October 30, 2025 • 60 mins
Episode 19 of The Vinyl Curriculum dives into U2’s The Unforgettable Fire. Jim insists it’s a masterpiece; Logan’s just hoping to stay awake till the last track. 🔥 Will he finally appreciate a full album? Tune in and find out!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Every record tells a story. Independent labels.
I think a lot of interesting songs came out of that.
And every generation has a soundtrack.
The only hip you have in your body is made of titanium.
This is the final curriculum with Logan.
Apparently I don't know very much about anything.
Somebody calls her Tay Tay. Welcome back, ladies and
(00:25):
gentlemen, to the Vinyl Curriculum.
Logan and Jim here recording in this podcast studio.
Notice what I did there? I didn't.
I didn't say live because I knowit bothers you to no end.
How we doing? I'm good.
Yeah, I had. I had took a long weekend.
I had some friends come up. I went to a wedding.
I know I was getting nervous. I didn't see it this morning.
(00:47):
I was. I was getting a little finicky,
little jittery about recording today.
I teach class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Logan. Are you teaching or just yelling
at students? I don't know if what you do is
because if you teach the same way you teach me things, I'd be
scared to be one of your students.
You can teach by yelling, I would say.
So I think I'm doing both. I don't yell at anybody, Harley.
(01:08):
Just me, I guess, but we're backfor episode #19 of the first
season of the Vinyl Curriculum, meaning there's only one more
after this next week will be Logan's version #2 which we'll
talk about a little bit later inthe episode.
But this week we have a pretty good album.
Is this from college U2? The unforgettable fire?
(01:32):
I had to cassette. This is past my 8 track days so
it was cassette. Really loved it and it the
reason I chose this one Logan isit's another album like vinyl
album that we would listen to didn't.
You just say it was a cassette. Well, it's a cassette, but I'm
just saying it's the album the entire, I don't know how you we
(01:53):
say album as a piece of vinyl album.
Well, it's you're right, it was a, it was a entire recording.
I see. OK.
That we would listen to front and back.
You know, it's not. And that's another thing, you
know, if you think about it withit was hard with a vinyl album
(02:13):
to you could like go to the third song, you could like drop
it the needle and kind of get close to it.
It was even harder with cassettes because you know you'd
have to, but they it got to where the cassette players you
could there was a button that would go to the next song and it
sometimes work and sometimes didn't like it.
It would just look for quietnessbetween songs and so sometimes
if the songs kind of raining together, it wouldn't work.
(02:35):
But so it was difficult. So that's, I think that's why
you just listen to the whole thing, because it was too hard
to like pick and choose. You just listen to it.
Yeah, well, that was before modern technology.
Did but that's this is the vinylcurriculum and that's what the
so-called people who love vinyl,that's what you they're doing
so. Yeah, I picture Yeah, you you're
(02:56):
as a child, like listening to one of those wax rings that
Edison re invented the first recording device on.
It was probably not like that, but that's OK.
You can still think that this tell.
What do you know about You 2? Are you a fan?
You know? Just I Know You 2 is the name of
a stealth bomber. Otherwise, I recognize the sound
(03:18):
when I'm listening. I'm like, OK, that's the U2
sound. It's kind of like, and I think
we'll talk about this as we go through some of the songs.
I don't know if it's like a guitar or like a thing DDD sound
or I don't even know how to describe it, but it's kind of
like a light like it. They just all have the same
sound, right? So you don't you don't have any
(03:40):
YouTube albums or anything and your.
Your. Dad is far as you know.
Didn't listen to U2 around the house.
I mean, we, I've heard some of these songs like In the Name of
Love obviously is one of the probably the more popular ones
by U2. And I feel like I know U2, like
if someone was like, do you likeU2?
(04:00):
You know, yeah, neither here northere, but.
Been around a long time. I mean, they just, you know,
they just did the Sphere and, you know, in Vegas and yeah,
they've been around a long time.This though, I think this was
their fourth album. I'm not 100% positive, but I
think it was their fourth album.Really hit the mainstream,
(04:24):
really became popular. I know my friends all loved it
so I just. It'll be interesting to see what
you think. Was this?
What year was this? What?
Year did this. This is 84, so this is second
year of college. A sort of homecoming is the name
of this album. No, it's the Unforgettable Fire
is the name of the album. Oh, the song.
The first song. Oh, yeah, hello.
OK, I was. I was.
(04:44):
I already have that queued up, Iguess.
All right. Let's listen to it, see what you
think. Yeah, so this first one, a sort
of homecoming by U2, and that's what all the song, that's who
all the songs will be by today. Yeah.
So we don't have to go through each individual one, much like
last week for Billy Joel. Yeah.
Let's take a listen to the firstsong here on the Vinyl
(05:06):
Curriculum by U2. U2 on the vinyl curriculum.
(05:33):
That's a pretty good song. Good start, solid start out of
all the songs. Sort of homecoming.
They haven't heard that. Didn't hear that song before.
I listened to it this past weekend.
But again, it's a classic U2 sound.
This one has like more drums andI think some of them have more
(05:54):
drums than others, which was onething that I kind of noticed in
the first listen. You know, like some of have like
a deeper, more drum heavy song like focus.
I don't know if you can focus isthe right word, but just more
drums in the song, a heavier drum presence.
There we go. That's that's the the phrase
(06:15):
that I was looking for, but it'sstill got that U2 sound and it's
I think it's good a guitar whereit's like whatever is making
that. I think that's kind of the
staple sound to me of U2. And it's that is present in this
first time and really a present in pretty much all of them.
(06:38):
But a short a sort of homecoming.
I'd I'd give it AB plus I think solid start.
Yeah, that's the edge. Is the guitarist edge the edge?
The edge is the person's name. That's what he goes by like
Madonna or like it would be likethe Madonna, the Madonna.
But his nickname is the Edge. The lead singer is Bono.
(07:01):
Yeah, Bono. Vox I think is what his his
official know what his name is, but that's not his real name.
But Barry Mullins Junior is the bass player and like Adam
Clayton or something I think wasI mean the Eric Larry Mullins
Junior is a drummer and Adam Clayton was the bass player.
I think I got those right. But anyway, same people have
been around this whole time. But that sound is the edge.
(07:23):
I mean, just just he has that sound.
He wears A beanie hat and the same look and.
It's kind of like a mystical, like I don't know what kind of
effects that he's got going on with that guitar.
But like some of the like some of the later ones are have a
more intense guitar, you know, aguitar part.
(07:43):
But like this, I don't know if it's just like the the paddles
or whatever, like makes a guitarsound like that.
But it must be just the same pedal rack for each song, I
guess. I don't know.
I don't know. I don't know about production,
but it's just a sound. I like it.
That wasn't it. They didn't even release that as
a single. You know something I noticed,
(08:04):
like on Apple Music, they have the deluxe version of This
Unforgettable Fire and it's got a whole different like disc 2
and it's all like it'll say so. And so.
This was the B side of Pride in the Name of Love.
And it's like it was a song thatwasn't even on the album, it was
(08:25):
just on this deluxe album. You're talking about this first,
a sort of homecoming song. No, I'm just saying their songs
on if you go to the deluxe version of the album on Apple
Music, it has extra songs as like a discs too and it's like
demos and stuff like that. But some of them are like they
were saying this was the B side for Pride in the Name of Love.
(08:46):
So they didn't use any of these 10 songs as the B side.
They didn't have the song kind of like Stevie, Stevie Nicks is
what was that song? Remember she Silver Springs?
It was the B side to that one, but it was they didn't make the
album, but it was still so they did that as well.
(09:09):
Interesting. And so you're talking about when
it was released as a single? There was AB side, right?
I never knew the B side because I had the cassette and we didn't
have it wasn't deluxe. It was just the cassette.
So we so they had. Singles on cassette too where
they just have like. No, that would have been on the
record. I would guess that we used to
get cassingles. Cassingles.
(09:29):
Yeah, but it didn't, it did haveAB side.
So I guess if you bought the cassingle, I never bought them
because it was too. Expensive.
Was that what it's actually called or you just?
No, I think so. It's a single.
You would. How would I know?
I wouldn't know that. We caught it a single.
Well, let us know the comments below.
Was it a single or single? He lost his mind.
(09:51):
All right, Yeah, B plus solid start for a sort of homecoming.
We're homecoming. I don't know where I was going
with that. I don't either.
It's homecoming season, I guess,and I guess anyway, Pride in the
Name of Love, the next song, which I believe to be the most
popular song on the album. Would you concur with that
statement? Yep, this was the the
(10:11):
breakthrough single for them because they they had some
success, especially on the college rock radio stations.
But this was a song that kind ofthey mainstream.
OK, and I want to talk about that.
I want to talk about if this is rock after this song.
OK, All right, let's take a listen here in the final
curriculum. Pride in the name of love.
(10:51):
I would have not known that pride was in the title of that
song. Like just as.
It's actually pride parentheses in the name of love.
Here we go again with the parentheses.
Yeah, no, that is probably my favorite U2 song.
I guess you could say I, even though I'm not a huge U2 fan and
some of these songs how I mean, I was do they were dragging on a
(11:14):
little bit the first time I listened to them.
We'll talk about that a bit. I got to be honest, but I think
I think that is an AI think it really is, is something else
that I was thinking of while listening to this album was I
think last week when you said, hey, we're going to do U2, you
(11:36):
said this is rock. Yeah.
And I guess that that made me question what the definition of
like that is this rock'n'roll? Like is there is there a
difference between just rock androck'n'roll?
Because like classic rock wasn'tcalled classic rock when it came
(11:57):
out, right? That was just rock.
And this is doesn't fall into that same category, right?
I don't think it's, I think it'srock.
I don't think it's heavy rock. I don't think it's, it's metal
rock, softer rock. Yeah, it's pop, pop rock.
You know it's 'cause it's. I like pop rocks.
(12:18):
Yeah, well, yeah, they've they pop in your mouth.
I Yeah. And see, I think you could even
say that early U2 was alternative rock.
Yeah. Modern rock, yeah.
And sometimes there's a crossover and it then it
definitely became a crossover with U2.
And then they became like super popular and stadiums.
(12:40):
And unfortunately, typically when that happens, I stop, I
start losing in stop losing interest kind of, and you know,
I kind of like the people that people don't know too much
about. And then when everybody and
their mother like some and plus,you know, the sound from the
early 80s when they were first starting off to the sound now
(13:02):
they're they're they just go in different directions and they
try different things. And they had some really odd
songs along the way and some things I love.
The next album after this was The Joshua Tree, which is
probably another one of my favorites of theirs.
Yeah, see, but I don't think that's always true.
Because you didn't like young gravy, and young gravy is not
well known by the masses. Not just like young gravy you.
(13:24):
Literally lie through your teeth.
What are you talking? About gravy, I gave a decent
grade because that was the that who, what was that song Gravy
Train? But it was kind of upbeat.
Gravy train gravy. What's your name?
I don't know about this. I didn't like the foe by foe.
We've talked, no. You didn't like young Gravy
(13:45):
either. Run it back.
We need to. We need to a replay I.
Was thinking it was something else.
I don't think so, because it wasyoung gravy was somebody else
right? It was, oh, this was you gave.
We didn't actually. It wasn't gravy train, it was
Sale IV with young gravy and BB no money.
So are you apologizing to me right now because you were
(14:06):
wrong? What did I give that grade?
An A minus. Thank you SO.
You told me later. You told me later you didn't
like it. Not that that's not true.
Yes, you did, Offair. You told me that that is not
true. Next song by U2 is called Wire.
You better. Switch the things.
Oh, I want to talk about something.
OK, well let's you want to listen to wire first, OK.
So I went to Meat Loaf bat out of Halloween on Sunday night at
(14:32):
the Rialto and it was really good.
It was different. Remember we talked a lot about
Jim Steinman, how this guy was well, they play some of his
songs. Like one of the songs I said was
there's a Céline Dion song that he did.
One of the backup singers sang that deleted Céline Dion song.
And I think a lot of people werelike.
Is that Céline Dion? She she comes out with a white
(14:54):
dress like this in this, like what's the connection?
And even Gina, my friend and herlike, what's the connection?
I'm like, that's the Jim Steinman song with that sound.
So it was more, it wasn't just meatloaf, it was meatloaf Jim
Steinman. There were songs from Bat Out of
Hell, too. There were songs from the Rock
Hard Picture Show. It was just a eclectic whatever,
(15:15):
but it was a lot of fun. Here you go with eclectic again.
Yeah, it looked impressed. It was very Halloweeny.
It was I. Saw the photos that you posted
one. Woman sang a song like you put a
spell on me and it's like that has nothing to do with anything.
It was just Halloween. It's like that's where I was
like, what's the connection here?
Kind of like your episode 10 playlist.
There was no well. We're going to talk about the
(15:37):
theme at the end of this episode, but right now we've got
another U2 song that we have to listen to called Wire.
Yep, this was released as a single two, by the way, the
pride in the name of love in mainstream rock was #3 in the
Billboard Top 100, which is likepop was 33.
So you can see how it kind of, and then this was released and
(15:59):
it was on the rock albums. It was 31.
What year? This is all 84 probably going
into the end of 84, so right around this time in 84 going
into 80. Five.
Yeah. All right, Well, this is a song
called Wire by YouTube, and we're going to listen to it
right now on the vinyl curriculum.
(16:38):
Like Johnny Bravo. You know who Johnny Bravo is?
No. You don't know who Johnny Bravo
is. Johnny Bravo is a cartoon on
Cartoon Network. No, I do not know that.
See, this one's a little harder,yeah, rock, you know, with more
drums like I was talking about alittle bit of a different vibe
(17:01):
for you too, though. I kind of like the more what did
you call it chiming on the guitar like mellow softer rock,
which is interesting because I'mnot a big soft rock guy.
But like this didn't didn't workas much for me from you 2.
Bono said this was the most difficult song they've ever
(17:23):
recorded. Really.
Why? I don't know.
Maybe just so fast and it's, I don't know.
A little bit, yeah, a little bitmore, I don't know if I like is
the word, but just a Hard Rock and has a lot more, a little bit
more going on from the band especially.
I mean, right there at the end that we hopefully we heard a
(17:43):
little bit of on the podcast that all that whatever they were
doing with their voice. Johnny Bravo.
I can't believe you've never seen Johnny Bravo.
I'm 60 years old. Cartoon Network came out when I
was a grown man. Johnny Bravo no wears a black
(18:04):
T-shirt, big tall hair like Bellow the clown.
Who bellow the Did you never go to the circus?
No, I don't. It was too different.
It was too you. Never took your kids what?
I didn't. I didn't know.
It always bothered me. Yeah, it was that way.
One of their bellow knock, who'sone of the most famous clowns of
all time. He's got big tall hair, does all
(18:25):
sorts of crazy stunts. Clowns are very creepy.
I'm one of those. He's not I.
Know, but I still think cramps clowns are creepy.
A grown man dressing up like that.
He didn't paint his face. He was just, I mean, he was he
wore big shoes, but otherwise a comic.
Just a comic. Yeah, he was good.
He was good. But for this song Wire, yeah, I
think we'll go B minus, which isinteresting.
(18:49):
I think that that's kind of a a shift in mentality there, Jim.
I think if you listen to that again, you would, it would be
different because you're just, you know, you, you heard it once
and then you hear a little bit of clips or whatever.
But I think it would grow on youagain, we would listen to the
whole album. So you just got used to them and
then it then the familiarity came.
One thing I have to say though is I was talking about you of
(19:09):
course, like I usually do with people.
And the most interesting part ofyour life, So I would certainly
hope you are. But my friend Gina and her son
Ben were, you know, they listened to the podcast and we
were talking about you. Oh boy.
And Ben is like 31 or something,so he's closer to your age.
And he said Logan might just forhim, music might just be an
(19:35):
accessory meaning like that's why you, when you say, I don't
know how I would, what I would be doing and I'd listen to this.
It's almost like the music is not that important to you.
It's you're doing whatever. And then this is going to be
going on as part of it. Whereas to me, the music is
(19:58):
like, like it's important to me a lot, a lot of times.
I don't know. I don't know if I totally agree
with that. I think we talked about a little
bit last week, but the words like I'm less concerned with
what they're saying versus how it sounds, you know, and I think
that just goes back to I have sometimes have a hard time
(20:18):
understanding what they're saying.
So I'm more concerned with again, the sound or like the
production of it. Like, how do they make that
sound with the guitar? Or like how the different
instruments are combining into one sound as opposed to like
listening to each, like finding the meaning of each word and
trying to figure out like what they're trying to say in the
(20:42):
with the words is, you know, I mean, they could just be saying
gibberish and I wouldn't even probably realize it, you know?
Saying that, I think when I think about this album, I know
like I can sing along to it, butI if you said what are these
songs about? I know what I'm OK at the end is
(21:02):
about. I know what pride in the name of
Love's about some of these I'm like, I don't, I don't really
know what it's about. So then I was looking at summary
synopsises of the and it's like,OK, I would have never got that.
Yeah, so. But I think it's because Bono
doesn't write Taylor Swift stories.
He's very poetic. And he does we, you know, And so
(21:23):
he, if you're going to have to read the lyrics kind of, and
then try to decipher what he's saying.
And sometimes, like when you listen, you know how you can
listen to Apple Music and it'll show you the lyrics, it's like,
Oh yeah, that's not what I've been singing, you know, all
these years. I haven't.
Been singing that because. And that's another thing, you
know, when you had the albums, you would get a lot of times the
(21:44):
lyrics. But with the cassettes, a lot of
times they did have a little paper insert that had stuff, but
a lot of times they wouldn't putthe lyrics because it was just
too much. So we didn't know what the
lyrics were. You'd have to kind of sing along
so. Yeah.
But with this one I would the lyrics are not as important, it
(22:04):
is the sound. Yeah, no, I and you know, I, I
wouldn't say that music is an accessory for me.
I would say that I still enjoy that experience of listening to
it right. Yes, it it can be an accessory
of doing something else, sittingby the fire, driving the car,
yadda, yadda, yadda. But like you can get invested
(22:26):
into the music itself. Even even when doing a task,
like if I'm mowing the lawn, I'mmore interested in the music
that I'm listening to than the actual mowing of the lawn, You
know, I mean, so it's not like it's then I am focused then
primarily on the music. So I am capable of doing that.
(22:46):
But you say things like, I don'tknow where.
I can't imagine what what I would be doing to listen to
right? That's why I know that's where
you lose me, because I don't getthat.
Yeah, I think, I mean, there's, I don't know if I listen to you
2 and maybe I wouldn't when I was mowing the lawn.
That's kind of irrelevant at that point, but for certain
genres, I feel like it's it's important for me to think about
(23:10):
where I'd be listening to that song.
That's where we're different. Yeah, so anyway.
What are the many ways? We got to move on here, the
Unforgettable Fire. Yeah, the title.
Track next, that's what they called it is that's where that
comes from the title track. The title track is.
The same name as the album. And I read that Bono saw an exit
(23:30):
like an art exhibition of Hiroshima and the aftermath of
the atomic bomb. And the name of the show was
called The Unforgettable Fire. And that kind of inspired this
song and the album. But again, when you listen to
(23:50):
it, like, I don't know if I would have ever gotten that
somewhat. I had to read that.
I see yeah in the lore of the album notes so.
This was another release on the rock charts.
It was number 8. So so far we have a three, a 31
and an 8. OK, well let's take a listen to
The Unforgettable Fire and see what it ranks with.
(24:12):
My grades here on the vinyl curriculum.
That's you 2 here on the vinyl curriculum.
(24:33):
It's another good one. Is this one of the more well
known ones on the album? This is number 8 number. 8 on
the charts. I think they were one.
There were 5 releases, one of them was a live version.
Of this song, there was 50. From this album, OK, but around
this time there was Live Aid came out, remember that was and
(24:55):
they recorded one of these songson that and they released that
live version. Of was U2 played a Live Aid.
Yeah, really in 85. I didn't think U2 was that old.
Maybe. I don't know what are you
talking about? I mean, just I thought they were
like later 80s nine one was LiveAid.
(25:16):
I don't know we're. Talking right now about 84 and
this is their fourth album, so YouTube's been around since.
I don't know if it's 80 or like 70 late 70s.
Oh well, that's. What I'm saying, they have been
going a long time and they're still together and no one's OD
Ed and no one's gotten ticked off at the other one and left.
Yeah. And in the meantime, they've
(25:36):
made a killing. Which is, yeah.
That's why you just need to suckit up and make the money come.
And make some money? Yeah.
Are they still touring? Yeah, they just did the the
sphere. Oh yeah.
In Vegas, like this huge thing, they were like the first,
weren't they the first big groupto do it, The.
First big group to do the sphere, yeah.
(25:59):
I did not go to that and I'm going to regret it probably.
Well, when I was, they had the Eagles there when I was there
last year, this year, whenever that was.
So they've got some big shows coming to this fear.
But the Unforgettable fire rightnow on the vinyl curriculum, I
think we'll go solid B. OK, it's more.
(26:20):
Closer to We're trying to figureout what that sound is during
that song by the Edge on the guitar.
And we kind of came to the conclusion it must be some sort
of like angelic reverb effect that makes it have that distinct
sound that is present in all of the U2 songs, at least on this
(26:43):
album and probably all albums. The guy from Queen had, you
know, his guitar that he made himself had that saying it's.
Different sound. Van Halen made the guitar.
No, the Queen guy did too, I think.
Brian May. Yeah, I think he did his own
guitar. I don't know.
I know, I know. Eddie Van Halen.
Eddie Van Halen put together hisown guitar that he named that
(27:05):
whatever it's got that it was like the red with the black and
The White Stripes on it. We're.
Going to Google it because I think the Queen guy and his is
so unique. I mean, there's no other guitar
that sounds like that. And he does like the remember
the Flash Gordon we talked aboutit had that same.
Yeah, I think I know what you'resaying.
Yeah, Brian make guitars.co.uk. So apparently he must make his
(27:27):
own guitars because he's got a website where he sells them so.
There you go. There's another interesting
thing about this the the last album that they had before this
was called War and it was fairlysuccessful, but it was more
hard, harder than this. And so they decided Bono was
(27:49):
kind of freaking out because he didn't want to be like this hard
rocking stadium rockers, you know, like he didn't want that.
And so they got this guy named Brian Eno, who's kind of this
he's in he's in his own music isvery odd, but to help produce
him. And they went and they recorded
(28:10):
like in a actually in a castle in, I'm assuming, Ireland
because they're Irish. And he wanted them to
experiment. He wanted the edge to experiment
with things with his guitar. He wanted vinyl to sing things
differently and he wanted them to write things differently.
So this is a different sound. Yeah.
(28:32):
Then the other ones were they were a little bit more
straightforward, you know? I will follow.
Do you remember that? Walk away.
Walk away. I will follow.
I probably would. That was some of the over.
Here, terrible impersonation, but.
You hit the wrong button. It was the clapping you needed.
I see. So the next one is called
Promenade. Yeah.
(28:53):
And it's almost dreamlike. But again, I think this is where
that that is. They're trying to just
experiment a little bit and not just, I don't know, say what you
think just. Hit the waves, I guess, of the
promenade. What waves?
I don't know is that, isn't thatlike a boat or something?
The promenade? Yeah, It's a dance too, isn't
(29:15):
it? A square dance?
Oh, I don't know. Come on, Promenade.
Isn't it something like that? How did that go?
Promenade is Didn't you have to do square dancing?
No middle school with no you. Just have to square dance you.
Grew up in Mississippi. Is that not the whole square
dance? I think my Waukegan wife had to
(29:37):
do square dancing in middle school.
It was part of APE. Whatever.
No, no, no. Anyway, while Jim teaches me to
square dance, we're all going tolisten to Promenade by U2 on the
vinyl curriculum. That's a little different.
(30:10):
Promenade, Promenade, I don't know.
With Promenadi, I don't know. Lou Malnati's I had yesterday.
Oh. In the city, I usually go to
Gino's East, but I went to Lou Malnati's.
Yeah, it was good. We had, we had that a lot at the
radio station. They were sponsored SO and
Giordano's. Can you get them to be a sponsor
of us? Yeah, right.
(30:31):
Giordano's. I was a hand model for
Giordano's. Did you know that?
I was on their website let. Me see your hands.
Here's. Their skeletor.
I was in their commercial anyway.
Totally a Brian Eno influence iswhat I'm telling you.
Because if you listen to him, I listen to this thing called
Echoes on Sunday night in. It's on public radio in
(30:51):
Mississippi and it's space, music, whatever.
And Brian Eno was always on there.
Brian Eno. Eno.
I don't know who that is, but. You anyway, but he produced it
and he he just encouraged him toexperiment and stuff.
And this is what kind of what they came up with.
Yeah, this, this goes back to the angelic sound.
(31:12):
I feel like there's the classic U2 sound.
There is like for probably The Name of Love, there's a little
bit heavier and then there's like more angelic like this one
and. And that's all-purpose they're
doing. Remember how we were going to?
We're going to build you up. We're going to take you down.
(31:32):
We're going to ride the wave. That's right, ride the wave.
That means you have to ride the wave of migrating for a solid C
plus stop it promo. Yes.
Oh. Let's hit every single button.
Which one is the want want want?It's the same button.
(31:56):
Every week it is the same. I know it, but that's just.
The same button every week. I'm struggling right now.
Oh my God, what was that? Gee, it was anger.
I was so angry I couldn't see the right button.
You see in temple. Again, if you were listening to
this album, you would like that better.
It's a relaxing song. It's not.
(32:17):
I listened to the album and I didn't like it the first.
The first time, but you you've already said, and we could go
back and find it that listening to something the second time you
liked it more that is, and it would be the case.
I'm not saying you're going to love every song, but I'm just
saying you're riding in the car and you're listening and
sometimes you want up being down.
And so listen to an album like this, you wouldn't hate it.
(32:39):
I didn't hate. I mean I want.
OK, The first time I heard it, Iwanted to skip.
I thought about skipping, but I know no, I did not because I
said Jim would be angry. I don't know if I believe you.
Disappointed so my hand came offthe skip button, didn't even
press it. Listen.
Suffered through the whole song and yeah, I guess the second
(33:06):
time I, I could at least listen to it without wanting to, you
know, put my fingers in my ears or anything.
So. OK, well, we're going to.
We'll go up from there because you can't hardly get any lower
than that. It's called 4th of July.
Go up like a firework for the 4th of July.
That's. Right.
No, that was a nice little segue.
Yes song #6 here. Instrumental.
(33:27):
Instrumental Soundscape. Wow, that is.
Another one, and this is in between the two sides, so just
imagine we were waiting for. You put you play the record
vertically. What do you mean in between the
two sides like you play it? Do you Remember Me today?
And I had the cassette you had. Oh, actually, you didn't have
cassette. What?
What are you talking about? Yeah, no, you would turn a
(33:48):
cassette over. Yes, but you don't have so you
play it vertically how you put it in the sideways.
So what are you talking about inbetween?
The 2A and side B you idiot, yousaid but.
You just said in between the twosides.
Yeah, in between the two sides, so.
Is it a Turkey sandwich? What do we what do we need to be
in between two sides? I don't you are.
What do you? How do you?
(34:08):
What do you I? I still don't understand how do
you play it? There's a side A and a side B,
and so it was a song at the end of side A before you went into
side B, in between side A, and it was like it was the
transition song. Side 8.5 or what?
The end of Side A. All right, I'm writing.
(34:30):
All right. 4th of July I got. To write my down my feelings
because I'm here we. Go 4th of July AU 2.
(34:53):
So you talk about in between side A&B.
So remember back, whatever episode it was, probably towards
the beginning, we were talking about a song, I think it was a
Mötley Crüe song. That I threw out the window.
You were talking about a time when you were driving down the
highway. Yes.
(35:13):
You ejected the tape and threw it out the window.
Do you remember this? Yep, that is what.
God bless the children of the beast.
That's why I threw it out the window if you don't know.
That is how I feel about the 4thof July.
If this song came on in between side A&B, eject out the window
it goes all. Right, let me let me read
(35:34):
something to you and then you tell me if you this is going to
change anything. Oh God.
All right. Brian Eno secretly recorded Edge
while he was just noodling around, playing around, or
whatever. You know where that word comes
from? Noodling.
Yeah. No.
It comes from Paul Shaffer from the Late Show Band.
(35:54):
OK, and he would noodle. He would, he came up with that
term noodling for when they're just kind of, oh, that sketch
doesn't work on Saturday Night Live, or they just, you know,
well, they're just waiting anyway.
He was just. They did that and then they took
it and he wanted him, like us again, to experiment.
And he, you know, is kind of, it's like ambient music, Like if
(36:16):
you're having a hard time sleeping, you can listen to his.
Stuff. And so this was it.
You got that right. But you know, again, these are
not. Several of these obviously are
singles and they did well. That was never going to be that.
No, it's just they're trying to be creative his own.
So then imagine, OK, now you theother, you're going to B side
(36:38):
and then this next song is goingto pop.
Oh well, no, give us your grade.I'd have to stop the car and go
run back and pick up the shot that I just threw out the window
and hope it didn't get run over by a semi truck.
Just remember I just gave you the the background of that song.
That might help a little bit. It does with the lore.
We're still going to go C minus.OK, that I can see that brought
(37:00):
it up from that, brought it up from AD.
That would have been the first Dthat we've given out at least.
They're not talking about red dirt on the flip.
Flops. No, all I can say I do, I can't
appreciate the the creativity ofwhat's his name, Eno.
Brian Eno. Like Emu.
What's his name? Brian Eno.
Brian Eno. Yeah, and there's another guy
(37:21):
too, David Lanoy were the 2 producers.
Lenoie well, Mr. Lanoy and Mr. Emu, I can appreciate their
creativity in recording, you know, the edge while he's just,
you know, messing around. That's kind of fun.
That's kind of fun. All right, C minus.
That's the lowest grade you've ever given Logan.
(37:43):
That for a grade? Well, that but your story helped
it be AD instead of not helped it not be AD.
I'm sorry. That's that's where you go to
the bathroom. OK?
You know, you sit there listening to it with your
friends and you're like, OK, I'mgonna go to the bathroom.
Well, and how many minutes? We wouldn't have, we wouldn't
even made it. It would have been out the
window. So we didn't even need, we
(38:04):
didn't need to get there. The next one though, is a 6 / 6
minutes song. Yeah, called Bad.
Is this the inspiration for Michael?
Jackson, I'm sure it was and this is the one that they took
the library recording and released it from live 8.
But oh, this is not live but. Oh, they took it.
They. Took a live version and
(38:25):
recorded. It all right, let's take a
listen to Bad here by U2, then just a couple more songs here on
the vinyl curriculum. That's a good bounce back from
(38:56):
is that what we call it like a rebound?
This is like a basketball. It's the new the new side.
A new well. New side of the vinyl record is
new side of the cassette. This would have been worth going
back to get, I think, yeah, out of the car.
And if it was an 8 track, it would have been the third side.
The third. They were for some reason the
eight track had four sides, 4/4 channels.
(39:18):
I don't know what you call them.Oh, it was very weird.
Was. It a cube?
You put the cube, Did there? Was there eight track players in
the car? Yeah.
Oh, that was different than a cassette tape, right?
Yeah, they were 8 tracks were bigger.
Yeah, we've talked about this. We've talked about this, this
song. No bad.
I I think I'd go rash to give itAB plus.
(39:39):
Logan That's at least an 8 minusand I can see how the live
version of that would be appealing because first of all,
he's a showman. He goes out there and he just
running around and they did an album, double album movie called
Rattle and Hum. That's later on where we went to
(40:03):
movie theaters and watched it and it was some live, some like
almost like videos or whatever then they did.
It was a like in they were in Rio doing a concert and they
filmed it like in 3D and they had thing, you know, cameras
(40:25):
flying around and it was so coolseeing them because I never, I
had never seen them. So you're in a movie theater.
It was loud and it was really cool.
Have you seen them since then? No, I've never seen YouTube.
I've never seen like a stadium concert ever.
And I don't think I want to likego into Soldier Field to see if
I don't think I'd want that. Cause like what Nico case, I was
(40:47):
so far back and it's like I don't, I want to be there and
I'm not going to get tickets up front that close.
I'd rather go, you know, get kitchen when they're early.
So when it's not so big or something.
I just don't think I'd like that.
I'd probably go to the sphere. Because it's so big.
Louis Juliet mall parking lot. Yeah, that's right.
(41:10):
I don't know, I. Don't want to get him on the way
down. I want to get the way up.
I feel like that though, is an experience in itself, just to
experience that whole show, because again, and that's
probably why I like it, is because then it's just because
it's hard to understand what's happening, you know, unless you
know the song, it's hard to likeunderstand the words.
(41:31):
So it's just about the experience of the music itself,
you know, and hearing the sounds, seeing the sounds live.
Right. But I would rather go to the
salt shed where I'm standing 25 feet from the stage then in the
rafters. Like I did see like Peter
Gabriel in the United Center andit's huge.
(41:52):
And we had pretty good seats. We were, we weren't on the
floor. We were up, you know, but then
he had he was in one of those Hampshire balls, you know, those
big zorb balls, whatever, running around like he cause and
he had like this thing and he was running around singing.
It was. But Peter Gabriel is very you
know who he is? Yeah yeah.
(42:14):
He started off with Genesis as the drummer but and singer, but
he just very unique in his videos, like Sledgehammer were
always they would always win awards 'cause they were so
creative and he was you know, sohis concert was same way like
very visual and and it wasn't bad because it was I didn't and
they had screens so I could see up close like so you.
(42:37):
Can see their mouths to make sure they're you can understand
what words they're saying. No, so they're not lip syncing.
I, I want, I don't want anybody lip syncing Janet Jackson lip
sync some of her sounds. And it kind of ticked me off, to
be honest. I think, I don't think there's a
bad seat like if in the United Senate, there's not really a bad
seat in the House. You.
Know there he is. I mean, it's some of them are
(42:58):
better than others, but like you, it's not you're not that
far away. And I guess I've, I've seen, I
saw Rodger Waters and I sat on the floor in the third row.
And so obviously that was great seats.
But I saw Post Malone there too.And we were like up in the 300
level, you know, and the opposite corner and it was
still. But even that's different from
(43:19):
Soldier Field, is what I'm telling you.
I don't know if I'd go to. A field I saw Kenny Chesney and
you know, we were up in the 400 level, like way up high.
We had I didn't even I couldn't even sit in the chair because my
knees were so close to the chairin front of us and it was I
mean, it was still a great show.I mean, he, they, that was a
(43:40):
time where if we're, you know, on one side, one side of the
field, the stage was all the wayon the other side and still the
great show. And I love Kitty Chesney.
Yeah, I do. So they were with, he was with
Dan and Shay. So it was great.
You know Dan know them as much? Yeah, I know of them, but I
don't know. But he was the opener.
He wasn't an opener. Dan and Shay were the opener.
(44:01):
Yeah, yeah, correct. Yeah.
And actually the first time, butI saw Dan and Shay was we had
Tinley and we were sitting in the grass and it was Dan and
Shay and Morgan Wallin opened upfor Florida Georgia Line.
But anyway, I digress. Indian summer sky is the.
Next song. Indian Summer Sky is the next
(44:23):
song that we're going to take a listen to.
Oh, by the way, the live versionof that got #19 this one a bad a
bad. This one came to 30.
All right, so let's just take a listen, I think here in the
vinyl curriculum. Indian summer sky.
(44:53):
It's another remember a long time ago we were listening to
songs and I said that sounds like a song that would be in a
FIFA video game. Yeah, and I knew not what you
were talking. About that kind of sounds like
that that one, though, again, one of the harder ones on the
album more a lot more drums, a harder guitar.
But we did it. We both mentioned it right at
(45:15):
the start. Was it with the with the pick?
I guess is what has got to be making that noise on the guitar,
but I like it. I think it's another B plus for
sure. I didn't even venture to say an
A minus. I think we will.
A -, I. Was going to say you didn't eat
breakfast, but I. Did I?
Actually, I made the point of eating a a large sandwich before
(45:38):
we started. Know how you get with without
the submarine sandwich. But yeah, Indian summer sky.
I, I, you know, I liked it. I vibe with that.
And that is the typical U2 sound.
It is you can like, you can listen to like I can play you a
song now from three albums later.
And you will say that you do because they just, they do.
It is, but again, it was on the harder like if we're, you know,
(46:01):
ranking on a line, whatever kindof chart that's called, can't
think of what it's called, like a yeah, that was closer to the
that was closer to the Hard Rockside of the aisle, if you know
what I mean. The one thing I I would say
about U2 though, is Bono is Bono.
(46:23):
He sounds like Bono. The guitar always sounds the
same, but I don't feel like it'sall repetitive.
They do enough to mix it. I mean, some of them are a
little similar, but they do enough to mix things up that I
don't feel like I'm hearing this.
Like it's like too much, too much repetition.
Yeah. That's why I always like
Fleetwood Mac or the Eagles, because you have different
(46:46):
songwriters, you have different singers, and so it always mixes
the albums up. When you're dealing with someone
like R.E.M. or Bono with U2 is only one singer, it could be
very easy to start sounding the same.
But I think both of those, they're about the same time.
Both of them did a nice enough job mixing things up.
(47:08):
I agree. This one, this next one got just
two more songs, Elvis Presley and America.
Now this. Most of these vocals were just
improvised. How does that work?
They just. They just went with the flow,
just. Went with the flow.
To have that much musical talentis honestly disturbing and.
(47:32):
It was. It was an experimental detour
that divided fans and critics alike.
Wow. So let's see what you think.
All right, Elvis Presley and America on the Vinyl curriculum.
(48:00):
What's going on there? I don't know, that's what I'm
saying. I'd have to look up the lyrics
and I think he was, might have been making stuff.
And it's funny when you don't know and you're just singing.
So I'm sure I was singing along something that because I, I, I
like it. I don't know what it's about.
It's just AI like it because I've I'm so familiar with it,
(48:23):
you know, and it's hard for me to know even what was a song, a
release, and what was just on the album because I, I didn't
listen to the radio as much backthen as I listened to my record
collection or my cassettes. Yeah, I this one has a different
sound still with the U2 under the U2 umbrella, but it's again
(48:45):
different on a different sectionof that chart from soft rock to
Hard Rock. I think it's it's a little bit
further towards Hard Rock than some of the other ones like Hit
the Angelic guitars like sound that we heard in some of the
(49:05):
first ones like Pride in the Name of Love isn't really there,
but it's still very creative guitar playing.
Yep. So I think I'd give that AB
plus. Wow, that's a shocker.
Sound AB Plus yeah, see, sometimes, you know, songs just
speak to me, I guess, Jim, once in a while.
(49:26):
And again, I I have to go back to last week, I kind of in your
team when it comes to like I, I don't, I'm singing lyrics.
I don't really know what I'm singing so obviously either at
this point in my life, which was21 probably.
(49:47):
What is this? No. 84. 19/19/20 I didn't care
about lyrics back then. Maybe I'd maybe as I've matured
I've started caring more about lyrics.
I don't know. Well, I can under, I can respect
it either way. You know, I could see you.
(50:08):
It's it's just interesting to examine that relationship that
different people have with musicand how people can hear
different things from different from the same song.
And Ben was saying, like I said,Ben is early 30s, went to school
like in music production, and he's a bass player in Nashville.
(50:29):
He says he doesn't listen to thelyrics.
He's listening to the musicalityof it.
And he's listening to, like, thebass or the whatever.
That's his first thing. And then, yeah, the lyrics are
there, but that's not the first thing he's listening.
And I say, I don't think the lyrics are the first thing I'm
listening to unless it's a slow song.
If it's a slow song, then I am listening to the lyrics because
(50:50):
I think I can understand them. Yeah, the lyrics accompany the
rest of the song. Yeah.
So this is MLK. The last one is the lullaby and
it's kind of like a closing, youknow, the first one, you know,
we started in the Name of Love and start talking about Martin
Luther King. By the way, in In the Name of
(51:12):
Love, he says early morning, April 4th.
That's when he was shot. He was actually shot in the
afternoon. So that was they were they got
some. Controversy.
Yes, scandal, but MLK is is justlike again, this is not going to
be a A record by any means, it'sjust a way to close out the
album. All right, let's take a listen,
MLK. First thing I said while we were
(51:47):
listening to this song was it's this one's got to be impressive
in person, like in a live setting to see just like this,
we hear that low tone echoing throughout the stadium.
And everybody's quiet, you know,everybody's been screaming and
(52:07):
yelling and all that quiet. So yeah.
So thinking, just thinking aboutit that way, I mean, that's
that's the first thought that comes to my head when hearing
that. And I feel like I kind of want
to see that, you know what I mean?
Like it leaves you with a good taste in your mouth after you're
done listening to this album. But I also think that helps the
(52:30):
grade for this song, just the visualizing that listening
experience. So I think we'll go B plus for
that there. Was definitely some shockers on
this one. I thought you would be going to
town on some of the although youdid get AC minus.
This hurts. And by the way, the fact that
(52:51):
4th of July, are you not a patriot?
What's going on here? Are you not an American?
How would you get a 4th of July AC minus?
Yeah, I know. I'm sorry.
It just wasn't. Good, so here's what you did.
Look B plus AB minus BC plus C -, B + A -, B + B plus.
(53:11):
What do you think of this rock album Unforgettable Fire I.
Don't know if I I overall, I think in terms of like an
overall grade, I think a fair grade would be AB right in the
(53:32):
middle because we had some good songs by the name of Love, you
know, Indian Summer Sky, Even the last two I liked, but just
some of those, like, I mean, we're I guess we're riding the
wave like you said in the middlethere.
We had a couple stinkers though,and you know, that just kind of
(53:52):
puts a bad taste in your mouth. I'm telling you right now
though, of all the albums and C DS I've ever owned, and it's a
bunch, I don't know if I've everif I loved every song on any
album, it'd be hard. It'd be hard to like even like
(54:13):
Thriller that most of them were hits.
There were that might have been one day.
That might have been one day. They weren't bad.
I think Madonna's first album. I don't think there are any bad
songs and. There.
Were some slower ones so there are some and I'm just saying it
would be hard especially that isnot the goal of this album.
Obviously I'm sure they wanted to to be lucrative and have, but
(54:37):
you know, they they tour and then you make more money a lot
of times touring, but that's notthe goal.
So obviously this Brian Eno encouraged them to just do
things different that they had never done before.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
That's how you find new sounds. That's how you know, like you
said, if Brian May is working ona guitar and experimenting Flash
(54:58):
Gordon. And then the net, which was
terrible by the way, but and then the next album, The Joshua
Tree was one of my favorites. So this was like a build into
that. I like Flash Gordon.
The soundtrack. I had the soundtrack though,
because I love Queen so much andit was terrible.
Yeah, it was a bunch of synthesizer like, And then he'd
(55:22):
be Flash. He said.
Every one of us. Yeah, it was just very weird.
Maybe watch a review Flash Gordon by Queen.
OK, well, you have to give me a grade and then we need to talk
about next. Week, you know, I'll give you
(55:43):
I'll give you AB Logan. I think AB is fair, OK.
I think I think only one of themwas out of, you know, grossly
misgraded. But I'm I'm more of a patriot
than you are. So you had mentioned next week,
Yes. And episode 20, the season
finale, and you asked me what? What are the guidelines?
(56:07):
We need, well, you. Last time you told me there
weren't similar enough, but there was no guidelines given.
You're a teacher who poorly explains the assignment and then
says why didn't you do what I wanted me to do when your
instructions were just one sentence long?
If I had the only teacher that has ever done that, no.
No, that was speaking from experience.
(56:28):
So believe me when I tell you that is the most frustrating
thing as a student. Yeah, So here's my thought,
Logan, You do you whatever you want to do.
However, I would suggest I what it's You do something and you'll
get the consequence. That's all it is.
You do something crappy, you're gonna get a bed.
(56:49):
But my suggestion is have a theme and not just songs I like,
country songs I like or pop songs I like, or songs that
remind me of my fiance or. What?
I know you would never do that because you have no emotion.
But but I think, as you said, analbum takes you on a ride.
(57:11):
And not all of them are winners.And some of them are different
than others, and some of them are slower than others.
And some of them are country songs and some of them are pop
songs. And you're going to learn to
like it your cake and eat it too.
I never did that with you. I never did that of the the 18
that we have now done. I never just did a potpourri of
anything. There was a theme of now some of
(57:35):
them were like collaborations. So yes, they were like 1 was the
OR covers, 1 was bluegrass, but at least the tie in was they
were covers. So if you could just come up
with what was going to have to happen, though, you're going to
have to use your brain and you have to think about it and
you're used to just half ass listening to it while you're
(57:55):
driving to the hockey thing to do something else and
threatening to anyway. I think I'm going to be mine.
I think I'm going to be mine. Too late, you already circled it
in red pen. I think it will be.
I, I encourage you. I think you will do fine, Logan.
(58:15):
I think you will do a nice job. Filling out songs.
OK, well. Is there a particular album that
you just love that you want to do?
No. Taylor Swift's what?
I don't even know what her name.I just don't Folklore I would
do. I could do folklore.
I could do that whole album and I would.
I loved it and I could talk about it.
(58:36):
But that's. The only my probably, I'd say my
two favorite albums, and I'm sure we'll talk about this more
next week, are from ones from a movie and ones from the musical
where I've listened to straight through the first album I ever
bought and listened to pull through before I had Apple
Music. And before where you actually
had to get each individual song or buy the album as a whole was
(59:00):
the soundtrack from the Blues Brothers.
And so that has a pretty eclectic variety of music.
And then the other one was Hamilton, but that was obviously
a little bit more recently. And both of those were kind of
musicals. So I don't know, we'll decide.
(59:21):
Be sure to keep up with us on social media, on Instagram and
Facebook. That's where we're going to find
out where the what theme is for next week for episode #20 the
final episode of season #1 we also welcome and encourage any
sort of feedback. Even if you're being mean to me,
that's OK. I have.
(59:41):
Thick skin encouraged. Nicole told me the other day
that what did she say? Or I, I have a large head and so
I have a large head and so only certain brands of extra large
hats put on to my extra large cranium.
And I had told Nicole that it was because my brain is so
large, but she said that it was actually just because I have a
(01:00:03):
thick skull. So oh, that's a good.
One, I can take whatever feedback is given, so please
feel free to submit it. Jim likes to read it gives him a
good laugh. Sometimes he strikes me as a tad
unhappy. Sometimes and sometimes if I if
I find better words, I use the other words for the review and
(01:00:26):
make it even better. Yes, So thanks for listening to
another great episode, Jim. As always, it's been a pleasure
and we will catch you all on thenext one.
Bye.
Every record tells a story. Independent labels.
I think a lot of interesting songs came out of that.
And every generation has a soundtrack.
The only hip you have in your body is made of titanium.
This is the final curriculum with Logan.
Apparently I don't know very much about anything.
Somebody calls her Tay Tay. Welcome back, ladies and
(00:25):
gentlemen, to the Vinyl Curriculum.
Logan and Jim here recording in this podcast studio.
Notice what I did there? I didn't.
I didn't say live because I knowit bothers you to no end.
How we doing? I'm good.
Yeah, I had. I had took a long weekend.
I had some friends come up. I went to a wedding.
I know I was getting nervous. I didn't see it this morning.
(00:47):
I was. I was getting a little finicky,
little jittery about recording today.
I teach class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Logan. Are you teaching or just yelling
at students? I don't know if what you do is
because if you teach the same way you teach me things, I'd be
scared to be one of your students.
You can teach by yelling, I would say.
So I think I'm doing both. I don't yell at anybody, Harley.
(01:08):
Just me, I guess, but we're backfor episode #19 of the first
season of the Vinyl Curriculum, meaning there's only one more
after this next week will be Logan's version #2 which we'll
talk about a little bit later inthe episode.
But this week we have a pretty good album.
Is this from college U2? The unforgettable fire?
(01:32):
I had to cassette. This is past my 8 track days so
it was cassette. Really loved it and it the
reason I chose this one Logan isit's another album like vinyl
album that we would listen to didn't.
You just say it was a cassette. Well, it's a cassette, but I'm
just saying it's the album the entire, I don't know how you we
(01:53):
say album as a piece of vinyl album.
Well, it's you're right, it was a, it was a entire recording.
I see. OK.
That we would listen to front and back.
You know, it's not. And that's another thing, you
know, if you think about it withit was hard with a vinyl album
(02:13):
to you could like go to the third song, you could like drop
it the needle and kind of get close to it.
It was even harder with cassettes because you know you'd
have to, but they it got to where the cassette players you
could there was a button that would go to the next song and it
sometimes work and sometimes didn't like it.
It would just look for quietnessbetween songs and so sometimes
if the songs kind of raining together, it wouldn't work.
(02:35):
But so it was difficult. So that's, I think that's why
you just listen to the whole thing, because it was too hard
to like pick and choose. You just listen to it.
Yeah, well, that was before modern technology.
Did but that's this is the vinylcurriculum and that's what the
so-called people who love vinyl,that's what you they're doing
so. Yeah, I picture Yeah, you you're
(02:56):
as a child, like listening to one of those wax rings that
Edison re invented the first recording device on.
It was probably not like that, but that's OK.
You can still think that this tell.
What do you know about You 2? Are you a fan?
You know? Just I Know You 2 is the name of
a stealth bomber. Otherwise, I recognize the sound
(03:18):
when I'm listening. I'm like, OK, that's the U2
sound. It's kind of like, and I think
we'll talk about this as we go through some of the songs.
I don't know if it's like a guitar or like a thing DDD sound
or I don't even know how to describe it, but it's kind of
like a light like it. They just all have the same
sound, right? So you don't you don't have any
(03:40):
YouTube albums or anything and your.
Your. Dad is far as you know.
Didn't listen to U2 around the house.
I mean, we, I've heard some of these songs like In the Name of
Love obviously is one of the probably the more popular ones
by U2. And I feel like I know U2, like
if someone was like, do you likeU2?
(04:00):
You know, yeah, neither here northere, but.
Been around a long time. I mean, they just, you know,
they just did the Sphere and, you know, in Vegas and yeah,
they've been around a long time.This though, I think this was
their fourth album. I'm not 100% positive, but I
think it was their fourth album.Really hit the mainstream,
(04:24):
really became popular. I know my friends all loved it
so I just. It'll be interesting to see what
you think. Was this?
What year was this? What?
Year did this. This is 84, so this is second
year of college. A sort of homecoming is the name
of this album. No, it's the Unforgettable Fire
is the name of the album. Oh, the song.
The first song. Oh, yeah, hello.
OK, I was. I was.
(04:44):
I already have that queued up, Iguess.
All right. Let's listen to it, see what you
think. Yeah, so this first one, a sort
of homecoming by U2, and that's what all the song, that's who
all the songs will be by today. Yeah.
So we don't have to go through each individual one, much like
last week for Billy Joel. Yeah.
Let's take a listen to the firstsong here on the Vinyl
(05:06):
Curriculum by U2. U2 on the vinyl curriculum.
(05:33):
That's a pretty good song. Good start, solid start out of
all the songs. Sort of homecoming.
They haven't heard that. Didn't hear that song before.
I listened to it this past weekend.
But again, it's a classic U2 sound.
This one has like more drums andI think some of them have more
(05:54):
drums than others, which was onething that I kind of noticed in
the first listen. You know, like some of have like
a deeper, more drum heavy song like focus.
I don't know if you can focus isthe right word, but just more
drums in the song, a heavier drum presence.
There we go. That's that's the the phrase
(06:15):
that I was looking for, but it'sstill got that U2 sound and it's
I think it's good a guitar whereit's like whatever is making
that. I think that's kind of the
staple sound to me of U2. And it's that is present in this
first time and really a present in pretty much all of them.
(06:38):
But a short a sort of homecoming.
I'd I'd give it AB plus I think solid start.
Yeah, that's the edge. Is the guitarist edge the edge?
The edge is the person's name. That's what he goes by like
Madonna or like it would be likethe Madonna, the Madonna.
But his nickname is the Edge. The lead singer is Bono.
(07:01):
Yeah, Bono. Vox I think is what his his
official know what his name is, but that's not his real name.
But Barry Mullins Junior is the bass player and like Adam
Clayton or something I think wasI mean the Eric Larry Mullins
Junior is a drummer and Adam Clayton was the bass player.
I think I got those right. But anyway, same people have
been around this whole time. But that sound is the edge.
(07:23):
I mean, just just he has that sound.
He wears A beanie hat and the same look and.
It's kind of like a mystical, like I don't know what kind of
effects that he's got going on with that guitar.
But like some of the like some of the later ones are have a
more intense guitar, you know, aguitar part.
(07:43):
But like this, I don't know if it's just like the the paddles
or whatever, like makes a guitarsound like that.
But it must be just the same pedal rack for each song, I
guess. I don't know.
I don't know. I don't know about production,
but it's just a sound. I like it.
That wasn't it. They didn't even release that as
a single. You know something I noticed,
(08:04):
like on Apple Music, they have the deluxe version of This
Unforgettable Fire and it's got a whole different like disc 2
and it's all like it'll say so. And so.
This was the B side of Pride in the Name of Love.
And it's like it was a song thatwasn't even on the album, it was
(08:25):
just on this deluxe album. You're talking about this first,
a sort of homecoming song. No, I'm just saying their songs
on if you go to the deluxe version of the album on Apple
Music, it has extra songs as like a discs too and it's like
demos and stuff like that. But some of them are like they
were saying this was the B side for Pride in the Name of Love.
(08:46):
So they didn't use any of these 10 songs as the B side.
They didn't have the song kind of like Stevie, Stevie Nicks is
what was that song? Remember she Silver Springs?
It was the B side to that one, but it was they didn't make the
album, but it was still so they did that as well.
(09:09):
Interesting. And so you're talking about when
it was released as a single? There was AB side, right?
I never knew the B side because I had the cassette and we didn't
have it wasn't deluxe. It was just the cassette.
So we so they had. Singles on cassette too where
they just have like. No, that would have been on the
record. I would guess that we used to
get cassingles. Cassingles.
(09:29):
Yeah, but it didn't, it did haveAB side.
So I guess if you bought the cassingle, I never bought them
because it was too. Expensive.
Was that what it's actually called or you just?
No, I think so. It's a single.
You would. How would I know?
I wouldn't know that. We caught it a single.
Well, let us know the comments below.
Was it a single or single? He lost his mind.
(09:51):
All right, Yeah, B plus solid start for a sort of homecoming.
We're homecoming. I don't know where I was going
with that. I don't either.
It's homecoming season, I guess,and I guess anyway, Pride in the
Name of Love, the next song, which I believe to be the most
popular song on the album. Would you concur with that
statement? Yep, this was the the
(10:11):
breakthrough single for them because they they had some
success, especially on the college rock radio stations.
But this was a song that kind ofthey mainstream.
OK, and I want to talk about that.
I want to talk about if this is rock after this song.
OK, All right, let's take a listen here in the final
curriculum. Pride in the name of love.
(10:51):
I would have not known that pride was in the title of that
song. Like just as.
It's actually pride parentheses in the name of love.
Here we go again with the parentheses.
Yeah, no, that is probably my favorite U2 song.
I guess you could say I, even though I'm not a huge U2 fan and
some of these songs how I mean, I was do they were dragging on a
(11:14):
little bit the first time I listened to them.
We'll talk about that a bit. I got to be honest, but I think
I think that is an AI think it really is, is something else
that I was thinking of while listening to this album was I
think last week when you said, hey, we're going to do U2, you
(11:36):
said this is rock. Yeah.
And I guess that that made me question what the definition of
like that is this rock'n'roll? Like is there is there a
difference between just rock androck'n'roll?
Because like classic rock wasn'tcalled classic rock when it came
(11:57):
out, right? That was just rock.
And this is doesn't fall into that same category, right?
I don't think it's, I think it'srock.
I don't think it's heavy rock. I don't think it's, it's metal
rock, softer rock. Yeah, it's pop, pop rock.
You know it's 'cause it's. I like pop rocks.
(12:18):
Yeah, well, yeah, they've they pop in your mouth.
I Yeah. And see, I think you could even
say that early U2 was alternative rock.
Yeah. Modern rock, yeah.
And sometimes there's a crossover and it then it
definitely became a crossover with U2.
And then they became like super popular and stadiums.
(12:40):
And unfortunately, typically when that happens, I stop, I
start losing in stop losing interest kind of, and you know,
I kind of like the people that people don't know too much
about. And then when everybody and
their mother like some and plus,you know, the sound from the
early 80s when they were first starting off to the sound now
(13:02):
they're they're they just go in different directions and they
try different things. And they had some really odd
songs along the way and some things I love.
The next album after this was The Joshua Tree, which is
probably another one of my favorites of theirs.
Yeah, see, but I don't think that's always true.
Because you didn't like young gravy, and young gravy is not
well known by the masses. Not just like young gravy you.
(13:24):
Literally lie through your teeth.
What are you talking? About gravy, I gave a decent
grade because that was the that who, what was that song Gravy
Train? But it was kind of upbeat.
Gravy train gravy. What's your name?
I don't know about this. I didn't like the foe by foe.
We've talked, no. You didn't like young Gravy
(13:45):
either. Run it back.
We need to. We need to a replay I.
Was thinking it was something else.
I don't think so, because it wasyoung gravy was somebody else
right? It was, oh, this was you gave.
We didn't actually. It wasn't gravy train, it was
Sale IV with young gravy and BB no money.
So are you apologizing to me right now because you were
(14:06):
wrong? What did I give that grade?
An A minus. Thank you SO.
You told me later. You told me later you didn't
like it. Not that that's not true.
Yes, you did, Offair. You told me that that is not
true. Next song by U2 is called Wire.
You better. Switch the things.
Oh, I want to talk about something.
OK, well let's you want to listen to wire first, OK.
So I went to Meat Loaf bat out of Halloween on Sunday night at
(14:32):
the Rialto and it was really good.
It was different. Remember we talked a lot about
Jim Steinman, how this guy was well, they play some of his
songs. Like one of the songs I said was
there's a Céline Dion song that he did.
One of the backup singers sang that deleted Céline Dion song.
And I think a lot of people werelike.
Is that Céline Dion? She she comes out with a white
(14:54):
dress like this in this, like what's the connection?
And even Gina, my friend and herlike, what's the connection?
I'm like, that's the Jim Steinman song with that sound.
So it was more, it wasn't just meatloaf, it was meatloaf Jim
Steinman. There were songs from Bat Out of
Hell, too. There were songs from the Rock
Hard Picture Show. It was just a eclectic whatever,
(15:15):
but it was a lot of fun. Here you go with eclectic again.
Yeah, it looked impressed. It was very Halloweeny.
It was I. Saw the photos that you posted
one. Woman sang a song like you put a
spell on me and it's like that has nothing to do with anything.
It was just Halloween. It's like that's where I was
like, what's the connection here?
Kind of like your episode 10 playlist.
There was no well. We're going to talk about the
(15:37):
theme at the end of this episode, but right now we've got
another U2 song that we have to listen to called Wire.
Yep, this was released as a single two, by the way, the
pride in the name of love in mainstream rock was #3 in the
Billboard Top 100, which is likepop was 33.
So you can see how it kind of, and then this was released and
(15:59):
it was on the rock albums. It was 31.
What year? This is all 84 probably going
into the end of 84, so right around this time in 84 going
into 80. Five.
Yeah. All right, Well, this is a song
called Wire by YouTube, and we're going to listen to it
right now on the vinyl curriculum.
(16:38):
Like Johnny Bravo. You know who Johnny Bravo is?
No. You don't know who Johnny Bravo
is. Johnny Bravo is a cartoon on
Cartoon Network. No, I do not know that.
See, this one's a little harder,yeah, rock, you know, with more
drums like I was talking about alittle bit of a different vibe
(17:01):
for you too, though. I kind of like the more what did
you call it chiming on the guitar like mellow softer rock,
which is interesting because I'mnot a big soft rock guy.
But like this didn't didn't workas much for me from you 2.
Bono said this was the most difficult song they've ever
(17:23):
recorded. Really.
Why? I don't know.
Maybe just so fast and it's, I don't know.
A little bit, yeah, a little bitmore, I don't know if I like is
the word, but just a Hard Rock and has a lot more, a little bit
more going on from the band especially.
I mean, right there at the end that we hopefully we heard a
(17:43):
little bit of on the podcast that all that whatever they were
doing with their voice. Johnny Bravo.
I can't believe you've never seen Johnny Bravo.
I'm 60 years old. Cartoon Network came out when I
was a grown man. Johnny Bravo no wears a black
(18:04):
T-shirt, big tall hair like Bellow the clown.
Who bellow the Did you never go to the circus?
No, I don't. It was too different.
It was too you. Never took your kids what?
I didn't. I didn't know.
It always bothered me. Yeah, it was that way.
One of their bellow knock, who'sone of the most famous clowns of
all time. He's got big tall hair, does all
(18:25):
sorts of crazy stunts. Clowns are very creepy.
I'm one of those. He's not I.
Know, but I still think cramps clowns are creepy.
A grown man dressing up like that.
He didn't paint his face. He was just, I mean, he was he
wore big shoes, but otherwise a comic.
Just a comic. Yeah, he was good.
He was good. But for this song Wire, yeah, I
think we'll go B minus, which isinteresting.
(18:49):
I think that that's kind of a a shift in mentality there, Jim.
I think if you listen to that again, you would, it would be
different because you're just, you know, you, you heard it once
and then you hear a little bit of clips or whatever.
But I think it would grow on youagain, we would listen to the
whole album. So you just got used to them and
then it then the familiarity came.
One thing I have to say though is I was talking about you of
(19:09):
course, like I usually do with people.
And the most interesting part ofyour life, So I would certainly
hope you are. But my friend Gina and her son
Ben were, you know, they listened to the podcast and we
were talking about you. Oh boy.
And Ben is like 31 or something,so he's closer to your age.
And he said Logan might just forhim, music might just be an
(19:35):
accessory meaning like that's why you, when you say, I don't
know how I would, what I would be doing and I'd listen to this.
It's almost like the music is not that important to you.
It's you're doing whatever. And then this is going to be
going on as part of it. Whereas to me, the music is
(19:58):
like, like it's important to me a lot, a lot of times.
I don't know. I don't know if I totally agree
with that. I think we talked about a little
bit last week, but the words like I'm less concerned with
what they're saying versus how it sounds, you know, and I think
that just goes back to I have sometimes have a hard time
(20:18):
understanding what they're saying.
So I'm more concerned with again, the sound or like the
production of it. Like, how do they make that
sound with the guitar? Or like how the different
instruments are combining into one sound as opposed to like
listening to each, like finding the meaning of each word and
trying to figure out like what they're trying to say in the
(20:42):
with the words is, you know, I mean, they could just be saying
gibberish and I wouldn't even probably realize it, you know?
Saying that, I think when I think about this album, I know
like I can sing along to it, butI if you said what are these
songs about? I know what I'm OK at the end is
(21:02):
about. I know what pride in the name of
Love's about some of these I'm like, I don't, I don't really
know what it's about. So then I was looking at summary
synopsises of the and it's like,OK, I would have never got that.
Yeah, so. But I think it's because Bono
doesn't write Taylor Swift stories.
He's very poetic. And he does we, you know, And so
(21:23):
he, if you're going to have to read the lyrics kind of, and
then try to decipher what he's saying.
And sometimes, like when you listen, you know how you can
listen to Apple Music and it'll show you the lyrics, it's like,
Oh yeah, that's not what I've been singing, you know, all
these years. I haven't.
Been singing that because. And that's another thing, you
know, when you had the albums, you would get a lot of times the
(21:44):
lyrics. But with the cassettes, a lot of
times they did have a little paper insert that had stuff, but
a lot of times they wouldn't putthe lyrics because it was just
too much. So we didn't know what the
lyrics were. You'd have to kind of sing along
so. Yeah.
But with this one I would the lyrics are not as important, it
(22:04):
is the sound. Yeah, no, I and you know, I, I
wouldn't say that music is an accessory for me.
I would say that I still enjoy that experience of listening to
it right. Yes, it it can be an accessory
of doing something else, sittingby the fire, driving the car,
yadda, yadda, yadda. But like you can get invested
(22:26):
into the music itself. Even even when doing a task,
like if I'm mowing the lawn, I'mmore interested in the music
that I'm listening to than the actual mowing of the lawn, You
know, I mean, so it's not like it's then I am focused then
primarily on the music. So I am capable of doing that.
(22:46):
But you say things like, I don'tknow where.
I can't imagine what what I would be doing to listen to
right? That's why I know that's where
you lose me, because I don't getthat.
Yeah, I think, I mean, there's, I don't know if I listen to you
2 and maybe I wouldn't when I was mowing the lawn.
That's kind of irrelevant at that point, but for certain
genres, I feel like it's it's important for me to think about
(23:10):
where I'd be listening to that song.
That's where we're different. Yeah, so anyway.
What are the many ways? We got to move on here, the
Unforgettable Fire. Yeah, the title.
Track next, that's what they called it is that's where that
comes from the title track. The title track is.
The same name as the album. And I read that Bono saw an exit
(23:30):
like an art exhibition of Hiroshima and the aftermath of
the atomic bomb. And the name of the show was
called The Unforgettable Fire. And that kind of inspired this
song and the album. But again, when you listen to
(23:50):
it, like, I don't know if I would have ever gotten that
somewhat. I had to read that.
I see yeah in the lore of the album notes so.
This was another release on the rock charts.
It was number 8. So so far we have a three, a 31
and an 8. OK, well let's take a listen to
The Unforgettable Fire and see what it ranks with.
(24:12):
My grades here on the vinyl curriculum.
That's you 2 here on the vinyl curriculum.
(24:33):
It's another good one. Is this one of the more well
known ones on the album? This is number 8 number. 8 on
the charts. I think they were one.
There were 5 releases, one of them was a live version.
Of this song, there was 50. From this album, OK, but around
this time there was Live Aid came out, remember that was and
(24:55):
they recorded one of these songson that and they released that
live version. Of was U2 played a Live Aid.
Yeah, really in 85. I didn't think U2 was that old.
Maybe. I don't know what are you
talking about? I mean, just I thought they were
like later 80s nine one was LiveAid.
(25:16):
I don't know we're. Talking right now about 84 and
this is their fourth album, so YouTube's been around since.
I don't know if it's 80 or like 70 late 70s.
Oh well, that's. What I'm saying, they have been
going a long time and they're still together and no one's OD
Ed and no one's gotten ticked off at the other one and left.
Yeah. And in the meantime, they've
(25:36):
made a killing. Which is, yeah.
That's why you just need to suckit up and make the money come.
And make some money? Yeah.
Are they still touring? Yeah, they just did the the
sphere. Oh yeah.
In Vegas, like this huge thing, they were like the first,
weren't they the first big groupto do it, The.
First big group to do the sphere, yeah.
(25:59):
I did not go to that and I'm going to regret it probably.
Well, when I was, they had the Eagles there when I was there
last year, this year, whenever that was.
So they've got some big shows coming to this fear.
But the Unforgettable fire rightnow on the vinyl curriculum, I
think we'll go solid B. OK, it's more.
(26:20):
Closer to We're trying to figureout what that sound is during
that song by the Edge on the guitar.
And we kind of came to the conclusion it must be some sort
of like angelic reverb effect that makes it have that distinct
sound that is present in all of the U2 songs, at least on this
(26:43):
album and probably all albums. The guy from Queen had, you
know, his guitar that he made himself had that saying it's.
Different sound. Van Halen made the guitar.
No, the Queen guy did too, I think.
Brian May. Yeah, I think he did his own
guitar. I don't know.
I know, I know. Eddie Van Halen.
Eddie Van Halen put together hisown guitar that he named that
(27:05):
whatever it's got that it was like the red with the black and
The White Stripes on it. We're.
Going to Google it because I think the Queen guy and his is
so unique. I mean, there's no other guitar
that sounds like that. And he does like the remember
the Flash Gordon we talked aboutit had that same.
Yeah, I think I know what you'resaying.
Yeah, Brian make guitars.co.uk. So apparently he must make his
(27:27):
own guitars because he's got a website where he sells them so.
There you go. There's another interesting
thing about this the the last album that they had before this
was called War and it was fairlysuccessful, but it was more
hard, harder than this. And so they decided Bono was
(27:49):
kind of freaking out because he didn't want to be like this hard
rocking stadium rockers, you know, like he didn't want that.
And so they got this guy named Brian Eno, who's kind of this
he's in he's in his own music isvery odd, but to help produce
him. And they went and they recorded
(28:10):
like in a actually in a castle in, I'm assuming, Ireland
because they're Irish. And he wanted them to
experiment. He wanted the edge to experiment
with things with his guitar. He wanted vinyl to sing things
differently and he wanted them to write things differently.
So this is a different sound. Yeah.
(28:32):
Then the other ones were they were a little bit more
straightforward, you know? I will follow.
Do you remember that? Walk away.
Walk away. I will follow.
I probably would. That was some of the over.
Here, terrible impersonation, but.
You hit the wrong button. It was the clapping you needed.
I see. So the next one is called
Promenade. Yeah.
(28:53):
And it's almost dreamlike. But again, I think this is where
that that is. They're trying to just
experiment a little bit and not just, I don't know, say what you
think just. Hit the waves, I guess, of the
promenade. What waves?
I don't know is that, isn't thatlike a boat or something?
The promenade? Yeah, It's a dance too, isn't
(29:15):
it? A square dance?
Oh, I don't know. Come on, Promenade.
Isn't it something like that? How did that go?
Promenade is Didn't you have to do square dancing?
No middle school with no you. Just have to square dance you.
Grew up in Mississippi. Is that not the whole square
dance? I think my Waukegan wife had to
(29:37):
do square dancing in middle school.
It was part of APE. Whatever.
No, no, no. Anyway, while Jim teaches me to
square dance, we're all going tolisten to Promenade by U2 on the
vinyl curriculum. That's a little different.
(30:10):
Promenade, Promenade, I don't know.
With Promenadi, I don't know. Lou Malnati's I had yesterday.
Oh. In the city, I usually go to
Gino's East, but I went to Lou Malnati's.
Yeah, it was good. We had, we had that a lot at the
radio station. They were sponsored SO and
Giordano's. Can you get them to be a sponsor
of us? Yeah, right.
(30:31):
Giordano's. I was a hand model for
Giordano's. Did you know that?
I was on their website let. Me see your hands.
Here's. Their skeletor.
I was in their commercial anyway.
Totally a Brian Eno influence iswhat I'm telling you.
Because if you listen to him, I listen to this thing called
Echoes on Sunday night in. It's on public radio in
(30:51):
Mississippi and it's space, music, whatever.
And Brian Eno was always on there.
Brian Eno. Eno.
I don't know who that is, but. You anyway, but he produced it
and he he just encouraged him toexperiment and stuff.
And this is what kind of what they came up with.
Yeah, this, this goes back to the angelic sound.
(31:12):
I feel like there's the classic U2 sound.
There is like for probably The Name of Love, there's a little
bit heavier and then there's like more angelic like this one
and. And that's all-purpose they're
doing. Remember how we were going to?
We're going to build you up. We're going to take you down.
(31:32):
We're going to ride the wave. That's right, ride the wave.
That means you have to ride the wave of migrating for a solid C
plus stop it promo. Yes.
Oh. Let's hit every single button.
Which one is the want want want?It's the same button.
(31:56):
Every week it is the same. I know it, but that's just.
The same button every week. I'm struggling right now.
Oh my God, what was that? Gee, it was anger.
I was so angry I couldn't see the right button.
You see in temple. Again, if you were listening to
this album, you would like that better.
It's a relaxing song. It's not.
(32:17):
I listened to the album and I didn't like it the first.
The first time, but you you've already said, and we could go
back and find it that listening to something the second time you
liked it more that is, and it would be the case.
I'm not saying you're going to love every song, but I'm just
saying you're riding in the car and you're listening and
sometimes you want up being down.
And so listen to an album like this, you wouldn't hate it.
(32:39):
I didn't hate. I mean I want.
OK, The first time I heard it, Iwanted to skip.
I thought about skipping, but I know no, I did not because I
said Jim would be angry. I don't know if I believe you.
Disappointed so my hand came offthe skip button, didn't even
press it. Listen.
Suffered through the whole song and yeah, I guess the second
(33:06):
time I, I could at least listen to it without wanting to, you
know, put my fingers in my ears or anything.
So. OK, well, we're going to.
We'll go up from there because you can't hardly get any lower
than that. It's called 4th of July.
Go up like a firework for the 4th of July.
That's. Right.
No, that was a nice little segue.
Yes song #6 here. Instrumental.
(33:27):
Instrumental Soundscape. Wow, that is.
Another one, and this is in between the two sides, so just
imagine we were waiting for. You put you play the record
vertically. What do you mean in between the
two sides like you play it? Do you Remember Me today?
And I had the cassette you had. Oh, actually, you didn't have
cassette. What?
What are you talking about? Yeah, no, you would turn a
(33:48):
cassette over. Yes, but you don't have so you
play it vertically how you put it in the sideways.
So what are you talking about inbetween?
The 2A and side B you idiot, yousaid but.
You just said in between the twosides.
Yeah, in between the two sides, so.
Is it a Turkey sandwich? What do we what do we need to be
in between two sides? I don't you are.
What do you? How do you?
(34:08):
What do you I? I still don't understand how do
you play it? There's a side A and a side B,
and so it was a song at the end of side A before you went into
side B, in between side A, and it was like it was the
transition song. Side 8.5 or what?
The end of Side A. All right, I'm writing.
(34:30):
All right. 4th of July I got. To write my down my feelings
because I'm here we. Go 4th of July AU 2.
(34:53):
So you talk about in between side A&B.
So remember back, whatever episode it was, probably towards
the beginning, we were talking about a song, I think it was a
Mötley Crüe song. That I threw out the window.
You were talking about a time when you were driving down the
highway. Yes.
(35:13):
You ejected the tape and threw it out the window.
Do you remember this? Yep, that is what.
God bless the children of the beast.
That's why I threw it out the window if you don't know.
That is how I feel about the 4thof July.
If this song came on in between side A&B, eject out the window
it goes all. Right, let me let me read
(35:34):
something to you and then you tell me if you this is going to
change anything. Oh God.
All right. Brian Eno secretly recorded Edge
while he was just noodling around, playing around, or
whatever. You know where that word comes
from? Noodling.
Yeah. No.
It comes from Paul Shaffer from the Late Show Band.
(35:54):
OK, and he would noodle. He would, he came up with that
term noodling for when they're just kind of, oh, that sketch
doesn't work on Saturday Night Live, or they just, you know,
well, they're just waiting anyway.
He was just. They did that and then they took
it and he wanted him, like us again, to experiment.
And he, you know, is kind of, it's like ambient music, Like if
(36:16):
you're having a hard time sleeping, you can listen to his.
Stuff. And so this was it.
You got that right. But you know, again, these are
not. Several of these obviously are
singles and they did well. That was never going to be that.
No, it's just they're trying to be creative his own.
So then imagine, OK, now you theother, you're going to B side
(36:38):
and then this next song is goingto pop.
Oh well, no, give us your grade.I'd have to stop the car and go
run back and pick up the shot that I just threw out the window
and hope it didn't get run over by a semi truck.
Just remember I just gave you the the background of that song.
That might help a little bit. It does with the lore.
We're still going to go C minus.OK, that I can see that brought
(37:00):
it up from that, brought it up from AD.
That would have been the first Dthat we've given out at least.
They're not talking about red dirt on the flip.
Flops. No, all I can say I do, I can't
appreciate the the creativity ofwhat's his name, Eno.
Brian Eno. Like Emu.
What's his name? Brian Eno.
Brian Eno. Yeah, and there's another guy
(37:21):
too, David Lanoy were the 2 producers.
Lenoie well, Mr. Lanoy and Mr. Emu, I can appreciate their
creativity in recording, you know, the edge while he's just,
you know, messing around. That's kind of fun.
That's kind of fun. All right, C minus.
That's the lowest grade you've ever given Logan.
(37:43):
That for a grade? Well, that but your story helped
it be AD instead of not helped it not be AD.
I'm sorry. That's that's where you go to
the bathroom. OK?
You know, you sit there listening to it with your
friends and you're like, OK, I'mgonna go to the bathroom.
Well, and how many minutes? We wouldn't have, we wouldn't
even made it. It would have been out the
window. So we didn't even need, we
(38:04):
didn't need to get there. The next one though, is a 6 / 6
minutes song. Yeah, called Bad.
Is this the inspiration for Michael?
Jackson, I'm sure it was and this is the one that they took
the library recording and released it from live 8.
But oh, this is not live but. Oh, they took it.
They. Took a live version and
(38:25):
recorded. It all right, let's take a
listen to Bad here by U2, then just a couple more songs here on
the vinyl curriculum. That's a good bounce back from
(38:56):
is that what we call it like a rebound?
This is like a basketball. It's the new the new side.
A new well. New side of the vinyl record is
new side of the cassette. This would have been worth going
back to get, I think, yeah, out of the car.
And if it was an 8 track, it would have been the third side.
The third. They were for some reason the
eight track had four sides, 4/4 channels.
(39:18):
I don't know what you call them.Oh, it was very weird.
Was. It a cube?
You put the cube, Did there? Was there eight track players in
the car? Yeah.
Oh, that was different than a cassette tape, right?
Yeah, they were 8 tracks were bigger.
Yeah, we've talked about this. We've talked about this, this
song. No bad.
I I think I'd go rash to give itAB plus.
(39:39):
Logan That's at least an 8 minusand I can see how the live
version of that would be appealing because first of all,
he's a showman. He goes out there and he just
running around and they did an album, double album movie called
Rattle and Hum. That's later on where we went to
(40:03):
movie theaters and watched it and it was some live, some like
almost like videos or whatever then they did.
It was a like in they were in Rio doing a concert and they
filmed it like in 3D and they had thing, you know, cameras
(40:25):
flying around and it was so coolseeing them because I never, I
had never seen them. So you're in a movie theater.
It was loud and it was really cool.
Have you seen them since then? No, I've never seen YouTube.
I've never seen like a stadium concert ever.
And I don't think I want to likego into Soldier Field to see if
I don't think I'd want that. Cause like what Nico case, I was
(40:47):
so far back and it's like I don't, I want to be there and
I'm not going to get tickets up front that close.
I'd rather go, you know, get kitchen when they're early.
So when it's not so big or something.
I just don't think I'd like that.
I'd probably go to the sphere. Because it's so big.
Louis Juliet mall parking lot. Yeah, that's right.
(41:10):
I don't know, I. Don't want to get him on the way
down. I want to get the way up.
I feel like that though, is an experience in itself, just to
experience that whole show, because again, and that's
probably why I like it, is because then it's just because
it's hard to understand what's happening, you know, unless you
know the song, it's hard to likeunderstand the words.
(41:31):
So it's just about the experience of the music itself,
you know, and hearing the sounds, seeing the sounds live.
Right. But I would rather go to the
salt shed where I'm standing 25 feet from the stage then in the
rafters. Like I did see like Peter
Gabriel in the United Center andit's huge.
(41:52):
And we had pretty good seats. We were, we weren't on the
floor. We were up, you know, but then
he had he was in one of those Hampshire balls, you know, those
big zorb balls, whatever, running around like he cause and
he had like this thing and he was running around singing.
It was. But Peter Gabriel is very you
know who he is? Yeah yeah.
(42:14):
He started off with Genesis as the drummer but and singer, but
he just very unique in his videos, like Sledgehammer were
always they would always win awards 'cause they were so
creative and he was you know, sohis concert was same way like
very visual and and it wasn't bad because it was I didn't and
they had screens so I could see up close like so you.
(42:37):
Can see their mouths to make sure they're you can understand
what words they're saying. No, so they're not lip syncing.
I, I want, I don't want anybody lip syncing Janet Jackson lip
sync some of her sounds. And it kind of ticked me off, to
be honest. I think, I don't think there's a
bad seat like if in the United Senate, there's not really a bad
seat in the House. You.
Know there he is. I mean, it's some of them are
(42:58):
better than others, but like you, it's not you're not that
far away. And I guess I've, I've seen, I
saw Rodger Waters and I sat on the floor in the third row.
And so obviously that was great seats.
But I saw Post Malone there too.And we were like up in the 300
level, you know, and the opposite corner and it was
still. But even that's different from
(43:19):
Soldier Field, is what I'm telling you.
I don't know if I'd go to. A field I saw Kenny Chesney and
you know, we were up in the 400 level, like way up high.
We had I didn't even I couldn't even sit in the chair because my
knees were so close to the chairin front of us and it was I
mean, it was still a great show.I mean, he, they, that was a
(43:40):
time where if we're, you know, on one side, one side of the
field, the stage was all the wayon the other side and still the
great show. And I love Kitty Chesney.
Yeah, I do. So they were with, he was with
Dan and Shay. So it was great.
You know Dan know them as much? Yeah, I know of them, but I
don't know. But he was the opener.
He wasn't an opener. Dan and Shay were the opener.
(44:01):
Yeah, yeah, correct. Yeah.
And actually the first time, butI saw Dan and Shay was we had
Tinley and we were sitting in the grass and it was Dan and
Shay and Morgan Wallin opened upfor Florida Georgia Line.
But anyway, I digress. Indian summer sky is the.
Next song. Indian Summer Sky is the next
(44:23):
song that we're going to take a listen to.
Oh, by the way, the live versionof that got #19 this one a bad a
bad. This one came to 30.
All right, so let's just take a listen, I think here in the
vinyl curriculum. Indian summer sky.
(44:53):
It's another remember a long time ago we were listening to
songs and I said that sounds like a song that would be in a
FIFA video game. Yeah, and I knew not what you
were talking. About that kind of sounds like
that that one, though, again, one of the harder ones on the
album more a lot more drums, a harder guitar.
But we did it. We both mentioned it right at
(45:15):
the start. Was it with the with the pick?
I guess is what has got to be making that noise on the guitar,
but I like it. I think it's another B plus for
sure. I didn't even venture to say an
A minus. I think we will.
A -, I. Was going to say you didn't eat
breakfast, but I. Did I?
Actually, I made the point of eating a a large sandwich before
(45:38):
we started. Know how you get with without
the submarine sandwich. But yeah, Indian summer sky.
I, I, you know, I liked it. I vibe with that.
And that is the typical U2 sound.
It is you can like, you can listen to like I can play you a
song now from three albums later.
And you will say that you do because they just, they do.
It is, but again, it was on the harder like if we're, you know,
(46:01):
ranking on a line, whatever kindof chart that's called, can't
think of what it's called, like a yeah, that was closer to the
that was closer to the Hard Rockside of the aisle, if you know
what I mean. The one thing I I would say
about U2 though, is Bono is Bono.
(46:23):
He sounds like Bono. The guitar always sounds the
same, but I don't feel like it'sall repetitive.
They do enough to mix it. I mean, some of them are a
little similar, but they do enough to mix things up that I
don't feel like I'm hearing this.
Like it's like too much, too much repetition.
Yeah. That's why I always like
Fleetwood Mac or the Eagles, because you have different
(46:46):
songwriters, you have different singers, and so it always mixes
the albums up. When you're dealing with someone
like R.E.M. or Bono with U2 is only one singer, it could be
very easy to start sounding the same.
But I think both of those, they're about the same time.
Both of them did a nice enough job mixing things up.
(47:08):
I agree. This one, this next one got just
two more songs, Elvis Presley and America.
Now this. Most of these vocals were just
improvised. How does that work?
They just. They just went with the flow,
just. Went with the flow.
To have that much musical talentis honestly disturbing and.
(47:32):
It was. It was an experimental detour
that divided fans and critics alike.
Wow. So let's see what you think.
All right, Elvis Presley and America on the Vinyl curriculum.
(48:00):
What's going on there? I don't know, that's what I'm
saying. I'd have to look up the lyrics
and I think he was, might have been making stuff.
And it's funny when you don't know and you're just singing.
So I'm sure I was singing along something that because I, I, I
like it. I don't know what it's about.
It's just AI like it because I've I'm so familiar with it,
(48:23):
you know, and it's hard for me to know even what was a song, a
release, and what was just on the album because I, I didn't
listen to the radio as much backthen as I listened to my record
collection or my cassettes. Yeah, I this one has a different
sound still with the U2 under the U2 umbrella, but it's again
(48:45):
different on a different sectionof that chart from soft rock to
Hard Rock. I think it's it's a little bit
further towards Hard Rock than some of the other ones like Hit
the Angelic guitars like sound that we heard in some of the
(49:05):
first ones like Pride in the Name of Love isn't really there,
but it's still very creative guitar playing.
Yep. So I think I'd give that AB
plus. Wow, that's a shocker.
Sound AB Plus yeah, see, sometimes, you know, songs just
speak to me, I guess, Jim, once in a while.
(49:26):
And again, I I have to go back to last week, I kind of in your
team when it comes to like I, I don't, I'm singing lyrics.
I don't really know what I'm singing so obviously either at
this point in my life, which was21 probably.
(49:47):
What is this? No. 84. 19/19/20 I didn't care
about lyrics back then. Maybe I'd maybe as I've matured
I've started caring more about lyrics.
I don't know. Well, I can under, I can respect
it either way. You know, I could see you.
(50:08):
It's it's just interesting to examine that relationship that
different people have with musicand how people can hear
different things from different from the same song.
And Ben was saying, like I said,Ben is early 30s, went to school
like in music production, and he's a bass player in Nashville.
(50:29):
He says he doesn't listen to thelyrics.
He's listening to the musicalityof it.
And he's listening to, like, thebass or the whatever.
That's his first thing. And then, yeah, the lyrics are
there, but that's not the first thing he's listening.
And I say, I don't think the lyrics are the first thing I'm
listening to unless it's a slow song.
If it's a slow song, then I am listening to the lyrics because
(50:50):
I think I can understand them. Yeah, the lyrics accompany the
rest of the song. Yeah.
So this is MLK. The last one is the lullaby and
it's kind of like a closing, youknow, the first one, you know,
we started in the Name of Love and start talking about Martin
Luther King. By the way, in In the Name of
(51:12):
Love, he says early morning, April 4th.
That's when he was shot. He was actually shot in the
afternoon. So that was they were they got
some. Controversy.
Yes, scandal, but MLK is is justlike again, this is not going to
be a A record by any means, it'sjust a way to close out the
album. All right, let's take a listen,
MLK. First thing I said while we were
(51:47):
listening to this song was it's this one's got to be impressive
in person, like in a live setting to see just like this,
we hear that low tone echoing throughout the stadium.
And everybody's quiet, you know,everybody's been screaming and
(52:07):
yelling and all that quiet. So yeah.
So thinking, just thinking aboutit that way, I mean, that's
that's the first thought that comes to my head when hearing
that. And I feel like I kind of want
to see that, you know what I mean?
Like it leaves you with a good taste in your mouth after you're
done listening to this album. But I also think that helps the
(52:30):
grade for this song, just the visualizing that listening
experience. So I think we'll go B plus for
that there. Was definitely some shockers on
this one. I thought you would be going to
town on some of the although youdid get AC minus.
This hurts. And by the way, the fact that
(52:51):
4th of July, are you not a patriot?
What's going on here? Are you not an American?
How would you get a 4th of July AC minus?
Yeah, I know. I'm sorry.
It just wasn't. Good, so here's what you did.
Look B plus AB minus BC plus C -, B + A -, B + B plus.
(53:11):
What do you think of this rock album Unforgettable Fire I.
Don't know if I I overall, I think in terms of like an
overall grade, I think a fair grade would be AB right in the
(53:32):
middle because we had some good songs by the name of Love, you
know, Indian Summer Sky, Even the last two I liked, but just
some of those, like, I mean, we're I guess we're riding the
wave like you said in the middlethere.
We had a couple stinkers though,and you know, that just kind of
(53:52):
puts a bad taste in your mouth. I'm telling you right now
though, of all the albums and C DS I've ever owned, and it's a
bunch, I don't know if I've everif I loved every song on any
album, it'd be hard. It'd be hard to like even like
(54:13):
Thriller that most of them were hits.
There were that might have been one day.
That might have been one day. They weren't bad.
I think Madonna's first album. I don't think there are any bad
songs and. There.
Were some slower ones so there are some and I'm just saying it
would be hard especially that isnot the goal of this album.
Obviously I'm sure they wanted to to be lucrative and have, but
(54:37):
you know, they they tour and then you make more money a lot
of times touring, but that's notthe goal.
So obviously this Brian Eno encouraged them to just do
things different that they had never done before.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
That's how you find new sounds. That's how you know, like you
said, if Brian May is working ona guitar and experimenting Flash
(54:58):
Gordon. And then the net, which was
terrible by the way, but and then the next album, The Joshua
Tree was one of my favorites. So this was like a build into
that. I like Flash Gordon.
The soundtrack. I had the soundtrack though,
because I love Queen so much andit was terrible.
Yeah, it was a bunch of synthesizer like, And then he'd
(55:22):
be Flash. He said.
Every one of us. Yeah, it was just very weird.
Maybe watch a review Flash Gordon by Queen.
OK, well, you have to give me a grade and then we need to talk
about next. Week, you know, I'll give you
(55:43):
I'll give you AB Logan. I think AB is fair, OK.
I think I think only one of themwas out of, you know, grossly
misgraded. But I'm I'm more of a patriot
than you are. So you had mentioned next week,
Yes. And episode 20, the season
finale, and you asked me what? What are the guidelines?
(56:07):
We need, well, you. Last time you told me there
weren't similar enough, but there was no guidelines given.
You're a teacher who poorly explains the assignment and then
says why didn't you do what I wanted me to do when your
instructions were just one sentence long?
If I had the only teacher that has ever done that, no.
No, that was speaking from experience.
(56:28):
So believe me when I tell you that is the most frustrating
thing as a student. Yeah, So here's my thought,
Logan, You do you whatever you want to do.
However, I would suggest I what it's You do something and you'll
get the consequence. That's all it is.
You do something crappy, you're gonna get a bed.
(56:49):
But my suggestion is have a theme and not just songs I like,
country songs I like or pop songs I like, or songs that
remind me of my fiance or. What?
I know you would never do that because you have no emotion.
But but I think, as you said, analbum takes you on a ride.
(57:11):
And not all of them are winners.And some of them are different
than others, and some of them are slower than others.
And some of them are country songs and some of them are pop
songs. And you're going to learn to
like it your cake and eat it too.
I never did that with you. I never did that of the the 18
that we have now done. I never just did a potpourri of
anything. There was a theme of now some of
(57:35):
them were like collaborations. So yes, they were like 1 was the
OR covers, 1 was bluegrass, but at least the tie in was they
were covers. So if you could just come up
with what was going to have to happen, though, you're going to
have to use your brain and you have to think about it and
you're used to just half ass listening to it while you're
(57:55):
driving to the hockey thing to do something else and
threatening to anyway. I think I'm going to be mine.
I think I'm going to be mine. Too late, you already circled it
in red pen. I think it will be.
I, I encourage you. I think you will do fine, Logan.
(58:15):
I think you will do a nice job. Filling out songs.
OK, well. Is there a particular album that
you just love that you want to do?
No. Taylor Swift's what?
I don't even know what her name.I just don't Folklore I would
do. I could do folklore.
I could do that whole album and I would.
I loved it and I could talk about it.
(58:36):
But that's. The only my probably, I'd say my
two favorite albums, and I'm sure we'll talk about this more
next week, are from ones from a movie and ones from the musical
where I've listened to straight through the first album I ever
bought and listened to pull through before I had Apple
Music. And before where you actually
had to get each individual song or buy the album as a whole was
(59:00):
the soundtrack from the Blues Brothers.
And so that has a pretty eclectic variety of music.
And then the other one was Hamilton, but that was obviously
a little bit more recently. And both of those were kind of
musicals. So I don't know, we'll decide.
(59:21):
Be sure to keep up with us on social media, on Instagram and
Facebook. That's where we're going to find
out where the what theme is for next week for episode #20 the
final episode of season #1 we also welcome and encourage any
sort of feedback. Even if you're being mean to me,
that's OK. I have.
(59:41):
Thick skin encouraged. Nicole told me the other day
that what did she say? Or I, I have a large head and so
I have a large head and so only certain brands of extra large
hats put on to my extra large cranium.
And I had told Nicole that it was because my brain is so
large, but she said that it was actually just because I have a
(01:00:03):
thick skull. So oh, that's a good.
One, I can take whatever feedback is given, so please
feel free to submit it. Jim likes to read it gives him a
good laugh. Sometimes he strikes me as a tad
unhappy. Sometimes and sometimes if I if
I find better words, I use the other words for the review and
(01:00:26):
make it even better. Yes, So thanks for listening to
another great episode, Jim. As always, it's been a pleasure
and we will catch you all on thenext one.
Bye.
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