Transcript
Speaker: Okay, so welcome listeners. This is Josh Downing and this is the brand new That TV Sound podcast. This is going to be about the post-punk music, the new wave music, the music that our Gen X generation grew up with. um It changed us, it grew us, um it excites us, and it's been part of our lives. so I know it's been part of my life, all my life. So really excited to be here today. I've got my guest, Tyler, who you might remember from Yabazocker Zoinks.
Speaker: Hello, hello. So excited to have you here, Tyler, because I did the pilot episode by myself and I'm so excited to have somebody else to talk to so because it's really hard to do both voices. Oh, that's funny. That's very funny.
Speaker: right It's kind of scary and crazy. And I'm like, yeah, no, i I'm not a solo podcaster. what was your What was your theme? oh yeah. I was going to say we should talk about that because it was 1981, which is one of my favorite years for music. one yeah but the But the sub-theme on that was ah worst. So oh I had to pick something that I didn't like. o So i talked about I talked about the Split Ends album, true like True Colors. I'm going to forget it. Yeah, True Colors.
Speaker: which was the 1980 album with I Got You on it. Loved that album. Loved Split Ends. In 1981, they came out with Wyatta, which was sort of their follow-up album.
Speaker: And I was like, what is this? i was so bored. So bored. I owned the album for a brief period, and when somebody wanted to borrow it from me, i was glad they never gave it back. That's funny. Yeah.
Speaker: Let me just take my name off the record jacket. There you go. That's so funny. Somebody just posted on threads today about, you know, having names written inside record sleeves. yeah So I had to say, i actually wrote a fake girl's name inside the record sleeve of my Gary Newman replicas album, because I was afraid my parents might be like, what is this? yeah ah So then I could just say, Oh, I gave it back Debbie Raymond. That's so funny.
Speaker: Yeah, it's crazy. All right, let's kick it off because today's episode is about 1996. We're going to take you back not quite as far, but 1996. I'm going to hit the the theme song and then we're going to get started.
Speaker: You're listening to That TV Sound with your host, Josh Downing, a Gen X for Life podcast.
Speaker: Come in London.
Speaker: So believe it or not, I actually made that piece of music. Are you serious? Yeah, yeah, I did. totally did. Good for you. I just made it out of some loops, but yeah it was ah it was all my creation. Amazing.
Speaker: Yeah, it was like my third try. And I liked this one because it kind of sounded Duran Duran Spandau Ballet kind of stuff. Perfect. We'll see if i if I keep it. Maybe, maybe not.
Speaker: thought you were going to say, we'll see if it sells a million. See if sells 10. Okay. I drew out the bucket 1996 for today. okay so i drew out of the bucket ninety ninety six for today so you to tell me, what what was ninety ninety ninety six music for you Well, the music doesn't matter in 96. I have two words for you. Beast Wars. That's all I cared about in 1996.
Speaker: Oh my gosh. That is 1996 to me. Anyway. But it wasn't even Beast Wars. It was Beasties. Beasties. We're back. Yeah. Oh man. So funny. So lame.
Speaker: So lame. um 96 is a weird one um a lot of my favorites were active um the year started off pretty cool ah with the cherry alive single from eve's plum oh yeah and i wish that would have lasted forever and toured here all the time um Catatonia were coming along. Um, they're still independent and I love them, but it'd be a while before they would play here.
Speaker: um a lot of people were like on their third single at that point for me, you know, Alaska were winding down echo belly. We're winding down an album. Um, babble put out their second album.
Speaker: Um, i don't want to go too far on here. Cause you know me, I'm textbook here, but like garbage was coming along. um Stone Temple Pilots were still doing well, you know which was cool.
Speaker: Siobhan Fahey was about to put out her third album, which did get shelved but would later come out. But it was her 1996 album. And that's probably my album of the year is number three. It's called number three.
Speaker: yeah It's mind-blowingly good. It's so glam. It's so dark. the lyrics are just vicious, you know, and she's incredible with that incredible, dark, deep voice of hers. You know what I mean? And she can write. um And Stellar were coming along. Hoover were becoming Hooverphonic soon. You know, like things were, things were pretty cool. um I don't know. any Even, even dead or alive were around with international thing, which is a really strong single.
Speaker: So like that's sort of, let's say,
Speaker: a lot of the highlights. I can keep rambling. i don't know if you want that, but like that's, it's, it's ah it's an odd year. It's an odd year. I mean, i remember for sure we saw garbage for sure. We saw echo belly for sure. We saw cardigans yeah play. You know, it do you remember we saw the cardigans at,
Speaker: Lee's palace and then ran into them later that night by your apartment. do you remember that? Yes. don't remember much about it, but I remember that. It was the strangest thing. And I just remember her looking at me like, why are you so excited? And I'm like, because you're way over here at Josh's house. Like what? It was just the strangest thing to happen.
Speaker: You know what i mean? I don't know if there was a hotel around there that they were staying at, which would have been like, you know like They were nothing, right? So it would have been like some small little place. You know what I mean? I'm trying to think. was Where was I living? That was that funny apartment. like Pembroke.
Speaker: That sounds right. Yeah, the little studio. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah yeah okay Not just the studio, the little studio. know very little. You made it work, though. A room.
Speaker: Yeah. With the bar fridge. That's so funny. hilarious. And so cold. Remember how cold that was in the wintertime? It's because the the heater broke.
Speaker: The first winter I moved in and I was too scared of the landlord to go down and get it fixed. Oh, wow. So i lived there with no heat and no air conditioning for two years. Oh my gosh. No wonder it was so cold. Yeah.
Speaker: Oh my gosh. And my, my bed was a futon mattress on the floor yeah and it was concrete. It was a concrete building. And yes, it was very cold. I remember there was that huge gap under your front door. so all that cold air was been blowing in like even, oh you know, always 96 was also the first year of spooky, scary skeletons. So, you know, there's all kinds of little nuggets in that year, you know? ye So yeah anyway, its a lot no, no, that's good. You're supposed to, that's the whole idea. So let me ask you a question. So what your number one,
Speaker: Music piece of music for the year was Siobhan. Oh, that's tough. definite That's definitely the best album. absolutely The best album.
Speaker: Trash by Suede might be my favorite single. um Kind of hard competing with Cherry Alive by Yves Plum. um I don't know. like Even Voice of the Beehive put out a third album at that time, which I should have been off-the-wall Gaga about, but they had dropped The Boys and they were on a new label, and it just wasn't the same. you know I'm just quickly thinking here. There was a lot of Canadian singles that I liked that year, which is unusual for me. um
Speaker: like you know Anna was a speed freak and Digging a Hole by Big Sugar and Make You Mad by the Odds and cubically contained. It was like Canadian, but don't want to say alternative, can Canadian an alternative rock was kind of decent that year, but like alternative was still really good. Like college music, you know, was still pretty good.
Speaker: um so I would say, yeah, I would say trash was probably my favorite single follow close to the cherry alive and absolutely number three by Siobhan best album of the year. Okay. So be war sorry, sorry,
Speaker: ah I think the soundtrack for Beast Wars has to be in there somewhere. I can't afford it. It's Japanese import.
Speaker: For whatever they call it, I don't remember. That's awesome. um I know we saw a lot of people live that year. was there a favorite live show you saw? though
Speaker: Probably Cardigans at Leaves Palace. Just because... of the size of it because we ran into them because they told us we are losers at ice hockey um yeah that was really cool echo belly of course i love seeing them live i think that was and don't know it was still called the diamond no it wasn't called the diamond what is it called now uh i don't know which one was it where was it
Speaker: Isn't that sad? ah by By David's apartment. Oh, the Phoenix. Thank you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah so that I know we saw Eve's Plum a couple of times.
Speaker: ah Babel never toured, unfortunately. For sure we saw Garbage, of course. um That might have been it. It was a while before we saw Hoover Phonic live. And Peach Union never toured.
Speaker: So, yeah, I would say, i guess probably the cardigans because there's a story I can't share right now that was super cool after the show. And then running into them over by your place was really cool. So it was just it was just a nice small venue to see them at.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, totally. Long-winded answer, but yeah, that was probably the best show. That makes sense. Yeah, that's good. Yeah. So... take a wild guess what my song of the year was in 96 yeah i probably can't guess it would seem obvious well i think once you know it it would seem obvious i was not a fan of this person oh okay prior to this album okay so they were established already
Speaker: Yeah. Oh yeah, absolutely. Had been around for a while. um This album came out and it was a very different sound for them. Yeah. And I was really excited about it. The sound was so amazing for me.
Speaker: Is it too early for scratching post?
Speaker: No, but that wasn't it. Okay. That was my guess. That was my favorite Canadian band that year. yeah They were awesome. Oh, okay. All right.
Speaker: It's Beck.
Speaker: Oh. New Pollution. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Devil's Haircut. Like, seriously. That was a massive album. Like, massive. Seriously insane album.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah. Like, I think that he is far more interesting than like Moby or Fatboy Slim. Like, I just think back, even his voice, you know what I mean? I just think he's got a lot going for him, you know, and he just sort of never lets you down, you know?
Speaker: Well, he hasn't let me down. The funny thing is, like i said, I wasn't a fan of his prior and didn't really think much of him. He just seemed like, you know, some kid that was just, you know, doing weird stuff.
Speaker: But when this album came out, ah the the production and the sounds and, you know, the vocal work, even the lyrics were so, so fresh.
Speaker: And it really, really struck me. Like I was just blown away by that album. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. And I stuck around and, and, you know, kept, kept looking at his work and I kept listening and I was still finding some amazing things.
Speaker: Um, as, as he kept going and he was exploring and he was making new sounds and morning phase is another amazing album that I have of his.
Speaker: Is he active now? Cause I don't know. ah He hasn't had anything out for about five or six years. ok Okay. Okay. But, and it's, it's years between albums, but, you know, definitely ah for quite a while, he was still, still producing a lot of really good music.
Speaker: So much can go on in your life, of course, you know, that puts that kind of stuff on hold. And if you're not, you know, under a contract, know, you don't have to produce anything until you're really ready, you know? Yeah, totally.
Speaker: But it would be nice to see somebody like that come back and be successful again. Yeah, absolutely. i mean, we know that the whole music world is so different now than it was.
Speaker: oh my goodness. That that was 20 years ago, 20 years ago. twenty years ago Uh, no. More than that. 30 years ago. Oh my God, 30 years. I know, i know. There's not a lot of markers in the ninety s so i kind of like, so I don't really think about it as being that long ago, you know? 30 years. Oh, that's just insane. Totally insane.
Speaker: Totally insane. my God. That broke my brain for a second. Yeah. So 30 years 30 years ago. thirty years ago when we probably thought we were old. So when when you're thinking about... Beast Wars.
Speaker: ah but Somebody needs to go watch their Beast Wars DVD. That's all I have. It's only been on DVD. I know. You got to watch it on DVD. Get caught up. ah I was going to ask about, like sort of where do you think music kind of peaked? Especially our sort of genre of music Was like 96 one of the the last big years?
Speaker: I'm okay until maybe 2001. Because 2001 was still giving me new bands to be excited about. um and mid-2000s, I'm still okay.
Speaker: I'm just really you know trying to think in my head um quickly, sorry. And then i think it gets a little stale um A lot of my artists are still making albums, but they're not great. You know what I mean? I'm thrilled to have them, but you know it's it's wonderful to have, and it's wonderful that they're active. But you know there's not a lot that's, you know, got to listen to this.
Speaker: you know um Yeah, i'm not I'm not prepared for that answer. I apologize. No, okay. in my there's certain years that stand out. 2001 kind of the last...
Speaker: one where it seemed like this is great. We're going to go forever here. And then it just kind of gets a little quiet, you know, and it's not that my tastes change. It just seemed like there was fewer and fewer far between. Like it was all, you know, Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys in the early 2000s, winding down, I guess. But, you know, as far as pop music is concerned, there wasn't much that was interesting anymore. You know, guitars were bad again, you know, so it's just like, ah so, okay, I'm prepared for the answer, but that's my, that's my on the spot.
Speaker: What about you? That's a good answer. Yeah, i'm I'm just kind of looking through a list of music that came out in 96. Yeah. And there's not a lot. Like, it's it's not a ah really rich set of music, especially for people like me that, you know, ah kind of grew up in the 80s.
Speaker: I mean, Criss Cross had an album out. ah Chemical Brothers... Chiba Mato. trying to think.
Speaker: Yeah, it's almost it's almost like everything kind of went retro in in the 90s because ah we had like Bonnie Tyler putting out stuff and Neil Diamond.
Speaker: Oh my gosh, really? Right? yeah Crazy. Crazy. ah It kind of like Crush. They had a single that I liked. I don't know if it was in 96. Oh, um yeah.
Speaker: er Sparkle and Shine. yeah Yeah, I don't think it was, but I love that song. I'm never tired of it. mean, Skinny Puppy was still putting stuff out.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Lush had Love Life. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: ah Weird Al. I mean, that's that's it right there. That tells you everything you need to know. And Kiss. Kiss Unplugged. Well, they're always there, right? Right.
Speaker: Prince had Girl 6. Oh,
Speaker: Sleater Kinney had something out. Okay. Stone Temple Pilots. Yep. Yeah, ah Tina Turner was back in 96 as well.
Speaker: All right. Yeah, it's quite a mix. it's a It's hard when... I mean, I think the two that... The whole music thing was changing so drastically again.
Speaker: And I think that the kind of alternative music, the the sort of post-punk stuff that I like, wasn't really around anymore. And a lot of the artists that I was listening to weren't active at that time.
Speaker: Well, there's nothing new. like There's no new sound. you know know You know, like trip-hop kind of stuff was... Still, to I guess, be a little bit more commercial again. But yeah, I don't know. I'm not down on 96. It's just not it's not much of a marker.
Speaker: um No. But yeah there was enough going on for me.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure. Like we said, we we saw a lot of live music in 96. So that was exciting. That made it a good year. i did I didn't find that I had a shortage of music. I think that, um you know, you were probably feeding me a lot of music that i hadn't heard or hadn't been exposed to. And that was exciting because, you know, ah there was a lot of stuff that...
Speaker: I just didn't know. And it was really cool to explore that. So I got to see some bands that I wouldn't have normally seen and listen to some albums that I wouldn't have normally yeah wouldn't have normally spent time with. So it was ah it was a pretty good music year for me.
Speaker: It was also the final season of Sailor Stars. i was going to say Beast Wars. And we got James and the Giant Peach that year.
Speaker: Oh yeah, yeah, that was good. Yeah, so you know. And the real adventures of Johnny Quest. Oh yeah that was good one. I liked that too. I liked it, but it had that horrible CGI.
Speaker: But at least I got action figures from it. Yeah, that's totally cool. Action figures make it worthwhile. Yes, when there's no music to do. Except for the the Beast Wars soundtrack. Oh.
Speaker: Oh, I'm sorry. i know. All right. So my last question for you for today's episode. Okay. So if you could have um a lunch.
Speaker: but way and Any transformer. Any transformer. You could have a transformer. right no Okay. Sorry. ah I don't remember who my favorite transformer is. Oh, the sound wave.
Speaker: He's pretty awesome. Yeah. like the ghetto blaster. Yeah. Sorry. That's the one I like. He's the boom box. Yeah. Yeah. Boom box. Drop that.
Speaker: Yeah. With the the bird. Laserbeak. Laserbeak. Yeah. And he had ravage and rumble. And anyway, sorry.
Speaker: Wrong podcast. Yeah. No, we're like Tyler talks, transformers. Exactly. That's going to be that my next podcast. I just turned it on and let you talk. fish wars No, I going to say, if you could have lunch um with, let's say any two musical artists dead or alive on Friday this week, who would you want to invite?
Speaker: doesn't have to be from 96. No, any year, two musical artists. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.
Speaker: Oh my God. Well, always Wendy James, always. Okay. And then I, and then I, I think I have to say Mark, Mark Bolin from T-Rex. Okay. I, I, that's a tough one because I think Lou Reed might be a little dry or cranky during lunch.
Speaker: Um, I think Mark would be more engaging. So I'll say Wendy and Mark. What about you? So Wendy and Mark, uh, I would say probably David Sylvian.
Speaker: Oh, cool. Yeah. And then, Ryuichi Sakamoto. Oh, wow. Well, they'd be happy to reminisce together. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I think that would be a good mix for them. Like they'd get long and there'd be lots of stories they could share and tell.
Speaker: Cause I wouldn't want to talk. I would just want to sit and listen to them. Talk. I trust you're going for Japanese. What else is there?
Speaker: Totally. I'll just take a plate of avocado rolls, please. And make it quiet so these two gentlemen can talk. And they both talk very quietly. Yeah, that's funny.
Speaker: What was he like live? Like on his own? David, I mean. David? Yeah. Very much like you think he would be. He's very stoic. He's very reserved. um i was so lucky that i saw him twice yeah uh was just very gentle he he had a couple of small stories to share oh that's cool very soft-spoken just very focused on his music and ah just uh he's just amazing to to be in the same room with yeah that's pretty cool yeah
Speaker: Yeah, I wish there had been a time that I would have been able to see them because I think they're only in Canada is Japan one time. And that was in Toronto and it was early 80s. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker: They were huge here, you know, everybody loved them. Everybody like, you know what i mean? Like, ah well, everybody, you know, just massive. Yeah. And it's such an influence for me musically. And, you know, there was a period of my my youth where I dressed like David Silvian. Like that was my thing. So yeah, just ah an amazing artist. And I'm i'm so grateful for what what he did produce and what what he's made for this world. Same with Ritchie Sakamoto, because he was also just an incredible artist.
Speaker: Absolutely amazing. All right. You're still there, right? Me, yes. Because your video froze. I'm petting my dog so that he doesn't whine. That's a good idea. we didn't We didn't talk about Mars Attacks.
Speaker: No, we didn't. And we didn't talk about The Arrival, but I know those aren't bands, those are movies, but you know, 96 was all right. Yeah, I was not The Arrival? Was that 96? Yeah. I haven't seen it since then, I don't think.
Speaker: No, I haven't either because I don't remember it. Mars Attacks is coming out on 4K next year. And you're excited about that? Well, yeah, I am. like to me, Tim Burton really can't do anything wrong.
Speaker: Yeah,
Speaker: yeah I don't remember loving that movie. You need to see it again because I only saw it once. And then when the Blu-ray came out, I watched it again. I'm like, oh, this is better than I remember. You know what I mean? So maybe I'll give you the Blu-ray when the 4K comes out.
Speaker: I love your hand-me-downs. Go ahead. Yeah, here you go. Have you watched it yet, Josh? No. All right. No, not yet. It's it's in my pile.
Speaker: All right. Well, thank you so much, Tyler. I really appreciate it. um This is an exciting new journey for us. And listeners, we we hope you keep coming back and subscribe. And um once ah once I kind of get this format down, it'll just probably just sound even better. So just hang in there.
Speaker: hope you Hope you find something to do. and if If you have to go back and listen to some, uh, some back episodes of Yabazonker Zoinks, there's still tons of them out there. You probably haven't heard them all yet. So go check those out. Give me a thumbs up.
Speaker: Check out social media under Gen X, uh, Gen X for life podcast. I don't know how I keep forgetting that Gen X for life podcast. And, uh, we'll see you out there in the airwaves.
Speaker: Hey, you've been listening to That TV Sound with your host, Josh Downing. This podcast is produced and created by Josh Downing as part of the Gen x for Life Network. Look for more info on socials at the Gen X for Life podcast.
Speaker: That's Gen X number four, life underscore podcast.
