Music In My Shoes
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Music In My Shoes
E82 Music Midtown 2005 and David Lowery Live in Asheville Review
Mom's radio was always on—at dinner, while cleaning, everywhere—sparking a lifelong love for music that shaped this podcast and our musical journeys. Music becomes a bridge between generations, creating shared experiences that last a lifetime.
• Exploring Music Midtown 2005—a three-day festival featuring six stages
• Lou Reed's performance with amp troubles and orchestral direction of his band
• The White Stripes creating an incredible sound with just two musicians
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers delivering a greatest hits show in the rain
• Devo's energetic performance in their iconic yellow suits
• David Lowery's intimate 05/30/2025 Asheville, NC show featuring vulnerable, introspective material from his new album "Fathers, Sons and Brothers"
• Music history highlights including R.E.M.'s "Life and How to Live It" backstory and a-ha's groundbreaking "Take on Me" video
Music in My Shoes" where music and memories intertwine.
Learn Something New or
Remember Something Old
Please like and follow the Music in my Shoes Facebook and Instagram pages and share the podcast with friends on your social media. 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 82. As always, I'm thrilled to be here with you. Let's learn something new or remember something old. So, jimmy, I'm broadcasting from Levittown, new York. You're at the home studio Arcade 160 Studios in Atlanta, georgia, today. Yes, sir. So I want to start the show off by wishing my mom a happy 80th birthday.
Speaker 2:She really helped my love of music. When I was a little kid we listened to the radio all the time, and both my parents I learned a lot about music. My dad more rock and roll, but my mom a lot of the 50s and the 60s, the hits, all of that. You know, I really learned from her radio always on. If we were cleaning on the weekends, the radio was on. If we were eating dinner, the radio was on. I mean, it was non-stop here. And she still goes to see these cover bands that do 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s bands. And when she gets back from seeing one of these shows she calls me up to tell me what they played, were they good, has she seen them before? And it's almost like me talking to you on music in my shoes. It's her talking to me, telling me about her experience, and it's really cool she needs a podcast.
Speaker 2:You know what? I think she'd be really good at it. She's been a huge influence on me and this one goes out to you, mom. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear mom. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, mom. Enjoy it. So, jimmy, four episodes ago I spoke about the Music Midtown 1995 Festival in Atlanta. Today I wanted to highlight the Music midtown 2005, 10 years later. It was held june 10th to the 12th and I'm thinking it was over by the atlantic civic center by then. Did you go to that one?
Speaker 1:yeah, I did. Uh, was that the one that devo played at?
Speaker 2:that is the one and that was over by the civic center, correct?
Speaker 1:it was. It was where shaky knees ended up being so it covered that whole property of central park and down to the civic center parking lot area yeah, what was that um that building? Sidetrack or something oh, that sounds familiar. Yeah, sidetrack, uh-huh, a science museum type thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was right over there. So when we talked about 1995 the three-day ticket was 25 dollars. By 2005 it was 75 dollars, so it had gone up considerably. But that's still cheaper than buying a ticket to one band today.
Speaker 2:You know in 2020, 2025, it's really expensive. I remember it raining a lot that weekend. I think there was like a tropical storm or a hurricane, Like we were getting some of the remnants of it coming, you know the Atlanta way, and it kind of caused me to avoid going to all the bands I wanted to see. I just didn't want to stand out in the rain all day, so I missed a bunch of them, I'll be honest. But I did see Lou Reed and I remember his amp going out and he stopped playing and they quickly got another amp and they put it up on the stage and you know, he got going and he seemed to be directing the other band members, kind of like a conductor of an orchestra.
Speaker 2:So I thought that was kind of cool uh-huh of you know being able to do that and they're they're following his lead and I had not really seen anything like that. You know, at that point in going to shows, he played White Light, white Heat, he played Sweet Jane, but the audience never really seemed to be into it. There was a ton of people there but they just seemed like they were expecting something else or I don't know know. I'm not sure what it was, but I thought it was great and I enjoyed seeing him. So the same night I saw the white stripes, who had a huge crowd. It was body to body. So if someone 10 feet from you moved, you moved also. And what they're able to do with two musicians is absolutely incredible. The hardest button to button black math ball and biscuit seven nation army, and I just don't know what to do with myself. Jimmy, did you know that's a Burt Bacharach cover?
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:It's like the third or fourth time on Music in my Shoes that his name has come up and I got to be honest with you. I never thought that that would happen, but it has, it has.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's an unofficial hero of memes.
Speaker 2:I never would have guessed that, but you are correct. Yeah know, hero of mims. I never would have guessed that, but you were correct. Yeah, dusty springfield released a version in 1964 and it went to number three on the uk charts but did not chart in america. And then dion warwick, who I always struggle with her name you've done great today.
Speaker 2:Orchestra warwick yes, but she always seems to be connected to Burt Bacharach. She released a version in 1966, and it went to number 26 on Billboard Hot 100. And then the White Stripes did it and I got to hear it live at Music Midtown in 2005. 2005. Just really, really, really good. Just garage rock, it's fun, just really fun. I miss them. Just really enjoyed the show.
Speaker 2:I saw Robert Randolph and the Family Band and I have seen Robert Randolph and the Family Band, I'd say, at least four times at Music Midtown, you know, through the different years. And he plays pedal steel and it's kind of like a mix of rock, blues, funk, spiritual and it's all mixed into one and it's good. I mean, the first time I saw him I didn't know who he was, but I watched it because he was playing before another band I wanted to see. But then it became every time I went to Music Midtown that I would want to see him. They do a cover of Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child Slight Return. That's absolutely out of this world. Love it, it is so good. You almost think that Jimi's there playing. So let's continue with Keen.
Speaker 2:And I saw them play their only hits somewhere, only we Know. I really liked that song. So I was excited to see them play that song. I caught parts of them and John Fogerty the Killers and they were still touring from the Hot Fuss album with all their hits that they had. But I did take in the entire Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers show and by this time the rain was coming down pretty good. It would kind of lighten up, but it was at least always misty. It was always annoying, I guess would be the real good word to use for it. They open up with Listen to Her Heart, you Don't Know how it Feels. It was a greatest hit show sprinkled with some covers Free Fallin', don't Do Me Like that, mary Jane's Last Dance, the Travelin' Wilburys' Handle With Care, which was awesome. I Won't Back Down. Refugee Runnin, refugee, running down a dream, and that's just the name.
Speaker 1:Some of them yeah, you can't complain about that no, not at all.
Speaker 2:And, like I said, there was, you know, a lot of hits and he finished up with bob dylan's rainy day women, number 12 and 35, which was appropriate for the weather that we were having. Chuck, chuck Berry's Carol and Bo Diddley's Mona. Hey Bo Diddley, hey Bo Diddley is just a freaking great rock and roll song from the early days that you know. It's just fun to listen to. It's got a great beat. Carol is a song that I think every band in rock and roll history at some point or another has played. It is one of those songs that you learn in the beginning. The Beatles have played it, the Rolling Stones have played it, the Kinks have played it, tom Petty was playing it uh, just so many bands. It's a simple song but it's a great Chuck Berry song and everybody loved.
Speaker 2:Chuck Devo closed out the weekend on the 99X stage. My brother and I got pretty close to the right side of the stage and the first five songs were absolutely awesome. That's Good, girl. You Want Whip it Satisfaction. The Rolling Stones cover Uncontrollable urge. So, jimmy, you said, was that the Music Midtown with Devo? I'm assuming that you were at Devo.
Speaker 1:I was at Devo. I'm thinking I only went that day, so that was Sunday, right.
Speaker 2:That is correct.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I only went on Sunday and, uh, devo was was amazing. I'd never seen them before, so I'd always been a big fan of them and that was a great show, you know, and they were probably just as good and the same as they were 25 years earlier yeah, you know, at one point they had those yellow suits on that.
Speaker 2:They started ripping off like they've been doing since the, you know, late 70s, and I still was digging it. I was this is great, I loved it. They finished up with gates of steel freedom of choice. Beautiful world uh, freedom of choice is my favorite devo song, absolutely loved that song came out in 1980, in the fall of 1980. And then Beautiful World. I think everybody knows it because it's been on commercials, multiple commercials. And I just believe everyone knows it because it's a beautiful world we live in.
Speaker 1:We have freedom of choice. It's like a dog that has two bones he licks the one, he licks the other. He goes in circles. That's freedom of choice.
Speaker 2:I like your explanation.
Speaker 1:That was pretty good, jeremy, it's going to come back around. Jim, it's going to come back around, just you wait.
Speaker 2:I believe you, I do so. Other bands that played included Interpol, counting Crows, keith Urban she Wants Revenge Crows, keith Urban, she Wants Revenge. Black Eyed Peas, the Pixies, houdini, biz, markie MC Light, dougie Fresh Slick, rick, public Enemy, joan Jett, def Leppard and Kid Rock. Now, this is just a few of the other bands. The problem is that there were six stages, so at any point in time there could be six bands you wanted to see and they were all on the stage at the same time. So you really had to pick and choose, whereas if you go to a festival that only has three stages, you don't have to choose as much.
Speaker 1:You understand what I'm saying Jimmy Right, and I don't know if they were doing that back then, but they kind of ping pong them nowadays.
Speaker 2:so they'll have four stages, but only two are going at a time because they're setting up for the next one no, they had them all going and that was the problem is that you really just had to pick that one band that you wanted to see now I'll tell you.
Speaker 1:Another band that you didn't mention was, uh, the kaiser chiefs. They were fantastic. Oh really, they played on the small stage over there. If you're looking at the devo stage, they played on the little one over to the left of that oh, very nice yeah, they were really fun band I predict a riot.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, that's right. So that was the last music midtown until 2011. They took a hiatus and it was also the last time that I went to Music Midtown.
Speaker 2:Yes, so, jimmy, I drove up to Asheville, north Carolina, on Friday last Friday to see David Lowery of Camper, van Beethoven and Cracker, and I went to see him at the Great Eagle Music Hall you know a famous little small club there in Asheville and he was promoting his new release, fathers, sons and Brothers 28 song three vinyl set, and it's truly an introspective look at himself from the past and he honors those who have been part of his story and he tackles the good, the bad and the ugly and I got to be honest with you, jimmy, he really tackles it and he's not afraid to talk about anything, including things that he maybe didn't make the best choices with, and I really think it takes a lot to do something like that and it's one to put it on a record. But now you're in front of an audience and you're singing these songs and you're talking between the songs and describing them. I just admired it. It just really was something that was you get to see the inner sanctum of somebody. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, he seems like kind of a private person. So for him to open up like that it's kind of a big deal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know. And he says I wanted to sing the songs of the unsung celebrate friends and family, of the unsung celebrate friends and family, make amends and apologize where necessary. And I just think that again, I can't say it enough. It takes a lot to do that. Some of my favorites from the album that he played Plaza de Toros, super Bloom, disneyland Jail how Does your Sister Roller Skate? Let it Roll Down that Hill, it Don't Last Long. And then my favorite song on the album is Mexican Chickens, which he didn't play. It's a fantastic song.
Speaker 1:It sounds delicious.
Speaker 2:It's a great song. It really kind of talks about a certain part of his life and it's one of those songs that I talk about where you know someone's singing it from the heart and it just draws me into it. He was very personable. Like I said, he had stories about each song. I just find it interesting when you know the backstories and you're not guessing and coming up with what you think the song is about.
Speaker 1:It was really cool. I really enjoyed it and had a great time with it, very cool.
Speaker 2:Hey, this is david lowry, from cracker and to atlanta, and I know this is not music related, but I'd be amiss if I didn't kind of mention this chapter in my life. I had never been to atlanta before I transferred with a job that I was working at, and my first time to Atlanta was getting in a car on a Saturday morning and driving down. And what I didn't know because you didn't have GPS then is that there was this big road that went around Atlanta called 285, and it's a circle.
Speaker 2:Oh, my gosh, okay, and that you can that you can keep driving, and driving, and driving, and if you miss your exit you can't tell, because one minute you're going north, next you're like east and or west and south, and to someone who had never been there it was absolutely confusing, very so. I don't remember how long the trip took, but I think I think, like the last you 10 miles I had to go ended up being like three hours because I was driving around in circles, and it reminds me of a story with the Atlanta Braves.
Speaker 1:Okay, I was wondering if you knew about this. Pascual Perez you can tell the story.
Speaker 1:Oh. So Pascual Perez was a pitcher for the Braves and he was due to start as the pitcher this one night and he knew that, hey, the stadium is right off the highway. I mean, you can literally see the old Braves stadium from the 75-85 that runs right through downtown. So he just thought, ok, I'll get on the highway, I'll drive down to the stadium. Well, he gets on 285, the circle that doesn't go past the stadium, it goes around the outskirts of the city and he drives around the city for like three hours, like you did, and he misses his whole starting pitching night. They had to pitch somebody else. They called him perimeter perez from then on did they really?
Speaker 2:yeah, I feel bad for him because I honestly know what it's all about. Again, there was no gps, there was nothing like that, and I, I didn't know right, I didn't know what, I didn't know I will tell you a little story.
Speaker 1:Uh, that might commiserate a little bit. So the first time I ever went to new york city, my band was playing at this thing called the CMJ new music showcase in like 1990. And um, we drove a station wagon from Athens, georgia, the violets drove to New York city and we get into New York and I can't remember where, how we came in. I'm guessing it was like the Holland tunnel or something, and I just kind of kept going. And then I saw this thing that said Manhattan bridge and I'm like well, we want to go to Manhattan. So I got on the Manhattan bridge that takes you to Brooklyn, and we're driving around Brooklyn, we're like, where, where is, you know, 14th street and six Avenue? And they're like you need to go to Manhattan. So it was. It was similar.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's funny because I know New York Well. I still do and still can get around with no problem. I've also learned how to drive two 85. So, jimmy, I mentioned I'm up here in Levittown where I grew up, and you know, unfortunately so many places are closing and literally probably 10 houses down from where my mom lives, a place called Flowers by Phil 65 years of business just closed last week and now this is a place that, starting with my junior prom, that's where I would get like the corsage for my prom, junior prom date, and then my senior prom and birthday things or Mother's Day stuff from my mom or just different things throughout the years. And it's just kind of sad to see 65 years in business and last week it's over. That's sad.
Speaker 2:Yeah, last night I went to Dominico's here in Levittown and it's been in business for 58 years and at the end of the month it's closing and I went last night and there was a wait to get in. It was absolutely packed with people because everybody wants to go and experience it for one last time. The food is that good. But it's not just the food, it's the staff that's been there forever, the owners that have always owned it, it's the whole experience and that's what makes it Dominico's, that's what makes it what it is. And you know I have been going there, you know, since I left New York. Every time I go back up here and I go with my friends, the Dominico's, we always take a picture in front of the restaurant. And last night was kind of bittersweet because I took a picture with one of my friends, knowing that that's probably the last time, and posted it on Facebook. And so many people are commenting, but so many people I know are doing the same thing. I made the pilgrimage to get that last italian food and it was good, it really was good. So let's move on.
Speaker 2:Let's revisit some more great music from the past. Gonna start off with grateful dead, working man's dead, released on june 14th 1970. First of two albums released in uh 70, the other being American Beauty, came out in November and both albums go together. They were recorded totally separately, but you think that they go together and a lot of times I think if you say a song, you're not sure if it's on Working Man's Dead or if it's on American Beauty, and it's less psychedelic, it's more straight up rock, folk, country rock that they started to become known for. And it's got some classics Uncle John's Band, high Time, dire Wolf, new Speedway, boogie, which is about the Altamont 1969 experience that we've talked about, cumberland Blues, casey Jones, switchman, sleeping. Train 102 is on the wrong track and headed for you Great introductory album to the Grateful Dead, if you're interested in it. And you know what, jimmy? I'm looking at my watch and it's time for 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 Okay, going back to 1985, right around now, june 10th Life and how to Live it from the Fables of the Reconstruction album, and it's a true story about a guy that lived in a house in athens, georgia, and he built a wall in the middle of his house and he made two apartments that had completely different clothes, and one had a tv, one had a radio, different books, different food, everything was different, and he would live on one side for a while and then he'd get tired of it and he would live on the other side for a while and he just bounced back and forth living on these two sides. Well, eventually he passed away and somebody took the house over and was clearing it out and they found this closet stacked with books that he had written called life and how to live it. He'd never sold one, he had it all published and bound and they just sat in his closet and rem wrote a song about him I did not know that.
Speaker 2:I just learned something new. That is crazy. The book is it something that you can go out and buy what? What ended up happening with it?
Speaker 1:Well, I was just looking on eBay. You can buy one now for $1,500. Oh wow, it's rare for sure.
Speaker 2:Wow, very good minute with Jimmy. My name is Jimmy, so you mentioned that was from June 10th of 1985. We're going to go up a week to June 17th 1985. Aha, take On Me was released and it entered the Billboard Hot 100 on July 13th and peaked at number one on October 19th. It took three months from the time it entered till it hit number one, and it was only number one for one week. It actually was the LIR Screamer of the Week the third week of August. So this is one of the few times that LIR didn't have the Screamer before it got into the Billboard Hot 100.
Speaker 2:And I think it's one of the first super cool videos on MTV. Yeah, it was Up until then. I think Thriller was probably the most innovative MTV video and then Take On Me came out and it's right up there. I mean, I just think it's fantastic. We're talking away. I don't know what I'm to say. I'll say it anyway.
Speaker 2:They were Norwegian and I think that maybe they had the words and then they just literally translated into English or something, because when you look at the words it's not something you know. Someone wouldn't talk that way, but yet we all sing the song the way that it is and love it that way. It was like drawings coming alive in the video and a girl she's reading a black and white comic book and it's got motorcycle racing with the sidecars like that old school motorcycle racing that they used to do, and there's a drawing of a hand that comes out of the comic book and it grabs the girl's hand and pulls her into the story and you know, the rest is just video. History on on the way that they did everything and it won a bunch of mtv video awards and it was just super cool yeah, it's like it still is the person's looking in the mirror and their reflection is a drawing right, you know yes but they're in live action.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's. It was a really innovative use of uh animation yeah, and that's 40 years ago.
Speaker 2:They did that. I mean, it was blowing away everything that had come out at that time. Yeah, so the singer of the band, morton harkett, announced on june 4th 2025 that he has park Parkinson's disease and that he's actually had to have two brain surgeries that he had in 2024. So our thoughts go out to him. So on June 4th 1990, steve Bader's died in Paris, and I know many of you are now saying who Steve was in the dead Boys from 1975 to 1979, and Lords of the New Church from 1981 to 1989. The Lords' first album in 1982 had the songs Open your Eyes and Russian Roulette, a song influenced by the 1979 film Apocalypse Now and starts off with the sounds of the helicopter blades just like the movie, and I did not mention that when we talked about Apocalypse Now sometime last year.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Stiv was on a motorbike when a car hit him, knocked him to the ground and you know, did he go to the hospital? Did he not go to the hospital? Was he standing on the sidewalk? Did he get hit while on a motorbike? Was it a taxi? Was it a car? It doesn't. It's never clear. Everybody has a different story of what happened. But we all know is that he didn't think it was serious. He ended up back at his apartment and he died from a brain injury in his sleep. Oh, I didn't know that.
Speaker 2:Yes, so you can reach us at musicinmyshoes at gmailcom. Please like and follow the Music In my Shoes Facebook and Instagram pages and share the podcast with anyone you think may like the show. They may like listening to it. You would know think may like the show. They may like listening to it. You would know. Get them set up on it. That's it for episode 82 of Music in my Shoes. I'd like to thank Jimmy Guthrie, show producer and owner of Arcade 160 Studios located in Atlanta, georgia, and Vic Thrill, for our podcast music. This is Jim Boge and I've been coming to you from Levittown, new York. 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. Thank you.
