Here's the Tower

Konbanwa. If you are like me, a superfan of the Japanese reality show Terrace House, then you are familiar with the curse of having its theme song stuck in your head for weeks at a time.

While I can’t sing like Hiroomi Tosaka or play guitar like Yusuke Aizawa (a.k.a Eden Kai), I felt it was imperative that I record a cover version of the theme. The song is called “Slow Down” and was originally performed by Lights Follow featuring Matthew Heath and Grady Griggs. Yeah, I never heard of ’em either.

Conveniently, the edited version of the song that appears at the beginning of each Terrace House episode is about one minute long, so I didn’t have to do any major reworking of the tune to fit it into this format.

Terrace House airs in Japan on the Fuji network and you can see it on Netflix. Special thanks to Carla Jacob for getting me hooked on the show and teaching me how to clap on the backs of my arms and hands. And arigato to Ryota Yamasato (a.k.a. Yamachan) for making me laugh so hard in every episode.

I hope everyone finds my version to be a song worth dying for. Shall we listen? Let’s listen.

Beware! Outlaw comedian Rick Diamond’s humor isn’t for everyone. Some members of this audience simply aren’t prepared for his edgy brand of wisecracking. But careful with your heckles, this actually is his day job.

Guest voices:
Arvid Ringborg as Rick Diamond
Johan Angantyr and Rachel Matchett as audience members

A few weeks ago, I published an episode that contained some explicit language.

I am happy to accommodate any sensitive listeners who may have found that type of language to be too strong. This week’s episode is a family-friendly version of episode 7.

A word of warning, the new swear phrases that were introduced in the earlier version of this episode – “Oh, it’s real windy out there” and “Samsung telephone!” – have not been censored.

This episode is a musical experiment based on two sets of five beats followed by six beats. The unusual combination adds up to four measures in 4/4 timing.

Before Hank Williams, Jr., became the outlaw country legend we know as Bocephus, he toiled in a career overshadowed by his father’s greatness.

When he finally began shaping his own image and writing his own material, there was an adjustment period before he established himself as a legend in his own right.

His 1973 album, After You, Pride’s Not Hard to Swallow, was a notable step in that journey that almost ended tragically two years later when he fell nearly 500 feet at Ajax Peak, Montana. That rock climbing accident nearly killed him and changed his appearance to the point where he has rarely been seen without his trademark beard, sunglasses and cowboy hat in the forty years since.

This multi-episode documentary series takes a look behind the scenes of how he arrived on the cover of a major label album wearing an unzipped, wide-lapeled terrycloth exercise jacket in a poorly lit photo that looks like it was shot late one night when he got high and broke into a zoo.

The narration for these episodes was provided by Elvis Deane. Guest voice on this episode by Alex Leask as album designer and art critic Henry Streck.