Transcript
Speaker: I live cement. I hate this street. Give dirt to me. i got lament. This human form where I was born, I now repent.
Speaker: That's very nice, very nice. welcome to the Welcome to the This Our Johnny Domino podcast. We're in. Myself, Steve, and my brother Giles. Hello.
Speaker: Talk about songs, some of which we've recorded, some of which other people have recorded. Recordings. And, you know, any thoughts that occur in our tiny adult brains. Yeah, it's just brothers talking. just brother brothers talking shit about shit.
Speaker: Old brothers. Yes, old brothers. We've been brothers for a long time. We're old brothers. life. Old brothers. So that was Caribou, the lyrics from Caribou, from Come On Pilgrim, the debut album by Pixies, September 1987. And and that song still blows me away 38 years later. It's great song.
Speaker: I love that early Pixies stuff, man. I still love it. What i like about it, it sounds so unpremeditated. It's not like being thought out, you know? I don't feel like it's been thought out. And I think the later stuff, which, forgive me, listener, I'm not that keen on. I know some of you might be.
Speaker: But I think from after after the first two albums, I think it goes a bit... And I don't think they just do the thing. It's like they're kind of... start just trying to sound like the Pixies, I suppose.
Speaker: I think I agree with you on that. I mean, Come On Pilgrims, it's a demo, isn't it? I mean, that's what it is. It's a demo tape that they made. Yes. And Evo Watts Russell just chose handful of songs to stick out on a mini album.
Speaker: Yeah, I agree. Surfer Rosa. Yeah. Because it is the one. Do they all...
Speaker: I mean, that's when I saw them, but... Yeah, it's got some good stuff on it, obviously. angel It's got some crackers on it. And all the albums have got some good stuff on but diminishing returns. I don't want to do the old, like, oh, I like the early stuff best, but I really do like the early stuff best.
Speaker: It's like a story as old as time. You know, a band comes out with a thing that is new and real and precious and yeah kind of raw, and then they get recognition and everyone tells them that they're great.
Speaker: And then I'm going to use a phrase here. Go. They start swimming in their own soup. I like that phrase. Do you like that phrase? It's great. I didn't originate it. I got off the front of a podcast, but I'm going to start using it.
Speaker: Swimming in your own soup. it's like It's better than like saying going up your own ass, isn't it? Well, it is. It's more evocative. Absolutely. what of that is So here we are. We're going to swim in our own soup. Yes.
Speaker: Yes. Aren't we? Yes, absolutely. And the big news for this episode is after many months of trying, we have won a prize that we have been going for For ages. It seems like forever.
Speaker: Yes, we've won a prize. I've got my winner's medal around my neck as we speak. have you yours? I'm wearing a sash. Yeah. They only had one medal and I've got the sash. Yeah. It's not quite as grand as Donald Trump's FIFA King of Peace or whatever the fuck it was.
Speaker: So basically we won the PRF Monthly Tribute Series, which is what we've been talking about for months now. yeah And we actually did get chosen to have the winning song last month with the Eurythmics. And we we played the song last episode. If you've not heard it, go back and listen to it. It was our journey through the Eurythmics with some swearing on it. Maybe the swearing made all the difference. I don't know.
Speaker: you reckon we scared them into giving us their votes? ah no I don't think it scared them, but maybe just swearing is like, makes you look kind of cool or something. So there was the swearing. Yeah, like smoking. And and then it had the sort of little extra bit at the end. Maybe it was the extra bit at the end.
Speaker: I don't know. So we won and we've never won anything before. So there you go. We're enjoying that. Very much so. And we'll talk about that a bit more later on in this episode. This special Christmas episode, Jingle Bells. God bless us, everyone. God bless us.
Speaker: Now, other news, really, in Johnny Domino world is that we are going to be putting together Volume 3. Get this. Yeah.
Speaker: Volume three of the best of this or Johnny Domino, which is, well, it has been an ongoing compilation during the history of this podcast of our favorite songs that we recorded when we was young.
Speaker: And we've picked two volumes worth. And I feel, Steve, that this may well be the last volume. and could when you think about that? It could well be. Never say never. You know, there's there's still unearthed parts of the barrel which have yet to be scraped. No, Steve. they that But that's not going to be the best of anything, is it? I think looking at the track list we're proposing here, this is going to be the last and possibly the greatest of the volumes of The Best of This Old Johnny Domino.
Speaker: We'll have to let the listener decide on that. But what about the rest of the best of this, our Johnny Donner? Oh, Jesus, this man. We're not going there. you know one makes some what The very best. The very best of them. Are we going to end up distilling this down to like keep making bests of until we end up with like a three-track EP, which is the ultimate collection?
Speaker: I think that's what we should have done. When we're like 90 years old. Yeah, we should have been doing that all those times we were recording albums that were over 60 minutes long. Okay, you're We should have gone out on. Let's quit while we're ahead. We've got a couple of songs here. That'll do.
Speaker: Okay. So anyway, here we are, the Kings of Hubris, and we're going to listen to the songs that we're proposing to be the first side or the first five tracks of this next volume compilation that we're putting together, okay which will come out in the new year.
Speaker: These are two tracks that we've listened to previously on the podcast, and we're to have a quick listen to them again and just check whether we still like them. Yes. Okay. Starting off with... One thing we always did when we put together albums and collections of songs, we weren't always great at choosing first tracks.
Speaker: You know, i think that's fair to say. Sometimes we kind of started in a slightly weird, strange way. But this one, we've kind of gone for it. This is a song that we've had discussions about it on the podcast before.
Speaker: One of the things that we did as a band, if people liked a song that we did, we would invariably stop playing it. And this is a song that when we started doing gigs, people really liked it.
Speaker: So we stopped playing it pretty damn quickly. But this is a version of a song called Monkey Nuts that we recorded in an actual proper studio invertin on trent in
Speaker: Staring at the lights
Speaker: I'll get you out.
Speaker: There you go. Monkey Knots. Monkey Knots the Johnny Dumbnail Band. Recorded by Ken. If you remember, lovely balding Ken. We talked about it in the episode. Yes, he he deleted the drum tracks. We did. song And we got a little bit angry, but it all worked out in the end.
Speaker: yeah Yeah, I think that is a decent first track. It's kind of immediate. Yeah. And it's a bit post-punk. And... The kids might like it.
Speaker: It's a bit artsy. Even the older people might like it. Hey. So that's track one. Track two is confusingly called Enos.
Speaker: I left my miners in a hedge.
Speaker: It's like I've lived a life Don't think that I could do it twice Can't you tell that I'm half price?
Speaker: I'm on the shelf, you can help yourself
Speaker: I'm lost but I'm still strong You want a shoulder to cry on What's the heinous boss heart song My brain is gone, you're a time bomb
Speaker: Throw me a deal, I think I can make it Make me a price, so you can break it We had the price but it slipped away Pull back and spray, it's not a
Speaker: Interestingly, going from a song that people liked when we played live, that's a song we never played live. Yeah, was it recorded on 4-track? Yeah, was a 4-track recording. That was a 4-track recording. And it the name was from Dukes of Hazzard, yeah? Yeah, we felt we thought so, but the lyric goes, was Enos Boss Hogg's son? And he wasn't.
Speaker: He wasn't Boss Hogg's son, no. I can't remember who he was, but he wasn't Boss Hogg's son. No, Enos was Boss Hogg's employee. the funeral no he was his show the sheriff no I don't know I don't know man that Roscoe car that was Roscoe this car chasers don't know anyway it was about that sort of thing yeah it's alright it's not bad recorded and we rediscovered it not that long ago we both thought it was quite good yes so there you go Anything else to say about Enos? No, interestingly, track one and two on this proposed track listing of the Best of This on Johnny Domino Volume 3 feature Mark Elston, lesser spotted guitarist, as opposed to the keyboards.
Speaker: Oh, we allowed him to play the guitar. Well, no, we stopped him playing the guitar because he looked like he was having too much fun. So after that, we kept him on the keyboards. Oh, right, okay. And then it felt better.
Speaker: This is a song that was included on our soulful slash miserable album, The First 100 Years, and it's an instrumental called King of Caravans.
Speaker: Ooh.
Speaker: King of Caravans. I think in terms of the track listing, it's quite nice to have a bit of a meditational instrumental track at that point. About a caravan salesman from Spondon.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't think it is about that. But yeah, it was Don Amol, King of Caravans, was where we got the name for the track from. yeah And since then, we've kind of made up the fact that the piece of music is very redolent of Life in a Caravan, really. Hey, I wrote the music. That's what I was thinking of. i was thinking of Don Amol.
Speaker: Right. Next track. Is this four track recorded? and is this like an eight track? What is it? Gilt with G is a four track. Again, four track. And its this is all you musically apart from me playing the bass, isn't it? No, no, no, no, no. no no well You get more credits on this one. You play the drums, you play the bass, you play keyboards.
Speaker: And then I did the guitars, but it was a four track and we had to do everything in chunks. So we managed to get as much music as possible on this little beauty. I think it's impressive that it's four-track recording. Yeah, definitely. Let's just remember this. There's still lot a lot of four-track. Yeah. In our bedroom. Carry on.
Speaker: Due to G.
Speaker: like sucker like sort of check life is just a cabaret my friend and we've just finished our set i'm headed out tonight to see the bright lights and noise and wise view i could stand down blind while were just your mind but not hanging
Speaker: Okay, yeah. So that's still with the tune. I like that one because it's kind of a nice bit of 20-something angst. My girlfriends and I have just split up the end of the song. and And I like the lyric because it says, I'm not hanging around for you.
Speaker: And then the song proceeds to hang around. Yeah. Quite a long time, actually. Well, seem to remember that it was a conscious decision because a lot of the songs, if I recorded the music, for you to fit lyrics on, it would invariably quite compact, like two and a half minutes, three minutes tops.
Speaker: And we had made a conscious decision, right, okay, we're going to play this song for a long time. and So it's about six and a half minutes. There go. It's always been one of my favorite recordings we ever did. There you go. That's why it's on volume three.
Speaker: The best of. Yeah, volume three. and And possibly the greatest of the volumes. I'm going to say this again. And then last track on this little beginning selection.
Speaker: This is the first side yeah on a theoretical disc is Old Habits, which is not an old song. This is a song that recorded... Was it like two years ago? you it was Yeah, two years ago for an Artist Against Success compilation. And it's the first song we've written in about 17 years or something.
Speaker: He meant to say I missed you
Speaker: But he just flipped a bird Carved into the table
Speaker: We're just passing through
Speaker: I am walking with the dog And the wind whips through my eyes And the stars keep trying to tell me Where to go but it's all lies
Speaker: Hang on tight, it's alright We're just passing through Conversation, conversation, fear the sound And the silence makes me happy
Speaker: And that's Old Habits. It's a song about being brothers, isn't it? I guess it is, yeah. And, you know, I think that little selection there, it's an eclectic little mixture of songs. Are we clever?
Speaker: No, don't mean it like that. But it's just like, it's over time, it's sharing quite a lot of different stuff. So I quite like it. That song is quite short.
Speaker: actually, isn't it, old habits? it's about three minutes. Is it? Going back to something we talked about last episode, first time I played it to my beloved partner, about halfway through, like about a minute and a half in, she was like, how much longer is it?
Speaker: so So, I got a little pin there to deflate the old ego. But, you know, we're still putting it on the very best of, so there you go. So the joke's on her. Yeah.
Speaker: yeah And that's it. Next episode, we will play another selection, the second half of Volume 3 and yeah see how that sounds. But I'm quite happy with that little track listing, Steve. It's good. I don't know whether it came about by chance. You sent it to me. I don't know whether you thought about it or scratched your head. I thought about it and I thought we've had 18 tracks on some of these compilations. It's like, okay, let's cut through. And I went through the list, I had a long list and I just kept tacking away and I thought it was quite good.
Speaker: show done yes Shall we have ah an advert? Please. Well, there goes the spaghetti bolognese. That cooker drives me mad. It's not the cooker needs changing.
Speaker: It's the cook. Hey, come on. We'd be better off at a Bernie. For a great steak at a fair price, a good choice of fish and poultry dishes, a friendly wine list and even friendlier service, you're better off at a Bernie steakhouse.
Speaker: I might ruin the dinner every night. I thought you did. You're better off at a Bernie.
Speaker: Blimey. Oh, my God. Right, okay. Blimey. Aside from the fact that the man survives to the end of the advert, my favourite things are pronunciation of the word poultry.
Speaker: He says poultry. The idea of having a friendly wine list. No. Did it come up and kiss you on both cheeks? It does. Nice wine. Kissing my cheeks. But yeah, I just... We used go to the Burnie Inn in Long Eaton, did we, Steve? We did.
Speaker: it was back in the days when one of your starters could be a glass of orange juice. Remember that? This was our little meals out when mum and dad wanted. to Yeah. What did you have? What did you have? Because I had the same thing every time. Scampi. Scampi and chips, mate. Yeah, i used to like the mint little steak they used to do.
Speaker: oh And then the black corn juice was nice and strong. Very good. Anyway, what have you been up to recently, man? It's Christmas soon. It's Christmas, yes. Is everything all right? yeah Yes, everything's fine.
Speaker: Been to a couple of 90s-related theatrical performances recently. yeah I went to see Inside No. 9, Stage Fright. Yes. And that was very good.
Speaker: It was in Stoke, which was not very good. Stoke-on-Trent is... It's a bit of a hole. A bit of a track to get there as well. It was okay.
Speaker: It's not a place i I'd really want to go unless... The guys from Inside Number Nine were going to be there doing their fantastic show. Yeah. Did you not see the best of Stoke on this occasion? I'm sure it's not completely terrible. But, you know, I imagine on a dark night in November or early December, it's probably pretty grim.
Speaker: It was an interesting place. Nice theatre. We're reaching theatre in Stoke. It's a lovely theatre. But, yeah, it's not a place you really want to hang around. Did you ever enjoy a bleepin' in, though? it was it We went to a martinet, and it was great. I like a martinet. It was very good. And the staff were very... Very helpful.
Speaker: Very good. And you know with my excess needs, it was great. So that was good. And then just last week, myself and Mrs. Domino went to see the Fast Show.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. In Derby's fabulous new venue. bit of a theme coming here, developing here, a bit of a theme. It's a bit 90s in this podcast. It means it was recorded in the 90s. I didn't even think of that. yeah and That was a bit more of a best of the fast show kind of thing. Talked about the making of the program.
Speaker: Whereas Inside No. 9 was mostly a new show. And it was very, very good. Oh, cool. voice I've not really been out much, to be honest, anywhere of note, nothing really worth mentioning. Have you been to that in Bruce Springsteen film yet?
Speaker: No. Neither us have been to see Outbreak. Well, it's not on anywhere anymore, but you know I'll watch it eventually. The other night, I was drinking in my street with the neighbours because it was the annual Christmas light switching on on our road, which was a festive occasion, and i drank a little bit too much Turbo Bailey's.
Speaker: Turbo Bailey's is, well, bait if Bailey's is not enough, you top it up with some brandy, you see. Knocks your head off, man. Actually, that is quite nice. I had that last Christmas. Well, you know, is i believe our mother, well, I don't know if she invented it, but it's an old family recipe in the Woodward household, the Turbo Bailey's. So give that a go. if you If you ignore everything else from this podcast, people, have a bit of Turbo Bailey's.
Speaker: It definitely makes proceedings go a little bit more easier easier, you know, especially in sort of socially anxiety-producing situations like talking to the neighbours in the street. I had quite a good time, actually, and I didn't embarrass myself.
Speaker: Please drink responsibly. Yeah, so did that. And I've been watching a lot of videos of people trimming hoofs. Can you believe that? That's what I've been watching on my phone a lot.
Speaker: Okay. like people trimming cow hoofs. um you Is this a thing that people are aware of? No, I haven't. Tell me more about the hoof. Let me tell you. Well, it's just, it's like, you know, once you watch one of the cow hoof trimming videos, basically your feed just fills up with cow hoof trimming videos, right? And there's a couple of guys that do it. And it's just a close-up of a cow's hoof and somebody with funny-looking knife, like, carving a away at it.
Speaker: But, oh, my God, I reckon I've watched about two hours' worth. I need to stop. It's like an addiction. I know more about trimming hoofs than I do about many things. That's the thing with the algorithm, isn't it? when If you spend a bit of time looking at something, he thinks, oh, I'll give you some more of that.
Speaker: yeah there's There's a place ah in Rotherham called the Corner Kitchen, and he makes heart-stopping... archery-furring breakfast sandwiches. Oh, that sounds quite nice, though.
Speaker: but I have lived on this planet for over half a century now, okay? I have never heard somebody say the word pork as puak. It's 90% puak sausages.
Speaker: And it's like, wait I've never heard that before. Okay. hello but The more I look at it, the more I get. We're getting into the pronunciation of things.
Speaker: Can I do one of my poems? Do one of your poems, please. right. It's called In Costa Again.
Speaker: And it's about being in Costa again.
Speaker: Am I in an episode of The Polish Sopranos, I Ask Myself, while eating a toasty in Costa? They are loud and solid in dark coats, a team in a huddle, as serious as facial hair.
Speaker: While the sound is men talking, I grasp nothing but the tone. Fixated, I fight the urge to take a picture. To write in a notebook would be foolish, but I do it.
Speaker: Briefly, a Victorian spy. Are they discussing how to exploit and destroy? Or Legia's midfield? I don't know.
Speaker: But I'm buzzing as I bathe in the babble of their banter. On the 90s Derby scene, I just want to be seen. On the 90s Derby scene, where have you been?
Speaker: On the 90s Derby scene, I just want to be seen. What musical cuisine, Stephen Jardim, are you going serve today? Regular feature. Regular feature. There are regular features on this podcast. And this one is looking back at the 90s music scene in Derby where we did play our gigs a lot of the time. And we are nearly from.
Speaker: We are nearly from Derby. We've got a band to play, which is a band that was around, you know, it's contemporary's vows, really. Yeah. They were a band there were band called Kato.
Speaker: Kato were an experimental shoegaze slash space rock band from Derby and they were active between 1996 and the year 2000. They had a few line-up changes but the main guy was lovely bloke called Jay, Jay Dean.
Speaker: And since being in Kato, he's been in quite a few other the bands. His band's supported Lee Ronaldo when I saw him at the Hairy Dog in Derby.
Speaker: there yeah So that was quite a good gig. And Jay runs Dubrec Studios in Derby, which is a recording studio and a gig venue and a bar and they serve food and they sell records and they've got a deal with a guitar shop in Derby called Hippo.
Speaker: So they sell guitar bits there as well. Yeah, Jay is like, I mean, look at all Jay's Instagram. He's a busy guy. He's got a lot of stuff going on, man. He does a lot. He's a mover and a shaker. and a shaker.
Speaker: Yeah. So this is like some early stuff. Yeah. By Kato. And it was included on a compilation album called Home Cooking Volume 1. I think it was the only volume. But Home Cooking was like Not three volumes. It didn't have three volumes. like Yeah, and exactly. Who's winning?
Speaker: So, yeah. And Home Cooking was like a listings magazine that was given out in venues and shops in Derby. Here's Cato with a song called You're Dilated.
Speaker: He was walking, this world was slowly shrinking, trying to keep up with him. But what's he seeing?
Speaker: Yeah, what's he feeling?
Speaker: Read to find him Yeah, what's he seeing? Yeah, what's he feeling? She only wish he knew She only wish he knew She only wish he knew She only wish he knew
Speaker: Oh, Kato. Sorry, I just got a text message. There you We're just discussing a guitar that my son's bought during that particular song. But I was really enjoying it. It could have gone on for longer, to be honest, Steve. It reminded me of Loop.
Speaker: What's that song? Was it Burning World? Oh, yeah. Is that one? That's a really good song, isn't it? So, Kato, we did some gigs with them, didn't we? We did quite a few gigs with them. They were young pups that seemed to like our stuff and yeah like doing gigs with us. So that was very nice. They were more on the shoegaze zeitgeist, weren't they? Yeah. And for all our blather about Jay Cato being the leader of the band, vocals on that song were done by original drummer for that band, Anne-Marie.
Speaker: And she was in a band called Selena Kyle with my sister-in-law. And they were great, but they didn't do very many recordings. So there's not a huge amount. I'd love to listen to some of their stuff. I might ask my sister-in-law if she's got any stuff anywhere that we could listen to because they were a lot of fun. They used to like dressing up at gigs.
Speaker: Selina Kyle was Catwoman. Yes, she was. That's comic knowledge right there. So, shoegaze. Okay. What do we think about shoegaze? Okay. well I quite like shoegaze. I liked it at the time, I think. When I was at college, yeah I was probably there for like the second wave of shoegaze, which bands like Moose. I didn't like Moose. No, but you know that's what was around. and what was about You were more into your loops.
Speaker: I did. i was there. yeah And the telescopes from Newark. I saw the telescopes. They played upstairs at Trampoli. I did not enjoy that gig.
Speaker: Oh, no. They were very loud. They were kind of unrelenting. I knew that. They were powerful. Yeah. no Powerful. They were they pretty good. Powerful. Powerful. And obviously, Loubera. Okay.
Speaker: and i never really loved them. I kind of preferred Spaceman 3. Yes. And their Velvetsy type stuff. Yeah. To be honest. But yeah, Shoegaze.
Speaker: People looking at effects pedals. Yeah. Yeah. With kind of bob haircuts. Absolutely. m I've got a poem. Alternatives to shoegaze. Here's a little impromptu poem.
Speaker: Go on. Ready? It's very short. Kneelook, belt stare, sock pier, floor gape. I like it. That's it. I'll probably listen to more kind of shoegazy stuff now.
Speaker: I think you could probably say like someone like Always, who like a lot, they're a bit shoegazy. Yeah, they are, aren't they? Yeah. It's that kind of introspective, dreamy kind of thing. Yeah, Beach House. Beach House, yeah. Yeah. and Sometimes it's kind of what you want, isn't it? But ah I'm not very often in a shoegaze mood, I have to say. But good stuff. Kato enjoyed that very much on the Derby scene. It was definitely a flavor of the sound that was around at the time.
Speaker: Yes. And I was listening to another band that was kind of around in that sort of vibe, Stars on the Water. Stars on the Water. That was the band. Stars on the Water. That was the band that was formed from the ashes of Laser Guided. Yes. They were also on Artists Against Success.
Speaker: We did loads of gigs with Laser Guided. We did a couple of gigs with Stars on the Water. Yeah, yeah. Featuring on guitar a young I Am Wilbraham. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Obviously both of those bands.
Speaker: I think we should listen to some of them soon. Yeah, definitely. Jingle, Jingle, Jingle,
Speaker: jingo jingoo jingo chingoo jing go I don't know whether you know, but we did win the PRF Monthly Tribute Series, which is a monthly album that is put out together on Bandcamp by international group of musicians. And every month they put together a bunch of tracks inspired by the artist of the month, chosen by the previous month's winner. And we were involved in the Eurythmics month in November, and our track was chosen by our peers as the greatest one ever.
Speaker: that was submitted. I have to agree. forget well mean We don't like to blow our own trumpet. We don't like to kind of brag, but, you know, everyone thought we were best. Exactly. everyone you know because were Everybody. Unanimous. it was Everybody. It was the voting...
Speaker: winning margin ever I believe it's the greatest you know everyone said so everyone's from this point on Steve the only way is up man things can only get better this is where it's all going to take off from this point on you know for me and you yeah well done bro yeah but there were other people who submitted great songs uh well good good songs good songs I mean, not as good as all the Soviet ones. Pretty good ones. But there was one that I thought was worth playing, actually. Yeah.
Speaker: By our good friend and compatriot, Mr. Frankie Machine. And he did a song, a cover version of the song Why, which was the debut solo single by Annie Lennox, the vocalist in Eurythmics, from her album Diva.
Speaker: And he did a lovely version of it. And it sounds very much like a Frankie Machine song. It's bizarre how much it sounds like a Frankie Machine song. But in some ways, not that surprising. But it is great.
Speaker: Have a listen. Why Why
Speaker: When I start to try to tell It's when you have to tell me Hey, this kind of trouble's under just me God
Speaker: I told myself too many times Why don't you ever learn To keep your big mouth shut That's why it hurts so bad To hear the words But keep on falling From your mouth Falling from your mouth Falling from your mouth Tell me
Speaker: I may be mad, I may be blind, I may be viciously uncut But I can still read what you're thinking
Speaker: I've heard it said too many times, did you better off? Besides, why can't you see this boat is sinking? This boat is sinking, this boat is sinking.
Speaker: Things are bad to laugh to say, but they still turn me inside out. Turn me inside out. Turn me inside out.
Speaker: Tell me why.
Speaker: This is how I feel.
Speaker: The wonderful work of Mr. Frankie Machine. Yeah. I mean, it is a good song. I mean, ah ah don't like the original, but I think he's done a cracking version of it.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, I think the song is a pretty good song. But the thing about Frankie is that he's the king of poignancy, right? With his sound. And that song's got the potential for poignancy and emotion. And he kind of pulls it out there.
Speaker: You know, and I love his delicate guitar yeah and just that vocal that he does. And it's really good. I love that. Yeah. But I'm just going to point out we did win.
Speaker: Yeah. So, you know, it was pretty good. Ours was better. We need to stop this. No, we don't. Okay. No, it you mean it was good, but we did win the PRF Monthly Trivia Series. I think we need to move on and talk about the artist that we selected for dis December. that was that was As well as the medals and the sash, the prize was that we get to choose the artist for next month. And we've chosen the Jesus and Mary chain.
Speaker: Yeah, after much deliberation over five-minute conversation during lunchtime. So, Jesus of Mary Jane. Why, Steve? Why did we choose the Jesus of Mary Jane? Well, because it's Christmas.
Speaker: Yes, number one, because it's Christmas and it's a seasonal artist. of species I think we should say that that was purely happenstance, but we chose it because your other suggestion was Billy Joel.
Speaker: And that would have been horribly difficult. Way too difficult to do a Billy Joel song, trying to sort of figure out all those chords and stuff. So you go from Billy Joel, you go all the way to the other side of the musical spectrum, and you go to the Jesus and Mary chain. that they they would use Why use three chords when one will do?
Speaker: Jesus the Mary Jane, great, you know, good songs with the same chords, basically. Great. um I don't know, man, what does Jesus of the Mary Jane mean to you? I love them. Yeah, I mean, I remember we used to read Smash Hits.
Speaker: Yes. And ah in the mid 80s, the writers were really into indie music. And there'd always be features on The Smiths. Yes. And i remember Propaganda were in there. They were my favorite ZTT band, Abba from Hell.
Speaker: And they would always have the Jesus and Mary chain and they'd have posters of the Jesus and Mary chain. One side wham, the other side Jesus and Mary chain. And i think you got a tape of Psycho Candy. Yeah.
Speaker: I did. Was it Matthew Thornhill? Might have been Matthew. Matthew Thornhill. And that's when I first started trying to play guitar because we had a little amplifier that was actually Andy Gillis of the Space Route slash usual Rosie Band. And I used to sort of like just feed the guitar back.
Speaker: So they were the sort of band that probably inspired quite a few people of our generation to guitar, to be honest. So they're great for that reason. yeah I remember the first time listening to Psycho Candy,
Speaker: Incredible sound, incredibly exciting sound, really. sounded dangerous. It sounded kind of scary. It was actual music that could upset you your parents. the cattle and And the cattle. And yeah it Just brilliant, really. Just brilliant. And then, obviously, there's the second album that they did, Darklands, which also had some really, really great songs on it. And very good moping music. Incredibly good moping music for the teenage boy.
Speaker: Brilliant band. Iconic. Amazing-looking band as well, I think, really. yeah know the kind of The way they presented themselves. Fantastic. know those posters these smash Those posters in Smash Eats were hilarious. Yes. Because...
Speaker: You know, they looked like they lived in Scotland. They'd never seen the sun. They looked so ill. And the hair. yeah and They were just so unkempt. And and no yeah people were having riots at their gigs and stuff. I mean, we weren't at those gigs. We weren't reading about people rioting at their gigs. But it sounded like there was a cool band on the block now. You know, we were having our band.
Speaker: I've got a very strong memory of watching them on the Tube on a Friday night, you know, live on the Tube. program on Channel 4. And I've got a really weird memory, and I can't find any evidence of this, but it's a very strong memory, right? A very rock and roll memory of the beginning of the program before, you know they do their performance, which is on YouTube, which you can go away and watch, and it's pretty good and yeah bobby banging his drums and stuff and you know good sound and but at the beginning of the program i think it's muriel gray or it could have been paul yates i don't know and they're introducing what's on the show and they're walking around the backstage area going into the dressing room looking in the dressing rooms of the artists and they're going and we've got the g-sumiri chain and they open the door and jim reed is there
Speaker: with his trousers down, you know, his ankles, and he's got his penis tucked between his legs. Was that not Mottly Creel or someone like that? No, I'm sure it was the Mary Chain. Wow. I'm sure it was the Mary Chain. remember it happening, but I can't remember who it was. I thought it was the Jesus of Mary Chain, man. I can't find any of this. But I remember at the time thinking, who the hell are these, right? And anyway, Muriel Gray then sort gamely carried on.
Speaker: And because it was live, you see, so they didn't like kind of like, they couldn't edit it out. And recently we listened to a podcast, The Life of the Record. Yeah. just About the making of Psycho Candy. And i would urge podcast listeners, podcast fans to go away and listen to it. It's a really good episode.
Speaker: Lots good interviews with the band talking about how they made Psycho Candy and the circumstances they were in. The fact that their dad got made redundant and gave them 300 to go and do something useful. And they bought a four-track port studio. And then he was really, really pissed off with them because he thought they were going to go do something like buy a car or something so they could get a job.
Speaker: But they just bought a port studio. So he was very cross about that. And all about how they recorded it. And they had this very negligent engineer. didn't really have a producer. The engineers just sort of let them get on with it and just said, do what you like. I'm just going to go and have a cup of tea.
Speaker: And they just made that sound, you know. yeah So it's really good. Go and listen to it. It's very good episode. It was John Loder. John Loder. He was a sound engineer. He founded Southern Studios. He was the studio engineer of choice for Crass.
Speaker: yeah And I think he recorded loads of stuff with Steve Albini as well. Yeah. He did the right thing by just having a hands-off approach with the Jesus Amiri chain. Yeah, absolutely. So there you It's a really great podcast as well because obviously they are brothers and they talk about the fact that they didn't get on as brothers until they discovered that they both liked music and they both liked the same sort of music. I like the idea that they were going to have two different bands.
Speaker: Yeah. That's kind of relatable. Jim's band, William's band. Then they were, well, why dont we just, let's just form the one band. So we're going to work on a Jesus and Mary Jane related song for the next month of the PRF monthly tribute series. And that is the end of that section.
Speaker: Hi, I'm Giles and Stephen's mum. And I don't listen to their podcasts. I think they're very silly boys. its So it's Christmas time. All over the world. All over the world.
Speaker: And this is our third Christmas episode on the this, our Johnny Domino podcast. but Yes. Can you believe it? And we haven't really got a Christmas tradition No. But maybe we could start one.
Speaker: Have you, Stephen? Yes. Got any interesting alternative Christmas tracks that you like that maybe we could foist on the listener as recommendations for a kind of an alternative Christmas playlist? Because we all like Christmas songs, right? And I'm listening to hell of a lot of them at the moment. I'm actually quite enjoying the standard ones, to be honest, at the moment. But it is early December still. Yeah. So I'm going to be getting sick of them soon, but tell me some alternative ones that you like.
Speaker: You can say they're alternative, but people will be listening to this going, oh, these are quite obvious. But like ones that you like, Dan? Okay, we've got something like 17 Hours of Christmas Music on a playlist on my computer, and I was having a quick skip through it. There's a great song by The Free Design, which is called Close Your Mouth, brackets, It's Christmas.
Speaker: La la la la Close your mouth except to sing We might get something happening This season has a secret joy that some are missing We could all find it if we just watch this song The Free Design were a family band and they were brothers and sisters and they were playing sunshine or baroque pop with crazy of vocal harmonies, jazz-like chord progressions and offbeat time signatures. That sort of soft psychedelia, very sweet vocal harmonies has got something really twisted about it, which I think is good. And I'm going to read you verse two and the chorus.
Speaker: There is a million magic things to those who try to let it be its magic self and not a thing devised. Sit down and sing a happy song and whistle round your tooth and be still enough to hear the reindeer on your roof.
Speaker: The chorus is, put your big bank book back in the drawer. Bring your mind and body back from the store. Get to know the people in your house. You might like them.
Speaker: Now that is a Christmas chorus I can get behind. Yeah, I can too. That's good. You might like them. Right, okay, this is a bit of an odd one, but I've always liked it. American singer-songwriter Lisa Germano from her album Exerts from a Love Circus, which is a brilliant, incredibly depressing album.
Speaker: has a song on it called Messages from Sophia. And I've always thought it's about a couple who've split up and they've they've met up again and they go out for a drink. and And it's a bad idea.
Speaker: And I'll read you some of the verses. It goes, you can carry me home now. You can carry me home. I'm drunk and you're tired. We haven't talked for a while. And there's a couple more verses where you can tell the the evening is degrading.
Speaker: There's a mid-late section where the only lyrics are lies, liar, lies, liar, right? And the last verse just kills me. It goes, you can carry me home now.
Speaker: You can carry me home. I'm drunk and it's Christmas. We haven't talked for a while. Would you just carry me home? And after the last line, would you just carry me home?
Speaker: She plays a very delicate version of Jingle Bells on the piano. It's just brilliant. That is a brilliant, brilliant song. No, that is a great song. Love that one. The classic by the Hanson family called So Much Wine. yeah I was good to mention that one I mean again that's another kind of drunken sort of sad song at Christmas yeah but very very lovely one of my favourites that's on my list and then there's band called the Isla Set oh yeah it's called Cold Christmas I only know this because it was there's a website called Paste Magazine it's kind of like less popular version of Pitchfork and they did a festive sampler and this is just an absolute indie banger I'm going play a little bit to you now
Speaker: It's cold out there. What are you gonna wear? And when are you coming back, baby? It's warm.
Speaker: And also in that compilation is the version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by somebody called Tommy Emmanuel, and I think you're going to dig this. Ooh.
Speaker: What?
Speaker: That's putting little bit of a pap in my step there. Absolutely, that's a cricket. I'm liking that. And my favourite proper hymn, if we're going to proper hymns, is In the Bleak Midwinter. Because as far as I'm aware, it's just about the weather. It's not about...
Speaker: you know, Jesus or anything. It's just about out's a great version of that by the singer Ed Harcourt. He sings it in an incredibly depressed, grumbly sort of way. I mean, I like proper happy Christmas songs, but, you know, if you want something which is bit odder, then there's a few there.
Speaker: There you go. What have you got? I'm only going to tell you one. Go. Back Door Santa by Clarence Carter. Oh, that's a... No. That's not nice, is it?
Speaker: I mean, it's it's a good song, but... Back Door Santa. It's just about going around the back door of the house. Yeah, read me some lyrics from that song. to keep go I'll read you some lyrics from Back Door Santa. They call me Back Door Santa.
Speaker: I make my runs about the break of day. Oh, ho, ho. I make all the little girls happy while the boys go out to play. Look at here. I ain't like old Saint Nick.
Speaker: He don't come but won't see. I think you need to stop. Okay, I'll stop now. Okay, happy Christmas, everybody. Go and listen to some Christmas songs. Yeah, some actual proper Christmas songs. Yes.
Speaker: And thank you for spending... a bit of time with us this festive period I know it's going to get very very busy and this year well yeah and everyone that's listened to this stupid podcast that we're doing as we work our way towards the bottom of the barrel of our own recordings but you know we'll have to do some new recordings yeah what we are doing yeah and thank you very much for your company exactly and we're expanding our musical world as you listen
Speaker: I'm going to end on a poem. Oh, please do. No. Okay. And this is a poem about Christmas. And it is, yeah you might think it's kind of quite grumpy to begin with, but it gets kind of poignant at the end.
Speaker: Right? You might put some jingle bells behind it, perhaps. I don't know. It's called Buy It For Yourself For Christmas. If you want a new guitar, holiday, or better car, buy it for yourself for Christmas.
Speaker: If you'd like a woolly hat, box set, book, a yoga mat, buy it for yourself for Christmas. If you need a trip away, new shoes, phone or some Milky Way, buy them for yourself for Christmas.
Speaker: If you require a bigger screen, AI chips, some dopamine, buy them for yourself for Christmas.
Speaker: December. It's no place for the old. While treetops glisten, let your heart be light and we'll banish shade. Because tonight, thank God it's them, rocking around yon virgin mother and child with a sentimental feeling.
Speaker: Won't you stay another day? the very next day, you gave it away. Because... All we want for Christmas, as this year squirms and dies and the next one kicks and cries, is to be together and to hold it together.
Speaker: And you can't buy that for yourself for Christmas. Perfect. Please do like and subscribe to our podcast and recommend it to someone who you think might like listening to all this kind of weird shit.
Speaker: Send us some of your old music and enter the eternal halls of the four-track gods.
