There’s a moment in Mel Brooks’ “History of the World Part 1” where we’re told that shortly after the first artists came the first art critics…..I’ll leave you to determine what happens…. The music world is certainly not short of people with opinions in regards to others’ ability to perform and provide nuance to the work they present for us as music lovers to listen to. In the classical world, interpretation of the canon of baroque, classical, romantic and modernist music can be a mystery to som...
Jun 23, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 128
Frank Zappa is an odd duck. His massive back catalogue of albums attracts both reverence and ambivalence from music fans. Stylistically, he covered so much ground covering doo wop, blues, psych, jazz fusion and dissonant orchestral music. Unlike many of his rock and roll contemporaries, he always believed in infusing a sense of humour into his music – both compositionally and lyrically….though since what strikes some as funny is so subjective, it couldn’t appeal to everyone. He wrote about comme...
Jun 03, 2025•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 127
It's not too often that a story will make a connection between Linda McCartney, The Beastie Boys and The Clash, but this month's film does just that. Welcome to episode 126 of See Hear Podcast. When the average person is asked to name a single important figure in reggae music, they'll most likely say Bob Marley. Without taking away from his importance, reggae's production giant, who helped Marley in his early years, was Lee “Scratch” Perry. For this episode, we look at a 2008 documentary called ...
Apr 28, 2025•1 hr 11 min
The use of non-diagetic songs in cinema is often designed to provoke a type of nostalgia, or at least an understanding of the era the film is set in. Apocalypse Now opens very effectively to the sounds of The End by The Doors. Goodfellas keeps updating the jukebox as the story travels over the years (Scorsese is a master of that). So, if you watch a film set in the 50s like American Graffiti or That’ll Be The Day, the jukebox soundtracks to these films are like characters constantly reminding th...
Mar 27, 2025•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 125
We've recently lost one of the great directors over the last few decades in David Lynch who was known for showing the dreamy and nightmarish side of America (and we need you now, David). The other great tellers of American stories over the same period have been Joel and Ethan Coen. They have protagonists who start out in precarious positions in life....then things go downhill. Welcome to episode 124 of See Hear Podcast. There's definitely a rhythm to the Coen Brothers' films....even if their fil...
Feb 25, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 124
1981.....music and film fans could only guess as to what the coming decade held – both in art and in the real world. If art reflects the real world, then a portmanteau film centred around a force that contains the sum of all evils seemed like a reflection of the environment the film was born into. Welcome to episode 123 of See Hear. In 1981, following on from the magazine it aligned itself with, Canadian animated film Heavy Metal was sent out into the world. Ralph Bakshi may have paved the way f...
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 123
When you attended high school, did you have a music program? If so, were you enthusiastic about playing what was selected for you? In the early days of music tuition, chances are you had to play dull tunes that were in line with your limited abilities....on a recorder!!!!! Within 3 or so months of picking up an instrument, could you play tunes made famous by, say, Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman? No? The girls (and a boy) at Yamakawa High School did. Welcome to episode 122 of See Hear Podcast. Ke...
Nov 25, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 122
Do you like music films? Dumb question, I guess, because if you've deliberately downloaded an episode of See Hear, you know that music films are our niche in the podcast world. For us to discover that there was a new book about the subject that drives this very podcast....well, there was much cheering and jumping for joy. Welcome to episode 121 of See Hear Podcast. We welcome to the show Professor Neil Fox of Falmouth University. He's written a terrific book called “Music Films: Documentaries, C...
Oct 26, 2024•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 121
Movie music – any movie fan will acknowledge that a film score or a soundtrack can make or break how well a film works. The acting and cinematography and production values all count obviously, but imagine putting the 3 Stooges theme in place as “Mother” goes to see how Marion Crane is faring in the shower scene of Psycho. Welcome to episode 120 of See Hear. If you haven't caught up with the previous episode of the show, Tim, Kerry and myself were joined by our great friend Paul Ryan to talk abou...
Sep 28, 2024•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 120
As you know, our mission at See Hear HQ is to discuss, chew on, and pontificate (in that order) about music films. But.....what if we DIDN'T do that for a couple of episodes????? Shock horror!!! Welcome to episode 119 of See Hear Podcast. Don't panic....we're not straddling too far from our mission. This time around, instead of talking about films that are ABOUT music, we'll discuss the music itself from ANY film we jolly well please. Kerry, Tim and myself have invited previous guest and close f...
Sep 23, 2024•1 hr 46 min•Ep. 119
Every major city with a healthy music scene will have hometown heroes….that band or artist that the locals love and wish the whole world knew about. One of those bands is Toronto’s “The Lowest Of The Low”. Welcome to episode 118 of See Hear. The Lowest of the Low started in the early 90s as a follow up to the band punk band, Popular Front. Ron Hawkins had previously written overtly political songs, but for the debut album Shakespeare My Butt (one of the best album names ever), he wrote songs abo...
Aug 21, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 118
Did you ever read rags with headlines like “I had an alien love child” or “Psycho seagull stole dog from my garden” or “Monster rats the size of cows”? No? You're missing out on a Wild...Wild....Life. Welcome to episode 117 of See Hear Podcast. Writers Stephen Toblowsky and Beth Henley met Talking Head, David Byrne, and had a conversation about newspaper articles he'd read with bizarre things happening to ordinary people, and wouldn't it be interesting to come up with a script for a film using t...
Jul 09, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 117
We all have musicians that we wish everyone else knew about. THAT person who deserves a wider audience, but life circumstances didn't allow for it. Knowledge of that musician seems to be like the secret handshake into a special club. Nick Drake was one of those people until a TV car advertisement that used his music got more people curious....thank goodness. Judee Sill's music is not likely to be used in a car ad. Welcome to episode 116 of See Hear Podcast. When people talk about the musicians o...
May 19, 2024•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 116
Back in 1980, I recall going to the cinema to see a new film, The Blues Brothers. Music and car chases…..what wasn’t there to love? The critics hated it because….ya know….that’s what they’re paid to do. A few years after initial release, it became THAT cult film that everyone watched – on TV, on video or at late night cinema screenings (in Melbourne, it became an audience participation phenomenon similar to Rocky Horror). The question is how did the film get made? Welcome to episode 115 of See H...
Apr 17, 2024•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 115
There's a song performed by Peter Allen that seems to be more relevant than ever: Everything Old Is New Again. Film plots are recycled, songs are recycled (through covers or the same chord structures).....and the media we use to play those films and songs are back in fashion. Records have been popular again for a while, some people are rediscovering VHS, and as this month's film focus shows us, the Compact Cassette is the new medium of choice for music recording and listening. Welcome to Episode...
Mar 26, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 114
Back at episode 110 of See Hear, Tim, Kerry and I had a round table discussion (Broadway Danny Rose style) about Denny Tedesco's 2015 documentary, The Wrecking Crew. That film was about the session musicians of the 1960s LA scene that made the “name” performers sound great. These session musicians were not known by name outside of that community until their achievements were lauded decades later. What happens in the 1970s when the next generation of LA musicians want to have the ability to play ...
Jan 24, 2024•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 113
When you think of American folk songs of the 60s, you'd think of political injustice, civil rights, hardships due to economic burdens, and war, right? Or do you think about the comforts of food always being laid out on the table, boundless optimism 'cos “its THAT kind of day” or kissing at the end of an optical illusion caused by the dispersion of light in water droplets? 'Cos both work, ya know. Welcome to episode 112 of See Hear Podcast. In 2003, Christopher Guest released A Mighty Wind, the t...
Dec 25, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 112
Musicians, artists, actors and authors (and any other creatives I haven’t nominated) have long taken pseudonyms. Maybe a more exciting name will sell an image, maybe it’s to have some semblance of privacy, maybe it’s to separate themselves from their past, …any number of reasons. Avant garde art collective The Residents took things beyond name change – they maintained complete anonymity. Welcome to episode 111 of See Hear Podcast. The Residents are a band, multimedia artists, theatrical performe...
Nov 27, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 111
Most working people have that day gig – accountant, engineer, admin, hospitality. The job pays the bills and puts food on the table. We don’t tend to think of being a musician as a day job category. Welcome to episode 110 of See Hear Podcast. Through the 20th century, there was always some group of musicians who had that “day job” status – playing for corporate functions, teaching people to instrumental skills, and being the faceless people providing the grooves and melodies behind your favourit...
Oct 30, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 110
There was a time when the rock and roll star appearance in a film ostensibly as themselves (or a variant) was a given. Think of the films of Elvis Presley or Cliff Richard. Before the Warholian expression of 15 minutes of fame became a thing, the pop music film was a way to make the most of the latest populist puppet’s time in the sun – script be damned, musician’s longevity be damned. “Let’s just give the kids what they want and reap the benefits before the next pretty face we can exploit”. I’m...
Sep 27, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 109
Disco music had been a thing from the early 70s on, but not so much in the mainstream. Parts of the African-American, Latino and gay communities had been cherishing the music as an event - going out to dance in discotheques was the thing. There's are books that go through the history of disco music and what put that music underground. Some of the music became top forty success stories, but disco really exploded in 1977 thanks to a movie featuring a TV actor and songs by a group past their glory ...
Aug 24, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 108
To some people, Ornette Coleman represents the adventurous spirit of jazz. To others, Kenny G is as exciting as it gets. This episode is more dedicated to the former..... Welcome to episode 107 of See Hear Podcast. This month, Tim has selected the film under discussion. It's a documentary filmed in a jazz club in Budapest called “Free The Jazz”. Released in 2014, but seemingly filmed in 2007, its format is simple. Director Czabán György interviewed a range of jazz musicians from Germany, England...
Jul 30, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 107
The history of cinema is loaded with films about siblings and the problems that go with loving and competing with your flesh and blood: The Godfather, A Simple Plan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Eat Drink Man Woman.....and Hilary & Jackie. Welcome to episode 106 of See Hear Podcast. Classical music history records that among the greatest of cellists was Jacqueline du Pre'. Her interpretations of the cello concertos of Elgar and Dvorak amongst others are considered amongst the pinnacle of the reco...
Jun 27, 2023•51 min•Ep. 106
Do you remember when you were a kid and you liked to make percussive sounds on biscuit tins, cushions, the neighbour's fence, or your own stomach? Of course you do!!!! No matter whether you took up an instrument or not, percussion is always fun......until nasty neighbours tell you to shut up because you're making noise and disturbing their peaceful afternoon listening passively to Kenny G!!!!! Welcome to episode 105 of See Hear Podcast. Tim, Kerry and I look at a Swedish film from 2010 called So...
May 23, 2023•51 min•Ep. 105
We've all seen 'em....films about people with a “dream”. They start out poorly, but triumph by the third act. Usually, they're comedic with a serious lesson to be learned. Then there's Tapeheads. Welcome to episode 104 of See Hear Podcast. John Cusack and Tim Robbins star as a pair of underqualified entrepeneurs (especially Cusack) in the music video field. The film was made during the late 80s during the MTV era – when they supposedly played music videos. Tapeheads is loaded with cameos from mu...
Apr 27, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 104
Biopics about contemporary musicians have been a very common thing in cinema, particularly over the last 40 to 50 years. As we've often discussed on the show, they often follow a familiar pattern – a grocery list, if you will, with all the known high and low points of the subject's life story the audience expects. However, before there was a glutton of such movies, there were a few that had no rules to follow so relied more on character study than cherry picking from 40 years of history. Welcome...
Mar 27, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 103
After a hiatus of several months, See Hear podcast is back to fill your earholes with discussion of music-centric films and interviews with directors of such films. For episode 102, the focus is on Tender Mercies, the 1983 film starring Robert Duvall about an ex country singer who's trying to find some semblance of normality after an existence of alcoholism, music industry ego and domestic violence. It's a theme that's been tackled before in a myriad of films, but as the saying goes, the devil i...
Feb 18, 2023•1 hr 10 min
I'm lucky to live in a town with a great music scene. Notwithstanding the tough times that both bands and venue operators are facing in the wake of the pandemic (and the rip-off merchants who believe that their bottom line is more important than paying musicians a living wage), Melbourne has always had a healthy music culture as do many cities around the world. I'm talking about cities where music venues are plentiful, bands are playing all week, and punters with a myriad of tastes can find some...
Sep 28, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 101
Back in January 2014, Wendi Freeman, Tim Merrill and myself started a monthly podcast to look at the world of films about music and musicians (or any tenuous link to that world). Occasionally, we would talk about musicals that weren't actually about music, cos rules were meant to be broken. From episode 2, fellow music and film fan, Bernard Stickwell joined the team, an See Hear was on its way. The first film discussed on the show was a documentary about a musical genius who was just not appreci...
Aug 29, 2022•1 hr 35 min•Season 1Ep. 100
We're so used to the idea of art being hung in museums or on our walls, that we forget that we have may have hundreds or thousands of pieces of art hiding in plain sight – on shelves in our record or CD collections. Welcome to episode 99 of See Hear Podcast. Anytime you go exploring through your local record or CD store, before you even hear the music, the potential to draw you to an album you're unfamiliar with is the cover art. They can be futuristic paintings, posed photos, extravagant, plain...
Jul 15, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 102
