Permanent Record Podcast

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

Bonus Episode: Colours of Ever - Live at Stone Turtle House Concerts (June 5, 2025) In our last episode, we mentioned that Brian and his life-long friend Jason would be opening for Vicki Peterson (The Bangles) and John Cowsill (The Cowsills/Beach Boys/Smithereens) at Stone Turtle House Concerts in Bucks County, PA.  The two Rock/Pop legends (Vicki and John, not Brian and Jason!) are currently supporting their fantastic new album, "Long After the Fire", and seeing them in an intimate venue like Stone Turtle is a true pleasure! So it all happened on June 5th, 2025, and because so many of our podcast friends were kind enough to text and message Brian words of encouragement before the show and inquiries of "how can I hear your performance?" after the show, we decided to release the full Colours of Ever opening set as a bonus episode of the podcast.  We hope that you'll enjoy it! Here's the set list from our first live show since 1991: I Want You to Love Me But I Don't Always Get What I Want Stay Forever Waitin

Episode 185: April 2025 Concert Report (Kylie Minogue, Alison Moyet) and State of the Podcast Where have Brian and Sarah been these last few weeks? Well, for one thing, they’ve been to several concerts! They started and ended the month of April by attending amazing performances given by a couple of musical icons—Kylie Minogue and Alison Moyet!  The Kylie Minogue show on April 8 was the first time Brian and Sarah had seen the Australian diva in concert, and not surprisingly, she did not disappoint! Our hosts spend the first part of the episode recounting their experience at the Washington, DC show, and here in the show notes you’ll find some pictures they took during the event.  Then, on the last day of April, Brian and Sarah traveled to one of their favorite concert venues—The Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA—to be wowed by the incredible Alison Moyet! They last saw Alison perform in 2017, and it was such a delight to be able to see her on stage again. In fact, Brian and Sarah loved the show so much that t

Episode 184: Concert Report: Richard Blade/ABC/Howard Jones (2025) With support from legendary KROQ/1st Wave DJ Richard Blade, 80's New Wave icons Howard Jones and ABC just finished an incredible string of U.S. live dates, and your intrepid hosts were there for the penultimate show of the tour! Brian and Sarah take you back in time exactly one week as they relive the excitement of the 2/28/25 show at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA.  And they are joined by friend of the show Mike Kilczewski, the creative mind behind Philadelphia's 80's band Dorian Gräe and current project Syd Dorian, to tackle such diverse topics as: - Meet & Greet with Howard Jones. - Richard Blade's wonderful opening presentation. - The highlights of ABC and Howard's sets. - Recording in Philly as an independent artist in the 1980s. - The world's most dangerous and traffic-filled road. - Our favorite NFL team and the town with the best name. - Buying records before the show. - Filming music videos at malls. - Update on Howard Jo

Episode 183: The NewlyPod Game (featuring Brian, Sarah, Alex, Andy, Brad, Eric, and Jon) On Saturday, February 8th, podcast hosts from all over the United States met outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to shop for records, eat pancakes, and see Jim Babjak of The Smithereens live with bassist Graham Maby.  It was truly an amazing night of music, and it was also a truly amazing group of podcasters, assembled for this once-in-a-lifetime event!  Brian and Sarah of the Permanent Record Podcast, Eric Miller of Stone Turtle House Concerts and the Pods & Sods Network, Brad Page of I'm in Love with that Song, the Sly Dog of The Sly Dog Music-Cast, Jon Lamoreaux of The Hustle Podcast, and America's #1 podcast guest Andy Schaal were all present for the event.  In the hours leading up to the big show, our intrepid broadcasters teamed up to record the first episode of a destined-to-be-infamous  game show, The NewlyPod Game!   Harkening back to those politely raunchy shows from the 1970s, The NewlyPod Game is sure t

Episode 182: Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (1981) Part 2 Brian and Sarah's look back at Depeche Mode's debut album, 1981's Speak & Spell, continues in this episode. As you may recall, they're using the US track listing for the album, so the next songs up for discussion are "Dreaming of Me" and "Boys Say Go!"    "Dreaming of Me" was the debut single for the band, and although to Sarah's dismay, there's no Smash Hits review, our hosts were able to find other reviews from back in the day to share in this episode. Additionally, Brian shares information from a contemporary Rolling Stone article in which "Dreaming of Me" makes a surprising appearance.  One might think because "Boys Say Go!" was merely an album track, that Brian and Sarah wouldn't have much to say about it, and they would therefore have time to cover three songs in this episode. However, Brian's feelings for this song inspire him to talk at length about it. Are they positive or negative feelings? Well, that's for you to find out! And, it

PRP 007 Mini-Broadcast: Episode 8 – Diamonds Are Forever 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! In this 8th episode, Sarah and Brian are once again joined by Bond author Robbie Sims (Quantum of Silliness: The Peculiar World of Bond, James Bond), and the trio turn their attention to the 1971 movie, “Diamonds Are Forever.” This Bond outing sees the return of the original 007, Sean Connery, after George Lazenby stepped away from the role.  But Sir Sean isn’t the only one who has returned after a hiatus fro

Episode 181: PRP Holiday Hotline: Musical Christmas Memories It’s Christmastime! For many folks, that means it’s time to give and receive gifts. And Brian and Sarah’s gift to you this Christmas season is this episode, which is also about gifts.  Our hosts asked a number of friends of the show—some of whom have their own excellent podcasts—to call in to the Permanent Record Podcast Holiday Hotline and share stories and memories of Christmases past, where they received a music-related present.  Many of the callers fondly recalled receiving special albums, cassettes, or CDs in their stockings or under the Christmas tree. Others were gifted with a particular musical instrument that brought them happiness. All the stories share a common theme that’s likely no surprise to listeners of this podcast—music is the source of many happy memories and plays a large, even formative part of our lives. Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, Brian and Sarah hope you’ll enjoy listening to the stories shared on the PRP

Episode 180: Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (1981) Part 1 – Second Half BLACK FRIDAY SPECIAL!!   We wanted to get this episode to you on Black Friday, but in order to do that, we have to get chintzy with these show notes.  I'm just re-using Sarah's notes from last time, and I will mention here that this episode includes the following items of interest: Our personal histories with "Speak & Spell" Discussion on the first two songs of the US tracklisting Your voicemails on Depeche Mode's debut Follow-up info on some of the topics from last time Now, here's the recycled stuff from last time..... Brian and Sarah are back, and they’re ready to talk about Depeche Mode. And talk they do! This episode was about three hours long when they finished recording, so they decided it would be best to break it up into two separate episodes—but they’re both considered Part 1 of the Speak & Spell album discussion.  Since this is the debut album by Depeche Mode, this first half of Part 1 covers things like the forma

Episode 179: Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (1981) Part 1 – First Half Brian and Sarah are back, and they’re ready to talk about Depeche Mode. And talk they do! This episode was about three hours long when they finished recording, so they decided it would be best to break it up into two separate episodes—but they’re both considered Part 1 of the Speak & Spell album discussion.  Since this is the debut album by Depeche Mode, this first half of Part 1 covers things like the formation of the band, their early days of performing, their quest for a record deal and their eventual partnership with Daniel Miller. The hosts also discuss the typical album-related subjects such as the making of the album, the chart positions, and the release—and there’s a surprisingly lengthy discussion about the album’s release date.  This episode wraps up with Brian and Sarah sharing a lot of reviews, some of which come from the time of release, and some that are more contemporary.  It’s a fun look back at the early days of th

Episode 178: Happy Birthday to Us: The Cure – “Songs of a Lost World” (2024) and State of the Podcast It’s been a while since our last episode was published, and part of this episode will explain why. But we wanted to get something released in time for our eighth birthday!  It’s hard for us to believe, but our first episode was released way back on November 4, 2016. And although this episode is numbered 178, it’s actually the 201st episode we’ve released.  In this short discussion, we talk about what went on with us in September and October, and we discuss our plans for future episodes. (We even ask for a little help in that regard.) But we spend the most time talking about the brand-new and long-awaited album from The Cure, Songs of a Lost World!  The album has only been out for a few days, so we don’t have too many listens in yet. But we discuss our thoughts so far, Brian shares several reviews, and we also discuss the concert at London’s Troxy that was livestreamed and is now available on YouTube to vie

 Episode 177: Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (1981) – Part 0 – "End of Summer Special" featuring Brad Page and Eric Miller OK, so a little confession up front: this episode is about MUCH MORE than just Speak & Spell, or even Depeche Mode, and that’s why it’s called Part 0!  But we think you’re going to enjoy it anyway. Here’s who, and what, you’ll hear as you listen: • Brad Page, host of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. A while back, we put out a request for questions you wanted us to answer, and we got quite a few responses. Brad kindly agreed to share his talents—and his studio!—for this segment, and although mesmerized by both his very cool recording setup and his dulcet tones as he read the questions, we managed to compose ourselves enough to provide answers to the queries.  Visit Brad at https://lovethatsongpodcast.com/ • Eric Miller, co-founder of the “Pods & Sods” network and host of the Stone Turtle House Concert Series. We talk with Eric on a number of topics:  o The origins a

Episode 176: 80s Supergroup Fantasy Draft Here in the USA, summer is on the way out, and (American) football season is on the way in. And somewhat related to the changing of the weather and sports seasons, our hosts put together something they hope will be fun for everyone.   A favorite pastime of many sports fans is to participate in fantasy leagues, where a person selects players from many different teams to create a ‘super-team’ of their own, which competes in a league of ‘super-teams’ created by other league members. The players are selected by league members during a draft, and there can be fierce competition for particular players. In this episode, Brian and Sarah are joined by several friends-- Jon Lamoreaux, Eric Miller, and Heidi Waugaman-Page—for a different kind of fantasy league. In this league, each person puts together a super-group of 1980s artists. Each band has a lead singer, a guitar player, a bass player, a keyboard player, a drummer, and a producer. There’s also a ‘flex position’ which

Episode 175: Concert Report - Totally Tubular Festival (2024)  On July 20, 2024, Brian and Sarah had the pleasure of attending an 80s music festival at Poconos Park Amphitheater in Bushkill, PA.  They got to see many acts they had never seen perform live before, as well as a few they had been fortunate enough to see at other shows. In this episode, Brian and Sarah talk about each act of the festival, sharing their thoughts and memories of the event.  Below are Sarah and Brian at the 'meet and greet' portion of the event-- they're between Tom Bailey of the Thompson Twins and Ivan Doroschuk of Men Without Hats. 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/

Episode 174: In Conversation With Billy Vera (Part 2) Our conversation with author/actor/musician Billy Vera concludes with an episode that touches on so many different aspects of this great man's career. Billy started his professional career as a songwriter, but soon moved to a higher-profile gig as part of the duo Billy Vera and Judy Clay.  After a successful album called "Storybook Children", Billy kicked off a solo career that has spanned decades, starting with 1968's "With Pen in Hand" up to the recent "Timeless" album, released in 2019. In the mid-1980s, Billy had a number one hit with "At this Moment".  In this interview, we discuss in detail his first number one hit, "I Really Got the Feeling", which Dolly Parton took to the top of the charts in 1979. We also talk about Billy's time on both the small screen and the big screen, including an episode on Brian's favorite TV Drama, "Wiseguy." Other topics that we cover in this second episode: ·        Compiling his hit album "By Request" for Rhino Rec

Episode 173: In Conversation With Billy Vera (Part 1) Sarah usually writes these show notes, and on the rare occasion that I fill in for her, I do something silly - I either make them really short or I have ChatGPT help me by doing most of the work.  This time, I asked to do them because I am still in shock that this episode exists and because it was a true thrill to speak with an artist who has been a favorite of mine since I was 16! After discovering Billy Vera, along with many others of my generation, thanks to the hit comedy "Family Ties", I would go on to collect his entire catalog, with the exception of "Queen of Diamonds / Jack of Hearts" by Evie Sands & Billy Vera which I haven't been able to find yet.  I will one day though!  I would watch him on TV shows like "Wiseguy" and "Into the Night", where he served as a late-night bandleader and often performed his wonderful songs.  I would occasionally be surprised and excited to spot him in movies throughout the 80s and 90s.  He was doing so many gre