Permanent Record Podcast

PRP 007 Mini-Broadcast: Episode 9– Live and Let Die (With Robbie Sims) Since the beginning of the show, Brian has done his best to strong-arm discussion of Agent 007 into as many podcasts as he could. Finally he convinced Sarah to embark on a new mission: the Permanent Record Podcast 007 Mini-Broadcast! This occasional series from your friends Brian & Sarah started with "Dr. No" and will work its way up to the most recent Bond adventure, and on the way, it will discuss and critique all of the 007 theme songs and other relevant recordings. It's a dream come true for one of the hosts - and for Bond fans everywhere! Speaking of Bond fans everywhere, they will no doubt be delighted to learn that Robbie Sims, author of the delightful book Quantum of Silliness: The Peculiar World of Bond, James Bond, can once again be found co-hosting this installment with Brian and Sarah. Episode 9 in the series brings us up to the 1973 film Live and Let Die. It's Roger Moore's first appearance as the MI6 agent, and it's als

Bonus Episode: In Conversation with Rob Rowe: WHITEWAITS/VHXRR/Cause and Effect (2026)  Brian and Sarah are delighted to welcome back a previous and much-beloved guest of the Permanent Record Podcast, Rob Rowe. In past episodes, Rob has been here with Von Hertzog, who together make up the excellent duo VHxRR. However, this time Rob is here to represent his solo project, WHITEWAITS. After a hiatus of more than a dozen years, WHITEWAITS is releasing a new album, called Dusk Becomes Dawn. It's a collection of nine stellar tracks which explore familiar topics like darkness, despair, loss, and love, all with incredibly catchy melodies, intelligent lyrics, and impeccable vocals. Brian and Sarah sit down with Rob and do a deep-dive into Dusk Becomes Dawn, learning details about the creative process as well as inspirations and meanings behind the songs. But the questions don't all come from our hosts; Brian and Sarah asked a few other folks, most of them associated with Rob in some form or fashion, to provide quest

Bonus Episode: In Conversation with Blaklight (Adam Collier, Brian Belknap, and Omar Quiñones) 2026  In this episode, Brian and Sarah have the great pleasure of talking with Brian Belknap, Adam Collier, and Omar Quiñones of the band BlakLight. BlakLight was formed as a duo back in 2020, and our hosts chatted with Brian and Adam back in March 2021. A lot has changed with the band since then, so it was definitely time to do some catching up. In the conversation, our hosts find out how Omar came to join the band, as well as learning more about Omar and his other musical endeavors. They also check in on Adam's side projects as well. BlakLight has been downright prolific with releasing new music over the past six years; their latest album is called The Haunting of Us and was released late last year. Brian and Sarah talk with the band members about the new album, as well as many of the other projects the band has released. And of course, all of these releases can be found on their website or their Bandcamp pages.

Episode 199: Depeche Mode: Home Video Concert Releases (Part 5) Brian and Sarah are back and ready to discuss the next home concert video release from Depeche Mode. Part 5 in this series brings us up to the 2013 album Delta Machine, which was once again supported with a worldwide tour. The city of Berlin was chosen for the filming location, and it was familiar territory for the band, as they spent several years there in the mid-80s. Depeche Mode also returned to familiar territory with their choice of director for this concert film. After a several-year stretch of working with directors who had very different ideas on how a concert video should look, the band once again enlisted their longtime friend and collaborator, Anton Corbijn, to helm this project. The result of Anton's return to the director's chair, in the opinions of both Brian and Sarah, is a much more pleasurable viewing experience. Both hosts expressed relief at being treated to more traditional filming and editing techniques for Depeche Mode:

Episode 198: Depeche Mode: Home Video Concert Releases (Part 4) It's a new year, and Brian and Sarah are kicking off their 2026 episodes with the next installment in their look at Depeche Mode home video concert releases. Up for viewing and discussion this time is Tour of the Universe: Barcelona 20/21.11.09, the concert film documenting Depeche Mode's tour for 2009's Sounds of the Universe album. As the title indicates, the movie was filmed in Barcelona over two nights, and it was directed by Russell Thomas. Prior to working with Depeche Mode, Thomas directed concert videos for artists such as Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, and Coldplay, so he was no stranger to such projects. However, Brian and Sarah got the impression he was a stranger to using more traditional filming and editing techniques, providing examples of scenes, shots, and editing choices they disliked. The filming and editing style of Russell Thomas made it more difficult than usual for Brian and Sarah to come up with answers to some of the st

2025 Xmas Special 2: PRP Xmas Radio Reissue and Meeting Brandon Routh and Rachael Leigh Cook for Xmas Sarah and Brian are back for one last episode in 2025!   This is mainly a reissue of the very festive 2023 Holiday music episode, but it also includes the wrap-up of the hosts' trip to the Hallmark Christmas Con in Edison, New Jersey last weekend.  Brian and Sarah talk about meeting Rachael Leigh Cook from the delightful "Josie and the Pussycats" and Brandon Routh from awesome DC projects like "Superman Returns" and "Legends of Tomorrow."  The trip was a ton of fun so hopefully you will enjoy the story of meeting these stars! Then before moving into the 2023 Xmas Music special, they share two songs by two of our friends here at PRP: "Tiffany's Christmas Tree" by Venus Hum's Tony Miracle and "One Bright Star" by Chris Trapper. Merry Christmas to all of our listeners and friends and best wishes for a wonderful holiday!  We'll see you again in 2026!'   Treat yourself to Tony Miracle's new Xmas EP, "Tiffany's Ch

2025 Xmas Special 1: Paul McCartney Deluxe Reissue and Meeting Jane Seymour for Xmas Well, Sir Paul has reissued his classic Christmas song on yellow vinyl, so it's only fair that we reissue our 2019 discussion of "Wonderful Christmas" as well!  The audio has been improved, so hopefully it will almost be like listening to a brand new episode!! We also spend some time talking about our recent trip to the 2025 Hallmark Christmas Con and meeting a number of stars, including the legendary Jane Seymour, with whom we had a surprising conversation!  It was a thrill for us, and we are very happy to give you most of the details here in this episode's exclusive bonus content! Read more at http://www.permanentrecordpodcast.com/ Visit us at https://www.facebook.com/permrecordpodcast You can also find us on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@permanentrecordpodcast Check out some pictures at https://www.instagram.com/permanentrecordpodcast/ Join the ever-growing crowd on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/permrecordpod.b

Episode 197: In Conversation with Chris Trapper Brian and Sarah were thrilled to have the opportunity to speak with Chris Trapper, a singer-songwriter whose musical livelihood began in the 1990s. In addition to writing, recording, and performing as lead singer and guitarist in the band The Push Stars, Chris also has a prolific solo career, releasing more than a dozen albums and EPs, touring the country extensively on his own, and opening for artists such as Pat Benatar and Colin Hay.  Additionally, Chris's songs have been featured in numerous television shows and films over the years. Chris Trapper's latest album, Watching Sparks Fly By, was released earlier in 2025, and Brian and Sarah learn from Chris about the making of the album as well as stories behind some of the songs. They also find out more about his songwriting and creative process in general, and how he feels about writing and recording music compared to performing in front of a live audience.   Since Brian and Sarah are big fans of Colin Hay—th

Episode 196: Depeche Mode: Home Video Concert Releases (Part 3) and Bowie Bingo Announcement In this episode, Brian and Sarah resume their review of Depeche Mode home video concert releases. They're up to the 2005 album Playing the Angel, which the band supported with the "Touring the Angel" concert tour in 2005 and 2006. The home video "Touring the Angel: Live in Milan" documents the band's two nights performing in Milan, Italy in February 2006. The director of this film is Blue Leach, who has worked with many other artists including R.E.M., Beck, and The Pet Shop Boys. Blue Leach takes a decidedly different approach to filming and editing Depeche Mode in concert compared to past directors such as Anton Corbijn. "Touring the Angel" is a very dissimilar viewing experience to "Devotional" or "101," and Brian and Sarah have quite a lot to say about it. They also, of course, go over the same topics/questions they're addressing for each home concert video release. However, in this episode, Sarah seems especia

Details on how to join your friends Brian & Sarah for a few rounds of festive Bowie Bingo!

Episode 195: In Conversation with Rob Rowe and Von Hertzog (VH x RR) – New EP "101" Brian and Sarah are interrupting their current effort of looking back at Depeche Mode home video concert releases to bring you a terrific chat with Von Hertzog and Rob Rowe. Von and Rob comprise the excellent synth duo VH x RR, who Brian has declared to be his "favorite new band of the 2020s." Since the completion of The Cosmos Trilogy—a series of three EPs that you should definitely check out, if you haven't already—VH x RR has released a couple of singles here and there. But in this discussion, we learn that a new EP is set for an imminent release! The EP is titled "101," so of course the first question our hosts have for Von and Rob is regarding the title. That question is answered, along with many others—and along the way, there's a lot of interesting discussion about science fiction movies, the current state of technology, which is the best Rocky movie, and recent music projects that both Von and Rob have been involved

Episode 194: Depeche Mode: Home Video Concert Releases (Part 2) Brian and Sarah's mini-series on Depeche Mode's home video concert releases continues in this episode. Unlike the previous episode, which covered two movies, Depeche Mode: One Night in Paris – The Exciter Tour 2001 is the only release discussed here. However, before getting into the discussion of that concert, Brian and Sarah spend a little time talking about their adventures on opening day of the latest DM concert movie, Depeche Mode: M. They don't go into details about their movie experience just yet, though; these stories are about the people, places and things they enjoyed before the movie.  After that sidebar, the discussion about Depeche Mode: One Night in Paris begins. There are eight years between the previous concert video (Devotional) and this one, and as DM fans know very well, a lot transpired for the band during those eight years. As of this concert, Dave Gahan is now clean and sober, and Alan Wilder has moved on from the band. P

Episode 193: Depeche Mode: Home Video Concert Releases (Part 1) With our attention turned to tomorrow's premiere of Depeche Mode's latest cinematic offering "M", we thought it would be fun to make our way through all of the previously released home video concert offerings from our favorite lads from Basildon.  This first installment covers two releases, which we still have on VHS (remember that your VCR was king back in 1985 and even 1993): "The World We Live in and Live in Hamburg" and "Devotional."   These two films carry with them the label of "classic" in our household, so it was a real treat to revisit them, armed with a set of ten hard-hitting questions to cover various aspects of each.  We'll discuss such diverse topics as "Most interesting deviation from the studio version", "Do we enjoy the way this was filmed & edited?", "Favorite Fletch Move", and more!   So, as Meta AI is prompting me to say: "Relive the music, relive the moment. Join us on a trip through Depeche Mode's live legacy." Read m

Episode 192: PRP/Synthpop Symphony Crossover: Red Flag Part 2 (with DJ Matt Williams) Brian and Sarah are once again joined by DJ Matt Williams, creator and host of the synth-tastic radio show Synthpop Symphony. Matt’s show is aired on dozens of terrestrial radio stations around the world and can also be found on podcast platforms.  In the previous episode, Brian, Sarah and Matt started a discussion about the San Diego-based duo Red Flag, whose well-crafted electronic tracks were heard in countless clubs at the end of the 1980s. Their debut album, Naïve Art, was released in 1989, and the three hosts shared both information on and memories of the album, touching on numerous other topics along the way.  This episode dives into four tracks from Naïve Art, three of which were singles, and one which Brian and Sarah learned from Matt was at least considered as a single.  The chart information Sarah has for the singles is primarily for the dance charts, although Brian does take great joy being able to use one of

Episode 191: PRP/Synthpop Symphony Crossover: Red Flag Part 1 (with DJ Matt Williams) Brian and Sarah are thrilled to present the first in what will hopefully become a series of crossover episodes with DJ Matt Williams. Matt is the brains and the voice behind the amazing radio show Synthpop Symphony, which airs on radio stations in 60 countries and is also available for download on virtually all podcast platforms. As Matt states, “Synthpop Symphony is where the past, present, and future of synth-driven music collide.” And as PRP and Synthpop Symphony collide, the hosts shine a spotlight on a past synthpop group that often goes overlooked: Red Flag.  In this first of two parts, Matt, Brian, and Sarah discuss Red Flag’s history, the recording of their debut album, Naïve Art, and each person’s history with the album. However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. The three also talk about cool radio stations, the demise of synthpop in the 90s, Depeche Mode’s US Top 40 history, the history Razormaid, the compari

Episode 190: End of Summer Special 2025 (Part 2) – The Alarm & Duran Duran Brian and Sarah are back and ready to continue their discussion of a couple of ‘summery’ songs, as the summer draws closer to an end in the Northern Hemisphere.  (For those in the Southern Hemisphere, maybe think of this as a summer preview!) As in the previous episode, the first song selection comes from Sarah. She chose the 1987 single “Rain in the Summertime” by The Alarm. This song was released in advance of The Alarm’s third studio album “Eye of the Hurricane,” which Sarah explains was a tumultuous period in the band’s history. She recounts stories of the song’s creation and recording which expose some of the difficulties with and among bandmates. However, the anecdotes also reveal some surprising uses of computer technology for the time. Both hosts mention comparisons and similarities between The Alarm and U2, even down to the desert setting of this song’s video. In discussing the video, Sarah can’t help but bring up a pet

Episode 189: End of Summer Special 2025 (Part 1) - The Power Station & Bananarama In the United States, the Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end of summer. Brian and Sarah just aren’t ready to say goodbye to summer yet, so over the holiday weekend, they recorded a couple of episodes featuring songs that invoke the feeling of summer. Each episode in this mini-series will feature one song chosen by Brian and one chosen by Sarah. The first song up for discussion is the only one without the word “Summer” in the title. However, there’s no question that it makes you think of summer and other sultry situations. Sarah selected the 1985 hit “Some Like It Hot” from supergroup The Power Station. Sarah shares chart information and reviews for the song, and she also explains the origin of the supergroup and the recording of the song. Brian is quite enthusiastic about Sarah’s choice and shares memories of purchasing the album on cassette and watching the video for “Some Like It Hot” many times back in the day.

Episode 188: Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (1981) Part 5 (Featuring Will Crewdson) With this fifth installment, Brian and Sarah wrap up their discussion of Depeche Mode’s debut album.  Our hosts have been covering the US version of Speak & Spell, so there’s only one more song on that release to be discussed. Fortunately, they always do an Extra Credit section at the end of an album, so the song that’s missing from the US version will get some attention then. The last track on Depeche Mode’s 1981 release is a little ditty called “Just Can’t Get Enough.” The US album features the extended, “Schizo Mix,” which our hosts do talk about in some detail, but there’s more focus put on the single version.  Our hosts take a deep dive into “Just Can’t Get Enough,” talking about the usual things like chart positions, reviews, the record sleeves, and the recording of the song. And, for the first time on this album, there’s even a video to discuss, much to the delight of Brian and Sarah.  “Just Can’t Get Enough”

Episode 187: Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (1981) Part 4 Brian & Sarah are back for a Martin Gore-focused look at "Speak and Spell" as they shine a spotlight on the three middle songs on side 2 of Depeche Mode's 1981 debut.  Up till now, this has been the Vince Clarke show; however, with these three tunes, we get the first song written by Martin, the first of many Martin instrumentals, and the first lead vocal by Martin!  And to believe that we recorded this one on Vince's birthday!! Along the way, talk turns to a pair of old movies, a ranking of Depeche Mode instrumentals, the history of the Big Muff effects pedal, Falco, classic 1980s "HWUH"s, and, of course, posh clobber! Songs discussed in this episode:  Tora! Tora! Tora! Big Muff Any Second Now (Voices) Read more at http://www.permanentrecordpodcast.com/ Visit us at https://www.facebook.com/permrecordpodcast You can also find us on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@permanentrecordpodcast Check out some pictures at https://www.instagram.com/pe

Episode 186: Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (1981) Part 3 In this episode, Brian and Sarah resume their look back at Depeche Mode’s debut album. As a reminder, they’re using the US track listing as they talk about the album, but for the songs contained in this episode, the track listing is the same on both sides of the pond.  The next songs up for discussion aren’t singles, but that doesn’t stop our hosts from finding plenty of things to talk about. Here are just a few examples: •    Sarah’s phrase ‘Erasure gallop’ is changed to ‘Vince Clarke gallop’ due to one of these songs •    Brian’s favorite ‘one-two punches’ of Depeche Mode album tracks—one of which is found on this album •    The probable origins of the song “What’s Your Name?” and whether or not it’s actually a bad song.  •    DJ Stevo competing with Daniel Miller to work with Depeche Mode, and the compromise that was reached •    The last live performance of “Photographic” and who was there for it Additionally, our hosts are thrilled to share r