Permanent Record Podcast

Episode 172: Simple Minds – New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) (1982) - Part 4 In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s now officially summertime, and it’s also time for Brian and Sarah to wrap up their discussion of the 1982 album from Simple Minds, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84).  Our hosts find themselves with three more songs on the album to cover, one of which is a single with a video, so there’s no shortage of things to talk about with that song. But even the last two tracks on the album generate a lot of discussion from Brian and Sarah.  During the course of the song discussion, a wide variety of topics are brought up, such as: the first Earl of Birkenhead; the perfect setting to kill Green Lantern; the answer to the question “can being completely covered in gold paint kill a person?”; the world’s worst museum; a cassette-zine; and the Camp David Peace Accords of 1978. After Brian and Sarah finish discussing the album tracks, it’s time for the Extra Credit section. The featured topic is Jim Kerr’s side project from

Episode 171: Simple Minds – New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) (1982) - Part 3 After releasing a couple of special episodes, Brian and Sarah return to the task of discussing Simple Minds’ 1982 album, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84). Part 3 of the discussion finds them finishing up the tracks on Side One and flipping the record over to start Side Two.  As usual, our hosts end up covering a wide variety of topics during their discussion. While talking about the first song, the author Raymond Chandler comes up, as does film noir.  When Brian and Sarah move on to the instrumental song that closes out Side One, the composer/conductor Gustav Mahler is brought into the discussion.  For the first song on Side Two, Brian and Sarah both find it relevant to mention Pete Burns of the group Dead or Alive. And Sarah even references an episode of the TV show Seinfeld! Songs discussed in this episode: Big Sleep Somebody Up There Likes You New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) Read more at http://www.permanentrecordpodcast.com/ Visit us

Episode 170: In Conversation With Will Crewdson (Scant Regard, Adam Ant, et al) Brian and Sarah recently had the honor and pleasure of meeting the great Will Crewdson in person at an Adam Ant concert. During that encounter, the three agreed to set up a time to meet and talk some more. This episode is the result! Will Crewdson is a talented, prolific, and extremely busy guitarist who has lent his formidable skills to a number of well-known acts, including Adam Ant, Flesh For Lulu, The Selecter, Gaye Bykers on Acid, and Sigue Sigue Sputnik, to name just a few. He was also a founding member of the indie band Rachel Stamp, and he currently works with ex-Rachel Stamp band member Shaheena Dax under the name She Made Me Do It (SHEMMDI for short), and as a solo artist under the name Scant Regard.  Brian and Sarah had a fun and enlightening conversation with Will about a number of topics, such as his musical background, performing and touring with Adam Ant, his solo project Scant Regard, and a cool story about worki

Episode 169: Permanent Record Podcast Trivia Showdown 2024 After a hiatus last year, the Trivia Showdown is back once again! Brian and Sarah are joined by the Quiz Master, who presides over a heated competition between the two hosts. Brian is looking to add another victory to his “permanent record,” while Sarah is hoping for her first win. This year’s Trivia Showdown featured more questions from listeners than ever before! Brian and Sarah would like to thank the following folks for their submissions: Nick Oswald, Gavin Hogg, Ian Monk, Steve Augello, Pete Rogers, Mike Berlew, Frederick Frantz, Erin Berlew, Brian Belknap, Andrew Dineley, Paul Hanely, Iain McDermott, Gary Shepherd, Terry Kemp, Brian Olsen, Mark Lumb, Mark Green, John Justice, and Mark Beckley.  Brian and Sarah would also like to send a special thank you to the Quiz Master for his hard work compiling the questions, for patiently dealing with all of their nonsense during the recording of this episode, and also for hosting this year’s event at Q

Brian’s Birthday Bowie Bingo Bash and Trivia Showdown Deadline This is just a quick little episode to announce the return of Bowie Bingo. We missed hosting it over the 2023 Christmas season, so instead we’re going to have it prior to another great holiday—Brian’s birthday! We also give one last reminder for you to get your questions in for the upcoming Trivia Showdown before the deadline! Finally, we mention our voicemail options, for those of you who'd like to share your memories and thoughts about Simple Minds' 1982 release, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84). This episode won’t take up much of your time, so you’ll be able to carry on with your weekend activities in a jiffy!  Read more at http://www.permanentrecordpodcast.com/ Visit us at https://www.facebook.com/permrecordpodcast Follow us at https://twitter.com/permrecordpod  Check out some pictures at https://www.instagram.com/permanentrecordpodcast/ So this BlueSky thing looks shiny and new: https://bsky.app/profile/permrecordpod.bsky.social Oh!  Here's

Episode 168: Simple Minds – New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) (1982) - Part 2 After an unexpected delay, Brian and Sarah are back and ready to talk more about the 1982 release from Simple Minds, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84).  The first episode set the stage by talking about the band history up to this point, the making of the album, and the album’s release, chart history, and reviews. Now it’s time to dive into the songs.  Side One of the album contains five tracks, with two of them being singles. Brian and Sarah have a lot to say about both the singles—and a fair amount about the song in between them too—so they decided to limit this episode’s discussion to the first three tracks.  In this episode, Brian and Sarah talk more about a question raised in the previous installment – Is this album pretentious? Two other recurring topics are optimism, and “who is the drummer on this song?” There’s also mention of fireworks, saints, and video effects of the early 80s, and we find Sarah passing judgment on the mispronunc

Episode 167: In Conversation With Jackie Clary on “The Greatest Night in Pop” Netflix documentary (2024) Yes, this should be the next installment of Brian and Sarah’s look at Simple Minds’ album from 1982, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84). Instead, it’s a discussion on something that’s pretty big right this minute! Currently, the Netflix documentary The Greatest Night in Pop, which chronicles the USA for Africa project and the recording of the charity single “We Are the World,” is on the top of many minds and getting a lot of attention. Brian and Sarah are fortunate enough to be friends with someone involved in the making of the documentary—none other than Jackie Clary, who has guested on many previous episodes of the podcast. Our hosts invited her on again to talk about her work on the film as well as the actual events it documents.  Jackie is a lifelong pop music fan who has fond personal memories of the time period and events covered in the documentary, so she was extremely well-suited in her role as an arch

Episode 166: Simple Minds – New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) (1982) - Part 1 A new year is here, which means it’s time for Brian and Sarah to start an album discussion. Our hosts selected an album by a group they haven’t really covered before--except for one song. The group in question is Simple Minds, and the album is their 1982 release, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84). (The one song discussed previously can be found in episode 112.) In this episode, Brian and Sarah set the stage by talking a little about the band’s formation and history, and the albums they had released up to this point. Our hosts then narrow the focus to the period leading up to and including the album’s recording and release. They spend time talking about producer Peter Walsh, his resumé, and how he came to work with Simple Minds. There’s also discussion of the iconic (pun intended) album artwork as well as the physical release of the album—in particular, the US release. Of course, our hosts can always be counted on to provide details like c

 Episode 165: PRP Christmas 2023 (Enhanced Stereo Mix) Brian and Sarah are in the throes of the 2023 holiday season preparations, and part of those preparations included recording their annual Christmas episode of the podcast. Usually our hosts discuss one or two holiday-themed songs in depth, but this year, they're doing something different! They've compiled a playlist with full-length versions of festive tunes for you to enjoy as you make cookies, wrap presents, travel to visit friends and family, or any number of other activities you may be doing this time of year. The songs included here are a mix of old favorites interspersed with tracks that have a connection to the podcast in some way. And one of those podcast-related tracks is an exclusive version you can only find on this episode! Brian and Sarah send their sincere thanks to all of you for downloading, listening to, reviewing, and sharing thoughts about the Permanent Record Podcast not just this this year, but over the entire seven-year history

   Episode 164: Erasure - Chorus (1991) (Featuring Andrew Dineley of "Art on Your Sleeve") - Part 3 It's been a while since Part 2 of this discussion was released, but good things take time, right? So here at last, is the final installment of Brian, Sarah, and Art On Your Sleeve host Andrew Dineley's look back at Erasure's 1991 album, Chorus. In the previous episode, our hosts agreed to a time limit for discussing the tracks on Side One: ten minutes for an album track and fifteen minutes for a single. As the trio flips the record to Side Two, the timer for "Love to Hate You" is started, but when it goes off fifteen minutes later, they haven't even gotten around to mentioning the video! At that point, the hosts decide to do away with the time limits for the duration of the discussion-- which results in what's probably the longest-ever episode of the podcast! Side Two Discussion Brian, Sarah, and Andrew cover a lot of topics as they dive deeply into the five tracks on Side Two of Chorus. They find more song

PRP Mini Concert Memories #8: Chris Trapper & Jeffrey Gaines 10-17-2023; Queen + Adam Lambert 10-18-2023; Depeche Mode 10-23-2023 and 10-25-2023 Attention! Attention! We interrupt the discussion of Erasure's Chorus album to bring you the longest episode of "Mini Concert Memories" yet!  But there's a good reason behind the length-- Brian and Sarah were fortunate enough to see FOUR amazing performances within the span of just nine days!  Now that they're home from all their travels, they decided to take a breather and fill everyone in on the shows they got to see. So that's what this episode is all about! Read more at http://www.permanentrecordpodcast.com/ Visit us at https://www.facebook.com/permrecordpodcast Follow us at https://twitter.com/permrecordpod  Check out some pictures at https://www.instagram.com/permanentrecordpodcast/ So this BlueSky thing looks shiny and new: https://bsky.app/profile/permrecordpod.bsky.social Oh!  Here's another one of these things - Threads: https://www.threads.net/@pe

Episode 163: Erasure - Chorus (1991) (Featuring Andrew Dineley of "Art on Your Sleeve") - Part 2 Not only are Brian, Sarah, and Andrew Dineley back in this episode to discuss Erasure's 1991 release, Chorus, but Sarah is back to write the show notes. So let's get to it! The previous episode went through the making of the album, release and chart history, album reviews, design and artwork information, and personal history. Now it's time for the terrific trio to tackle the tunes on Side One of Chorus.  We find five songs on the first side, three of which were singles, so there's plenty to talk about. The hosts are intent on sticking to the self-imposed time limits for discussing the songs, to keep the episodes to a reasonable length, and to ensure the discussion will wrap up by the end of the year. But don't worry; there are plenty of facts, opinions, insights, and laughs to be found within these confines! Here's just one example from each category:  Fact: "Am I Right?" was Erasure's fifteenth consecutive singl

Episode 162: Erasure - Chorus (1991) (Featuring Andrew Dineley of "Art on Your Sleeve") - Part 1 If you having been wondering when we would once again discuss an album by one of the two greatest synthpop duos in history, wonder no longer.  The day is today and the duo is Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, aka Erasure! Sarah usually writes these show notes while I edit the episode; however, she seems to have somehow stuck me with both responsibilities this time.  I'm too tired to write in third person, so I'm just going to do this like I'm talking with you one-on-one. We were really excited to be joined by our wonderful friend Andrew Dineley, who you surely know from the very fine "Art of Your Sleeve" podcast and Classic Pop Magazine.  If you haven't yet listened to "Art on Your Sleeve", please check out the link near the bottom of these ramblings. In this episode, we set the table for the next two installments which will cover the album's ten songs.  Here, we talk about where Erasure was in their career in 1991,

PRP Mini Concert Memories #7 – Duran Duran (9-7-2023) with Craig Smith (The Pods & Sods Network) and featuring Gavin Hogg and Simon Galloway (Giddy Carousel of Pop) After a year’s break between episodes 5 and 6 of “PRP Mini Concert Memories,” the break between episodes 6 and 7 is decidedly shorter! Brian and Sarah are back, this time to talk about a Duran Duran concert they attended, and the conversation is enhanced by the addition of a special guest. And later on in the episode, two more very special guests join in!  Once again, Brian asked for assistance from ChatGPT in writing the show notes for this episode. Let’s see what the benevolent AI assistant came up with this time:  ****************** In this episode, we dive deep into the illustrious history of the iconic band, Duran Duran. Joining us as a guest host is Craig Smith from the Pods and Sods Network, bringing his wealth of knowledge and passion for music to the conversation. We begin by exploring the band's roots, tracing their journey from the

Episode 161: Thompson Twins - Quick Step & Side Kick (1983) Part 5 At long last, it's here: the final installment of Brian and Sarah's look back at the 1983 Thompson Twins album, Quick Step & Side Kick (renamed Side Kicks in the US).  There are only two more songs on the album to talk about, the first one being "Judy Do" (as the US track listing is the one being used here). Both hosts admit they were previously unaware of the subject matter of the song before beginning their research-- although Sarah did have another possible idea in mind.  The final song of the album on both track listings is "All Fall Out," and as one might expect, there's a discussion on how strong of an album closer it is. Additionally, Brian explains what it may mean if you 'dream in red.'  Before the hosts tackle the task of providing their final review and rating for the album, they have an extra credit question to cover: the 1986 standalone single, "Nothing In Common," from the movie of the same name. This leap forward thr

Reminder and Big News! The title of little episode explains it all: Brian and Sarah have a friendly reminder for you about a deadline coming up, that they don't want you to miss!  They also have some big news that they're excited to share, so make sure you listen to this entire episode to hear what it is!   Read more at https://www.permanentrecordpodcast.com/ Visit us at https://www.facebook.com/permrecordpodcast Follow us at https://twitter.com/permrecordpod Check out some pictures at https://www.instagram.com/permanentrecordpodcast/ Leave a voicemail for Brian & Sarah at (724) 490-8324 or https://www.speakpipe.com/PermRecordPod - we're ready to believe you!

Episode 160: Thompson Twins - Quick Step & Side Kick (1983) Part 4 Hooray! Brian and Sarah finally found some time to record another episode about "Quick Step & Side Kick"; however, they didn't have time to write the show notes, so they asked ChatGPT to help out. Here's the result! Welcome to another exciting episode of our podcast! In this edition, we delve into the musical journey of the iconic Thompson Twins. Join us as we explore their hit songs "If You Were Here" and "Kamikaze" in depth, discussing their significance and impact on the music scene.  We'll take you through the Thompson Twins' rise to fame, their unique sound, and the inspiration behind their chart-topping tracks. Additionally, we'll explore how "If You Were Here" became a cult classic through its feature in the 1984 movie "Sixteen Candles," capturing the hearts of a generation.  But that's not all! Prepare to be amazed as we explore the intriguing world of cover songs. Discover how artists from different genres and eras have rei

Sly Dog Music-Cast "Dead or Alive Album by Album" Promo We recently had the pleasure of joining our friend The Sly Dog to discuss and celebrate the catalog of one of our very favorite bands, Dead or Alive.  We had a blast talking about Pete and company and all of their great music.  We hope you will enjoy the podcast, which can be found here: https://slydogmusiccast.podbean.com/e/dead-or-alive-album-by-album-wpermanent-record-podcast/

PRP Mini Concert Memories #6 – The Cure, 6-24-2023 and 6-25-2023 It’s been about a year since the last “Mini Concert Memories” episode, and as they were in Episode 5, the memories recounted in this episode are pretty recent. However, this time, there are two concerts to discuss, rather than just one.  Brian and Sarah had the extreme good fortune to be able to see The Cure not once, but twice on the “Shows of a Lost World” North American tour. On Saturday, June 24th they saw Robert, Simon, Roger, Jason, Reeves and Perry in Philadelphia, and on Sunday, June 25th, they headed down to Columbia, Maryland to see The Cure again! Our hosts spend the majority of their time in this episode recalling the two fantastic evenings they had enjoying nearly 3 hours of live music each night, both of which included several new songs from the as-yet-unreleased album Songs of a Lost World.  However, they also spend some time acknowledging that they still need to finish the discussion of the Thompson Twins album Quick Step and

Episode 159: In Conversation with Rob Rowe and Von Hertzog (VH x RR) - New Music: "When Morning Comes" It's always great to have friends swing by the BlueZone Studio, but when they bring BRAND NEW MUSIC with them for us to sample and share with you, it's even better!! Brian & Sarah welcome back VH x RR (aka Rob Rowe and Von Hertzog) on the eve of the release of their latest single, "When Morning Comes." "WMC" is already one of our favorite tracks from the duo, and it was a blast to get all the details on the song from its creators.  It's a bit of an evolution from the sound we heard on their last EP, "On the Shoulders of Giants", but it's a very natural evolution and the track sits comfortably alongside the best of VH x RR's previous work. Over the course of the discussion, other important topics are covered, including: Updates on Rob and Von's respective solo projects What do Rob and Von think of "Memento Mori" and what influence did Depeche Mode have on Cause & Effect? Who's reading Rick Rubin's n