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I Smell Pop Culture: Right Said Fred · I Am All In with Scott Patterson

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I am all in again.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: I guess you.
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: I Smell Pop Culture with Eastern Allen, an iHeartRadio podcast.
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: That's right, everybody take a whiff of that. It's the
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: I Smell Pop Culture Podcast. My name is Easton Allen.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: Thank you Scott for letting me host this. I'm having
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: so much fun. We are going into the pop culture
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: references that are peppered throughout Gilmore Girls, and we are
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: putting them under a microscope and exploring the people that
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: make them pop culture pieces, the people that put them
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: into the globe, into the universe. Here and this week
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: we're talking to someone. It's two guys, it's a duo,
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: and they're behind one of the most memorable songs I
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: think of all time, a song you all know, a
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: song we have all sang, and a song that exists
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: in Gilmore Girls. But before I tell you who they are,
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: I'm going to tell you why we're talking about him. Okay,
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: here's where I want you to go mentally. I want
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: you to close your eyes. We're gonna go back to
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: a year in the life fall. This is the Netflix
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: revival of Gilmore Girls, and it's the day before Luke
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: in Loralai's wedding. Luke is trying on his suit. This
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: is a very tender moment. He comes downstairs, he looks,
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: he looks great, and Jess looks at him and his
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: reaction is where's right?
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Said Fred? When you need him? And right said Fred?
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: In case you don't know.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: Are the masterminds the geniuses behind I'm Too Sexy. I'm
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: Too Sexy was a song that released in nineteen ninety
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: one and it went number one in multiple countries all
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: over the world.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: It was this massive hit.
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: And I don't know if you guys know this about
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: the song, Like, like you know the song.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: You know I'm Too Sexy fore my shirt?
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: You know that, Okay, But what you don't know is
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: that this song has a crazy story of how it
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: came together the right, said Fred. It's Fred and Richard
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: Fair Brass. They've got roots in punk rock, in indie rock.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: These guys are really exceptional and interesting musicians. These aren't
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: just guys that came out of a dance studio and
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: just kind of made a pop song.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: No, no, no.
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: They have such a crazy background and they have such
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: an interesting approach to the music industry. And I'm so
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: excited to talk to them today, and I'm not going
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: to keep them waiting any longer. Fred and Richard Fairbrass
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: are in the waiting room. They are right, said Fred,
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: this is I small pop culture. Let's get into it.
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: We're so excited to talk to you guys. You guys
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: are such legends. I'm Too Sexy? Is this such a
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: song that stands the test of time. It is the
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: sexy song, if you ask me. Many have tried to
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: take its place, but none have achieved it. I'm Too
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: Sexy is the song. And and you guys are still
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: making music to this day. I want to go back
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: to the beginning. Though I read this about you, Richard,
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: I thought this was really interesting. You were like a
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: session bassist for some like really big artists like Boy
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: George David Bowie.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Is that right? Well? I was. I was.
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: I wouldn't want to lie. I was a video I
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: hired me because I was incredibly handsome. I didn't do
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: any work in the studio. It was it was all
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: video work, all visual.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: Oh excellent, okay, I mean, hey, that makes sense. You're
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: you're a very attractive man. Were what were those what
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: was that experience? Like, like, so you're you're playing in
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: it's a visual yeah, all right, but you're you're playing bass, right, yes.
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: Yes, So what it was was I learnt the parts
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: because I didn't know how picky people like Bowie or
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: people him and boy George it was that was It
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: wasn't basing, Okay, it was Mick jack Yeah, Mick Jager
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: was so I wasn't sure how picky they would be
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: in terms of playing the part. So although I knew
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: it was just visual, I learned the part anyway. But
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: what was into me about it was how how how
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: in a way how ordinary they are. They're just They're
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: just blokes.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: It's like I said, you know, even the President of
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: the United States has to stand aked sometimes.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Yes, and it's a bit like that. I think.
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: I think they are just blokes, very talented in one
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: way or another, but just blokes.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: And they were very enough that David bow was quite
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: shy as I remember.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: And quite mc dagg was quite boyous. Mick Dagger was
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: very boisleous. Yeah he was. Yeah, we both did that session.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: He was quite bouncing and and quite lively, yeah, yeah,
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: and shorter than I imagined. Both both small people. Yeah,
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: quite sure.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: That fascinates me so much.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: I'm always curious, like how tall they actually seem, and
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: also what they smell like. I don't know if you
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: remember their odors at all. I am fascinated about that
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: kind of thing.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: No, I never it was not on the.
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: I mean, David Bow did say smiff this once, but
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: I decided I decided not.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: To wise trust your instincts there.
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: So, so you guys had a band called The Actors before, right,
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: said Fred?
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Well, because right, said Fred.
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: Something I love about the group is that like its independent, right,
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: like you guys have done everything independent. I thought that
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: was just so cool when I realized that, it's incredible.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: The Actors was a different experience. How was that different
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: from when you guys broke out as a duo?
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: Oh? Completely different? Yeah, well that was a very I mean,
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: looking back, occasionally I listened to it. I would never
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: play them to anybody, but occasionally I listened to our demo.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: We were out there considerably at that time. It was
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: punk and two minute pops on back Bang, you know,
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: and also that in the terms of the market we
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: were in the UK, that whole pub rock things. And
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: then we went on the road with a New York
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: a New York a duo called Suicide who were very electronic,
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: very progressive band, and who were live. I thought they
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: were great, really nice guys, lovely guys, and we realized
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: that we were probably in the wrong decade.
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: But also we had a guitarist who was a big
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: a Stevie Steedee Dan fan and was very very very
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: good guitarist, big Steve Gerard.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: So yes, Mike Jerrard.
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: So it was very hard to keep Steedee Dan out
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: of what we were doing. We had all sorts of
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: extremely complicated lines and bits and pieces and stuff, you know,
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: So we.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: Had moments of books. Then what would should have been
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: a two minute pop song would have been a four
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: and a half minute sort of banity project. Yeah, banality project. Yeah.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: But Brazarrely we did get picked up, we got we
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: got signed on what Back then, there was a thing
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: called a development deal. Oh, very popular back in the seventies, eighties, nineties,
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: and what it was basically there wasn't really much of
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: a commitment. There was the record that or would give
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: you money you would commit to a certain project if
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: they if they pressed go, then the money that money
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: would go on to finish the project. If they pressed
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: stop that money would you wouldn't owe anything, but they
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: would keep your masters. You wouldn't bet you weren't able
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: to use them. And they were pretty healthy deals at
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: the time. So we did one with Electric Records, which
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: was based out of London. But then what happened actually
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: sat in this bit of a spinal chat moment. The guy,
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: the guy, the head of the am R and I
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: can remember his name. I think his name was Jeremy Thomas.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: I think, oh, yes, it was, I think it was.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: It was. He became very ill, bless him, and so
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: he got replaced and the guy who replaced him didn't
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: want to work with us, didn't like us. So it's
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: one of those things. We sort of bounced in and
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: out of deals and then we the actors we knocked
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: on the head in about nineteen eighty one, I would
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: think were the eighty. Yeah.
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: The good thing about it was we sort of learned
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: our trade, if you like, I mean we were It
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: was a and plugged in.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: We've got in the van, drove.
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: All over the country years before GPS with a map
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: on the dashboard.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: Yes, timers guted under the air.
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: That's what it was, you know, And it was, and
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: it was a really good learning cove.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you had to. I mean back then, I don't
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: know about in the States, but that the punk rock
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: and the pub the pub rocks in the UK was
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: very It was organized chaos and could be very not violent,
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: it could be very could really test your nerves and
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: you couldn't. It wasn't for the faint hearted, you know.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: And loads of bands came up through that and it
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: was it was a very good grounding, you know. You
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: couldn't you couldn't.
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: Be a you couldn't be a shrinking violet. You had
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: to be a shrinking value.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: You had to go out, which is why you had
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: a lot of those bands at the time were really
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: in your face, you know, and we're very visual or
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: quite intimidating if you like bands, bands like the Strangers,
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: I mean hw Cornwell, really good front go and and
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: I think you had to be like that to survive
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: those evenings.
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: I don't know what it's like on the West Coast now,
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: but in London back in the day there were gigs everywhere,
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: I mean every pub, every corner, thousands of gigs. You
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: couldn't trust one to hit a gig. So from that
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: point of view. In the late in the seven mid
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: to late seventies and early eighties and stuff, it was
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: actually pretty good. There are loads of places to play.
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: The sad thing is that that's all gone. Now every
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: pub is either full of guardians, or it's a chop house,
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: or it's a cafe, or it's a block of flats.
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: You know, So that roots, that kind of sort of
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: grassroots growing thing, that organic thing that enabled bands to
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: try their luck and do things has gone, which is
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: why we end up with Adele.
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's so sad because, like, especially here in America,
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: we saw so much of the punk stuff from you guys.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: By the way, I apologize on behalf of.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: America, but it's such an important community for especially young
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: people that are f figuring out where they are, where
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: they fit in. And it's so sad that there's not
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: as many places to go see that kind of music
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: and put on that kind of show. I mean, that's
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: the music that I grew up listening to. It's like
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: a punk rock in. Seeing that you guys had your
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: musical roots there was so exciting too.
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it was it was a really it was a
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: really exciting time. I mean some also some of the bands,
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: because what we've talked about the other day, actually started
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: talking about it the other day. The way musicians are now.
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: When we started off every there were there were two
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: lots of musicians. Really, there were sort of session musicians
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: and then band musicians. In the back of papers like
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: The Enemy or The Sounds or whatever, you'd have adverts,
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: you know, vocalists needed, bass player need and all that.
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: You don't have that anymore. You have you have kind
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: of corporate function bands and then you have professional bands.
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: It doesn't really it is this that kind of community
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: of just pride and see a punk and that kind
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: of attitude is all gone.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Really. But there are some bands breaking in the UK.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: There's Bank with the ratings who are beginning to get
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: some traction. Not my cup of tea at all, but
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: good luck to them and I wish them well and
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: then and they are very various sort of grassroots scene,
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: and I think that's great. And I like bands like
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: Glass Animals and Circle Away, good bands, I think, you know,
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: So there is this movement and my heart sort of
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: sinks when I see some of these bands signing to
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: a major label because I think that goods it depending
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: on how strong they are, could tune them up and
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: spit them out within eighteen months, you know, because we've
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: seen it done before, and it's partly the reason we
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: stayed independent. We did dip ato. You know, we're not
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: We're not holier than now. We don't plan. We did play.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: We did play that mainstream media role for about eighteen months,
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: maybe two years. Yeah, we tried it. Yeah, we tried it.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: And when they when when labels and managers said jump,
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: we did say how high? I mean, we did that,
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: We did all that stuff we now criticize. But after
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: about two years, I think we just looked at each
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: other and this is nonsense. So we didn't enjoy it.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: It wasn't really our thing. And we don't care. I
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: don't care if I'm in a magazine or not. I
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: don't care. I don't need to be in front of
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: the cameras. I don't I like I like playing, I
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: like touring, I like writing songs. That is it. Yeah, yeah,
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: So because the way we looked and yeah, we know,
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: you know, looking back, you know, we sort of shirts
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: off and we we asked for trouble. We asked it
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: was it was completely on us, you know, and we
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: knew we were in good shape. We lived. And also
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: the video director James Lebond, you said it is no
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: longer with us. But James was a lovely man, and
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: he said, do you not get that other bands don't
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: look like this? And in your song it says you're
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: too sexy for your shirts and you take your shirt off,
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: take it? So we did, so we did.
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: And also the other thing you don't realize when you're
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: when you're starting off, when you're a kid or younger,
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: is you don't realize the first impression you make is
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: the first impression that lasts forever.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: You don't realize that.
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: So I think you realized that back at the time,
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: we might have thought a bit harder about it. Maybe
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: maybe I don't know, I don't know, But we still
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: get people shouting get your shirt off at gigs and stuff.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: And all that nonsense, you know. So it's just the
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: way it is.
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: It's like if I went to see the Rolling Stones
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: and they didn't do satisfaction, I would feel a bit
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: a bit fed up.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: That's just the way it is.
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: The voices you're hearing are right, said Fred. That is
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: Fred and Richard fair Brass. They are brothers. They're hanging
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: out with me. We have so much more to talk
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: about I'm too Sexy. You can't cover in just a
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: little bit. You got to get into this deeper, so
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: stick around. We'll be back in one second. It's the
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: I Spell Pop Culture Podcast. If your a thirty second
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: skip button finger was moving a little too fast, you
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: have made it back to the show. We're here with
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Fred and Richard fair Brass. It's a right, said Fred.
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: I'm too sexy. I mean, just an indelible mark on
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: all of pop culture. So I read this about the song.
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: It was inspired you said, by people posing in front
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: of a mirror and a gym that you owned.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: Did you guys owned a gym?
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: That was That was just British press talking bollocks. What
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: what happened was we were in a basement studio actually
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: someone's house. They had a little old atari, you know,
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: and it was it was September. We had like what's
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: over here called the Indian Summer, which you get a
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: long summer, and we had this thing going around around
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: which is actually a song at the time called Evan,
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: but the baseline was going and Richard pretty jazzy stuff. Yes,
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: very you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's pretty complicated, pretty
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: complicated Windom file. No, they wouldn't understand, they wouldn't understand.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: And so we So this thing's going around and then
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: Richard gets up and I don't know why, but starts
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: walking around this guy's apartment. And then the guy's got
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: a mirror in his bedroom and rich takes his shirt
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: off and actually seems I'm just sexy for much uh,
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: And and it came back and sung the idea to
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: me and Rob and Robert Richard got it, and me,
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: I was a bit slow because we were working on
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: this other track and it took me a while, like
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: for think fresh and I get it, okay, all right.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: So then then we took that idea and we just
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: sawt Okay, if we're too sexy for a shirt, what
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: else could we be too sexy for? So we then
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: wrote this stupid list which included there's sorts of people there.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Then we decided to make it much more constant, like
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: things that never changed, like cities and animals and uh.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: And then with the other partner sol I'm a model
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: that was a guitar riff by Rob. So I said, well,
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: just one of us said We've just sung the bassline,
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: the guitar line, and that was it. Yeah, And I
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: had I was going out a model at the time,
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: and she'd actually said to me, I crossed my heart.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: She actually said to me, I'm a model. Do you
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: know what I mean?
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: She'd actually said it, and she did, I can't I
• 16:10
  Speaker 5: promise it, And I'm going to say her name its
• 16:12
  Speaker 5: Mike Martha Ratters and so so we did.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: So im a model, you know what I mean? You know?
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: So then we just put the two together. It took us.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: We had no money, so it took us ages to
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: pay for the studio. Time took us about six months
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: a week. And then we went round all the record companies.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: We literally, back in those days you had jadgy cassette
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: and you just fired it out to thirty forty companies,
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: which there were back then. They all said no. And
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: in fact, I'll tell you it was ilan the records.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: Island Records were hilarious because not only did they say no,
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: they then followed up with another letter or fax or
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: whatever it was back then. So not only is this
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: song so appalling, any album that features this song will
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: never sell. Wow, they really hate We were of the
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: opinion that they were wrong. We were right, and we
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: were also the opinion that we don't care about record deals.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: Who cares? So we were fortunate enough to have a
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: very young manager who was very ballsy, a girl called
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Tamsy and she said, I'll get it on the radio,
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: and bless her, she did well.
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: She said, if I get it on the radio, can
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: I be your manager?
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah? That's right, that's that was the deal. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: And so we said if you get us on the radio, yeah,
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: knock yourself out, you know so, And never thinking then
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: she says, I'm going into Radio one to see Simon Bates,
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: who had the show. It was the the Breakfast Show,
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: I think, the biggest in Europe at the time, I think,
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: And they went in with the Assetates. The old played
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: everyone it doesn't know look up Ascetate. It's a huge
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: disk like this and you can.
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: Only play it three or four times. It's it's like
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: a primary pressing.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: It's yes, yeah yeah. So when it played that and good,
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: thank Simon Bates and his producer just thought, yeah, why not,
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: let's give it a go. So they did. They played
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: it live and and the phones apparently we weren't there
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: the phones went boom, you know, and and that was it.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: We neither none, no one. If you spoke to the
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: people involved at time, they will to make out that
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: they had this plan. No one had, no one. We
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: didn't know what we were doing. They didn't know what
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: they were doing. And the record went a thousand miles
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: an hour. You couldn't keep up with it. It was
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: just a boog boom all over Europe. And then suddenly
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: we're getting at phone calls from South America and blah
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: blah blah, and then it broke in America on import,
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: broke in America on import, were top forty on import.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: And then a djai and I really wish I knew
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: his name, but we don't. DJ was a music seminar
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: thing in England in very late and this is it
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: happen was in winter, so it must have been that
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: winter ninety one. Yeah, And he happened to have a
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: drivetime show back in I think it may be in Atlanta,
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: but don't quote me. And he took it Batman. He
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: took the CV Batman and started playing it and it
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: happened to be a taste maker station. Obviously know what
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: those are. Back in the so this so something sexy
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: starts picking up everywhere and we're just sitting there and
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: and we go, what's that, What the hell's going on?
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: It was, it was extreme.
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: It was the first time when we were invited, I know,
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: in my bedsit at the time with my partner and
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: the phone rang at sort of two o'clock in the
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: morning and they were inviting us the on the Arsenio
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: Hall show. Wow, and it was the record company said
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: you've got to do this show because it's your demographic.
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: I put the phone down and I went straight to
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: a dictionary. I had no idea what demographics. I had
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: no idea. And the yeah, I mean it was it
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: was the thing about sexy also because I mean I
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: was I was not twelve. We've grown up, you know.
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: But even for me, when it became a hit abroad,
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: that's when it struck me. I suddenly thought, oh my god,
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: you can have a hit abroad. Oh my god, this
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: is so exciting. Yeah, I mean the hit in the
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: UK was the thing. But then sudden yeah, and somebody
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: else is paying for it. It was like wow. So that
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: it was a real learning curve. And but from my
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: point of view, I had no idea what I was singing.
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: I'll be abst to be honest, because I'd never sung
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: that low before. I'd always wanted to be Steve Tyler
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: or you know, one of these rockers. You know, that's
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: what I want. And I didn't really understand how low
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: my voice was, so that was sexy.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: I literally.
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: Plodded my way through it bit by bit, not really
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: understanding what I was doing.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: Well, we didn't think about it because the song, going
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: back to how we wrote it, the song was an E.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: So it's just bad. It's an email of scale.
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: Uh.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: And so if I've been if one of us have
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: been detuned, you'd be singing deep, you know, or gating
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: or whatever. You know. It just happened to be in
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: standard tuning. So that's how it was. That was the
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: low note.
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: And the weirdest thing was when we went to States
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: and did all these radio shows. They the first one
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: of the first thing they said was can you sing
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: the first line? And I remember thinking why the first
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: I don't get this, This is really weird, blah blah blah.
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: And the reason was because they thought we were played
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: around on the computer. Yes, so make it that low interesting.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: But I talked a bit like that or.
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: So, yes, but that only dawned on me. Yeah, yeah,
• 21:38
  Speaker 4: they thought we had cheated.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Cheated. Yeah, back then the technology to cheat that was
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: harder to get your hands on, really, and we certainly
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: didn't have the budget to sit there and play around
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: with that. No. So Rich is the bass baritone, which
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: is see, I mean, we've just knew, we didn't know.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: I didn't know. We've actually just had I hit about
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: four years ago the UK with a song called Tied,
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: and he's opening is a tone below that that's actually
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: that's actually bottom D open D. So his voice has
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: got lower as we've got order. So when we're about
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: eighty five with the Whales.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, some Gregorian chants when you get to that age.
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: Uh.
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: So you were saying like he struggled to pay for
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: the recording and I read that did you record it
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: at a studio that was like about to close?
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: Is that?
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: Wow? I thought that was that's so punk rock. Honestly.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: The guy they had a studio guy, a guy looking
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: after studio who I don't know what I kind of
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: I thought he wasn't an I don't know what he was. Anyway,
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: it was in the eating and he all he said was, look,
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: come and use this at night. Pay me cash. I
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: turn the blind eye, but you can't put the lights on.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: No one was so initially you just go in and
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: turn all the equipment and sit in the dark and
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: then the eventually your eyes got used to it. And
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: that's how we did this. That's how we did Sex.
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: And we also we also recorded an Italian version. Yes,
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: Spanish version, ye, French and French, but in Italy I
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: think yeah, initially my my Italian was so bad. They
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: played the English version. It was nobody could understand. Nobody
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: can understand.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: There's the vocal on the song on the on the mask,
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: on the single of Sex. It is the demo vocal. Yeah, wow,
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: we are. We will trying it a couple other times.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: And there was something Richard did on that session that's
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: particularly quirky and couldn't copy it. So he's done better
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: versions now, but at the time we could. We said
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: let's use the demo vocal. So we imported the demo
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: vocal off tape and and that's how we did it.
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that is incredible. I love that kind of thing too,
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: like hearing like like that's such a magical take and
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: now that that's the wine, you know you can't.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: It's so serendipitous, this whole thing. Yeah really thinks you
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: know us us meaning rather the whole things all. And
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: also yeah, the minute the song broke we were labeled
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: as one hit Wonders, and even without being given a
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: chance to release a second record. So when we did
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Don't Talk Just Kiss, that was a big record for us,
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: bigger the Bad abroad actually then bigger than sex in
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: certainly in Germany and Austria and even part of South America.
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: It was a bigger record. And so that we were
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: that in a way, we were happier with that because
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: it's stopped that one hit. We still although we still
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: get the one hit wonder because people just like to
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: be rude. And although I actually don't think one hit
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: Wonder is it's better than no hit wonder. Yes, And
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: also I think also I think there are some some
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: of the bands, when we see our name come up
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: one hit Wonder, I look at the other bands who
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: must be thinking what we're thinking. But we've had lots
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: of other hits. But for example, we've toured in Europe
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: with Nina, you know, Red Blues. She is such so famous,
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: you can't about that, and she's a really really good band,
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: and that we turn with them. They were lovely. But
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: we see her name pop up, we see all sorts
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: of people's names pop up. We going, what are you
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: talking about? These people have had also hits. But the industry,
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: like the industry is quite conservative. He likes labels. You're
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: a rock band, you're a punk band, you've had one hit,
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: you've had teen it. They don't. There's there's very little
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: nuance in the industry. Is incredibly narrow minded and petty.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: That's why it's way more narrow minded than punters. Yeah,
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: audiences worldwide are much more receptive to weird ideas and
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: weird attitudes and all that. But the labels, labels and
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: managers think that they they think they think like this.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: They just don't know, you know, which is why you
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: have bands like you know, I mean, Matt, who would
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: sign Madness? Now? Who would sign Madness? Can't dance that?
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: There's no girls, you know that.
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: None of them, none of them are particularly pretty, you know,
• 25:57
  Speaker 4: do you know what I mean?
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: So that's what I love.
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: I love the fact that it's so when you let
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: punters decide what they like and what they don't like.
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: It's completely unpredictable. Yeah, that was a good thing about
• 26:07
  Speaker 4: Spinning Records. I definitely familiar with Spinning records. Uh they were.
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: I think a Danish I think, and their thing was
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: they have a they have a list of songs on
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: the website and your audiences go in and choose. And
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: that's that's not a bad way of doing which is
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: why you had studio killers with uh ah, what's that song?
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: Great song student, but I can't remember it's one with
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: the cartoon Okay, right, but that's I quite like that.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, now we've actually just been offered it. We
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: got offer a record deal. A major comes to us
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: about every three years on average, and do you want
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: to do a deal, And we always talk to them
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: because we're not anti major label at all, but they
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: always do the same thing. They say, we want you
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: to do this, but we don't do that. We do this.
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: They never talk about the music. They never talk about it.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, talk about concepts, beta, data, followers, platforms, platforms, collaborations,
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: media partners. That's the conversation you have. Yeah, so where
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: that's why we tend to work on our not on
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: our own but we tend to work at a very
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: small and it's why I was so poor.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: It's Fred and Richard fair Brass, better known as Right.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: Said Fred.
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: We're having so much fun with them on Icepell Pop Culture,
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: but we got to play some commercials really quick. Stick around,
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: We'll be right back. It's the Icebell Pop Culture podcast.
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: I'm hanging out with, Right, said Fred. That's Fred and
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: Richard Fairbrass. They are just these guys are great. I'm
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: having so much fun with these guys. So here's the thing.
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: I'm Too Sexy came out in ninety one or when
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: it hit. It's still such a mass hit today. I mean,
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: and you have artists like Drake Beyonce, Taylor Swift like
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: sampling it, like what's your reaction when especially Taylor Swift,
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: I mean she use elements of it for look what
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: you made me do? What's your reaction to that?
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: Well, it's not a sample. It's what's called interpolating.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Yes, yes.
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: An interpolation means someone comes to your song and says, well,
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: I like that bit of that song. I'm going to
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: take that bit of your song and I'm going to
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: use it in my song. And if they're really nice
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: like Taylor Swift and Drake and Beyonce. They will do
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: the right thing and they will go, we're nicking a
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: bit of your song. You can be on the writing credits,
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: which is what this should happen. Unfortunately, lots of artists
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: out there that don't do that. They just try and
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: live off. But they were very sweet, Taylor Swift. They
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: all treat us really well, particularly Drake and Taylor Swift,
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: very respectful and no sort of no sort of egos
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: find around. They just Drake in particularly, he said us
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: the demo, Wow, yeah, we got the Devil. What do
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: you think you're like a thirty second clip or something?
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: And or whoever sent up and met one of his people,
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: you know, and they said, we hope you like this.
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: You know, it's what's what we're planning to do.
• 29:10
  Speaker 4: We thought about sending it back saying no made that.
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: After so wait, those two tracks in particular, I really
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: like them. I think I think they've done a really
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: really good job. And what's nice about it it's sexy. Yeah,
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: we we we there's a when it's the summertime over there,
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: we set outside cafes or restaurants and we get these
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: young kids you know. I mean they're still much younger
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: than my daughter. You know, they're in their mid early
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: mid teens. You those guys that did that song with
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: tailors and we go, yeah, yeah, we cover that and
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: then we do photos. So we're doing photos. It's really
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: nice that that generational thing is happening. And I think
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: that's a real blessing to have that to be an
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: appeal to people who, yeah, they won't know our other song,
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: so they probably don't care. That's absolutely fine, but so
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: I like bridging that gap.
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: Also, there's another side to it, which is when Sexually
• 30:07
  Speaker 4: first wrote, a mother wrote to us and her son
• 30:10
  Speaker 4: had just died from leukemia. I think he was seven,
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: and he had requested that he wanted to be buried
• 30:17
  Speaker 4: with an I'm Too Sexy CD and T shirt. And
• 30:21
  Speaker 4: that's suddenly you think, actually, it's more to this. You
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: can take the mickey and you can run it, you know,
• 30:27
  Speaker 4: run it down as much as you like. But every
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: artist that's been touched in that way, or a song
• 30:33
  Speaker 4: that's been involved that way, it just you suddenly have
• 30:36
  Speaker 4: to take what you do not you don't take it seriously,
• 30:38
  Speaker 4: but you don't ridicule it as you might be tempted
• 30:41
  Speaker 4: to do it, shouldn't and you shouldn't know I should
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: forget that.
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: What a special thing to have a connection to have
• 30:49
  Speaker 3: with your fans, Like, what a special moment there. And
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: then also I was thinking about this, like I'm too sexy,
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: as you know, you're having fun with it.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: It's a very fun song.
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: But at the same time, I think about all the
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: people that play that song and looked at themselves in the.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: Mirror and said like, yeah, I am sexy.
• 31:03
  Speaker 3: I am too, say, like the confidence that you guys
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: have inspired in people for decades now is just it's tremendous.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: It's incredible.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah. We had a letter actually not long ago from
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: a trauma surgeon and she she does a lot of
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: car crashes and in them she's she's on the wrong
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: side of it when they come to hospital and amestic
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: violence related stuff and that's her thing, trauma surgery. And
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: she said, and she was realcienting she said, I play
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: your stuff on the way to work because I have
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: to go in there feeling happy, she said, because I
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: know I'm going to come out feeling sad. And she said,
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: that's how I deal with this. And she just wrote
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: a little letters saying thank you so much for upbeat music,
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: all this sort of stuff, and that's to us. That's
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: really precious because I know it's pretty. You know, I
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: don't know where good we're happy and fun music's gone.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: I don't know where it's gone. But there's a lot
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: of people moaning about their their ex partners and their
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: not having any money, which is great, but it gets
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: very boring, and so I I kind of I think
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: it's nice to be to do that to people. When
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: we do a gig by want people to come out
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: fling better than when they walked in. That's our goal
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: and if we can do that, then it's a success.
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: If we can't, then we've failed.
• 32:18
  Speaker 4: Also, if you cast your mind back to some of
• 32:20
  Speaker 4: that seventies disco, oh you know it was pure had
• 32:24
  Speaker 4: a good time really, I was actually the Good Times
• 32:27
  Speaker 4: by Yeah, Bernard.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: Edwards, the Bah. It's like God's gone down, You're going
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: to be great and he's playing it. I was some
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: of that.
• 32:40
  Speaker 4: Stuff was really Earthing the Fire and Sister Sledge all that.
• 32:43
  Speaker 4: I mean, just great stuff, really really fantastic.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it.
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: And in your contribution to making the world feel good,
• 32:51
  Speaker 3: it's just it's astounding, and I appreciate it so much.
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: I'm so curious, like when when Angie Sexy was like
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: just in the stratosphere.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: It's just like at it's height.
• 33:00
  Speaker 3: Was there a moment where you guys were like walking
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: around and like you heard it on TV or something
• 33:07
  Speaker 3: like that. We heard it kind of like in an
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: unexpected place and went like, oh my god, this is
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: like do you have a memory like that?
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: Interesting? When we were in Miami and we had hired
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: a convertible thunderbird I think it was a thunderbird, Yeah,
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: and we thought let's go for a drive. So we're
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: driving around Coconut Grove and all that saver Aia and
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: we're just we're serving all the radio, which what you
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: used to do about then, and literally we came in
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: and said this this week's this week number one, This
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: America's number one. This week is right, so fred Unti
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: section and we were like, that was here on the
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: radio was extraordinary, Yeah, And it was just really fortuitous
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: that we were at that moment.
• 33:54
  Speaker 4: It was quite scary actually, I mean America, or at
• 33:57
  Speaker 4: least for me, was quite scary because it was so
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: huge and we've never been there. Before, not what we had,
• 34:03
  Speaker 4: but not in that way. And there was there seemed
• 34:06
  Speaker 4: to me to be an awful lot of pressure on us,
• 34:09
  Speaker 4: and I didn't quite know why, and I wasn't sure
• 34:12
  Speaker 4: what we were doing and what sort of song is this?
• 34:14
  Speaker 4: And you know, the whole thing was very confusing to
• 34:16
  Speaker 4: start with.
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: But what America does the entertainment industry is they take
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: fame incredibly seriously. Yes, so, because they see it as
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: an asset. I guess, you know in the UK and
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: Europe they don't. They famous just some byproduct that comes
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: from having a get record. America, it's this sort of
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: machine which we weren't prepared for at all, and it's
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: a very different mindset. And it doesn't matter what if
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: you ever speak to any band in the world outside
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: of America, if they say America bigg in the American billboard,
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: it's not the Holy Grail. They're like, every single band
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: wants to be on the billboard, every single band. It
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: is because it's a it is the seal of a
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: not of approval. But it's like, yes, that because that
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: the charts in America filter out much greater than any
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: other countries.
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: America, because you guys, evangelize your music. Yeah, that's what
• 35:11
  Speaker 4: I like, you really do. I mean, there's some great
• 35:13
  Speaker 4: bands in Spain, and there's great bands in Germany and Itiba,
• 35:16
  Speaker 4: but they're not evangelized, they're not sold to the world.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: And I like what I like about the American thing.
• 35:21
  Speaker 4: I like the fact that you evangelize everything you do,
• 35:24
  Speaker 4: whether it's Andy Warhol or music or doesn't matter what
• 35:28
  Speaker 4: it is.
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: Everybody knows about it, you know. But we did it.
• 35:32
  Speaker 4: We have never I had never heard of Wayne's world
• 35:34
  Speaker 4: at all. It wasn't something that we'd never heard of.
• 35:37
  Speaker 4: But we were doing we were having a break during
• 35:40
  Speaker 4: a promotion round at a diner and we came out
• 35:45
  Speaker 4: of this diner walking down some steps to the car
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: park and these two motorbike guys, I mean, all dressed
• 35:50
  Speaker 4: in leather with the whole thing getting off the off
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: their heart is and they collapsed onto their knees and
• 35:56
  Speaker 4: did this whole we're not working.
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: And I had no idea what they were talking about. It.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: We had an American tour manager and he explained it
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: to us. Yeah, yeah, we didn't know, no, so we
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: weren't familiar. Then once we did spring Break, which we
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: did with spinal tap. Fantastic And once we did that,
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: we tapped into that sort of new culture, if what
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: they want to call it. Yes, so way's well we
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: understood and butt head and beavers and all this other
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: stuff that came along at the time, you know, but
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: before that we were a little bit out the loop.
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: We were you know, like I said, the record happened
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: so fast. We literally went from nobody knowing who we
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: were to a lot of a lot of people that
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: it wasn't overnight success, but it had this effect as
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: opposed to it wasn't gradual, it wasn't a word of mouth.
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: It just went bang like that. It was also you
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: totally you do think you're ready for it. You just do,
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: and actually you're not. You're not.
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: And so when people when people are famous at the
• 36:57
  Speaker 4: age of twenty, I just think you pulled both. Yeah,
• 37:00
  Speaker 4: just jumping beaver, for Heaven's sake, God bless him. But
• 37:04
  Speaker 4: you know, to be that famous and to look as
• 37:07
  Speaker 4: pretty as he did, he was too pretty to live really, yeah,
• 37:10
  Speaker 4: and to be surrounded by people who just apparent, as
• 37:14
  Speaker 4: far as I can see, didn't really care. That's pretty
• 37:17
  Speaker 4: typical business. Actually, you've got to have some good friends
• 37:20
  Speaker 4: that have a good family and people who care about
• 37:22
  Speaker 4: you to withstand all that stuff.
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: So the artists I really my heart you know when
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: I when I see them appearing, you know I knew
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: a new name or whatever, I just think, oh God,
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: I hope they've got someone around who gives us because
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: I look look at a Vichy. Yeah, it's horrible what
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: the industry can do if you let it, if you
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: let it absolutely.
• 37:44
  Speaker 3: And I also wanted to ask you guys, is what
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: advice do you have for an artist that's starting out now, Like,
• 37:51
  Speaker 3: because you just had every possible experience you can have
• 37:54
  Speaker 3: in the music industry. And I know it's different for everybody,
• 37:57
  Speaker 3: but like, if someone's out there and they have a
• 38:00
  Speaker 3: hit song, they got labels coming at them, they don't
• 38:03
  Speaker 3: know what to do.
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: What advice do you have for an artist like that?
• 38:05
  Speaker 4: Billy Joel said the only two things you need are
• 38:08
  Speaker 4: a good lawyer and a gun. That's what he said.
• 38:14
  Speaker 4: I think, Well, one of the things we agree on
• 38:17
  Speaker 4: is always own your product as much as you can
• 38:20
  Speaker 4: own your product, and try and find people that you try.
• 38:24
  Speaker 4: I know it sounds a bit a bit a big ask,
• 38:26
  Speaker 4: but try and find people that you trust. Only work
• 38:28
  Speaker 4: with people you like. And we've been roped in a
• 38:31
  Speaker 4: couple of times by people who just span us the deal.
• 38:33
  Speaker 4: You played us like violins absolutely looking back and when
• 38:37
  Speaker 4: it when when somebody is being too friendly too quickly, Yeah,
• 38:41
  Speaker 4: step back.
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: And have a think. So we have to realize is
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: you tend to think the guy you're talking to knows
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: more than you do or the girl. And you have
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: to remember you'r the asset. You have, that song, you have,
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: you have that content, and that might be your pension.
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: It might be if you're very, very So don't piss away,
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: don't don't don't sell it short. Don't sell it short.
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: Do not go into a meeting unless you've got some leverage. No, no,
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: you know you're worth don't go in there, you know.
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: Can you please help me? That's yeah.
• 39:13
  Speaker 4: That's the thing is the bat bands, artists, whatever. In
• 39:16
  Speaker 4: the early stages, they think the guy on the other
• 39:18
  Speaker 4: side of the desk knows all the stuff, and he doesn't.
• 39:22
  Speaker 4: For the most part, they don't know. And what you
• 39:25
  Speaker 4: forget as an artist is that you had the thing
• 39:27
  Speaker 4: they want, that all the power is yours. But artists
• 39:31
  Speaker 4: don't artists don't remember that. It's really really important to
• 39:34
  Speaker 4: remember that the power is yours. It's like you've got
• 39:37
  Speaker 4: a fistful of diamonds and they want it. Well, you've
• 39:41
  Speaker 4: got that. That's the leverage right there. Yeah, you don't
• 39:43
  Speaker 4: have to bow down and say thank you. You just
• 39:46
  Speaker 4: you know, be bi, put your shoulders back and stand tall.
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and have the balls to walk away if it
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: doesn't feel right. Yeah, it won't suddenly feel right. It
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: will continue. So you don't think right when this happens
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: to be right with that, No, notework. If it's wrong now,
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: it will always be wrong, So that would be I'll
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: just you know, try and be brave. I'm not. It's
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: difficult because you want to deal, you want to be
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: on TV, you want to you want you want to
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: play music for a living. But if you if you
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: start wrong, it will end wrong. There's no doubt about that.
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: That's true.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: That that's great advice, guys, thank you.
• 40:19
  Speaker 4: And uh.
• 40:20
  Speaker 3: That's something that I think the industry has really like pushed,
• 40:24
  Speaker 3: especially in America, is like making music is fun. Aren't
• 40:28
  Speaker 3: you lucky to get to do that? I'm going to
• 40:31
  Speaker 3: now you get to do it for me and I'm
• 40:33
  Speaker 3: the key to that. And it's like, hey, anyone can
• 40:36
  Speaker 3: like draft up a contract. Only a special few people
• 40:39
  Speaker 3: can write a song. I mean, that's that is the value.
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: It is the value. You have to remember that minute.
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: You hear all the time. But here's the contract. Oh,
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: by the way, it's non negotiable. Everything's it's just blak
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: or somebody who signed.
• 40:54
  Speaker 4: Seriously, we actually know somebody who signed a black piece
• 40:56
  Speaker 4: of paper and then managed to put it later.
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, yes, honest, So you're right, anyone can drop
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: a contract. But writing and writing a hit song, even
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: if even if you hate that song, it doesn't matter
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: that person wrote it, and and and and and it's delibered.
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: You know, there's lots of people out there, very successful
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: who I don't get it. I don't understand why are
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: they successful, but nearly they are in good luck to
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: the it's my think.
• 41:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think, particularly these days, if you can make
• 41:25
  Speaker 4: a living out of the music industry, well done, really,
• 41:29
  Speaker 4: because it's even more so now it's it's so constrained.
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so much money has left it.
• 41:36
  Speaker 4: And as Fed said, when we started off, there were
• 41:38
  Speaker 4: labels everywhere, gigs everywhere, and now.
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: It's about four or four labels whatever. I know.
• 41:43
  Speaker 4: So, yeah it is if you're making money, good luck
• 41:46
  Speaker 4: to you.
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're not really into that slagging off artist thing.
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: I saw a quote from Nor Gallagher the other day
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: slagging off Phil Collins. I mean, seriously, mate, Phil Collins.
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: Collins has got more talent in this little toe No,
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: and and to slag off someone, you know, I don't
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: get it, just to let people be don't get on
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: with it.
• 42:06
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, exactly, particularly with film Collins sing gpe songwriter.
• 42:13
  Speaker 4: You know, just is it is what it is.
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: So tell me about the music you guys you're making now,
• 42:18
  Speaker 3: Like wait, wait, if people want to come and hear
• 42:20
  Speaker 3: a new rape, said Fred Staff.
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: Right, well, we are in the middle of a very
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: bizarre project.
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: We have booked up with a couple of remixes called
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: Ward and there's also this weird character that we're involved
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: with called Bunny Tangent Stitch. Yeah, and it's out there man,
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: and it's a new song called It's not the new Rights,
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: said Fred Single. But it's the record we're involved in,
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: and it's called Wunderbars, and that is doing the rounds
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: on social media. Moment that gets released in about ten
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: days and we might be coming to La to do
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: a launch because there's some people have heard it over
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: there and they think we should definitely be over there,
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: So we might over there in August, right, that would
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: be That'll be all our platforms. So it's it's a
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: very bizarre little track. And then we're then we've got
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: a writer friend single which will be out end of
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: August September. That's called Raise your Hands. That's more typical
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: of what we do kind of for on the floor,
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: euphoric stuff, you know. Yeah, and that'll be outs really good. Yeah,
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: and we've got it's got We've got a bit on
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: that track. It's quite a bit tougher. Guitars are heavier,
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: beats heavier, so that's an interesting sounding record.
• 43:32
  Speaker 4: Also, when we play live at my age, I need
• 43:34
  Speaker 4: to wake up on state, so you know, otherwise that does.
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: We think we're not now?
• 43:46
  Speaker 3: Oh God, you guys are the couset dudes who have
• 43:48
  Speaker 3: ever lived. I am loving this so much. I have
• 43:51
  Speaker 3: one more question before I let you guys go. So this,
• 43:55
  Speaker 3: this podcast is about Gilmour Girls, This show that we love.
• 43:59
  Speaker 3: It's it's a comfort show for a lot of people
• 44:01
  Speaker 3: like they watch it every far. I'm Too Sexy was
• 44:05
  Speaker 3: mentioned in the show, which is the basis of our
• 44:08
  Speaker 3: conversation here.
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: And I want to know, do you guys have like.
• 44:11
  Speaker 3: A comfort TV show that you like to look like
• 44:14
  Speaker 3: you you just put it on to fall asleep or
• 44:16
  Speaker 3: something like that.
• 44:18
  Speaker 4: Brazier Yeah, Brasier Wow. I thought that was that whole
• 44:22
  Speaker 4: the whole season, all seasons, apart from maybe the last
• 44:25
  Speaker 4: one or two. It was genius right.
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: The way through.
• 44:29
  Speaker 4: And there's a couple of episodes of Seinfeld You're Big five.
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's Bizarro, Yes, Jerry, And there's the one where
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: the opposite George has to do the opposite. Everything he's
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: ever done is stupid, So it's you know, and he
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: goes to make a decision, he goes, bo I'm gonna
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: do And so there's about I'm not a huge fan
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: of all the sidfle stuff, but those there's two three
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: episodes I think are really really really great. And Brasier
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: right across the board.
• 45:00
  Speaker 4: What was really good about phrasing was that was the
• 45:02
  Speaker 4: colors colors when they started going outside, you know, they
• 45:07
  Speaker 4: did a thing in this in a fish market or something.
• 45:10
  Speaker 4: I think it's and once the colours changed, it changed
• 45:13
  Speaker 4: the mood.
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: It was all that.
• 45:14
  Speaker 4: It was all those earth colors on the set that
• 45:17
  Speaker 4: worked really, really well. So every every week when you
• 45:19
  Speaker 4: churched back in the day, whenever you tuned in, it
• 45:23
  Speaker 4: was the same color as the same coat. He put
• 45:25
  Speaker 4: the keys down in the same place, Marty was in
• 45:27
  Speaker 4: the same chair. That was incredibly company and it was
• 45:30
  Speaker 4: very well written, brilliantly written.
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: Two, there's a couple of European there's a French detective
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: series which is quite old now actually called Spiral, and
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: we watched that sometimes. We watched it. We know exactly
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: what's going to happen. It's fantastic. And the way the
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: French police in this are depicted and the way they
• 45:49
  Speaker 2: treat they knock everybody around. It's like the shield, the
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: shield just whacking everybody. Funny. There's a few, yeah, like
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: that lot of songs or whatever people have that little
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: go to that's good. Yeah. Yeah, for me, it would
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: definitely be Frasier.
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it. You guys are just so cool.
• 46:08
  Speaker 3: Friend Richard fair Prass again right, said Fred, This has
• 46:11
  Speaker 3: been so much fun. I thank you guys for the
• 46:13
  Speaker 3: music you've made and the inspiration continue to be for
• 46:17
  Speaker 3: artists all over the world.
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: Just the absolutely greatest you guys, thank you.
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: We'll send you a clip of this other thing.
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it.
• 46:22
  Speaker 3: Yes, and everyone go listen to everything right said Fred
• 46:25
  Speaker 3: is making. Just listen to it all by the albums,
• 46:28
  Speaker 3: buy it all.
• 46:29
  Speaker 4: Hey.
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much
• 47:00
  Speaker 3: Everybody, and don't forget Follow us on Instagram at I
• 47:04
  Speaker 3: Am all In podcast and email us at Gilmore at
• 47:08
  Speaker 3: iHeartRadio dot com.