A few stats on the podcast! We have made 22 episodes, so almost hitting one every two weeks, on topics ranging from specific discussions (reggae, James Bond, music biogs, critics, post punk, Half Man Half Biscuit, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, Van Morrison) to general rambles, the launch of the 121 discussions, year end reviews, Beatles reissues, special guests (Mike Vernon, David Hepworth, Kathryn Williams). 27 guests have shambled into the pod, some more than once. A few even started without 15 minutes debugging Skype, phoning/texting/PMing missing guests. Phew, I feel exhausted thinking about it.
So…for the New Year, what topics should we tackle? Ideas welcome! Everyone is obviously welcome so PM if you fancy being on or in a 121 – most people start by insisting they couldn’t meaningfully string three words together then quickly realise it’s basically a chat with mates and settle in to talk for England. The more the merrier!
Also we should hit number 100 this year – so ideas to mark this auspicious ever welcome!
And very appreciative we are. Well, I am, anyway.
Well done the Twangmeister – having the patience to deal with the endless Skype technical bollocks as well as the rest of the bollocks that we talk is commendable. I like the 1-2-1s and nominate Moose hopefully in full Finbarr Saunders mode.
Some other ideas off the top of my bonce – post rock; ‘new classical’; Live albums; Paul Simon
Production. Recording. Microphones.
I am very dull.
I’d love to do that one. But I fear it would be less popular even than the guitar or songwriting ones – I too am dull. Perhaps we should start a series of Unpopularcasts for minority tastes.
I’d love that one too! Please do it!
You could keep it interesting without being too technical.
One thing which fascinates me, for example, is the “tape echo” effect. You can trace this from Elvis’ early rockabilly stuff, to Syd Barrett’s guitar, to the revival of “slap back” in early seventies vocals (John Lennon, Marc Bolan, David Essex…. all trying to an extent to recapture a “rockabilly” feel), to the spaced out sound of Tangerine Dream.
… Or is that getting boring already…?
I’m getting aroused…
@Feedback_File I would be up for Paul Simon.
Also Costello or British singer songwriters.
Performance (that’s us, not somebody else). Audience connection. Repertoire.
Have we done composition and songwriting? Not that I do either.
We did songwriting/composition. It died like a louse in a Russian’s beard.
@Feedback_File I would be up for Paul Simon.
Also Costello or British singer songwriters.
Great stuff, Twang – thanks so much for the time and work you out into this.
Seems extraordinary that to my knowledge we’ve never done one on Bob Dylan. And if there are enough people informed about it, I’d love to hear an Afterword guide to all the new jazz talent that seems to be coming through.
Two excellent ideas BB. Bob could be a two parter I suspect.
You’d never squeeze all of The Zim into just one podcast. Just reading out a list of everything that’s available could take up Pt.1.
A Brit-Jazz podcast could also be interesting (to some). From postwar to current there’s plenty to talk about.
For new jazz, give this Gilles Peterson Best of 2019 a listen:
https://worldwidefm.net/show/gilles-peterson-best-of-2019/
I very much enjoyed being on the Afterword podcast and would love to offer my services again, especially if the pod ventured Bowiewards. For the 100th, though, how about getting Mark, Hep, Fraser on board for a special edition??
Sure a Bowiecast is an excellent idea. Got a bean bag ready for you.
The podcasts are excellent.
Well done Twang for putting them together.
I think a Bowiecast is a splendid idea. I’d be happy to be involved
I wouldn’t mind a Bowiecast. And Neil Young. And The Beach Boys. The lovely Sunflower is 50 this year and won’t get a massive boxed reappraisal. Some digital stuff seems to be on its way though.
You do a fantastic job, Twang.
More power to your elbow!
Twang, do yo know what kind of audience numbers the podcasts get, and which are most/least popular?
Not precisely. You can see how many downloaded an episode, though of course you can’t tell if they listened to it. You can’t tell if more streamed it off the site or another podcatcher. So vaguely, but not with any accuracy.
FWIW, I’ve listened to the MilesCast parts 1&2, the ColtraneCast and the recent BeatlesCasts on the reissues many times over the last year or two, usually during bad weather sea crossings….the pleasure never palls…..
A few stats – these are the most downloaded. We seem to have had a hike recently, getting over 1000 downloads where it used to be in the 4 – 500s. Encouraging!
The Afterword #88: The Half Man Half Biscuitcast 1,426
The Afterword #84: The Hepcast 1,415
The Afterword #87: The One to Onecast – Steve T 1,140
The Afterword #83: The Milescast Pt. 2 1,135
The Afterword #98: The Endofyearcast 1,057
The Afterword #96: The Bondcasht 834
The Afterword #86: Mike Vernon – Bluesbreakers! 722
Steve T. there, snapping at the heels of Word legend and best selling author Heppo himself. Big family? (Steve that is).
Hmm, I’ve had another look at this. It’s a bit confusing. Those are the last 3 months total downloads for everything, but only back to 1/11/17 when they changes the statistics engine. So earlier stuff isn’t there (as it’s before the changeover which is available as totals only, though if there are downloads for them after> 1/11/17 it would be in the breakdown).
This is the top 33 down to our boy Steve. Sorry Steve. Fame eluded again.
The Afterword #6: Mark Ellen v The Massive (Round 1) 3,401
The Afterword #1: Careless Wispas 3,149
The Afterword #7: Mark Ellen v The Massive (Round 2) 2,804
The Afterword #10: The Dancast! 2,373
The Afterword #8: XTC – All Aboard The Skylark! 2,265
The Afterword #4: It’s The Progcast! 1,987
The Afterword #11: NWOBHM & Heavy Bloody Metal, Okay? 1,957
The Afterword #9: It’s The Folk Folk Folking Folkcast! 1,951
The Afterword #2: Bring On Your Wrecking Ball 1,945
The Afterword #3: Do It Anyway 1,852
The Afterword #5: Beatnik Records Chatmax 1,820
The Afterword #14: The Chitter Chatter Of Little Feat 1,591
The Afterword #16: They Write The songs That Make The Afterword Sing 1,591
The Afterword #15: Rachel Talalay Interview #keepmespoilerfree 1,586
The Afterword #13: It’s Monty Python’s Flying Podcast! 1,562
The Afterword #12: It’s The Crockcast! Putting the Crock into Country Rock 1,530
The Afterword #88: The Half Man Half Biscuitcast 1,426
The Afterword #84: The Hepcast 1,415
The Afterword #17: Stand Up For Jethro Tull 1,392
The Afterword #36: Rachel Talalay is returning 1,345
The Afterword #22: 2014: WTF Was That All About? 1,334
The Afterword #18: U2: Hello, Hello, We Don’t Have To Hate Bono 1,316
The Afterword #25: The Blather Of JOHNANDYOKO 1,313
The Afterword #20: The Irish Roadtrip Carcast 1,275
The Afterword #28: Dancing Round Our Virtual Handbags 1,271
The Afterword #38: Jazz & Dave 1,227
The Afterword #27: The Oi’ll Give It Foive Roundtable 1,222
The Afterword #24: Unthank You For The Music 1,209
The Afterword #19: Back Country Rock 1,204
The Afterword #55: The Ballad Of Hari Georgeson 1,184
The Afterword #39: We Are Not Appreciated As The Mighty Fall 1,181
The Afterword #26: Ian Anderson in One Of Twang’s Almost Legendary Pop Interviews 1,173
The Afterword #87: The One to Onecast – Steve T 1,140
Anyone who has worked on a data migration will recognise this dilemma – carry over the history, or just totals?
The business – “we need full history”
The IT team – “no you don’t, you’ll never look at it and it will break the budget in storage”
The business – “we hate the IT department”.
The HR department – “We’ll just take 2 years of history”.
The IT team – “Are you sure? All your trend reporting and analytics will be skewed, and you won’t be able to do a full Subject Access Request if you get asked for one.”
The HR department – “Doesn’t matter. Never happens. Just get on with it.”
* six weeks after go-live *
The HR department – “We need to get all the old data, the stuff more than 2 years old. All our trend analysis reports are skewed. The analytics people are unhappy about the poor depth of history available. And we can’t do a Subject Access Request properly.”
The IT team – “OK, you’ll need to restore the old database for that, but you’ve stopped paying for the software licence and the infrastructure boys have repurposed the kit anyway. So that’ll be around 150 grand before we actually do any development work to migrate the stuff.”
The HR department – “We hate the IT department”.
Ho ho I was pretty sure you at least would have had this one VV. I managed the migration of 48 billing systems. Imagine how that played out.
Just get a decent Business Analyst to get the fucking knobheads who run the business to decide what they really fucking need and fucking want, and then get the IT code monkeys to fucking write what you have spent fucking months speccing for them and to stop fannying around and fucking get on with it, and by the way so-called fucking project manager take some fucking responsibilty rather than leaving it all to me to really fucking manage this shitfest…any guesses what I used to do..?
I feel your pain. When I took over the billing programme this was their approach and I attended an interminable meeting attempting to prioritise nearly 400 change requests, some years old. After the meeting I cancelled all 400 and told them to reraise the ones they actually want. We got about 18.
BTW I used to be a BA as did Mrs. T so I have great respect for this noble profession.
Ah…I always knew we were kindred spirits! I worked for a well known insurance company, and the last wheeze they had before I retired was the idiots in the IT dept convincing the company to buy in a totally unsuitable software suite and then try to shoehorn all the existing systems into it. Several millions later…and after me jumping up and down saying it would never work and making several enemies, it was abandoned…of course. They’re all still there…
Been there done that. let me guess – the old “we’ll change the processes – strictly out of the box” line. Until you suggest the teeeniest change which is seen as the end of the world as we know it if implemented.
This all sounds very familiar. I worked for an insurance company that brought in external project managers in order to get a new system in place. At one point a third of the company’s employees (50 of the 150 people) were doing that and nothing else. A realistic timetable of 2 years was announced and an allowance made for the unexpected costs. That was in 2014 – it’s still going on. It has cost many millions and lots of good people left – including me. This is because in early 2017, we narrowly lost a new business tender for a huge employer. I am glad we did – because central to this was an Exec promising them with absolute certainty that that this new system would be ready in July 2017. His thought was that that this would force the outcome and the business would have to cope. He was very confident but I always think that people can tell when someone is winging it (which he was).
Could you say that these knobheads go all the way up to 11?
Steely Dan do remarkably well.
Quite right, it was brilliant.
Little Feat surprised me too
For similar reasons.
Big numbers for the Wirral based tunesmiths podcast. It was a lot of fun to do that podcast, sadly I can’t think of much else I’d be any good at contributing to (unless we get a ‘dour Scottish indie music from the 90’s cast’ lined up).
It was hugely enjoyable. I’ve never laughed so much on a podcast.
I miss doing the podcast but it became a lot of work for very little response. And I wasnt in a good place and wanted to pass on the keys before, well, know.
The best thing that came from it was inspiring DrJ and Steven C to go and do their own Nothing Is Real podcast and knock it out of the park.
I dont mind doing the odd interview thing cos they are simple & straightforward but hearding cats to get 10 people respond? Nah – you simply have no idea of how much free time Twang gives up. I do.
Might podcast again one day if I can find a nail to hang it on
I know how much free time these things take up, DFB, but you were very good at it. Do have another crack at it, when you’re ready.
Seconded
Thirded.
John Martyn might work for a podcast. A large discography so plenty to talk about and probably a few folks on here who like his music.
And thanks as well for the podcasts, I really enjoy them and always listen in all the way over in this obscure part of the world
Another possible one being f as we are mostly all of a certain age – Record shops
What were our favourites, what do we remember about them, interesting experiences Record shops in foreign lands
I too would be prepared to submit myself to a natter about the greatest dead Scotsman from New Malden.
Another possible one being as we are mostly all of a certain age – Record shops
What were our favourites, what do we remember about them, interesting experiences. Record shops in foreign lands.
How about one on the use of echo in recording technology?
Now you’re talking.
Talking
…talking
Is this the new Van album (album)?
Seems an obvious one but can’t recall if weve done Gigs ?
I know there have been specific Podcasts on the Abbey Road / White Album reissues, but what about a discussion on reissues in general – which ones have been good, what anniversary should they be done at, what should be included, do we need a boxset on an obscure 80s chart artist (I know superdeluxeedition.com like those), should be focus be on sound quality or getting as many bonus tracks as possible etc etc
Please keep doing these. You’re very good at it. I promised myself to make more of an effort in to comment and engage but have failed. I will do better from here on in. I owe it to you as I listen and enjoy them almost as soon as they drop.
Suggested subject matters
Podcasts (a bit meta but I’m sure it would be hugely interesting)
Stand up Comedians (maybe too wide a subject, maybe not wide enough)
Gigging (I know there are a few working musicians in our ranks)
Thanks to all involved.
A podcast on podcasts would be excellent – there are so many out there (I listen to 4 or 5 regularly and that’s about all I can manage!) that it can be overwhelming.
I’ve just started listening to one of the AW ones (The Bondcast) and jolly good it is too. I shall delve more into the list of available ones.
Im late to the podcasts and they really are superb and something I really look forward to. I’d like to hear a cast on British Folk including Ralph McTell, John Martyn, The Incredible String Band, Bert Jansch, Wizz Jones,John Renbourne, Fairports, Sandy, Joe Boyd, Richard and Linda, The Watersons, The Steeleye family, Joe Boyd, Ewan McColl, history of British folk clubs etc etc. Could you not approach Colin Harper to be involved. His “Dazzling Stranger” is a mighty book on this subject along with Rob Young’s “Electric Eden”. Anyways good luck in all future podcasts.
Thanks! We did do a folk one but I am always up for another one. Colin is not a podcaster much as I’ve asked him on a number of occasions (starting with the folk one…)! I don’t like to hassle people into it – if they don’t want to that’s fine.
Well, if you want, the planets will align, Twang. I’m up for doing something now, if you wish. I couldn’t ‘carry’ a whole cast on Brit folk – my head’s not there these days – but I could probably contribute.
I could probably balance with stuff on the more recent generation.
Is there any way of accessing the folky podcast (or the first 25 podcasts for that matter) as there dont seem to be links on there anymore for the older ones
Hi @myoldman they are all still on the server, the pages with the links have disappeared from the site however in the Drupal disaster a few years ago and not put back. If you subscribe via a podcatcher (I use the PodcastAddict app) or iTunes they should be there. I just downloaded the folk one to check – I discovered it was folk rock so we deffo need to do a folk one. Here it is to keep you going.
[audio src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/theafterwordpodcast/Folkcast1.m4a" /]
They are all now on Spotify after my labours yesterday (well, I ticked a few boxes…).
Thanks Mr Twang, I’ll get me an app sorted now
Hours of fun awaits.
Twang, could you add a link to Spotify on the Podcasts Page to cover the missing ones? Ta
I’ll have a go.
Yay this little thread has passed 100 comments. Get in.
Wizz Jones – you made that one up right?
Oh nosir. I won his latest CD last time he played at Hitchin Folk Club!
And I have been his support act at Northwich! To be fair, he is a genuine legend.
Saw him play a duo gig about 7 years ago with the late John Renbourn. At the Half Moon in Putney.
Solo Wizz Jones set, Renbourn duetting on the last one or two. Then Wizz went off, Renbourn continued solo and then both together for a few more at the end. Acoustic guitar-tastic.
Same show I saw by the sounds of it.
Well worth the trek from up here to down there.
I was all set to see the equivalent show at Band on the Wall when, just a few days before, John left these shores for good. Very sorry to have missed that one.
*Puts on concrete hat*
Radiohead
Actually, yes! Would be interesting to hear a for/’against type debate.
Agreed. In fact a ‘defend the indefensible’ cast might be fun – as was done here recently about Coldplay. There are a whole load of acts that repeatedly attract scorn and ire here and it would be great to explore exactly why this happens, and for someone to mount the defense for, say, Coldplay, U2, Sting, etc
I did the one where DFB made me listen to DSOTM and Brooce. It was rather fun, having my prejudices challenged (although I’ve not listened to either since).
RIchard Thompson! I’d love to hear the anti-RT brigade getting stuck into him.
I’m neutral on RT, so I could be persuaded either way depending on the strength of the argument.
Radiohead “indefensible”. That’s ridiculous
Is this the room for an argument?
Proper ding-dong rows are next door.
I’d be up for a wide range of subjects, weather permitting. Specifically:
– Jedward
– Voice Of A Rebel
– Judith Chalmers
– Wish You Were Here (the travel programme not the album)
– Lodestone of Wrongness
BTW I have added a Spotify feed to our pod which should make it available there.
https://theafterwordpodcast.libsyn.com/spotify
Don’t know if it takes a while to feed through. The link doesn’t currently seem to do anything.
I love the podcasts but I’ve fallen behind this autumn, having been too busy with the kind of things that can’t be done while listening to other people talking. I need to find the time to get back to making my textile artwork again – ideal for podcasts!
I fear I’m in a minority wanting a disco-cast… 😀
I’d certainly be keen to hear a Lo-cast, though.
No mic, no Skype, no cast! 🙂
That’s been my excuse for ages…
Has anyone considered an Original Broadway Cast? That would open a few (stage) doors.
I would definitely enjoy a disco-cast. Perhaps we should do one here live in Stockholm. Lo? I could drag in DuCool? A man who could cut some shapes in his time!
Rumour has it that Sister Sledge’s He’s the Greatest Dancer was all about him,
Watch the vid carefully and you’ll spot him in the audience!
Yikes! Those Sledge girls were in top condition!
On for a disco-cast as well. I think it’s a great idea, not too much to not cover the ground in an hour or so, but lots to say. Make it happen please @twang (politely)!
We will definitely need to discuss this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tdM80OWdIQ
Sounds good Moley. Will get on it.
Another vote for disco from me!
Right Twang. Book Tigs and Mr Moles first class tickets to Stockholm and Lo, the Duke and I will take it from there!
Perhaps we could borrow one of Björn or Benny’s private jets?
‘Take me home’? Not looking like that, love.
I really enjoy the podcasts. Well done Twang (and a nod to DFB too).
I’d like to think I could contribute but I think I’m just too much in my own little world to do so. Also I’m on the other side of the world do the time difference would be awkward.
But still – keep up the good work!
(Actually I’d do one of those 121 things, if yr up for it @Twang)
And Happy New Year everyone from this burning country…
A Mousey 1 2 1 would be an interesting listen.
You’re on. Will be in touch.
Can we have one on Spanish fisheries – a Cast-a-net? Or one on films with disappointing lead female actors – a Miss-cast? Or one on Mervyn Peake – a Gormen-cast? Or one on disenfranchised, depressed Status Quo fans – a Down, Down, Deeper and Down-cast? 😀
Perhaps we could discuss The Sandpipers, George Benson, Quincy Jones and Sounds Orchestral. We could call it ‘Cast Your Fate to the Wind.
😀
How about a discussion of the best detective dramas – a plodcast? Or the works of the great Derek Griffiths- a Bodcast?
Very good! And actually verging on the sensible… 😀
Or one on scouse Brit Pop bands?
Clever…
Somewhere up above someone said classictronica. Good call.More enthusiast than expert, I’d be up for that, likewise a folkie one, especially the scottish renaissance and the emergence of bagpipes as bellows led drone of choice over uillean, and the emergence of gaelictronica. (I was on, I think, the folk-rock one before I became unreliable and forgot about planned timings for later various bits n bobs.)
‘bagpipes as bellows led drone of choice over uillean, and the emergence of gaelictronica. (I was on,’
What exactly were you on ?
Probably herring, black pudding and whisky. Or, as better put here:
I enjoyed that, Retro. Peat & Diesel, eh?
I’ll have a second helping, please.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mwgm1_UHiE
Hmmm, controversy reigns over their Pogues copy, it being nearly enough to block the wave of Peatlemania that was sweeping the Outer Hebrides. I confess I don’t think it was the right move by anyone other than their bank manager.
I can understand that. But from the little I have heard and seen, they seem genuinely charming and are enjoying living the pop star dream. I do hope they keep their feet on the ground.
I note they are beginning to get festival bookings for the summer, so am looking for a chance to catch the live experience. Wickham looks OK.
https://www.wickhamfestival.co.uk/#
Another thought – if you haven’t left a nice (preferably) review on iTunes and could do so it helps our standing in the tough world of podcasting. Ta!
More exciting news. I discovered there’s a Libsyn generic page for the podcast too. Here’s the link if interested?
http://theafterwordpodcast.libsyn.com/
If you point your podcatcher app-of-choice* at the above address, adding “rss” (without the quotes, obviously) after the slash at the end, you should then be subscribed and be able to get the whole lot automatically, right back to “The Afterword #1: Careless Wispas”.
*Another plug for MediaMonkey here. It has a podcatcher included.
Subscribing to the ‘cast via Apple Podcasts also gives all of them back to number 1
As does Podbean, for the i-deniers amongst us.
Any podcatcher will. It’s just on here they’re not all there, perversely. But that link I added gives you a page with all of them and you can stream from there too.
Off the top of my head The Who would seem like a suitable case for treatment, especially as they’ve got a new album out (although I haven’t heard it yet so I’ve not idea if it’s any good & I wasn’t a fan of “Endless Wire”)
OMD always seem to give good pod is you can get them. Wire have a new album out around Easter I suspect Colin Newman might be available if asked.
As a fan of electronic music I’d suggest something from that end of the spectrum for a bit of a change. How about something a bit broader and do something about recent developments such as the (perceived) growth of music in 5.1 formats.
Good ideas on Wire and OMD though someone would have to interview them as I know nothing about them whatsoever though happy to record it / mastering etc. An electronica one is also good idea too. I’ll include 5.1 in the soon to be recorded recording cast!
Wire are playing locally to me in March. Not sure I can make it, but should I try?
How much do you like scratchy guitars and – AW klaxon – angular – post-punk with a bit of prog thrown in? I’ve seen them a few times over the years and each was quite different.
Like the Stranglers, one of the founder members (Bruce Gilbert – conceptually to Wire, what Brian Eno was to Roxy Music) left some years ago.
I like the scratchy, angular post punk stuff, not so much prog.
Try to catch them, then. They’re only about as proggy as, say, Magazine.
Following the SOS thread: covers bands.
Mike H, Skirky and I have potential contributions, I would have thought.
OMD are coming to NZ in early 2021 supporting Simple Minds. I have no idea whether they would be up for a chat but I am thinking they might, given that perhaps local media will probably be concentrating on ver ‘minds. I would be an embarrassingly inept star struck fanboy interviewer – but do we think they would be attracted to an approach by someone representing Britain”s favourite music and culture blog? I don’t know where to begin but I’d love to do it.
If you’re at risk of turning into a gibbering wreck, do it by email.
I did this with ACR and, when I met Martin Moscrop at a gig a couple of weeks later, he said “Good questions, those.” Luckily I had Offspring The Elder there to catch me as I swooned.
If you do it by skype I can record it, otherwise record it on your phone and send me the file and I can top and tail/edit it. Go for it! How can they refuse!
When I interviewed Ian Anderson I was bricking it but he was totally in charge so all I did was follow the discussion and refer to a list of questions o the odd occasion. I’m sure you’d be fine.
Thanks Twang – I really enjoyed your stuff with Ian Anderson even though I know very little about him. I will give it a go.
Great keep me posted @black-celebration.