Detritus’ inadvertent Summer of Love continues to unfold with a revisit of Drugs Live - The Ecstasy Trials, Channel 4’s CONTROVERSIAL 2012 study of the effects of MDMA on the human body and mind...

With the legal support of the British government and top scienticians, witness a lovely lady priest, an SAS soldier, a Lib Dem secularist, Lionel Schriver, and Jack’s arch-nemesis, Keith Allen, each willingly lying down in an MRI tube, draining their brains of serotonin for science and your personal entertainment. With slightly less medical rigour, the Detritus Madheads get to grips with ecstasy nation, then and now, as well as revisiting some of their own formative trips, blissin’ out and simply monologuing to household appliances, rather than on a weekly podcast. Will never forget those nites… Wherever you are now, luv u m8!! x

Plus, scene reports from Mark Twain and Toy Story 5.

John and Jack return from their summer break, tanned and thriving, only to take a trip to the beach. Which beach? Brighton Beach, for Fatboy Slim’s Big Beach Boutique II. The good news? You’re invited! The bad news? So is everybody else, and there are already 250,000 people in the mix, all of them gurning, pissing in the sea and singing along to The Sexiest Man In Jamaica.

With a quarter century’s worth of distance, Detritus revisits the free party to end all free parties, as Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, aka Quentin Leo Cook, aka DJ Quentox, aka Cheeky Boy, brings chaos to his beloved Brighton seafront, utilising only the biggest of Big Beats. Closely studying the primary sources of Channel 4’s frenetically edited 2002 live footage, as well as the 2023 documentary ‘Right Here, Right Now’, alongside a backlog of misty-eyed Reddit memories, it’s clear that we’ve come a long way, baby (six episodes)

Plus, vital scene reports from Hamburg’s Miniatur Wonderland and the Falklands.

The 'Detritus Boys' return from their summer break with a razzlin', dazzlin' fifth episode at Jack's insistence, leading John to the West End, Broadway, Tokyo, Hamburg, and your home VHS collection to discuss Andrew Lloyd Webber's blockbusting, standard-bearing mega-musical hit, CATS.

Recorded weeks before Lord Lloyd Webber raised the muthafuckin' alarm for the future of musical theatre, having witnessed his recent CATS reboot be mercilessly put down, we consider the legacy of the Rum Tum Tugger, Old Deutoronomy, Mungojerrie & Rumpleteazer, Munkustrap, Grizabella, Bustopher Jones and especially, Mr. Mistoffelees. They thought he was on the roof... but he was asleep in the hall!

Equally yet unevenly focused on as the disastrous 2019 cinematic adaptation (19% on Rotten Tomatoes), as well as the 1998 live recording (20% on Rotten Tomatoes) we investigate just why something this bloody successful is also well within our Detritus remit, probably. Which cat do we think should ascend to the Heavyside Layer, aside from the one who clearly will? What would T.S. Elliot have made of this? Was he fatphobic? Have you ever been to a brass rubbing workshop, as we have?

Also on the agenda: What is a Backroom? Has the World Cup rendered John gay? That’s right, Detritus is back, and it’s still the podcast that’s asking ALL the right questions.

In defiance of the escalating allegations that the Detritus podcast is “too niche” or even, “too masculine” (?!!?) John and Jack succumb to World Cup fever while they still can, tackling England’s rich, often irritating history of pop singles in support of Our Brave Lions. Featuring appearances from legends adjacent to the game including Ant & Dec, Dizzee & Corden, Bell & Spurling and the Spice Girls & Echo & The Bunnymen & Ocean Colour Scene & Space & Johnny Marr, and er, Keith Allen. This is a bumper-sized summer special, clocking in at 90 minutes, plus hydration breaks! ;-) ;-) Real footeh fans will know!

EPISODE 3 - LOVE THEM HOE’S

The course of young love never did run smooth. In 2003, the burgeoning romantic relationship between Eamon Doyle and Nicole Francine Aiello came to a sudden end, leaving the streets of Staten Island agog with grief and gossip for at least an hour. Less than a year later, whispers of this tragedy had found momentum back in Europe, stubbornly occupying the Top Of The Pop charts for weeks and weeks on end…

Following their initial, unmistakeably British transmissions, John and Jack wade across the pond to investigate the 2004 call-and-response scandal of Eamon’s ‘F—k It (I Don’t Want You Back)’, as well as Frankie’s ‘F.U.R.B. (F—k U Right Back)’. An international phenomenon, collectively selling around 750,000 singles in the UK alone, yet never heard of again, this warring pair represent some true Detritus, sifted through on your behalf.

What shocking conditions of cultural deprivation lead to this dark spell on pop music? Did Eamon shoot his musical load too soon and spoil the launch of his own ‘ho-wop’ concept? Did Frankee even know Eamon? Is there any conceivable way that one can transcend the label of hoe? Should farmers’ fields be renationalised and donated to sex workers? These are just some of the questions thrown up by this week’s subjects, and their double-barrelled blast of nihilism for eight-year-olds. Can we shock you? This episode contains some strong language!

Detritus is available to stream, download, like and subscribe now, wherever you listen to podcasts.

Additional editing and production support by Gramrcy.

John and Jack mark a significant milestone for the Detritus podcast - a second episode - by traveling back to an early peak of their individual and collective powers, the year 2007.

At the advent of the smartphone, in the hinterland between the old and new internet, Detritus dives into what’s left archived from BBC Switch - the public broadcaster’s well-meaning, ham-fisted attempt to reach out to the yoof of the day. Here, they’re reintroduced to the archetypes of the era - Hoodie! Plastic! Nu Raver! Drama Teen(?!) - concluding with a deeper dive into the philosophy of ‘Indeh Amy’, as well as the early viral outrage generated by her brogues, Victoriana hairstyle, and penchant for a 12-pound pizza.

Inevitably, this simply serves as a portal back to one of the era’s true dreamers, Razorlight heartthrob Jonny Borrell, as well as a list of bands who may or may not be Landfill Indeh… As collated by the former drummer of Friendly Fires. Got a problem with that? Then send a letter in a stamped envelope to PO Box REALMUSIC.

For the debut episode of Detritus, John and Jack lock and load their podcast pistols and take aim for Autumn 2003, in order to witness the country’s leading stoic showman and positive mentalist, Derren Brown, leave a bullet hole in television history with his craziest stunt yet! It’s ‘Derren Brown: Russian Roulette’.

Forget the sinister fake fan networks, bot accounts and ‘visibility’ of today’s rising stars. Brown was determined to win over his public the old-fashioned way - by threatening to shoot himself in the fucking head on television. It’s the highest of stakes, and only a quietly baffled, professional graphic designer and spaniel enthusiast can save him…

Did he survive? Did we? Will you? Let us razzle and dazzle your ears with a self-supervised dive into stitched Union Jack shirts, live tiger maulings and Channel Island gun laws. John recounts his own, chronically hungover encounter with Derren, ahead of one of his arguably less successful psychic experiments. Meanwhile, Jack delivers some earth-shaking, heartbreaking personal news to the international Friendly Fires fanbase.

Detritus is available now via Apple, Spotify, Youtube, Patreon and wherever else you listen to podcasts.

Additional editing and graphics from Gramrcy.