A brilliant record by The Wannadies from 1995 to conclude the Memorabilia Podcast and a bumper episode for our final outing. We discuss the career and discography of Sweden's hugely underrated indie popsters, look back on live performances we attended, and provide a comprehensive guide through their breakthrough third LP, Be A Girl, including their Gold-certified single 'You & Me Song' featured in the movie 'Romeo and Juliet' and a couple of episodes of Coronation Street! We conclude our ver...
Jan 01, 2024•1 hr 38 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Stardom Road was Marc Almond's first release since his near-fatal motorcycle accident in 2004. It was a long, dark path to recovery that left him unable to write songs and he required singing lessons to find his voice again. Once over that hurdle, Marc returned to the studio to work on a covers album, the concept being that the selected songs contained a narrative relating to his life. Stardom Road was over two years in the making, the project growing from humble beginnings to full orchestral pr...
Dec 10, 2023•1 hr 39 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Two years in the making, Marc's labour of love to Russia, its tumultuous history, varied culture, proud people, and its kaleidoscope of musical sounds and influences was released on October 21st 2003. Twenty years old at the time of recording this podcast, we discuss how the album came into being, the various collaborations that run throughout the record, its impact on release, the reception it received, and whether the record has stood the test of time and still sounds fresh and relevant today....
Nov 10, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Another magnificent album from the 90s for episode 33 of the Memorabilia Podcast and another 30th Anniversary celebration. Pearl Jam's second LP release arrived on the 19th of October 1993 with much anticipation and didn't fail to deliver. 'Vs.' (pronounced versus) has a very different sound and vibe to their debut album 'Ten', and we look at the lead-up to the recording of the record, provide a track-by-track analysis, and we both rate the album out of ten. We discuss the results of our poll am...
Oct 22, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Another 30th Anniversary episode for the Memorabilia Podcast, and this time it's 'The Modfather' Paul Weller and his second solo album release from September 1993, the Mercury Music Prize nominated 'Wild Wood'. The critically acclaimed record signalled his return to favour after the Style Council's fall in popularity at the end of the 80's, and the mixed reaction to his first solo release, 1992's 'Paul Weller'. We discover Weller's pathway into his musical journey with the Jam, through to workin...
Oct 01, 2023•59 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Our musical time machine on episode number 31 saw us land back in the summer of 1991. Specifically, one month before the release of Nirvana's masterpiece 'Nevermind', another pivotal grunge record was propelled into the world for the first time - the raucous, energetic, powerful, anthemic, yet often moving and highly emotional 'Ten' by Pearl Jam. Rick and Kate are joined by good friend Simon to discuss the debut album from the Seattle five piece, how the band were formed, the meaning behind some...
Sep 16, 2023•1 hr 38 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Happy 30th birthday to 'The Last Splash' released on August 30th 1993! To celebrate we have dedicated our 30th episode (did you see what we did there?!) to the album which was the second release from the Dayton, Ohio, quartet, led by principal singer songwriter, and former member of The Pixies, Kim Deal. We take a look at the formation and evolution of the group from their beginnings in 1989 to the present day, including other LP releases, line-up changes, gigs, and an appraisal of 'The Last Spl...
Aug 27, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 30
During the height of his fame with Soft Cell, Marc Almond had a side project. An outlet for the less polished pop side of his persona. Dark, passionate, intense, diverse, and riveting. And that was just the musicians that were part of the collective known as Marc and the Mambas. As we publish this podcast episode in mid-August 2023, it's precisely 40 years since Marc and the Mambas released their 2nd LP 'Torment and Toreros'. We celebrate by looking at the key personnel involved, the recording p...
Aug 14, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Nirvana's Nevermind brought about a seismic shift in the musical landscape on release in September 1991. From the music, the attitude, and the fashion surrounding the grunge era, things would never be the same again. We discuss it all, along with the lead up to the record, the recording and production, the reaction on release, as well as taking a deep dive into the songs that made this one of the best selling albums of all time. Will our ratings match its popularity? With so much to talk about a...
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr 39 min•Season 2Ep. 27
A favourite album of Kate's receives the Memorabilia Podcast scrutiny this week as we focus our attention on the intense, brooding, magnificence that is 'Murder Ballads' by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds from 1996. Their 9th studio album release, notable for its dark subject matter and cameo appearances from PJ Harvey, Kylie Monogue, and Shane McGowan, was met with widespread critical acclaim upon its release. Benefitting from the substantial airplay received for lead single 'Where The Wild Roses G...
Jun 07, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Blur's Modern Life is Rubbish. A cracking album to celebrate episode 25 for us and the 30th anniversary of it's release on Food records in the UK on the 10th of May 1993. Unthinkable given what came afterwards that Blur were in a bit of a pickle ahead of the release of this record. We discover why they were in serious debt, in threat of being dropped by the record company, and what were the songs that made the difference allowing the album to survive and thrive. We talk about the influence of pr...
May 15, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 25
It's Autumn 1992 and R.E.M. are suddenly one of the biggest bands on the planet, riding the crest of a wave after the global success of their seventh studio LP - The wonderful 'Out of Time.' How do you follow that and create an album that: a) sounds radically different to anything you've produced before, is b) critically lauded and, c) every bit as successful commercially as its predeccessor? The answer is that you come up with 'Automatic For The People' - an astonishing record that has stood th...
May 01, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Season 2Ep. 24
It's the end of March in the last year of the millenium and Marc Almond releases his tenth studio album 'Open All Night'. There's duets with Kelli Ali (Sneaker Pimps) and Siouxsie Sioux (of 'Siouxsie and the Banshees' fame), a dark undercurrent that weaves through the album, a regular backdrop of electronic beats and trip hop and some painful and bared soul lyrics. But, is it any good? How will our resident Marc Almond fan rate the LP and how will her score compare to Rick who'd never heard the ...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 23
A bumper episode for season 2, episode 2 with special guest, current Leveller and all round brilliant human being, the very talented Dan Donelly. As well as focusing on his terrific 2011 album 'Country & Northern', and hearing about the genesis of each song, we have some fun discussions about why drinking pints of Guinness in a music video isn't a great idea, and possibly being the last vanguards of 'the album'. There's also serious chat about depression and suicide, and why Dan feels this r...
Oct 09, 2022•1 hr 59 min•Season 2Ep. 23
We are delighted to be back with a sublime album from the late 90's to kick-off Season 2! North Carolinan trio, Ben Folds Five, released their second LP on the 18th of March 1997 with much trepidation after a challenging time recording the album, trying to perfect the sound and document 'an event' by shunning the recording studio in favour of Ben's dilapidated house in Chapel Hill. If you've listened to any of our episodes during season one, you'll know we'll cover the origins of the band, each ...
Sep 25, 2022•1 hr 44 min•Season 2Ep. 22
For our final episode of Season 1, we are back in 1987 to visit the songwriting duo 'Hue and Cry' and their debut album 'Seduced and Abandoned'. Brothers Patrick and Greg Kane were raised in the Scottish town of Coatbridge and were just 22 and 20 years of age respectively when the LP was released on the 1st of November 1987. We take a deep dive in to their journey to unlikely top 10 hitmakers, review the album in detail with a track by track analysis, and find out what's happened to the brothers...
May 08, 2022•1 hr 48 min•Season 1Ep. 21
We are back in 1989 for a third time and this time it's a summer release from 'The The' that gets the Memorabilia Podcast spotlight. This was Kate's LP purchased not long after its release and she talks about what the album means to her, why she purchased it, what she likes about it, and how she used to prefer listening to the record. Before we disect the LP track by track, we review some recent gigs we attended including Babybird, David Ford with Annie Dressner, and the wonderful Ian Prowse and...
Apr 03, 2022•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Early July 1990 and Harry Connick Jr. releases 2 albums on the same day and a 'home video' entitled Singin' & Swingin'. One of the LP's is with his Jazz trio entitled 'Lofty's Roach Soufle', but the record we focus on in this episode is ' We Are In Love ' - a big band, jazz and swing masterclass from the 22 year old New Orleans native. Harry won his second grammy for the record in what was a momumentally busy time in the glittering career of the talented American composer, pianist, vocalist,...
Feb 06, 2022•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Our most 'recent' album covered to date is 'San Fransisco' by American Music Club, presumably named after the Californian city in which they were formed back in 1983. San Fransisco was their 7th and final album before they disbanded in 1995. There was a reformation in 2004 which lasted for a further 6 years and saw the release of 2 further LP's by the band. American Music Club were a band that Rick was totally unaware of, having only made a minor blip in the UK charts - listen to the episode to ...
Jan 18, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 18
We are up to episode 17 and it's a pivotal LP both culturally and musically - The Stone Roses much revered eponymously titled debut album from May 1989. Unbelievably, the record was released on exactly the same day as an album we have already covered - our top rated LP to date - Disintegration by The Cure. A very different sound, but will we both rate it as highly as that album? The record buying public and critics certainly liked it with the NME fan readers poll for 1989 voting The Stone Roses ...
Dec 30, 2021•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Episode 16 of season one covers Kate's vinyl LP from 1992 - 'Up' - the debut album by London based band Right Said Fred. The usual look at where the record was purchased, how the band were formed, key personnel, what they've been up to lately and a track by track analysis of the 10 song album. This includes some impressive numbers and kudos for their first single, and bone fide mega-hit, "I'm too sexy". The single has subsequently been credited or sampled in songs by The Sugarbabes (Get Sexy fro...
Dec 12, 2021•1 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Hey hey, we're covering The Monkees! As you'll discover, this was an LP that Rick borrowed from his cousin 20 odd years ago and he hasn't quite managed to return it yet - eek! Rick's now expecting a message from cousin Dave requesting its return, but secretly hoping that he no longer owns a record player so he'll be given the nod to keep it! Kate was researching this one and being a 'Best of...' there wasn't a lot on this particular version of the album itself. The episode is therefore more of a...
Nov 28, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 15
It's summer 1990, you're 18 years old, and you head out on one of life's big adventures, to work as a courier at Eurocamp in Switzerland. Part of your job is to clean out the tents and you're seeking the perfect record to accompany your hot, sweaty, dirty labour. What would hit the spot and ease your graft as you worked from tent to tent? Well, in Kate's distant past, that album was Bryan Adam's 1984 classic album, Reckless , which spawned no less than 6 singles - all of which made 15 or higher ...
Nov 14, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 14
A very special episode for the Memorabilia Podcast - our first indie superstar guest in Caretaker Race singer/songrwriter and Loft guitarist Andy Strickland. Andy kindly took the time to speak to us for over 90 minutes about his band's superb 1990 debut album 'Hangover Square'. For the first time, we also have music clips to accompany the tales behind the songwriting and producing. Thank you Andy! There's a lot packed in to the lengthy episode and some wonderful stories shared by Andy talking ab...
Oct 31, 2021•1 hr 54 min•Season 1Ep. 13
July 1988 - Kate and Rick were sweet 16, and it was very much a case of school's out for the summer. Within a week of it's release, Rick had ventured into Sheffield City Centre to purchase Kylie, by Kylie Minogue and so began a beautiful relationship that's lasted the test of time... even if that early music hasn't aged so well! That said, Kylie's debut LP went to #1 in the UK album charts and sold over 2 million copies in the UK, more than the combined total of sales for the rest of the world. ...
Oct 24, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Before we get in to the work of genius that is 'Disintegration' by The Cure, we had a fair bit of homework following the previous episode where we covered the Beatles 'Help', including the Cuban Missile Crisis, the fantastic Ron Howard movie 'Eight Days A Week' and when The Beatles met Elvis. We also neglected to rate 'Help' and so we add those scores into the mix and will compile a top 10 of our ratings following this episode as Disintegration is the 10th LP we're covering. Last month (septembe...
Oct 10, 2021•1 hr 35 min•Season 1Ep. 11
What can you say about The Beatles that's not already been said?! Well, we have a crack at disecting their 5th studio LP released in the UK from August 1965 which we don't believe has had too much previous in-depth analysis. So, we provide a track by track guide and discuss the album in general, and give our thoughts on the movie that featured seven of the songs from the record. The iconic cover of the Beatles using their arms in flag semaphore to spell out the word 'Help!' in fact doesn't spell...
Sep 26, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 10
A special episode recorded by the sea in not so sunny Sandsend, North Yorkshire, with our close friends David and Ann Whittle as guests, or 'Pop Dave' and '80's Ann' as they will be known from here on in! Knowing all the words to Wham Rap was a good qualifying skill to appear on the episode (Ann and Kate) and although there was no rendetion for us to enjoy, find out what we all thought of the LP that has been the soundtrack to meal times on our holiday and what we rated it out of 10. Although it...
Sep 05, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Season 1Ep. 9
A retrospective on Tracy Chapman's eponymously titled debut LP from 1988. We look at how Tracy went from playing small venues to 72,000 people in a short space of time and the massive impact on her career that her performance at the Nelson Mandela 70th birthday tribute concert had. Not only was it a huge live crowd at Wembley, but she performed to a global audience of over 60 million TV viewers across more than 60 countries. The legacy of her huge hit single 'Fast Car' comes under the spotlight ...
Aug 29, 2021•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Rick's favourite LP of all time gets the Memorabilia podcast treatment for episode 7. Released at the start of a new decade in January 1990, discover what makes the album so magical in Rick's eyes. Much to the anguish of many Sundays fans, the band have to date only released 3 LP's and disappeared without much of a trace following their last release in 1997, making it a tough job for Kate to research the band and this record. We talk about a few of their celebrity fans, how the LP fared in terms...
Aug 08, 2021•1 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 7
