Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
![UR019: Fergal Lawler (The Cranberries) [1995 MTV Unplugged] image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=54,quality=85/image-files/66ea0b235fcf51d2c9a0b7cd/43cbefc3-777c-4d93-9915-92abd82876d2.jpg)
UR019: Fergal Lawler (The Cranberries) [1995 MTV Unplugged]
59 Plays4 hours ago
Drummer Fergal Lawler (The Cranberries) joins the show to discuss the band’s phenomenal 1995 MTV Unplugged episode – which, 30 years later, is finally getting released as a proper standalone album (out 11/7). Fergal recollects on unplugging “Zombie,” playing with the Electra Strings, and dropping three brand new songs into their Unplugged setlist (including the one-time only rarity “Yesterday’s Gone”). Of course, the episode’s also got loads of Cranberries-infused ‘90s pop culture clips (My So-Called Life, Clueless, Boys on the Side, You’ve Got Mail, Charmed, and much more)!
If you dig the show, would like to share your own Unplugged memories, offer up a correction, or connect with the show for any other reason:
- You can email me at unpluggedrevisited@gmail.com,
- You can reach out on Bluesky at @willhodge.bsky.social, or
- You can leave a voicemail (that’ll maybe get played on the show) by dialing 234-REVISIT (234-738-4748)
Recommended![UR018: “6 Unplugged Songs that Explain the ‘90s” w/ Rob Harvilla [1990s MTV Unplugged] image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=112,quality=85/image-files/66ea0b235fcf51d2c9a0b7cd/43cbefc3-777c-4d93-9915-92abd82876d2.jpg)
![UR015: Mike Inez (Alice In Chains) [1996 MTV Unplugged] image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=112,quality=85/image-files/66ea0b235fcf51d2c9a0b7cd/ce95ba92-1808-4cb4-b4f5-2fb578ff7daf.jpg)
Transcript
Introduction to 'Unplugged Revisited'
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to
00:00:14
Speaker
Greetings and salutations. Welcome back to Unplugged Revisited, the podcast that celebrates, critiques, and dives deep into the last three and a half decades of MTV Unplugged. I'm your host, music journalist, pop culture anthropologist, and unplugged obsessive, Will Hodge.
00:00:30
Speaker
First off, thank you so much to everyone who tuned into my last episode with Rob Harvilla of 60 Songs That Explain the 90s. I got some really nice notes about it, and folks seem to have enjoyed the whole quasi-mixtape vibe of hitting on a dozen different unplugged episodes at once.
00:00:45
Speaker
I did a few episodes last season that struck a similar multi-unplugged vein, and I just might revisit the format again pretty soon, so stay tuned.
Deep Dive into The Cranberries with Fergal Lawler
00:00:54
Speaker
For today's show, though, I'm super excited to shift back over into one of our bread-and-butter single artist deep dives with easily one of the most sonically brilliant and immediately identifiable bands of the 90s, the Cranberries.
00:01:07
Speaker
And luckily enough, their amazing drummer and co-founder is here to help me properly revisit their stellar 95, Unplugged. Hi, this is Fergal Lawler the Cranberries, and you're listening to Unplugged Revisited.
00:01:18
Speaker
I gotta say, Fergal is absolutely one of the nicest and most down-to-earth rock stars you could ever hope to meet, and it was so cool to get to chat with him again for this episode. I first met Fergal back in 2019 when I interviewed him for this super fun Grammys oral history piece I wrote about the 25th anniversary of If I Were a Carpenter.
00:01:37
Speaker
That insanely cool alt-rock Carpenter's tribute album that came out in 94 and had acts like Sonic Youth, Sheryl Crow, Concrete Blonde's Jeanette Napolitano, Matthew Sweet, Four Non Blondes, Shonen Knife, and a whole bunch of other killer bands all doing Carpenter's songs.
00:01:54
Speaker
Zero Hyperbole, it's absolutely one of the trippiest and coolest tribute albums of all time.
Inspiration Behind 'Close to You' Cover
00:02:13
Speaker
For that Carpenter's Tribute album, the Cranberries ended up crafting a charmingly chilled out accordion spice take on Close to You. Just like me.
00:02:33
Speaker
And Fergal told me this cool story about how their version was inspired by him hearing Smashing Pumpkins doing a slowed-down acoustic cover of Dancing in the Moonlight. Not the yacht rock precursor 70s hit single Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest, but the cooler, swagger-rich other 70s hit single Dancing in the Moonlight by Irish rock legend's Thin Lizzy, which Billy Corgan and company tucked away as a B-side on their Disarm single that came out in early 94.
00:03:01
Speaker
I should clarify, for all you fellow physical media enthusiasts who join me in feverishly death-gripping your beautiful and beloved 90s singles, it's not the B-side on the Disarm vinyl single or one of the two B-sides on the first version of the Disarm CD single, the one with the white cover, hand-drawn artwork, and the word SMILE in red capital letters.
Origins of Smashing Pumpkins' Cover
00:03:22
Speaker
so No, it's actually one of the two B-sides on the second version of the Disarmed CD single. The one with the black cover, hand-drawn artwork, and the word HEART in white capital letters.
00:03:33
Speaker
You probably want to hear that Cranberries-inspiring Smashing Pumpkins cover now, don't you? Kinda feels like you're holding in a sneeze or something? Okay, here's just a taste of that, but then we gotta get back on track.
00:03:52
Speaker
Okay, where were we? Ah yes, the cranberries.
The Cranberries' 90s Success
00:04:09
Speaker
Guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler, and all-time God-tier lead vocalist Dolores O'Reardon. As I said up top, easily one of the most sonically brilliant and immediately identifiable bands.
00:04:24
Speaker
I mean, ever honestly, but definitely of the ninety s
00:04:38
Speaker
During just the 90s alone, they released their debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It So Why Can't We, in 1993, which hit number one in Ireland, number one in the UK, and went five times platinum here in the States.
00:04:52
Speaker
Their sophomore follow-up, No Need To Argue, in 94, which also hit number one in multiple countries and went seven times platinum here in the States. and their third album, To The Faithful Departed, in 96, which went top five pretty much everywhere, including the U.S., oddly enough, for the first time, and it also went double platinum here.
00:05:12
Speaker
They did release one more album in the 90s, 99's Bury the Hatchet, but I think by most counts, that record kind of functions more as the introductory chapter to their output. 2001's Wake and Smell the Coffee, Roses, Acoustic Heavy's Something Else,
00:05:30
Speaker
and 2019's posthumously released In The End, a beautiful yet bittersweet collection of songs that featured vocals from some of Dolores' in-progress songwriting demos that was released the year after her tragic and untimely passing in early 2018. Here's a bit of her final yet timeless vocal magic via the album's poignantly titled lead single, All Over Now.
Creating Radio Hits
00:06:03
Speaker
Back in their 90s heyday, the Cranberries were an evergreen and ever-welcomed cultural presence, and they were extremely my jam. They're one of those multi-flavored yet deeply cohesive bands that managed to write songs across an impressive array of cross-genre textures, while still maintaining a singular sonic thumbprint.
00:06:21
Speaker
They could do this... and this...
00:06:33
Speaker
While also doing this. this.
00:06:52
Speaker
course they could really do this
00:07:01
Speaker
They were also one of those bands who managed to score hits across multiple radio formats, which was an element of their songwriting that was very much appreciated by the younger, pre-teen me who was rarely in control of the radio when being driven around by family members.
00:07:15
Speaker
Of course, the Cranberries were most at home on alt-rock radio, which in my case was 99X, Atlanta's supremely awesome flagship alt-rock station to whom I genuinely owe a musical life debt.
00:07:27
Speaker
And that's where you could hear them the most. Dreams, Zombie, Ode to My Family, Ridiculous Thoughts, Free to Decide, Salvation. You get the picture.
00:07:39
Speaker
But let's say, hypothetically, you're 12, riding shotgun and your older sister's mercury tracer, and mainstream top 40 pops on the radio, which in my case was Star 94, today's best music.
00:07:50
Speaker
You could still easily catch the cranberries with a song like their Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit, Linger. You got me right to ride your finger up Do you have to let it linger?
00:08:04
Speaker
Do you have to, do you have to, do you have to let it linger? Well, let's also say, again, hypothetically, of course, you're being hauled around in the backseat of your mom's Chevy Corsica, being lulled by the dulcet tones of easy listening adult contemporary, which in my case was B98.5, Atlanta's best variety of soft rock.
00:08:24
Speaker
And in between all the Celine Dion, Aaron Neville, and Peebo Bryson, you might occasionally luck out with Ode to My Family, or maybe Linger Again, or even that breezy Carpenter's cover of Close to You I mentioned earlier. why Every time
00:08:46
Speaker
And I should note, because the Cranberries neither recorded country music in the 1950s nor covered Credence Clearwater Revival, and unfortunately my dad's ramshackle Datsun pickup rarely rocked the Cranberries.
00:08:57
Speaker
Though I did occasionally kick it over to 99X when he would like go in to pay for gas or whatever, so I'm sure a few brief moments of Dreams or Zombie had to have blessed that little beater at some point, right?
Influence in 90s Pop Culture
00:09:11
Speaker
Alongside their radio and MTV ubiquity, the Cranberries were also a pretty consistent pop-up across a lot of other 90s pop cultural ephemera as well. Sure, they'd show up in the normal spots like Letterman and SNL.
00:09:23
Speaker
Hi, I'm George Clooney. You enjoy me on Friends? Then watch me on Saturday Night Live with the musical guest, the Cranberries. this goes well, I might play a dolphin on SeaQuest. But they also had their songs appear in such quintessentially 90s places as the Empire Records soundtrack.
00:09:43
Speaker
The soundtrack and trailer to Boys on the Side. They had nothing in common. I'm not going over Cliff for you two, so just forget it. What an appetite for living. And the third episode of the greatest single-season television show of all time, My So-Called Life.
00:09:59
Speaker
We need to talk. When I was 12, my mother gave me my sex talk. I'm not sure either of us has fully recovered. Now that you and Jordan are... Oh my God. Mom, please. Angela.
00:10:13
Speaker
They also got two notable diegetic nods in Clueless, including a conversation-avoiding in-car serenade. Didn't Ty look cute tonight? Turn away.
00:10:24
Speaker
Turn away. Turn away. And the band getting shouted out by name. Help me. Come in. Yeah, i can't find my Cranberries CD. I gotta to go to the quad before somebody snags They even appeared on screen as themselves during an episode of Charmed, where they played just my imagination for like three straight minutes of late 90s primetime cable real estate. Folks, it's a real pleasure for me to introduce, and a one-night-only benefit for the Animal Rights Fund, the Cranberries!
00:10:52
Speaker
Woo! um must admit, the Cranberries also hold an extra little sentimental corner of my own personal 90s heart because when I first started learning how to play guitar as a teenager, as was pretty common, I was very quickly asked to put together some songs for a friend's upcoming birthday party.
00:11:07
Speaker
Me and a few friends from school, who were also all just learning their instruments, tried to cobble together a set list of passable cover songs, and somehow I was picked to sing them. Now, to be clear, I had absolutely zero vocal ability.
00:11:21
Speaker
But I also had even less inhibition or self-respect. So away we went. And because this was 95, the set list to my very first quote-unquote gig as a couple months old struggling guitarist and even more struggling warbler consisted of Green Day's When I Come Around, Stone Temple Pilots' Plush, The Offsprings Come Out and Play, Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, and a couple other songs I can't exactly remember.
00:11:44
Speaker
But also, Zombie by The Cranberries. And while, yes, thankfully the song is pretty much just four chords cycling under a buzzy, forgiving blanket of distortion, I also had to learn that little single string riff leading into the verses, and once I landed it, in my 15-year-old fruitopia-soaked brain, I might as well have been Mike McCready.
00:12:08
Speaker
The vocals though? My discordant, southern-twanged, off-key squeaks of a freshman front child haphazardly echoing off the concrete floor of my drummer's parents' garage? Well, let's just say my apologies to Dolores for what I did to your song, my apologies to Rebecca for what I did to your birthday party, and my apologies to Rusty's mom for what I did to your camcorder.
00:12:29
Speaker
I sincerely hope the tape of that night's performance was consigned to the ash heap of history many moons ago. But still, you never forget your first set list. I mean, except for the other songs that I know we played but that I can't quite remember. So, okay, you never forget most of your first set list.
Will's Personal Guitar Gig Story
00:12:45
Speaker
Also, super small, admittedly self-indulgent, and quite mushy side note, this was also the night producer Amanda and I serendipitously performed a song together for the very first time.
00:12:56
Speaker
My quote-unquote band had finished our quote-unquote set, and the crowd inexplicably wanted more. No one was particularly interested in replaying or rehearing any of the songs we'd already barely gotten through, and at the time, i only knew one other song on the guitar, but it was slow and melodic and I wasn't about to try to sing it.
00:13:16
Speaker
I asked the crowd if anyone knew the words, and there was my friend Amanda, possibly the only other person in that garage as equally uninhibited as myself, but who could actually sing. And so I played guitar while she absolutely nailed what immediately became my favorite song of all time, R.E.M.' Strange Currencies.
The Cranberries' MTV Unplugged Performance
00:13:36
Speaker
Carmi and Claire could never. And speaking of magical musical moments that occurred in 95, Flawless Segway, that's also the year the Cranberries played MTV Unplugged, which is actually what today's episode is all about.
00:13:50
Speaker
Well, we're back and we're going to rock your boys. I'm really excited to share my interview with Fergal and to also get into the intersection, which for any new listeners is the contextualizing part of the podcast where I spend some time setting up the interview by laying out where an artist was and where Unplugged was when the two converged.
00:14:08
Speaker
But before we get into all that, let's take care of a couple announcements and more on the other side of this vintage Unplugged commercial break.
Upcoming MTV Unplugged Releases
00:14:17
Speaker
Okay, quick trio announcements about not one, not three upcoming Unplugged releases. Announcement 1.
00:14:23
Speaker
acoustic coming this fall nirvana unloved only on mtv ah quick trio of announcements about not one not two but three upcoming unplugged releases announcement one Speaking of the Cranberries 1995 MTV Unplugged, I mentioned in the last episode that the band had recently released their Unplugged set for the first time ever as bonus tracks exclusively available on the three-disc vinyl version of their recent No Need to Argue 30th Anniversary reissue.
00:14:56
Speaker
However, just a week or so ago, the band announced that they're also going to be releasing it as a standalone album as well. It'll be coming out next month, November 7th, and it's available for pre-order right now on CD and at least three different vinyl variants.
00:15:12
Speaker
It's always so incredibly cool to see these classic unplugged episodes that didn't get an album the first time around, even decades later, finally see the light of day. You know I'm lighting all my Natalie Merchant prayer candles that this might inspire a few other artists to eventually do the same with their unplugged episodes.
00:15:29
Speaker
Cough Cough, Fiona Apple, The Cure, Sheryl Crow, Hole, Cough co Cough Cough. Announcement 2 The Cranberries aren't the only act putting out some new Unplugged content, as Alicia Keys also recently announced that she's pressing up a special 20th anniversary vinyl edition of her platinum certified, Grammy-nominated Unplugged album that originally came out back in 2005, and ended up being the first Unplugged by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200.
00:16:09
Speaker
Available on vinyl again for the first time since its original pressing back in 2005, this new deluxe 2LP vinyl reissue contains a few bonus tracks that were originally only available on certain CD
Alicia Keys' 20th Anniversary Vinyl
00:16:21
Speaker
and DVD versions, including Goodbye and Butterflies, both from her debut album, Songs in A Minor, and her absolutely mesmerizing cover of Prince's How Come You Don't Call Me, which is also on her debut record, but was definitely turned up a notch on Unplugged.
00:16:37
Speaker
I don't want to know, baby, what we had was good to say. Come on, you don't call me anymore, baby.
00:16:47
Speaker
You know what I'm saying? The vinyl reissue is officially coming out this Friday, October 3rd, and I've partnered up with my friends over at Sony to give away a copy. If you've been a part of any of my previous album giveaways, you know the drill by now.
00:17:01
Speaker
All you have to do to enter is send me an email, unpluggedrevisited at gmail.com, telling me one thing you like about the Alicia Keys Unplugged episode, and make sure to put the word contest in the subject line.
00:17:13
Speaker
Also, as a bonus, you can double your chances by rating and reviewing the podcast wherever you stream it and attach a screenshot of that to your email. Super easy, right? Get those entries in quick because I'll be announcing the winner on my next episode.
00:17:26
Speaker
Thank you to Sony for helping with the giveaway, and thanks to Alicia for pressing up a 20th anniversary reissue of one of the best unplugs from the post-90s era. Announcement 3 And then finally, one more notable new slash old unplugged reissue, this one courtesy of Neil Young.
Neil Young's Vinyl Box Set
00:17:43
Speaker
Somewhere safer where the feeling stays. I want to love you, but can't so
00:17:54
Speaker
Yes, you are correct. Shaky did release his Unplugged as an album back in 93, but here in the States it was only available on CD. The original vinyl versions were only international pressings for like the South America and European markets, and it's hard to find a clean copy of those for under triple digits.
00:18:12
Speaker
Well, the great news is that Neil just recently announced that his unplugged record will be pressed on vinyl again for the first time since its original run, and sonically it's been leveled up to a hundred and eighty gram vinyl and thankfully split across two LPs.
00:18:26
Speaker
However, the catch is that currently it's only available as part of his archival run of official release series box sets, which may be a drawback for some. But, the good news with that is it's paired with three other incredible 90s Neil records.
00:18:42
Speaker
92's Harvest Moon, which is the album he was promoting at the time of his unplugged taping. 94's Sleeps with Angels, which was recorded with Crazy Horse and was partially informed by the death of Kurt Cobain.
00:18:53
Speaker
And Mirrorball, the insanely cool album he recorded with Pearl Jam as his backing band. I was 12 to 15 during this period of Neil's career, and I was all in on his elder statesman omnipresence within the alternative music scene.
00:19:09
Speaker
I mean, him and Pearl Jam playing Rockin' in the Free World at the 93 VMAs is indelibly seared into my psyche and still brings such a smile to my face any time I revisit the video.
00:19:20
Speaker
So for me, the box set is a no-brainer, but I totally understand if it's a barrier to entry for some who might want Neil's unplugged on vinyl, but don't necessarily want the whole multi-album set.
00:19:30
Speaker
Either way, Neil's ORS number 6 box set is set to release on October 24th, and he's got both CD and vinyl versions available, and pre-orders are up on his site as we speak.
00:19:43
Speaker
Okay, let's slide on over into this episode's Uncovered.
Notable Unplugged Covers Segment
00:19:47
Speaker
This is the new recurring segment where I quickly highlight a couple cool Unplugged cover songs that are all tied around a unifying theme.
00:19:55
Speaker
Last episode's theme was Jimi Hendrix, and it was super rooted in Unplugged's 90s heyday. So for this episode's theme, I wanted to highlight a more recent jewel in the Unplugged canon, the show's spectacular 2018-2019 mini-reboot for MTV Australia that rolled out under the MTV Unplugged Live in Melbourne banner.
00:20:15
Speaker
While not every band who filmed an Unplugged during this run down under ended up doing a cover song, those that did landed some seriously stellar performances. First up, easily my favorite end-to-end episode of this particular mini-reboot, and one that thankfully got a proper album release with a swanky vinyl pressing, here's Courtney Barnett's MTV Unplugged cover of Leonard Cohen's late 60s folk rock masterpiece, So Long Marianne.
00:20:41
Speaker
I never said that I was brave
00:20:53
Speaker
Next up is one of my all-time feel-good unplugged covers. It's Amy Shark doing Weedus' turn-of-the-century signature smash, Teenage Dirtbag, during her 2018 episode. Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby.
00:21:08
Speaker
I'm just a teenage dirtbag. Australian indie rockers, DMAs, were not a band that I was personally familiar with before their 2018 episode, but their unplugged cover of Madonna's Beautiful Stranger from the second Austin Powers movie was a super charming introduction for me.
00:21:45
Speaker
For their 2019 Unplugged, the Rubens invited special guest Lauren Azar to join them for an unplugged cover of a pretty popular, at that exact moment, chart-topping hit, Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus' Nothing Breaks Like a Heart.
00:22:00
Speaker
Ooh, this world can hurt you. It cuts you deep and leaves scar. Things fall apart, nothing breaks like a heart.
00:22:11
Speaker
Ooh, nothing breaks like a heart. And finally, singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Tash Sultana also filmed an MTV Unplugged Live in Melbourne episode, though it was a few years later in 2021, and they delivered a stirring solo acoustic cover of Bon Iver's debut album opener, Flume.
00:22:45
Speaker
And just to get ahead of any emails, yes, Gang of Youths also did an incredibly beautiful MTV Unplugged Live in Melbourne episode, which also got a cool album release. But i don't believe they did any cover songs.
00:22:57
Speaker
So alas, they're ineligible for this episode's uncovered. Alrighty, back to today's main event. What do you say we jump into the intersection? Here's the story of the Cranberries and MTV Unplugged crossing paths back in the show's sixth season of 1995.
Formation of The Cranberries
00:23:15
Speaker
As you may or may not already know, the Irish alt-rock quartet we've come to know and love as the Dolores O'Riordan fronted band called the Cranberries did not actually start out as the Dolores O'Riordan fronted band called the Cranberries.
00:23:29
Speaker
But to be fair, most of the band's DNA was there from the very beginning. The group's story starts back in Limerick, Ireland in late summer of 1989, with a trio of breakdancing childhood friends turned musically-minded, smiths-loving teenagers.
00:23:44
Speaker
There was 18-year-old Noel Hogan on guitar, his 16-year-old brother Mike Hogan on bass, and 18-year-old Fergal Lawler on drums, who started a band called The Cranberry Saw Us, which, you know, close, but not quite there yet.
00:23:57
Speaker
Enfronting this upstart outfit was a 16-year-old punk rock drummer turned let's-give-it-go frontman, Niall Quinn. Again, not quite there yet. Niall, who was already in another limerick group called the Hitchers, wasn't exactly long for the Cranberry Sauce.
00:24:13
Speaker
He was in the band for just the last few months of 1989, but he did manage to stick around long enough to record vocals and guitar on their very first demo, a four-song cassette titled Anything.
00:24:24
Speaker
Now, due to the fact that Niall wrote or co-wrote all four of the songs and that it features his vocals, the Anything demo isn't exactly a pure A to B precursor to what would eventually become the Cranberries.
00:24:37
Speaker
However, the fact that Noel, Mike, and Fergal are playing on it and the fact that the teenage version of themselves were already coloring with some truly Cranberries-esque sonic textures does make this a really interesting Cranberries rarity.
00:24:50
Speaker
I mean, Noel even crafted the cassette's hand-drawn cover art. Here's a little taste of that close but not quite there yet four song demo via the only Noel co-write of the bunch. a Joy Division evoking song called How's It Going to Bleed.
00:25:10
Speaker
By the time the Anything demo started being passed around in early 1990, Niall had already made the decision to leave the Cranberry Saw S in favor of staying with the Hitchers, which resulted in Noel, Mike, and Fergal becoming an instrumental trio for a couple months, before deciding to find another lead singer, though this time they specifically wanted to try things out with a female vocalist.
00:25:31
Speaker
Around the same time that the trio started running newspaper ads for tryouts, Niall, remember him from just a few sentences ago, reportedly ran into an ex-girlfriend whose older sister just so happened to have a friend in her class named Dolores, who, quote, sings with the choir, but she's into Sinead O'Connor as well. Niall called her up to see if she wanted to audition for his now former band, and she agreed to a meetup with Noel, Mike, and Fergal, most notably because they were writing their own original songs, which was a big non-negotiable for her.
00:26:02
Speaker
ah Just a side note for any lead singers out there who may be looking for a smooth exit out of your current band situation, That's how you do it right there. Unexpectedly stumble upon a singular, otherworldly talent that can lead your former band to genre-defining, era-soundtracking, culture-dominating, multi-platinum-selling international renown, and then personally hand the reins over to them.
00:26:25
Speaker
That's your template. Okay, so exit Nile, enter Dolores. At this first deceptively low-key space-time continuum-altering rehearsal in the spring of 1990, Dolores showed up with a small Casio keyboard and sang Sinead O'Connor's Troy.
00:26:41
Speaker
Recalling this career-establishing life-altering moment, which again happened when they were all just like 16 to 18-year-old teenagers, Noel stated in a December 2019 interview Of course, when she sang, we were all going, okay, how come she's not already in a band? We couldn't believe it. It kicked from there.
Dolores O'Riordan Writes 'Linger'
00:26:58
Speaker
In my opinion, Noel's word kicked there is not only wholly accurate, but also perfectly understated in a truly Cranberriesian way. The Cranberries would very soon go on to become one of the biggest alt-rock bands of the 90s, not just of the genre, but in the entire world.
00:27:15
Speaker
And while most bands that achieve this kind of massive cultural saturation often endure a few early, shall we kindly say, experimental years of trying to find out just exactly what kind of band they are and what their quote-unquote sound is going to be,
00:27:30
Speaker
The seeds of their soon-to-be decade imprinting Sonic Conquest can be traced immediately and directly back to this inaugural day of them all being in the same room together for the very first time.
00:27:42
Speaker
In that same 2019 interview, Noel recalled of that first magical meetup, I gave her a cassette with a very basic guitar version of Linger on it. She took it away, came back two days later, and the version of Linger Everybody Knows was born that week, and it never really changed from that moment on.
00:27:59
Speaker
Now look, we all know that oftentimes in these retrospective rock history retellings, a small measure of self-polished creative license can be taken to sprinkle a little extra sparkly seasoning over the whole thing, especially with band origin stories.
00:28:14
Speaker
But this one comes with receipts. The band, still going by the name The Cranberries Saw Us, played their very first concert with Dolores on July 14, 1990, of which an archival photo of the day's setlist shows Linger kicking off the whole show.
00:28:29
Speaker
And just a couple weeks later, in August, they released another four-song demo cassette, this one titled Water Circle. which also kicks off with a yes early but astoundingly almost there version of Linger that already included all of the key elements of what would, just a couple years later, become their first global top ten hit.
00:28:48
Speaker
I mean, even in its charmingly raw lo-fi demo state, just listen to Dolores' Casio-crafted string lines and multi-track vocals. We're lying all the time Was it just a game to you?
00:29:03
Speaker
But I'm in some We know I'm such a fool for you Their local paper, the Limerick Tribune, prophetically wrote of the Water Circle demo, It doesn't happen very often, but once in a blue moon, a new band comes along, and you say to yourself, this could be the start of something big.
Early Demos and Name Change
00:29:23
Speaker
Just a couple short months after completing the Water Circle demo, which was mostly used for securing gigs and shopping to labels, the Cranberries Saw Us yes they were still going by that name recorded a proper three-song EP that they could actually sell to fans.
00:29:37
Speaker
It was called Nothing Left at All, and the original run of 300 cassettes reportedly sold out at the local shops within just a few days. While two of the three songs were soon to be re-recorded for their next release, here's a little bit of a rarity called Shinedown that only appears on that
00:30:09
Speaker
But heading into 1991, big changes were afoot for Limerick's soon-to-be hometown heroes. First up, a name change, or more accurately, just a slight tweak. The Cranberry saws smartly trimmed themselves down to just the Cranberries, though for a brief window, that was spelled with a Y apostrophe S before eventually landing on the more aesthetically conventional and grammatically pleasing IES spelling.
00:30:35
Speaker
Next up, a label change. After being courted by the likes of Sony, Virgin, Warner Brothers, CBS, and others, by the summer of 91, the Cranberries had secured a major label record deal with Island Records, making them label mates with another little Irish foursome that you too may have heard of, who were busy working up their own memorable 1991.
00:30:55
Speaker
Music
00:31:04
Speaker
Speaking of record labels, in the fall of 91, the Cranberries released another four-song EP, this one being the first under their new name and the last under their old indie label, Zarek Records.
00:31:16
Speaker
It was titled Uncertain, and it was their first EP to be released on CD and vinyl. And it featured two re-recorded songs from their previous EP, Nothing Left At All and Pathetic Senses, and two new tracks, Them and Uncertain.
00:31:31
Speaker
Though overall, the band wasn't happy with how the finished EP ended up sounding due to some of the creative choices of producer Pierce Gilmore, who had actually helmed all of their previous recordings.
00:31:42
Speaker
They also ended up filming a music video for Uncertain's title track, though they ended up shelving it for more than a decade. They eventually included just a small clip of it on the companion DVD to their 2002 compilation, Starz, and finally uploaded the whole thing to YouTube in 2020.
00:31:59
Speaker
The studio version of Uncertain sounds a bit cluttered up to me, again due to production choices, not the band's performances. So here's a cooler version of Uncertain that sounds better to my ears, from their June 1991 show at cork Rock.
00:32:30
Speaker
1991 also saw the band experiencing some impressive venue changes, swapping out the local Limerick and Dublin clubs from the prior year for a couple proper touring runs throughout many cities across Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales.
00:32:44
Speaker
By December of 91, they had even landed a Belfast gig opening up for Nirvana, who at that point in their career were selling close to a half million copies of Nevermind a week But unfortunately, that show was cancelled just a few days prior when Nirvana called off the remaining dates of their European Nevermind tour, citing exhaustion and the need to go home and get some much-needed rest.
00:33:06
Speaker
The Cranberries kicked off 92 with some January recording sessions intended for their major label debut, but escalating studio tensions with Gilmore drove the band to break creative ties with him and briefly pause their new album efforts.
Recording Debut Album with Stephen Street
00:33:20
Speaker
February found them traveling to London to record their first Peel session with the legendary John Peel of BBC Radio 1. No gigs. They're in the studio recording an LP, according to Pinky, and that's so from the Cranberries in session, and it's called Linger. And in March, they reconvened in the studio to start back up recording their debut album.
00:33:39
Speaker
Though this time it was with a new producer, Stephen Street, who was an absolutely huge get for the Morrissey and Johnny Marr-loving cranberries. Street had previously engineered a couple of the most iconic Smiths albums, 1985's Mead is Murder and 1986's The Queen is Dead, and he even leveled up to a producer's credit on their final album, 1987's Strange Ways Here We Come.
00:34:10
Speaker
When the Smiths broke up, Streak continued working with Morrissey, producing and writing all of the music for Morrissey's first solo album, 1988's UK chart-topping Viva Hate, and most of its follow-up, 1990's Bona Drag.
00:34:23
Speaker
And look, I know, Morrissey these days, ugh, I totally get it. But just for Sonic context, here's a little bit of his phenomenal solo hit, Every Day Is Like Sunday, just so you can hear why st Street was the absolute perfect producer to capture and spotlight all of the lilting Sonic nuances that make the Cranberries so singularly special.
00:34:56
Speaker
Also, for some additional super cool Sonic, uh, Street cred, around this exact moment when he started working with the Cranberries, Street had also just started working with Blur, first producing the song There's No Other Way, which was released as a standalone single in mid-April 91, and then appeared on Blur's debut album, Leisure, later that August.
00:35:17
Speaker
Street ended up producing about half the songs on Leisure, and then almost all of their next four studio albums. 1993's Modern Life is Rubbish, 94's Park Life, which hit number one, 95's The Great Escape, which also hit number one, and 97's Blur, which hit, uh, let me just double check here. Oh yeah, also number one.
00:35:38
Speaker
Woohoo!
00:35:42
Speaker
Okay, back to early 92. The Cranberries and Stephen Street entered Dublin's Windmill Lane Studios and began working on what would become the band's utterly magical debut album.
00:35:52
Speaker
Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? When the band released their 25th anniversary box set of Everybody Else Is Doing It in 2018, it came with this really incredible book called Waltzing Back, written by Owen Devereaux.
00:36:05
Speaker
And in it, there are some really cool recollections from Street and the band about their time recording this album, which surprisingly only took about four weeks. For the interview snippets in the book, Street offers up these really cool visual stories about finding the exact rhythmic sweet spot for the bass and drums on Linger, or playing around with the guitar sound by using different chord voicings or capo placements, which were tricks he learned working with the Smiths' Johnny Marr and Blur's Graham Coxon.
00:36:33
Speaker
Of recording Dolores' vocals, st Street recalled, Her phrasing, timing, the way she bent the notes, it had a very different angle to it. I couldn't put my finger on it. It wasn't traditional Irish singing, but you could tell that there was the bedrock of the Gaelic touch to it.
00:36:48
Speaker
There was something magical about the way she rolled her R's in Linger. And of course, going back to that charmingly humble Cranberries understating I mentioned earlier, Noel summed up the recording experience by simply saying, We hit it off with Stephen really well.
00:37:02
Speaker
With the recording sessions completed, the band and their new major label machine, Island Records, were initially aiming for a Fall 92 release. But, tale as old as time when a new band is leveling up and breaking out, there were some legal wranglings with Gilmore and their previous label that needed to be straightened out before the full-on major label debut album rollout could commence.
00:37:24
Speaker
However, that fall they did still manage to release their major label debut single, when The Magical, Mystical, Thoroughly Blissful Dreams was released on October 1992.
'Dreams' as a Sleeper Hit
00:37:46
Speaker
Now, let's just go ahead and get this out of the way. In my opinion, Dreams is unquestionably the band's sleeper signature hit. I intentionally use the word sleeper here because most modern day mentions of the Cranberries, at least by writers here in the States, will tout one of two other massive hits as their quote unquote signature song.
00:38:05
Speaker
That designation is usually bestowed upon either Linger, because it was their only top 10 hit on the US mainstream pop charts, or Zombie, because A, it's an absolute god-tier alt-rock masterpiece, and B, it seems to have encapsulated the band's biggest legacy-establishing presence in the modern streaming era.
00:38:25
Speaker
To date, the song has logged over 1.5 billion streams on Spotify alone, and the music video for Zombie has been viewed on YouTube as of this recording, 1 billion,
00:38:36
Speaker
737,896,944, oh wait, sorry, times, 946 times.
00:38:49
Speaker
But I'm telling you, whenever you're reading something about the cranberries and the writer mentions Linger or Zombie as their signature song, play a fun little game where you try to guess the age of that writer.
00:39:00
Speaker
Not in a rude way, just for context. Because more often than not, I bet you that if they say linger, then they probably skew a little older, meaning during the 90s they were probably in their 20s or older, and know the Cranberries mostly from their mainstream pop radio presence.
00:39:16
Speaker
And if they say zombie, then they probably skew a little younger, meaning during the 90s they probably ceased to yet exist, and maybe just know the Cranberries from their parent CD collection, or like random 2000s pop culture radar blips like The Office.
00:39:31
Speaker
your here In your head Zombie, zombie, zombie a But to my point, if you, like me, were a 90s teenager who was perma-glued to MTV and alt-rock radio, Dreams was the hands-down, straight-out-the-gate Cranberry's calling card.
00:39:55
Speaker
As soon as you hear that shimmery, delay-chorus warble of the guitar, the pulsing, deep-water thump of the bass, the confident rumble of the tom rolls and snare accents, In each celestial note of Dolores' multi-tracked lead and background vocals, every single thing you need to know about the Cranberries is all right there in Dreams.
00:40:14
Speaker
But as the great LeVar Burton always reminded us, but you don't have to take my word for it, here's just a super small sampling of some of the movies, TV shows, and soundtracks from all throughout the 90s, even years after Linger and Zombie were released, where Dreams showed up.
00:40:30
Speaker
As I already referenced a bit earlier, My So-Called Life from 1994, I can accept that you have a boyfriend. I don't have a boyfriend. Fine. A pal. A male pal.
00:40:42
Speaker
Whatever word you want to choose. The next Karate Kid, also from 94. What's going on?
00:40:50
Speaker
Nothing. Just monks having a good time. Boys on the Side and an episode of Beverly Hills 90210, both in 95. If no one's going get phone out of.
00:41:08
Speaker
Well, didn't see that coming, huh?
00:41:11
Speaker
Sure glad it did, The first Mission Impossible film in 96. Well, my mom was a little confused how the DEA could mistake her and Uncle Donald for a couple of dope smugglers in the Florida Keys.
00:41:22
Speaker
And possibly one of the most overflowingly 90s-coded rom-coms of the entire decade. What will NY152 say today, I wonder? I turn on my computer.
00:41:34
Speaker
I wait impatiently as it connects. I go online and my breath catches in my chest until I hear three little words. You got mail.
00:41:46
Speaker
Smash cut to the 2020s and Dreams is still popping up in all sorts of TV episodes and movies. Ted Lasso, Vanessa Bayer's I Love That For You, The Beanie Bubble, even the final scene slash end credits of Madam Web. And you know the best thing about the future?
00:42:04
Speaker
It hasn't happened yet.
00:42:10
Speaker
Quick side note, and then I promise to move on here, one of the absolute coolest 90s movie connections with Dreams is from Wong Kar Wai's 94 film Chungking Express, where lead actress Faye Wong covers the song in Cantonese.
00:42:34
Speaker
Okay, so back to late 92. Dreams is released as their first single, and while it didn't make a huge impact on radio just yet, the long-running UK music mag Melody Maker did christen it their single of the week and floridly praised it as a gossamer waltz across sacred ground.
00:42:51
Speaker
Which, from here on out, is a turn of phrase I'll absolutely be adopting for whenever someone asks me how I'm doing. How's my Tuesday going? Oh, just taking a gossamer waltz across sacred ground, you know? How about you?
'Linger' Climbs US Charts
00:43:03
Speaker
Heading into 93 with a brand new album in hand, the Cranberries were locked and loaded to have a stellar breakout year with a rocket strapped to their backs. In mid-February, while touring England and Scotland with fellow jangly alt-rock Jules Belli, they released the strings-laced ballad Linger as their second pre-album single, which elevated the band beyond the initial alt-rock radio airplay of dreams into the broader mainstream pop arena.
00:43:28
Speaker
Linger would eventually go on to become the biggest top 40 pop radio single of their career, becoming a top 20 hit in the UK, a top 10 in places like Scotland, Canada, Iceland, and the Netherlands, and all the way to number three at home in Ireland.
00:43:42
Speaker
Here in the States, Linger had a broad impact across multiple radio formats, naturally hitting number 4 on the alt rock chart, but also showing up on both the adult contemporary chart at number 18 and also the mainstream pop billboard hot 100, where it spent 24 weeks and eventually peaked at number 8.
00:44:08
Speaker
In March, their debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, was finally released and the band started landing some really cool radio and TV promo appearances. Like Dublin's The Dave Fanning Show, a phenomenal 12-song set on the French radio show Cess Le Noir, and the Netherlands' popular acoustics show The Two Meter Sessions. 25 mei 1993. The with a very young band from Dublin.
00:44:33
Speaker
The first time the Cranberries for foreign cameras. In the summer of 93, the Cranberries made their first trek to the States, mostly opening for London post-punk faves, The Thee, which coincidentally guitarist Johnny Marr was often a member of from about 1988, right up until the time of this tour.
00:44:51
Speaker
This US s summer tour opening for The Thee ran across June and July, but they also had a few of their own headlining shows sprinkled in. And this is when they started doing a few stateside radio shows as well. I'm Chris Doritos. This is Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW.
00:45:06
Speaker
very pleased to have in the studio with us Dolores O'Reardon and we have Noah Hogan. Hi guys. How are you doing this morning? It's great to have you here. Really terrific. and Thank
US Network TV Debut
00:45:18
Speaker
you.
00:45:18
Speaker
The album has been doing really well here at KCRW. Mike and Ferg are getting upset now because you never said hello to them. They returned to the States in September, this time for a two-month tour with Britpop forerunners Suede, and they notched another notable TV appearance when they played an acoustic version of Linger on MTV's Alternative Nation, which was the first time I ever got to see them play live on TV, and it's kind of seared into my brain because of the interesting setting of, it's like this quasi-outdoor mall atrium-looking thing.
00:45:46
Speaker
and of course Kennedy. taking away to laura and the boys
00:45:52
Speaker
That tour butted right up against another huge opportunity for the band, supporting Duran Duran on their No Ordinary tour throughout October and November. But that leg of the tour was briefly canceled after only a few shows when Simon LeBond injured his vocal cords.
00:46:08
Speaker
The Cranberries were able to throw together a string of solo shows in the States while Simon recovered, and then they reconnected with Duran Duran when the tour picked back up in mid-November. Also during this late 93 stateside trek, the Cranberries filmed TV appearances for the woefully short-lived Jon Stewart show. They're going to do a great song right now. they're They're on the road with Duran Duran.
00:46:27
Speaker
Their major label debut, everybody else is doing it, so why can't we? It's about to go gold. Here to sing Linger, please welcome the Cranberries, everybody. and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Here to make their network television debut are the Cranberries.
00:46:42
Speaker
While also playing both nights of the 93 K-Rock almost acoustic Christmas shows alongside bands like Belly, The Lemonheads, Bad Religion, Smashing Pumpkins, Blind Melon, and others. Hey, Freddie from K-Rock. Merry Christmas, everybody. Here's the Cranberries.
00:46:59
Speaker
Before their 93 wrapped up, the band also notched a couple notable sales certifications for their debut album, which went gold in November and platinum in December. Heading into 1994 on quite the upswing, the first half of the year proved quite eventful for the band in both ups and downs.
00:47:17
Speaker
During this period, they re-released Linger and Dreams as singles, both of which played a big part in their debut album getting to number one on both the UK and Irish album charts.
00:47:28
Speaker
They also started recording what would become their sophomore follow-up, no need to argue, and made some celebrated UK TV appearances on shows like Top of the Pops, Family Affairs, and later with Jules Holland, which was the first time we got to see Dolores' killer cropped and bleached hairdo that was so strikingly iconic during this era. Please welcome the entire Cranbrisner and performing Dreaming My Dreams.
00:47:55
Speaker
But early 94 also saw Dolores getting into a pretty terrible skiing accident while on holiday in the Swiss Alps, resulting in the band having to pull out of a planned tour with Crowded House that May and June, and which also ended up plaguing her for quite a few years thereafter.
00:48:10
Speaker
However, by late summer 94, things were pretty much back on track, and they ended up having a phenomenally impactful second half of the year. In August, their debut album was certified double platinum, and they played a stellar set at Woodstock 94. With their live version of Dreams also appearing on the Woodstock 94 double disc compilation a few months later,
00:48:48
Speaker
In September, they first contributed that wonderfully tweaked cover of the Carpenters Close to You to the, again, absolutely stellar If I Were a Carpenter tribute album that I mentioned earlier. Why do stars fall out from the sky every time you are?
00:49:08
Speaker
And then the next week, they impressively pegged it to the other end of the sonic spectrum with the release of No Need To Argue's monster lead single, the soon-to-be global smash hit, Zombie.
00:49:29
Speaker
In October, their sophomore album No Need to Argue was released, and it quickly went top 10 in over 20 countries, including number 6 on the Billboard 200 here in the States, number 2 in Ireland and the UK, and number 1 in over a dozen other countries.
00:49:44
Speaker
In October, they also kicked off their massive No Need to Argue world tour, which would actually run for almost a full year throughout the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and three separate legs in both Europe and North America.
00:49:58
Speaker
Pretty much everywhere. Everywhere and over the shops. They'll be there. They'll be square. MTV Tour presents the Cranberries 1995 European Tour. In November, they played Zombie on Letterman.
00:50:10
Speaker
Another US TV appearance indelibly burned into my brain due to Dolores' penchant for playing gigantic guitars. This one, for all you nerdy gearheads, was a gorgeous red Gibson ES-335 hollow body. Folks, do me a favor, please welcome, and just in time for Thanksgiving, the Cranberries.
00:50:29
Speaker
And in December, they contributed a remix of their song Pretty to the Robert Altman satirical comedy, Pret-a-Porter, which was renamed Ready to Wear for us yokels here in the Uncultured States.
00:50:40
Speaker
And it also appeared on the film's soundtrack alongside the likes of Janet Jackson, Terrence Trent Darby, The New Power Generation, Minus Prince, and U2.
00:50:59
Speaker
Also in December, No Need to Argue was certified both gold and platinum on the same day, with a double platinum certification coming shortly thereafter the following January.
MTV Unplugged Taping Context
00:51:09
Speaker
Which brings us to 1995, the year the Cranberries and MTV Unplugged crossed paths.
00:51:15
Speaker
As the band was in the middle of navigating their previously mentioned No Need to Argue world tour, their MTV Unplugged taping was scheduled within this little window of February 1995, a couple days after they had completed their second European leg and right before they headed out for a month in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.
00:51:33
Speaker
This window was also when they recorded their only appearance on Saturday Night Live, performing both their new single, Ode to My Family, featuring Dolores on keyboards, and Zombie, featuring Dolores once again playing a gigantic guitar. This one, for all you nerdy gearheads, was a Gretsch White Falcon, I believe.
00:51:59
Speaker
On the MTV Unplugged side, by the 95 season, the show seemed intent on injecting a little more youthful vitality via the booming alternative music scene. Sure, previous seasons had been judiciously seasoned with the occasional alt-rock magic from bands like Nirvana, 10,000 Maniacs, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Soul Asylum, and my beloved R.E.M.,
00:52:21
Speaker
But the majority of the 94 seasons' shine had gathered around more established acts like Bob Dylan, the Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Unleaded special, and Tony Bennett, whose wildly celebrated MTV Unplugged album from the prior year actually took home the show's second Album of the Year award at the 95 Grammys that March, where Bennett and Katie Lang also recreated their widely praised Unplugged duet of Moonglove. It must have been Moonglove.
00:53:00
Speaker
So Unplugged decided to kick off their sixth season in early 95 with an alt-rock heavy two-day filming session that captured five episodes. Hole and the Cranberries are day one, and Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, and Live round out day two. The first day, Valentine's Day, was with Hole and the Cranberries, while the next day, Captured Live, Sheryl Crow, who remember at the time of her first couple albums, was firmly planted in alt-rock adjacentness, and would also be taking home the Best New Artist Grammy just two weeks later.
00:53:31
Speaker
As well as Melissa Etheridge, who, yes, had been around since the late 80s and was absolutely not alt-rock by any measure, But she had just recently added a newer, younger segment to her growing fan base due to the success of her six-times platinum Yes I Am album and its trio of hit singles, Come to My Window, If I Wanted To, and her Grammy-nominated Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 Smash, I'm the Only One.
Unique Unplugged Performance Elements
00:54:04
Speaker
So the Cranberries, who were riding a huge wave of popularity and were certainly no strangers to performing in an acoustic setting, showed up to their MTV Unplugged taping with a few cool surprises under their sleeves.
00:54:15
Speaker
It's like intimate raw and just like can't really even burp. You never get a song. It really gets hard, you know. First, they completely subverted some of the normal Unplugged expectations, like there were no surprise special guests or radio-ready left-of-center cover songs, but they did lean into the expanded instrumental arsenal element that Unplugged afforded by bringing along the Elektra Strings, a quartet of cello, viola, and two violins that absolutely elevated and enchanted the cranberry sound for most of their nine-song set.
00:54:50
Speaker
I mean, like on Zombie, for example. Just listen to the way the band relocated the melodic muscle that's usually provided by the dual distorted electric guitars over to the string ensemble to create this entirely new and uniquely colored version of Zombie that's exclusive to their unplugged performance.
00:55:22
Speaker
And for the songs whose studio versions already had string parts, like Linger and Dreaming My Dreams, having a live quartet flesh out the lines with even more syrupy richness created such a singular sonic framing for these unplugged versions.
00:55:50
Speaker
Even towards the end of the set, they drop down to just one violin for a couple songs. Like on the jaw-droppingly serene No Need To Argue, a track whose studio version is completely built around a single synth bed.
00:56:03
Speaker
Here it functions as the pin drop quiet closer of their unplugged set with just Dolores on her guitar and a single violin. If you listen close enough, I think you can also hear the caught breath of every single audience member.
00:56:17
Speaker
All the things we once shared Watching movies the living room, our chairs
00:56:34
Speaker
Second, another cool instrumental note, is that Fergal crafted a really interesting
Creative Percussive Setup
00:56:39
Speaker
deconstructed drum setup for this performance. It's no secret that one of the ongoing threads running throughout the entirety of Unplugged's run is how each axe drummer chooses to approach the acoustically augmented atmospherics of Unplugged.
00:56:52
Speaker
Some drummers switched up their playing style, some just used different drumsticks or brought in additional percussion, some changed absolutely nothing. But Fergal got creative. Instead of his conventional kick, snare, hi-hat toms arrangement, he built a unique little percussive setup of bongos, djembe, wind chimes, tambourine, shaker, and a couple other little pieces that really showcased his ability to keenly drive the band's rhythmic pulse in deceptively understated ways.
00:57:34
Speaker
Third, they crafted a boldly clever setlist that blended some of their most familiar material with a trio of at-the-time unreleased gems. The nine-song set was broken down into five songs from their recent No Need to Argue album.
00:57:48
Speaker
Those were their current single, Ode to My Family, Dreaming My Dreams, Empty, the title track, and of course, Zombie. just one song from their debut album, Linger, naturally, and then the three newcomers, two of which would eventually show up on their next album, To the Faithful Departed, that was released the following year.
00:58:07
Speaker
Those two songs were I'm Still Remembering, whose lyric, What of Kurt Cobain, Will His Presence Still Remain, landed even more poignantly, A, within the unplugged setting that his band had so brilliantly navigated less than a year and a half earlier, and B, on the exact same day, again Valentine's Day no less, that Courtney Love recorded her own bands unplugged.
00:58:29
Speaker
And the other song was Free To Decide, which actually ended up being the band's second single from To The Faithful Departed after Salvation, and was an alt-rock radio top 10 and almost cracked the Billboard Hot 100 top 20 during the summer of 96.
00:58:44
Speaker
And just a note, in the Free To Decide music video, Dolores can be seen once again playing another gigantic guitar. This one, for all you nerdy gearheads, is another white Gretsch hollow body, but definitely not the white Falcon that she played on SNL.
00:59:05
Speaker
Both of these pre-album debuts were so new at the time of the unplugged taping that the band decided to play them without the electric strings. And Dolores even made a joke about their newness.
00:59:17
Speaker
Thank you. That was our first time playing that actually. We were kind of putting it together today. Kind of half finished. that's finished And the last song of the bunch, Yesterday's Gone, is a tried and true Cranberries rarity, as this unplugged performance was the only time this song was played live, and they never got around to recording a proper studio version of it. The song itself feels really plaintive and wistful. Instrumentally, it's carried along by Noel and Mike, because Dolores doesn't play guitar on it. She's only singing.
00:59:50
Speaker
Fergal warmly roots everything by playing the djembe with a mallet, And just a single violin from the electric strings melodically dances over all of it.
01:00:17
Speaker
That's the great Sonia Slami, who sadly passed away in early 2021, playing there. And then finally, a couple notes about the aesthetics of the Cranberries Unplugged performance.
Unplugged Stage Design
01:00:27
Speaker
First, the stage design. This is the era where Unplugged really tried to put some keen creative intention on making each episode visually unique to the band, but still within the familiar Unplugged cohesive aesthetic.
01:00:40
Speaker
Hole had a disco ball and a bunch of baby dolls. Sheryl Crow had all this big, comfy furniture and a quasi four post bed thing going on. Live had books on pedestals and various religious ephemera. So i bear with all our all our religious imagery on stage.
01:00:59
Speaker
it's ah It's a York, Pennsylvania thing. For the Cranberries unplugged stage vibe though, I guess you could call it vaguely thrift store, junk shop, attic storage chic or something.
01:01:10
Speaker
They had these old school dress forms, steamer trunks, and stacks of chairs. There's a really pretty chandelier and you can see an old tricycle in a couple shots. And I should note that curiously, there was a couch mixed into the whole thing, which you'll recall was a continuing visual in quite a few of their releases, notably the cover art to everybody else's doing it, no need to argue, and even that super cool doors and windows EP-CD-ROM hybrid they put out a few months after they're unplugged.
01:01:38
Speaker
But I don't think the unplugged couch was necessarily an intentional nod to all that because it was really tucked away into this intentionally cluttered up stage and wasn't really highlighted in any way.
01:01:49
Speaker
But it was there, so I'm counting it as a maybe. Okay, okay, I get it. Who knows and who cares I feel most of you screaming into your listening devices of choice. But if you can't be obsessive about MTV Unplugged on your own MTV Unplugged podcast, then where can you be, right?
01:02:06
Speaker
Alrighty, so after the February 14th and 15th tapings of the five new Unplugged episodes, Melissa Etheridge's episode was broadcast first in mid-March, and then the remaining four episodes were rolled out on back-to-back nights in mid-April during one of those big MTV Unplugged premiere weeks. This week on MTV, enough acoustic guitars to bring back folk music.
01:02:30
Speaker
But don't worry. We'd never do that to you. It's MTV Unplugged Week. Premiering unplugged performances by... HOLD. Live. The Cranberries. Plus, Sheryl Crow. Melissa Etheridge. MTV News Inside Unplugged. A behind-the-scenes look at the show's origins and evolution. And Courtney Love. The whole story. MTV Unplugged Week. All this week on
Post-Unplugged Touring and Certifications
01:02:53
Speaker
MTV. And between their February taping and April broadcast, the Cranberries were certainly having a moment.
01:02:59
Speaker
Touring Australia, New Zealand, and Japan throughout March, starting the second US s leg of their tour throughout April and May, landing a big Rolling Stone cover story, and seeing both everybody else's doing it and, no need to argue, both be certified triple platinum just a couple weeks apart in mid to late March. The Cranberry successful headlining tour continues to steam ahead as they cross the country in support of their triple platinum second album, No Need to Argue. Before 95 was through, the band continued touring the globe through late August. They released the genuinely novel Doors and Windows EP CD-ROM hybrid. Doors and Windows, an intimate, interactive look at one of the most successful new groups in music today.
01:03:42
Speaker
Hello, we are the Cranberry. They stop by Letterman again. Our next guests are the most popular band ever to come out of Limerick, Ireland, thanks to the success of their CD, ah No Need to Argue. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to the program, the Cranberries.
01:03:59
Speaker
are Dolores sang Linger with Simon Le Bon and ah Ave Maria with Luciano Pavarotti at the Bosnian War Child Benefit in Italy. Ave Maria
01:04:17
Speaker
They picked up the Best Song Award for Zombie at the MTV Europe Music Awards from Bjork and the Edge. Zombie by the Congress. And they notched a couple more platinum certifications.
01:04:30
Speaker
Five times platinum for no need to argue in December, and four times platinum for everybody else the first week of January 96. And just to close the 95 loop for Unplugged, that's the year they released that really cool MTV Unplugged interactive tour CD-ROM. We have another guy that has to be to his right. They're a diamond in shape.
01:04:49
Speaker
He's a pointe. So one, two, three. Are we going to do it over there? Yeah. Tar's here, face is here. So we get that Elvis Presley vibe going. And that gorgeous coffee table book. And they also filmed a couple more episodes before the end of the year as well.
01:05:03
Speaker
Namely the big kiss reunion, which was first aired on Halloween night, naturally. And then the Chris Isaac one, which I believe premiered on Thanksgiving night that year. So, you know, happy holidays 95 from MTV Unplugged.
01:05:17
Speaker
Okay, I think that's a good spot to shift into the interview. And just a heads up, Fergal and I chatted before everything was squared away with them putting out their Unplugged as a standalone album.
01:05:28
Speaker
So you'll hear me frame it up as being, you know, more of a hopeful possibility, and then you'll get to hear Fergal play coy and be a little winky about it. So anyways, here's my Unplugged revisited chat with Cranberries drummer Fergal Lawler.
01:05:42
Speaker
I'm so thrilled to be sitting here today with Fergal Lawler of the Cranberries to look back on the band's magnificent MTV Unplugged episode from 1995, which has just been released for the very first time on the recent 30th anniversary reissue of their seven times platinum sophomore album, No Need to Argue. you My immense thanks for joining the show today, Fergal.
01:06:02
Speaker
Thanks million, Will. Thank you for having me.
Preparation for MTV Unplugged
01:06:05
Speaker
So let's just start off with ah sort of your own connection or lack thereof to MTV Unplugged as just a music fan, even before getting to play the show yourself.
01:06:15
Speaker
During the early 90s, were you a fan of the show or had any of the Unplugged albums? Yeah, totally. um We didn't have MTV and in Ireland at the time. um So when we first toured the States, myself Mike used to share a room.
01:06:31
Speaker
And as soon as you got into the like motel room or whatever, we just put on MTV straight away and just leave it on all the time until we were sleeping. Like, so we watched everything. And then, yeah, when the unplugged session started, I forget which bands were on before us or whatever at at that time, but we watched them all, watched everything.
01:06:50
Speaker
um The ones that I remember now, the one the standout ones would have been the Nirvana, obviously. um Nidong.
01:07:02
Speaker
Nidong, I love that one. Yeah. It was amazing one as well. Pearl Jam, that's a good one. Yeah, they're the ones that kind of just spring to mind. Oh, that's awesome. I love that. I've talked to some artists who are like, yeah, no, it never really crossed my path before you know we played the show. So I always love when bands had a little bit of examples underneath them to to kind of continue in that legacy. Awesome.
01:07:26
Speaker
Well, when you all did get invited to to do your own episode, what was the general consensus amongst everyone about doing Unplugged compared to a show like, ah say, Saturday Night Live, which y'all played just like a week or so after Unplugged?
01:07:40
Speaker
Yeah, um we had no problem with this um we had Since the band began, we' had always done acoustic sets at radio stations and an in-store record shops and that.
01:07:53
Speaker
So we had no problem playing acoustically. um We had done a ah show in the UK a month or so earlier called... um Jules Holland. It's still running, actually. It's a great show. It kind of features lots of new artists as well as established artists. But um yeah, we had done that um previously and had used that same string quartet.
01:08:19
Speaker
Oh, okay. So we invited them to come and join us in in New York and we did a few days rehearsal with them, just running through the songs. The only one that we were concerned about was Zombie because the others were fairly soft songs, but that we had never done that acoustically and it was like, oh, I don't know how this is going to work out. And we ran through it a few times and went, OK, yeah, yeah, yeah, this is going to work.
01:08:42
Speaker
yeah So, yeah, that was it. It was really relaxed, very enjoyable. The whole thing went really smoothly. ah I love hearing you bring up Zombie because that's one of the things I think is such a standout of the episode is the decision to move that sort of um melodic muscle from the electric guitars over to the string section.
01:09:02
Speaker
And it like, it not only loses nothing, it like moves Zombie into this like new special, like acoustic element. Yeah. It's a different flavor. isn't yeah It's a different flavor and it it works, you know, and I mean,
01:09:15
Speaker
It's a completely different version of the song. You know, you have the rock version and you have this version and it's right just the way it should be. That's awesome. Were there any other songs that you guys practiced for Unplugged that maybe like didn't make the cut or did everything y'all practiced kind of make it in the show?
01:09:31
Speaker
No, I think everything did. Yeah. There was one song called Yesterday's Gone, which we played on the show. It was afterwards and we were thinking about putting it on the third album because it was a brand pretty much a brand new song. And we said, oh, this sounds good. Let's try this.
01:09:47
Speaker
um And I don't think it was ever released. We never recorded it properly. I think that's the only time it was ever played was on that unplugged. Yeah, that's amazing. That's what, when I was doing the research, I was like, man, that's right. This is the only song title that like, wasn't ringing a bell for me. and So then I started researching and I was like, I think this is the only place that shows up. That's a, so y'all didn't even play it live after that? Like it was just kind of. I don't think so. No, no, it's strange. It's just one of those ones that fell through the cracks and it was like, oh.
01:10:17
Speaker
What an amazing rarity going back to, you know, you mentioned that you guys were comfortable playing
Acoustic Performance History
01:10:22
Speaker
acoustically. Um, I think the first time actually I ever saw you guys on TV here in the States was even before like the whole, like John Stewart, Conan O'Brien coming out party, uh,
01:10:32
Speaker
I think I saw you guys on Alternative Nation playing Linger. like It was like at a college or something like that. and yeah And yeah, it was just y'all played Linger, one acoustic guitar. And I think you just had like ah a shaker and a tambourine maybe. So yeah, it's cool. My first introduction to you guys was acoustic and Unplugged was just a nice little kind of bookend to that. Well, as far as kind of you know the timing of your Unplugged episode, just to paint a bit of a picture,
01:10:59
Speaker
Y'all filmed it in February of 95, which was right in the middle of your massive year long, no need to argue world tour. And then right between the February filming and that April broadcast.
01:11:11
Speaker
So just within the month of March, no need to argue and everybody else is doing it. Both went triple platinum and y'all got a Rolling Stone cover story. So I was curious what that specific chapter of the band's career kind of felt like for you guys as it all was happening.
01:11:26
Speaker
Yeah, it felt at the time, I remember we all felt quite overwhelmed because it was kind of with everybody else. It was kind of slowly building, building, building. And it was great. You know, we were getting um some success finally after kind of good few years of playing sir kind of empty, empty small clubs.
01:11:47
Speaker
And then I think when we landed in the States the first time, there was people singing back the songs from the very first show. I was like, oh, my God, this is this is fantastic. This is great. This is what it feels like to be in a real band.
01:11:59
Speaker
And... Yeah, so we yeah we were kind of slowly you know building an aim for ourselves. And then by the time Nonny2Argue came out and and it just suddenly exploded. And it's a little bit overwhelming because it had been slowly rising and then suddenly boom.
01:12:16
Speaker
So we were, yeah, a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing. But, you know, we were touring together on the same bus and we just stuck together and said, look, let's just do our own thing. We're in a little bubble here. And all our crew members were with us from the start. So we knew everyone. it was like a little at family and it was just everyone huddling together going, let's get on with this and do the best we can and enjoy ourselves. you know That's beautiful. not A nice little eye of the hurricane kind of thing. Yeah. Like everything's going on around it. okay Exactly.
01:12:45
Speaker
Well, I was curious about all the creative conversations musically and visually that went into preparing for your Unplugged episode. like Let's go back to the addition of the Electra Strings ensemble for a second. You mentioned that y'all had played with them on Jules Holland.
01:13:00
Speaker
Tell us how, you know, that whole thing came about with, you know, fleshing out pretty much almost the full show. I think they played on all but like two songs. Yeah. um that That was mostly Dolores would get involved with the strings because she would write the string lines and on keyboard. The very first day when the band was starting, the very very first day we met her, she brought a keyboard in under her arm and started playing some songs she had.
01:13:26
Speaker
And we gave her a tape for Linger. She went away and came back a week later with the vocal. um most of the lyrics written the vocal line and then that string line, the, so she would have it like a string sound on her piano or synthesizer and she'd play that.
01:13:42
Speaker
So that, that's, you know, that was always her realm. We'll say in the studio, when we were recording a car and ah string, she'd chat with, with the John, who was the, the, the main um string guy we used and herself and steve would chat with him and and kind of arrange the whole thing go yeah i was thinking this or that you know and so she um chatted to electro strings and um you know came up with what would be best suitable you know with the kind of try some ideas we play along
01:14:12
Speaker
And go, yeah, maybe that's working or maybe more power here or something or try it with the Jello or, you know, that kind of thing. So, yeah, she she was very musically minded. She'd been playing organ the church since she was like three or four or something like that.
01:14:27
Speaker
Okay. That makes so much sense to to, hear that story because there were definitely some bands that added a string ensemble and it kind of felt like a sidecar more than like integrated with what the actual band was doing. But, um, y'all's unplugged is just this beautiful synthesis of a cohesive band, but also the string quartet being wrapped into each one of those songs. Uh, so it makes sense that Dolores was the glue to keeping that together.
01:14:53
Speaker
And um how about that deconstructed drum set that you were playing with the with the bongos and the wind chimes? kind of What inspired you to go that route as opposed to just trying to play your normal drums quieter, which is you know what some bands did?
01:15:07
Speaker
Yeah.
Acoustic Drum Setup Approach
01:15:08
Speaker
um and that like Like you said, when you saw us on 120 minutes, ah I would have a shaker and a tambourine or bongos and a tambourine. or you know That's what I always brought to to do those unplugged things. So i didn't I didn't even consider using a drum kit.
01:15:22
Speaker
It didn't enter my head, you know, because I thought, okay, this is unplugged. This is a whole different vibe. So we're going to do, you know, so I didn't even think of it. Maybe if I knew you could use a drum kit, I might have done that with brushes or something. But yeah, it's it's a bit of a challenge to do it yeah in that way. But, you know, it's always something I enjoy doing. and I was hoping for a couple close-up shots that that never came through because I swear there were a couple of times I was like, okay, it does sound like he's playing a snare.
01:15:52
Speaker
But then i never I never saw a snare anywhere in the set. I don't think there was a snare. Yeah, it must have been like the tambourine or something, the way it was hitting. Yeah, there was tambourine, shake, or djembe. Oh, that's right, yeah.
01:16:04
Speaker
That's just there. And you played that djembe with a mallet, right? Yeah, really soft, just tapping it really softly, yeah. That's a good sound. And then how about creatively, like the visuals, that cool antique store aesthetic of the stage design? That was all, yeah, that was all MTV. Ah, okay. Whoever the set set designers were, they did did a great job. was absolutely beautiful.
01:16:26
Speaker
Okay, very cool. Because I love how in sort of those mid seasons of Unplugged, they all still kind of had the unplugged aesthetic, but they kind of started trying to do some individual like band specific things. And so y'all's Unplugged looked very unique in that way as well, especially like with the chairs hanging from the ceiling. It's like, oh man, that's awesome.
01:16:45
Speaker
but yeah I also really love the creativity and the thought behind the set list, especially the boldness of playing three at the time unreleased tracks. So let's kind of go through some of those songs just a little bit.
01:16:58
Speaker
First up, the five No Need to Argue tracks. All of them sounded so unbelievably good with the string ensemble. But tell us a little more. You talked a little bit, but tell us a little more about that stunning version of Zombi. Yeah.
01:17:09
Speaker
Yeah, because it it was such a challenge because it it is a powerful guitar driven song and it's a rock song. um So, yeah, we had to work through rehearsal and and kind of make sure that the the song still had power, but obviously it's going to be in a different way because it's acoustic.
01:17:30
Speaker
So, yeah. We tried ah kind of version which was more laid back, you know, and it was kind of like, oh, it's it's almost like a different song now. So we we kind of put the emphasis on the on the power again, but obviously it's acoustic. So we we got the strings to push, yeah you know, that's going to fill up that space for where the guitars would have been distorted guitars, you know.
01:17:58
Speaker
It was also bold. That song was still very much on alt-rock radio at the time as well. So having the two playing off each other was very cool. And then how about the choice of using the actual song, No Need to Argue, as that sort of pin drop quiet closer, just Dolores on acoustic and a single violin.
01:18:17
Speaker
um What do you remember about the sound of the room during that song? Because it yeah over video, it was just stupider. It was incredible. It was like that. Everyone was like holding their breath almost. It was, you know, beautiful because we we had been playing that song live and it was kind of song that we'd play in the encore towards the end of the set or whatever. We'd take a break, come back on and Dolores would just play that song and everyone was really quiet. And it was, you know, it was just such such a beautiful song.
01:18:46
Speaker
That's not an easy thing to do to to hold an audience's breath like that. Like, yeah, y'all absolutely nailed it. Staying with the strings for just a moment, had y'all played Linger with an actual string section very much? Because this one just felt like sheer perfection.
01:19:00
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. we had We had done it, I think, on the Jules Holland show. We had also done a couple of acoustic sets. There was a show we did in...
01:19:11
Speaker
ah and i think it might have been January in the Royal Albert Hall in London. And we kind of opened up for ourselves. Whereas we came on and did an acoustic set with the string section, did maybe eight songs or something like that acoustically.
01:19:30
Speaker
Then we cleared the stage, went backstage, got changed, came out and did did the full rock show afterwards. So we just wanted to do something different because it was the Albert Hall. It was such a a beautiful venue and such a renowned venue that we wanted to do something different so we did that and i love stories when when bands open up for themselves that's uh as just a quick sidetrack that's one of my favorite things about uh you too during the joshua tree tour they played a couple shows where they came out in costumes and played like country songs for themselves yeah uh it's really cool there's a couple videos of it out there but yeah y'all's y'all sound much better i would have rather seen that
01:20:09
Speaker
And then um moving to the two brand new songs that that wouldn't come out until To the Faithful Departed the next year, Free to Decide and I'm Still Remembering. Was there any back and forth between the band on whether you should do any like new unreleased songs like that? Or was everybody excited to test drive them?
01:20:26
Speaker
Yeah, no, we're completely excited to test drive. It's something we've always done. um While we were touring on everybody else, we'd we'd have time at soundcheck. We'd do our soundcheck and then we'd have like ah maybe 20 minutes to spare. And we'd kind of say, anyone got any new ideas? So either Dolores or Noel would start playing chords.
01:20:46
Speaker
And we'd start jamming around with song ideas at soundcheck and then work on those songs for for a week or two and then go, okay, it's sounding pretty good. We'd try it in the set.
01:20:57
Speaker
So we'd play ah ah brand new song in the set, just throw in somewhere that night because it's When you're playing live, you're really, your adrenaline is off. You're really focused on everything.
01:21:08
Speaker
So having ah brand new song in the set just really makes you focus on that song and kind going, okay. You're hearing stuff you mightn't hear when you're more relaxed.
01:21:20
Speaker
And it's like, okay, we could do this, we could do that. you know And i just it just gives you a fresh outlook on on the whole process of songwriting. So um yeah, we'd always do that, just throw new songs into the set. So I think with the Unplugged, it wasn't even an issue. was kind of like, oh okay, this is a new one. Let's try this and you know test it out.
01:21:42
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And then of course, as we already mentioned, the really unique Unplugged Rarity of the Evening, Yesterday's Gone. Do you remember ah how long that song had like sort of, i know you said it kind of fell through the cracks, but like how long had it been in motion before Unplugged? And then was there any specific reasons why it didn't come back around for when you started recording the album?
01:22:05
Speaker
No, I'd say that song was relatively new, maybe like a month or a few weeks old when we recorded the Unplugged.
01:22:17
Speaker
Because again, we were we were on tour and we were writing sound checks and, you know, when we had spare time in rehearsal room or whatever. But I've no idea of why it fell through the cracks because it's ah it's a really lovely song. and It's just one of those ones that we've completely forgot about. and You know, sometimes that would happen, you know, and we'd be in the studio recording a new album, kind of go, remember that one? And then we'd kind of be thinking about and talking. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:22:45
Speaker
And the lads be looking through notes and stuff and kind of going, oh, all right. And sometimes we'd have tapes of of stuff and kind of listen back and go, geez, that's good. Yeah, I forgot about that one. And then we'd, you know, record it or whatever.
01:22:58
Speaker
But I think what happened was As I said, it fell through the cracks, you know, yeah which is a shame. Yeah. Well, we we have it now. I know i know I've got it on, um I think two of y'all's singles, I have it as a B-side, but it's nice to have it within the full set now too. So that's very great.
Filming Schedule Insights
01:23:13
Speaker
All right. I was also curious, I always kind of get geeked out by the fact that the Unplugged crew usually filmed multiple episodes in a single day. Mm-hmm. Since y'all recorded your episode the same day as Hole recorded theirs, I was curious if you happened to you know cross paths with them or catch any of their soundcheck or taping or anything? No, no. we I didn't know there was someone recording and in the afternoon, so we left because we had something else to do probably.
01:23:40
Speaker
It's interesting. I always felt like there was sort of, um, this like Sonic simpatico between both y'alls unplugged and the whole unplugged because you guys augmented your unplugged set with a string quartet and they actually brought along, um, like a harp and a cello and a clarinet player. So it really made both of your sets that were recorded on the same day, like super unique and such a singular of the moment experience. So it's actually kind of even cooler that y'all never cross paths.
01:24:07
Speaker
Yeah. So to wrap things up, I first just wanted to genuinely, genuinely thank you guys for finally releasing the full nine song unplugged set as part of the no need to argue 30th anniversary reissue.
01:24:20
Speaker
Y'all absolutely rock for blessing us with this. So first off, thank you immensely for
Standalone Album Possibility
01:24:25
Speaker
that. um My two part question is, one, was there ever any discussion back in 95 of releasing this as an album?
01:24:34
Speaker
And B, just because I'm super greedy, ah will we ever see this released maybe paired with the DVD or Blu-ray as a proper standalone album? Yeah, it would be a nice thing to do. It's something we had been chatting about.
01:24:48
Speaker
not Not back then, but now. that it would be nice to to release the whole thing as a package. yeah you know So um yeah, I don't know, watch this space.
01:24:59
Speaker
Right, exactly, yeah. More than likely we'd like to do it, so we'll see if that's possible. Okay. Very cool. Well, we'll cross our fingers and and hold out for it.
01:25:10
Speaker
I had to ask selfishly and also, you know, the Cranberries fans would have come after me if I didn't. so All right. Well, Fergal, again, I appreciate so much you coming on the show today to talk to me about the band's truly phenomenal Unplugged performance.
01:25:24
Speaker
Thank you guys for releasing it. And just thank you for three decades of some of the most beautifully unique and blissfully enchanting music that soundtracked a significant portion of my life. So I really appreciate you being here today.
01:25:36
Speaker
Thank you very much. That's really sweet you. Thank you. And there we go. Thanks again to Fergal for joining the show and reminiscing with me about the Cranberries stellar MTV Unplugged set.
01:25:47
Speaker
And just a reminder that finally, 30 years later, we'll be getting it as a proper standalone album on November 7th. Also don't forget, Neil Young is reissuing his MTV Unplugged record, the first ever U.S. vinyl pressing, as part of his official release series number six box set.
01:26:04
Speaker
That's coming out October 24th. And Alicia Keys is reissuing her 2005 MTV Unplugged album on vinyl for its 20th anniversary, and that comes out this Friday, October 3rd.
01:26:17
Speaker
Reminder for that one, we've partnered with our friends over at Sony to give away a vinyl copy, so get those entries in now. UnpluggedRevisited at gmail.com. Alrighty, I think that'll do it for this episode.
01:26:28
Speaker
If you'd like to share your own Unplugged memories, offer up a correction, or connect with the show for any other reason, you can send me an email, unpluggedrevisited at gmail.com, or leave a voicemail by calling 234-REVISIT, which is 234-738-4748, or you can reach out on social media.
01:26:48
Speaker
As always, please take a moment to follow the pod on your platform of choice so that it'll automatically pop into your feed when it goes live next month. Until then, my friends, be kind to yourself and look out for each other.