Curtis Stigers • Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein #128

special guest over. I tell them they've died. Then I get them to discuss their life through the films that meant the most of them. Previous guests include Sharon Stone, Kevin Smith, Jamila Jamil, Ricky Gervais, and even pet Pambles. But this week it's the incredible musician superstar mister Curtis Steigers. Oi everyone, OI listen, Happy New Year. Yeah, I don't know when you're listening to. This bit comes out New Year's Eve, New Year, have a lovely New Year. Hope

you have a lovely year. Happy New Year, Happy New Year. Right Head over to the patron at patreon dot com forward slash Brett Goldstein, where I think you get about twenty twenty five minutes extra chat and questions and a secret that will blow your mind. With Curtis Steiger's you also get the whole episode, uncut, ad free and as a video. Loads of stuff to see their check it

out Patreon dot com, forward slash Brett Goldstein. If you've not seen it yet, you can still watch the whole of season one of Ted Lasso on the Apple TV Plus app. You, I mean, you've got to watch it. Just if you haven't seen it yet, come on, get on with it. You'll love it, honestly. And the last thing to mention, I'm going to be doing a live episode of the podcast We've Always Be Comedy, which is

my favorite gig in London. We're doing an online episode for Always Be Comedy with the host of Always Becomedy, mister James Gill. Where we're doing that on the thirteenth of January. You can find tickets for that at always be Coomedy dot com. So Curtis Steigers, Kurt Steigers is an artist, a musician, a pop star, a jazz man and a real class act and I was delighted to record this with him. We did it over zoom. He was awake at nine in the morning, dressed in a suit,

looked incredibly smart. He's a very smart guy. I think you're gonna love this. It was a joy to talk to him. So that is it for now. I very much hope you enjoy Episode one hundred and twenty eight of Films to be Buried With. Hello, and welcome to

Films to be Buried With. It is me Brett Goldstein and I am joined today by a jazz man, a singer, a saxophonist, a improviser, a multi platinum recording artist, a trailblazer, a man with long hair, a man with short hair, a sex symbol, sure, a DJ, a Patreon, and a living legend. Please welcome to this show, the brilliant mister Curtis Stigers. Thank you you met. You left out a few things, but but that's cool. Bright things I did, but I did my best. That was over the top.

I'm I'm tired. Thank you. It's a lot earlier here than it is where you are. Now tell us where you are and what time it is and what and why I am well and it's People are going to say, shut up, you prick, but it's it's actually nine h eight in the morning. On Friday in Boise, Idaho, which is out in the northwest part of the States. You're a jazz manin four. That's crazy. I had no idea there was a nine in the morning. I thought that

was just the one at night. Yeah, that's mad. Also, Boise Idaho is my my co writer on a show that I do. Will Bridges he uses Boise Idaho whenever we write script set in America and it's meant to be like, you know, Boise Idea. I don't. I'm always like, where is that? And you guys, it's a thing. It's a thing. It's it's like a yeah, it's It's like Swindon. You know. I can always get a laugh on stage if I just dropped the name Swindon. And I don't

know why, but I sort of like Swindon. That's fantastic. Well, so we've never met before, we're meeting today. We've connected on Twitter, my Twitter. Maybe it annoys you to hear this. I don't know, but I think my mum has always fancied you. Does that annoy you? I don't know them. You know, if if the world were made of your mum, I would be the King's It's you know I love your mum. I've always loved your mom. Actually, this is this is gonna be a big episode fair And your

music has always been around. You've always been I've known about you for it forever and this is very exciting to talk to you. But also when we when we connected, you said, oh I am friends with Nick Revo. Well, yeah, to leave my mind now, Nick Revel, if you don't know anyone listening, isn't it fantastic UK stand up who has sort of is kind of a legend on the circuit because he was there at the very beginning. Then he left it for sort of ten years and did

TV work, and then he came back. But when he came back, he started from scratch like he's a real hero. I didn't use any contacts. Was like, no, I'm an open spot. I've got to build my way back up again. He's amazing. How do you know it? Well, I met Nick through a friend. Actually's a film director, guy called Michael Hoffman. M Yeah, Michael. He made Soap Dish and The Last Station, about a million movies and he happens

to be from here, from Idaho. I know him as you know, another artist to the world from from our little small corner and they went to Oxford together, Oxford together. So we met years ago Nick and I and he liked that we had cans of proper British ale in our in our you know, a hotel apartment sort of thing where we were staying, and we were playing in Soho and he thought, well, these guys aren't couldn't be as bad as as I thought they were. And so

we've been pals ever since. And I've seen I've seen Nick do his stand up so many times, and I he went through a period like you were saying, where he was out doing six sets a night or four or five sets a night. Well, I'm gonna go here tonight, and then I'm gonna go there and there and there. And I thought the same thing, My god, you know, you could just be sort of resting on your laurels from saying that you you did TV and radio four a lot. And he's he's a he's an artist, and

now he's got all. You know, every year he does the Edinburgh thing and builds a sort of an absurd His shows are so mind bending and ridiculous. That's what it's like having a curry with him. Actually it's just sort of following him, following him down a rabbit hole. So you did you live in London for a long time. I've never lived there, but I've spent a lot of

time over the years. I started playing at first in London was in ninety two, and I've just made friends over the years, and I did spend you know, I guess a couple of months there doing a really goofy

TV show called Just the Two of Us. This was back in oh seven, I think eight, and it was kind of like Dancing with the Stars, only with singers, and so I was one of the you know, I was one of the professionals and there were you know, at this moment, I can't even remember, but you know, the judges were Stuart Copeland from the Police, and I mean it was it was goofy. And I sang with Penny Smith, who was the newsreader on Good Morning TV

or GMTV all that many years ago. And she's a terrible singer, but a fabulous woman and hilarious and so we basically just did a comedy routine of it. I mean, she was like Lucille Ball and you know, so I would sing whatever song it was and then she would just be awful but funny as hell. And we stayed on this show a lot longer than we should have anyway, So I was there for a while, which was nice.

I love and I also play at Ronnie Scott's twice a year, so I get to spend a week being a Londoner and writing the Tube and so I know it. I know it pretty well. Actually, So you when I was looking at and I was looking at your discography and looking at all your stuff, it seems to me, are you You're like a proper artist Nick revels stuff in that you could have gone one path, but you seem to have taken quite a few different paths. Seems like you're driven by the of stuff. Is that true.

I'm driven by the need to shoot myself for the foot. That's another way. I hate my foot and I like to shoot it. Yeah. You know, I've been the bane of publicists and record companies for years because I just I do something and it's fun. You know. It was fun to have long hair and make a pop soul record that was, you know, right down the middle of the road, and you know, tour with Elton John and Eric Clapton and be on all the TV shows and

then I want to do something else. It's sort of like, I mean, it didn't help that everyone started calling me Michael Bolton Junior. As I well, I got to get out of this. It's time to leave. Yeah, And so I you know, I started making jazz records in two thousand. I grew up playing jazz. I studied jazz in school all the way through school. I was a clarinet player, a saxophone player, and that led me to jazz singing

as well. And it seemed like the time to move away from trying to chase pop hits, because that was just brutal. You know, you put out an album and if it doesn't get on the radio in the first two weeks, it's a failure. Whereas when I make a record now, I mean, I'm still talking about the record I released, you know, in the middle of in March as my new album, and I'll do that for the next year, and especially because of the pandemic, I'll do that for the next two years. And as long as

I still talk about it, it's a success. It doesn't matter that you know that no one's to their radio playlist, so it's it's a lot more fun. And then I just make records that I make the kind of records I want to make. I know, you know, I produced them, I picked the players. Whenever the record company says, hey, you ought to do this, I said, hey, it's going to cost this much to get that person to work on it to do and they say, yeah, go ahead and do what you're going to do. And so yeah,

I mean, I don't know. Also, the record business wasn't It wasn't staying up late worrying when my next record was going to come out anyway, you know, at that at a certain point, it was like, yeah, we we had a nice time. But I think, you know, mutually, let's just call it quits. You know, you go back to your thing. I'll go back to mine. And so, yeah, I have a lot of fun. And I make enough money as a touring artist to you know, pay the mortgage and keep my daughter in college. And you know,

I'll never have that big score. But I'm having a ball. And how how have you been typing without live performance? Oh? Have you been doing it? I have not been doing it. Now. I'm it's difficult for me and to not be making a living I mean, it's it's it's more the emotional part of it than than the I mean, I just I grew up, you know, with a single mom, not

you know, not rich poor. I grew up poor, a poor child, and um, and so the idea of not making you know, making an income, I've been doing it since I was a fifteen years old, making money doing my thing. And I'm not now. I'm busy to tell but I'm not out there. I miss playing live, I miss doing concerts. That's how I you know, that's who I am. I'm I like making records. I love being on a stage telling stories and singing beautiful songs and and so that's been difficult. The thing that I don't

miss at all is being on airplanes. It's been really I think I might have been built for a pandemic. I might have been built. I'm pretty good at lockdown. I live in a nice house with a with a big garden, and you know, um, we even got heaters for the winter. We've got those. We've got a couple of those overhead heat propane heaters. So we can have people come over and sit ten feet from us, and we each have our heater, and we you know, drink gin and tonics and talk about how cold our feet are,

but our heads are really hot and hum. So it's been, it's been, and I've and I've got three dogs and so I I mean, the other night it was Thanksgiving and we we I was standing outside around you know these actually my friends across the street with a burned barrel, far enough away from each other, were very very very very careful and neurotic. But um, but we each of us said what we were thankful for on Thanksgiving. We do that every year, usually around a table with turkey

and a bottle of wild turkey. That's the that's we can see. And uh. And I said that I was grateful for the numbing effects of alcohol and the companionship of dogs. And that's really what's got me. I love my wife too, and she's she's gone a lot, and so the dogs that I've really developed a close relationship.

She runs a homeless shelters, so we are in the middle of like we're in the middle of a like a crisis every single day here, you know, I mean, she just the whole population of the shelter had to be tested last night, including her. So I've not been tested this whole time. But she's been tested maybe seven or eight times. What's happening with this yet it's all of a sudden taken off. She They she and her staff have done such an amazing job. They you know,

they provide every every guest with a mask. They went from one shelter to four shelters. They split them up so that they had more room to distance. And these people, you know, they sleep in bunk beds so close to each other. Um, and so they've had to you know, they've figured out how to distance and it worked, and it worked and it worked. But now, you know, America has just so Americans are just so broken and so stupid that we've you know, I mean we have anti

mask protests here. I mean it's just like, are you fucking kidding me? It's it's it's you can't argue with the virus pal that they do, and so so we have I mean, we had the highest number of deaths yesterday than we've had in the whole thing. It's just it's mad and we've never really locked down and the governor there are a lot of Republicans here. Unfortunately, the city that I live in is is liberal but everything

around is just wackados. And they followed this, this this orange idiot down this path of of not taking care of other people. You know, it's it's sort of like, well, I'm not gonna get it, I don't worry. Well, you sort of need to worry about everyone else. You know, it's called human compassion. Anyway, I went off on a tangent there. No, no, no, that's Fascinat's fascinating about your wife and big, big, big respect. She's a she's she's

a saint. She's just I mean, it's amazing. Yeah, that's every day she just goes in in there and that's that's who she is and what she loves. I just helped raise money. We've raised funds for for this shelter for fourteen years, and she's just been the she's really just been working there for about seven when I when when we first started doing it, she just she was a marketing person and we decided to do it. We decided to create this thing. It's long before we were married,

long before we were romantic. What's the name of this outday, Yes, this is it's called Interfaith Sanctuary Home of Shelter. It's in Boise, Idaho Interfaith Sanctuary dot org. And we're actually in the middle of our fundraising season and I just yesterday finally put to bed or to death. Every year we do a a two night variety show at the biggest sort of cool old theater in town m and twenty acts. I've produced the show, Jodi produces the fundraising.

My wife Jody and I put twenty acts a night and it's you know, singers and actors and comedians and dancers and um. And everybody does one song and if you hate what you're hearing, then that you're going to like the next sing or the thing after that. And and it's become this amazing tradition for people. They their kids come home early, you know, to go to the show from you know, from from college or whatever, just

to just to have the family together for it. And this year we can't do it because of COVID, so we've we were going to do it as an hour long sort of streamed event, but a local TV show said, hey, we want to do this or at local TV station, So we're doing it on the local ABC affiliate. And I produced an hour long TV show that's good, like Okay, this is my new job, and I've gotten into because of COVID tell me when I should shut out, But I suppose this is what I'm what I'm here for.

I've had about a couple of weeks. I've learned how to use iMovie. I've learned how to shoot my videos and how to hook my fancy recording microphones into my camera systems. And I'm I've been making videos since since March, I mean bad one, some pretty good ones, and so it was. It was sort of this was kind of

the culmination of all that. And I had help from a from a professional editor for the whole show, but as far as just putting it all together and putting my videos together, I did that all myself and and it was really fun. It was terrifying. And then now the show has done, and it's going to be it'll be homely as you as you call it. It's it's home Tomy and in American terms, and homely which means

ugly because it's not perfect. But we'll see, we'll see if we can usually raise two hundred and fifty thousand dollars every December for the shelter. Well, if anyone listening would like to contribute, and I think you should into place sanctuary dot org help out. Curtis is a saintly wife. Thank you very much, very kind of you, Brett. That's really great. Oh, Curtis, Yes, I've forgotten to tell you something. Oh it's my chair squeaking too much. No, no, no,

I said it. I should said it when we connected at seat. I should have Oh what why you should have said it. I'm nervous, nervous when I sent a zoom because you just said it. I should have said it off air. It's weird. I was saying it on it, but I just I'll just say, it's just gonna upset me. I don't know, I'll say you've died, you've died. Oh sorry? Does this? Does this have anything to do with that that drink I made last night? You tell me? How did you die? Oh? No, no, it was the You're right.

I'm a I'm a mountain biker. I ride bikes and I was going a little too fast through the trees last yesterday afternoon, and I don't remember anything since then. I just remember smiling and having bugs in my teeth from going and then there was that tree. That's probably it, all right, well, right into a tree. Motorbiking. At least I finished my mountain. Yeah, I don't, no, no, just pedaling and yeah we have we have mountain. You're going pretty pretty fast. I was going. It's it's a fun.

It's a fun thing to do. It was a fun thing to do. Maybe do you think they'll have what I mean, wherever we are? Do you think they'll have mountain biking here? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm worry about that. But what I want to know is do you worry about death? I'm very I'm a very worried, anxiety ridden person, so I guess I do. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I do worry about about death and about you know, germs, and I mean this thing has been a little bit rough on me with it, with the just seeing someone

in a mask sends me into a spiral. And you can you can imagine what going to the grocery stores like for me. Yeah? Yeah, Have you always been this way or is this it? Well? I think when I was a kid, I didn't think about death at all, you know, And plus I do, I do. I enjoy gravity sports. I enjoyed I'm a skier and I'm a biker and when I'm doing that. I'm not thinking I'm gonna die. I mean, I'm thinking maybe I'm gonna fly

for my bars and scrape up my whatever. But probably you know, a person could die doing what I do, And um, I don't. I guess I don't really think about it. Then I tend to be I'm just sort of a worrier. I just I worry about stuff that I shouldn't worry about. This is getting it is getting uncomfortable. I mean, should I will there be a will? There be like a will my insurance cover this? Yeah, there's a there's a there's a there's a there's a doctor

comes out at the end of the podcast. So breaking as long as they as long as they prescribe me some good stuff, Oh yeah, they go there. I need to find it. What do you think happens when need die? If I may ask, it doesn't make you too as I have no no way of knowing, have I I mean, I I'm I really haven't. I just think it's it's, um, you start theorizing about what happens after you die, and then suddenly you've got the crusades, And I think that's

a bad jump to make. I think there's a great song. Uh. I can't even think of the singer because I need one more cup of tea, but um, she it's the song is called let the Mystery Be, you know, and it's some people think that, some people think that I choose just to let the mystery be. I grew up, you know, I grew up in in going to church and believing. And then I got to a certain point where I realized that they didn't really believe it anymore

than I was believing it, you know. And they also were tined us, and they were telling me to stay away from girls and and you know, beer and pot. And I thought, well, that's bullshit, isn't it. That's not that's that's not fun. So so I did. I did. And just the hypocrisy of Christianity in particular, but I you know, I'm sure there's there's hypocrisy and just about any religion at certain levels and certain people. It just

it just chased me away. So do you remember the age when you were like, oh, I think this might be the sort of mid teens, yeah, sort of fifteen. I hung in there for a while. I thought I thought it was sort of interesting. But I think I always liked sci fi and horror book you know, books and things, and so I maybe I just think maybe that was it was just like, well, what a good story.

There's like you know, walking on water and anyway. Um, So I don't know, um, but I'm hoping there will be mountain bikes and and acoustic guitars to play to strump Well, guess what, guess what is? There is a heaven and it is filled with mountain bike ranges, mountain bikes. It's got acoustic guitars. You can pick one up anyway you like. There is live performances all sorts. What there also is in this heaven? Yeah, everyone's obsessed with films

there since with him. Yeah, motorbikes and jazz, mountain bikes. Mountain bikes, I mean, motorbikes are fine. I'm not you know, I'm not judging, but you know, annoyed. A couple of them are in heaven. No, that's they They actually cut the trails that I ride. You know you're before and then they were and then they were banned from them once once. Well so what everyone in heaven once nice?

They want to know about your life through film, and the first it's what's the first film that you remember seeing, Curtis. I thought it might be Bamby or something like that. I mean, I do remember seeing Bamby, and I I have a recollection, but I'm pretty sure it's just my mom telling me about it, you know that. Um, you know, I said, where's Bambi's mama, you know, really loudly, as as Bambi's mama. And I said it in a British accent,

which is strange. I don't know why I would have but traumatized when when I thought about it, it really was. I mean, the strong memory I have is seeing Oliver with a with a an exclamation point, right, yeah, Oliver Oliver Um, And um, that's what I remember. And it was terrifying. I must have been. It came out in

sixty eight. I mean, I've done some research. It came out in sixty eight, so I probably saw it then or sixty nine, so I was three or four years old, and I and you know, it's a pretty edgy vehicle for a you know, for I remembered until doing my research, I remembered it ending with him being you know, sort of snuck out of the he finally gets to the good place. And everything's white and clean, and he's got

all the food he wants. And then he gets kidnapped again and back into the life, and I remember that being the end, but it wasn't, you know. It goes on and he does, in fact get to go back to his uncle's, but it does end. And I remember this too, of the artful dodger. He was going to be a good lad and then he's you know, he's got somebody's wallet, and they go off arm in arm, he and Fagan, I think, right, so, but I do remember just being horrified and thinking that was the end.

So maybe I was so horrified that my mom took me out and I didn't, you know, and so I didn't see. And that was has always been the end for all of her was he was just fucked. Oliver was fucked. That's why you think you could You're you're drone to Bambis. Well. Let that's how little films end. As a child, everyone's it's Oliver's kidnapped. Mom's dead. Everyone's fucked. Mama's dead. It's yeah. So that's that was the beginning of my love of cinema, my love affair with cinema.

That was the beginning of my death anxiety. Well and that too, I'm gonna have to talk to my shrink about that. What are you and idly child? You know, I've got I've got a younger brother, Jake. He's six and a half years younger, So I mean he was I was, you know, he's my brother. But I also kind of helped raise him. You know, I spent a

lot of time just with a single mom. She was always at work, so I you know, I realized that, you know, probably in counseling and years of therapy that yeah, I was sort of I've always been the one that sort of took care of things. It kind of and and that probably leads to my anxiety and sort of worrying, you know, just sort of like, well, I've got him look three steps down the road to make sure that this doesn't go wrong, that doesn't go wrong. If I may ask, and if this is two passive, but at

what point was your mom a single mom in your life? Always? Um? No, no, I am. She split with um with my dad And there's a story behind that as well. M between second and third grade years, so that's like sort of seven. Yeah, my brother was My brother was only one when when he left, So it's your brother just coming. Okay, yeah,

so I guess I was seven or eight. And and then years later I found out that in fact, he wasn't my dad, just my brother's dad, and that my dad had died in Vietnam, which sort of just like pushed it under the rug for many more years. And about ten years ago I finally connected with my my biological father. Now I have a I have a relationship, a friendship with my with my real dad, my stepdad that was my dad has passed away. And I hadn't, you know, we we kind of had a hard break

many years ago. Um so I hadn't. But but I've got this whole new sort of part of my life that just came out. What happened to your dad? He died in Vietnam? And it didn't die in Vietnam. No, he didn't die in Vietnam. He just that was the story. I think I've finally gotten to the bottom of it. And it's a long it's a really good story that someday I'm you know, I'm gonna at least doing it in Edinburgh shows. It's just it's just, yeah, there's gonna

be songs. Consider yourself an orphan. See, I mean there's the orphan thing. I mean, this is all, this is all coming back. You really should you should get accredited and maybe you know, just started charging for this Brett. Um but um, it's a great it's a really interesting story. But she I truly believe she did think he had he had eyed in Vietnam because she said that he was a drug She found out he was a drug dealer, right,

I mean, the stories have evolved. It started out that he was my boyfriend in college and we were in love. But um, you know, I found out he was a drug dealer, so I broke up with him. And then I heard later on that and I never told him about you. I never told him that I was pregnant. And he went off to Vietnam and died. It's like, oh, okay, well that um, well, it turned out that he did, you know, he did get drafted, but he went to Washington,

DC and worked, you know, in a hospital. And my final theory, she finally said something about, well, this guy that wanted to go out with me, I think he was the one that told me that Dennis died. My father's name is Dennis Townsend. So some guy was trying to bang my mom, and so he told her that her ex boyfriend had gone off to kind of or or no, he told her he told her that her boyfriend was a drug dealer and went off to a long, long, twisted.

I'm not sure that I'll ever know the truth, but I do know that my dad does not remember that night because it was It turns out just you know, if there was just one, a one er, it was a one er one it in it big one, big one. And where we are now? Look, I mean without my mom's promiscuity, where would I be. God love my mom for running a little while when she was young. That's very cool. And what's the film that scared you the most?

Do you like being scared? I do? I do less so as I get older, But I loved scary movies. Alien scared the hell out of me. Alien, I really think is a perfect film. It's just so because it was the we were in that Star Wars time. We were in that where space and two thousand and one where space was super clean and everything was was like, you know, another world, and then suddenly you're on the Nostromo. I mean, I know this movie so well, I love it.

And it's like, you know, it's like a factory. It's like a it's it's it's grimy, and it's it's greasy, and it's there's steam and there's um it's sort of rough. And even with the scene where John Hurt where the where the thing comes out of his chest, they're in like a cafeteria. It's just like it could be in any in any workplace. So there was that. It was just it felt real, it felt like you could just

be there. And then there's this you know, it's a haunted house movie set on a space ship basically, right, with an incredible cast. I mean you know again, um, John John Hurt, right, Ye's John Hurt and Harry Dean Stanton. Always forget that Harry Dean Stanton was in it, and um, of course Sigourney Weaver who's smart and strong and cool and um and tough as hell, and she's in her

panties and a little tank top at the end. So it was just, I mean, this was perfect for the whatever for there was there was nothing wrong at all, Especially as a eeen year old or a thirteen year or whatever I was, it was like this is a great way to be scared. So yeah, fucking great. Um, what's the film that made you cry the most? And are you a cryer? To answer the second one, yes, I am. I I mean, I know the hell out

of my daughter, you know, I will. We'll be watching a movie together, a show together, and I'll, you know, I'll start and she's like, Dad, it's a dog show, for Christ's sake. It's no, this is not so I do. The movie that I I probably couldn't see it again, but that killed me. Was is a movie called The Sweet Here After? Did you ever see The Sweet Here? Oh? Is it? And um Adam Adam mcgoyan, Yeah, the kids on it? Yeah about in home? Yeah, it's it's and it was it was you know, it was from a book. Um,

what's his name? Russell Banks. Russell Banks wrote the book and so and he based it on an actual occurrence. This actually happened. Bus goes off the road out onto a frozen lake accident, you know, just you know, slid off the road and it and the scene of the thing going in you relive it, but it's it's just it was before I had a kid, you know, I've just got my daughter Ruby. It was before I had that.

But it's just it's the aftermath of it. Really. The movie is and about um, about the lawyer that comes to town to try to get a settlement so that the company doesn't So it's um. It's just so incredibly brutally heartbreaking and perfect. It's a beautiful film. I just I couldn't see it again, especially having had a kid, you know, I just don't. I don't know that I couldn't take it. I'd probably, but I remember crying from you know, the maybe the eighteenth frame of the movie

until about two days later. I mean, it was just but I couldn't recommend the film more highly, as you know, as awful as it sounds, it is just it's a poem. It is a perfect little piece of art and surprisingly entertaining. Ian Holme is also in that he plays the lawyer and he you know, he's he was the robot, you know, eventually the robot in an alien. There's a there's an Ian Holme theme. Were all connected. What is the film that people don't like? It's not critically acclaimed, but you

love it. You don't give a shit what anyone says. This was a harder one for me, And so I went toward a movie that I think is underrated. I'm a I'm a huge Coen Brothers fan. I love every one of their films. Um. And they made a movie that I think maybe was it was intended to be the big you know, they were going to make their big jump and become become super successful instead of just

really really successful. And they made a movie called Into Intolerable Cruelty with George Clooney and Katherine Cited Jones and Billy Bob Thornton and one other big Anyway, it's a great movie. It's sexy as hell. You want them, You're just you just want them to fuck from the first moment. I hope I can say this on the TV. Um, it's just like, please look at you too, just do it.

But um and and it's twists and turns. It's a really smart, smart, funny, dark comedy and it just you know, it's sort of like, oh, it's this is you know, I don't know why. I think it's a brilliant movie. I think it's one of their best, and it doesn't get the love that it should. That is a perfect answer to this question. And I think I think one of the reasons that that doesn't get the I think it was one of the few films they were brought on. They were directors for Hire four. I think they did

a rewrite on it. I think there was a director director dropped out and they were brought in. So I think perhaps critics and people would sort of think of it as beneath the Coming Brothers because it wasn't their baby initially. Isn't that funny? But they may. I mean, it's so much a Coen Brothers film. I mean, it's so it just works like one of their films. To

watch that again, oh it's great. I mean, Clooney is so is so good, and he's so good at being you know, incredibly successful and handsome and his whole thing and then just getting knocked down to his knees. He's really he's he's he's great at being a vulnerable movie star, you know. I like that. And Kathy's Zeita Jones, you know, is really a fine actress, a really good comedian. She was great in that, and she's fairly good looking. SE's like, what's the what's a film that you used to love?

You loved it, but then you've watched it recently and you're gone, Oh, I do not like this anymore. When I was young and thought a lot of myself, I used to say that Blue Velvet, the David Lynch film Blue Velvet, it was my favorite movie, and it was it was my favorite movie. And then I saw it, you know, ten years ago again, and I still think it's a brilliant film, and I totally get how it works. It's basically a dream, you know. I mean, I think all of his movies are, all the ones that I've seen,

are really just a dream. It's the kind of thing where you're going along like this and then it jumps over here and it's not linear, and it doesn't it doesn't make sense, which is how a dream is. You know, you're you're swimming in a pool and you're naked and you're embarrassed, and you're at a party, and then suddenly you're in a classroom and you're, you know, doing something else, and that's how his films are. Love his films, but

it's not my favorite movie anymore. I mean, it's so incredibly brutal, and I guess I've just become a little sensitive in my old age. Everything about it is fantastic. Not my favorite movie anymore. Is just too too brute for me, So I don't and I just think it's a really bad it, doesn't it. Maybe it showed that I was kind of cool when I was twenty two

to say, yeah, blue Velvet, man, that's that's movie. But as a fifty five year old man to say blue Velvet it's your favorite movie, it's like I'm going to keep my kids away from you. That's sort of a thing. Is it very interesting? I say, that's that's that's fair. What is the film? That means the mice ta Not necessarily the film itself is any good, but because of the experience you had around seeing the film, that will always make it special to you. This was this was

one that I sort of bent a bit here. This is one that I have it maybe a surprise. Well, here's the deal. In nineteen ninety three, early ninety three, I went with my my manager who's still a dear friend, not my manager anymore, but Winston and I took our wives to see in the afternoon, which is something I don't I don't often do. We went to see The Bodyguard.

It had just come out in November of ninety two, and we went to see that movie in the afternoon with our wives because I had been I had a song. I had a track on the soundtrack, which, by the way, in the movie sounds like this, and that's it. It's it's literally that long, maybe maybe a second longer, but it's it's coming. It's a it's my song coming through the wall. As Whitney Houston is sitting at a at

her backstage in a green room. It's it's like the song being played by the opening band in the club. You can't hear my voice at all, but it is on the same day, it's on the It's on the Fat which sold forty five million copies. Wow, which you know, you'd think I'd be much wealthier than I am. But because I was on the label that put the album out, on Arista Records, they figured out a way to sort of you know, you know, with all the red tape,

and so I'm I'm still in a red position. I still owe Aris to Records money for my second album, which which I worked on after that, and they just kept making me rerecord it. I mean, this is one of the reasons that I was happy to step away from us from from the pop business. So um, so we went to that and um, every time Whitney Houston would sing a song in that movie, my manager would lean over to me and say chit ching, and so that that is my memory. That's why it wasn't the

movie necessarily. It was being there with you know, my manager and our wives and it just being this, Oh my god, I'm in a big movie with with the guy with the bangs. What's his name, Kevin Thinky. Anyway, that's the that's the right answer. That it was great, and it led to me being friends with my hero Nick Lowe, which that's a poster I brought. I actually brought him to Boise when he was on tour and promoted a show of him years ago, and that's the

poster from it. But I'm I'm friends with my huge hero Nicolaw. I mean, I think he's one of the greatest songwriters in the world. And I because I recorded What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding for the Bodyguard soundtrack, his song. He after he got like the second hundred thousand pound check in the mail and something I get this, you know, he called me out of

the blue and said Curtis, thank you so much. And he promised I'd never pay for another meal in London as long as I lived, which was a lie, but he did. He bought a few. He bought a few. So anyway, Yeah, it was that was a fun afternoon and funny as helm. That's very cool. That's cool, man. What's the film that you must relate to? It's a little corny, that's okay, it's more. I approached this. I'm approaching this answer this answer or this question from from more?

How I how I related to it? Then? When I saw it when I was almost sixteen, I had just started dating a girl who was two years older than me. She was a senior in high school and I was a sophomore, and she was just lovely and just the greatest, and she happened to be in the choir and so she was really into music. And she took me to see Fame, the movie Fame, and you know, it's I still if it's on, I'm gonna watch it. It's perfect. Yeah, it's you know, it's corny and it has this, but

it's also edgy as hell. And as soon as it started, I thought, well I could I could fit right in there. I could be there, or I could be over there next to the and I could be doing that, and I could It's still I mean, I get I sort of get to I didn't expect to get goosebumps thing, but it really it moved me. It made me want to do that, and I was already doing that. I was already you know, I've been playing clarinet and drums for and starting to really sing a lot by by then.

But I've been doing that since I was a kid, and I've loved records, but it never sort of it hadn't really occurred to me, Oh my god, you know I could do that, I could go so um. That means that that movie still means a lot to me, but it meant a hell of a lot to me at the time and sort of changed my life. Wow, that's that's something. Same. Sorry, it's okay, it's still I almost yeah, it's right here. Showbiz baby, Well, Curtis Tigers there, we guys. This one for this one's for the ladies.

What is this show? What's the sexiest film you've ever seen? Oh? The man? Yeah, the sexiest scene or scenes in a movie ever are from north By Northwest Carrie Grant and Eve Marie Saint on the train. Yeah, and it's they're not they're still dressed, you know, they're not they're not fucking but she you know, they're going to later. And

eventually the train does go into the tunnel. I mean, there is that famous that's a famous hitchcock and the train goes into the tunnel and and okay, we we they even knew what happened back then when when the movie came out, but when when Ebory Saint is talking in that incredibly soft voice and she's just so sexy and she's sorry, this is this is her hand on the back of his neck and he's got this is why, you know, except for those few short ears that I had long hair, why now I always keep my hair

very short in the back because there's nothing like a hand on the back of your neck, and in my case, my wife's hand. Um, but she's just doing that and she's kissing him, and Jesus, it's steamy, good God almighty. Yeah, I mean that really, And I saw it when I was fairly young, probably you know, in in high school, um, and even even then, and you know, it's like it's an old movie you're sort of you're sort of separate from it because it's from another era. They dressed differently.

But when even Marie Saint starts talking soft and and seducing Carrie Grant, that's it's over. You are classy, motherfucker. That is I know. So for that he's listening. I didn't mention this, but it's it's you know, at nine in the morning, he's dressed in it. Sue. It doesn't look like he slept in It looks like he got up to put this on. Thank thanks for saying that. I have been saying. I just when I've done anything during this pandemic, I have tried to put a jacket on.

You know, very very smart, even when it's just audio, and this is you know, audio for most people. For your Patreon people, of course it'll be it'll be on video. So this is especially for you Patreon folks. But the album last album was called Gentlemen. I mean the guys I do. I just want to. I just didn't want to stay in sweatpants for the whole the whole lockdown. I want to. I just feel like I've got to get dressed. It for that is listening. I'm completely naked. Yeah,

so you you're very you're very here suit. That was That's the thing. It's a little it's kind of um, I don't know, it's it's intimidating, how how masculine you see, And that's that I didn't get a chance to to fanboy about about your about Ted Lasso. Yeah, that's how I I hadn't I hadn't seen you. I hadn't discovered Brett, the Brett that is Brett until Ted Lasso, and I just assumed you were going to be gruff. And I mean,

you're you're you're a really good actor. I mean I know that you're you're a stand up comedian writer, but you're a fucking great actor. And I love that show. I mean, I love the show. I just think I'm telling everybody about it. It's such a good show. And I'm sorry, I'm screwing up your whole your whole flow here, but you can edit it out later. I really it's it's such an enjoyable show. No, that's Dan, that's gar Kidney. You kid me. That's good. I'm gonna I'm kind of

the rest of me. That that's we could just talk about me for the rest though. I appreciate that, thank you very much. So you do. But but about your you have a hairy chest and I know that from the and and I you know, I've got the I've got the one that just kind of pops out here. And so I say, there's not you know, it's since the the nineteen eighties. I don't think anyone's seen. But yeah, yeah, they there's there's a lot of waxing and its real

shows to people. But I'm you know, you're you're an artist, You're you're gonna put yourself out there. Shock shock. The speaking of traveling bonus, there's a subcate degree to the traveling bonus. There's a subcategree to the question, which is troubling bonus, worrying, why dons? Is there a film you found a rousing that you weren't sure? You shit, I haven't heard the term wide ones until this, until this experience, and I'm it's one that I'm gonna I'm gonna save

you every day. I'm going to use it, I'd say hourly. Really, let's be honest. Um. So I I have a daughter, she's almost twenty one now, Ruby is her name, and she's twenty years old, but she was a child at one time, and she watched I watched a lot of kids movies for many years, and I'm sure this is where this leads. A lot of the time is toward towards a kids movie. But thank god, this is where it's leading, because when with your daughter, I fntucking regretting.

Jesus boy, Yeah, good did continue. I didn't think about the fact it might be construed that I was going to have kids movies, right, So anyway back to kids movie to day. But uh, there's a there was a movie. There is a movie. There's um a DreamWorks movie called Monsters Versus Aliens yea, and it's about kind of mutants. It's a five or six cute, fun, hilarious mutants who saved the world basically. And there was there's a girl

who I think it's on her wedding day. She is I think maybe it's a meteor, some sort of sun ray or something transforms her from Susan, this cute little blonde cartoon into Gin Normica, a almost fifty foot woman and not only is she really sexy and she's got tight little pants and she's a cartoon, but her name is Gin Normica. For Christ's sake, they named her gin Normica. What are you meant to do? You helpless A. This is not fair, this is this was just laid out

there for me. So I'm sitting in a movie theater next to my daughter and my now ex wife on the other side of her, and just completely thinking, this is one hot cartoon, babe. This is I mean, she was so and she's smart and she's funny and she I mean, this is there's you can tell. This is this is pathological, this is this is creepy. I really do have strong feelings for for Susan slash Giant Normica. Yeah, but I'm not apologizing for it. You should not apologize

for the genomica in your pants. That is what is objectively, objectively the greatest film of all time. This is too hard, This is you know. I listened to your your episode with Patton Oswald and he just immediately went boom toward to Casablanca, and I get it, you know. And frankly, I could have said that because it's maybe it's maybe the movie that I've seen the you know, or one of the movies that I've seen the most times. I love the film, but then you know, I think, but

but what about what about Doctor Strangelove? I mean perfect and not one, not two, but three Peter Sellers. I mean that is, you know, so amazing, and you know, and I'm sure everybody says the Godfather, but those two movies Godfather and Godfather too really, which are just one movie to me? I just would I can't watch one without the other. And then I love Local Hero, I mean Local Hero is a perfect little film as well.

Apocalypse Now was huge to me. That was the other movie that I said was my favorite movie for many many years and maybe still is. I mean, I can watch if if Apocalypse Now is on. I just I just undone. You know Martin Sheen saying Charlie was in the jungle, you know it's it's it. So they're just too many, and I apologize for that. I think it's copping out. I agree, but I love movies too much to just pick one the same way I could never. I'm afraid you're gonna have to. I'm gonna pick it

up from your list. You're gonna have a strange love. Because I said that and that say, oh good, it is such a good movie. And I was so grateful to my daughter. When I showed it to her and she loved it, I just thought, all right, I did this right. I raised this kid, right, this is the last fifteen years. We're done correctly. Yeah. Now, as a reward for watching Doctor Strange lab, let's put on a monster as best as Aliens again? Oh, oh, Gynomica. What's

the film that you could or have? What's the most over and over again other than Casablanca? Maybe? Right? Yeah? La Confidential is one of those movies that it's such it's candy, you know, it's it's movie candy. It's everybody in it is great. They look great. It had the film noir thing mixed, but it's faster than a film noir. I love I love that movie, and I've seen it a lot of times, and if it's on, there's no

way I'm going to bed, you know. I mean, especially if if I'd had a pointer too, then it's just it's we're going to go to that very last scene when Guy Pierce is is, Oh no, it's not Guy Pierce, it's the other one. Can you can you help me with the name here? Right? Russell Crowe is riding off into the in the in the back of the cab with help me with the name again him, Kim Basinger, Thank you very much. It's early. Um it's ten now actually, but yeah, that's that's a great movie to just watch

over and over again. There are dozens of these though. I mean I watched Willie Nelson's movie Honeysuckle Rose maybe twenty five times when I was a kid, because when I was growing up, we first got showtime, we first got you know the sort of we got showtime on cable, so it was you could watch a movie over and over and over again when it was on. So I remember watching that and I love still to this day.

I love Willie Nelson. I think he's one of the great iconic songwriters and artists of the twentieth century and has a voice that is I mean, he's like his voice is like Humphrey Bogart's face, you know, it's like it's not perfect and it's the greatest. So anyway, that's the other one I would say is Honey Honeysuckle Rose by Willie Nelson, which is, um, maybe a far inferior movie too. What is it is it? I don't know that film is he It's just it's basically Willie Nelson.

It's him, but he's got another name and the story of yea, but not really, it's a it's a fictional it's a fictional story about a guy who's exactly like Willie Nelson out on the road, ends up having an affair with his best friend and long time you know, a long time like road manager's daughter. Who is Amy Irving Um who was delightful um and she's you know this country garril talking like this, and she's a nice

Jewish girl. You know, it doesn't it didn't really fit, but I didn't care because she was just so amazing. And she was Slim Pickens daughter, the friend Um who who who's the father of Willie's anyway, it was Slim Pickens who rode the the atomic momb down to Russia and blew up the world at the end. Oh shit, that's a spoiler, sorry guys about doctor Strange lace Um. So anyway, that but it's yeah, so there's a lot of there's a lot of great Um. He sings on

the road again live on stage. It's just one of those. It's a as far as being a musician and a songwriting fan, it's it's it's really worth watching. That's all. Thank you the end by critics, we don't have to be too negative, so do it quick. What's the worst family ever? So this is pretty funny because I I

don't like saying that's the worst thing. As a matter of fact, I've actually called um someone a cunt on Twitter for saying worst band ever, Steely Dan, you question Mark, you know, and I mean it was I got so mad that I called him a cunt and got kicked off for a day or two. But um um, I hate. I hate the idea of the worst thing. It's like,

don't talk about the best. However, having said that, having said that, and this is this is all about you, having you know, as I was preparing to be on your your fabulous podcast, I did listen to that Patton Oswalt thing and Patton Oswald said his the best movie ever was Murder on the Orient Express, which I then watched. Because Patton Oswald said that, and because you had Patton Oswald on your goddamn show and that is such a bad movie, I am so sorry. That is the most

I know. I'm trying, you could tell I'm trying to regenerate my career by getting in some sort of a battle with anyone who's who's famous. But I was so I mean, and my wife and I just kept looking at each other and just going, I mean, Ingrid Bergman won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and I love Ingrid Bergman with all my heart, soul and body. But she was just like, it's just so stilted and wooden. And everyone has an accent that they did not have before.

And and m Albert Finney, one of the greatest actors of all time, is just his his his French accent is or his Belgian accent is so bad and his uh anyway, I did not enjoy that movie. It's not the worst movie you ever made, but I thought it was kind of funny that I was forced to watch it by your goddamn podcast. This, I mean, this is the pope quite war against Patton. This is gonna bring This is gonna bring my career back. Baby, I'm gonna be on the pop charts spy February. Pat do you

hearing this? Oh, oh, oh my god. I mean John gilgud he might, he might, I mean, he sold out a lot in his letter latter years. But this no, sorry, anyway, I can go on, um say it. Let's wait, what what is what's the fun? What's the film that I do? Laugh the most? Hands down, without a doubt, Best in Show? Christopher Guests movie Best in Show. It's It's a It's one of his many mockumentaries and dogs in it and you love dogs. I love dogs. I didn't actually realize I loved dogs as much as I do when I

saw the movie. It probably did influence me. But my god, I mean, the cast, every scene. I'm on the floor

still every scene. Everyone is so great. I mean, and I could just you know, I could reel off the names, but it's just Christopher Guest is brilliant, and his brilliance leans a lot on just knowing all the funniest people in show business, the funniest actors, and putting them there and saying, Okay, what we have to do with this scene because it's you know, as you know, it's mostly it's mostly bad lives, his stuff improvised, and so it's like, this is where we have to be at the end

of this scene. Go and when you've got you know who's in that bevy? I mean, Christopher guestes and Michael McKean, Um, Fred Willard, I mean Fred Willard, you know, doing the Commentarry. It's just he's unbelievable. It's brilliant. Anyway, love that movie. Love all of Christopher Guest movies, and I love the sort of genesis of all of those, which is not a Christopher Guest movie. It's Rob Reiner movie Spinal Tap, which is maybe that's Can we go back and say

that that's the best movie I made? Yeah, you kind of say, I put, okay, yeah, I think that it's that's and that you know, was a Rob Reiner movie. But obviously Christopher Guest had a lot to do with with it because he then made a career of making films like that. So there you go go. I might go upstairs and watch that after this. Okay, that will be a lovely day. You're upstairs, aren't you. You're in the top floor. I'm in the I'm in the basement.

It's dikes. You have been wonderful. Thank you for doing this. Now. However, when you went a mountain biking just around the corner, you were going through the local woods, you were having a great out time. You're going very fast, you're very good at mountain bike very and you were sort of daydreaming.

As you were doing you started to think of something and you were slightly distracted, and a tree branch that was perfectly spiked was in front of you, and you turned to look at it, and it went straight through your heart. And then the speed you were going, it went all the way through your heart. The bike kept going, your body was just hanging. And then because of your weight and what the tree did, you then split down

the middle. Your body fell, your head split in half, and your body fell to the ground in So it's so it's not going to be an open casket a funeral, is what you're saying. Listen, definitely not yea. So so I came along. I was like, I thought, where's kin Staggers? I thought he was going to be knocking around the place, go for a walk in the woods. I find you what you discovered me? What a mess? Jesus. It's a mess. And you're like you things have grown on you, people,

animals have been eating you. There's like, it's a fucking mess. There's a lot more of you than I was expecting. I have a coffin with me, as I often do. But the coffin i'd brought was the size of you. I wasn't expecting all this extra stuff, all these branches and bits of lucky lucky. Yeah. Anyway, So I get that spike that killed you, I snap it off and then I start carving you up with it, just to make some room in the coffee. Carving up. I mean,

most of you was already an absolute mess. But I've got anyway, stuff all the bits of you into the coffin. But there's more of you than I was expecting. And the coffin is absolutely jammed packed, and there's no room. There's no room in it. There's there's enough room for me to slide one day in the side, for you to take to the other side. And on the other side, it's movie night every night, and one night it's your

movie night. What film are you taking to show everyone when it's Kuyt Stiger's movie night Inhabit, Well, it's going to be a bit of a cheat because it's a concert film, but it's more than that. Is directed by Martin Scorsese, Benet kats Yeah, exactly, and it's called The Last Waltz and it is it is? Is it a film at least that you know. Basically, it's the film of the final concert by my favorite rock band ever, my favorite band ever, the band Robbie Robertson, Levon helm

Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson. But it's a bunch of their friends as well, which includes Joni Mitchell whom I love, Neil Young whom I love, Doctor John whom I love, Van Morrison whom I love, Bob Dylan, who doesn't love, and on and on. It's it's a muddy waters is in it there. This is amazing live concert footage mixed with them chatting, especially Robbie and Levan talking about, you know, the early days of the band touring and the stories that they tell, and it's it's

a it's so amazing. I until recently, until it was harder to until you didn't have VA VCRs. Through the time that you had VCRs, I would always have that playing in the whatever the not the green room, but when when I made albums at the studio, it would be in the kitchen or wherever we hung out in between takes. I would just have it on on a loop. So we just go in and one time we'd be looking at you know, Muddy Waters singing Managed Boy, or we'd be looking at Doctor John singing such a night. Um,

it's so good. And there's another section of that where they're on a sound stage. They recorded some things again. They did the way you know, take the load off and the load three. They did that the staple singers, and they did it on a sound stage after the concert, maybe because the version that they did in concert wasn't quite right. And it seems like they're dead. You know,

we've we've come to this a lot. It seems like when you go to those sound and Emmy Lou Harris the same thing, they do a song with her, and it's it's sort of it's out of time completely. And it seems like not only did the band break up and stop touring and all and making records, but they died and they went to heaven and they and they got to make music with Navis Staples. So I love that movie. Couldn't recommend it more. I might after I watch Local Hero this afternoon, I might go ahead and

watch that as well. That is a very lovely answer to people in heaven. Again. I love it. It was a long answer too. I apologize for that before you, guy, and give us one simple tip for singing. But people listening who would like to learn how to sing, learn how to breathe correctly. And I could teach you that, but it would take too long. It's all about breathing.

I can sing because I was a clarinet player and I had a I had a a clarinet teacher who made me put my hand on his stomach while he played a note on a clarinet and it was not pleasant. He didn't make me touch him anywhere else, but it kind of had that feeling. I mean, I'm still a little bit scarred by it. But you have to you have to support your voice, so do that. Also. Um, beer beer is really good for singing. I've found I've found just having having I sing a lot better when

I've had a drinking and kind stagers. Is there anything you would like people to look out for to watch for to listen to you before you guys? Well, um, you could, Um, well, there's we did the interface sanctuary dot org. There's there. There will be a streaming concert m so you can find that there. My website is Kurtis Steiger's dot com. I'm on Patreon unless I can't figure out how to upload videos anymore, which I'm having trouble with. So i may just be no on Patreon,

but I've got a lot of things on Instagram. I've got a lot of little I've made little movies of part partial songs. I've written these little songs as the Trump debacle has ended. As the right at the end of the thingy the election, I started writing these little songs. I would just sit down in front of the thing and just write it. And I think those are pretty funny. I think I'm not going to make any money off of those, but I'm really proud of them, which is

kind of the problem with my whole career. It's tigers, thank you very much for doing this. I hope you have a lovely death. Good night. Thank you, Bratt. It was lovely to see you. So that was episode one hundred and twenty eight. Head over to patreon dot com forward lets Brett Goldstein for the extra twenty five minutes of Chat Secret. It's a video with Curtis. Go to Apple Podcasts and give us a five star writing if you will, and instead of writing about the show, right

about the film that means the most to you. And why it's a very nice thing to read. Does help numbers, and I really appreciate you. Thank you very much to Curtis for giving me his time. Thank you to Scrubious Pittman and attract some pieces of network. Thanks to Buddy Peace for producing it. Thanks to ACAS for hosting it. Thanks to Adam Richardson for the graphics, at least allay them for the photography. I've got to say this right. Coming up in the next few weeks, I've recorded so

many incredible guests. I'm not going to say who's up next to what order they will be coming out, but little heads up, he's entreats for you. Has the name Julian Barrett? Sound yeah you like that? What about Noel Clark? What? Yeah? Yeah, I got him too? What about m oh no, I'll tell you what the rest of the secrets I've already I've said too much. Matthew Crosby, Yeah, he's coming back.

I've said too much. All right, that's it. So that is all I need to say for now, except to say thank you to everyone who has been listening to this podcast. I hope you have a lovely week and a brilliant new year, and please now more than ever be excellent to each other.