Special guest for the first part of the show: John Gouveia
The BBCGE
- John talks about the BBCGE a.k.a. “The Big Big Country Giveaway Extravaganza” – a random giveaway of hundreds of his duplicate BC-related releases and items, across several Big Country Facebook groups, across months.
- What Big Country items are John actually missing and still looking for? He may or may not tell us…
Looking back at Big Country-related music releases of the past year (musical samples included for all)
- “Cried Out” CD by The Projects, a.k.a. Simon Hough. Memories of attempting to get Simon on the show.
- “hISTORIES” by DOG (featuring Tony Butler) – a CD release compiling the digital releases “hISTORIES part 1” and “hISTORIES part 2” on one disc. Also a lot of discussion on Tony’s online (and other) activities of 2017.
- “Wonderland – the Essential Collection” by Big Country. A 3CD collection from the Universal years. Breakdown of the usual mistakes and unique features of the collection.
- “Live In London” by Skids. A great sounding and superbly performed 2CD live album! Memories of attempting to get Jobbo on the show.
- Tony shared the first piece of music from the coming album with the “Here Comes the First One” music video. Other songs were later shared on his pledge campaign page.
- “We’re Not In Kansas – the Live Bootleg Box Set 1993-1998”. Includes background on how the box set was put together from JfnG, discussion on fan reactions, and a full breakdown/analysis of the contents by Svein and Tom.
- “Scared To Dance” 3CD deluxe edition by Skids. More breakdown of content.
Looking ahead to BC-related releases in 2018:
- “Burning Cities” by Skids (featuring Bruce and Jamie Watson), expected January.
- New album expected by The Marriage – Dave Burns and Kirsten Adamson’s new project, no release date.
- “My Time” by Tony Butler, expected March (for pledgers).
- “22 Layers of Sunlight” by ESP 2.0 (featuring Mark Brzezicki), expected April.
Speakpipe from Niall Featherstone.
Looking back at the Podcast episodes of 2017
- The year of the Eggtimer (and the arrival of the Wildcard).
- Driving To Damascus – the length of the episodes, and the full DEEP DIVE being the longest and DEEP DIVE ever.
- Producing the episodes – the length of preparation, the length of the discussions, the length of time needed for editing.
- The dark subject matter – how to deal with it?
- [drive-by appearance by TGD wife Jenn]
- Thanks and appreciation to the team behind TGD – the three J’s (Jenn, Joanie, and John). Without them, the podcast would honestly not happen.
- The experience of connecting and talking to Tony Butler
- The initial Eggtimer episode early in the year – a good break from heavier things.
Speakpipe from Andy Inkster.
A Yuletide surprise, courtesy of Andy Inkster:
- The emergence of three early mixes (pre-final mix) from Steeltown: East of Eden, Where The Rose Is Sown, and Just A Shadow. All contain some different performances than we have on the album.
“Just A Shadow” – early mix version
- The full story about the tape and its journey from record company to Andy’s possession.
Follow-up Speakpipe from Andy Inkster with a pertinent question for Tom.
Speakpipe from Cara Cuiule.
Yuletide trivia competition: Svein makes Tom guess which BC songs Bruce, Jamie and Mark feature on their personalized Spotify BC playlists.
Speakpipe from Kaare Crowley.
Yuletide Q&A (from listener questions received in 2017 and 2016)
- [drive-by appearance by TGD wife Joanie]
- From Huub de Vaan: Name your Top Five BC moments of 2017.
“Runaway” – written by Del Shannon, performed by Big Country at Kulturfabrik, Krefeld, Germany on 30 November 2017 (Scott Whitley on lead vocal).
- Tom received Tony’s book just the day before recording the episode, has devoured it, and shares early impressions.
- From Ayelet Sackstein: Would it be possible for you to talk about all the Big Country bootlegs and give an overview of what’s available out there?
- From Andi Pledger: Will we be treated to a Crossing DEEP DIVE next year?
Speakpipe from Jaimin Weets.
- From Jaimin Weets: We heard about the state of Tom’s music collection in the past. Can Svein talk about how he organizes his music?
- Tom talks about his newly released digital EP “Rail” (www.kerchmusic.com)
- Svein talks about his new Facebook page “Rocking In the Norselands” (www.facebook.com/norselandsrock)
- A TGD plug for Jason Allen’s new album “Roads From Ruin” (with sample)
Speakpipe from Ayelet Sackstein.
- From Brian Morris: What are some of the albums you listened to in 2017?
- From Kenny Henderson: To pick up from the recent suggestion by Tony that Johnny Marr should have filled Stuart’s role in the band: do you think he would have been a good fit, and if not, who else would have been a good fit for Big Country?
Speakpipe from John Lewis.
- From Andy Inkster: What advice would you give to other music lovers who want to start a band podcast?
- From Bruce Adamson: How come Big Country seem to have become a heritage band while Skids, with substantial less listens on Spotify and smaller audience worldwide, are releasing new albums?
- From Niall Featherstone: a trivia question for Tom – name the famous Irish rock band frontman who inspired Tony’s newer pickguard of his iconic black maple Fender P bass.
- From Jaimin Weets: For the movie Highlander, how well do you think Big Country would have fit on that soundtrack instead of Queen, and do you know if Big Country were ever approached to make a soundtrack for that movie?
A listener e-mail from Mick Arnett in Iowa.
We sign off for 2017, touch on expectations for 2018, and start shaking off the damage from the monumental string of Damascus-episodes. Happy new year, have at you, and hope to see you in 2018!
“Auld Lang Syne” – from the Homecoming DVD, 1983/84 |
