Podcasts about liverpudlian

Joining us this week is one of our favourite leading ladies – a powerhouse performer whose credits span everything from Benidorm, At Home with the Braithwaites, and William & Mary to Doc Martin, The Bletchley Circle, The Hardacres, and most recently, the BBC's gripping crime drama This City Is Ours. Known for her fierce talent, straight-talking nature, and razor-sharp wit, it's the brilliant Julie Graham!In this conversation, Julie reflects on the women who've shaped her life and the defining moments that have stayed with her throughout – from losing her mum at 18 to raising two daughters of her own. She shares the moment she fell in love with acting, the iconic performers who've inspired her along the way, and how her Liverpudlian “found family” offered the matriarchal support she'd long been seeking. Julie also opens up about the emotional decision to leave a difficult first marriage, the grief that followed, and the courage it took to rebuild her life from the ground up.As she turns 60, Julie is clear: she's just getting started. With wisdom, humour, and a good dose of righteous rage, this is a conversation about legacy, reinvention, and stepping boldly into your next chapter.This Town Is Ours is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.Fill out our survey here to have a chance at winning a PS5!For all the latest news, click here to follow us on Instagram!***Please take the time to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The search is on! Radio 1's very own traitor Minah Shannon is hiding away somewhere in the city of Liverpool with the last few tickets to Big Weekend - but it's not as simple as it sounds! Plus, Laura plays Yesterday's Quiz, there's a celebratory vibe in All The Latest Things and Greg has a Liverpudlian flashback moment with his old pal Grimmy!

Happy hump day! Greg scans the BBC's festival checklist and it looks like we're clean as a whistle! Liverpudlian runner, Joseph's forced to take a detour but gladly heads to Big Weekend, whilst Danni tries her best to secure tickets. Maisie plays Yesterday's Quiz and listeners across the UK admit to using props to make them look slightly more cool on dates!

This week on The Spooky Sleepover, the special bonus episode of Killers, Cults and Queens, Nikki, Cheryl and the gang dive back into the dramatic downfall of Ruby Franke, Jodi Hildebrandt and the now-infamous YouTube channel 8 Passengers. But that's not all! In Rabbit Holes of the Week, things get wild with a potentially catastrophic shipwreck lurking in the Thames, Lola Young's rocky moment on the Coachella stage, and the question no one saw coming... could the next Pope be from Liverpool!? Got a theory? Been lost in a rabbit hole? We want to hear from YOU! Email queens@global.com to get in touch, or DM us @killerscultsqueens on Instagram. And follow Cheryl @cherydragqueen and Nikki Druce @nikkimacabrelondon.Listen on Global Player for free. Download Global Player from the app store or go to globalplayer.com.

On this episode I'm talking with Dan Sandison. Dan's a big footy fan who has worked in and around the sport for the last couple of decades. His work has often intersected with the clothing industry and his latest role is with eco-friendly football boot brand Sokito. I've only met Dan once before but have always admired his writing, content and outlook on footy and fashion. I'm buzzing to have him as a guest on My Own Garms today.We get into everything from Scouse futurism and McManaman's cosmic swagger, to Klopp's Wade Smith glow-up, flannels fit fails, and what it means to actually build the product you used to write about. Dan talks about growing up in a town split between Liverpool and Manchester, his time at Mundial and Hypebeast, and how Sokito is creating boots made of corn, sugarcane and bamboo — worn by Premier League players who actually co-own the brand.

Send us a textMike McCartney opens the door to his extraordinary life with warmth, humor, and profound insight in this captivating conversation. The renowned photographer, musician, and cultural storyteller shares intimate tales of growing up in post-war Liverpool, revealing how losing his mother at age twelve pushed him toward creativity as both salvation and expression.With classic Liverpudlian wit, Mike recounts discovering photography through a failed attempt to capture "giant seagulls" with the family box camera, leading to a self-taught journey that would eventually see his work acquired by the National Portrait Gallery. Parallel to this, we hear the origin story of The Scaffold and their hit "Thank You Very Much," which became an unexpected royal favorite (though the Queen Mother might have misheard a Liverpool FC reference as a tribute to herself).Between laughter and occasional moments of raw emotion, Mike illuminates the cultural revolution of the 1960s, describing how art confronted class divisions and opened minds. His stories meander through chance encounters with figures like Marlon Brando, Salvador Dalí's surrealist influence, and pivotal moments that altered his trajectory—including breaking his arm, which led to his brother Paul taking over his drum kit.The conversation deepens as Mike reflects on legacy, suggesting that bringing joy to others through creative work may be our most meaningful contribution. His philosophy emerges: seek what you love, embrace serendipity, and never underestimate the power of gentle subversion—like hiding anti-war sentiment in a cheerful pop song that reached number four in the charts.Discover the remarkable story behind the man who documented a generation while helping shape its soundtrack. Mike's upcoming limited edition photography book "Mike McCartney's Early Liverpool" and the Scaffold box set releasing in April promise to further preserve this vital cultural legacy.Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'. If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website. Show Website: https://www.thegoodlisteningtoshow.com You can email me about the Show: chris@secondcurve.uk Twitter thatchrisgrimes LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-grimes-actor-broadcaster-facilitator-coach/ FaceBook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/842056403204860 Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :) Thanks for listening!

We are blessed by Canadian comedy royalty this week as Seth Rogen and Catherine O'Hara join us on the podcast to talk all about The Studio on Apple TV+ (30:06), which we also review on this week's show (54:27). Plus, we discuss the finer points of tree surgery (don't watch and chop, kids) as well as take a look at Mythic Quest anthology spin-off Side Quest (1:05:38), as well as Liverpudlian crime drama This City Is Ours with Sean Bean on BBC1 (1:12:50).(Episode 329)Note: time stamps are approximate as the ads throw them out, so are only meant as a guide. If you want to avoid this and would like the podcast entirely ad-free (as well as 17 hours early, with a second weekly show and spoiler specials) then sign up to Pilot+!

Everyone knows the hit track “There She Goes,” a song that sounds like it has always existed and emerged into the world fully formed by the hand of God. Liverpudlian band The La's made that perfect song, and according to the many musicians it influenced, including Oasis' Liam Gallagher or our guest, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, a nearly perfect album, and then basically never put anything out again. Join Yasi and Ben as they talk about one of the most interesting, mysterious, and secretly influential bands from the UK.  EPISODE PLAYLIST: Listen to the songs we talk about HERE CREDITS: Host: Yasi Salek @yasisalek Guest: Ben Gibbard Producer: Liz Sánchez  Audio Editor: Adrian Bridges Additional Production Supervision: Justin Sayles Theme Song: Bethany Cosentino Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's podcast I had the absolute pleasure of discussing one of my huge passions, my love of Liverpool Football Club with Liverpudlian, Josh Williams. Josh is a football analyst, a journalist, an author and a podcaster and his very focussed area of interest is the football club that I adore. Josh is from the city, he has an analytical mind and he has combined that with his passion for his club, and on his podcast and Substack account, Distance Covered he goes into the kind of clever detail that all dedicated fans love. He left his full time job as a football journalist with the Liverpool Echo to bravely follow his passion and if you want to read and listen to what he has to say you have to subscribe - it's more than worth it. As well as being a clever football analyst he is a super nice guy who seems to have this thing called life figured out! Enjoy the show..    Podcast Production by Greg Canty Greg's blog Greg on Twitter  Greg on LinkedIn Email Greg with feedback or suggested guests: greg@fuzion.ie

Thanks for waiting! I'm back with a stunning show, featuring the Liverpudlian maestro of the weirdly-tuned guitar, James Rigby.  This is the free-for-all version, including my tribute to Garth Hudson, and some lovable sounds from Los Angeles to Lake Victoria by way of Louisiana.  

This episode is the second to feature a cast member from Season 4 of Son of a Critch: none other than the son himself, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth. Ainsworth, of course, plays young Mark Critch, circa 1990, on the CBC sitcom. The episode was recorded last summer on location in St. John's, Nfld. Ainsworth was shooting a scene on a residential street closed off for the production. Also there was Sophia Powers, who plays Mark's girlfriend Fox.The two are trying to navigate high school this season, with scenes shot right in series' co-creator Mark Critch's old high school in St. John's.It is fun to hear Ainsworth speak in his own lilting Liverpudlian tongue during this interview. He and his famous co-star, the great Malcolm McDowell, are often at the Duke of Duckworth, cheering on their favourite football club.Ainsworth also talks about his upcoming feature film "Everything's Going to Be Great" which costars Bryan Cranston and Allison Janney.Special note: at the end of this episode, listen for a tribute to one of my high school pals, Stephen Dudley. I recently learned that this brilliant pianist, whose music can be heard on most of these episodes, passed away late last December. Here, in a cassette recording made exactly 50 years ago, he gifts a folk night crowd with one of his own compositions. Stephen was 67.

As a New Year's gift, the panel come bearing the bulging postbag containing our listeners' emails.  Once again we can report a high standard of literacy and a comfortingly accurate recall of matches and teams from the dim recesses of all our childhoods.  One correspondent, the self-styled King Arthur, a Liverpudlian now living in Malibu California, has written enough emails to fill three editions but he is joined as ever by the reminiscences of our widely diverse (though principally over the age of fifty) regular listeners and correspondents to whet the appetite for what is to come in 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There have been reports that Afghan women are being banned from midwife and nursing courses in the latest blow to their rights. Women training as midwives and nurses in Afghanistan have told the BBC they were ordered not to return to classes, and five separate institutions across Afghanistan have also confirmed to the BBC that the Taliban had instructed them to close until further notice, with videos shared online showing students crying at the news. The BBC has yet to confirm the order officially with the Taliban government's health ministry. Anita Rani discusses what is potentially happening with BBC Diplomatic Correspondent Caroline Hawley.After the actor Anna Maxwell Martin spoke on the programme about the grief she experienced after her husband died suddenly in 2021, we were inundated with listeners sharing their stories. Two of them, Giselle De Hasse and Heather Ashley, join Anita to talk about how they manage their grief day to day, along with Dr Shelley Gilbert, the founder and president of Grief Encounter and a consultant psychotherapist.Daytime clubbing is a thing. All over the country, events are taking place, where you party early - and finish early - with plenty of time to be in your bed at a reasonable hour. So, whatever happened to the big night out? Is 3pm the new 9pm? And why are these early evening finishes becoming so popular? Anita is joined by DJ Annie Mac, the broadcaster, author, and events curator. Annie started her own version of an early finishing club event Before Midnight in 2022, with her 'nights' now running UK-wide.The artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman creates kaleidoscopic paintings, prints, etchings and moving images inspired by her Indian heritage. Chila was born in Toxteth in Merseyside and use materials like bindis and ice cream cones in her installations to represent her Asian identity as well as her working-class Liverpudlian childhood. She says she aims to challenge stereotypes and create an alternative perspective of Britishness. Chila joins Anita to talk about her eponymous book which brings together work from four decades and Neon Dreams, her exhibition at The Holburne Museum in Bath, which includes a life-size neon tiger in the ballroom and a giant multi-coloured neon lightshow on the façade of the museum building.Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Rebecca Myatt

This week we welcome guest Acsha and talk about: • Appraising diamond rings • Why some diamonds are more than others • Does it make a difference how a engagement rings costs • Buying nice gifts that the receiver doesn't like • Not putting bags on the floor • Which room in the house outside dirt is not allowed • Vybz Kartel's 'Interracial' song • Dancehall • Work v Family time • Failed potential • No Excuses • Stripping a man of his joy • Mental Health In Male • Liverpool FC's league chances • Male hair transplant • African Americans helping each other • Liverpudlian accent • Denzel Washington male kiss • Tyson v Jake Paul fight disappointment • AITA for firing staff for throwing a leaving party • #StavrosSays : Elmiene: Tiny Desk Concert [https://youtu.be/mV5U5gWJSU4?si=pGX4NIls38S4KxIA] The Godfathers of Deep House : [https://on.soundcloud.com/mqrcCJs759f4RFAAA] Culoe De Song : The Konspiracy Theory [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWKsANBjXeM&list=OLAK5uy_nRC6I8wGZUFKdEKHcZgOzHhF2qVRp_NXA&index=2] Connect with our guest Acsha: Instagram : www.instagram.com/acsha_karmen Connect with us at & send your questions & comments to: #ESNpod so we can find your comments www.esnpodcast.com www.facebook.com/ESNpodcasts www.twitter.com/ESNpodcast www.instagram.com/ESNpodcast @esnpodcast on all other social media esnpodcast@gmail.com It's important to subscribe, rate and review us on your apple products. You can do that here... www.bit.ly/esnitunes

This week's episode of the Plural Pod marks the end of season one and Gareth and Joel reflect on their experiences over the last eight months. There are reviews of fresh pressings from Primal Scream, The Charlatans and a host of artists paying tribute to Margo Guryan. We explore the world of second-hand sales and find out some of the highest value titles snapped up recently, including a very Sweet 7” and some potent jangle from some Liverpudlian upstarts. James from SLAB Records in Loughton gives us our final view from the shop floor of 2024 and Tom from Cheap Indie Vinyl has all the news about how to stay on top of the latest discounts! All that and there's one last trip to HMV.Get in touch with us via pluralofvinylpod@gmail.com or @PluralVinylPod on Twitter. You can also Whatsapp via 07455680866The Plural Of Playlist, featuring tracks discussed: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5M566WI1NstJoQcZU0KRMR?si=8h8NUeaXR_acMIrYYQ-rDQ&pi=MBWJA5SvSUewV&nd=1&dlsi=2a5d31635f704542Join the Cheap Indie Vinyl WhatsApp channel:https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaWT9tnElagoIHB2ed1GCheap Indie Vinyl on Bluesky:https://bsky.app/profile/cheapindievinyl.bsky.socialSLAB Records:https://www.slabrecords.co.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In my first November episode of Merry Britsmas, we have more festive questions to answer about food and drunken mistakes, a Christmas comedic special about a big comedian called Greg Davies, and a song that links to armistice day by a pretty famous Liverpudlian called Paul McCartney!  Pipes of Peace Covers MUNA  Callum Minks Sergio Denis Don't Call Me Ishmael  Merry Britsmas KO-FI Link

As we move from week 8 into week 9 of Strictly Come Dancing our RNIB Connect Radio Strictly Star Reviewer blind ballroom dancer Shaun Hayward is back reflecting and commenting on how well blind Liverpudlian comedian Chris McCausland and his Professional Dance Partner Dianne Buswell have been faring in the competition.  Toby began by asking Shaun how he felt people watching would have reacted to the VT before Chris and Dianne's couples choice dance to John Lennon's ‘Instant Karma! (We All Shine On' With some very powerful and personal messages from Chris in that VT. To then chatting about their dance and the black out moment and the incredible lifts that Chris was doing too. Then to how some of the other couples had done on Saturday night with praise again from Toby for Sarah and Vito! Ending as usual with Shaun and Toby discussing whether it was the right choice for Shane and Nancy to leave the competition. To follow how Chris and Dianne are progressing through Strictly Come Dancing 2024 along with how all the other dance couples are fairing in the competition, do visit the following Strictly Pages of the BBC website - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m8dq Image shows Shaun in a recording studio with microphones behind him in front of a colourful drape holding a plaque with medals on in each hand

We were very excited here at RNIB Connect Radio when it was announced that blind Liverpudlian comedian Chris McCausland would be taking part in Strictly Come Dancing this year following on from the introduction of live audio description for the Saturday night live shows last year by Georgie from RedBee Media for all us blind and partially sighted Strictly fans. With many blind and partially sighted people taking up dancing and some even taking to the dance floor of the famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom, in the first of what will be regular weekly features on how Chris McCausland and his Professional Dancer Dianne Buswell are doing on Strictly Come Dancing RNIB Connect Radio's Toby Davey is joined by Shaun Hayward a blind ballroom dancer who has competed in Blackpool to not only find out how Shaun got in to ballroom dancing but also to reflect and review on how Chris and Dianne have been doing so far in the competition.  Shaun will also be sharing some helpful hints and tips as Chris and Dianne perform a Salsa to Down Under by Men at Work this coming Saturday 12 October 2024. To follow how Chris and Dianne are progressing through Strictly Come Dancing 2024 along with how all the other dance couples are fairing in the competition, do visit the following Strictly page of the BBC website -  https://www.bbc.co.uk/strictly (Image shows Shaun in a recording studio with microphones behind him in front of a colourful drape holding a plaque with medals on in each hand)

Anthony Crolla joins Buncey to review a pulsating fight in Liverpool. We hear from Nick Ball after he successfully defended his WBA featherweight belt against Ronny Rios. The guys ponder what's next for the Liverpudlian. And we also hear from 2-time world champion Josh Warrington who shares his thoughts on the fight and whether we will see him in a ring again following his recent defeat at Wembley?

'I'm going to tell you how you should be doing it, but it's up to you to do it. But I'm going to dress it up in a way where the message might land 15 minutes later when you're on the bus going to town. And you're like, Oh, that's what he meant.' It takes courage, tact and humour to point out to a leader not only that there might be an issue with their organization's culture, but that the issue might be them. And that's as true when you're writing a book as when you're in the room with the person. Luckily, Colin D. Ellis has all three, and in this frankly hilarious conversation he takes us under the hood to show us how he tells difficult truths in an easy-to-read way,  We also talk about crediting the music you listen to as well as the books you read as you write, the joy of the Venn diagram, and why being Liverpudlian is a superpower.  Pin your ears back.       

The Sport Show takes a look at the sporting world beyond football - with a Scouse, star-studded chat about the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. Mo Stewart hosts Olympic Liverpudlian royalty in track and field athlete Anyika Onuora, taekwondo athlete Bianca Cook and tennis player Neal Skupski... Subscribe for more on the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and Liverpudlian excellence... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Beatles - made up of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison - were the biggest band the world has ever seen. Recording together for just over seven years, setting unprecedented sales, and revolutionising songwriting, theirs was a stardom that burned brightly, but quickly.  So who were the four ordinary Liverpudlian teenagers before they created a band that would change the music industry forever? How did their music, and fame, affect them? And what caused ‘Beatlemania' to all come crumbling down so soon, and in such dramatic fashion? This is a Short History Of…The Beatles. A Noiser production, written by Olivia Jordan. With thanks to Kenneth Womack, Professor of English and Popular Music at Monmouth University, and author of The Cambridge Companion to The Beatles. Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You'll also get ad-free listening, bonus material, and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you're on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we dive into the story of the most famous Liverpudlian foursome of all time! No, not those guys--we're talking about Eric Idle and Neil Innes's Rutles.

What's your most loved and least favorite song on the La's self-titled debut album?! Jim follows up our 1990 Matthew Sweet episode with....a 1990 classic from his beloved Liverpool. A ton of fun talking about our favorite one album wonders. One pandemic day, Adam's roommate Mike Dalke confessed that he tour managed Straightjacket Fits on the La's lone US tour in 1991. Makes him a perfect expert witness/guest ranker along with 91X's Mike Halloran who does our first guest closing credits in a very long while. Listen at WeWillRankYouPod.com, Apple, Spotify and your favorite Liverpudlian sweet shoppe. Follow us and weigh in with your favorites on Facebook, Instagram & Threads and Twitter @wewillrankyoupod . SPOILERS/FILE UNDER:The Beatles, Cast, Elvis Costello, Mike Dalke, Doledrum, Dolgernon, England, Everton, eyeball, Failure, Feelin', Freedom Song, Mike Halloran, Herman's Hermits, I Can't Sleep, I Feel Fine, I.O.U., jangle pop, the Kinks, the La's, Liberty Ship, Steve Lillywhite, Liverpool, Looking Glass, Lee Mavers, Neil Mavers, Oasis, John Power, Redd Kross, Rolling Stones, self-titled debut album, skiffle, So I Married An Axe Murderer, Son of a Gun, Straightjacket Fits, Barry Sutton, There She Goes, there she goes again, Timeless Melody, Eddie Vedder, Way Out, we hate our own record, Wibling Rivalry, 1990. US: http://www.WeWillRankYouPod.com wewillrankyoupod@gmail.comhttp://www.facebook.com/WeWillRankYouPodhttp://www.instagram.com/WeWillRankYouPodhttps://www.threads.net/@WeWillRankYouPodhttp://www.twitter.com/WeWillRankYouPo http://www.YourOlderBrother.com(Sam's music page) http://www.YerDoinGreat.com (Adam's music page)https://open.spotify.com/user/dancecarbuzz (Dan's playlists)

Getting Ringo Starr don't come easy, but we did it! Ringo is here to chat about his new Crooked Boy EP (written and produced by Linda Perry), while also sharing some Beatles memories about the Get Back / Let It Be documentaries, his love of Country music and why he'll still be touring on his 84th birthday. We also brought in Abe Laboriel, Jr., who for the last 23 years as drummer in the Paul McCartney band, has been playing many of the ingenious drum parts first created by Ringo. And I Saw Them Standing There author Debbie Gendler talks about being one of only 728 audience members in the theater when the Beatles made their debut on the Ed Sullivan Show, and working with Brian Epstein as one of the first American Beatles fan club presidents. And RSD co-founder Carrie Colliton remembers Plan 9 Records fixture and Richmond VA punk musician Bob Schick (from Honor Role). The Record Store Day Podcast is a weekly music chat show written, produced, engineered and hosted by Paul Myers, who also composed the theme music and selected interstitial music.  Special thanks to Bob Hunt for expert audio assistance with this week's Ringo segment. Executive Producers (for Record Store Day) Michael Kurtz and Carrie Colliton. For the most up-to-date news about all things RSD, visit RecordStoreDay.com) Sponsored by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (dogfish.com), Tito's Handmade Vodka (titosvodka.com), RSDMRKT.com, and Furnace Record Pressing, the official vinyl pressing plant of Record Store Day. Please consider subscribing to our podcast wherever you get podcasts, and tell your friends, we're here every week and we love making new friends. This episode is dedicated to Paul's dear departed Liverpudlian father Eric Myers, who shares a July 7th birthday with Ringo.   

Alan Bleasdale, the Liverpudlian screenwriter and playwright, is in the spotlight this week as a stage version of his iconic 1980's TV series 'Boys from the Blackstuff' opened at the National Theatre. Born in Liverpool, an only child who first went into teaching, his first public work was 'Scully' for Radio Merseyside, a kind of Liverpudlian Adrian Mole, which he wrote whilst he was still teaching. But it was 'Boys from the Blackstuff' that made him a household name with one of the characters, Yosser Hughes' line 'Gissa job' providing a chant on the stands of his beloved Liverpool Football Club. His work has courted controversy with successive governments, although he says he's not political, only voting for the first time at the age of 38. Now in his late 70's and 40 years on from the original television series, he's back in the spotlight. Stephen Smith talks to friends and colleagues about his work, phobias and how to tell if you're having a heart attack. Presenter: Stephen SmithPRODUCTION TEAMProducers: Julie Ball and Diane Richardson Researcher: Marianna Brain Editor: Bridget Harney Sound: Neil Churchill Production co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck ContributorsPeter Ansorge, former Script Producer, BBC Drama and Commissioning Editor, Drama C4James Graham, Playwright and ScreenwriterRobert Lindsay, ActorSir Michael Palin, Actor and AuthorTony Schumacher, Author and ScreenwriterTrevor Stent, former teaching colleague CREDITSBoys from the Blackstuff, BBC DramaDesert Island Discs, BBC R4GBH - Channel 4Scully's New Years Eve, BBC

The actor and writer join Nick and Angela to talk about the new series of The Responder. Martin Freeman is a man of many genres and he has mastered most of them in his 27 year career. We first fell in love with him as Tim in The Office in 2001; he gained cult status as Dr Watson in Sherlock in 2010; and then hit the big time as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit in 2012. Martin won a Bafta and an Emmy for Sherlock and last year scooped an International Emmy for his portrayal of Chris Carson in The Responder. Tony Schumacher spent 12 years as a policeman in Liverpool before a period of poor mental health forced him to take stock. While on the road to healing, Tony tried his hand at stand-up comedy and, encouraged by his wife, decided to pursue his dream of becoming an author. Tony has written three novels and penned his critically-acclaimed BBC drama with Martin Freeman in mind. Nick welcomes our guests with a negroni while Angela prepares the best bolognese by Martha Collison, a dish specially requested by Martin. The meal is paired with a Villa Antinori Rosso by the experts at Waitrose. Talk around the table kicks off with praise for Martin Freeman's Liverpudlian accent, we find out what makes Tony cry and Martin recalls the day he decided vegetarianism was no longer for him.  Just so you know, our podcast might contain the occasional mild swear word or adult theme. All recipes from this podcast can be found at waitrose.com/dishrecipes A transcript for this episode can be found at waitrose.com/dish We can't all have a Michelin star chef in the kitchen, but you can ask Angela for help. Send your dilemmas to dish@waitrose.co.uk and she'll try to answer in a future episode. Dish is a S:E Creative Studio production for Waitrose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[Voiceover of written post] The song You'll Never Walk Alone began life on Broadway in 1945, thanks to Rodgers and Hammerstein. It was instantly popular, and has been covered by many artists over the years. But in 1963, Gerry And The Pacemakers did their version, and Liverpudlian magic was made. The song has been fully adopted by Liverpool FC, being sung before every game, and the words ‘You'll Never Walk Alone' being incorporated into the team emblem and forged into the gates of Anfield stadium.It is an uplifting song of hope. The lyrics convey comfort and solidarity. To many, the message of this song is clear—in times of trouble, you're not alone. But if we dig a little deeper, we start to understand the true nature of the troubled times. We start to understand the reasons why you'll never walk alone. More importantly, we can explore how this underlying message is a critical component for navigating Dabrowski's framework of positive disintegration. Walk the path towards your authentic self, and you'll never walk alone. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.positivedisintegration.org/subscribe

In Episode #175 of The XS Noize Podcast, host Mark Millar speaks to award-winning Liverpudlian pop singer, and songwriter BANNERS (aka Michael Nelson) about his new album All Back to Mine. BANNERS is known for his effervescent melodies and immensely relatable lyrics about the human condition. With Nelson's latest full-length, All Back to Mine, it's safe to say he owns a market share in feel-good anthems streamlined to soundtrack your best life. The album includes his highly praised singles The Best View In Liverpool, Anywhere For You, Have You Ever Loved Someone, Name In Lights, Tell You I Love You, and C'est La Vie and the mesmerising single Perfectly Broken (Duet Version) featuring the soulful voice of America's Got Talent 2022 breakout star Lily Meola. In this interview, Michael Nelson discusses the writing and recording of All Back to Mine. We also discuss his favourite BANNERS songs, songwriting, his love for Liverpool and more. Listen to episode #175 of The XS Noize Podcast with BANNERS (aka Michael Nelson) – BELOW: Previous XS Noize Podcast guests have been Elbow, Cast, Kula Shaker, Shed Seven, Future Islands, Peter Frampton, John Lydon, Nick Heyward, Steven Wilson, Matt Goss, Billy Nomates, Tom Meighan, Toyah Wilcox, Midge Ure, Travis, New Order, The Killers, Tito Jackson, Simple Minds, Divine Comedy, Shaun Ryder, Gary Numan, Sleaford Mods, The Brand New Heavies. Listen via YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS – Find The XS Noize Podcast's complete archive of episodes here.  

On this week's episode on The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet, we are joined by Newcastle United and England winger Anthony Gordon.Gary Neville meets Gordon along Whitley Bay beach. He starts with the first part of quick-fire questions, where the Liverpudlian opens up about the importance of psychology and meditation on his game.Gordon made a huge decision to move to Newcastle from Everton in January 2022 and talks about life at St James Park under Eddie Howe, his ambitions and the club's goals as he enjoys his most prolific spell in professional football to date.With the upcoming Euros and having made his senior England debut in March's international friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, the 23-year-old will be looking to replicate last summer's achievements that saw him named player of the tournament as England lifted the under-21 European trophy.Lastly, Quick-Fire Questions resume where Gordon reveals his best goal, who he'd want to take a last-minute penalty to save his life and which former-teammate Gordon reminds Gary of in terms of self-confidence.If you enjoyed the interview please hit subscribe to never miss an upload. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Major League Soccer's VP of Brand Marketing, Jesse Perl, joins The Current Podcast to discuss how young people are growing more interested in soccer, the league's deal with Apple TV+, and the importance of building local support for MLS teams. Episode TranscriptPlease note, this transcript  may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio. TTD_S8_E10_MLS//JESSE PERLMANIlyse Liffrieng: (00:01)I'm Ilyse Liffreing.Damian Fowler: (00:02)And I'm Damian Fowler.Ilyse Lieffring: (00:03)And welcome to this edition of the current podcast.Damian Fowler: (00:10)This week we're delighted to speak with Jesse Pearl, the VP of Brand Marketing at Major League Soccer Ilyse Lieffring: (00:16)For Millennials and Gen Zers. It almost feels like the MLS has been around forever, but actually the league wasn't founded until the USA's successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Before then, the US just wasn't a serious contender in the soccer game or football as it's commonly called across the world.Damian Fowler: (00:34)Times have certainly changed, but the league still has to compete with the likes of sports juggernauts like the NFL, which has long reaped higher viewership and fandom in the US. Jesse talks to us about the unique challenges the MLS faces compared to other sports leagues and how he's prepping for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup and how he envisions MLS as a brand.Jesse Perlman: (00:57)I feel really kind of privileged to, you know, be in the role that I am because I think brand really guides how we think about what MLS is and, and what we stand for in the world. And I think there's no real separation, no real daylight between the MLS brand and and MLS. And I think it's really, it's kind of the, the DNA and and the heartbeat of who we are. And I think one of the first things about the MLS brand that's really important is that we are proudly North American. There's a lot of stuff in the world, there's a lot of sports in the world, there's a lot of soccer in the world. And being North American, being kind of uniquely North American, this idea of creating our own North American version of what soccer means is actually really powerful. And I think if, if we look at all these different places across North America, the US and Canada, where MLS is thriving, I think it is about being able to tap into something that really represents, you know, what those cities are.Jesse Perlman: (01:49)There's a kind of an attitude and a spirit of North America that is really kind of transcendent in culture, right? I think North American culture itself is, is an export. And for us it's this idea of being really positive and confident, but in a really sort of positive way. So this kind of infectious positive North American spirit and attitude where we're kind of getting to remix the best of international soccer as well as the best of North American sports traditions and kind of make our own thing out of it. We've got playoffs, right? That's not something that happens in soccer, but I think we just kind of witnessed why it's, why it's great. And all of that sort of creates this idea of, of another part of our brand, which is this idea that, you know, without overstating it, it's a soccer movement here that's happening in, in North America that's kind of sweeping North America. So how we get to all that really is through our supporter groups, our supporter culture, the TFOs, the chance, the Kapos, all the things that they kind of bring to the party is, um, it's really kind of the secret sauce of all of this.Damian Fowler: (02:45)And what's fascinating about this as well is the fast evolution of this. I want to sort of date myself and say I arrived in this country just after college in 1994, and that was when the US last time the US hosted the World Cup and now we we're seeing it's gonna be hosting it again with Canada and Mexico in 2026. So that's basically three decades, you know, and you've seen this tremendous growth of professional soccer. Could you talk a little bit about those bookends and you know, how you've seen the trajectory of the sport, how quickly the sport has grown in those three decades?Jesse Perlman: (03:16)It's pretty staggering, and I think even the biggest optimist, I don't think would've bet that we'd get to where we are as quickly as we did. The 2026 World Cup is such a great kind of marker to, to kind of measure these things because you know, our story, the story of MLS starts with the 1994 World Cup for sure, right? We fulfilled what the hope and the potential, you know, was, you know, we launched in 96, you know, on the heels of the 94 World Cup. And by the way, that's in no way to say that we're declaring victory in its job done for us. I think to be in 29 cities, to have the amount of soccer specific stadiums we have to have the support that we have in these MLS communities that are, you know, settin record attendance to look at media partnerships like Apple that I think are rewriting the scripts in sports media to have the current reigning ballon d'or World Cup champion greatest player of all time messy here in our league, you know, to look at the young up and coming players, homegrown players, stars from, you know, some of the most storied teams in in South America and players that'll also, you know, will sell for record fees that go on to win Champions league games.Jesse Perlman: (04:26)And, and so I think it's really, I think the complete picture of everything that we could have hoped to set out to do. But for sure, you know, the the best is still yet to come.Ilyse Lieffring: (04:35)But you know, North America, particularly the US I would say, aren't known for being big soccer fans. So what would you say are like the challenges and then the opportunities of marketing soccer in this context?Jesse Perlman: (04:49)You know, I do think it's changing when you look at youth, when you look at Gen Z, when you look at six to 14 and 14 to 18, and these critical ages of where fandom is really, you know, set and takes root, soccer's a top sport of interest, that's been the trend and that trend is continuing and it's really favorable for us as a sport. You know, millennials, right? Are, are now parents of young kids and, and we know the influence that parents have on the interest of, of their children. And there are some kind of studies came out, uh, recently naming MLS as a top 10 fastest growing brand along among millennials right there alongside our, our great partner, you know, apple tv. So especially as marketers means that we've just gotta constantly think about how do we infiltrate culture in all kinds of creative and, and unexpected ways that are, that are true to us.Jesse Perlman: (05:36)We've got nothing but respect and admiration for the other North American sports leagues, whether that's the NFL or NBA or I think what we've got all is respect and admiration. I think we're also able to kind of look at, you know, some of those traditional North American leagues as traditional. We really feel like we get the permission to to be the enemy of tradition sometimes. And, and, and we love that. So I think kind of being able to stand for the things that differentiate us is ultimately how I think we'll continue to, to win over time.Ilyse Lieffring: (06:03)Are there any numbers you can point to that show the growth of the MLS over these past three decades?Jesse Perlman: (06:09)Big picture. There's, you know, there's probably a few things that are, that do really kind of stand out and I think kind of signal the continued kind of really explosive growth. Um, you know, one of the most important in sports is attendance. And we're continuing to set record attendance year over year. We just had another record year. That's a huge indicator. You know, ultimately there's um, we're in entertainment, right? And we're competing against, you know, sitting at home on your couch and binge watch and Netflix and you know, going to the latest restaurant and whatever else you can do. And I think for people to be motivated to go out there, go to the stadiums in record numbers kind of says it all. And I think in addition to that, we can look at things like valuation of an MLS franchise. You know, I believe LAFC was reported in Forbes as just crossing the, uh, the billion dollar threshold for franchise valuation.Jesse Perlman: (06:56)I could tell you when I joined in 2007, 2008, that was not the value of an MLS franchise. And all those kind of economic indicators I think are, are really healthy. And um, even if it's not necessarily an exact quantified metric, you know, the ability to go out there and, and have a, you know, media partnership like Apple again, right, or Adidas partnership in these best in in category global brands, I think again is another indicator. And I think the last one that's worth mentioning is the brick and mortar kind of growth. Here again, I think when I started we had, you know, a handful of soccer specific stadiums and now virtually all of our teams are, if they're not already playing in a soccer specific stadium, they're in the process of open the doors on one.Damian Fowler: (07:35)One other thing that stands out to me is as to go back to that nineties thing, I remember when I came here, I could, it was hard to actually find, you know, international games on the dial, on cable channels. Obviously in the last few years we've seen this sort of flourishing of the game across many streaming channels. I mean, you can watch the Premier League on Peacock, you can watch Champions League on Paramount Plus and media and the presence of media is such an important driver of fandom. Is that one of the big factors for the MLS?Jesse Perlman: (08:07)No doubt. Similarly, right? Like growing up, you know, in the nineties being a huge soccer fan, right? You had to work so hard to seek it out. I remember running to the Barnes and Nobles to get my monthly magazine of 442 or World Soccer and um, that was how you stayed current. Now there's so much access, right? Ultimately I think that's a good thing for us, more people watching more soccer. I think it just, you know, increases the amount of interest and curiosity and, and conversation. And there's certainly a lot of, you know, competition for eyeballs. And you know, what we're trying to win more than anything is as hearts and minds. And, um, it's great for you to be a fan of other soccer teams and clubs and leagues and we really do embrace that. But if you're here in the US and Canada, you really can't get up close to that, right? And so being a fan of MLS just means something different. That's where we really feel like it's a huge differentiator that access, you know, to kind of be a part of an MLS community.Damian Fowler: (09:00)Can you talk a little bit about the significance of the Apple TV season pass?Jesse Perlman: (09:05)It's a game changer. It really is in so many ways. I mean, I think the first thing for me is as a marketer, as a, as a kind of brand leader, there's probably no brand that's more recognized and admired than Apple on the planet, the ability for us to become an Apple brand, which I think is what's happened, right? It changes the perception, the reach of Apple, the scale, the reach, the deep love and admiration for their brand that people have. All those are really just kind of the starting points. But when you get inside the sort of Apple world and you kind of realize and learn like how many incredible layers there are to their growing and expanding ecosystem of products and services and ways for MLS to show up and, and be a part of that, you know, we just officially wrapped our first season together.Jesse Perlman: (09:50)When we kind of think about all the things we were able to do as co marketers, even year one, it's been a really fantastic starting point and we had some incredible activations around Messi, his game here in New York. We were able to work with our friends and partner with them at New York, Red Bulls and Apple to have this, you know, kind of takeover in Times Square of a live viewin party that sort of traveled around the world. That moment of people gather in Times Square to to watch Messi on a giant Times Square billboard. And I think some of the real sort of inside culture things that we did with Apple Music, you know again, partnering with great club like Nashville had a kit inspired by a Johnny Cash, the Man in black kit working with the Johnny Cash Estate and Apple Music. We all kind of came together working with some incredible music artists and talents to cover Johnny Cash songs. And so these really kind of integrated kind of campaigns that we were able to to do. Um. Damian Fowler: (10:42)I wanted to ask you, uh, Jesse, about the kind of cross-fertilization with international leagues. You know, I'm a big fan of Liverpool, I watch the Premier League every weekend and you know, obviously there's La Liga and then, you know, la bundesliga, all of those things, you know, and football from south of the border. How does that work? How is that an important factor in driving fandom and is it a sort of cross fertilization or is it like a separate kind of group of fans?Jesse Perlman: (11:07)No, I think, I think it's really additive are clubs that are really succeeding and have these, the thriving kind of fan bases that they do. Those fans are also fans of other international soccer teams and, and we love that it's part of the, the thing that we love about soccer as a sport for anybody that truly loves it, it's the kind of international dimension is like what makes it different than other sports, right? For me personally, it's been a lens to kind of learn about the world and learn about other cultures and it really kind of expands people. We're never shying away from that. I think we want everybody who's a fan and has a team in, whether it's in, you know, the Premier League or the Bundesliga or Serie A or anywhere else around the world, or Argentina or Mexico, Liga MX, you know, we want them to know that they're invited to still be loyal fans of, of those teams, whether it's passed down from generation to generation or something they discovered on their own. 'cause all that is complimentary, right? I think, you know, that's part of what being a soccer fan, you know, looks like. So we, we embrace it.Ilyse Lieffring: (12:05)As much as it's a global game. It's very much made up of very localized fans at the same time, how important are local efforts in each city? For instance, building stadiums or the infrastructure, how is that key to driving that local support or community supports?Jesse Perlman: (12:25)Really as important as anything. And I think it's been what's defined this incredible growth period for MLS. We were kind of chatting earlier about like what it means to be North American and the importance of this kind of brick and mortar investment and building these like incredible cathedrals to soccer. And I think not just building stadiums, but building 'em in the right places, right? Building these in the kind of heart of the downtowns. I think it's made all the difference and, and continues to, and it's really timely. I mean, we just had MLS cup in columbus@lower.com field, brand new state-of-the-art best in sports anywhere in the world placed to watch live sports. That stadium was rocking, you know, it was completely electric fan, 28, 30,000 strong in the rain, right? Singing enchanting for 90 minutes and the streets were alive, the city was alive. And you don't have to go back that far to just kind of be reminded of how this franchise went through like one of the most traumatic things you could go through in sports, right?Jesse Perlman: (13:20)There was ownership change, there was concern about what the crew still be around. It's an emphatic like not only are they here, but they just won MLS cup again. On and off the field I think it's so important that it's so local. You know, I think what Columbus represents to crew fans is, you know, is so different than the team that, that came to play them in Columbus. These clubs, they represent really different ideas and communities and, and fan bases, but the common thread is that what they really represent is their cities and, and the idea of their cities in this moment in 2023, I don't think there are brands that better represent Columbus and you know, how it sees itself. I think it being local and localized and really kind of deeply rooted in these, you know, local communities and cultures has been the difference maker.Damian Fowler: (14:07)As I mentioned, I'm a Liverpool fan, and Anfield is, you know, very much a Liverpudlian tradition and they have the traditions there. And at the same time, if you look at the field, it's absolutely international. And so it's that beautiful kind of conjunction of the local and the global. Wanted to ask you about that international presence, you know, the, the MLS of course has been drawing headlines. How do you see the star power playing into your marketing efforts?Jesse Perlman: (14:31)It's another part of what makes sports sports, right? Star players. It's another part of why people tune into sports, why they care about sports and love sports. And you know, certainly people are fans of teams and clubs and, but people also really care about players, right? And some of them will become fans of a team because they're fans of a player. The other thing that's so special about sports, and I think even more so with soccer is who's gonna be the next star? The idea of like the emerging stars, especially we think about these homegrowns the future of the US men's and for the US and Canada national teams. And you know, I think as we look at, you know, Messi, right? We're equally excited about Benjamin Cremaschi learning from a guy like Lionel Messi every day, right? These kind of, you know, future world beaters that are coming through MLS and we're really spending a lot of time and, and energy and focus on how do we continue to hype up all the right players, but especially these, these up and commerce, these emerging stars and really sort of build their brands on and off the field and help more people kind of, you know, fall in love with them because they have incredible stories and we're gonna be hearing about them for years to come.Damian Fowler: (15:35)I heard that the Messi shirt in that iconic pink sold out instantly, impossible to get.Jesse Perlman: (15:41)It is, uh, I can tell you firsthand, I, uh, I failed as an uncle on, uh, on Hanukkah to come up with the goods for my nephews. So it is truly, it is a scarce product.Ilyse Lieffring: (15:51)You know, along with more like just sports documentaries out there on streaming channels, there's also like the rise of live sports at the same time. How would you say the rise in like live sports and streaming contribute to the rise of soccer overall in the us?Jesse Perlman: (16:06)Well, I think it's only increased the amount of soccer that's available for sure. I think we've got more access to more soccer here in the US than just about anywhere in the world. You know, there's probably a lot of people that'd be surprised to learn that, but you know, as a Liverpool fan, I'm sure you'd agree, there's a lot of people in the UK that like, man, that is a pain point in life is just how hard it can be to, to kind of watch the, so you wanna watch and the amount of blackouts and how you kind of just gotta jump through hoops to, uh, be able to watch games sometimes. And so we're spoiled for choice here, and I think streaming has only increased that to me it's an indicator of this is the sport for the future, right? Gen Z and, and younger fans, linear TV is not where they're spending their time, right? They're spending their time on devices and streaming and places like YouTube and, and places like Apple tv. And so I think it's great for us that we're ahead of the curve on that respect as far as kind of live games, and I think we're just so well positioned for that.Ilyse Lieffring: (16:59)The US also gets to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup along, of course with Canada and Mexico. How are you planning to ladder up your marketing to this massive global event,Jesse Perlman: (17:13)I guess can't reveal all the secrets, but No, it's very much in focus for us and to really be thinking multi-year about not just how does the marketing kind of ramp up to the World's Cup, but how does all of our activity as a business really deliberately think about what that's gonna mean for us. I think what's really interesting is during the World's Cup is gonna be the noisiest loudest, most crowded for anybody else marketer. I think everybody's gonna be trying to find a way to talk about the World Cup and soccer, whether, whether they've got the official, you know, FIFA rights to do that or not. And I, and I think all that noise is gonna be, is gonna be good, good, right? I think soccer is just gonna really bleed into the mainstream conversation, uh, in a way that'll kind of eclipse, um, you know, anything before it.Jesse Perlman: (17:59)But I think as, as you know, as marketers here at MLS I, I think the most critical moment for us is actually gonna be what do we do the day the World Cup ends? You know? And I think that's really the incredible opportunity for us to seize because, you know, that kind of World Cup Fever that everybody's gonna catch, the World Cup's gonna be incredible, but it's gonna, it's gonna come and go. There's gonna be a lot of people here that aren't gonna be able to make it to World Cup games that maybe wanted to or maybe wanted to take their kids to it, or it got priced out, or there's only so many seats in so many games. And for MLS to really make sure everybody knows where they can find us, how they can find us, again, I think meet that, meet that moment is, is gonna be, uh, I think it's really gonna be the, the big unlock for us.Damian Fowler: (18:46)And that's it for season eight of the current podcast. Stay tuned for our next season of interviews with the industry's top marketing leaders.Ilyse Lieffring: (18:54)The current is produced by Wonder Media Network. Our theme is by love and caliber. The Trade Desk team includes Chris Brooklier and Kat VesceDamian Fowler: (19:02)And if you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a review. Also tune into our other podcast, the current report, our weekly digest of what's making news across the open internet. And remember,Jesse Perlman: (19:14)Especially as marketers, means that we've just gotta constantly think about how do we infiltrate culture in all kinds of creative and, and unexpected ways that are, that are true to us.Damian Fowler: (19:25)I'm Damian,Ilyse Lieffring: (19:26)And I'm Ilyse. Damian Fowler: (19:27)And we'll see you next time.

The Michael Anthony Show is joined by the ever fascinating Joey Barton for Episode 172. The Liverpudlian explores a wide variety of topics throughout a unique conversation in which he opens up on his childhood in 1980's Huyton and the subsequent role it has played in his controversy fuelled adulthood, familial relationships, his recently polarising criticisms of female pundits in the male game, an on-field career that saw him achieve an England cap in 2007, his plans for the future and many other aspects of his philosophically minded worldview.  One of the truly idiosyncratic characters of modern football, Barton's journey has been one of madness, rebellion, mistakes, retribution and curiosity, with the former City midfielder never shying away from looking deep inside for the answer to life's more important questions.Rate/Review. Respect to the listeners. Get The Michael Anthony Show on:X: https://twitter.com/MAShow_podcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/themichaelanthonyshow/Support the show

In 2000, Sven-Goran Eriksson got the job as manager of England's men's football team. He was the first non-English person to do the job.Some in England were sceptical about an overseas coach when Sven moved from his post at Lazio in Italy to succeed Kevin Keegan as England boss.Sven tells Uma Doraiswamy about the media's reaction to this sporting first, his quest to understand the Liverpudlian accent of some of his new players and how it felt to go out of tournaments on penalties. The Swede led England to the quarter-finals of the 2002 and 2006 World Cup and 2004 Euros.He spoke to Sporting Witness a few days ago, on the day he told the world that having been diagnosed with cancer he has, at best, a year to live.(Photo: England coach Sven Goran Eriksson at the 2002 World Cup. Credit: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Detailing the operator's expansion plans across several continents, with a focus on Latin America and Brazil, Campeón Gaming's Group CCO, George Merodoulakis, explains the need for operators to be “smarter, faster and adapt better” when entering new territories.Taking time out of a busy SBC Summit Barcelona, Merodoulakis joined SBC's Multimedia Editor James Ross, to discuss the aims for LatAm and Brazil, whilst also embracing their Mancunian and Liverpudlian rivalry. 

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate the life and career of the much-loved Liverpudlian screenwriter and director Terence Davies, who died earlier in 2023 at the age of 77.From an astonishing trilogy of early short films, to his final feature, 2021's Benediction, Terence Davies seamlessly blended personal recollections with wider essential truths. His subjects ranged from autobiographically inspired portraits of postwar working-class life in Liverpool in films like Distant Voices Still Lives and The Long Day Closes, to intimate portraits of real-life authors, most remarkably the American poet Emily Dickinson in A Quiet Passion. Mark speaks to Scottish actor Jack Lowden, who played poet Siegfried Sassoon in Benediction, about his relationship with Davies. He also talks to critic and historian Lillian Crawford about why the director's work resonates so deeply for so many.And Ellen discusses Davies' relationship to his hometown with two fellow Scousers - author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce, and actor Tina Malone, who starred in The Long Day Closes.Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Dia duit gach duine! Great to have you here again for a chat with the lovely Liverpudlian himself, Mr Jake Carter!We talk about everything in this episode, from the fiddle to Fermanagh, from pumpkins to the Pool, LOADS to chat about in there!Jake tells me what show Nathan thought he should enter before DWTS and how he and Karen found love together... and how to pronounce Audi haha!I hope you enjoy!RATE/REVIEW/SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW ON SOCIALSSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/tis-yourself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liverpudlian comedian Chris McCausland gradually started losing his eyesight due to a hereditary condition called retinitis pigmentosa. His sight got so bad in his 20s that he was forced to give up his job as a web developer and ended up unemployed. He decided to give stand-up a try and is now a regular fixture on the comedy circuit. Tickets for his latest show, Yonks! are available at chrismccausland.com

Exciting news from Japan as Honda threatens to bring back a Smith and Sniff legend. Also in this episode, the real surfers' cars of Devon, the most West Country car, growing up in narrow lanes, being a museum guy, the best word to say in a Liverpudlian accent, retro gaming at laser tag basically in Nottingham, horse crabbing and old Saxos, listeners share their favourite mis-read car badges, and a round up of cars at the Tokyo show including the smooth new Mazda Iconic SP. patreon.com/smithandsniff Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip!This week Pip is joined by director, screenwriter and producer PHILIP BARANTINI!This episode has been hinted at for a minute now, and anyone who's picking up crumbs on the acting breadcrumb trail will already be aware that Stephen Grahame is essentially the spiritual godfather of this whole podcast. Well DPP fam, here's Philip - a frequent Stephen collaborator and fellow Liverpudlian, who has spent his fair share of time on both sides of the camera. What's so cool about this chat is that it only goes to further prove how much humanity and basic decency there is in film making. We sometimes see and hear examples to the contrary, of course, but this just makes those in the industry who are caring and feel no need to make these vulgar displays of ego shine brightest. Enjoy this lovely chat with Philip and Pip, and watch Boiling Point in film and television series incarnations at your nearest convenience!DON'T FORGET PIP ON PATREON if you're of a supporting natureBOILING POINTACCUSEDIMDBINSTAGRAMSPEECH DEVELOPMENT WEBSTOREPIP TWITCH • (music stuff)PIP INSTAGRAMPIP TWITTERPIP PATREONPIP IMDBPOD BIBLE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cue the Salt 'N' Pepa: Pu-Pu-Pushkin's real good…at producing podcasts and audiobooks! They're the force behind the just-dropped “McCartney: A Life in Lyrics” pod, which is off to a delightfully entertaining and insightful start. The dulcet tones of Paul Muldoon had better be the future voice of AI. (We're talking about practice. Not a game.) And on this very special episode of the UBP, the Gab Two is proud to present, in partnership with Pushkin, a special airing of “McCartney: A Life in Lyrics” Episode 2. How cool is that?! This one one's a Double Paul deep-dish on “Back In The U.S.S.R.”, a definitive #FileUnderRock track, though, as the episode sadly fails to acknowledge, was largely unknown until Billy Joel's live take on “Kohuept” (2 LP's on 1 CD!). We'll be back with our usual chicanery and a whole new episode/world, DON'T YOU DARE CLOSE YOUR EYES, next week. In the meantime, all 3.5 of us at the UBP are absolutely honoured to be associated with anything Macca-related. We hope you will enjoy the show as much as we did. Five Freaking Fabs! ----- McCartney: A Life in Lyrics | Back in the U.S.S.R What's Paul McCartney, a Liverpudlian, doing writing about the Soviet Union in 1968? Turns out McCartney was doing a little Chuck Berry, a bit of The Beach Boys, some pastiche and a lot of subversion. Opening “The White Album”, “Back in the U.S.S.R.” raised some eyebrows. And because of The Beatles' evolving position within the former Eastern Bloc the song has over the years taken on a life of its own, following the trajectory of the West's often fraught relationship with the region.

What's Paul McCartney, a Liverpudlian, doing writing about the Soviet Union in 1968? Turns out McCartney was doing a little Chuck Berry, a bit of The Beach Boys, some pastiche and a lot of subversion. Opening “The White Album”, “Back in the U.S.S.R.” raised some eyebrows. And because of The Beatles' evolving position within the former Eastern Bloc the song has over the years taken on a life of its own, following the trajectory of the West's often fraught relationship with the region.   “McCartney: A Life in Lyrics” is a co-production between iHeart Media, MPL and Pushkin Industries. The series was produced by Pejk Malinovski and Sara McCrea; written by Sara McCrea; edited by Dan O'Donnell and Sophie Crane; mastered by Jason Gambrell with sound design by Pejk Malinovski. The series is executive produced by Leital Molad, Justin Richmond, Lee Eastman and Scott Rodger. Thanks to Lee Eastman, Richard Ewbank, Scott Rodger, Aoife Corbett and Steve Ithell.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What's Paul McCartney, a Liverpudlian, doing writing about the Soviet Union in 1968? Turns out McCartney was doing a little Chuck Berry, a bit of The Beach Boys, some pastiche and a lot of subversion. Opening “The White Album”, “Back in the U.S.S.R.” raised some eyebrows. And because of The Beatles' evolving position within the former Eastern Bloc the song has over the years taken on a life of its own, following the trajectory of the West's often fraught relationship with the region. Enjoy this episode from “McCartney: A Life in Lyrics,” a co-production between iHeart Media, MPL and Pushkin Industries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#64 The Hell of the North   Our second catch up show of the year once again saw the return of Simon to the fold who, it turns out, has had sufficient time off to be reinvigorated and enthused for all things LFPP. What does that mean? Well, more shows we hope, at least three a year……   Things we chatted about on the show: As we didn't have a guest on show 63 Simon kicked things off by thanking those who had so very kindly sent in Ko-Fi donations (see link to the LFPP Ko-Fi site somewhere at the end of these notes) with nice words as well. So very appreciated and well, considering we haven't had a show out since, a tad humbling.   One of the donors to the show mentioned Conflict Cameras who are making superb progress with an auto focus large format camera, I know, right! The mind boggles. Anyway follow along here whilst we see if they can be a guest on the show. https://www.instagram.com/conflict.cameras/   Simon had just come back from another “#MerseyMeetup” organised by the nicest Liverpudlian we know Steve Starr https://twitter.com/Stig_Ofthedump   George Walsh was there, we spoke about George and his repairs to Graflex cameras back on show 63 and George is another guest we have lined up.  George's Facebook details are here:  (18) George Walsh | Facebook should you have a similar request.   Erik brought us up to date with his large format photo journalist escapades on the Paris to Roubaix cycle race in Northern France, this race was named “The Hell of the North” by those who took part in its inaugural 1919 outing, just one year after the WW1 Armistice when the land was, well, like hell on earth. Erik is getting his work published which is fantastic, here is the latest piece in the Radavist Cycling journal.   https://theradavist.com/paris-roubaix-femmes-2023-ef-education-tibco-svb-team-interviews/?fbclid=IwAR1_uJip13ID1Bor5Jj1wx0G7t805daYUgHtDFmsa9t4uSg8A5eWJoPAFp4   Erik explains how he loves to use orthochromatic film and how it fitted in well with this project as its close to the emulsion that would have been available at the time plus he was using his modified Kodak 3A till it broke, a camera that would also have been around back then over 100 years ago.   Erik also took with him a modified Polaroid roll film camera he 800 which can be modified to take 4x5 film here is a link but there are others out there if you are interested in doing the same thing. https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?121626-Mahogany-Polaroid-800-conversion-to-4x5   Foma Film are or have introduced a 400 speed Ortho film which is a welcome addition to those who love that unique look where reds turn very dark and skies are very light (as are blue eyes) read more here… https://www.foma.cz/ew/9e5c83a3-3971-4ee3-ac98-dbb6878ff953-en   Whilst in France Erik visited the grave or memorial to John Kipling (Rudyard Kipling's Son) – and interesting story about him on the BBC History site. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35321716 Andrew brought us up to date on his “What lies beneath” project looking at the modern day landscape around the numerous WW1 grave sites around the Ypres Salient.  Andrew started this project back in 2017 and shared some images and thoughts on his blog. https://andrewbartram.wordpress.com/2017/11/06/what-lies-beneath-the-beginning-of-a-journey-with-a-large-format-camera/   This time, with more negatives to add to the collection he intends to make 5x7 Warmtone prints for scanning then fibre prints with typed notes for a “box set”.   Anyway its good to have a project. Finally, Andrew spoke about our previous guest, Jeff Perry https://www.instagram.com/20thcenturycamera/?hl=en and the astonishingly bad times he is currently going through. Jeff can be supported here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CqRaMP7vnte/?hl=en     LFPP links - https://largeformatphotographypodcast.podbean.com/ ko-fi.com/largeformatphotographypodcast   You can join in the fun at our Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2296599290564807/   And now our Flikr group curated by Colin Devroe https://www.flickr.com/groups/lfpp/   Get Twitter updates for the show from Andrew – https://twitter.com/warboyssnapper   Or from Simon – https://twitter.com/simonfor   Email feedback, ideas and questions for the podcast largeformatphotographypodcast@gmail.com   Podcast Hosts Social Media presence   Simon Forster www.classiclensespodcast.com www.simonforsterphotographic.co.uk https://stores.ebay.co.uk/itsfozzyphotography https://www.flickr.com/photos/125323761@N07/ https://www.facebook.com/SimonForsterPhotographic/ https://www.instagram.com/simonforsterphotographic/ https://twitter.com/SimonFor   Andrew Bartram https://anchor.fm/thelenslesspodcast https://andrewbartram.wordpress.com https://www.instagram.com/warboyssnapper https://www.instagram.com/warboyssnapper_pinholes https://www.flickr.com/photos/warboyssnapper/ https://twitter.com/warboyssnapper   Erik Mathy A not updated website. https://www.erikmathy.com/about   IG probably best for all things including rabbits. https://www.instagram.com/erikhmathy/?hl=en   The East Bay Photo Collective https://www.ebpco.org/  

This week we're revisiting a genre we haven't covered in a while - melodic death metal. Ok, that's kind of not true cause did Gojira not that long ago but they're not THIS kind of death metal. Joe McGlynn from Man Must Die (as well as In the Lap of the Pods Queen Podcast and Shit You May Not Have Seen Podcast) nominates Heartwork, the fourth album by Carcass. Originally a “goregrind” band, whatever that means, the Liverpudlian trio (at the time) were often mentioned in the same breath as Napalm Death, but after releasing their first album Reek of Putrefaction they would soon begin to explore their death metal leanings further. Each subsequent album would double down on the metal whilst slowly bringing in more classic rock elements. This endeavour would culminate on their critically lauded album Heartwork, and would cement them as pioneers of melodic death metal, making them somewhat legendary in the process. On this episode we cover everything from their first album right up until their 17 year hiatus after the release of their fifth album, Swansong. So come on this journey with us, and let's get nasty.

Welcome to the daily304 – your window into Wonderful, Almost Heaven, West Virginia.   Today is Tuesday, May 16   Calling all artists and artisans -- the 2023 State Fair of WV is seeking entries…Save the date -- June 9-18 -- for Charleston's FestivALL celebration…and grab your tickets now before they're gone--Ringo Starr (yes, the Beatle!) is coming to the capital city!...on today's daily304. #1 – From WBOY-TV –  The 98th Annual State Fair of West Virginia is coming soon, but those interested in its competitions can join in now. The deadline to enter is July 14. “Every year exhibitors gather to honor the State Fair's mission of promoting agricultural knowledge and advancement, and the arts. Exhibitors enter-award winning produce, flowers, baked goods, livestock, and more. We're looking forward to seeing what everyone brings out this year!” said Agriculture Competitions Manager Alexis Porterfield-Mulcahy. The fair runs from August 10-19. For more information, visit https://statefairofwv.com/. Read more: https://www.wboy.com/news/west-virginia/98th-annual-state-fair-of-wv-now-accepting-entries/   #2 – From FESTIVALL – Save the date -- June 9-18. That's when a city becomes a work of art! FestivALL is a city-wide, multi-arts festival in West Virginia's capital city showcasing a mix of music, theater, dance, visual art, and more each June. What began as a three-day festival produced by volunteers in 2005 is now an arts organization that serves its community with year round events and programs. Plan to visit Charleston again for FestivFALL, Three Things, and various neighborhood arts. Learn more and download a 2023 schedule: https://festivallcharleston.com/   #3 – From CHASWVCCC –  Get your tickets now! Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band are set to perform at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center on Oct. 9. As drummer for The Beatles, the Liverpudlian mophead also took the lead vocals on several classic songs including “With a Little Help From My Friends” and “Yellow Submarine.” Over the years, his prolific solo career has resulted in a number of hits including “It Don't Come Easy” and “Photograph.” In 2022 Starr released EP3 and a new music video, “Everyone and Everything.”  Learn more and purchase tickets: https://www.chaswvccc.com/events/2023/ringo-starr-and-his-all-starr-band   Find these stories and more at wv.gov/daily304. The daily304 curated news and information is brought to you by the West Virginia Department of Commerce: Sharing the wealth, beauty and opportunity in West Virginia with the world. Follow the daily304 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @daily304. Or find us online at wv.gov and just click the daily304 logo.  That's all for now. Take care. Be safe. Get outside and enjoy all the opportunity West Virginia has to offer.  

Recorded at the Hornby Library inside Liverpool Central Library, in front of a live audience, as Liverpool gears up to host The Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine. Two novelists from The Big Eurovision Read, a list of 12 books from The Reading Agency and BBC Arts talk to Nick Ahad about the unifying power of music: Pete Paphides on his autobiography Broken Greek, A story of chip shops and pop songs, and Matt Cain tells us about his novel The Madonna of Bolton. Yemeni British poet and activist Amina Atiq performs her poem Daifa, commissioned for the Big Eurovision Welcome concert. Former conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Vasily Petrenko is one of the city's Citizens of Honour. He's returned to the city for a concert with the orchestra. He explains how music can be a unifying force and why he has suspended his work in Russia. There's music from the Liverpudlian electro pop band Stealing Sheep, along with local singer songwriter Natalie McCool, who open the EuroFestival with Welcome to Eurotopia. And Ukrainian singer and musician Iryna Muha performs her next single Come Back. Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Andrea Kidd

What was originally a song given away to fellow Liverpudlian singer Billy J. Kramer, "I Call Your Name" is claimed to be one of John's earliest song attempts, pre-dating the Beatles when he was first learning to play guitar. The song was spruced up with Paul for Kramer, but then reclaimed by the Beatles in early 1964 in consideration for songs for A Hard Day's Night. That plan fell by the wayside, but the track found its' home on the Long Tall Sally EP and The Beatles Second Album in the US, though managed to stay somewhat of an obscurity, as far as Beatles songs go at least. However, that doesn't prevent it from being an ripping, if not adventurous slice of music from the boys. For such an early song, it goes to some interesting places melodically, showing John possessed his knack for songwriting at an early age. It features some fantastic 12 string work George, though he's still getting comfortable with the instrument. It's a song about being absolutely devastated by loss, to a point of not even being able to cry, and if the timing is correct as John claims, it seems like it may be about something really, really hurtful from his past. It's all held together by a phenomenal vocal performance from John, hitting the peak his of his early phase vocals. Then of course, there's that rhythm change in the solo, an imaginative, experimental move the band had never tried, completely out of left field. It's a fantastic song and recording, as evidenced by the fact that it was covered contemporaneously by acts like The Mamas & The Papas and The Buckinghams, among others. When we need to get deep on John, few are better to speak on it than Jude Kessler, author of the on-going 9 volume "The John Lennon Series." She's been researching Lennon's life since the 80s, and her books are becoming known to be the benchmark for deep diving on John and his history and what makes him tick. Plus we just like talking to her because she's incredibly nice! She's released 5 of the 9 volumes so far, and the audiobook for the 3rd volume, "She Loves You," is out now! Check it all out and get a copy at thejohnlennonseries.com! We chat with Jude about the Fest for Beatles Fans, John's family life, Beatle b-sides and so much more! What do you think? Too high? Too low? Or just right? Let us know in the comments on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠@rankingthebeatles, or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠@rankingbeatles! Be sure to visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠rankingthebeatles.com⁠⁠⁠⁠! Wanna show your support? Buy Us A Coffee! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rankingthebeatles/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rankingthebeatles/support

On today's episode of the Therapy Crouch, we are going full Scouse power and taking a look at Abbey's Liverpudlian roots. In Weekly Whine Club, we hear how Mother's Day in casa de Crouch went down (expect some fireworks) and the extraordinary lengths Peter has to go to for a simple slice of chocolate in his own home. Abbey also gives a crash course in some of her favourite Scouse lingo and we learn why should never call someone's meat antwacky. So, go grab yourself a lolly ice and enjoy this week's episode of The Therapy Crouch!Tara la!To contact us: Email: thetherapycrouch@gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetherapycrouchpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thetherapycrouch Website: https://thetherapycrouch.com/ For more from Peterhttps://twitter.com/petercrouch https://www.youtube.com/@thatpetercrouchpodcast For more from Abbeyhttps://www.instagram.com/abbeyclancy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UK chart-toppers continued for Stock Aitken Waterman as another two singles reached the top spot in 1989. First, there was Jason Donovan's remake of a much-covered tune. Part of SAW's series of '50s and '60s covers performed by their teen-friendly artists, "Sealed With A Kiss" had the potential to widen Jason's appeal even further, but was the plan to go for the parents and grandparents of the kids buying his records as well? We speak to Mike Stock and David Howells, and hear archive quotes from Jason about the decision. Next, new singer Sonia, Pete Waterman's latest Liverpudlian discovery, shot to the top with debut single "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You". Mike discusses the inspiration for the song, while stylist Sharon McPhilemy recalls what it was like to put Sonia's look together. We also hear from Sequal's Angie Vollaro and Maria Christensen about this episode's third single, fan favourite "Tell Him I Called". Angie and Maria talk about their emergence on Miami's freestyle scene and getting snapped up by a major label, who connected them with SAW. Beyond Sequal, we hear about Maria's time as a solo artist and a songwriter for acts like Celine Dion and Eternal, and the worldwide smash she co-wrote during her time in girl group 3rd Party.Subscribe for bonus material at chartbeats.com.au/sawTwitter: @ChartBeatsAU, @MrMattDenbyInstagram: @chartbeatsauFacebook: Chart Beats: A Journey Through PopEmail: chartbeats.au@gmail.com

Episode 162 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at "Daydream Believer", and the later career of the Monkees, and how four Pinocchios became real boys. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a twenty-minute bonus episode available, on "Born to be Wild" by Steppenwolf. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources No Mixcloud this time, as even after splitting it into multiple files, there are simply too many Monkees tracks excerpted. The best versions of the Monkees albums are the triple-CD super-deluxe versions that used to be available from monkees.com , and I've used Andrew Sandoval's liner notes for them extensively in this episode. Sadly, though, none of those are in print. However, at the time of writing there is a new four-CD super-deluxe box set of Headquarters (with a remixed version of the album rather than the original mixes I've excerpted here) available from that site, and I used the liner notes for that here. Monkees.com also currently has the intermittently-available BluRay box set of the entire Monkees TV series, which also has Head and 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee. For those just getting into the group, my advice is to start with this five-CD set, which contains their first five albums along with bonus tracks. The single biggest source of information I used in this episode is the first edition of Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees; The Day-By-Day Story. Sadly that is now out of print and goes for hundreds of pounds. Sandoval released a second edition of the book in 2021, which I was unfortunately unable to obtain, but that too is now out of print. If you can find a copy of either, do get one. Other sources used were Monkee Business by Eric Lefcowitz, and the autobiographies of three of the band members and one of the songwriters — Infinite Tuesday by Michael Nesmith, They Made a Monkee Out of Me by Davy Jones, I'm a Believer by Micky Dolenz, and Psychedelic Bubble-Gum by Bobby Hart. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript When we left the Monkees, they were in a state of flux. To recap what we covered in that episode, the Monkees were originally cast as actors in a TV show, and consisted of two actors with some singing ability -- the former child stars Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz -- and two musicians who were also competent comic actors, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork.  The show was about a fictional band whose characters shared names with their actors, and there had quickly been two big hit singles, and two hit albums, taken from the music recorded for the TV show's soundtrack. But this had caused problems for the actors. The records were being promoted as being by the fictional group in the TV series, blurring the line between the TV show and reality, though in fact for the most part they were being made by session musicians with only Dolenz or Jones adding lead vocals to pre-recorded backing tracks. Dolenz and Jones were fine with this, but Nesmith, who had been allowed to write and produce a few album tracks himself, wanted more creative input, and more importantly felt that he was being asked to be complicit in fraud because the records credited the four Monkees as the musicians when (other than a tiny bit of inaudible rhythm guitar by Tork on a couple of Nesmith's tracks) none of them played on them. Tork, meanwhile, believed he had been promised that the group would be an actual group -- that they would all be playing on the records together -- and felt hurt and annoyed that this wasn't the case. They were by now playing live together to promote the series and the records, with Dolenz turning out to be a perfectly competent drummer, so surely they could do the same in the studio? So in January 1967, things came to a head. It's actually quite difficult to sort out exactly what happened, because of conflicting recollections and opinions. What follows is my best attempt to harmonise the different versions of the story into one coherent narrative, but be aware that I could be wrong in some of the details. Nesmith and Tork, who disliked each other in most respects, were both agreed that this couldn't continue and that if there were going to be Monkees records released at all, they were going to have the Monkees playing on them. Dolenz, who seems to have been the one member of the group that everyone could get along with, didn't really care but went along with them for the sake of group harmony. And Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, the production team behind the series, also took Nesmith and Tork's side, through a general love of mischief. But on the other side was Don Kirshner, the music publisher who was in charge of supervising the music for the TV show. Kirshner was adamantly, angrily, opposed to the very idea of the group members having any input at all into how the records were made. He considered that they should be grateful for the huge pay cheques they were getting from records his staff writers and producers were making for them, and stop whinging. And Davy Jones was somewhere in the middle. He wanted to support his co-stars, who he genuinely liked, but also, he was a working actor, he'd had other roles before, he'd have other roles afterwards, and as a working actor you do what you're told if you don't want to lose the job you've got. Jones had grown up in very severe poverty, and had been his family's breadwinner from his early teens, and artistic integrity is all very nice, but not as nice as a cheque for a quarter of a million dollars. Although that might be slightly unfair -- it might be fairer to say that artistic integrity has a different meaning to someone like Jones, coming from musical theatre and a tradition of "the show must go on", than it does to people like Nesmith and Tork who had come up through the folk clubs. Jones' attitude may also have been affected by the fact that his character in the TV show didn't play an instrument other than the occasional tambourine or maracas. The other three were having to mime instrumental parts they hadn't played, and to reproduce them on stage, but Jones didn't have that particular disadvantage. Bert Schneider, one of the TV show's producers, encouraged the group to go into the recording studio themselves, with a producer of their choice, and cut a couple of tracks to prove what they could do. Michael Nesmith, who at this point was the one who was most adamant about taking control of the music, chose Chip Douglas to produce. Douglas was someone that Nesmith had known a little while, as they'd both played the folk circuit -- in Douglas' case as a member of the Modern Folk Quartet -- but Douglas had recently joined the Turtles as their new bass player. At this point, Douglas had never officially produced a record, but he was a gifted arranger, and had just arranged the Turtles' latest single, which had just been released and was starting to climb the charts: [Excerpt: The Turtles, "Happy Together"] Douglas quit the Turtles to work with the Monkees, and took the group into the studio to cut two demo backing tracks for a potential single as a proof of concept. These initial sessions didn't have any vocals, but featured Nesmith on guitar, Tork on piano, Dolenz on drums, Jones on tambourine, and an unknown bass player -- possibly Douglas himself, possibly Nesmith's friend John London, who he'd played with in Mike and John and Bill. They cut rough tracks of two songs, "All of Your Toys", by another friend of Nesmith's, Bill Martin, and Nesmith's "The Girl I Knew Somewhere": [Excerpt: The Monkees, "The Girl I Knew Somewhere (Gold Star Demo)"] Those tracks were very rough and ready -- they were garage-band tracks rather than the professional studio recordings that the Candy Store Prophets or Jeff Barry's New York session players had provided for the previous singles -- but they were competent in the studio, thanks largely to Chip Douglas' steadying influence. As Douglas later said "They could hardly play. Mike could play adequate rhythm guitar. Pete could play piano but he'd make mistakes, and Micky's time on drums was erratic. He'd speed up or slow down." But the takes they managed to get down showed that they *could* do it. Rafelson and Schneider agreed with them that the Monkees could make a single together, and start recording at least some of their own tracks. So the group went back into the studio, with Douglas producing -- and with Lester Sill from the music publishers there to supervise -- and cut finished versions of the two songs. This time the lineup was Nesmith on guitar, Tork on electric harpsichord -- Tork had always been a fan of Bach, and would in later years perform Bach pieces as his solo spot in Monkees shows -- Dolenz on drums, London on bass, and Jones on tambourine: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "The Girl I Knew Somewhere (first recorded version)"] But while this was happening, Kirshner had been trying to get new Monkees material recorded without them -- he'd not yet agreed to having the group play on their own records. Three days after the sessions for "All of Your Toys" and "The Girl I Knew Somewhere", sessions started in New York for an entire album's worth of new material, produced by Jeff Barry and Denny Randell, and largely made by the same Red Bird Records team who had made "I'm a Believer" -- the same musicians who in various combinations had played on everything from "Sherry" by the Four Seasons to "Like a Rolling Stone" by Dylan to "Leader of the Pack", and with songs by Neil Diamond, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, Leiber and Stoller, and the rest of the team of songwriters around Red Bird. But at this point came the meeting we talked about towards the end of the "Last Train to Clarksville" episode, in which Nesmith punched a hole in a hotel wall in frustration at what he saw as Kirshner's obstinacy. Kirshner didn't want to listen to the recordings the group had made. He'd promised Jeff Barry and Neil Diamond that if "I'm a Believer" went to number one, Barry would get to produce, and Diamond write, the group's next single. Chip Douglas wasn't a recognised producer, and he'd made this commitment. But the group needed a new single out. A compromise was offered, of sorts, by Kirshner -- how about if Barry flew over from New York to LA to produce the group, they'd scrap the tracks both the group and Barry had recorded, and Barry would produce new tracks for the songs he'd recorded, with the group playing on them? But that wouldn't work either. The group members were all due to go on holiday -- three of them were going to make staggered trips to the UK, partly to promote the TV series, which was just starting over here, and partly just to have a break. They'd been working sixty-plus hour weeks for months between the TV series, live performances, and the recording studio, and they were basically falling-down tired, which was one of the reasons for Nesmith's outburst in the meeting. They weren't accomplished enough musicians to cut tracks quickly, and they *needed* the break. On top of that, Nesmith and Barry had had a major falling-out at the "I'm a Believer" session, and Nesmith considered it a matter of personal integrity that he couldn't work with a man who in his eyes had insulted his professionalism. So that was out, but there was also no way Kirshner was going to let the group release a single consisting of two songs he hadn't heard, produced by a producer with no track record. At first, the group were insistent that "All of Your Toys" should be the A-side for their next single: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "All Of Your Toys"] But there was an actual problem with that which they hadn't foreseen. Bill Martin, who wrote the song, was under contract to another music publisher, and the Monkees' contracts said they needed to only record songs published by Screen Gems. Eventually, it was Micky Dolenz who managed to cut the Gordian knot -- or so everyone thought. Dolenz was the one who had the least at stake of any of them -- he was already secure as the voice of the hits, he had no particular desire to be an instrumentalist, but he wanted to support his colleagues. Dolenz suggested that it would be a reasonable compromise to put out a single with one of the pre-recorded backing tracks on one side, with him or Jones singing, and with the version of "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" that the band had recorded together on the other. That way, Kirshner and the record label would get their new single without too much delay, the group would still be able to say they'd started recording their own tracks, everyone would get some of what they wanted. So it was agreed -- though there was a further stipulation. "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" had Nesmith singing lead vocals, and up to that point every Monkees single had featured Dolenz on lead on both sides. As far as Kirshner and the other people involved in making the release decisions were concerned, that was the way things were going to continue. Everyone was fine with this -- Nesmith, the one who was most likely to object in principle, in practice realised that having Dolenz sing his song would make it more likely to be played on the radio and used in the TV show, and so increase his royalties. A vocal session was arranged in New York for Dolenz and Jones to come and cut some vocal tracks right before Dolenz and Nesmith flew over to the UK. But in the meantime, it had become even more urgent for the group to be seen to be doing their own recording. An in-depth article on the group in the Saturday Evening Post had come out, quoting Nesmith as saying "It was what Kirshner wanted to do. Our records are not our forte. I don't care if we never sell another record. Maybe we were manufactured and put on the air strictly with a lot of hoopla. Tell the world we're synthetic because, damn it, we are. Tell them the Monkees are wholly man-made overnight, that millions of dollars have been poured into this thing. Tell the world we don't record our own music. But that's us they see on television. The show is really a part of us. They're not seeing something invalid." The press immediately jumped on the band, and started trying to portray them as con artists exploiting their teenage fans, though as Nesmith later said "The press decided they were going to unload on us as being somehow illegitimate, somehow false. That we were making an attempt to dupe the public, when in fact it was me that was making the attempt to maintain the integrity. So the press went into a full-scale war against us." Tork, on the other hand, while he and Nesmith were on the same side about the band making their own records, blamed Nesmith for much of the press reaction, later saying "Michael blew the whistle on us. If he had gone in there with pride and said 'We are what we are and we have no reason to hang our heads in shame' it never would have happened." So as far as the group were concerned, they *needed* to at least go with Dolenz's suggested compromise. Their personal reputations were on the line. When Dolenz arrived at the session in New York, he was expecting to be asked to cut one vocal track, for the A-side of the next single (and presumably a new lead vocal for "The Girl I Knew Somewhere"). When he got there, though, he found that Kirshner expected him to record several vocals so that Kirshner could choose the best. That wasn't what had been agreed, and so Dolenz flat-out refused to record anything at all. Luckily for Kirshner, Jones -- who was the most co-operative member of the band -- was willing to sing a handful of songs intended for Dolenz as well as the ones he was meant to sing. So the tape of "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You", the song intended for the next single, was slowed down so it would be in a suitable key for Jones instead, and he recorded the vocal for that: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You"] Incidentally, while Jones recorded vocals for several more tracks at the session -- and some would later be reused as album tracks a few years down the line -- not all of the recorded tracks were used for vocals, and this later gave rise to a rumour that has been repeated as fact by almost everyone involved, though it was a misunderstanding. Kirshner's next major success after the Monkees was another made-for-TV fictional band, the Archies, and their biggest hit was "Sugar Sugar", co-written and produced by Jeff Barry: [Excerpt: The Archies, "Sugar Sugar"] Both Kirshner and the Monkees have always claimed that the Monkees were offered "Sugar, Sugar" and turned it down. To Kirshner the moral of the story was that since "Sugar, Sugar" was a massive hit, it proved his instincts right and proved that the Monkees didn't know what would make a hit. To the Monkees, on the other hand, it showed that Kirshner wanted them to do bubblegum music that they considered ridiculous. This became such an established factoid that Dolenz regularly tells the story in his live performances, and includes a version of "Sugar, Sugar" in them, rearranged as almost a torch song: [Excerpt: Micky Dolenz, "Sugar, Sugar (live)"] But in fact, "Sugar, Sugar" wasn't written until long after Kirshner and the Monkees had parted ways. But one of the songs for which a backing track was recorded but no vocals were ever completed was "Sugar Man", a song by Denny Randell and Sandy Linzer, which they would later release themselves as an unsuccessful single: [Excerpt: Linzer and Randell, "Sugar Man"] Over the years, the Monkees not recording "Sugar Man" became the Monkees not recording "Sugar, Sugar". Meanwhile, Dolenz and Nesmith had flown over to the UK to do some promotional work and relax, and Jones soon also flew over, though didn't hang out with his bandmates, preferring to spend more time with his family. Both Dolenz and Nesmith spent a lot of time hanging out with British pop stars, and were pleased to find that despite the manufactured controversy about them being a manufactured group, none of the British musicians they admired seemed to care. Eric Burdon, for example, was quoted in the Melody Maker as saying "They make very good records, I can't understand how people get upset about them. You've got to make up your minds whether a group is a record production group or one that makes live appearances. For example, I like to hear a Phil Spector record and I don't worry if it's the Ronettes or Ike and Tina Turner... I like the Monkees record as a grand record, no matter how people scream. So somebody made a record and they don't play, so what? Just enjoy the record." Similarly, the Beatles were admirers of the Monkees, especially the TV show, despite being expected to have a negative opinion of them, as you can hear in this contemporary recording of Paul McCartney answering a fan's questions: Excerpt: Paul McCartney talks about the Monkees] Both Dolenz and Nesmith hung out with the Beatles quite a bit -- they both visited Sgt. Pepper recording sessions, and if you watch the film footage of the orchestral overdubs for "A Day in the Life", Nesmith is there with all the other stars of the period. Nesmith and his wife Phyllis even stayed with the Lennons for a couple of days, though Cynthia Lennon seems to have thought of the Nesmiths as annoying intruders who had been invited out of politeness and not realised they weren't wanted. That seems plausible, but at the same time, John Lennon doesn't seem the kind of person to not make his feelings known, and Michael Nesmith's reports of the few days they stayed there seem to describe a very memorable experience, where after some initial awkwardness he developed a bond with Lennon, particularly once he saw that Lennon was a fan of Captain Beefheart, who was a friend of Nesmith, and whose Safe as Milk album Lennon was examining when Nesmith turned up, and whose music at this point bore a lot of resemblance to the kind of thing Nesmith was doing: [Excerpt: Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, "Yellow Brick Road"] Or at least, that's how Nesmith always told the story later -- though Safe as Milk didn't come out until nearly six months later. It's possible he's conflating memories from a later trip to the UK in June that year -- where he also talked about how Lennon was the only person he'd really got on with on the previous trip, because "he's a compassionate person. I know he has a reputation for being caustic, but it is only a cover for the depth of his feeling." Nesmith and Lennon apparently made some experimental music together during the brief stay, with Nesmith being impressed by Lennon's Mellotron and later getting one himself. Dolenz, meanwhile, was spending more time with Paul McCartney, and with Spencer Davis of his current favourite band The Spencer Davis Group. But even more than that he was spending a lot of time with Samantha Juste, a model and TV presenter whose job it was to play the records on Top of the Pops, the most important British TV pop show, and who had released a record herself a couple of months earlier, though it hadn't been a success: [Excerpt: Samantha Juste, "No-one Needs My Love Today"] The two quickly fell deeply in love, and Juste would become Dolenz's first wife the next year. When Nesmith and Dolenz arrived back in the US after their time off, they thought the plan was still to release "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" with "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" on the B-side. So Nesmith was horrified to hear on the radio what the announcer said were the two sides of the new Monkees single -- "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You", and "She Hangs Out", another song from the Jeff Barry sessions with a Davy vocal. Don Kirshner had gone ahead and picked two songs from the Jeff Barry sessions and delivered them to RCA Records, who had put a single out in Canada. The single was very, *very* quickly withdrawn once the Monkees and the TV producers found out, and only promo copies seem to circulate -- rather than being credited to "the Monkees", both sides are credited to '"My Favourite Monkee" Davy Jones Sings'. The record had been withdrawn, but "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" was clearly going to have to be the single. Three days after the record was released and pulled, Nesmith, Dolenz and Tork were back in the studio with Chip Douglas, recording a new B-side -- a new version of "The Girl I Knew Somewhere", this time with Dolenz on vocals. As Jones was still in the UK, John London added the tambourine part as well as the bass: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "The Girl I Knew Somewhere (single version)"] As Nesmith told the story a couple of months later, "Bert said 'You've got to get this thing in Micky's key for Micky to sing it.' I said 'Has Donnie made a commitment? I don't want to go there and break my neck in order to get this thing if Donnie hasn't made a commitment. And Bert refused to say anything. He said 'I can't tell you anything except just go and record.'" What had happened was that the people at Columbia had had enough of Kirshner. As far as Rafelson and Schneider were concerned, the real problem in all this was that Kirshner had been making public statements taking all the credit for the Monkees' success and casting himself as the puppetmaster. They thought this was disrespectful to the performers -- and unstated but probably part of it, that it was disrespectful to Rafelson and Schneider for their work putting the TV show together -- and that Kirshner had allowed his ego to take over. Things like the liner notes for More of the Monkees which made Kirshner and his stable of writers more important than the performers had, in the view of the people at Raybert Productions, put the Monkees in an impossible position and forced them to push back. Schneider later said "Kirshner had an ego that transcended everything else. As a matter of fact, the press issue was probably magnified a hundred times over because of Kirshner. He wanted everybody thinking 'Hey, he's doing all this, not them.' In the end it was very self-destructive because it heightened the whole press issue and it made them feel lousy." Kirshner was out of a job, first as the supervisor for the Monkees and then as the head of Columbia/Screen Gems Music. In his place came Lester Sill, the man who had got Leiber and Stoller together as songwriters, who had been Lee Hazelwood's production partner on his early records with Duane Eddy, and who had been the "Les" in Philles Records until Phil Spector pushed him out. Sill, unlike Kirshner, was someone who was willing to take a back seat and just be a steadying hand where needed. The reissued version of "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" went to number two on the charts, behind "Somethin' Stupid" by Frank and Nancy Sinatra, produced by Sill's old colleague Hazelwood, and the B-side, "The Girl I Knew Somewhere", also charted separately, making number thirty-nine on the charts. The Monkees finally had a hit that they'd written and recorded by themselves. Pinocchio had become a real boy: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "The Girl I Knew Somewhere (single version)"] At the same session at which they'd recorded that track, the Monkees had recorded another Nesmith song, "Sunny Girlfriend", and that became the first song to be included on a new album, which would eventually be named Headquarters, and on which all the guitar, keyboard, drums, percussion, banjo, pedal steel, and backing vocal parts would for the first time be performed by the Monkees themselves. They brought in horn and string players on a couple of tracks, and the bass was variously played by John London, Chip Douglas, and Jerry Yester as Tork was more comfortable on keyboards and guitar than bass, but it was in essence a full band album. Jones got back the next day, and sessions began in earnest. The first song they recorded after his return was "Mr. Webster", a Boyce and Hart song that had been recorded with the Candy Store Prophets in 1966 but hadn't been released. This was one of three tracks on the album that were rerecordings of earlier outtakes, and it's fascinating to compare them, to see the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches. In the case of "Mr. Webster", the instrumental backing on the earlier version is definitely slicker: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Mr. Webster (1st Recorded Version)"] But at the same time, there's a sense of dynamics in the group recording that's lacking from the original, like the backing dropping out totally on the word "Stop" -- a nice touch that isn't in the original. I am only speculating, but this may have been inspired by the similar emphasis on the word "stop" in "For What It's Worth" by Tork's old friend Stephen Stills: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Mr. Webster (album version)"] Headquarters was a group album in another way though -- for the first time, Tork and Dolenz were bringing in songs they'd written -- Nesmith of course had supplied songs already for the two previous albums. Jones didn't write any songs himself yet, though he'd start on the next album, but he was credited with the rest of the group on two joke tracks, "Band 6", a jam on the Merrie Melodies theme “Merrily We Roll Along”, and "Zilch", a track made up of the four band members repeating nonsense phrases: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Zilch"] Oddly, that track had a rather wider cultural resonance than a piece of novelty joke album filler normally would. It's sometimes covered live by They Might Be Giants: [Excerpt: They Might Be Giants, "Zilch"] While the rapper Del Tha Funkee Homosapien had a worldwide hit in 1991 with "Mistadobalina", built around a sample of Peter Tork from the track: [Excerpt: Del Tha Funkee Homosapien,"Mistadobalina"] Nesmith contributed three songs, all of them combining Beatles-style pop music and country influences, none more blatantly than the opening track, "You Told Me", which starts off parodying the opening of "Taxman", before going into some furious banjo-picking from Tork: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "You Told Me"] Tork, meanwhile, wrote "For Pete's Sake" with his flatmate of the time, and that became the end credits music for season two of the TV series: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "For Pete's Sake"] But while the other band members made important contributions, the track on the album that became most popular was the first song of Dolenz's to be recorded by the group. The lyrics recounted, in a semi-psychedelic manner, Dolenz's time in the UK, including meeting with the Beatles, who the song refers to as "the four kings of EMI", but the first verse is all about his new girlfriend Samantha Juste: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Randy Scouse Git"] The song was released as a single in the UK, but there was a snag. Dolenz had given the song a title he'd heard on an episode of the BBC sitcom Til Death Us Do Part, which he'd found an amusing bit of British slang. Til Death Us Do Part was written by Johnny Speight, a writer with Associated London Scripts, and was a family sitcom based around the character of Alf Garnett, an ignorant, foul-mouthed reactionary bigot who hated young people, socialists, and every form of minority, especially Black people (who he would address by various slurs I'm definitely not going to repeat here), and was permanently angry at the world and abusive to his wife. As with another great sitcom from ALS, Steptoe and Son, which Norman Lear adapted for the US as Sanford and Son, Til Death Us Do Part was also adapted by Lear, and became All in the Family. But while Archie Bunker, the character based on Garnett in the US version, has some redeeming qualities because of the nature of US network sitcom, Alf Garnett has absolutely none, and is as purely unpleasant and unsympathetic a character as has ever been created -- which sadly didn't stop a section of the audience from taking him as a character to be emulated. A big part of the show's dynamic was the relationship between Garnett and his socialist son-in-law from Liverpool, played by Anthony Booth, himself a Liverpudlian socialist who would later have a similarly contentious relationship with his own decidedly non-socialist son-in-law, the future Prime Minister Tony Blair. Garnett was as close to foul-mouthed as was possible on British TV at the time, with Speight regularly negotiating with the BBC bosses to be allowed to use terms that were not otherwise heard on TV, and used various offensive terms about his family, including referring to his son-in-law as a "randy Scouse git". Dolenz had heard the phrase on TV, had no idea what it meant but loved the sound of it, and gave the song that title. But when the record came out in the UK, he was baffled to be told that the phrase -- which he'd picked up from a BBC TV show, after all -- couldn't be said normally on BBC broadcasts, so they would need to retitle the track. The translation into American English that Dolenz uses in his live shows to explain this to Americans is to say that "randy Scouse git" means "horny Liverpudlian putz", and that's more or less right. Dolenz took the need for an alternative title literally, and so the track that went to number two in the UK charts was titled "Alternate Title": [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Randy Scouse Git"] The album itself went to number one in both the US and the UK, though it was pushed off the top spot almost straight away by the release of Sgt Pepper. As sessions for Headquarters were finishing up, the group were already starting to think about their next album -- season two of the TV show was now in production, and they'd need to keep generating yet more musical material for it. One person they turned to was a friend of Chip Douglas'. Before the Turtles, Douglas had been in the Modern Folk Quartet, and they'd recorded "This Could Be the Night", which had been written for them by Harry Nilsson: [Excerpt: The MFQ, "This Could Be The Night"] Nilsson had just started recording his first solo album proper, at RCA Studios, the same studios that the Monkees were using. At this point, Nilsson still had a full-time job in a bank, working a night shift there while working on his album during the day, but Douglas knew that Nilsson was a major talent, and that assessment was soon shared by the group when Nilsson came in to demo nine of his songs for them: [Excerpt: Harry Nilsson, "1941 (demo)"] According to Nilsson, Nesmith said after that demo session "You just sat down there and blew our minds. We've been looking for songs, and you just sat down and played an *album* for us!" While the Monkees would attempt a few of Nilsson's songs over the next year or so, the first one they chose to complete was the first track recorded for their next album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones, Ltd., a song which from the talkback at the beginning of the demo was always intended for Davy Jones to sing: [Excerpt: Harry Nilsson, "Cuddly Toy (demo)"] Oddly, given his romantic idol persona, a lot of the songs given to Jones to sing were anti-romantic, and often had a cynical and misogynistic edge. This had started with the first album's "I Want to Be Free", but by Pisces, it had gone to ridiculous extremes. Of the four songs Jones sings on the album, "Hard to Believe", the first song proper that he ever co-wrote, is a straightforward love  song, but the other three have a nasty edge to them. A remade version of Jeff Barry's "She Hangs Out" is about an underaged girl, starts with the lines "How old d'you say your sister was? You know you'd better keep an eye on her" and contains lines like "she could teach you a thing or two" and "you'd better get down here on the double/before she gets her pretty little self in trouble/She's so fine". Goffin and King's "Star Collector" is worse, a song about a groupie with lines like "How can I love her, if I just don't respect her?" and "It won't take much time, before I get her off my mind" But as is so often the way, these rather nasty messages were wrapped up in some incredibly catchy music, and that was even more the case with "Cuddly Toy", a song which at least is more overtly unpleasant -- it's very obvious that Nilsson doesn't intend the protagonist of the song to be at all sympathetic, which is possibly not the case in "She Hangs Out" or "Star Collector". But the character Jones is singing is *viciously* cruel here, mocking and taunting a girl who he's coaxed to have sex with him, only to scorn her as soon as he's got what he wanted: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Cuddly Toy"] It's a great song if you like the cruelest of humour combined with the cheeriest of music, and the royalties from the song allowed Nilsson to quit the job at the bank. "Cuddly Toy", and Chip Douglas and Bill Martin's song "The Door Into Summer", were recorded the same way as Headquarters, with the group playing *as a group*, but as recordings for the album progressed the group fell into a new way of working, which Peter Tork later dubbed "mixed-mode". They didn't go back to having tracks cut for them by session musicians, apart from Jones' song "Hard to Believe", for which the entire backing track was created by one of his co-writers overdubbing himself, but Dolenz, who Tork always said was "incapable of repeating a triumph", was not interested in continuing to play drums in the studio. Instead, a new hybrid Monkees would perform most of the album. Nesmith would still play the lead guitar, Tork would provide the keyboards, Chip Douglas would play all the bass and add some additional guitar, and "Fast" Eddie Hoh, the session drummer who had been a touring drummer with the Modern Folk Quartet and the Mamas and the Papas, among others, would play drums on the records, with Dolenz occasionally adding a bit of acoustic guitar. And this was the lineup that would perform on the hit single from Pisces. "Pleasant Valley Sunday" was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, who had written several songs for the group's first two albums (and who would continue to provide them with more songs). As with their earlier songs for the group, King had recorded a demo: [Excerpt: Carole King, "Pleasant Valley Sunday (demo)"] Previously -- and subsequently -- when presented with a Carole King demo, the group and their producers would just try to duplicate it as closely as possible, right down to King's phrasing. Bob Rafelson has said that he would sometimes hear those demos and wonder why King didn't just make records herself -- and without wanting to be too much of a spoiler for a few years' time, he wasn't the only one wondering that. But this time, the group had other plans. In particular, they wanted to make a record with a strong guitar riff to it -- Nesmith has later referenced their own "Last Train to Clarksville" and the Beatles' "Day Tripper" as two obvious reference points for the track. Douglas came up with a riff and taught it to Nesmith, who played it on the track: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Pleasant Valley Sunday"] The track also ended with the strongest psychedelic -- or "psycho jello" as the group would refer to it -- freak out that they'd done to this point, a wash of saturated noise: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Pleasant Valley Sunday"] King was unhappy with the results, and apparently glared at Douglas the next time they met. This may be because of the rearrangement from her intentions, but it may also be for a reason that Douglas later suspected. When recording the track, he hadn't been able to remember all the details of her demo, and in particular he couldn't remember exactly how the middle eight went. This is the version on King's demo: [Excerpt: Carole King, "Pleasant Valley Sunday (demo)"] While here's how the Monkees rendered it, with slightly different lyrics: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Pleasant Valley Sunday"] I also think there's a couple of chord changes in the second verse that differ between King and the Monkees, but I can't be sure that's not my ears deceiving me. Either way, though, the track was a huge success, and became one of the group's most well-known and well-loved tracks, making number three on the charts behind "All You Need is Love" and "Light My Fire". And while it isn't Dolenz drumming on the track, the fact that it's Nesmith playing guitar and Tork on the piano -- and the piano part is one of the catchiest things on the record -- meant that they finally had a proper major hit on which they'd played (and it seems likely that Dolenz contributed some of the acoustic rhythm guitar on the track, along with Bill Chadwick, and if that's true all three Monkee instrumentalists did play on the track). Pisces is by far and away the best album the group ever made, and stands up well against anything else that came out around that time. But cracks were beginning to show in the group. In particular, the constant battle to get some sort of creative input had soured Nesmith on the whole project. Chip Douglas later said "When we were doing Pisces Michael would come in with three songs; he knew he had three songs coming on the album. He knew that he was making a lot of money if he got his original songs on there. So he'd be real enthusiastic and cooperative and real friendly and get his three songs done. Then I'd say 'Mike, can you come in and help on this one we're going to do with Micky here?' He said 'No, Chip, I can't. I'm busy.' I'd say, 'Mike, you gotta come in the studio.' He'd say 'No Chip, I'm afraid I'm just gonna have to be ornery about it. I'm not comin' in.' That's when I started not liking Mike so much any more." Now, as is so often the case with the stories from this period, this appears to be inaccurate in the details -- Nesmith is present on every track on the album except Jones' solo "Hard to Believe" and Tork's spoken-word track "Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky", and indeed this is by far the album with *most* Nesmith input, as he takes five lead vocals, most of them on songs he didn't write. But Douglas may well be summing up Nesmith's *attitude* to the band at this point -- listening to Nesmith's commentaries on episodes of the TV show, by this point he felt disengaged from everything that was going on, like his opinions weren't welcome. That said, Nesmith did still contribute what is possibly the single most innovative song the group ever did, though the innovations weren't primarily down to Nesmith: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Daily Nightly"] Nesmith always described the lyrics to "Daily Nightly" as being about the riots on Sunset Strip, but while they're oblique, they seem rather to be about streetwalking sex workers -- though it's perhaps understandable that Nesmith would never admit as much. What made the track innovative was the use of the Moog synthesiser. We talked about Robert Moog in the episode on "Good Vibrations" -- he had started out as a Theremin manufacturer, and had built the ribbon synthesiser that Mike Love played live on "Good Vibrations", and now he was building the first commercially available easily usable synthesisers. Previously, electronic instruments had either been things like the clavioline -- a simple monophonic keyboard instrument that didn't have much tonal variation -- or the RCA Mark II, a programmable synth that could make a wide variety of sounds, but took up an entire room and was programmed with punch cards. Moog's machines were bulky but still transportable, and they could be played in real time with a keyboard, but were still able to be modified to make a wide variety of different sounds. While, as we've seen, there had been electronic keyboard instruments as far back as the 1930s, Moog's instruments were for all intents and purposes the first synthesisers as we now understand the term. The Moog was introduced in late spring 1967, and immediately started to be used for making experimental and novelty records, like Hal Blaine's track "Love In", which came out at the beginning of June: [Excerpt: Hal Blaine, "Love In"] And the Electric Flag's soundtrack album for The Trip, the drug exploitation film starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper and written by Jack Nicholson we talked about last time, when Arthur Lee moved into a house used in the film: [Excerpt: The Electric Flag, "Peter's Trip"] In 1967 there were a total of six albums released with a Moog on them (as well as one non-album experimental single). Four of the albums were experimental or novelty instrumental albums of this type. Only two of them were rock albums -- Strange Days by the Doors, and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, & Jones Ltd by the Monkees. The Doors album was released first, but I believe the Monkees tracks were recorded before the Doors overdubbed the Moog on the tracks on their album, though some session dates are hard to pin down exactly. If that's the case it would make the Monkees the very first band to use the Moog on an actual rock record (depending on exactly how you count the Trip soundtrack -- this gets back again to my old claim that there's no first anything). But that's not the only way in which "Daily Nightly" was innovative. All the first seven albums to feature the Moog featured one man playing the instrument -- Paul Beaver, the Moog company's West Coast representative, who played on all the novelty records by members of the Wrecking Crew, and on the albums by the Electric Flag and the Doors, and on The Notorious Byrd Brothers by the Byrds, which came out in early 1968. And Beaver did play the Moog on one track on Pisces, "Star Collector". But on "Daily Nightly" it's Micky Dolenz playing the Moog, making him definitely the second person ever to play a Moog on a record of any kind: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Daily Nightly"] Dolenz indeed had bought his own Moog -- widely cited as being the second one ever in private ownership, a fact I can't check but which sounds plausible given that by 1970 less than thirty musicians owned one -- after seeing Beaver demonstrate the instrument at the Monterey Pop Festival. The Monkees hadn't played Monterey, but both Dolenz and Tork had attended the festival -- if you watch the famous film of it you see Dolenz and his girlfriend Samantha in the crowd a *lot*, while Tork introduced his friends in the Buffalo Springfield. As well as discovering the Moog there, Dolenz had been astonished by something else: [Excerpt: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, "Hey Joe (Live at Monterey)"] As Peter Tork later put it "I didn't get it. At Monterey Jimi followed the Who and the Who busted up their things and Jimi bashed up his guitar. I said 'I just saw explosions and destruction. Who needs it?' But Micky got it. He saw the genius and went for it." Dolenz was astonished by Hendrix, and insisted that he should be the support act on the group's summer tour. This pairing might sound odd on paper, but it made more sense at the time than it might sound. The Monkees were by all accounts a truly astonishing live act at this point -- Frank Zappa gave them a backhanded compliment by saying they were the best-sounding band in LA, before pointing out that this was because they could afford the best equipment. That *was* true, but it was also the case that their TV experience gave them a different attitude to live performance than anyone else performing at the time. A handful of groups had started playing stadiums, most notably of course the Beatles, but all of these acts had come up through playing clubs and theatres and essentially just kept doing their old act with no thought as to how the larger space worked, except to put their amps through a louder PA. The Monkees, though, had *started* in stadiums, and had started out as mass entertainers, and so their live show was designed from the ground up to play to those larger spaces. They had costume changes, elaborate stage sets -- like oversized fake Vox amps they burst out of at the start of the show -- a light show and a screen on which film footage was projected. In effect they invented stadium performances as we now know them. Nesmith later said "In terms of putting on a show there was never any question in my mind, as far as the rock 'n' roll era is concerned, that we put on probably the finest rock and roll stage show ever. It was beautifully lit, beautifully costumed, beautifully produced. I mean, for Christ sakes, it was practically a revue." The Monkees were confident enough in their stage performance that at a recent show at the Hollywood Bowl they'd had Ike and Tina Turner as their opening act -- not an act you'd want to go on after if you were going to be less than great, and an act from very similar chitlin' circuit roots to Jimi Hendrix. So from their perspective, it made sense. If you're going to be spectacular yourselves, you have no need to fear a spectacular opening act. Hendrix was less keen -- he was about the only musician in Britain who *had* made disparaging remarks about the Monkees -- but opening for the biggest touring band in the world isn't an opportunity you pass up, and again it isn't such a departure as one might imagine from the bills he was already playing. Remember that Monterey is really the moment when "pop" and "rock" started to split -- the split we've been talking about for a few months now -- and so the Jimi Hendrix Experience were still considered a pop band, and as such had played the normal British pop band package tours. In March and April that year, they'd toured on a bill with the Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens, and Englebert Humperdinck -- and Hendrix had even filled in for Humperdinck's sick guitarist on one occasion. Nesmith, Dolenz, and Tork all loved having Hendrix on tour with them, just because it gave them a chance to watch him live every night (Jones, whose musical tastes were more towards Anthony Newley, wasn't especially impressed), and they got on well on a personal level -- there are reports of Hendrix jamming with Dolenz and Steve Stills in hotel rooms. But there was one problem, as Dolenz often recreates in his live act: [Excerpt: Micky Dolenz, "Purple Haze"] The audience response to Hendrix from the Monkees' fans was so poor that by mutual agreement he left the tour after only a handful of shows. After the summer tour, the group went back to work on the TV show and their next album. Or, rather, four individuals went back to work. By this point, the group had drifted apart from each other, and from Douglas -- Tork, the one who was still keenest on the idea of the group as a group, thought that Pisces, good as it was, felt like a Chip Douglas album rather than a Monkees album. The four band members had all by now built up their own retinues of hangers-on and collaborators, and on set for the TV show they were now largely staying with their own friends rather than working as a group. And that was now reflected in their studio work. From now on, rather than have a single producer working with them as a band, the four men would work as individuals, producing their own tracks, occasionally with outside help, and bringing in session musicians to work on them. Some tracks from this point on would be genuine Monkees -- plural -- tracks, and all tracks would be credited as "produced by the Monkees", but basically the four men would from now on be making solo tracks which would be combined into albums, though Dolenz and Jones would occasionally guest on tracks by the others, especially when Nesmith came up with a song he thought would be more suited to their voices. Indeed the first new recording that happened after the tour was an entire Nesmith solo album -- a collection of instrumental versions of his songs, called The Wichita Train Whistle Sings, played by members of the Wrecking Crew and a few big band instrumentalists, arranged by Shorty Rogers. [Excerpt: Michael Nesmith, "You Told Me"] Hal Blaine in his autobiography claimed that the album was created as a tax write-off for Nesmith, though Nesmith always vehemently denied it, and claimed it was an artistic experiment, though not one that came off well. Released alongside Pisces, though, came one last group-recorded single. The B-side, "Goin' Down", is a song that was credited to the group and songwriter Diane Hildebrand, though in fact it developed from a jam on someone else's song. Nesmith, Tork, Douglas and Hoh attempted to record a backing track for a version of Mose Allison's jazz-blues standard "Parchman Farm": [Excerpt: Mose Allison, "Parchman Farm"] But after recording it, they'd realised that it didn't sound that much like the original, and that all it had in common with it was a chord sequence. Nesmith suggested that rather than put it out as a cover version, they put a new melody and lyrics to it, and they commissioned Hildebrand, who'd co-written songs for the group before, to write them, and got Shorty Rogers to write a horn arrangement to go over their backing track. The eventual songwriting credit was split five ways, between Hildebrand and the four Monkees -- including Davy Jones who had no involvement with the recording, but not including Douglas or Hoh. The lyrics Hildebrand came up with were a funny patter song about a failed suicide, taken at an extremely fast pace, which Dolenz pulls off magnificently: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Goin' Down"] The A-side, another track with a rhythm track by Nesmith, Tork, Douglas, and Hoh, was a song that had been written by John Stewart of the Kingston Trio, who you may remember from the episode on "San Francisco" as being a former songwriting partner of John Phillips. Stewart had written the song as part of a "suburbia trilogy", and was not happy with the finished product. He said later "I remember going to bed thinking 'All I did today was write 'Daydream Believer'." Stewart used to include the song in his solo sets, to no great approval, and had shopped the song around to bands like We Five and Spanky And Our Gang, who had both turned it down. He was unhappy with it himself, because of the chorus: [Excerpt: John Stewart, "Daydream Believer"] Stewart was ADHD, and the words "to a", coming as they did slightly out of the expected scansion for the line, irritated him so greatly that he thought the song could never be recorded by anyone, but when Chip Douglas asked if he had any songs, he suggested that one. As it turned out, there was a line of lyric that almost got the track rejected, but it wasn't the "to a". Stewart's original second verse went like this: [Excerpt: John Stewart, "Daydream Believer"] RCA records objected to the line "now you know how funky I can be" because funky, among other meanings, meant smelly, and they didn't like the idea of Davy Jones singing about being smelly. Chip Douglas phoned Stewart to tell him that they were insisting on changing the line, and suggesting "happy" instead. Stewart objected vehemently -- that change would reverse the entire meaning of the line, and it made no sense, and what about artistic integrity? But then, as he later said "He said 'Let me put it to you this way, John. If he can't sing 'happy' they won't do it'. And I said 'Happy's working real good for me now.' That's exactly what I said to him." He never regretted the decision -- Stewart would essentially live off the royalties from "Daydream Believer" for the rest of his life -- though he seemed always to be slightly ambivalent and gently mocking about the song in his own performances, often changing the lyrics slightly: [Excerpt: John Stewart, "Daydream Believer"] The Monkees had gone into the studio and cut the track, again with Tork on piano, Nesmith on guitar, Douglas on bass, and Hoh on drums. Other than changing "funky" to "happy", there were two major changes made in the studio. One seems to have been Douglas' idea -- they took the bass riff from the pre-chorus to the Beach Boys' "Help Me Rhonda": [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Help Me Rhonda"] and Douglas played that on the bass as the pre-chorus for "Daydream Believer", with Shorty Rogers later doubling it in the horn arrangement: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Daydream Believer"] And the other is the piano intro, which also becomes an instrumental bridge, which was apparently the invention of Tork, who played it: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Daydream Believer"] The track went to number one, becoming the group's third and final number one hit, and their fifth of six million-sellers. It was included on the next album, The Birds, The Bees, and the Monkees, but that piano part would be Tork's only contribution to the album. As the group members were all now writing songs and cutting their own tracks, and were also still rerecording the odd old unused song from the initial 1966 sessions, The Birds, The Bees, and the Monkees was pulled together from a truly astonishing amount of material. The expanded triple-CD version of the album, now sadly out of print, has multiple versions of forty-four different songs, ranging from simple acoustic demos to completed tracks, of which twelve were included on the final album. Tork did record several tracks during the sessions, but he spent much of the time recording and rerecording a single song, "Lady's Baby", which eventually stretched to five different recorded versions over multiple sessions in a five-month period. He racked up huge studio bills on the track, bringing in Steve Stills and Dewey Martin of the Buffalo Springfield, and Buddy Miles, to try to help him capture the sound in his head, but the various takes are almost indistinguishable from one another, and so it's difficult to see what the problem was: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Lady's Baby"] Either way, the track wasn't finished by the time the album came out, and the album that came out was a curiously disjointed and unsatisfying effort, a mixture of recycled old Boyce and Hart songs, some songs by Jones, who at this point was convinced that "Broadway-rock" was going to be the next big thing and writing songs that sounded like mediocre showtunes, and a handful of experimental songs written by Nesmith. You could pull together a truly great ten- or twelve-track album from the masses of material they'd recorded, but the one that came out was mediocre at best, and became the first Monkees album not to make number one -- though it still made number three and sold in huge numbers. It also had the group's last million-selling single on it, "Valleri", an old Boyce and Hart reject from 1966 that had been remade with Boyce and Hart producing and their old session players, though the production credit was still now given to the Monkees: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Valleri"] Nesmith said at the time he considered it the worst song ever written. The second season of the TV show was well underway, and despite -- or possibly because of -- the group being clearly stoned for much of the filming, it contains a lot of the episodes that fans of the group think of most fondly, including several episodes that break out of the formula the show had previously established in interesting ways. Tork and Dolenz were both also given the opportunity to direct episodes, and Dolenz also co-wrote his episode, which ended up being the last of the series. In another sign of how the group were being given more creative control over the show, the last three episodes of the series had guest appearances by favourite musicians of the group members who they wanted to give a little exposure to, and those guest appearances sum up the character of the band members remarkably well. Tork, for whatever reason, didn't take up this option, but the other three did. Jones brought on his friend Charlie Smalls, who would later go on to write the music for the Broadway musical The Wiz, to demonstrate to Jones the difference between Smalls' Black soul and Jones' white soul: [Excerpt: Davy Jones and Charlie Smalls] Nesmith, on the other hand, brought on Frank Zappa. Zappa put on Nesmith's Monkee shirt and wool hat and pretended to be Nesmith, and interviewed Nesmith with a false nose and moustache pretending to be Zappa, as they both mercilessly mocked the previous week's segment with Jones and Smalls: [Excerpt: Michael Nesmith and Frank Zappa] Nesmith then "conducted" Zappa as Zappa used a sledgehammer to "play" a car, parodying his own appearance on the Steve Allen Show playing a bicycle, to the presumed bemusement of the Monkees' fanbase who would not be likely to remember a one-off performance on a late-night TV show from five years earlier. And the final thing ever to be shown on an episode of the Monkees didn't feature any of the Monkees at all. Micky Dolenz, who directed and co-wrote that episode, about an evil wizard who was using the power of a space plant (named after the group's slang for dope) to hypnotise people through the TV, chose not to interact with his guest as the others had, but simply had Tim Buckley perform a solo acoustic version of his then-unreleased song "Song to the Siren": [Excerpt: Tim Buckley, "Song to the Siren"] By the end of the second season, everyone knew they didn't want to make another season of the TV show. Instead, they were going to do what Rafelson and Schneider had always wanted, and move into film. The planning stages for the film, which was initially titled Changes but later titled Head -- so that Rafelson and Schneider could bill their next film as "From the guys who gave you Head" -- had started the previous summer, before the sessions that produced The Birds, The Bees, and the Monkees. To write the film, the group went off with Rafelson and Schneider for a short holiday, and took with them their mutual friend Jack Nicholson. Nicholson was at this time not the major film star he later became. Rather he was a bit-part actor who was mostly associated with American International Pictures, the ultra-low-budget film company that has come up on several occasions in this podcast. Nicholson had appeared mostly in small roles, in films like The Little Shop of Horrors: [Excerpt: The Little Shop of Horrors] He'd appeared in multiple films made by Roger Corman, often appearing with Boris Karloff, and by Monte Hellman, but despite having been a working actor for a decade, his acting career was going nowhere, and by this point he had basically given up on the idea of being an actor, and had decided to start working behind the camera. He'd written the scripts for a few of the low-budget films he'd appeared in, and he'd recently scripted The Trip, the film we mentioned earlier: [Excerpt: The Trip trailer] So the group, Rafelson, Schneider, and Nicholson all went away for a weekend, and they all got extremely stoned, took acid, and talked into a tape recorder for hours on end. Nicholson then transcribed those recordings, cleaned them up, and structured the worthwhile ideas into something quite remarkable: [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Ditty Diego"] If the Monkees TV show had been inspired by the Marx Brothers and Three Stooges, and by Richard Lester's directorial style, the only precursor I can find for Head is in the TV work of Lester's colleague Spike Milligan, but I don't think there's any reasonable way in which Nicholson or anyone else involved could have taken inspiration from Milligan's series Q.  But what they ended up with is something that resembles, more than anything else, Monty Python's Flying Circus, a TV series that wouldn't start until a year after Head came out. It's a series of ostensibly unconnected sketches, linked by a kind of dream logic, with characters wandering from one loose narrative into a totally different one, actors coming out of character on a regular basis, and no attempt at a coherent narrative. It contains regular examples of channel-zapping, with excerpts from old films being spliced in, and bits of news footage juxtaposed with comedy sketches and musical performances in ways that are sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes distasteful, and occasionally both -- as when a famous piece of footage of a Vietnamese prisoner of war being shot in the head hard-cuts to screaming girls in the audience at a Monkees concert, a performance which ends with the girls tearing apart the group and revealing that they're really just cheap-looking plastic mannequins. The film starts, and ends, with the Monkees themselves attempting suicide, jumping off a bridge into the ocean -- but the end reveals that in fact the ocean they're in is just water in a glass box, and they're trapped in it. And knowing this means that when you watch the film a second time, you find that it does have a story. The Monkees are trapped in a box which in some ways represents life, the universe, and one's own mind, and in other ways represents the TV and their TV careers. Each of them is trying in his own way to escape, and each ends up trapped by his own limitations, condemned to start the cycle over and over again. The film features parodies of popular film genres like the boxing film (Davy is supposed to throw a fight with Sonny Liston at the instruction of gangsters), the Western, and the war film, but huge chunks of the film take place on a film studio backlot, and characters from one segment reappear in another, often commenting negatively on the film or the band, as when Frank Zappa as a critic calls Davy Jones' soft-shoe routine to a Harry Nilsson song "very white", or when a canteen worker in the studio calls the group "God's gift to the eight-year-olds". The film is constantly deconstructing and commenting on itself and the filmmaking process -- Tork hits that canteen worker, whose wig falls off revealing the actor playing her to be a man, and then it's revealed that the "behind the scenes" footage is itself scripted, as director Bob Rafelson and scriptwriter Jack Nicholson come into frame and reassure Tork, who's concerned that hitting a woman would be bad for his image. They tell him they can always cut it from the finished film if it doesn't work. While "Ditty Diego", the almost rap rewriting of the Monkees theme we heard earlier, sets out a lot of how the film asks to be interpreted and how it works narratively, the *spiritual* and thematic core of the film is in another song, Tork's "Long Title (Do I Have to Do This All Over Again?)", which in later solo performances Tork would give the subtitle "The Karma Blues": [Excerpt: The Monkees, "Long Title (Do I Have To Do This All Over Again?)"] Head is an extraordinary film, and one it's impossible to sum up in anything less than an hour-long episode of its own. It's certainly not a film that's to everyone's taste, and not every aspect of it works -- it is a film that is absolutely of its time, in ways that are both good and bad. But it's one of the most inventive things ever put out by a major film studio, and it's one that rightly secured the Monkees a certain amount of cult credibility over the decades. The soundtrack album is a return to form after the disappointing Birds, Bees, too. Nicholson put the album together, linking the eight songs in the film with collages of dialogue and incidental music, repurposing and recontextualising the dialogue to create a new experience, one that people have compared with Frank Zappa's contemporaneous We're Only In It For The Money, though while t