Sneaky Dragon

Hola Sneakers! Welcome to our newest and bluest episode yet! (Not really, but bluest rhymes with newest and my mind automatically clang associates.)

…Anyway, here is a new episode of Sneaky Dragon featuring the bottom of the dial; bad math; Christian Science questions; best Great Lakes opinions; a Crystal Lake defense; the James Brolin controversy; let’s (not) take a question; cyborg arm celebrations; no rails; balloon man; some Dolph love; making it clear; some Sparks! news; an Oscar the Groucho question; the Peanut Buster Parfait surprise; sad cèilidh; we’re going to die; travel is scary; a new sidecast announcement; keep it Canuck; movie recommendations; domestic films in foreign places; noir hour; some Cloris Leachman love; and, finally, the Top 5 songs featuring the harpsichord or tack (jangle box) piano as requested by Trevor Lynn.

Thanks for listening.

Those Top 5 Harpsichord/Tack (Jangle Box) Piano Songs as chosen by Dave:

1) “Morning Girl” by The Neon Philharmonic from the 1969 album The Moth Confesses

2) “Berkeley Mews” by The Knks from the 1969 single “Lola” b/w “Berkeley Mews”

3) “She Comes in Colours” by Love from the 1966 album Da Capo

4) “High Coin” by Harpers Bizarre from the 1967 album Anything Goes

5) “Goodbye Thimble Mill Lane” be Peter Lee Stirling from the 1967 single “Goodbye Thimble Mill Lane” b/w “Hey, Conductor”

6) “7-Rooms of Gloom” by The Four Tops from the 1967 single “7-Rooms of Gloom” b/w “I’ll Turn to Stone”

and a late substitution:

7) “Sit Down, I Think I Love You” by The Mojo Men from the 1972 compilation album Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968

Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 335 of the no awards-winning podcast Sneaky Dragon. This week on the show, it’s all about packed jams; artists about town; not necessarily a disorder; fire songs; fire stories; the defense of jokes; some Monty Python love; the path from kids shows to comedy; pledge breaks; too much dick; some love from Whit Stillman; Quebec burns; accordion questions; yelly sketches; best plays we’ve ever seen; worst emcees; character comics; some Avengers post-mortems; emotional disconnects; not gettin’ out; too many M&M’s; permission, pleasure and rock’n’roll; groups of groped groupies; what’s the love objective; too much music; a brief book review; and, last but not least, speaking of music, the Top 5 deep cut Beatles songs for Jeffrey Zwack.

Thanks for listening.

Those Top 5 Deep-Cut Beatles Songs are:

1) “Things We Said Today” from the 1964 album A Hard Day’s Night

2) “It’s Only Love” from the 1965 album Help!

3) “This Boy” from the 1963 single “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” b/w “This Boy”

4) “Don’t Let Me Down” from the 1969 single “Get Back” b/w “Don’t Let Me Down”

5) “The Inner Light” from the 1968 single “Lady Madonna” b/w “The Inner Light’

and the bonus track:

6) “Every Little Thing” from the 1965 album Beatles for Sale

Dept. of Corections:

Linda Asher??? Of course Dave knows that Paul McCartney’s girlfriend throughout much of the Sixties was Jane Asher. What an embarrassing gaffe for our so-called Beatles expert.

Because it’s great:

Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 334 and the super Bubblegum Pop special! Yes, David is finally giving Ian what he wants – too much Bubblegum.

But before that we have to make our way through stuck landings; Dave’s travelogue including a strange hood, die-hard fans and hipsterville; badly chosen opening acts; a faux David Lee Roth; a lost pearl of wisdom; a found pearl of wisdom; some song trivia; bracketed songs; a little more Hammer time; some weird TV; Dave’s sympathy for the devil; some pre-Avengers talk; words we never thought we’d write: a defense of Cock Blockers; fave bubblegums; our mega-massive super-sized obscure Bubblegum songs Top 10 (+ 1); and, finally, being a big country to Big Country.

Thanks for listening.

Dave’s Top 10 (+1) Obscure Bubblegum songs are in no particular order:

1) “Medicine Man Pt. 1” by The Buchanan Bros. from the 1969 single “Medicine Man Pt. 1” b/w “Medicine Man Pt. 2”

2) “Come On Down, Maryann” by the Ohio Express from the 1969 album Mercy!

3) “Let’s Get to Gettin'” by Flying Giraffe from the 1969 single “Bring Back Howdy Doody” b/w “Let’s Get to Gettin'”

4) “Rocks” by Terry Manning from the 1970 album Home Sweet Home

5) “Shirley Applegate” by the 1910 Fruitgum Co. from the 1968 album 1, 2, 3, Red Light

6) “Sweet Lady Fair” by Lt. Garcia’s Magic Music Box from the 1968 album ‘Cross the Border

7) “Hayride” by The Flying Circus from the 1969 album The Flying Circus

8) “Lovin’ Every Little Thing” by East African Fair from the 1968 single “I Won’t Stare” b/w “Lovin’ Every Little Thing”

9) “1, 2, 3, and I Fell” by Long Island Sound from the 1967 single “1, 2, 3, and I Fell” b/w “Skid Row”

10) “Blame It On the Pony Express” by Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon from the 1971 album Soul Survivor

and bonus track:

11) “(Will Nobody Save) Louise?” by The Man from Delmonte from the 1988 single “(Will Nobody Save) Louise?” b/w “The Good Things in Life” and “Like a Millionaire”

It does look crazy:

Hola, Sneakers! Well, as many as you know, there was a little accident this week that delayed us posting the show. We’ll let the culprit – Dave – explain what the heck happened. And, as usual, we blame Dave.

This week on the show, Ian and Dave discuss new beginnings; busy schedules; messianic Garfield; the awful story; the perfect solution; Ian loses his keys, and then his shit; Dave’s words to live by; Ian makes excuses; it’s hard to find mediocre help; how to be new to the job; learning to bye; Ian is mad; magic theories; drive in ambivalence; some praise for the Bewitched movie; questionable Bewitched motives; the beastly Beauty and the Beast; a movie too old for Dave; Ian wants talkies; and, finally, Dave shares his Top 5 songs about technology for Andy Hudson with a special guest.

Thanks for listening.

Dave’s Top 5 songs about technology:

“Got to Write a Letter” by Field Music from the 2005 album Field Music

“Western Union” by The Five Americans from the 1967 album Western Union

“Switchboard Susan” by Nick Lowe from the 1979 album Labour of Lust

“Hanging on the Telephone” by The Nerves from the 1976 EP The Nerves

“Answering Machine” by Blossom Dearie and Bob Dorough from the 1983 Blossom Dearie album Simply

“Vibrate” by Rufus Wainwright from the 2006 album Want One

“Had to Phone Ya” by The Beach Boys from the unreleased 1976 album Group Therapy

Hola, Sneakers! This week on Episode 332 of Sneaky Dragon things get uncomfortable and awkward.

So same old same old then. Like: Ian and Dave get mad; Ian is allergic to Don Martin; whither original art; we have a library spy; Timewell is a terrible title; Timecop misinformation; Ian likes Mike; lovely Rita; the show takes a turn; more car troubles; breathalyzer outrage; playing possum; hiding a key pro-tip; famous water skier; uncomfortable movie going; don’t wheeze; it’s Stephen Lang, goddamit; Rampage is all the rage; Tyrannosaurus Rex machina; the Fast and Furious is bad for hair; reader’s letter; let’s call Ian out; time for filler: Top 5 songs that start great, but then go downhill in some way as requested by Dylan McConnell; art can be uncomfortable; Ian doesn’t enjoy repetition; and, finally, Andy Kaufman feelings.

This week’s Top 5 songs that start off great, but go downhill as chosen by Dave:

1) “It’s All Too Beautiful” by The Beta Band from their 1999 album The Beta Band

2) “Tonight’s Gonna Be” by Black-Eyed Peas from the 2009 album The E.N.D.

3) “Venus and Mars” by Wings from the 1975 album Venus and Mars

4) “All of Your Toys” by The Monkees from the 1991 box set Listen to the Band

5) “The Child with the Star on His Head” by Sufjan Stevens from the 2012 box set Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6–10

and the usual bonus track (this time chosen by Ian):

6) “Live and Let Die” by Wings from the 1972 soundtrack to Live and Let Die

Department of Corections:

Timecop was not produced by Mike Nesmith. He was the producer of Timerider (as well as Repo Man)

Black-Eyed Peas are not, no matter what Dave thinks, a Canadian band (although they did play at intermission during a Grey Cup game.)

Hey, what’s up, guys? Welcome to Episode 331 of the popular, long-running podcast known as Sneaky Dragon – unless you know it by a different name. (That’s okay too.)

This week on the show: beware of the five paragraph essay; how to write a comedy bit; the magic of unintentional synergy; it’s party time with Ian, the nervous wreck, and Dave, the suave Beatles bore; meet Marv Newland; meet Bubble Memories; we want more nudity, but less nude plays; praise for the animated Corner Gas; “Grow up, religions”; you are your fingers; get mystified by mysticism; experience unintentional obviousness; have a workplace accident; get sugar full; hear a famous purple cow poem; realize stores are making you do the work, people; car troubles and big dummies; our listeners are great; dis on Ready Player One; nostalgia versus sentiment; ask what makes a person boring; hear Dave’s Top 5 dog songs as requested by Chris Roberts; and, finally, a dopey ending.

This week’s Top 5 Dog Songs as chosen by Dave are:

1) “Coyote” by Rank and File from the 1982 album Sundown

2) “The Dog Song” by Nellie McKay from her 2004 album Get Away from Me

3) “Dog That Bit You” by the Baptist Generals from their 2013 album Jackleg Devotional to the Heart

4) “Pound or My Dog Dad for Robert Downy (A Prince)” by Ohio Knox from the 1971 album Ohio Knox

5) “The Dog Presides” by Paul Jones (and his heavy friends) from the 1968 single “And the Sun Will Shine” b/w “The Dog Presides”

and, by this point, the de riguer bonus track:

6) “Dogs” by The Who from their 1968 single “Dogs” b/w “Call Me Lightning”

Thanks for listening.

Bambi meets Godzilla:

Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 330 of Sneaky Dragon! The show that gives you, the listener, 330% more talk about 1920’s reading speeds; saving Buster Keaton; the origin of the Mason jar; sneaky bonding; finding the silver lining to Green Lantern; re-thanks; chart placings in publishing; orange peelings; hiding places in publishing; stamp valuations; hand-written letters; good speling; big-personality journalists; brain candy; an unexpected loss; good news for a friend; glory hounds; inappropriate jokes; relative cheapness; dead man pants; the death of the undershirt; the lovely Isle of Dogs; a little love for the WarAmps; the Top 5 car songs as requested by Nigel; and, finally, Dave can’t answer a Beatles trivia question!

The Top 5 car songs as chosen by Dave:

1) “Cars and Girls” by Prefab Sprout from the 1988 album From Langley Park to Memphis.

Here is a quick pic of the cover to the 12″ single of the Sprouts’ “Cars and Girls”. (Note form Dave: “I’m really glad a bought this single because I actually prefer the two B-sides “Nero the Hero” and “Vendetta” to the A-side!”)

2) “High School Heirarchy” by Local Rabbits from the 1998 album Basic Concept.

As Dave mentioned during the show, Local Rabbits purportedly took their name from the elaborate cover for the Jethro Tull album Thick as a Brick. Here are some pictures of Dave’s copy of the album (not exactly mint condition):

The cover – unfolded, but you can see by the crease where the 12″x12″ cover would be:

The “St. Cleves Chronicle” opened and you can see one of the many references to rabbits in the article about the escape of non-rabbits. (There are twelve pages to this elaborately packaged album. Those were the days!)

Here is a close-up of the inspirational “local rabbit”.

3) “Park My Car” by Miles Over Matter from the 2016 compilation Another Splash Of Colour: New Psychedelia In Britain 1980-1985.

4) “English Roundabout” by XTC from the 1982 album English Settlement.

5) “Crawling from the Wreckage” by Dave Edmunds from the 1979 album Seconds of Pleasure.

And bubbling under, what Dave likes to call the “n’est plus ultra” of car songs:

6) “Hot Rod” by No Fun from the 1975 album NO FUN.

Thanks for listening!

Please enjoy this little “Making of” video for the wonderful Isle of Dogs:

Well, gosh darn it! There was a video for “High School Heirarchy”!

Aw, what the heck. Here’s Dave Edmunds with the rest of his Rockpile compatriots performing “Crawling from the Wreckage”:

Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to another fine episode of Sneaky Dragon. Perhaps our finest since episode 156 – that was a doozy.

Just kidding! I can’t even remember that episode!

This week on the show, it’s all about: Sparks shirts-o-mania; IB problems; best bathrooms in Vancouver; Alexander Payne’s Downsizing; The Talented Mr. Ripley and Ripley’s Game and Philip Seymour Hoffman as an alpha jerk; cat issues in Trainspotting and Nine Months; Hugh Jackman sightings; the Overflowing Bathtub Problem; the most useless show host; Annihilation and A Field in England disagreements; self-righteous, self-justified piracy; the Netflix garbage dump; handcuff key pro tips; a touch of body dysmorphia; an awkward work situation; an awkward phone situation; Instagram rants; never-changing cool; Top 5 songs that could be used in a Sparks film soundtrack as requested by Nina Matsumoto (our own third Dragon); board game recommendations; big arms; metaphors for human life; Ghost Wars; and, finally, the trump card to end all trump cards.

This weeks Top 5 songs:

1) “Cats” by Barnes and Barnes from the 2000 compilation Yeah: The Best of Barnes and Barnes

2) “The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow)” by The Beach Boys from the 1967 sessions for Smile!

2) “Catch Us If You Can” by The Dave Clark Five from the soundtrack to the 1965 film Catch Us If You Can

3) “I Need A Friend” by The Cowsills from the 1968 album We Can Fly

4) “Hey! (Rise of the Robots)” by The Stranglers from the 1978 album Black and White

5) “At the Zoo” by Simon and Garfunkel from the 1968 album Bookends

Thanks for listening.

Ciao, Sneakers! Welcome to a musical episode of Sneaky Dragon this week as Dave tackles your Top 5 songs on a subject of your choice.

But first we’ll have to wade through a lot of nonsense to get to that, including: a false start; some heart mockery; an unlucky episode; seagulls and french fry pants; a phone call with commentary; everyone having a “thing”; some happy sad memories and littering; the Switzerland of food; the longest scene; some movie recommendations for Meditation Park and Game Night; what Canadian movies are; some terrible movie trailers; patented transitions; turning off the show; the most villainous name; some Richie Rich trivia and trivial nonsense; music travails; the theme from Cars; disappointing Hanna-Barbera themes; political humour; and, finally, Dave’s Top 5 cat songs as requested by Louise.

Here are Dave’s Top 5 cat songs:

1) “Tyger” by No Fun from the 1984 album Snivel

2) “Phenomenal Cat” by The Kinks from the 1968 album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society

3) “Black Cat” by Boy from the 2004 album Every Page You Turn

4) “Lions in My Own Garden (Exit Someone)” by Prefab Sprout from the 1982 7″ single b/w “Radio Love”

5) “Alley Cat” [or “Meow Meow”] by Jeffrey Frederick and the Clamtones from the 2005 album Clamtones B.C.

with bonus song:

“Wimoweh 5 1/2 Years Later” by The Tokens from the 1967 album It’s A Happening World

Thanks for listening.

A trailer for a very good movie:

(Don’t watch the trailer for Game Night! Too many spoilers! Just see it.)

A trailer for a very bad movie:

Ciao, Sneakers! Welcome to Sneaky Dragon Episode 327! We just keep on truckin’.

This week on the show: Ian and Dave launch a book; read Harry Potter; self-sabotage; get stuck on traffic; visit the Electric Playground; get depressed; need affirmation; cross the border; read New Yorker cartoons; try to figure out Playboy; find a treasure trove of obscurity; make up lists of Top 5’s; watch the most terrible TV comercial ever made; and, finally, and, finally, have some exciting news – maybe game-changing news – about the podcast.

Thanks for listening.

And thanks to everyone who has helped celebrate the release of Sparks. We really appreciate it.

Here is Ian’s appearance on Electric Playground: