The Next Generation: Meet Jayden, a UK Superfan Flying the INXS Flag

This week on Listen Like Fans, I’m joined by one of the next generation of die-hard INXS devotees — the one and only Jayden Crabtree!

Growing up just outside Manchester, where the airwaves are dominated by hometown heroes like Oasis, The Stone Roses, The Smiths, Happy Mondays and New Order, you’d be forgiven for thinking a young music fan might never stumble across INXS. But fate had other plans.

One spin of Suicide Blonde on his mum’s old rock compilation CD was all it took. From that moment on, Jayden was hooked. Add a few iconic photos of Michael Hutchence and Kylie Minogue into the mix, and a lifelong obsession was born.

Jayden first connected with us during the Access All Areas Podcast years ago, and we’ve been looking forward to this chat ever since. We dive deep into his incredible passion for INXS, particularly his quest to track down the very clothes that were worn by the band during their glory years.

From vintage late-’80s Doc Martens and Agnes B Homme shirts to Kensington Fantasia classics, Modzart London trousers, Hustler tees and the legendary Watch The World Argue shirts, Jayden has become something of an INXS fashion detective.

Splitting his time between the UK and Mexico has also led to some unforgettable fan experiences, including attending a massive open-air screening of the legendary Wembley concert in Mexico. When rain threatened to shut the event down, nearly a thousand passionate fans came close to staging a rock ‘n’ roll rebellion to keep the show going!

It was an absolute pleasure hearing Jayden’s stories and sharing his infectious enthusiasm for all things INXS. We hope you’ll enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

So crank it up, settle in, and join us for another fan story straight from the heart.

Until next time…

Keep Listening Like Fans.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:10

And each week I'll be doing that. Everyone, before I start, I just want to say a big stout hat to all of these legends that keep this podcast going. So hello to John, Kathy, Andrew, Liz, Jay, Kylie, Gail, Tracy, the Duchy, Steven, Danielle, Donna, Christy, Chris, Jim, Pez, Loretta, Blair, John, Darren, Linda, Trisha, Jeree, Gila, Ali, Janine, Janie, Glenn, Jaden, Amalea, Mundy, and our gorgeous Lisa Mack. Welcome everyone to Listen Light Fans, the fan-driven podcast where we celebrate the music, memories, and magic of In Excess and the unforgettable Michael Hutchins. Today is a really special episode because for the first time I'm finally meeting properly someone I've connected with online for years through our shared love of Michael and In Excess, coming all the way from northern England. So our guest today is Jaden Crabtree. A passionate fan, collector, and someone who's appreciative of Michael goes far beyond the music. Jaden has built an incredible collection of rare and iconic shirts and tees associated with Michael Hutchins. Pieces that became part of Michael's mythology and visual identity. From the famous Watch the World Argue t-shirt, I'm sure that lots of you know, and the hustler t-shirt that he's wearing today. Um yeah. And also we'll talk about lots of other things. So we'll be diving into fashion, fandom, memories, and what made Michael such an iconic figure. Hi, Jaden.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Hello.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Hello, sweetheart. Yeah, we're doing well. This is our second start. We tried to record yesterday, didn't we? So I do appreciate you.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

A lot of technical difficulties.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Well, at least we can hear each other a little bit better now.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

A lot better today.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

So first of all, we have to thank your sister for allowing you to um move move into her house today. Do you have to do some babysitting at the same time, or you're okay?

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Oh no, I'm I'm I'm good for the moment. So maybe later. We'll see.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Well, talk talking about family. I hear it was your mum probably um that got you into in excess. Um did you say you were only four when you started hearing in excess on the radio?

SPEAKER_00 2:56

I was, I was. Um, so we're uh we're a very uh very animal-loving family. So we've got stables and horses and and things. So I just remember being very, very little and always on the way to the stables. We'd always have uh you know rock CDs and compilations and all these other discs I'm playing. And um there was just a there was a very specific disc that I always used to listen to on repeat and repeat, and there was one song off that disc that always resonated with me, and it was it was a song with a very good harmonica, you know, jazzy guitar, uh great singer, and I thought, you know, I wonder, I wonder what this band is. And it was funny enough, it was on this CD. Yeah. Ultimate Rock 2, and it was the f first song on the entire album, Suicide Blonde, and that was my my first uh experience with in Excess.

SPEAKER_02 3:53

So fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

Uh and I I loved them from the get-go. That that that song was probably what started it for me. Uh very, very young. I was always very music-oriented as a kid. Yeah, other other kids would be there with the toys and things, I'll just be there with my music and my CD.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

So apart from in Access, who else do you uh follow?

SPEAKER_00 4:15

I was funnily enough, it was also the CD that took me off with U2, with uh but the streets have no name. Um so U2 have sort of been a big part of my life as well. And um and the doors as well. Always had a big soft spot for the doors. Um they're probably my my main three.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Yeah. Oh, so what was your first memory of when you actually saw Michael Hutchins, who was behind the music?

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Well, I remember hearing about him first. So my f my first memory, it must have been when smartphones became a thing. And I remember being at the stables, being sat in the car, and I I probably will have been listening to uh one of their CDs, and I remember my mum sort of showing me images of him. I I I think it was when he was with Kylie, you know, and he's got the red and uh is it the red and black sort of striped polos? Oh y yes, yes and he's flicking his hair and putting his shades on and he stood with Kylie. I think that was probably my first time seeing him, I think, you know. And um I just remember seeing that image of my mum going, oh yeah, you know, he's rock god and you know he's this and that, and you know, had all these women and I remember going, Oh wow, this guy sounds great, you know. What a bit of that. Yeah, that that was my that was probably my earliest memory, but I was only only very, very young, you know. Um and then I I remember years going by and just getting very invested, you know. Um so I I started collecting the CDs, which got a big collection of them here. Um and then I think it was until I think visually I only really started getting into watching, you know, things about the band probably. Do you remember when the last Rockstar came out in 2017?

SPEAKER_01 6:04

2017, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Yeah, almost 10 years ago now. So um wow, it is, isn't it? That was probably the first Dark I watched and after that that was the Mystify one that really took me off. That that I just thought was.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Yeah, now for listeners who can't see Jaden, Jayden is a very young and gorgeous looking man. Um and he's had and he has the Michael-esque hair as well. Not the curly hair, but the long hair too. Um, do you mind me asking how old you are?

SPEAKER_00 6:36

I'm 23.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

23. So yeah, you're probably one of our youngest um fans on the show to uh to date, as as it is. But if you ever wanted to see Jaden, we will be um putting these videos onto our patrons so you can watch them if you become a patron. So um, yeah, you and I have been talking for a fair while, perhaps when you were 20, thinking about that.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

Yeah, yeah. Good for years now. Um I believe I was, I think when the podcast started, I was about 17 or 18 when I started listening. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

So that's the access all areas, yeah. So you listen to all the in excess, access all areas, and you were even, and this is something I'm very jealous about with you, that you went to Mexico and you watched the live screening. I you sent you sent me a photo of you and your wife, didn't you? I was like, what are you doing there? Tell me how did that happen?

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Well, uh, see my wife's from over there, you see. So my wife's Mexican, so I moved over for a few years. Um she primarily lives over here, but I um we went over there for a a year or two. And um it just came out the blue, you know, this the this it was a um I'm trying to think of the name of the the cinema. It's like an it's an outdoor screening, but it's more of a cinema reserved for more artistic movies, like they don't tend to play your your sort of standard, you know, um blockbuster movies and things like that. It's more for a bit more uh artistical, if you were sessor. Um so I just remember seeing it on Facebook and I just thought, wow, I have to go and see that, you know, and it's only like a good 20 minutes drive from where we were staying, so I thought there's no excuse to not go to that.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

There was no excuse, and it was an outdoor event, and you could sit there and watch that. And and there was a little bit of um a little bit of um footage of John. There was yeah, an intro, is that right?

SPEAKER_00 8:46

Yeah, John, I was very, very surprised. Uh John Farris made a little intro video basically just saying, you know, thank you for everybody who comes along. He hopes they enjoy the show. And um, as I mentioned before, they handed out a load of t-shirts, but I I missed that. I didn't I didn't get one, but um but what I really enjoyed Can I just ask about those t-shirts?

SPEAKER_01 9:09

So was they do they the Live Baby Live t-shirt? What what was actually on there?

SPEAKER_00 9:14

I believe they were just a collection of um maybe ones off the NXS website, you know, with Kick on and I think they were different assortments of t-shirts. I think there wasn't like just one sort of standard design, it followed like um kick, and I think there's a few like listen like thieves ones possibly, but um but what I most enjoyed about that night was definitely the commitment from the crowd. The um because it actually started raining before the the show even screamed. And the you know, the announcer came up and he said, Oh, you know, it's raining and we're outdoors and you know it's not gonna go very well. We you know, we we're gonna call it quits. Um basically the entire crowd just all you know screaming, going, No, we we don't care, it's raining, we just want to watch the show, you know, we're here to stay. Um and like I said, a lot of people were there in t-shirt t-shirts and shorts and they just got you know sweat through. So but yeah, it was the commitment and it it's amazing. It it's it may sound a bit canny, but it it um it it felt how um it genuinely felt like we were there. Like in a way, it almost felt like you were right at the back of the stadium and you could only just see the screen, like you couldn't see the band. That because there was all the must have been a good six, seven hundred people there, you know. A lot of people. Um because when I first we arrived really early, I thought no one's gonna turn up to this, you know. And um and you know how wrong we were, you know, a lot of a lot it was jam-packed, you know.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

So and again, was that young and old or mainly older people?

SPEAKER_00 10:49

I'd say a mix. I'd say a mix. There's a lot of um varying ages, you know. Um, but it's what I love to see over there that they they do love their rock music in and they do, don't they?

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Uh yeah, they've got a massive following in excess and in Argentina as well, there's Chile as well. Yeah, yeah. Wow, what what an experience.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

It was my uh it sort of made my my wife sort of a bit more into it. It's a bit more of an introduction, really, you know.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

So more an introduction, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Going to Wembley.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Yeah, for the second.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

And when was the first time you actually saw that show that with the the actual um space you would have watched video?

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Um I believe I bought it on DVD actually. I bought a very old copy of it. That's my first novel. Um I just remember being in in school with um a mate of mine and would basically, you know, my my house was sort of the hub, so you know, all my mates were always at my house, and we'd always, you know, be partying and listen to music and things. And I think we've all always always all had a big love of music, so we'd just, you know, put on YouTube and you put a compilation on of all these different rock tunes, and that's probably my first memory of watching the Wembley is just sitting at home with some mates with some beers, just watching the whole set. And um it's so unskippable, you can't there's not one song that you you know you think, oh no, but it goes on to the next, you know. It's we'd just easily watch the full full show. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

I remember being your age once and totally getting into the stones and the doors and uh yeah, and just getting all the rare vinyls and watching as much as possible you could, um although it would only be like snippets, really. You couldn't go to uh yeah, you couldn't download anything back then. Um, but yeah, so it must be amazing that you can just go, oh, I'll just search that, and there it is. Like were we talking earlier because you said that you got a certain t-shirt, and I says, Oh, I haven't got a photo of that one, I need to get that in. He goes, Oh, you just you just fed me something, and I was like, Okay, they what was popped up, it's just so easy now, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 13:05

It is, and you can only think how um all the new things that older fans are seeing due to the internet that they wouldn't have been able to see in, you know, maybe things that weren't included in magazines or on on documentaries or not and the like. So um it's pretty much every day you can go on social media and see like a new image of the band or uh you know a new song uh or a version of a song or or anything really. It's it's quite amazing, I think.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

It is quite amazing. Yeah, there's been some new footage of Michael recently being interviewed that from the 80s, and you're like, wow, someone's been holding on to this and and cleaned it up, and it looks fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

It looks like he's like done it yesterday, or he was it the one by was it by Rhino Records that one?

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Um the last one, I think so.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Yeah, it was the 1985 one, wasn't it? Where he's he's got the where he has got Watch the World Seat underneath and he's got the jacket.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

No, no, the the one I'm talking about is um it was actually um being interviewed by an English guy for English press.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Ah, right, okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Yeah, and it was a little bit um it was quite raw footage because like, are you ready? Okay, you know, we're and we're getting into it. So you had like this raw introduction, and yeah, Michael looked like it was around the listen like thieves when he came over to England. No, on his own. Oh right, okay. I've got to Oh, I'll have to send that to you later. Yeah, this is the thing you see. Um, we've got this Facebook page called uh in Excess Access All Areas. Um, and if you go on there and just look under videos or photos, you'll see some amazing rare stuff. Thanks to Andrew Lumby and um Danielle Rainer King. They came up with some cracking things. Um, so what in particular connected you most to Michael?

SPEAKER_00 15:03

Oh, that's a really good question. I don't I don't know how to do it. What you should use.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Yeah, I mean, I know you said, oh, you know, you know, he he just had that rock star persona, but he looked so relaxed and easy in it, didn't he?

SPEAKER_00 15:19

He just he just fits the the bill, really, just everything about him. I I just think it is the if you said oh what is a rock star, that would just be I think he'd sum it up pretty perfectly now. Um just the image, the style, everything, you know, he's swagger. Uh like say the charisma and everything, you know. Um I think it's a funny one because obviously they'll say, Oh well, you know, the the girls went crazy for him, but the blokes wanted to be him, and I think that sort of sums it up.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

Yeah. And that leads me on to does he personally um influence you?

SPEAKER_00 15:58

I'd say so. I think in it well Mike and in excess have sort of been my happy place, I think. So I think the it they have like a multi-purpose for me. So if I'm you know, sort of get up and go out on you know mood, I'll probably listen to you know some of the heavier tracks that make you know tap your feet and everything. But then at the same time, if I'm having a bit of a bad day, I'm not feeling too great, I'll throw in maybe a bit of max Q or something, or you know, maybe a bit more of his deeper work that makes you sort of think, you know. And you know, it it does a lot for me, so that's yeah, a lot of it, yeah, like say not music based, but it I must say, like you say, if you go on Facebook and you'll go on your page or something, there'll be a new a new picture I might not have seen before or a new video, and it sort of makes you day really because you just say, Oh, you know, that's cool. I've I've never seen that before.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

Yeah, it's good to it's good to see all the new things and it's good to revisit the albums, like you just mentioned there. Max Q, Rich Michael um did with Ollie Olsen. I was listening to that myself today in the kitchen while I was making my smoothie, and it was like God or the bomb, you know. It just makes you think, God, that just makes so much sense even today, you know, the lyrics. He was thinking on these things. Or Ollie was. I think at most of these lyrics were Oli Olson. And we hear that they are going to be re-releasing the album as as was, but um, they've got the masters, and I should be having somebody on to talk about that soon in a later episode. Yeah. Um, in fact, I don't know if you've ever seen any footage of Max Q. Um I think it's in sometimes you can see um Ollie on the keyboards, and next to him there's a guy with like dreadlocks. I'm talking to him. Yeah, so that's yeah, Gus. And I actually met him at the Aper Apera Awards the other day. Um, and we said, Oh yeah, we'll we'll talk and we'll we'll uh yeah, he just flew by. We didn't get to do that at all. All right, let's get into Michael's fashion. Right, first of all, let's talk about this t-shirt that you're wearing. Yes, why is this t-shirt so important to you? You mean you look great, isn't it? And I want one.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

Well, funnily enough, it was um a friend of mine in New York, Alice, that printed this one for me. She did the I have got it here, the um the Watch the World Argue t-shirt. Oh she did that one for me. It does see regular use this, so um and she print it.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

That looks like it has come off Michael's back.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

It does. Yeah, it's quite clever how she did it. Very good. If you if you look at the original t-shirt, though the the um the words on it are quite clearer, they're a lot like whiter. I think what she said is she she um thought about giving it like a worn look. Quite like that idea, making it look like it is from like 40 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

So um and you do know the original was actually made by a fan too.

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Really? I know I I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Um the lyrics go on. Yeah, right. Um so the lyrics are from Dancing on the Jetty, as we know. Yeah, and obviously they resonated with her, and she got the t-shirt and she made it for Michael, and he loved it, so he wore it quite a bit, didn't he?

SPEAKER_00 19:24

I believe it's what Tim referred to as the rag in the bag. If you remember that.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

I don't know. I think Michael might have had a few rags in the bag because I've got a t-shirt as well that I'd like to show you. Can I show you now? Of course you can. Okay. All right, this is obviously not Michael's because Michael's became a rag in the bag. Your rag, sir. That's it. He used to go and get it dry cleaned, and they were like, oh my god, it was just we in fact. Let's put the t-shirt picture up if we can. Let's um get rid of that. Let me find this picture for you guys um of the rag. No, not the rag. Where is it? Um, this one. Let's just move us to the side. There. So you can see he used to cut it off, and I have actually got that one here today.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

Oh no way. So is that what Tim referred to?

SPEAKER_01 20:23

Yeah, the Texas, the touring Texas or touring through Texas in 1993. So this is um, yeah, this is an original from that date. Um, it's being um donated to me to um help me with funds for the podcast. So I will be at some point going to let that go. Um, so that'll probably go on to um eBay and we'll do some um auctioning on that one. But it's a pretty cool t-shirt, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 20:56

It's very cool. I think anything that Michael owned is cool.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Yeah, I think they all owned that t-shirt. I think you can see some pictures of Gary Beers in that t-shirt as well. And again, he they all cut them off. Um, very 80s look to for boys to have the cut-off t-shirts there.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

And the crop tops.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

That's right, yeah, yeah. I'm just gonna put that picture of um Michael in his hustler t-shirt too. So yeah, he was damn cool in this picture, wasn't he?

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Was I quite like the fitted look to it as well. I think it'd look a lot different if it was like very baggy or I think he he sort of suited that fitted look, didn't he, with the you know, the the round neck and the if you notice like this the sleeves are like shorter.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Shorter, yeah. And he won he wore it in um is it a Barker hangar?

SPEAKER_00 21:48

I believe so I think it was 'cause there was a couple of them, wasn't there? Was that another Peter Morrissey um the design, I believe. Because um John Bon Jovi w wore one as well, didn't he?

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah, there's a couple of them actually wearing them, but they don't look as good as Michael, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

No, of course. But it was um 'cause I did I didn't finish off my p my point lefore, but the it was the Watch the World Argy one that I initially wanted and I I said to a a friend of mine in New York, because they they print t-shirts and things. I said, Oh, you know, can you do me one? And uh the the hustler one came free with it. I had no idea I was gonna get the hustler.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

Wow, lucky. All right, well, you'll have to tell us about her. So how do you how can we get hold of her? So I'm sure there'll be a few people that would like to get t-shirts by her.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Um what I can do is I can throw you her Instagram your way and maybe put it in the bio of the podcast later. Just I don't know it off off my heart. I just she's called Alice, but um Alice.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

Well, thank you, Alice. We love your t-shirt, especially if you um pay for one and you get two free. Now you've got another special t-shirt or shirt, I should say, um, that was recently featured. Well, say recently, this was back in 2000. Was that 17 or is that 20? I can't remember, for the Mystify documentary.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Yes. Um the uh French made Agnes Agnes B, is it?

SPEAKER_01 23:22

Agnes B, yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

Everything's fallen on the floor.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

Everything's falling on the floor.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

So I was talking to Richard Simkin not too long ago about these. So we did compare them. They are the exact same picture, uh, because he has uh obviously the one Michael wore. Uh the only difference is his has white buttons, mine is black for some reason, but they are they are the same make, uh dated to be roughly from the same time. And uh mine actually came with the pajama bottoms as well, which is I don't think I don't think Richard has. But so it is uh effective, it is identical to Michael.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

How did you find it?

SPEAKER_00 24:01

It was out of the blue on um on eBay, it just appeared and um for like 40 pounds or something. I'm not sure how many stupid dollars that would be. Way yeah, yeah, they were flogging it for 40 quid and I said, I'll get that.

SPEAKER_01 24:15

Jeez, that's awesome, and it is gorgeous. Yeah, the one that Michael gave his that he was wearing at the the iconic picture of Mystify, which I'm looking at right now because he's I've got a massive poster of it here. Um he wore it to the Mystify premiere.

unknown 24:35

Did he?

SPEAKER_01 24:35

And um, yeah, we did, and um, no one was allowed to touch him. Give away from me, don't touch it. I was like, okay, don't worry.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

Yeah, I've seen him uh wear it a couple of times, especially when it's Michael's anniversary and things like that. Yeah, he might put on a picture wearing it and things, but um mine's a different size because I was telling you before before the show, wasn't I, that um that that we when we was comparing them, um the one that Richard has has a one in it, uh a big a big one on the on the label, mine has a two. So I was originally thinking, is this maybe the model number that that Michael had number one and I've got number two, you know, feeling like you know, as I'd found this really rare, you had something special, and then I realized, oh, that's just French sizes, isn't it? You know, lumbian small, two bean medium.

SPEAKER_01 25:30

Michael was a bit Michael's a little bit smaller. We should say Richard's Richard Simkin. Um, for those who don't know who we're talking about, it was uh a younger guy that wagged school um to go and stand outside Russ Rhinoceros studios and um try and get autographs by all the band. And the first one wasn't very good. Um, so he ended up going back to get a better um autograph, and that's where he he now has got like autographs of like Richard Branson and all sorts of people. And so you've got one more t-shirt to show me or shirt to show me?

SPEAKER_00 26:08

I have. Um, so it's the what make is it? Uh the Kennington 70s um California. I think Lee Francis has the has Michaels. But um this is obviously the exact exact it was not really a copy of Michaels, it'd just be it'd just be the same shirt that he would have originally bought from.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

But um there are well there wouldn't be many of them, yeah. No, no, there's there's not a lot.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

Um I think the the brand has like quite a few different designs, but obviously specifically were the the Fantasia um design. But there's I've seen a handful of these on you know on eBay and things. So um I'd probably say the Agnes one is probably rarer than than this one, but it's it's still very cool. And it sort of realizes how skinny must have been this doesn't sit me. That's because they're all they're all one size, there's um there's no size in it, so I imagine they're all the same size. So um probably about a year ago this would have fit me, but well, if you want to get rid of it, I'll look after it for you.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

Well, talking about talking about sizes, I've got I think a lot of you know, but Jaden, I'll show you. I've got Michael's silver shirt and it's massive. But if you look at pictures of Michael with the shirt on, and I've got it here, um, pictures of Michael with the shirt on, you can see it's actually halfway down his thighs anyway. So it's a it's quite a very long shirt. Yeah, I um I'm very happy to say that Michael did wear this t-shirt, this shirt that I've got. And the the picture next to it is um a photo of Michael wearing the shirt, and that's Michael's signature that he signed it as well. So that's quite a nice little collection that I uh I'm very pleased that I've got, really.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Oh, definitely like anything that you and Lee have throws me out the water.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

I don't know. Lee, yeah, well, yeah, it's good. Nice, nice, nice stories. So, what what would you like in your collection? I mean, I've got a few things here. I mean, you know, there are things like the stripey pants. I think Lee's got those, hasn't he? Oh, he's got he got his mom to make them.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Yeah, well, uh sort of embarrassed to show these, but when I was a lot younger, um I did actually make my own pair, which are the buttons.

SPEAKER_01 28:38

Oh, let's you let's have a look. Have you got them with you?

SPEAKER_00 28:45

Terrible.

SPEAKER_01 28:46

That's great.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

Yeah, maybe it's probably oh and it's like 15, 14, 15.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

Yeah. So they're not fitting anymore.

SPEAKER_00 28:55

Um yeah, they'd fit, but it's it's the fact that I've used paints. So they're just really like sticky and horrible. So you you could never wear them. No practical use.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

So uh time to make some new ones of those then. What else have you got?

SPEAKER_00 29:10

Um, well, I thought it was a honourable mention I recently uh got my hands on a late 80s pair of high gloss Doug Martins. Beautiful. Um so very similar to what Mike and the boys probably would have worn on Cake and you know around that time. Uh just because when I I went on I saw these um on eBay, the the seller was saying that it's quite difficult nowadays to find the original high gloss docks from the 80s and in quite a good condition. Because you now it's the um patent leather, isn't it? Patent patent, yeah, yeah. So yeah, so they they no longer make them, obviously, the way they used to. So apparently they're quite quite rare. So I thought, well, they'd look quite good in a frame or something, or in a on a um, you know, with with the other shirts, something.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Yeah, no, they're great towards the towards the collection. Have you ever thought about making the um the actual um hut jacket?

SPEAKER_00 30:10

It would be cool, something like that. I'd probably have Krabby on it, you know, because my surname. I get that a lot, you know. So you are Krabby. Exactly. So I I actually did think about it. I thought if if uh if I ever had a jacket with my say aim on it, it would be it would be Krabby.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

Uh so what do you do for a living? You're really into your fashion and your music, but what is it that you do? Is it something to do with horses?

SPEAKER_00 30:38

Um nothing that interesting. Um I'm uh I'm currently I've got a few jobs. I'm um I'm a freelance language tutor and I'm also on the side of Pizza Man. So not the best jobs, but you know, you've got to do what you gotta do.

SPEAKER_01 30:55

So well, you're only 23, you're just starting out. Sounds like you're having a great great time and having fun with it, or yeah, it's it's good fun.

SPEAKER_00 31:04

Um like I say, the I I always like it at work when we we always have rock radio on and uh the indie channels, and always feels you know great when they'll throw an in excess track in there. So always worth it. Um but yeah, it always feels personal because you don't tend to and I think we start we were talking about this yesterday, you don't tend to hear much of NXS in the UK. Um it's it's sort of a rarity nowadays, so it it uh it feels very personal, you know, when you go somewhere and you hear them because you think, oh yeah, we put it on for me, sort of thing, no.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They know I'm in the store.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

They know I'm at work, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

So recently they did put um live baby live on the TV though, didn't they?

SPEAKER_00 31:50

Um over here. I must have yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:53

Oh, you did. Oh, sadly. Yeah, because um and and um is it Google Box that's quite big up there?

SPEAKER_00 32:01

Google Box, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

Goggle box, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

A pointless show of watching people watch TV.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

Yeah, and I remember like I don't know, someone obviously sent it to me, and it was some people watching Live Baby Live and or Wemb uh Wembley, and they're saying, Whoa, look at that crowd, and like you know, uh at um when they're singing, um well, they're coming out and they're singing um um new sensation. The whole stadium's just going in one newness and you know, they're just going like some little animal.

SPEAKER_00 32:39

I think um John said it was like watching seaweed, wasn't it? Yeah in a reef does look like that. But amazing concept, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Amazing, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

Every time I watch it, it's it's very hard to believe how long ago it was. You know, it looks like it could have been, you know, filmed yesterday. I've heard quite a few people make them the same remarks because it genuinely is. I think it is a timeless, timeless, timeless concept.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

Yeah. And their fashion as well, they didn't look like oh, they're looked like an 80s band and 90s band. They could they could you could wear those clothes now. They were just like, you know, they just look like anyone could wear those clothes. They didn't Peter Morrissey was a very good designer. Do you know what he does now? Bless him. He paints portraits of puppies.

SPEAKER_00 33:25

Oh, lovely. Yeah, I imagine does he sell them or is it like um yeah, people?

SPEAKER_01 33:32

Yeah, yeah. Because I was trying to get him on the show, and he goes, Oh B, I'm just mad busy. People just wanting pictures of their puppies for Christmas. I was like, I'll just let you be, and I'll I'll come back to I'll circle around another time. Bless him. He was a sweetie, actually, really fun. It's told me some stories.

SPEAKER_00 33:52

It's a good hobby. I I try my hand at art, but it's it's not for me.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

So no, not a good painter. Oh, art, yeah, yeah. No, you well, it's there's a bit of um a crossover, isn't there? There either you can do it so it looks like a photo, or sometimes it's just a bit like you're right, you've got to get it.

SPEAKER_00 34:09

I could quite find myself doing that, you know. I did I did go to an art college and um there'd be people that come in and they'd they'd add to this huge, huge canvas, and they'd come in for you know five, six hours and they'd just be adding little dots to this huge painting. I think I couldn't do that. I if I can't draw something within 20 minutes, I'd just think, nah, put it to one side, don't finish, lose my patience.

SPEAKER_01 34:33

Yeah, well, there's plenty of people that like drawing Michael Stellman's, they're always coming up on the uh socials as well. There's some really good ones and amazing artists out there. Yeah, we'll have to get some of them on.

SPEAKER_00 34:46

I like it when um Lee does it. Um does he do it on tablet, the sort of digital art that you know they're really, really good.

SPEAKER_01 34:54

Yeah, Lee Francis or aka Keith Lemon. Um yeah, he's um quite a talented man, isn't he? He's very does a lot of yeah, there's a lot of um costume design and set designing and things. Did you see the scratch on his face yesterday?

SPEAKER_00 35:10

I did, um, from uh a fan in the audience or something, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01 35:15

A fan who got very excited and she had long nails, and it wasn't just a little scratch, it was a big scratch. Yeah, what watch out, men, for uh ladies with long nails.

SPEAKER_00 35:26

I saw a comment on it. Someone called them uh Edward Scissor Nails or something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:34

All right, well, getting back to in excess um Michael, you've actually got quite a lot of um vinyl as well, haven't you?

SPEAKER_00 35:40

I have, I've I did bring them. Um I've not got you know an amazing collection. I imagine there's probably a lot of people that are out there that have a better collection than I do, but um I did bring them in case they were of use. So um so in terms of rarity, I don't I don't think I've got any that are uh you know impossible to find. There's um there's a um a record dealer in Manchester that I go to. Um there's a shop called Afflet's Palace, um, which is quite popular for like the rock scene and buying sort of anything rock oriented, basically. So like I go in there and there's this this is uh this old chap and um the entire collection that's full is full shot. Uh and they're all his that he would have bought at some point in time. So they're not like what people have brought in and go, Oh, can I sell this? And then he'll uh put them in real resale. Uh that they're they're all his they're all his vinyls that he's collected over like the last 50 years or something like that, you know. He started in the 60s buying like Doors and Hendrix Records and Joplin and Stones. And um, so I've bought a lot of original Doors ones from him and things like that, but obviously on more on topic, yeah. I've got uh quite a few in excess ones from him, so uh let's have a look.

SPEAKER_01 36:59

And these are all vinyl, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

Like so I've not I've not got a vast amount.

SPEAKER_01 37:04

And do you have a record player?

SPEAKER_00 37:07

I do. Um it's it's dual function, so it's also a speaker as well, which is quite cool. So uh I must confess I do use it more for the speaker than I do vinyl.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

Um and as a younger person from like this generation, um, can you see the value in vinyl over digital?

SPEAKER_00 37:29

I can. I think um the problem is I think nowadays is people um they don't have the attention span to listen to a full album anymore, or listen to a vinyl, or listen to a cassette, or you know, or even a CD. Um I've noticed that for like the last you know 10 years, no car has a C D player in it because it's all for digital, it's all on your phone. Um so I do pride myself in thinking at least I'm like a a remnant of the the past stage of when people actually cared about music and you know having records and CDs and and actually there's a care involved.

SPEAKER_01 38:09

There's a care involved, looking looking after your vinyl, cleaning it and popping like being very careful not to scratch it and making sure that it's not going to, you know, it goes in the right order in your A B C.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

Definitely, because I think when I first got my first ever um record player when I was probably 10 or 11, I did actually have it next to a radiator.

SPEAKER_02 38:33

Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

Yeah, yeah. So I I did actually ruin um a good few vinyl doing that, but until I realised I thought, oh, you know, shouldn't have it anywhere near near heat. So I'll let that.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

Yeah, yeah. Not not not not good. I remember my mom. This is how old I am. I remember my grandma giving me her record player, which was a wind-up one. And the records were sick, like, and I didn't even know who these people were, but they were fragile. That that that yeah, so they're a lot thinner.

SPEAKER_00 39:12

I've noticed when you get um older vinyl, they're a lot thinner than and more delicate than than sort of modern reproductions.

SPEAKER_01 39:19

Yeah, and then the artwork. So what what what have you got? Let me show show me what you've got there.

SPEAKER_00 39:25

Artwork. Well, um, I've not got much art, but I've definitely got I've got all my CDs, all my vinyl.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

Um which one do you care about the most out of your vinyl collection? My vinyl.

SPEAKER_00 39:41

Let's have a look. Um I've got a few interesting ones. I've got a few remixes, so I've got this elegantly wasted one. Uh the Shagsonic dub. I've not seen that anywhere else. Um and a lot of these I just got for like fiver, you know. This this old chap selling them. Um the Heaven Sent singles, probably one of my picture discs. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:07

Um it's like a double one, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 40:10

Yeah, that's one of my favorites. Um I think this is an original Sin um remix from the 80s. Uh let's have a look. A lot of them are singles. I've I don't think I've got many full albums on Disappear.

SPEAKER_01 40:29

Disappear.

SPEAKER_00 40:30

Um let's have a look. Uh Sometimes Remix with Max Q. Yeah. You like that one? Yeah What another uh listen, like Thieves from the from the albums, another single, uh What You Need. Uh and like all of these I I got these for a really good price, like you know, all of them are tenner.

SPEAKER_01 40:52

So these aren't singles though, these are all 12 inches, aren't they?

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Yeah. Um so a lot of them only have the one song on, but yet they're a full LP, which is sort of funny. Um then obviously you can't go without kicking. You can't. The only thing is it's I think this is a reproduction, this isn't uh a proper original, you know, from the 80s or anything. But I don't I don't think it's even an anniversary one either, but um still it still gets its use.

SPEAKER_01 41:21

So yeah. There's a lot of copies of those. That that album, I mean, that's just such a a just a hit after hit after hit on that album, anyway.

SPEAKER_00 41:31

It it really is. Yeah, again, sim very similar to to uh you know Wembley and when they released uh X and uh and then obviously when they released the Library of Live album. Uh it's just you it's unskillful, you can't there's not one song you can, you know, you'd think oh I'm not gonna I'm not gonna listen to that. Um I did find these as well right at the back. So Shining Star uh Mystify. Uh I quite like this one. Uh it's a devil inside. Yeah. But it comes with uh pictures and things on the inside, and so look. I feel bad for the Spotify listeners because they won't be seeing any of it. I was thinking, what's it talking about? Um yeah, so you've got the the you've got the single and then um the the postcards.

SPEAKER_01 42:23

Oh there you go. Postcards of the band individual. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they're great. I I I haven't got that. I I want that. That's very good. That was um that's a bit of a rarity.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

Same guy in Manchester. Uh he must have been quite an NXS fan, Tavar Least.

SPEAKER_01 42:38

Yeah, yeah. Um and it's great that there's not that many of you over there, so you can get hold of them.

SPEAKER_00 42:44

Exactly. It's um have you ever been to my favourite?

SPEAKER_01 42:47

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:48

By my size, by my size, uh never terrorists.

SPEAKER_01 42:51

And then that that's your favourite, is it?

SPEAKER_00 42:53

Yeah, too.

SPEAKER_01 42:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 42:55

Why is that he's gonna say? Um I don't know, I think it's it's resonates with me, I think. Um it's just uh uh a lovely song. I think um I send it to my wife a lot. Usually if uh if I put on like a story with her or something, it's usually my go-to song by my side because um I suppose it it sort of comes from with us living quite far apart. You know, I'm back over here now, she's still over Mexico in Mexico. Yeah, we're currently in um in uh sort of process of of eas of ease of you know to come back over here for a bit. So um it's quite annoying in the UK basically. So uh I think it um it sort of it feels very personal when I listen to that song 'cause I'm just thinking, well, you know, because we're not together, sort of thing.

SPEAKER_01 43:44

Yes, it's like a physical by my side, yes. Yeah in in the dark of night and all of that, you want to be close together. Oh, that's beautiful. That's thank you very much. I did find I did find this you old romantic, you I am I did find this as well.

SPEAKER_00 44:00

I thought it was quite interesting. It does say a tenor on it, but I managed to get it for a fiver off him. And I've not actually seen this before, but it's so is that a double C D, is it? Yeah, I think so, yeah. And it just comes with like uh thing with all the lyrics and sort of pictures from uh sort of the X tour and things. Well I thought it's interesting why they'd release it sort of as a large thing, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

So it's uh I've not seen one of those. So that's um Michael at Wembley doing the Jesus pose that that way kind of picture with the the um crowd behind him, and then inside it opens up, and then you've got your CDs and you've got um the little booklets. That's nice.

SPEAKER_00 44:47

And he got that for a fiver, a fiver, because if you think because that's that's that's the contents that'd fit perfectly into a CD, you know, um a little box. So it's it's funny how they went through the whole thing.

SPEAKER_01 45:00

And let's just say a fiver is only like ten dollars, isn't it? Something like that, yeah. Wow, that's really and have you ever seen any um in excess tribute bands in the UK?

SPEAKER_00 45:12

I saw one once whilst I was on the way to um to Newcastle and uh we stopped in a pub and I did see a flyer phone on the wall, and I thought, oh, it's a shame that I'm not from round here. So I I never went to see them, but anywhere else, no, it's um what we tend to have here is uh I was looking sort of when to bring this up, but there's what I call regional bias. So with living in Manchester, everything's always Oasis, Smiths, everything everyone's always obsessed with you know uh Stones, Joy Joy Division, the the Stone Roses. Yeah. We're very patriotic of all the local groups. So I'm sort of like a black sheep in that way, you know. Um that I'm sort of the one that doesn't listen to any of those bands. Yeah, yeah, you tend to find that a lot here. Everybody's just obsessed with Manchester.

SPEAKER_01 46:13

Well, you'll have to come to Australia then, mate. Have you got any plans?

SPEAKER_00 46:18

Uh I I would like to. Uh obviously this fun funding problem and other things. Uh I I I did want to come to was it last year that you did the you did the the tour bus when you went around and did the yeah, I've done a couple of those, but the big one was last year where Kirk turned up at the end as well, which was really fun.

SPEAKER_01 46:39

And that was a year ago, sort of this week. Um, I've just put some photos out of um Kirk with all these uh with all these new friends. That was a really good fun.

SPEAKER_02 46:50

I really need to go on that box.

SPEAKER_01 46:52

Yeah, you'll have to come. Well, I'm I'm trying to plan something for the 50th, which is going to be in August of next year, not this year, next year. Um I've got to coincide it with whatever they do too. So we don't want to be they're doing something big, we don't want to be doing something as well. So um, yeah, we've got to um find out from management if they are going to do anything because you know, there's so many things they could do, you know. One one night, would they get up on stage and would they play some songs with other artists, or would they be doing a questionnaire, question thing, you know, they're on stage and talking about their lives, or would it be uh a documentary? There's just so many things that um they can do.

SPEAKER_00 47:37

I would love a good uh documentary. Mainly I'm a bit old-fashioned in that sense because a lot of my friends enjoy like, you know, like the biopics, like how you've got the the Jackson one that's just come out of the microjackson. Yes. Uh I'm sort of one of those people that would just prefer a good a good old documentary, they um I I think you can cover more story in a documentary than a like a biopic. Um, I think you notice that whoever you watch it, whether it's the Pretty Mercury or the Elton John or even the Doors movie with Val Kilner, you know, it's a great movie, but you can't cover a lot of subject matter in it because each scene has to last, you know, 10-15 minutes and it's only an hour and forty minutes the film, so you gotta think, well, and you always find they always squeeze in, you know, um sort of unnecessary bits that when you think, well, they could have easily have talked about this instead, or you know, blah blah blah. And so it's why I always do prefer um like docos and yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:32

And the dockos, you it we we we we hanker for new old footage, like rare footage that has not been seen before, or listening to a story um firsthand. So that's why um Mystify by Richard Lowenstein that came out um in 2017, I believe. Um that was to 2019. Thank you very much. Um, do you want to come on the show again and how we miss um yeah, that that was great how he did that. And also he did extra footage as well that you can find on um YouTube too of Michael.

SPEAKER_00 49:13

It is uh honestly that that um that documentary is uh amazing. I I want to know sort of the place where Richard was where he where he came up with that because the everything, uh I think even the the soundtrack and not just obviously um NXS's music, but I think even the soundtrack to when it got more into his personal life and you've got all these very Cynthia Tiano songs. I thought you know, I love I love everything about that. I love the art style of it, um, like say the music, everything. I think it's a very personal doc.

SPEAKER_01 49:46

I think that um well it highlighted Michael's um accident that he had when the attack well I say it wasn't his accident, it he got assaulted.

SPEAKER_00 49:56

Yeah, of course. And um I think it it was just the way they portray it, it's it's very empathetic, the the whole documentary. Like you you'll watch other documentaries and um they're quite uh not to say bland, but um it'll just be people sat there talking about him and they might show a few pictures and they've not really gone into the you know uh a vast amount of effort just to make the doco. It'll just be something that they can put on, you know, to fill in um a time slot on TV or something, you know. Uh whereas the the Mystify one it is a it is a mate, you can watch it every time and still notice things that you didn't notice the time before. And I love that about it that it um it's it's not focused on the people that are talking, it's it's the entire focus is is Michael, and then the voices obviously are just like um sort of added in, you know.

SPEAKER_01 50:49

Uh it's a beautiful, it's a beautiful piece, and the fact that Richard was a very good friend of Michael's, so you can feel that there's a lot of emotion and love that was built around that movie. Yeah, a lot of time, and uh uh yeah, so I hear um on the 20th of May on Netflix, Kylie is bringing out a documentary, a three.

SPEAKER_02 51:11

I believe so.

SPEAKER_01 51:12

Yes, um, so it'll be interesting to hear what she's got to say.

SPEAKER_00 51:16

And I've just cancelled my Netflix membership.

SPEAKER_01 51:19

Oh no, your sister got it.

SPEAKER_00 51:23

Uh no, I'll get it back, but it it's quite ironic because I thought there's nothing interesting for me on here, you know. I thought, oh, I might as well get rid of it. And it it just ended on the 28th last month, and then as soon as I I got rid of it, it's like, yeah, Kylie's got a new thing coming out.

SPEAKER_02 51:36

Yeah, come back.

SPEAKER_00 51:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:41

And have you got Richard and Simpkin's book as well, the big one?

SPEAKER_00 51:45

I haven't, the Michael Pictures. I would like to get a copy of it one day. Um a lot of things, like you say, it's just money-based, it's just five finding money to get things, but yeah, they like they go for thousands now.

SPEAKER_01 52:02

Like when we were at war collecting them at the beginning, and you could pick one up for like well, a friend picked one up in the bargain basket for ten dollars at one point, but yeah, thousands of dollars now. But they are stunning pictures. And Richard's going to be creating a documentary and a book soon as well. So that will be interesting on the back of those photos.

SPEAKER_00 52:24

Yeah, like I'm excited for that. There's um is there like a time sort of drop for it, or as he said that, or is he just impressive?

SPEAKER_01 52:32

Yeah, it's in the process. He's he's signed off a few things, and uh, yeah, it's all about watch this space. So, yeah, we've got the 50th, um, hopefully a documentary from the band, and then Richard and Kylie like soon-ish. Um, and we've even got JD coming over um to Australia as well. Yeah, he's coming over in October. Um, I'm not sure. Would he have been big in England or in the UK?

SPEAKER_00 52:58

JD. I'm not sure because I only found out um of him because of like say in excess, but um but it is it is like say sad that where I'm from it is very much um the very, very, very patriotic of all the local bands. So it it gives very little chance for people from other countries to be quite successful. Whether England, I think, is like that as a whole or whether it just is the North, I'm I'm not sure. Because you you do see that um, especially when you watch Mystify and other documentaries, how uh ridiculed in excess were when they came to England. I think Michael said it was like his least favourite place to visit because of uh all the ridicule they got. And um I always think like why, because the the if you listen to there are a lot of you know Manchester bands, you know, like you've got the Happy Mondays that formed um Black Grape and things like that. And if you listen to a lot of the Welcome Where to you know, um Welcome to Wherever You Are Um and I can't believe I've forgotten an album then Full Moon, Full Moon Dirty Hearts. Full Moon Dirty Hearts. Um if you listen to certain tracks on that, they there are similar vibes within the groove and and it's so funny that someone from that is obsessed with you know the Mondays or something over here wouldn't also listen to an excess and think, oh yeah, that's a that's my jam, you know.

SPEAKER_01 54:22

Um but you know there's a crossover with um Happy Mondays and Black Grape and Michael. Um I believe so I don't know too much about it, but well, Michael is actually on stage with Black Grape at um the Brixton Academy. He comes on and he sings.

SPEAKER_00 54:42

I'll have to watch. I've not I've never heard of that. But yeah, it's pretty funny because um my boiler mask came around the other day and um was it's quite a quiet book, but we ended up talking about music and things, and um he says, Oh yeah, he says my brother's in black grape. And he says, if you've heard of them, and I went, What do you mean? Of course I've heard of black grape. I said, That's Sean Ryder's band, isn't it? And he goes, I think so. Like, yeah, he knew nothing about it. Um and I just said, Oh, yeah, that's amazing. I said, Have you so you do you do you know their music or anything? He goes, No, I just know you know, my brother plays them or something, you know, they go gigging. Um I think they was playing uh Home Firth, which is you know over the hill from me. So um I just said to him, Yeah, like I can't believe he didn't know who they were, but yeah, it's it's a bit of a godfather, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 55:35

Um, Sean Ryder. He's a bit of a uh um uh an iconic figure in Manchester.

SPEAKER_00 55:41

Twisted my melon, man.

SPEAKER_01 55:43

Twisted my melon man. Oh I loved that. I was at college when that came out, and I had to go and buy the album. That was just a fantastic album. Loved it. I knew they were going places. So going back to your record collection and your collection, what is the rarest item that you possess?

SPEAKER_00 56:02

I would say um personally, because not so much of rarity, but um what it means to me, uh, are two things uh I've got, and one of them is actually from you, actually. It's it's something you sent me a couple of years ago. It's Kirk's um where's the camera?

SPEAKER_01 56:21

And did I send you that?

SPEAKER_00 56:23

You did uh the shiny blue and gold um fletchum uh Kirk played. So I liked it so much I put it into a necklace and I'll wear that time and time again. Um it was something reticent actually. Um do you remember when he did the sweatshirt? Yeah, it's very grotty this. I do apologize. It's been all over Mexico and everything. A lot of lot of use to it. But uh Oh beautiful, the t-shirt, yes, um and then with the Never Tear Us Apart lyrics on the back. And um it is very grotty, like you said, too. Apologise, but it's seen a lot of a lot of use. So they were lovely.

SPEAKER_01 57:04

I wish you'd do more of those.

SPEAKER_00 57:06

Yeah, because uh I believe this they sold out, didn't they? And he said he wanted to do any more.

SPEAKER_01 57:10

But yeah, mine got stolen. I was so good. Yeah, I had a hoodie. I was so sad. Yeah, it'd be great. Oh no, well, things do go missing quite a lot, really. Yeah, like like skateboards.

SPEAKER_00 57:26

Like skateboards, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 57:28

Yeah, like where did I caught the skateboard?

SPEAKER_00 57:31

Because um, I remember reaching out to um Rhett when I bought it, and I just said to him, I think it was I I think I spoke to his his partner as well. Is it is it Vera? I can't I can't remember. Vera, yeah. I've not spoke I've not spoken to them in in quite two years now, but I remember reaching out to him and I just said, Oh, you know, when I bought the t-shirt, I just said, Would you be able to send like a little a little message with it? And he says, Oh, like an autograph. And I went, Well, no, not so much an autograph, it's just something personal, uh something you know, directed at me. And um for Keep's sake, and he just went, Well, yeah, of course. So um he he did send me this little personalised message. Oh nice. So that that I do want to have that framed, but um that that's quite personal to me. So yeah, there's little bits and bobs.

SPEAKER_01 58:15

So your fandom's not fading, you're still enjoying it.

SPEAKER_00 58:19

Yeah, very much so. I maybe don't listen to music every day, but whenever I do, I'm always I've always got XS on. Um I'm I try to be as up to date as possible with anything on socials, you know, anything on Facebook or anything, anything new. I'm always there liking it, you know. Yeah, like it means a lot to me. It's and like you say, in XS, it it sort of feels like it's my community, my sort of uh happy place, really, you know. Um my wife finds a happy place in a band called BTS. So in XS is like my uh my place, and um like you say it just feels terrible being in England where the majority of fans are all um like say US based or or in Australia, so you sort of do feel a bit left out over here because there's nothing, there's literally nothing in XS based that goes on over here.

SPEAKER_01 59:07

So well, I will get you in touch with David Gaunt, who is the postman. He who is he? He's in Derby, he's a massive in XS fan. We've got Manny, um he's in Norwich, I believe. Um and he wrote a book about in XS, um, which is fantastic. And I'm gonna have him on the show soon. Um, we've got Mandy over there, we've got Joe, who is a massive Joe Robbins, massive um in XS fan, um, runs Hutch Nation. Um, you've probably heard of that one, yeah. And she collects anything to do with kick. She's got kick everywhere. Yeah. So there's a few people, I'm sure I'm I'm upsetting a few that I haven't mentioned their names as well, but there's quite a few English people that I can get you together with because it would be wonderful. Oh, another guy, Jimmy Gueston. I mustn't forget Jimmy. Jimmy um he he he started um a page called Michael Hutchins Legacy, and he tried to get yeah, he tried to get Michael to number one for his birthday at one point as well. So there's some great people in England and the and the UK. We've got Andrew Lambe as well, um, and little Bile.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:20

Um yeah, who you had on not too long ago.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:23

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:24

He was talking about his his uh his big collection, wasn't he?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:27

Yeah, I know he's got things sent to me this week. I've got two packages to him, and he loves the big banana. So I've been and and I've sent my dad to go and get him a postcard of the big banana um so I can send that to him too. Yeah, hoping that a lot of these people will come over for the 50th. It would be nice if you could try and make it.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:49

I could I'll try. Um like you say, a lot a lot of my problems is just it's just it's just money trying to trying to get money to get you know to get things and do things. But I think um probably as a fan for me, it'd probably just be meeting everybody. I think that'd be that'd be my my jam, basically just meeting everybody, if possible, you know, meet the guys as well, you know. Um because like you say, I think because with um the whole Michael thing and you know the fashion and everything, I think what probably started me off with that was when I was younger, thinking, well, if I can't meet him, what's the closest thing you can get to meeting him? And that well, things he owned. So that that was sort of my thinking at the time when I was younger. So I thought that's probably what started me off, I think. And then as years go by, I just think it's just because he just looks awesome, you know, anything he wears, and you know, you know, I'd love to get it.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:42

Yeah, but it makes sense, it makes sense to feel close to somebody that that that means a lot to you.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:49

It does, and um so it's sort of where I think I'd love to get more into the the community because I think um suppose not to get you know too deep and personal all of a sudden, but um because of realizing you know through um through a loss quite recently that you can have a lot of things, but um when you go you can't take it with you. It's it's the people and it's the memories and it's everything, you know, that you had together that you you that means something, you know. Um, you know, I I lost a mate quite recently. He was uh very very talented musician, but he was a massive, massive Star Wars fan, very geeky, very, very geeky, massive Star Wars fan, Indiana Jones, things like that. And he just had this huge, huge collection of memorabilia and all these other things. And uh, you know, you love meeting all these actors and musicians, he you know, them what did they call them? Them cons where you go and pay to meet people, oh yeah, yeah. All these other things, and he was so proud of it all. And um, you know, we sadly lost him to to suicide for like a month ago, but um he I I it sort of passed my mind. I was thinking, well, who's gonna end up with all that stuff he owned? And I thought, well, probably nobody, you know, because it it's it's not the collection that mattered, it was him, you know, as a person. So that I sort of thought, well, thinking like that, what I would I would want to get most out of being a fan would be it'd be the people, I think, you know, just meeting everybody, having a good time. Um, I think there's there's two guests on you had on. Um it's funny because because I've only started listening to the show. I'll probably say, Oh, I guess he had on the other day, but it's probably like a month or two ago.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:30

Are you talking about Kylie and Rachel?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:33

Yes, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. When you stop when they came over and and everything, and I was just thinking, oh, that that sounds so awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:39

We had the best, yeah. We had I think it was either two or three days together, and we just talked about in excess, and just you know, it was just amazing. Well, we didn't just talk about in excess, but it was so good to be able to talk about your band, which you really can't have anyone but your girlfriend at the moment, and she probably go like I'm I'm saying my husband don't want to talk about mountain biking or like running and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:04

I'm like, oh um, sorry, James.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:10

But yeah, it it's it's having that room full of people that understand you, and you could talk openly about it, and you and everyone's got a story. It's it is great, it is like your church, your people.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:23

It is because I suppose as um as a younger fan as well, it it um you sort of look up to people like yourself and everyone else that you've had on the show and other fans because it it almost makes you a little bit envious because you think, oh, everybody's got a story, everybody's met them at some point, everyone's done something, and I'm just thinking, well, you know, I've I've never met them. You know, I wasn't even born when they were together. So it's sort of that thing of you do envy people, I suppose, a little bit, you know, where you think, Oh, I wish I would have been there, I wish I could have done that, you know, sort of thing. So uh maybe maybe that does come into being a younger fan. Um, like you say, I wasn't even born when you know sadly Michael passed. Um we're obviously talking about uh when my mum remembers it, uh, because we're talking about that behind the scenes. We're talking about um before the show, how uh she remembers you know where she was when she heard it on the radio. She remembers watching the funeral with the the sort of blue purple flowers, you know, and uh she remembers that. She remembers the big breakfast show with Paula. Uh I think she even remembered when he originally met Paula in '85 on oh, what was the programme called now?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:33

The Big Breakfast.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:35

No, no, that was in 19. Oh, the tube. The tube, there you go. Yeah, sorry. Jul with Jules Holland.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:40

Yeah, so your mum mum has sort of like coaxed you into all of this or very much so.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:46

It's funny because um And how old is Mum?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:49

And what's mum's name? Let's give her a shout out.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:52

Uh Anne. She's sixty one.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:53

Hello, Anne.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:55

So, yeah, she it's funny because we were talking about this yesterday, weren't we, that she doesn't Well, as far as I'm aware, she didn't have any uh NXS CDs or records. It must have just been that one rock compilation that I had at that one song on. But yet she knows so much about them when she remembers where she was and everything, and seeing Michael and all these other things, you know. I think she did want to see them when they came to Manchester. Uh but like you say, probably I don't know if I don't know what the reason it might be, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:26

Just thinking about it, because like I'm from England, as you know, um, and I only came out here in 2004, and I felt that I had to hide my collection of or my fandom of in XS because it they just weren't seen as like like the cool band, I suppose, when when I was over in England. And I suppose mainly there are a lot of people, I'm not saying all, but a lot of people that do enjoy in excess, but don't go on and look for the music. They'll just go, Oh yeah, I like that song, you know, a bit like your mom. And but she knows the story and the narrative, you know. Um, I was watching something called Bob Geldov the other day, and you know, he's just had such a tragic life, you know. There's just been so much, and he even he says, My life is like a soap opera, you know, that I'm in this this soap opera, and I just have to embrace it and just get on with life, you know. But I'm real, and this is happening to me, you know. He lost his wife and his daughter, and it's just so many things that he's been through. So that um has been played out in on on TV in in England. I mean, most Australi like people wouldn't would know that story.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:51

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Um I think that um it displays it quite well in um in the the Mystifier documentary as well. I think they actually used an extract from Michael being interviewed where he says, Well, it's me against Saint Bob. Obviously, over here he was seeking you know with with live aid and everything, he was a he was a big thing and very important to the UK. So it was sort of seen, well, any anybody against him, you know, is against us, sort of thing, you know, where it w It like it's it's a very tragic story. All of it, I think, you know, from Michael's side and uh and Bob's. Um all of it's all of it's sad. I think, you know, under better and better circumstances, probably all them people could be here today. Like so you do see Bob still get a lot of scrutiny over even over here. And as I suppose because I mentioned before about being like a U2 fan, even being a U2 fan, when you meet other U2 fans here, they'll almost embrace them like give you a hug because that they're such a hated band here, it's it's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:52

Like people U2 are hated in the UK. Oh in the England.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:56

Yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot people can't stand Bono and and the rest of it. So when you genuinely meet another fan over here, that they do get quite excited, they go, Oh my god, you like U2 too? Because it's like they get scrutinized a lot. Uh over here they're very, very commonly referred to as overrated and and this and that. And it's I've never got that term a phrase because it's it's they're basically saying that person doesn't deserve the recognition and the fandom that they get. But it's like, but that's just a fact, you know. It's like even with Oasis, I can't stand fans made that happen. The fans made that happen. It's like Oasis, I can't stand them. But it would be silly for me to say, oh, but they shouldn't have that fandom because it's up to them people whether they like their music or not, you know. Yeah. Um so I've always thought it's funny, you know, nowadays when you go on YouTube and things, and there's just countless videos of people going, oh, top ten overrated bands, and I think, well, why why critique something, you know, like why not just enjoy it, take it face value, enjoy it for what it is, and stop putting such bad press on it and and you know. Um so you you do see that a lot. We do like to complain a lot in the UK, I imagine. Obviously, you'd know that.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:05

Um Yes. Yeah, they do like to have a good moan. But yeah, it's horrible that that things have to be critiqued, but um Michael was always good and gracious at taking all of that and um being above it all and just being very, very professional in um in how he Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:26

You do see that in a lot of interviews when uh I think they use it a lot in um they'll put videos and clip it on YouTube and things, but where people ask him, you know, what does it feel like to be a has been and this and that? And it's just like it it seems so unnecessary because for me, obviously I wasn't there, but looking back on it from an outside perspective, um when they started getting critiques in like ninety-five, I think was when they first started, did the press started going, Oh, you has been like Wembley was only ninety-one, and you've only got to look at how huge that concert was and how iconic that if you said like I think it was one of your questions uh before on the segments, um what was like Michael's most iconic look, I would say it would be Wembley, it would be it would be the fishing at Topford, the you know, the striped keks and the and the Kayleigh Bob, you know, that that was that that's what his look when you when I think, oh Michael, that that's that's it, you know. That was you look how big the crowd was and the rest of it, and how people going crazy for his music, and I think, well, it seems so strange to only three years later then receive so much criticism and go, Oh yeah, he has been that because there was a lot of other acts, you know, like even the stones you could bring up and say, Well, the stones have been around since the 60s, but you never see any critique from them in the 70s, 80s, or 90s.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:47

Oh, I don't know, yeah. No, I was in the around the 80s, they lost it a little bit, the stones. So I do remember that. But um, but but being in England from from an English point of view or from a UK point of view, that '9495, which you know, I was like, you know, that was my prime with going out nightclubbing and and things, um, brick pop was massive. Yeah. Um and you had your oasis and your blurs, and you know, and then you had your um dance music. And um in excess just didn't fit into any of that. And and I'm glad that they stayed on their own track, really, because when you go and listen to them, it's class, it's such class music, and and it didn't work for them in the eyes of the press that they were doing smaller venues, but for the fans, it was like great, we can, you know, we can smell our band, we can touch our band again, you know. We're not in those stadiums where, you know, we're and I felt it too because I went to see them at the NEC. I felt like a hundred miles I I may as well watch them on TV than being been there. I should have got down the front, really. But I was with my boyfriend and I felt very like he bought my ticket. I thought I'd better not leave him, although I didn't want to go down the front. Well, Jaden, it's been wonderful having you on. It's lovely to have such a young guy and your perspective on it, and also from the UK. I'll get you in touch with all those guys because it would be good if you could all meet up and then you can also have a yarn. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:25

Like you say, because it it it that is probably my main thing, just wanting to get more in with the community and and everything. And I just love listening to people's stories, like you say. Uh every other guest you've had on has I think have been fantastic. I I really enjoy it, you know. Um, I did miss out on the the the last few episodes of your Hayden and B one uh because I was in the process of moving back to England, but uh as soon as I found out about listen like fans, I I got right caught up. And um yeah, it's it's I think it's a fantastic show. Um I'm also very honoured that you brought me on the show. Because I'm probably not as not as interesting as other guests, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:02

Well, I said to you, have you are you listening? You guys, yeah, I've just thought you listened. I said, Do you want to come on? Oh, okay. So it's great. I'm so glad to get you on.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:12

No, thank you so much. Like I said, it's my first podcast, so I've probably had a lot of um, you know, sort of funny moments sort of not knowing what to say or or stuttering and things, but like you say, there's a lot to talk about. Like you say, there's there's we we could easily still go on for another several hours still talking about things. So if you ever want me like potentially on in the future, like just let me know. I'd I'd be happy to, you know. Uh a lot a lot a lot to to go over.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:37

So excellent. All right, well I will. I'll hold you to that because I just want to keep going with these stories. So it'd be good to actually finally meet you. Maybe I'll well, I I've told my mum I should come over and into England soon. So um yeah, I'll I'll maybe I have to come over there to get you all together.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:54

Maybe. Like you say, because uh I know you said you're gonna do something over there for the 50th, and um I think uh on one of your episodes they said that they in the US that they were gonna throw something in. Was it in Florida that they said they're gonna do? Yeah. Or some sort of party, but it's like over here, it's like I don't know if you need to party with because there isn't anybody.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:14

So hire Wembley out.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:17

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:21

Or the Aston Villa Leisure Centre or Brixton Academy.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:25

Yeah, like you say, is an idea.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:29

All right, well, you have a lovely day. I know it's quite early there for you. It's quite going on a bit later here for me. So um thank you and uh keep on listening to like fans.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:39

Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:47

Before we wrap up, I just want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for listening, sharing, commenting, and being part of the Listen Light fans family. If you've enjoyed the podcast and would like to help to keep the microphones on and keep the interviews and phones content and special projects, we'd be incredibly grateful if you consider being a supporter. The link is in the description.