412. Cash Savage on Salt-N-Pepa 'Very Necessary' (1993)

Author Bradley Morgan joins me to dive into his fascinating book 'U2's The Joshua Tree: Planting Roots in Mythic America'. We unpack the political underpinnings of the album, how the album has been recontextualised by the political environment of today, resisting nostalgia, how the members of U2 embraced the myth of America and then dissected it, the anti-cynicism of U2's music, how U2 appeals across political divides while foregrounding politics in their own music, their surprising late awakening to American roots music, the story behind One Tree Hill and Bradley’s pilgrimage to the site of the album cover photo.

21 Loka 202235min

Today Better Call Saul writer, director and executive producer Tom Schnauz joins our rare three timer club as he returns to the show to talk about the legendary Monkees. We talk about the false perception of the Monkees as a ‘fake band’, the Monkees TV show and how it introduced Tom to their music, Tom’s friendship with Micky Dolenz, the original audition notice that led to the band’s formation, how and why Tom used two deeper cut Monkees tracks for montages in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul and some Monkees trivia direct from Micky himself.

6 Loka 202251min

After eight years and almost four hundred episodes, we finally talk about Rush! Better Call Saul Star Patrick Fabian joins me to preach the Canadian gospel as we chat Geddy, Neil and Alex’s classic 1980 album 'Permanent Waves'. We talk about Patrick discovering Rush as a high schooler in Pennsylvania, taking the ‘magic bus’ to see the band at his first ever arena show, ‘growing old’ with the band as he’s gone to see them over four decades, the skewed gender balance of Rush fandom, how Patrick ended up with a pair of Neil Peart’s drumsticks and that time he met Def Leppard.

23 Syys 202255min

Today singer-songwriter and actor Lola Kirke joins for a rollercoaster of a conversation about Joni Mitchell’s classic Hejira album and a lot more besides. We talk about how Lola was turned on to Joni by her then boyfriend, only for listening to the music to inspire her to leave him, Joni’s cross-country road trips and how they inspired the songwriting, whether people can write music like this in the ‘content’ era, how Lola forced her way into a Last Waltz tribute where she performed ‘Coyote’, Joni’s social media presence, celebrity autographs and how this record inspired Lola’s latest single ‘All I Had To Do’.

15 Syys 202247min

Empire Film Magazine and Fade to Black's Amon Warmann joins me to try and answer one of the great nerd questions of all time: Is a 75 minute animated film from 1993 actually the best Batman film ever made? Warning: This is a spoiler-filled conversation after the first ten minutes. Amon and I go for broke digging into a film we both love dearly covering topics including: - Best Batman film vs best film starring Batman - The love story that drives the film - How the film and its parent show Batman: The Animated Series took key inspiration from classic Hollywood films of the 30s, 40s and 50s. - Why this 'kids' film is one of the most emotionally mature superhero films ever made. - How the film finds a unique way to tell Batman's origin story - Kevin Conroy's definitive and multi-pronged take on Batman - The strategic use of the Joker and how it parallels The Silence of the Lambs and Sexy Beast. - How to go dark without slipping into pretension or self-parody. - Vengance vs Justice. - Shirley Walker's incredible classic score. Plus we game out an alternate history of the 90s where Warner Brothers looked to this film for inspiration after parting ways with Tim Burton instead of making Batman Forever, and speculate on appropriate candidates to take over from Michael Keaton. Plus we have a spirited argument about whether a film should ever be three hours long.

25 Elo 20221h 6min

Today Sam Tsang aka Congee joins me down the line from London, as we look back on one of the iconic records of the last decade - Frank Ocean’s 'Blonde'. We talk about how Frank Ocean builds a new world with each album, and makes the release an event. We talk about the detail of the production, the care put into every choice, stories from the making of the record and speculate on the practical concerns of making a record where every song went through so many iterations. We talk about the guest cameos from everyone from Beyoncé to Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood, the rock influence on the record and what we think Ocean has up his sleeve for the next album.

11 Elo 202222min

Eddie Hamilton is one of the greatest filmmakers working in mass entertainment today. A genius editor whose resume stretches from the KINGSMAN franchise to X-MEN: FIRST CLASS and the two best MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE films (Rogue Nation and Fallout), he spent two years working on what has become the cinematic event of 2022 - TOP GUN: MAVERICK. Today, Eddie takes us a journey through the film, using the expertly chosen needle drops - from Hank Williams to T Rex to Lady Gaga - to explore the relentless rigour and refinement that goes into creating a truly epic piece of cinema. Topics covered include: Striking the perfect balance between 80s nostalgia and creating a new timeless classic. Why specially written songs by Kenny Loggins, One Republic and Post Malone, and even a still unreleased Rolling Stones song, didn’t make the finished film. Creating a modern version of the original film’s opening sequence, down to the fonts in the title cards. The long theatrical run and incredible box office success of the film. A never before revealed Tom Cruise musical cameo. Feeding the internet’s appetite for Miles Teller thirst traps. How Eddie and his teamed rescued the pivotal F-18 training montage, turning it from something they were embarrassed to watch to a highlight of the film with only three days to go. A mini-masterclass on how to construct epic climactic action sequences from dozens of hours of raw footage, like the aerial dogfight in Top Gun: Maverick and the helicopter chase in Mission: Impossible - Fallout. The importance of inserts and cutaway shots to build emotional stakes and maintain story clarity for the audience. How Lady Gaga delivered the iconic power ballad the film had to have, and how they weaved the song into the film in big and subtle ways.  This is a spoiler-filled conversation - we literally go from the opening credits through to the ending credits - so if you are the one person on earth who is yet to see this film, please correct that posthaste before listening.

27 Heinä 20221h 42min

Instead of watching a three hour movie about Elvis Presley, hit play on today’s episode for a shorter but no less exhaustive deep dive on the real Elvis, Elvis Costello, as actor/comedian and host of the great Dead Eyes podcast Connor Ratliff joins me to make the case for what he considers the ultimate Elvis album, 1991's 'Mighty Like a Rose'. We talk about the album’s underrated place in the Costello canon, I check in with the album’s producer Mitchell Froom for his memories of making the record, Elvis’s dramatic change of look and how it impacted the way the record was received, how the album showcases every string on Costello’s bow, the Costello/McCartney that never was and more.

14 Heinä 20221h 21min