Latest / Troubled Men Podcast / TMP315 JOE ADRAGNA: 1973 NERVOUS BREAKDOWN

Transcript

TMP315 JOE ADRAGNA: 1973 NERVOUS BREAKDOWN · Troubled Men Podcast

• 0:15
  Speaker A: Greetings, troubled listeners. Welcome back to the Troubled Men podcast. I am Renee Coleman, sitting once again in Snake and Jake's Christmas Club Lounge in the heart of the Clempire with my co host, the original troubled man for troubled times and future mayor of New Orleans, Mr. Manny Chevrolet. Welcome, Manny.
• 0:34
  Speaker B: The future is unwritten.
• 0:36
  Speaker A: That's what they say, you know, it's.
• 0:37
  Speaker B: Unwritten and I want to add some verbs to it.
• 0:41
  Speaker A: Okay? Nouns too, huh?
• 0:44
  Speaker B: Nouns and verbs. See what happens.
• 0:47
  Speaker A: Consonants. Yeah, yeah, I saw the. Another guy came out today as throwing his hat. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Royce Roy.
• 0:56
  Speaker B: That's kind of a cool name.
• 0:58
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 1:00
  Speaker B: I wonder what his slogan will be.
• 1:02
  Speaker A: I don't know.
• 1:02
  Speaker B: Hop on board the Rolls Royce. Okay, maybe that would be a good one for him. I don't know. What is duplessy? What is that, French?
• 1:10
  Speaker A: It is. It is French.
• 1:11
  Speaker B: It's French.
• 1:12
  Speaker A: I'm not sure what it means, but yeah, something about two. I don't know, I don't know.
• 1:20
  Speaker B: Two plessies.
• 1:21
  Speaker A: Yes, exactly.
• 1:22
  Speaker B: What's a plessy?
• 1:23
  Speaker A: Well, I don't know.
• 1:26
  Speaker B: If anyone out there know what a plessy is, give us a call real quick, let us know over the Internet, the computer stuff.
• 1:33
  Speaker A: And, and, well, so when, when they were announcing on television his, his, you know, addition to the, the lineup of candidates, they showed the whole field there.
• 1:43
  Speaker B: Yeah. How many are there now?
• 1:45
  Speaker A: There's like seven or eight.
• 1:46
  Speaker B: Okay, well, that's usually the case.
• 1:48
  Speaker A: It's, it's. Yeah, it's getting, getting pretty lively.
• 1:51
  Speaker B: Yeah. When the incumbent can't run again, that's what happens. You get a lot.
• 1:55
  Speaker A: Everybody jumps in.
• 1:56
  Speaker B: You get. You got a lot of people saying, hey, maybe I got.
• 1:59
  Speaker A: Have this one guy and I, I saw. Are you. Have you familiar with all the candidates?
• 2:03
  Speaker B: No, I haven't.
• 2:03
  Speaker A: So.
• 2:04
  Speaker B: So I saw him.
• 2:04
  Speaker A: I'm like, it's this guy Ricky Twigs. I was like, ricky Twigs, That's a. Interesting name. It might actually be Ricky Twigs Jr. Just to not be confused with Ricky Twiggs Senior. But. But I thought, hmm, what's that guy's story? So I actually did some research just in the last hour or so and started looking him up. And he's an interesting little fellow there, you know, he's not a joke candidate.
• 2:31
  Speaker B: Although you say little fellas that mean like a midget?
• 2:34
  Speaker A: Well, he's a slight guy.
• 2:36
  Speaker B: Slight guy.
• 2:37
  Speaker A: It's a slight build. Yeah, yeah, he's a younger dude. Younger kid, you know, I guess he's in his 20s, maybe late 20s.
• 2:44
  Speaker B: Good for him.
• 2:45
  Speaker A: But, but he has an interesting. Not a political background, apparently. He. He brought 3D printing. He does a lot of consulting jobs and. But, but really, when I looked at it and looked at its material, I thought. And I was playing one of them out loud. My wife said, that sounds like AI I said, you're right, it does sound.
• 3:06
  Speaker B: Like AI so maybe he's not a real candidate.
• 3:09
  Speaker A: He might just be an AI candidate, as far as I. As I can tell, because I bet.
• 3:12
  Speaker B: He gets the most votes.
• 3:14
  Speaker A: He might.
• 3:15
  Speaker B: He might get the most.
• 3:16
  Speaker A: Well, you know, I saw something on the Internet recently that there's a band that's completely made up. AI Band that has. Has gotten like a million streams on Spotify in the last two weeks.
• 3:30
  Speaker B: Now, what does AI stand for?
• 3:32
  Speaker A: Artificial intelligence.
• 3:33
  Speaker B: Oh, okay. Which this whole world is based on now. Right.
• 3:37
  Speaker A: Well, I mean, where it seems to be getting there. I mean, this show is completely untouched by. I said this before. By artificial intelligence.
• 3:44
  Speaker B: Yeah. Or any intelligence.
• 3:45
  Speaker A: Any intelligence at all, in many cases.
• 3:47
  Speaker B: Now, Ricky Twigs, do you see a bio on him? Does he. What's his.
• 3:52
  Speaker A: Well, well, I haven't seen like any. Any official thing. I just did a little quick cursory.
• 3:57
  Speaker B: And he's officially going to run.
• 3:59
  Speaker A: He's. He's running as an independent candidate.
• 4:01
  Speaker B: Now, we'll have to see because qualifying is next week between Wednesday and Friday.
• 4:06
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 4:06
  Speaker B: If this person is just AI, is someone going to come in and say, I'm Ricky Twigs and have to sign all the paperwork and pay the. Pay the fees?
• 4:15
  Speaker A: Well, he. I would say he must have already done that for the.
• 4:18
  Speaker B: No, you can't. No, you can't do it till the 9th and the 11th. Even though, like Helena, they've announced. But they've announced they haven't qualified.
• 4:26
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 4:27
  Speaker B: Because qualifying is from July 9th to 11th.
• 4:30
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 4:30
  Speaker B: I mean, anyone can say, yeah, I'm running for mayor.
• 4:32
  Speaker A: Right, Right.
• 4:32
  Speaker B: But until they qualify and pay the fee, then they're not on the ballot.
• 4:38
  Speaker A: Well, I wonder why they're. Why the already, you know, WDSU is already showing these people. I mean, they didn't have nooney man up there. I'm guessing that he's probably going to run.
• 4:47
  Speaker B: Well, yeah, I sure is a good guy. But no, because these, these candidates and these are the big wigs, the ones with money. And they announced I'm going and. Hey, what's happening, brother?
• 4:58
  Speaker A: All right, man.
• 4:59
  Speaker B: All right. I'm gonna run and. But yet I haven't officially.
• 5:05
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 5:06
  Speaker B: Be put on the ballot until you pay that. Because that's why I Never announce it. Why? I could. Anyone can announce it.
• 5:11
  Speaker A: Right. Right.
• 5:11
  Speaker B: Two years ago, I could have said I'm running for marriage.
• 5:14
  Speaker A: 20, 25 might not have been a bad idea. Get the jump on him, you know?
• 5:18
  Speaker B: Well, I. I got. I'm a busy guy.
• 5:20
  Speaker A: I know. You're still. You're waiting till the last minute to decide. I know.
• 5:24
  Speaker B: Anything?
• 5:25
  Speaker A: Sure. Yeah.
• 5:26
  Speaker B: You know, but I hope. I don't know. I don't think he can run, but maybe this Twigs guy will get Massy as his running mate.
• 5:36
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 5:37
  Speaker B: He just got caught. Right.
• 5:38
  Speaker A: Antoine Massey.
• 5:39
  Speaker B: Antoine Massey, that's right. What? There's one guy left. One of the. One.
• 5:44
  Speaker A: Yeah, Groves. Yeah, the guys.
• 5:47
  Speaker B: And I'm sure he's, like, next door right now.
• 5:50
  Speaker A: Well, probably.
• 5:51
  Speaker B: So Massey was just in your. Kind of close to where you was he and. Holly Grove.
• 5:56
  Speaker A: Oh, was he in Holly Grove? I saw the. I saw the takedown down, but I couldn't tell where they were. I missed the beginning.
• 6:01
  Speaker B: Holly Grove.
• 6:02
  Speaker A: Oh, okay. Right. In my neighborhood.
• 6:03
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 6:04
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 6:04
  Speaker B: So he'd been there and, you know, money talk. So I don't care how close you are to somebody, but if someone says, I'll give you 50 grand to tell me where this is, sure. I'll say yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, so he's done. And he was the mastermind of the great OPP Escape.
• 6:22
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 6:22
  Speaker B: Or Ops. What is it?
• 6:24
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. It's Orleans Parish. Or Orleans now. Here's the justice center. Yeah.
• 6:31
  Speaker B: He's only. He was arrested for domestic abuse. Now, the girl who he abused apparently was helping him hide out.
• 6:39
  Speaker A: Yeah. So. So what if she says all's forgiven?
• 6:42
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 6:43
  Speaker A: Maybe.
• 6:43
  Speaker B: Can they charge him still? They can charge him with escape.
• 6:46
  Speaker A: Oh, well, yeah.
• 6:47
  Speaker B: But they can't charge him with abusing her if she says it's all right. Well, I kind of dig it.
• 6:53
  Speaker A: The state. The state could charge him, but she definitely charged her with a bed, all kind of stuff.
• 6:58
  Speaker B: Y.
• 6:59
  Speaker A: You know, you have her under the jail.
• 7:01
  Speaker B: They seem like good people.
• 7:02
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 7:03
  Speaker B: I don't know. I think I might get tattoos on my face when I run.
• 7:07
  Speaker A: Wow.
• 7:08
  Speaker B: You know, just yes and no.
• 7:10
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 7:11
  Speaker B: I don't know. On each cheek.
• 7:13
  Speaker A: Right?
• 7:13
  Speaker B: I don't know. We'll see. Yeah, we'll see what happens. Because I'm. I. I'm getting a little too old for it. And the paperwork. So much paperwork.
• 7:24
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 7:24
  Speaker B: You know, that's why. That's why. That's why I always lean, you know, towards not running because of the paperwork. You know, there's a lot of paperwork And I don't have the staff.
• 7:34
  Speaker A: Yeah, you know, I don't have the staff, so.
• 7:37
  Speaker B: I hear you, you know, but anyway, what else is going on?
• 7:40
  Speaker A: Well, you know, apparently the, the Diddy verdict has come in, but they just can't tell us what it is.
• 7:48
  Speaker B: Oh, okay.
• 7:50
  Speaker A: It's, it's a partial verdict. So they're, they, they can't decide on the RICO count. It's, there's still, they're trying to just submit the, the verdict on the other four counts or something. And.
• 8:03
  Speaker B: Well, if he does get convicted, I'm sure he'll plead to our fearless leader to get him out.
• 8:08
  Speaker A: He could very well get a pardon. Yeah.
• 8:11
  Speaker B: Get a pardon from our.
• 8:12
  Speaker A: Seems like the kind of guy that would get pardoned.
• 8:14
  Speaker B: Yeah. And our fearless leader would pardon that kind of guy.
• 8:18
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 8:19
  Speaker B: You know, but. Yeah, we'll see what happens. My testimony apparently didn't do, didn't, didn't sway the jury. As far as I know.
• 8:27
  Speaker A: It might be the thing that's hanging him up.
• 8:29
  Speaker B: I kept complaining about the room they put me up in New York.
• 8:33
  Speaker A: I could see that.
• 8:33
  Speaker B: I said, well, Mr. Chevrolet, did you see Mr. Combs do this? I go, you know, you put me up in a Holiday Inn. You know, I have to go down for breakfast. I can't get room service. You know, I was very, I was complaining a lot about that.
• 8:47
  Speaker A: Now you want to know my opinion?
• 8:48
  Speaker B: Yeah, now you weren't interested in my.
• 8:50
  Speaker A: Opinion when, when book in the room.
• 8:52
  Speaker B: Right.
• 8:53
  Speaker A: You know, I can do something for you. All right.
• 8:56
  Speaker B: New York owes me one. I got the DA's office in New York.
• 9:00
  Speaker A: Yeah, well, yeah, probably. It's probably a two way street, man.
• 9:03
  Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, well, that's true. I lived there in the 80s. A lot of stuff I got away with.
• 9:09
  Speaker A: We've all done some favors.
• 9:10
  Speaker B: Go ahead.
• 9:11
  Speaker A: Oh, I don't know. You had something.
• 9:13
  Speaker B: Well, I discovered something very interesting and curious and I think it might be one of my campaigns. Things to promise the people of this great parish.
• 9:22
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 9:23
  Speaker B: Orleans.
• 9:24
  Speaker A: Right. Orleans parish.
• 9:26
  Speaker B: Now, in Finland, did you know in Finland they're, they're the shyest people in the world? They don't cause trouble. They don't want to do anything.
• 9:33
  Speaker A: They just want to drink.
• 9:34
  Speaker B: Well, they want to drink and they want to watch TV and drink and eat their raw fish or whatever they do. I've never been to Finland, but I hear it's, they're very shy people. But do you know that they have a law in Finland, if you get caught speeding in your car, and they have the same speed limits as we do. Maybe not Germany or, you know, but anyway. But if you get caught speeding, your fine that you get for speeding is based on your income.
• 10:06
  Speaker A: Really?
• 10:07
  Speaker B: Yeah. So if you're like a person who only makes like maybe $15,000 a year, you're a part time worker, you get caught speeding, your ticket might be like 20%, you know, like 30 bucks. But if you're like a millionaire in Finland and you get caught speeding and you make $5 million a year, your speeding ticket could be like $250,000.
• 10:29
  Speaker A: Wow.
• 10:30
  Speaker B: Can you believe that? That's, that's kind of cool, I think.
• 10:32
  Speaker A: Well, I mean, yeah, it would kind of, you know, try to equalize the pain that people would feel relative to their. Their.
• 10:40
  Speaker B: Right, right, exactly. Because, you know, this rich, he says, oh, I own the road, man. I own this car, you know, boom, I'm doing 90 and a 40, you know, so it's like, you gotta, you know, dude, you making 2 million a year, 5 billion your fines, $200,000 for the speeding ticket.
• 10:56
  Speaker A: So it's a progressive traffic citation.
• 10:59
  Speaker B: I read this over the weekend and I thought, well, that seems kind of cool, you know, but then again, you don't want like, people just going like, you know, like turtles on the highway, you know, so afraid to be under the speed limit. Yeah. Under the speed.
• 11:13
  Speaker A: Well, now the guy, the rich guy, I'm sure would say, well, since I'm making $5 million a year, I'm already paying way more taxes, I'm already subsidizing this highway way more than this person.
• 11:25
  Speaker B: That could be his argument. But they're very shy people. They're not going to argue.
• 11:30
  Speaker A: You're just going to take it, Take it. Okay.
• 11:33
  Speaker B: Take it. Okay. I agree.
• 11:36
  Speaker A: You know, that kind of stuff, I'm not finish. I don't.
• 11:40
  Speaker B: I'm not finishing. I'm not even done yet, you know, but anyway, so I thought that was kind of curious.
• 11:49
  Speaker A: All right, that's an interesting tidbit.
• 11:50
  Speaker B: If the trouble nation wants to weigh on this, you know, their opinion on that, I'd be more than happy to listen.
• 11:56
  Speaker A: Sure. Yeah. You know, now we've had had some. A few deaths recently. It seems like it's happening all the time. I mean, people that I care about, there's people dying all the time. The time. But most of them I don't care about. But, you know, you have. We had Brian Wilson, you know, last week, so we talked about him.
• 12:14
  Speaker B: Slice. Stone.
• 12:15
  Speaker A: Sly stone.
• 12:16
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 12:16
  Speaker A: To cover them. Now, now, recently, someone that. That passed away since the last show was. I know you're a big fan of Lalo Schiffrin.
• 12:24
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 12:26
  Speaker A: Great Lalo.
• 12:27
  Speaker B: He was one of our topics in one of our first episodes.
• 12:30
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Yes.
• 12:31
  Speaker B: Yeah. Lalo Schiffrin passed away.
• 12:34
  Speaker A: Great composer. Wrote the theme to Mission Impossible to Manix.
• 12:39
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 12:39
  Speaker A: Another great, great theme. And three.
• 12:42
  Speaker B: Yeah. He did Dirty Harry.
• 12:43
  Speaker A: Yeah. All the Dirty Harry movies. The scores for all that did score for Cool Hand Luke, Bullet. Lots and lots of films.
• 12:52
  Speaker B: Last one, about eight years ago was his last one. I can't remember the film or the TV show, but it was some kind of Halloween picture I think he did music for. But, you know, you gotta love that name, Lalo.
• 13:05
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
• 13:06
  Speaker B: Lalo is a good name. It sounds like a grandfather, a grandmother, you know. Oh, my. My mama Lalo.
• 13:17
  Speaker A: When you say it like that.
• 13:18
  Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 13:19
  Speaker A: Well, he's Argentinian, so.
• 13:21
  Speaker B: Is he really?
• 13:22
  Speaker A: That's.
• 13:22
  Speaker B: Oh, okay. Well, that changes my opinion.
• 13:25
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 13:26
  Speaker B: Anyway, yeah, we pat. He passed. He was a good friend of mine.
• 13:30
  Speaker A: Right, right.
• 13:30
  Speaker B: I love his music.
• 13:31
  Speaker A: Yes, yes, yes.
• 13:32
  Speaker B: He was a good guy. And also, I think. I don't know if this was true or not, but remember that pop star of this, Bobby Sherman? He died.
• 13:42
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 13:42
  Speaker B: Yeah, he died also. Now, what was his big hit?
• 13:45
  Speaker C: Julie, do you love me?
• 13:47
  Speaker B: That's right. Yeah.
• 13:48
  Speaker C: And he was on the Monkeys before.
• 13:50
  Speaker B: He was on the Monkeys before They were chimps, right? I don't know. Anyway, but, yeah, Bobby Sherman died. And. And I remember the last thing I ever saw about. I think he was on a Love Boat or something. That's the last time I saw him.
• 14:04
  Speaker A: That makes sense.
• 14:05
  Speaker C: You know, I think he became an ems.
• 14:07
  Speaker B: Oh, really?
• 14:08
  Speaker C: Yeah, I believe so.
• 14:09
  Speaker B: Oh, really?
• 14:10
  Speaker C: I think so.
• 14:10
  Speaker B: Unless I have that wrong, he had first in line when he died, Right.
• 14:16
  Speaker A: He had an inside track.
• 14:18
  Speaker B: Yeah, he was on the guest list.
• 14:21
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Now, you know, I always confuse Bobby Sherman with the guy that was on the Partridge Family.
• 14:28
  Speaker B: Oh, David Cassidy. David, yeah.
• 14:29
  Speaker A: Yes, David.
• 14:30
  Speaker B: No. Well, David. And then with Sean, who wasn't a Partridge Family guy, but David Cassidy.
• 14:34
  Speaker A: David Cassidy, Yeah, they were. They were almost the same, dude. I mean, as far as, like, the way they had the same kind of shag haircut. Same.
• 14:41
  Speaker B: Yeah, they were the same kind of pop stars. Pop stars always seemed like, as. David was like the. The son. Bobby was kind of like the. The uncle or something.
• 14:54
  Speaker C: Yeah, he was. He wasn't like a show or something?
• 14:56
  Speaker B: Something. Yeah, yeah, something like that. But I don't know. I mean, so he became an ems. He never did cruises or Vegas or.
• 15:03
  Speaker C: Anything he might have done.
• 15:03
  Speaker B: I. Yeah, not sure that's where they all go. They all go to the cruises. Right, right.
• 15:09
  Speaker A: The oldest shows. Well, speaking of oldie shows, a guy who, who passed a couple of weeks ago and, and I keep forgetting to mention. But now that we have this guest on this Perfect Time is a giant of pop music, Lou Christie.
• 15:22
  Speaker C: Oh yeah.
• 15:23
  Speaker A: And so Lou Christie, you know, you might not recognize the name, but you know his biggest hit, Lightning Strikes.
• 15:29
  Speaker B: Oh, that's right. Yeah.
• 15:31
  Speaker A: With a real high, real high falsetto. Yeah. Kind of based on the Frankie.
• 15:34
  Speaker B: They were based out of Philly, weren't they?
• 15:37
  Speaker A: He was from Pittsburgh. But he might have made his, his records in Philly.
• 15:41
  Speaker B: Man, that's.
• 15:42
  Speaker A: That's a good guess, but I think maybe Lightning Strikes was kind of later on.
• 15:45
  Speaker B: Is that a ban or. That was just him.
• 15:47
  Speaker A: So Blue Christie. That's him. And, and the single Lightning Strikes is so great. Now he co wrote the song with his. He had this woman co writer Twyla Herbert, who he wrote with for 30 years and she's the co writer on that song.
• 16:04
  Speaker C: That's an amazing song.
• 16:05
  Speaker B: And that's the only hit he co wrote for 30 years.
• 16:08
  Speaker A: No, no, he had other hit records.
• 16:12
  Speaker B: But like Lightning Strikes Three times, Lightning Strikes Again.
• 16:18
  Speaker A: Another hit was I'm Gonna make youe Mine. That was a hit for him. Two Faces have I. That's not one of my favorites but it was, you know, somebody liked it. Yeah, it's top 10 record but yeah, the, and, and you know, so I was listening to Lightning Strikes today before we came and I, I just really reveling in all the moments of it where you know, it's a, it's a big apologetic for you know, this guy saying yes, I love this girl but you know, I just can't help myself because you know, when I.
• 16:47
  Speaker B: When he's a man.
• 16:48
  Speaker A: When I see lips begging to be kissed I can't stop. I can't stop it. Cause. Yeah, yeah. And. And then it has the, the tic Tac bass solo by I think Howard Roberts, oddly enough. Anyway, getting really in the weeds here. Everybody. Check it out. And then, and then right up till today, we lost the great Jimmy Swaggart with the New Orleans tie in Louisiana tie in Jimmy Lee Swaggart first Cousin Lewis, Jerry Lee and, and M. Gilly. They were all. And. And you know, Jerry Lee used to point out that he and Jimmy were double first cousins.
• 17:25
  Speaker B: Oh, okay.
• 17:30
  Speaker A: If you look up in, in Jerry Lee's Biography, autobiography, whatever is written with somebody. He explains how the. The. The math that. That you have to undergo for that to be true. And it was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway.
• 17:45
  Speaker B: Oh, wow. Good for Jerry.
• 17:47
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:47
  Speaker B: Jimmy Swaggart. Yeah, his son. Now, does he still have a church? Does the family take over his church?
• 17:54
  Speaker A: I think he still had a ministry. You know, I don't know. He was 90 years old. I don't know how much he was doing recently. But, you know, he would come back from every prostitute scandal. I mean, there were two major ones.
• 18:06
  Speaker B: And they still give him money.
• 18:07
  Speaker A: Well, you know, he was. To me. I still have a soft spot in my heart. Jimmy Swaggart, I gotta say, he said he was sorry, you know, you repented. That's the whole. The whole. If the whole basis of your religious belief is repentance, then he's good, man.
• 18:23
  Speaker B: Yeah, well, you know, like they say, if you believe in God, you'll believe in anything.
• 18:27
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 18:28
  Speaker B: That's what they say. And Jimmy, he seemed like an all right guy.
• 18:31
  Speaker A: Yeah. I didn't know him, but I liked his piano playing.
• 18:36
  Speaker B: Oh, Jimmy played piano?
• 18:37
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Oh, that was a big part of. And then singing, too. And he made records. He was recording artists here.
• 18:42
  Speaker B: What was the name of his church? His channel or the channel he was on?
• 18:48
  Speaker A: Well, I think he was part of the assembly of God. I think that was the sect that he was. But, you know, it's a.
• 18:54
  Speaker B: It's a. I'm going to start one called the D. Assembly of God.
• 18:57
  Speaker A: How's that? There you go, man. Yeah, I don't think it's taken.
• 19:01
  Speaker B: Yeah, no, it hasn't, because everyone's a sucker. But listen, you know, on the way before I came here, I was. Had some dinner, had some fish and I went to use the bathroom and I was taking a leak and I thought to myself, have you ever tried jerking off while you're pissing?
• 19:23
  Speaker A: No. Tried that. I don't think that's gonna work.
• 19:27
  Speaker B: I mean, I tried it.
• 19:28
  Speaker A: It didn't work, though, did it?
• 19:29
  Speaker B: Well, I got an erection.
• 19:31
  Speaker A: Oh, that doesn't sound good.
• 19:32
  Speaker B: And the piss was still coming out.
• 19:34
  Speaker A: That sounds terrible because I had a.
• 19:36
  Speaker B: Bunch of water and.
• 19:38
  Speaker A: But you could have done the math on that ahead of time.
• 19:42
  Speaker B: I ended up leaving a mess for my wife in the bathroom.
• 19:44
  Speaker A: Okay, well. Okay. Something to remember you by.
• 19:47
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 19:48
  Speaker A: Nice.
• 19:48
  Speaker B: Anyway.
• 19:49
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 19:50
  Speaker B: I just, you know, I just thought. Have you. Has anyone ever done that?
• 19:52
  Speaker A: You know, I mean, you know, anything you can think of, someone has tried before, but.
• 19:57
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 19:58
  Speaker A: Is it a good Idea. Not necessarily.
• 20:00
  Speaker B: I don't know.
• 20:01
  Speaker A: Yeah, well, you found out the hard way, man.
• 20:03
  Speaker C: Danny.
• 20:03
  Speaker B: Yeah, well, I'm still.
• 20:05
  Speaker A: Right now, semi hard way.
• 20:07
  Speaker B: Yeah. Okay.
• 20:08
  Speaker A: Maybe we should get. Get to our guest.
• 20:09
  Speaker B: Yeah, get to our guest because he's exciting to me.
• 20:12
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a good guy. I like the way he understands how when you laugh on a show, you laugh into the microphone, you don't move the microphone away from your mouth. Many of our guests have not picked up on that showbiz element, Even though.
• 20:26
  Speaker B: The 90% of them aren't showing show business.
• 20:28
  Speaker A: Yeah, I know. Shocking. It's shocking. Anyway, so our guest is a terrific indie pop songwriter, singer, multi instrumentalist, producer, the mastermind behind his group, the Junior League. He's also a power pop maven. He's also worked with groups such as Donovan's brain and Scott McCoy's -5, who also counts Peter Buck of REM as one of the members. He's. He's released over a dozen records, and his latest record is excellent record called Our Broadcast Day, came out last October. Really beautiful record. We're going to get into all that and much more. But without further ado, the great Mr. Joe Adranya. Welcome, Joe.
• 21:17
  Speaker C: Thank you for having me.
• 21:18
  Speaker A: Now, Adranya.
• 21:19
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 21:20
  Speaker A: I haven't heard that name before. Is that Croatian?
• 21:23
  Speaker C: Italian.
• 21:23
  Speaker A: Italian. Okay.
• 21:24
  Speaker C: I was.
• 21:25
  Speaker A: Now, last week, I said to somebody, is that a Greek? And he said, italian.
• 21:28
  Speaker C: So it's close, right? Because it sounds Greek almost.
• 21:31
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you know, I saw in one of the. The. The spellings of your name, it didn't have that internal A. Did you have to buy that vowel?
• 21:42
  Speaker C: I just forgot to type it.
• 21:43
  Speaker A: Oh, okay. All right.
• 21:47
  Speaker B: But Greece and Italy, very close.
• 21:49
  Speaker A: Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, the. You know, Italy, the Rome inherited the culture of Greece. You know, it was a. Rome was a Hellenistic culture.
• 21:58
  Speaker B: So you're from here?
• 22:00
  Speaker C: I'm from New York originally.
• 22:01
  Speaker B: Oh, okay. What part of New York?
• 22:03
  Speaker C: Long Island.
• 22:03
  Speaker B: Oh, okay.
• 22:04
  Speaker C: Yeah. I grew up out east on Long Island. Yeah.
• 22:08
  Speaker A: So I think you're maybe about me and Manny's age. That's the vibe I'm getting from listening to your latest record.
• 22:15
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 22:17
  Speaker A: Oh. Oh, no. You're much younger than us. Yeah, okay. I was. Because. Because in our broadcast day, the year 1973 plays a very pivotal role. Now, is that the year you were born?
• 22:32
  Speaker C: That is the year I was born.
• 22:33
  Speaker A: Okay, now, you see, I remember 1973. I mean, I wasn't driving yet, but, you know, I was pretty. Pretty much as I am now pretty fully formed.
• 22:44
  Speaker B: I was smoking, though, in 73.
• 22:46
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Manny and I were 10.
• 22:49
  Speaker C: You know this. But the, the 70s, like, you know, even if you were in the. Like I was a kid in the late 70s, it still felt like it was the late 60s anyway.
• 22:57
  Speaker B: And I lived in Los Angeles, you know, I had older siblings who were hippies, you know.
• 23:03
  Speaker C: Okay, sure.
• 23:05
  Speaker B: For me, you know, I had long hair when I was 10 and stuff like that. And I didn't really cop to their. Until I was like maybe 15 or something. Something like that. I found my own scene.
• 23:18
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 23:19
  Speaker A: Got into punk rock and you realize, oh, God, all you dirty hippies.
• 23:22
  Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. Never trust a hippie. Anyway. But my mom and dad encouraged me to take my own road and stuff like that. It's all good, as they say. So Long Island, New York.
• 23:37
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 23:37
  Speaker B: And you're, you're, you're influenced by who? In 1973, you're born.
• 23:43
  Speaker C: I'm born.
• 23:44
  Speaker B: And in 83. What are you listening to? You have siblings who are influencing. You're an only child?
• 23:50
  Speaker C: No, I have a younger sister, so I was the oldest. And so when the first thing that hit me was when I was four, I heard the Beatles.
• 23:58
  Speaker B: The Beatles.
• 23:59
  Speaker C: And that was. Was like the way people, like, have like, religious, like, experiences. That was it. When I heard the Beatles on. You guys are familiar with if you know. Well, in New York, they used to have a radio station called WCBS fm. And it was the first of its kind, a quote unquote oldies station. So it played like everything from like 55 to AM or FM, FM 101.1. And. And my dad used to listen to it all the time in the car. And one day I was, I was pretending to drive, sitting on his lap in a 1975 Ford Granada.
• 24:29
  Speaker A: Nice.
• 24:30
  Speaker C: And I want to hold your hand came on and that was it. I. I remembered it. I would sing it for like days. I was singing that song and my parents were like, in your kid a Beatles record?
• 24:39
  Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
• 24:40
  Speaker C: And that was it. Because I just thought it was the greatest thing. I just would not stop talking about the Beatles. The Beatles, the Beatles, the Beatles.
• 24:45
  Speaker A: Now, you'd heard other pop music before then. What was it, do you think about that record that caught you like that?
• 24:51
  Speaker C: It's exciting, I think. I think it's exciting. I think early Beatles is exciting music. I mean, I think people that saw them on Ed Sullivan for the first time in 64, I imagine, had that same reaction. If they were prone to liking that kind of Thing, you know, And I was no different. I just didn't see it on tv. I heard on the radio, and it was just. There was something about it. I can't explain it. But then that was it. And then my parents bought me, at the time, the. The rock and roll compilation, which looked like a 50s throwback. It was really weird. Do you guys. Are you familiar with that compilation? It looked like. Because Happy Days was big, you know, And I love the Fonz, like everybody else at that point. And it looked like. Like American Graffiti. And it was like, totally, you know, not the right thing.
• 25:31
  Speaker B: Compilation of just Beatles stuff, like, all.
• 25:33
  Speaker C: Their rock and roll. Like, like, so, like, Twist and Shout. I saw her singing there. But then it had one weird stuff like, hey Bulldog and, like, Tax man, like, album cuts. And it was. It was fantastic. And I just listened to it over and over.
• 25:43
  Speaker B: Is that the first? There's two albums that. They're on a balcony looking down those.
• 25:47
  Speaker C: The Red and the Blue album.
• 25:47
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 25:48
  Speaker C: I got those later on, too. Those are great, too. That used to scare me, like, when I was a kid. John. Well, no, because John with the beard, like, he scared me when I was little.
• 25:57
  Speaker A: Oh.
• 25:58
  Speaker C: And because then. And then. Because, like, in 19, like in the late 70s, I accidentally saw that helter skelter TV show movie. Remember that?
• 26:06
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 26:06
  Speaker C: With Steve Rails Back. Who was.
• 26:08
  Speaker B: Yeah, Steve Rails Back.
• 26:09
  Speaker C: And so I just. I think I.
• 26:10
  Speaker A: So it just scared this Vincent Buliosi. That is a good. That is a good.
• 26:16
  Speaker C: That was gross. That was a heavy TV movie, man.
• 26:20
  Speaker A: Oh, it was a heavy time, man. Imagine Manny and I remember living through that.
• 26:24
  Speaker B: Jim Jones. No. Oh, that came out. That's, like, in the early 80s. That's. That's brilliant.
• 26:29
  Speaker A: That's one. Oh, yeah. No, Powers Booth is Jim Jones.
• 26:33
  Speaker C: Wow.
• 26:34
  Speaker B: What kind of name is that? Powers Booth.
• 26:36
  Speaker C: A great one.
• 26:36
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 26:37
  Speaker C: I wish I had that name. Can you imagine what your life would be like if your name was Powers?
• 26:43
  Speaker B: It was like John Powers. Booze, the guy, you know? I don't think you want to be associated with that.
• 26:53
  Speaker C: No, I don't. I don't.
• 26:54
  Speaker B: I don't think he did much theater. Powers Booth, I think. I don't.
• 26:57
  Speaker C: I don't know.
• 26:57
  Speaker A: Oh. Oh, John Wil. He wasn't.
• 27:01
  Speaker B: Well, yeah. John's Wil. Booth was an actor. You know, he's an angry actor. He couldn't get a. Get a bad agent. So you're. You're four years old, you discover the Beatles, and then. Four years old, late 70s, the Beatles are broken up. John Lennon Gets murdered.
• 27:18
  Speaker C: I remember that.
• 27:19
  Speaker B: How do you feel about that?
• 27:20
  Speaker C: Terrible. So I was eight when John Lennon. I think I was eight. Yeah, eight, seven or eight when he got killed. And what's weird is that my dad took me to see Beatlemania in late November of 1980. I remember going. It was in Hempstead, which is about. Was about an hour from where I grew up. And I. It was amazing. You can imagine being that age. And you love the Beatles. And there's these guys that look and sound just like them. You're just like, holy.
• 27:44
  Speaker A: Was that the Marshall Crenshaw version?
• 27:46
  Speaker C: No, it was the. Mitch Weissman, I think, was playing John or Paul, I don't remember, but it wasn't the Mars. I wish that would have been cool, but. And then a couple weeks later, my grandfather used to work in the city. He was carpenter, and he used to go in really early, and he called my folks at like 4 in the morning. He said, you better wake the kid up. John Lennon got killed last night.
• 28:08
  Speaker A: Oh, he knew it was going to be a shock to you.
• 28:10
  Speaker C: Yeah. And so my parents woke me up at like 4:30 in the morning.
• 28:12
  Speaker A: Wow.
• 28:13
  Speaker C: And had to sit me down like, Joey, we got to tell you. You know. And I cry. I mean, I was, you know.
• 28:17
  Speaker B: He was your favorite beetle at the time.
• 28:19
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 28:20
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 28:20
  Speaker C: And then he was, you know, it was my first, fortunately. I mean, I'm really lucky. That was my first experience with any kind of death. And later on, of course, you experienced that on, but it was. Yeah. And then I went.
• 28:29
  Speaker B: You died on stage a lot, right?
• 28:30
  Speaker C: Well, yeah, that's right. But, yeah, I went to school and like, everybody made fun of me. They were like, I'm glad you got shot. You know, like, stupid. Yeah, it sucked. But I was.
• 28:44
  Speaker B: I was watching Monday night football, Miami versus New England. And Howard Cosell goes, you know, Mr. Cosell goes, I've got a horrible announcement. And he said, john Lennon has been shot and, you know, assassinated and gone. And it's like, well, fuck, man. And then they went on with the game anyway. It's just like. It was like, I lost 80 bucks on that game.
• 29:08
  Speaker C: Insult to injury.
• 29:09
  Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
• 29:11
  Speaker A: Well, so. So even in your school, you were known as a. As a huge Beatles fan and promoter.
• 29:17
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 29:18
  Speaker A: Now, did you have. Do you find other kindred spirits?
• 29:22
  Speaker C: No, no, I had one. No, I had one friend, my friend James, who's been like my best friend since I was five. He. He liked that stuff, but that was it. I mean, you know, you know, you can understand that. You're 8, 9. Nobody cared about that at the time.
• 29:36
  Speaker B: So you're 8, 9. It's 1980, so they're listening to Saturday Night Fever. Grease soundtrack.
• 29:41
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 29:41
  Speaker B: Like your age.
• 29:43
  Speaker C: Yeah. Top 40, like, or if they're listening to music at all, really.
• 29:46
  Speaker B: Right.
• 29:46
  Speaker C: Well, yeah, for me, it was a focal point. I was already like. Like, yeah, drums. I taught myself how to play drums. Playing along the Beatle records. And I was so into it. I was so excited. When I was a little kid, my parents got me a little toy kit that looked like Ringo's. And so I tried. I mean, it had a little kick pedal and everything.
• 30:04
  Speaker A: It was great.
• 30:04
  Speaker C: I still remember that kid. And then they got me something a little bit better, you know, that I could play on. And that's all I. That was my focus. That's all I did, you know, that was it.
• 30:14
  Speaker A: And did you play in the school band?
• 30:16
  Speaker C: I did. I did. And of course, I learned how to read drum music. That's about as far as I got. My parents took me to a guy in the next town over, a jazz musician, to get lessons. They're like, okay, if you could do this, you should. You know, it's good that you've learned on your own, but you need to. And I went to this guy, and I remember he had a Vista Light kit, you know, those clear kits, you know, and. And I was like, oh, can I? Can I have it? Can I play? And he's like, no. You know, like, it was almost like Spinal Tap. Like, don't even breathe on them. You know what I mean? And. And so I was sitting around the practice pad and. And he's like, well, who's your favorite drummer? And I said, ringo. And he, like, laughed at me. He's like, terrible. And that was. I never went back to another lesson. I don't want to go back. And my mom.
• 30:54
  Speaker A: I don't trust me, which is great.
• 30:55
  Speaker C: I appreciate them trying to make me go.
• 30:57
  Speaker A: I think he might try to try to put his hands on me. I don't know. But.
• 31:01
  Speaker C: Well, you know what I mean? Like, you tell that to a kid, you know what I mean? Like, you encourage him and say, well, that's cool, you know, and. And work on your paradiddles.
• 31:07
  Speaker B: Where is that guy today?
• 31:09
  Speaker C: Dead.
• 31:10
  Speaker A: You know, it's. It's crazy. The jazz guys of that era, how much they missed out on, like. I mean, Ringo, you know, like, you know, I think Ringo's fantastic.
• 31:21
  Speaker C: Me, too.
• 31:22
  Speaker A: But there's a. I think it's Buddy Rich on the Tonight show or something. And he's on Glenn Campbell and he's saying how Glenn Campbell, you know, all the country start. I'm going, man, you just seem so stupid now. You make yourself look like such a. Such a moron.
• 31:43
  Speaker C: It's ridiculous. It's such a bad take, you know. And Glenn Campbell especially, my God, the only thing he'd ever done was Wichita Lineman. You'd be like, okay, this guy's great.
• 31:52
  Speaker A: And I mean, Glenn Campbell's a amazing guitar player. Amazing singer, writer, you know, Absolutely. You know, just incredible musician.
• 31:59
  Speaker B: Maybe he was on his drumming, Glen Campbell's drumming. Maybe that was what.
• 32:06
  Speaker A: Maybe so. Maybe so, you know, but, but so, so, so you're playing drums, but you're getting into other kinds of music. I mean, this is, you know, Bowie is making great records during this time. You know. What, what other bands were like, were you.
• 32:21
  Speaker B: You.
• 32:21
  Speaker A: You know, branching off of the Beatles and getting into.
• 32:23
  Speaker C: So it was like all the 60s stuff obviously at first, you know, so the Beatles, then the Stones and the who.
• 32:29
  Speaker A: The Kinks. I know you're a big fan.
• 32:31
  Speaker C: Yeah. And then like, you know, the Monkeys. I'm a huge, ridiculously huge monkey.
• 32:35
  Speaker A: My wife's a big monkey.
• 32:36
  Speaker C: Like crazy. Like, you know, I will talk your ear off about Mickey Dawn's and his drumming.
• 32:41
  Speaker A: Kamalasa is a huge Monkeys fan, you know.
• 32:44
  Speaker C: Yes, I know. Yeah, I just saw him the other night, actually.
• 32:46
  Speaker A: Insane Monkeys. He knows everything about him. He could tell you who played on every record, who the session guys were. Yeah.
• 32:52
  Speaker C: Oh, we've. We've had discussions about the Monkeys before and, and, and. But the contemporary wise. The Police. I really like the Police. I really like Stuart Copeland.
• 33:01
  Speaker A: Right.
• 33:02
  Speaker C: Which, you know, so busy in that stuff. It's great, you know, and then, you know, Tears for Fears, all that. And around 85, I started getting more like, you know, the Smiths, R.E.M. like, you know, that. That. That's when, you know, I was. And I was about 12 at that point, so that's when I started listening to more what they. I get the time was like college rock, right. That kind of thing. So that, that changed things a little bit. But it was all influenced by, you know, the Birds and the Beetle.
• 33:28
  Speaker A: Right. So did you. Did you kind of back into all that Jangle stuff with the, with the, the 12 string electric guitars and all the Birds and from, from REM or kind of.
• 33:39
  Speaker C: I like the Birds stuff first, probably.
• 33:41
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 33:41
  Speaker C: You know what I mean? Or at least the early Birds. Like, I knew the singles really well. And then I probably Went back and really dived in, like, younger than yesterday and all those records, you know what I mean? I used to hang out at a record store every day after school called Record Stop, and me and James and. And every day we just hang out and with the guy that was there. Who's this guy, Mark, who's our friend, but he was, like, older, but, like, he just. He tolerated us, you know? Yeah, yeah, but we. And he would introduce. He introduced me the Buzzcocks.
• 34:06
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 34:06
  Speaker C: You know, and, you know, and. And the people that own the store.
• 34:09
  Speaker B: Bruce, did he try to rape you? No, no, no, no, no, no.
• 34:12
  Speaker C: He's great. He was great. And then the people that own the record store, Bruce and. And his family, Jan, his wife Janet, they were like, wonderful people. They eventually hired me, so I got to work in a record store for a long time, which was fantastic. Man, that was the best. It was an education, you know, because I got to listen to so much stuff.
• 34:27
  Speaker B: Now you graduate high school, you're in the band, you go to college.
• 34:31
  Speaker C: Yeah, I went to college in Florida.
• 34:32
  Speaker B: Oh, really?
• 34:33
  Speaker C: Yeah. Weird. Yeah, I went to St. Augustine.
• 34:37
  Speaker B: Well, you know, St. Augustine.
• 34:38
  Speaker C: Yeah, that was cool. No, no, it was cool, but when I want to go. When I would go south and, like, my. We'd go on the road trips, you know, and then my parents would drive us down, would take two days. But, like, I still expected there to be, like, dirt roads and like. Like bridges that were out of commission that people would have to jump to get. I honestly, from watching, it sounds so dumb, but, like, I watched.
• 34:58
  Speaker B: Oh, to Billy Joe.
• 35:01
  Speaker A: Yeah, but it was mar county line.
• 35:04
  Speaker C: No, but it was.
• 35:05
  Speaker B: It was cool.
• 35:06
  Speaker C: Smokey the Bandit. But it was cool. And I met my wife in. In. In St. Augustine, which was cool. She was. Which she w up. She was from 10, 20 minutes away from where I grew up on Long Island.
• 35:16
  Speaker A: Oh, no kid.
• 35:17
  Speaker C: Yeah. So it was real strange. Was the college there, Flagler College?
• 35:20
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 35:20
  Speaker C: Yeah, it was really cool. It was good. And I met you. I'd band there for, like, 10 years, and that was. Was, you know, we did all right. And it was.
• 35:26
  Speaker A: So. I'm saying. So you were playing in bands during.
• 35:28
  Speaker C: High school, and I played drums in, like, different cover bands. So it'd be like, you know, he'd play like, Jimmy Hendrix or, like, you know, I kind of. And it was great, you know, it.
• 35:35
  Speaker A: Was great learning tunes, getting time in on the bandstand.
• 35:38
  Speaker C: Yeah, and learning to play with other people.
• 35:40
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 35:41
  Speaker C: Right. You know, and then. And then when I went to college, that's when I. I had a band with like original. Like we did originals and wrote stuff and you know, and all that. And that was. That was pretty cool. You know, I learned a lot now.
• 35:51
  Speaker A: Were you starting to play guitar or keyboards? Yeah, simultaneously.
• 35:55
  Speaker C: I taught myself, well, guitar and then I had, you know, my. My brother in law now. My now brother in law who is my buddy, we're in a band together. J.J. murphy, who's in a bunch of great bands. He's. He's a New York musician. He, you know, he would show me stuff on the guitar and then I would play and like, you know, so over time I just. All I want to do. I didn't really care how good I was necessarily because my favorite guitar player, like, I. I just wanted to write and I. And I eventually got good enough. You know what I mean?
• 36:23
  Speaker A: Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 36:24
  Speaker C: You know how it is. It's just like.
• 36:25
  Speaker A: Yeah, well, you know, like, Brian Eno explained to us that virtuosity is not the, the goal.
• 36:31
  Speaker C: That's good for me because I'm not there.
• 36:36
  Speaker A: That's really. I mean, that's a thing, but it's not the thing. You know, it's. It's not the most important thing. Most important thing is what can you do with what ability you have? How can you express that? How can you use that to artistic ends.
• 36:51
  Speaker C: Right.
• 36:52
  Speaker A: Which is where you're coming from now. So. So you're, you're writing at that time. Are you writing a lot of stuff for the band? I was taking the band over. Just through your force of personality and.
• 37:03
  Speaker C: Creative drive, believe it or not. No, I. Well, I mean, I was sort of. We were all like, kind of figuring out what to do and I. But in that band, I just sang.
• 37:14
  Speaker A: Oh, no kidding.
• 37:15
  Speaker C: Yeah. Which I was never. I never ever wanted to sing. I mean, I used to sing when I was a kid all the time. I didn't want to do that. But in that band, well, there was the guitar player and there was the bassist, there was a drummer. And so that's what I did. And then, you know. But eventually I wanted to like, play more and I would. Occasionally I'd be allowed to play something in the stage. But eventually, you know, later on I was kind of like, I really want to be able to play more on the stuff. So that was it really, you know. And then. And in around 2000, I've been. I got married in 99 and my wife got a job opportunity over here in Louisiana. We came over to visit.
• 37:53
  Speaker A: And you. You were Living in Florida.
• 37:54
  Speaker C: That's right. Yeah. I always. I thought I'd go back to New York or something.
• 37:57
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 37:58
  Speaker C: That we would go back. But she had a job opportunity here. She really, really wanted it, and. And I felt like I owed her. She came back. She graduated a year before me, and she came back to Florida for me, and that was really great, you know, And. And so. And she really wanted that. Yeah. Yeah. She's wonderful. And so. And. And. And so we came here, and I'd never been here, you know, you were.
• 38:20
  Speaker A: Ambivalent about New Orleans. Never had, like, a dream as a child. Can't wait to see it. Right.
• 38:25
  Speaker C: You know, and of course, like, you know, and then so many great music came from here, so. Yeah, it was like.
• 38:30
  Speaker A: It wasn't your music. It wasn't like, you know, something that you were, you know, obsessed with. Dixieland jazz.
• 38:37
  Speaker C: No. But, like, I got, like, now moving here and. And now I have a much greater appreciation for all that. And I learned a lot, you know, but it was. Which was really cool, but, like, all the. You think about how much rock and roll comes from.
• 38:48
  Speaker A: Sure.
• 38:48
  Speaker C: You know, all the early Little Richard records were recorded, you know, so. And.
• 38:53
  Speaker A: And then all what. What, the Beatles were turned on, too? Yes, sure. It's all comes.
• 38:57
  Speaker C: Or just. And then discovering like. Like Lee Dorsey stuff, like, other than working in a coal mine. You know what I mean? Like, it was just like, oh, my gosh, it's fantastic. You know, so that was cool. And then the food sure is unbelievable. It's great. So. So, yeah, so I've been here since 2001.
• 39:12
  Speaker A: Okay. Like, Manny. That's. Yeah.
• 39:15
  Speaker B: Well, I've been here before, though.
• 39:17
  Speaker C: When did you move in? The 80s.
• 39:18
  Speaker B: I moved here until 2000.
• 39:20
  Speaker C: Oh, yeah. So. Right. The year after. Yeah.
• 39:23
  Speaker B: I was wanting to get out ever since.
• 39:25
  Speaker A: Yeah. But Manny. Manny married a girl from New Orleans, so.
• 39:30
  Speaker B: So I'm never leaving.
• 39:31
  Speaker A: He never gets to leave. You know, I had a guy who's. Who's. I actually idolized this guy, great musician, who was calling me up from another town and saying, yeah, I really want you to come move to my town and join my band. And. And I'm thinking, I can't do it. I'm not allowed to leave New Orleans, man. My parents are in their 80s. My kids are in their 20s. You know, I've lived outside of New Orleans for three months in my entire life. It's just not a. Not an option, man.
• 40:00
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 40:00
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 40:01
  Speaker C: But there's something about this place. You know what I mean? Like, That I think I can understand why people gravitate to it and why they, you know. And it took me a little time, you know, the first couple years I was here, I really didn't know what to do myself. Yeah, I. I felt really kind of like bummed out because I really wasn't. I didn't have anything going. So it took a little time. Didn't know, you know, I would just go down. I would, I would go down. So we, and we lived on, up in, on the North Shore. That's where my job, my wife's office was. So I would, I would basically drive down to hang out the Magic Bus pretty much all the time.
• 40:34
  Speaker A: Huh.
• 40:34
  Speaker C: Okay, that was big. You know, every day I'd all like, I want a couple times a week I just go down and hang out the Magic Bus. Walk around, figure out where everything was, drive around.
• 40:42
  Speaker B: That's the Beatles thing.
• 40:45
  Speaker C: Remember that record store? It was fantastic, you know. Yeah. And it was, it was really cool. So that I guess kind of educated myself on where I was.
• 40:52
  Speaker A: Okay. Funny again, going back to the record store. A safe space for you. Like I'll meet some like minded people here eventually.
• 40:59
  Speaker C: That's it exactly. And the Magic Bus was very similar to Record Stop, which was. Is the record store, which I thought was the greatest record store ever. And. And Magic Bus was similar, had a similar vibe to it.
• 41:09
  Speaker A: Man. You think of how many bands got started because in the old days people put up a flyer with pull tabs in a record on a record store bulletin board.
• 41:19
  Speaker C: Yeah, that's right.
• 41:21
  Speaker A: Well, I love this story, Joe, but Manny, I'm looking at the, at the drinks and seems like it's about that time.
• 41:28
  Speaker B: Yeah, we'll be right back.
• 41:31
  Speaker D: And when they hang themselves with their skinny ties don't ask why Hand claps and harmonies formulate to a certain degree there's comfort in familiarity where nothing changes but the beat or key because it fit uncertainty, the pedigree trace its lineage to the raspberry the electric guitars have a bit too much crunch Is it garage or maybe too hard rock? When they hang themselves with their skinny ties don't ask why.
• 42:21
  Speaker B: Jean Django we're.
• 42:22
  Speaker D: The travel levers Sooner or later look at teeth and ears hurt if you subscribe to the Width of the Time hopefully reviews will give you five out of five if you can use a Rick and back your guitar did you listen to Enough Big Star? Do you talk about the Bugaboos? Bonus points if you reference you. When they hang themselves with their skinny T Don't ask why.
• 43:01
  Speaker A: And we're back back with Mr. Manny Chevrolet. I am Renee Coleman, back with our guest, Mr. Joe Adranya. Now Joe, I know you've, you're somewhat familiar with the show. I think you first contacted me years ago when we first started. You've been aware of it anyway. And you know we are a listener supported operation here. We don't have any corporate sponsors, not that we would refuse any. Just none, none, none are currently in play. But instead we have.
• 43:31
  Speaker B: They don't want us. We don't want them.
• 43:33
  Speaker A: There you go, there you go, you guys.
• 43:37
  Speaker B: Corporation fancy shoes.
• 43:42
  Speaker A: The skinny ties, fat ties. But, but, but we, we do accept loose change. We have a sponsor, a long time sponsor, loose change. And people will send in sometimes actual change to the bar here. But, but usually we use the, the PayPal and the Venmo links that are in the show notes of every show as well as the, all the Facebook posts about the show. And we don't have any people to shout out this week because no, no one's supported, no one's paying for these cocktails. I'm begging you, please people pocket here. That's all right, that's all right. We can float it on our own here. I'm having so much fun.
• 44:25
  Speaker B: They're a good kid.
• 44:26
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 44:27
  Speaker B: How many followers do we have now?
• 44:28
  Speaker A: 18, something like that. 18 or 20 now. But we do, I will say then we also have the links for a Patreon page and we do have a handful of patrons that are there support supporting us week in and week out. We do appreciate your, your fidelity. We love you. And also we have the, the link for the Troublemen podcast T shirts. Yes, those are not flying off the shelves, but they could be. They have infinite supply, unlimited supply. As the, as the Also if you.
• 44:57
  Speaker B: Want a, a give to my campaign.
• 45:00
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 45:00
  Speaker B: There's always a bumper sticker you might get or maybe a yard sign.
• 45:05
  Speaker A: Okay, we'll have to develop a link for that man.
• 45:08
  Speaker B: I could just send it to, just to the bar.
• 45:10
  Speaker A: Okay. All right.
• 45:11
  Speaker B: If you want to because this is our campaign headquarters.
• 45:13
  Speaker A: Headquarters. That's true, that's true.
• 45:14
  Speaker B: So if you want to send anything to help me try to win this final.
• 45:19
  Speaker A: Yes, send it care of Manny for mayor.
• 45:21
  Speaker B: Manny for Mayor. Snake and Jake's Bar New Orleans as.
• 45:24
  Speaker A: Opposed to the Trouble man podcast. Right, but let's see. I, I, I do want to and then I also we always say follow us on social media, Instagram, Facebook and rate review and subscribe to the show. Wherever you're listening to it, give us five stars. Cost you. Nothing helps us a lot. Speaking of stars, I want to the day that this podcast comes out, if you listen to it right, that day, that night, a great friend of mine, the great Lorette Velvet from the Panther Burns and the Hellcats will be sentenced to death. She'll be playing July 10, Thursday at Chickiwawa that night. It'll be a big scene over there. Panther Burn associated people and I will be there. So everybody check that out. And I have to mention that we're here in the heart of the Klempire and Naked Jake's and they've instituted, starting last week, it's Tiki Tuesday.
• 46:27
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 46:28
  Speaker A: Now, we took some photos outside with the, with the tiki torches. So it's really popular. Well, it's kind of jumping for the summer here. Now, I don't see a lot of exotic drinks flying off the bar, which is good because I like the simple drinks.
• 46:42
  Speaker B: Those drinks that take last week for Tiki Tuesday. The bartender. What's his name again?
• 46:47
  Speaker A: Ian.
• 46:48
  Speaker B: He was serving up some kind of.
• 46:50
  Speaker A: Yeah, he had some Mai Tai.
• 46:55
  Speaker B: Spicy, though. I. I had a sip of one and they were too spicy for that Polynesian flavor.
• 47:01
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We. We like to keep it simple. You know, just the booze and something. I get it down with.
• 47:07
  Speaker B: Booze and ice is the best mixer.
• 47:09
  Speaker A: Yes, yes, it is classic.
• 47:11
  Speaker C: It's.
• 47:12
  Speaker A: They have it everywhere. That's the thing. Once you learn to drink booze with ice, you're good. You're good.
• 47:18
  Speaker C: That's it.
• 47:19
  Speaker A: So what else? Oh, but, but, but yes, Tiki Tuesday. And, and, and if you stop by Snake and Jake's, I'm guessing they're gonna carry that on all summer or until they run out of fuel for the tiki torches. But they do have. It's. It's quite lovely. You'll see in the photographs from. From last week's show. And perhaps this one, they had have two cinder blocks with bamboo tiki torches duct taped to those separated by about eight feet on the. On right on the. The edge of the curb there. You'll see it.
• 47:55
  Speaker B: Well, if this block goes on fire, we only have Dave to blame.
• 48:00
  Speaker A: Right, Right, right, right. This is.
• 48:01
  Speaker B: He owns this whole block.
• 48:02
  Speaker A: Hopefully he's all paid up on his insurance. Insurance is all up to date on. On this fire insurance. All right, well, enough of that. Back to our guest, the great Mr. Joe Adranya. So, Joe, you're moving here to New Orleans in. In 2001. Yeah, your band, Junior League. When. When do you formulate that?
• 48:20
  Speaker C: So I, you know, I had a home recording set up, and I just started writing songs that, you know, and. And I didn't have a band anymore, and so I just recorded at home. Just.
• 48:29
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 48:30
  Speaker C: Played everything myself because I had everything and I could. So I did it, you know, and I didn't know.
• 48:34
  Speaker B: Your wife's working. You got all placed yourself.
• 48:37
  Speaker C: Yeah, so I could do that.
• 48:38
  Speaker B: No kids?
• 48:38
  Speaker C: Not yet. Yeah, so I was. Yeah, so I was just. Right.
• 48:41
  Speaker B: So you're watching porno like I do when the wife's gone. Right.
• 48:44
  Speaker C: You know, and. Right. Yeah. Writing songs.
• 48:47
  Speaker B: Writing songs.
• 48:47
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 48:48
  Speaker B: Trying to jerk off.
• 48:49
  Speaker A: 2001. I don't think they even had porno.
• 48:52
  Speaker B: Oh, they had porno.
• 48:54
  Speaker A: I mean, they existed. But, you know, I was producing.
• 48:59
  Speaker B: I was producing some.
• 49:00
  Speaker A: Well, yeah. Out. Out there. Yeah. Yeah. In VHS world. But, you know, it wasn't like you had it on your. On your smartphone. Anyway, moving on. We're getting.
• 49:07
  Speaker C: Do we even have phones yet?
• 49:08
  Speaker A: I don't even remember.
• 49:11
  Speaker C: I can't remember.
• 49:12
  Speaker B: A friend of mine in 1992, who was a very rich fellow, he had a car phone.
• 49:17
  Speaker A: Sure, Yeah, I remember that.
• 49:19
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 49:20
  Speaker B: That was crazy.
• 49:21
  Speaker C: Clunky.
• 49:21
  Speaker B: Yeah. Big clunky thing. But we were able to, like, call people and we put them on speaker and stuff like that. Wow. And they would go, where are you calling me from? He said, the car. And they're like, off. And then we call our dealer and the dealer would freak out.
• 49:41
  Speaker C: It's funny.
• 49:42
  Speaker B: I'm on the way.
• 49:44
  Speaker C: All that stuff now, you know, but at the time, we were. Were like.
• 49:47
  Speaker A: Accurate accent, by the way.
• 49:48
  Speaker C: I remember, like, the first time I saw a vcr, I thought it was like, the most incredible.
• 49:51
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 49:52
  Speaker C: Or a microwave.
• 49:53
  Speaker A: Right.
• 49:53
  Speaker C: You know. Crap, this is incredible.
• 49:55
  Speaker B: My family was the first family on the block to get a vcr.
• 49:58
  Speaker C: Really?
• 49:59
  Speaker B: Yeah. And it was this huge monstrosity. It was this huge thing. And my dad was all into it, and we. We, like. We taped like an inning of a baseball game.
• 50:12
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 50:13
  Speaker B: And we said, rewind it. And we watched it over that same inning, and we're freaked out.
• 50:18
  Speaker A: Yeah. Just the fact that you had that control.
• 50:20
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 50:20
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 50:21
  Speaker B: Like, wow.
• 50:21
  Speaker A: I know.
• 50:22
  Speaker C: It's so cool.
• 50:23
  Speaker B: Yeah, it was kind of cool.
• 50:24
  Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, you probably don't. Don't. Weren't alive during this era, but Manny and I grew up before phone machines.
• 50:34
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 50:34
  Speaker A: Like, when I was at the beginning of my music career, if you weren't home to get a call about a gig, you missed the Call. Do you miss the call? Now, when I lived at my parents house, my mother was often there. She would take a message and then, you know. But then when I lived on my own before, I had an answer machine if, you know, it's like people would say, oh, yeah, I tried to call you for a gig and you weren't there. So I went to the next person on the list.
• 50:58
  Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
• 50:59
  Speaker A: So, yeah, because I don't remember having.
• 51:01
  Speaker C: An answering machine in our house. I don't even remember in high school I should say.
• 51:05
  Speaker B: And then when you got an answer answering machine, it was like, what kind of message are you gonna leave?
• 51:11
  Speaker A: Yeah, sure, yeah, yeah, Your outgoing message.
• 51:14
  Speaker B: Just straightforward, hey, I'm not here. Leave a message. Beep.
• 51:18
  Speaker C: Do you remember these have the commercials where they didn't. They have a commercial where they sold messages. Yeah, you gotta wait for the beep.
• 51:25
  Speaker A: Right?
• 51:25
  Speaker C: Gotta leave your name, you gotta leave your number.
• 51:28
  Speaker B: And then you would like try to get creative and make your own, you know, funny message. And then that would make people not leave a message.
• 51:35
  Speaker C: The funny thing, you know what's funny is my son's done that on his phone. He. I called him one day and he didn't pick up. And all of a sudden he's like, hello. And he like affected this weird British accent. I'm like, what are you doing? It was hilarious though. And it went off for like five minutes. This is fantastic. I think in the back of his mind he's thinking, this is so long. And the weight people out, like, they won't leave the message probably.
• 51:57
  Speaker A: Well, kids, I mean, I think.
• 51:59
  Speaker B: But you can always have the caller id, you know who called you.
• 52:02
  Speaker C: That's right, right.
• 52:03
  Speaker B: You know, who call you.
• 52:04
  Speaker A: But I mean, like younger people, I don't think they even will leave a message or listen to your message if you leave one. They just go, oh, you called me. What are you calling about? It's like, well, I left a message. Explain the whole thing, I have to.
• 52:17
  Speaker B: Repeat myself thing all over again. Your mother's dead. All right, you need to move back home and take care of me. Basically, that kind of thing. They don't want to hear that.
• 52:30
  Speaker A: They don't, they don't want to hear that now. Anyway, back to.
• 52:33
  Speaker C: They let that go to voicemail.
• 52:35
  Speaker B: How old are your kids?
• 52:36
  Speaker C: My son is 13.
• 52:37
  Speaker B: Oh, wow, that's a fun age.
• 52:39
  Speaker C: Yeah. So he vacillates between your cool dad and I can't be bothered with you.
• 52:44
  Speaker B: Dad, you know, cool mom and your mom.
• 52:47
  Speaker C: Yeah, you know, he's just well, the, the two of them, like, like right now are like. I think they, they. Because they have sports as their commonality. So. I mean, I like football, like, but like, they'll watch like ESPN Ate the Oak show, you know, and then like, like, you remember, like from like. So they'll, they'll watch like the World Badminton.
• 53:04
  Speaker B: Oh, wow.
• 53:05
  Speaker A: Crazy.
• 53:05
  Speaker C: World Series.
• 53:06
  Speaker A: Whatever.
• 53:06
  Speaker C: I mean, they get into it. So.
• 53:07
  Speaker B: Watch out for that kid. Well, he's watching Batman catching a butterfly.
• 53:14
  Speaker C: Well, they.
• 53:14
  Speaker B: Yeah, you never know any. Anyway. He seems like a. What?
• 53:17
  Speaker C: He's a good kid. Joey.
• 53:18
  Speaker B: Joey. That's a good attack.
• 53:20
  Speaker A: Creative. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
• 53:23
  Speaker C: It was. It's in, it's in the rule book we have.
• 53:27
  Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. There you go.
• 53:30
  Speaker A: Peter, Paul or Joey. Got to be one of those three.
• 53:35
  Speaker C: That's right.
• 53:36
  Speaker B: Joey's not a saint, right? No, Peter and Paul are Saints.
• 53:40
  Speaker C: That's right.
• 53:40
  Speaker A: St. Joseph. St. Joseph.
• 53:41
  Speaker C: Oh, St. Joseph.
• 53:42
  Speaker A: You're right.
• 53:43
  Speaker C: Oh, boy. Sorry. I was going along with you, like. Yeah, sure.
• 53:47
  Speaker A: See, I'm a confirmed Catholic before I was anything else. I put in my time. So. So you're. So you're in New Orleans, you have all this free time. You're. You're in your home studio. You're. You have developing skills. You're, you know, experienced drummer, but you're, you're getting your sea legs onto yourself with the guitar playing. Now, I gotta say, your records, I was listening to, like, listen to the. The whole latest record today and was like doing kind of jumping around survey and man, they sound so great right from the start.
• 54:20
  Speaker C: Thank you.
• 54:21
  Speaker A: And I love your vocal approach that you don't over sing. You don't put a lot of grease on anything, which is like exactly what Alex Chilton would say to do. You know, it's just, just saying don't. Just like, are you putting something on that maybe a little. Don't, don't do that. Just. Just sing the notes. But, you know, you have the sensibility. That's. That's so cool. I mean, it reminds me at times of, you know, so many great things. I love, you know, Todd Rundgren, Bad Finger, you know, these, these brilliant harmonies with the, the jangling guitars, but also, you know, angular, aggressive guitar sounds and also a real sense of humor about what you're doing, which maybe is part of power pop in general. Yeah, we'll talk about the specific, you know, like, where you're really at and. Well, first of all, I'm going to dump a bunch of stuff out and you can just weave this into a Coherent narrative. So. So it's like you develop this sensibility, but then you. You fall in with all these guys in the. The Southeastern, you know, all these REM affiliated guys. Scott McCoy, you know, the Southeastern. You know, I'm guessing that, like, you know, the. The Chapel Hill scene is kind of at play in there. At least there's a kind of a handful of players that somehow you become associated with. Tell. Fill us all in.
• 55:53
  Speaker C: Well, I mean, really, honestly, what. What? Scott is my friend. He, I, I was a huge fan of his. I, I love the Minus Five. I. And he, you know, Scott's been in the Young Fresh Fellows, the Minus Five. He's played with everybody. He's a brilliant writer, arranger, player. He's just awesome at everything. And I was a huge fan of the -5. And they were playing here in New Orleans, and I was so excited. I was like, you know, because in Florida, there weren't a lot of shows that would come through. And so I was like, this is great. So I. I showed up early and I was drinking at Carrie's, you know. Yeah. And. And those guys. Yeah, that's right. And it was part of, like, this big show. It was a bunch of bands. They were all the same guys playing the band. And. And the -5 were playing, and I was very, very excited. And I was there early, and those guys got there and I. I introduced myself. Total geek move. But I didn't care because I was like, this is great, you know, and they're all really nice. I met Scott McCoy. I met Peter Buck and John Rambert. And then when those guys were done with soundcheck, they. I told them about a record. I say, by the way, if you're bored, Magic Bus is around the block, you know.
• 57:00
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 57:00
  Speaker C: And so they came out and they were like, you want to take us to that record store? I was like, yeah. So we did and, you know, hung out. And those guys were also nice to me, and I was so thrilled, you know. And I remember, you know, each of them were really cool. And John Ramberg gave me. He told me, I'm in a band called the Model Rockets. And he gave me a cd. It was just. They were just awesome. Then they played this show, and it was just the most rock, and it was everything I wanted to do. Like, the songs were great, the singing was great, the playing was great. It was just like. I was like, God damn, you know, this is fantastic. And then after the show, Scott and I talked a bit more, and we exchanged emails, I think, at the time. And Stayed in touch and, and he's, you know, and so I, I, He's a wonderful guy, and he's been very helpful to me. He's been very generous to me, but he's just a super person. So that, like, you know, anything that I've done that's been cool is. Is really because of him.
• 57:51
  Speaker B: Wow.
• 57:52
  Speaker C: He's, he's been, he's, he's a fantastic guy. He's really a good person.
• 57:56
  Speaker A: But then you wound up playing drums in that band for a whole bunch of records, right?
• 58:00
  Speaker C: Yeah, well, yeah. I mean, as you know, because the, the Minus Five is like a rotating cast of characters, you know, so, like, it's generally Scott and Peter Buck, but, you know, so, yes, Scott would ask me to play if he needed me on certain songs or certain things, you know, so there's some records I'm played more on than others, you know, like on the last one, they just put out a new record that's one of the best -5 records ever. I'm, I'm not on it at all. But he's got amazing compete, like Linda Pittman playing drums and Peter Buck playing guitar and Kurt Block playing guitar. It's fantastic. So, but anyway, yeah, that all started because he was coming through opening for Jeff Tweedy, and he said, any. Email me. He's like, hey, man, you know, I'm coming through. Do you want to play? You want to play with me? You want to play drums? I'm like, yeah. You know? And I remember I was so excited and nervous that I moved my drums into this closet. I don't know why did this, but I moved him into a closet, and I. It was just gonna be him and I. So I had to kind of figure out what am I gonna do to accompany him. And so I just practiced and practiced it, like, at. And I got it together and it went great. We wound up doing two dates.
• 59:03
  Speaker B: That was a big closet.
• 59:05
  Speaker C: Yeah. Well, it was like I had, you know, it was like one of those things where I had the kick drum in and I was kind of half out of it. Like, it was. Yeah, it was a weird setup.
• 59:12
  Speaker A: Now, why do that?
• 59:13
  Speaker C: I don't know.
• 59:14
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 59:14
  Speaker C: I don't know why. It really made no sense. Looking back. I'm like, I don't. I think it was just nervous.
• 59:19
  Speaker B: Now you're out of the closet.
• 59:21
  Speaker A: That's right. Next two of us. Yeah.
• 59:24
  Speaker B: All right, well, that's, but that's how that all started.
• 59:26
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 59:26
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 59:27
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 59:27
  Speaker C: And so he's been very helpful to me on on my stuff as well. He's just really, like, I say great guy.
• 59:34
  Speaker A: Now, now you're extremely prolific. You, you, once you start, someone say.
• 59:38
  Speaker C: A lack of quality control, these Junior.
• 59:40
  Speaker A: League records, I don't know, man. I was going to track after track. It's like, well, that's really cool. That's really cool.
• 59:46
  Speaker C: Thank you.
• 59:46
  Speaker A: Now, I know you're a huge, big star fan. You know, Alex Chilton's band, I used to play, so. And now. So I have a few questions associated with that. It's like, first, I was gonna say, what's your favorite big star record?
• 1:00:01
  Speaker C: Oh, gosh.
• 1:00:03
  Speaker A: I think if that's hard, we can move on.
• 1:00:05
  Speaker C: But I don't know. I know everybody, A lot of people, People say third. You know, I, I. It's not mine. I think the second and the first and the second one is kind of tied. Okay, now, not that I don't like love third.
• 1:00:15
  Speaker A: Right, right, right. No, no, that, that tells me a lot. Which. The third is like the, the more deconstructed one, which.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker C: I do love that record. You know what I mean? I think now I like it a lot more than I like. You know what I mean? Like, at first, the first two records were the ones that grabbed me initially.
• 1:00:27
  Speaker A: Right. Well, they're so shiny and, and, you know, it's. They're so easy to love you again. I was. When I started playing with Alex, I hadn't listened to any of that music. I didn't even know about that music.
• 1:00:40
  Speaker C: Really.
• 1:00:40
  Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So. Which is one of the things that he liked about me, he's like, oh, you don't know who I am, do you? I was like, no. He's like, perfect, so I'll move on. What do you think about, like, Flies on Sherbert?
• 1:01:00
  Speaker C: You know, I like it. You know, I like, I like Feudalist Hearts. I like.
• 1:01:07
  Speaker A: It's my first record.
• 1:01:08
  Speaker C: I dig that record. I, I like, I like. I'll tell you what, he did a record. I know this is going to be like. He did a record called Cliches.
• 1:01:15
  Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
• 1:01:15
  Speaker C: And his version of There Will Never Be Another you is my favorite version of that song, period. Like, I like when he does standard stuff like that.
• 1:01:24
  Speaker A: Right. Well, you know, he, he had. His dad had the Chet Baker Sings record, and Alex really totally digested that record as a kid. And it's all in there. And he could do all those songs, and I think that's how that song came into as well.
• 1:01:42
  Speaker C: And he plays guitar. I mean, he was really a great guitar player.
• 1:01:47
  Speaker A: I think it was Tom Waits that described Alex. Alex as being the. The Thelonious Monk of the rhythm guitar.
• 1:01:55
  Speaker C: That's such a great description.
• 1:01:57
  Speaker A: Yeah, pretty. Pretty accurate. Now, because I was gonna ask you, I was just on this line, I was gonna say, how much did all you big star devotees resent Alex's post big star career?
• 1:02:09
  Speaker C: I. I didn't.
• 1:02:10
  Speaker A: Did you feel cheated?
• 1:02:11
  Speaker C: None at all. Because. Well, first of all, I wasn't listening to that stuff when it was out initially, so I didn't have, you know, any kind of. I came to it later.
• 1:02:18
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 1:02:19
  Speaker C: Because of a lot of the bands that I was listening to in the 80s that would reference them and that's. And you know, that that's how I. I kind of got to it late. So. No, I. I didn't at all. Because I felt like, you know, I know if. If I wouldn't want to be straight jacketed into doing one kind of thing, if I wanted to make a noise record, then I'll do it. I don't really care, you know, I mean, nobody should. Everybody should do what they want.
• 1:02:42
  Speaker A: You know, One of my favorite records that, that Alex made that I didn't have anything to do with is the. The record he made with Alan Vega and Ben Vaugh called Cubis Blues.
• 1:02:51
  Speaker C: Oh, wow. Okay. Which.
• 1:02:52
  Speaker A: Which they made in a weekend where they were like, pulling out of the newspaper to get lyrics, you know.
• 1:02:57
  Speaker C: That's awesome.
• 1:02:58
  Speaker A: Alan Vega was just making up lyrics as. As they were making the tracks. It's really wonderful. Right?
• 1:03:03
  Speaker C: That's cool.
• 1:03:03
  Speaker A: I'm going to check that you dig that. So moving on. We come into contact more recently. Maybe the way you're actually on the show now is you recently worked with a friend of ours, someone who's. Who's kind of been in the orbit of the Troublemen podcast for a number of years. Our good friend Natasha Sanchez. Yeah. And Tom Stern, a guy who I've known since, you know, probably 1982 or something, who has the great Blue Velvet Studio over there on Campus street and worked there many times. You have become associated with the Blue Velvet Studio and. Tell us. So you worked on Natasha's record, You did some production, did some playing?
• 1:03:44
  Speaker C: I did, yeah. Well, the. Tom I've known for a long time, we recorded two records. Wait, yeah, two. Two records at Tom's. And Tom's mixed a bunch of stuff. Me, so. And I've done other session work with Tom. He's great. Yeah, I love Tom. And. And then Natasha. I've known Natasha for a long time. Since, like, way back at Circle Bar, and she used to have a songwriter night, and she would invite me to. To play that, which was really nice of her. And one day we. I don't remember if we just said we went to have lunch or something, and she was telling me she was writing songs, and I was like, oh, what are you working on? And. And she. She was telling me, and she was like, I'm not sure what I want to do. I said, look, if you need a drummer, I'll play drums. Or if you want, whatever you want, you know? And. And she's like, well, yeah. So she played me the songs, and I was like, wow. And I was like, hey, you know, I got an idea, you know, and we just started talking. I was like, you know, if you want, I could work up demos of a couple of these songs if you're looking for a way. And she's like, yeah. And so that's what I did. And then that grew into recording over at Toms, and it came out great. I think it's a wonderful ep. Natasha's awesome. She's such. She's got a great voice, I think. She's like. And I love her lyrics. Like, she. She watching her play, too. She's a really good performer. She brings you right in. Like, you can't. You know what I mean? She's very. I. I feel like she. She makes it feel like you're. You're, like, in her living room, and you're just kind of with her when you're watching her play. It's pretty cool. She's. She's great.
• 1:05:06
  Speaker A: Nice. Nice.
• 1:05:08
  Speaker B: What's with that? Buas Buffa's place.
• 1:05:11
  Speaker A: Bufus.
• 1:05:11
  Speaker C: Oh, it was great. Yeah, we played there. Playing acoustic.
• 1:05:13
  Speaker B: Place is a ripoff, man.
• 1:05:15
  Speaker C: You. You. How so?
• 1:05:16
  Speaker B: Well, because they say, oh, come see a gig, and we go see Natasha play, and then all of a sudden, you order a couple drinks, and they charge you 10 bucks to get in. Charge you at the door. They charge you to get in.
• 1:05:30
  Speaker A: Oh, they don't have a doorman.
• 1:05:32
  Speaker B: Yeah, so they. They don't tell you that.
• 1:05:34
  Speaker C: Oh, I don't. I don't know.
• 1:05:35
  Speaker B: That place is a rip.
• 1:05:36
  Speaker A: But you. You. You wouldn't have left had you known you were going to have to pay, would you?
• 1:05:40
  Speaker B: I wouldn't have come.
• 1:05:40
  Speaker A: Oh, I had to pay. You're my friend. But I'm not paying the COVID charge.
• 1:05:45
  Speaker B: Yeah, I should be on the guest list. I'm Manny Chevrolet. I should get him free.
• 1:05:50
  Speaker A: Fair enough.
• 1:05:52
  Speaker B: I don't know. She seems Like a good kid.
• 1:05:54
  Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
• 1:05:55
  Speaker C: She really is.
• 1:05:55
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 1:05:58
  Speaker B: I don't know.
• 1:05:59
  Speaker C: Yes, I know she's happy. I think she's happy.
• 1:06:01
  Speaker A: Yes, yes. Now, you know, Gardenia Moon, she played on that same thing. I played. I played on a few cuts of her record.
• 1:06:08
  Speaker C: And her record. Really good, too.
• 1:06:09
  Speaker A: I think she made a terrific record, man.
• 1:06:12
  Speaker C: Yeah, me too. She played a great show.
• 1:06:13
  Speaker B: We all played this Prison, probably.
• 1:06:16
  Speaker A: Well, I might be listening to it from prison.
• 1:06:18
  Speaker C: It was really good. And she played a show one night at Buffers as well. Like, it was really good. Yeah, yeah, I was.
• 1:06:26
  Speaker A: My wife went that night. I. I was. I had a gig myself, which is why I don't show up to a lot of things.
• 1:06:31
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 1:06:32
  Speaker A: Not because I'm sitting at home. Well, so this other guy that we're, I think, trying to have on the podcast next week, Jonathan Predus.
• 1:06:40
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 1:06:41
  Speaker A: He has this. He's great guitar players. Played in a whole bunch of different bands. Plays in this band, the Walrus. Love the Walrus nowadays and. But he has a very successful podcast called Ranking the Beatles.
• 1:06:52
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 1:06:54
  Speaker A: I was gonna say, I would assume, because you seem like a shoe end for that podcast. Okay. I haven't been on it, but that makes sense.
• 1:07:04
  Speaker C: You know, it was fun. I mean, I just. Because, you know, geek out about the Beatles for an hour.
• 1:07:07
  Speaker A: Sure, sure. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
• 1:07:10
  Speaker C: But he's a super nice guy.
• 1:07:12
  Speaker A: No, he's. He's a good guy and he's done all kind of interesting things and hopefully it's going to work out very talented. Have him on the very next next podcast.
• 1:07:20
  Speaker C: Oh, cool. Excellent.
• 1:07:21
  Speaker A: Yeah. See, sometimes I like to, you know, find these patterns and popping it up. Well. Well, yeah, just the Beatles through line. You know, suddenly. I mean, it didn't. It wasn't by design. It's just. It's. It reveals itself to me and I go, oh, okay.
• 1:07:36
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 1:07:36
  Speaker A: You know, like a good record. It's like when you make a record or you're writing a whole bunch of songs now. Okay, you're a Bowie fan. Yes, one of my best friends. Huge Bowie fan. Is like, what's your favorite Bowie record? Nice. Or however he said it, what do you think is the best Bowie record? And I said, diamond Dogs. He goes, really? He goes, why is that? I said, because it's so different. It's so cool. It's so Bowie. It's a theme record. It starts, it has a beginning, it goes through the whole thing. You know, it's. And. And as years went by, he. He said, you know, Renee, now I Agree with you.
• 1:08:15
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 1:08:16
  Speaker A: Now I forget why I brought this up.
• 1:08:17
  Speaker C: No, but that makes it. You were talking about through lines and stuff and.
• 1:08:20
  Speaker A: Right. And now why was I talking about through lines?
• 1:08:23
  Speaker B: The Alzheimer's class is fogging up through.
• 1:08:27
  Speaker A: Lines with the, with the, the. The themes. Oh, I know. Yeah.
• 1:08:30
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 1:08:30
  Speaker A: Where you, you, you have a whole collection of, of songs and then you record them and as you're recording them or maybe looking back and doing sequencing.
• 1:08:39
  Speaker B: You have no idea what you do.
• 1:08:40
  Speaker A: You start to realize, oh, there is this theme here that I didn't even understand. Understand. It was not intentional. It wasn't. Wasn't contrived. Yeah, but it's, it's obvious in the material.
• 1:08:52
  Speaker C: The last couple of records have had themes, but before that it was just a random bunch of songs and then it was a matter of just putting them together like a set list. You know what I mean?
• 1:09:01
  Speaker A: I think those, those. They kind of self organize in a way that actually does have a, A larger meaning that that's cohesive.
• 1:09:09
  Speaker C: Yes, I do. I. Well, I think. Think before the last couple records, for me that was musical more than anything else. Like I, I'd like, I'd be like listening to a lot of a specific. Kind of like I want to do something like that. The last couple records have been more like. It's been on that level. It's easier for me, but like lyrically too. So like I put out a record called Bridge and Tunnel and that was all about New York.
• 1:09:29
  Speaker A: Right.
• 1:09:29
  Speaker C: And then like the last record, Our Broadcast Day had like the 70s as a backdrop, you know.
• 1:09:34
  Speaker A: Right.
• 1:09:34
  Speaker C: Even if I'm not really talking about 70s, it's kind of. And then like I'm working on one right now that's about 70 done. And that's seemingly about death.
• 1:09:45
  Speaker A: Okay. Right around the corner.
• 1:09:47
  Speaker C: But, but it's a real toe tapper. It's, it's, it's.
• 1:09:51
  Speaker A: That's.
• 1:09:51
  Speaker B: What's the difference between a record and an album?
• 1:09:54
  Speaker C: Same. Same thing. Synonymous.
• 1:09:56
  Speaker B: So why, why do they call an album like best album of the year? Best record of the year.
• 1:10:01
  Speaker A: When they say best record, they mean single. That's.
• 1:10:04
  Speaker B: So why do they say single? Because they also say this is the new single from a band.
• 1:10:08
  Speaker C: Yeah. Well, they don't even have the. I guess they do have the physical product now again, you know, like the. It's so weird now it like everything, you know?
• 1:10:15
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:10:16
  Speaker B: Cuz a record company is basically the mob, right? Yeah. They're just mobsters.
• 1:10:22
  Speaker A: And neither one really exists to. In the way that, that.
• 1:10:25
  Speaker C: Well, now everybody can just put out whatever they want, you know, which is great. I think it's cool. Really.
• 1:10:33
  Speaker A: Horrible. There's no filter. Filter. Yeah, yeah, that's true.
• 1:10:38
  Speaker B: Oh, I. I'm an artist putting out this.
• 1:10:41
  Speaker A: Right, right.
• 1:10:43
  Speaker B: That's how I'm able to like that Lenoir thing that I saw. Jazz Fest. God, that was the worst thing I ever heard in my life.
• 1:10:51
  Speaker A: Oh, well.
• 1:10:52
  Speaker B: God. And he's supposed to be a big shot. Daniel and Juan. Yeah.
• 1:10:59
  Speaker A: He'S done some great work. Yeah.
• 1:11:01
  Speaker B: That was the worst gig I've ever seen.
• 1:11:02
  Speaker A: Not your cup of tea? Yeah, no, I was there. I thought it was great, but whatever.
• 1:11:06
  Speaker B: Children making up music, it was just horrible, you know, it's like get. Putting a child with a piano, a two year old on a piano.
• 1:11:15
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 1:11:16
  Speaker B: Awful. Let's get him on the show.
• 1:11:18
  Speaker A: Well, I hear he's moving back to town, so with this kind of, just kind of grease with the wheel, surely he's gonna be anxious to come on the show.
• 1:11:28
  Speaker B: Yeah, no. Fuzzy Foreigner.
• 1:11:32
  Speaker A: He's from Canada.
• 1:11:34
  Speaker B: Canada. Oh, my God. Well, I like the Canadian.
• 1:11:36
  Speaker A: Yeah, we like the Canadians.
• 1:11:37
  Speaker B: They seem like they're very polite. Hockey pucks.
• 1:11:41
  Speaker A: Yeah, now, now. So, so we're kind of on the downslope of the, the podcast here, but a few things I wanted to touch on kind of continuing. The theme is, is, you know, the 1970s and, and you have a lot of references like, you know, bridge and tunnel. And then you have put out this record, Nattering Nabobs.
• 1:12:01
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 1:12:02
  Speaker A: Now see, Alex would really like that title because he knows what that is in reference to. Most people do not. Because most people don't know anything. So Nattery Nabob's of negativism was a quote from Spiro Agnew, I believe, when he was referring to the press.
• 1:12:19
  Speaker C: Right.
• 1:12:19
  Speaker A: He was attacking the press and their constant criticism. So I love the fact that you pull up this very obscure quote by Spiro Agnew.
• 1:12:31
  Speaker C: Yeah, well, and then also like the idea of Nattering Nabobs not just being the press, but anybody who dares question what the hell is going on.
• 1:12:39
  Speaker A: Right.
• 1:12:39
  Speaker C: You know what I mean? Like, and, and, and the critic, the critical class.
• 1:12:43
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 1:12:44
  Speaker C: You know, well, the thing is, is that like, you know, what a terrible spear.
• 1:12:49
  Speaker B: Agnew.
• 1:12:49
  Speaker A: Horrible.
• 1:12:50
  Speaker B: What kind of name is Agnew? What is that? But Agnew is that.
• 1:12:57
  Speaker C: I'm not sure what English.
• 1:12:59
  Speaker A: We don't know.
• 1:12:59
  Speaker C: I don't know.
• 1:13:01
  Speaker A: I'll have to. Have to do some research.
• 1:13:03
  Speaker B: Yeah, I'm not Sure. Yeah. His parents must have had a sense of humor.
• 1:13:06
  Speaker A: Yeah. Famously had to resign from the Vice Presidency.
• 1:13:11
  Speaker C: Tax evasion.
• 1:13:12
  Speaker A: And did he do jail time?
• 1:13:14
  Speaker C: I think so.
• 1:13:15
  Speaker A: I think he did some Maryland.
• 1:13:16
  Speaker C: It was Maryland tax evasion.
• 1:13:17
  Speaker B: He did like 30 days.
• 1:13:18
  Speaker A: I think he might have did some time. Yeah. But that's how Jerry Ford wound up getting the Vice presidency.
• 1:13:24
  Speaker C: Yep.
• 1:13:24
  Speaker B: Right.
• 1:13:25
  Speaker A: Look it up, people. You know, history is your friend. Yeah. Know. It's all there.
• 1:13:31
  Speaker C: Exactly.
• 1:13:32
  Speaker B: It depends who writes it.
• 1:13:34
  Speaker A: Well, the victor, usually. That's what. Now, again, touching on other.
• 1:13:42
  Speaker B: Was Spiro Victor, though, because he went to jail.
• 1:13:45
  Speaker A: No, no, I'm saying history is written by the victors.
• 1:13:47
  Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
• 1:13:48
  Speaker A: It wasn't written by Spiro Agnew, but this movie, the Ice.
• 1:13:54
  Speaker B: HR Hall. Haldeman. I remember that now. What did HR stand for? I wonder.
• 1:14:01
  Speaker A: I don't know. Harry Reasoner. Halderman.
• 1:14:06
  Speaker B: Sounds like a tax company. HR hold them. It does. We'll do your tax.
• 1:14:10
  Speaker A: A law firm.
• 1:14:11
  Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
• 1:14:13
  Speaker A: The Ice Storm. Are you familiar with that movie?
• 1:14:16
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 1:14:17
  Speaker C: That's so funny.
• 1:14:18
  Speaker B: That was me many times.
• 1:14:20
  Speaker A: One of my favorite movies. Movies of all time.
• 1:14:22
  Speaker B: That was in the back of my.
• 1:14:23
  Speaker C: Mind thinking about some of the. Yes. Like especially 1973 nervous breakdown.
• 1:14:26
  Speaker A: That's what. When I was listening to that record today, I was thinking. I got to ask him about the Ice Storm because all these themes of, you know, the me generation, the. The ennui that we all. The key parties. The. The. The grasping at. At Bohemia from suburbia, all. Only to find that there's nothing there. It's. That's not going to be your salvation, you know.
• 1:14:51
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 1:14:51
  Speaker A: Anyway, that.
• 1:14:52
  Speaker C: No, that. That wasn't. And there's also. There was a book called 1973 Nervous Breakdown written by. I'm trying to remember the author's name. Andreas Killen, maybe.
• 1:15:00
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 1:15:01
  Speaker C: But the book, basically, the premise is that, like, the modern world began in 1973. That everything that we're used to now, reality TV and like, you know, like all, like even like the terrorism as we know it, all these kind of things started in 1973. That was the end. So that kind of informs something I.
• 1:15:21
  Speaker A: Just watched September 5th.
• 1:15:23
  Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. But yeah, that. So that those two things together were definitely kind of, you know, And. And usually lyrics. I'm sort of like, you know, I always feel like that's the weak spot. And the last couple, like, in that one, I felt like, nah, this is all right. This is good.
• 1:15:36
  Speaker A: No, they're great.
• 1:15:37
  Speaker C: Thank you.
• 1:15:38
  Speaker A: And. And. And also just getting Back to the humor of it. Your song Skinny Ties that Skewers power pop is a parody of all the power pop conventions. Hilarious, man. Alex would love that. Would love that.
• 1:15:57
  Speaker C: Well, I mean, I remember online there was an argument going on about what is and isn't power pop, and people were, like, really irate, and it was just like, this is not that important. I mean, is. You know, and. And so I thought it was hilarious. And. And also just the idea that, like, you don't. Again, it goes back to what we talk about earlier. You don't have to do the same thing over and over. And if you don't want to do it or you don't feel like doing it, you want to make metal machine music, then go do that.
• 1:16:21
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 1:16:22
  Speaker C: Even if you've made the Poppy. If you're Bobby Sherman and you want to make metal machine music, sure. Great.
• 1:16:25
  Speaker A: Do it.
• 1:16:26
  Speaker C: You know what I mean? So that. And I just tried to throw. I threw as many PowerPoc cliches music in there as I could.
• 1:16:32
  Speaker A: And.
• 1:16:33
  Speaker C: And also mentioning every power pop band I could think of.
• 1:16:36
  Speaker A: Hilarious, man. I have this friend. You may know this guy, Jay Gonzalez.
• 1:16:41
  Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. I don't know him, but we have mutual friends.
• 1:16:43
  Speaker A: He is a. He is as much of a power pop maven as you are, and he would. If he doesn't know that song, I'll play it for him. He's gonna love it.
• 1:16:53
  Speaker C: He did a great. You know how he played? He. Sometimes he'll post songs that he plays, like, on. On his Instagram or. He did a song. That's one of my favorite songs. He did a beautiful version of it. Do you remember Sky High by Jigsaw? Do you remember that song Sky High?
• 1:17:07
  Speaker B: That was a disco.
• 1:17:08
  Speaker D: You've blown it all, Sky.
• 1:17:09
  Speaker B: Oh, yeah, sure.
• 1:17:10
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:17:11
  Speaker C: He did the best version of it. It was incredible. Incredible.
• 1:17:14
  Speaker A: He's into, like, everything from all the stuff you're talking about, including, like, the guys with the kilts.
• 1:17:21
  Speaker C: Oh, the basicity.
• 1:17:21
  Speaker A: Rollers, basically. Rollers. He's in. He's into the Archies.
• 1:17:25
  Speaker C: Oh, yeah. That's great. I love that stuff.
• 1:17:28
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 1:17:29
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 1:17:29
  Speaker C: That's so funny.
• 1:17:30
  Speaker A: I'm gonna have to hook you guys up, man. All right, well, I think that's about it, man.
• 1:17:35
  Speaker B: Thank you.
• 1:17:36
  Speaker C: Thank you so much for having me. It's so much fun.
• 1:17:38
  Speaker A: What a fantastic having you on here.
• 1:17:41
  Speaker C: Thank you.
• 1:17:42
  Speaker B: You're up, man. It's okay. You seem like a good guy.
• 1:17:47
  Speaker C: Thank you.
• 1:17:48
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. All right, Joe. Well, as always on the Troublemen podcast, we like to say Trouble never ends.
• 1:17:54
  Speaker B: But the struggle continues. Good night.
• 1:17:56
  Speaker A: Good night.
• 1:17:57
  Speaker D: The modern world is taking hold.
• 1:18:02
  Speaker B: Everything.
• 1:18:03
  Speaker D: Coming to a head the point to where the past is truly dead it won't take long now to unfold.
• 1:18:16
  Speaker C: If.
• 1:18:16
  Speaker D: I could be so bold But I don't see any changes on my street I see the orange and lime green that I'm accustomed to in my Tupperware and clothes and no one's living Liberating.
• 1:18:41
  Speaker A: Me.
• 1:18:43
  Speaker D: From this suburban reverie 1973 Nervous breakdown are we the Bradies of the Lambs GI Joe or Ziggy Stardust Getting stoned in woods and parking lots and thinking we have somehow changed but we aren't really free 1973 nervous breakdown.
• 1:19:33
  Speaker A: Oh.
• 1:19:33
  Speaker D: The world is ending oh, the world's on fire we said it so much now it feels like it's alive.
• 1:19:45
  Speaker A: And.
• 1:19:46
  Speaker D: The only thing different's when I watch the news Till my college rose going See the colors on T and what they showing but it might as well be 1953 this Suburban Reverie 1973 Damn. The more we want the less we.
• 1:20:26
  Speaker A: Really see.
• 1:20:30
  Speaker D: Doesn'T matter much to me 1973 nervous breakdown.
• 1:20:49
  Speaker A: Sam.