This one looks very contrasty: the good, the bad, AND the ugly!

By nat on 10.21.08 7:44 pm

i sat right down and listened all the way through it’s a great one. i think it’s coz of all the big band/swing stuff on it–right up my alley!

nat–totally agree with you on the liberace annoyance factor, although once through it’s not such a bad song . . .

By mjrc on 10.21.08 8:07 pm

Culture Billy Chris! A small detail, but I LOVE the sound of the 7″ clicks and pops surfacing through the end of your spoken intro!

By The In Crowd on 10.21.08 9:03 pm

I’m almost too scared to listen…I thought my parent’s music was bad enough… (am just kidding, I promise!)

By Agnes on 10.21.08 9:04 pm

I could have made this ‘cast worse single-handedly. Let’s be glad I ‘chose’ something not too dreadful on this occasion.

By Eiron Page on 10.21.08 9:07 pm

Right, marcy, I agree. And when I was recording the piece, I got a little teary listening to the song and thinking of my dad singing along with the “putty putty” part and laughing.

Greer, Sonny & Cher was my very first concert experience (separate from my parents) when they played at a county fair in 1970 or 71. They played it like their TV show and did lots of nose/Italian jokes, but the music was not memorable. So cool to hear you play Cher, even that cheesy song.

By nat on 10.21.08 9:24 pm

Turns out father can’t remember the track I chose, so it wasn’t so representative as all that. Still, it was from his collection, so it counts. But by the same reasoning I could have selected a track from the Jay-Z/Linkin Park mash-up album after he hilariously acquired a copy very erroneously thinking the title was Jazz in the Park.

By Eiron Page on 10.21.08 9:50 pm

Eiron, that’s hilarious.

By nat on 10.21.08 10:16 pm

lol! your poor dad, eiron!

agnes–i thought your intro was marvelous, i forgot to say. and hearing young mr. pogo-a-gogo was charming. i wish i’d have thought of that.

this was nostalgic in the very best way.

By mjrc on 10.21.08 10:45 pm

I’m SO glad I didn’t contribute to this podcast. After listening to it, I have ound out that everybody else’s parents are really HIP!!! My parents listened to artists such as Richard Tauber and Elizabeth Schwartzkopf, so SQUARE!!

By Conrad Zimmer on 10.22.08 8:07 am

Tim : knowing every word to songs not listened to in years - I said the same thing over at TVV the other week. Must be somerthing to dow with the way you absorb so much as a kid…

When I played my own contribution this week (and I am very sorry evertone) for the first time in what must be 25 years, I remembered every line….and the ‘tune’.

Little Man : You have great taste!

Eiron : There’s bugger all wrong with Radio 2 pop….one day you will change your mind. We all do!!!!

Chris : Thanks for this….I only knew the song from a cover by The Wedding Present!

Tricia : I’m now picturing you gliding round the dancefloor a la Ginger Rogers!!!

Anna : Your dad likes a new wave video director???!!! And as Steven Patrick Morrissey would remind you..there’s nowt wrong with Sandie Shaw (now there’s another song I know every word to….). And memories of when the Eurovision votes weren’t rigged.

ZB : My dad’s favourite game when we were driving was to get me to pronounce the names of obscure towns and villages on road signs. Those were of course the days before child seat belts when you could stand in the back and look out of the front windows..

Nat : If I recall all this is your fault cos you mentioned Liberace in your comments last week!! If you dont mind I’ll skip this tune…I’m so sorry it drove you insane….

Agnes : My dad did much the same with Johnny Cash…and yes, I kept it a secret from him for years until one day he came over to my house unexpectedly one day and caught me in the act of listening to one of the Rick Rubin produced LPs.

Greer : I think pyschoanalysts woule have great fun asking why we have exposed our parents in this way instead of making them seem cool…(oh another one that I seem to be able to sing along to!)

Adam : I love how your intro has been recorded with all sorts of things going on around you. I can only ever do mine if the house is empty….(hope you replaced your needle after recording that one).

The In Crowd : Hmmmmmm. Paaaancaaakes. I had no idea that tune was the name of the tune - that was something I heard all the time on a BBC radio show - Family Favourites - that went out to the UK Armed Forces every Sunday.

Bob : Thank You for being so considerate.

FiL : I can just see your face crunched up with concentration as you kept the music going in the background. Hilarious.

Thanks to everyone again for such great intros. Now I am VERY late for work….wonder if my mum or dad will give me a note to hand in to the boss…

By jc on 10.22.08 8:25 am

Thanks Marcy - right back at ya! Fab intros everybody. Loved your story Anna, quite lovely! Little Man, top job! Very cute. JC, I reckon that Val guy sounds a lot like Daryl Sommers. Similar kind of personage, on the telly all the time when I was a kid on a variety show called Hey Hey It’s Saturday. He had a brief revival for a couple of seasons of the dismal ‘Dancing With The Stars’ last year but has thankfully been sent back from whence he came.
Great to get an insight into how we all came to arrive at this musical place in our lives. Very interesting!

By Agnes on 10.22.08 11:40 am

I thought it was fun to see who went with “My Parents’[Good] Music” and who went with “My Parents’ [Bad/Embarrasing] Music”

I really enjoyed this episode. I always like the episodes that give us a glimpse into the lives of the contributors.

By James! on 10.22.08 2:20 pm

I loved this podcast too, it had everything- wind up gramophones, cassettes, interminable family car rides, dancing, Little Man (adorable!), cement mixers…

Nat: I know I may come to regret it but I’m going to play your song for my 3 year old, he’s mad about construction equipment. I’ll think of you and your dad when I do.

JC: Johnny Cash was my father’s all-time favorite singer and I was a little bummed you didn’t play him, but then what you did play was so priceless I was happy again .

Tricia, the story of you dancing with your dad was so sweet.

Agnes: I loved your story too, listening to Van on the sly!

But I think it was Miss Peggy Lee who stole my heart on this one.

I totally agree with what James said, it’s really nice to learn a little more about everyone through the music.

By Greer on 10.23.08 3:39 am

Greer, did the little guy enjoy “putty putty?”

By nat on 10.27.08 5:21 pm

I can’t remember the last time I rocked out to Cream in my car. What cool taste in music all of your parents had. I really enjoyed just about all of the songs…well, Liberace did not have me rocking out in the car!

By Tricia on 10.28.08 9:59 pm

Fantastic theme! The Cream made me wonder why I’ve never picked up an album of theirs, and I need that Ramones song. And I listened to Greer’s intro and thought “I hope it’s Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” (my mom listened to the oldies station in the car a lot, okay, and then I did homework to it for years) — and then it was. Yay!

But really I enjoyed the whole show, especially the intros — totally charming.

By jen on 11.04.08 5:10 am