Music In My Shoes
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Music In My Shoes
E64 Another Week, Another Day... Let's Rock!
What's the connection with a spy thriller from 1985 and the start of this episode of Music In My Shoes? Find out as we reminisce about "The Falcon and the Snowman," its espionage intrigue, and the collaboration between David Bowie and the Pat Metheny Group. Alongside these reflections, there's a heartfelt segment inspired by Butch Walker's social media post, which serves as a poignant reminder about the importance of health after music industry icon Matt Pinfield's stroke.
Listeners from across the country share their stories and connections with bands that defined the rock scene and past MIMS episodes, including a nostalgic mention of Ian Slater from APB at the 688 Club. We embrace the vibrant feedback from our audience, like Kathy in Georgia and Del from "Mind The Gap Radio." This episode is as much about sharing personal anecdotes as it is about celebrating music that left an indelible mark on our lives.
As we journey through the sounds of John Lennon, Ramones and Squeeze, we reflect on the unique sound creations and the lasting legacies these artists have left behind. The episode concludes with a look back at The Stone Roses and fond memories of the Midtown Music Festival in Atlanta. Join us for a celebration of the tunes that have shaped not just our playlists, but our lives, and continue the journey of musical exploration and reminiscence.
"Music in My Shoes" where music and memories intertwine.
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You can contact us at musicinmyshoes@gmail.com.
He's got the feeling in his toe-toe.
Speaker 2:He's got the feeling and it's out there growing. Hey everybody, this is Jim Boge, and you're listening to Music In my Shoes. That was Vic Thrill kicking off episode 64. As always, I'm thrilled to be here with you. Let's learn something new or remember something old. I saw an advertisement, jimmy, that the Pat Travers Band was playing a show here in Atlanta Immediately.
Speaker 2:I think, about the song they did with David Bowie 40 years ago, and it was this Is Not America from the film the Falcon and the Snowman. So the song peaks at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100, march 23rd 1985. And I'll be honest with you, I didn't really like the song when it came out, but it's one of those songs that kind of grows on you. You know it's a much slower song than what I was accustomed to from David Bowie and you know it just was very different than anything that I was listening to. But, believe it or not, it was played a lot on LIR, so I would hear it a lot. So the film Falcon and the snowman have you seen the movie? No, I haven't. So the film Falcon and the Snowman have you seen the movie?
Speaker 1:No I haven't.
Speaker 2:It was released January 25th 1985, 40 years ago. But I didn't see it until 1986 on HBO and I remember there was all this hype. You know this movie's coming out and you know you got to see it and I saw it on HBO in 86. Based on a true story two friends, christopher Boyce, played by Timothy Hutton, who's the Falcon, and Andrew Dalton Lee, portrayed by Sean Penn, who's the snowman. So let's just cut to the chase. The Falcon guy he's into falconry, you know the bird and putting a little hood on them and the whole nine yards. And the snowman is a cocaine and heroin dealer. Small time, not like a big, huge guy.
Speaker 1:So hence the Falcon and the snowman. Unlike Smokey and the Bandit, the snowman was a truck driver that got beer. Correct, yeah, this is a whole nother snowman.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they were eastbound and down Very, very different. Okay, so they sold secrets to the Russians in Mexico in the mid-1970s and, of course, they got caught. Boyce was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 1977. He was released just over 25 years later, in 2002. Just over 25 years later, in 2002, lee was sentenced to life in prison because he was actually the guy that was meeting with the Russians in Mexico. He was the middleman.
Speaker 1:Okay. Which one is he? The snowman or the falcon the snowman? Okay.
Speaker 2:He was released in 1998, only serving 21 years. So I guess some of the secrets maybe they weren't super top secret or whatever but they found it to let these guys get out of here. So I remember the film as a bit slow and kind of dragging on. So I rewatched it and yes, it was really slow and it really didn't captivate me. Like watching it again the second time was no different than when I watched it that first time. And I understand it's a story that you know. It's not exciting. There's no car chases and all these different things that Hollywood would put in because it just didn't happen. But re-watching the movie made me realize that it was the Pat Metheny group and not the Pat Travers band that recorded this Is Not America with David Bowie. I had the whole wrong band.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, well, that makes more sense.
Speaker 2:Yes, very, very, very different. And I just started laughing In the movie. All of a sudden it just came to me. I'm like, hey, it wasn't Pat Travers, it's Pat Metheny. So the song's kind of about disillusionment for the guy, for Boyce the Falcon. You know his disillusionment, you know with the American government and you know selling CIA secrets to the Russians, and that's kind of where the whole song comes from. So I don't know Pat Travers, pat Metheny. I'm not sure how I got the two mixed up. Somehow I did, and I ended up watching the movie again that I didn't really like the first time and with the same exact results almost 40 years later.
Speaker 1:Well done.
Speaker 2:The other day I read a post on social media from singer-songwriter-producer Butch Walker, who fronted the band Marvelous 3 from here in Atlanta. Georgia Yep Post has a picture of a guy with the caption this is my pal, matt Pinfield. This is what Butch wrote on his social media. Matt is a legend in the music business. He can school anyone in rock and roll trivia and he's a hell of a wonderful human. Matt suffered a severe stroke recently, has been in the hospital for weeks now. I'm not asking you for anything, I'm just asking you to keep him in your thoughts. This dude was a huge believer in me from the get-go and before we met on the set of MTV for the show he hosted 120 Minutes. I would watch it religiously. He was like listening to a rock and roll almanac speak when he would talk. In between videos, butch goes on to continue to praise Matt.
Speaker 2:Very sad to hear this and it was only 13 episodes ago. We were talking about Matthew Sweetstroke and you know it's just sad when things like this happen. I mean it happens to everybody. It doesn't matter if you're regular people like you and I, or if you're a rock star or actor famous. Have money, don't have money, and you know, I think at the end we all have to make sure we go and go to the doctor and get checked out for things and if there's things that can be done to help prevent stuff because you know we keep talking about different things happening to people- that's a good reminder.
Speaker 1:Now, is there any update on Matthew Sweet? Do you know?
Speaker 2:The last update I saw was in December and Matthew said that he probably will not play guitar again, oh man, and that he wants to make music somehow, but that's probably not playing the guitar, and that's the last update that I've seen.
Speaker 1:Well, I just hope he gets healthy. I mean, that's what's important, I guess, at this point is that he recovers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that really is. I mean, it's sad. I mean Matt Penfield really like he is a walking almanac kind of like Butch Walker talked about, and the knowledge that he has is just insane. In so many bands insane and so many bands. And you know episode 44. We spoke about him meeting uh the killers in a garage before they got big and listening to them and you know they were so excited. And you know matt's um memoir is is uh, named after a killer song. I think what is it? All the things I've done and right, you know it again, it's definitely sad.
Speaker 2:So on January 6, 2025, the day he suffered the stroke, Matt posted a picture of himself in front of a video camera, Starting another week with gratitude for a life surrounded by great people, life-changing music and unforgettable experiences that I never take for granted. Here's to another week, another day, open heart and open mind. Let's rock. And shortly after, that is when he actually had a stroke and that's unbelievable. To have those words. You're definitely in our thoughts, Matt. Yes, Do you know what time it is? What time? Yes, it's Music in my Shoes mailbag time.
Speaker 1:Music in my Shoes mailbag.
Speaker 2:Back on episode 60, cars VH1, and Brass in Pocket. Kareem in New York comments I love what you do. I love music. What's more, I think I'm part of it. It's very true. The stories and your anecdotes bring back memories. I think that's awesome.
Speaker 1:I think they're anecdotes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I thought so too. I couldn't think of it. I meant to ask you beforehand. Yeah, so you know what Anecdotes, ladies and gentlemen, yeah.
Speaker 2:Anecdotes. You know I have trouble with some words. I'm here to help. That's not a mystery to the show, so I was going to ask you beforehand but we've got that corrected now, ladies and gentlemen. But I think it's really cool what Corrine says about you know the stories and the anecdotes and that they bring back memories and you know I guess that's really kind of the whole point of the show, you know, kind of thinking about some things that you may have forgotten or learning about new things that you didn't know, absolutely. Episode 61, cabbage Patch Dolls Keep Falling on my Head. Estrella writes I still have mine and I have some collection. Love them. Debbie says still have the original Cabbage Patch Dolls. I could probably go for about 30 minutes listing all the people who wrote in about that that they have their original cabbage patch, gave them to their kids well you know, and and the amount of people that bought them and left them in the original wrappers and didn't do anything with them whatsoever oh yeah.
Speaker 1:yeah, I like to play with stuff, though, right, not that I play with cabbage patch dolls. You know what I'm saying, though. It's like take it out of the package, do something with it.
Speaker 2:I agree with you. You know, that's the whole point of.
Speaker 1:But they're probably worth a lot.
Speaker 2:They are, they actually are. I've been, you know, since this whole thing.
Speaker 1:I talked about this. I've looked a lot online. They really are worth a whole lot, especially if you have the birth certificate. Oh, what if you have a birth certificate that has like David Lee Roth on it, or whatever you did, there are birth certificates like that out there that I had part to do with. Yes, I bet you could get a hundred bucks on eBay if you found one of those.
Speaker 2:What if I signed it?
Speaker 1:Well then you could get a hundred bucks.
Speaker 2:So let's move on. Episode 62, tokyo Troubles Downtown. And the King of Rock, kathy in Georgia, says just finished listening to the recent episode and loved it. I learned so much when you went through the innovative songs ahead of their time and that, Jimmy, that was something that you brought up, which was a real cool thing that we did. Also, I checked out the other versions, that y'all and it's funny because I don't know if I've ever written y'all. You know I have this written down so that I know exactly what people wrote into the mailbag, right, I don't do it off the top of my head, I would not remember it, but I laughed when I was writing y'all because you know I was like, wait, how do you spell that? Uh, I don't think I've ever written it before y apostrophe all that is correct.
Speaker 2:Well, you would know you are from here. So yes, again, also that also.
Speaker 1:I checked that's what we learned in school, at least.
Speaker 2:No, you did not. No, I'm kidding. Okay, all right. So Kathy says also I checked out the other versions that y'all mentioned the Earth, wind and Fire version of Got to Get you Into my Life, and it just makes me want to snap my fingers, especially in the beginning of the song. I've never heard of that Gil Scott Heron song and love it. I'm Shocked. Come on, feel the Noise is a remake and absolutely love learning new little nuggets like that. Great episode, guys. I like the new little nuggets part. That part was super cool.
Speaker 1:We're going to have to use that. We're all about new little nuggets. Yes, kathy, thanks.
Speaker 2:A few days ago I posted on social media links to our most listened to interviews from 2024. I shared them with the artists and fan page groups, and Ian Slater, whose bass and vocals of APB, shared my post on his Facebook and they were on episode 34. That's when Ian and George came on with us and one comment caught my attention. That was on Ian's Facebook page and Stacy in Colorado wrote this was the best. I met you in Atlanta at 688 Club. Wasn't old enough to get in, but y'all again. But y'all signed our poster, which I still have to this day.
Speaker 2:I live in Colorado now, so please come out here. We had tickets to your gig in New York City a few years back but it got canceled and I just think that's cool. We've talked about 688, a club from back in the day. She's out's out in Colorado and I just love stories that. You know they all come full circle. Now I had tickets to the show for APP. That got, uh, canceled also and it was during the pandemic. It got pushed back and then it got pushed back again and then, I think, maybe a third time and then finally they just canceled it because you know they're from Scotland and trying to get to the US and make plans, along with the rest of their regular lives, that they had, and I know exactly what show Stacey's talking about. An email from a person and the email says hey, I'm dell. Host of mind.
Speaker 2:The gap radio heard currently on wfdufm hd2, 89.1 fm, sunday nights 10 pm to1 am. I'm a close friend of Ian and have transported and DJed for them at Webster Hall and the Merck Mercury Lounge when they are in the New Jersey area. Their connection to us came through a small alt bar in northern New Jersey called the Loop Lounge, which on post. Ian has talked about the Loop Lounge many, many times. I really enjoyed the interview. I've interviewed him on air many times. I will start listening to your podcast. My show breaks new British bands weekly, even at the age of 61. And I thought that was a super cool email to get. Wfdu is run through Fairleigh Dickinson.
Speaker 1:University is run through.
Speaker 2:Fairleigh Dickinson University. And again, his show is on Sunday nights 10 pm to 1 am. Breaking new British music WFDUFM HD2, 89.1 FM. That's very cool. Yeah, so, dell, we definitely appreciate that. Thank you, jimmy. We received a couple of questions for both of us. Great, okay. So just for the record, so everybody knows, I do not tell Jimmy the questions beforehand, so everything as we talk, he's answering for the first time. So Rob in Hart County asks and we'll break it down. We're going to the first one and then we'll go to the second. Okay, number one, who is? Both of your favorite 80s rock bands?
Speaker 1:Hmm, 80s rock bands. Okay, so I would say not a band that started in the 70s and went into the 80s, I would say a band from the 80s. I'm just going to go with the Replacements.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a good call. I like that. Yeah, you know they're from about 1980, 81 through, you know, 1989.
Speaker 1:They pretty much went head to tail of the 80s. I loved all their records yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's tough, like you said. I mean, you know, I like Tom Penny and the Heartbreakers that started in, you know, the late 70s, and I like U2 that started in the late 70s and I like U2 that started in the late 70s, even though their first album didn't come out until 1980. Yeah, I think it's kind of tough. Van Halen I like Van Halen a lot. Another band that started in the 70s and then probably their best work was in the 70s, even though they were huger in the 1980s. It's a good question. I think that we need to think about this a little bit and maybe we come back and revisit this.
Speaker 1:Oh wait, so you had the question in advance and you still can't come up with a band.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what I wanted to do is I didn't want to look like I had the perfect answer, so I didn't think about it at all. I didn't either, because I didn't want to look like I had the perfect answer, so I didn't think about it at all. I didn't either because I didn't know, because you didn't know, and I wanted to be on the same wavelength as you is what I really wanted. I didn't want to look like I had all the answers.
Speaker 1:But I came up with an answer.
Speaker 2:You did, you did a good job with that. I like the replacements. I think the replacements is good is good. That's a great call, Thank you. I love the Smiths from the 80s. I don't know if people would consider that rock band, but I mean, to me the Smiths were fantastic, I think, compared to you.
Speaker 1:know if people listen to classical music or country or whatever, the Smiths are a rock band for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I guess listening to classical country, the smiths, the smiths sound like a country band.
Speaker 1:If you listen to metal, you might not think the smiths are rock.
Speaker 2:I don't know true true, all right, so let's go to question number two. And also, who is your favorite female lead singer besides debbie gibson and anne hathaway? So you got me, obviously. Rob remembers from previous episodes where we talked about people that we listened to that I guess you would be surprised that we listened to. Jimmy's was Anne Hathaway. I mentioned Debbie Gibson.
Speaker 1:Okay, you want to go first on this one.
Speaker 2:I will go first, since you said do I want to go first on this one? I will go first, since you said do I want to go first? Yeah, I the heart. I love Ann Wilson's vocals. I just think that her vocals are just absolutely fantastic. But I also like Belinda Carlyle. I love Chrissy Hynde. I mean I think there's so many that I could go through. I think when you ask what your favorite is, it's so difficult to answer that If you ask me who my favorite band is, that's easy. I mean it's the Beatles, hands down. There's no close to the second or anything like that.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:But for most questions, if you say my favorite, I can't tell you my favorite between my second and my third and my fourth. You know. That's why I say a lot of top five or top ten. It's so close. You know, I don't know the answer to that, but you know off the top of my head because, again, I didn't want to think too much about these. I wanted it to be more of a live conversation with you and I. What are you coming up with?
Speaker 1:So I really like current bands. I really like the band the Beths, and they're led by a female lead singer, Elizabeth Stokes.
Speaker 2:Not familiar with them at all? No, you're not familiar with the Beths.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, we need to get you into the Beths, You'd like them. And yeah, a lot of the ones you named, I mean really heavy hitters there you can't beat, is it Ann Wilson? Ann Wilson, from Heart, I always get Ann and Nancy mixed up, but yeah, nancy is the guitar.
Speaker 2:Susie Sue, I love Susie Sue's vocals.
Speaker 1:You know a lot of people would be like who? But I do, I just. You know Shanae O'Connor, her vocals. You know like there's just so many people I could think of. I don't know if I can really come down.
Speaker 2:You know with who my favorite is On the way over here. You were listening to some Mariah Carey, weren't you? Yeah, you know it's really funny. I was listening to. What's her name? Ripperton, maya Rudolph's mother.
Speaker 1:Minnie.
Speaker 2:Ripperton, yeah, she came on something the other day and I heard it and the song Loving you. At the end of the song she goes Maya, maya, you know, for Maya Rudolph.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:But when you listen to that song it sounds like it is what Mariah Carey used for her training, the way that Riverton goes with these high notes. And then Mariah Carey's like I'm going to do that, but I'm going to do it better, and I think that that. You know yeah, I'm making this up, but in my mind it was Mariah Carey's listening to that song over and over and over so that I can hit those notes like she does.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and while we're on artists like that, I would say that Donna Summer has some pipes. Donna Summer can sing. I was watching a show one time, live, and they were really singing live. And Kenny Rogers came on. And Kenny Rogers first of all, he had him singing Islands in the Stream by himself, not as a duet, even with a place filler person, just singing it himself, and he was like, ooh, that was a little rough, but hey, it's live. And then Donna Summer comes on and just blows everybody away, really, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's some good questions by Rob. We definitely appreciate it. We appreciate everybody that has wrote into the show or commented on social media, and you can contact us at musicinmyshoes at gmailcom. Please like and follow the Music In my Shoes Facebook and Instagram pages.
Speaker 1:Music In my Shoes Facebook and Instagram pages.
Speaker 2:Music In my Shoes Mailbag Alright, jimmy, let's revisit some music from the past. John Lennon, instant Karma, released as a single in the US February 20th 1970, two weeks after its UK release. Produced by Phil Spectoror with George Harrison on guitar, klaus Vorman on bass, alan White on drums, and all of them contributed playing piano and that's why they get that really strong piano effect when you listen to the song. You know Phil does his wall of sound so you get that echoey chamber type thing. But originally it was John on piano and then he made them all play the song on the piano and that's why it sounds so cool.
Speaker 2:So you know, the Spectre recording process, you know, made it sound so different than any Beatles song. You know, it was definitely my favorite John Lennon song up until Watching the Wheels came out, and that came out just over 10 years later. So Instant Karma definitely was a song I would listen to all the time. It was just so cool. You know, the piano, boom, boom, you know, and then the drums, and then Instant Karma is going to get and you just like you could sing along with it. It just was like it was almost like an anthem song to me.
Speaker 1:You know yeah.
Speaker 2:Instant Karma is going to get you, going to knock you right on the head. You better get yourself together Pretty soon you're going to be dead. I mean, what a way to open a song. I love those words Right Released, words right released as instant karma. In the uk the title was changed to instant karma we all shine on. In the us, stephen king's book the shining, which was published in 1977, was inspired by the chorus of the song we all shine on, and that's how the shining, the title and everything came to be too cool is it not?
Speaker 2:wow, yeah, insikara peaks at number three on the billboard hot 100, march 28th 1970. The same week, the beatles let it be was number two. So think about, about that, let it be. You know, much slower. We talked about it and Bridge Over Troubled Water being similar, some, you know, just slower, paul McCartney singing it with the piano, and just you know different. And then you got this instant karma. You know, boom, boom, you know. And Simon and Garfunkel's bridge was number one. So, march 28th, lennon at three, beatles at two, simon and Garfunkel at number one. While we all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun, while we all shine on everyone. Come on, let's move to 1980,.
Speaker 1:Jimmy with the Ramones End of the Century.
Speaker 2:Speaking of Phil Spector. Speaking of Phil Spector Comes out February 4th 1980. After recording their first four studio albums in New York, the Ramones went out to Los Angeles to make this album with Spector as producer. This was the album to take them to the top and make them a commercial success. But what could go wrong with that? And the answer is lots, lots, lots could go wrong with it. You know there's rumors that Phil Spector kept them in the studio with you know his guns. You know he was famous for having guns on them.
Speaker 1:They said that in their documentary.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah you know it's just insane playing the same thing over and over. It could be two or three notes or chords or whatever, and for hours now, like 50 takes. Yeah, let's do it again, let's do it again. And this is the ram, the Ramones, who are the band that every song is one, two, three, four song is over.
Speaker 1:That was pretty good Thank you Thank you Kind of what they sound like.
Speaker 2:Everything for them was quick. You know. Whether they were playing live or the recording process, it was just boom play. You know there wasn't a lot of takes of any of the songs until they met Phil Spector.
Speaker 1:They were also an incredibly tight band, like whenever you saw them live. They didn't make mistakes, their songs were simple but like they nailed them, so I'm sure they were kind of like why are you making us do this?
Speaker 2:again. Right? Someone's telling us that we're not doing the right thing. Let's do this again, Right? Someone's telling us that we're not doing the right thing. Yeah, and I'm sure that that was very difficult for them because again they were tight. They were one, two, three, four, they were boom. You know they could have probably done a whole box set within the first hour that they spent with Phil Spector. That they got one or two chords completed, you know. So the song Rock and Roll High School was on the album Great song. I love it. But it was released as a single during the summer of 79 for the film Rock and Roll High School.
Speaker 1:Different version, by the way.
Speaker 2:It is a different version. Which version do you like?
Speaker 1:I like them both, but I think I like the single version better.
Speaker 2:Do you Mm-hmm, like? I like them both, but I think I like the single version better. Do you? Did you know that they borrowed Joan Jett's guitar for the song? Oh cool, they rented out equipment when they went out to LA and somebody knew Joan Jett and they got her guitar because they thought for power chords it would sound much better than the equipment that they had. Baby, I Love you was a cover of Spector's 60s band the Ronettes Doesn't do much for me at all and I like when they redo 60s songs. I really do, but I almost feel I have no knowledge. I'm just saying he was partial writer of this song. I think he convinced them that this would be a great song to do. I think so. I don't like it at all. Your thoughts on it?
Speaker 1:No, no, I think it was like a pandering attempt to get you know a love song that women would like and you know whatever, you know kind of a crossover thing, and it just fell flat on its face.
Speaker 2:Oh, definitely.
Speaker 1:It was the wimpiest thing they ever did.
Speaker 2:Now, I love Needles and Pins. We've talked about that. I love that song. I think they do a great job with Needles and Pins. This I just feel like they dialed it in, or Phil dialed it in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Needles and Pins was on the previous album. By the way, Correct Road to Ruin Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:When we talked about Road to Ruin and you know and it's funny, because Road to Ruin, phil wanted to produce that album and the Ramones said no, I'm glad because I love that album. So many songs on there are great songs he would have ruined it. Yeah, oh, it would have. It really would have been Road to Ruin for sure. Do you remember Rock and Roll Radio, released as a single in May 1980, starts off with the changing of the radio stations, with the turning dial, the knob and then a DJ saying this is Rock and Roll Radio. Come on, let's rock and roll with the Ramones, and I'm a sucker for that. I'm a sucker. That just pulls me right into the song.
Speaker 1:And then the drums kick in and it's very Phil Spector, big reverb drums, but it sounds great.
Speaker 2:Yes, and it is without a doubt. You almost expect one of the Ronettes to start singing when the song starts Throwback to the 60s, remembering musicians and shows that they grew up with, and I connected with the lines it's the end, the end of the 70s, it's the end the end of the century. So to me when the 70s ended it was kind of like a big deal because I was kind of at that age understanding oh my God, the 70s are over, Now this is 1980. All these new things, all these things that are going to happen, and the excitement. And when the Ramones sang that and this song was on the radio a lot by me, you know, I heard it a lot so you would be like, man, this is exciting. Like the Ramones got me excited for the 80s because the 70s were over.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So and you know who else they mention in that string of names? They mention John Lennon. Yes, they mention Murray the K.
Speaker 2:They do the DJ Murray, the K Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:So T-Rex.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, what was that show Hullabaloo? Yes, they mentioned that right.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, Jimmy.
Speaker 1:Any other thoughts? Upbeat Shindig and Ed Sullivan too.
Speaker 2:Man, you're going to sing the whole song. You do have more thoughts on this. This is good. You know, we talked some episodes ago and we talked about how the first I don't remember how many albums were really good albums. Did you say the first four albums or the first five albums? Where does this fall for you, this album with the decline of the Ramones?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So the first three are definitely solid gold and then the fourth, road to ruin. That's that's grouped into. So that's the first four, but the first three are a little more special. And then, yeah, end of the century, uh, then pleasant dreams, then subterranean jungle. Those were all a big step below those first four. Yeah, but they had some great songs on them. You know, like we talked about, do you remember rock and roll. Radio is a really good song. There's some good songs on like you know, like we talked about, do you remember Rock and Roll Radio is a really good song. There's some good songs on like Side B of End of the Century, like let's Go is a cool rock song. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think what I've heard through the years, that it was a huge disappointment for the Ramones because they thought that having Phil Spector on board this really was going to give them some commercial success. This was really going to give them some opportunities that they thought that they deserved.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think they always thought that success was right around the corner and I think once this album didn't work, they were like, okay, this is our reality, we're a touring rock band, that that's what we do. So they they kind of, I think they quit trying to get big producers and have hit songs and just said we'll put a, we'll put a record out every year or so and we'll tour the U? S every year and we'll pretty much, uh, that's our life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the funny thing is is you know they really were, which is probably bigger than being a success. Like influencing people, I think is super cool and how many bands they influenced.
Speaker 1:I think they knew.
Speaker 2:I mean they were already influencing those bands because they all died, I guess, in the late 90s, early 2000s, yeah late 90s, early 2000s, but to see how many kids still wear Ramone shirts, like when you walk around and go somewhere, and to see that it's just cool. I know they don't know any songs, but it is cool. Hey, jimmy, according to my watch, it's Minute with Jimmy. It's time for Minute with Jimmy. Minute with Jimmy. Minute with Jimmy. It's time for Minute with Jimmy. Minute with Jimmy.
Speaker 1:Minute with Jimmy. It's time for Minute with Jimmy, Minute with Jimmy, Minute with Jimmy. All right, so in February 1980, 45 years ago, Squeeze released Argy Bargy, a really great album, really important post-punk album. I think it was like people were wondering what music is going to do after punk. And here's this band that writes really really great pop songs. But they're different. They're not like the pop songs you hear on commercial radio in the US and it had three what I consider big squeeze hits on it Another Nail in my Heart If I Didn't Love you, and Pulling Muscles from the Shell. Pulling Muscles from the Shell. Difford wrote the, the lyrics. I didn't realize he's he's a primary lyricist, while uh glenn tilbrook writes the music and uh differed wrote that about a british summer camp, like a family camp that he used to go to uh with like working class families and you got to go to a beach in Britain and it was just all these little vignette stories about different people from that camp. Great record.
Speaker 2:It is a great record, jimmy. I would put that in my top 10 most influential albums on me personally, and I still listen to it religiously. I don't think there's a week that goes by that I don't listen to some of the tracks on that album.
Speaker 1:What are your favorite songs on it?
Speaker 2:The three you mentioned, obviously, because Pulling Muscles like that was just so different from everything that was happening at that point in 1980. It's one of those things, this album and the song it's again. It's one of those things where 13-year-old Jim is having something that's his. It's not my parents, it's not my uncles, it's not my aunts, this is my music and I really dug things like that. I think I'm Go-Go on.
Speaker 2:The album is really cool. And they talk about one point PIX and rock and roll, and that was a radio station in New York, wpix, and long before WLIR they played. It was called From Elvis to Elvis, everything from Elvis Presley to Elvis Costello, and they would play Squeeze and they would play Squeeze and they would play Boomtown Rats and they would play Elvis. You know all these different things and you got to hear all this stuff and that they mention it in the song and when you look it up you can always they always say, oh yeah, this was the WPIX, this radio station that would play it, and I get a kick out of that. I love stuff like that. I think Separate Beds another great song. I think everything on the album is fantastic. Really really good album that you can listen to from beginning to end. The deluxe version has some B-sides but it's got a concert from March of 80 over in England.
Speaker 1:Oh, I need to listen to that.
Speaker 2:That's fantastic because you know it hits all of the songs that are on Argy Bargy, but then it also goes back and picks up some of the different hits from previous albums. I love it. It's so influential. I've seen Squeeze so many times and just really good memories and it was mine. It was not just me, but me and my friends, it was our music and that's what I liked about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, somehow they figured out a way to write songs that are really accessible. But it's like the people that were a little older than us, they weren't necessarily into squeeze, like it was more our, our generation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know, I saw them most recently. We talked about when I saw them at, uh, the Stone Pony outdoor stage in New Jersey and what was that? That was in 2023. And I still go see them. I mean, I love them and they are. They sound great still, they can still sing. It's, it's unbelievable.
Speaker 1:They sound amazing. Now, and and Glenn Tilbrook is probably one of the greatest guitar players out there. You know he really he doesn't show up in a lot of lists of greatest guitar players because you just tend to think more towards, like, hard rock, but he's an awesome guitar player they had a new bass player and I cannot think of his name John Bentley maybe I'm not sure if that's it, but he said you know it's kind of missing something.
Speaker 2:Why don't we add the? It's not the xylophone, it's the marimba.
Speaker 1:Marimba yeah.
Speaker 2:So if you listen to the song, it starts off with the guitar but it has the marimba where it goes and that is such a great sound. The bass player coming up with that. That was fantastic. Definitely great job there. That was a fantastic minute with Jimmy.
Speaker 1:All right, getting props from the host.
Speaker 2:Always, jimmy, always. My name is Jimmy, Jimmy. I know we're getting towards the end of the show, but I wanted to mention the Stone Roses out of Manchester, england, on February 3, 1990. I Want to Be Adored. Peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart. The song starts off with sounds that I'm not sure what they are, to be honest with you. Then the bass starts, then the guitars come in a bit, after then the drums and it's like a minute and a half. Finally, the song is like a song where the whole band is playing. It's a surprisingly quiet song. All the way through it, the self-titled album it's got like this psychedelic feel to it and it was produced by John Leckie and he would work his way up from tape operator to engineer, to mixer, to producer in his career Starting in 1970, he worked on albums by George Harrison, john Lennon, derek and the Dominoes, argent, sid Barrett, mccartney, pink Floyd, public Image Limited. He did the Public Image song, which is a great song XTC Simple Minds the Fall, let's Active.
Speaker 2:Every Dog has Its Day in 87. He was the producer on that.
Speaker 1:I just ordered that actually did you really as a gift for a friend.
Speaker 2:Yeah, John Leckie, radiohead, the Bends, cooler Shaker, the K Album 96. I love Cooler Shaker. There's probably no one else out there that does, but I love them and if I could get the opportunity to mention them I took it. A ton of others. I mean, this guy has done so much, it's just so cool that he could be part of it. So I really liked the song Shoot you Down off the album and it's another quiet song Like. The album is so quiet and the album is made list as one of the best albums of the 80s since it's been released. When it was released it was on a lot of album excuse me, a lot of charts for best albums of all time and that's kind of weaned a little bit, but it's more of one of the best albums of the 80s. I'm not sure that I would say that I like some of the songs. I think they're good, but I definitely can think of a lot of other albums to me that are better.
Speaker 1:It might be the best album of that Manchester era in the late 80s, you know Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it could be, yeah, it could be, and maybe that's why. And Manchester, I mean we could talk seven shows straight just on Manchester, all the different bands that have come out of there, all the different music you know factory records and the Hacienda that New Order was associated with, we could go on forever. And Happy Mondays and Oasis, and you know everything that- yeah, and go back to the Buzzcocks in 1977.
Speaker 2:And I had a feeling that you were going to bring that up. Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's a long range of history that Manchester has done, and it's funny because a lot of times when they talk you have to have subtitles.
Speaker 1:Right yeah, that northern accent.
Speaker 2:Yes. So five years later, on February 18th 1995, their song Love Spreads peaks at number two on the alternative airplay charts. They turned the volume up on this one, jimmy. All right, the guitar. You know John Squire, I mean, he's just coming right out of the box with the guitar playing, yeah, and it's a heck of a guitar song when you listen to it. It's a heck of a guitar song when you listen to it.
Speaker 2:I saw them play live May 14th 1995 in Atlanta at the Midtown Music Festival. It was their first US show and there was so much hype and anticipation, not just on local radio but Rolling Stone magazine. I subscribed to it and they were talking about how it was coming up and just different you know media things everybody was talking about and I was like I was there, you know, or I was going. Actually at the time they only played in about 10 US cities and then the band broke up in late 1996. They got together again a couple of times for some reunions. It just didn't work out for them, but it was cool seeing them at Midtown Music Festival in 1995.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was there, were you. Yeah, I lived right across the street. I lived on 8th, so just that was back when it was right at 10th.
Speaker 2:Yes, I actually liked where it was. That's my favorite of all the places. It that right there, that area?
Speaker 1:was my favorite. It became the Federal Reserve.
Speaker 2:Correct and we'll talk more about that in May when we talk about the 30th anniversary of the Midtown Music Festival 1995. But for now that's it for Episode 64 of Music in my Shoes. I'd like to thank Jimmy Guthrie, show producer and owner of Arcade 160 Studios located right here in Atlanta, georgia, and Vic Thrill for our podcast music. This is Jim Boge, and I hope you learned something new or remembered something old. We'll meet again on our next episode. Until then, live life and keep the music playing. I'm ready to go.
