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Just wanted to let you know that while I am doing research for another podcast series, I thought I’d drop a quick and easy (haha*) one on you.
I actually took this pic in my backyard just before a storm broke.
Go! Listen! Subscribe, download, etc. And if you like it, it would be super helpful if you would write a review on Apple (I hate that Apple is the only one that matters, but it’s the truth).
*I thought just reading a story would be easy. But I should have learned my lesson with my first one, A Haunted House. I recorded chapter 1 4 times, and then editing in the theme song, background instruments, etc took DAYS! But I’m getting better at it, and it shouldn’t take so long in the future.
I apologize for the recent absence. I have been posting on social media (Instagram, Facebook and Twitter) but haven’t had anything really, to share with you that can’t be said in a couple of sentences. So I have been letting the blog go.
Another reason for my absence is that I’ve been busy! In a pandemic? Yes! I’m taking a ton of classes on Coursera (Social Psychology, Anti-Racism, Brain Help, Sleep Neurobiology, and more), and also I have a new project that I don’t want to say anything about yet. But let’s just say, it is taking up a lot of my time doing the research for it. I’m currently slogging through about 100 New York Times articles and creating a timeline…One more hint…it’s not at all music-related.
But…today I learned that the band Overcoats (who I featured a while back) have started a podcast! It’s called Between Two Bald Girls. The hosts, Hanna Elion and JJ Mitchell are not only talented musical artists, but they’re comedians!
They describe it as “2 Dope Queens” meets “My Dad Wrote A Porno,” with a side of “Stuff Mom Never Told You.”
So for the last few months, every Wednesday and Saturday nights we make cocktails and watch Transmission on Twitch. If you don’t know, Transmission is a show produced by DJ Jake Rudh who has been a DJ in Minneapolis for over 20 years and has a regular show on The Current. Since the pandemic, he started doing shows on Twitch, in which he plays videos from these amazing 80s artists. He specialized “in punk, post-punk, dark wave, new wave, new romantic, synth-pop, dream pop, shoegaze, brit-pop & indie.”
Anyway, I thought I was an 80s music expert and more importantly, an expert on The Smiths. I have been listening since the beginning and I love them.
So imagine my surprise one night, while watching Transmission and Jake played a video of The Smiths song, “Hand in Glove” but instead of Morrissey, it was a woman singing lead. Apparently, this is lore and I just wasn’t aware of it. Back in 1984 when The Smiths played on Top of the Pops (Britain’s version of “American Bandstand”) they performed with Sandie Shaw.
Sandie Shaw was born Sandra Ann Goodrich in Essex England. She’s a very well-known pop star in Britain in the ’60s. You probably know her hit, “Always Something There to Remind Me” but you probably know it by Naked Eyes. I didn’t know Sandie’s but I heard Dionne Warwick’s version growing up, which was before Sandie’s but only by about a year.
According to Wikipedia, in 1983,
“a new phase in her career began after she received a letter from “two incurable Sandie Shaw fans” – singer Morrissey and lead guitarist Johnny Marr of the Smiths – telling her that “The Sandie Shaw legend cannot be over yet – there is more to be done.” Shaw’s husband was a friend of Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records, the label to which the Smiths were signed, and she agreed to record some of their songs. In April 1984, her version of “Hand in Glove” (the Smiths’ first single) was released and peaked just inside the UK Top 30.”
She also had a single in 1969, called “Heaven Knows I’m Missing Him Now”, which was the inspiration for The Smiths song, “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”, 15 years later.
I just thought all of this was really interesting and something I had no idea about.
Today’s Podcast Recommendation is Fairytales for Unwanted Children.
The episodes are stories written by the host, Scott Thrower. They are wonderfully dark stories with a lesson, a twist, or just food for thought. He ends each episode with “did you find a moral of the story?” and then invites you to go to his Twitter, or the Facebook page for discussion.
The characters rarely have names, but they are very well written personalities. The stories are magical and beautiful. Scott has a lovely soothing voice that I could listen to all day. I tend to listen to these at night to wind down. Then I have to listen again later because I often fall asleep!
Scott is also really great to his supporters. Shortly after I joined the Facebook group and offered to help him copy edit* his new book, he sent me a handwritten letter and a new story he’d written. (*I’m not a copy editor – I wish I was – but he asked fans to help out).
He’s very generous to his listeners and readers, letting us get first listens to his new episodes and freebie copies of his books. He also reaches out to fans for story ideas or prompts.
Come on over and join the Facebook group, it’s filled with lovely people who love the podcast and his books and want to support it, and each other. He will sometimes post a scenario and question for fans to comment on, and it’s always interesting to see responses (and his responses to those).
Please listen and consider subscribing on Patreon to support this wonderful podcaster, or you can buy his books on Amazon too (see below).
Just some of my favorite episodes: 28: Ship (the wind falls in love with a ship) 38: The Dragon and the Staircase (an elderly couple take care of a dragon) 42: Pockets (pockets refill themselves) 51: The Woman at the Bar (a stranger leaves a magic coin) 56: Feathers (a man turns into a bird) The Woodcut series (4 parts 60-63) – this one was also a book. The book is excellent! 67: Dead Man’s Clothes (tattered clothing makes a man rich) 74: Tiny (a tiny village and a large woman) The Sleep Series (6 parts, 100-105)
I’ve been a fan of Matthew Sweet since I heard the song “Girlfriend” off the album of the same name.
That album was my soundtrack for that whole year it came out. My husband and my bestie both loved it too so we would go see him in concert together often. We have great memories of those shows. Even the one where Matt got food poisoning and had to leave the stage to barf, only to pop back on stage and play another song. What a trouper! His shows are always great.
So I was very pleasantly surprised last week when I got a notification on Facebook that he had just started a livestream from his home. I clicked over and was immediately transported to First Avenue in the 90s. His songs are so comforting to me. His banter was great too. He just seems like such an awesome human.
I’m usually not one to appreciate a guitar or bass line, but with his music, I honestly do appreciate the composition and great guitar playing on his songs. He really rocks!
He’s a beautiful songwriter too. Some of his songs remind me of The Carpenters (“If Time Permits”, for example), while others he shreds like Hendrix (“Sick of Myself”). He’s just so amazing. In one of my favorites, “Thunderstorm” there’s a line, “…and nothing is wrong when it rains, even from my eyes” *sigh*
In doing some research for this feature, I realized that there is not only one volume of Under the Covers, a cover album he did with Susanna Hoffs, but there are THREE!! Vol. 3 is 80s music (my heart). It has covers of “Save it for Later” (English Beat), “Kid” (Pretenders) and “Killing Moon” (Echo and the Bunnyman) for starters. I’m super excited to have found this!
As luck would have it, he also has a new album coming out on the 15th called CatsPaw. You can pre-order it now (and listen to three songs from it right away)
If you are not already a fan of Matthew Sweet, I really recommend checking him out.
**The audio version of this blog post, aka the Podcast, is up now too, just check your regular podcast app or go here. If you want to subscribe but can’t find it in your favorite app, copy and paste this into your app: < https://feeds.redcircle.com/990a2251-82b3-49e3-b3c1-fdee6585d958 > (without the carats)
Some of my favorite songs: Girlfriend ( Girlfriend. If I’m being honest, ALL the songs on that one) Sick of Myself (100% Fun) Time Capsule (Altered Beast) Thunderstorm (In Reverse) – this one is epic. It has movements! Trust me, I had to stop or I would just list them all.
NOTE If you are using an Adblocker, you’ll need to pause it for this site, so you can see the albums. It considers these links to be ads. They’re just links to products, but it is through an affiliate program.
Today’s Artist Recommendation is Gracie and Rachel. They’re a fantastic “baroque pop” duo. They’re on Ani DiFranco’s label, Righteous Babe Records.
Photo credit Tonje Thilesen
Pianist-vocalist Gracie Coates and violinist Rachel Ruggles met as high schoolers in a modern dance class at their public high school in Berkeley, CA. They are now based in Brooklyn, NY. Lucky for us they live together and have been able to release a new record in 2020. It’s called Hello Weakness, You Make Me Strong and it’s wonderful.
Their music is composed of beautiful pop melodies, piano, violin, and lovely harmonies. Rachel not only plays the violin as you would expect, but she plucks it similar to a guitar. She also plays the loop station and drum machine.
Their music is just so peaceful and what we can all use at this time.
NOTE If you are using an Adblocker, you’ll need to pause it for this site, so you can see the albums. It considers these links to be ads. They’re just links to products, but it is through an affiliate program.
