Sending Signals

Chris Difford is having a very busy year. There’s a new Squeeze album in the works, they are supporting Heart on their forthcoming arena tour, and there’s also the matter of an enormous UK tour in hour of Squeeze’s 50th anniversary. Chris also hosts the podcast “I Never Thought It Would Happen” which is currently on Season 4. Seems like a good time to have a chat, right?

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Listen up! Andy McCluskey is the frontman of Merseyside electronic legends Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark or OMD as they’re often known.

OMD was formed in 1978 out of the ashes of another band The ID, to which I have a little family connection, which you’ll hear about in the episode.

Their 1980 song Ebola Gay earned them widespread popularity throughout Europe, and their 1981 album “Architecture and Morality” which would sell over 4 million copies and spawn hit singles like “Souvenir” and “Maid of New Orleans”.

Their follow-up album “Dazzle Ships” has just turned 40 years old, and it’s history is somewhat complicated. The album embraced sound collage and shortwave radio recordings. It’s an album about technology and the Cold War. It sold just a fraction of it’s predecessor, but it seems to have enjoyed a reappraisal over the years. It was possibly just ahead of it’s time, and maybe it subverted expectations too. We get into it in the interview.

After OMD fell apart Andy masterminded 90’s pop sensations Atomic Kitten, becoming a principal songwriter alongside former OMD band mate Stuart Kershaw. Andy’s profession relationship with band dissolved around their second album, but it strikes me as a somewhat surprising career path, and I was interested to hear Andy’s thoughts on that too.

OMD reformed in 2006 and are a continuing concern. Their last album, the well-received “The Punishment of Luxury” came out in 2017, and Andy updates me with progress on the follow-up in our interview.

Enjoy!

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Hey folks. Here’s something to brighten your January I hope! I’m really excited to share this episode, the first of Series 3. Dan Wilson is the frontman of Semisonic (“Closing Time”, “Secret Smile”) but he’s also a brilliant songwriting collaborator. He’s worked with on some songs you may know by Adele (“Someone Like You”), Taylor Swift (“Treacherous”), and Dixie Chicks (“Not Ready To Make Nice”) amongst many others.

Dan is genuinely one of my favourite guests I’ve had on the show. He was so engaged, and had a lot to say about being an artist, and was so generous with his time. We really had a fun time recording this. I hope you enjoy it.

Dan was also kind enough to share a demo of a Semisonic song! So stay tuned to hear that at the very end of the episode.

As if that wasn’t enough, my other guest is KT Tunstall. She’s about to release an expanded reissue of her second album “Drastic Fantastic” and talks very candidly about the difficult experience she had making the record. Funnily enough, she’s also worked with Dan Wilson, so it was a great chance to hear the perspective of one of Dan’s collaborators.

As I mention in the show, my debut solo album “Meet You By The Photobooth” is out on January 15th 2020, under my name Matt Royal. I would be honoured if you’d check it out. It will be on all the major streaming platforms.

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Attention! The following personnel are assigned to Sending Signals; John Lodge of The Moody Blues, and actor Jamie Farr, best known for playing Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger on M*A*S*H.

John Lodge joined The Moodies in 1966 as the band’s bassist, as well as sharing in vocal and songwriting contributions. We had a great conversation about lockdown, his new single, the future of the Moodies, and the making of their classic album “To Our Children’s Children’s Children”.

Jamie Farr has led a fascinating life. He appeared in legendary rock n roll flick “Blackboard Jungle” in 1955 before being drafted and sent to Japan and Korea. He made appearances in the likes of The Dick Van Dyke Show, and the Doris Day movie “With Six You Get Eggroll” and then in October 1972 he was hired for day’s work which would change his life.

I was intrigued to know what it’s like to be somewhat externally defined by a show you worked on for 11 years. He was 85 at the time of our conversation, meaning he’s spent 74 years of his life NOT in M*A*S*H, but Jamie seems incredibly upbeat and grateful for his life, and he was lovely company. I hope you enjoy our chat.

Let me know what you think;

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Bill Oakley, along with his best friend and writing partner Josh Weinstein, wrote various episodes of The Simpsons during it’s glory days including “Marge Gets A Job”, “Bart vs Australia”, and the legendary 2-part season-straddling “Who Shot Mr Burns”, and they were appointed executive producers and showrunners for the 7th and 8th seasons of the show, where they continued to push the envelope of what the show could be, bowing out while the show was still on a high.

One of Bill’s greatest claims to fame is having written the “Steamed Hams” scene from the 1996 episode “22 Short Films About Springfield”.

The scene has taken on a life of its own with various memes and recontextualizing videos springing up on the internet.

Bill and Josh also created the short lived Mission Hill, and were consulting producers on Futurama. Bill has also worked on shows like Portlandia and The Cleveland Show.

In 2018 Bill started to produce short Instagram videos of himself reviewing fast food items from American outlets. These videos have become a serious concern for Oakley, and he created the annual Steamie Awards, in reference to the steamed hams sketch of course.

If you’re a big Simpsons fan I hope you get something out of this, but if you’re more of a casual viewer I hope you’ll find it interesting to learn how a show like this gets made.

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