WLIR Summer '81 Screamers Plus The Cure and The Smiths Live at The Pier 1986 E144

A single radio station can explain an entire era if you listen closely enough. We rewind to WLIR 92.7 and the Screamer of the Week, when DJs pitched their favorite new songs and listeners called in to vote, turning early 1980s rock radio into a hands-on discovery engine. That lens lets us hear 1981 the way it actually felt: unpredictable, genre-blurring, and way ahead of the mainstream curve. 

We jump from The Tubes’ “Talk To Ya Later” to the behind-the-scenes web that connects Vince Welnick, the Grateful Dead, and Steve Lukather’s instantly recognizable guitar work. From there, we track the early MTV effect and why music video exposure changed record sales, then land on deep-cut details around PhD and Squeeze’s “Tempted,” including the kind of production and guest-vocal surprises you’d never catch without liner notes and obsessive re-listening. We also dig into the UK approach to singles versus the American “greatest hits” mindset, which helps explain how some songs live outside the album cycle. 

Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen” brings in influence, misheard words, and that Police-inspired guitar feel, and Duran Duran’s “Girls On Film” turns into a mini history of censorship, nightclub cuts, and what MTV could and couldn’t show. Along the way we veer into peak real-life tangents: a legendary misheard-lyrics moment, a tabloid Brooklyn Bridge headline, a dog casually attending Rush at Madison Square Garden, plus a quick “Minute with Jimmy” review of the Strokes’ new album Reality Awaits. If you love alternative rock history, 1980s music stories, and the weird little facts that make songs stick, hit play. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:22

Hey everybody,

Welcome And WLIR Setup

SPEAKER_02 0:23

this is Jim Boj, and you're listening to Music in My Shoes, Podcasting Worldwide. That was Vic Thrill kicking off episode 144. I'm thrilled to be here with you. Let's learn something new or remember something old. So I've talked about radio station WLIR 927 many times on the show. In 1982, it switched full-time to new music, alternative, modern rock, whatever you want to call it. Yeah. The few years before this change, WLIR was playing a mixture of old rock, new rock, new music, veteran artists, uh new artists, random acts, you know, just all kinds of different things.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Was it all rock?

SPEAKER_02 1:12

Yes, it was rock in one form or fashion. But, you know, some of it might be considered indie rock, some of it was popular artists. It was just really, you know, I call it everything but the kitchen sink. You know, I know their shows name that, but it truly was something like it. It was all over the place. It really was.

The Tubes Hit Before MTV

SPEAKER_02 1:29

The Screamer of the Week contest, the best new song of the week, started in the fall of 1980. And we really only talked about it from, you know, post LIR becoming all new wave, all alternative, all new rock, whatever. But it actually started in 1980, fall of 1980. And the tubes, Talk to You Later, peaked at number seven on Billboard mainstream rock songs, July 18th, 1981. It had been the LIR Screamer of the Week, the second week of May 1981. I think Talk to You Later was played at every one of my high school dances from 10th grade on. I I really do. And we had dances like I think we had like a back to school dance. You know, it'd be held in the gymnasium, they get a DJ. We had um, I don't know, Thanksgiving dance, Christmas dance, spring dance. Uh you know, I think we had Valentine's dance. I can't think of all the different ones. But I think from 10th grade on, every single dance had Talk To You Later.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Aaron Ross Powell Were the tubes from New York?

SPEAKER_02 2:47

No, actually San Francisco.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

I think they would have been considered a new wave band. You know, they weren't quite mainstream rock.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Aaron Ross Powell They were definitely not mainstream rock. And as when they first started, they were kind of like art deco rock or something of that nature. They would really put a lot into their stage shows. And sometimes when when they started, it was more than the music, was actually the show, especially things that uh Fee Weibill, that was the lead singer, think different concepts that he would come up with.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

They had uh She's a Beauty, right?

SPEAKER_02 3:22

Yes. Which was a a huge hit, you know, 1982, something like that. Somewhere around there, where it was just a huge song all across the dial.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Early MTV song, too, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Yes, it was. Yes, it was. So talk to you later. Obviously, you remember it, Jimmy. Yeah. She won't even miss me when she's gone, but that's okay with me. I'll cry later on. Talk to you later, don't want to hear it again tonight. Vince Wellnick, he was a keyboardist in the tubes, and he played on this song. He later became the Grateful Dead keyboardist from September 1990 until Jerry Garcia's death in August 1995. Wow. He auditioned. There was not that many people at audition. He was one of them. His voice for background could go high, and they needed that, especially as Jerry's voice was struggling. And he lived in the San Francisco area where the Grateful Dead were. But about a hundred of the shows from 1990 to 1995, they also had Bruce Hornsby playing with them because he played the piano, which is not something that was a strong fit for Vince, and then they would have them together, and it it seemed to work out when they did that. Yeah. A much better show.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

He was a little more of a synthesizer guy, I guess. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

So the main guitar riff is played by Steve Lukather of Toto. Oh. Yes. And he's been on Michael Jackson. He's been on, you know, he tours with uh Ringo Star and the All-Star Band a lot. I mean, he has been part of so many things. I think we could do a show just on him and all the songs that he's played on that you wouldn't even know.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

He's good too. He's got a good style. Like I can picture Toto's guitar work. Like, yeah, he's good.

SPEAKER_02 5:28

He's real good. I really do enjoy him. So the tubes record sales were higher where MTV was available on cable. Yeah. One of the first songs to show what MTV could do.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Talk to you later.

SPEAKER_02 5:45

Talk to you later. I mean, I'm not going to talk to you later, Jimmy. I'm going to keep talking to you now.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

Oh, okay. I'll talk to you later, too.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

I don't want to hear it again tonight.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Okay, then we'll talk now.

SPEAKER_02 5:56

I'll just see you around.

PhD And How “Screamer” Worked

SPEAKER_02 5:58

Last episode I mentioned PhD, and they had the fifth video, and I didn't know anything about them whatsoever. So the fifth video on MTV, Little Susie's On the Up, well, their song, I Won't Let You Down, was the WLIR Screamer of the Week, the fourth week of May 1981, two months before MTV launched. Oh. Yes. So in 81, 80, I listened to WLIR off and on. It wasn't my main station that I would listen to, but I would listen to it. Here and there. I liked listening to their screamer stuff. They played Joan Jett early before she ever was a a big person, you know, um, nationwide. Uh New Riders of the Purple Sage, they played. You know, they played a bunch of bands that you didn't hear on the radio whatsoever.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Aaron Ross Powell Now let me ask you this. I don't know if you've ever said this, but the screamer of the week, was there a particular time? Was it like on Friday at five, they'd tell you what the screamer of the week is?

SPEAKER_02 7:07

So it was Thursdays when I was listening to it from 82 on. And what they would do is each DJ would pick a song that they would say, Hey, this is my favorite new song of the week, and they would do a little promo of why they think it should be the screamer of the week. And they would play all of those songs on Thursday nights. I don't remember what time it was for, but it was for a few hours. They'd throw in some other songs, and then you call in, and whoever got the most votes ended up being the screamer of the week.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Yeah, it was cool because I called in sometimes, and then you're like, I help make this song Screamer of the Week. Yeah. You know? So

Squeeze “Tempted” And Hidden Credits

SPEAKER_02 7:53

the following week after PhD had the Screamer of the Week on WLIR, Squeeze had the L I R Screamer of the Week with Tempted, a song that peaked at number 49 on Billboard Hot 100, September 12th, 1981. I'd say it's probably the most well-known song by Squeeze.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Maybe Black Coffee in Bed.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Right. Those two.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Those two, I'm not sure which one. But to me, I think Tempted is. It doesn't mean I like Tempted more, but I just think it's, you know, when you mention the band Squeeze, you can either do Tempted or you can do Black Coffee in Bed, and usually maybe pulling muscles from the shell is another pretty popular one.

SPEAKER_01 8:39

But those two are are more popular.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Yeah, definitely more popular. I bought a toothbrush, some toothpaste, a flannel for my face, pajamas, a hairbrush, new shoes, and a case. And you're probably saying, why did I buy a hairbrush? Because I have no hair on the top of my head.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

No, but Difford did.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Yes. Yes. So it is a Difford Tilbrook song, but it was sung by new keyboardist Paul Carrick. What? Paul Carrick had the 1975 hit with Ace. How long has this been going on? Yeah. And they brought him into the band after Jules Holland had left, and they actually already had recorded the song, and Elvis Costello was the producer and says, Hey, let's re-record it, but let's use Paul Carrick this time. And you know, uh Diffin and Tilburg were so-so on the whole idea, like, this is my song, this is it. But it, you know, it worked out well. It really did. And as a matter of fact, you can hear Elvis a couple of lines on the second verse. And I didn't know that when it came out. Because you remember, when when things came out back in the day, you didn't know there was a guest on it. You didn't know who was producing it. You bought the album, even if you saw who was producing it, it didn't say, oh, Elvis sings on the second verse. You know, you couldn't do stuff like that. But then once you find out, he's like, oh yeah, that sounds exactly like him. That that is him. Tempted by the fruit of another, tempted, but the truth is discovered. What's been going on now that you have gone, there's no other. Is that not some great freaking words? They're great, yes. You don't show the same enthusiasm as I do.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

No, it's just your spoken word poetry leaves me speechless.

SPEAKER_02 10:38

Thank you, Jimmy. I can understand that. I I I can. I think the lyrics are fantastic. Squeeze is one of my favorite bands, and I was excited to see them grow to a bigger audience because back in like 1980, when I would mention Squeeze, like nobody seemed to know them. Right. But at least in 81 you could say tempted and they knew it. In 82 was Black Coffee in Bed and blah, blah, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

But when did when did the singles come out?

SPEAKER_02 11:08

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: So singles came out in 1982, early fall, it came out.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

That's when I really started to know Squeeze.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Aaron Powell That I think a lot of people, that was the album. It had Annie Get Your Gun, which was a single on its own, but it was something that everybody liked because it was the best of, and you could just listen to it. Because again, back then you had to listen to a record and you couldn't just push buttons, you know, you put the needle on the record and it would go through and you didn't want to pick it up. I've said it many times because you were afraid that you'd scratch the record.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

True. So have I ever mentioned American bands? If you put out a collection of your hits, you call it greatest hits. But British bands, they call it singles. You notice that?

SPEAKER_02 11:58

You know, I didn't notice that until now.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

Yep. The Buzzcocks have singles going steady. Uh The Cure has singles standing on a beach.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

So one of the things, and not all British bands, but a lot of British bands, when they put a single out, they don't put it on the album. The Cure, they released a bunch of singles and then they put the singles out as an album. But it wasn't like, oh, here's an album, here's the new single off of it. It didn't work that way when they first started. The Beatles never put a single out that they had on one of their albums in Britain. Like sometimes in America they would force it, but it just wasn't that way. I I think maybe the Rolling Stones did that. And I'm sure if we looked into it more and more, especially with you pointing that out, I bet you there's a huge correlation with it.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Yeah, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

It is cool. We learned something new. We did. I like that. So the

Stevie Nicks And A Police Riff

SPEAKER_02 12:57

LIR screamer of the week for the last week of July 1981 was Stevie Nick's Edge of 17. So again, you could see how the music is all over the place.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

You know? Just like the white-winged dove sings a song, sounds like she's singing. Ooh, baby. Ooh. Ooh.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Yeah, I was wondering how you're gonna handle that.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

It was the number four song on Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay September 19th, 1981, and peaked at number 11 on Billboard Hot 100, April 17th, 1982, nine months after being the LIR Screamer of the Week. It's got this really cool guitar riff throughout the song, but when you listen to it, it reminds you of a song by the police. And I think that you could kind of almost mash them up together to make this one big long song that seems like Stevie Nicks and the police are doing it. It sounds so close. And the fact that it, you know, Bring on the Night came out before Edge of 17.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

So Stevie Nicks actually says that she modeled that guitar part directly after the police's Bring On the Night. Really? And she had a session guitar player, she explained the guitar part to him and he played it, but he had never heard the song.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

So he didn't find out till years later that he had unintentionally modeled it after them.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

That is crazy. But I think that I could mash it up and I can make it a duet out of both of them. There's no question about that. So it had Ben Montench of Tom Penny and the Heartbreakers. He's on organ, and Roy Bitten, who I've talked about many times because I love his piano playing of the E Street band. One of those songs that always seemed to be on the radio. You would turn it on, and all of a sudden it would be like, just like go wide wing dove, you know, like it was insane how often it would come on. Stevie Nicks had asked Tom Petty's wife, his wife at the time, how her and Tom had met. And the response was at the age of 17. But Stevie misheard her, and she heard it as edge of 17 and decided to write a song with the misheard words. But the moment that I first laid eyes on him all alone on the edge of 17.

Duran Duran Video Gets Banned

SPEAKER_02 15:46

So Duran Duran Girls on Film released July 13th, 1981. Not a screamer of the week. I'm not sure how it couldn't be, when you know that was a great song, how it didn't become one, but it wasn't. The video was filmed twelve days after MTV in America was born. They were not worried about censorship. They made the video and intended it for nightclubs where you could just show whatever you wanted to and didn't have to worry. See them walking hand in hand across the bridge at midnight, heads turning as the lights flashing out. It's so bright. Godly and Cream directed the video. They had been in 10 C C in the 1970s. Their big hit was I'm not in love. Do you remember that song? I don't I don't know if I do. I'm not in love. That's about all I remember of it. But it was a big hit. Big hit for them. So they were told to make an erotic video and a bit controversial, and that they did for sure. The video was banned by the BBC in Britain, and the version that eventually made MTV was very different from the original. I think the video, I think the video was probably six minutes long, but when they cut it down for MTV and changed it up, it was three minutes.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 17:18

Yeah. The band played, and there was like a fashion runway coming like away from them, and it led to a boxing ring, and there was mud wrestling and sumo wrestling. And let's just say it's not safe for work the rest of the video. Um I've always loved the lines Wider Baby Smiling, you've just made a million, fuses pumping live heat, twisting out on a wire. I just love that. Like when they play that part of the song, it's just fantastic. Fantastic. Good lyrics. Same month it was released, it made it to number five on the UK singles charts. It was probably within two weeks of the song coming out. It's number five in the UK. We've talked about this before, Jimmy. You know, American music and Britain music, the way people listen is very different. You can have uh uh a punk band that makes it to number one, and then the next week it's uh soft ballad in the UK and and everything in between. Where America is kind of like it's whatever people are listening to at that time tend to really be the majority of what is the top 40, and especially making it to top, you know, the number one song, you know? True. The video was filmed at Shepherd and Studios in England. Led Zeppelin filmed some of their uh scenes for the song Remains the Same at there, as well as the Who who shot their live concert scenes for the film The Kids Are All Right there as well, and it was the last live performance of Keith Moon, who died later in 1978. Yeah. So the song started off as Girls in Film, but was changed to Girls on Film two minutes later, girls on film. Girls on Film got your picture, girls on film. Rick

Rick James Funk And Risque Lyrics

SPEAKER_02 19:20

James, give it to me, baby, peaked at number 40 on Billboard, July 18th, 1981. You say, I'm so crazy, coming home intoxicated. As a kid, I was like, this is a great song. I say, just want to love you. I just want to love you, baby. Guess that's why I'm so elated. Come on, girl. Here's another risque song in the lyrics. I mean, it's just like, wow, this was something else when this song came out. Yeah. I love the pumping bass line that gets it started. I'm ready to dance. Give it to me, baby. Give me that stuff, that funk, that sweet, that funky stuff. Say what? I get it. Oh, there you go. Give it to me. Give it to me. Oh, man.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

The horns in that song are great too.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

Yeah, they are. You know, I mean you look at the song, Risk K song, you know, everything, but the song's well put together. They have good musicians, and it sounds good. I I love it. Love the song. Yeah. Love it. A

Ramones Want The Airwaves

SPEAKER_02 20:29

few episodes ago, Jimmy, you mentioned the Ramones Pleasant Dreams, the album on Minute with Jimmy. Yes. And it was released on July 20th, 1981. Doesn't it seem like this whole episode is just a few days, few weeks or a few days later after the last thing we talked about? So we want the airwaves opening song on the album. It's one of my favorite songs of the Ramones. Oh, good. I think it's like the hard rock version of the 1980s song, Do you remember Rock and Roll Radio? Because in my mind, they're kind of talking the same thing. But do you remember rock and roll radio is the 1950s version of how you would say something, and we want the airwaves is the 1980s, early 80s punk version of how you're going to say you want to keep music alive and this is what you want, you know?

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Yeah, I think the Ramones were frustrated by that point that they hadn't had any commercial radio success. And so they were like, We want the airwaves. You know, play us.

SPEAKER_02 21:36

If rock is gonna stay alive. So the song in the album was produced by Graham Goldman, guitar and bass in the band 10cc with Godly and Cream. Talk about full circle. Graham Goldman also wrote the song For Your Love that would become a hit for the Yardbirds in I don't remember exactly what year. In the 60s, it was? But I don't know either. That's a talented man right there. That is. Who would have thought that 10 C C three different guys from the band who had a big hit in 75, I'm not in love, that's kind of like a slower song ballad, that they would make an impact, not just an impact, a huge impact for Duran Duran and the Ramones.

SPEAKER_01 22:27

Yeah, and also the Ramones were kind of cutting against the grain of a lot of that overproduced music of the mid-70s. Right. And 10 CC was very emblematic of that. Right. You know, they they really had a lot of production in their stuff. And here they are producing the Ramones. Right. It's crazy. That's how bad the Ramones wanted the airwaves.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

I guess so. Well, I think the first few lines of the song are inspired by the Door song five to one. Oh. And when the music's over. So those two songs. If you take those two songs, when you listen to the beginning of We Want the Airwaves, 9-5 and 5 to 9 ain't gonna take it. It's our time. We want the world and we want it now. We're gonna take it anyhow. A song that it as a teenager gave me hope. It gave me belief that music could make my day better. And it is still doing that all these years later. But, you know, I went and I listened to Um The Doors Five to One. I went and listened to uh When the Music's Over, you know, in When the Music's Over, it's we want the world and we want it now, you know. And five to five to one, baby, one of our no one here gets out of line, you know, so it's kind of like all ties in. I think that you could actually sing the first few lines and interject them into different songs by the Ramones and the Doors.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Well, and also it starts out with nine to five, and then later on that same album, there's it's not my place in the nine to five world. Correct. Which God knows Joey Ramone did not belong in the nine to five world. No, can you imagine going to a you know a normal store and Joey Ramone is trying to help you? It's it wasn't gonna work.

SPEAKER_02 24:22

Not at all. We want the airwaves, baby. If rock is gonna stay alive.

Misheard Lyrics That Kill Us

SPEAKER_02 24:34

I'm on social media the other day when a reel pops up that I have to watch. It's a dog kind of looking around while a Bee G song plays. And what someone thinks the words are are kind of written on the screen. The text is written on the screen. I got hair in my butt, I get higher in Milwaukee, and I'm pooping in the dark in the morning. The actual lyrics are I got fire in my mind, I get higher in my walking, and I'm grooving in the dark, give you warning.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

Huh.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

I could not stop laughing, I got hair in my butt, I get higher in Milwaukee, and I'm pooping in the dark in the morning. Woo!

SPEAKER_01 25:22

I like we've all done it.

SPEAKER_02 25:24

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

Oh that's that's a checklist we've all, you know, marked off.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

It's not a bucket list, but it might be a checklist, I'll tell you that.

Naked Brooklyn Bridge Jump Headline

SPEAKER_02 25:33

Few episodes ago, we spoke about the couple that scaled the Empire State Building to the top of the antenna, no ropes or harnesses. Well, on August 2nd, 2026, a man jumped from the top of the Brooklyn Bridge into the East River. That's about 270 feet above the water. Before he jumped, he took off all of his clothes and then he put a couple of flags up on top of the bridge and then he jumped. The New York Post print edition of their paper is the front page, full color picture. And you can see the man, it's like he's so small, you can't really see him. It's almost like a stick figure jumping, but it's a a picture. In huge type is the headline, Bear He Goes, and then smaller font, Man Jumps off Brooklyn Bridge Naked, dot dot dot, and lives. Oh, okay. I was gonna ask. The New York Post Online edition had the headline as Naked Nutjob jumps from bridge. Naked nutjob jumps from bridge after erecting flags. Oh, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:50

All right.

SPEAKER_02 26:50

Oh man, he did live. It's kind of surprising that he he'd live, especially from that high of water.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

It doesn't seem like being naked would would help.

SPEAKER_02 27:00

No, I think it would be a little bit more painful. Yeah.

A Dog Walks Into Rush

SPEAKER_02 27:03

But who knows? Last episode I mentioned that I saw Rush on the first of four nights at Madison Square Garden in July. What I forgot to mention is that while I was waiting to get my ticket scanned, there were three people in front of us with a dog. It was a regular dog. It didn't have like markings of a service dog. And this wasn't right at like the front door. It wasn't at the door, you know, we went in on 7th Avenue. So just to kind of give you an idea, you go in on 7th Avenue, you go through security, you go through the metal detectors, you have your bags go through, and then you walk down a little bit of a hallway and you go either to the left or you go to the right. And when you do that, that's when they scan your ticket. They haven't scanned your ticket yet.

SPEAKER_01 27:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

So we're going to scan, and I'm like, it's a medium-sized dog. And I'm like, what is going on with this dog? It's just, it's on a leash, you know, it's just kind of walking along, it's in front of us. And there's a Madison Square garden employee kind of behind like this barricade, and they say something to him, and it's like, oh yeah, no, we're pretty easy here. If they let you in through the front door with the dog, you're good. Dog can hang out. Dog's there to see Rush. I mean, it was unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

So it wasn't even like a registered service animal. They just brought their dog.

SPEAKER_02 28:30

They just brought their dog, and they're like, you got it through the front door, you're not gonna have any problem with anybody else. It was just crazy. It was crazy. I could not get that out of my mind. But you know what else that I can't get out of my mind?

Minute With Jimmy On The Strokes

SPEAKER_02 28:45

What? My watch tells me that 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_01 28:57

So last week the Strokes put out a new album. It's their first album, I think, since 2020, and it's pretty good. Um, it opens with a song called Psycho Shit. It's a real dark, kind of lonely song that builds up to this crescendo later in the song. The thing that bugs me about it is Julian Casablancas, the singer of the strokes, he likes auto-tune now, like really severe auto-tune. So it's almost like you're listening to a keyboard instead of vocal sometimes. They do that throughout the album in different amounts. Uh, some songs that I did like on it, uh Lonely in the Future, Going to Babylon, and then their single from the album right now is called Going Shopping. It's a real poppy, easy to listen to song, and the music video that goes along with it has Walton Goggins. You know who Walton Goggins is?

SPEAKER_02 29:53

I do not.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

He was in the White Lotus, he was in the Righteous Gemstones, he's uh you know, a funny comedic actor. Uh so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:02

So, Jimmy, what was the name of the album?

SPEAKER_01 30:06

Reality Awaits. I don't think I mentioned it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:10

Okay, so where psycho what wait, what did I miss?

SPEAKER_01 30:14

The uh first song is called Psycho Shit.

SPEAKER_02 30:17

Okay, okay, now I got it. I'm so I'm gonna have to listen to this. I wanted to make sure I got this all together. So this episode, we've talked about a dog going to see Rush at Madison Square Garden. We've talked about a dog on a video screen where you hear, I got hair in my butt, I get higher in Milwaukee, and I'm pooping in the dark in the morning. And now we're talking about the strokes with psycho shit as the name of their song.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

Right, yeah, exactly. It's all very juvenile.

SPEAKER_02 30:51

Where has this episode gone, Jimmy?

SPEAKER_01 30:54

Straight to the toilet, Jim.

SPEAKER_02 30:55

I I guess so. I guess so. But you know what, Jimmy? I'm gonna check that out. Another good Minute with Jimmy. My name with Jimmy. Let's revisit some more music in my shoes.

The Cure At Pier 84

SPEAKER_02 31:08

The Cure, July 8th, 1986. They played Pier 84, or as we called it, the Pier. And just a little background, it was in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan. It was right by the USS Intrepid, and it was a really cool place to to see a show. And Robert Smith had actually cut his hair not long before, and I'm not gonna say it was like a crew cut, but it was super short. Very un-Robert-like, yeah. You know, that's just not him. So I looked up a New York Times review of the show, and in part, John Perylus wrote, The Cure is one of Rock's most single-minded bands dedicated to nightmare surrealism and unremitting despair. Mr. Smith writes songs in three tempos, dirge, march, and dance, and two varieties, murky synthesizer, drones, or clearer, riff-driven guitar rockers, all kept to a punk-inspired minimum of chords.

SPEAKER_01 32:29

I think that's a really good description of the cure.

SPEAKER_02 32:32

This guy hit it dead on. Yeah. Dead on. That is exactly what the show sounded like that I was at. It was a really good show. They played a lot of good songs. Open up with Shake Dog Shake. I don't know why we have so many dog references in this episode. But uh A Strange Day, primary, Charlotte Sometimes, in between days, the walk, a night like this, uh 100 years, a forest close to me, let's go to bed, three imaginary boys, boys don't cry. 1015 Saturday night. I mean, it was an excellent show.

SPEAKER_01 33:10

Do imaginary boys cry though, you know? He never really addresses that.

SPEAKER_02 33:15

No, I don't know the answer to that, Jimmy. That's a good question. That really is. So I went to the show, we went on the Long Island Railroad, and we had uh coolers with us, styrofoam coolers, and we brought beer with us. And we carried the coolers from we got off at Penn Station and we walked up to where the pier was. And when we get up there, you know, you could drink in a brown bag. As long as things weren't seen, everything was cool. But the minute you drop the brown bag and you're, you know, it's a problem.

SPEAKER_01 33:53

So it's a ridiculous rule, by the way, but okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:57

It is what it is, Jimmy. Yeah. We're hanging out outside the pier, we're finishing up our beer, and I'm gonna go get a hot dog or a pretzel or something. And I was like, I don't need a brown bag. You know, I'm I'm too cool at this point. Drop it. I just have the beer. Jimmy, I kid you not, within like a minute, New York City police has me up against the wall. I'm not making this up. This is true. New York City police has me up against the wall, spread them. You know, I have to spread my legs, my I think I dropped the bottle. I gotta be honest with you.

SPEAKER_01 34:37

Now you're uh arrested for littering, too.

SPEAKER_02 34:39

I'm I'm like, this is unbelievable. I'm gonna have to call my mother and say, hey, I'm in jail in Manhattan, can you come get me? Blah, blah, blah, blah. She's not gonna be a happy camper. And I hear some chuckles. And, you know, I'm trying to look, but you know, I don't want to piss off the police or anything like that. But I'm like, those are my friends. I hear them laughing, and I'm looking and I'm looking, and then finally they're just like laughing hysterically, and the police officer comes off of my back to find out that it's Officer Jerry, the older brother of a girl that we knew that they put up to busting my balls because I thought I was cool dropping the brown bag off of the beer. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

That was convenient.

SPEAKER_02 35:30

Yeah, it was not fun. I can tell you that. Even afterwards, like you are like, oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:37

It kind of ruined your night.

SPEAKER_02 35:38

It kind of ruined the night.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

Buzzkill, as they say.

SPEAKER_02 35:41

I I'm not gonna lie, but I'm glad that it was Officer Jerry, and it was funny because you know, I see him at some parties every once in a while after that, and you know, he would always mention about, you know, that night, and people would be like, Oh, hey, heard you got busted and blah, blah, blah, blah. So no, I didn't get arrested, I didn't get a ticket, I didn't get anything, I just got made fun of. But it is what it is. Well, you know, what can you do? You know? I don't

The Smiths Show And The Pier

SPEAKER_02 36:10

know. So short time later, I went back to the pier to see the Smiths, and it was August 6, 1986. Again, we take the train, we take our styrofoam coolers. Nobody wanted to go in June of 85 when I went to see them at the Beacon. I was begging people, no one would go. In 1986, we probably went, I don't know, 15 of us, that's how many people wanted to go. And we walked into the on the floor, I mean it was kind of all floor. It was, you know, it was an outdoor thing, it had chairs set up, but there was a in front of it, there was the general omission, and we're just like walking through, and my buddy was huge, and he's just walking through the crowd to it gets too, you know, stacked, and you can't go through it anymore. I was like skinny as a bean pole, so I'm just like, excuse me, excuse me, and I'm just like, you know, going serpentining and looking like Axel Rose singing a song, you know. And I got pretty close up to the front. You know, I I'm one of those people at the show. If I can get closer and I'm with people and they're not with me, you know, I don't apologize for that. Jimmy, you would know we've been to shows together and I try and go as as far as I can go.

SPEAKER_01 37:33

I'm the opposite. I I'm tall and I don't like getting standing in front of a new set of people and having, you know, ruining their night. So I I find a spot and stay.

SPEAKER_02 37:43

Aaron Powell And this is coming from the guy that mentioned the song Psycho Shit.

SPEAKER_01 37:47

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 37:48

That's the same. Same guy. I like that guy. Thanks. I do like that guy. So they played How Soon Is Now, they open up with which was a surprise. You were not expecting them to open up with a huge song of theirs, and they do. They play Still Ill, Panic, uh, what was else? The boy with the thorn in his side, uh Cemetery Gates, Is It Really So Strange? Um and I remember The Queen Is Dead. The Queen Is Dead was the last song before the Encore. And he's singing, Morrisy's singing, and he comes out and he's got like po you know, like when they have the signs like they're on strike or something. Yeah. But it says the Queen is dead, and he's just like marching up and down and going through the front and just like making sure you could see it and so into it. I mean, he really was.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

She is now, by the way.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

She is. She she totally is. So they had three encores. The last one was uh Big Mouth Strikes Again, which is a fantastic song. I've talked about that. But the New York Times did a review on that show also. And in part, Morrissey, the singer and lyricist of the Smiths, is one of Rock's most articulate, tortured souls. And judging by the sellout audience Wednesday appear at eighty four, who sang along on most verses and choruses, a much beloved cult figure. Yeah. Again, I think it's dead on. Good description. Good description. And I'm really glad that I found these uh old reviews of what the you know, what the shows were like, because they were cool and uh they were definitely fun. The pier was a great place to go to. It's not there anymore, but I mean the clash played there. Uh everybody played there. I mean, I I can't even think, but everybody at some point would play a show there, and it was just uh the place to be. It really was.

Thanks And Sign Off

SPEAKER_02 39:52

I'd like to talk more about it, but unfortunately, 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, GA, and Vic Thrill for our podcast music. You can reach us at musicinmy shoes at gmail.com. Please like and follow the Music in My Shoes Facebook and Instagram pages. This is Jim Boj, 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.