Mick and the PhatMan Talking Music

Send us a message, so we know what you're thinking! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1690618/open_sms] The late Steve Harley was most famous for his 1975 hit Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me), but there’s much more to the story than one good single.  We look at the band’s early albums and Steve Harley's career around and after that single and the band's break up.  As usual, Mick says their early stuff is way better than their later stuff! Our Album you Must Listen to Before You Die is “Tres Hombres”, ZZ Top’s 1973 album containing the huge hit “La Grange”. Regular listeners might guess what we thought of the album, but let’s not spoil the surprise!   We also look at Louder magazine’s recent poll where their readers voted for Genesis’ 10 best-ever songs.   Spoiler alert:  Only 2 of the selected songs are post-Peter Gabriel’s departure.   For those interested, we covered Genesis in Series 2, Episode 15, and Peter Gabriel in Series 2, Episode 14  There’s plenty here you may not have known.  Enjoy!    References: Jethro Tull, Curious Ruminant, Gene Simmons, Nick Cave, Flea, Genesis best of all time, Robert Dimery, Cancer, Cockney Rebel, The Human Menagerie, The Psychomodo, Diamond Dogs, For Your Pleasure, polio, The Rolling Stones, Jean-Paul Crocker, Stuart Elliott, Paul Jeffreys, Lockerbie, New Musical Express, Rock Australia Magazine, Sebastian, Mr. Soft, Cavaliers, Ritz, The Best Years of our Lives, Make Me Smile (Come up and See Me), Sounds, Francis Monkman, Here Comes the Sun, The Cockney Rebel – A Steve Harley Anthology, BBC Radio 2 Sounds of the 70s.  Playlists:  Episode playlist [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0U48Xm3yDLB7IsZUJz5jZV?si=5ed33bf183bf45ca]  The Psychomodo [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3kL09YFCnazrtMwU8JMZW8?si=8cfcf40c9e5d4277]  Gene Symonds Weather Man [https://youtu.be/_HlngZjbnWc?si=EIzaSq6Ra-FKzJok]

Send us a message, so we know what you're thinking! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1690618/open_sms] Why do you like the music you do?  Is it as simple as “It’s what I heard on the radio”? Or something deeper? People with elder siblings may be exposed to music earlier than first children.   Jeff had an older brother, so was exposed earlier to cool music - Beatles, Janis, Hendrix, and so on.  Mick was the eldest in his family and had to find his own taste. (No surprise considering what he listens to!) Were you bullied as a child?  Influence!  Did you share music with your friends?  Influence!  Did you have access to a good radio station?  Or print media?  Influence!!  We talk about our early influences – musical & otherwise – and look at how they played a role in what we listen to today.      In Rock News, Ringo has released a country album, and Toto is touring.  Oh well, shouldn’t take them long to play their 3 hits.  You know Jeff's obsessed with AI, so he asked three AI brands to nominate the greatest albums of 1971.  Not much variation, really.  One day, we may ask them to understand quality, rather than sales figures, and see what they give us.     Our Album You Must Listen to Before you Die is “Blue” by Joni Mitchell - an top grade album that deserves to be here.  Mick references Atlantic Records’ sampler called “Very Together” which featured “Carey” from this album, and pointed out a link between Joni Mitchell and Scottish hard rock band, Nazareth.  How did YOUR tastes develop?  Drop us a line & let us know.  Enjoy!  References:  RAM Magazine, Rock Australia Magazine, Countdown, Molly Meldrum, 2DoubleJay, The Magus/Holger Brockman, Chris Winter, Mac Cocker, “Never Mind the Bollocks”, The Sex Pistols, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, David Bowie, “Five Years”, “Room to Move”, Chris Winter, “Starman”, “Rock'n'roll Suicide”, Birdland, Weather Report, Joe Zawinul, Brian Eno, “Another Green World”, “Zawinul Lava”, “Rock'n'Roll Animal”, Lou Reed, Steve Hunter, “Sweet Jane”, “Heroin”, “Rock’n’Roll”, Berlin, Alice Cooper, Velvet Underground, Peter Gabriel, “Car”, “Stranded”, Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry, “Song for Europe”, “Street Life”, “Psalm”, Sisters of Mercy, XTC, Nico, REM, Television, Patti Smith, “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band”, The Beatles, "Within You Without You”, “Tomorrow Never Knows”, Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Like a Rolling Stone”, Revolver, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel, Pearl, Janis Joplin, Tapestry, Carole King, Slade Alive, Hot August Nigh”, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, “Dark Side of the Moon”, “Led Zeppelin IV”, “Silk Degrees”, Box Scaggs, “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”, Rick Wakeman, “Woodstock”, “Monterey Pop”, “The Song Remains the Same”, “The Last Waltz”, The Guitar Spa, Redeye Records, John Foy, bootleg records, “His Master’s Voice”, “Sheetkeeckers”, Australian electronica/dance music store, Hipgnosis, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Regurgitator, “I like your old stuff better than your new stuff", DeepSeek, ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Blue, Joni Mitchell, Henry Lewy, “Very Together”, “This Flight Tonight”, Nazareth   Episode Playlist [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7z9WnPWNbdsa0ZNdcixWc1?si=ee4fd2604d54411a]    The first song played by 2DoubleJay [https://youtu.be/2m83oj0U4t4?si=P5Zi0aHlGAsDAIJf] - “You Just Like Me ‘Cos I’m Good in Bed”

Send us a message, so we know what you're thinking! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1690618/open_sms] This episode, we look back at two hugely influential women artists – Patti Smith, whose 1975 “Horses” album inspired so many artists, and Marianne Faithfull, whose passing in January, 2025, is a huge loss.   “Horses”, with its confrontational approach - “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine” - changed the landscape of rock music for the next few decades.  Produced by John Cale, of Velvet Underground fame, the album opened the door for so many women, including Debbie Harry of Blondie and Siouxsie Sue of Siouxsie & The Banshees, and so many English punk and new wave bands.  We talk about why we like this album, its influential impact, and how Patti Smith developed over later years.  Marianne Faithfull has long been one of our favourites, and we talked about “Broken English” in Season 3. (If you haven’t heard that episode, here’s the link [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1690618/episodes/12900440].) Tributes have come from every corner of the industry, all saying one thing – Marianne was inspirational to everyone she worked with, from The Rolling Stones to Metallica to Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.  Banging our own drum for a moment, we’ve just been named as one of the top Australian Music Podcasts by monitoring service, Feedspot, which compiles the most comprehensive list of Australian Music Podcasts on the web.  Great subjects.  Great episode.  Enjoy.    References:  Marianne Faithfull, Patti Smith, Andrew Loog Oldham, Sister Morphine, Girl on a Motorcycle, Samuel Beckett, homelessness, Hipgnosis, Storm Thorgerson, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, “The Memory Remains”, Metallica, Lars Ulrich, Warren Ellis, She Walks in Beauty, Graham Coxon, Blur, TOTO, “Africa”, “Hold The Line”, "Rosanna”, Robert Dimery, 1001 Albums You Must Listen to Before You Die,  Jim Morrison, oil shortage – 70's, Robert Mapplethorpe, Allen Lanier, Blue Öyster Cult, Tom Verlaine, Television, "Break It Up",  John Cale, “Gloria”, Van Morrison, “Marquee Moon”, “Land (Horses)”, “Radio Ethiopia”, “Wave”, “Easter”, “Because the Night”, Siouxsie Sioux, Siouxsie & The Banshees, R.E.M.,  Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Morrissey, Johnny Marr,  Courtney Love, Hole, PJ Harvey  Episode playlist [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1YgHt7IeCi0y4wnZUoEzvF?si=bf8ab2f301f046fb] Horses [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3pYewChhTgU8O52xnzBnoI?si=60322e0dce4f4219] Broken English [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/36b4C3eAt8FMhYQbosFguY?si=1a76214d5b6e4617] Marianne Faithfull - Series 3, Episode 14 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/1690618/episodes/12900440-marianne-faithfull-before-and-after-broken-english]

Send us a message, so we know what you're thinking! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1690618/open_sms] Part 2 of our fascinating conversation with Radio Birdman's Rob Younger.  From music production styles, to why some people can't keep it in their pants, and the disgraceful lack of credit given to Stevie Wright for the success of The Easybeats, there's never a dull moment in this wide-ranging discussion.   Enjoy! References:  Rock producers, production styles, guitarists, band leaders, Died Pretty, Plunderers, Dragon, Punk rock UK vs US, Patti Smith, John Cale, orchestration, Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa, Mothers of Invention, 60's songwriting & playing, Keith Moon, John Bonham, weird time signatures, Norman Gunston, Top 40, Live vs studio playing, Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Stevie Wright, Vanda/Young, The Easybeats, The Plunderers

Send us a message, so we know what you're thinking! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1690618/open_sms] A special treat for you this episode!  Rob Younger, lead singer of legendary Australian group, Radio /Birdman, joins us in the studio to give us his thoughts on everything from music production to the influence of the Beatles on all rock music.    Rob’s near-encyclopedic knowledge of the rock era is impressive, and it's eye-opening to hear his opinions on the shameful treatment of Stevie Wright (The Easybeats), the lyrics of Jim Morrison and Robert Plant, and guitarists "wanking" on stage, with plenty of stops in-between.    The conversation went so long, we had to split it into 2 fascinating parts!   We had a blast talking to Rob, and hope you do, too.  Playlist:  Radios Appear [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2UF2rSxpr4YzjcuW6AHlXJ?si=35bafbbd7df54a14] References:  Radio Birdman, New Christs, Nick Cave, Pere Ubu, influence of The Beatles, McCartney vs Lennon, Led Zeppelin, John Bonham's drumming, Australian music of the 70's, Oxford Hotel, Frank Zappa, Died Pretty