we mentioned, is the 3rd studio album by American rock band, Alice in Chains, and it was released January 25, 1994. It is the second acoustic EP after 1990 two's SAP. And, you know, most of Jar of Flies has this dominance of acoustic instrumentation.

And so it's often considered almost like the continuation of the sound from SAP. It's actually this was kind of mind blowing to me. The 1st EP in music history to debut at number 1 on the Billboard 200 charts.

Natalie: That's cool.

Tara: With the 1st week of sales exceeding a 141,000 copies in the United States. Wow. I know that's insane. Yeah. That's crazy.

It was self produced, and it was written and recorded over the course of just 1 week at London Bridge Studio in Seattle. And, yeah, Jar of Flies was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards in 95 and best recording package and best hard rock performance for I Stay Away. But okay. Enough of the accolades. Let's just dive in.

So obviously 1994, we're kind of like mid nineties, grunge music was everywhere. All the record labels were snatching up any band with members wearing Doc Martens and flannel, and it was like the goal to find the next Nirvana, but Alice in Chains were already deep in the game. They were already considered pioneers and leaders on the scene due to their mega successful album, Dirt, which features songs, Rooster, then Bones, and also the title track, Dirt. And, they're also included on the soundtrack to singles, which we all know and love by Cameron Crowe, depicting life in Seattle and the music at the time in the nineties.

Natalie: What a time to be alive

Tara: during the grand jury. I do feel like to have lived- I do too. I do. It's great. I'd probably say that every time we talk in the store.

Natalie: I'd like 80 flannels you just rotate through during the course of the week.

Tara: Yeah. So Alice in Chains were just coming off of an extensive tour in 93 supporting the album Dirt. Plus they did a stint on the Lollapalooza festival, and they just fired their original bassist, Mike Starr. I've read that the reason that they have said that they let Mike go is that, you know, after all of this intense touring and press, Mike was ready to go home, but Mike himself says, actually, I was kicked out because of my escalating drug use. So I'm not really sure what the true reason was, but I guess if it's what Mike is saying, then that's probably what it was, which makes sense.

But maybe Allison James was trying to, you know, make him look a little better or something. But anyways, so they replaced Mike Starr with Mike Inez, which was Ozzy Osbourne's bassist because when they were touring, Ozzy's band actually joined them a little bit on tour plus Blind Melon. So that was cool. And then so the members also around this time, they got home from that tour and Lollapalooza, and they found that they were evicted from their residence after failing to pay the rent. So they were homeless.

And then the whole band moved into London Bridge Studio in Seattle, which is of course where they recorded Jar of Flies. But also during that tour, Jerry Cantrell called Jerry Cantrell is the guitarist and also a singer in Alice in Chains, called producer Toby Wright and proposed that they collaborate on some new material. And Wright was excited. So he booked 10 days at Lindenridge Studios. So drummer, Sean Kinney, actually has said after playing loud music for a year, we'd come home.

And the last thing we wanted to do was crank up our amps. Regarding material for Jar of Flies, he says that stuff was written on buses and whenever we had downtime. We did Jar of Flies to see how it was to record a bassist, Mike Inez. We just went into the studio with no songs written to check out the chemistry. It all fell into place.

The sounds and the tones are really good. We thought it would be a waste not to put the material out. And the 1st session took place September 7, 1993. Layne Staley said, who is the vocalist, as we all probably are familiar with, said, we just really wanted to go in the studio for a few days with our acoustic guitars to see what happened. We never really planned on the music we made at the time to be released, but the record label heard it and really liked it.

For us, it was just the experience of 4 guys getting together in the studio and making some music. And the album sessions lasted about 14 to 18 hours a day, and the recording was done complete in 7 days.

Natalie: That's crazy.

Tara: And I didn't know this. This is really cool. The album was actually recorded on tape on a Neve 80 68 mixing console. And Lane said, you know, no pro tools should be used. And Lane was super familiar with working in the studio and had a working knowledge of his sound preferences and felt that analog sounded better for the band sound.

And then, yeah, most of the tracks were recorded within 1 or 2 takes. So I didn't know that for yeah. Recorded super analog style. And just the speaking on the album vibe overall, as we mentioned, it's kind of a bummer of an album, but it does demonstrate a wide variety of sounds and texture. There's a lot of blues, rock elements and some kind of jangle guitar too, which was pretty popular in the late eighties and early nineties from some Indian alternative bands in rock.

And then of course, the a lot of the lyrics are pretty dark and gloomy and talk about or singing about living the consequences of, like, loneliness and self imposed isolation and just, like, lost human connections and maybe some drug stuff in there as well. Alright. Before we dive into the music, I just wanna talk a little bit too on the whole concept, title, and the artwork. The album's title actually originates from this science experiment that Jerry Cottrell conducted in 3rd grade. He maintained 2 jars full of flies.

1 of the jars would be overfed while the flies in the other jar would be underfed. The flies that were overfed reproduced rapidly, but then died from overcrowding. The flies that were underfed managed to survive throughout a year. And I guess there's probably message in there somewhere is what's Lane said, but evidently, it had a big impact on Jerry as a child. So I did not know that.

Crazy thing. Yeah. The album cover was photographed by Rocky Schenck in September 8, 1993. He recalls the band had come up with the idea for the title and wanted the cover to be a young boy looking into a jar filled with flies. I remember they asked me to use crazy colors in the shot, so I utilized different gels over the lights to achieve the final look.

And then I just wanted to note for the 2024 reissue, a super limited special vinyl pressing was made that it included actual dead flies in clear vinyl. And it sold out in like seconds. And it was like $1,000. It was cool looking. Anyways okay.

Let's get into the music. That's enough of that.

Natalie: Can I can I say one thing? I just had a really random thought. I'm looking at this the album artwork, and I always thought the cover was so cool. And I don't know, just kind of, mesmerizing in a way. You know?

Like, I don't even know I don't even know the emotion it makes me feel, but it makes me feel something. And I just think about how shitty it would look AI generated. Like, if you told AI to just be, like, have a kid looking into a jar of flies. Do you know what I mean? Because it's it's just such a simple concept, and I don't even know what what I'm trying I'm supposed to take away from it, but I know that looking at this does something to me.

You know what I mean?

Tara: Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. I

Natalie: would jack it all up.

Tara: I kinda wanna try that. Oh, I'm curious. Alright. So Jar of Life. First track, right out of the gate is Rotten Apple.

So Rat and Apple kicks off with the new bassist, Mike Inez, a special part. It's a super melodic bass intro, and you can already hear a bluesy sound that you'll hear throughout the record in the first 10 seconds of the album and the song. Jerry Cantrell delivers expertly crafted guitar solo later on in the song too with some nice wah wah pedal effect. And I think that this song is kind of about a young person's developing drug habit and, I guess, a fall into addiction. There's one verse that says, what I see is unreal.

I've written my own part. Eat of the apple so young. I'm crawling back to start. And this could mean that Lane is essentially like writing his own book. He he made his bed, now he's going to lie in it.

He chose the needle and its consequence, and no one else is responsible, and almost comparing his sins to to, like, something biblical, you know, eating of the apple so young, I guess. That was my take on it.

Natalie: Yeah. It's interesting how I'm always very fascinated by their lyrics because there are different interpretations, and I feel like it's it meets you where you are. Like, whatever your personal experience is, that's how you're gonna relate to what he's saying. It doesn't lock you into one interpretation. And I think that's why this album in general is just so so so significant and meaningful for so many people.

You know?

Tara: Mhmm. Yeah. Definitely. I agree. Alright.

Track 2, Nuts

Natalie: shell.

Tara: So nutshell is is more of that acoustic feel that we got from the EP SAP. Some points we hear some overdubbed acoustics. Jerry Cantrell used pickups in his guitars, and he wanted to keep the sound as close to acoustic sounding as possible. So that it sounded like an acoustic guitar instead of the electrified acoustic guitar, which I think worked really well on this album and especially this song. And then there's also you can hear a side stick drum technique and brushes to keep the softer feel from the drums.

But the lyrics are heavy and honest, of course, as are most of the songs on the EP. The bassist Mike Inez said of nutshell. I think the number one for me is nutshell. Lane was very honest with his songwriting. And in nutshell, he really put everything in a nutshell for everybody.

That song still gets me choked up whenever I play it. I get a little teary eyed and sometimes when we're doing the arena runs, especially, they'll have some video footage of Lane and I look and see me and Jerry Cantrell and Sean looking the wrong way. We're not looking at the audience. We're looking back at Lane, and it's pretty cool that there's still that song for us. Yeah.

It's just a sad thing he says. Yeah. And, of course, some of the lyrics, my gift of self is raped. My privacy is raped, and yet I find and yet I find repeating in my head, if I can't be my own, I'd feel better dead.

Natalie: This song wasn't even it wasn't a single, was it?

Tara: It was actually no. It wasn't. It was not. You're right. You're right.

Sorry. I was just getting mixed up with no excuses. But Nutshell was not a single, but it was widely regarded as one of Allison Shane's best songs, and it was actually ranked number 9 on Rolling Stones reader poll, the top 10 saddest songs of all time.

Natalie: Yeah. I mean, that's that's pretty powerful for it to be Yeah. Have become so big and so memorable, not even having been released as a single. That's

Tara: Yeah. Definitely. And, of course, we all know that Lane struggled with addiction and passed away only a mere 8 years after this was released,

Natalie: at

Tara: the young age of 34. And the song was also performed on MTV Unplugged in 1996, and it was the last time the song was played live with Layne Staley. Wow. Sad. On a slightly higher note is the next track, I Stay Away.

And this one was the one that stuck with me as a teenager, and I think it's because of the super cool music video that came with it. Mhmm. But we'll talk more about that after we talk about the song. It's the second single from Jar of Flies, and it was actually the the first song that they'd written with Mike, the new bassist. So it kinda made it a whole other special song for the EP.

It proved to us and the fans valid part of the band Mike was. He plays the nastiest, darkest shit, but he's got the sweetest heart in the world. I love that. But, yeah, the opening is like this kind of bright guitar riff, And then the chorus or the pre chorus rather takes a detour and it's a lot darker and heavier and kind of spookier, sludgier. And then the chorus reintroduces this sort of more upbeat, brighter tones.

So

Natalie: Yeah. That hook is so sick. I I love that contrast so much. And, like, the bass is I've always loved the bass line in this song. And then Yeah.

Their voices, like, you know, everyone knows Alice in Chains. They have this harmonization that they're known for. And the way they Yes. The way they hit that hook, and it just kinda draws out, but they're always in such perfect, tight harmony. It's it's so cool.

Yeah.

Tara: I love the harmonies between Jerry and Lane on this one for sure. And also, the first time they've ever used strings on a song was this one.

Natalie: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's another favorite part. This is such a good song.

It's been a while. So, yeah, I do. I love the strings when he sings I Stay Away. It's super cool.

Tara: The music video was super special. It was directed by Nick Duncan, also known for his animated short film, The Junkie's Christmas. It was created entirely with stop motion animation and included the band members as puppets. The band travels to a circus aboard a bus, and there's this sinister looking boy holding a jar full of flies. At the circus.

The boy releases the flies that causes total chaos to erupt. And, yeah, there's just a lot of fun and crazy things that happen, and I'll leave it to surprise if anyone has never seen this music video. Yeah. I think the the video is so memorable, and actually the puppets I remember seeing this too, this music video on the Beavis and Butt Head. Yeah.

That's one one of their episodes where they review music videos. Yeah. I remember seeing this one particularly.

Natalie: Yeah. I remember this video, really stuck in my craw. I'm like, what it what am I looking at? What is this? I can't look away.

This is awesome.

Tara: Yeah. I love anything stop motion, man.

Natalie: I miss those videos so much.

Tara: California Raisins. I had the Chris I have it. I actually rebought it on DVD, the California raisins Christmas special.

Natalie: Had to

Tara: have it. Alright. Moving right along to number 4, no excuses. No excuses is the lead single from Jar of Flies. And speaking of harmonies between Lane and Jerry, this one has them, and it sounds great again.

Someone has, more of an upbeat syncopated drum intro. And of course, as soon as you hear it, it's instantly recognizable that syncopated drumbeat intro. No excuses kinda also has this like REM, American indie alternative sound a little bit, with the jangly guitars.

Natalie: Yeah.

Tara: Jerry wrote this one and it's been thought to be about his unstable relationship with Layne's daily, but highlighting both their difficulties as well as their friendship. In the final verse, you hear him say, you, my friend, I will defend. And if we change, well, I love you anyway. So it kind of comes to a a resolve there, which is good. Track 5, whale and wasp is instrumental and features wailing electric That sounds like whales, the mammal, not crying.

Natalie: Or whales wailing.

Tara: We both Whales wailing. Wailing whales.

Natalie: I love this this piece so much. That Yeah. It's it's amazing. The whale call that he plays on the guitar. It's just, you know, it's like when you take off in an airplane and you you feel just pressed down against your seat and just squeeze on all sides.

That's what it feels like. It grabs you and kinda pulls you with it. It's so, so effective. You know?

Tara: Yeah. Beautiful and sad sounding.

Natalie: Really.

Tara: So we have only 2 more tracks on this very short EP. Track 6, don't follow. You hear more harmonic on this one and some more jangly guitars again. Jerry wrote this one and sings the first half and Lane, sings the second half, which I kinda like this, you know, different verse singing, combo. And this one is a bit of, nineties rock ballad vibes to me.

Reminds me kind of of, like, more than words, something like that. You know what I mean?

Natalie: Yeah. This is like this is quintessential nineties sound in every way.

Tara: Yeah. Definitely. Alright. Last song. And this one is definitely not my favorite on the album, but perhaps they wanted to leave on a happier note because this one has a little bit of a jazzy swing feel to it, and it's a little bit louder, more rocking, I feel I feel like than the others.

So swing on this.

Natalie: Bit of a curveball on the album.

Tara: Yeah. A curveball.

Natalie: The swing is like, oh, okay. We're doing this now.

Tara: Yeah. Alright. That's it. The song, no excuses reached number 1 on the album rock tracks chart, becoming the 1st single by the band to do so. And Jerry even said, we couldn't believe it did so well.

And that the success of Jar of Fly showed us that we could do what we liked and other people would like it too. And I think this this album really made a mark on rock history. And not only that, but as well received by the critics, and it was it's been certified quadruple platinum by the never really loved the more metal sounding grunge of the nineties, this one stuck with me as a young person, and I've always held it in my heart. It's always been a special a special thing I've held on to all these years. And I definitely think they have just solidified their place in music history.

And in my opinion, one of the greatest rock albums or EP is ever made, honestly.

Natalie: Yeah. I would I would agree with you. I think it's it it is very, very nineties, but it absolutely holds up. Like, Alice in Chains was just such a solid band. And, I I do like this album.

I don't, like, listen to it frequently. I kind of I prefer their earlier stuff, so I'm more likely to go revisit that. But, yeah, just what a what an impressive creative output. You know? It's really cool.

Have you seen them live before?

Tara: I have not. No.

Natalie: I saw them I I think it was Lollapalooza 93. I saw them. And I and I remember that being like, oh, like, I need to I need to pay attention. You know? Because I'd only seen things on MTV, whatever had a music video or, like, performances in MTV.

But, like, watching them, that's when it really hooked me for sure.

Tara: So Oh, man. I'm so jealous. You've seen them live. Gosh.

Natalie: That happens very rare that I've seen something someone you haven't seen, so I will take that.

Tara: That's that's awesome, though. Yeah. Well, speaking of, wanting to leave on a happier note, what album have you brought for us today?

Natalie: Yeah. Okay. So we're gonna switch gears pretty significantly here. This is, a pretty recent album. Just came out, in 2023, just last year, from the artist, Sen Morimoto, and the album's called Diagnosis.

So, Sen Morimoto, he is a jazz rap multi instrumentalist, multi talented guy born in Kyoto, raised in Massachusetts, and currently based in Chicago. And diagnosis is his 3rd studio album. It was released on his own label, Super Records, in partnership with City Slang. And this record appeals to me because it just feels so liberated. Like, it's like he's having this candid conversation, and at times, he's putting down this full on indictment of capitalism and particularly how it plays out in the music industry and his frustrations and his rejection of having to, like, play the game to get the fame, I guess.

And he just kinda touches on all kinds of topics like police violence, working class issues, the power of nature, the healing power of nature. It's just like he's exploring and introspecting a lot. And I don't know. It was just like spring, and I feel like I'd been in a particular space with the the albums I've been gravitating to the last few months, you know, in since, like, last fall or whatever. It's like, I'm ready for something kind of fresh and more upbeat.

And even though he's just getting all the stuff off his chest, all of the music, he's rapping it all in these really groovy art pop moments that just feel good. It's just a feel good album, and that's what I need this March, man.

Tara: It is a really feel good album.

Natalie: Yeah. So I love the opening track. It's called if the answer isn't love. So what's great about this track, it's kinda got this, like, psychedelic groove that's very chill, very effortless. It's not trying to be or sound like anything.

It's just floating in this zone, and it's got this great, great catchy hook. He says, what will last? What will last? I know plenty must pass. Tell me what can we have?

But if the answer isn't love, then forget that I asked. Aw. It's great. Morimoto does this great track by track breakdown of the album with Consequence of Sound, and he says that this song is about choosing love in the face of impending doom. You know, we've got war, climate disaster, all this tragedy.

After the dust settles, what will we have to show for it? And if the answer if it's not a greater capacity for love, then I don't even wanna know. You know? Yeah. And it's just it it stands as a as a really great thesis statement for the entire record, I think.

Tara: Yeah. This first track right out of the gate was really good. I loved it. And his voice, it immediately made me think of Self, the band from the nineties also. I I feel like this album is very kind of nineties ish or at least something about it reminds me of something from that era.

And I don't think it's just the band self. I feel like there's other things too. And I feel like the way you describe his views on, like, the working class and into capitalism and things like that kinda reminds me of Evan Dando in a in a way. I don't know. But, yeah, I enjoyed this album, and the first track is great.

Natalie: I love the first yeah. The first track is really pulled me in. And that's what you wanna opening track to do on a record is to convince the person to keep listening. You know what his voice reminds me of? You mentioned, like, nineties and everything, and I I can see that.

He reminds me of, like, like JK Light. You know, JK from Jamiroquai. It's like a a softer, gentler version of of his voice. Interesting. That's what I kept hearing.

But, yeah. Another fun tidbit about this album is Morimoto hosted a listening party for the album at a Chicago drive in, which included a screening of the 1974 Brian De Palma film Phantom of the Paradise. I don't know if you're familiar with this, but it's like a a cult classic musical, which mirrors some of the themes in the album around, like, treacherous music industry shenanigans. And, like, this artist has his music stolen by this evil producer who then makes this other artist perform it for his show. And I don't know.

It's kind of like got, like, Rocky Horror vibes. I was like, what a perfect juxtaposition, you know, to have with this album. Alright. So there's 13 I think there's 13 tracks in the album, but I'm just gonna jump around and and touch on a few highlights. So the next one I wanna talk about is and if I skip one that you like, definitely dive in and let me know.

But I wanna talk about pressure on the pulse. This song starts beautifully with just his singing voice, some strummed guitar chords, and then the whole song just kinda like pushes and pulls you with these contrasting slow sections and these driving instrumental sections. Let's listen to a bit. I

Tara: love that you chose this one as the next one to talk about because this is the next one that I really was just like, oh, what's this one called? You know, when I was listening to it, it was my next favorite of all of these songs.

Natalie: Oh, good. Yeah. I really, really love this. It's it's kind of frantic in places and but I think the tension building and the release is it's all very well balanced. Right?

And it ends in this super cool, snappy little whispered rap moment. And I think that rap verse, lyrically, is one of my favorite moments on the album. And the message in the lyrics, it's so timely. He comments on the YouTube video, quote, pressure on the pulse is about making sense of the chaos around us. The The quiet side of the track asks if we would really be able to hear and understand the answer to why the world is so cruel.

The opposite end is about figuring out how to continue forward if you never get an answer at all. To keep pressure on the pulse is to create meaning in a senseless world for yourself. And I think we can all relate to that

Tara: in today's times. So well spoken.

Natalie: He is. And I do appreciate that on most of his music videos, he pins, like, some kind of explanation for, you know, the the thought process behind the song. Okay. The next one I wanna talk about is Feel Change. So what a charming song this is.

Morimoto says this one is about the difficulty of change, how hard it is to accept shifting we work in, relationships, and how our enthusiasm turns to cynicism, and how on the other hand we're frustrated with things that don't change quickly enough. And he posits that a remedy to that is to witness the inevitable change in nature, the colors of autumn leaves emerging for example, as a way to become more accepting of change in the time that's required. He is a thoughtful guy.

Tara: Mhmm. Yeah. Very thoughtful. Yeah. Very introspective.

Natalie: Definitely. And the the production on this track is really special too. The song, it's always changing. You've got, like, shifting time signatures, measures that extend a beat longer than expected, interesting transitions and phrasings. And, like, even his vocal style is kinda it's more lilted, like, he's just chatting with you on some loose melody.

And he does this other effect where everything has all the vocals have this really strong chorus effect on it, and it's very spacious. And then the voice pulls into focus, and it sounds like he's singing right in your ear. It's just so sweet and gentle. So I just I think they made some really thoughtful choices in the production. Very gentle.

I like I mean, that that word is how it feels. Mean, it's one thing to have a great song, and I do think it's a great song, but when you go that extra mile and you make you make the sonic experience like its own thing, I don't know. It's just really special, especially if, like, a a good set of headphones. It's it's the best feeling in the world. Right?

Tara: Definitely.

Natalie: Okay. So the very next track is called What You Say. So this has the coolest intro. It reminds me of Wendy and Lisa's intro for their song Everything But You, which is another tune I've always loved. I'll play a little bit of that.

The song is wild. There's so much tension that builds up because we're not really getting any clear chord progression, you know, or at least there's no clear resolution rather, I should say. We never know where we're going, and you've got this tight triplet kick drum that feels on edge the whole time. And in the middle, we finally get to hear what that intro is foreshadowing because you get this massive killer drum solo with a layer of noise just sizzling on top. It's very intense.

I really, really enjoy this song.

Tara: The drums remind me of Radiohead or something. Oh, yeah? This yeah. It's the it's the drum part from Weird Fishes Are Pegy

Natalie: Yes.

Tara: By Radiohead that reminds me

Natalie: of. Good catch. Okay. So I wanna talk about the track, Deeper. So this one is pushing more into jazz r and b territory here.

It opens with him playing the sax, which is his first instrument, and then it moves. Yeah. Saxophone is his first instrument. He is classically trained. He learned saxophone from the legendary Charles Neville, and then he taught himself all the other instruments, just pretty cool.

I think and he actually plays, like, most of the instruments on this album. Oh. So he's he's multitasking. Yeah.

Tara: This one is is definitely my 3rd favorite. And when I heard that saxophone coming in, I was like, oh, immediately, it just sounds so nice.

Natalie: It is really nice. It's like his voice. It's as, like, gentle and effortlessly kinda groovy. Just like his voice, man.

Tara: It's great. Good tone. Yeah. Good tone of the saxophone and the voice.

Natalie: Little inspiration for you on your sax journey, I hope.

Tara: Yeah. Definitely.

Natalie: No. It's great. So he starts with the sax. It moves into this nice laid back groove, soft backing harmonies. That's where I'm getting the R and B vibe.

Funky bass line in there. His voice is really quite versatile. He's he's often referred to as a rapper, but he mostly sings on this album and the man can traverse many different genres with ease, I think, And then he gives us this incredible sax solo in the middle of the song, and I'm just like, yo, this dude is impressive. He just he covers so many sounds in this album, and none of it sounds contrived. He's just in the zone wherever he goes.

And like I said, he's performing most of the instruments, just super talented. Very, very impressed with him. Lastly, I want to listen to Forsythia. So this is a dreamy gentle tune. Morimoto says, quote, when I travel to Japan, I feel different.

It's like a peek into a world in which I might have grown up in a different dimension. It's surreal and dreamlike every time. And I think he communicates those feelings just spot on with this piece. It's it's as if he's examining his identity through the trees that grow in the various places he's called home. So the Forsythia is at his childhood home in Massachusetts, the sakura trees in Japan, and he actually sings this first in Japanese and then the magnolia tree outside his Chicago apartment and how he can feel rooted and know who he is amidst all the questions and chaos of the world.

I just think it's a really nice metaphor for, you know, knowing oneself.

Tara: Yeah. It really is. Wow. See, we keep saying the same thing over and over. He's so thoughtful.

Natalie: He really is. Put a lot of

Tara: thought into these word words and lyrics and meanings.

Natalie: Yeah. I was like, I've gotta see this guy live. I went on his website and looked at his tour. He's not coming to Atlanta anytime soon. Rude.

It's very sad. How dare you? Yeah. Next time. Yeah.

So this song is just pretty. It's just very pretty. Arpeggiated guitar, simple piano line, some strings come through later on in the song. And it's a nice sort of cool down before the final track. You know, he's like gathering all the threads together.

But, yeah, I there's one more there's one more song on the album as well. Well, what I only talked about maybe 5 or 6. There's 13 tracks and all, so there's plenty more. But that is not because I'm not into them. I think they are all worth listening to and all worth reading the lyrics for as well because each song has such a mindfully crafted distinct message.

It's all very thought provoking while still feeling light and groovy. It's still very much a feel good album, and I just think it's a commendable balance that he's achieved with this record. And I need to go back and listen to the other 2. I've been I've been playing this album so hardcore, and I'm new to Sid Morimoto. I've I've heard of him.

I feel like I've seen him perform on, I don't know, a a show or somewhere online or something. It just didn't quite stick. But this album has been on intense replay for me, but I think it's time for me to, like, fill in the blanks and and listen to some of his older stuff.

Tara: Yeah. I've I'd never heard of him until today, and he definitely seems maybe overlooked or very new, but it seems like he has some other records out. How many is this

Natalie: This is his 3rd studio album, but I think he's got some a strong indie presence, definitely. And people know who this guy is, you know, and they're paying attention

Tara: Yeah.

Natalie: As they should. I I think he's great.

Tara: And people will hear more from him or not more from him, but more about him.

Natalie: Yeah. And his videos are fun too. They're really very creative and kind of have that DIY artistic quality where you really have to pay attention because he's he's trying to tell you something. I like that kind of thing. You know?

Tara: Yeah. He's also very handsome.

Natalie: He's a cutie patootie. I'm glad somebody said it. Hello.

Tara: He looks like like a Japanese Evan Dando, actually.

Natalie: Oh my god. You're killing me.

Tara: Look at it. I mean, no.

Natalie: You're so funny.

Tara: Like a young young young Evan Dando, of course. No.

Natalie: He's super cute. Yeah, man. So we did it to kick ass albums.

Tara: I already know a tie in here.

Natalie: Do you hit me hit me.

Tara: Self reflection. Yeah. Yeah.

Natalie: Like, deep, candid, raw, vulnerable introspection that doesn't feel faked or forced. It's just it's just coming out of you. I feel that.

Tara: Yeah. So good. Yeah. Nailed it. We did it again.

I love it.

Natalie: What a good album of the month session.

Tara: Yay. And spring Has come. Is almost here. We're springing forward.

Natalie: It's sprung in. Yeah.

Tara: Awesome. Well, I can't wait to hear our next album of the month choices, but I will definitely be enjoying my reissued Alice in Chains album very soon, and I will be enjoying this, Senorimoto album as well.

Natalie: Attention everyone in the store. Please bring all your dead flies to Tara to commemorate this victory in finding this vinyl after 30 years.

Tara: I love it. Cool. Okay. Let's head home for the day. It's getting it's getting dark out there.

Natalie: It's getting dark, man. One thing about spring is it's just been constantly pouring.

Tara: That's true.

Natalie: I sleep though. I'm gonna get home, get cozy.

Tara: Yeah. Alright. Yeah. Okay. Bye.

Bye. Record Store Society is hosted by Natalie White and Tara Davies. If you'd like to contact the show, visit our website at record store society.com, or you can find us on all your favorite social media sites with the handle at record store society.

Natalie: Okay, Tara. So I've been dying to hear about your trip to Vegas. How was it? Oh, my gosh. It was great.

Tara: Yeah? Well, I'm not normally a Vegas person. I'm not a fan of Vegas, just not really for me. I mean, you walk a mile through each of the casinos by the time you can even get outside. I'm more of a fan of all the wonderful nature that is out west Mhmm.

And not very far from Vegas. However, yes, I went to Vegas to see you 2 at the Sphere. That's super cool. How was it? It was definitely a top five show for me Oh, wow.

Because they played Octon Baby in full.

Natalie: Oh, wow.

Tara: And yeah. They, of course, played some songs from Joshua Tree. And, yeah, it was just an amazing experience. Plus okay. So I live in Atlanta, but I'm from Tennessee.

And, of course, there's the whole Vegas Elvis tie in thing, but Priscilla Presley was there in person in the flesh. That's cool. Wild. It just felt like, wow, of all the shows I could have gone to, they've had this residency at The Sphere going for a good long while now. And it's just crazy that the one that I go to is the one that Priscilla Presley is also at.

Natalie: Yeah. That's super cool. Felt some sort of

Tara: weird connection, you know. I don't know. It's silly. They also did a BB King song, so that was really cool. Yeah.

The whole Memphis tie in.

Natalie: And how was the venue? Like, how how were the visuals and everything?

Tara: The visuals were insane. So the sphere is just this giant arena auditorium that is a sphere shape and the whole like front side of the sphere where you would be facing the band has these visuals that go all the way up to the very top and all the way across the sides. At the beginning of the show, well, before the show even started, just while you're waiting for things to to start, I looked up and it looked like it was an open ceiling, but of course, it's not open ceiling. It's a sphere. It's closed at the top, but it looked open.

And I didn't even think about this when it happened, but I could see a bird flying in. Mhmm. And I was like, like, woah, look at that bird. You know? And then it wasn't until the end of the show when someone was like, that bird wasn't real.

And I was like, oh my god, wait, you're right. There's no hole at the top. The bird was totally projected. Were you sober? I mean, not towards the end, but the beginning I was.

And so I definitely thought the bird was real. That's funny. It was just wild. There was a part where the the visuals were going down behind the stage and it looked kinda like the stage was moving. And I had to look at the ground because it

was starting to make me feel very sticky.

Yeah. Wonky. It it was amazing. Just amazing. Nice.

Unmatched. So cool. Loved it. And you 2 sounded perfect.

Natalie: Well, good for them. Beautiful.

Tara: They still got it. I like that. Yeah. Right. Exactly.

But so I did see one of our favorite bands from 2023 that put out a new album Oh, yeah? Last night, Blonde Redhead.

Natalie: Oh, that's dope. Yeah. They were here. Wow. What they

Tara: was so good.

Natalie: Where was that?

Tara: That was at Terminal West. Mhmm. Cool.

It was

it was great. They still got it too. And I'm I love that new album. I had to pick up a copy at the show.

Natalie: Nice. Yeah. Did they do a lot of old stuff? Were they mostly focused on Yeah.

Tara: They did. They did songs from Missouri is a Butterfly. They did they did songs from 23, and then, of course, a bunch of the new stuff. But I think

that's it.

Those are the ones I knew for sure.

Natalie: Did they have an opener?

Tara: They did. And I forget their name because I got there a little late. Okay. Fair enough. But yeah.

I don't know. So it reminds me though, you know, sometimes we have talked about new things that we like, and we haven't really done that in a while.

Natalie: Oh, yeah. Lots of new artists, new stuff coming out. Old artists who haven't released new music in a long time. There's a lot happening.

Tara: Yeah. And I've already started my list for keeping track of the best things released in 2024 so that I can refer back to because there's some really great stuff that just came out.

Natalie: Oh, yeah. Let's let's talk

Tara: about some of it. Okay. Well, diving right away. This one you've mentioned recently as just learning, so new to you. But this is a song brand new from this person, and that is Jessica Pratt, and the song is life is.

So this song was released on 16th February. And it's the first single of her new album called Here in the Pitch, which will be her 4th studio album. And again, this doesn't come out yet, but you can go ahead and pre order it on Bandcamp, which I have already done. And, you know, in general, her albums are categorized as folk or maybe even freak folk. And her sound is usually quite bleak, just herself and an acoustic guitar, usually simple, beautiful music, quiet.

But this time, there are drums. And it sounds very, to me, kind of like Wall of Sound, Phil Spector ish, very sixties psychedelic. It almost reminds me of a less noisy version of Cindy Lee, which I love. So that's an a given that I'm going to love it. But, yeah, I'm really excited to see what the rest of the album sounds like.

I'm already super excited just from this first single release.

Natalie: Oh, man. And this, like, just came out within the last couple of weeks.

Tara: Yeah. Brand spanking new.

Natalie: Yeah. I like her a lot. I'm excited to hear what she's doing now, especially if we're bringing some, some beats into the mix. That's

new. Yeah. Definitely. I still love it though. It's it's great.

Tara: Yeah. I really can't wait to hear the rest of the album.

Natalie: Do we know when that's coming out? Is that imminent?

Tara: Yeah. So that album will be released on May 3, 2024.

Natalie: Okay. Yeah. That'll be pretty soon.

Tara: Yeah.

Exciting. And

I've already pre ordered. You can pre order, but not the cool limited edition PONDSCUM color, unfortunately. Always prepared. Who have you been listening to lately?

Natalie: Yeah. So this artist was introduced to me by my partner. He he always has new music that he's sharing with me, and we are really, really digging this this artist called named rather Wayne Snow. Have you heard of Wayne Snow by any chance? I have not.

Okay. I I think you would dig him. He's super cool. It's hard to describe the sound, but he's got a little blurb on his bio that let me I just wanna read quickly because I think it's a good description. There's an undeniable warmth to Wayne Snow's music, one that combines a contemporary take on the sun kissed, soulful vibes of his homeland of Nigeria with neo soul, alternative pop, soltronica, and jazz.

And I love the term soltronica. That's, like, so perfect for this or or like Afrofuturism. Really, really cool modern artist. He blossomed as an artist after relocating to Berlin in 2013, met some kindred spirits, started collaborating, and he released his first EP called Red Runner in 2014. And I wanna play a little bit of that title track here.

This is Red Runner. Yeah. Just a great chill dance groove that drops in like halfway through on this one. Just really good lounge vibes, you know? Just good happy lounge vibes, hang out.

Really, really like his sound. His debut album Freedom TV came out in 2017, and this gained a lot of attention from some pretty big news outlets and names and music, including Charles Peterson. And the whole vibe on this album is is so smooth and groovy, but I just want to kind of fast forward to his most recent project figurine, which is how we discovered this artist and it was released in 2021 on French label, Roche Musique. So I want to play just a couple of highlights for me on this album. And the first is the track FOM, which stands for friend of

mine.

Smooth. Yeah. This song has the sickest instrumental interlude that hits, you know, about halfway through, and it just washes over you like a vat of warm butter with this killer guitar solo. It's such a vibe. Like, you should listen to it all the way through.

It's so worth it for that that interlude. And then The

Tara: album art is beautiful.

Natalie: Isn't it? That orange is just so striking. Right? It's gorgeous. And his his visuals, like, all his videos are kind of on the same wavelength.

Very, very simple color, a lot of movement, and I don't know. He's just got a really dope aesthetic and style. Cool. Another favorite that I wanna hear a little bit of is called Nina.

Tara: Oh, I get some unknown mortal orchestra vibes here.

Natalie: Yeah. Right? It's it's really, really dope. Just another chill jam that makes you wanna move. It's so chill.

He's got this lovely light falsetto that's just super soulful, and I don't know, man. It makes me ready for for spring, for summer, you know, having a sangria. Yeah. Right? It's just giving, like, hangout party vibes.

Right?

I love him. Yeah. Yeah.

He's really cool. So we're we're way into him, recently

in this household. So, yeah, Wayne Snow, check him out. Cool. Yeah. No.

Tara: It's I'm excited to listen to him.

Of fits in that whole vibe as well. Again, all of mine this time are new songs released by people who haven't had songs released in quite a while, it feels like, but are not new to me artists necessarily. This next one is a group that I just enjoy so much. And actually recently just revisited one of their older albums in full, just because I was just like, you know what? I kinda miss I miss this band.

And I went back and I relistened to them. And then, of course, wouldn't you know it, they just released a new single to mark their 20th anniversary, and it was their first music in 2 years. And that is a song called Common Blue by War Paint.

Natalie: Cool. Don't you love when that happens, when you just think of a band that you loved Yeah. Like, just in time to hear something new they've put out?

Tara: It was synchronicity for sure. I was like, what? No way. That's crazy. Yeah.

So I went back and listened to I think it was their debut album and which I I just love so much and listened to the whole thing and just truly enjoyed the experience. And then, of course, yeah, I just saw they had a new album or a new song, that just came out called Common Blue, and it's part of, a 7 inch that will be released on March 22nd. And it's it's to mark their 20th anniversary of being in a band together, and you can find it, streaming as well. But it's their first music in 2 years. It's groovy, earthy vibes, you know, common for them wore paint.

And of course, it always includes their lovely haunting, echoey harmonies. It's a feel good tune, but there is this hint of sadness to it. But I love it so much and I'm very excited that they've released this music and I can't wait to hear more. I don't know if they're planning a full length. I just I am super excited about this 7 inch for sure.

Natalie: Yeah. I dig war paint. They've kinda kinda fallen off my radar a bit too. So Yeah. It's cool to hear they're coming back.

This is giving good springtime vibes too.

Tara: Yeah. Good springtime vibes. Definitely.

Natalie: Yeah. Maybe, like, on a, like, a sunny day with just a little bit of rain, a hint of melancholy.

Tara: A hint of melancholy. Yeah. I like it. That's definitely the what I was feeling from it. Yeah.

Hope they do more soon.

Natalie: Yeah. Alright. So another artist I just sort of stumbled upon is Laurel Halo. Do you know this artist?

Tara: Oh, yeah. Yeah? Oh, yeah. I've talked about Laurel Halo quite a lot here in the store.

Natalie: Because I was like, who is this? Just popped up on some random Spotify mix I was listening to recently. So you'll know you know already then, she's an electronic producer and DJ, and a founder of a record label called Ah. Yeah. Born and raised in Ann Arbor, so, like, naturally influenced by lot of Detroit techno, Musique Concretes, which we've talked about a bit in one of our music tech chats, a lot of film score and jazz influences.

But I heard the song, and I hope I'm pronouncing this correctly, doctor Ect, and I was like, what is this? What are these sounds? I love this. So dreamy, so psychedelic. Let's just

listen to a bit of that.

It's a vibe. It's only under 2 minutes, so it's just kind of a bummer, but it's a it's a good under 2 minutes. This is from her 2013 sophomore album called Chance of Rain, which I really, really enjoyed. A year prior to that, she released her debut album called Quarantine, which was critically acclaimed named album of the year by British music mag, The Wire. So let's check out one of the tracks from that album.

This one is MK Ultra.

That one is a bit more out there and, like, rough and layered in a lot of really cool ways that I've I've noticed compared to her newer releases that I love so much.

Yeah. Yeah. They're they're quite different. I mean, this entire album is super trippy, like, very ambient and imaginative, but, like, a little unsettling too, you know, because the layers are all stacked in unexpected ways, and it's constantly shifting. And then you've got these, like, flat plodding vocals coming in occasionally.

It's it's very, I saw the word extraterrestrial used somewhere, and I was like, yeah. That that about describes it. That's the vibe. But then there's some pieces in it that are just really pretty. It's like it all comes into focus, and you have these really pleasant light, you know, light moments.

It's a fascinating album. It's hard to boil it down to just, like, a single description. Yeah. But like you said, she evolves quite a bit from project to project. So we're skipping we're skipping a lot.

Like, she's got a handful of other releases. She's joined plenty of collaborative efforts. But I just want to mention quickly her 5th and most recent album Atlas, which came out in 2023. Let's hear a bit of the track You Burn Me. Yeah, so this record is notably more abstract and ambient I mean, I I think that's why I wanted to play a bit of this track because any of the others, if you just kinda drop into the middle of it, there's no there's no context.

You won't know what's going on. It's just, Yeah.

Tara: Yeah.

Natalie: It's just all these, like, sweeping, morphing atmospheres that just kinda pull you along with it. It's just strangely moving. You know? And she's got, like, a lot of guests featured on this album, instrumentalists and vocalists, but it's like they all get stirred into this big sonic stew and it just eventually swirls and melts into the pot. You know what I mean?

It's it's wild. Yeah. In the Pitchfork review, they they describe it really well. It says, it feels like standing in the hallway between 2 different orchestras as they tune up. Atlas derives its power from the tension between broad expanses of formlessness and sudden eruptions of destabilizing beauty.

I thought that was pretty on point.

Tara: Yeah. Definitely on point because this album, I love it and I enjoyed it. But because some of her older albums to me are my favorite, this one to me felt a little unsettling, and I definitely felt that tension that they described in that summary. But it's not to say I didn't enjoy it, but I didn't put it in my top list because it wasn't something that I could just easily listen to. But it's definitely a good one to have in her library.

Natalie: You know? I like that she does change and shift and mold herself into these different or rather molds her sounds into these different works of art over time. My top two favorite albums by Laurel Halo are Dust, which came out in 2017 and then has the best song, called Moon Talk, which is very fun. And I've included on some DJ mixes as well. But my favorite is Raw Silk Uncut Wood from 2018.

Tara: Mhmm. And I've heard her describe it as her rainy day record, and I, to me, feel the same way. It's just such a comforting, warm, ambient album to listen to when you just need something peaceful. And it's it's beautiful, and it it's a totally different direction from Dust, and I'm a huge fan of Laura Halo. So I love that you chose this one.

Natalie: No. I totally agree. I I just think she's on a really cool creative trajectory. And if you're an adventurous listener, you know, and, like, open minded, there's gonna be something in her discography for you, whether it's more of the pop electronic leaning stuff earlier on or this more experimental, ambient, symphonic stuff. There's gonna be something you like.

You know?

Tara: Yeah. Well, speaking of, again, a woman who gives you this sort of warm or just something for you, for every person almost till not I don't know if I wanna go that far, but kind of. This next person was part of a group that we all adore and have adored since the nineties, Porta said.

Mhmm.

It is the dearest, most wonderful lady, Beth Gibbons. She has a new single out called

Natalie: Stop it.

Tara: Floating on a Moment.

Natalie: Oh my god.

Tara: Beth Gibbons is the singer of Portishead , and this is her first, single off an upcoming release called Lives Outgrown to be released later in 2024.

Natalie: God, I love her so much. I feel like I could call out Beth Gibbons just seeing a silhouette of her walking. Yeah. You know, the beginning of this video is just like her the shape of her walking. I'm like, yeah.

That's that's the only person it could be who has such a distinctive voice and gait.

Tara: Definitely. Yeah. This upcoming album will be her, technically, her second full length. She did do a project with Henrik Gorecki, symphony number 3, Symphony of Sorrowful songs in 2019 with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, but she did do in 2002 out of season with Rustin Man. And so this is her, I guess, I would call it her 2nd solo album called lives outgrown.

And then, of course, the last time she recorded with Portishead was for the album 3rd in 2008. This, again is her new single. It's called Floating on a Moment, and it's the same soulful sorrowful sounding vocals we've grown accustomed to from Beth Gibbons. And okay. This is silly, but honestly, like, when I hear her, she is the voice of womanhood to me.

Does that make sense? Like, if there was a goddess of femininity, it would be her voice. Her voice is it. I think it's because of the song Glory Box where she says give me a reason to be a woman, basically. And yeah.

I don't know. I just I love her voice so much. And and also in this song, you hear this electric guitar and dulcimer, and there's these sort of soft background elements that add to this sort of sad sound of longing in the song. And then towards the end, her voice is sort of followed by the vocals of a children's choir, and she sings, all we have is here and now. And it's just a beautiful song.

Pitchfork says, floating on moment is a heavy song with an unburdened spirit. Gibbon sings of the finality of death with a simplicity that could suit a children's book.

I just thought it was

a really great descriptor. Okay. And, yeah, as same as all the rest that I've spoken about, this is such a beautiful song and I can't wait to hear the full album.

Natalie: Yeah. Me too. I've missed I've missed her.

Tara: Yeah. Me too. She's so good. That's it. That's all I have.

Natalie: Okay. So a third artist I've been super stoked about recently is R and B singer and songwriter extraordinaire, Money Long. So I am loving the fact that this talented woman who's been in the game for a very long time is finally getting her time to shine in the spotlight, and her story is just so cool. She started out on YouTube literally singing the dictionary. But, yeah, Money Long is already a successful music industry veteran under her birth name, Priscilla Renee Hamilton.

She released a debut album with Capitol Records in 2009 called Jukebox and then spent the next decade and into the present really, just writing big hits for other major artists such as like Rihanna, Fifth Harmony, Ariana Grande, Kelly Clarkson, Selena Gomez. I mean, it just goes on and on, and that's just a small portion of the list. Her credits run deep. It's crazy. In 2017, she even released an African American country album called Colored.

And in 2019, she rebranded herself with the name Muni Long, still releasing music and writing for other artists. And in July 2021, she released an EP called Nobody Knows. And I just have to play a bit of my favorite song here from that project called Just Beginning.

Song: I was just beginning to love you.

I was just beginning to trust you.

Natalie: And I think part of her charm is the hook on this is just it's just so pretty. It's beautiful and it resolves. It's so satisfying when she gets to the end of that hook. Like, the the arrangement of it and her voice, impeccable. And I think part of her charm is how she's really bringing back that pure, vulnerable, late nineties, early 2000s R and B feel.

And her voice is just stunning and clear. And, of course, she's already proven her songwriting chops time and time again. And it really all the elements come together in the song. It's just really pretty. Then in November 2021, she released an EP called Public Displays of Affection, and here's one of its breakout hits, Time Machine.

Song: I just had one more wish. I go die and do it all over again. Wish

Natalie: Yeah. This song is super catchy. Her voice sounds so dope here. She reminds me of Coco from SWV. Like Oh, yeah.

This is that for the singer. Right? She sounds like Coco. This song blew up on TikTok as well with people sharing cringey moments or bad fashion choices from the past with this playing in the background, which is really cute. In 2022, she signed with Def Jam.

And that September, she released a full length album version of Public Displays of Affection expanding from 8 to 18 tracks. She probably just has vaults and vaults worth of hit records ready to go, you know, as much songwriting as she's done over the years. So that was a fun surprise. Fast forwarding a bit, in September of 2023, she released a new single called Made For Me, and this has to be her greatest single yet.

Song: Where have you been? Nobody knows me like you.

Tara: That is some classic r and b jams already. I can tell. It even has that little the little Yeah. Thing, the whole jingle.

Natalie: Like the from, Usher's This is My Confessions. It's kinda

Tara: somewhat Destiny's Child Say My Name.

I think

Natalie: it has the same sound. Yeah.

Yeah. It's 2,000 R and B perfection right there. And you you landed right on the the big what do they call it? The killing of the song where she sings Twin, Where Have You Been, going right into the hook. It's just, that's when you're just ready to, like, grab your brush microphone and sing along with her for that big big hook.

It's so classic, so catchy, very fresh, but that straight up R and B sound that's so timeless, and people are ready. I I just don't feel like we've had a lot of that in the last few years, but we have Money Long and other artists kinda coming out and and going back to basics with that pure R and B sound. This one also went viral on TikTok and has hit number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, hit number 1 on R and B digital song sales charts. She was nominated for 3 Grammys last year, and she won one, yeah, she won one for best R and B performance for the song Hours and Hours. So, like, I've skipped a lot.

She's been in the game for a minute. I couldn't begin to cover all of that ground, but I'm just so happy that this seems to really be her time. And if this single is any indication, her upcoming album is gonna be a monster.

Yeah. Just going back to what you said, I don't think there's been a ton of that sort of R and B slow jams thing out lately. I mean, there has been, but at the same time, I feel like the new stuff we've gotten is is blowing up because people are ready for it, like Ari Lennox or Summer Walker. You know? This just adding to that, and that's that's exciting.

Tara: I I really enjoy those r and b.

Natalie: Oh, yeah. I'm ready for that one. Yeah. Yeah. This is gonna be dope.

On a side note though, she's so beautiful. Doesn't she remind you of a young Patti LaBelle?

Tara: Yeah. Oh, I can see that for sure.

Natalie: Yeah. I can't unsee it. She's so pretty. She's just stunning. I love her.

But, yeah, those are just a handful of the artists I'm stoked about these days. Do you have someone else to share?

Tara: No. That was it. Just my 3, new songs that I wanted to share.

Natalie: It's pretty solid though. Yeah.

Tara: I mean, I really can't wait to hear full albums from these folks and explore the full albums that you've shared too.

Natalie: Yeah. I think this is gonna be a good year. Got some had some good announcements. And a lot of a lot of things that were just stated during COVID, I think. You know?

Yeah. People were doing a lot of soul searching and a lot of experimenting. Just a lot of really interesting projects that are happening this year that don't feel as, I don't know, mechanical or perfunctory as some studio artists may have started to feel. It's like you kinda had to get into this place where it had to get raw again. And we're we're seeing the fruits of that now.

So, yeah, 2024 is gonna be great. We'll have to do this again. I'm sure there'll be some more fun artists and single singles that we'll stumble upon.

I'm sure. And I can't wait for it. And I again, I feel like we've talked about this before where we want to hear more of that raw sound, not the, you know, mechanical AI robot. Oh god. Look.

That's coming too. No inauthentic stuff. Well, I

Tara: have my homework. I'm excited to listen to the things you shared.

Natalie: Yeah. Me too. I need to check out more of these folks, especially Wayne Snow. I'm very interested in listening to more of what Wayne Snow has going on.

Tara: Yeah. What's your next show then on your roster? I know you've always got things planned out months in in advance. You're so organized.

Natalie: I do. I have a I have a spreadsheet. You have a spreadsheet? I don't know. Let's see what's next.

Tara: Oh, Andre 3000.

Natalie: Oh, right. I can't wait to hear

Tara: about that. And Andre 3000 has just been added to the Big Years lineup. Although tickets are individual by purchase again, so I will have to buy more tickets again for Andre 3,000 if I wanna see them again. So we'll see how that goes this week.

Natalie: Alright. Very cool. Well, I wanna we have to debrief on that one because I'm very curious to hear about this improvisational flute show he's got going on.

Tara: Yeah. I'm happy to share. I'm excited to share.

I can't wait to see.

Alright. I don't know what to expect. I'm just very excited.

Natalie: Yeah. Just you have to go on with an open mind. Never know what's gonna happen. Yeah. Alright.

Tara: So we're gonna close-up now.

Natalie: Yeah. It's time to go.

Tara: Yeah, man. Let's do it. Alright. Okay. Cool.

Bye. Bye, everybody.

Loglines: Record Store Society is hosted by Natalie White and Tara Davies. If you'd like to contact the show, visit our website at record store society.com, or you can find us on all your favorite social media sites with

the handle at record store society.

Tara: Recently, I saw this YouTube video about girls in rock bands and how oftentimes they are asked, what's it like to be a girl in a band? And it was talking about how rock and roll started as, like, a man's world and women were the fodder or subject matter of said rock songs. Mhmm. And one of the first bands they talked about in this video was Fanny.

Natalie: Oh, nice. As they should.

Tara: Yeah. 1 of or actually the first all female rock band signed to a major label. Yeah. That's super cool. Which we learned and talked about in one of our many discussions on the subject matter of forgotten girl groups.

Natalie: Yeah. Was this a recent video?

Tara: I don't think it I don't know when it was made. I don't think it was very recent. No.

Natalie: I'd be curious to see that and see who else they talk about.

Tara: Yeah. They talked about a lot of women in in rock, but yeah, The Runaways, Tina Weymouth, as, you know, she's the basis of Talking Heads. Oh, hi. How are you? I'm Tara.

Natalie: I'm Natalie.

Tara: Take a look around. We'll be over here talking about some really cool girl groups. Yeah. But I was thinking it's been a minute since we've talked about forgotten girl groups in the store.

Natalie: Yeah. And there's plenty of them, you know, that deserve to be remembered and praised. You know, I'd be up for another round of that. Let's do it. Who do you have in mind?

Tara: Well, you know, last time I talked about the blossoms with the beautiful Darlene Love, and that was more in the sixties realm. I decided this time to dive a little bit into the eighties, early eighties, with a band called Marine Girls.

Natalie: Cool.

Tara: So let me set the scene though on Marine Girls, because there was some changes afoot in the music industry around when they popped up. British punk music began mid seventies. Sex Pistols are often credited as being the first British punk band, and punk music became a way for British youth to express themselves and their anger and push back against the establishment. And then it was like the do it yourself or DIY attitude from New York combined with the anger of the unemployed British youth, and it created essentially this British punk wave, I guess. So bands like The Clash, X-ray Specs were kind of singing on sociocultural ideas, and then you had, like, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Wire and The Slits.

And then across the later seventies, 1977, 78 evolved more towards post punk sounds with bands like Joy Division from Manchester. And then again, parallel to punk, you had this industrial culture with bands like Throbbing Gristle or Cabaret Voltaire. So we're inching into the eighties here and pop was reimagined and punk was splintering into all these different subgenres. You had skinheads and anarchy type punks like Crass, and then Adam and the Ants, and Susie and the Banshees were more goth. And then you had these independent music labels, record labels like Fast or Factory Records, Postcard Records, 4AD, they were cultivating their own aesthetic and pushing this new indie world of pop and DIY music.

This new indie world pop was inspired heavily by the sixties and were kind of, I guess, pushing their way, pushing against this whole, like, Thatcherite eighties doom, I guess, if you wanna call it that. Like I said, these indie labels were popping up all over the UK. Postcard Records, Creation Records, Wham. They were creating a huge mark on indie pop with shoegaze, garage punk, and other eighties subgenres that still inspire indie music as we know it today. But before Riot Girls took back punk from the boys, the eighties post punk wave brought us bands such as the Pastels and Tallulah Gosh and Dolly Mixture and Marine Girls as part of a new eighties wave featuring predominantly female vocalists.

Their sound was a lot less abrasive, often featuring charming, amateur sounding vocals with jangly guitars and sometimes upbeat percussion. But here's where we really begin this journey of getting to know this somewhat forgotten girl band that I have chosen for today, and that is Maureen Rose. Marine Girls is a quartet formed in 1980 by 2 friends from the 6th form, which I had to Google. That's like the 12th grade here in the states, Tracy Thorne and Gina Hartman. Originally, Tracy Thorne just played guitar, and Gina Hartman was the lead vocalist and percussionist.

Traci overcame her shyness, and she also started singing too by the time they started making records. They were later joined by Jane Fox on bass and her younger sister, Alice, on vocals and percussion. They're often referred to as one of the pioneers of twee music despite being classified as post punk by most people in the eighties, early eighties. But just a quick note here too, before marine girls, Tracey Thorne actually started her musical career in the post punk world with a group called Stern Bops playing guitar and doing some backup vocals. But back to Marine Girls, representative of this, like, DIY culture of the time, Marine Girls self produced and self released cassette in 1980 called A Day by the Sea.

This features mostly unavailable songs, such as Getting Away From It All, Lorna, Hour of Need, and Harbors. Only 50 copies were made. Let's hear a clip of Night Day Dreams from A Day by the Sea.

Natalie: It's so, like, bubbly and mellow and happy. A lot more than

Tara: I I

Natalie: would have expected.

Tara: Definitely. Yeah. I mean, this is again, they self recorded this. These, you know, young teenage girls, they met in 12th grade, essentially, you know? So it's it's really cool that they

Natalie: did this. Yeah.

Tara: Yeah. But A Day by the Sea was recorded mainly at Jane's house in her front room after school on a reel to reel tape recorder. Gina says, it was so DIY. No wonder it sounds like it was actually recorded underwater. We had fun doing that.

I remember it involved a lot of eating boil in the bag cod and butter sauce and raw flapjack mixture. Ew. Jane's and Alice's house was good to record at because they lived with their dad, and he wasn't in that much after school, and we could walk to her house easily. So it was just 10 songs recorded in December of 1980 with another 2 songs added later to complete a 12 songs on this cassette. But, yeah, you can hear the sixties influence and how it almost perfectly encapsulates this feeling of being a teenage girl.

They were authentic and very feminine. In 1981, they went on to record an album called Beach Party, which was recorded in a garden shed by Pat Birmingham and released on Enphase Records, then rereleased by Dan Tracey of Television Personalities for his label, Wham Records. Then, of course, released again later from Cherry Red Records in 1987 and 2014. And just another side note, Tracey Thorne actually recorded her first solo LP in that same shed by Pat Birmingham. So I love that.

Back around.

Natalie: Yeah.

Tara: Yeah. And in true Marine Girls fashion, the songs on Beach Party dealt with the age old problems, difficult boyfriends, love, loneliness, and of course, all the symbols of the the sea and its mysteries. Let's listen to a bit of marine girls from each party.

Natalie: That's adorable. How charming.

Tara: Marine Girls discusses the pressures of girlhood and using those gentle words, try so hard, try to be what every girl should be before then listing those expectations as not too smart and no opinions, bright and pretty, sweet and willing. I love that. That's so good. So smart, man.

Natalie: I like how catchy and and light it is. I guess when I think about post punk, it makes sense. Sure. But when I think about post punk, I always think more I don't know. The music just feels more introspective.

You know?

Tara: Yeah. Keeps and moody.

Natalie: It's like approaching brooding. Right? It's like we're getting into that new wave territory. But this is leaning really heavy into just the the catchy simplicity of it, You know? Very feminine.

Not too overcomplicated. Very, very girly.

Tara: Girly.

Natalie: Yeah. It's great.

Tara: Tracy Thorne has said in an interview for the Kiedis, which I don't know. I always say the, but it's spelled like quiet us. I I say. I'm not sure if that's exactly how you pronounce that music org, but they have great stuff. If you guys don't know about it, check it out.

And I'll link this particular interview in our store website because it's a really great interview with Tracy Thorne that everyone should check out. She says, we used to get up on stage in front of mostly male crowds who'd come to see a rock gig, and we'd quietly but defiantly play our heartfelt songs about boys we loved or boys we despised, mixing in strange and ever so slightly random references to the sea.

Natalie: Now that's punk. That's pretty punk song.

Tara: Right? Yes. Definitely. The band's simplistic approach to structuring songs often centering on repetitive riffs and sometimes spoken vocals works really well. And in a lot of ways, like you just said, marine girls were considerably more punk than some of the aggressively charged bands that came before them.

And they just disregarded these conventions and were unafraid to sound a little unpolished. And they were they were, like I said, authentic and true to themselves. But, yeah, they created an incredibly distinctive singular sound that wasn't flashy or, you know, excessive. And it was unapologetically melodramatic, you know, such as a teenager would be.

Natalie: Right.

Tara: Gina from Marine Girls has said, punk was really important to me and Tracy. We bonded over that music. We would never have even formed the band without that DIY rough trade ethic. It was so encouraging. I think between us, we bought nearly all of the early rough trade singles.

We like the raincoats, Delta 5, Swell Maps, Kleenex, Lilliput, and also the Modets, all those post punk bands. We love the old punk bands like Buzzcocks, X-ray Specs, and early Sex Pistols and The Clash, but that music seemed like a long time before, even though it was only a couple years previous. We didn't think about our music being vulnerable. We thought that it was as strong as the music we love, but in a different form. Quiet can be strong too.

Our music was innocent because I suppose we were. I love that. I just got chills rereading it.

Natalie: Yeah. It makes me think I think about how spoiled our ears are becoming with this digitized perfection that we hear, that people start to think that's what voices, that's what music and instruments sound like. And I'm so excited. I mean, it's gonna it's gonna whip back around soon, and I just can't wait until we rediscover an appreciation for this level of sincerity

Tara: Yeah.

Natalie: In music and just let voices sound like human voices and imperfect and you know what I mean? And just kind of focus on the the the feeling and the energy of the music. Yeah. I because I watched a video recently about a video exposing the use of auto tune, like, in TikTok. These sort of setup people singing in kitchens and things.

I've seen that video.

Tara: I've seen that video. Yes.

Natalie: It just it spoke so much of, you know, what I'm so irritated with these days. But, yeah, I just I can't wait till we get away from that. It's so ridiculous. And this is this is a perfect example of just how of how powerful something so simple and so stripped down and just human can be so much more powerful emotionally when you listen to it.

Tara: Yeah. Definitely. I mean, gosh, even just a recent example, I mean, so recent. We just had the Super Bowl and Alicia Keys was singing. Have you have you seen this or heard this yet?

Where her voice cracked kind of pretty bad.

Natalie: That's kind of her thing though. Isn't that just like her sound?

Tara: No. I mean, like, it was a it was definitely not intentional. Like, her voice just did, like, a little it was a mess up. But at the same time, I keep seeing videos on TikTok of people saying, like, this was so real. Like, I was so glad to hear her have this imperfection because, you know, everything else is always, like, lip syncing and fake and

Natalie: Just like robots. Yeah.

Tara: Yeah. She was she was really singing, and I appreciated that. Yeah. But then, I guess, supposedly, on the there's like a I don't know if it's ESPN or NF whatever NFL, some official YouTube video that they've already fixed it somehow digitally.

Natalie: Yeah. Isn't that crazy? It's crazy. Sounds totally different now.

Tara: Yeah. That's that's annoying. Maybe she was embarrassed by it too. I'm not sure, but I love that people who, like, are the ones that care, I would say, about the music are saying, you know, I liked that it had a real element to it. I'm glad she wasn't lip syncing.

It made me glad that they tried to actually have the the musicians performing live this huge event, which is really cool.

Natalie: Yeah. I agree.

Tara: So, anyway oh, yeah. And, also, Gina was saying and the majority of the bands that they liked were female bands or had female singers. She said me and Tracy liked Pauline Murray from Penetration a lot and, of course, polystyrene of extra specs. The raincoats were so important, and I think they made us think we could be a girl band and put out our own music and fanzine. I love that they were, you know, really leaning into their peers and seeing what other women in the punk scene and DIY scene were doing, and were inspired to just do their own thing and just be themselves.

Hell, yeah. And expectations and allowing their femininity to become part of their sound. Tracey explains that many fans saw themselves reflected and represented in our refusal to adhere to either mainstream pop or underground rock and roll rules. We conducted ourselves as though none of those rules existed or as if they simply didn't apply to us. That album Beach Party reached number 29 in the UK indie charts in March 1982.

Gina unceremoniously departed the band soon after the release of Beach Party, after which the trio reconfigured and recorded the album Lazy Ways and landed on the cover of Melody Maker. And this is Gina's story on how and why she quit. She said Alice had a friend that used to come to rehearsals and wanted to be in the band. I thought I was gonna be pushed out to make room for her. Also, I had trouble actually physically getting to some rehearsals because I lived in a different town.

Later, I found out that none of others realized this and really had no thought of replacing me. So simple lack of communication. How silly, she says. That is silly. What a bummer.

She sort of ousted herself on these, like, assumptions that they were gonna push her out.

Natalie: Yeah. That's very teeny, isn't it?

Tara: It is very teeny. Yeah. Very teenage girly. Yeah. Marine Girls then went on to record 2 Peele sessions.

Their first I love that.

Natalie: Holy crap.

Tara: Hang yourself on the nearest tree. Here's the door. Take a coat piece. Don't let it hit the outside.

Natalie: Beamed by this sweet little guitar, you know, strumming because that first line is savage. Good lord. I know. Right?

Tara: She doesn't wanna hear anymore of his words. Alright.

Natalie: Can I just say too, the cover of this Melody Maker magazine is so cute with Jane climbing out of the pool?

Tara: Oh, yeah. Very cute. Love that.

Natalie: Ain't that adorable?

Tara: That's good. Their second PEEL session from 1983 contains 4 songs, Lazy Ways, That Day, Seascape, and cover version of Love You More by the Buzzcocks. Lazy Ways is the second album of Marine Girls, and it was released by Cherry Red Records in 1983. The song Lazy Ways also appears on Cherry Red showcase compilation, Pillows and Prayers, while A Place in the Sun appears on Pillows and Prayers 2. And the album Lazy Ways and Beach Party were reissued together on 1 CD with bonus tracks by Cherry Red in 1988.

But let's listen to the title track of Lazydays, Lazydays. Pretty.

Natalie: I like these these ladies a lot.

Tara: Yeah. Me too. My vibe. The bass sounds really good.

Natalie: Yeah. It's got, like, this glomp. Look. It too sounds like it's underwater. Yeah.

Like these big glugs.

Tara: It is gluggy. I really like it though.

Natalie: It's cool.

Tara: So like I said, lazy ways came out in 1983. From 1982 though, Tracy Thorne started concentrating on her studies and growing personal and professional relationships with fellow Hull student, Ben Watt, who contributed the photograph for the cover of Lazy Ways. Ben Watt and Tracy Thorne rerecorded the Cole Porter song Night and Day under the name of Everything But the Girl. We have to listen to a little bit of Night and Day because it's one of my favorite Everything But the Girl releases.

Natalie: So That's amazing. I love that. Yeah. I love Tracy Thorne's voice. I know how perfect.

Tara: So good. The start of everything but the girl in the midst of Marine Girl's history. Yeah. Tracy Thorne had also released that solo album that we mentioned before that Pat Birmingham recorded in a shed in 1982. It's called The Distant Shore, which was well received by the critics and public.

But pursuing this sort of parallel of Marine Girls and Everything But the Girl with Benoit first seemed comfortable and okay, but with increasing popularity and media attention of Everything But the Girl, Tracy split with the Fox sisters in 1983 after the release of the successful Lazy Ways album. But the Fox sisters didn't stop. They continued their seaside oceanic fixation in 1984 formed the band Grab, Grab the Haddock, which produced 2 EPs on Cherry Red before they folded in 1986. So let's listen to Elizabeth. Grab Grab the Haddock's EP Alright.

So we're winding down here. Even though they were only active between 1980 and 1983, Marine Girls were able to release 2 great albums at the time and remain incredibly underrated from the British indie pop movement despite exerting so much influence over artists to come. And a distant friend of theirs, Calvin Johnson, carried the Marine Girl's legacy to Portland, Oregon. We'll come back, marine, and So that Indian summer song came out in 1988 only 5 years after Lazy Days came out and was inspired completely by Marine Girl. So then, like I said, Calvin Johnson took this legacy Portland, Oregon, first formed that band, Be Happening.

And then by being part of the label Sub Pop, which ultimately signed Nirvana, he played the album Beach Party to Kurt and Courtney along with things like the raincoats and Kleenex, and Kurt loved Beach Party. When Kurt Cobain's journals were published 2002 in his own handwriting, a marine girl showed up in many of his lists of favorite bands. They're the Marine Girls are on page a 128, page 241. And on page 77 is a list of his favorite songs. Honey and In Love Are There, also from Marine Girls.

Most incredibly on page 271, Beach Party is listed as one of Kurt Cobain's top 50 albums along with the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Public Enemy.

Natalie: Nice. I know. That's huge. Right? That's that's pretty crazy.

Tara: I'm actually gonna close this out with some words from Tracy because it just doesn't get any better when it's someone from the band reflecting on their legacy and influence themselves. So here we go. Tracy says, this is clearly going to be a recurring theme of my life and is a course of wonderful thing. Makes me very proud, but it does just beg the question. What on earth is it or was it about marine girls that means we cast this long and somewhat unlikely shadow?

We only ever really performed a handful of proper gigs and released 2 albums, which went on to sell something in the region of 50,000 copies each, so we might have expected to be forgotten fairly quickly. But in fact, the opposite has happened. And in that mysterious late night obsessive world of the Internet, we have become somewhat seminal post punk DIY band, more revered now than we ever were at the time. Those who loved us, you see, loved us deeply and enduringly. And those who understood the highlight previously.

We created an almost magical sense of other worldliness hand built on our own little universe. And when audiences were allowed a glimpse of it, often Our split was perhaps the most rock and roll thing we ever did. And that it was Our split was perhaps the most rock and roll thing we ever did and that it took place in a dressing room after a fraught gig at which we were heckled and was not without acrimony. We were very young, so the aftermath was poorly handled by all of us. And it was years before we ever talked to each other about it and made our peace with the mess we'd made.

Still, all that said, there is kind of a perfection in us having split up just when we did, leaving a legacy of a more or less entirely uncompromised version of indie pop. The end.

Natalie: Wow. That's that's so interesting. Right?

Tara: And now we have everything but the girl who I love.

Natalie: She's right though. You know, they they were just around. They were around for a short time, and it was just like this perfect snapshot of the time and of, you know, being that age, you know, and just dip back out. Yeah. Make your mark and jump back out.

Tara: Plus Tracy Thorne's arc, career arc in music is a really interesting one, being from, like, this post punk world all the way to this really smart electronic music is a cool arc.

Natalie: It is a cool arc. Yeah. I I love her musical journey.

Tara: Me too.

Natalie: And I think I think too, like, being in the spotlight for such not even the spotlight really, but, you know, making music for that short period of time. You don't have to think about changing trends and and, you know, them growing up and becoming adults and having to, like, incorporate all this new kind of life experience. So it allows that music to just become more distilled with time, you know?

Tara: Yeah. Definitely. It's a good point. And you can hear the maturity of her music over time, listening all the way from

Natalie: her girl. Started singing.

Tara: Oh, yeah. Me too. I love her voice. It's so unique and beautiful. I mean, those massive attack songs, the, all the way to, like, Hatfield 1980 kind of a trip hop vibe in the early 2000 or was that late nineties?

Round there, I guess. But yeah. Good times. Marine Girls. Yeah.

Never forget.

Natalie: Very sweet.

Tara: Who do you have for us to chat about? Well,

Natalie: I'm not too far back from the Marine Girls in time. We're gonna go to the seventies and talk about a very influential trio of spectacular singers, beautiful young ladies called the Jones Girls. So the Jones Girls are 3 sisters, Shirley, Brenda, and Valerie, born and raised in Detroit. Their mother is gospel singer Mary Frasier Jones, known as the songbird of Detroit. So they'd been singing together from an early age, coached by their mom who noticed their natural gift for harmonizing, so she really trained them, even brought them on as her backup singers as she herself was an artist on RCA Records back in the fifties, one of the first gospel artists on RCA, in fact.

And she signed the same day as Little Richard. So that was fun. So the Jones Girls were first signed to GM Records in 68, and then, you know, they started recording for a smattering of smaller labels. I think they did a Fortune record label in Detroit, then they moved to Hot Wax Invictus, which is a company formed by legendary Motown producers Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland, Brian Holland. Here's one of the singles that they recorded during that time in 1972 called Comeback.

And then they later moved to Curtis Mayfield's custom records. So now the 3 sisters, they're doing their own thing. They've gone secular. The word has gotten out on their amazing harmonies. And they just started working with some pretty major artists such as Lou Rawls, Aretha Franklin, Peabo Bryson, Teddy Pendergrass.

In 1976, they began touring as backup singers for Diana Ross And Diana Ross even graciously offered them the spotlight for, like, a little interlude during her show. So while they were on tour with Diana Ross, that's when they really hit it big. They joined the Philadelphia International Records in 1979 with writing and production legends Kenneth Gamble and Leon a Huff, known as the architects of Philly Soul Sound. So the backstory is that Diana Ross introduced the Jones girls to Kenneth Gamble after one of her shows, and Patti LaBelle was also in attendance that night. And Diana Ross told Gamble that the Jones Girls were just too good to be backup singers forever.

And Gamble was very impressed with them, signed them right away, and this is kind of where they blew up. Now, during this whole time, the timeline is a little bit murky, but they're still going on tour singing backups for huge artists like, the 4 tops, Little Richard, the Impressions, BB King. They performed on Tower of Power's 1979 album, Back on the Streets. So that same year, 1979, the Jones Girls released their self titled debut album to Philadelphia International Records.

Tara: And you there landed

Natalie: their 1st and biggest hit with you're gonna make me love somebody else. Well, this song has been, like, sampled and covered. I mean, I'm I'm sure you've come across this

Tara: Yeah.

Natalie: Before in all kinds of ways. I mean, the song is just so darn groovy. That bass, the beat, it's it's ridiculous. Yeah. It's been sampled a lot, wrapped over a lot.

The one that jumps to mind first for me is that Jay z song with Blackstreet that came out in 1987 called The City is Mine. Yeah. Yep. That bass line. Do you remember that song?

Tara: No. I don't know that song.

Natalie: 97. God, I can't believe that was that long ago. It's so crazy. It is crazy. Anyway, so You're Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else went gold.

It hit Billboard's soul singles chart, the disco chart, and reached number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100. And this was their only major chart entry, which seems insane once we hear all of the other big hits they had. The album also appeared on Billboard's pop albums and top soul albums charts. So quite a major success for these ladies. Another classic b side from that album is Who Can I Run To?

I love that. That's the jam. Beautiful, soulful ballad, which was famously covered by the nineties R and B group, Escape. And that version, Escape's version, became a number 1 R and B hit, a top 10 pop hit in 1995 and was definitely my introduction to this song. It's a pretty faithful the Jones Girls version really well.

So, yep, that's a classic. In 19 eighties, the Jones Girls released their sophomore album, At Peace was I don't care. And they had another statement on their hands with the track.

Tara: I just saw the world of fame. That reminds me of En Vogue.

Natalie: Yeah. What's the name of the song? That ballad that they had such a huge deal with.

Tara: Don't let go.

Natalie: Giving him something he can feel when they're in the red the red dresses.

Tara: Oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That one too.

I was thinking that

Natalie: was a remake, actually. But, yeah, the whole the whole vibe for sure. And also to that point, I can't get over their live performances. You would really enjoy seeing them do this, like, look them up on YouTube. Aside from being spectacular singers, they are so gorgeous, just full on seventies maximum head to toe glam, slaying.

They're such great performers, complete naturals on stage. This song in particular is fun because there's, like, a lot of talking. It's one sister expressing concern for another because she seems so distraught and just not herself with this guy. And, you know, you need to get away from him. And then the hook comes in, and the other sister's like, I know, girl, but damn it.

I just love this band. You know? It is so cute to see them act the whole thing out on stage. So also featured on this album is a remake of the stylistic song Children of the Night. They're just mesmerizing.

And I love the original too. That stylistic song Children of the Night is is one of my favorites as well. So I love this cover. In 1981, they released their 3rd album, Get As Much Love As You Can. And this album delivered a major major hit.

Certainly, we saw theirs with the greatest legacy, and that is Knights Over Egypt. That intro groove to Nights Over Egypt is just timeless. That little snake charmer synth line at the start, and then those chords, and then that iconic bass line. Yeah. It's just so smooth and mystical and the vibe.

It was nominated for a Grammy.

Tara: I miss that sound. It's it's like pre, Quiet Storm, post disco. It's like a blend of soul and funk, but slower and sexy sexier. I don't know. I missed that.

Natalie: This is what they nailed it. They polished that right up in Philly. This is that Philly soul I love it. Quiet Storm sound for sure.

Tara: Yeah. But before the cheesy Quiet Storm stuff.

Natalie: Yeah. Sure. Sure. Sure. Yeah.

Another great thing about this track too, I think it's a good example. I mean, all of their songs are good examples of this, but, like, their greatest legacy is the quality of their harmony, their top tier harmonies. And I think you can really hear it in this song, especially because they're singing, like, in unison during the the verses. They're singing in unison, and it's just, like, it's so seamless and just unified. It's like one voice, and they're just in sync with each other when they break into harmonies.

It's so clean. You know what I mean? Yeah. That's definitely a gift. That's something that their mom clocked early early on.

Yeah. Just just some of the greatest harmonies I think I've I've ever heard.

Tara: Yeah. It does sound like it's, you know, how modern artists these days are lay they layer so many of their vocals to get this rich sound, but it seems like they almost get it out of the box because of their Yeah. Blood harmonies. They're

Natalie: They just have it locked in.

Tara: Yeah. It's locked in. Exactly. That's the word I'm looking for. That's perfect.

Natalie: Yeah. So, again, this song was not made free for me. It has been sampled and covered numerous times, most famously, I believe, by the group Incognito in 1990

Tara: 9.

Natalie: So Incognito, of course, is the British acid jazz band, and so they gave the song a danceier club vibe, which ended up being a pretty big hit for them as well. Then the Jones Girls released an album with RCA Records in 1983 called On Target, which didn't make as big a splash as the previous albums. It was it was a pretty different sound for them. Here's the title track for that. Yeah.

So you can hear that they're kind of, like, moving into more of that eighties pop lane. It's a cute song. Yeah. It's it's it's different though. And here's what I think happened.

So this album, it didn't do great. It peaked at 43 on the Billboard chart. And then the next year, in 1984, their previous label, Philadelphia International, released an album of the Jones Girls' unreleased tracks called Keep It Coming. So or Keep It Coming. Excuse me.

So here's that title track. So that's yeah. That's still a little eighties pop action, I guess, but as a whole, the album was still kind of sticking to more of that Philly sound that they had established. And I think having those two records out at around the same time maybe threw the audience off just a little bit. And that Keep It Coming album actually sold better than the RCA on target album, and maybe that's why.

Maybe because it just felt more familiar to that Philly soul sound that people had gotten used to. So after that, the Jones Girls disbanded, and life just moved on. Brenda got married, youngest sister Valerie went to college, and Shirley married Harlem Globetrotters player Harold Hubbard. Kenneth Gamble reached out to eldest sister Shirley to invite her back to Philadelphia International as a solo artist, And Shirley returned, recorded, and released an album called Always in the Mood in 1986, and she scored a number 1 R and B hit with her single, Do You Get Enough

Tara: Love.

Natalie: So fun fact, that song was originally intended for the O jays. The Jones Girls occasionally reunited for overseas tours, but tragically in 2001, Valerie Jones passed away at 45 years old. And in 2017, Brenda Jones died at 62 years old in an auto accident. But Shirley is still with us entertaining, performing, doing interviews, and she is a delight to watch. She still performs as the Jones Girls alongside her 2 nieces and a nephew on backing vocals, which I think is really sweet.

It's a family affair.

Tara: Yeah. Keep it in the family.

Natalie: Love that. So the Jones Girls are still doing it, but check them out. Just, you know, they deserve their flowers. They've been been killing it, like, since they were children. You know?

Just this unmistakable talent, and they've toured and sung with the greats, and they've dropped some major major hits that are still inspiring artists to this day and being used in samples and covers. Yeah. They've definitely made their mark on music and the culture for sure.

Tara: Yeah. I I definitely recognize the cover of their debut album, The Jones Girls.

Natalie: Mhmm.

Tara: I love that sound. Yeah. And it looks like Brenda actually lived in Atlanta

Natalie: Oh, yeah. At one point? Yeah. I had read that one of the sisters lived in Atlanta. Yeah.

Tara: Oh, that's good. I love also how they started as a family with their mom kind of teaching them the ways and then even having them as her backup singer and and then

Natalie: They were bred for stardom. All the

Tara: way fast forward.

Natalie: For sure.

Tara: Yeah. That's great. Cool.

Natalie: Rockin'.

Tara: Yeah. We found commonalities last time. Right?

Natalie: We always find commonalities. I feel

Tara: like we do. Yeah.

Natalie: Aren't they they're both trios. That's low hanging fruit. Well, I know that initially the marine girls weren't a trio.

Tara: Yeah. Court did. They

Natalie: became a trio. Right?

Tara: That's true.

Natalie: I'll take it.

Tara: But I will say it does seem like that they worked their butts off kind of and left this lasting impression, even though they aren't often spoken about. I mean, that's kind of why we're talking about them. Right? It's because they're forgotten girl groups, so that's maybe too much of a commonality there.

Natalie: How about they are both these glowing bastions of just pure femininity, unapologetic, feminine power?

Tara: Unapologetic femininity. I'm shocked that I said that word correctly on the first try.

Natalie: I'm so proud of you.

Tara: I I love talking about these girl groups because I swear I always learn so much. I know about them, but I don't know everything about them. And so, you know, I didn't realize Yeah. Marine Girls had such an impact to indie pop and Jones Girls too. Their influence has clearly gone really far, and I don't really know them very well.

So

Natalie: Well, same here. I've always loved Tracy Thorne, and I didn't know so much about her musical history. Yeah. It's been cool to hear about that. And I think that's why it's important to have these conversations because we recognize these songs.

We know that they're iconic. We dance to them all the time. We deserve we we need to fill in the blanks on the women who brought the music to us. You know?

Tara: That's true. Yeah. So yeah. Good call. Alright.

Cool. Okay. Thank you. Bye. Alright.

Bye. Record Store Society is hosted by Natalie White and Tara Davies. If you'd like to contact the show, visit our website at record store society.com, or you can find us on all your favorite social media sites with the handle at record store society.

0:00:03 - Natalie

I have a question for you, Sarah. Can you believe January is almost over? I haven't even recovered from New Year's. I haven't even recovered from New Year's.

0:00:28 - Tara

No, me either. I just went to Target the other day and I saw Valentine's stuff and St Patrick's Day stuff.

0:00:35 - Natalie

It's too much, man, slow down. I'm not ready for that. It's too much.

0:00:40 - Tara

Oh hi, how are you?

0:00:41 - Tara

I'm Tara,

0:00:42 - Natalie

I'm Natalie.

0:00:43 - Tara

Take a look around. We'll be over here talking yeah, it's, it's. They don't need to be rushing me through the holidays.

0:00:49 - Natalie

I just want the candy. That's all I care about.

0:00:52 - Tara

Me too, me too, that's all that matters. Look who it is. Hello, hello, Jeff gunther Therapy, jeff, back again.

0:01:02 - Natalie

Good to see you too, old friend, to the store. Welcome back.

0:01:03 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, thank you. Yeah, do you guys? Do you carry, like, any cassette tapes?

0:01:10 - Tara

I think we have a few. I think they have broken cases though.

0:01:14 - TherapyJeff

That's okay. That means that they're like more authentic, just because there's. I'm trying to collect my 90s cassettes and I'm going to eBay and they're charging so much money and I don't even know like now, all of a sudden, these things are collector items and they're no longer making a lot of cassettes for the bands that I like they like. It's funny, though, because I have recently seen like one of the newer Blink 182 albums Like they released in cassette, like as a cassette, as like just sort of like a joke, and I think the shins always release their music on cassette tapes for some reason. So there's still bands that are doing it, but I wish they would just sort of like. I want to find like a new third eye blind cassette tape, and that just doesn't exist.

0:02:02 - Natalie

We're going to put out an APB in the store. We're going to find you that cassette tape.

0:02:06 - TherapyJeff

Please do and call me when it comes in.

0:02:07 - Tara

You deserve it.

0:02:07 - Natalie

Hold it for me. Yeah, yeah, oh. So we're so glad to have you back in the store because I know you've got a book coming out this year. Can you tell us about that?

0:02:15 - TherapyJeff

I do have a book coming out.

It's called Big Dating Energy and I'm actually looking for, like, non-bookstores to carry the book, so maybe you'll be open to putting it on your shelves.

It's about it's going through like, all the different stages of relationship, and actually the first chapter of the book is called you Can Blame your Parents, and I talk about how you can blame your parents for all of your relationship issues, and it goes into you can blame society, you can blame capitalism, you can blame Hollywood, you can blame social media. There's so many like people and things to blame for your shitty relationship issues. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I guess, in the end, and like after the third chapter and after we're done blaming everybody for everything, I do come back around and say like yeah, we can blame everybody, but it's still your responsibility to like heal yourself and be a good data. And then it goes into all the stages of dating and then at the end it tells you how to like break up in a cool, cool, healthy, direct sort of honest way, because I feel like a lot of people don't know how to break up. There's a lot of bad breaker uppers out there.

I think so this book will help you break up in a healthy way, how to stay in a long-term relationship in a healthy way and how to get out there even if you don't feel like it.

0:03:30 - Natalie

That's really smart. Yeah, people don't consider the breakup as being part of a relationship story until it's too late. You know what I mean. And you're right. It's really important that people have some kind of skills about how to part ways amicably, yeah.

0:03:45 - Tara

I was going to say those people haven't listened to Nada Surf yet.

0:03:50 - TherapyJeff

Right. Nada Surf is my all-time favorite band. I have a lot of their posters hanging up in my house and Not A Surf writes a ton of love songs. It's funny because, like I, was exposed to Not A Surf in the 90s. Do you remember their hit in the 90s? Of course you do. Popular.

0:04:09 - TherapyJeff

Three important rules for breaking up. Don't put off breaking up when you know you want to. Belowing the situation only makes it worse.

0:04:17 - TherapyJeff

But it wasn't until the album Let Go, which is in 2003 or something, which I think was, yeah, their best album. Not A Surf also thinks that album was their best album, but that album is a love album. There's lots of love songs and breakup songs on that album. It's a favorite one to listen to over and over again.

0:04:40 - Tara

Yeah, Actually, last time you're in here in our record store we played the High Fidelity game and we did breakup songs.

0:04:47 - TherapyJeff

We did.

0:04:48 - Tara

Top 5 breakup songs. But it's Valentine's Day almost Actually. Do you like Valentine's Day? Are you a Valentine's Day kind of person?

0:04:58 - TherapyJeff

I love Valentine's Day. I feel like some people don't like it because they sort of Is Valentine's Day like a Hallmark holiday. Was it created by Hallmark so that we yeah, I ignore that I've heard. Yeah, and I just sort of lean into it. Any opportunity to be romantic is an opportunity that I'm going to take, and I'm still in the honeymoon phase in my new relationship. So being in a honeymoon phase with Valentine's Day coming up is like that's exactly how you want to do it, so I can't wait.

0:05:30 - Tara

Yeah Well, should we play the High Fidelity game again, this time with maybe love songs.

0:05:38 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, that sounds great. Do you want to make a therapy? Jeff inspire to make it just 90s love song.

0:05:44 - Tara

Oh yeah, definitely, we definitely should do that. Do you want to kick it off this time?

0:05:49 - TherapyJeff

Sure, yeah, I'll kick it off, and I think that it's tricky to Last time we chose breakup songs. Lots of love songs have breakup messages in them as well, so it's hard to take them apart. But this was really difficult because 90s love song. There's so many 90s love songs and so I decided to try to. I was just like, forget it, I'm only going to choose. I'm going to do my best and just choose from the alternative 90s love songs but there's just like a bunch of genres that I completely ignored. That is not okay, but that's the decision I made because it's so hard to narrow it down.

0:06:28 - Tara

Right, yeah, we can always play top five 90s love songs again and like choose a different genre, no worries.

0:06:36 - Natalie

Yeah, choose a single artist sometimes. Yeah, you know yeah.

0:06:41 - Tara

Also, who knows alternative. If you wanted to do again, I'm sure there's a whole other you might have a different point of view and a later phase in your life. So this is evergreen.

0:06:50 - TherapyJeff

That's right yeah.

0:06:52 - Tara

Awesome. I can't wait to hear what your top five 90s love songs are.

0:06:56 - TherapyJeff

All right. Well, I'll start. Number five is Crash Into Me by your boy, david Matthews. Dave Matthews Okay, yeah.

So the question is why do you love this song and is it a creepy song? Like it depends, I think, yes, I think Dave is a bit of a creep and we're were we okay with it? I think we were okay with it. And it's sort of funny because I think that Dave Matthews I don't know what you all think, but I feel like he's having a resurgence, like it feels like as a culture we're coming around and embracing Dave Matthews all over again.

But the Crash Into Me song was maybe his peak creepiness, because you can make an argument that it's about like a peeping Tom right, when he's just sort of like looking through a window and the girl that he's like looking at doesn't even know and he's getting like really turned on and that's a little problematic. But also I think that it we've all been that person to a certain degree, or like peeping on somebody and we know it's wrong but we're just like so into them and I think that this song really gets there. And then he's like, I feel like he's like very direct in some of the lyrics where he'll be like and you come, crash into me, baby, and I come into you, where it's just like he's saying like I'm coming into you, like I'm literally coming into your body, right, but like somehow Dave Matthews gets away with that just being like I'm crashing into you, I'm coming into you, which is like very hot.

And then there's the like, the other creepy lyric of like, hike up your skirt a little more and show the world to me what a fucking creep. And also I'm so turned on right, like how does that work? Do you, do you two have any idea? Like, first of all, is the song creepy to you? If so, why does he get away with it? And does it feel like a love song? Or does it feel like a like a stalker song? Oh, man.

0:09:11 - Tara

I feel like it feels like a love song and I don't know if it's the gentleness of the guitar or even the way that he sings it. And there's also that weird like you're my dirty rascal part which is like what are you talking about? But can I just say I recently saw him play live for I forget what it was, but some political thing that I went to and he played. I never. Well, I also say I saw him in the nineties but I don't remember how neurodivergent spicy he really is until now. I know myself as a neurodivergent person and watching him on stage is like wow, what I never realized. I mean, he the man is, he's on the spectrum or something. I'm not sure what it is, but I never realized it before until very recently. But that doesn't answer your question how does he get away with these words? But I didn't ever think that they were creepy Anytime I heard them, until also more recently, where I heard someone say that in like a TikTok or something.

0:10:21 - Natalie

Oh no, I thought it was quite creepy. I just ignored it Really Well, because the part hike up your skirt a little more, that part kind of made me a little uncomfortable. You're right, I was titillated but also, like bro, I don't know you back up. You know what I mean. It's weird, but it's something about that nineties jangly guitar that you could just kind of get away with anything, you know.

0:10:38 - TherapyJeff

I think you can. Did you? Did you back that and do you now see him as like a sex symbol? Was like he like a really hot guy? No, no no, no, no, but he had like do you think that he had, like big dick energy?

0:10:52 - Natalie

No, no, but you know what I can see it though. I could see it, though actually I wasn't plugged into that back then, but I can. I can see it now.

0:11:02 - Tara

I feel like in the nineties. I remember hearing that he he saw his current wife like in the crowd. It was like love at first sight and I don't think I think they're. They've been together ever since and they have many children. And also I think his sister died from cancer or something and he raised his nieces and nephews as a very young person also during this like huge part of his fame in the nineties. So he seems like a really good guy, but that doesn't still explain the creepy lyrics.

0:11:35 - TherapyJeff

That's how he gets away with it. I think Is it like oh. I think he's a good guy and we're going to yeah, so whatever. Anyways, that was number five crashing to me.

0:11:43 - Tara

Excellent choice.

0:11:44 - TherapyJeff

Thank you, thank you, okay. Number four is someone that had one of the sweetest, most unique voices of the nineties, in my opinion, and her name was Jewel, and the song that I love is called you Were Meant For Me, I know that you love me, and so you will see, you meant for me and I was meant for you.

0:12:12 - Natalie

Love it.

0:12:13 - TherapyJeff

That voice is so cute, that face is so cute. One of the things that I like about Jewel, and specifically this song, is her storytelling. It's just, it's so. She says I never put what towels on the floor anymore. And what else did she say? And soon you will see, you were meant for me and I was meant for you.

In this song she like talks about her day, going through her day, and it's sort of like it's more of a breakup song, or it's also a breakup song, right, cause she's like yearning for this relationship, yearning for this guy, and she talks about her like normal day, that she's trying to get through and not think about him, but she can't, she can't not think about him, and the chorus of soon you will see, you were meant for me just feels like.

You know, I was in high school in the 90s and I was, I felt like, really tortured and I was convinced that, like the girls that I had crushes on, they would eventually see that they were meant for me Didn't turn out that way, but there was this real sweetness where she's also trying to kind of like convince herself that she's fine, like she's singing this song, trying to convince herself that she's fine and she's maybe thinking that she's succeeding until she's kind of like gets to the chorus and she's like you are meant for me and I was meant for you, and soon you'll see. And she's also there's like this, like simplicity to her songs. You know, it's just sort of like that guitar sound. Her videos are always her big, pretty face looking right into the camera, being so vulnerable. She's such like a vulnerable singer-songwriter. So that's why it really resonated with me.

0:13:49 - Tara

Yeah, it is interesting how she says dreams last for so long, even after you're gone. Yeah she's like hanging on to this relationship with every little fiber in her being. You know, Trust me, you were meant for me and I was meant for you. This is going to happen again.

0:14:08 - Natalie

You're definitely right on the storytelling part too. That's what I loved about the song. I love writers who can kind of take you through this narrative and you go through this entire day with her, and I love how I love writers, and especially in fiction. I like this too, when writers can make the most mundane everyday tasks feel so real and feel so like poetic, you know.

So, she's just talking about breakfast in the first verse and her alarm clock going off. But there's, you feel it with her, you know. She says like I feel so far from where I've been, I've got my maple syrup and all this, blah, blah, blah. I don't, I have everything, but you, you know what I mean. It's just so. It's so tangible, I think, for anyone. So I really think that's it.

0:14:44 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, it's funny how like she and other writers can get so specific about their day, and it makes it even more relatable for me, even though she's being specific about herself, yeah, and she has just a really pretty voice.

0:14:55 - Natalie

Yeah, definitely.

0:14:56 - TherapyJeff

So that was my number four. Number three is I don't. So number three is like if this song isn't on both of your lists then I'll be shocked. But number three is Nothing Compares to you by Shanae Doe Conner.

0:15:12 - TherapyJeff

Because nothing compares, Nothing compares to you.

0:15:25 - Tara

Yeah.

0:15:25 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, I mean just the title of the song, right, it's such a like. It's just like this yearning like talks about how, like, nobody is better than you. And then it starts out right With the lyrics saying it's been seven hours and 15 days since you took your love away. That is so fucking specific. Seven hours and 15 days. We've been there, right?

Another breakup song is I guess I can't get away from breakup songs maybe, but yeah, and that's one of, like, my favorite first lines it's been seven hours and 15 days because, right, you're just. You drop into the pain, don't you? You just like you feel that heartache and how much she loves. And then the chorus of like cause, nothing compares, nothing compares to you. Again, it's you can't do any better than that Like. You know exactly what she's saying and you know exactly how she's feeling. What else did I like about this? She's very dramatic. All the flowers that you planted, mama, in the backyard all died when you went away. Oh, my God. I know that living with you, baby, was sometimes hard, but I'm willing to give it another try. She's so dramatic, so relatable, right, Like she'll just like throw her entire life away, just so she can do it all over again, even if it doesn't work, and it probably won't.

0:16:45 - Natalie

Can I just say you mentioned the first line of the song and just how it pulls you in. That is an amazing first line to a song, for sure top tier, and it's again. It's that pin game from Prince. He's got so many songs like this where that first line is just like wait, what? What's happening? Where am I going, where am I being transported to? And this song is like a great example.

0:17:04 - Tara

He does that a lot with the time too. Like Manic Monday is like six o'clock already, and I'm just in the middle of a dream. Like he wrote that too, so he was always doing the time thing.

0:17:15 - TherapyJeff

And this is like yeah, so you know, written by Prince, but also like I mean Prince a legend. Obviously we know this, but like I'm not sure in my head, I think that like he wouldn't have been able to do it better than Shenandoah Connor, I think like what she did with it was just perfect.

0:17:31 - Natalie

I don't know what do you think Bims is fighting words. Therapy, jeff. The audacity I think she made it her own.

0:17:41 - Tara

No, I agree, I think she made this song her own.

0:17:44 - TherapyJeff

No, Natalie's not having it.

0:17:46 - Natalie

It's a good cover, but no.

0:17:49 - Tara

Not happening, but she did, but I for me. You won't find this in, sorry, you will not find this in my top five love songs. It's too sad.

0:17:58 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, I mean, I guess this like says a lot about us, the songs that we choose that we think you know, and you know, like love is pain, pain is love.

But I think for me they're like I love a love song where, like they are yearning for you and that's you can see that in the pics so far is that like there's a yearning? I really need you, I want you. I'm being a little creepy about it, I'm over dramatic and I think that nothing compares to you really. And it's her voice, it's the way it starts, which, like her voice, is so centered. Yeah, it's a great love song.

0:18:41 - Tara

If we're gonna say that like these songs this one and the creepy one from Dave Matthews band David Matthews this is a red flag.

0:18:52 - TherapyJeff

If these are somebody's top favorite, yeah, this is a red flag. This is definitely a red flag, yeah.

0:18:58 - Natalie

This is the therapy portion of the conversation.

0:19:00 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, and everybody has a red flag or two. It's okay, it's important to know what they are and I know that for me, these are definitely it. Okay, so this next song, I think we would probably all agree it's a great love song, but it's a little bit more special for me because, like I don't know if this is happening nowadays with the kids or in any relationship, but like back in the 90s, especially so, I felt like when you're in a relationship, you'd also have a song together. This is our song, this is our song, right. And so this song was one of my songs, was the song for, like, one of my favorite romantic relationships with Marissa. I was with Marissa for three years. We both loved the song. It's a very popular song but of course, we thought we like, we made it our own and it is none other than Foo Fighters Ever Long.

0:19:53 - TherapyJeff

Hello, I've waited here for you Ever.

0:20:01 - TherapyJeff

Long, do you remember? Ever Long.

So good yes, oh, yeah. But even more specifically, the acoustic version of Ever Long was, I think, an even more romantic version of it, and Dave Grohl has, like, famously said that the song Ever Long was like the song that finally like got the Foo Fighters the attention that they wanted, slash, deserved, and like put them over the top, and so I also love that. It's, like, you know, a very special song for Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters. But some of the lyrics, if everything could ever feel this real forever, if anything could ever be this good again.

The only thing I'll ever ask of you is you gotta promise not to stop when I say when there's not a lot of lyrics I feel like in this song it's like that chorus repeated a lot but you gotta promise not to stop when I say when there's something like that works for me so well, and I don't think that's like, I think you couldn't interpret that as like a sex thing, like keep having sex with me or do this like sexy thing, even like even if I say no, just keep on doing it.

But I think it's more of like a just sort of like a rush of relationship, dopamine, like keep loving me and I'll love you and you gotta promise not to stop when I say when, because I just like I want it all and, but it also feels like their love is. The love is like spinning out of control and it's overwhelming him. And this song was written in one of his lowest points in life, after his divorce, and he was like sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag and he had just found a new love and he was just like. So it also was written in this way of like I think he's avoiding his grief from his divorce and he's rebounding and all of a sudden feeling love like he felt before and I was like, oh, please don't stop, because I want to avoid the grief of my divorce, sort of thing which I also feel like is really relatable. I want to get caught up in this love that might be a rebound relationship, because I don't want to process my sad feelings, you know.

0:22:14 - Tara

Yeah so.

0:22:15 - TherapyJeff

I love everyone.

0:22:16 - Tara

And that relationship was with Louise Post from Baruch Assault, who sings backup on this song which I think was recorded through a telephone.

0:22:24 - TherapyJeff

Oh really.

0:22:26 - Tara

Yeah.

0:22:26 - TherapyJeff

That's really cool.

0:22:27 - Tara

I don't know if that's true. I read that somewhere, but I hope that's true too.

0:22:29 - TherapyJeff

I hope that's true too, and the lyric of breathe out so I can breathe you in is super sexy. It's super sexy, super hot. Even the way that he delivers. It is really, is really hot. Yeah, Dave, do you think Dave Grohl is hot? Is he like a sex? Was he a sex symbol? Is he just like a funny looking man to you?

0:22:49 - Tara

He wasn't my type, but I wouldn't say he's ugly or weird looking or anything.

0:22:54 - Natalie

No, I wouldn't kick him out of bed. He has such an amazing personality that you just become hot.

0:22:59 - TherapyJeff

You know that's true, I mean, he's great.

0:23:01 - Natalie

It's funny that you mentioned that line. You've got to promise not to stop. When I say when, you're totally right, I think I've just been misinterpreting it wrong this whole time, maybe just because I'm dark and twisty, but I always took it as, like you know, there's sometimes when you feel unlovable, you're like you have so much self loathing that you're just like ugh, you're kind of like don't bother, you know what I mean, and just kind of telling that person, even in my and even in those moments when I don't know how to love myself, like just keep piling it on. You know, that's probably not what he meant.

0:23:31 - TherapyJeff

No, I like that, but that's how I took it, I just thought it was really deep line.

0:23:35 - Tara

Yeah, yeah, Also pivotal moment for this and not pivotal moment, but it feels like maybe it is a big cultural moment is when they used a classical version of this song in the Friends episode where there's a wedding, who gets married. It was like a big wedding. I forget who was supposed to be?

0:23:54 - Natalie

Is it Chandler Monica? I think it was Chandler Monica, was it?

0:23:56 - Tara

Chandler Monica. And they, yeah, and they used Everlong, like the coming down the aisle, cello and violin playing oh, wow, who's Everlong Deep cut.

0:24:05 - TherapyJeff

That is a deep cut. I remember that now. That's so cute, yeah, okay, my number one song that everyone will agree with, I'm sure, but also, like every song on this list, I have a special relationship with it. It is Oasis' Wonderwall.

0:24:26 - TherapyJeff

I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now.

0:24:37 - TherapyJeff

Yes, do you remember a Wonderwall? How can you not remember Wonderwall? Am I right?

0:24:42 - Tara

It's like one of the most played songs on Spotify, right? I don't know it should be, though.

0:24:48 - TherapyJeff

The chorus. I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now. Just, you know I've knocked it out of the park with that. All the roads we have to walk, our winding, all the lights that lead us there are blinding. There are many things that I would like to say to you but I don't know how it feels very relatable of like, just like being so in love with somebody but not knowing how to express it and all the you know like it's the story. You know the all the roads we have to walk are winding, the lights are leading us there, are blinding, like it to me. I don't know what that means and I don't think that, like Noel Gallagher knows what that means, but the way that I like interpreted it was like we can kind of like tell this story of like all the roads were like leading me to you and all the lights were sort of like blinding because I was so overwhelmed by this love. And there it's funny because, like whenever there was this one.

You know there's a few documentaries on Oasis and they asked Noel about Champagne, supernova, that song, and I think there's like a lyric in the song of like I'm walking down the hall faster than a cannonball or slower than a can or something, and they're like what does that lyric mean? He's like what does that lyric mean? I don't know what the fucking lyric means. He's just like I just write words that sound good together. You know, he's like very dismissive of his lyrics a lot of the time because he's just like I'm just like a rock and roll star. I just like write what sounds good, and especially this like this album, what's the story of Morning Glory? There's, they like half wrote almost like all of the songs and they just repeated them. They just like wrote half the song and then just like said the same lyrics again for the second verse and the third verse. You know like there's not much to it, but I think that sort of like leads to its like simplicity and catchiness and the other lyrics of because maybe you're gonna be the one that saves me and after all you're my Wonderwall.

And also, like in the 90s I didn't know what the fuck the like a Wonderwall was. I still don't know what Wonderwall is or means. I think he's talked about it, but it was just like it's a great, it's a great word, and so it sort of works. But this, this is maybe like TMI. So, whatever I remember, when I like heard this song, I was like this is my song. I love this song. This is such an important song to me that I'm going to do my very best to make sure that it's playing. The first time I have sex Good for you. Yes, and and I would tell that to any girlfriend that I got if I had the potential of like maybe we're going to have sex I was like this is what's going to happen If we do sex.

I'm playing this fucking song and they're like do whatever you got to do, guy. I like I don't, even until I finally love how intentional, it is yeah. So intentional. And then I met Emily and I was like totally head over heels for Emily and I told her this is the song that I'm going to have sex to for the first time. She's like play it, babe. We played it and before sex was over I almost got all the way to the chorus before the sex was over, but I remember it playing.

0:27:53 - Tara

Yeah.

0:27:54 - TherapyJeff

And that's why it's an extra special song for me.

0:27:57 - Tara

Mission to.

0:27:57 - TherapyJeff

Confect. Exactly I would have loved song.

0:28:00 - Natalie

That's got to be the biggest accolade for Noel Gallagher. You should be most proud of that.

0:28:05 - Tara

Right. Also, the fact that you're willing to tell the story means that it was probably not such a traumatic relationship or toxic relationship that you would ever want to forget. This thing ever happened to and never want to hear this song again.

0:28:16 - TherapyJeff

So that's good it is good. It was a good like quick high school relationship yeah.

0:28:24 - Tara

I love it. I love it. Yeah, I love Oasis because I don't know Well, they're kind of assholes, but I also just love this like big rock and roll energy that they have that like ballsy cockiness. But Noel Gallagher is such a great songwriter and his most recent album was my number one album from 2023. It's so good.

You should check it out because it does have that same Wonderwall feel. There's a song called Easy Now and I think Liam's was like I don't know how such a twat could write a song this amazing, but it's such a good song Check it out, thank you, but this is a great choice for number one song.

0:29:04 - TherapyJeff

That's fun.

0:29:04 - Tara

Love it.

0:29:05 - Natalie

Wow, that was a fun list, yeah, some good memories.

0:29:09 - Tara

I wanted to ask you. I know you were doing a podcast before. We're not doing a podcast Now. We're in a record store, but you have a new podcast.

0:29:18 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, I was doing a podcast called this Changes Everything with my friend Sarah and I recently left that podcast to start a new podcast called Big Dating Energy which is the same name as my book. So it's kind of like a companion podcast and I'm trying to figure out what the format is going to be. I'm interviewing some comedians and some journalists and some other therapist content creators about different stuff. The first episode I had one of my favorite comedians, kat Cohen, on there and we answered relationship questions together. The second one, I was interviewing someone who's been a bachelorette because I was like I'm a big bachelor fan and I was just like what the fuck is that show all about? Like, tell me about all of the ins and outs. Is it real? Are the producers getting you drunk the whole time? Should I be concerned? Is there a therapist on staff?

0:30:08 - TherapyJeff

And so lots of it.

0:30:09 - TherapyJeff

So I'm trying to figure out exactly what the format is, but whatever it is is really fun and has to do with relationships and dating. And then I'm launching another podcast that is coming out in February called Problem Solve, where callers call in and tell me what their problem is like usually a relationship problem and I give them advice. And then they go do that advice and then call back a week later to tell me how wonderful that advice was.

0:30:36 - Natalie

That's awesome.

0:30:37 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, so it's a classic. You know, call in show, but we actually get to find out if the advice was any good or not.

0:30:44 - Tara

That's good. Yeah, I'm always needing the part.

0:30:45 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, I know right, you want to know what happens. So Problem Solved and Big Dating. Energy is where you can find me. I love it.

0:30:52 - Tara

Perfect Natalie.

0:30:53 - Natalie

I'm going to do my top five now. I just want you to know this was very stressful for me. I'm very irritated by the topic. It's an impossible task because the 90s were just so incredible for love songs of all genres. I struggled. So my solution, you know, with all of the mylanta I've been slamming, agonizing over this. I'm just going to put all the contenders into a hat and then draw five. We're just going to roll with it. How's that sound? That sounds great. It's cheaty, whatever. Okay, number five More Than Words by Extreme.

0:31:20 - TherapyJeff

More Than Words to show you feel Life's, your love for me is real Love it.

0:31:31 - Natalie

Wow Right, yeah. So 1990, this is where the band just has the guitarist Nuno Bettencourt and singer Gary Chiron breaking it down doing this sweet little acoustic number. The song actually almost didn't get released because A&M didn't think it would get any radio play since all the bands at the time were doing like these huge power ballads, you know, and it was a lot of drama. Bettencourt actually quit over the issue but they ironed it out, released the song and it hit number one on the Billboard Smash International hit Duh Right, duh yeah. I love the song, I love the video. I thought the two guys were super dreamy and I just think it's a sweet song.

Now, if you listen to the lyrics, though, it's not really a love song. It's kind of like they're fussing about how overused the phrase I love you can become to the point where it just feels sort of empty and you have to follow through with some action. And I've read some people who reject the song and hate it have said that it's just like a passive, aggressive, guilt-tripping demand for more sex, which you know is valid criticism, I guess. I guess I can kind of see it, but I think the way it was packaged is just so soft and sweet and like such a departure from their glam metal roots that I don't know. It just hits me like a sweet lullaby and I love it forever.

0:32:47 - TherapyJeff

Well is it? I mean, yes, I think it's like sweet. It's got that sweet lullaby thing. It slows down a little bit. I don't know if you feel this way, but it also like it feels horny, Did you?

0:33:00 - Natalie

pick up horny. Oh, yeah, yeah.

0:33:02 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, yeah, like it's sort of like this song fucks, even though like it's slow. You know what I mean and I really respect that.

0:33:13 - Natalie

You're totally right. I see that now it was 1990. I was in single digits, so it's just going to be like crystallized as a really sweet love song.

0:33:21 - TherapyJeff

Got it. Got it. Sorry, I don't want to, because that wouldn't have been in my vocabulary yet.

0:33:25 - Natalie

But yeah, I can see the fuckery now. Yeah.

0:33:29 - Tara

It is really sweet, though, because he's like you don't have to tell me, because I'd already know that you love me. But I will say that like yes, saying I love you in my relationship has become kind of like I have it, but at the same time, if I didn't get it then it would be maybe a little paranoid or like wondering why didn't you say it yeah, Do you still love me?

0:33:49 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, exactly, and you know it's. You have to like back up your words with something right, and you know like you're saying, like sometimes love is. You say it over and over again and you sort of like forget about it and this is a good reminder that, like, love is an action.

0:34:07 - Natalie

All right, so my number four pick is week by SWV. I get so weak in the need I can hardly.

0:34:16 - TherapyJeff

I lose all control of it and take all these holes in a day.

0:34:24 - Natalie

You guys familiar with this one, oh yeah.

0:34:25 - TherapyJeff

Everyone in the world is familiar with this one, I think.

0:34:29 - Natalie

This was a huge, huge song. It came out in 92 on their debut album. It's About Time. And the song was written. The writer actually was inspired by his crush on singer Chante Moore, which makes total sense because Chante Moore absolutely gorgeous. Everyone loved her in the 90s. It was originally written for the legendary Charlie Wilson, formerly vocalist for the Gap band, and he turned it down. So the song was given to SWV and the crazy part is Coco, one of the singers. She was not feeling the song and like had a stank attitude all through recording. But there's egg on her face because it tops the Billboard Hot 100. It went platinum and it's one of their biggest hits.

0:35:10 - Tara

Yeah, unforgettable hit.

0:35:11 - Natalie

Yeah, I think this has one of the catchiest hooks I've ever heard and I think that's no small feat considering just how wordy it is, you know. But just something about it, it just sits so perfectly on the rhythm. The backing vocals and harmonies are just beautiful. Coco doing her killer runs that my friends and I consistently butchered in school trying to sing along. I just have such good memories of this song.

0:35:34 - TherapyJeff

Have you seen anyone successfully karaoke this song?

0:35:38 - Natalie

I've seen people attempt to karaoke this song.

0:35:42 - TherapyJeff

I've seen attempts as well, but I've never seen anybody actually pull it off and it's funny. I think that, like you might think that it's like sort of an easy sing-songy one to do until you actually try to sing it yeah, with all those lyrics, but it's definitely the catchy chorus and it's one of those songs that sort of like. Whatever type of music or genre you're into, you all stop and listen to this one because it's just so good in so many ways.

0:36:10 - Natalie

Yeah, yeah, it's the power of great songwriting, it's true. All right, my number three. Pick, shuffle the hat around a bit. We have Desiree kissing you From the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack from 1996.

0:36:39 - Tara

Mm-hmm. Ah, my gosh, I love the song so much. I love the song too.

0:36:44 - Natalie

Yeah, it's standard. It was produced by Nelly Hooper, which I did not realize. Yeah, it's Desiree actually performs the song in the movie. So it's that scene where the two leads see each other for the first time through the fish tank. Ugh, it's so dreamy. I love it.

0:37:00 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, this was the that movie. That's the only way that I can like take Shakespeare, like, like it has to be set to like one of the best 90s soundtracks ever and little Leo and Claire need to be acting it out. Yeah, you sort of like you forget that it's Shakespeare when you're watching the movie, but the soundtrack is such an important part of the movie there's like a song playing like throughout the whole movie basically, and this one just sort of like as it does in the scene of the movie, like it stops you in your tracks. Every note, every sound, you know it's just it really like goes through your soul, you know.

0:37:41 - Natalie

It's so extra it's doing the most. The moody piano, the big, you know, orchestral strings, and then Desiree, she's got that really intense, rich, soulful voice. I'm telling you there was a long period of time where I could not listen to the song without just ugly crying, just puffy eyes. Not the full nine yards, it, just it did the most.

0:38:05 - Tara

Like Claire Danes in that one scene in this movie in the tomb, I feel like I don't wanna spoil it.

0:38:11 - TherapyJeff

You can spoil it In case someone hasn't seen it, but like it's Shakespeare, it's really on Juliet. Yeah, right, like everyone, yeah.

0:38:18 - Tara

But like Claire Danes, totally ugly cries in the movie and it is actually, yeah, and Claire Danes is ugly cries in everything she's in and she should cause.

0:38:28 - TherapyJeff

She's amazing at it, like she is just just so dramatic.

0:38:34 - Natalie

She's got that little cleft chin and it just like shivers while she's crying and that gets me every time.

0:38:39 - TherapyJeff

Oh yeah.

0:38:40 - Tara

Yeah, yeah, they're definitely should have been more than one season of my so-called life. I worshiped that show.

0:38:46 - Natalie

I love that show so much, yeah, but this song just totally captures the pleasure and the pain of being in love, like when you're so into somebody that it you actually feel sick to your stomach. You know, that's just what it was like being a teenager. It was perfect yeah.

0:39:01 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, and hopefully you know that feeling stays in your teenage years, but that real like lovesick feeling, but like every now and then you can get close to it and you know I sort of miss it. But I also like remember feeling really tortured by it. So I'm glad that it's not something that hijacks my whole system anymore.

0:39:21 - Natalie

Oh yeah, yeah, I can think fondly of it, but I don't miss it. It was rough feeling that way.

0:39:28 - Tara

I am so glad social media wasn't a thing when I was a teenager, because I feel like that would have just made everything just so much worse Terrible.

0:39:37 - TherapyJeff

For sure.

0:39:38 - Natalie

All right. Number two is Beauty by Drew Hill, specifically the remix. I hope that I can make you mine.

0:39:48 - TherapyJeff

For another man steals your heart, and once your beauty is mine, I'll say we will never be apart.

0:40:00 - Natalie

I don't know this one. You don't know this one. Okay, you have to look this one up. It's a bit elusive. So, drew Hill, they always put out remixes that are better than the originals, but this particular one, I don't know where it came from. I don't know where to find it. I feel like it was only on the radio. So it came out in let's see 98. Was there a second album? Enter the Drew.

And this song is just high school. It represents high school for me. It's about having this crush, this person that you see walking up and down the hall every day on the way to English or something, and you just like you want to talk to them, but you don't know how and you don't want somebody else to get to them first. This is also like the quintessential quiet storm song for me. It's just got that smooth, really romantic flow, negative of like late night R&B radio shows. Yeah, I'm telling you, you put the song on. It's like time to slow dance. We're not leaving any room for Jesus. Turn on the black light, let's get grinding.

0:40:59 - Tara

Yeah, yeah, it seems like a sex song. Maybe it is.

0:41:03 - TherapyJeff

it's a pre-game song, for sure, I grew up in LA and I do not remember hearing this song on any of the radio stations. I missed it too, for some reason.

0:41:12 - Natalie

Yeah, that's really weird. I've seen that, like in Reddit threads Like some people just completely missed out on this song altogether. So I don't know if sleeper hit I don't think that's quite the right term but it still blew up just off of the limited radio play that it got and it is still considered one of Drew Hill's best songs.

0:41:28 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, it's funny because, like, I feel like it's more rare that, like, when we're talking about the nineties, that like if a song was a hit, almost in any genre, we hurt everyone heard it.

Because there was sort of like the nineties was like the mono culture, where there was just like, if it was a hit, it was on MTV or is in Rolling Stone or is playing across the radio and we all, it was like it was a hit to everybody. But now there is no mono culture, right, and there's all these separate like cultures that are like harder to get and to find and so, and which makes it harder for a band to write a really big hit and for, like an artist to become like the thing Like there's only so many Taylor Swift's and Olivia Rodrigo or Beyonce's, you know, but like back in the nineties it was like one after the other, after the other after the other, because we all were in the same. We're all watching MTV together. So it's funny when you talk about a song and I missed it because, like the local radio station actually didn't play it, when usually they all played the same thing.

0:42:31 - Natalie

Yeah, that's very rare. I know they filmed the music video for the song, but I don't think it was released. There's some legal kerfuffle or whatever, but in spite of that, it's still transcended and blew up for them one of their big hits. But yeah, that's what was so great about the nineties, with MTV, who basically raised me. We were just so. We were so culturally fed. When it came to music, Everybody liked a little bit of everything.

0:42:55 - Tara

Yeah, that's why I think that the nineties were the best era for music, best decade for music. Because electronic music you had house music on nineties radio which they don't really do anymore unless it is like Beyonce.

And then let's see country music Garth Brooks the Dixie Chicks and I had Twain I mean, it was having a whole moment jazz. Even we had Kenny G on the radio, candy Dulfur man, it was just like name, a genre. We all knew something about it. But now it's like you have to really seek out those different genres specifically.

0:43:30 - Natalie

We were lucky. We were very lucky. All right, so number one, mariah Carey. I really could just in there just insert ballad okay, by Mariah Carey, because she was on a tear. In the nineties, I'm telling you, every single album had some incredible love ballads. She just did not miss. But this particular one that I've drawn from my trusty hat is all I've ever wanted from her 1993 music box album.

0:43:59 - TherapyJeff

Because all I've ever wanted is you and you alone A masterpiece.

0:44:09 - Natalie

I love it. It's one of the sweetest, pure innocent love songs I've ever heard.

0:44:15 - Tara

Yeah.

0:44:16 - TherapyJeff

This one I'm not as familiar with.

0:44:19 - Natalie

You're into it.

0:44:20 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, I think you're right. Everything that she does, every song that she sang was just like she has one of the most amazing iconic voices that sort of defined a lot of the nineties. Because she was just. She hit it out of the ballpark every single time.

0:44:44 - Natalie

I think this song is one of the many snapshots of her voice in its peak condition.

Like when she hits the climax of the song. It is so powerful she doesn't let up until the end. I'm like where is sister girl even breathing? I have this thought plenty of times when I listen to her music. Where are you breathing? Are your lungs made of Kevlar? How are you doing this? She's not breathing. She's not real. Dude, top tier vocals, painfully relatable lyrics. Like people, don't talk about Mariah Carey's pin game enough. She writes such beautiful, relatable, poetic songs, pop perfection every time she even wrote a secret rock album.

Tara Tara's on the case. You love this cassette, don't you?

0:45:25 - Tara

Yeah, the CD I mean, I love it. It's called Chick, in case you don't know, look it up. You definitely won't find it on eBay at an affordable cost. Have you guys seen that video of Mariah Carey doing her high C or whatever note that is Her whistle Next to a dolphin and the dolphin freaks out Like, oh my God, she can speak my language Right, oh my.

0:45:46 - Natalie

God, are we cousins? Yeah, it's cute. It's a cute video. This song, though you want to talk about the ascent into my boy crazy era. I played the CD down to its filaments, literally. I can only imagine how silly I looked in the library with my Walkman on staring at my crush who was going through the card catalog, Shout out to the Dewey Decimal System. Yeah, she was the soundtrack of my life during my boy crazy phase.

0:46:13 - TherapyJeff

Do we still use the Dewey Decimal System? Is that still a thing in libraries?

0:46:18 - Natalie

Yeah, I think so.

0:46:18 - TherapyJeff

Is it.

0:46:19 - Natalie

Are you serious? It's just digitized, it's digital. All that doesn't count, man, you got to get the cards. You got to pull the card out. I've never understood that.

0:46:29 - Tara

Yeah, but that's how they know where to put the actual books in the library.

0:46:32 - TherapyJeff

It's still categorized, it's still OK, but you can just ask a computer to tell you exactly where it is.

0:46:40 - Natalie

I kind of missed that. I missed the physicality of the card and your name and the date and it felt so official when they slid it in the front for you I'm like, ok, you've got two weeks, man, make it happen. I like that. Anyway, memories.

0:46:54 - Tara

I'm most successful with a deadline attached to things. Also that set me up for success.

Thank you Not a good pick. Mariah Carey Unplugged was my first CD. That's a good one. And also, I feel like semi-recently put on, what is that one record? Vision of Love, whatever that one is and I somehow knew every single word, still to this day, and I haven't really listened to it since I was probably like 10 years old or however. I don't know when that came out, but it's like I can't even remember what happened yesterday, but I can remember all of these words.

0:47:29 - Natalie

They're like programming. I'm convinced that Mariah Carey's 90s discography is some kind of MK ultra program, because you could put any record of hers on any track, drop it in the middle. I'm going to start singing. I'm going to know every ad lib, every inflection. It's creepy. It is creepy right.

0:47:48 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, that is kind of creepy. Is there any other artist or song or album that you can do that with?

0:47:54 - Tara

Whitney York B York. Yeah, awesome Whitney.

0:47:57 - Natalie

Whitney Wow, we're on the same wavelength.

0:48:01 - TherapyJeff

Yeah.

0:48:01 - Natalie

Whitney and B York. Yeah, wu Tang Clan no.

0:48:05 - Tara

Maybe like one album that's out of my wheelhouse. All right. Well, that's my list.

0:48:10 - Natalie

Nice, good one, so good Organizing.

0:48:12 - Tara

Yeah, so good. Yeah, now we switched up order a little bit, but, man, I can't wait to tell you guys my list. Yeah, let's hear it. All right, hit it. There is not overlap, but they're kind of it. That's a little bit of a spoiler, and you know me, I love the 90s, I love grunge, I love alternative. So that is kind of how I narrowed my list down because, yes, there are way too many, and even within that genre itself, and I narrowed it down to like 12 or so and then pulled my top five from that list, so we do have a good little chunk of honorable mentions.

0:48:48 - TherapyJeff

Oh yeah, I have those too.

0:48:49 - Tara

All right, starting with number five from the best soundtrack of the 90s, according to Therapy Jeff, it's the Wanadees with the you and Me Saw, and it's always you and me, always and forever. You, it's so fun, and I feel like most of my songs on this list are that kind of just like I'm so in love, I'm walking on a cloud, feeling it's so fun. It's you and me, always, forever. This is sung by Swedish band the Wanted Ease. They originally released it as a single in November 1994, but because of the big success they got from putting it on the soundtrack of the Romeo and Juliet movie in 1996, they re-released it on their next record and it peaked at number 18 in the UK, which is awesome and of course, it's their biggest hit.

I like how he says you know, always when we fight I kiss you once or twice and everything's forgotten. I know you hate that. It's kind of just like this relationship is so strong and the love is so timeless and they're so committed that, like you can see it even from their actions and their words it's so cute Like I love you. I know you hate this, but we love each other and everything is great, you know.

0:50:05 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, that Romeo and Juliet soundtrack produced a lot of great love songs actually.

0:50:11 - Natalie

Yeah, I'm gonna have to go back and check it out, because I don't quite remember that soundtrack so well.

0:50:16 - TherapyJeff

This is a great song. That song is very 90s too.

0:50:20 - Tara

It's so 90s and Loveful is on it too, but I was just thinking. Loveful is kind of like pleading for me. Is not the vibe I was looking for. It's like too pleading, like say that you love me please.

0:50:34 - TherapyJeff

Right, right, right. You know I was like I love that song, though this one is just very pure, very pure, purely love song. Would you say that it's like it borders on like twee, a little bit Like, is that?

0:50:47 - Tara

For sure. Yeah, I would say it's a little twee.

0:50:50 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, which is great for a love song and also just any song in general. I love twee, I love that.

0:50:56 - Tara

The cute little moments in the relationship and just celebrating those moments. You can't forget the good times, even if they are small, they're trivial. But we can't forget about the trivial things because that's what makes the entire relationship, not just those big, important events. The trivial moments matter too.

0:51:14 - Natalie

Yeah, I like the little Bossa Nova beat too. Bossa Nova always feels lighthearted and romantic to me just instantly.

0:51:22 - Tara

Yeah, totally All right. Next up, number four, we have someone who I talk about maybe way too much in the store. You know I love Evan Dando so much, but it's the Lemonheads with Into your Arms.

0:51:37 - TherapyJeff

Ow, I know a place where I can go where I'm alone, Into your arms, where I want to go I can go.

0:51:50 - Tara

Yeah, into your Arms is actually a cover song originally done by this Australian duo called the Love Positions, and it was written in 1989, but that band consisted of Robin St Clair, who actually wrote the song, and Nick Dalton. But in 1992, nick Dalton joined the Lemonheads and they covered it on their sixth studio album, come On, feel the Lemonheads, which was released in 1993. It was released as the album's lead single and it reached number one on the US Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and it stayed on the chart for nine weeks straight, which at the time, they shared that record of that length of time being on number one in the Modern Rock charts with you two. So yeah, go, evan, and yeah, just love the message of this one.

I know a place where I can go when I'm alone Into your Arms. Also, I know a place that's safe and warm from the crowd Into your Arms. And if I should fall, I know I won't be alone. Be alone anymore. It's just. You know that lovely feeling of being with someone who's like your home. They're your safety net, your comfort zone. I love that you know what, tara?

0:53:05 - Natalie

I have always loved the song. I love it. This is like the Lemonhead song that really took root in my memory. Yay, when I was young. Yeah, this is a great song.

0:53:15 - TherapyJeff

I always thought that the Lemonheads were too cool for me. I don't know what it was, I know I like totally missed out on the Lemonheads because, like I don't know, this is some like hipster cool people, shit, that I just like it was. It felt like not accessible, but really it was very accessible if I wanted it to be, so, accessible yeah. It's really easy to like the Lemonheads, but for something in the 90s I was like intimidated by them. I don't know why, I know.

0:53:42 - Tara

That's sad. Yeah, they are very. It's pop rock in a sense it's they cover, Mrs Robinson.

0:53:50 - TherapyJeff

Yeah.

0:53:51 - Tara

Actually Evan Endo, by himself covers. Well, I think he still calls himself the Lemonheads when he covers these, but he does a lot of cover songs and he even covered Christina Aguilera's beautiful, really.

0:54:03 - Natalie

On one of those covers albums.

0:54:05 - Tara

Oh yeah, check it out and the beat goes on. He covers that one Also. I can't remember if this is like early 90s or late 80s. He covers Luca by Susan Vega. Wow yeah.

0:54:17 - TherapyJeff

Interesting. Yeah, I'll check it out.

0:54:18 - Tara

He's wonderful. Also, there's a YouTube of him covering damn, I wish I was your lover, Nice. I love his covers.

0:54:25 - Natalie

The man is busy yeah.

0:54:27 - Tara

The man is busy with covers. Speaking of, they actually did just release a new cover song and it's a song by the Vaseline singer, who I forget their name but check it out. Change 24, brands Bank, new, all right. Number three is also probably a band that I talk about way too much in this store because they are probably one of my number one absolute favorites bands of all time and I even have their band name tattooed on my body, which is maybe a little regrettable when I get older but it's Sonic Youth with the song Cotton Crown.

Okay, all right. So I'm kind of cheating with this one because it actually came out on their 1987 album Sister, but like I had to include it, I had to. They are a pivotal 90s band and there were others I could have chosen, but like this one has such sweet lyrics and it's the first time that Kim and Thurston do it and they were a power couple in the 90s but also he cheated on her later in life and now we're kind of we're mad at Thurston. We're mad at Thurston, but he did just put out a really good book which I loved and I hated myself that I loved it so much but it was so good. So the lyrics love has come to stay in all the way. It's going to stay forever and every day it feels like a wish coming true, it feels like an angel dreaming of you.

0:55:56 - TherapyJeff

Those are sweet lyrics.

0:55:58 - Natalie

It is pretty sweet. What is a cotton crown? What?

0:56:00 - Tara

does that mean to you?

0:56:01 - Natalie

I don't know what that is. I don't know Clouds, are they high? Is this a drug song? I don't know.

0:56:09 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, I don't know this song. Yeah, I totally missed this song in the 90s, that's great, definitely this one's more of a deep cut for sure, but it seems like you know, so far, there's a theme where you're picking, like very sweet songs that are about love and there's no, like you know, broken hearts or yearning like in a, and also like no songs that you you might not put these songs on like a sex playlist, but these, these are like nostalgic, lovely, sweet, you know, heart songs.

0:56:42 - Tara

Yeah, definitely, that is kind of what I was going for. I definitely wanted to capture this like happy love feeling, you know when you are in a secure relationship or when you find someone new and you're excited about it and you're walking on clouds. Yeah, that's definitely the thing.

0:57:02 - TherapyJeff

It's working.

0:57:03 - Tara

Awesome, all right. So number two is the cure. Friday I'm in love. This is the second single from their ninth studio album, wish, from 1992. And it became one of their most successful songs, like nine albums later and it's like one of the most popular cure songs ever and I reached the top 40 in seven different countries, which is so awesome. I love how it's just kind of like you know the whole week can be blah and then Friday you get to see your love and it's like, yes, finally let's hang out.

0:57:46 - Natalie

Yeah.

0:57:47 - Tara

Monday, you can hold your head. Tuesday, wednesday, stay in bed, or Thursday, watch the walls instead. But it's Friday, I'm in love. I love that Robert Smith has said something about this song. He says it's a really good chord progression. I couldn't believe anyone else had used it and I asked so many people at the time. He kept thinking I must have stolen this from somewhere. I'm gonna put this up, it's just too good. And he went on a mission to find out, like if he accidentally stole this song from someone else. And he said I asked everyone I knew I'd phone people up and sing it and go have you heard this before? What's it called? And then go no, no, I've never heard it. And on the same album there were songs which I'd slaved over and I thought at the time they were infinitely better. But Friday is probably the song of the Wish album. That's the song he says. So I don't know. It's like gushing, happy, excited over the moon. New crush, love, yay, finally get to see them. It's Friday, I'm in love.

0:58:41 - TherapyJeff

Yeah.

0:58:41 - Tara

Can't get enough of this stuff. It's Friday, I'm in love.

0:58:46 - Natalie

Great lyrics. It's such a fun song.

0:58:49 - TherapyJeff

I think I when I was let's see. So it came out in 92, so I was 11. I think for a while I thought it was about like the days of the week and which days he loved the most, which maybe is part of it. That works too, but, and I also love a song that names the days of the week. But yeah, it is very sweet, incredibly catchy.

0:59:14 - Tara

Yeah.

0:59:16 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with this. No notes on this song. That's so good.

0:59:20 - Tara

Yeah, there is maybe one slight creepy element to it.

0:59:24 - TherapyJeff

Oh, what's that?

0:59:25 - Tara

Oh, what is that? It's such a gorgeous sight to see you eat in the middle of the night.

0:59:32 - TherapyJeff

I mean, it depends how you take that or what you want to do with it, although I'm not sure there's. What is he? I mean? Is he like spying on you while you're eating, is it like?

0:59:41 - Natalie

a metaphor for something else that you're eating. Are you on Ambien? What's going on? I?

0:59:46 - TherapyJeff

don't know.

0:59:49 - Tara

But yeah, you could take that anyway. But also it's like I just think you're so cute, even when you're eating late nights snacks, like you're just the cutest that is pretty sweet. That's the kind of love you want.

1:00:00 - TherapyJeff

Exactly, yeah, again, that's a bop. Yeah, very sing-songy and makes you happy, good pick.

1:00:07 - Tara

Okay. Well, for number one, I'm going to take a total left turn and really I think you're going to be satisfied with this one, jeff. This Massey star fade into you. This one was like the first song I thought of for doing a 90s love song thing, but like it doesn't have the same love, happy vibes as the rest of the songs for sure.

1:00:46 - TherapyJeff

No, it's very vibe-y.

1:00:48 - Tara

It's very vibe-y and almost like could be potentially sad yeah.

1:00:52 - TherapyJeff

Is it not sad? Is it about?

1:00:54 - Tara

I think it's sad kind of.

But we'll go there, we'll explore. It's from their second studio album, so Tonight that I Might See in 1993. And, like I said, I put this one at the top because it's like the first one I thought of. But it could mean either that she sees more in her love than they see in themselves. When she says I look to you, I see nothing. I like to see the truth. But then again, when she says, fade into you, seems like maybe she's become so obsessed that she sort of lost herself in this other person. I'm not sure.

1:01:28 - TherapyJeff

That's how I took it is that she's lost herself in this person and she's lost and she's like helpless or powerless over it. But I don't think I've ever really like thought about these lyrics because it's so vibe-y and it's the mood, it's like the. It's just, it's such a feeling song and the lyrics go along with it. But it's a real experience and I haven't really like dissected it before but like, oh God, it's just, it's really nostalgic, it takes you back, everything sort of slows down. It's really beautiful.

1:02:06 - Tara

Mm-hmm. There's so many ways you could look at this song because in another way you could look at it. And she says I look to you and I see nothing. I look to you to see the truth. You live your life. You go in shadows, like maybe the truth is also this realization that she can't look to someone else to make her happy.

1:02:25 - TherapyJeff

Mm-hmm.

1:02:26 - Tara

Or it's her just revealing to her crush that she likes him, because there's that part where she says I think it's strange, you never knew.

1:02:35 - TherapyJeff

Mm-hmm.

1:02:36 - Tara

And like when I look into you guys, I see nothing is like. Can't you tell him like crazy about you over here, mm-hmm, you can't see the truth. It's weird that you didn't. It's weird that you don't know this, like I'm so obvious about it.

1:02:47 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, and I feel like there she's tortured about it, like there's like a tortured sort of feel, yeah, yeah, but it's also got like a lullaby sort of feeling to it.

1:02:57 - Natalie

Yeah, definitely, mm-hmm, mazzy Star is the soporific queen for sure. I'm shocked. Y'all even zeroed in on lyrics. I think I missed the Mazzy Star train because, like this time in the 90s, I was deep into my techno bag. Oh yeah, and so this was just way too sleepy for me. Like the first time I heard her was on the Batman Return soundtrack another amazing soundtrack.

1:03:18 - TherapyJeff

Mm-hmm.

1:03:19 - Natalie

And she had a song on there. It's a tell me now and I'm like I can't hear anything she's saying. It was just like I couldn't hang with it. So funny. But I thought she had a cool sound. I just I just really didn't give it a chance. Maybe I should. I don't know. Are you a Mazzy Star fan or is this like just the song?

1:03:34 - Tara

Because I knew this song that I didn't like Delvin to other stuff. Give you my love it yeah.

1:03:39 - Natalie

So good. Yeah, I missed her whole thing. Yeah, I should go back and check it out.

1:03:42 - Tara

I didn't get to my techno bag till late 90s, when it was like on subterranean and like MTV two more often.

1:03:50 - Natalie

Mm-hmm.

1:03:51 - Tara

MTV Amped Right right, this is 93. I was like 13. Mm-hmm.

1:03:56 - Natalie

I was a very hyper dance music kid all the way Amazing.

1:04:00 - Tara

Well, that's my number one, that's my list.

1:04:03 - Natalie

Sweet, that's my last, very, very alt, very Tara, I love it.

1:04:06 - Tara

Yeah, I know, it was like. I feel like our list definitely did tell a lot about us in a sense. Should we do a quick run through of our honorable mentions?

1:04:15 - Natalie

Sure, Our esteemed guests, you first.

1:04:17 - TherapyJeff

Sure Okay. So honorable mention was November Rain by Guns N' Roses.

1:04:24 - Natalie

Yes, wow, I'm not mad at that.

1:04:27 - TherapyJeff

Also. I mean that like it's a nine minute song, the video was epic. There's like three guitar solos or something in there. Like it's like it's very dramatic. So November Rain and then Sad though. What's that?

1:04:44 - Tara

Nothing lasts forever, I know I know.

1:04:48 - TherapyJeff

And then another fun one was Only Want to Be With you by Hootie and the Blowfish.

1:04:55 - Tara

Yeah, that's cute.

1:04:56 - TherapyJeff

Right, that's kind of cute. I like that one yeah.

1:04:58 - Tara

Yeah, it's a cute love song.

1:05:00 - TherapyJeff

And then Stay. By Lisa Loeb.

1:05:02 - Natalie

Yes, oh yeah, that's a good one. It's a good one. Love Stay.

1:05:06 - TherapyJeff

And then my last honorable mention is I don't know if it's somewhat of a deeper cut for Weezer, but it's off their Pinkerton album Across the Sea.

1:05:15 - Tara

Yes, right. Why are you so far away from me?

1:05:18 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, oh, so sad. That Pinkerton album was like got a little, got some pushback of like ah, this feels misogynistic vibes, but I really I really liked that Across the Sea there's a lot of actually good love songs on the Pinkerton album. He was very sad when he wrote that album.

1:05:41 - Tara

And it was very good. It's a great one. I had Lenny Kravitz it Ain't Over Till it's Over, garbage number one crush from Romeo and Juliet's own track. Yeah, I know that was almost.

1:05:52 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, that's good.

1:05:54 - Tara

You too. All I Want Is you Yola Tango. You Can have it All. Pale Saints, kinky Love. That one's the maybe more erotic one of my songs.

1:06:06 - Natalie

What about you, natalie? Okay, can you guys just humor me, and let me speed through 10 song titles.

1:06:11 - TherapyJeff

Do I.

1:06:11 - Natalie

Really fast Go, you ready yeah.

1:06:13 - Tara

Rapid fire.

1:06:14 - Natalie

Janet Jackson again. Seal Kiss From a Rose Shot. Ain't Ordinary Love, mr Big, to Be With you. Vanessa Williams, Save the Best for Last 112. Cupid Six Pints. None the Rich or Kiss Me Shy If I Ever Fall in Love. Brian Adams, have you Ever Really Loved A Woman? Casey and JoJo, all my Life. Selenity on the Power of Love. I don't know how many that was, but I'll stop there.

1:06:29 - TherapyJeff

Oh my God, those are all so good. I knew every single one, and they all had a unique feeling.

1:06:35 - Natalie

Yes, I was so sad to not include any of them on my list.

1:06:39 - TherapyJeff

You should be.

1:06:40 - Tara

As soon as you got to Vanessa Williams, save the Best for Last I blanked out on the rest of the list. Oh God.

1:06:46 - Natalie

I love that song so much.

1:06:48 - Tara

I had that CD too. That's so funny.

1:06:50 - Natalie

I think that might have been the first pop song I ran out and bought sheet music for, because I had to learn how to play it on the piano.

1:06:55 - TherapyJeff

Amazing, I was going to guess that Seal was going to be on your top five, so I'm glad that that Seal was considered, definitely, he was lurking.

1:07:05 - Natalie

Yeah, okay, thank you. I feel a little bit better, okay good.

1:07:08 - Tara

Well, thank you so much, Jeff, for playing this high-fidelity game with us again. Yeah.

1:07:13 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, I always love stopping by the record store chatting up with you. Yeah.

1:07:17 - Tara

Although I don't know, I felt like a continuation of breakup songs.

1:07:21 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, I think that's exactly what it is and I was just like fuck it, I'm going to lean into it. Breakup songs and love songs feel like the same songs to me and I'm going to own it. And is it a red flag? Probably whatever. But that's just sort of what my heart resonates with. You know, I'm going to own it.

1:07:38 - Tara

Yeah, no, it's great, and I can't wait to hear your new podcast, big Dating, energy, and the other new one.

1:07:45 - TherapyJeff

Called Problem.

1:07:45 - Tara

Solved. Problem Solved.

1:07:47 - TherapyJeff

Yeah.

1:07:48 - Tara

And I definitely need to pre-order your book. When does that come out again?

1:07:52 - TherapyJeff

July 9th. But yeah, pre-order it right now and get it off of your to-do list. You're going to love that. And we can pre-order that at your website At my website therapyjeffcom, or Amazon or Barnes Noble wherever you buy your books.

1:08:06 - Natalie

Awesome. Thank you so much Making time to come chat with us. It's been so much fun.

1:08:10 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, I can't wait to come back for another 90s themed top five.

1:08:16 - Natalie

Yeah, we'll never run out of topics with the 90s, that's for sure. Yeah.

1:08:19 - Tara

Yeah, I'll have to think of what's the next one 90s soundtracks. I know it would be at the top.

1:08:25 - TherapyJeff

Yeah, yeah, there would be a lot of overlap there for 90s soundtracks probably.

1:08:29 - Tara

Definitely. It would be like the Crow, bramway and Juliet.

1:08:32 - Natalie

Yeah, angus, give it away now. Don't give it away now.

1:08:34 - Tara

I know we're just doing it now. Okay, okay, okay, okay. What's up, what's up? All right Okay. Let's close up. Yeah it's late. All right, have a good night, bye, bye, everyone.

1:08:54 - TherapyJeff

Record Store Society is hosted by Natalie White and Tara Davies. If you'd like to contact the show, visit our website at recordsstoressocietycom, or you can find us on all your favorite social media sites with the handle at recordsstoresociety.

Transcribed by https://podium.page

0:00:01 - Tara

Hi Natalie, hey Tara, what's up? So much? Just. You know we got to be stocking the shelves. Oh my gosh, it's about to get crazy in here, isn't it? Oh yeah, it's busy, but it's good for you.

0:00:27 - Natalie

It's busy but it's good for us.

0:00:31 - Tara

It is. It is you know what. We haven't talked about our albums over the months in a long time.

0:00:37 - Natalie

In about a month Did we even talk about an album of the month, the last month.

0:00:43 - Tara

I feel like we didn't. Maybe we did,

0:00:45 - Natalie

did we miss a month.

0:00:46 - Tara

We might have.

0:00:48 - Natalie

We got to catch up because there's a crap ton of new stuff that's coming lately.

0:00:52 - Tara

Oh yeah, oh hi, how are you? I'm Tara,

0:00:53 - Natalie

I'm Natalie.

0:00:54 - Tara

Welcome to the store, let us know. Let us know if you need anything. We'll be talking about our favorite music over here.

0:01:02 - Natalie

Speaking of favorite music, I want to chat about the new album from Knower. It just dropped this year Knower Forever. I love it. Can we chat about it?

0:01:10 - Tara

Do you know what that I immediately noticed about this album, Knower Forever? The cover art is like the exact same as Downtown Rockers by TomTom Club, but it's black. I mean it's the same Like they copied. It's the exact same. We will file a complaint forthwith. I like that, though it's like. Remember I think we talked about Drug Dealer doing this, where they kind of copied Black Sabbath. I like it when newer folks copy or like, take inspiration from older groups.

0:01:40 - Natalie

I kind of dig that stripped down album art vibe anyway, where it's just just their busts, just from the shoulder up and they're just staring blankly into the camera, just no other, no other information. It's just like you don't know what you're getting into. I dig it. It's classic. Yeah, totally Okay. Knower jazz electronic funk fusion duo featuring multi-instrumentalists and vocalists, lewis Cole and Genevieve Bartotti, formed in 2009,. Both jazz studies graduates out of LA. In early 2010, they started releasing music on YouTube the rise of many musicians these days and their first video was a cover of Britney Spears song three, which is such a crazy song to pick, but they did something so cool with it. Later that year, they released their debut album called Lewis Cole and Genevieve Bartotti, and here we are in 2023. They are on their fifth studio album. It's been seven years since their last release, so this is a pretty big deal, this album. Are you a fan of Knower? Have you been following him on social media and whatnot?

0:02:41 - Tara

I did not know about nowhere, but I did know about Sam Gendell. It was Cole, sam Wilkes, and they've all played together, that whole family, and I saw Sam Gendell, sam Wilkes, at Big Ears and so, yeah, I know this whole Thundercat connections. Narky Puppy, of course we've talked about Moon Child before, not to get you know very much.

0:03:03 - Natalie

But yeah, creme de la Creme, they've got in terms of a musician network, that's for sure. Yeah, some big names on their records.

0:03:10 - Tara

And actually some of my friends just went to see Clowncore, which is another one of their projects, which is wacky, they're wacky.

0:03:18 - Natalie

I bet that's a crazy show. Yeah, so this album kicks off with a lovely short orchestral piece. It's really beautiful, really dramatic. The buildup is quite intense. Again, you're like, OK, what's getting ready to happen now. And then track two hits. It's called I'm the President, the first single from the album. So this track, it's fantastic. I think it's a great way to just like bust in after that intro. It's so bouncy and groovy. It's like they just dropped this funk bomb on your face out the gate. Love it.

0:03:57 - Tara

Yeah, I love that opener. It's so beautiful and, honestly, I did not expect that. It's orchestral and just so beautiful and I'm the president is so funky, it's like beautiful arrangement. Then boom, funky, loud fun in your face. It reminds me of Enan meets Dearhoof Really.

0:04:19 - Natalie

Enan meets Dearhoof.

0:04:19 - Tara

Yeah, enan.

0:04:21 - Natalie

Interesting, dearhoof, I wouldn't have guessed that.

0:04:24 - Tara

Yeah, you know, like Snoopy Waves In her, in Genevieve's voice, maybe. Yeah, that's probably. It's probably her voice, yeah.

0:04:29 - Natalie

Yeah, yeah. Well, they're really funny. The lyrics are very tongue in cheek. Genevieve's kind of like sneering at the idea of being president A la the former US dingus in chief. Just very, very quirky. I love it. I love the key solo on this from Paul Cornish, another amazing musician on this record. It's. It's like this bright splash of water in the face, moment. You know. Not just the playing itself, but the transition into it is really really slick. Nowhere they always have such fun compositional ideas and I love their transitions. You know the video for this is cool too. It's their, it's their standard, like just cramming everybody into a house and just setting up wherever you can find space and you've got Genevieve in the stairwell singing. And then, when it's time for the key solo, paul Cornish comes like running down the stairs, putting on a shirt like he's been taking a nap or something, and then hitting the piano at the bottom of the stairs just in time to start playing, which I think is kind of a fun effect.

0:05:23 - Tara

But yeah, what is their? They have a thing for sure with like cramming all their friends into one tiny little space and recording these wacky videos.

0:05:30 - Natalie

I think it's great. All right, the next track is another fave of mine. It's called the Abyss. So this one has more of that classic sound people associate with. Nor I think the grooves on this album are just so tight and staccato. You've got Manoni on on bass with Lewis Cole on the drums. That's just such a nasty combo. It's just so perfect and just very snappy in that groove. Sam Gendell on saxophone he's got this a killer solo on this track. Everybody breaks into crazy solos on this. You've got Ray Thistle Thwait on keys. Just the man is from outer space he also. He's a fantastic singer too. His scat game is really strong If you want to look him up online and check out more his music.

And, like you mentioned, nor is they're known for, you know, recording in the house, but they're also known for having like a particular mix style that is quite polarizing. But at this point it's clearly a choice. You know it's their shtick and they've been vocal about saying hey, you know, screw you guys if you don't like the mix. But for those who care, like the compression, the boxiness in the drums, you know it can get a little fatiguing on the ears if you're not used to it. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, definitely.

0:06:40 - Tara

I was going to say who is, who's the bassist. Again, manoni on, manoni on. I think I follow this person on social media.

0:06:47 - Natalie

They wear very colorful colors Quilted glasses yeah.

0:06:51 - Tara

Yeah, goggles, sweaters. Yeah, I follow this person on social media. So good. Oh, yeah, the shtick good bassist.

0:07:00 - Natalie

Yeah, it's crazy, crazy good Sorry. No but just mix wise. I'm not mad at it. On this album it doesn't bother me as much, I think, as it has on some of their past recordings, but maybe I've just gotten used to it started to just associate that sound with them. Plus, like, let's be real, I'd happily choose this over any of the hyper polished, sparkly music turds that are constantly thrown in our faces, you know.

I'll take a little boxiness, a little muddiness in the mix. Yes, I don't think they'd be able to get away with it, though, if it weren't for the fact that they are and that they engage with such world-class musicians and they're playing such A plus compositions.

0:07:34 - Tara

You know what I mean.

0:07:36 - Natalie

You tolerate it because it's their sound.

0:07:38 - Tara

It is interesting that they have such a fun, wacky sound for the level of musicianship that they're dealing with across the board, even with their friends, I don't know. It seems like they don't take themselves too seriously. I guess is what I'm saying. You know what I mean.

0:07:55 - Natalie

Yeah, no, you can tell they're just having a super serious composition.

They're having a good time a jazz musician, yeah, and they're just kind of taking the piss sometimes and I like that. It's a real chill vibe. It's like they know they don't have to prove anything to anyone, so they're just jamming out and having fun. Right, I like that. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, so this boxy drums effect thing, I think is especially heavy on the next track and this is the first down tempo track on the album. It's called Real Nice Moment.

This is a lovely laid back tune that I think suits Genevieve's vocal style particularly well. But there is like, okay, I hate to keep going back to the mix thing because I really do love all of these tracks, but on this particular track there's like a synth that is detuned in a way or it's got some kind of like coursing, something's happening out of phase. That I think competes too much with the vocal. Like her voice is so soft and airy and I feel like that synth kind of cuts into it in places. Or maybe it's just me, I don't know, but I do think it's a really pretty song.

0:09:00 - Tara

I think I know what you're talking about. It's like in the hook. I can hear it.

0:09:03 - Natalie

It's just a little, that's really. A little searing at the time, yeah.

0:09:07 - Tara

Yeah, and I just want to say this song is, though, one of my favorites on the album. Real Nice Moment is exactly that A real nice moment. On the record, and I also wrote soft and lovely. It's funny. Every time you've described any of these songs, I've made notes that almost say the exact same, at least descriptors that you've said. So it's funny. We're spending too much time together in the store in Adelaide, I know man.

0:09:35 - Natalie

So next we have it's All Nothing Until it's Everything. This is probably one of the more dynamic tracks, moving between that tight, heavy staccato playing and then the tight singing in the verses and moving into this wide atmospheric synth pads and strings thing for the chorus. This is a cool track. It's probably not my favorite, except for that key solo from way. This will wait towards the end. My God, it's like a cosmic roller coaster ride with those ascending chords and the way the composition builds up around it. It's stanky. I love it. It's mad stanky, ooh.

0:10:16 - Tara

Do you know what this song reminds me so much of? Battles? What's that? Battles the band, I don't know Battles with the two drummers in the boxes, atlas, and all that Battles the band Listen to, I don't know. Choose a song from the album Atlas by Battles Ooh, interesting. Okay, I think it's because of the drums in this song.

0:10:47 - Natalie

I don't think I've ever heard of this band before. That's crazy. I'll have to explain.

0:10:50 - Tara

I know that is crazy to me. I feel like you enjoyed them. I spoke, I said the album Atlas, but I meant the album Mirrored, which does include this song Atlas, Gotcha gotcha.

0:11:00 - Natalie

All right. So the next track, track six, is called Nightmare. This is another funky little groove that's giving. It's giving me a bit of like purple rain, first Avenue vibes. Not a whole lot to say about this one. Just like a solid party dance track I feel like I'd hear in a club. It does have a neat little half tempo breakdown in the middle that lifts it up a bit for me. Yeah, it's kind of a background track for me. Next is Same Style, different Face. So this is really Genevieve's shining moment on the album. She's got this like sweet gentle ballad that it feels like something out of a Broadway musical, you know, or like something I associate with my youth. It's very familiar, but I can't get my brain to pin down a song title that it sounds like you know what I mean Interesting.

0:11:45 - Tara

Yeah, it's funny that you said shining moment for this one, because you said something kind of similar to Real Nice Moment and I would say these Real Nice Moment and Same Style, different Face, are similar in that sort of ballady softness.

0:11:57 - Natalie

Yeah, really showcasing for this.

0:11:59 - Tara

And I like both of those probably the most. They are shimmery like well, at least this one shimmery in almost like a shoe gaze-y way. And yeah, nostalgia, something 90s nostalgia, fuzz, softness, but loud.

0:12:12 - Natalie

You know what it sounds like to me it's like the penultimate tune from a Muppets movie, like something Kermit would sing to me before the big closing number, where I'm like learning the power of friendship or whatever you know.

0:12:23 - Tara

I mean I'm the best way possible?

0:12:25 - Natalie

Yeah, totally, it's just like a sweet little lullaby thing. Yeah, I like that, All right. Track eight is do hot girls like chords? And yes, they do, we can confirm.

0:12:35 - Tara

Hello. Yes, we can confirm this. You are what you eat. That makes me equally.

0:12:42 - Natalie

It's black and cold, that's all right. It's that red. I don't bother to say the name of it, nor is giving us dynamics here, because this one just like slaps you in the mouth after that little Muppets lullaby, I feel like this song is kindred spirits with it's all nothing until it's everything. But for some reason this one just kind of grips my bones. Better it's, it's dipping into rock and roll territory and I think I think that's why I really dig it All right. Next up we have Ride that Dolphin and here we get this super tight, straightforward. Benny and the Jets groove, yeah. And I think, personally I think Genevieve sounds the best on this track. There's like this really beautiful bridge with some choir action and she's singing over it and like kind of adlibbing. You don't hear her adlib much, but she's kind of adlibbing and it's giving Janet Jackson and she just sounds so soulful. Yeah, I think it's cool.

0:13:33 - Tara

I get to hear Janet Jackson meets like Reese Res.

0:13:36 - Natalie

Oh, reese, yeah, Reese man, I love her, yeah, me too.

0:13:40 - Tara

So good, well, I want next album of the month. I might have to choose that one, yeah, yeah, but Benny and the Jets, you nailed it. It does have that sort of like riff thing going on, 100 percent.

0:13:55 - Natalie

And you've got Sam Wilkes just delivering that monster bass all the way through. It's. It's great. Track number 10, it will get real. So Lewis Cole does an interview where he mentions loving Mario Kart's music and I so can feel that energy in this track. I can hear it. I'm on Rainbow Road. I'm throwing shells at people like I can see it when I hear this. This is the feel good dance track on the album. It's such a perfect way to start wrapping things up. That bass line from Mono Nyan goes just complete sicko mode on this track. It's so good.

0:14:36 - Tara

Yeah, it has like almost to a tinge of German bass, but not really. You know what I mean.

0:14:42 - Natalie

Not full on, but that's Lewis Cole all day Like, yeah, do his machine. If anyone could just play straight up high speed German bass it would be him for sure. All right. So the album concludes with Crash the Car, another really really great down tempo kind of borderline ballad thing. It's got great old school R&B vibes, especially in those chords in the hook. I'm back in, you know, the back of the family van on a road trip, drifting to sleep with you know my sister's mixtape playing. This is the kind of song I would hear, just really pretty and soothing and nostalgic, fantastic sax solo from David Denny, and I think the message is a great one to end on. It's just like don't worry what others say or think, don't play it safe, just floor it and go top speed into your dreams.

0:15:36 - Tara

Yeah, not into. Not into a brick wall, though Don't see that no one dreams of brick walls no we don't drive into brick walls.

0:15:42 - Natalie

Happy things drive into happy thoughts. But yeah, I think it's a great closer for this.

0:15:47 - Tara

Yeah, Also, if you go to bank camp, you apparently get a bonus track. I have not listened to it. Someone else should do that though.

0:15:54 - Natalie

And, yes, support the album on bank camp for sure. Yeah, all right. Well, if I can say one thing I really appreciate about Knower Forever, it's the fact that it does such a great job at showcasing its guests, artists. Everyone has time to shine. The solos are so thoughtfully incorporated you can tell they weren't just shoved in like some random rap feature. That doesn't make sense. You know, everything melts together so artfully and I think what keeps me coming back to Noor in the end, beyond just the sheer virtuosity, is definitely their sense of humor. You get it in the lyrics, you get it in the arrangements. They keep you guessing, they keep you smiling. They're just fun to listen to.

0:16:29 - Tara

Yeah, it's true, they do have such a good sense of humor they don't take themselves too seriously, even though they are seriously talented. Yeah, reminds me of Enon, Towa tei. Even maybe a tiny little bit of LCD sound system sometimes, dear Hoof Tom Tom Club, even maybe a tinge outside of the album cover and Battles, of course. Yeah, I'll check that out.

0:16:55 - Natalie

Flaming.

0:16:55 - Tara

Lips, marquee Puppy obviously. Yeah, that's nice, they're all in the family Broad. Yeah, they have a lot of little different things going on, all right, so I'm handing it off to you.

0:17:05 - Natalie

What do you have for this month?

0:17:06 - Tara

Well, speaking of a lot of things going on in some jazz-influenced fusion too, perhaps I am bringing to the table a record that I have never listened to all the way through until this, this exercise, this album of the month conversation. I wanted to explore an album I'd never really heard before, but I also wanted to take it back, and so this album is called Action and it's by the Blackbirds. It's from 1977. So yeah, Blackbirds are American Rhythm and Blues Jazz Funk Fusion Group formed in Washington DC in 1973. It's actually kind of the brainchild of Donald Bird, the famous professional trumpeteer. He, back in the I guess late 60s, cut a track for Blue Note called Blackbird and spelled same way, B-Y-R-D, like his last name, Blackbird, and it became the label's first million-selling album. So he was catching a ride off that whole jazz fusion thing that was happening across the plains.

Other jazz players, like Herbie Hancock, was starting to get into some successful crossovers. Soul and Rock. Audiences are really diving into that space and taking a cue from that title of that album, he, Donald Bird, got together with some of his music students and formed the Blackbirds. So Blackbirds featured Donald Bird himself on trumpet, Kevin Tony on keyboards, Keith Killgo on vocals and drums, Joe Hall on bass guitar, Alan Barnes on sax and clarinet RIP and Barney Perry on guitar. They signed with Fantasy Records in 1973, and they had a hit called Walking in Rhythm that received a Grammy nomination and sold over a million copies by May of 1975.

Outside of that, they have gone gold with three of their albums, and that is Citylife, Unfinished Business in Action, which is the record that we are discussing today. But I also just wanted to mention that Blackbirds have influenced a ton of hip hop music. They've been sampled a ton of times, so check them out outside of this record. But yeah, so let's get into this. I just want to say recommend it if you like. This album to me is Herbie Hancock Meets Earth, Wind and Fire Meets Steely Dan. Right on, no, you're telling me right.

0:19:40 - Natalie

I can hear that.

0:19:41 - Tara

Okay, cool, yeah, even some like Brothers Johnson moments, some like KC in the Sunshine band. Stevie Wonder it's funky, it's fresh, it's jazzy, it's awesome. Okay, diving in First track, supernatural Feeling. It's synthy, it's spacey, it's funky. I mean the bass guitar doesn't get any funkier than this. Like this bass guitar slaps. There's these like lush vocal harmonies. And I know Supernatural is in the title and this isn't just the reason why I'm about to say it, I'm about to say, but it does remind me a little bit of Superstition by Stevie Wonder.

0:20:26 - Natalie

I can hear that too. Okay, good, it's that squeak in the guitar.

0:20:30 - Tara

Yeah, and that bass yeah so good.

0:20:33 - Natalie

I know this is Supernatural Feeling, but this feels like summertime to me. It feels like there's a barbecue happening, you know, yeah, totally Beer out of a can hanging out. Oh, it's just like a laid back family reunion, picnic barbecue kind of vibe. Yeah, it's funky.

0:20:49 - Tara

It's so good.

0:20:50 - Natalie

That's probably where the reason I feel that way is probably because, without knowing, I've heard this at a family function at some point. It's highly highly likely.

0:20:58 - Tara

Yeah, I mean, put it on your boombox while you're playing hoops outside in the hot June or July weather. I mean, yeah, definitely a summer song for sure. All right. Number two Looking Ahead. Looking Ahead to number two. This one again is so groovy and so fun. It reminds me this time of like Sheik, or, you know, niles Rogers, vibes Casey and the Sunshine Band. This one is full on like Disco-y funk. Yeah absolutely.

0:21:37 - Natalie

This is one of my favorites, for sure, on the album. Yeah, I dig the bass, yeah.

0:21:40 - Tara

And that's all I really say about that one, because number three is probably one of the most standout tracks on the record and probably some of the most sampled. I think Wiz Khalifa samples it I'm drawing a blank on the others, but it's definitely been sampled a bunch of times. Mysterious vibes the opening is the best part, it's so nice that opening.

0:22:03 - Natalie

It's so psychedelic and yeah, it's crazy, it's a vibe.

0:22:15 - Tara

It is such a vibe, a mysterious vibe, it's spacey, it's got some sexy soprano sax and those again going back, those lush harmonies. They crush it with those harmonies.

0:22:25 - Natalie

And they're very subtle too because, like, for the most part, they're singing in unison. So when they do break into the harmony it's like, ooh, it just tickles the beat drum.

0:22:32 - Tara

Yeah, like brothers Johnson harmonies. Yeah, all right, something special this one. All I have to say about this one is I really like the way it starts, but it kind of starts to go. It veers into love boat theme song territory towards the middle and it's not my fave.

0:23:00 - Natalie

I like it. Yeah, you're right. You're right. I think that's probably why they put it in the middle you know, yeah, you want it to be sandwiched by the strong, the heavier hitting stuff.

0:23:07 - Tara

Yeah, the love boat, yeah, no, too cheesy.

0:23:12 - Natalie

Oh, great, yeah. Now all I see is like the opening sequence to you know some 70s evening drama now.

0:23:18 - Tara

Oh my gosh, those are the days for television. I know I miss it. Okay, number five, street games. This one is like war to me. It's funky but has, like I mean it's called street games but it does have like that street culture to it from the 70s. You know, war cameo this like 70s funk but like culture moment going on. I don't know.

0:23:51 - Natalie

Does that make sense? No, it does. It's kind of shocking. On this particular album it kind of I don't know if it like fits thematically with everything else you know yeah, right, totally. It's like shenanigans at the family picnic and then someone needs to be scolded.

0:24:06 - Tara

It's like the movie warrior with the guys in the world and like I love that movie so much. Yeah, warriors, yeah.

0:24:13 - Natalie

And you take it.

0:24:15 - Tara

Yeah, that's good Street games, playing street games. Only a couple left and this album is kind of short in terms of songs on here. Amount of songs, Wait, how long? What's the total length? What are we looking at here?

0:24:27 - Natalie

Do you have it pulled up? It's just under 34 minutes.

0:24:30 - Tara

Oh, okay, that's helpful, because that means it's like yeah it's short, but it's too long to be an EP, but it's pretty short in the grand scheme of things 34 minutes but yeah. So there's only two more songs just to run through. Track six is called soft and easy, and this one is like if you take Barry White and Serge Gainsbourg with Brigitte Bardot or Jane Birkin, you get this song soft and easy. It's got that sexy.

0:25:07 - Natalie

I love your recipes, your music recipes for these songs.

0:25:09 - Tara

It's like it's that sexy spoken word vocals, but it's got some like moaning and groaning and some like noises. A lot of moaning and groaning.

0:25:17 - Natalie

I was kind of like it kind of leaves you hanging in the beginning, like what is there going to be singing? Because there's kind of some talking and there's some moaning and then the song starts and it's just dead air. And then I'm like should I be here? Are they busy? Yeah, yeah.

0:25:34 - Tara

That's like, like I said, serge and Jane, man, they take that other song to just you're like I don't know if I this is not for me, this is private, yeah.

0:25:44 - Natalie

This is a adult business. I don't belong here, yeah.

0:25:48 - Tara

Yeah, but I think this track might have made it to the top 20, if I'm recalling the correct info. But I guess at the time it makes sense. You know, thinking about, like, studio 54 and some of the extravagant but sensual moments of the seventies, of the late seventies, yeah. And then, speaking of sensual again, I would say track seven, dreaming of you, has that groovy R&B vibes. It's got sexy trumpet solo from our man, donald Bird, but it does have more of a happy element as well. So I could almost imagine many ripper 10 singing this song or doing a cover of this one.

0:26:33 - Natalie

Yeah, yeah, I like this song. I recognize it. It's been sampled. I remembered it from do you remember the duo, the R&B duo, jeanet like from the? Late nineties oh yeah, yes, they had the song hey, mr DJ and Sending my Love. So yeah, they have a song called Crush. I think it was on their sophomore album. It wasn't on the debut one with all the really big, big breaking hits that they had, but I think it's on the second one. It's called Crush, anyway. Yeah, it came out in like 97.

0:27:04 - Tara

Let's listen to a little bit of it.

0:27:06 - Natalie

It's exactly this drum drum line here.

0:27:08 - Tara

Let's listen to a little bit of that sample. Yeah, I think this album is probably one of their most overlooked, knowing that most of their hits came from previous records in the earlier years of the Blackbirds. And it's such a good album. I also just think it's super underrated because if you hear this album and you go and you listen to, like Chic or gosh anything, kc in the Sunshine, not KC in the Sunshine, because those are all record radio hits, so it's maybe a little different. I don't know. It's just I feel like this one's kind of overlooked in the history of jazz, fusion and funk and disco. But the players weren't really. I mean Tom and Bird is a legend, so I mean he really inspired Kirby Hancock. So I feel like I don't know he had a fun time.

It's a good record.

0:28:04 - Natalie

It is a good record, it's great. It's for your next barbecue or house party, you know.

0:28:08 - Tara

Yeah, yeah, so what's our tie in here?

0:28:11 - Natalie

I think we nailed it without knowing it this week because, think about it, we've got jazz, funk, fusion, a lot of different styles happening. We've got music school educated, virtual, so you know players, legit jazz players, and freakiest of all isn't this. This is the fifth album from the Blackbirds, is it not Sixth?

0:28:32 - Tara

Sixth, Sixth studio album. Wait, unless I counted it wrong, hold on Cause I did. I tried to do the math.

0:28:38 - Natalie

Not counting like their film, like TV stuff, whatever, I'm talking about just their music.

0:28:43 - Tara

That's true. Okay, then if you don't count cornbread, earl and me, the soundtrack, then it's definitely their fifth studio album. This is their fifth album, yes.

0:28:52 - Natalie

As well as Noah, not counting all of their side projects and solo efforts. This is also their fifth studio album. Okay, and we are on a roll. We are killing it. We cannot be stopped. We can't be stopped. That's insane. We remain undefeated, I know. Wow, yeah, there you go. That's the Noah Blackbirds connection.

0:29:10 - Tara

Friends in the store. This is never planned Like this is always, it's really not. Super, hey, I'm, this album is the one I'm gonna be sharing. And then Ally's like, yeah, this is mine. And then we come together and it's like, wait what?

0:29:25 - Natalie

Yeah, no, this is perfect I'm telling you, man, we're on the same wavelength. I love it.

0:29:30 - Tara

Legendary, just like Donald Bird and Lewis Cole, eventually, well, a few more years. No, I think he's already legendary. He's already impacted so many people, he's already played on so many projects.

0:29:40 - Natalie

I think Lewis Cole and Genevieve Artadi have carved their place in music history pretty well. Yeah, they're doing it For sure. Cool, All right Well we did it.

0:29:49 - Tara

Yeah, good pics, man. I love it. So we're one of those Daft Punk Prodigy sample types and are looking for some inspo. I would definitely dig the Blackbird's action out of the crates, oh yeah, because I think you could probably pull some beautiful sample gems right off out of that record.

0:30:06 - Natalie

Yeah, for sure. All right, shall we finish stocking the shelves so we can wrap up? Yeah, let's do it. Yeah, all right, good chatting with you. Good chatting with you, as always.

0:30:18 - Tara

As always On the flip side, Yep see you All right Later.

0:30:22 - Natalie

Bye. Record Store Society is hosted by Natalie White and Tara Davies. If you'd like to contact the show, visit our website at recordstoressocietycom, or you can find us on all your favorite social media sites with the handle at Record Store Society. Left To Left.

Transcribed by https://podium.page

0:00:00 - Intro

Hey everybody, it's Tara. Stick around to the end of the episode to hear some more top 2023 picks from our Friends of the Record store. Happy New Year. Thanks for listening.

0:00:25 - Tara

Hi Natalie,

0:00:26 - Natalie

hey Tara, Welcome to 2024.

0:00:28 - Tara

Happy New Year. I'm here and I am ready for 2024.

0:00:33 - Natalie

Do you have any resolutions? Are you into that noise or no?

0:00:37 - Tara

You know, I had a full list of goals from 2023 and I haven't even really looked to reflect on them. I don't think it's too late for me to set some goals for 2024. It's never too late it's still January and all, but I don't have any really defined yet, I guess.

0:00:55 - Natalie

You're just living by the seat of your pants. I like that, do you? I'm just like you. I think it's just a continuation of 2023. Yeah, you know, honestly, though, for me, I have to reset on a weekly basis. I can't deal with annual resolutions. We have to make new goals every Monday. Let's just start over. Let's just clean the slate and start over. You know, yeah, I like that. Planning for like 365 days just seems a little. It's a little intense, but I try to achieve smaller, attainable, tangible goals in seven day windows. That's that works for me. But one of those goals I will say. I will say this I'm looking at this adorable sweater you're wearing and I'm a crafty gal. I like my knitting, I like crocheting and all that jazz, and I do want to knit more this year because it makes me happy. Yeah, and you're inspiring me right now with your fit. I love it.

0:01:48 - Tara

Oh, thank you.

0:01:48 - Natalie

Yeah, strawberries.

0:01:49 - Tara

Strawberry extraordinary from the eighties, maybe seventies, who knows? Very uh it's very fun eighties sweater vibes. It's a cosmos, what?

0:01:59 - Natalie

Oh, it's super cute. I actually have a pattern that has like like synth wave, like a synth wave pattern, you know, with like that low sun and the car, you know, with the buildings on either side. Yeah, I'm going to knit that, yes.

0:02:12 - Tara

I think you'll love that. Oh, can you make one in my size also, please? It'll take me two years to finish.

0:02:17 - Natalie

Two years to finish.

0:02:19 - Tara

Yeah, twins, okay, we'll all settle for like a hat.

0:02:23 - Natalie

Okay, that matches your sweater. Okay, that's, that's definitely a deal.

0:02:27 - Tara

Nice, I do have one goal, actually. What's that? I got a saxophone for Christmas, you got it. So I will be learning careless whisper Sexy, that's like the main goal. I have already learned the C major scale and another fun jazzy song called swing and easy, but I'm working my way towards careless whisper so goal.

0:02:51 - Natalie

Are you self taught? Yeah, do you have a teacher? What's your strategy to learn? Self taught for sure, I can't wait. I'm excited for careless whisper.

0:03:00 - Tara

Once I get some of the basic stuff under my belt for saxophone, I may look into getting some sort of lessons for jazz style sax. Yeah, hello, welcome to our store. I'm Tara. I'm.

0:03:15 - Natalie

Natalie.

0:03:15 - Tara

Let us know if you need anything. We'll be discussing our 2023 faves over here, because it is time, natalie, to discuss our top albums of 2023.

0:03:27 - Natalie

Yes. How do you feel about 2023 overall?

0:03:31 - Tara

You know I told you I made this spreadsheet I was going to stay on top of listening to new music, but did I know that was way too ambitious? There's just too much music to listen to. It's so hard and this is not my full-time job to be reviewing music, listening to music, and, although I love it, I also like to listen to my old favorites. So I feel like, even though I tried really hard to stay on top of everything, I still have not heard. Some I know have made the top 2023 lists this year. Yeah, how do you feel about it?

0:04:06 - Natalie

I'm about the same. I think I also prioritized oldies but goodies and faves, playlists from the past and things like that. So I was really distracted for most of 2023 until later in the summer and to the fall, things started coming on my radar and I was like, wow, there's a ton of good stuff coming out this year and I, too, am still behind. There's still so many records I haven't had a chance to just sit down and dig into. There's some good stuff that came out last year that just completely went over my head. It's ridiculous. I gotta do better this year.

0:04:36 - Tara

Yeah, I'm going to say I'm going to try to do better. I say this every year and even when I think I do a really good job of it, I still miss some. So, yeah, I think one year what was it? 2020?, 2021, I think where we had a lot of jazz on our lists both of us.

Yeah, but last year was a little bit more of a blend, I think. And then this year for me feels like I'm going towards music that isn't obviously it's not old but leans more towards the things that I love from my youth, like those like 90s alternative type things. So yeah, that was a pattern I noticed. Oh well, I'm eager to hear Anything for you.

0:05:21 - Natalie

No pattern, just chaos, chaos. That is my theme for 2024. Okay, I mean, I've heard lots of stuff that I really, really enjoy from last year and I'm still working through my list. It's all over the place and I just I couldn't find a group of five that represented how vast all of the different styles were like from the albums that I enjoyed most. I just kept like trying to reorganize them and I just couldn't do it, so I picked five that I just I returned to the most. I think that that was my. That's how I made my final decision. But this, this does not at all begin to scratch the surface of all the fun stuff that I found from last year, but I am. I do feel good about these. These are solid albums and I think you might be be into them too. So you're a singer, what you say.

0:06:07 - Tara

Same. That's kind of how I played at this this year as well. These are all ones that I kept coming back to, yeah, despite the many amazing albums that made it to really stay in 2023. But, yeah, shall we get into it?

0:06:26 - Natalie

Let's take turns. Yeah, let's take turns. Interweave our ideas.

0:06:31 - Tara

I'll go first Okay let's number five. So my number five is Sun Tub by ML Buch. Have you heard of this?

0:06:50 - Natalie

I have not.

0:06:51 - Tara

This is the second studio album from ML Buch and she's a Danish musician and this album was released in October of 2023. She self-produced, it played all the instruments on the album aside for some drum parts, and it was also recorded. Over a span of five years. I've been calling her the Lady Blake Mills, which I think is very fitting. Also, blake Mills made it to my top 10, but not my top five. But it's very quiet, reflective, kind of like a something you'd want to hear inside when the sun is flowing through your windows and you can see the little dust particles, heavy and feel, but not in volume or noise. You know what I mean Kind of a dusty, echoey, quiet, dreamy vibe. There are some bright synth moments amongst those echoey, lonely sounding guitar moments as well, but overall kind of just a really chill, beautiful album and it was a pleasant surprise in my 2023 music discovery.

0:08:15 - Natalie

How did you discover her?

0:08:16 - Tara

That's a good question. I don't remember, but I really love it.

0:08:21 - Natalie

You're just happy. You did Very good. I like the sound. It feels like kind of 80s, that sort of like chorus effect on the voice and the guitar.

0:08:30 - Tara

Yeah, chorusy, yeah, lots of reverb, lots of chorus. It's nice. Okay, you're next.

0:08:38 - Natalie

Okay, another easily mispronounce-able name, but I'm going to do my best here. I chose Be Witched by Laufey, and that's the best I can do, folks, but we can stick with the more American version Laufey from here on out. This is the lovely jazzy Icelandic songstress, jazz adjacent, we'll say, and although this is the first full album from her that I've heard, this is her second studio album. I followed her for a long time on YouTube. She's done some really amazing covers. I've always just adored her voice and I'm so happy that she's finally blowing up and getting the massive attention that she deserves. Have you seen Laufey before? Laufey, I have not.

Oh, you're going to fall in love with her voice. Here's a bit of the first single from her album. It's called From the Start.

0:09:41 - Tara

Oh well, that's just charming.

0:09:43 - Natalie

Yeah, very, very charming. So she describes this album as a love album, whether it be love towards a friend or lover or life. She's been nominated for a Grammy under the best traditional pop vocal album. And, yeah, her voice absolutely gorgeous, deep and warm, charming, with that full throwback vibrato. Every song in this album is just like a lullaby, but what gets me even more are like the harmonies. Her voice, stacked in the background, is just this soft, cozy blanket. It's so beautiful. I wanted to play a bit of another track as an example.

This is one of my faves, it's called Second.

0:10:25 - Speaker 5

Best.

0:10:30 - Natalie

And I have to mention her impressive skill as an instrumentalist. She plays piano, guitar and cello all throughout the album. I particularly love her on the cello. I just think it's such a lovely compliment to her voice. And the other thing that gets me on this album too, she does these little hummed ad libs. They're very subtle but, man, they just grab you. It kind of reminds me of Whitney Houston, who was the master at those barely there purring runs, you know where. She just kind of floats across the notes. You know what I mean? I feel like she's channeling a bit of that and I'm like okay, girl, I see you like she's really soulful, you know. But yeah, so many good songs in the album. Another one that tugs at my heartstrings is the song Letter to my Thirteen Year Old Self. I won't play that one now because I will cry in the store. Nobody wants to see that. But it's a beautiful record. You should really listen to it and check out her covers on YouTube too.

0:11:26 - Tara

Cool, all right let's hear your number four. All right, my number four is Bar Italia, tracey Denim. This is British Band. This is their third full length album and it was released in May. It's alternative rock and it really it scratches an itch. I feel like I've been missing from a lot of alternative or even indie rock these days. I've been wanting a rock album that I can just put on repeat and listen to it all the way through and just get really familiar with it. Like you know, my favorites like the Lemonheads or Pavement or anything like that and I feel like Bar Italia really does that with this record they are kind of mopey but cool. They're grungy but refined. Fuzzy guitars to me are just the absolute best. Have you heard them?

0:12:44 - Natalie

yet I have not. I can hear why you would be into this. This sounds like right up your alley.

0:12:49 - Tara

Right, it does. Yeah, they are, you can tell, very heavily influenced by some of those alternative legendary bands like the Cure and Slow Dive and Pavement and the song Clark is kind of shows the guitar bass interplay of New Order's Low Life and then the vocals and acoustic guitars on Changer are kind of like Wish Era Cure maybe. I don't know I like this I love their influences and, yeah, this record is definitely very me and I'm glad to see something, or hear something like this in 2023. I like the sound of Clark.

0:13:41 - Natalie

Yeah, I'll have to sit down and hear the whole thing. Okay, my number four is Talib Kweli and Mos Def, liberation 2. So this is the much anticipated sequel to their collaborative album Liberation from 2007. So they've really taken their time with this one right, and they've done so intentionally, to really demonstrate the fruits of a well thought out, unrushed creative process.

A lot of incredible features on this album, including Roy Ayres, guapale where the hell has she been? I loved Guapale back in the day Q-Tip, michelle and DeGiocello and Mac Miller, to name a few. Qali's son and daughter also make appearances on the album, which I think is just the cutest thing. But my favorite track on the album is called Nat Turner and it features Casper Niovest and Xion Kuti I really hope I said that somewhat correctly Son of the Great Fela Kuti and all three MCs go really hard on this track. And this just might be one of my favorite beats from Mad Lib of all time, and I really love the message and the rhymes in this particular song too. It's really channeling that evergreen anger of Nat Turner, of course, the revolutionary who led the deadliest slaves of rising in American history. So the song is very much about the continued racism in America. But what's cool is that you have these two super dope African artists come in and rhyme, just showing off their African pride and explaining that this tired, overused, racist thing of like go back to Africa, you know, is really not the insult that they think it is, and Africa is actually a really beautiful and wonderful place, and I just I think it's cool to like juxtapose those two perspectives in this song.

Here's another track I wanted to share. That's one of my favorites. It features Fela Kuti's daughter, deani, called Air Quotes. So Deani, she's got bars too, man. I checked out some of her other music. It's definitely in the blood. They've been doing like the late night circuit. The performances are really, really cool. And I guess the last thing I'll say on rockthebellscom, Kweli says about this album that it was written, recorded and mixed over 10 years. It's expansive in concept but tight in its substance and approach. People today are taking stock of what is most important family, health, wellness and love. And to that I say mission accomplished, sir, great album and well worth the wait.

0:16:28 - Tara

Nice. Meshell Ndegeocello also had an album this year, or in 2023, I should say.

0:16:35 - Speaker 3

Yeah.

0:16:36 - Tara

It wasn't as good as the one with the big pink triangle on it. The covers one. I forget what it's called, but of course it's always lovely to hear.

0:16:45 - Natalie

She's constantly like collaborating and popping up on other people's records and stuff too. She keeps busy. So every time I see a feature from her, I'm like, okay, yeah, this is going to be quality Totally. Yeah, all right, number three what you got.

0:16:59 - Tara

Oh right, Number three. I have, Caroline Polachek, the album Desire. I Want to Turn Into you.

0:17:09 - Speaker 6

Bunny is a rider satellite. I can find her no sympathy. Ain't nothing for free.

0:17:18 - Tara

Good pick. This is her sophomore album definitely not a sophomore slump and it was released on Valentine's Day in 2023. My favorite, of course, of course, from this album is Bunny as a Rider.

0:17:30 - Natalie

I really enjoyed her late night run to promote this album. She was doing some really creative, interesting kind of like experimental things on the stage with her songs. That I thought was really really neat.

0:17:43 - Tara

Yeah, she's really interesting, I will say. Just going back to Bunny as a Rider, though, I think that's a perfect pop song. I love it. And I also love, love, love our local DJ and producer friend, Nikki Nair. He does a remix of Bunny as a Rider and it's awesome. Definitely check it out. But this is one of my most repeated listens of the year, honestly, and I even have played it out in my DJ sets. Yeah, I think she does a lot of really interesting things. I feel like this album. For me, this is so funny, but it's kind of like Dido meets Bjork. You know what I mean, remember.

Dido from the late 90s, early 2000s.

0:18:29 - Natalie

I do remember Dido, and she pops up on this album too.

0:18:32 - Tara

Wait Dido is on this album.

0:18:34 - Natalie

Yeah, Isn't she? Isn't? She featured with Grimes on a track.

0:18:39 - Tara

Shut the front door. I just thought this was some random connection I made with her voice. Oh, my God, you're right. The song Fly to you. Why did I? You know what? That must have been one of those things where I saw her name and then in my head just was like this feels like a Dido something, and just didn't realize that I had already seen Dido's name in the track listing or on the credits. That's so funny. But I do think if she weren't on the record at all, caroline Polachek is like a nice blend of Dido meets Bjork, because Dido for me, when I heard of Dido many, many years ago, I thought that she was very like kind of adult alternative almost, but also pop in a sense, and also kind of cool alternative too on some level. And so I think Caroline Polachek is that, but also very experimental and kind of out there like Bjork Ethereal but pop, mature but fresh. You know what I mean, you know what she reminds me of actually what I mean.

0:19:54 - Natalie

I'm not as familiar with the music, but just the songs that I've heard and like seeing her performances. It reminds me of back when I was way into Frou Frou and Image and Deep yeah. Kind of that crossover to her solo era. Yeah.

0:20:08 - Tara

Yeah, I mean, and of course, all that to say is she is definitely her own person. But if you were to say, recommended, if you like one of those things. I would say Dido Frou, frou, Bjork Grimes, maybe even just a little bit, but not like New Grimes, just more old Grimes. But yeah, this was a great album. I listened to it a lot. I think she nailed it. I can't wait to see more from her.

0:20:32 - Natalie

All right. My number three pick is Chronicles of a Diamond by Black Pumas. So this is their second album and I think they were definitely feeling the pressure after the huge response they got from their 2019 debut. But they definitely beat that sophomore slump here too. So this is just a solid, feel good, starry eyed soul record, and I think this time around the duo had much more of a balanced collaboration for this album. Creatively, because the first time around the singer, eric Burton he was busking and when Adrian Casada had approached him for the project, most of the creative part of the process was already finished. So this time around, burton really takes on most of the writing with Casada on production. It's just a good marriage there. And the Electric Church man it's back in full swing.

0:21:21 - Speaker 5

Here's a bit of their song Sauvignon Sauvignon in my two rooms from the best side to another coast in that cool and cold.

0:21:35 - Natalie

Yeah, that song is so funky I can't hardly stand it. It's giving a little Curtis Mayfield, freddie's dead kind of energy just definitely a head bopper. And we've got just so many good fun like just dancing groovy tracks on here, like Jim and I's Son is another one I really really like. Eric Burton's voice is just so juicy and you've got this great arrangement with the choir in the background. It's just Chef's Kiss. It kind of feels like a Wu-Tang beat, which is probably why I like it too. Oh yeah, but I think if there's another one we should check out, it should be the single, which I think was the perfect choice from this album to release and preview the whole record. It's called Mrs Postman. Here's a bit Again. Just very funky, very catchy, sing along, dance, it's great. Let me stop because I'll just keep naming every track on the album as one of my favorites and, like you get the gist, just go listen to it.

0:22:39 - Tara

You nailed it with the Curtis Mayfield reference there for sure, I can 100% hear that yeah, yeah Cool. I've never heard of them before, don't think?

0:22:50 - Natalie

Yeah, they blew up when they hit the scene. They like played for Biden's inauguration Like people were just going crazy over them.

0:22:56 - Tara

That's their second studio album.

0:22:58 - Natalie

You said this is their second album.

0:23:00 - Tara

Yeah, Good job, alright, ooh, wow, number two. This is my number two and it is not a new one to the store. We have definitely talked about this album in our new to us chats. This is Bonnie Dune with the album Let there Be Music. Let there Be Music, let there Be Love, let there Be Laughter. It was released in June.

Bonnie Dune's an indie band from Detroit. They're actually the backing band for Waxahatchee and I'm not too, not a huge fan of Waxahatchee and they're not terrible, but I'm just, you know, not for me. But this is their third studio album and I love Bonnie Dune, at least I really love this album Let there Be Music. I have been or have described them as Evan Dando meets like Camper Van Beethoven or something like that, maybe even a little pavement with some of this like lo-fi, indie, alternative vibes. Again, you know, so far. See, there are some things you may have noticed, some trends the lo-fi guitar, the noise. We have ML Buck, we have Bar Italia, now we have Bonnie Dune and this record again also, that beautiful baritone voice from Bobby Colombo of Bonnie Dune is very Evan Dando-ish to me. Or Stephen Malcolm from Pavement. I just think he has a great voice. But this album.

Some favorites is the song Naturally. Let's hear a little bit of that. And then another favorite of mine in and this one is probably the one that leans a little bit more pavement is the song Roxanne. But yeah, it's sunny, it's beautiful, it's a little note of nostalgia. For me it's just a feel good record. So that's my number two.

0:25:14 - Natalie

I'm curious because I know that you frequently hit up live shows and whatnot All the names you've shared so far. Have you seen any of them live?

0:25:22 - Tara

I have not, not of the ones that.

0:25:24 - Natalie

I've shared so far.

0:25:25 - Tara

No, yes, it is pretty rare, right, and I think that kind of is a reflection to what I have listened to a lot of in 2023, those bands and people that I have gone to their shows. It's a lot of older folks, I think, so oh, yeah.

0:25:41 - Natalie

Okay, here's my number two. Pick you ready. It's Black Rainbows by Corinne Bailey-Rae.

Oh, yes, so two time Grammy winner, corinne Bailey-Rae. I loved her first album from 2006 with those hits feature Records on which everybody remembers, and like a star. I think that's still the most common way people perceive her general sound and in light of that, this fourth album is just a huge, unexpected left turn. It's loud, it's gritty, it's very intense. It really channels her alt rock roots, having grown up being inspired by bands like Baruch Assault and L7. You can really hear that here, especially in her first single called New York Transit Queen.

0:26:27 - Speaker 3

New York Transit Queen. New York Transit Queen. New York Transit Queen Little Over 17.

0:26:37 - Tara

Wow, isn't that cool. That's way more rock driven than I've ever heard. Corinne Bailey-Rae Right, but hey, this is like these were her roots.

0:26:46 - Natalie

She was in an alt rock band for a while in her youth, but yeah, wow, yeah. So that's like a taste of what to look forward to in this album. But she does a lot. She hits some Afrofuturistic Electronica in this tune called Earthlings. That's definitely one of my favorites. You've got punk. You've got distorted grunge rock in the song Erasure, experimental jazz.

She does this mellow soul track that features Paris and Amber Strother from King Again another feature. Whenever I see those names pop up on a record, I know it's going to be high quality. The album really does a lot, but she still gives us that gentle, sweet, piano ballad moment that really showcases her lovely voice in this song called Peach Velvet Sky. So she says that the album was inspired by an archive of art about the black experience from artist Thea Sturgates in Chicago that she saw, I think, in like 2017. And that quote summoned thoughts about slavery, spirituality, beauty, survival, hope and freedom, and the Guardian, among other reviews, gave it very high or full marks even, and deemed it her best work yet, and I certainly would agree. I just love how unpredictable the album is. It's really a journey and no two songs are in the same neighborhood and I think it's a really exciting direction for her.

0:28:17 - Tara

That's cool. Yeah, I'll definitely have to check that one out more.

0:28:20 - Natalie

Yeah, I think there's some tracks on it you particularly would enjoy.

0:28:24 - Tara

I truly only know that one song puts your records on I know right. Yeah, I could do a little bit more diving into Corinne Bailey Rae.

0:28:32 - Natalie

I think this is the time she really surprised everybody with this one. That's cool.

0:28:37 - Tara

All right, all right, here we go.

0:28:39 - Natalie

We are at the finish line.

0:28:41 - Tara

This is my last one, number one. Again, no surprises here, scratchin' that nostalgic itch for me Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. The album is Counsel Skies. I listened to this record so much in 2023. It's Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' fourth studio album from the project. It was released in June.

Also and actually his brother, liam, has said about this song Dead to the World. How can such a mean-spirited little man write such a beautiful song? Those guys, they're just so mean to each other. But I love see this says so much honestly about that song number one. But I think it also says a lot about the album too. It's beautiful, it's so good, it's yeah, like I said, it's nostalgic, it's emotional, it feels oddly honest and humble, which the latter is not one I would usually relate to.

The Gallagher boys and his previous three albums have done well in the UK. They've gone to number one in the UK, but I would say little ever gets to the level that Oasis really got to. But I think this is probably the closest that we've gotten from any of the Gallagher brothers. You know, of course, we got a lot from them. We always get a lot from them headline-wise, but I would say that this album is kind of a game changer. I don't know how widely it crosses the whole pop culture world, but I think it's probably the best thing that we have gotten since the days of Oasis the big days of Oasis, in my opinion. I will say let's listen to Easy Now.

0:30:51 - Natalie

Yeah, I can definitely hear the wavelength you were on in 2023. All these tapes, yeah, right.

0:30:57 - Tara

It's like, if I'm not listening to 90s albums, I'm listening to music that sounds just like the 90s. That's a surprise, but I think this is a very listenable album. I also not only did I find myself listening to this album a ton in 2023, which is why it deserves to be on the top of my list but I got a chance to see them perform live. This is the only one in my top five lists that I got to see perform some of these songs live, and it even included the drummer from the Laws on Percussion, which I thought was really cool.

0:31:30 - Natalie

Yeah, where was this?

0:31:32 - Tara

And this was. This is just in town.

0:31:34 - Natalie

Okay, yeah, nice.

0:31:36 - Tara

But it was great and they did play some Oasis hits as well. But yeah, that's my list. Definitely alternative rock leaning this year for me.

0:31:48 - Natalie

Confession for you I haven't listened to any non-Oasis no Gallagher, no solo, no Gallagher of any kind ever, so I think this might have to be my education on what he's been up to. I think yeah, well, for the last few decades Just dive into this one, because this one's the one.

0:32:07 - Tara

Yeah.

0:32:08 - Natalie

That's the one, okay, cool yeah.

0:32:10 - Tara

Definitely it's great. I hate to say it, but it's great, it's so good.

0:32:14 - Natalie

I like your list. It's nice and tight, it's got a, it's got a direction, it's got a focus. You know.

0:32:20 - Tara

Yeah, yeah, totally yours as well. Very interesting. Don't know like any of them. I mean, obviously know some of the people, but like haven't heard any of those albums for sure.

0:32:30 - Speaker 3

Yeah.

0:32:31 - Tara

That just goes to show you the breadth and the like wide array of music that came out in 2023 that you know again. We only scratched the surface with just our top fives here.

0:32:42 - Natalie

Oh yeah, and again I struggle to even put these five together there's so many more Like. There's a lot of like a more electronica and like dance kind of things that didn't even get into this list. There was just a lot happening, but definitely.

I will not delay any further. Here is my number one. It's Multitudes by Feist. So this is the sixth studio album from Leslie Feist. She's been off my radar for quite a while, like years and years and years, but I'm so glad I caught this one because it is absolutely gorgeous.

Here's one of the singles from the album. It's called Hiding Out in the Open. I am obsessed with the harmonies in this track. Again, another voice that's already uniquely beautiful, and then you stack it up and it's just otherworldly. Such a pretty song.

And Feist is just a damn good songwriter too. You know, even just reading the lyrics alone, it's enough to make your eyes a bit glossy. She's just so thoughtful and clever and insightful. Multiple times while listening to this album, a line would just like stop me in my tracks and I'd have to pause and just let it sink in a little bit. You know, very thoughtful looking.

This has been described as her quietest album, as I believe. Like half the album has no drums or beat of any kind. Really, her voice is the focus here, and with a voice like that, you know it's always going to be a winning strategy. Pitchfork calls it ASMR folk for the tattered soul, so that was pretty cute. The most rhythmic tune is the opening track called Enlightening. This one feels like a Björk track too, like kind of a little post, a little homogenic kind in that era, but that's really it. You don't get anything that bombastic for the rest of the album. Oh, there's a pretty rock and sack solo on the track Borrow Trouble Terra that you might be into, since you've begun your sax journey.

Another favorite of mine is Become the Earth, which might be the most moving song about death I've heard. There was a lot going on when she started working on this album, right as the pandemic. Before the pandemic started, she'd adopted a daughter. Her father passed away, so it was just a lot to process. You know the pandemic, of course, just a lot going on, and I think it just really translated into easily one of the most beautiful records I've heard in a long time. It's been nominated for a Grammy this year for best engineered album, non classical. And yeah, man, leslie Feist is still killing it. It brings me joy because I've always loved and respected her and that's it, man.

0:35:35 - Tara

Guess, who produced and played on this album.

0:35:39 - Natalie

Don't say Dido.

0:35:40 - Natalie

Blake Mills

0:35:41 - Natalie oh look at us, man making connections again, just effortless. Here we go. We're on some kind of crazy wave, like I love it.

0:35:50 - Tara

Definitely yeah, I did see Feist live this year.

0:35:54 - Natalie

Oh, I'm so jealous. When did you see her?

0:35:56 - Tara

And I already have tickets to see her again this year.

0:36:00 - Natalie

Yeah, she was doing some kind of like residency last year.

0:36:03 - Tara

She played in at the Braves area oh yeah yeah. Whatever?

0:36:08 - Natalie

it's called. Oh, I love it.

0:36:10 - Tara

But she's opening for Sarah McLachlin.

0:36:13 - Natalie

You know what I saw that? I looked that up. I was like do I want to buy tickets for this just to see Fist? Go it's outside. I know, I know I'm thinking about it.

0:36:21 - Tara

Do it.

0:36:22 - Natalie

I'm definitely thinking about it.

0:36:24 - Tara

I bought the high dollar tickets just so I could be very close to Sarah McLachlin.

0:36:28 - Natalie

That's awesome. That's going to be a good show. Yeah, I'm very excited.

0:36:31 - Tara

Well, I love your list. I'm sorry, I almost forgot that you hadn't even done your number one yet there, but it's again, like I said before, all over the place in a good way. You dabbled in a little bit of everything.

0:36:42 - Natalie

I hope that's how you would describe me in general. Yeah, that's true All over the place in a good way.

0:36:47 - Tara

All over the place in a good way. You dabble on all the things and all the things. No, this is great.

0:36:53 - Natalie

And do we have some honorable mentions? Maybe Always. Yeah, what you got.

0:36:58 - Tara

Well, I'm not going to say what order, because I definitely plan on listing my top 10 on my Instagram for my friends. So right, on. I beg of you, natalie, you have to check out my Instagram to see the full top list, but I will highlight a few of my honorable mentions here. Obviously, blake Mills. I've already mentioned Blonde Redhead, khalila Kali Uchis. King Kroll Okay, I'm done. I'm not going to say anymore.

0:37:22 - Natalie

Okay, I had Senmori Moto had a record called Diagnosis Out Frost Children, speed Run, but I have to say Speed Run because they released two albums in 2023. Speed Run was dope. The latter one did not love. Let's see. One of Trix Point Never came out with again that I enjoyed. Also. Blonde Redhead Sit Down for Dinner. Nice and XG, new DNA yeah.

0:37:44 - Tara

Nice, yeah, that Blonde Redhead album was really lovely.

0:37:47 - Natalie

Oh, my gosh In love with that one, particularly the ones with the lady singing.

0:37:53 - Tara

Oh yeah, I just can't hear enough of her voice yeah. Yeah, I know Anoni has a new album in 2023, but I haven't even heard it yet, so I just know that I'm missing a ton of albums still.

0:38:07 - Natalie

Kali Uchis was good too.

0:38:09 - Tara

I liked her album. I really enjoyed it Well cool.

0:38:12 - Natalie

Georgia Smith. I'm sorry, let me shut up. We could just keep going on and on. There was so much good music last year. There was yeah, we'll chat about it in another turn, laurel.

0:38:19 - Tara

Halo. Yeah, there was so much good stuff, but yeah Well, it bodes well for 2024.

0:38:26 - Natalie

Great music is still being made, even though we do live in our 90s, 80s, 70s bubbles. It's good to come out every once in a while and say, oh wow, people are still making good shit. I'm going to go back in my bubble now.

0:38:37 - Tara

It's true, yeah Well, I think whatever the world will throw at us in 2024 will probably impact what we're listening to, and so I don't know who knows. Let's see. I'm excited to see what 2024 brings us.

0:38:52 - Natalie

I know what I'm looking forward to in 2024. It's all about that hairless whisper by Tara.

0:38:58 - Tara

That's the release.

0:38:59 - Natalie

I'm waiting for I'll be working on that. Well then, we should probably wrap up and close up here, so we can go home and practice our instruments.

0:39:06 - Tara

Yes, good call, I will see you next time.

0:39:09 - Natalie

All right, it's been real.

0:39:11 - Tara

Bye,

0:39:12 - Natalie

Bye everybody

0:39:14 - Tara

Congrats, You've made it to the end. Now let's see what some of the friends of the store have to say about what their top picks are.

0:39:20 - Jayda Abello

Hey, this is Jayda Abello in St Petersburg, Florida. My top releases of 2023 are Homefront Games of Power, black Thought and El Michaels Affair Glorious Game and lastly, the Dog's Melodies Massacre. Years on the Archival Label Reminder Record.

0:39:45 - Seth Nicholas Johnson

Hello, this is Seth Nicholas Johnson. I'm from the Washington State Zone and I am going to tell you my top three albums of 2023. Number one is Scaring the Hose by J Pegg, mafia and Danny Brown. It's really noisy and kind of caustic and experimental, but also very listenable. It's a great balance. Number two is Norm by Andy Shauf. If you like Andy Shauf, you'll love this. I think it's his best album yet. Everyone should listen to Norm by Andy Shauf. And number three, post American by MS Paint Really caustic kind of like noisy, hardcore kind of stuff, but also very melody based. If I were to make a bad analogy, I'd say it sounds like it's a mix between Fugazi and Modest Mouse. That's a bad analogy. Okay, bye.

0:40:40 - Crispin Kott

Hi Record Store Society. This is Crispin Kott in Oakland, California. My top three albums of the year Blur, the Ballad of Darren Sea blight, lemon Lights they're a San Francisco band and also from the Bay Area, Anna Hillburg's Tired Girls. Those are my top three albums of 2023. Can't wait to see what 2024 has to reveal.

0:41:09 - Mandy

Hey, Tara and Natalie, this is Mandy from Nebraska. My favorite albums from 2023 are Halo by Baker, Austin by Post Malone and Dead Club City by my absolute favorite band, Nothing but Thieves.

0:41:32 - Billy

Hey, I'm Billy from. Atlanta and my top three albums from 2023 were Everything but the Girl Fuse. Tracy Denim by Bar Italia and Crushed Extra Life.

0:41:50 - Rafael

Hello, my name is Rafael, from the South of Brazil, and here's my top five. Number five Black Pumas Chronicles of the Diamond. The groove is amazing. They are good on these and this album is solid. Number four I hope to not pronounce these wrong Yeule Soft Scars. Love the guitar tones, the atmosphere and all the album. Art is brilliant. Number three Anonhi, in collaboration with Anthony and the Jansons, my back was a bridge for you to cross. The album concept is pretty great. And what a voice out of this world. And, yeah, beautiful melodies. Number two Sufjan Stevens Javelin, a tormented soul. You got to love that. And then the man knows how to sing about a broken spirit. And yeah, number one Curveball. Don't Hate Me, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, council Skies. The Jesus of Manchester strikes again and there's something magical about an old white man recording on Abbey Road that moves me. I don't know. I'm sorry, but these are my top five.

0:43:05 - Dom

Hey gang, this is Dom from Melbourne, Australia, and my favorite album of 2023 was Five by Unknown Mortal Orchestra. If you don't know, unknown Mortal Orchestra, or UMO for short, they're a sort of vintage influenced psych rock band from Portland. They make really crunchy chill, but occasionally really they put out some bangers. If you do know them, this is my favorite UMO album. It's the best album they've ever made. I listened to it so much in 2023.

The Hawaiian influence from Ruben's background that has kind of always been there. It really comes through on this album and so much is going on. I feel like they cover so much ground in terms of genre, but it really all comes together in a very nice way. The other things that I really want to quickly mention the ML Buch album. Suntub Minimalist, electronic and kind of Glamour, very outdoorsy and sunny. Another one. Kristen Michael Haytor Saved, which is this earnest, mysterious Appalachian worship music album. Caroline Polachek, desire I Want to Turn Into you Stream of Consciousness, pop Record Phenomenal. And finally, dj Ramon's Sucesso Sexta dos Crias. This is a mind-blowing chaotic album. If you've never listened to Baila Funk, it's the next big thing and depending on where you are, it maybe is already the big thing.

So yeah that's what I was listening to in 2023. I'm looking forward to more good stuff in 2024. Okay, guys, thanks for listening.

Transcribed by https://podium.page

0:00:08 - Tara

Hi Natalie, hey Tara, how's it going?

0:00:24 - Natalie

It's going okay. Actually, I know it's going great. It's fall, it's good, this is my time.

I'm going to go to the beach. I'm going to go to the beach. It's fall. This is my time. I love it. It's getting cold, the leaves are falling. I love it.

0:00:33 - Tara

It's my favorite part of the year. All the colds. The winter colds are happening, the colds. I'm a little under the weather.

0:00:39 - Natalie

Pulling out the sweaters, the grey clouds I know I'm a weirdo. I'm happy. Summer's over, so ready for the end of the year.

0:00:47 - Tara

Yeah, me too. You know we just got past Halloween and now we're into fall, like you mentioned. Do you listen to a type of music in the fall? Always Like I do.

0:00:57 - Natalie

Like you do. Well, do tell. I think my habits change that much, but tell me what's your fall vibe.

0:01:03 - Tara

I always listen to like bleak kind of sad folk and stuff or you play old music. Yeah, yeah, oh hi, how are you? Hello, I'm Tara.

0:01:05 - Natalie

I'm Natalie.

0:01:06 - Tara

Let us know if you need anything. We'll be back here behind the counter gabbing away. Yeah, I like to listen to sort of bleak, dark, cold, wintery, cuddled by the fireplace type of music in the fall. Okay, right on, I dig it. It's broadcast season, is what I'm trying to say.

0:01:33 - Natalie

Yeah, you know who potentially will have a really dope kind of fall autumnal album coming out really soon and I'm super, super intrigued about it. Who is that Is Andre 3000. I know you've heard about this.

0:01:45 - Tara

Oh yeah, oh my God, I cannot wait for an instrumental flute album from Andre 3000.

0:01:53 - Natalie

The only man who could probably pull something like that off. I'm legit excited about it. Oh, look who it is.

0:02:00 - Tara

It's Scott Leeds, hello.

0:02:02 - Scott Leeds

Hello.

0:02:04 - Tara

How are you Good?

0:02:06 - Scott Leeds

It's been a while since I've been in the store.

0:02:08 - Tara

It has been a while since we've been in the store. We haven't played our eye bur riallup game in a really long time.

0:02:14 - Scott Leeds

I know, I know, like I forget what are the scores. I don't even remember, I don't either.

0:02:20 - Tara

Probably you were winning.

0:02:22 - Scott Leeds

I don't think so.

0:02:22 - Tara

Nope, I think we were always tying.

0:02:24 - Scott Leeds

I think we were. What is this?

0:02:27 - Tara

What are you talking about? Do you know the? Remember Natalie the eye bur riallup game? When Seth was working in the store, he would play this game with Scott Leeds and I, and we would guess what song he was playing backwards.

0:02:41 - Natalie

Oh yeah.

0:02:41 - Tara

Okay, yes, yes, yeah, it was a fun time. We should, we should do that again soon.

0:02:46 - Scott Leeds

Yeah. It's very like McEnroe 1980, wimbledon, just back back, back, back back. Like every time I tried to pull ahead I was like yes, and then I would lose one and you'd get two and be like damn it, yeah, oh, yeah, yeah.

0:03:00 - Tara

Man speaking of the 80s. We were just recently talking about comeback albums and stranger things, and now we're talking about how Andre 3000 has an instrumental record coming out soon.

0:03:13 - Scott Leeds

As a flautist.

0:03:14 - Tara

Who knew yeah? I'm so excited, I'm so excited.

0:03:18 - Scott Leeds

I mean I think he like, he like, gave out that statement where he's like look guys, I really tried to make like a hip hop album, but it just came out as a flute record and it's like awesome, like I'm in, I'm totally yeah.

0:03:29 - Tara

I mean, that's a huge comeback too. 20 years it's been since.

0:03:32 - Scott Leeds

I can't believe it's been that long.

0:03:35 - Tara

Yeah, it doesn't feel like it, I think. I think just after like 10 years.

0:03:39 - Scott Leeds

I think we all just sort of gave up, you know, because, like we're always like well, because like big boy, like routinely just put stuff out all the time, and so it made like the chasm even wider that we were getting nothing from under 3000. And, yeah, I think forever. Like I remember, like the pitchforks and the stereo gums, always like is this the year? Is this the year? And then after a while they just stopped reporting. I think we all just got too heartbroken. And then now, as like after we've all long forgotten it, he's like I'm back, but it's a flute record and we're like okay.

0:04:04 - Natalie

That's probably what needed to happen, Just like all that added pressure was like oh no, man, just need to like give the man some space, you know, let him have his journey, totally, totally.

0:04:14 - Scott Leeds

He was like deified Like that's gonna be so much pressure.

0:04:17 - Natalie

And like rightly so.

0:04:19 - Scott Leeds

I mean, you know, but like I don't think I could ever like take that kind of pressure, I would just literally go into hiding and become a hermit.

0:04:26 - Tara

Yeah, see, that's the thing, though and I heard a podcast talking about this recently, where he was always taking his walks and had his flute with him, like he would go to Starbucks and be waiting for his coffee and he would just play the flute while he's outside waiting for coffee, and people were Instagramming him playing his flute and stuff, and like I feel like we saw him enough out in the world that we, like, weren't worried about him. I guess, I don't know, it's not like Britney Spears, where we see her on Instagram and we're worried about her, but Andre was out there like taking his walks and he seemed happy and he was doing some guest appearances here or there and yeah, I don't know, he just seemed good.

So we just wanted more from him, because we love him, so much, I mean because it's Andre 3000.

0:05:08 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, yeah, it's like when you're that good, it's like don't stop. I'm very excited to see, like, what this flute album entails, because even if it's just like a standard jazz flute record, I'm like that's still a fucking cool move.

0:05:20 - Natalie

Well, the album has been described as a quote stunning 87 minute mind bender, minimalist and experimental, tribal and transcendent. It's a lot of words.

0:05:29 - Scott Leeds

All of that is good. Yeah, let's do it. That's you know. On all beef patty special sauce. There's all good ingredients, so I'm all in.

0:05:38 - Tara

Yeah, so thank you for being a transcendent and maybe other worldly. Congratulations on your new book, Schrader's Chord.

0:05:45 - Scott Leeds

Thank you, thank you.

0:05:48 - Tara

It is so good, thank you. I'm a big fan of Stephen King. I haven't read all of them, but I have read quite a few of them at least, and I feel like you're like the new Stephen King, because this book, to me it's all the good parts of Stephen King. It's not the weird, like questionable bits, it's the enjoyable, like fantasy, weird, not weird. You know what I mean, oh yeah, well, first of all like that's a huge compliment.

0:06:15 - Scott Leeds

So thank you, it's not true at all, but I really appreciate that. That's I mean I am a huge King fan as well. Yeah, I have like every first edition you know wrapped in a bro dart, because I'm that guy that wraps his books in bro darts. But like it's it took me a long time, especially like the Gunslinger first edition. Yeah, Like Salem's lot first edition shining first edition. It was tough to get a hold of those. Oh the stand, oh God Cause, when they re released the stand. And like the super expanded edition. Like all those first editions were so hard to find and you had to get like book club additions and subtle for those. Sorry, I'm going real deep on like book collecting.

0:06:49 - Tara

but this is crazy. That's how I am with records. Yeah, like they just reissued all the Cape Bush records but like the OG first pressing is still out there for like five bucks.

0:07:00 - Scott Leeds

Yeah.

0:07:01 - Tara

Why? Why get the reissue when you can have the real thing?

0:07:04 - Scott Leeds

Exactly, exactly, yeah, it's so like when I moved from LA to New York, I had to like choose a physical medium, like cause I had so many records, I had so many like DVDs and Blu-rays and so many books, and I just I was like, well, I, I'm moving into a studio apartment in Manhattan, like I'm not going to be able to hold all three of these, so I just went with books and all my records and DVDs came back up to Spokane in my childhood house and they're still sitting there and like every once in a while, like I'll go down, look at my record collection, cause I have like I don't listen to records much anymore, just cause I don't really have a place to put a record player, but yeah, they're still down there. So whenever you know I'd get some room to set up like a really nice high-fi system, I got them all there.

0:07:43 - Tara

I mean. But again, speaking of record players, high systems, the book, I mean the fact that you tie in a record store records all this music. It's, it's just so. It speaks to me I thought that would be very happy to hear.

0:08:00 - Natalie

You very masterfully drop in some good tidbits for true audio files out there and little bits of history and stuff and it was great. I, I plowed through it like three or four days. It was very compelling. It was very impressed with it.

0:08:12 - Scott Leeds

You guys are going to make me blush. I like I was that's. It's really funny. I remember I was talking to my editors at night fire and they had expressed not like concern, but they were just like, look, are some of these references like too deep? And I was like, look, there's like 100% references like the Beatles, everybody's going to get that. And then there's like 50% references for those that are like they're like active music listeners, but they're they don't go too deep. And then there's like the 1% jokes that people you know, like the John Cage joke, not many will get that, but those that will like hopefully they'll be like.

This guy sees me.

0:08:44 - Tara

This guy gets it. Yeah, so yeah like and so yeah, I star stuff.

0:08:49 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, totally, I've had so many people come to be, just like I never knew who big star was, and it's so like which makes me really happy, or it's like good, that's the more people that know the better. But yeah, and it was also I wanted to be really cognizant of doing like pop culture drops, because, like, sometimes it can seem really cloying and again, I don't know if I succeeded or not, but like I tried to make them and like, if you said it in a record store, music is the vernacular, so it seems hopefully more organic than it would be. It was just like two people hanging out in like a coffee shop or something, even though that would all seem probably normal to us in a coffee shop.

Yeah, so it hopefully gave the vehicle to let those pop culture drops seem a little bit more organic as opposed to in a different medium.

0:09:28 - Tara

Yeah, Absolutely, Just so that our friends in the record store kind of have an idea. I mean, I feel like we're hinting a little bit at it. But I'm going to just read the very short blur, but from your publisher, the description of your book Schrader's Court. It says heart shaped box meets the haunting of Hill House. In Schrader's Court, Scott Leeds chilling debut about cursed final records that open a gateway to the land of the dead.

0:09:56 - Scott Leeds

And I want to make one thing very clear for those so heart shaped box, not the Nirvana song, the Joe Hill book and haunting of Hill House, not the Shirley Jackson book, the Mike Flanagan show, like that's. You know, if you go in there expecting the Shirley Jackson book, I'll be so heartbroken because, like that, like it's not that at all. As much as I love it, it has the best first paragraph in any book of all time. She did it, she did it. Everybody tries right the perfect first paragraph. But she got it down and one day I will get that whole thing tattooed on me.

0:10:23 - Tara

I don't know. Yeah, To me it was more like high fidelity meets beetle juice meets final destination meets maybe some other Stephen King something. It's so funny Like I've heard a couple of people say like high fidelity.

0:10:37 - Scott Leeds

I'm like, well, yeah, but like I've heard a couple of people say beetle juice, which makes me so happy, but like that's not, was in my, it wasn't in my brain, but it's obviously like imprinted on my DNA. But yeah, like I've had people say like hellraiser, because they're like, oh, it's like the records are like the puzzle box, that kind of open up. Again I was like right, yeah, that's, yeah, that makes sense. And then final destination. I've never seen final destination any of them. And so when even my editor was like oh, yeah, it's like finals today, Like the death is coming for them and I know this is like they mean like dead, like me she's like no final destination. The movie is like hi, I never saw it and then I finally did watch it. Really good, it's really good.

0:11:08 - Tara

Oh my God Dead. Like me, I loved that show.

0:11:10 - Scott Leeds

So good. That's one of those shows. I have to be careful because if I watch too many episodes I everything will kill me, Like I'll go downstairs and be like that. Peanut butter is sitting too precariously close to the edge of the shelf.

0:11:20 - Tara

Yeah, no, but I think I told Natalie there's humor in some of these weird scenes and I again I don't want to give too much way but like the dad reminds me of, of Beetlejuice, like Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, and so if there's ever a movie of Shader Squad which I hope there will be, although I don't know how you could film any some parts of those, like I'm not going to ruin it, but like some parts will be very hard to capture in a movie situation, but the dad should definitely be Michael Keaton, just like Beetlejuice.

0:11:51 - Scott Leeds

That is great casting. That's great casting. That would be really, really good. Yeah, if they ever make a movie, I just want to see how they, how the composer makes the chord.

Yeah, I kind of wrote any future composer into like a corner, because I was like, what are you going to do? Like you know, you have to use like sub microtonal notes and all this kind of stuff and make it sound like really, really out there and unlike any chord that's ever been made, and so in my head it's sort of like Polymorphia, the Pendresci piece of music, it's just all that like you best probably heard for those that don't know Pendresci, it was in the Shining where it is just like these like million A tonal notes all going up and down the strings and it's. It can be really nauseating when you listen to it, and I should have put that on my my list today, not to jump forward, but that's a good one. That'll be a, a, what do you call that? A runner up an honorable mention.

0:12:37 - Tara

Yeah, well, I think you just hinted at it, but every time. Sorry, I don't mean to like.

0:12:41 - Scott Leeds

I'm not trying to like push the schedule forward.

0:12:44 - Tara

Well, it's just. It's good that you're here, because every time we have our friends in the store, we always play the high fidelity game, as you know, because you've been here before and you've played it with us, which I think the last time you played the high fidelity game with us it might have been Christmas songs.

0:12:59 - Scott Leeds

It was Christmas songs.

0:13:00 - Tara

Wow.

0:13:01 - Scott Leeds

Yeah.

0:13:02 - Tara

And so I was thinking. You know it's getting cold outside. You have your spooky book or your rock and roll horror book. Yeah, there's a lot of songs out there that fit onto a Halloween playlist.

0:13:15 - Scott Leeds

True.

0:13:16 - Tara

And we just had Halloween, but aren't necessarily Halloween songs, Like not the monster mash but like songs on records that just sound kind of spooky, kind of eerie. When we have our friends in this store, we like to play the high fidelity game. Do you want to play with us today?

0:13:32 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, totally.

0:13:32 - Tara

Heck yeah.

0:13:33 - Natalie

Sweet. It sounds like you came prepared. I did.

0:13:37 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, this was a pretty easy one to do. I am, yeah, like, especially like this time of year, like these songs. These songs work well.

0:13:44 - Tara

Right yeah.

0:13:45 - Scott Leeds

Yeah.

0:13:46 - Tara

Well, do you have a? Do you have music that you listen to when it's fall and winter? Oh, without a doubt.

0:13:51 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, I, it's funny like I separate my stones by between like 60 stones and 70 stones. Like 70 stones is summer music, that's like you know, some girls and yeah, yeah, like, but like 60 stones, like between the buttons and aftermath, that that's, that's, that's winter, that's cold stones, warm stones is 70s, but yeah, and like I, I do. I like I listened to a lot of like moon face, like Spencer Krug's solo stuff, like his his album Julia with blue jeans on, and like the city record EP, because as he recorded it, I think, somewhere in Scandinavia, like in the winter, so it just sounds super cold. Yeah, I listened to like a lot of Joy Division. Like it's hard for me to listen to Joy Division in the summer, so I'm just like I'm not supposed to be bummed out right now.

0:14:31 - Tara

Right. Plus, you're supposed to be wearing like a black cardigan, maybe black leather jacket, like jeans, boots. Yeah, exactly, exactly. I feel so weird to listen to it in the summertime.

0:14:40 - Scott Leeds

Exactly, although I remember like my, my ex-girlfriend would always give me so much shit living in New York because I would just wear my like Doc Martin boots all year round and be like 110 degrees in the city. She's like, why, what's the matter with you? And I was like, first of all, they like fit like a glove, they're perfect. But I would like I'd get back from walking around the city for six hours and my feet would just be just like two ovens. I was like, yeah, she'll probably get some tennis shoes.

0:15:03 - Tara

Are you born? Are you from from Seattle, from?

0:15:06 - Scott Leeds

yeah, so I like lived in Seattle for a few years, then lived in, then grew up in Spokane, which is like 280 miles east on the other side of Washington state, which is even colder than Seattle Gets like snow six months of the year- yeah, Well, I was going to say.

0:15:21 - Tara

your answer should have been like I'm from Washington state.

0:15:24 - Scott Leeds

I'm wearing my.

0:15:25 - Tara

Doc Martins.

0:15:26 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, like I have like pine sap in my blood, Like this is, you know, we don't do warm weather well, yeah, Like when I lived in LA. I lived in LA for like 10 years and all my friends are like, why do you wear jackets all the time? It's like because I have to, because it's just I can't. And like if I just wear a t-shirt, I just feel like I'm like a five year old, I feel like I'm Dennis the menace. It just doesn't, doesn't work for me. Yeah.

0:15:46 - Tara

Wow, okay, wait. So, natalie, last time we did a high five game, I went first, so it's your turn to go first this time, okay.

0:15:54 - Natalie

Yeah, yeah, I can do that, all right. So we're doing songs that aren't really intended to be spooky but are kind of spooky, yeah, okay, okay. So I don't think any of the songs on my list could could end up in a Halloween playlist per se, but maybe. But these are just songs that creep me out on a personal level, all right. So there's something about my psychology that just doesn't jive. So I'm going to start with my number five pick. It's what game shall we play today? From Chick Korea and Return to Forever.

Now, that's a totally random, random thing to pick, because it's actually one of my favorite songs, classic Jazz Fusion album from Return to Forever, I think in 1972. But and I love the song, it makes me so happy, it's just so great. But there's something, something about stuff that's just too happy and charming and light that just has like this undercurrent. There's just something sinister about it under the surface. It makes me feel like some Hansel and Gretel shits happening and I'm being carted off to my doom. Do you know what I mean? Like I love the song, but if I'm at home alone at night and I'm just vibing to music, I would never put this on. If I'm like driving out on a deserted country road at night. I would never put this on, because there's just something that creeps me out about it. I don't know what it is.

0:17:21 - Scott Leeds

There is like a weird like sinister fairy tale kind of aspect to it, right, yeah, yeah, that's a good thing I can hear that it's got this like sing-songy.

0:17:29 - Natalie

it's like I'm being hexed.

0:17:31 - Tara

And actually of the songs in your book, which again, maybe this is a question I want to ask you too about this guy's how did you pick the songs in the book? Because there are songs like that, Natalie, that are kind of like happy but not, but if you put them in the right setting it can be totally creepy, like Ico come on yeah.

0:17:52 - Scott Leeds

Yeah totally Ico. Ico ended up in there just because like that might be like in my top five songs of all time. Like when I lived in New Orleans, just to hear people like in the street just like calling out Jacques, mofi and Anet, like it's just it's part of the vernacular, I just loved that song, like my dad loved that song. But yeah, like that was in there and like I always like there's a part where like a car crashes and like Petula Clark's downtown is playing and like I don't know there's something about that. Like maybe because it was like featured in Jaws 2, I don't know, like they always kind of had like a creepy aspect to it.

0:18:21 - Tara

It was also in short circuit, though.

0:18:23 - Scott Leeds

That's true. Also, that's also true. Oh, good old Johnny five. But yeah, like picking the songs, I can say this like the book was originally a lot longer, so I cut out a lot and right up until the final edit, I was switching out songs all the time. So it's funny because I don't even really know what ended up in the book because I changed them out so many times. But yeah, I did create a playlist with most of the stuff that was in there that did get taken out, coupled with all the stuff that's in there as well. Oh, okay.

0:18:50 - Tara

That's gonna be another question, like what are all of these songs? Where did they come from, cause I know they weren't all mentioned in the book, that's for sure.

0:18:58 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, A lot of them were in the book to begin with. A lot of them were songs I was listening to, I was writing the book. A lot of them are some of them. Some of them are songs that I think that certain characters would like, and then some there are titles that just hint at stuff that happens in the book.

0:19:14 - Tara

Oh cool.

0:19:15 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, like, there's even like. And then there's a song in there like the Nick Cave song Bright Horses off of Ghostine. That's just a reference to. There's a scene with horses that's hopefully pretty horrific.

0:19:24 - Tara

Yeah, it's shocking.

0:19:26 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, so yeah, that's kind of what it is, yeah, but it is it's. I was very dubious about a lot of the song choices Cause I was like once it's there and it's printed, it's done and I can't go back and change it. And, as I'm sure people like us all know, like when creating a playlist, it's you know, it's, you're like, oh, but like there's gotta be a better one out there. I know there's a better track that can fit in this space.

0:19:48 - Tara

Yeah.

0:19:49 - Scott Leeds

And so we just torture ourselves and eventually you just gotta let it go.

0:19:52 - Tara

Yeah, Back to your song though, Natalie I go is definitely one of those that's like kind of happy but can be creepy, Just like the Chikariya song.

0:20:01 - Natalie

Yeah, it's, it's an effect that I. It's something that I think is particularly effective, like in video games too, where nothing creeps me out more than running around in this apocalyptic or like spooky horror setting and then there's like a radio somewhere playing some fun, lighthearted dance music from the forties or something.

0:20:17 - Scott Leeds

Oh yeah, that gets me every time.

0:20:20 - Natalie

Oh yeah, I hate that so much. Yeah, all right, so my next pick is the Wu-Tang Clan Triumph.

0:20:31 - Natalie

I'm the old Cyrus of this shit. Wu-tang is here forever, so I had to get the Wu-Tang. Clan in there in general, because a lot of their songs.

0:20:38 - Natalie

I think they have some really cool like horror-esque kind of creepy beats going on with these samples that are just really evocative of like a horror setting and I picked Triumph from their 97, big comeback album, wu-tang Forever. This particular track I think it's the only Wu-Tang track with all the members present, which is pretty good. I think it's the only Wu-Tang track with all the members present, which is pretty dope.

0:20:59 - Scott Leeds

Is that real? Is that right?

0:21:01 - Natalie

Yeah, I think so. It includes what's widely regarded as one of the best verses in hip hop history from Inspector Deck right at the beginning. It's one of my favorites. But yeah, this beat from RZA always always super spooky, especially when the strings come in on like the higher octave and there's some kind of like organ sounding synth he brings on. It's just, it's straight out of Transylvania. Yeah, I love it, it's really, really good. Another fun spooky connection with this track I read this in a complex magazine interview. Method man says that this track was recorded in Ray Parker Jr Studio.

No way who created and performed the Ghostbusters theme another iconic spooky banger so I always thought that was kind of a fun connection.

0:21:43 - Tara

Yeah, that is a fun connection.

0:21:46 - Scott Leeds

It's a part of Ghostbusters that always confused me. When he's just like you know, like I hear it likes the girls, you're like why Ray? Like where did that come from? Like everything else makes sense, even the weird like Bustin Makes Me Feel Good line, which is questionable, it's the best. But like I hear it likes the girls, like I mean maybe phonetically it just fit. But I want to like, I want to like sit down with Ray and be like why that line? Yeah, when did that come from?

0:22:10 - Natalie

Yo, since you mentioned it, there is an entire remix of that song based off of that line. Bustin Makes Me Feel Good and when I say it is my ultimate dance anthem, my partner and I like if we want to get, if we want to pregame or like, just have a little silly dance party at home.

0:22:25 - Speaker 4

Bustin, that is the jam. You should look that up on YouTube.

0:22:27 - Natalie

It's awesome.

0:22:28 - Scott Leeds

That's awesome.

0:22:29 - Natalie

It's so good, All right. So my number three pick is Arca Confianza oh yeah.

So Confianza. This is from her 2021 album, kick 2. Okay, this song I felt the panic in my chest immediately because it just it gets too weird, too fast. It just kind of catches me off guard Like there's no, it doesn't hold your hand. It's this crazy experimental, avant-garde electro reggaeton kind of shindig and it's a ride. It's a real ride. The piano is just absolutely gorgeous and her singing is just all frenzied and defiant and tormented. It's really intense. But lyrically the song is just it's I think it's just an empowering and passionate call to action. You know, confianza, of course, means confidence. The lyrics are basically about embracing your desires and asserting yourself boldly. I mean, just look at the cover art for this album. Like Confianza sounds the way the cover looks basically Like we're we're delving into some very kinky shit here. It's intriguing, also kind of terrifying.

0:23:42 - Scott Leeds

Kind of yeah, like like Clive Barker's works Like kinky and terrifying, like you cannot look away.

0:23:48 - Natalie

Exactly exactly, but I do love this song. Yeah, it's strange, as it makes me feel.

0:23:54 - Scott Leeds

Special, like Arca's. I mean and just the fact that you know, like when like Bjorkan picks you to work with her, like that's saying something, yeah, that was a strange era that that Arca Bjork. The Arca Bjork era.

0:24:05 - Natalie

I don't know how I feel about that one Kind of lost me on that one, but I respect it. You know, that's cool Little bit, I don't know this one.

0:24:12 - Tara

I don't know that Arca song. I'll have to check it out. But I know, the album art, and it was definitely a very strange thing. Yeah, yeah, that's a very intense kind of yeah, a lot going on. That's a good way of describing it for sure.

0:24:26 - Natalie

Okay, we are in the home stretch. My number two pick is Apex Twin Beatles Apex Twin.

0:24:33 - Natalie

Beatles under my carpet, under my feet.

0:24:41 - Natalie

They come out with Ooh, trying to think which one that is. It's from his 96 Girlboy EP.

0:24:47 - Scott Leeds

Okay.

0:24:48 - Natalie

Yeah, the first time I heard this track I was mad and comfortable. It freaked me out because I felt like I was being set up for a crazy jump scare. You know, right, it made me very paranoid. It's like this weird twisted children's nursery rhyme thing. Yeah, and the lyrics are just random. I don't want Beatles under my feet. I don't like creepy crawlies hiding under the carpet. Just the imagery alone was like eh, that's okay. I don't know, it's a little bit like the Chick Korea. It just sounds too happy into like eh, yeah, for kids.

0:25:16 - Tara

There was a YouTube video that I saw like in the early 2000s or late 90s I can't remember Probably early 2000s and I thought it was Apex Twin, but it was something like Rubber Boy or something like that. Do you guys happen to know what I'm talking about?

0:25:32 - Natalie

Rubber.

0:25:32 - Tara

Boy and it was like this, like I don't know, for whatever reason, like the video made it seem like this was a real person, but it was like strange, like like oh yeah, rubber Johnny, rubber Johnny.

0:25:45 - Natalie

Yes, this is Rubber Johnny. Was that? That was a Chris Cunningham? Yeah, man. Oh, was that that was Apex.

0:25:50 - Tara

That was weird.

0:25:51 - Natalie

Yeah, it was. It was very weird yeah.

0:25:53 - Scott Leeds

Was there a?

0:25:53 - Tara

video for that one yeah.

0:25:54 - Scott Leeds

There is.

0:25:55 - Tara

It's creepy, that's what.

0:25:57 - Scott Leeds

I was thinking. It's a Chris Cunningham video oh, chris Cunningham, I thought I heard that name for a second. Okay, I think I have seen that one.

0:26:03 - Natalie

Yeah, yeah, Apex Twin really messed up my sleep frequently in my teens. Awesome, so creepy. Actually, recently, like in 2020, I think there was a video of what I who I assume was Apex Twin singing this song Beatles and he's doing that creepy shit where he superimposes that weird smiling face from his album covers over his own and it's all distorted while he's singing. It's just very upsetting. I have seen that, so if you want to be creeped out again. You should look it up.

0:26:31 - Tara

I saw Apex Twin at Primavera Sound in 2017. And he did that on people's faces in the crowd. It was sorry.

0:26:39 - Natalie

Oh, yeah, it was weird, it was weird.

0:26:42 - Tara

He had some special video effect Super creepy.

0:26:45 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, definitely one of the creepiest faces in music is that face. Yeah, yeah.

0:26:50 - Natalie

Just iconic, iconically terrifying.

0:26:52 - Scott Leeds

Yeah.

0:26:52 - Natalie

That and the come to daddy. You know screaming.

0:26:55 - Scott Leeds

Oh, yeah, yeah, John hinging thing.

0:26:58 - Natalie

Oh God, all right. So my number one pick is very super random, but this one creeps me out too. It's from Leraji. Is this clear? Part three Is this very clear?

0:27:21 - Scott Leeds

I don't know this one.

0:27:22 - Natalie

I'm familiar with Leraji, so Leraji is one of the pioneers of ambient music and this is a track from his 1984 album, vision Songs, volume One. So he's been pretty active even to this day, releasing music since the late 70s, including his 1980 album Ambient Three Day of Radiance, which was produced by Brian Eno.

0:27:42 - Scott Leeds

Nice.

0:27:43 - Natalie

But Vision Songs is like his magnum opus. So there are three versions of this song. Is this clear on the album? I don't know why. It's all good, whatever, but this one is definitely the strangest. It's the final track on the album and it comes off even stranger when you've heard the previous two versions. It's just really out of left field. So in this version, after each stands up, it pitches up, the music speeds up, his voice gets a little bit more chip monkey and you're just like why is this happening? And it just sort of repeats and gets faster and faster and pitchier and pitchier and by the end the song is just kind of chugging along. And I just would love to ask him what inspired this choice. Well, I want to read the lyrics.

0:28:24 - Tara

He's playing at Big Ears this year, this next year, oh yeah. You should go and ask him.

0:28:29 - Natalie

Oh, that's hysterical. Oh, that would be really cool.

0:28:33 - Scott Leeds

They just walk up and be like why I love that he's still making music.

0:28:36 - Natalie

I'll just scream it at him, just like that. Why? So here's the lyrics, because I think they're cool. It goes like this this is where this is going on. This is where this is taking place. This is how this is going on. Is this very clear? You couldn't be that because that is that and you are this this way. Is this very clear? You couldn't know know about that because you are this and this is all you can be. Is this very clear? And I just love that. I think the whole thing, all three parts, is just this meditation. It's like this extended mantra. I just think it's a vibe.

0:29:07 - Scott Leeds

But yet it ends. Really weird. I'm adding it right now.

0:29:10 - Tara

That reminds me of some more nightmare fuel that I remember from my childhood. There was this live action Alice in Wonderland called Looking Through the Looking Glass or something like that. Or Through the Looking Glass. John Stamos is in it and Pat Marinus, or wait, the Mr Miyagi guy.

0:29:28 - Scott Leeds

I forget his name oh, pat Marita, pat Marita, okay.

0:29:32 - Tara

And then all these other people, I don't know why. Those are the only two I can remember off the top of my head right now, but Carol Channing, and she's the one who's in the nightmare fuel, but she's pricked her finger on her pin after she had just gotten finished singing this song Jam tomorrow, jam yesterday, but never, ever jam today. And Alice is helping her, or whatever, and she's like how's your thumb? And she's like beta, much beta, and then she turns into a sheep.

0:30:00 - Scott Leeds

I think that might be the same one. Is that the one with Sammy Davis Jr who plays the caterpillar?

0:30:06 - Tara

Yes.

0:30:07 - Scott Leeds

Is it things? You were old, father William. What is this? Yes, isn't that also the same one too? Like where, like in like one of the houses. They're like screaming like pepper and they like keep putting like pepper on the baby and then, like the baby turns into a pig.

0:30:19 - Tara

Pig. Yes, yeah, yeah.

0:30:21 - Scott Leeds

And that's where like the Jabberwocky shows up and it's like super creepy, yeah that was a good one, and it's like this, like wet looking Tyrannosaurus Rex monster thing. Yeah, it's all made of like shiny, like black Mylar, yeah, yeah.

0:30:34 - Tara

The 80s. Why was I watching some of this stuff as a child?

0:30:37 - Scott Leeds

I don't know, but like.

0:30:38 - Tara

Dark crystal and everything.

0:30:40 - Scott Leeds

There's some creepy stuff Like never ending story, especially like the G'mork, like the wolf like thing is like really creepy, like Morilla the ancient one, like the giant turtle, super creepy. But it's so good, it's so good and plus I mean you got Lee Maldew and the theme song with Georgia Maroder, like you can't go wrong.

0:30:57 - Tara

And Artex dying scene, if you've watched as an adult, is too real. I'm like how was I not Trump? Maybe I was Trump. I mentioned that in the book. Oh yeah, yeah, artex.

0:31:06 - Scott Leeds

And the bottomless pit of sadness. It's so sad.

0:31:10 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, I think God Artex comes back at the end like spoilers everybody from that 1984 movie. But Artex does come back.

0:31:16 - Tara

If you haven't seen it yet, you're really missing out.

0:31:18 - Scott Leeds

It's so good yeah, it's so creepy that quote.

0:31:21 - Natalie

That sounds terrifying.

0:31:22 - Tara

The lyrics from that Lirajee song reminded me of the jam tomorrow, jam yesterday but never, ever jam today.

0:31:29 - Natalie

Okay, well, definitely listen to it before bed in the dark.

0:31:31 - Scott Leeds

Okay, I'll do that, I'll do that.

0:31:32 - Scott Leeds

It's all cozy, just get nice and creeped out.

0:31:35 - Natalie

All right, well, that's my list of spooky songs that have traumatized me over time.

0:31:40 - Tara

There are some songs on there that I'm just totally unfamiliar with, and now I am a little bit afraid to listen to them, though.

0:31:47 - Scott Leeds

I know, yeah, I wrote down like three of them. I was like, okay, I'm in.

0:31:51 - Natalie

Sweet, so creepy. My job is done, all right. Well, I'm gonna hand it off to the Har master. Scott, we wanna?

0:31:59 - Scott Leeds

hear I was like is that me? I don't know.

0:32:01 - Natalie

That is indeed you.

0:32:02 - Scott Leeds

We wanna hear your spooky songs. I don't know if the book is that scary. I can tell you this the next book will be a lot scarier, oh.

0:32:09 - Tara

How long did it take you to write Stratus Court?

0:32:12 - Scott Leeds

About four months.

0:32:13 - Tara

That's it, four months.

0:32:15 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, four months yeah.

0:32:17 - Tara

And some of the imagery, like the horse thing you were just talking about. I'm like how does that even, how do you even come up with a scene like that?

0:32:23 - Scott Leeds

It's so crazy. I can still remember I was in bed it was like two in the morning and I was just listening to music or whatever like that and that scene just went boop and I was like fuck, it All right.

0:32:34 - Tara

Were you on drugs.

0:32:35 - Scott Leeds

No, no, Like I just was hanging out and it just popped in there and I was like, and I was so tired Like I wanted to go to sleep, but I was like if I don't write this now, I mean I'm gonna forget it.

0:32:44 - Natalie

So I got out of bed.

0:32:45 - Scott Leeds

The Muse Beckins my dog was really pissed off because he was like laying on my feet and I was like you gotta get off, and so I pushed him off and then sat down right here and typed it out yeah, it just popped in there.

0:32:55 - Tara

Even the I'm just gonna say the tree. That was disturbing.

0:33:01 - Scott Leeds

That was my little love letter to poltergeist, like when I saw that movie when I was a kid, and like the tree like comes to the window and like takes the kid, and like that just scared the hell out of me. And yeah, there is a big tree right outside my childhood window that has these just long reaching claws that when I was a kid would scrape against my window and I asked my dad so many times to go and just clip off those branches and he was like yeah, yeah, I will, I will, I will. And then never did, cause I'm like, I get it, it was kind of precarious to get, cause I'm above, like what this? Like kind of gabled roof kind of thing, and I get it, I wouldn't want to go up there either, but yeah, just scared the hell out of me.

0:33:35 - Tara

The bathtub scene. Is that an homage to the shining?

0:33:37 - Scott Leeds

It is it is to Mrs Massey yeah, that's but it felt like that. Yeah and like, but.

0:33:44 - Tara

It also creeped me out, just like that one did that one like it's.

0:33:47 - Scott Leeds

I've like people have talked to me about that scene a couple of times where they were like you know, what is it about it that made you want to write? I was like, well, first of all it was a homage to the shining and like woman in a bathtub, anybody in a bathtub that's not supposed to be there is not not cool man. But what really made me? To me it's like it's sad, scary, cause there is something really horrifying about feeling or the thought of dying in a place and nobody knows that you're there and you know how. You know I'm not giving you any way, it's just one of the scare scenes in the book. But like she reaches out, she grabs Anna and is just like don't leave me. Like nobody knows that I died here and that to me, is like way scarier and like I've had people like that's not scary and I'm like, well, that's cool, but that terrifies me, like if I die like somebody better find me immediately, cause I don't want to be just sitting here rotting. That'd be terrible.

0:34:32 - Tara

That's kind of how I feel about Candy man. Like it feels like such a sad story to me. I grew up in this like really bad part of town and yeah, I think there, man, it's been a long time since the scene, that movie too, but I think there's like a Romeo Juliet, like love situation couldn't happen then either and I like, like let's be real too.

0:34:51 - Scott Leeds

Like Tony Todd is genius. He performed that role of Candy man better than anybody else that I can think of could like he did it with such like gravitas, but also like he got the creepy factor in there and also like he also did put the bees in his mouth too. Which is insane. Where you're like man, like that is dedication to your craft and, like you know, also like it's the music, is Philip class. It's just it is. You know it's a. That is a classy horror movie right there.

0:35:17 - Tara

Yeah.

0:35:18 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, I haven't seen the new one, though, like the one that Jordan Peele produced. I haven't seen that one yet, but I'm I want to.

0:35:24 - Tara

Yeah, I haven't either. I didn't even know there was a new one. Yeah, I don't know if I could watch a new one. I love the original one so much.

0:35:31 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, I don't know I'm I'm into it Like you know, like, if you guys like, if there's a different take on it, like I, like, I'm super into like the new Chucky show which is so good.

0:35:39 - Tara

There's a new Chucky show.

0:35:41 - Scott Leeds

It's so good it's it's like it's one of those things where you're like there's no reason this show should be as good as it is and it totally is.

0:35:48 - Natalie

Where is?

0:35:48 - Scott Leeds

that. Where do you watch that? I watch it on Peacock, but I think you can also get it on Hulu. I think you can get it a couple other places. But yeah, it's, it's super good. And like they tackle like Don Mancini, the guy who created Chucky and has kind of written Chucky all the way through the whole series. He's sort of the keeper of the key to Chucky. Like he like works some really timely stuff into the storyline which you'd think like for a Chucky story, like it wouldn't really make sense, but it really does in the story and it's yeah, they tackle some really kind of like hot button issues or you're like right on Way to go Chucky.

0:36:20 - Natalie

Interesting.

0:36:21 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, I mean the doll doesn't, but like the show does, right, yeah, yeah, but it's really good. It's really good.

0:36:28 - Tara

Another thing I wanted to talk about before we get into your list, if that's okay, is the setting in Seattle. Because things like that I love when a writer puts their, their place, their hometown or like where they live and things like that in their books. Because, like Cormac McCarthy, for example, on the road he had a house in Louisville, tennessee, where I grew up, and you can tell I mean he doesn't outright say it, but the way he describes some of the landscapes when they're crossing pretty much the South to get to the coast, it's post apocalyptic, son and dad going to you know a new place and yeah, I just feel like you can tell he's in, like Knoxville, yeah, he's like crossing through Tennessee in some parts and I'm like, okay, this is it. You can just tell you know, because from there and I don't know, Totally puts another connection to the story for me, and I know you're.

you live in Seattle. You've been there for a while, or?

0:37:21 - Scott Leeds

I'm all over. I'm all over, I'm all over the place, Like, yeah, it's like I live for a long time in Seattle, Spokane, Portland, Bellingham, I've been all over the Pacific Northwest.

0:37:29 - Tara

But yeah, seattle is all in your book. You even talk about KEXP. You talk about other record stores, not just the Cuckoo's Nest. But is the Cuckoo's Nest real and how did you?

0:37:41 - Scott Leeds

So yeah, the Cuckoo's Nest is not real, Like Fremont is a very real place, but Asterian Avenue is not real. So, like I you know was, it.

0:37:51 - Tara

That's the street the record store is on.

0:37:53 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, the bar across the street, so the bar El Camino is real.

0:37:58 - Tara

Oh.

0:37:59 - Scott Leeds

OK, and it's a great place. It does not have a jukebox, not least that I remember, but I saw it. But I, you know, I was like you guys need a jukebox, throw it in there. But yeah, like a Shuckers restaurant, the Oyster Bar where Charlie runs into a particularly spooky dead guy is a very real place. And I was just in Seattle with Seth and they seated us at the booth and like we didn't ask, like they just sat us in that booth. I was like I'm sitting where the guy has the gun, but yeah, so yeah, there are very real places in there.

I just, you know, I wanted to, like you said, like you know, cormac McCarthy writes a lot about the South and the Southwest and Southeast and that's kind of his area. King obviously writes a lot about Maine, like you know. Like John Irving writes a lot about sort of the Northeast and stuff and I was like, well, I've lived in most of these places but the Pacific Northwest is my home and it's the place that I know the best and also it's just really great setting for creepy stuff to happen.

It's just got a good creepy vibe to it. I mean, you know there's a reason Lynch set Twin Peaks here, because it looks like that. Lots of log trucks.

0:39:05 - Tara

Yeah, which? Yeah, final destination.

0:39:09 - Scott Leeds

Oh yeah, and I know what that reference now, because now I've seen that movie.

0:39:12 - Tara

Nice, ok, well, I'm excited to hear your list of creepy, not Halloween songs.

0:39:18 - Scott Leeds

So creepy, not Halloween songs. The first one, we've talked about it a couple of times and, Natalie, you've even mentioned, like you know, walking in an abandoned area and having radio play like an old creepy 40s song. I got to pull it right from the shining. It's Midnight, the Stars and you by Al Bully and his orchestra. When Jack Torrance is walking into the gold room Midnight were the stars and you.

Midnight and a wrongly moon or the gold ballroom it's. I love 1930s and 40s big band. It might be my favorite type of music other than New Orleans Jazz and, yeah, this song. When I saw this like when I saw this movie as a kid it was just like there's something beautiful, there's something really spooky about it, there's something really romantic about it, but it is unsettling and I just love it.

0:40:12 - Tara

Yeah, that's a good one. I mean, it does really have such a good effect, it does.

0:40:17 - Scott Leeds

And Cooper had like so many songs to choose from and he picked the right one Like that's the one you know like you could have picked an Artie Shaw song, a Glenn Miller song, a Harry James song, a Spike Jon song. So many different songs he could have chosen, but none of them would have worked as good as well as that one. So yeah, there's something super creepy.

0:40:38 - Natalie

Do you think there's like musically, a reason why that is?

0:40:42 - Scott Leeds

I think honestly it's the arrangement. There's just something it's got that really slow swing to it, Because obviously there were slow songs back in the 30s and 40s in the big band era, I mean, you know like Moonlight Serenade and Begin the Big Ean and stuff. But there's just something about the arrangement of the song, about the melody, where it just feels sort of like a memory.

0:41:02 - Natalie

Yeah.

0:41:03 - Scott Leeds

Yeah. So I think there's just because the actual lyrics you know and for me, I'm not a lyrics person, that's not to say that I don't like them, but I just I always listen to the music first and lyric second, which has got me in trouble with a lot of relationships. We're all sent a playlist to be like why'd you send me this song? I'd be like because it's amazing. Like, listen to the music. They're like did you listen to the lyrics? And I was like, no, she's like it's a breakup song. I was like, yeah, I retract that song, but did you hear, like, the change from like a B to like an E, sharp, like it was so good.

0:41:30 - Tara

That's like the cure songs they all sound pretty happy, but they're like incredibly depressing and sad lyrically.

0:41:36 - Scott Leeds

And yet, like Robert Smith, has been with his partner for like ever.

0:41:41 - Scott Leeds

And so you're like are they sad songs?

0:41:44 - Scott Leeds

Because, I mean, are they?

0:41:46 - Tara

The habitange of sad, you know.

0:41:48 - Scott Leeds

I mean, true, he is, like you know, one of those like artsy, fartsy kind of goth kids. You know, like it's just like, oh, I'm sad and you know, and we love him for that. But yeah, like I remember when I found out like he's been with his person for like 40 years and I was like it kind of it put the songs in a new light, cause I always thought like man Robert Smith just must have broken up with, had so many bad breakups, and then like yeah, and like yeah, like the entire length of the cure he's been with her.

0:42:12 - Natalie

And I'm like maybe they weren't sad songs.

0:42:13 - Scott Leeds

Maybe they were happy songs.

0:42:14 - Tara

Love songs. Yeah, just, you know, dressed just dressed in black tulle.

0:42:18 - Scott Leeds

Yes, there is goth love songs yeah totally which is smeared lipstick.

0:42:22 - Tara

Yeah, that's true.

0:42:24 - Scott Leeds

So my number four. Again, I can't really speak to lyrics very much, but there's something about the music that's oddly unsettling. I don't know if it's necessarily spooky or creepy, but it always just kind of sets me off. And then we did talk about her before, but it's a unison the last song on Vespartine by Bjork Before you count one, two, three, I will have grown my own private branch.

There's something just really just like two clicks left of center. I just feel like one foot off the merry-go-round when I hear that song and it's gorgeous, and it's sprawling and it's beautiful. But yeah, it also just kind of makes me unnerved a little bit.

0:43:08 - Tara

Wait, can you say that line again about the merry-go-round? What did you?

0:43:12 - Scott Leeds

say what did I say? I don't listen to words. I say I just talk until someone tells me to shut up.

0:43:18 - Tara

Two clicks off to the left of center.

0:43:19 - Scott Leeds

Oh, two clicks left of center, something merry-go-round. Oh yeah, like one foot off the merry-go-round.

0:43:23 - Tara

One foot off the merry-go-round.

0:43:25 - Scott Leeds

Yeah.

0:43:26 - Tara

That's a little bit how I feel about, or maybe it's because of the music video, but violently happy.

0:43:31 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, yeah, where it's just. Yeah, it's just, you just feel a little off. Yeah, yeah.

0:43:36 - Tara

But it's so fun and very happy but like the video and the words violently happy make you think okay, crazy person, yeah.

0:43:46 - Natalie

Definitely the end of that song, like when the choir comes in, yeah, and everything just gets all swirly and the beat, the music drops away.

0:43:53 - Scott Leeds

And it gets all like enmeshed yeah.

0:43:56 - Natalie

Yeah, it's like the floor has been pulled from underneath.

0:43:59 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, totally.

0:44:00 - Natalie

Yeah, I get that for sure, yeah.

0:44:02 - Scott Leeds

So yeah, so that's number four. Number three, a relatively new song, I guess I think Midnight, the Stars and you is the only really kind of old song here, but it's Unmade by Tom York, which he wrote for Suspiria Unmade, unmade, unmade, which it's very spooky to me, but it's also Again, I don't really can't really speak to the lyrics, but the music itself is so incredibly sad and almost it's got despair, and despair for me kind of turns into spookiness. It's not a song I can listen to every day. It's one of the more beautiful songs I've ever heard. It really, I think, solidified Tom York as as an equal of Johnny Greenwood's when it comes to film composition, because it's not that I ever thought Tom would do a Worst job. I'm just like man, that's, that's Johnny's place. And then what are you doing, tom? And then I heard the soundtrack and I was like nope, yep, you're, you're just as good.

Yeah and that song. Just, I remember seeing that movie for the first time at the end, when, you know I don't want to spoil anything, but something like super Wackadoo happens at the end. But this song is playing and it's, it's just viscera and violence and and just oodles and oozled oodles of blood, but set to this really sad, very delicate, very Just, this tune full of despair. And so I think the, the mixture of the, my memory of that scene and the song kind of lend itself to a creepiness, sort of an off kilterness, because I think for me, creepiness I, you know creepiness is is like, you know, it's like a fingerprint.

Everybody's definition is a little bit different, I think, and for me, I've always think I, the thing that scares me the most, of things that creeps me out the most in the world, are the absurd. You know like, sure, there's a monster in the closet, that's scary, right, but if there's, you know, like, a toaster in the closet that sings happy birthday every five minutes, that's really creepy, like I. Why, why like? Why is this right? You know, like Natalie, when you were talking about, yeah, that song where you were just like, I just want to ask why, why did you keep speeding up, like the lyric, like why, why does it do that? The in the absurd always scared me.

0:46:18 - Tara

I was gonna say. I feel like it kind of makes you question your own sanity too, which makes you like what's yeah.

0:46:25 - Scott Leeds

When the reason for something yeah well, when the reason for something is hidden, that kind of creeps me out. Yeah, it's the same thing. Like I I'd mentioned Clive Barker earlier. Like I saw Hellraiser when I was way too young, much too young to understand the themes that he was talking about, but there was something about it that scared me to the point where just the visuals, like the centabytes, like when they would do, you know, I had no Concept of like SNM when I was five, you know.

So I didn't understand, like what's with the self mutilation, why, you know, when, like all the black leather and there was some like there was something very clearly adult Happening here that I couldn't understand, that I couldn't wrap my brain around, and something so absurd about the way they looked and how they weren't like Jason or Freddie, where they were coming after Christie cotton with a knife, where they were basically like you know, we're angels to some, demons to others, and I was like that doesn't make sense. You know I'm a kid. I understand crazy person with a knife, like I understand that, but I don't understand there's like nuance to this and how, you know, frank cotton finding the box, the whole point of the box was to find new realms of pleasure. I'm like why would pain be pleasure? That's was absurd to me, and so that movie is always really stuck with me, and I've since loved every single word that Clive Barker has written and, and I love him did Clive Barker do in the mouth of madness?

No, that was John Carpenter. John Carpenter but a very similar vibe.

0:47:46 - Tara

Yeah. There's the guy with the crazy white hair riding the bicycle that has a card stuck in the wheel like perfect example you keep, you keep seeing this dude over and over and it's so creepy and so bizarre and you're like that. More than anything in that book was the most terrifying thing.

0:48:04 - Scott Leeds

Totally agree, you just go, why why? Is that there and that's that's the stuff that scares me the most, and I think that that happens in music too, where you just go why and I love the why, I love that they do it, but it's it did always kind of spooks me.

0:48:18 - Natalie

Yeah, yeah, I just. I just want to ask you one more question, because I've been trying for ages to work up the courage to watch this video.

0:48:24 - Tara

Okay, I feel like I haven't seen me this.

0:48:27 - Natalie

I feel like I would appreciate it. I want to experience the music and context and everything, but I don't do well with her. Okay, like I'm yeah, I'm completely chicken when it comes to her, especially when it's like you said, when it's absurdist or if it's more psychological, like you can give me slasher gore all day, I'm fine. But those the things that kind of tickle your gray matter, that's the stuff I don't do so well with. Should I give it up, or do you think it's worth the continued effort to try to watch this movie?

0:48:54 - Scott Leeds

Have you seen the original Suspiria?

0:48:56 - Natalie

the Argento version even worse.

0:48:59 - Scott Leeds

It's. I would say the original Suspiria is closer to a slasher it's. It's really beautiful, it's very colorful. I mean like, if you like technicolor, like that movies for you. The thing that I love about the Luca Guadagnino Suspiria the new one is that it's a fucking vibe, like it's. It's there are definitely creepy moments to it and like the end is like very visceral and bloody, but what it really is is it is the feeling of a cold, rainy day. You know what this is, you know pre Wall coming down Germany. It's a very sort of desolate, very desaturated, very cold movie and when you're done with it it's gonna take a while to shake it off.

I don't know if it'll scare you. It didn't scare me. And just because I'm a, I write horror does not mean I don't get scared. I get scared of everything. That's how I know what's scary to write. I'm not a brave person by any stretch of imagination. I think anybody who's a horror writer that's not scared of anything would be like the haunted remote control, like they don't know what to write about. So, like movies scare me all the time, but Suspiria didn't scare me. Suspiria, just yeah, it's just a vibe. I think you'd be okay.

Oh man, now I want to watch it more than ever, yeah and like that's the other thing too, like the soundtrack is so good. It's a very long movie. It's very deliberately paced, but it will. It will, if you're anything like me. It'll sort of leave this film on you and like I had to like take a shower afterward, not because I was like disgusted, but I just needed to like wash the movie off me so I could go about my day and be productive, because if not, I would just sit there in a room like whoa, like all can out, like it was dope, it's okay.

0:50:42 - Natalie

I'm gonna try to watch it. If it doesn't go well, I will be forwarding you my therapist.

0:50:46 - Scott Leeds

Well, it sounds good, sounds good deal. Now I kind of want to watch it again myself. My next pick is from an Italian movie in the 70s. I don't know if he would technically call it a giallo film, but it's. It's pretty close. There are probably listeners that are like yeah or listeners that are like no, but the the movie is Sette note and Nero or seven notes in black, and this piece of music is by Vince Timpera and most people wouldn't know it because Rissa sampled it in Kill Bill volume one.

I think it's the scene where Uma Thurman is in the hospital room and she wakes back up out of the coma and she basically, like you know, like slices the dude's Achilles heel, and it's that, you know. Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum.

And so this is, this is where it came from, that is all, just it's. It's a beautiful melody but it is really just creepy as hell and it's really effective. And you know, just as a fun bit too, like I don't think they put it on the soundtrack, or maybe they did, but they had like Like sound bites from the movies over a movie over it, which is like, no, don't do that, just give us Rissa's track to give us the one he used. But it's really cool to like listen to them back and forth because like that's where, like, rissa is really smart, where he's like he recognized, like the melody is beautiful and he didn't. He didn't change it too much, but he changed it just enough to like put his own stamp on it, but he didn't like overwhelm it, like he let it breathe still. Yeah, what a genius. Anyway, that's number two, and then my first one. My number one creepy song that is not a Halloween song but still creeps me out is John Wayne Gacy Jr by Sufjan Stevens.

0:52:53 - Scott Leeds

It's one of those songs and, again, I I'm not a lyric listener, but when I read the title of the, the song, I'm like why I gotta listen to what he's saying here. And I think what makes it so creepy is the tenderness of his voice, the sweetness of the melody and the horrifying lyrics it's just it's again, it's sort of off kilter it's.

It's like an apple in a hand grenade, you know it's. They're just kind of there at the same time. It's sweet and violent at the same time. And then horrifying and and tragic and it's really really creepy and yeah and just, and when at the end of the song he just gives out this big, just exhale, where it's like, it's like, it's not a sigh, it's just like a like it's just, you can tell like he had to, he's trying himself to wash that off of it, like off of him, wash it out of the system. Yeah, so that's my, that's my number one.

0:53:42 - Tara

I don't recognize that song, you know, by the title, but your description of it I can. I can imagine it, you know.

0:53:50 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, yeah, it's off of Chicago and it is, or I see it's not Chicago, but come on, feel the Illinois. Yeah, it's, it's creepy.

0:53:59 - Natalie

I always thought his voice was very haunting and chilling.

0:54:03 - Scott Leeds

I, I always I always say his voice is like a, the ghost of a camp counselor that I once had. Like you know, he's like that cool camp counselor, but he drowned, you know, and now he's back and he's got his little guitar and his little hat and he just like singing really good songs totally so.

0:54:21 - Natalie

Those are my five quick question for you, scott, before we jump into a terrorist list. I'm just curious about your process when it comes to like character development for the characters in your in your book. Did you have clear real-life models that you patterned these characters after?

0:54:39 - Scott Leeds

only for one character, anna Cortez. She based on a very close friend of mine. I think I can out her because I thank her the back of the book too. But I have a friend of Genesis, rodriguez who's an actor and like a brilliant actor and she was in tusk, the Kevin Smith movie, and she's been a bunch of other stuff. She was just in neon on Netflix go check it out. She was on an Umbrella Academy season three on Netflix. So she was, she was heavily, anna was heavily based on her. Well, like half of Anna was heavily based on her. The other half was really based on me. People I was like was Charlie you? And I was like no more Anna.

But yeah, everybody else is, is is kind of just pulled out of the ether. You know, I think everybody like has like little bits and pieces of people we've all known or personality we personalities we've known, because I think it's almost impossible to create somebody that doesn't exist At all. But yeah, when it comes to character development, I really just I think I learned it all from, from Stephen King, whereas just like I'm not a huge person who is interested in plot, I really like characters. You know, like I love like the movie, my dinner with Andre, like what's. Like yeah, it's just two people having dinner and talking, like I'm in and Like that's the other thing too.

Like I I don't read a lot of horror. I, you know, always read the new Stephen King because I love him, and or if there's a new Clive Barker or like Ramsay Campbell and stuff like that and and I have a few friends that write horror and I'll read their books and there's great stuff that comes out on my imprint night fire as well that I'll read. But yeah, most of what I read is just like sad bastard stories of, like college professors who had affairs with a student. You know, like a lot of Philip Roth novels, norman Mailer, like the new Zadie Smith book is Might be one of the best books I've read ever.

Like I love Zadie Smith a lot, but like this new one is Anybody that can write in like a new vernacular and keep it up through an entire book, to say nothing. The fact that it's a very long book is Amazing to me. It's the same thing with Ken Keezy doing cuckoo's nest, where it's written in like chief Brompton's vernacular the whole way through. Like that's tough to keep up. But yeah, so I really like like character studies. It's like as pretentious as that sounds. So yeah, I for me, just plot just gets in the way. I'm like I don't have to go make them do something. I just want us to have them sit them like just talk for two hours. But I can't do that because it wouldn't let me.

0:56:56 - Tara

I really liked Dale.

0:56:57 - Scott Leeds

Dale yeah. I was just gonna say that the leather vest with fringe is based on a very real guy that used to run the battle the bands here in Washington. But yeah, just just the look of him was sort of based on that, not the person because he was not from from Northern England. Yeah, I like Dale too.

0:57:15 - Natalie

Dale's cool. He was like so funny. I was gonna give you like props on on that character development because I didn't. I certainly didn't expect to become as attached to the characters as I did. Yeah, and it's Certainly not a minor character, you know, or comparatively minor character like Dale. Yeah, I just I vibed with him the most, like that would have been me in that scenario. Yeah, like I leave me out of this.

0:57:36 - Scott Leeds

Like there's some of them too. That like again, the book was way longer, so the characters came back, like Susan the older sister, like she came back. She doesn't in the book. One of my favorite characters is Harold. He's one of the guys that buys, or he's like. He's into big 40s Big band from the 40s. I really love him. He's a customer and like I'm like I just want to hang out with Harold.

0:57:54 - Scott Leeds

I just kept writing him and writing him yeah.

0:57:56 - Scott Leeds

I was like I'm sorry, harold, I gotta cut you like it's. Yeah, I gotta cut like 40,000 words and a lot of that was Harold, a lot of that was Susan. So, yeah, it is. It's tough when you're like I really love these people and I don't want to, but if it doesn't kind of add to the plot or if it doesn't push it forward, you know it's like you got to go, sure, but that makes me very happy that you connected with the characters, that's. That's that's like the only goal. Like honestly, like if you're like, yeah, I hated the book, but I love the characters, I'm like awesome, we're good.

0:58:23 - Tara

Yeah, it's a good question, natalie Well shall I do my list?

0:58:27 - Scott Leeds

I think so.

0:58:28 - Tara

Are you?

0:58:29 - Scott Leeds

ready, let's do it.

0:58:30 - Tara

Okay, my number five actually, Scott, you mentioned something about like despair and that's being kind of a dark thing. Yeah, my number five is Daniel Johnston. Despair came knocking.

0:58:55 - Scott Leeds

Nice.

0:58:55 - Tara

It's from 1983's Hi, how Are you? It has like this kind of sad sounding toy guitar sound and he's singing about despair, visiting him and smoking and how he let her in for a while. It's just really really well, weird number one, but it does sound really sad, which gives it this creepy vibe. And he also says and I saw you at the funeral. You were standing there like a temple. I said hi, how are you? Hello, and I pulled up a casket and crawled in. Just invokes this sort of weird, scary, claustrophobic anxiety feeling in me.

0:59:40 - Scott Leeds

Oh, totally, and like we could do top five creepiest Daniel Johnston songs, like that guy had a knack for just that sort of yeah, that kind of spooky, kind of creepy kind of. Again, I think it has a lot of. It has to do with loneliness too. Yeah, you know, not that I want to tell his story, but he was obviously for a lot of his life a very lonely guy, either literally just being alone and kind of shutting himself away and making all that music, or you know, figuratively lonely, just kind of he was so brilliant, you know, given his sort of mental faculties and like you know what he could do and what he couldn't do, and just being sort of this savant, this genius. I imagine that has to set you apart from the people you're around, because you're just on a completely different wavelength and that must be really lonely.

1:00:29 - Tara

Definitely that documentary is very good.

1:00:32 - Scott Leeds

The Devil and Daniel Johnston.

1:00:34 - Tara

Yeah, if anyone in the story hasn't seen it you should so good.

1:00:36 - Scott Leeds

It's really sad. It's good yeah.

1:00:39 - Tara

All right, my number four. This one is definitely more of a like. This one fits too well on maybe a Halloween playlist, but it's Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath.

1:00:48 - Scott Leeds

Okay, yeah, oh, no, no, please, god help me.

1:01:01 - Tara

This is Total Duman Gloom. It was released Friday the 13th in 1970, in February. Of all days, Friday the 13th, which it's like heavily vehicle already. So Friday the 13th being the release day is perfect. It just you know. And of course, like, besides the fact that it's also heavy metal, it's evil, it's paganism, it's horror movies through and through.

1:01:26 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, and based on and named after the horror movie Black Sabbath.

1:01:29 - Tara

Oh, yeah, which is what Tolkien no.

1:01:34 - Scott Leeds

Who did Black Sabbath? Karen Black, I think, was in it, and yeah, I don't remember it was it. It was Mario Bava. I was thinking that.

1:01:44 - Tara

I don't know, I'm not familiar with that one.

1:01:45 - Natalie

This album cover spooks me yeah. Like when I think about the song, I just immediately think about that imagery and I'm like, yeah, that's pretty creepy.

1:01:54 - Tara

Yeah, I mean plus the tritone like guitar sounds in the very beginning and they're very slow and just like heavy. The singer from Judas Priest, rob Halford, said that this is the most evil track that's ever been written. The lyrics start with what is this that stands before me, figure in black, which points at me? You know, it's just that, like you know, you can imagine it being a kid and in seeing weird shapes of people in your room and stuff like that, or even just outside your window or shadows. Just, I would love to talk about Art Bell one day in the store. That would be very cool. But yeah, just such a creepy song.

And also, okay, I think it was. Maybe it was Giza Butler, but he said there was this like weekly magazine called man, Myth and Magic that he started reading. It was all about Satan and stuff, and also Ozzy gave him this 16th century book about magic that he'd stolen from somewhere. So he put it in the airing cupboard, which is like, I guess, like an open cabinet thing, because he wasn't sure about it, and later that night woke up and saw this black shadow at the end of his bed. It was a horrible presence that frightened the life out of me. I ran to the airing cupboard and threw the book out, but the book had disappeared After that. I gave up all that stuff. So it's just. You know. Even the story around how the song was written is just so very very, very creepy.

1:03:19 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, I don't think there's like much more creepy than like an old, like English book of like spells and magic. We're just like, yeah, I'm not touching that thing. Yeah, so it might as well be like the Necronomicon, like I'm not touching it.

1:03:30 - Natalie

Yeah, you know what's crazy? I'm just I'm thinking about this now, but it's kind of fascinating how this music probably impacted my life so much more than I even realize, without like, even before I knew who black Sabbath was Like. Think about how insane this was for society in the 70s and that kind of set the stage for the Satanic Panic of the 80s. And when I was born and I know that really really had a huge impact on my youth in a very, very bad way. You know, it was hard to grow up in those times and especially being like in a very religious home and things like that. Yeah, it all stemmed from this, this era of music and art that people just didn't understand, didn't know how to deal with. And if you don't know what something is, if you don't get it, then it must be demonic.

1:04:15 - Scott Leeds

Oh, yeah, I remember like I was almost expelled from like I went to Catholic school growing up I was also born in the 80s and I remember when I was a kid I think it was like fifth grade and then, like there was one of these priests was one of our teachers and I just remember like raising my hand and being like why is Satan bad? And like the priest was like you're kidding, right, great question. And I was like, yeah, but I'm like. But think about it.

Right, like he gets cast out of hell or cast out of heaven. He's basically running hell. And like he doesn't want to do that but like he still craves like the love of God and like the light of God in heaven. So like he's going to do it, like he has to because he has to do with God, says he's still in it, he's a fallen angel, but he's still an angel. Like he can't say like no, I'm not going to run hell, I'm going to go move to Cleveland. Like he's he has to run hell, so he still loves God. He's still be like yeah, all right, like I'll take my punishment, I'll run hell. Like you're not a bad dude, you know like and like. The priest was like out and I was like I just it's a question. I mean, come on, make sense right. Yeah, wow, yeah, but like everybody, like a mischievous kid.

There was that fear of like that, like satanic panic where, like you know, people I mean, I like even in the nineties, like when people were talking about like Marilyn Manson being like a devil worshiper and stuff like that and so so strange to me. You know, it just has way cooler art, that's right.

1:05:31 - Natalie

You know that's a whole other conversation. But yeah, the wild with this stuff.

1:05:37 - Scott Leeds

It's like, you know, like Paradise Lost awesome poem. Dante's Inferno awesome book. You know like everybody, like everybody knows Inferno they don't know. Like Paradiso and what was the middle one, purgatorio Like no one quotes from those.

1:05:53 - Tara

It's always Inferno, man, oh gosh, okay. Well, I feel like the next one is somehow creepier than Black Sabbath to be honest, oh no. Number three is Suicide Frankie Teardrop.

1:06:06 - Scott Leeds

That was almost on my list.

1:06:23 - Tara

Dude, this song is so creepy Okay, it's a little bit the shining poverty stricken factory worker guys going to the factory doing his job is just driven to absolute insanity. Comes home from work, murders his wife and child and then himself. Sorry, trigger warning I probably should have said. But also the music background is just very sparse.

1:06:47 - Scott Leeds

And then it's like 10 minutes every once in a while.

1:06:49 - Tara

Yeah, it's like 10 minutes long. And then every once in a while you hear Alan Vega is just like crazy inhuman screaming and it's terrifying. It's absolutely terrifying. Nick Hornby wrote in his book 31 songs that this is the one you could only listen to once, only once.

1:07:07 - Scott Leeds

It is kind of like the ruckum for a dream of songs, like when you're done with it you're like I don't need to do that again.

1:07:12 - Tara

Yeah.

1:07:13 - Scott Leeds

But it is, it is super creepy.

1:07:15 - Tara

There was even a radio show Sharpling's long running weekly call in radio show called the Best Show Did the Frankie Teardrop challenge where he would challenge fans of the show to listen to the song in headphones as loudly as possible at nighttime and while alone, and then they would regularly call in and say that they couldn't do it. Only a few people could actually finish all 10 minutes and 26 seconds of the song.

1:07:46 - Natalie

I mean, yeah, it's going to be a note for me. I've never heard this and it's not for me, it's not for my ears.

1:07:53 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, it's pretty unsettling, it's disturbing yeah.

1:07:56 - Tara

Yeah, it's messed up. Yeah, All right.

1:07:59 - Natalie

How did you discover this song? Like what?

1:08:01 - Tara

I love Suicide.

1:08:02 - Scott Leeds

How.

1:08:03 - Tara

Sheree, sheree.

1:08:04 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, suicide's pretty awesome. I was like one of those like early 80s like no wave bands. This is just one of those songs Like I can't. It kind of reminds me of what's the first song on closer, the Joy Division album. This is the way Step Inside, like there's something about the way the drums play in that song, like it. Just it kind of gives me like a similar vibe where I'm just like this just sounds like ultimate sadness and just pain.

1:08:29 - Tara

Like this is cursed.

1:08:30 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, it's cursed, it's definitely cursed All right.

1:08:33 - Tara

The next one, Number two, Broadcast and Focus Group, a seyouncing song. The songs are they blue?

1:08:51 - Scott Leeds

Are they blue in the blue In?

1:08:53 - Tara

the blue afternoon, there you go, broadcast and Focus Group, and they do this collaboration, which is, I guess, they're sharing sources of inspiration like soundtrack, music, pulp, science Fiction, occult text, jazz. Wait, is it for a movie? I think it is for a movie, right? Oh no, that's their Berberian sound album. I can't listen to that one either.

1:09:13 - Natalie

It's terrible.

1:09:14 - Tara

But no, this one is a little less terrifying but still very creepy. But there's just a lot of weird samples from like nursery rhymes and horror movies and weird ritual things and it's just creepy.

1:09:26 - Natalie

So yeah, a seaouncing song from Tara, your songs are just straight up scary. I'm sorry they're scary. We bypass spooky to just scary.

1:09:37 - Tara

They're creepy. Yeah, they're unsettling, though. All of these songs are unsettling. Yeah, I feel like the Black Sabbath one is definitely.

1:09:45 - Scott Leeds

I'm trying to imagine what your number one would be.

1:09:47 - Tara

Okay, it's not a scary one. Did you just go like full?

1:09:49 - Scott Leeds

wolf eyes. No, they're like their song, stabbed in the Face.

1:09:58 - Scott Leeds

I would have loved to hear Casey Kasem being just like you know, and now coming in at number 39, it's Wolf Eyes with Stabbed in the Face. Here's a letter.

1:10:07 - Natalie

That is a great Casey Kasem letter.

1:10:10 - Scott Leeds

It's the first time I've ever tried it. I was like I was wondering, like in my brain, is this going to fly? I don't know.

1:10:14 - Tara

That was a good one. No, no, actually, my number one is not. It sounds scarier than what it actually is. I think it's from the 90s, it's the band Boss Hog and it's the song Texas.

1:10:41 - Scott Leeds

I don't know that song.

1:10:42 - Tara

It's creepy. The lyrics are I'm in Texas, I'm in pain, I'm bleeding and ashamed and it's. It's got this like heavy kind of dark cello string music, but it's John Spencer and his wife of the blues.

1:10:56 - Scott Leeds

It's not Tina's.

1:10:57 - Tara

Yes, of the blues explosion.

1:10:59 - Scott Leeds

I never heard them either, I just know the name.

1:11:01 - Tara

Oh yeah, this. This came from their 1995 album called Boss Hog. I actually bought this album when I was on a band competition in high school. I was playing bassoon in concert season and we were playing Schindler's list music from For this like concert season thing, which is overwhelming also that movie and music very Just what Schindler's list? Affects you?

Yes, oh yeah but I bought this Boss Hog CD in a Record store in Canada, in Toronto. I was like I want something that's. You know, I've never heard it before and I wanted, I wanted to remember it for this moment. And it was Boss Hog. This is the CD that I got, but I knew a song from their album. Anyways, I dig you. Which is fun, another fun one.

1:11:52 - Scott Leeds

I'm gonna check them out.

1:11:52 - Tara

This isn't their regular MO, but it's such a creepy sounding song that I have to.

1:11:58 - Natalie

I like it, skip it yeah.

1:11:59 - Tara

I have to skip it because it's like, okay, this is. I can't listen to this right now. It's too creepy.

1:12:04 - Natalie

This could be you on the cover too.

1:12:05 - Tara

Oh yeah, with the umbrella yeah. That's my list. Yeah, I think mine are probably just like. These songs will make you kill someone. They are disturbing.

1:12:15 - Scott Leeds

Okay. So were there any like runner-ups, ones that almost made the list, that we were like ah, but just just didn't make the list.

1:12:21 - Tara

What about you? Oh?

1:12:22 - Scott Leeds

well, frankie teardrops was on there but like my, like this one, I don't think quite made the cut, but it is like speaking of like top five songs of all time, this might be my number one, which is the st James infirmary, the cab Callaway version.

1:12:36 - Tara

Oh.

1:12:36 - Scott Leeds

I mean I love all versions of that song but like those lyrics, like those are. Like I know all the lyrics like the old songs from the 30s and 40s, but like that one I've just loved it since I was a kid. It's a really weird sad song about, you know, I'm a man going there and finding his lady in the morgue and then just sings the rest of song about death and, like you know, when I die you know bury me in straightly Bridges, a boxback suit and the sets in hat. And also, like there's a moment in the show Tremay I don't know if you guys have seen that show, but when Wendell Pierce who you know we knew from the wire In this show, like he's sad, like he's got his trombone with him. He's just sitting in the emergency room and he starts singing a version of st James infirmary.

It's so beautiful and so sad and yeah and it's also just it's, you know, reminds me of my time living in New Orleans, which is one of the best places on earth, especially if you're a jazz nut, like it's just the band, if you like spooky stuff too, because, like, like all those summaries, spending Halloween in New Orleans like one of the best times of my life. So yeah, st James infirmary that's, that was my was my runner-up.

1:13:42 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, what about you guys?

1:13:45 - Natalie

Well, I had see David Bowie Subterranean's nice. Frank Zappa sleeping in a jar. I had any portas head song. Yeah, I just tried to stay away from trip hop all of its creepy. Had some a tecra and blonde redhead melody. Very nice, oh yeah that's a good yeah.

1:14:04 - Scott Leeds

I like tola maya by Ethel Cain. I don't know if you guys have heard that song really out there, and and I did have stabbed in the face by wolf eyes and then Eraser by nine inch nails, that song creep me out when I was a kid.

1:14:18 - Tara

Mm-hmm, yeah, I had dead Ken dance, the host of, say, our film. Yeah which is that song that they play during the whole, like weird, cult, sex, cult thing and eyes wide shut, Yep yeah creepy Mm-hmm.

1:14:32 - Natalie

Yeah, just a parting thought here. Do you think the songs that we call creepy, like individually, it says something about our own personal deepest, darkest fears, you know.

1:14:42 - Scott Leeds

I think so.

1:14:43 - Natalie

Because I hear, I hear, mine and mine are all based on being misled to my do right. You know, yours seem to be about like defying logic or things not being as they should. Yeah, making sense, yeah, and mine is like the terrace is just yeah, like right. Tara's like resisting her dark urge to murder.

1:15:05 - Tara

Oh my gosh, wow, I love it.

1:15:08 - Scott Leeds

No, I think there's something to that like that's that's one of the beautiful things about horror too when it's like there are so many people and like, having been in this like horror community for the last couple years, being part of the publishing world, there's so many writers that like there's this woman, cj lead, who wrote a book, may fly, which is brilliant, but it's so visceral and it's almost like you know, up there with like Brett Easton, ellis, american Psycho, like it's just like when you read it, like it turns your stomach and you know I'm like I could never write anything Like that because it would seem insincere. That's not my type of horror. Like my type is like I go like soft horror or like supernatural, but like that visceral stuff, like it's it. It's so genuine and you know I don't know CJ that well, like we've spoken a few times on Instagram and stuff, but I do like I I'm curious.

I was like I kind of want to know like where, where is that coming from? And another part of Me is like it's not in my fucking business, like it's to ask where that stuff comes from, but it's. You know, horror is that great genre where we can talk about the things that we're not supposed to talk about, and and do it in a way that that makes it sort of an oddly you know, comforting safe space, because, like, once you put stuff out into the extreme or into the supernatural, it kind of allows us to open that box and just go well, let's just chat about, let's talk about it.

You know, I think with a lot of drama or comedy, you have to work your way up to it and it may not always work. But with horror, I think, just going in like you've already made a handshake deal with the reader or the Watcher, the viewer, that's like we're gonna. We're gonna get into some shit here, so buckle up.

1:16:44 - Tara

Yeah, yeah that's a great point. That is a really good point. I know I was just thinking about. I Just finished reading Mexican Gothic.

1:16:53 - Scott Leeds

Oh yeah, Garcia and yeah.

1:16:55 - Tara

It was super good, super good, but it did talk a lot about like kind of like these native traditions and you know almost this like underworldly piece of culture but blended in like Western Medicine and stuff too.

1:17:14 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, yeah, it was.

1:17:15 - Tara

It was really interesting.

1:17:16 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, she's interesting brilliant in that sense, yeah and she's she is a monster writer too, like she puts out a new book every year, if not sometimes two books a year. Oh, she is just. Yeah, she's a writing machine and she's amazing at it too, like everything. I haven't read silver nitrate, her newest one, but everything else she's written has been brilliant. And yeah, I think, yeah, a horror it's funny, like I, you know a horror.

I think it's really oddly important again not to sound like pretentious or anything, because it allows us, like when we have a Bad dream, like when we have a nightmare, we're along for the ride. We don't get to say no to the nightmare, the nightmares, like we're going and you don't get to say anything about it and we don't really have any autonomy in our dreams. What I like about horror is, if it's a scary movie and you get scared, you can turn it off. If it's a book, you can close it, you can say no to the nightmare, which you can give yourself the choice to not be scared, and you can also give your choice to say yes, to say I'm gonna make it through this, which, you know, it allows us control over our nightmares, just for a second. I think that's really important and it's not even necessarily, doesn't even have to be horror. That does it I, you know, I was talking to my sister, who is also not a horror fan and but since I've been sort of like in this world, she's like well, I want to kind of get into a little more. I want to, I want to be a part of this with you and and I said, well, here's the thing, just because you don't watch horror movies or read horror novels doesn't mean you don't like horror. Like you know it's. Like you love that show Downton Abbey. There's a scene where, like the duke or the ear or whatever is like like an appendix burst or something bursting. They just vomit blood all over the table. Like that's horrifying, but it's not a horror movie Like it's.

Like you know, we grew up Catholic right. Like read the Bible. Like most of the Old Testament is just horror. That's most of what it is like. When I was a kid and like Shadrach, meshach and Abednego got thrown into the fiery furnace, like that scared the hell out of me. Like when King Herod was like killing all the firstborn and shit like that scared the hell out of me. Revelation is its own horror story, like it's it's. There's terrifying stuff in there and then it also just goes to also Like what Richard Matheson, who like a stir of echoes and what dreams may come, and and I am legend he talked about the difference between horror and terror. You know horror like describes that terror. You feel it and I don't think I write a lot of terror, I think I would just write horror. I hope I leave terror to the other people.

1:19:36 - Tara

Yeah, yeah, well, I like that. Sorry, I like I answered a question you guys didn't ask. I'm sorry.

1:19:42 - Scott Leeds

I told you guys just got to stop me, I will keep going.

1:19:45 - Tara

It was so well said. It was so well said, which you know again, explains why you're the writer.

1:19:55 - Scott Leeds

So so well said. Thank you, thank you.

1:19:57 - Tara

And this has been really fun and we're so glad that you joined us in the store again. It's been too long.

1:20:03 - Scott Leeds

I know cheese Louise stranger. I won't be like if you guys invite me back, I'll be here and if you don't, my feelings won't be heard. They'll be like that guy did not shut up like we, like I had to go to the bathroom and like that guy was just like going and going. He's like Colombo was just just one more thing every five seconds.

1:20:20 - Tara

No way, no way. You're probably actually the most prevalent Shopper in the store. Regular, you're a regular.

1:20:28 - Scott Leeds

I yeah, it's been a while, but now I'm. Now I'm back has been a while yeah back was the last time we did it pre-covid. Yeah no way, I think 2019?

1:20:38 - Natalie

it would have to be yeah, cuz we started. What 2020 really?

1:20:41 - Tara

Yeah, yeah.

1:20:43 - Natalie

Well, how's that for spooky?

1:20:45 - Scott Leeds

That's scared me more than anything else in this whole episode.

1:20:50 - Tara

Well, it's getting really dark outside, so I feel like we should yeah close the store and get home before we are Merged in the parking on our way out to have thoroughly creeped me out.

1:21:02 - Natalie

I need to yeah, need to get in my house. Yeah, go outside it was so cool to meet you those guys having this conversation with you. I hope we can meet again in the store, absolutely people in the store.

1:21:13 - Tara

Pick up your copy of schraders chord out now.

1:21:17 - Natalie

Yes.

1:21:17 - Tara

Scott leads. It's an incredible book. I love it so much. Five stars Absolutely. But. I'll be waiting for the movie, and if Michael Keaton isn't in it, I'll be very sad and we want to be extras.

1:21:30 - Natalie

Oh, yeah, totally want to be piddling around.

1:21:32 - Scott Leeds

Yeah, I like, I like, yeah it's like guys build the cougars, no, so I want to walk around inside. Yes, yes, All right.

1:21:39 - Tara

Well, thank you again for hanging out the store with us and We'll catch you later. Yep, good night everyone.

1:21:53 - Speaker 4

Record Store society is hosted by Natalie white and Tara Davies. If you'd like to contact the show, visit our website at record store society Dot com, or you can find us on all your favorite social media sites with the handle at record store society.

Transcribed by https://podium.page

0:00:01 - Tara

Hey everybody, it's Tara. This episode you're about to hear is our fourth episode ever from all the way back when our good friend Seth used to work in the store. It also includes our great friend Scott Leeds, who is an amazing writer, and we discuss our favorite Christmas songs. If you'd like to hear more Seth, check out his podcast, rusty Needle's Record Club, and be sure to tune into the next episode where we chat with Scott about his new book, shraders Chord, and talk about some very disturbing songs. Happy holidays and thanks for tuning in.

0:00:37 - Speaker 2

Welcome to Record Store Society. A production of iHeart Radio.

0:00:41 - Seth

I mean it's a little cold out, it's really hot and all that kind of stuff. But oh, hey, hi, welcome to the Record Store. You are literally the first customer we have seen all day. Welcome, I'm Seth. This is Tara. Feel free to look around and just give us a shout if you need anything. There's no one else here, so you can have 100% of our attention. Anyway, tara is today like a voting day or a I don't know. Oh, hey, scott. Question to you. Sir. First of all, hey Scott, how's it going?

0:01:19 - Scott

Oh, only night. I'll tell ya it's been a good day.

0:01:24 - Seth

My question to you is why is everything so dead? You've obviously been out on your little mail route delivering mail and whatnot. What's going on in the city today? What's today? Today's Christmas day?

0:01:36 - Tara

Oh my gosh.

0:01:39 - Seth

We probably didn't have to show up today, Tara.

0:01:40 - Tara

We probably couldn't have called today off.

0:01:43 - Scott

Yeah, there's nobody out there.

0:01:44 - Tara

I guess it should clock out.

0:01:46 - Seth

Scott, what are you doing here? You're a mailman.

0:01:50 - Scott

Yeah, I just want to come out and hang out and talk records and I don't have a family, so we are family for today.

0:01:59 - Speaker 2

Okay.

0:02:02 - Seth

We should probably leave Tara, but instead I could go for maybe a high fidelity game like Top 5 Christmas Albums. Sound like fun in honor of the day. Oh yeah, let's do it. So, tara, you go first, you go grab some records. I'll talk to Scott about candy canes or something.

0:02:20 - Speaker 2

Oh, that's going to take too long.

0:02:22 - Seth

You got a favorite candy cane. Scott, you got one you like a whole bunch.

0:02:25 - Scott

Well, see, now here's the thing. You can go with the multi-colored fruit candy cane, you can go with the mint candy cane. But the real truth of the candy cane is whether your tongue can whittle it down into a lethal knife. And that's all candy canes. No, some of them crack before that happens.

0:02:40 - Seth

Those are the cheap candy canes. Oh no good. I like a classic Bob's peppermint.

0:02:46 - Scott

That's my favorite candy cane, oh yeah.

0:02:50 - Seth

Alright, Tara, it looks like you got a stack of records there. Are you ready to give us your Top 5?

0:02:55 - Tara

Oh yeah, yeah, I'm ready. It was tough, it was very tough, but I think I got it Alright. So number five probably you're going to be like whoa already, but yeah, mariah Carey, merry Christmas 1994.

0:03:22 - Seth

Wow, a classic.

0:03:24 - Tara

That's a good one.

0:03:25 - Seth

Starting off the list very strong and very iconic.

0:03:28 - Tara

I like this album. Obviously I wouldn't put it in Top 5, but I mostly had to put it in Top 5 because of the one song that everyone knows, some people hate and people love, and it's like one of the best Christmas songs to ever come out of the 20th century, to be honest, and that's all I want for Christmas. Is you, or however that's titled? Yeah, exactly.

0:03:52 - Seth

There's some parentheses, there's lots of them.

0:03:55 - Tara

Yeah, but yeah. So that's why it's number five, mostly just because of that song. That's why it's in the Top 5, but it's a total banger. It's so fun, it's a love song, it's a Christmas song. Maybe it's a little sad too, if you think about it.

0:04:12 - Seth

Yeah, yeah, I could see that I've never explored the lyrics of that, because I'd never really explored the lyrics of anything. But, yeah, you saying that it does make me immediately think of someone that has absolutely nothing and all they want is just the attention from one person.

0:04:27 - Tara

Yeah, exactly, or maybe the company of one person.

0:04:29 - Seth

Like I said, I've never paid attention.

0:04:31 - Scott

It also has, like that inherent replayability that all kind of Christmas classics have, which is surprising given how late into the 20th century it came out, because it really is a Christmas classic. You can listen to it a thousand times. You know kids.

0:04:43 - Tara

Yeah, totally Even.

0:04:46 - Seth

I bet if you put that song in just a perfect loop again and again, and again, it would take a long time for anyone to notice that it's been playing for an hour.

I actually did that once when I was in high school. I worked in a skate shop in the mall and back to school season is, of course, very popular in malls. All the kids are buying their new clothes and you know whatever, backpacks and whatnot, and my boss, he, decided that it would be very funny to play Motley Cruz. I'm a hot for teacher on a loop for as long as we could until someone would notice.

It took hours before anyone noticed. So we just kept listening because we had decided we weren't going to stop until someone said something Sure, it was ours.

0:05:37 - Tara

That's a fun yeah.

0:05:39 - Seth

It's like the end of the song loops back to the beginning of the song very easily because it ends with like this weird little like drum beat that kind of sounds like a motorcycle idling like and anyway, that's enough for my crew. We're talking Mariah Carey.

0:05:56 - Scott

Well, they have the same initials.

0:05:58 - Tara

I mean, oh wow, that's true. It sounds like a very fun and also very annoying game to play, yeah.

0:06:08 - Seth

Yeah, I mean, we were a skate shop in the mall, so we were an annoying group of kids. I'll tell you that.

0:06:14 - Tara

Yeah.

0:06:16 - Seth

Very good stuff.

0:06:17 - Tara

Yeah, and also, did you know that it's the fifth best selling Christmas album ever, after Kenny G and Elvis Presley, and then also, of course, now that's what I call Christmas.

0:06:29 - Seth

All right Now. You blew my mind with one of the blue my mind. You blew my mind with one of those. That's an odd sentence. You blew my mind with one of those, which was Kenny G.

0:06:37 - Scott

Kenny G, yeah, yeah.

0:06:40 - Seth

Because I totally get the now. That's what I call Christmas. That is like a, that's a classic. Basically, that's just like the shortcut to a.

0:06:46 - Tara

Christmas, the greatest tits of Christmas, yeah.

0:06:48 - Seth

Yeah, I totally understand that. I had that album. You know everyone had that one at some point, not me, not me. Kenny G is the one I don't understand.

0:06:59 - Tara

Yeah, I was a little surprised.

0:07:01 - Seth

I don't think against the guy, but that's, that's odd.

0:07:03 - Tara

I know I was a little surprised by that one as well, and also Josh Groban is ahead of her too, but I guess, like he has that very, I guess sort of angelic male singer voice that people want to hear for Christmas, Well, it also.

0:07:16 - Scott

It seems that, like a Josh Groban Christmas album would probably be more playable as a full album than Mariah Carey. I mean, it's a great Christmas album that Mariah. Mariah, I can't talk, it's too cold outside, all our lips are frozen. But yeah, like, that whole album is great, but I think that one song gets so much attention, whereas, like if you listen to Josh. Groban or you're like what's your favorite Josh Groban Christmas song? I guess you'd be like I don't know all of them.

0:07:44 - Tara

Whereas Mariah Carey A Holy Night or something.

0:07:46 - Seth

Yeah, exactly Interesting. Yeah, I bet. If you went down to singles, I bet Mariah Carey has sold the single. All I Want for Christmas is you a bajillion times more than anyone. Yeah, in terms of album sales, I bet you're right.

0:07:59 - Tara

Yeah, I mean, and it's like six times platinum or something crazy like that, yeah, huh.

0:08:04 - Seth

Nice, well, if that's your number five.

0:08:06 - Tara

That's number five.

0:08:07 - Seth

Where are you going from there?

0:08:09 - Tara

A number four is a compilation. It's called Soul. Christmas Atlantic put it out in 1968. It's just a stacked lineup of classic soul singers and groups and like Otis Redding is on it Donnie Hathaway, luther, vandross, bercati and the MGs. It's so good, it's so good.

0:08:42 - Seth

Nice. Yeah, you said that was 68? Yeah, 1968.

0:08:47 - Tara

Wonderful, and there's like original songs on there, like there's a song called Back Door Santa, which is funny.

0:08:55 - Seth

I know that song yeah.

0:08:57 - Tara

But then they also have, you know, classic Christmas songs covered by these. You know giant soul singers, and it's also kind of jazzy in certain parts too.

0:09:08 - Scott

Was the Donnie Hathaway song this Christmas. Is it that one?

0:09:12 - Speaker 2

I'm trying to remember.

0:09:14 - Tara

No, that was Stevie Wonder.

0:09:16 - Scott

Unless he covered it.

0:09:18 - Tara

I don't know if he covered it, but it's not that one.

0:09:21 - Scott

I think the Donnie Hathaway song starts with those horns, and those horns are Merry Christmas.

0:09:25 - Tara

No, that's Otis Redding.

0:09:26 - Scott

Yeah, it's a really hot horn section there.

0:09:28 - Tara

Yeah, the whole thing is very horny. Lots of horns on that album.

0:09:34 - Scott

Definitely the hoardiest Christmas album that's ever been said.

0:09:38 - Tara

Oh, except for maybe, like Mannheim steamroller, I don't know.

0:09:42 - Scott

That's a horny Christmas album.

0:09:45 - Tara

Wait, are those like synthesizers, though? Maybe?

0:09:47 - Seth

Mannheim steamroller. I think it's a combination right.

0:09:51 - Tara

I have no idea. My mom loves them, though I feel like I'm a Steemaheim Steemroller.

0:09:54 - Seth

And there actually is like a real electric guitarist out front. They're actually, like you know, foot up on the monitor, really Just melting faces, yeah.

0:10:02 - Scott

Holy moly I had no idea. Tommy Iomi, what's his name? The guitarist guy.

0:10:06 - Seth

I'm sure it's. Buck Ahead, I'm sure it's.

0:10:09 - Tara

Oh my gosh, I always imagine them to just be like synth on synth on synth, just playing these like I think that's there too.

0:10:16 - Seth

I definitely think that's a part of it, and what's the other one? That's like a manhime Steemroller, but not you know what I mean. Trans -Siberian.

0:10:23 - Tara

There's two super. No, that's the one Trans-Siberian.

0:10:26 - Seth

That's the one. That's the one. So yeah, that's the other one where it's. I'm surprised those aren't like number one on the.

0:10:32 - Tara

Christmas charts. Actually, yeah, well, I think manhime Steemroller was there, but I can't remember like what number, and I when I last Googled that.

0:10:41 - Scott

Well, it was interesting to watch like the progression of manhime Steemroller Cause. When they first started it was, I think, back in the 60s or 70s, and so they sounded very Wendy Carlos Like. So when you listen to the early stuff it sounds very small. And then the 80s hit and they got like Roland, juno, sixes and all kinds of stuff and it just got real big.

0:10:59 - Tara

I just imagined that there's that like GIF. I think it's from a music video of a guy which is like towers and towers of synths and then he's just like dancing around playing all of them. Have you seen that?

0:11:08 - Seth

Yeah, yeah.

0:11:09 - Tara

That's what I imagined.

0:11:11 - Seth

All right, wait, wait, hold on a second. So. So remind me the name of this album again, cause I've never heard this one.

0:11:16 - Tara

So I want to check it out. It's just soul Christmas.

0:11:19 - Seth

Nice, I'm definitely going to look this one up.

0:11:21 - Tara

I have it on vinyl. It's a great one.

0:11:24 - Scott

It's S O U L Seth, not S O L E. I know you're alone. Thank you Very welcome.

0:11:30 - Seth

I was headed down to my shoe salesman. I was going to ask for this record. But now I'll go to a record store. Oh hey, look where we are.

0:11:39 - Scott

I almost went all the way to South Korea Looking for that Christmas record, that's solid. I got some good word play. I think we exercised every soul.

0:11:50 - Seth

Yes, Well there's also a fish. We could try that one. I was going down to the fish salesman, the Seattle market. Gonna have them throw a fish. Throw this record at me, but no Anyway.

0:12:04 - Scott

It's a good thing, you don't have any customers today.

0:12:08 - Seth

All right, Tara. How about your number three?

0:12:11 - Tara

All right, okay. So number three this one is probably going to make you guys laugh, but I super was obsessed with it in the 90s and I still love it now because you know, when you grow up with a Christmas album that you love, you kind of just always love it and that is a very special Christmas. Number three Santa baby, just flip a pants and wonder battery from me A 98, comparable Nice.

0:12:40 - Seth

Those are solid compilation. They're so good, I think I can definitely speak for myself. I definitely grew up with those of very special Christmas compilations too. Scott did you as well. Oh, yeah, yeah. So please fill me in, tara, which one is number three, cause they all kind of blend together to me.

0:12:55 - Tara

So this one is from 1997 and just preface. This compilation series was put out as a benefit for Special Olympics, but this one is super 90s. Like I said, came out in 1997. And there's some super cheesy songs on it. I keep saying the word super, but whatever, who cares? There are some cheesy songs, right, there's some cheesy songs on here, but some stand out tracks I would say are Santa baby by Rev Run and the Christmas All Stars, which feature Mace and Puff Daddy and Snoop Dogg and Salt Peppa.

0:13:32 - Scott

I remember that and actually this 1997.

0:13:35 - Tara

Yeah, and that song was actually written. Well, it had a bunch of writers, but Lauren Hill and Y Clef were actually two of the writers for that song.

0:13:45 - Scott

Oh, wow.

0:13:46 - Seth

And then that was the Fuji Zara.

0:13:48 - Tara

Yeah, exactly. And then another one that's really fun is, by no doubt, and it's called Oi to the World, and it's sort of like ska punk number about Haji.

0:14:02 - Seth

I think Haji was a punk. I had completely forgotten about that song until you said those words just now. So that means that somewhere in my head in hibernation was the knowledge of Oi to the World. That was just resting back there until you just jostled it loose Tara. So where'd it go?

0:14:21 - Tara

It's such a good Christmas song. Honestly, it has a really good message about Haji the punk kid and he was like gonna fight this other kid, I think Trevor from the Skins and anyways. They ended up pulling out the num chucks and repelling down walls and stuff and then I think they decided to get along. I can't remember, but they bought each other bourbon at the end and Oi to the World Everything's great again. Everybody wins. That song is so good.

0:14:57 - Speaker 2

No doubt.

0:14:58 - Tara

And then, oh yeah also, who can forget the Smashing Pumpkins song that came from that album, christmas Time?

0:15:03 - Seth

Yeah, yeah, no, I completely agree. I actually spent a long time today wondering whether or not I was gonna buy the new Smashing Pumpkins album. Like I was putting it in my checkout cart, taking it out Wow.

0:15:20 - Tara

Like legit. Legit like a new, new, new one.

0:15:22 - Seth

It just came out Is it good. I haven't heard it, it's got like a really iron-randy in cover.

0:15:28 - Scott

It looks like the cover would be on Atlas Shrugged, but this is apparently the sequel to Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness.

0:15:35 - Tara

What Can they do that?

0:15:37 - Seth

Exactly, I agree. Wait, can you even claim that? Because obviously this is just a ploy.

0:15:43 - Scott

That's like Dumb and Dumber 2. It's been too long, guys, just making a new album.

0:15:48 - Seth

But I got an idea. I mean, they're like what works for us.

0:15:50 - Tara

Let's go back to the thing that works for us.

0:15:53 - Seth

I have not been able to pull the trigger and actually buy it yet, but it at least has me interested. And part of it too is that everyone except Darcy is back. So James E Haas back, chamberlain is back. It's as close to a Smashing Pumpkins reunion album as we can get, but anyway.

0:16:12 - Scott

I haven't listened to it. Yeah, who's the bass player? Is it Melissa Aftermur again, oh, or is it Paz from?

0:16:19 - Tara

Paz from Perfect Circle and Pixie Jude.

0:16:23 - Seth

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Man aren't we just a bunch of record store nerds?

0:16:27 - Tara

We really are.

0:16:29 - Seth

All right.

0:16:33 - Tara

Okay, so that was the worth. No, actually I just have to do a special call out, because Hootie and the Blowfish is also on that album.

0:16:41 - Seth

Thanks, they deserve every bit of credit that they got.

0:16:46 - Scott

They were actually review mirror, whatever it was called. That was an album they had me, I mean, yeah.

0:16:52 - Tara

So number two is Christmas by Lowe, the band Lowe. Yes 1999 apparently was released as a gift to the fans and what's interesting maybe we could talk about this because Christmas being a very religious holiday, and then a lot of bands that we listen to are just not religious at all, and I think that's a really good thing. I mean, I think that's a good thing, and I think that's a good thing, I think that's a really good thing, and that's a good thing. You are just not religious at all. They are actually Mormon.

0:17:30 - Seth

Yeah, so they actually believe what they're singing about on that Christmas album.

0:17:35 - Tara

They aren't heathens like their fans Right.

0:17:42 - Seth

And it has to be said that song just like Christmas, holy shit. That to me is the best Christmas song period Like. I love that song I would agree.

0:17:52 - Scott

It's so good I mean it's like it's singing about.

0:17:55 - Tara

Norway and shit. It's like, yeah, like a standout track for me is one called If You're Born Today, and it's you know, there's signature, minimal sound, but like harmonies and simple guitars, and there's some chimes which make it very Christmasy. Yeah such a good album. Maybe a little, yeah, maybe a little depressing sounding for the holiday season, but you can't have happiness and jingle bells all the time. Yeah.

0:18:24 - Seth

You can't have the seasons without seasonal depression.

0:18:27 - Tara

Exactly oh my gosh.

0:18:28 - Seth

That's so true.

0:18:29 - Scott

Hand in hand True.

0:18:32 - Tara

So true yeah, sometimes you just need to get drunk and listen to the low Christmas album.

0:18:37 - Seth

Yeah, yeah. No, I was about to name another one that makes me really sad, but maybe it's on one of our lists, so I won't say it yet.

0:18:44 - Tara

Okay, well, we'll have to revisit that if it's not Cause. I really would like to know.

0:18:49 - Seth

I'm gonna write it down. I'm gonna shoot a paper right now, so I remember to say it again later. Yeah, okay.

0:18:55 - Tara

All right, so okay, drum roll. The very last one Number one on my list is the Vince Giraldi Trio 1965, a Charlie Brown Christmas.

0:19:10 - Seth

This is going between happiness and cheer it has to be. It doesn't get better than that, yeah, and plus you got a little sadness on there too.

0:19:22 - Scott

There is a nice slice of.

0:19:24 - Tara

Christmas time this year. Nice slice of sadness on that album.

0:19:30 - Seth

Yeah.

0:19:31 - Tara

Yeah, have you guys heard the story of how Vince Giraldi came to do this whole thing?

0:19:37 - Seth

I don't believe, so I've heard various things, but here, here it's telling your story.

0:19:40 - Tara

Yeah, so apparently this producer guy he was looking for music for this documentary called A Boy Named Charlie Brown and I guess he was just driving back from a meeting with Charles Schultz, as everyone knows is the creator of Peanuts and Charlie Brown and all those kids. Well, he heard on the radio Vince Giraldi's like next biggest hit, which is Cast your Fate to the Wind, and they're like, oh, we got to call this guy and so they call this guy. Anyways, the documentary didn't end up happening, but they loved everything that he came up with so they kept him on for the Christmas special, which actually came out on Thanksgiving on TV. But yeah, so that's how they did it. And man, I feel like, aside from like the pink panther, you rarely get like a composer that defines the sound of like a cartoon.

You know yeah for sure, he is for sure. Like Peanuts, the sound of Peanuts.

0:20:39 - Seth

Yeah, I mean, I'm a big fan of the strip in particular, but also of the animated shorts, and I have to say when Vince Giraldi died it was in the 1980s I want to say the last one he did. I'm probably wrong about this, but there's the information in my head that the last one he did was it's Arbor Day, charlie Brown, or is it? It's the Flash Beagle, charlie Brown.

0:21:04 - Tara

It's not a good one. No, he doesn't. Does he do the? I thought there was a disco thing.

0:21:09 - Seth

Oh it is. I'm saying like there's one that was like, that was like the turning point when they stopped using him, obviously because he wasn't alive anymore. Yeah, and they really took it, took it, took a tumble.

0:21:18 - Tara

Like the vibe, just really corrects without Vince Giraldi.

0:21:21 - Seth

You need him.

0:21:22 - Scott

You know Even the like the stupid Joe Cool song. I still kind of like it.

0:21:26 - Seth

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:21:28 - Scott

No, I completely agree.

0:21:30 - Seth

They go hand in hand and it's rare that you find that chocolate and peanut butter combination in the world. You know it's rare, but yeah, no, no, no, no. Tara, when you're listening to this album, do you? Has it separated itself from the holiday special for you, or is it? It reminds you?

0:21:48 - Tara

of yeah, yeah, and even now, sometimes it reminds me more of the Royal Tenenbaum's which is weird oh yeah 100% like when she's sitting there eating her ice cream yeah, yeah yeah, or arrest development too. Yeah, but also so yeah, I just had to go back to Flash Beagle because I think Flash Beagle is freaking epic.

0:22:10 - Speaker 2

Oh, it is and.

0:22:11 - Tara

I remember that whole dressing room scene where he has the hair blow dryer and his ears just blowing the wind and he's wearing the cut off sweatshirt. Anyways, yeah, that is not Vince Corralty.

0:22:23 - Seth

No, I didn't think so. I believe it's Arbor Day. Charlie Brown is his last one. Anyway, I'm just gonna throw in an allegedly there. That way no one in the store can sue me.

0:22:33 - Tara

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, and I just had to say that Flash Beagle was the jam when I was a kid, but yeah, Nope. So yeah, that's my number one and I'm sticking to it.

0:22:44 - Seth

Beautiful stuff. Well, I am not prepared for this, so let's all take a coffee break, so.

I can run around the store, figure out what my top five is, and then we'll come back and go through my list Sound good, sounds great, Perfect. Okay, we're back together to remind everyone we're doing top five Christmas albums and I wasn't really sure what my criteria was gonna be for this one. I was trying to figure it out in my head, like, what do I care about? Is it just like? I don't know what I'm gonna do with this? I don't know. I don't know what I'm gonna do with this. I don't know what I'm gonna do with this. What do I care about?

Is it just like the nostalgia stuff, like is it the things that I care about most, or like what's been with me my whole life? Or then it came. When it came down to it, I was just like all right, musically, musically, which ones do I appreciate the most? So my number five. I actually put this on our employee recommendation shelf, like just a couple of weeks ago, but whatever, it is my number five. So here it is. It is a Freddie Christmas album by Altered Crates, and this came out in 2019. That's Wee. May your seas wither like a lad dog.

2020 kept a nigga loose. Murder was the case.

That's if a nigga tasted chili juice cause, then we gon' be riding us a bullshit.

0:24:08 - Scott

Oh, that old chestnut, you know that classic.

0:24:15 - Seth

So Altered Crates basically made this. It's an illegal album. There's nothing sanctioned or official about this. It's all the instrumentals are from Amerigo Gazaway from his hip hop instrumental album a Christmas album and all the vocals are from the Freddie Gibbs and Madlib album Pinata. So yeah, this isn't real. In fact he got it kicked off of Bandcamp not too long ago. He's been in trouble with Bandcamp a lot over the years, cause you know he does this all the time. Like he has this amazing one called Phela Sol, where it's Phela Kuti and De La Sol mashed together. Oh, oh, what.

0:24:53 - Tara

It's amazing. So it's because he doesn't have permission to use these artists' music and he's selling it that they're kicking it off.

0:25:02 - Seth

Yes, yes, Even though he's creating something different with them. Yeah, no, no.

I mean personally.

0:25:11 - Seth

I feel no qualms about recommending him, but I do feel qualms about giving him money. So, for example, you can listen to all of his stuff on his SoundCloud page for free. I highly recommend that. I think you should everyone in the world. But it's a wonderful album. Just the vibe and the beat and just musically it just has a very original, simple flow that is cheerful, and all the samples that Amerigo Gazaway used in his original Instrumentals album are really just slightly off the beaten path so they don't sound too trite, because obviously there are a lot of same old Christmas songs that we've heard a million times. He cherry picks just these slightly off-center choices and it makes the whole thing just have like a really fresh new vibe and you can buy that legitimately. That's a Christmas album by Amerigo Gazaway and, yeah, just go to his band camp or something, and that's really great too. But I like a Freddie Christmas album even better because it's got those Freddie Gibbs vocals on top, which is just gravy on those mashed potatoes. It's fantastic.

0:26:19 - Tara

Yeah, okay. So now I'm thinking of I know that I heard you recommend it before, but now that I'm thinking of it like as an actual Christmas album, I'm like, wait, do those Freddie Gibbs lyrics talk about Christmas at all?

0:26:35 - Seth

No.

0:26:36 - Tara

Not at all.

0:26:37 - Seth

Interesting. By context they start to kind of feel Christmasy. But no, but no, not at all.

0:26:45 - Tara

Oh, that's interesting. So it just sounds Christmasy from his like instrumentation, or however you-.

0:26:50 - Seth

The instrumentals are very Christmasy. The lyrics are 0% Christmasy.

0:26:56 - Scott

Cool, well, yeah. Well, next time I'm in Target I'll see if they have it. All right.

0:27:02 - Tara

We don't carry it here either.

0:27:05 - Seth

To go slightly more mainstream, and I mean ever so slightly. I apologize, this is 2010. It's kind of a compilation, kind of an album, and it's called Warm Forever by Candy Claws and Fire Breather. What, what Is that? A cartoon.

0:27:28 - Tara

That is 100% Christmas. So here's the deal. I'm going to get a little boring, I apologize. Wait, no hold on Before you get boring, did they? Actually sing about because I've listened to that record.

0:27:36 - Seth

A lot did they sing about Christmas. Are the lyrics Christmasy? 100%, yes, 100%, I mean they are definitely-.

0:27:42 - Scott

I gotta listen to the lyrics, I mean they're definitely not Christmasy. They're not Christmasy, they're not Christmasy. I mean I'm not sure about that. I mean it's not Christmasy. I mean I'm not sure about that.

0:27:50 - Speaker 2

I mean they are definitely not traditional songs, I gotta listen to the lyrics too.

0:27:53 - Seth

Yeah, but so here's the deal. So Candy Claws is now the band Sound of Ceres who's on Joyful Noise, one of my favorite bands, Love them. Before that they were a band called Candy Claws and now it's Ryan and Karen. Back in Candy Claws it was Ryan and Kay. Okay, so Kay, her spin-off band was a band called Fire Breather and but when she played with Ryan it was Candy Claws. Anyway, very uninteresting, but the point is they both had a tradition of writing a new Christmas song every year. So magically, after like four years of this, they had this little EP with eight Christmas songs and it's just, it's delightful as hell. I love Candy Claws so, so much. I love Sound of Ceres, and the songwriting and the instrumentation and the production and just the overall kind of like feelings that they can evoke are just wonderful, and I don't expect either of you to have anything to say about this, because no one listens to this but it's wonderful.

0:28:59 - Scott

Well, it's a really pretty record. I just never knew it was a Christmas record.

0:29:02 - Seth

And they actually have continued it to release a Christmas single every year and they're all great. They're all really really great. I recommend it, yeah.

0:29:12 - Tara

Yeah, I've never heard of that. I'm gonna have to check it out for sure.

0:29:15 - Seth

Well, now I'm gonna say something that we'll all actually understand and recognize, you guys ready.

0:29:20 - Scott

So John Cage went in and recorded a series of churches around the world, but just the silent churches. But one of them was done and knocked in December, so it's a Christmas record. Yeah, it counts.

0:29:31 - Seth

It's when they released on wax cylinder and you know, even then no, I'm going more mainstream, at least for our little three person crowd here. The year is 1999. The EP is called Christmas and it's by Lowe.

0:29:45 - Speaker 2

It was just like Christmas. It was just like Christmas.

0:29:57 - Tara

Oh yeah, I'm glad there's some overlap there.

0:30:00 - Seth

Oh, definitely, and like I have to say, like I said when you were talking about it, tara, just like Christmas is just such an amazing song, like and here's something, at least to me this is interesting that was the first Lowe song I ever heard. It was just like Christmas.

0:30:16 - Tara

Wow, really yeah.

0:30:18 - Seth

And so here's the thing it has been a terrible bait and switch, because when I got this and I heard that song, I was like, oh man, this is amazing. I got to buy up all these other Lowe albums, and I did. They are nothing like just Christmas. They're also slow and quiet and sad.

0:30:35 - Tara

Yeah.

0:30:37 - Seth

And so so yeah, it was an enormous bait and switch. I've been duped, but it worked, because I really do like Lowe now.

But, it is not a representation of the band Brit Large, it is. It's a one-off special, but I really do love it. Like the covers I think are perfect, the originals I think are perfect, the vibe is just right. You can listen to it, at least in my opinion, all year round, cause I think we talked about this before when we were doing the, when I recommended Freddie Gibbs a couple of weeks ago, but basically I don't celebrate Christmas, so I just listened to Christmas music when I want to listen to it, which means that, like, the cream of the crop really rises because it's just. These are just albums I listened to year round. And then there are things that I really do associate with Christmas that I'll maybe only listen to if I'm like at a Christmas party or something like that.

So so these other ones that are more or less quote unquote, real albums, to me they make more of an appearance in my life, you know.

0:31:37 - Tara

Yeah, and I feel like this one too low is kind of, or this album in particular by low. It's kind of a winter album, I would say, not just a Christmas album, and maybe that's why it's so great. They just had to reissue it on vinyl as well. I think probably there was some demand for it.

0:31:56 - Seth

Oh for sure, and especially for something that like, like you said, started as, like you know, a fan like gift, and then it just became like oh, we have to start selling this. Like people like this too much for this not to be real, let's go, you know. Yeah, and speaking of people who write Christmas songs every year, here comes my number two. The year is 2006. And the collection is called Songs for Christmas, volumes one through five by Sufjan Stevens.

0:32:26 - Speaker 2

Since the year is almost out, lift your hand and give a shout. There's a lot to shout about today.

0:32:35 - Scott

That's smart that you just collapsed them all down into one.

0:32:38 - Seth

Well, that's one through five. So who knows what my number one's gonna be? I couldn't tell you.

0:32:47 - Tara

Wait, wait. What was that number? Is that number two? That's my number two.

0:32:50 - Seth

Oh, so I don't know what number one's gonna be. We'll find out.

0:32:54 - Tara

Wait, is that some weird hint? Okay, well, you don't have to confirm or deny, but the thing I really like about this.

0:33:02 - Seth

first of all, come on, sufjan Stevens is a God and I'm sure he would consider that very sacrilegious because he's a very religious dude. But just like blow, I do think that, like, if you are very religious and you make a Christmas album, I don't know, there's just like a little extra glitter in there and there's a little extra oomph because you actually believe these words that you're saying, not like the rest of us. He then sugest you know, mouth along or whatever. So I do think Sufjan is particularly suited to make Christmas music in general. Not only are his covers great, but his originals are just off the wall great.

0:33:39 - Scott

Like put the lights on the tree, so good.

0:33:42 - Seth

Go into the country. No, they're just fantastic.

0:33:45 - Tara

Gonna eat a lot of peaches, just kidding.

0:33:47 - Seth

Yes, Classic Christmas. But I also really like how he kind of like spooned these out over the years because, like you know, much like the Christmas EP by Lowe and the Fire Breather and Candy Claws songs, he would just write and record a new EP for his friends and family and then just kind of like pass it out. You know, when the holidays came around and I don't know, like Scott, you and I have done that as musicians before where it's like, hey, it's someone's birthday, we don't have any money, let's write you a birthday song. You know, yeah, I think it's a nice thing.

0:34:28 - Scott

Well, it's also, you know, and I really hope I'm not, I doubt it, but I hope I'm not preempting your number one here but for whatever reason, whether you know you're religious or secular, this time of year has always seemed like a good time for bands to kind of bequeath their overflow to their fans. So, like REM always had like a Christmas single I know if you're like a member of the 10 Club for Pearl Jam they always had one. You know, bands have kind of done this over and, over and over again and after a certain amount of time, you know, sufiyan decided to do it kind of all in one big chunk over the course of like four years.

We'll get there. Yes, I never got it. I was going.

0:35:04 - Seth

I just want to see your number one is All right, all right, and my number one, 2012,. It's the EP collection Silver and Gold Songs for Christmas, volume six through 10, by Sufiyan Stevens. So you got the whole gamut. Now, if I was counting these EPs individually, then the whole top five would have just been Sufiyan.

0:35:33 - Scott

Now let me ask you is do you like six through 10 better? Is that why I took the number one spot? Yes.

0:35:39 - Seth

Is that?

0:35:39 - Scott

because there's Christmas in the room on there.

0:35:41 - Seth

Christmas in the room is on there Christmas unicorn is on there, the boy with a star on his head. There are some epic Sufjams on there. I mean like epic, and I think my favorite part about it is that when you look at those EPs you know he recorded one a year for 10 years you can really see like the entire breadth of like the current Sufiyan within those. You know what I mean. You see him at his like Fockeist Hello, I'm in Danielson all the way up to his like age of odds. I'm going bleep and bloop for 24 minutes. Like everything is represented in those 10 EPs and it's just wonderful.

And I remember one year I found because obviously these weren't public, when he was just making them for friends and family. But I remember one year that one of them with I think it was volume eight, leaked back in the day and everyone was so excited of course, like oh my gosh, this is his friends and family Christmas EP. We haven't heard one of these in years. This is so cool, this is what he's doing now. How amazing, hooray. And then when the real EP came out later, it was substantially different. He had gone through and done like overdubs and brought into the studio and polished it and produced it and done all these things. It's like, oh shit, you weren't just, like you know, whipping these out at us. You made these for friends and family and then you went back to the studio, polished them into real albums and then released them again to us and it's like congrats, sufjan. Like I mean, I respect that dude enormously. I think he is definitely amongst our best musicians working today and I love these EPs. I listen to them all the time, wait.

0:37:14 - Scott

Who is it? Who is it? Who are we talking about? Sufjam, sufjam's Steven. Yes, but it's spelled with a pH Sufjam's Steven. It's if you want Stefan. It's Sufjam's Stefan Sounds good.

0:37:28 - Seth

Here's a funny story. I during the Michigan era I believe it was either Michigan or Illinois, but anyway he was playing Portland, I believe for like the first time since he'd become like mainstream, stereogum era popular, you know that level of mainstream and he got up on stage and he's like hello everyone, my name is Sufjan Stevens. And you would hear everyone in the audience like whisper each other. He pronounces it Sufjan, he pronounces it Sufjan. And it was like the first time that anyone had heard his name set out loud, yeah, and you would hear the whole audience abuzz with finally knowing how to say his first name.

0:38:06 - Scott

It's not Sufjam, yeah, yeah.

0:38:11 - Tara

Shout out to my friend John Bieler, who's like their label manager for Asmata Kitty. Yes. But also I just wanted to say that I only know one Sufjan Stevens Christmas song and it's like the worst. That was the worst Christmas, or something like that. Is that on which one of those?

0:38:32 - Seth

That's in the second half right, like that's in the six through 10 half, isn't that right, scott?

0:38:37 - Scott

I don't even remember anymore. They all blend together.

0:38:40 - Tara

Like when I put them on, I just put them on and shuffle. Songs for Christmas, is that?

0:38:45 - Scott

That would be the first one.

0:38:46 - Tara

Okay, yeah, yeah.

0:38:47 - Scott

Well the second one is called Silver and Gold.

0:38:50 - Seth

Silver and Gold. Then a colon Songs for Christmas, six through 10. Oh, oh.

0:38:56 - Tara

So all songs for Christmas I have no idea.

0:38:59 - Seth

Parentheses Michigan.

0:39:03 - Scott

All the widows and naysayers of the Plains people unite.

0:39:07 - Tara

The North Pole I should have called it that.

0:39:11 - Scott

Oh, North Pole would have been good. But that concludes my list. It's a great list Kind of beach, kind of boring but I stand behind all those choices.

0:39:20 - Seth

I feel them legitimately beating in my heart. Fine choices.

0:39:24 - Tara

Not boring at all. Yeah, not boring at all. Like those are all interesting because I've never heard of most of them except for the Sufjan ones.

0:39:31 - Seth

You're going to have some fun listening to Candy Claws. Candy Claws is such a treat. I love them so much. Let's see here. So that's it for me, scott, you're sticking around. You're going to do a list for us, right? I mean I could, yes, yes, forget your job. It's Christmas day. You weren't working. So, first of all, why are you wearing your male carrier outfit, since you're not working today? These are my clothes. I'm sorry, I asked so, scott, let's take a break. We'll have a smoke, have some coffee, and then we will come back and you'll gather up your records and it'll be your turn. All right? Ok, all right, we're back. As a reminder, we're doing the top five Christmas albums and it is Scott the mailman's turn.

0:40:31 - Scott

Yeah, scott, now kick us off with your number five. This was a tough one, though I have to tell you. This was a tough one because if this would have been top five Christmas songs, oh, that's easier. Maybe next year we'll do that. I don't think it would have been easier, but it would have been a much more eclectic list for me.

Yeah, yeah, you know I was surprised that you know, because when I first heard of this 30 minutes ago I did think like oh, this will be easy, because you know I love all these Christmas songs. But none of them were on albums. And if they were, they were on compilations and the compilations were tough for me because Soul Christmas, one of Tara's picks, was one of my picks. But I can't say like I can't give these songs top billing, but not, you know, these songs like Christmas prepping by the waitresses or something like that.

So I didn't give it to either of them, and so I was like all right.

So at the end of, the day I went with full nostalgia plays Like it's you know, and I was surprised how conservative my picks were. So with number five, I don't even really I've listened to this album since I was like three. I have no idea how to pronounce this band. Not a band, it's group, it's the Harry Simeone Corral. It's pretty. It's spelled S-I-M-E-O-N-E Simon Simeone, simeone Simeone. I don't know, but it's their album, little Drummer Boy, and it's really good.

0:41:51 - Speaker 2

Christmas is here, bringing the cheer to young and old Lake, and the fold ring ring along. That is their song. In joyful ring, oh caramelly, one seems to hear words.

0:42:01 - Scott

And it's all really traditional. Like you know Seth knows this I'm a big like Dickens nut and I for some reason I really like like old traditional music, like Coventry, carol and shit like that, and like here we go, a wassling.

And you know, I think like my best case scenario for the holiday season would be to time travel back to like 1865, go hang out with Scrooge after he got nice again and like sit down next to like with like a bowl of spoken Christmas bishop you know, with like a sprig of holly put in. That's like my dream. So a lot of that is sort of reflected in my picks there and that album is sort of one of them. So that's number five. Go check it out. It's it's very traditional and pretty fun.

0:42:49 - Tara

I'm with you on the whole sort of traditional songs things, because of course I love Burl Ives, but there's been so many compilations that that song has been on that since I've heard it when I was a kid. I don't even know which album, or was it on an album ever Right.

0:43:05 - Scott

I don't think so I mean.

0:43:06 - Speaker 2

I'm sure it was.

0:43:07 - Tara

So it's just like I didn't do any of those as well, because, yeah, it's the song that I knew, but not the album. But the whole soul Christmas one is good, so that's why I put it on my list.

0:43:18 - Scott

Oh no, I'm glad it made it, because I felt real bad. And yeah, the two and this well, the three in this group that I always I guess I give a little preview that almost made my list were top contenders but didn't make it were Lowe's Christmas EP like Sufjan's like all of it and soul Christmas. Like those three, I was like I'm so glad they got represented. That's cool Because that would have made me really sad.

0:43:42 - Tara

I was just going to say we should just do a highlight of some of our almosts.

0:43:48 - Scott

Oh, like honorable mentions Once. Yeah, honorable mentions list.

0:43:50 - Tara

At the end We'll say ours.

0:43:51 - Seth

Tara after Scott finishes his, so we don't accidentally steal some.

0:43:55 - Tara

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, I'm not going to, I'm not going to say yeah, that would make me sad.

0:43:59 - Scott

And speaking of sad, because we were talking about sad Christmas songs earlier, like the Lowe Christmas EP. This is one. This is like my most contemporary one on my list and it is one that I listened to, I think, for the first time back in like 2003, maybe 2004, back in the big, you know, rise of the Saddle Creek era, and it's the Bride Eyes Christmas album and it's as bright eyes as you can possibly get and it's super sad and super fun and I really love it.

0:44:38 - Seth

Hey, Tara, remember earlier when I said I was going to write down a really sad Christmas album.

0:44:42 - Tara

But I didn't want to say no, isn't that one?

0:44:44 - Seth

I have the word Bride Eyes written on a sheet of paper right next to me.

0:44:47 - Tara

It's like a magic trick. See here it is, or a prediction or something. Yeah, that's exactly.

0:44:53 - Seth

And please unfold this envelope and tell me what is written there.

0:44:58 - Scott

Yeah, it's great.

0:44:59 - Seth

It's so sad, and it's sad to the point where it's almost like a parody of how sad it is. It is.

0:45:06 - Scott

Like if you were to listen to it now, either A never having heard it before or B, not knowing who Bride Eyes is, you'd be like, come on, come on, like this is way too sad, but if you know and like Bride Eyes, you go. Yeah, I expect this. Nothing here surprises me. And it's really beautiful, and it is. It's the Christmas album for two o'clock in the morning, when nothing but the trees left lit, everybody's gone to bed and you're sitting there just bummed, hard Bummed real hard, exactly.

And it's really good for that. Or just driving around in a snowstorm, which the low Christmas EP is good for that too.

0:45:41 - Seth

Yeah, yeah. No, I completely agree. That was definitely a contender of mine. Yeah, was that album? Yeah.

0:45:49 - Scott

And you know, let's kind of keep the sad train moving. But a different kind of sadness, a more beautiful kind of sadness, A Christmas portrait by the Carpenters.

I listen to that record since I was a kid and I love everything on there Karen Carpenter we didn't deserve her. The fact that she was so talented and so virtuosic and so many aspects of music not only did she have the voice of an angel, not only was she like a brilliant pianist and percussionist this woman was, you know, and her brother was not too bad either. That album is great. It's really, really good, and if you're looking for a really nice kind of all purpose Christmas record, you can't go wrong with the Carpenters. That's a good one.

It's just kind of like from you know age eight to 80, everyone in the house is going to be okay with that one. You know, yeah, those are going to be like what is? If it's sad, they're not going to be like well, it's, you know, mopey hair in the face like emo kid sad. They're going to be like no, this is the way sad was supposed to be done with, you know, bell bottoms and a turtleneck and everybody was sweating on TV because all the polyester, that's the kind of sadness we like, that dick cavet sack of sadness.

0:47:10 - Seth

So it's a very specific, just you know Rod Sterling and night gallery sadness, where it's just just sweaty and sad.

0:47:18 - Scott

So yeah, that's my number three, that's a great one.

0:47:20 - Tara

That's such a great one. Honestly, I just got chills when you're talking about Karen Carpenter.

0:47:26 - Seth

I love her. Carpenter, so much she was the best, and plus we have to talk about Sonic Youth at least once.

0:47:31 - Tara

Oh yeah, we're supposed to, we'll see.

0:47:33 - Seth

We'll see and yeah, I mean, that is one of the best covers I've ever heard. And speaking of which, tara, we got to do top five covers soon, that's. That's something that we just we need to accomplish that's. That's a fun list, that's a really fun list, yeah.

0:47:48 - Tara

But Sonic Youth is like hella fan fan kids of Karen Carpenter. They have that. What's the one song?

0:47:55 - Seth

Oh, karen's, tunic. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:47:59 - Tara

Is there another one that I'm forgetting, that you were about to mention?

0:48:04 - Seth

I feel like multiple songs off goo are about. Karen but just like more and more obtuse ways yeah you're probably right. It's like Karen, we love you. Where are you going, Karen? Karen, you know like.

0:48:13 - Scott

Well and correct me if I'm wrong, but goo came out right around the time of Karen Carpenter's death, right.

0:48:18 - Seth

I think you're right, but I don't know enough about the dates of Karen Carpenter's death.

0:48:21 - Tara

Me either. I thought it was way earlier than that. Now I have to check.

0:48:25 - Scott

See, I'm trying to remember whether Karen Carpenter died in like 1982 or like 1992, because obviously, sadly for those that don't know, she had a very bad eating disorder and she got very, very thin and her body kind of gave up on her and she sort of wasted away. But like I remember seeing her like on like TV interviews, on like the Today Show, but I can't remember if it was 80s or 90s.

0:48:46 - Tara

Yeah, it was 1983.

0:48:48 - Scott

83.

0:48:49 - Seth

Oh, okay, I'll say so yeah goo came out way after that. Yeah, yeah. So it's interesting that it stuck with them that long yeah.

0:48:56 - Tara

They were. I mean, they were probably. I don't know how long it takes them to write songs or whatever, but maybe they had some songs in the bat catalog because they were definitely an active in 1983. So maybe they were impacted and they were like you. Let's do these songs that we always talked about for good yeah. Who knows yeah.

0:49:11 - Seth

And those, those Sonic Youths they are. They are the, the, the, the perfect encapsulation of what a rock and roll band should be, and we'll never have another one like them.

0:49:22 - Tara

We never got a Sonic Youth Christmas album, damn it.

0:49:25 - Scott

I know that would have been good, that would have been so good.

0:49:27 - Seth

Yeah, that would have been so good, like Little Drummer Boy just would have been, like you know, wall to wall static for 15 minutes.

0:49:34 - Tara

Yeah, there is one song called Santa doesn't cop out on dope, but if only we could have.

0:49:42 - Speaker 2

Where was that from?

0:49:45 - Tara

I don't know Huh.

0:49:49 - Seth

They got hidden gems all over the place. Yeah, they do.

0:49:51 - Tara

Oh, oh, oh, it's from a compoli, a Geffen Records compilation.

0:49:56 - Seth

Interesting.

0:49:57 - Tara

Just say Noel which that's good. So silly yeah.

0:50:05 - Scott

That'd be the one, like Sonic Youth connected thing that Nancy Reagan would have approved of.

0:50:10 - Tara

Oh my gosh, yeah, but and also like speaking of covers, karen Carpenter.

0:50:15 - Scott

well, the Carpenter is their cover of a ticket to ride Fucking amazing and they might be the first one that ever did like the sad Mopi version. Mopi cover of an upbeat song. Yeah, they might be the first ones and it's amazing. It's really, really beautiful.

0:50:30 - Seth

Fully agree. Nice, what, what number was that of yours?

0:50:34 - Scott

Number three Okay, okay. So number two. I'm honestly surprised neither of you guys had this on your list. I really thought like this would be one of those kind of you know unanimous, like yeah, obviously this is here and that album is a Christmas gift to you from. Phil Spector Was a happy jolly song, was a corn cob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal Classic. I'm kind of surprised. That one is you can't, you really can't go wrong. You got Darlene Love, you got the Ronettes. I mean it's, it's, it's perfect, it's a perfect record.

0:51:10 - Seth

Yeah, I fully agree, and it's also one of those ones that like, if you ask music fans what's the best Christmas album, I think that's number one on a lot of people's lists. Like, just like you know, the musicianship, the era, specificity of the production, like it, just it feels like a real album from a real time, representing some really high quality music all at once.

0:51:33 - Scott

Yeah, it is the Christmas record from the wall of sound.

0:51:35 - Seth

Yeah, but that, that is that easily could have been on my list, if you know, I didn't really want to. Just, you know, crow about candy claws some more.

0:51:44 - Scott

That's true.

0:51:45 - Tara

You know what's kind of interesting is. I feel like a lot of these albums that we've talked about so far have been from the sixties.

0:51:55 - Seth

Yeah, yeah. I wonder why Christmas was so thick in the sixties.

0:51:59 - Tara

Yeah, how about that Carpenter's album? Is that from the sixties?

0:52:05 - Scott

I think that was the seventies.

0:52:07 - Tara

Hmm.

0:52:09 - Scott

Christmas portrait might have been like 72 or something. Yeah, it's.

0:52:15 - Tara

Oh yeah, it 1978. Oh 78.

0:52:19 - Scott

I was way off, but it also might be two, because you know we are all of similar age and we all grew up with parents who listened to an oldie's station and back then the oldies that it was the fifties through the seventies, that kind of encapsulate the oldie's stations and and a lot of those records too.

0:52:40 - Tara

Yeah, and those were the only channels really that were playing Christmas music besides, like the adult contemporary channels. Yeah, that's true, and man, I'm steamroller and steamrollers. But yeah then.

0:52:57 - Scott

yeah, like in the grunge and rock channels were not playing Christmas music, so yeah, yeah, like father Christmas by the kinks or like Jesus Christ by big star, but other than that, yeah and even that those kind of things I didn't get until much later in life, when I was listening to albums instead of radio.

0:53:14 - Speaker 2

Yeah, like.

0:53:15 - Seth

I genuinely do not remember being a child and hearing all of these. You know which is now common very like indie and you know I Don't want to say ironic Christmas songs, but that is how they feel sometimes. Yeah and but yeah, I don't remember hearing those as a child I wasn't, until I was older and was able to actually, like you know, seek out music on my own. I feel, like in the mainstream. It's just the same like 100 Christmas songs on a loop.

0:53:41 - Tara

Yeah. I mean it's like the only ones that I ever heard were that were not traditional Christmas music, were like pop ones, like new pop ones, like Like new kids on the block, and the 80s had a Christmas album, stuff like that just like there was one that my mom really liked and I you know I can't stand it, but she would play it all the time and it was Rosie O'Donnell's Christmas album.

0:54:07 - Scott

Oh you guys wait of her singing it's, oh, she's, she's, she's duetting with everybody on there, like you got Celine Dion, you got Savage Garden, you got in sync you got Billy Joel, you got Cher, you got I mean, like it's, it is about as like you know that side of the 90s as you can get, and I don't know how like my mom must have ordered like on QVC or something, I don't know how she got it.

But like she and that was like we for like two seasons we listened to that album so many times, so I know that album really really well, but it is not in my top five.

0:54:46 - Tara

Yeah.

0:54:48 - Seth

So wait, so that that previous one was your number two, that's my name to do so okay, my number one is I.

0:54:56 - Scott

You know I I don't mean to copy Tara. It's Vince Grawley trio. It's Charlie Brown Christmas.

0:55:11 - Tara

I mean, it's such a classic album it is, yeah and it is I.

0:55:16 - Scott

you know, one of you guys brought it up earlier, I forget who, but it has now separated itself from the, the source material, where it's not only just a good Christmas record, it's a good jazz record.

I think I'm a year and yes, I do like I can every once in a while Because it has been co-opted by so many things, whether it is the rail 10 and bombs or a rest of development or you just you hear it in so many different places. It's so ubiquitous for this Christmas season. You can kind of play it anywhere Again, sort of like the Carpenter's Christmas album. You put it on, no one's gonna complain, no one's gonna go like I don't like it. You know like it's. Yeah, it's all good. It's the Vince Grawley trio.

0:55:56 - Tara

And if they do, kick him out.

0:55:58 - Scott

Exactly, exactly, exactly, exactly. That's a bad block. Don't come back again exactly. Yeah, I, you guys already. You know we kind of already wax poetic on it enough, but it's, it is to meet the best Christmas record of all time and, as you mentioned before Tara, this is a 1965 album.

0:56:16 - Tara

So that was another 60s album 60s thick Christmas huh 60s thick Christmas.

0:56:24 - Scott

It's the 60s. It's the 60s.

0:56:29 - Tara

The 60s.

0:56:32 - Seth

Well, that's. I mean, yeah, let's go through some of our others as well. Some of our are almost made it lists a Few of mine, a big one, and this is the one I was going to say as a joke earlier, but I didn't want to spoil it, just in case I was actually on someone's list. This is the. I think this is the first record I actually remember listening to as a child. Like I, have memories of putting this physical record on my family's record player and listening to this record and it's great 97, a Christmas together by John Denver and the Muppets.

Oh yeah, I Listened to that a lot as a kid because I think it was Kind of just right for a child. Yeah, it had some real musicianship, but it also had goofy Muppets doing silly songs and voices and stuff and you know them doing like the 12 days of Christmas. Hilarious, hilarious, let's see. Oh, I also had a Christmas album by bright eyes. I also had a Charlie Brown Christmas on here. A couple others that are are deeper in the pocket is Yuletide bangers. Bangers, both a Z and it. That's by a John Wayne. John Wayne has a very Singular ability to make bullshit beats in a matter of seconds. That I love to death. Remember, john Wayne fucks Disney. Mm-hmm, so good.

It's the same aesthetic, I'm just like finding some YouTube things, ripping them up and just throwing them out there again. He did with with with Christmas songs, yeah, and then there's like this one where he does sample Christmas time is here and I think he just calls that song the one everyone does.

0:58:16 - Tara

It's great I saw him open for Mount Kimby Once. He gave someone in the audience so much shit and then that person got kicked out because then he didn't want to like chant John Wayne's neighbors. Whatever the hell stupid thing. He wanted everyone in the audience to do and it kicked him out, so he missed Mount Kimby, who was there for.

0:58:42 - Seth

Sad and and and I don't want to defend John Wayne, but I will because I'm a big fan of his but he did have a bunch of substance abuse issues for a long time. I believe he's clean now, but I, you know, I don't know him personally, but um, but yeah, he made a lot of bad decisions, he would say.

So maybe that was one of those that could have been one of those decisions, decisions he would regret now. But I don't know, I wasn't there. I don't know the man, but I do love John Wayne.

0:59:07 - Scott

Well, I think John Wayne would regret a lot of the things that happened in the past, especially his playboy interview.

0:59:12 - Seth

Wow, I see.

0:59:14 - Tara

Cowboy, I know what were you guys talking about.

0:59:20 - Seth

I.

0:59:21 - Scott

Do? John Wayne loved to sample beats guys, but come on.

0:59:25 - Seth

It didn't set off any alarms in your head that the cowboy John Wayne was opening for the electronic duo Mount Kimby.

0:59:31 - Scott

Yeah, if you off. Yeah, it's fucking Hondo. It's McClintock what do you guys? It's just a true grit. It's rooster cockburn. What are you guys talking about?

0:59:39 - Seth

And one more I'll mention for my shortlist. It's a Saint Seneca who I love, love, love. They put out a new Christmas single every year and so there isn't really an album of it. There's like a weird EP called the Mall Walker EP where you can get a few of them, but anyway they don't really have a Christmas album. But if you go and find all their Christmas songs and put them together, like I have, that makes one hell of a Christmas album.

1:00:01 - Scott

That's kind of how I felt about the REM singles, like I wish there was, yeah, because as far as I know there is no compilation of all of them. You just have to go and find them all. But if you work to put them all together, which I have done, it's, it's a nice little record exactly Tara.

1:00:13 - Seth

How about you? What's on your shortlist?

1:00:15 - Tara

so mine a lot of. It is sort of what's God was talking about the whole like nostalgia thing. Like one. One Christmas tape that I heard my dad listening to all the time when I was a kid was the Elvis Presley Christmas album. So I put that on there and it almost I mean I almost put it in the top. But I just had to switch with things that I listen to the most now just because, you know, just because I heard as a kid it's not what I listen to the most. Now I do have it on vinyl. I have to put it on sometimes during the holidays, just because it is so nostalgic for me. Another one Is the Beach Boys Christmas album.

1:00:53 - Seth

Yeah.

1:00:53 - Tara

I can't believe that's not on any of our lists. I know. That's a great one and then one for me, because I'm from Tennessee and it would be just crazy if I didn't mention it. Here is Dolly and Kenny. Once upon a Christmas 1984 another great one hard candy Christmas. Oh, I wanted to mention this one, but it's not like I don't think it's on an album, I think it's just like its own like single EP situation. It's whams last Christmas. It's like one of my favorite Christmas songs.

1:01:25 - Seth

But yeah, it's not on an album, I don't think yeah, I feel like next year we're gonna have to do top five songs. Yeah, yeah. There's a lot of good stuff out there, yeah five is too hard, yeah.

1:01:42 - Tara

And then just a couple. Last, last other ones. Home Alone soundtrack is very. Christmasy and then there's one called the Christmas rules compilation and it's just a bunch of like indie people that are super cool, like the shins is on there and yeah, they do.

1:01:59 - Seth

Yeah, and Eleanor Friedburger is on there too.

1:02:02 - Scott

Yeah, she does like that, like she does like the smoky, jazzy one. Yeah, exactly.

1:02:06 - Seth

Yeah, yeah, that's a good compilation, yeah. I believe I had to hunt around for that one and then, like whoever I was with at the time, through like wait. What are you looking for? Like, oh, this. Like was it Starbucks compilation? Was it a target compilation?

1:02:18 - Scott

So the person you're talking about was me and I Got it out of me, buff the, the new releases record. Not knowing what it was. I haven't even looked at the track list yet and it was sitting on my desk. You're like really want to find this holiday rule thing? Man, I can't find anywhere. I'm like this there you go, so you gotta go to Starbucks quick Wait, so was it a Starbucks compilation.

1:02:38 - Seth

I think it was being sold at Starbucks. I don't think it was exclusive to Starbucks, but I just remember that when I was trying to find it because I loved Eleanor Friedeburger so much like the directive I got was go to a Starbucks and we'll find it.

1:02:51 - Tara

Interesting. Yeah, and it had, like Rufus Wainwright, kalexico, andrew Bird.

1:02:57 - Seth

That's a really good one, I agree. Yeah, well enough Christmas.

1:03:01 - Tara

Wait, does Scott get to go through his honorable mentions?

1:03:04 - Scott

I think I kind of went through them. Yeah, he cuz he threw him out earlier, just the one thing you know like that again cuz I don't think it's on a record is Christmas rapping by the waitresses, that's just yeah, amazing, such a good song.

1:03:15 - Seth

Yeah, how about that? That song by the knife? I want to call it.

1:03:19 - Tara

Oh, yeah, Chris was reindeer.

1:03:21 - Seth

Yeah reindeer.

1:03:23 - Scott

So good I love that one amazing and also wait does cocktail good, no, would you say. What are you about to say? Cocktail twins. Yes, were you there, frosty, the snowman and, like winter, wonder yes, what the heck?

1:03:35 - Tara

Amazing same, yeah, but it's not on a record or no.

1:03:39 - Scott

Danny Elfman, sweet from Scrooge doesn't have its own soundtrack if it.

1:03:43 - Seth

Did? That's very true, did, oh actually that. That reminds me too. The other day, one of my things I do often when I'm working. I was doing some art stuff and so I just put on my entire iTunes library on random album shuffle. So I'm not really taking an active interest, it's just playing whole albums, blah, blah, blah. It put on, speaking of Danny Elfman, the entire nightmare before Christmas soundtrack. That was a joy to listen to. Like I can't believe none of us mentioned that, but that's that's also an excellent I think, because it is, it straddles Halloween and Christmas so much that yeah, it's hard to particularly call it a Christmas album.

1:04:18 - Tara

Yeah yeah, I'm sure some some folks do listen to that, but not me. Yeah too. Yeah, yeah, it's not quite Christmas-y.

1:04:28 - Speaker 2

Yes, yeah so anyway, enough Christmas.

1:04:32 - Seth

Christmas is now cancelled for the rest of the year. Let's talk about the employer recommendation shelf, because we got to close up the store. It's getting late and we're not even supposed to be here today. Copyright Kevin Smith. So, first up, I'll go real quick. This album just came out and I absolutely adore it. All right, I'm gonna say words you won't understand, but then I'll explain what it is and then you'll agree that it's very exciting. Okay, so the album is called pardon my French, the musician is called Jihari Masamba unit, and what it actually is is Cream Riggins on drums and mad lib on all the other instruments, and they're doing an experimental jazz album. That sounds awesome. It's really awesome. When did it come out? I believe the physical comes out in February 2020. I mean, yes, it comes out in February 2020, no February 2021.

1:05:36 - Scott

Yes, because I was like February 2020 already happened.

1:05:39 - Seth

Yes, today is Christmas day. Yeah, the physical comes out February 2021 and I believe the digital came out on November.

1:05:53 - Scott

2876 is 25th, november 25th, I'm gonna say just anyway, that was almost a whole month ago.

1:05:59 - Seth

Exactly. But point is point is is that it's all wonderful? It's really great. Matt mad lib, I don't think does jazz often enough like the yesterday's new quintet? Stuff is really wonderful, but him with cream Riggins on here is just just chef's kiss. It's, it's the greatest. And Anyway, jihari Masamba unit parted my French 2020. Highly recommend it. How about you, tara?

1:06:25 - Tara

I'm going to recommend a book that I'm actually reading right now. I'm not finished with it, but it's already really amazing and that is the Beastie Boys book, and I'm actually listening to the audiobook because there's so many it's like stacked lineup for narrators Kim Gordon, hello, my fave, ben Stiller, snoop Dogg, steve Buscemi, and, just like so many famous people are reading this book. On the audiobook version of the Beastie Boys book, though I think I need to buy the actual physical copy because I think there's there's tons of Lots of cool old pics in it, so I'll probably have to buy it. But yeah, that's my recommendation.

1:07:09 - Seth

Nice, scott is a big beasties fan. Yeah, have you seen that? And it wasn't. Wasn't there also a beasties documentary? That was either associated.

1:07:17 - Scott

Yeah, yeah, I mean wish Adam Yuck could be there. But yeah, what can you do? Nothing, Nothing at all.

1:07:28 - Seth

I've tried, it is not gone well. All right, Scott, I know you don't work here, but you spend enough time here. You want to throw something up on the shelf?

1:07:39 - Scott

sure, let me think what it would be. Got it All right. You already said that we're done with Christmas, but I'm gonna. I think we got one last little drop of Christmas. It's Christmas.

1:07:53 - Speaker 2

You're a crazy hey, and what that is is.

1:07:56 - Scott

So if you went with the album and you went with book, I'm gonna go with an animated short and if, for those of you that have not seen, something called creature comforts, it's awesome. It's a BBC show where these, this animation team, goes out into the world and they do field recordings of real people saying real things and they come back and they animate them with stop motion or claymation or however you want to term it. What is it, seth? Is it claymation or stop motion?

1:08:21 - Seth

Claymation is owned by the will will vinton animation so it's stop motion. So, no, no, no see, it's gonna get more complex. Now that is Ardman animation studios, and they call it plasticine animation.

1:08:34 - Scott

So this is plasticine animation by Ardman Studios with two a's if you're looking for it, like guard vark and then A. They do. So look this up if you can find it. If it's on DVD, get the DVD. If it's on Vimeo, watch the Vimeo. If it's on daily motion, try to find something else, but if it's, but you know Russian, you too.

Be very careful, be very careful get a VPN, you know, just get the tour network, just just. But find it. It's the 12 days of Christmas, it's adorable and it's like it fully captures sort of like the British holiday spirit and and I, yeah, go watch that, it'll, it'll, it'll make your Christmas, for 11 minutes, a little more jollier.

1:09:12 - Tara

Um, I have to mention something. I, now that you've brought up claymation, the raisins, california raisins, christmas special.

1:09:23 - Seth

Yes, my favorite, my favorite, oh, my gosh, I have it on DVD.

1:09:26 - Tara

Yes, Special order that shit. Yes.

1:09:29 - Seth

That is claymation, because Will Vinton animated that, so you can call that claymation. Copyright all day.

1:09:35 - Tara

Here we go, wassaling. Oh, three kings of orientai tried to smoke a rubber cigar. It was loaded, it exploded Like man that was such a fun time.

1:09:44 - Seth

All those.

1:09:45 - Scott

California raisins.

1:09:46 - Seth

As someone who was learning how to animate while I was in college in Portland Oregon, which is where Will Vinton animation studios is, I could tell you so many amazing stories about how all the old Will Vinton animators hate Laika because they forced him out of the studio and renamed it. Laika, weird behind the door, shit it's so strange, it's so strange. It's just like in fighting amongst amongst, stop motion animators yes, exactly.

1:10:15 - Scott

Yeah, I get the zine. It's pretty intense.

1:10:19 - Seth

It was amazing to hear, because when I was there Laika was already in full effect, so there was nothing I could really do about it, but hearing the old timers talk about how much they support Will Vinton and they don't like these new young whippersnappers Laika.

1:10:34 - Scott

Fucking. These guys just had nucky money and blah. What was the first thing that Laika did? Was it Coraline?

1:10:40 - Seth

It was Coraline, but they also did, like you know, shorts and stuff like that before Coraline. Yeah Right, well, they're damn good at it. Oh yeah, I know, I love Laika. I don't just like a Laika, I love a Laika.

1:10:50 - Tara

Oh my gosh.

1:10:52 - Seth

Wow. Well, on that, we should all leave. We should all leave. So a big thank you to everyone. Well, no, it's just you, it's just that one person. Hello, thank you. Thank you you for coming in today and thank you, scott, for stopping by on your mail route, despite the fact that there's no mail and none of us should have been here today. But we appreciate it and we're glad we all got to spend this holiday together. And yeah, store is officially closed. Happy trails everyone, until we meet again. ["street Dance"].

1:11:31 - Tara

Record Store Society is hosted by Tara Davies and Seth Nicholas Johnson. If you'd like to contact the show, you can send an email to recordsstoressocietyatihartmediacom, or you can find us on all your favorite social media sites with the handle at recordsstoressociety ["Street Dance"] Record Store Society is production of iHeart Radio.

1:11:54 - Speaker 2

For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app. Apple podcasts are wherever you listen to your favorite shows. ["street Dance"] you, you, you, you you.

Transcribed by https://podium.page

0:00:18 - Natalie

Hey, tara

0:00:20 - Tara

Hi. Natalie

0:00:22 - Natalie

How's it going?

0:00:23 - Tara

Pretty good. How are you?

0:00:24 - Natalie

Pretty good. Have you fully recovered from the Halloween Bruhaha? You ready?

0:00:29 - Tara

I didn't do anything really from Halloween, so I'm fully recovered. Oh nice, me too I had one trick-or-treater and it was like right at 5pm and I was still working and I just stayed sitting at my desk and I was like go away, go away. I later then watched the video from my ring doorbell. The kid was not even in costume. Oh, come on that doesn't count.

And then I was like, okay, well, I'm gonna have more, because I did prepare a bowl of candy for the children. I had no more trick-or-treaters after that. I feel like the first one must have told the whole neighborhood don't go there. That's ridiculous.

0:01:10 - Natalie

That's terrible holiday etiquette. You have to have it on a costume, even if you just like have a sheet with some holes cut in it and you're a ghost. Yeah, effort, we need effort. Oh hey, welcome to the store. I'm Natalie, I'm Tara. Take a look around. Hope you find something you like. If you have any questions, come let us know. We'll just be over here chatting behind the counter. All right, so some pretty major music history was made. This week. The Beatles have a new song.

0:01:43 - Tara

Wait what.

0:01:44 - Natalie

Yeah yeah, the Beatles came out, released a new song. It's so cool, it's called Now and Then, and I think they were-. Oh wait, stop, I did hear this. Okay, good.

0:01:57 - Tara

I thought it was one that I have probably heard a million times before.

0:02:02 - Natalie

Yeah, well, it's actually new. I mean new, we'll put that in air quotes but they actually started the process. I think like in the mid-90s, yoko Ono shared some old demo tapes from the 70s that John had written with piano, gave it to the rest of the band and they tried to finish the song, but they didn't have the technology to separate John's vocals from the piano part and get a good, clean mix out of it until today, because, thanks to a software system developed by Peter Jackson and his team, they were able to finally separate the vocals and the piano part, finish up all the parts, get a good, clean mix, release the song and they put out a video this week and it's really, really cool.

0:02:47 - Tara

I wonder if it was played at all when I saw Paul McCartney, like not too long ago. Oh, that's interesting Because there was videos in between. Music, yeah, oh, but no, yeah, it's funny, tidal always serves up some pretty good recommendations in there, like for you it's not a for you page, but it's what I figured it's called, but it's the daily here listen to these songs playlist, and I'm pretty sure that's where I heard it. I just threw on that playlist when I was getting ready for work one morning and I heard it. But I thought it was interesting that the Beatles were on it, because I hadn't listened to anything like that recently, but also it could fit in with some things I listened to. So, yeah, but it's because it's a new release. Yeah, yeah.

0:03:36 - Natalie

Now it makes sense and the video is really beautiful too. I got a little, a little misty eyed for sure, because they have old clips and then they show, you know, paul and Ringo in the studio today recording and they've superimposed George and John on either side of them and it's just really sweet, it's really touching. I can't imagine what that must be like for people who actually, you know, lived through that time and must be really emotional for them. Yeah, when you have a band that was, you know, that important, and losing a talent like John Lennon so soon, like that, I think, being able to hear his voice again and hearing all the other band members together one more time, like that, I think that's pretty special, that's definitely a gift.

0:04:21 - Tara

Yeah.

0:04:21 - Natalie

And having lost. You know, george after they originally tried to record it in the 90s too that that was a pretty big blow too. So this was our last chance to hear the boys together one last time.

0:04:33 - Tara

Yeah, that's exciting. You know, I keep waiting for the next go-go's. You know, how they're like one of the first girl groups to ever have, or like one of the only to have, like a top 10 girl band. Wrote, sang, performed, hit in the billboards.

0:04:55 - Natalie

Is that happening? Have you heard something through the grapevine? No, we're just manifesting it.

0:05:00 - Tara

Like why hasn't this happened lately at all, since the 80s? Is that you never know? There are a lot of girl groups in the world that have just been forgotten about completely. The go-go's are definitely not one of them, sure, but I think there's so many underrated girl groups out there.

0:05:24 - Natalie

Absolutely. Let's talk about it. Shall we talk about it? I think we should.

0:05:28 - Tara

Okay.

0:05:31 - Natalie

Who should go first? You, okay, I will go first, cause actually I have a band here who was forgotten and I think without this band it would have been a lot more difficult for the go-go's to have the success that they had, and that band is Fanny, you can talk to me.

0:05:50 - Speaker 3

If you're lonely, you can talk to me.

0:06:00 - Natalie

Let's jump into it. They are the pioneering all women American rock band active in the early to mid-70s. As David Bowie famously said about them, quote one of the most important female bands in American rock has been buried without a trace, and that is Fanny. So a little backdrop about them. Fanny was founded by sisters, june and Jean Millington, on guitar and bass respectively, who are originally from the Philippines. They moved to Sacramento, california, in the early 60s and, being half Filipina and half white, they faced a lot of racism, a lot of difficulties fitting in, and music became an outlet for them. They're self-taught, started on ukuleles, playing pop music from the radio and one day they decided to play for a school variety show. I love stories that start like this. So many big stars get their big moment in like a school talent show. I think it's so wholesome. And suddenly people were paying attention. So that's how they got started playing around town putting on shows in their yard during summers, which is also a great idea. They had a high school friend named Bree Darling, also Filipina American, who joined the band as drummer and they called themselves the Svelts. So as time went on, bree actually decided to leave the band when she became a mother and Alice DeBur took over as drummer at just 17 years old. They added Addie Lee Clement on guitar and after some moving around they changed their name to Wild Honey.

So the whole gang decides to pack up, go to LA and try to secure a record deal. It was either. It was like make or break, do or die either get a record deal or go back to school. So their managers set them up with a show at the Troubadour in Hollywood, which is pretty huge, because you didn't see women bands on stages like that, or really at all, for that matter, during that time. And Work got back to renowned producer Richard Perry from Warner Brothers Records, who's worked with everyone from Fats Domino and Barbra Streisand to Ella Fitzgerald and the Pointer Sisters. He wanted to sign them right away. So it's now 1970, and they've added. Nikki Barclay came on board as keyboardist and vocalist, rounding out the official lineup, and they changed their name to Fanny. All right, so that's the origin story.

Let's jump into some music here. How about we hear the second single from their first studio album, fanny, and this is called Seven Roads. Seven Roads lie up the number, seven Roads lie up behind. This has gotta be one of my favorite songs from them. It's just so edgy, just pure 70s rock power. I love it All right.

So at the time they'd moved into a house that get this. This is cool. It happened to be legendary actress Hedy Lamar's old house and they dubbed it Fanny Hill. And let's just say that Fanny Hill was the place to be if you were young female and queer. June and Alice in the band were openly lesbian.

Fanny Hill turned into this utopia of girl power and it looked like a very good time and I love that for them. So yet another glass ceiling they were actively breaking, you know, on top of gender and race in rock and roll. So their friend Brie and her daughter moved in with them and rejoined the band. Huge stars would come through this house Bob Dylan, bonnie Raitt, the Stones, joe Cocker, little Feet. Lots of people would come by just to hang out and jam at the house and you know their musical talent and mastery on their instruments were just undeniable, so much music was happening and being created in that house. In an article from the Philippine star, scott Garceau writes, quote the thing about musicians is they respect musicianship. All these big stars who caught Fanny's live shows saw something extraordinary, something that overcame race, sex and gender identity.

So their manager, roy Silver, and producer Richard Perry, wanted to make them the female Beatles, speaking of the Beatles, and so Brie was forcibly removed from the band, which was quite difficult for all of them. Brie was playing tambourine and providing supplemental vocals, but Manage perceived her as being like the extra person. So the label and management said they would not move forward with an album unless Brie left, which was a total dick move. Right, but that's the music industry for you, you know, a bunch of dicks making dick moves. So Brie had to leave and then, in December 1970, they released their debut album, fanny, and Fanny became the first all-women rock group to release an LP with a major label, that being Warner Reprise. So here's a track from that album called Shade Me Ever needed saving, don't you know?

0:10:40 - Speaker 3

I need it now, don't you, man, shade me from the hurt dead.

0:10:46 - Natalie

pain of love, oh come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. So they really exposed, challenged the sexism in rock and roll, proving that women could do exactly what the boys were doing, just as well. And then some and what's crazy is like the fact that they were women seemed to even overtake the racism around them, being Filipino-American. But they soldered on at a truly breakneck speed. In 71, they released their second album, called Charity Ball, and here's a clip of the track Place in the Country and I need it, sometimes to myself, and a price in the country I need the country.

0:11:26 - Speaker 3

Now, that's what I got to find.

0:11:28 - Natalie

I need the country. So now they're just all over the place. They hit all the big US variety shows. They toured the UK and were embraced. They even recorded their third album, fanny Hill, in the UK at the iconic Apple Studios with Jeff Emrick, the Beatles engineer, and that was released in 72. Let's hear a track from that. This one is called Ain't that Peculiar? But how can?

0:11:52 - Speaker 4

love go with the pain. Ain't that peculiar, ain't that?

0:12:01 - Natalie

peculiar, ain't that peculiar? So in 1973, they recorded and released their fourth album, mothers Pride, which was produced by Todd Rungren at Secret Sound Studio in New York City. Let's check out the fourth single from that album, which is a cover of Randy Newman's Last Night I had a Dream. In the dream I had last night In the dream.

0:12:22 - Speaker 3

I had last night In that dream. I had last night In that dream.

0:12:31 - Natalie

Yeah, so just that many years in a row they're just cranking out music, they're on tour, very, very busy, but unfortunately they never got the big breakout hit that the label wanted and they were just exhausted, constantly touring, recording. I mean, all of the moving around it was taking a toll and Warner Brothers' Genius Solution was to put them in skimpy, sparkly clothes. So right, exactly. So the pressure was really mounting. They weren't really getting paid the way they deserved and then June decided to leave the band, which led to Alice leaving the band. However, jean on bass, she didn't want to let Fanny go, so she invited Brie back to the band and they added Patty Quattro on guitar, sister of Suzie Quattro, and this is in 1974. They adopted a new glamorous rock look with leather and feathers, very sexy, and they recorded their fifth studio album called Rock and Roll Survivors. They released a rather risqué track called Butter Boy.

0:13:49 - Tara

Butter Boy. What's that about? I'd like to read the lyrics on that one.

0:13:56 - Natalie

Yeah, this was the fanny track that charted the highest. It reached number 29 on the Billboard Top 100, and the song is based on Jean's relationship with David Bowie.

0:14:05 - Tara

He thought I'd be impressed by his rotating bed. Such a woman, suppressed, surely needs to be led to complete elation, and I've had my share of conversation, wow.

0:14:19 - Natalie

What's the first line? I remember the first line being he was hard as a rock, but I was ready to roll. Yeah, there you go. Wow, just lead with that. Yeah. So this was their hit.

But by that time the band had basically disintegrated. There was no one there to promote it. Nikki got pulled away. She wanted to do a solo album and Brie left as well. They weren't on board with the direction the band had taken and things just fizzled out right when it seemed as if they were finally on the cusp of that next level. People just moved on. Brie went on to marry and start a family with Bowie's guitarist, earl Slick, had a couple of kids. Brie went on to work with lots of other artists, including Robert Palmer, durand Durand, robert Daltry and others.

So yeah, after five critically acclaimed albums in a span of five years, fanny never penetrated the general public. Meanwhile, like the runaways, the gogos, the bangles, they got the glitz and the attention and the platinum records. But honestly, fanny paved the way for all that Big journalist James Lichtenberg says, quote the fact that they didn't break through wasn't so much a function of their music or their talent. It was the social moment which was unable to hear what they had to offer. Well, a lot of time has passed since then. Well, actually, in 1983, june and her partner, ann Hackler founded the Institute for the Musical Arts, which is an internationally recognized nonprofit supporting women in music and music business. They also run rock and roll girls camps during the summers, which is really cool, and I wish I had something like that when I was young. Did you do like music camp stuff?

0:15:54 - Tara

growing up?

0:15:54 - Natalie

Not really, no, I took lessons and I was in band, but never did anything like that I think like going away for a summer to just like do music sounds so much fun with June you know, june Millington, of all people, would have been incredible. That'd be crazy. So I want to return to David Boy's comments about Fanny in Rolling Stone magazine in 1999. He also said they were extraordinary. They wrote everything. They played like motherfuckers. They were just colossal and wonderful and nobody's ever mentioned them. They're as important as anybody else who's ever been ever. It just wasn't their time Revivify Fanny and I will feel that my work is done and so I think that's what's happening now.

You know, in the last few years, fanny, the original members they're all in their 60s Jean, june, brie, alice and Patty they reunited and recorded a new album in 2018 called Fanny Walked the Earth, and the reference to dinosaurs was intentional and I think it's. I think it's really cute and it just shows what a great sense of humor they've had through it all, through all the tough times. I mean, everything has clearly emerged from such such the strong bond that they've always had and their friendship, like they really come off like family and it's. It's cute and sweet to watch them in interviews and they're always laughing, which I really appreciate. Just listen to a track from that new album. Here's a bit of the opening track called Lord Away. Now I feel like singing I've been ruled, yeah. So I think they still sound fantastic. You know, they're just the consummate rock and roll performers and they've helped bust up misogyny and rock, and now they're doing the same to ageism. I think that's pretty kickass. I don't want to spoil what has happened since that album release. You should definitely check out their documentary which recently came out. It's called Fanny the Right to Rock, because the story has a significant twist towards the end and it's quite shocking and it's very touching. The documentary as a whole is just really an interesting watch.

But I'm glad they're back in the spotlight and people are discovering or rediscovering these rock and roll pioneers. And I just want to make clear yes, they were groundbreaking in multiple ways in a social sense. But let's be real, even if you put all that aside, just on the music alone, they are elite, just so raw, still so polished. There were no weak links in that band. Everybody served musicianship, everyone served crazy vocals. They had it all. We just weren't ready. We weren't ready for them. So this year, 2023, marks their 50th anniversary. They were celebrated with a concert at the Whiskey of Go-Go in May, and now I think it's just time to induct them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They absolutely deserve it, right yeah?

0:18:46 - Tara

First, all female rock band to release an album on a major label yeah, that should be recognized Absolutely and influenced bands like the Go-Go's and the Runaways and the Bangles and especially if the Go-Go's cited them as an influence. And they are also still one of the rare and few only groups oh yeah, rock groups, girl rock groups to release a top 10 billboard hit and gosh. That breaks my heart, but yeah they deserve some some recognition.

0:19:19 - Natalie

And all those really big names like they. They knew who Fanny was, you know. Even if the public didn't, they absolutely knew. Yeah, I think they absolutely deserve it. If fucking Jessica Simpson and Brad Paisley are eligible for the Hall of Fame this year, damn it, I better see Fanny on that stage or I'm gonna Right Raise hell. Right, I'm sorry, I didn't you know what. Jessica Simpson doesn't deserve that. Stray my bad. Brad Paisley, however, can kiss my ass, but no, fanny needs to be in the Rock, and Hall of Fame is the bottom line and we need it for 2024.

0:19:50 - Tara

I mean no, I think you have a point though but like, what has Jessica Simpson done for rock music?

0:19:57 - Natalie

She didn't know what Chicken of the Sea was. Yeah, I think that was her biggest contribution to rock music.

0:20:04 - Tara

I mean, I'm not, I don't want to put down. Oh, she's cool.

0:20:07 - Natalie

I like her in it, but but like rock and rock and roll. Rock and roll, but truly.

0:20:11 - Tara

Right, exactly, yeah. What yeah doesn't make any sense to me.

0:20:15 - Natalie

All right, so make it right. Make it right. Rock and roll institution people, whoever makes these decisions, we want to see Fanny in the Hall of Fame, where they belong. And, yeah, check out that documentary. It was really, really fascinating. And listen to Fanny.

0:20:31 - Tara

I'm going to watch that documentary. It sounds really cool. Yeah, so I haven't heard much of Fanny, but I apparently have because I have liked one of their tracks on Spotify. Have you heard of the blossoms?

0:20:45 - Natalie

The blossoms? I've heard of the gin blossoms, but I know that's not who you're talking about. That's cute.

0:20:51 - Tara

I love that you said that the blossoms are probably one of the first girl groups to ever form.

They came together in 1950s, before the whole girl group sound happened, exploded later in the 60s with bands or groups like the chiffons, the Dixie Cups, ronettes, cherelles, etc. The blossoms American Girl group came from California notable, but not notable in some interesting ways. This is a tricky story to tell in some cases. So the lineup most famously consisted of Darlene Love, fanny James and Jean King, and even though they had they had a recording career in their own right, they were most famous for being the group to actually record the number one hit, he's a Rebel, which was produced by Phil Spector. Unfortunately they were not credited as such, even though that's them. When you listen to the music that is the blossoms. But when you are listening to it you will see it says on Spotify, the radio, whatever, that it's the crystals. They got the credit, but it's not them actually singing it. And, yeah, pretty interesting huh. More on that later. I will tell more on how that went down a little bit later, but for now let's start the very beginning.

Originally it was a group of six girls. They called themselves the Dreamers and they originally sang spiritual songs. Two of the members had parents who were against their daughters singing secular rhythm and blues music which was popular on the radio in the 1950s and at the time, at the time, that they were called the Dreamers. Their original group of six was made up of Fanita Barrett, gloria Jones Not to be Confused with Gloria R Jones Obtained in Love fame Jewel Cobbs, pat Howard and the twin sisters Annette and Nanette Williams. The Dreamers were introduced to local musicians through Dexter Tisby, who then at that point had his own music group called the Penguins. That had success with the song Earth Angel.

0:23:38 - Speaker 3

Earth Angel.

0:23:39 - Tara

Earth Angel, will you be mine, do we all also know. Then they were joined by Richard Berry. I thought this was a really interesting tie-in here. Your gals were found by Richard Perry, my girls were found by Richard Berry Already a connection, right yeah, what is that? That is bizarre right. That's weird right.

0:24:06 - Speaker 3

I love it I found your girls.

0:24:09 - Tara

Richard Berry worked with my girls. That's weird. The Dreamers joined Richard Berry in the studio during 1955 and 1956, and they made several recordings for Flare and RPM Records. Among them was a version of Harry Warren and Mack Gordon's At Last and several of Richard Berry's compositions Together Wait for Me and Daddy Daddy. So let's listen to a little clip of Richard Berry featuring the Dreamers on the song Together. The Dreamers, while they're in the studio working with Richard Berry, also got to record a few of their own singles as the Dreamers. So let's listen to, since You've Been Gone by the Dreamers.

It was through their vocal coach, eddie Beale, that the Dreamers were brought to their first major label, which was Capital Records, and one of the stipulations by one of the executives at Capital Records was that they needed to rename their group. And this is so silly. I'm sorry, but I have to laugh, but it's just, I don't know, it's just. Maybe it's not silly, but it's just. It's kind of interesting. Then it probably was a white man that made this decision, but Tom Frans and the executive at Capital Records. He took a look at them and thought they looked like a bouquet of flowers because of their different shades of skin color. So he decided to call them the Blossoms, because they looked like blossoming flowers. It's not bad, it's just kind of silly. The Dreamers was a good name.

0:26:13 - Natalie

What the heck Right? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

0:26:17 - Tara

Between 1957 and 1958, the group had three singles that didn't really do much, but they did have another hit as a backup group to this time Ed Townsend, on the song For your Love in April 1958. So by 1958, nanette Williams got married, pregnant and she was planning to leave the group. So Darlene Wright, later known as Darlene Love, replaced Nanette and was selected to be the lead singer. So now they have a lead singer, which they didn't really have before. They were doing more like group type vocals and it changed the sound of the group. But they still didn't really have much success.

As, like the Blossoms, let's hear a song that features Darlene Wright, aka Darlene Love, as lead with the Blossoms in the song no Other Love in 1958. No Other Love can take your place. They still weren't getting much success in the charts but then they kept having some really good success as backup vocals. They did the backup vocals for Sam Cook's 1959 hit Everybody Loves to Cha Cha, and let's go back to that story of the crystals. So again, even though they had their own recording career, they recorded this song he's a Rebel and it became a number one hit, but they weren't credited as doing this song. That was the crystals that got the credit there. The crystals were. They recorded the song he Hit Me. He hit me and it felt like a kiss.

I actually really love that song but it kind of flopped and it was like we never really made it too high in the charts. But Phil Spector began recording Darlene Love and the Blossoms and so the crystals. They weren't able to travel quickly from New York to Los Angeles and he was trying to beat Vicky Carr at recording this song because he heard that Vicky Carr was going to cover Gene Pitney's he's a Rebel and so he was trying to catch. He was trying to beat that from happening. So since he knew he couldn't get the crystals in time from New York to Los Angeles to record this song, he decided he was going to have the Blossoms to sing it. Spector record and released their version under the crystals banner. But it's not the first time. Phil Spector promised a Blossoms a single and then released it under the crystals name. He did it a couple times.

Intentionally. So, yeah, intentionally, and it's like still credited to this day as the crystals, even on Spotify and things like that. But it's not them. It's Darlene Love singing and the Blossoms and the song was actually originally offered to the charelles, who turned it down because of anti-establishment lyrics, which I think is kind of funny. He's a rebel. It marked a shift in girl group thematic material where the singer loves a bad boy, which is, yeah, so funny and amplified later by groups like the Shangri-La's Leader of the Pack. But anyways, yeah, he's a rebel. Was the crystals only US number one hit and made the UK top 20 and wasn't even there? Imagine if the blossoms got their one number one hit.

0:29:55 - Speaker 4

That's crazy.

0:29:56 - Tara

That would be a different time. Their follow-up single, he's Sure the Boy I Love was also recorded by Love and the Blossoms. So there's another, and it reached number 11 on the Billboard chart and it featured spoken word intro by Darlene Love. A few weeks after the release of he's a Rebel, darlene was signed by Spectre, but she never knew whose name would be used on these records. She was recording with Phil Spectre. For example, on another occasion, on August 24th, they recorded a wall of sound version of the Disney classic Zippity Doodaw, with Bobby Sheen singing lead and the blossoms during the backup. When it was released in November, the label read Bob B Sox with two X's and the blue jeans, bobby Sox and the blue jeans. Though the blossoms continued backing artists as diverse as Doris Day, dwayne Eddy, their main claim to fame was from Phil Spectre's recordings from 1962 to 1964. In February they were on the charts again as Bobby Sox and the blue jeans with why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart? Let's listen to that.

0:31:05 - Speaker 4

Then in April later that year, in 1963, today I met the boy I'm Going to.

0:31:18 - Tara

Mary was released and credited to the new names Spectre had given right Darlene Love. She's finally getting her comeuppance.

0:31:26 - Natalie

Okay, you know what? I do know this band because I'm recognizing a few of these songs.

0:31:30 - Speaker 4

Definitely he's a rebel.

0:31:31 - Natalie

Yeah, and definitely Darlene Love. She's very popular and prolific. I remember her from, like her, a lot of her solo stuff, which I'm sure you're going to get into a bit, and her acting career, yes, especially where I remember her from.

0:31:44 - Tara

Yes.

0:31:45 - Natalie

I'll let you get to that.

0:31:46 - Tara

More on that later. Yeah, darlene said when we went to record with Phil, we never knew which record was going to be and who's it going to be by After he's a rebel. The next thing he wanted was another record by the crystal. As I said, this time you're going to have to pay me a royalty, not just no one or $1,500. And she said but I didn't get it, so that's a bummer. But the next round she was like I made sure to get my money.

Phil Spectre also used the blossoms as a prime backing group for the righteous brothers and you've lost that love and feeling which was a number one hit in 1964 in the US and the UK, and also helping out with Cher, who previously sung for Spectre on recordings by their on nets and Be my Baby, which also featured the blossoms, which is crazy.

All right, well, so yeah, although the blossoms were trying to establish themselves as primary artists, they still were like crushing it behind the scenes of all these other groups and acts as backup singers, including songs like Johnny Angel by Shelley Fabares, tom Jones. They had a lot of success as a backup group, even though they really were striving to have their own primary career. But I would say unintentionally probably became the most successful unknown group of the 60s because they sang backup for people like Paul Anka to Elvis Presley. They were super versatile. They could be like a choral group one minute and then they could do like a surf sound or a doo-wop sound the next. So they used that vocal versatility to their advantage and, yeah, they even sang backup for Jackie Wilson, aretha Franklin, marvin Gaye they had they provided background vocals for I Can Tina on River Deep, mountain High. They appeared on Elvis Presley's TV special, the 1968 comeback, which we've talked about before, and they also-.

0:33:48 - Natalie

They were everywhere. Yeah, I know right, that's crazy, it's crazy. They sang backup for Patty Duke. Yeah, how random is that? What did Patty Duke have a singing career? That's so bizarre.

0:33:59 - Tara

They even provided backups for Doris Day's Move Over Darling from the film. And, yeah, they resumed recording under their own name any other time and recorded many songs for a reprise and Ode and MGM. But things just weren't really kicking off for them. And I would love to play a quote. This is from an interview with Tom Cridland and it's it's Darlene talking about just kind of the struggles that she and the blossoms had when they were trying to do their thing.

0:34:30 - Speaker 3

Those records sounds yeah to my untrained ear, as catchy and as pop and as markedable as anything by like, let's say, the Supremes or whatever. I mean. I guess that was later on, wasn't it Right? Good, 10 years later on.

0:34:43 - Speaker 4

Right, and you figure, our music in the in the 50s was totally different from Motown. You knew Motown artists were black. You did not know the blossoms were black until you saw us in person, because we didn't sound black. Supposedly we're supposed to sound black because we are black, but our voices are pop you know what I'm saying yeah. So and that that made the difference, and back then it was very white, but it was all right because they finally did find us a spot.

0:35:11 - Tara

Isn't that crazy, just like they were kind of ahead of the whole Motown thing. They had a pop sound, but they're also very versatile. So they're putting them with all these other people, but they didn't quite know how to market them as a group, and it's unfortunate. They were a little bit ahead of their time in a sense. I mean, they were still very successful, but you just didn't know who they were because they weren't the ones in the front. So it's kind of sad.

0:35:36 - Natalie

Yeah, it's kind of a blessing and a curse right. To be so versatile? Yeah, Anything, but if you don't find niche, you kind of just get a bit lost in the sauce and that has to suck.

0:35:46 - Tara

Totally yeah.

A little bit later on in their careers, the blossoms toured with Tom Jones in the early 70s through the mid-80s. Darling Love left the group in the 80s and performing first in Las Vegas, then singing with Jip Berry's soundtrack for the film the Idol Maker, while doing backup work for Dionne Warwick in 1982. She also did the Darling Love music special on TV performing old crystals, bobby Sox and Darling Love songs, and then in 1985, she appeared in Ellie Green, which is musical the Leader of the Pack, for which a cast album was released. So there was another release album and then, as the 80s ended, she had a budding film career, which you've mentioned earlier. She was in hairspray lethal weapon, and she also released another album in 1988. In 2013, the blossoms namely Love, james Wright and Jones were highlighted in the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom, in which it was revealed that they had also sung backing vocals for Bobby, boris Pickett's Monster Mash, frank Sinatra's version of that's Life and Betty Everett's the Shoop Shoop Song and His Kiss. Like these are just other songs in St Bacchopolis.

I know it's crazy. So anyways, long story short, the blossoms are great. They deserved a lot more shine. They were the most successful unknown group of the 60s and I feel like if you said anything about the blossoms, people don't know who you're talking about. But if you said he's a rebel, you know, or just darling love or anything like hairspray, the movie then you know, you know.

0:37:26 - Natalie

Not really the blossoms. 20 Feet from Stardom was such a great documentary too. I need to watch it. I haven't seen it before. Yeah, you should check it out. It's really, really fascinating.

I think about that sometimes too, like it's a shame that the blossoms didn't receive their flowers pun intended, I guess you know in their career.

But sometimes I think about the sweet spot of having a successful recording career, because you know who's to say if they had been super, super popular. You see how it goes for people sometimes when they're under a lot of public scrutiny and then it kind of like I don't know, get overworked or just other stuff happens and it doesn't really pan out the way you think mega fame does. If you can kind of like stay out of the spotlight and just be working consistently for your entire life and like making that money and having a good reputation and not having to deal with the BS of actual fame, that seems like the best case scenario. You know what I mean Totally. Yeah, I mean this is not that because they're you know, other people are being credited for their work and that's awful. But I do think there's this sweet spot where you can kind of like stay out of the spotlight and just enjoy making music in a different way. Yeah, darlene Love. Though I don't know if you mentioned this, she's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

0:38:39 - Tara

Is she? Oh, that's good.

0:38:41 - Natalie

Yeah, I think so.

0:38:42 - Tara

I think because I was so focused on the blossoms I didn't really like add all of her stuff. But that would track.

0:38:50 - Natalie

I want to confirm that though. Yeah, yeah, in 2011,. Inducted by that middler no less.

0:38:55 - Tara

Who is a good friend of hers? She mentioned in that interview as well.

0:38:59 - Natalie

Yeah, that's cool. I just get a Grammy for 20 feet from stardom, so I'm glad that's good.

0:39:04 - Tara

But middler says on Darlene Love, she changed my view of the world. Listening to those songs you had to dance, you had to move, you had to keep looking for the rebel boy.

0:39:15 - Natalie

Yeah, that's great, but no, I think I do think there's a little bit of a connection, because both of our groups have been in the music biz for over 50 years and they were like firsts, Right pioneers true pioneers, pioneers, and that's crazy.

0:39:30 - Tara

I've forgotten, sadly. I mean, it does seem like Darlene was awarded for her accomplishments, but not really the blossoms, right.

0:39:39 - Natalie

Yeah, wow, but what a career, what a resume to be able to whip out. Yeah, seriously, as a musician.

0:39:45 - Tara

And actress and everything else. Yeah, for sure. And I'm going to listen to more of Fanny. I need to. That seems right at my alley.

0:39:54 - Natalie

I'm going to go back and revisit these songs with the knowledge, now, that the blossoms were the ones actually singing. No right, it's crazy.

0:40:02 - Tara

I didn't even know until recently that Cher was on. Be my Baby. They're on it. Really, that's just nuts, wow. Well, this is cool. Maybe we should make a little series out of this.

0:40:13 - Natalie

Oh, there's so many of them, there's so many that need to be spoken about. That's true, and given their respect, given the respect they deserve for sure. Well, I think we definitely started. If this is going to be a recurring topic, we started off with some big ins, you know.

0:40:29 - Tara

Yeah, I agree, I agree.

0:40:31 - Natalie

Some real trailblazers. Trailblazers totally yeah, super cool, Cool.

0:40:36 - Tara

Well, I don't know about you, but it's been a long day. I think I'm going to go and go unknown myself. The darkness in the background.

0:40:43 - Natalie

Yeah, crawl back into the shadows, where I belong, have some peace and quiet. Yeah, I'm with you there. Let's do it. Let's close up. Okay, awesome, bye, see you later.

Transcribed by https://podium.page

0:00:01 - Tara

Hi Natalie

0:00:19 - Natalie

hi Sarah, how are ya? I feel like you could hear the Wednesday in that greeting.

0:00:28 - Tara

Very good, how are you? Yeah, I am struggling to get over the hump. Yeah, that is for sure.

0:00:33 - Natalie

But at least we have a pretty cool place to, you know, spend our time during the day.

0:00:37 - Tara

That's true. Oh, hi, how are you? Welcome to the store. I'm Tara

0:01:00 - Natalie

I'm Natalie.

0:00:37 - Tara

Let us know if you need anything. So yeah, recently we talked about something. I don't remember what it was, but oh, it might have been one of your new to you songs and it was kind of like a newish vaporwave type song.

0:01:00 - Natalie

Oh yeah, it was the group Death's Dynamic Shroud.

0:01:03 - Tara

Yeah, you're pretty into vaporwave stuff, aren't you?

0:01:06 - Natalie

Yeah, I dig it, I like it, my favorite being Le Cassette. It's another group I really like. I think it's like the popularity of, you know, shows like Stranger Things that are kind of bringing that vibe back, that 80 sound and synth sounds, that the that whole music genre is kind of having this resurgence lately.

0:01:41 - Tara

Yeah, oh hey, look who it is it's Carlos Andujar, a navigator, cool, hello, hello.

0:01:49 - Carlos

What's up?

0:01:50 - Tara

How's it going?

0:01:50 - Carlos

It's going great.

0:01:52 - Tara

Thanks for coming into the store. Are you picking up anything special?

0:01:58 - Carlos

Just looking around today, you have a great, great store here.

0:02:02 - Tara

Thank you. It's funny that you've just walked in at this perfect time because we were just talking about vaporwave synth music very much the whole like 80s synth stuff, stranger Things and you are a producer, musician and kind of lean into a lot of that synth type vaporwave stuff, don't you?

0:02:25 - Carlos

I do. Yeah, I was over in the new age section and did I overhear somebody say a desk dynamic shroud.

0:02:43 - Natalie

You heard me, oh man.

0:02:45 - Carlos

I just saw them play in New York and it was unbelievable, oh really.

0:02:50 - Natalie

Yeah, oh, that's so cool.

0:02:52 - Carlos

I highly recommend going to watch them if you get a chance. Really, really amazing live show.

0:02:56 - Tara

Nice, nice, yeah, that's so cool. Yeah, I mean one of my favorites, I guess of that genre is Com truise, oh yeah. Oh yeah definitely when you listen to Com truise you almost immediately see maybe like the HBO logo from the 80s, just like bouncing and like all the lasers and things coming off the H and yeah, I just imagine like VHS or old movie production companies, names like floating and lasers everywhere. I don't know why.

0:03:33 - Carlos

Yeah, I mean it's pretty close to his like visual brand too. He's also a designer, oh, but yeah, he worked in like the pharmaceutical industry, I think, as a designer and like his whole aesthetic is very much kind of in line with that too. So he's got the whole brand nailed, I feel like with the 80s aesthetic. Yeah, he totally does.

0:03:54 - Tara

I didn't know that he was a designer, though which? Totally makes sense because all of his like album, art and whatnot is so impeccably designed and fits his aesthetic. So much yeah definitely. Which is also kind of related to vaporwave. I feel like this whole idea of aesthetic.

0:04:10 - Natalie

You know the whole the nostalgia yeah.

0:04:12 - Carlos

They go hand in hand, for sure, with the vaporwave stuff.

0:04:15 - Tara

Yeah, but Stranger Things really. I think was a big player in how some of that retro popular culture had a huge comeback. Yeah.

0:04:24 - Carlos

I think you're right. I'm trying to pinpoint a time of when this all started to research and, from what I can recall, I feel like this all started even further back, like in 2010,. Seems to be this sort of like.

I don't know like awakening or consciousness of, hey, we like the 80s At least that's how it happened for me and I feel like, yeah, you're right, like shows like Stranger Things, even like, you know, halton Catch Fire to some extent, and there's even some movies like Beyond the Black Rainbow, a few other kind of like shows and movies on TVs, that kind of like caught on as well and like dug into like the 80s aesthetic. But yeah, I feel like for me, I think that my recollection is like the 2010, 2011 era is like when it started, kind of like hopping off, and there's a few artists in particular that I can point to and say like they kind of help popularize that. I don't know if you want me to get into that now, or.

0:05:19 - Tara

Sure, I mean, I guess what I was thinking of Stranger Things, I meant more like in the mainstream, but I 100% agree, because there was like games, and I even remember Calvin Harris had a song about liking the 80s and it did go quite hand in hand with some of the like indie dance type stuff that was out at the time. Yeah, yeah.

0:05:42 - Carlos

Yeah, that's a good point, even like Daft Punk to some extent, I feel, has some of that less of the aesthetic side, obviously, but like more of just like the 80s vibe a little bit and a lot of their like on. I feel like on homework.

0:05:54 - Tara

Oh, that's true. And also they did Random Maxis Memory Tron which had of course, obviously, tron is Totally.

0:06:01 - Carlos

Is that Totally?

0:06:02 - Tara

Essentially.

0:06:04 - Carlos

I even feel like there was a point around again, like 2011, maybe 2012, where you can remember Cpunk, that like sort of like variation of it's, like a subgenre of Vaporwave almost, and had its own kind of aesthetic too. But there was a moment where Rihanna was playing the show on TV and she had these like Cpunk visuals in the background. I was like, okay, this is crazy. Now we're sort of like starting to hit the mainstream with, like the Vaporwave stuff.

0:06:29 - Tara

But yeah, I feel like oh yeah. Yeah, I wish I could remember the performance but Diamonds, yeah, on Saturday Night Live, yeah, 2012.

0:06:38 - Carlos

Yeah, yeah, 2012. Okay, so it was pretty close, but yeah, that's. I think it's like the 80s aesthetic kind of even more popular on the mainstream media.

0:06:52 - Natalie

I feel like I think that kind of music and the Vaporwave thing, it's going to always have a presence in popular culture and in the media. Because even if the music isn't always at the forefront, I think those nostalgic movies or those really influential sci-fi movies like Blade Runner and Tron, like you mentioned, those are just, they're going to be timeless, they're always going to look cool, they're never going to go out of style. So I think that's always like the bridge between the cultures, totally the subculture and the mainstream, to appreciate Vaporwave.

0:07:24 - Carlos

Yeah, that's a good point. I feel like a lot of younger people are just starting to discover that stuff. I kind of grew up with a lot of that stuff and for me, when I was a kid, I kind of hated the 80s music. But now I don't know what clicked, like a switch flipped and like, oh, this is so amazing, what was I thinking. But I feel like a lot of younger people are just discovering it and kind of more organically appreciating it for what it is. So that's kind of cool to see, yeah, yeah.

0:07:53 - Tara

Yeah, slightly related. I did pre-order a Trapper Keeper. They just relaunched them.

0:08:01 - Natalie

Are you serious? I got one with.

0:08:02 - Tara

Yes, I got one with, like the many layered heart on the front.

0:08:06 - Carlos

Oh my God.

0:08:07 - Tara

It hasn't arrived yet. I hope I didn't get swindled, but it was by me. The brand oh wow. Trapper Keeper brand. So Google it, pre-order your Trapper Keeper today. There are many styles to choose from.

0:08:19 - Natalie

It's really hard to choose.

0:08:21 - Carlos

Amazing.

0:08:22 - Natalie

Do they have a gym in the holograms? One Then I'm all over it.

0:08:25 - Tara

Yeah, there you go. Nice Well, like I said, I'm glad you're in the store today. Usually, when we have friends in the store, we like to play the high fidelity game where we list our top five, something music related. Would you want to play with us today?

0:08:41 - Carlos

Sure, yeah, sounds great.

0:08:43 - Tara

How about I don't know top five comeback albums?

0:08:47 - Carlos

Ooh, that's a tough one, but I think I could help.

0:08:50 - Tara

I bet you thought we were going to say top five vaporwave. Well, it makes sense, you know come back in the 80s and since come back.

0:08:59 - Carlos

I can see the connection.

0:09:00 - Tara

Yeah, well, you guys have time to think through yours, because I already have a list, so I will kick it off, all right? How about it? All right, so I'm going to start number five with an album that was released in 1989 by our boy, roy Orbison. Anything you want, you got it. Anything you need, you got it. This is the album Mystery Girl. It says 22nd album. Oh my gosh, but everyone knows Roy Orbison. If you don't, you need to go and read a book and touch some grass. He's a legend, but it was his last album to be recorded.

During his entire lifetime he was known for his singing style. He was a singer, songwriter, musician. He had emotional ballads Sometimes they're a little dark and he was originally signed by Sam Phillips from Sun Records in 1956, just like our boy Elvis Presley. But he had his biggest success with Monument Records and from 1960 to 1966, he had 22 singles that reached the Billboard Top 40. So it's like only the lonely from 1960, running scared from 1961, crying from 1961, in Dreams, 1963. And, of course, the one we all know, oh Pretty Woman, from 1964. But in the late 60s his career started to decline. He had kind of personal traumas, some drama. Actually, his wife cheated on him with the person who built their house and also he had some major health issues, but he kept recording albums. By 1976, he had a full decade since any of his songs charted, which is a bummer.

I would definitely feel like throwing in the towel at that point if I were him. But he was doing some side projects in the 80s that kind of started his career in motion again. One notable side project happened in 1988, where Roy Orbison started collaborating with ELO band leader like Electric Light Orchestra, jeff Lynn, on a new album and Jeff had just completed working some production on George Harrison's album, cloud 9. And then all three of them got together one day and had some lunch and Roy accepted an invitation to sing on George Harrison's new single. Then they reached out to Bob Dylan who was like hey, you want to use my studio? That's cool. So along the way Harrison stopped by Tom Petty's house to pick up a guitar and Tom Petty and his band backed Dylan in his last tour. But by the evening the group of fellas had written a song which became the concept of a whole album and they called themselves the Traveling Willberies, and that album was released in 1988.

But that's not the comeback album that I'm referring to. Of course not. But this is the one that sort of made him feel motivated to do another solo album. So, and that album was of course, like I mentioned earlier, mystery Girl and was his first album of all new material since 1979, a long time since his last full solo album but is produced by Jeff Lynn in 1989 and released in 1989. And then the biggest hit for Mystery Girl was you Got it and it earned him a Grammy Award.

Sadly he was having some health issues and he died before the record was actually released, so technically it was post-humus album. But yeah, it was huge. He got a Grammy. It hit the charts. It was meticulous and perfect in production. On top of that, also, the Traveling Old Berries album that he recorded before that also charted. So he really hit it right there at the end of his life and Rolling Stone included it as one of the top 100 albums of the decade. But one last note is that Roy Orbison became the first deceased musician since Elvis Presley to have two albums in the top five at the same time.

0:13:13 - Natalie

That's an interesting bit of trivia, wow.

0:13:16 - Tara

Yeah, so sad. Yeah, it is. He was so young, he was like what like 50, early 50s, 52?

0:13:23 - Natalie

Was he, I don't know, when he passed away? He was young though, was he? I don't know?

0:13:27 - Tara

Yeah.

0:13:28 - Carlos

I'm young there, though, bessie Kitt.

0:13:29 - Tara

Yeah, he did a lot of great stuff there at the end and I'm glad that he found some success.

0:13:34 - Carlos

Yeah, I feel like more success. Yeah, I'd probably give up after way earlier, without having even had a fraction of that success.

0:13:45 - Tara

Yeah, but he's a legend. And even reading about the Traveling Little Berries, Jeff Lynn, of course, Electric Light Orchestra, Tom Petty all of them were kind of just in awe that they were in the same room with Roy Orbison, but, like, all of them are legendary too, and so it's just like wow, those people, those guys who are legends, are like wow, Roy Orbison, so he's, he had, he left quite a legacy. But that was a pretty epic comeback to have two records in the top five at one time. Yeah, definitely.

0:14:17 - Carlos

Seriously.

0:14:18 - Tara

All right. Number four, speaking of our boy, elvis Presley, from Elvis in Memphis 1969. This was Elvis's 10th studio album and it was actually triggered by another kind of special event similar to Roy's story. So after Elvis returned from the military in the 60s, his manager, tom Parker, he, started to make Elvis, which his career from live music and albums to films and soundtracks and I think that worked well for him for a little bit.

In 1961, performed his last show, which would be his last show for eight years, in Pearl Harbor, hawaii. But during that three of Elvis's soundtrack albums reached number one in the pop charts and included some hits like Can't Outfalling in Love, return to Cinder, which we all have heard a million times. But from 1964 to 1968, he only had one top hit and it was Crying in the Chapel, which is a gospel song that he put on a gospel record recorded in 1967. He did want to grant me for that, but in 1968, his manager arranged for him to have this TV special. It was supposed to be a Christmas special to be filmed in front of a live audience and he had planned for Elvis to sing all Christmas songs. But the show's producer, steve Binder, convinced Elvis to perform some songs from his original repertoire.

The show's closer, the producer decided to replace the spoken statement with a song and he told one of the music directors and allerisers to write a song that reflected Elvis's beliefs, because around the same time Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis and Elvis was deeply saddened by that. Of course he's, he is a Memphis boy himself and he just thought that this confirmed everyone's worst feelings about the South. So Goldenberg and Earl mostly Walter Earl Brown wrote this song called If I Can Dream. He sent it to Parker, which is Elvis's manager, and Parker was like I still thought that the show would be closed with I'll Be Home for Christmas, and so he had kind of a negative response to this song.

But Binder, again, the show's producer went around him and was like hey, elvis, check out this song. And Elvis listened to it three times and was like I have to record this, and so he was so moved by it and of course he did close with that song. I just want to add that for that closing song he wore all white three-piece suit and on the back it said Elvis in red letters, and at the end of the show he was like thank you, good night. And anyways, the show was a success and it actually displaced Laughin, which was huge at the time, and 42% of the total television audience watched it. From the you know those Nielsen reviews which I've wondered are those still around?

0:17:27 - Carlos

That's a great question. I was thinking about that the other day actually.

0:17:31 - Tara

Does that still exist? But the show's soundtrack actually charted and because of the popularity of this show everyone knows it now as the comeback special, not the Christmas special. But after that Elvis said I'll never sing another song that I don't believe in. I'm never going to make another movie that I don't believe in. I mean, I don't know if he stuck by his words, because we all know his ending. His demise was not so great, not a good look. But he was also inspired to do more songs. So after that he recorded a new album and that is from Elvis in Memphis 1969. And this one included the single in the ghetto.

0:18:13 - Natalie

On a cold and gray Chicago morning, a poor little baby child is born in the ghetto.

0:18:24 - Tara

It reached number 13 on the Billboard charts. This, the single, reached number three and a certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and it just kept growing in legacy, and Rolling Stone included it on the list of top five greatest albums of all time.

0:18:42 - Natalie

Of all time yeah.

0:18:45 - Tara

I don't know. I love that story. You can go watch the Bozlerman Elvis movie. It's not too bad and I think sticks pretty true to that part of his story which is that comeback special. Yeah, I just love it. He was like no, I'm not going to do some silly Christmas thing, I need to do this. This speaks to me, this speaks to my community and who I am. And he played that song and he crushed it and man. I just thought that was a good. I love that story.

0:19:11 - Carlos

Yeah.

0:19:11 - Tara

I have chills just thinking about it.

0:19:13 - Natalie

Yeah, it's pretty fascinating.

0:19:15 - Carlos

I've never really been like a huge Elvis aficionado, but every time I feel like I learn I hear interesting story about something he did. So just adding that to the list of respectful yeah, the only thing that I know about him other. Well, one of the key things I know about him didn't he try to get, like the Beatles, arrested or something?

0:19:34 - Tara

I don't know. I don't know about that story, but I should look that up.

0:19:39 - Carlos

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I misheard, but I thought I heard something. That's nice to hear, a positive story about.

0:19:43 - Tara

There's a lot of positive stories about Elvis. I will say a lot of Elvis's black backup bandmates and singers were paid a lot more touring with Elvis than they would have at the time, like on the Chitlins or Go, which is sad. But I'm glad that he took care of them. And you can hear Little Richard say this too, that yes, elvis has covered some of his songs but because he was a white man, he opened doors for Little Richard to do what he loved to do. And again, it's unfortunate that that's how it played out. But I think he really appreciated those people and their music and I just I think there's more to Elvis than a lot of us really know. But yeah, totally fair but yeah, cool Comeback story.

All right, this one is way more modern. Number three is my Bloody Valentine with MBV, released in 2013. Mbv is the third studio album by my Bloody Valentine, released again February 2013. And it was produced by Kevin Shields, who's the band's singer and guitarist, and is the first full-length release of original material since Loveless, their second studio album in 1991, so like two decades prior. So this is a major comeback. But following their departure from Creation Records, they released their second studio album, loveless.

My Bloody Valentine was then signed with Island Records in October 1992 for reported 250,000 pounds. The band's advance from that signing went towards construction of a home studio in South London, which was completed in April 1993, but some technical problems they had with the studio sent them all into this meltdown which led to their demise. The band did end up breaking up in 1997, but luckily they did record some songs for MBV in 1996. Fast forward to 2006,. Kevin Shields resumes recording after a time when the band had reunited, and he combined the recordings from 1996 sessions to these new sessions and then added some more vocals, bass and drum tracks in around 2011-2012.

The song she Found Now was the only song recorded completely from scratch in 2012, and then the album was recorded and mixed and then released February 2013. When they released it, the website crashed within minutes. I think I was one of the lucky ones that got through, because I definitely bought that record as soon as it came out. It received critical acclaim and one of the guys from LA Times wrote that the album's opening was a surpy, drunk and vessel of deep tremolo guitar and ending on a whirlwind of rhythm adding. The record blossoms 20 minutes in and over its length, presents the sound of a group living in the here and now Rhythms of the moment and staticky love anthems like if I am as beautiful as anything the band has ever done. The end.

0:23:05 - Carlos

Wow.

0:23:06 - Tara

So good, such a good record.

0:23:07 - Carlos

Nice to see a positive review of a Shugay's album from a critic which I guess we're not in the 90s anymore, but you know it's still nice.

0:23:16 - Tara

I definitely, Hans liked it that one. There were some who were like, ah, two stars out of four. I'm like, no, you are not welcome here.

0:23:23 - Carlos

I have a very embarrassing confession to make about this record. So I heard about it coming out and I was like you know, like it's my bloody Valentine, I need to hear this on vinyl. And I was going to wait to listen to the record until I bought the vinyl record. I never bought the record, so I've never heard the album. I've heard like maybe one song from it, I think, just like Spotify like threw it in my playlist one day and I was like wait, I haven't heard the album on vinyl yet.

So I'm super embarrassed to say I haven't heard the album, the latest album, all the way through.

0:23:57 - Tara

Well one. I admire your determination to not listen to it until you have a physical copy in hand, because I couldn't do that, but to add that thing to your Christmas list.

0:24:07 - Carlos

I need. I don't know why I don't have it yet. I've bought so many other albums, you know, on vinyl, since that particular one's come out. Yeah, maybe I just forgot. Like I need to put that back on my to-do list for sure, though.

0:24:18 - Tara

It's good. Yeah, it's a good one.

0:24:20 - Carlos

Yeah.

0:24:21 - Tara

Natalie, have you heard it yet?

0:24:23 - Natalie

I have not. I think. What is it? The really popular one? Loveless was the only my bloody Valentine record I'm somewhat familiar with. That's completely missed this one.

0:24:34 - Carlos

So don't feel embarrassed, I'm with you Well yeah, I mean, loveless is a classic, so at least you've heard that one. That's the one you should hear. I feel like the song that I did hear from that from their last record, was well, I stepped back, like my friends were kind of telling me about it because they obviously listened to it and I think their reaction was like it sounds more like just like another my bloody Valentine record. It didn't seem like there was anything like crazy different in terms of like what they've put out before or you know, right after Loveless. But and so like I kind of with the one song that I did here, I kind of got that vibe a little bit. I was like, okay, this is definitely my bloody Valentine, nothing crazy new. But I'm curious if you had that same reaction to, or if it was like this is groundbreaking or it's like, oh, this is like super new or like yeah, I mean, I okay.

0:25:21 - Tara

so there is actual quote from Kevin Shields who says that the album is different from Loveless in so many ways. But we all know he made these guitar sounds, so, like you know, those sounds as being Kevin Shields, it's gonna sound like my bloody Valentine no matter what. Plus, they did treat the mastering and recording just like they did Loveless.

So, at least in terms of quality of sound and like how it sounds as a was as it was produced, not like the actual notes and stuff may have a similar sound as well. But he said he was trying to be more impressionistic, not trying to think of songs of as having beginnings, middles or ends. Interesting, but I haven't ever really listened to them back to back. So I don't know, I wouldn't say yeah, I don't think it's like way different. And of course he would say that right, right, yeah, I would imagine.

0:26:19 - Carlos

so.

0:26:20 - Natalie

So I have a couple of questions for you, tara. Then, seeing as you were so excited that you slid in before the whole website crashed, was the album everything you wanted it to be when you first heard it? Oh, yeah. And then also, what's your favorite track?

0:26:34 - Tara

I don't have a favorite track from that album, but when it first came out I was definitely like, oh, this is so great, so good, and I thought it was definitely worth it. The hype was true for me. I thought, okay, it sounds like my Bloody Valentine and for that I'm glad Cause. What if it didn't? It would not be a fun time Everyone wants.

0:26:55 - Natalie

What if they tried to be all modern and do like you know? Trap yeah.

0:27:00 - Tara

I was like this is trash.

0:27:01 - Carlos

Well, I mean cause that's why I asked about like the you know it sounds like, does it sound like a my Bloody Valentine or something different element to it? Cause, like I feel like when, with Loveless especially if you listen to, like the other stuff that they've put out was more like I guess raw maybe is a good word for it Like there's more like rock forward, whereas Loveless was I felt like experimenting with a lot of like samplers and like drum machine the loops and like a little more maybe conceptual. So I was I wasn't sure if, like they were trying something you know, conceptual again with this new album or if it was just more like well, let's just get back to the kind of raw roots of my Bloody Valentine, which is just like loud yeah.

0:27:41 - Tara

It's definitely not conceptual in that sense. But that's a good point that you bring up the like samples and the looping and whatnot, because Kevin Shields did talk about how he was influenced by some jungle music and there is, like, definitely some drum and bass influence there. So if you haven't heard it yet and you're into those things, go and check it out and see what you think, cause I don't think it is very dramatically different, especially, like you said, from maybe the older stuff prior to Loveless, and Loveless was kind of way more groundbreaking in that sense. But it's still so good. It's still so good yeah.

0:28:17 - Carlos

I mean that's good to hear. Like it sounds like they stuck to like the core of what makes them my Bloody Valentine, which that's something hard to do, especially like comeback albums. I feel like I don't know. I feel like there's this fear of like not having that sense of identity in the band, or that you know about the band, like with their new album, you know, like it's always sort of like oh man, I hope this is good. I think you even said that earlier. Like, like I hope this is going to be good.

So that's cool that I feel like few bands are able to kind of pull it off, stay true to who they are, but then like still kind of like put out good music and kind of keep moving forward.

0:28:54 - Tara

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think it seems like history has shown that usually it's the sophomore slump that's the hardest thing, that for them was the the best. So, after that you're like I don't care, I'm doing what I want.

0:29:08 - Natalie

Maybe that's a great point.

0:29:11 - Tara

I don't know. Ask Roy Orbison. No, I mean speaking of someone who had crazy comeback moment. This guy number two and it happened to be his 67th studio album. A comeback on the 67th studio album. Can you imagine the output? Any guesses?

0:29:32 - Carlos

Hmm.

0:29:34 - Natalie

Yes.

0:29:35 - Tara

Oh, is it because we have overlap? Do we have overlap? What's that? Is it because you know who it is?

0:29:41 - Natalie

I think I know who it is. I'm gonna. I'm gonna wait.

0:29:43 - Tara

No, no, guess I want to see. I'm sure you know who it is.

0:29:46 - Natalie

Willie Nelson? No, it's not Willie Nelson, but close. No, actually very close. Okay.

0:29:51 - Tara

This man has worked with Willie and then not talking about. So Willie is our redhead stranger. I'm talking about the man in black.

0:29:58 - Carlos

Ah, Johnny Cash.

0:29:59 - Tara

Johnny Cash, your own personal Jesus, someone to hear your prayers.

0:30:12 - Carlos

Hey 67th.

0:30:13 - Tara

This is.

0:30:14 - Carlos

I didn't realize he was so prolific.

0:30:16 - Tara

Oh man, well, he had all those gospel records. That's true, he had the live albums in the jail, he had so many things, but this was from that collection, the American collections. This is American, for the man comes around. It was released in November 5th 2002. And it was also, sadly, his final studio album Little History. Before we get into that album, though, is in 1997, during a trip to New York, johnny Cash was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease, shy Drager syndrome, which I've never heard of. It's a form of multiple system atrophy, but then the diagnosis was changed to autonomic neuropathy and associated with diabetes, and it forced him to not really tour as much or anymore. Then he was hospitalized in 1998 with pneumonia which caused him damage to his lungs. So this was like fully already like during the last stage of his career, and he released the album American 3 in 2007, and then started working with Rick Rubin. So this album, american 4, is mostly covers of songs, but in his own sparse, dark style.

0:31:33 - Carlos

That's the album with Hurt right the Hurt cover, the famous one, yeah.

0:31:36 - Tara

Yeah, he covers personal Jesus by Depeche Mode. Hurt by Nine Nails, yeah.

0:31:42 - Carlos

Video for Hurt is so beautiful and so it just paired so well with the song was like I remember distinctly watching it and he realizes like he's close to the end and like highlight reel of his life was like just paired so well with the music.

0:31:58 - Tara

Oh gosh, I have chills already. But yeah, I'll also say also I just wanna add this part that for the song personal Jesus, red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frisante reworked the guitar part into an acoustic version and he also got some backing vocal assistants from Fiona Apple, nick Cave, don Henley on this album, which is, you know, all star cast I know.

Don Henley and yeah, but yeah this. So after this record is released. It was the first non-copulation album to go gold in 30 years for Johnny Cash and it won album of the year at the 2003 CMA Awards. It was certified gold by 2003, march 24th 2003 and platinum by November 2003. I hurt myself today to see if I still feel yes. The video for Hurt, which was originally written by Trent Reznor of Nine Nails and originally released in 1994, was nominated for seven categories at the MTV Music Video Awards and won an award for best cinematography. Trent Reznor said that he was flattered but worried about the idea of Johnny Cash covering his song. He thought maybe it might be gimmicky, but when he heard the song and saw the video for the first time, he said he was deeply moved and found Johnny Cash's cover more beautiful and meaningful, and even went as far as to say that song is not mine anymore.

Wow, that's amazing, it is yes, then I will say too that. So Johnny Cash, of course, having a lot of health issues at the time and had lost most of his vision, kept interrupting the recording sessions, but he was hospitalized and later died of complications of diabetes on September 12th of 2003. He was only 71 and, like I said, that record came out in November of 2002. So very shortly after, and also only four months after June died.

0:34:10 - Carlos

So that is sad yeah.

0:34:12 - Tara

Yeah, I promise the next story is really positive.

0:34:16 - Carlos

Well, I was just thinking I gotta go watch that video again and I don't know that's gonna put me in a mood, but it's worth it. It's such a great song.