Only Three Lads - Classic Alternative Music Podcast

Whether you spent the decade at the clubs covered in foam or not, electronic music was everywhere in the '90s.  Much like those foam parties, Uncle Gregg and Brett (aka DJ B-Var, aka Graham Cracker?!?) get wild, bubbly, frothy, and are naked from the waist down.  OK, so one of those things is not true, but we'll let you decide which one...   This week, The Orchids are back in the O3L Spotlight, and we are privileged to play the second single off of their upcoming album Dreaming Kind, called "Didn't We Love You."  Dare we say it's even better than the last one, which is saying something, because that was great as well!  The Orchids were one of the great Sarah Records bands, releasing three albums of swooning, sophisticated pop music for the label: Lyceum (1989), Unholy Soul (1991), and Striving For The Lazy Perfection (1994).  Dreaming Kind is the Glasgow band's first album since 2014, and is out on 2 September on Skep Wax Records. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup up your beer and collect your, um, elk bagels (???) and meet us down at The Eatin' Rifles, as we gab about one of the greatest artists of the O3L era, Paul Weller with the marvelous Terry Banks from Dot Dash! Terry followed The Jam's career in real time and counts them among his biggest influences. Brett is a Weller uber-fan, and Uncle Gregg is a casual fan who is diving deep into the Weller-hole.   Whether it be with The Jam, The Style Council, or his long, prolific solo career, Paul Weller is an icon who has maintained a restlessly creative and unfathomably successful career for 45 years, racking up a staggering 65 Top 40 singles in the UK, including 21 Top 10’s, and 38 Top 10 albums, including his two most recent studio albums landing at #1. His career serves almost as a microcosm of pop culture - from Class of ‘77 punk rock to being the driving figure behind the ‘79 mod revival to the evolution and sophistication of British pop in the ‘80s by incorporating elements of soul, jazz, synth pop, rap and acid house to a solo career that found him sharing the charts with the Britpop artists he influenced, eventually settling into his current role as a rock n’ roll survivor who staunchly refuses to become a legacy act.   In a recording career spanning more than 30 years, Terry Banks has played as/with St. Christopher, Tree Fort Angst, Glo-Worm, The Saturday People, Julie Ocean, and has released six albums to date with Dot Dash. We play a few cuts from Terry's past, plus a glimpse into the future, with a rough mix of a brand new track called "Space Junk, Satellites."   Dot Dash's releases can be found on previous O3L guest Wally Salem's wonderful label The Beautiful Music...and thanks to Wally for making the introduction!   #musicpodcast #musicpodcasts #podnation #thejam #paulweller #weller #stylecouncil #punkrock #sophistipop #heavysoul #70smusic #80smusic #90smusic #newwave #1stwave #classicalternative Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream...or is it tune in, turn on, drop out? Either way, pour yourself a nutmeg tea and join us as we trip out, um, we mean discuss our Top 5 Psychedelic Albums of the O3L era. It's all in the mind!   Our Third Lad this week is the "wild man of C86," singer/songwriter/guitarist Robert Sekula of the Brighton, England indie band 14 Iced Bears. Formed in Brighton in 1985, their jangly indie pop was characterized by a fuzzy protopunk-influenced guitar sound, receiving critical acclaim in Britain's music press as well as prompting disc jockey John Peel to recruit them to record a couple of BBC sessions. The group released a handful of singles, including "Come Get Me" on the influential Sarah label, and two full-length albums that found the band progressively getting more psychedelic: the eponymous 14 Iced Bears (1988), and Wonder (1991).   This week, we play Rob's brand new single, the melodic earworm "Pamela." It's a song that's been kicking around in Sekula's setlist - and mind - for years, and (true story) caused the late Alex Chilton to exclaim "You never wrote that!"   Plus, Rob and Uncle Gregg square off in the hottest new O3L game, Psych? or Psych!, in which our contestants compete to guess which absurd psychedelic band names are real...and which ones are fake.     A splendid time is guaranteed for all!   Robert Sekula / 14 Iced Bears: https://14icedbears.bandcamp.com https://www.facebook.com/14icedbears https://twitter.com/the14icedbears   #musicpodcast #musicpodcasts #podnation #14icedbears #psychedelicrock #psychedelicmusic #punkrock #newwave #janglepop #indierock #indiepop #freakfolk #paisleyunderground #c86 #sarahrecords Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

**Please note: This is Part ONE of our two part episode.**   Yeah, we're brassed off this week...but in a good way, because this week we're back with a two-parter discussing our Top 5 Songs with Horns with one the loveliest guests we've ever had on, HELEN McCOOKERYBOOK!   Helen McCookerybook started playing bass in Brighton, England punk bands in the 1970s, before forming the John Peel-approved indie bands The Chefs and Helen and The Horns. Since then, Helen has embarked on a productive solo career, has taught songwriting and music production, and has published two well-respected books - The Lost Women of Rock Music: Female Musicians of the Punk Era and She's at the Controls: Sound Engineering, Production and Gender Ventriloquism in the 21st Century. The former inspired the documentary film that she co-produced with Gina Birch from The Raincoats, entitled Stories from the She-Punks. She's currently out playing gigs and has a new album on tap for October 7th, Drawing On My Dreams. Oh, and did we mention that she's a REAL LIFE PhD of Music? Sorry, Rocktor...   Helen was so magnificent that we had to make this one a two parter. In Part 1, we discuss her career and current endeavors, and in Part 2, we get down to our lists. Of course, you'll want to listen to both of them!   So tell us, who do *you* want to be today?!? Someone who listens to O3L, that's who.   This week's O3L Spotlight artist is MONICA QUEEN. Monica is perhaps best known as the guest vocalist on Belle and Sebastian's 1997 single "Lazy Line Painter Jane." She's back with a new single, a cover of Vic Godard's "Stop That Girl," from the upcoming album of the same name.   Monica Queen: https://twitter.com/monicaqueen4?lang=en   Helen McCookerybook: http://mccookerybook.com   #musicpodcast #musicpodcasts #songswithhorns #brassmusic #classicalternative #1stwave #newwave #punkrock #indiepop #indierock #ska #skapunk #70smusic #80smusic #90smusic #helenmccookerybook #monicaqueen #O3L Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

**NOTE: This is Part TWO of our two part episode.**   Yeah, we're brassed off this week...but in a good way, because this week we're back with a two-parter discussing our Top 5 Songs with Horns with one the loveliest guests we've ever had on, HELEN McCOOKERYBOOK!   Helen McCookerybook started playing bass in Brighton, England punk bands in the 1970s, before forming the John Peel-approved indie bands The Chefs and Helen and The Horns. Since then, Helen has embarked on a productive solo career, has taught songwriting and music production, and has published two well-respected books - The Lost Women of Rock Music: Female Musicians of the Punk Era and She's at the Controls: Sound Engineering, Production and Gender Ventriloquism in the 21st Century. The former inspired the documentary film that she co-produced with Gina Birch from The Raincoats, entitled Stories from the She-Punks. She's currently out playing gigs and has a new album on tap for October 7th, Drawing On My Dreams. Oh, and did we mention that she's a REAL LIFE PhD of Music? Sorry, Rocktor...   Helen was so magnificent that we had to make this one a two parter. In Part 1, we discuss her career and current endeavors, and in Part 2, we get down to our lists. Of course, you'll want to listen to both of them!   So tell us, who do *you* want to be today?!? Someone who listens to O3L, that's who.   This week's O3L Spotlight artist is MONICA QUEEN. Monica is perhaps best known as the guest vocalist on Belle and Sebastian's 1997 single "Lazy Line Painter Jane." She's back with a new single, a cover of Vic Godard's "Stop That Girl," from the upcoming album of the same name.   Monica Queen: https://twitter.com/monicaqueen4?lang=en   Helen McCookerybook: http://mccookerybook.com   #musicpodcast #musicpodcasts #songswithhorns #brassmusic #classicalternative #1stwave #newwave #punkrock #indiepop #indierock #ska #skapunk #70smusic #80smusic #90smusic #helenmccookerybook #monicaqueen #O3L Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who likes to rock the party, you ask? Why, that's a good question...because WE just so happen to like to rock the party!   Get ready for the wildest classic alternative rager ever, going down RIGHT NOW at Club O3L. Everyone is invited (except for YOU, Rob Reiner!). It's a DJ throwdown this week, as DJ B-Var ("Gnawing the logs of funk, baby!") squares off against DJ Greggy P ("Take a journey down the Greggy P hole"). This is one party you don't want to miss! Oh, and there may be leather and foam involved...   This week's O3L Spotlight is on Goliath, a young singer/songwriter from Glasgow who just released his lovely, poignant and vulnerable new single "Everybody Cries." It is a song, in his words "about loss, growth and acceptance." It recently attracted praise by the likes of Duglas T. Stewart from BMX Bandits and Fran Healy from Travis, and you can add O3L to the growing list of Goliath's supporters.   Buy Goliath's music at: https://goliathmusic.bandcamp.com   Follow Goliath on Twitter: https://twitter.com/enima_tek   Heck, while you're at it, follow O3L on Twitter: https://twitter.com/onlythreeladsp1   #musicpodcast #musicpodcasts #partymusic #classicalternative #1stwave #newwave #punkrock #mod #britpop #synthpop #altmetal #80smusic #90smusic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brett and Uncle Gregg don't always agree on things, including the top albums of 1993.  But you know what they do agree on?  Gregg ruins everything! Love, Mr. Grumpypants This week's O3L Spotlight artist is Scottish indie pop institution The Orchids.  The Orchids formed in Glasgow in 1985 and recorded three splendid albums for the legendary Sarah Records label from 1989-94.  Since reforming in the mid-2000s, they have released three more studio albums and a 30-year career retrospective in 2017.  They're back in 2022 with a new single, "This Boy Is A Mess," with a full length, Dreaming Kind, to follow in September on Skep Wax, a brilliant new indie label formed by fellow Sarah alum Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey from Heavenly.  The Orchids: Music | The Orchids (bandcamp.com) Skep Wax: Artists | Skep Wax (bandcamp.com)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If YOU like piña coladas, then come with us and escape. Of course, even if you don't like piña coladas, you're still welcome, because this episode we cover our top songs from 1980. Yes, among the smooth soft rock, schmaltzy ballads and booty-bumpin' disco was some truly groundbreaking classic alternative songs.   As the Hungarians say, "dog poop on your nose!" We think.   Plus, in the O3L Spotlight this week is the new single, "Wildfire" by Manchester artist Minerva Daisy. It's an empowering, sultry and summery indie-pop track that we are confident will replicate the Top 40 success of previous single "Euphoria." "Wildfire" is available on all platforms on July 15th. For more information on Minerva Daisy, go to: https://www.minervadaisy.co.uk/   #musicpodcast #1stwave #newwave #punkrock #indiepop #classicalternative #punkrock Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, hep cats!  This week, we celebrate our "homer picks" - the classic alternative era artists and bands from our respective areas who made an impact on us.  Uncle Gregg is representing "the Valley of the Sunstroke," Phoenix, AZ, while Brett is bringing eternal sunshine from the paradise of San Diego, CA.  Plus, we share the picks from some of the "Third Lads" of the O3L Community around the world.  There's no place like home!   We also host the inaugural O3L Poetry Slam, talk new music, Kardashians, moms, eating pet food, TikTok, awkward pauses, and other stuff that doesn't really have much to do with hometown heroes.     Our O3L Spotlight Artist of the Week is the classic UK indie pop band The Chesterfields.  38 years since they formed in Yeovil, Somerset, and 28 years since their last record release, The Chesterfields are back in July 2022 with a new single “Our Songbird Has Gone”, a song that founder member Simon Barber has written about his original co-conspirator in the band Dave Goldsworthy, who was tragically killed in a hit and run accident in 2003.  A new album New Modern Homes (co-produced and mixed by John Parish, who produced The Chesterfields’ debut Kettle in 1987) will follow in September, with gigs to be announced for a short tour in October. The current line-up features Simon on bass and vocals, Rob Parry on drums, Helen Stickland on guitar and vocals, and Andy Strickland (of The Loft and The Caretaker Race) on guitar and vocals.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Flurgy flurga...after an unexpected week off due to dang COVID, O3L is back! This episode, we're hanging out at the local Hot Topic to chat about our favorite punk "bangers" of the '90s. Of course, we also talk about a myriad of other stuff - bathrooms for the rich, German lessons, groupies, Uncle Gregg in love, and Brett's shocking secret.   Our O3L spotlight for the week is The White Collars, an up-and-coming San Diego band whose new album, Vintage Collars, is out now! https://www.instagram.com/the.white.collars/   Also included are shout outs to David Bash and Stuff By Mark!   #musicpodcast #musicpodcasts #punkrock #90spunk #garagerock #riotgrrrl #poppunk #mallpunk #hottopic #whitecollars Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices