As some of you know, I had a two-week planned holiday after episode 163. As fewer of you know, that was followed by a ten-day flareup of my chronic illness which meant I couldn’t think due to brainfog and couldn’t type due to joint pain. Unfortunately, both these came just as I was working on the biggest episode since 150, a truly massive undertaking that has required more research than any episode I’ve done in about a year, and required me to scrap and completely rewrite one script that simply didn’t work.
I’ve made a few statements on my Patreon about when I expected the episode to be up, and have missed every day I suggested, so I’m not going to say for sure when it’s going to be complete and uploaded, but what I can say is that I just finished recording the 57th section of the episode (Moe Tucker just turned up for the first time) and Tilt has been editing in parallel while I’ve been recording.
The next few after this should be much, much more straightforward — I already know exactly what I’m going to say in the next two and it’s basically just a matter of transcribing them — so we’ll be back on a regular schedule soon. Thanks for your patience.
Episode 163: “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding

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Episode 163 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay”, Stax Records, and the short, tragic, life of Otis Redding. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.
Patreon backers also have a twenty-three minute bonus episode available, on “Soul Man” by Sam and Dave.
Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/
Continue reading “Episode 163: “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding”
Episode 162: “Daydream Believer” by the Monkees

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Episode 162 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Daydream Believer”, and the later career of the Monkees, and how four Pinocchios became real boys. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.
Patreon backers also have a twenty-minute bonus episode available, on “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf.
Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/
Continue reading “Episode 162: “Daydream Believer” by the Monkees”
Update on Patreon Bonuses
Recently, the main podcast has been fortnightly, but the 10-20-minute Patreon bonuses have been going up even in skip weeks. So every month or two I’m going to do a quick update on what Patreon backers have received, because I only mention the current bonus episode in the tag of the main episode.
I didn’t do one of these in December because Christmas got in the way, but since the last one at the end of November, Patreon backers have received:
A bonus on Jake Thackray
A bonus on Canned Heat and the Chipmunks
All of these have been longer than the advertised ten minutes — the shortest is twenty minutes and most are around half an hour. I only guarantee ten minutes for the bonuses, but they do often stretch longer at the moment.
They’ve also had a Mixcloud playlist of stuff which I’ve been listening to recently, with liner notes. I’m planning on doing these every month.
The main podcast will always remain free, and without adverts, and I am making more than enough money from the Patreon to keep going, and to keep paying Tilt for his work. If you don’t sign up for the Patreon, you will continue to get a full episode every two weeks (health and occasional holidays permitting) — I’m recording the next one, on the Monkees, tonight. But Patreon support (and only that support) is how I fund this work, so rather than try to sell you meal kits or mattresses in the middle of the episode, I’ll continue posting these lists every couple of months.
To be very clear, I am making a good income from this, my listeners are extremely generous, and nobody should feel pressured into backing me — I don’t want to take a penny from anyone who can’t afford it, and only sign up if you still have money left after paying for your own expenses, donating to any charities you support, helping your friends, and backing more needy artists. But if you do have a dollar a month left over after all that (and many people don’t, and I wouldn’t dream of taking your money if you can’t afford it) I think that list above is probably worth that dollar if you like the podcast.
Episode 161: “Alone Again Or” by Love

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Episode one hundred and sixty-one of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Alone Again Or”, the career of Love, and the making of Forever Changes. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.
Patreon backers also have a twenty-minute bonus episode available, on “Susan” by the Buckinghams
Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/
Podcast Up Tue/Wed
I said in my announcement of the short break that the next episode would be up on Monday the ninth. I hadn’t reckoned with the joint effects of the flu vaccine and my latest covid booster, which I had this week and which had a much stronger effect on me than normal. I’ve been brainfogged and headachey and unable to work for much of the week, and while I *do* have a script that I could record tonight and get up tomorrow, I’d far rather give myself an extra day or two to check it over to make sure it makes sense, and to record it when I’m not slurring my words like a comedy drunk.
XMAS BONUS: “Christmas Time is Here Again” by the Beatles

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As we’re in the period between Christmas and New Year, the gap between episodes is going to be longer than normal, and the podcast proper is going to be back on January the ninth. So nobody has to wait around for another fortnight for a new episode, I thought I’d upload some old Patreon bonus episodes to fill the gap. Every year around Christmas the bonus episodes I do tend to be on Christmas songs and so this week I’m uploading three of those. These are older episodes, so don’t have the same production values as more recent episodes, and are also shorter than more recent bonuses, but I hope they’re still worth listening to.
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XMAS BONUS: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

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As we’re in the period between Christmas and New Year, the gap between episodes is going to be longer than normal, and the podcast proper is going to be back on January the ninth. So nobody has to wait around for another fortnight for a new episode, I thought I’d upload some old Patreon bonus episodes to fill the gap. Every year around Christmas the bonus episodes I do tend to be on Christmas songs and so this week I’m uploading three of those. These are older episodes, so don’t have the same production values as more recent episodes, and are also shorter than more recent bonuses, but I hope they’re still worth listening to.
Continue reading “XMAS BONUS: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
XMAS BONUS: Little St. Nick

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As we’re in the period between Christmas and New Year, the gap between episodes is going to be longer than normal, and the podcast proper is going to be back on January the ninth. So nobody has to wait around for another fortnight for a new episode, I thought I’d upload some old Patreon bonus episodes to fill the gap. Every year around Christmas the bonus episodes I do tend to be on Christmas songs and so this week I’m uploading three of those. These are older episodes, so don’t have the same production values as more recent episodes, and are also shorter than more recent bonuses, but I hope they’re still worth listening to.
Episode 160: “Flowers in the Rain” by the Move

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Episode 160 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Flowers in the Rain” by the Move, their transition into ELO, and the career of Roy Wood. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode.
Patreon backers also have a twenty-minute bonus episode available, on “The Chipmunk Song” by Canned Heat.
Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/
Continue reading “Episode 160: “Flowers in the Rain” by the Move”