Memorabilia Podcast

Episode 16 of season one covers Kate's vinyl LP from 1992 - 'Up' - the debut album by London based band Right Said Fred. The usual look at where the record was purchased, how the band were formed, key personnel, what they've been up to lately and a track by track analysis of the 10 song album. This includes some impressive numbers and kudos for their first single, and bone fide mega-hit, "I'm too sexy". The single has subsequently been credited or sampled in songs by The Sugarbabes (Get Sexy from 2010), Taylor Swift (Look what you made me do) and Drake ft. Future and Young Thug - Way 2 Sexy from earlier this year (2021). 

Does Kate still listen to it? Beyond the other big hits - 'Deeply Dippy' and 'Don't Talk Just Kiss' - is there any killer, or is it all filler? Has it stood the test of time? What will it score out of 20 after Rick and Kate each rate the album? So many burning questions, it'd be rude not to tune in to find out!!

In our continued countdown of the Top 50 from Rolling Stone's 500 greatest Songs of all time, we are covering tracks 30-26 which includes songs from Dr Dre, Lorde, the wonderful 'Talking Heads', Joni Mitchell and The Boss himself, Mr Bruce Springsteen. Lorde aside, good luck picking which songs you think are the best for each of those particular artists!  

Lorde: https://youtu.be/nlcIKh6sBtc

Talking Heads: https://youtu.be/5IsSpAOD6K8

Bruce Springsteen: https://youtu.be/IxuThNgl3YA 

At the time of release in 1992, Rick and Kate were both 20 years old, both studying and navigating their paths to uncertain futures. As we'll disover from the 'news' section around March 1992, it was a politically turbuent time in the UK as John Major called a general election with strong parallels to many of the issues still rife today. There was better news from South Africa, the UK singles and album charts had some decent stuff in there and it was a mixed bag at the movies. 

Rick's Single of the week is the new one from Pele and Amsterdam front man and all round good egg Ian Prowse. It's called 'Battle' and you can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/UiM8NZDMj_8 

Kate's single of the week from the superb 'The Presidents of the United States of America' is her 7" picture disc of 'Peaches'. Watch the video, ninjas and all, here: https://youtu.be/wvAnQqVJ3XQ 

Please check out Kate's 'Etsy' shop called 'Pickled Gorilla': https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PickledGorilla 

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Back for The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses from 1989 in a couple of weeks x

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!

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If you have an iTunes account, or use the Apple podcast App on an iPhone or iPad, you can give us a rating and leave us a review (pretty please!) here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/memorabilia-podcast/id1574340220 

We're back in 2 weeks with 1992's 'Up' by 'Right Said Fred'! Yes, this music discussion podcast is all over the place and we wouldn't have it any other way!! 

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!!

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

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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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Email: [email protected] - we'd love to hear your thoughts on the podcast and would be delighted to answer any questions!

A retrospective on Tracy Chapman's eponymously titled debut LP from 1988. We look at how Tracy went from playing small venues to 72,000 people in a short space of time and the massive impact on her career that her performance at the Nelson Mandela 70th birthday tribute concert had. Not only was it a huge live crowd at Wembley, but she performed to a global audience of over 60 million TV viewers across more than 60 countries. 

The legacy of her huge hit single 'Fast Car' comes under the spotlight including a look at some of the cover versions that have been released and materialised in recent years. 

The album introspective also includes a look at the other singles released and their performance, the album sales and how it stacks up against other debut albums written and performed solely by female artists, the award nominations and wins, and the usual track by track review and album rating from both Rick and Kate. 

The top 50 American bands of all time countdown continues, moving in to the top 10 with 'Ultimate Classic Rock's' rankings 10 - 6 being scrutinised. 

The LP was released on the 5th of April 1988, so we look at the other songs troubling the UK single and album charts, what was performing well at the UK box office, what was being watched on TV (and for this episode, specifically BBC1 on the date of release) and what was being reported in the news from April 1988. 

Finally, discover what our 'random single of the week' is...

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Rick's favourite LP of all time gets the Memorabilia podcast treatment for episode 7. Released at the start of a new decade in January 1990, discover what makes the album so magical in Rick's eyes. Much to the anguish of many Sundays fans, the band have to date only released 3 LP's and disappeared without much of a trace following their last release in 1997, making it a tough job for Kate to research the band and this record. We talk about a few of their celebrity fans, how the LP fared in terms of chart success and hear Rick's experience of seeing them live. There's a focus on the lyrics and their songwriting as the album is dissected track by track. 

The Top 50 American Bands of all time chart continues, with a countdown from 20 to 11 and includes big hitters Guns and Roses, and Nirvana, along with a higher entry than both at No.13 that neither Rick or Kate had ever heard of! What about you?!

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