WHEEL OF RANDY - A Randy Newman Podcast

It's not often that Dan gets star-struck, but Billy Jonas is the exception. For 3 decades, Billy has turned both folk music and children's music on their ear, creating a gentle but principled sound that encourages everyone to find their own voice and claim their musical birthright. Dan is a big fan, and you will be too.

Billy breaks down Randy's "Potholes", a lament on growing old, complete with ex-wives, weird fathers, and childhood trauma. Trust me, it's more fun than it sounds.

Parental guide: This episode is rated G, although the song itself (Potholes) does include some adult language.

Thanks Billy! You're the best!

Spleen the Wheel? Is that anything?

Welcome back, Wheelies. If you don't know Joel, you're in for a treat. This guy knows his stuff, and I can see why Mrs. Wheel formed a friendship with him way back when. We break down the bummer of a song "Song For The Dead" and how it stands out from the glut of "Vietnam was sad, actually" rock songs. Want a fun activity? Break out a spreadsheet while you listen and list all the bands we discuss. Then send it to me. [email protected]

Thanks Joel!

Content Warning: Racial Slur in the song (but not in the podcast).

Friend of the show Michial Farmer joins us on this week's (month's?) Wheel of Randy. Michial wrote a lovely review of Born Again a few years ago, and was kind enough to expand on that essay with me.

We cover the little-known, and even less-well-understood, Mr. Sheep. Michial breaks down how easy it is to misunderstand Randy's intentions, and by the end our narrator is in the running for being Randy's dopiest character.

Then I ask the audience to create a cover, and you can almost hear the smugness in my voice when I correctly pronounce MOOG.

Plus Tootsie, Animal House, and John Updike. Try getting all that out of Jokermen.

Also, announcements on new tall-person.com shows.

It's Year Four of Wheel of Randy, and we kick this season off with the one and only Gary Norris, Randy's archivist. Gary has a breadth and depth of knowledge that makes me feel like a noobie, but he's no snob by any means. We talk about his 50-year relationship with Randy; plus Cop Rock, Cats Don't Dance, the could-have-been Jimi Hendrix connection, and how Queen has made sure Gary's collection will never be complete. Spin it!

Well, the Wheel keeps spinning and it don't stop spinning. This episode we welcome composer and WoR fan Adam Conrad to the big show. Adam tries to cure Dan of his twin phobias of Improvisation and Music Theory. To Dan's delight, Adam goes into great detail about the left half of Randy's right hand. Then we discuss the Wright Brothers, Charlie's Angels, Mavis Staples, a whole lot of Nilsson, Vince Gill, and Bolero. And we even spend a few minutes on our actual song this week, the bittersweet "Losing You." Also, big announcement in this show. Thanks Adam!

At long last, the Pants Episode! OKC comic Caleb Collins takes a spin on the wheel as we anticipate his August 17 show with Chris Gethard. Caleb hosts my favorite open mic in Oklahoma, We're All Friends (which I mis-name about 7 times in this episode. We're All Friends. How hard is that to remember?) We talk about the challenges of enforcing a welcoming spirit at open mics, the overlap between comedy and art, and the best pizza in OKC.

Then we talk Pants. Is Pants Randy Newman's masterpiece? Maybe not, but man, there's nothing like it. Pants turns into a discussion of Born Again, and Dan cites a critic who calls that album "A Testament to 70's Toxic Masculinity."

See Caleb this Thursday night, or every Monday at Friendly's. Dammit I did it again.

Friend of the Show Cora from Berlin joins us this episode, as we tackle the enigmatic "Sigmund Freud's Impersonation of Albert Einstein in America". Cora knows a lot more about Einstein and Freud than me, and gives some important historical context, as well as the always-appreciated European's perspective on America.

We discuss "The Tobacconist", Nilsson, Die Geschwister Pfister, Baseball, and the Conquest of Guam. As one does.

Then Oklahoma's very reasonable Secretary of Education enters the discussion, and Dan has to add some sound effects.

Cora is a brilliant guest, and I was glad to have her on. This is a good one, folks.

Author Greg Renoff joins us on the wheel - Greg is the author of Van Halen Rising, and Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music. Eagle-eyed Randy fans will recognize Ted Templeman as the front man of Harper's Bizarre, the sunshine pop band that put out a bunch of Randy covers back in the day.

Greg and I talk about Ted's career, as well as Sammy vs. David, Van Morrison, Lenny Waronker, Ry Cooder, Van Dyke Parks, Little Feat, Chunky Novi & Ernie, and lots of Randy. Greg gives us some tidbits I'd never heard before about a couple of Randy songs - in fact, these tidbits are down-right ungoogleable. Listen to find out, and impress your friends at your local pub's next Randy Newman Trivia Night.

Thanks Greg, this one was a lot of fun.

Thanks for listening everybody, and be sure to vote for TALL PERSON for best OKC Cover Band at okgazette.com.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2XHAC3eyDkIkm4HGRzCBsQ?si=R6vWi1kDRBCopBV9b7gDSg