1996 Olympics Music Connections and The Rolling Stones "Foreign Tongues" E141

Thirty years later, we can still hear it: the roar of Atlanta’s 1996 Summer Olympics, the crowd noise bouncing off concrete, and the way the city felt like the center of the world. We kick things off with the fun parts people love to remember, from landing tickets the old-school way to watching basketball in the Georgia Dome and soaking up the larger-than-life spectacle of the Centennial Olympic Games.

Then we go behind the curtain. Jimmy shares what it was like working on Olympic-related audio and video production at a local studio, including a high-pressure edit of Mickey Hart’s opening ceremony drum track that quietly shaped what millions saw on TV. We also talk about Muhammad Ali lighting the torch, John Williams’ Olympic music, and why these moments hit so hard when you know the work and the stakes behind them.

The heart of the conversation is personal and heavy: walking out of Centennial Olympic Park and hearing the 1:20 a.m. explosion that became the Olympic Park bombing. I tell my remembrance of the night, what we learned afterward, and why Richard Jewell’s treatment in the media still feels like a warning label on modern headlines.

We wrap with the show’s signature blend of culture and music history: a jaw-dropping Empire State Building stunt documentary, a few sports oddities, plus rock talk on the Rolling Stones’ new album Foreign Tongues. They can still bring it 63 years after their first single release.

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Transcript

Welcome And Olympic Memories Begin

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Hey everybody, this is Jim Boge, and you're listening to Music in My Shoes, podcasting worldwide. That was Vic Thrill kicking off episode 141. I'm thrilled to be here with you. Let's learn something new or remember something old. It's been 30 years since the 1996 Summer Olympics, held right here in Atlanta, Georgia, known as the Centennial Olympic Games, because it was the hundredth anniversary of the modern Olympics. The modern one, I think the first one was 1896 in Athens, uh not Georgia, Athens, Greece.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

I was fortunate enough to go to a few events. What about you, Jimmy?

SPEAKER_02 1:03

I did. I got to go to several

Mixing Ads And Olympic Video Work

SPEAKER_02 1:05

events. I got to work on the Olympics.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Oh, why don't you tell me a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_02 1:10

So I was working at a local studio called Doppler, and I was fairly new there. I'd started in '94, and we probably started working on the Olympics in '95. So um I got to I got to work on a lot of different video pieces for the events and commercials that were surrounding it. Like there was a very high-profile Coca-Cola commercial that they would bring all the big wigs in, and we had the big studio at at Doppler rent it out, and we spent days and days mixing this commercial about the Olympic torch. So it was like a 60-second or maybe even two-minute commercial talking about the journey that the torch took, which younger people that don't remember the 96 games, they they ran a essentially a relay with the torch all across America. Maybe they do that every time. I don't know. But I knew when they did it in Atlanta, uh, you know, the torch ends up in Atlanta, and then you're watching the Olympics and you're wondering, oh, well, they're getting closer and closer, and it's like bigger and bigger celebrities that they're handing it off to, and oh, big Olympians. And next thing you know, they hand it at the top. It's Muhammad Ali lights the torch.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

And that was iconic. That was just so cool to watch him do that.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

It was because you knew that he uh the Parkinsons had taken hold a little bit, but he was able to do it, and it was very, very cool that they did that.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Yeah, very touching moment, without a doubt.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

So anyway, I worked on um on a lot of the video for the events. Like we had was it Mariah Carey? It was somebody that was singing, and we had the backing track ready for her to sing to, but we also had her singing the song. So she came in the studio and sang the song just in case there was a problem at the actual broadcast that they were able to have her lip sync. So they they probably do that a lot in live broadcasts. Sometimes when you're going, are they lip syncing? Didn't seem like the last person was, but this one is because sometimes there's a technical thing and they're like, All right, whatever, just

Editing Mickey Hart For Opening Drums

SPEAKER_02 3:25

you know, they're lip syncing now, even if they weren't planning on it from the beginning. But the coolest thing that I worked on were uh the drums. Do you remember in the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, they had this huge drum line come out?

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

So one day I got a call from my manager, said, Hey, uh, they want you to work on Saturday. They they need this music edited. So somebody comes in with a cassette and they said, Hey, the uh Mickey Hart from The Grateful Dead composed this drum track, and it's like 15 minutes long, and we need it to be five minutes long, something like that. And that was all the direction I got. They just handed it to me, and I was in the studio, this seven studio complex by myself on a Saturday, as a guy that had worked there for like a year, and I just made whatever editorial decisions I wanted. I'm like, oh, I like this section, that's staying out. This would cut that out. Oh, he repeats that, cut that.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

So the Mickey Hart song has now been Jimmy Guthrie.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

Oh, I produced it, and so uh, so then they're like, oh, and um, and Danny's gonna come by and pick it up. And so I gave the the finished tape to this guy, Danny, and uh it turns out it's Danny Ortega, one of the like the greatest choreographers in the world. Really? Yeah, and um oh, and when I'm I'm editing some other music, the guy Don Misher, who I didn't quite realize then, produced every single awards show you ever saw in your life. It always said Don Misher at the end. So I'm working with Don and he and I'm editing some John Williams music, and he's like, Oh, that's fantastic. I uh give that to me. I'm gonna play it for John. I'm having dinner with him this weekend.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

I'm like, oh no, he's gonna see that I butchered his track by you know cutting time out. So back to the Mickey Hart thing, you know, I I did that original thing from the cassette, thinking, oh, they're gonna come back with notes, or who knows what's gonna happen. But no, they choreographed the whole thing based on my edits. They couldn't they couldn't change anything if they wanted to. The choreographer worked with that, so then we went back and got like the master tapes, and I made the exact same edits so that it was it was seamless, and that's what you heard on the Olympics. And I didn't even get a ticket to the opening ceremonies.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Really? No, I would have thought you would have.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

But but because I worked around a lot of people involved, there'd be last-minute stuff like, hey, do you want to go see the dream team basketball? And you know, did that, got to see uh weightlifting, got to see I think I went to about three events.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Very nice.

SPEAKER_02 6:15

How about you?

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Well, me, I wasn't uh so tied into the whole

The Late Night Trick For Tickets

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Olympic thing the way that you obviously were. I was one of the common folk that had to purchase our tickets. And back then in 1996, you actually had to call. I think at first they had a a write-in where you could send away to be part of the drawing for tickets, but then after that, you had to call a phone number.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

Yeah, this is like the internet was just brand new. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

So I actually worked at the time a lot of the times till about 11 o'clock at night. And what I discovered is if you call this number 404-24-96400, which I have not forgotten because it's probably the most dial number that I have ever done.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

Is that the ticket master number?

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Yeah, that sounds very familiar.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

So what I would do is if you call during the day, you would not get through or it would be so uh busy you would be waiting, but not at night.

SPEAKER_03 7:22

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

So at my job, about the last hour or so, I'd start calling 404-249-6400.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

Did you put it on speed dial so you can go beet doo woo-bee doop?

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Yes, I did. Yeah. And all of a sudden there'd be tickets available. So I was like, all right, I don't have to buy tickets to this event just to get tickets. I can wait. Let me try tomorrow, let me try the next day to get what I want to get tickets to. And it was just so cool because people kept saying, How are you going to these events? How are you getting I can't get them? And I'm like, Well, I don't know, I must be lucky. I would not tell anybody what I was doing. I I didn't. I really didn't, because I wanted to go to what I wanted to go to. Right out of the gate, the day after the opening ceremonies, and the opening ceremonies were great, watch it on TV, like we talked about with uh Muhammad Ali and the lighting the torch and everything. It was super cool, really good time. The first thing I noticed when I go to the Olympics, it was the most corporate sponsored advertisement on everything thing that I had ever seen. 1992 Olympics were in Barcelona, and I thought those were absolutely beautiful. I I think when they were doing the um what is it, the dive diving, you know, where they're up high in the beautiful mountains in the background and all this. I didn't go to it. Um I watched it on TV, but the 96 Olympics, it was, you know, I know it was privately funded for the most part, so they had to make back their money some way, but wow, it was insane, all of the advertising there was advertising on everything. Every single thing had advertising.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

That's America,

Grateful Dead Jerseys And Bud World

SPEAKER_02 9:10

baby.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

It is. So the first event I go to is Croatia, Lithuania men's basketball game. In 1992, Lithuania was raising money to send a team to the Olympics in Barcelona. The Grateful Dead, speaking of Mickey Hart, donated, I believe it was like $5,000 to the fund. But then later on, a deal was worked out to make Grateful Dead inspired jerseys and shorts for the Lithuanian team to wear in the 92 Olympics. Yeah, they were super cool, very, very cool. Jersey was a skeleton slam dunking a basketball in a net. And I always thought it looked like Scottie Pippen. And recently did some research. It says that it was based on Scottie Pippen.

SPEAKER_02 10:06

How did you notice that?

SPEAKER_00 10:08

I just did. Like the way he would slam, you know, slam dunk a ball.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

I thought you meant it looked like his bone structure.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

No, no, no. Just kind of the way his body was when he was slam dunking, it that just always kind of was like, that looks like Scottie Pippen. Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

Right, yeah, the number two to Michael Jordan.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

There you go. So when I found out Lithuania would be in Atlanta for the 96 Olympics, I had to go to, you know, I have to be going to a game and I have to see them. The 96 jersey had a basketball with the Grateful Dead lightning bolt on it. And it was in a net that was the shape of the skull face, the steely face that we've talked about, the Grateful Dead, one of their logos. It was just unbelievable. I got my shirt before the games, I show up, I've got my Grateful Dead Lithuania basketball shirt on. And I could not believe how many Grateful Dead fans were at this game.

SPEAKER_02 11:08

What is the Lithuanian connection with the Grateful Dead?

SPEAKER_00 11:12

There's a lot of Grateful Dead back in the day, a lot of the Grateful Dead family, you know, the roadies and managers and different people were really into basketball. And one of the people from Lithuania, I believe, played on one of the California teams, maybe the Golden State Warriors. Oh, okay. And that kind of started the whole talk with everything and then moved into just this, you know, craziness.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

Is Lithuania the place that the the at the wedding that they liked uh losing my religion?

SPEAKER_00 11:43

Yes. As a matter of fact, Lithuania is the place that we talked about. Yeah, so just real quick, we talked about, you know, a few episodes ago, losing my religion. I was DJing a wedding back in 1994. That was the wedding song, the first dance song, and it was also the most requested song throughout the entire evening, and the floor would be absolutely packed every time I would play it. Crazy, but that is great.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

I like that, Jimmy. Speaking of that, Jimmy, over the weekend, he went uh out of town and went into a mom and pop record store and found an out-of-time cassette for me by REM. It's all tying in, Jimmy.

SPEAKER_02 12:28

It is tying in. Uh yeah. And you know, it's uh it's a collector's item. I knew you'd appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

I definitely, definitely do. I I appreciate it immensely that you thought of me.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Thank you. So back to 1996 Olympics. I know we're going all over the place today, but stay with me. I went to some gymnastic preliminary round events. I don't know who was there. It was just cool to say that I was at it. And I hung out at Bud World a ton. And Bud World was this big like tent, and they had like a huge bar, and it was it was like MTV-like, and you could get Budweiser and Bud-like, you know, it was just unbelievable. Like I was going there. Some days I didn't go to Olympic events, I went to Bud World down there and would hang out. It was just, y it was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 13:25

Aaron Ross Powell That was back when they had Budman, didn't they?

SPEAKER_00 13:28

Aaron Ross Powell, I think they did have Budman back then. I still have. I have a little shot glass. It looks like a little mini um, you know, beer mug and it has Bud World Party on

Basketball Night Ends In Chaos

SPEAKER_00 13:40

it. So yeah, it's great. So July 26, 1996, I went to see the USA China men's basketball game, easily won by the U.S. 133-70. Charles Barkley was on the team, but he didn't play in the game. I don't remember if he was hurt. I I just don't remember.

SPEAKER_02 13:59

And and and this is at the Georgia Dome, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Yes, the Georgia Dome.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

This is not at uh, you know, State Farm Arena or the Omni or a regular basketball arena. This is at a massive stadium meant for football games. And they had it divided in half. So they had a basketball game on one half of the field, essentially, and another game behind a giant curtain on the other. That's my memory.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

I think for the U.S. games that they had the whole thing open.

SPEAKER_02 14:29

They had the whole thing. Because I went to a U.S. game and I remembered it, but you know, either way, I was a mile away and couldn't really tell who was who. They didn't have great video screens back then.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

They did not. No. Not at all. So Charles Barclay, during a TV timeout, they're playing Village People, YMCA, and Charles Barclay just gets on the court and starts doing the YMCA dance and just getting the whole crowd into it. The crowd was so loud, now everybody's standing up. It was one of the highlights of the game. I gotta be honest with you. It was just really, really fun. So after the game, we ended up over at the House of Blues, which is now the Tabernacle, and it was an actual church. It was called the Baptist Tabernacle from 1911 to 1994. And basically, some people made an offer that the church couldn't refuse because it was so much money for them to leave that spot. And they did. But then they couldn't find anyone to actually take the spot, and it was probably, you know, a month, you know, month and a half for them to get the house of blues set up. And if you looked on the outside of the house of blues, it still had, you know, where they have like those glass things that they hold, like, you know, church programs, bulletins, and stuff. It said Baptist Tabernacle, but they painted over it House of Blues. And I remembered this vividly. And what I did last night is went down into my basement. I found my 96 Olympic photo album, and there's a picture of me in front of the sign, exactly how I remembered it. It was, you know, like that's that's really cool, you know. So we were hanging out there, they had a lot of open outdoor bars in Atlanta. You know, I guess it was like the Olympic zone, and you could just put a bar up anywhere, and everything was great. So we hung out there for for quite some time, and then it was getting near about 1 a.m. And we decided it was time to leave. And it was, you know, we as my girlfriend at the time, her friend, my brother from New York, two friends also from New York, and we're headed to where we would get on our bus to go home. So the way that it worked is that you didn't have to drive straight down there. You could drive to a a local area in Metro Atlanta, and you could pick up a bus there, and you'd pay, you'd get a ticket, and it would take you down right by the Omni, right down by the CNN Center, and you'd get off and you would walk, and then when you were done, you would get back on the bus, show your ticket, and then they would take you back to wherever you had picked up, you know, your bus, wherever your car is

The Centennial Park Bombing Up Close

SPEAKER_00 17:25

parked. So we're headed that way, and we walk through Centennial Olympic Park, and just after we get out of the park, and we're like six feet, eight feet tops out of the park, there's an explosion inside the park. And it's 1 20 a.m. There's a backpack with pipe bombs underneath, it was near a sound tower that had detonated. Immediately, I knew it was a bomb, and I knew it was bad. And I had, like I said, my girlfriend at the time and and family members and friends, and you know, I felt responsible for them, and I wanted to get them away as as quickly as I could. I didn't want anything to happen. I didn't know if there was gonna be another bomb, I didn't know what it was. I had never heard a bomb before in real life, but there was no question that it was. Right. And, you know, I was like, we gotta go, we gotta get out of here, we gotta go. And not everyone was agreeing with me at first, but I got kind of forceful because, like I said, I felt it was my responsibility, all these people staying with me, visiting me, that I've gotta do what's best, you know, for all of them. The Olympic Park bombing killed one person directly, injured 111, and then another person died fleeing from a a heart issue. And you know, when I heard about that afterwards, it just made it seem so much scarier than what it was the minute that I had heard the bomb. Right. And I remember as we're we we stepped out, we're going towards the CNN center, we're going towards the Omni, and as we're getting ready to cross the street, there's already police coming. And I'm like, how how do they know about this bomb? Well, it turns out the bomber had called about 30 minutes before the bomb went off to alert the police you've got 30 minutes. Again, at the time, I'm just like, you know, you don't know that. You don't know it till afterwards. And I'm like, this is crazy. There's no way the police we it just happened. But they knew because there was a phone bank right by where he had placed the bomb that he made the phone call and hung up quickly before they could trace or or do anything.

SPEAKER_02 20:06

So they had 30 minutes and they didn't evacuate the place?

SPEAKER_00 20:10

No, because there was a lot of red tape. There was a lot of red tape to verify was it a real call and you know, go from this group of people to this law enforcement agency, and you know, there was definitely some some issues with it. But Richard Jewell had found the bomb, and he was a security employee, and he was getting rid of people, and then some of the GBI who was there realized it, and they started getting rid of some of the people in the park. But it was too late, you know, it was so quick that they found it, then you know, when it went off. And you know, I remember we got to the bus, like we were running, we were running to the bus. I'm not gonna lie about that. And we get to the bus and we get in, and there's probably three or four people on the bus already. And we got on, and I don't know, like hey, I think a bomb just went off. He's like, I heard it, and everything. And then the bus driver, I kid you not, he goes, F this, closes the door, he goes, We're getting the F out of here. And we take off.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

Like Was the bus full?

SPEAKER_00 21:27

No, there was I think six of us and maybe three or four other people. Wow. And he took off and and we went to um I believe it was in Smyrna, Georgia, where we had parked. We got out there and we got in our cars, and we were listening to 99X radio, and they were broadcasting everything that they knew, what was happening, and you know what they knew, which wasn't a ton at that point in time. But I think when I heard it on the radio, then all of a sudden it became really real. Like you know something happened, we didn't see it, but then you're hearing about what's going on and taking place and you know, it was just really, really crazy.

Richard Jewell And Media Fallout

SPEAKER_00 22:10

You know, I mentioned Richard Jewell and he did a lot to save people's lives and uh uh unfortunately he ended up being investigated for the actual bombing. Right. And it wasn't until I want to say it was like October of ninety-six that they finally said he's not a person of interest anymore.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

But I think by then it had ruined his life. And I I I I really feel the media was a huge part of that. I don't think that the I don't think law enforcement agencies tried to make it seem that it could be somebody else. I don't think they did a good job when they talked to the media, and I think the media really ran with it. And I think that they probably should have investigated a little bit more before you're saying that somebody is possibly the person that blew up a bomb during the Olympics.

SPEAKER_02 23:08

Aaron Powell Yeah, when there was no evidence that he did, because he didn't do it.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

Aaron Ross Powell And there's never been any evidence, like you said. So but here he was being tried. And you Jimmy, you were here like it was on the TV and on the radio.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

I thought he was guilty. I jumped to conclusions. I have to admit. I thought, okay, it sounds like they got the guy.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Aaron Ross Powell Because of the way that it was portrayed.

SPEAKER_02 23:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:29

You know?

SPEAKER_02 23:30

I I actually know his attorney.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

Really?

SPEAKER_02 23:33

Yeah. So Watson Bryant got him uh exonerated. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Well, it's a good thing because he had nothing to do with it and was just trying to save some people. In 2003, Eric Rudolph was captured in Murphy, North Carolina, and now serving four consecutive life terms after three additional bombings after the Olympic Park bombing.

SPEAKER_02 23:56

One of those was right across the street from Doppler Studios where I worked. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

Were you at work?

SPEAKER_02 24:02

Uh I'm not sure if I was at work when it happened, but it was uh um a lesbian bar that he bombed. And uh and he bombed, I believe, like a clinic, and yeah, it was a few different places.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

Yeah, I think uh another place in um Birmingham as well. And so, you know, it turns out it's this guy, and he was found in Murphy, North Carolina, that is a place that I frequent often, and my family will frequent there often. And he was living in, you know, like a cabin because a lot of people rent out and aren't there all the time. And I think he might have been dumpster diving for food. Don't hold me 100%.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

And I heard some people that were sympathetic to him were like leaving things out so he could find them on the back porch and that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

Aaron Ross Powell That's how you're able to go to 2003

Back To The Games And John Williams

SPEAKER_00 25:00

before you get captured. So that night after the bombing, and it was a long night. I mean, we got home and now there's people calling from New York and people calling from all over to make sure that we're all safe. And we were up till I mean it was daylight before we actually went to sleep. But later that night we had tickets to see the USA versus Australia in the Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. Couldn't think of the name of the stadium there for a second, Jimmy. So we went to that, and what was cool is that we had seats that were really high up. So I could go maybe a couple of rows, and and I'm not joking, I we were like two or three rows from the top, and I could look out, and behind me was the Olympic Stadium, which ended up become Turner Field. So it was really cool being able to be in one stadium and look across over at the other stadium. You know, just cool moments, definitely cool moments. And August 4th, the gold medal game for women's basketball with USA taking on Brazil, winning 111 to 87. Brazilian fans were absolutely fun. And this was a game that I said that I was gonna go to. And it took me forever, 404-249-6400, and then one day they had tickets. You know, people were turning them back in, they're holding them, they're releasing them, they're doing all kinds of stuff, and I got two tickets to the game, and I'm gonna say it was like $92, and this is 1996. That's a lot of money. It's a lot, you know, that's a lot of money to a gold medal event game. Game was great. Uh ended up, you know, probably starting the WNBA. The WNBA started right after the 96 Olympics. Uh huh. Probably, you know, one of the most special times for women's basketball that I can think of. So I always thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but the Summer Olympics will be in Los Angeles in 2028. So you never know, Jimmy. You just never know. And real quick before I get off of this, you mentioned John Williams. My daughter, Jessica, was about to turn three. She turned three in the during the Olympics, and I had the CD, Summon the Heroes, that John Williams had put out, which was Olympic music, and then also some Olympic-inspired songs, like Chariots of Fire was on there and and different things. And when my daughter would take a nap, I would play that, and that's what would calm her down to fall asleep. And I did it for so long. And it was, you know, Summon the Heroes, which was the main theme song that um John Williams and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra did at the uh opening ceremonies. When they recorded it, they did it with the Boston Pop, but they did it live with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. So that was just a little cool thing since you mentioned John Williams there.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

Yeah, absolutely. So at the record store where I got the out of time cassette, they had Chariots of Fire original vinyl soundtrack. And I was asking my son, uh, oh, do you know Chariots of Fire? And he hadn't heard of it, but then I hummed the theme. He's like, Oh, yeah, that thing they play when people are running in slow motion. Like, yep, exactly. Jim's running in slow motion. I'm almost there. That's amazing. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

Oh, all right, I feel better. Oh, yeah. You know what? I enjoyed living back those memories from the 96 Olympics. Unfortunately, you know, the bombing happened, and you know, it's a sad thing. We're really lucky that, you know, only a few people died, and a few people is too many, but it could have been a lot worse. So much worse, yeah. So thank you to Richard Jewell and everybody else that helped out. Yeah. With having Fiddler

Empire State Stunt And Sports Oddities

SPEAKER_00 29:15

Ann Harris as a guest on our last episode, I didn't get to mention that I flew to New York on July 1st for the 4th of July weekend. Earlier that day, while I was still in Atlanta, two Russians climbed to the top of the spire of New York City's Empire State Building. Angela Nicolau and Vanya Birkus. I'm doing the best I can with that. You did well. Thank you. They did this with no ropes or safety harnesses. Have you watched the video?

SPEAKER_02 29:48

No.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

It is insane. Now they didn't climb and scale the whole building. You know, they took like the elevator like everybody does to the top. But then they did the spire by climbing it, just with their hands, tennis shoes on, nothing to save them. They uh hid in the um Empire State Building in a maintenance shop the night before, and then in the morning, then they started to make their descent where they could catch people off guard because of all the Fourth of July things that were going on, the World Cup, Taylor Swift's wedding, just all those things that were happening in New York at the time. There is a Netflix documentary that's about them, and it's called Skywalker's A Love Story. And it shows rooftopping, which a lot of people, that's what they call it, and skywalking, which is what they call it, and it's things I would never do. And they take photos and they bring a drone, they have like a backpack with a drone, so they're controlling a drone that's going around them on some of the world's tallest buildings. It's absolutely insane.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

I my knees feel weak right now, and I'm sitting.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

I'm not gonna lie, while I was watching it, I was getting a little queasy on some of the shots and some of the things, like, oh my god, what's gonna happen? When it's a Netflix documentary that's been out for two years, you know that they don't die, you know? You know they're gonna be okay. I guess. Oh my it was it was a little bit too much for me. So they unfurled a banner in New York City on the Empire State Building. When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace. And then right after that, they got engaged. He proposed to her. And immediately after that, they were arrested and they spent the night in jail, but released the next day on supervised release with no bail. All right. Yeah. I landed in LaGuardia Airport about 5:30, 6 o'clock, and as I'm leaving the airport, I'm looking at the Empire State Building, and I still can't believe that these two knuckleheads had climbed to the top of the spire, no ropes and no harnesses. I struggled just getting on a 10-foot ladder to paint something.

SPEAKER_02 32:18

Oh, for sure, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

Well, later that night, the Atlanta Braves took on the St. Louis Cardinals in a baseball game here in Atlanta. A group of English fans went to the game after England defeated D.R. Congo earlier in the day in the World Cup in Atlanta.

SPEAKER_02 32:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

They were sitting closest to Braves center fielder Michael Harris II and began chanting Walking in a Harris Wonderland, a takeoff on Walking in a Winter Wonderland. They did Baseball's Coming Home Again, which is something to do, I think, with the English club's national team. They have a song or something, but they changed it to Baseball's Coming Home Again. And my favorite, there's only one Michael Harris. Because he's Michael Harris II. They start chanting out, there's only one Michael Harris. And the clips I saw, it looked like he was enjoying it as much as the English fans. I mean, it's really fun to watch it. After the game, I think he threw some baseballs, he gave someone a hat, he uh he was doing all kinds of stuff, and it was fun. Braves win the game, and as the English fans are leaving at the top of the lungs, singing the Beatles, Heyjued. That's great. Victor Willis of the Village People singer, speaking of YMCA like we did earlier, he would have been 75 on July 1st, seeing that we're talking about July 1st, but he died the day before on June 30th, 2026. He would be the guy that dressed up as a police officer or a naval officer. He was actually married to Felicia Rashad before she married uh Ahmad Rashad. I don't remember what her maiden name was, but he was married to her, I think she was Huxtable. It was not Huxtable, but she was married to him um 1978, so I think it was like 1982. So basically the good years of the village people, as you may say, and so forth. And finally, July 1st is known as Bobby Bonilla Day. This is the day the former New York Mets baseball player gets $1.19 million. In 2000, the Mets decided to release him but owed him $5.9 million. The Mets and Bonilla negotiated a deferred payment agreement. He received his first million dollar 2011, I think it was, and it's going to continue to July 1st, 2035. So instead of $5.9 million, the Mets will end up paying them $29.8 million total. The Mets ownership team at the time had invested with Bernie Madoff and were expecting large returns that would offset the buyout agreement. But then Madoff's Ponzi scheme came to light afterwards, and that was the end of the offset. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 35:28

Jim, I know you're a Mets fan, but come on, that's so Mets.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

It is so Mets. But you know what else I learned that makes me feel a little bit better? I'm not sure people know, but Bobby Bonilla has been getting $500,000 annually from the Baltimore Orioles since 2004 and will until 2028. Wow. All I can say is wow. How do I get a deal like that? I know. They pay you to go away. That's insane. Absolutely

Minute With Jimmy Ramones Song Truth

SPEAKER_00 36:00

insane. Hey, listen, let's revisit some more music in my shoes. And we're going to start off with tick-tick tick. It's Minute with Jimmy. It's time for a minute with Jimmy, Minute with Jimmy, Minute with Jimmy. It's time for a minute with Jimmy, Minute with Jimmy, Minute with Jimmy.

SPEAKER_02 36:17

Okay, you might remember that we talked in January about the Ramones and how Johnny's widow, Linda, took over the rights to all the Ramones from Mickey Lee, Joey's brother. Well, there's a little bit more to their story. So 45 years ago, this week, the album Pleasant Dreams came out. The best song on it was called The KKK Took My Baby Away. People have always said that's because Joey's girlfriend at the time, Linda, got taken by Johnny, who married her and was with her till he died. Well, it turns out that's not true. Both Mickey and Marky Ramon both say that's that's a rumor that got started uh in a documentary, and it was actually a song that was written well before uh Linda left for Johnny. It was written about a girl named Wilna that was black, and Joey had met in a uh in an institution, a mental institution in the early 70s, and they became boyfriend and girlfriend, and her parents didn't want him, didn't want her dating a Jewish man. So apparently Joey and Wilna would jokingly refer to her parents as the KKK, and then one day she wasn't around anymore, and Joey's brother Mickey says, What happened to Wilna? And Joey said, The KKK took my baby away. And that's where the song came from. Has nothing to do, it kind of you can apply it to the fact that Johnny took took Linda, but uh that's the real that's the real deal. And it's a great song.

SPEAKER_00 38:13

I'm glad you got to the bottom of the truth there.

SPEAKER_02 38:15

I did. And did you know that that song is actually they borrowed the riff, the uh da na na na na ta uh they borrowed that from cheap trick. Really? Yeah, a song called He's a Whore.

SPEAKER_00 38:35

Oh my god, just when I thought that the Minute Plus with Jimmy wasn't gonna get any weirder. Yeah, there it goes.

SPEAKER_02 38:44

No, and and I had never heard that song before. It's from like their first album, like a 1977 cheap trick record, and it's a really good song.

SPEAKER_00 38:53

I'm gonna have to listen to it now, Jimmy.

SPEAKER_02 38:55

Listen to those songs back to back. You'll hear the the same thing.

SPEAKER_00 38:58

Thank you so much for setting us straight on all of this because the world's been wondering. Yeah, that was a whirlwind of of knowledge, if I can say so myself. Wow. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 39:09

It didn't quite fit in a minute, but you know.

SPEAKER_00 39:12

That's all right. That was still a good two and a half minutes

AC/DC Then Rolling Stones New Album

SPEAKER_00 39:15

of Jimmy. Thank you. My name was Jimmy. The video games say play me, face it on a level, but I take you every time on a one-on-one. ACDC, Who Made Who, song peaked at number 23 on Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay, July 19th, 1986, 40 years ago. Feeling running down your spine, nothing gonna save your one last dime, cause it owns you through and through. I like that song, Jimmy. I know it's not one of their bigger songs. I know it's a hit, but it's not like one of their super ones. I really like it. I like the guitar work in it. I think it's a great song. I really do. Now we're going to revisit the Rolling Stones, who have a new album out. Foreign Tongues came out July 10th, 2026, almost three years since Hackney Diamonds came out, and 63 years since their first single was released in the UK. Fourteen songs, including two covers. And overall, I think it's a pretty good album, Jimmy. Have you had a chance to listen to it? I think it's excellent. It really is good. Yeah. It it really is. I've listened to it about eight or nine times now. You know, just you know, beginning to end. Some of the songs are left over from Hackney Diamonds, including a song that they actually recorded with Charlie Watts before his death in 2021. Steve Winwood plays organ or piano on nine of the songs.

SPEAKER_02 40:52

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_00 40:53

Steve was in the Spencer Davis group, Traffic, Blind Faith, as well as a successful solo career. He came down, they say, Hey, why don't you play on one song? And he agreed to play one song, and then they're like, Hey, can you play on another song? And then eventually it's like, hey, can you come back tomorrow? And he just became part of it.

SPEAKER_02 41:11

He was their Billy Preston.

SPEAKER_00 41:13

Yes. Now the one thing is Chuck Lavelle didn't play on. Chuck Lavelle has been, you know, their director of music when they do touring. He didn't play on this album, he didn't play on the last album. I don't think he played on Babylon and On. Uh I forget if that's the album, but I don't think he played on that. I love Chuck Lavelle. I would have loved to have heard him, but if you're not gonna have him, Steve Wynwood's no slack by any means. Yeah. Also, Ben Montench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers plays piano and organ on four songs. Oh, cool. Robert Smith of the Cure plays guitar in one song and synthesizer on another. Really? How the heck did Robert Smith of the Cure get involved with this? That's awesome. Paul McCartney plays bass on a song. Bruno Mars, he plays Cowbell on a song. And Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers plays bass drum on the album's last song. Album opens up with Rough and Twisted. I say that's my favorite song on the album. A bluesy rocker. Why don't you drive me down that rough and twisted road? Why don't you guide me? Because I don't know which way to go. It's an excellent song. It really, really is.

SPEAKER_02 42:31

And you know they're getting back to their roots. That's what got them into music in the first place is that old blues. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:38

Yeah, without a doubt. Um In the Stars, that's a good song. Jealous Lover, Mick Jagger loves to sing falsetto on a song on every album.

SPEAKER_02 42:50

It's good. It kind of feels like something that could have been off emotional rescue or something.

SPEAKER_00 42:54

And and he's going to be 83 in like a week or two weeks from now. He does. Yeah. Hitting the falsetto really impressed me because that's not normally what you can do when you're 83 years old. Yeah. It's fantastic. Mr. Charm, good rocker. Now, this album has some familiar riffs, some riffs from the 90s, some riffs from the last album. You know, there's some familiar things that they kind of butt okay. Which is okay. It is. For me, I'm okay with that. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 43:25

They can borrow from themselves, they can borrow from other people. They've earned that.

SPEAKER_00 43:30

They have. But I wanted to point that out. I I don't want people to be like, oh, I've heard this. Yeah, I know. I've heard it before, too, and I'm okay with it. It's good. And it's a little bit more poppy than a normal Rolling Stones album, some of the songs. Like I kind of like it, you know? I do. I I do really like it. Divine Intervention. I love that song. That's got Robert Smith and Steve Winwood on it. Divine Intervention is out of the question. And life is a gambling game. I love those lines. I think it's fantastic. I do too. Ringing hollow, really good, country inspired, never want to lose you, hit me in the head, you know I'm no good. So that's an Amy Winehouse song, and it's done really different. You know, the Amy Winehouse version has that bass that drives the whole song. And on this, Mick Jagger plays harmonica. He plays harmonica actually on a couple of the songs, which goes back to their roots again when they first started playing. They, you know, did a bunch of uh of harmonica. It's a good version. It's different, it's not the same, but I like it. I really do.

SPEAKER_02 44:42

Yeah, when I first heard it, I'm like, this sounds like an Amy Winehouse song, and then I realized it is.

SPEAKER_00 44:47

Yes. She actually sang a song with them. I want to sing on the 2007 tour. I think they might have done a benefit or something, and she played uh with them, and they kind of hit it off, and here they are paying their respects to her. Yeah. Some of us, a Keith Richards song that is the, you know, recent Keith formula to do a song. Yeah. You know, again.

SPEAKER_02 45:10

Hey, he's earned it.

SPEAKER_00 45:11

He's earned it.

SPEAKER_02 45:12

You can do one, Keith.

SPEAKER_00 45:13

Uh Beautiful Delilah, a Chuck Berry cover. It's a good song, and it's fitting to be the last song on the album. I mentioned earlier that 63 years ago the Rolling Stones released their first single, which was a Chuck Berry cover, Come On. First single release in 1963, possibly last song on an album in 2026, a nod to Chuck Berry, that's okay in my books.

SPEAKER_02 45:39

Yeah, and there's actually a version from 1964 that's available of them doing Beautiful Delilah. And the Kinks released it right around that same time on their first albums, the first song on their first album.

SPEAKER_00 45:53

You know, one of the things we talked about when the show first started is how many people would do Chuck Berry songs, the Beatles, the Who, the Kinks, the Rolling Stones. I mean, everybody was trying to, you know, do Chuck Berry because Chuck was the man, you know? Yeah. And here the Rolling Stones, what could possibly be their final album? They give a nod, the last song, to Chuck Berry. I don't think that's a coincidence whatsoever. Again, the opening song, bluesy rocker to their roots, the ending song, a Chuck Berry cover, a lot of Chuck Berry throughout their history, and this is the Rolling Stones foreign tongues.

Final Thoughts And How To Reach Us

SPEAKER_00 46:35

And that's it for this episode 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. Something you want to say? You can reach us at musicinmyshoes at gmail.com. Please like and follow the Music in My Shoes Facebook and Instagram pages. 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.