Memorabilia Podcast

During the height of his fame with Soft Cell, Marc Almond had a side project. An outlet for the less polished pop side of his persona. Dark, passionate, intense, diverse, and riveting. And that was just the musicians that were part of the collective known as Marc and the Mambas. As we publish this podcast episode in mid-August 2023, it's precisely 40 years since Marc and the Mambas released their 2nd LP 'Torment and Toreros'. We celebrate by looking at the key personnel involved, the recording process they went through, and the songs that were released on this 90 minute long double album. You'll hear about the real life torment that emerged after the release of the record and Marc's extreme reaction to less than favourable reviews. For balance, there's comments from the fans that adore the album and what it still means to them 40 years on, Kate included.

From the same week of release, we enjoy a bumper hit of nostalgia. It was a great top 10 UK singles chart to wax lyrical about, featuring 80's gold from Depeche Mode, Wham, Spandau Ballet, Elton John, Paul Young, and The Style Council. The movies on at the box office were equally impressive, including some huge blockbusters and critically acclaimed films starring the likes of Michael Caine, Jennifer Beals, Harrison Ford, Roger Moore, Christopher Reeve, Julie Walters, and Matthew Broderick. The heat makes the headlines during the summer of 1983 in the UK, along with a new registration plate format for vehicles, and Kate gets rather excited about a couple of shows that aired for the first time in the UK on ITV.

Our Top 3 picks this week, are our favourite double albums of all time. Spoiler alert, all Kate's are from the same artist. I wonder who that could be!?

Singles of the week:

Kate goes for the modern classic from Sheffield's Reverend & The Makers - 'A letter To My 21 Year old self': https://youtu.be/8IQJTCrDI5Q

Rick sticks with 1983 and the pop gem from Aztec Camera that is 'Oblivious': https://youtu.be/2B2Sc2G_5ZA

For those on Facebook, here's a link to a post we published in the private 'Marc Almond' group with some great comments about the record: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4258153798?multi_permalinks=10161469921478799

Two recent podcasts featuring Anni Hogan:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5RJuwSD4NZjuxb7TOZ05fz?si=rBhS5rPxRgu11khgisWd1Q

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4kh3V42TjQBp3XlyaWAeVq?si=QWb-fyltSLaAR5aZ4EVKdA

Nirvana's Nevermind brought about a seismic shift in the musical landscape on release in September 1991. From the music, the attitude, and the fashion surrounding the grunge era, things would never be the same again. We discuss it all, along with the lead up to the record, the recording and production, the reaction on release, as well as taking a deep dive into the songs that made this one of the best selling albums of all time. Will our ratings match its popularity?

With so much to talk about and a new voice joining us on the podcast - our dear friend Simon - we forego our normal comprehensive round-up of what was happening in the UK around the time of release, for a much truncacted look at the album and singles charts, featuring Jason Donovan, Paul Young, Dire Straits, Gun N' Roses, Rozalla, and Bryan Adams.

A massive thanks to EVERYONE who replied to our thread on the Reddit Nirvana sub-forum about the album. We read a number of the brilliant comments out during the podcast, but you can view them in full here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nirvana/comments/14np5k9/nevermind_was_this_an_album_that_changed_your_life/

Our Top 3's for this episode feature songs with the slacker mentatlity. Songs that say 'I don't give a sh*t' and stick their middle finger up to the world.

Shout-out to the fantastic 'Now That's What I call Bullsh*t' podcast which Kate and I recorded an episode for this week. It should be published by the end of July. We chose 'Now That's What I call Music 14' from 1989 to chat about. Massive thanks to hosts Kathryn and Dan Donnelly for having us. You can find what the show's all about and find all their episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1756768

Dan Donnelly of course appeared on a previous episode of our podcast talking about his fantastic record 'Country & Northern' from 2011: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/memorabilia-podcast/episodes/Dan-Donnelly---Country--Northern---2011---Ep-23-e1oobvp/a-a8kq51q

Dan's brilliant single 'I don't Care' which is one of Rick's 'Top 3's' picks: https://youtu.be/Ok44tNJEvgE

Kate's Single of the week: Summer by Mumm-ra https://youtu.be/CB6h3irXRSU

Simon's single of the week: Keep on lying by Costellos: https://youtu.be/s2J0rTDUyfE

Rick's Single of the week: Postpone The Revolution by The Chesterfields: https://youtu.be/OIXlkGUkdJo

A favourite album of Kate's receives the Memorabilia Podcast scrutiny this week as we focus our attention on the intense, brooding, magnificence that is 'Murder Ballads' by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds from 1996. Their 9th studio album release, notable for its dark subject matter and cameo appearances from PJ Harvey, Kylie Monogue, and Shane McGowan, was met with widespread critical acclaim upon its release. Benefitting from the substantial airplay received for lead single 'Where The Wild Roses Grow', the record remains the bands most commercial succesful release to date. Discover the story behind the songs, how the album came to be, and what Rick and Kate thought of the album, each scoring it out of 10. Can it trouble the top ranked 5 LP's covered so far?

The UK singles and album charts reviewed are from the 5th of February 1996 with the usual mix of the good, the bad and the ugly. Rick declared the top 4 albums as the best covered to date and argued strongly that it wasn't just because he owned all 4! In the news we heard about divorce, the splitting up of the most successful British band of the 1990s (no tears were shed from our presenters), Jarvis Cocker's infamous escapades at The Brit Awards, and channel tunnel challenges. The UK box office including a film that wasn't based on George Orwells Animal Farm (although it did star a pig), a David Fincher classic and another top 10 where Kate hadn't seen a single movie!

Or Top 3's this week include songs by Ian Prowse, Tom Jones, Rage Against The Machine, Eminem, Johnny Cash and Aerosmith. Find out what subject links them all together (bit of a clue in the subject of this episode's featured album!).

Singles of the Week

Rick's: One of Us by Joan Osborne from 1996: https://youtu.be/aDdOnl0bHO4

Kate's: Greenhands by Sundara Karma from 2019: https://youtu.be/9Xkrbt1dQso

Other songs / performances mentioned on episode:

Where The Wild Roses Grow by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds featuring Kylie Minogue: https://youtu.be/lDpnjE1LUvE

Stagger Lee, and Henry Lee performed by Nick Cave and The Badseeds and PJ Harvey on The White Room 1996: https://youtu.be/OOLW_EvpWTc

Jubilee Street performed by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds live in Copenhagen: https://youtu.be/kf_zVzvYWuw

Satellite by The Hooters from 1987: https://youtu.be/RVXjBMK3EkI

Jarvis Cocker interrupts Michael Jackson at The Brits: https://youtu.be/ymCQyq-9APw

Blur's Modern Life is Rubbish. A cracking album to celebrate episode 25 for us and the 30th anniversary of it's release on Food records in the UK on the 10th of May 1993. Unthinkable given what came afterwards that Blur were in a bit of a pickle ahead of the release of this record. We discover why they were in serious debt, in threat of being dropped by the record company, and what were the songs that made the difference allowing the album to survive and thrive. We talk about the influence of producer Stephen Street, Blur's evolving sound and image, chart performance, critial reception, and provide a track by track analysis.

As ever, to set the scene, we cover the UK news, TV, movies, singles and album charts from the date of reslease with the usual eclectic mix of one hit wonders, established artists and breakthrough acts including the likes of Kingmaker, Snow, R.E.M, Whitney Houston, Utah Saints, Janet Jackson, New Order, Sting, World Party, Duran Duran, Clannad, Terrence Trent D'Arby, George Michael, and Cliff Richard.

Our Top 3's this week are things that are rubbish about modern life. Please forgive Rick's football related rant - he was in a fragile state of mind following Sheffield Wednesday's capitulation in their recent play-off semi-final first leg at Peterborough.

Singles of the week.

Rick has gone for the beuatiful, heartfelt and wonderful song that is 'Fat Black Heart', a 1993 release by Ian Prowse's Pele: https://youtu.be/_Vv7ovOnJEM

Kate has gone for a recent catchy release by the band Bloxx called 'Television Promises': https://youtu.be/_Vv7ovOnJEM

It's Autumn 1992 and R.E.M. are suddenly one of the biggest bands on the planet, riding the crest of a wave after the global success of their seventh studio LP - The wonderful 'Out of Time.' How do you follow that and create an album that:

a) sounds radically different to anything you've produced before, is

b) critically lauded and,

c) every bit as successful commercially as its predeccessor?

The answer is that you come up with 'Automatic For The People' - an astonishing record that has stood the test of time and given joy to millions of people in all four corners of the world, as well as saving lives through the incredible words and music within.

We talk about how the record was formulated, the writing and recording process, how they came up with the name, and artwork, as well as disecting every track musically and lyrically.

Find out what we thought of the record, although there's a big clue in the fact that revisiting it some 30 years on lead us to ask the question, does it have the best 3 closing tracks of any LP ever made? Also, what would the album score out of 20 and could it dislodge The Cure from the coveted Memorabilia rating chart, currently at No.1 with a score of 18.5 for the 1989 masterpiece, Disintegration.

Our regular features, are all in attendance, with October 1992 getting the memorablia podcast treatment in terms of looking at the UK single and album charts, what was playing at the cinema, airing on our TV screens and happening in the news. We discovered a bit of a disparity between what was in the top twenty in terms of singles and albums featuring artists such as Neds Atomic Dustbin, Stereo MC's, Manic Street Preachers, Prince, Lionel Richie, The Shamen, EMF, Mike Oldfield, Extreme, and Crowded House.

For our Top 3's this week, we went with the top 3 songs about sleep or dreaming. R.E.M. had to feature in one of those Top 3's, but listen in to find out which song and who chose it for their list!

Links from this week's episode:

Ian Prowse tour dates: https://amsterdam-music.com/live/

Single of the Week (chosen by Rick's Mum) - Nuts, by George Melly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrL1YM3bqUo

A bumper episode for season 2, episode 2 with special guest, current Leveller and all round brilliant human being, the very talented Dan Donelly. As well as focusing on his terrific 2011 album 'Country & Northern', and hearing about the genesis of each song, we have some fun discussions about why drinking pints of Guinness in a music video isn't a great idea, and possibly being the last vanguards of 'the album'. There's also serious chat about depression and suicide, and why Dan feels this record is his 'Blood on the Tracks'. Oh, and we have actual music! There's a taster of each of the songs on the album, which is a good thing as I'm reliably informed that the record isn't on Spotify. However, if you've a spare thirty odd quid, then you can buy the CD on Amazon or eBay. It'll be money very well spent in our humble opinion. 

The UK singles and albums charts from May 2011 come under serious scrunity - well as much as we could muster for the singles as we only knew about 3 of the songs between us! As for the albums, Cee Lo Green, Rhianna, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Wombats and Adele all feature. There's much love for Dave Grohl, but not so much for Bruno Mars and Jessie J. 

We're delighted that Ian Prowse features heavily in the episode, as Dan tells us about the song from Ian's latest album 'One Hand On The Starry Plough' written about him, aptly entitled, 'Dan'. It's a song that 'Louder than War' commented on their album review: "Dan again sees Prowse deliver a character-led narrative, this time over a sea-shanty song that puts me in mind of The Decemberists, which from me is high praise indeed." Dan Donnelly himself recounts his first hand experience of hearing Ian playing the song live at a recent gig in Sunderland, at the venue that Dan co-owns with Futurehead Barry Hyde. 

We finish the episode with each of us picking an Ian Prowse 'Top 3' - a far from easy task with such an extensive back catalogue of brilliant and eclectic music spanning over thirty years. None of us choose his Magnus Opus 'Does This Train Stop On Merseyside' deciding that was a given, but there's some very emotional and personal choices amongst our picks. 

Thanks Dan! 

You can listen to more of Dan along with wife Kathryn on the quite brilliant 'Now That's What I call Bullshit' podcast here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1756768

Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NowThatsWhatI18 and Dan himself: https://twitter.com/dandinnerlady 

Or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nowthatswhatIcallBS and https://www.facebook.com/dansonovagun


Watch Dan's video for the song 'Running' on YouTube: https://youtu.be/luDmoz_xl9U


And more recent release and my song of the week 'Time of Our Lives': https://youtu.be/J9HWYXl8UC8


Kate's Song of The Week is by 'The 1975' entitled 'I'm In Love With You': https://youtu.be/UVzVUDXoi0Y

One of the 9 wonderful Ian Prowse songs from our Top 3's: https://youtu.be/Qf2QNDZpeTw 

We are delighted to be back with a sublime album from the late 90's to kick-off Season 2! North Carolinan trio, Ben Folds Five, released their second LP on the 18th of March 1997 with much trepidation after a challenging time recording the album, trying to perfect the sound and document 'an event' by shunning the recording studio in favour of Ben's dilapidated house in Chapel Hill. If you've listened to any of our episodes during season one, you'll know we'll cover the origins of the band, each song in turn (both musically and lyrically) and finish by each giving a rating for the record out of 10. You'll discover how an auction bidding war that Kate was involved in is linked to the album opening track...

Before we get stuck in to all things BFF, we look back at 1997. What was in the UK album and single charts at this time, what were we watching at the movies and on the telly, and what was happening in the news? It was a time of political change in the UK, and musically, we were on the downward curve of Britpop, with boy-bands and girl-bands very prominent and dominating the higher reaches of the singles chart in particular. We talk about Bush, Dodgy, Cake, Kula Shaker, Gina G, Sash!, No Doubt, Wet Wet Wet, The Spice Girls, Blur, Mansun, Aqua, Chumbawumba, and Oasis amongst others. It was also the age of the 'hidden track' and we remember some heart stopping moments in discovering this new phenomena.

In the movies, we recall the likes of Bound, Fierce Creatures, Ransom, Jerry Maguire and one of Kate's favourites, Mars Attacks! On the TV, we discuss Sunset Beach, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the launch of Channel 5 (featuring the Spice Girls of course) and The Teletubbies. Halcyon days! 

We have a new feature for Season 2 - 'Top 3's'. As we're named after a Marc Almond song, much to Kate's consternation, we started with our Top 3 Marc Almond / Soft Cell songs. She said it would have been easier choosing a favourite child!! Let us know yours...

No surprise that this features: https://youtu.be/XZVpR3Pk-r8
Here's one of Kate's picks: https://youtu.be/0wIhbmC5_KA
Kate's Song of the week - Clarity, Vance Joy: https://youtu.be/7RREsx9lnNI
Rick's Song of the week - 6 Underground, Sneaker Pimps: https://youtu.be/2eBZqmL8ehg 

For our final episode of Season 1, we are back in 1987 to visit the songwriting duo 'Hue and Cry' and their debut album 'Seduced and Abandoned'. Brothers Patrick and Greg Kane were raised in the Scottish town of Coatbridge and were just 22 and 20 years of age respectively when the LP was released on the 1st of November 1987. We take a deep dive in to their journey to unlikely top 10 hitmakers, review the album in detail with a track by track analysis, and find out what's happened to the brothers' post late 80's fame. 

We set the scene before discussing all things Hue and Cry by visiting the month of November in 1987 which is a scary 35 years ago years ago as this episode is released in 2022! Chatting about what was happening in our own lives, we also review the top ten album and single charts in the UK, populated by the likes of Billy Idol, George Harrison, Rick Astley, Bronski Beat, U2 and The Bee Gees. The top 10 UK box office movies included some great films starring the likes of Sean Connery, Jack Nicholson, Bette Midler, Eddie Murphy, Susan Sarandon, and Cher. 

We conclude the episode and the season by reviewing Roling Stones Magazine's top 10 songs of all time which not surprisingly features The Beatles; but which position did their sole entry in to the top 10 finish and which song was it? Tune in to find out! 

Link to singles of the week for Rick and Kate on YouTube:

Rick - Let her go by Hue & Cry from 2017: https://youtu.be/RoCCiTwOGEM 

Kate - Dead Man's Curve by Jan and Dean from 1964: https://youtu.be/S1Cuekbklkg 

Thank you to everyone who has listened to, commented on, shared or appeared in any of our podcast episodes from season 1! We'll be back in 3-4 months with season 2, focusing on the albums that we have in our CD collections.

If you haven't already, please subscribe to the podcast and share / follow / like / comment on our social media or send us an email:

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We are back in 1989 for a third time and this time it's a summer release from 'The The' that gets the Memorabilia Podcast spotlight. This was Kate's LP purchased not long after its release and she talks about what the album means to her, why she purchased it, what she likes about it, and how she used to prefer listening to the record.

Before we disect the LP track by track, we review some recent gigs we attended including Babybird, David Ford with Annie Dressner, and the wonderful Ian Prowse and Amsterdam. We then move on to the year 1989, talking about what we were both up to that summer and reviewing what was riding high in the album and singles charts, along with a look at what was packing them in at the cinema. There's appearances by Neneh Cherry (who provided vocals on the 1986 'The the' single 'Last Train to Dawn' - https://youtu.be/TfzvFKO1ud8 -), Queen, Guns & Roses, Simply Red, Pet Shop Boys, and Soul II Soul. 

We discuss the genesis of 'The The' and Matt Johnson's journey from teenage school drop-out to hugely respected artist and song writer, playing and recording with the likes of Marc Almond, Sinead O'Connor, Jools Holland, members of 'Orange Juice' and legendary guitarist Johnny Marr who he recruited to the band just ahead of recording 'Mind Bomb'.  

The LP receives the usual Memorabilia Podcast rating out of 20 and we pick out some thoughts on the LP from music critics as well as providing our own opinions on the 8 songs, reviewing both the music and lyrics for each track. 

We finish this 20th episode of the podcast be re-visiting the updated Rolling Stone Top 50 songs of all time and specifically numbers 15 - 11 featuring Rock and Roll royalty The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder and The Kinks. 

We pick our singles of the week featuring Marc Almond, When in Rome, and Babybird and look ahead to what's in store for episode 21. 

The next LP will be our season 1 finale before we switch to our CD collections and Rick has chosen a record close to his heart from 1987 and the magical 'Seduced & Abandoned' by Hue & Cry. 

Links to some of the artists and songs featured in this episode:

What A Moonlit Night - Marc Almond single with all donations going to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal - https://www.marcalmond.co.uk/news/?fbclid=IwAR2ZR_1m0rZ9_impR-Ab3PxUUMTewT073KPGC9SGY97JN_45KPilu3nY6os


Purple Zone - new Soft Cell / Pet Shop Boys single: https://youtu.be/cv4QNTg1Mps 

Twitter page for David Ford and Annie Dressner: https://mobile.twitter.com/dressnerford

Offical Website of Ian Prowse and Amsterdam: https://amsterdam-music.com/ 

Ricks Singles of the week -

The Promise by When in Rome from 1987 - https://youtu.be/5HI_xFQWiYU

Out of Sight by Babybird from the year 2000 - https://youtu.be/7lYb9NtRAD0 

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Early July 1990 and Harry Connick Jr. releases 2 albums on the same day and a 'home video' entitled Singin' & Swingin'. One of the LP's is with his Jazz trio entitled 'Lofty's Roach Soufle', but the record we focus on in this episode is 'We Are In Love' - a big band, jazz and swing masterclass from the 22 year old New Orleans native. Harry won his second grammy for the record in what was a momumentally busy time in the glittering career of the talented American composer, pianist, vocalist, actor and TV star. We talk about his music, movies, TV shows and his enduring marriage to former Victoria Secrets lingerie and swimwear model, Jill Goodacre. 

There's a full album analysis of all 12 songs (9 of which Harry had writing credits on) before we conclude the Harry Connick Jr. chat by each giving the record a rating out of 10. Current highest score of all the LP's we've covered to date is an impressive 18.5 (out of 20) for 'Disintegration' by The Cure. 'We Are in Love' needs to score 17 or above to break in to our top 5 - find out if it gets there by tuning in...

In England and Ireland, for sports fans, July 1990 brings back bittersweet memories of one of the greatest football tournaments in the history of the game - The Fifa World Cup Finals in Italy, commonly known as Italia '90. England and Ireland were decent and both had ambitions of winning the tournament. It was a time when the English fell in love with a flawed genius called Gazza and an unlikely chart topper ruled the airwaves in the form of opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. Discover what other gems were kicking around in the UK singles charts, the album charts and at the box office. You can also discover why Rick's Dad wasn't exactly thrilled to discover that he'd be appearing on Radio Sheffield and what Rick shelled out £369.99 for on the day 'We Are in Love' was released (July 3rd 1990). 

To start the episode we cover numbers 20 - 16 in Rolling Stones 500 greatest songs of all time list, featuring the obligatory single we've never heard of, along side classics by Queen, John Lennon, Prince and Beyonce. 

We'll be taking a short mid-season hiatus following this episode as we prepare for a busy time personally including a big house party to celebrate our 50th birthdays and the 18th birthday of our son, Sam. We'll be back towards the end of March with the 1989 LP 'Mind Bomb' by The The. 

You can listen to the full album 'We Are in Love' on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/6Q2COpAGHfW1BeZrMIIY82 or You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCDelnJmZ08&list=OLAK5uy_negIsZrxodVlFfJFCPvgAfqZBI5fRMIZY 

The scene from Friends discussed on the episode starring Harry's wife, Jill Goodacre and the brilliant Matthew Perry (playing Chandler Bing): https://youtu.be/Ewx4RYgl_OQ


Rick's single of the week: https://youtu.be/t3BBDeAyrHo The beautiful 'Thumbs Up' by the fantastic 'Howl and the Hum'. 

Kate's Single of the week: The bouncy 'The Way To Your Heart' by Belgium duo Soulsister that was big in Germany according to Kate: https://youtu.be/fzyKYekdKBk

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Our most 'recent' album covered to date is 'San Fransisco' by American Music Club, presumably named after the Californian city in which they were formed back in 1983. San Fransisco was their 7th and final album before they disbanded in 1995. There was a reformation in 2004 which lasted for a further 6 years and saw the release of 2 further LP's by the band.

American Music Club were a band that Rick was totally unaware of, having only made a minor blip in the UK charts - listen to the episode to get the story of why Kate purchased the LP and what her thoughts are on it having re-listened to the album ahead of the podcast recording. 

Recording date was 9th of January 2022 and apologies that it's taken much longer than normal to edit and publish - life sometimes just gets in the way of all the fun doesn't it?! If you're reading and listening to this ahead of 23.1.2022, feel free to send Kate a happy 50th birthday message! Our social links and email address are as follows:

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We are up to episode 17 and it's a pivotal LP both culturally and musically - The Stone Roses much revered eponymously titled debut album from May 1989. Unbelievably, the record was released on exactly the same day as an album we have already covered - our top rated LP to date - Disintegration by The Cure. A very different sound, but will we both rate it as highly as that album? 

The record buying public and critics certainly liked it with the NME fan readers poll for 1989 voting The Stone Roses the Best Band, Best New Band, Best album and Best Single (Fools Gold). In the year 2000, the NME awarded the record the title of 'Best Album Ever', with the 2009 remaster release receiving a 10/10 rating from 'Pitchfork'. 

We cover the genesis of the band, including an important chance meeting for Ian Brown with legendary R&B singer Geno Washington, as well as the numerous line-up changes before the 4 lads that recorded the album - singer Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, drummer Alan 'Reni' Wren, Gary 'Mani' Mounfield' - came together to create such an improtant musical body of work. Along with the impressive songs, their swift ascension during 1989 was fuelled by their unwavering self belief and nose for publicity. The album gets the usual track by track analysis and Rick explains why for quite a while he thought the A-side was the B-side and vice versa. 

There's a look at what happened to the band after the release of the album including their infamous Spike Island gig, the court case that lead to the 5 year delay in the band releasing a follow-up album and their unlikely 2011 re-union after the bands demise in 1996. 

On our continued coverage of Rolling Stones top 500 songs of all time, we review tracks 25-21 inclusive. You can watch the YouTube videos for each song by clicking or copying and pasting the links below:

Runaway by Kanye West featuring Pusha T from 2010: https://youtu.be/Bm5iA4Zupek

A Day In The Life by The Beatles from 1967: https://youtu.be/usNsCeOV4GM 

Heroes by David Bowie from 1977: https://youtu.be/lXgkuM2NhYI

Be My Baby by The Ronnettes from 1963: https://youtu.be/jSPpbOGnFgk

Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday from 1939: https://youtu.be/Web007rzSOI 

New music from 2021 liked by Rick:

18 cigarettes by Ducks Ltd: https://youtu.be/qsZb9U0_T9U

Country by Good Mornin: https://youtu.be/agNRqAbTxtg

If you haven't had enough of Christmas yet, here's Rick's single of the week - Christmas wrapping by The Waitresses: https://youtu.be/nud2TQNahaU

favourite cover versions of the song - Christmas Wrapping performed by Belle and Sebastian: https://youtu.be/EHQP3LN9QoQ and a slower version by the wonderful Summercamp: https://youtu.be/nqb_QqkS6Dg 

Kate's single of the week - Only The Moment by Marc Almond: https://youtu.be/ibusVXUyZJI

And the sublime cover version by Katarina Kovak: https://youtu.be/Jg_1gw07p60 

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Hey hey, we're covering The Monkees! As you'll discover, this was an LP that Rick borrowed from his cousin 20 odd years ago and he hasn't quite managed to return it yet - eek! Rick's now expecting a message from cousin Dave requesting its return, but secretly hoping that he no longer owns a record player so he'll be given the nod to keep it! 

Kate was researching this one and being a 'Best of...' there wasn't a lot on this particular version of the album itself. The episode is therefore more of a focus on The Monkees and the story of their crazy formation in two seperate guises - firstly the actors who played the struggling band in the TV show, and secondly becoming an actual band in their own right. They sold a hell of a lot of records, often referenced The Beatles and reportedly outsold the Fab Four in america in 1967. They had some fantastic singles too, including Last Train To Clarkesville, I'm a believer, Plesant Valley Sunday, and Daydream Believer. 

As we've covered 1981 before (Soft Cell's 'Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret), Kate left the usual film, TV and chart analysis this time round and focused on a few 1981 news stories which turned in to a mini chat about tennis and in particular John McEnroe. 

On the continued countdown of Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 500 songs of all time, we cover numbers 35-31 featuring Rock 'n' Roll royalty in Little Richard and Chuck Berry, The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, The Notorious BIG, and one of the greatest live acts of all time - The Rolling Stones. Kate is somewhat sceptical about Mick Jagger's explanation of what their top-50 rated song is all about!

Rick's single of the week is from 2006 (although it didn't chart in the UK until 2007) by Brazilian 'nu-rave' band CSS - 'Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above' reached #39 in the UK singles chart in May 2007. 

Watch the video of the single here: https://youtu.be/7agPOt1XZz8 

Kate's single of the week is a little further back in time. Kate's version of The Wombling Song is from 1974 and she thinks is the first 7" she ever bought. A fine start to her vinyl collection!

Nostalgia lovers, click here: https://youtu.be/XWQMMPFtoG4

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It's summer 1990, you're 18 years old, and you head out on one of life's big adventures, to work as a courier at Eurocamp in Switzerland. Part of your job is to clean out the tents and you're seeking the perfect record to accompany your hot, sweaty, dirty labour. What would hit the spot and ease your graft as you worked from tent to tent? Well, in Kate's distant past, that album was Bryan Adam's 1984 classic album, Reckless, which spawned no less than 6 singles - all of which made 15 or higher on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA. 

We undertake our usual album disection, take a look at Bryan's career progression up to the release of this, his 4th studio album, and beyond, including reflecting on his 1991 mega hit, (Everything I do) I do it for you. As a result, we look up what were the best selling singles of the 90's in the UK, where Bryan's single ranked and how that top ten compares to the best selling singles of all time. Spolier - the 90's chart was a bit of a disappointment and Kate was not impressed with the record buying public in that decade!!

Continuing our journey through Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 500 singles of all time, we reach numbers 40-36. Reviewing the TV, radio and film listings for November 1984, we find out why Rick was such a fan of the movie Woman in Red. Stevie Wonder won an academy award for Best Original Song featured in the movie - it's safe to say that Kate is not a fan of the track!!


We introduce a single of the week for each of us - Kate choosing from her own 7" collection and Rick going with a song he came across during the course of last week when doing other research. What's Come Over Me, from Australian indie pop gems, Frente, for Kate, whilst Rick's pick is My Moon My Man, by candian singer songwriter Feist. Links to the respective You Tube video's below, plus a third link to one of the greatest music videos of all time - Here it goes again, by OKGO (mentioned in this episode due to a particular similarity with Feist's excellent video). If you've never seen it and can watch the video without smiling come and see us after class! Enjoy x

https://youtu.be/gjX2NtjKVck - What's Come Over Me - Frente

https://youtu.be/ltYq-jalYm0 - My Moon My Man - Feist

https://youtu.be/dTAAsCNK7RA - Here It Goes Again - OKGO


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A very special episode for the Memorabilia Podcast - our first indie superstar guest in Caretaker Race singer/songrwriter and Loft guitarist Andy Strickland. Andy kindly took the time to speak to us for over 90 minutes about his band's superb 1990 debut album 'Hangover Square'. For the first time, we also have music clips to accompany the tales behind the songwriting and producing. Thank you Andy! 

There's a lot packed in to the lengthy episode and some wonderful stories shared by Andy talking about his time in 'The Loft', the break-up they went through, subsequently hitting number 3 in the Netflix music chart above Glen Campbell, forming The Caretaker Race, getting signed to legendary producer Stephen Street's Foundation record label, and everything you could possibly need to know about the LP Hangover Square. 

There's mentions for writer and broadcaster Danny Baker, Ian Dickson (the Australian Simon Cowell), Terry Hall, Johnny Marr, Lloyd Cole, Cherry Red Records, producer John Parish, journalist Jerry Smith, 6Music radio presenter Steve Lamacq, The Sundays, and why he realised he wasn't cut out for the world of business and being the owner of a record label. 

We can't thank Andy enough for giving up his time and for his patience during the recording. The Leeds to the Isle of Wight connection was a little unreliable and we encountered a number of technical hitches forcing us to swtich recording platforms after just a few minutes of getting going, so apologies for the imperfections in the opening minutes of the interview. 

Andy stayed with us to review the top 10 UK singles at the time of release for Hangover Square and finished with a brilliant story about a night out in Paris with the singer whose single from the movie 'Days of Thunder' was at the very top of the hit parade in September 1990. 

Andy left us with a 'hot-tip' for a new band to listen and watch out for - the Isle of Wight's very own 'Wet Leg'. In fact, the tip was that hot that the tickets we were going to buy to see them in Leeds in April 2022 have already sold out!

Watch the video for Wet Leg's viral single 'Chaise Longue': https://youtu.be/Zd9jeJk2UHQ 

Listen to the recording of The Caretaker Race live in Switzerland in May 1991:  https://youtu.be/QJE2jYzO0p8

You can follow Andy Strickland on Twitter @AStrickland165 

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July 1988 - Kate and Rick were sweet 16, and it was very much a case of school's out for the summer. Within a week of it's release, Rick had ventured into Sheffield City Centre to purchase Kylie, by Kylie Minogue and so began a beautiful relationship that's lasted the test of time... even if that early music hasn't aged so well! That said, Kylie's debut LP went to #1 in the UK album charts and sold over 2 million copies in the UK, more than the combined total of sales for the rest of the world. It was clearly a British love affair as well as a personal one for Rick. Kate was keen to know what the catalyst was for purchasing the record, not being so keen on the whole Stock, Aitken and Waterman sound herself. 

There's numbers 46-41 in the countdown of Rolling Stone's top 500 singles of all time featuring Kendrick Lamar, Michael Jackson, The Temptations, Bob Marley, and Joy Division, along with a run-down of our own Memorabilia podcast chart from 10 to 1 in terms of our ratings for the first ten LP's we've covered on the podcast.

We look at the singles and album charts for July 1988, the top films at the box office, and what the nation were watching on BBC1 on the week of release. 

Rick's Random single of the week is from the movie Pretty Woman - an impressive soundtrack that boasts David Bowie, Robert Palmer, Natalie Cole, Go West, Roy Orbison and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers amongst it's contributing artists. Which one get's the nod? Tune in to find out!

Please note, this episode is a stand-in for our planned recording of The Caretaker Race's 1990 LP 'Hangover Sqaure' examination which has been put back a week to acommodate an interview with main man Andy Strickland! We'll be speaking to Andy this Thursday, the 28th day of October 2021. Exciting times!

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Before we get in to the work of genius that is 'Disintegration' by The Cure, we had a fair bit of homework following the previous episode where we covered the Beatles 'Help', including the Cuban Missile Crisis, the fantastic Ron Howard movie 'Eight Days A Week' and when The Beatles met Elvis. We also neglected to rate 'Help' and so we add those scores into the mix and will compile a top 10 of our ratings following this episode as Disintegration is the 10th LP we're covering. 

Last month (september 2021) Rolling Stone updated and revisited it's 500 greatest songs of all time list and so we start our journey at #50 and talk about the five tracks placed up until #45. It's a somewhat patchy start to the list! 

The 'Disintegration' disection starts in earnest with a run through of the release date, the tracks that were chosen as singles from the album, how they fared in the charts in the UK and USA, and how the album was received by critics at the time of release. Kate tells us when and why she purchased the album, identifies her favourite track, and what it formed the soundtrack to in her life around the time of purchase... a revelation that Rick wasn't aware of!

We investigate where the album ranks in the 13 Cure LP's released to date in the eyes of various music magazines and online music websites and then get in to the band, looking at Robert Smith's beginings as a musician and singer and the frame of mind he was in leading up to the recording and release of the LP. 

There's the usual album analysis and review of the tracks, our ratings and what happened to the band immediately after it was released in May 1989. 

Kate reviews the UK singles and album charts, what everyone was watching at the movies and what was on the telly at the time of release. 

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What can you say about The Beatles that's not already been said?! Well, we have a crack at disecting their 5th studio LP released in the UK from August 1965 which we don't believe has had too much previous in-depth analysis. So, we provide a track by track guide and discuss the album in general, and give our thoughts on the movie that featured seven of the songs from the record. The iconic cover of the Beatles using their arms in flag semaphore to spell out the word 'Help!' in fact doesn't spell out 'Help' at all! Find out what it does spell and why they didn't run with the spelling of the album name by tuning in. 

Rick's Mum and Dad were visiting earlier on the day of recording (25.9.21) and so we took the opportunity to talk to Rick's Mum about her musical recollections, what she was up to in 1965 and what she thinks of The Beatles. Surprisingly, both she and Kate aren't big fans and have their reasons why, although rumours that Rick is drawing up the divorce papers as a result of this revelation are unfounded!

1965 gets the Memorabilia treatment for the month of relsease and Kate tells us what were the best selling albums and singles in the week that 'Help!' hit the shops, along with what was in the news headlines for the month, including three Beatles related stories. 

Rick's random single of the week is from 1963 and co-written by the late, great and ever so lively Freddie Garrity. It reached number 2 in the UK singles charts, but two years later, in the Spring of 1965, it reached the summit of the US Billboard hot 100 - we explain why there was such a gap in the chart success on both sides of the pond. 

Finally, we reveal what our next episode LP will be, selected from Kate's collection and released in May 1989.

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A true classic album for our 3rd LP deep dive - do we think that Blondie's most revered record stands the test of time? We talk about the history of the iconic band, how they came together, and what were the ingredients that made this, their 3rd LP, so special. All six members of the band - Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Clem Burke, Jimmy Destri, Nigel Harrison and Frank Infante - had songwriting credits on the record, and so we look at their contributions on the twelve tracks, along with the three covers included on the album. It was a surprise to discover that one of these songs was actually not a Blondie original, and so we created a top 10 list of cover songs you probably didn't know were cover songs. Let us know if you have any suggestions to add that should have made our list!

The instantly recognisable album cover is discussed including why the band were not happy with it even though it has been lauded ever since. There have been numerous reenactments of the sleeve artwork, inclduing a Britpop frontman looking very fetching as Debbie Harry - find out who it is! We also look at where the album title, Parallel Lines, came from and highlight a wonderful documentary and a brilliant live performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test from New Years Eve 1979 in Glasgow - what a way to usher in the new decade! Links below.

Finally 1978 gets our full attention. As well as reviewing what was competing with Blondie in the album and singles charts from September 1978, we discover what was dominating the movie charts. Maybe you too believed a man could fly! 

LINKS