Satan's Little Helper

Welcome to our little holiday special (kind of).  This is really not a full-blown holiday special as this is an actual episode circumscribed around the mention of the holiday - and that it released on Christmas Day was no coincidence.  The song in the middle of the show will be the holiday present you have anticipated for over two years - if you have been with us this long.

Since this blog is still in its infancy, I am readjusting how to write and present this to you in a manner that makes sense.  Ergo, today, we will do this Michael McDonald style and approach it minute by minute (some minutes not included).

As always, thanks for your patronage and now on with the show.

Peace, Love, and Coffee!

The Matchups

Round One

Fiona Apple - "When the Pawn…"

vs

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - "Damn the Torpedoes"

Round Two

George Harrison - "All Things Must Pass"

vs

Dusty Springfield - "Dusty in Memphis"

Round Three

Gang of Four - "Entertainment!"

vs

Miles Davis - "Bitches Brew"

Round Four

R.E.M - "Automatic for the People"

vs

Bob Marley and the Wailers - "Exodus"

The Notes

00:00 - The usual welcome with its holy benediction

00:36 - Dave's new opening for the show.  Think of it as a title sequence (close your eyes and imagine the words scrolling) as Dave repeats what he always does, but now has a recording so he does not have to do this every damn time.

01:10 - Make note, this was the first time we agreed upon a show title together at the end of recording.  I usually have to rack my brains before releasing a show as to what the title should be (and that season three theme with everything being related to the number three was a nightmare).  And often, I only have minutes to decide if I want to get a show out "on time".

01:14 - Reference  - "Hans Gruber Swan Dive" is from the film "Die Hard" and yes, it is a Christmas movie.

Round One

01:56 - The matchup introduction of Fiona Apple

Music in the background - "Fast As You Can" by Fiona Apple

02:13 - It is no secret the we use a shared Google Document to put all of our notes for each show together and reference it throughout the recording.  I also write up my introductions for the rounds into this document and lately Scott has been inserting a word or two into the text and I caught most of them.  On previous recordings I have stopped ahead of time and started over and then edited that out.  This time, however, he fairly got me and it was left in the episode.

03:19 - The matchup introduction of Tom Petty

Music in the background - "Refugee" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

03:50 - The show where we first discussed this album was called "The Picnic".  Here is the link to the show information on our primary website and here is a link to the show.

03:55 - Reference - In "The Picnic" show, Scott was defending "Willy and the Poor Boys" album by Creedence Clearwater Revival - but somehow Poor Boys became Po Boys, and there was a listing of some very sandwich names.  If I ever open a sandwich shop in my lifetime, I would never use any of these name.

04:18 - Round One officially begins with discussion on Fiona Apple

06:50 - Reference - Michael Bublé interview with Chris Isaak - and I cannot find it anywhere online now.  But, in the interview Bublé talked about how he took different pieces from different singers - including Chris Isaak - and when he shared that with Tony Bennet, Tony told him that it was learning and not stealing.  And Chris Isaak said what Michael took from him he could keep because he could not hit those higher notes anymore.

08:30 - Discussion on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

08:55 - Reference - the album "Full Moon Fever" (1989) - make note, this was a "solo" Tom Petty album that he released without The Heartbreakers

10:15 - Reference - The band Mudcrutch was an earlier band of Tom Petty with Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench that would later be part of The Heartbreakers.  The cofounder, Tom Leadon, left Mudcrutch in 1972 and went on to join a band called Silver that had a top 40 hit "Wham-Bam".  Note: Tom's older brother Bernie Leadon was a founding member of the Eagles.

10:57 - Reference - The Laurel Canyon sound is comprised of artists from the late 60s and there are two great documentaries about this sound.  One film is called "Echo in the Canyon" from 2018 that is hosted by Bob Dylan's son, Jakob and features Fiona Apple and Tom Petty in the film.  The other documentary is three part mini-series called "Laurel Canyon" from 2020.

Round Two

12:55 - The Matchup Introduction of George Harrison

Music in the background - "What is Life" by George Harrison

13:20 - The Matchup introduction of Dusty Springfield

Music in the background - "Son of a Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield

13:59 - Reference - we discussed both of these albums on a show called "Podcast in A Minor".  Here is the link to the show information on our primary website and here is a link to the show.

14:07 - Reference - Bacon grease and codpiece in Hamburg comes from the show "Podcast in A Minor" when Scott was giving a background on the making of George Harrison's album - well, his version of the background of the album.

14:25 - Round Two officially begins with discussion on George Harrison

15:14 - Reference - The "rock" triple album:  this was one of the two first two triple albums released in the genre and both in the same year.  On August 15, 1970 the Woodstock Soundtrack was released and then George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" album released on November 27, 1970.  This was subsequently followed by The Grateful Dead's "Europe '72" (11/1/72), Yes's "Yessongs" (5/18/73), Leon Russel's "Leon Live" (ambiguous date in 1973), and Emerson Lake, and Palmer's "Welcome Back, My Friends, to the Show The Never Ends - Ladies & Gentlemen" (8/18/74).

16:23 - Reference - John Lennon rumored to be on the "All Things Must Pass" album, the best reference I can find is that John Lennon and Yoko Ono provided hand claps on the track “I Remember Jeep," but it cannot be ruled out that he played on any other of the jam tracks on the third album in the set.

17:58 - Reference - the hundred takes of "Refugee" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, there is a full article on this occurrence and the long drawn out story of the recording here

18:36 - Discussion on Dusty Springfield

19:30 - Reference - Pulp Fiction scene with "Son of a Preacher Man" 

20:42 - Reference - People that thought Rick Astley was black.  The best line about this comes from the website factfiend.com where they say, "(Rick) Astley looks whiter than a Colgate sandwich in a snowstorm in that video, which is why it’s so hilarious that for years, people assumed he was black."

21:43 - Reference - Artists that have covered "The Windmills of Your Mind" - composed by Michel Legrand with lyrics by Alan And Marilyn Bergman (English) and Eddy Marnay (French) - Originally recorded by Noel Harrison, then covered by (to name a few) Vanilla Fudge, Petula Clark, Jose Feliciano, Johnny Mathis, Mel Torme, Jim Nabors, Neil Diamond, and Sting

Holiday Centerpiece

27:21 - Start of our Holiday Song

Music in the background - "Festive Fireside" from Fesliyan Studios (note: donations have been made to this site numerous times in the past for using their music)

31:07 - Second part of the Holiday Centerpiece - The Luke Combs Story 

                        Full Story of Luke Combs can referenced here

Music in the background - "Presents On Christmas Morning" from Fesliyan Studios 

35:55 - The Matchup Introduction of Gang of Four

Music in the background - "Damaged Goods" by Gang of Four

36:25 - The Matchup Introduction of Miles Davis

36:38 - The word is "aural" NOT "oral"

36:50 - Reference - we discussed both of these albums on a show called "Podcast Under Siege".  Here is the link to the show information on our primary website and here is a link to the show.

37:28 - Round Three officially begins with discussion on Gang of Four

37:55 - Reference - "Podcast Under Siege" is no longer our top downloaded show.  It has been surpassed by "Dinner Theater"

41:11 - Discussion on Miles Davis

Round Four

46:48 - The Matchup introduction of R.E.M

Music in the background - "Man on the Moon" by R.E.M.

47:20 - The Matchup introduction of Bob Marley and the Wailers

Music in the background - "Jammin" by Bob Marley and the Wailers

47: 50  - Reference - we discussed both of these albums on a show called "Tony Soprano Approved".  Here is the link to the show information on our primary website and here is a link to the show.

48:14 - Discussion of R.E.M.

52:15 - Reference - People thought that Michael Stipe was HIV Positive or dying of AIDS.  Michael Stipe reported that he had lived in fear of HIV for almost 10 years and to cope with not knowing  if he was positive or not until he was able to get tested anonymously.  People thought he was sick because of how skinny had become, but it turns out he was not.  His bandmates knew he was not HIV positive, but were unaware of how scared Stipe was before getting tested.

 

52:45 - Discussion of Bob Marley and the Wailers

53:07 - Reference - Bob Marley  was introduced to Chris Blackwell of Island Records through his road manager.  Bob Marley and the Wailers were likely signed to Island Records because of Jimmy Cliff's recent departure from the label (he had been Island Records top reggae star). 

54:37 - Reference - Bob Marley assassination attempt occurred on December 3, 1976.  Politicians across the warring factions sought to have the support of Bob Marley due to his popularity, and Marley had done his best to stay neutral.  However, many viewed his silence as supporting the then Prime Minister Michael Manley and was subsequently shot along with three others.  However, despite being shot, Bob Marley went on to play a 90 minute set two days later  - a concert event that was aimed countering political violence in the first place.

56:30 - Reference - we talked about Fela Kuti and Africa 70 and their album "Expensive Shit" on a show called "Impaired Mice" and you can follow the link here to the website, or listen to the show here.