Record #50: The Button Down Mind Strikes Back!

I'll be switching to Sunday releases, yet my fumbling toward a theme song (still in progress) pushed me behind schedule. Nevertheless, I kick off season 3 with a pop punk classic from 1994. I discuss adventures in concert going, aging along with a band, and I indulged in a bit of (qualified) nostalgia.

I close out Season 2 with the follow up to Bob Newhart's debut, released later that same year. I talk about the different flavors of dated, how AI has made certain elements of 66-year old material fresh again, and how the algorithm is collapsing pop culture.I'll be back the first Friday in October with Season 3!

I discuss the UK's biggest single of the 1960s, and its long journey to the top of the charts here. I talk about bootlegs, pirates, and counterfeits, as well as the circle of influences.

It's time to revisit the career of Adam Ant, this time with his final album under the Adam and the Ants banner. I talk about image, record label expectations, the UK/US divide in popularity, and the difference between enjoying an album and having it hold up under repeated close listening. I also touch on the pitfalls of white people rapping.

What a way to come back! I'm cramming both the full album episodes with the singles, so that each week has both an album and a single. And what a single here! Sure, the Beatles would go on to create some truly innovative work, but they had to start somewhere. And they started here. I give (a version of) their origin story, including why a single recorded in 1962 was released in the US in 1964.

I'm back after an impromptu hiatus, discussing (sometimes flailing) Laurie Anderson's second album Mister Heartbreak. I talk myths, wrangle with discomfort, and say "future episode" a whole lot. Come for the Synclavier; stay for the vocoder.

The last of the Wings-related content for a long time, I talk about Bond, myths and legends, grammar, and what makes a good Bond theme.*I also left out a qualifier--the bulk of the budget for the music for the movie went to Paul, but it would be easy to parse what I said as being the bulk of the film's budget, which is not accurate.

I'm back on my merde, as I discuss the first LP from French rock star and actor Jacques Dutronc. I cover the perils of analogy, Dylan impressions, garage rock and more. In addition to many men named Jacques, I also mention Spielberg, Truffaut, and of course, since it wouldn't be an episode of French pop music otherwise, Johnny Hallyday.

A brief detour back into the English language, and Paul's first post-breakup #1. I talk about satisfying chord progressions, funny voices, and singalongs. I also touch on diss tracks.

Salut, les copains! I tackle the birth of yéyé pop, a distinctly French phenomenon of the 60s. I talk about cultural chauvinism, disparate influences, and the dominance of female singers in the French music scene, and how that might have been a double-edged sword. I also, despite having decent French language skills, struggle with switching back and forth between English and French within a single sentence. Ah well, c'est la guerre!