While driving around, a cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows" came on the radio. Not only had I never heard a cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows" before, the very idea that one might exist had never occurred to me - covering TNK just seemed like an impossibility.
To my surprise at learning that such a cover exists, was soon added the surprise that the radio station would play a second one... and then a third.
Three covers of the same song in a row? They were evidently doing some "Olympic" thing where they played "Bronze" then "Silver" then "Gold." The first two were not great, but "Gold" was gold.
The cover worth listening to is by Junior Parker, it's from 1971 and has only 15K views on youtube.
This cover reminds me a bit of "Flying" another Beatles song (another Beatles song that I wouldn't expect anyone to cover) so it all comes full circle.
When I was in college I stumbled across a radio station that was "the hits of the 20's, 30's and 40's." This was a revelation. I parked my dial on that station and left it there. I thought to myself, "I may never get the opportunity to hear these songs again." Clearly I was not anticipating the rise of youtube and spotify but there is something different about a radio station and it would have been a 20 year wait to get the same curated list experience.
And yes, most of the hits of that era are simple and largely forgettable pop music. It was an era of catchy tunes that you can dance to. To some extent, every era is that but it's especially true there. But there are a few songs and artists I gleaned and took with me.
That radio station only lasted a few years but recently I discovered a local radio station that's almost the same thing and I added it to my presets. As I was driving to get groceries, this song came on.
It's funny how there were no rules - in a 3 minute song and a minute of it is intro and there is no discernible verse/chorus structure, as far as I can tell. And it's essentially a throwaway novelty song but there's something so poignant about the whole experience that "hits different" from anything else you'll hear. See what you think.
I've been listening to lots of the Jean Shepherd Show lately and I find it difficult to find clips to share. Not that it's bad, but it's all good and you either share all of it or none of it.
But I figured "The Great Ice Cream War" would be a good stand-out episode. The downside being that he shared the story on Letterman, but you probably don't remember that.
I've listened to The Ricky Gervais show on XFM so many times, I pretty much have it memorized. But now someone's gone back and re-visited the original tapes(?) and uncovered previously deleted audio.
It's mostly stuff like throwing to commercial, but let's face it, how often are you going to get new XFM material?
"Who Are These Podcasts" checks in with Howard Stern's current radio show and, in the ultimate plot twist, Howard Stern has become a nagging grandmother who's obsessed with imposing her rules on others.
I've never had a strong opinion on Stern one way or the other but I find this to be a fascinating reflection on the craziness and unpredictability of life. If you're in the 90s listening to "shock jock king of all media" Howard Stern and you try to predict what will become of him in the future, you would never predict this. And yet this is the reality that has unfolded.
Nothing crazy but a fun watch... an "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" trivia quiz. And these guys are impressive.
