Monday, November 26, 2012

Completely Conspicuous 254: History Repeating

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Dave Brigham about our society's neglect for history. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at the BrigHAAAAM Estates
- Dave's doing a reading of one of his short stories on Dec. 11 in Arlington, MA
- Brigham: Working as a volunteer archivist uncovers interesting finds
- Check out Dave's photo blog, The Backside of America
- You can find lots of hidden historical discoveries when you pay attention
- Kumar: Our culture is so focused inward that we forget about history
- Brigham: Finding old collection of dad's military stuff sparked interest in history
- The 2010s are much more of a "Me Decade" than the 1970s
- Dave's got a dumb phone
- American Girl dolls focus on historical settings
- History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man
- "Kids these days..."
- The Petraeus scandal: How is it possible to send 30,000 pages of emails?
- Any technological advance tends to get folks distracted: TV, radio, the car- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Interpol - Roland (demo)

Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold
The Bohannons - Goodbye Bill
Titus Andronicus - Ecce Homo
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Interpol song is on the Tenth Anniversary Edition reissue of Turn on the Bright Lights on Matador Records. Download the song for free from MatadorRecords.com.
The Parquet Courts song is on the album Light Up Gold on Dull Tools Records. Download it for free at Stereogum.
The Bohannons song is on the album Unaka Rising on This is American Music. Download it for free from Soundcloud.
The Titus Andronicus song is on the album Local Business on XL Recordings. Download it for free from Epitonic.
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Completely Conspicuous 253: Smokin' in the Boys Room

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we dissect a legendary mid-'70s boogie rock classic. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded late at night at More Lost Time world HQ
- "Smokin' in the Boys Room" came out in 1973, was revived in the Ramones movie Rock 'n Roll High School
- Ric questions the deeper meanings of the song: Is it about drugs, sex or both?
- Rebellion took on a much different meaning in the '70s
- 12 years later, Motley Crue covered the song and hit #16 on the charts
- Cub Koda reportedly influenced stage style of Peter Wolf of J. Geils Band
- Brownsville Station's had a radio "hit" called "Martian Boogie"
- Seven minutes of cheesy effects and stupidity
- ZZ Top was much better at boogie rock
- Koda was making rockabilly solo albums on the side and selling them himself
- Not many weed songs in rock anymore
- Dube talks about the origins of beatboxing, in 1971 from a band called The Counts
- Those awkward moments watching risque TV with your parents

Music:
Titus Andronicus - In a Big City

The Henry Clay People - Everybandweeverloved
Action Jets - Rock Like Pollard

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Titus Andronicus song is on the album Local Business on XL Recordings. Download it for free from Epitonic.
The Henry Clay People song is on the album Twenty-Five for the Rest of Our Lives on TBD Records. Download the song for free from Soundcloud.
The Action Jets song is available for free download from Soundcloud.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Completely Conspicuous 252: Into the Night

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we dissect a classic cheesy '80s ballad. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ
- A little background on David Geddes
- Early Geddes song sounds like "Rhinestone Cowboy," which came out later
- The same backing bands played on many of the bubblegum pop records of the '70s
- Dube made a video "A Decent Saturday," depicting a day at a NH record store
- The Dirty Dancing soundtrack was a monster hit
- Benny Mardones had a hit with "Into the Night" in 1980
- Kumar: Mardones was going for an Eddie Money thing
- Male facelifts are unsettling
- The "Into the Night" video is creepy
- First line of the song: "She's just 16 years old..."
- Dube: All videos should have flying carpets in them
- Co-written by Robert Tepper
- Our friend Rob Hallworth became obsessed with Tepper
- Mardones liked writing ballads
- Tepper had his one hit on the Rocky 4 soundtrack
- On the cover of Foreigner's Head Games album
- They went from offensive to bland in only a few years
- Dube wants Mudhoney to cover "Double Vision"
- Doesn't matter who's singing for Foreigner or Journey
- Aerosmith was all over the Armageddon soundtrack thanks to Liv Tyler
- The Nic Cage effect
- To be continued

Music:
Kevin Bowe (feat. Paul Westerberg) - Everybody Lies

Johnny Foreigner - 3 Hearts
Chris Stamey - Astronomy

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Kevin Bowe song is on the album Natchez Trace on Okemah Prophets. Download it for free at RollingStone.com.
The Johnny Foreigner song is on the band's EP NAMES, which you can download for free from Bandcamp.
The Chris Stamey song is on the album Lovesick Blues on Yep Roc. Download the song for free as part of a sampler (in exchange for your email address) from NoiseTrade.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Completely Conspicuous 251: Let There Be Soft Rock

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we dissect another lost '70s pop hit. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ
- Latest More Lost Time episode features The Good Rats
- "Run Joey Run" was revived by the TV show Glee
- Geddes has a Neil Diamond-esque delivery
- Another story song
- Dube is skeptical of the premise
- The girl in this song could be the same one from "The Leader of the Pack"
- Song hit #4 on singles chart in fall of 1975
- Geddes was in psychedelic band called The Fredric
- Kumar: Title reminds me of the TV show Run Joe Run
- About a German shepherd wanted for a crime he didn't commit
- Dube breaks out a show promo about a guy wanted for a crime he DID commit
- Geddes followed up "Run Joey Run" with a baseball-themed song, "Last Game of the Season"
- Another song with a character who dies
- Geddes also tried a disco song
- Producer also created the song "Disco Spaceship" by Laurie Marshall
- Dube has no use for "singers"
- Geddes' late '60s sound recalls Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra's "Some Velvet Morning"
- Dube: Watching music videos from that time is difficult
- To be continued

Music:
Telekinesis - Clock Strikes Midnight

Endless Jags - Seen Men
Guided By Voices - I'll Replace You With Machines

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Telekinesis song was released for Halloween. Download it for free at SoundCloud.
The Endless Jags song is on the band's self-titled EP, which you can download for free from Bandcamp
The Guided By Voices song is on the album Earthquake Glue on Matador Records. Download the song for free from Epitonic.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.