Only Three Lads - Classic Alternative Music Podcast

In 1979, 2 Tone Records (formed by Coventry, England art student and Specials keyboardist/songwriter Jerry Dammers) exploded into the consciousness of music lovers in Britain, the US, and beyond, as albums by the Specials, the Selecter, Madness, the Beat, and the Bodysnatchers burst onto the charts and a youth movement was born. 2 Tone was black and white: a multiracial force of British and Caribbean musicians singing about social issues, racism, class, and gender struggles. It spoke of injustices in society and fought against right-wing extremism. It was exuberant and eclectic: white youths learning to dance to the infectious rhythm of ska and reggae, crossed with punk attitude, to create an original hybrid.This week's Third Lad, Daniel Rachel, has penned the definitive story of the label that, for a brief, bright burning moment, shaped British, American, and world culture. Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story is out now from White Rabbit (UK) and Akashic Books (US).Daniel Rachel is a Birmingham-born, best-selling author whose previous works include Isle of Noises: Conversations with Great British Songwriters; Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone, and Red Wedge; Don't Look Back in Anger: The Rise and Fall of Cool Britannia; The Lost Album of the Beatles: What If the Beatles Hadn't Split Up?; One for the Road: The Life & Lyrics of Simon Fowler & Ocean Colour Scene; and Oasis: Knebworth: Two Nights That Will Live Forever. He is also co-author of Ranking Roger's autobiography, I Just Can't Stop It: My Life in the Beat. In 2021, Rachel was a guest curator of the "2 Tone Lives & Legacies" exhibition as part of Coventry Cultural City 2021, and he curated the anniversary edition of the Selecter's debut album, Too Much Pressure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grab your popcorn, Milk Duds, and RC Cola (that'll be $42.75, please), and join us in the back of theatre. We promise not to put the moves on you...we're here to watch the movie. Let's take it slow and see where this goes. Oh, sorry, got lost in the moment.This week, we discuss some of our favorite music documentaries, and celebrate one of the latest additions to the canon of great "rock docs"- Louder Than You Think: A Lo-Fi History of Gary Young & Pavement. Joining us for this discussion of Citizen Kane-esque proportions is Louder Than You Think's Director, Jed. I Rosenberg and Co-Producer Brian Thalken. Louder Than You Think, a 2023 SXSW Audience Award winner, is an up-close cinematic walkabout through the life of Gary Young (May 3, 1953 - August 17, 2023), the original (and highly unlikely) drummer of indie rock royalty Pavement. His booze and drugs-fueled antics (on-stage handstands, gifting vegetables to fans) and haphazard production methods (accidentally helping launch the lo-fi aesthetic) were both a driving force of the band's early rise and the cause of his eventual crash landing. Leaving a wake of joy and/or destruction at every turn, Gary teeters the thin line between free-form self-expression and chaotic self-destruction. With its inventive use of marionette sequences and featuring revelatory archival footage, Louder Than You Think is equal parts hilarious, heartbreaking and human. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The O3L Time Machine has gone berserk...it's landed all the way back in 1967! It's nice here, so we'll stay a while. The love is free, the clothes are groovy, the drugs are psychedelic (but just say no, kids), and the music is jaw-droppingly brilliant! The reason why we've blasted right past our normal era of focus, you ask? Well, it's not every day that we get to welcome living legend, singer, songwriter, guitarist, rock n' roll surrealist - and now author - Robyn Hitchcock to O3L. That particular year is the focus of Robyn's brand new memoir, 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left, out now on Little Brown Books (UK) and Akashic Books (US). 1967 explores how that pivotal slice of time tastes to a bright, obsessive-compulsive boy who is shipped off to a hothouse academic boarding school as he reaches the age of 13 - just as Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited starts to bite, and the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper explodes.When he arrives in January 1966, Robyn Hitchcock is still a boy pining for the comforts of home and his family's loving au pair, Teresa. By December 1967, he's mutated into a 6'2" tall rabid Dylan fan, whose two ambitions are to get really high and fly to Nashville (spoiler alert: mission accomplished on both fronts!).In between - as the hippie revolution blossoms in the world outside - Hitchcock adjusts to the hierarchal, homoerotic world of Winchester, threading a path through teachers with arrested development, meatheads, groovers, and a sullen old maid - a very English freak show. On the way he befriends a cadre of bat-winged teenage prodigies and meets their local guru, the young Brian Eno.At the end of 1967, all the ingredients are in place that will make Robyn Hitchcock a songwriter for life. But then again, does 1967 really ever end?Robyn Hitchcock is a master of the absurd, creating "pictures you can listen to" that revel in the beauty of the unexpected. His first publicly visible band, the Soft Boys (1976-81), has remained an influential art-rock touchstone for generations of musicians. With a career spanning nearly five decades, his discography consists of more than 30 albums, including Underwater Moonlight (1980). I Often Dream of Trains (1984), Fegmania! (1985), Globe Of Frogs (1988), Queen Elvis (1989), Perspex Island (1991), Ole! Tarantula (2006), The Man Upstairs (2014), Robyn Hitchcock (2017) and Shufflemania (2022), and classic songs like "I Wanna Destroy You," "My Wife and My Dead Wife," "The Man with the Lightbulb Head," "Heaven," "Balloon Man," "Madonna of the Wasps," "So You Think You're In Love," and so many more.Special thanks to Robyn's wonderful wife Emma Swift, herself a brilliant singer/songwriter...and, it turns out, quite the IT tech; and Holly Watson from Holly Watson PR for the introduction and coordination.Proud members of the Pantheon Podcasts family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's another introspective week spent going down memory lane, as we relive some of the best concert experiences from our respective pasts. And, believe us, that's no easy feat with quite literally thousands of concerts collectively between us. Yowsah!Yes, you could say that our "Third Lad" this week is quite the authority on the subject, as Linda Chadwick was a Texas groupie on the hard rock and metal scenes between 1982 - 1987. Weaving together a series of often hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes salacious, but always remarkable tales about Pantera, KISS, Dio, Deep Purple, Metallica, Motorhead, Poison, Whitesnake, Aerosmith, Guns n' Roses and more, On The Road: A Texas Groupie's Memoir blends vivid storytelling with nostalgic anecdotes. Meet passionate fans, ambitious musicians, and unforgettable groupies, all brought together by a shared love for rock 'n' roll. Experience the highs of sold-out concerts, the lows of band breakups, and the exhilaration of that first chord. As you delve deeper, discover how music was not only a form of entertainment but a way of life, a rebellion, a movement that shaped a generation. This book is more than a mere recollection-it's a tribute to a time when melodies held memories, lyrics voiced dreams, and every beat was a heartbeat of an era.Since leaving groupie life behind, Linda Chadwick is a happy married wife of more than 30 years, with two grown children and many fur babies. This lifelong Texas girl recently relocated to Costa Rica, the beautiful home to "a lot of things that can kill you." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer's here and the time is right for...well, you know...This week, we spotlight tracks by: The Vanrays - 'Survivors' (from Hey! Alright Now, Bonerattle Records) L.A. Drugz - 'Outside Place' (from Outside Place, Hovercraft Records) The Anti-Queens - 'Overthinking' (from Disenchanted, Stomp Records) WolfWolf - 'Twenty One' (from Tolentanz, Ghost Highway / Lux Noise / Off Label Records) Mad Ones - 'Drone' (from What It Takes, Fortune Stellar Records) Theremin Man - 'Are You Receiving Me' (from Songs for the Future) Thank you for helping us support new music and the new artists making it.  Music gives us all so much pleasure, and being able to sustain yourself as a musician is tougher than ever now.  Whenever you can, get out and see some live music, buy physical product and merch, and the easiest and most cost effective way you can help is by sharing the new music you hear…and sharing this episode is a good place to start! Enjoy your weekend! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, guitarists (OK...and wannabe guitarists too)! What were the records that made/make YOU want to pick a guitar and learn to play? That's the burning question this week, as we welcome Third Lad Andy Golding from C86 legends The Wolfhounds to O3L!The Wolfhounds are an English noise pop band formed in Romford, Essex, in 1985 by Dave Callahan, Paul Clark, Andy Golding, Andy Bolton and Frank Stebbing, and originally active until 1990. The band reformed in 2005 and continues to write, record and play live, releasing new albums in 2014, 2016, and 2020. (Thanks, Wikipedia.)Andy's current project is called Dragon Welding (hmmm...what does that mean? Listen and find out!), whose latest single is "TADT (These Are Dangerous Times)."What the hip kids are saying about Dragon Welding:"..a pulsating beat with all sorts of strings being strummed and plucked, in all sorts of 60's/70's school holidays tv series soundtrack kind of ways." - Whisperin' & Hollerin' - 2023"Dragon Welding.. guitarist of Essex post-rock outliers The Wolfhounds, is a wondrous tapestry of ambient guitar instrumentals and sonic manipulations. This is music that channels the cosmic experimentations of 70s German avant-garde synth-rock with a dark Essex twist that somehow has glorious poptones. For fans of : Mouse On Mars, Plaid, Cluster." - Platekompaniet - 2023Plus, as an added bonus, hear some of Brett's teenage recordings, including the "legendary" 1990 Empty Glass concert! What the hip kids said: "Wow, he sounds like a neanderthal toddler who just discovered music for the first time!" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cccan't you see? This week, we're talking about Club Jams with the fantastic Brian Moss from Vicious Pink!Originating from a serendipitous encounter in a smoky Leeds nightclub back in 1979, Josephine Warden and Brian Moss embarked on a musical journey that would redefine the synth-pop landscape. Initially known as Vicious Pink Phenomena, they made their mark by providing distinctively off-kilter backing vocals for their friends in Soft Cell, a collaboration that unfolded organically and without rehearsal.Transitioning to the simplified moniker Vicious Pink, the duo continued to captivate audiences with their avant-garde sound, releasing a string of singles that defied conventional expectations and climbed the UK dance charts between 1982 and 1986. Despite their modest intentions, their music proved to be both artful and provocative, leaving an enduring legacy in the annals of electronic music history.Minimal Wave has just released a long-awaited LP showcasing previously unreleased gems from the influential UK duo, 'Unexpected'. The album offers listeners a glimpse into the duo's creative process, compiling pop experiments recorded spontaneously, some in collaboration with Soft Cell's Dave Ball.Order Unexpected: Unexpected | Vicious Pink (bandcamp.com) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're going back to the days when the geeks inherited the earth...specifically, the bands that were influenced by the monumental commercial and artistic triumph that was Weezer's 1994 self titled album (or, as it's affectionately known, The Blue Album). That's the subject of the new oral history and accompanying 11-track compilation album Generation Blue, out now from Big Stir Records and Spyderpop Records. Compiled and edited by this week's Third Lad, S.W. Lauden, Generation Blue is a fascinating celebration of the '90s Hollywood scene that included bands like Ozma, Nerf Herder, Baby Lemonade, Chopper One, and more.S.W. Lauden (aka Steve Coulter) was not only an active participant in the Geek Rock and Power Pop scenes, drumming for a series of LA bands like Ridel High, Tsar and The Brothers Steve, but is also accomplished writer. He is the editor of the essay collections Go All The Way: A Literary Appreciation of Power Pop and Forbidden Beat: Perspectives on Punk Drumming. His power pop-themed crime fiction novellas include That'll Be The Day: A Power Pop Heist and Good Girls Don't. He is also the author of the Greg Salem punk rock PI trilogy, starting with Bad Citizen Corporation. Find more of Steve’s music writing on Substack at Remember The Lightning, including his semi-annual print/ebook Guitar Pop Journals.Generation Blue is also available as on Kindle: Generation Blue: An Oral History of The Hollywood Geek Rock Scene in the 1990s & 2000s - Kindle edition by Lauden, S.W., Koch, Karl, Fisher, Justin. Arts & Photography Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.Plus, if you're a fan of unhinged Uncle Gregg rants (and who isn't?!?), this one's for you!Proudly part of the Pantheon Podcasts family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1986 is undoubtedly one of the great years in music history, but one in which the chasm in alternative music grew. Especially for more established artists, 1986 represents the apex of the "BIG '80s" sound - glossy production, synth horns, Fairlights and DX-7s, gated snares, etc. Conversely, there was a new crop of guitar bands who eschewed these big budget sounds for concise, exuberant, noisy, scrappy pop music - brilliantly captured on NME's C86 cassette compilation.Discussing the songs of 1986 with us (and whose presence is certainly one of our biggest thrills to date) is Miki Berenyi from Lush, Piroshka, and The Miki Berenyi Trio! During their initial run from 1987 - 1996, Lush were one of the essential British bands of the era, releasing three seminal early EPs (collected on Gala) and three crucial albums that showcase the breadth of the band's formidable talents: 1992's Spooky, 1994's Split, and 1996's Lovelife (all on 4AD). Miki's recently released memoir, Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success, is one of the most compelling and searingly honest books we have read. Often traumatic, often hilarious, Fingers Crossed peels back the layers of the public figure you thought you knew from the British weeklies to reveal a complex and gifted storyteller.The Miki Berenyi Trio is currently on a short tour of the US. Catch her if you can! The new track "Vertigo" is available on all streaming/digital platforms.Plus, there's a lot of swearing in both Hungarian and English. This one is definitely NSFW, kids.Special thanks to Paul Richison for the suggestion and introduction!Proudly part of the Pantheon Podcasts family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here in the U.S., it's Memorial Day weekend...the unofficial start to summer. So what better time to grab a six pack of fresh new indie tunes? This week, we highlight: Venus Sugar High - 'The God And The Sun' Jim Basnight - 'Summertime Again' (Power Popaholic Productions) Steve Conte - 'Shoot Out The Stars' (Wicked Cool Records) Yea-Ming & The Rumours - 'Big Blue Sea' (Dandyboy Records) Ray Richardson - 'A Crack In The Sky' (Nanneroo Music) Even As We Speak - 'Beauty, You Will Break Us All' (Skep Wax Records) Have a great weekend! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices