Purely because it made me chuckle - no aspersions cast on Lord Vader's persuasion...
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Gay Messiahs (a bishcast)!
The 'Spill
Home to the Readers Recommend Community, since 2007
Purely because it made me chuckle - no aspersions cast on Lord Vader's persuasion...
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Hey Bish!!!! I love your voice!!!! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
It is wonderful!!!!
hi ya – bish
a bishcast – what fun..
part 1:
can’t say I’m a fan at all of Andy Bell’s vocals and that’s a shame because Vince Clarke’s songwriting and keyboards were an 80′s idiosyncrasy – much arguing with my dad ensued about the merits of music made with synthesisers -we get ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ continuously when our football team scores- I find the normality of Depeche Modes breakthrough hit so strange after the controversy such tunes caused in the 80′s – I can still hear my old mans voice saying it’s not real music if there’s no guitars and drums.
That’s a pretty Morrissey track.
I kind of like Boy George’s attitude more than a lot of songs – the musical backing is quite some mixture of influences.
PSB’s are ace.
part 2:
Magnetic Fields can twist a lyric to perfection – was it ‘all my little words’ written just to incorporate ‘all the tea in china’ into a song – an then what a beautiful song to create. ✍
ahhh ℜufus – he is a shy retiring type (!!!) – sometimes in detriment to the performance – but you wouldn’t want him any other way… was taken to see him for a birthday present one year (really not sure if it was for the Pleasure of the Ms. more than me) it was stunning though.
..and having a baby with laughing Lenny’s daughter! these showbiz people are nuts.
I’m glad you are way past your teenage troubles…
good merging (there’s a better word, but the mind has gone blank) into the “gay church folk music” as Joel has described the Hidden Cameras – I love their music and he was very nice to me in Hamburg, as I’ve said before.
part 3:
this is about the optimum length for ‘spillcasts you haven’t outstayed your welcome in the slightest – very interesting and powerful choices – good to listen to the tracks in context of someone else’s emotions –
♥❖ ♥ ♥☂ ♥ ♥✴ ♥ ☀♥ ♥☃ ♥ ♥ ♥✸ ♥ ♥☠ ♥ cheers ☠❦
Aw, thanks guys. Possibly all a bit too ‘personal’ for the ‘Spill. Birthdays (and music) do that to me. Thanks for listening.
It’s not too personal at all – I like it when a ‘spiller identifies where they come from – it makes their music choices so much more interesting.. I wouldn’t have chosen to listen to Erasure or Boy George or REM normally – but in context it means so much more.
I found I really enjoyed nightswimming.. boy G made me think of Sinead O’Conner because of the backing styles and I still don’t get Mr.Bells voice…but like this it gives you a chance to re-evaluate sticking points you have about bands or singers and I love doing that..
I think it was the run up to my birthday that last caused me to get intense on RR.. so you bloody well enjoy the aftermath of the event – and June is the best month for Birthdays – no doubt about it.
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Well bishbosh, you’re the bomb! It was lovely to hear your voice and for you to introduce your song choices and your rationale for doing so. This is the best post EVER.
Loved the 80s selections. I love all that stuff. You aced it.
Your second set was great, loved the Rufus Wainwright best of all. The last two are obviously echoes of past painful memories which are hopefully dragons you have slain.
The Tooting Broadway breakup anthem and the next were good, but I preferred Billy McKenzie (who I’ve just been listening to on Spotify) and of course lovely, lovely REM.
Thank you so much for sharing and in such a personal way.
Hugsx
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Aw, thanks SR! It felt a little self-indulgent putting it all together… but that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it! x
I love a good Spill podcast! Any chance of boxing it so I can take it on my commute Bish?
Panthersan
Hey Panther! Boxed for your, er, delectation. Have reduced it down into the three constituent sections with the blurbs at the beginning (unlike here where I left the tracks separate in case anyone wanted to download individual songs). Hope it all works OK. Apologies for the puh-puh-puh-plosive consonant sounds in my bits, particularly section 2 – think I was a little too close to the mike! Live and learn, live and learn…
Cheers Bish, it’s safely ensconced in the iPod and am mightily looking forward to listening tomorrow morning
Great to hear your voice BB! I do love a ‘Spillcast- especially one on a theme! Am listening now, hopefully I’ll manage a good part of it before being interrupted by teeny-weenies!
I managed 7 minutes before children (not all mine) appeared demanding to play Lego Clone Wars on the xbox….bah!
I WANT TO PLAY LEGO CLONE WARS! And to continue the Star Wars theme, has everyone seen this? I can’t stop watching. Utterly delightful.
I love Erasure, me, and that’s one of my favourites.
Ditto REM and Night Swimming.
Liked the Rufus Wainwright too (although I was hoping for “Oh What A World).
Nice set and I enjoy the biographical detail – it’s nice to hear the songs in a context. Not just “here’s a few of my favourites”.
Incidentally, that’s exactly what I do when confronted by a microphone. Once I’ve remembered to switch it on.
Probably because I’m a typically insensitive bloke (gets macho credentials in early!), I hadn’t realised that you’re gay, bish…
I didn’t like any of the songs in part one but it’s mainly down to the eighties sound, rather than the fey voices. I’m sorry but I can’t stand the melodrama that seems to go with a lot of gay songs – but I find the synths even harder to bear.
The personal background underpinning part two I can only wonder at in horror (and relief that I didn’t have to fight for my right to be myself, as you obviously had to). Organised religion’s sustained attack on anyone ‘other’ is despicable, destructive and perverse. I’m glad your Dad has (by implication) modified his views. I liked the music in this part, except for Rufus who, I’m afraid, is just one small step away from the dreadful Kika in my head.
I really liked The Magnetic Fields’ track in part three – and the others were quite OK, too.
Much in the way that I hate Dick Emery (who was a significant part of my education about homosexuality when I was young) and Little Britain, overt campness is something I detest, much in the same way that I find macho-man and sweetpinkgirliness unpalatable. If the idea of a song can be conveyed without resorting to caricature, I’m much more likely to give it my attention. But then again, I didn’t have to battle against the situation you did growing up, so you have a perfect right to love Erasure!
Thanks for doing this, bish. Its great to get some clues as to why people like what they do. I apologise if any of my words cause offence (the Rufus/Kika comparison, for example. I know Rufus is extremely talented……).
No offence taken of course, Chris – thanks for your honesty. I’m not massively into thrusting my sexuality in people’s faces, which is perhaps why you hadn’t cottoned on. But neither do I want to hide it (and thus give the impression of being ashamed of who – through no choice of my own – I am). It’s a fine balance – and one that most people don’t have to worry about. Not that I’m wishing to moan – it’s just that, after 20-odd years out of the closet, one gets bored of having to ‘come out’ to each new person one meets!
I appreciate that, bish. There’s no need to be ashamed of who you are, obviously, nor any reason why you should have to explain yourself. I tend to keep my deadheadism fairly quiet in ‘normal’ life (it’s completely different, I know, but I have received very dismissive reactions on occasion, which I then have to decide whether or not to rise to).
Hi Bish
Great podcast. One of the best in my opinion, not so much for the music as for the story behind it and for your explaining what the songs mean to you.
Thank you very much for this.
Thanks maki. Very weird listening back to myself – not that I have done it a huge amount (that would be enormously narcissistic!), but enough to check that I haven’t been utterly incoherent. Reminds me that I have an identical twin brother (oh yes) and that I’m used to hearing ‘my’ voice coming from him! Bizarre when I know that ‘other person’ speaking is me.
Loved the separate mp3s for voice & music. Would actually go further, next time & work in more intros (those of us with bad short term memory can forget what you said about song 3 by the time it comes along). Until one of us is clever enough to live mix some music, think this is the perfect format for podcasts. Tip: You can also save the voice files as podcasts in i-Tunes if you want.
“Gay” would be an interesting RR theme. There are the Elton’s who ignore the issue completely, those who tackle it badly & those who do it well. Am of a similar age, so would usually prefer a bit of simple synth over complicated guitar noodling. Big fan of Billy, as you know, & welcomed the reminder of KOD, who did some great stuff in the short time they were around.
Would recommend looking into Chris Garneau, Patrick Wolf & Final Fantasy, if not yet familiar.
Good stuff.
Hey Shoey. I think there was a Homosexuality topic in RR – way before my time though. As I recall, Kitchens OD were in there with “Breathing Fear”. Seems an awful lot of life experience to narrow down into one topic – somehow puts being gay on a par with, eg, ‘bicycles’ (no offence to cyclists!) – but not sure how one could revisit the topic in any other way. So that’s probably that.
Am familiar with Mr Wolf (listening to the newie a fair bit right now – great to hear him happy but think I prefer him angst-ridden!) but don’t know Chris Garneau or Final Fantasy – thanks for the tip. Will check them out.
bish
Final Fantasy’s real name is Owen Pallett and that’s what he is now using. I think Final Fantasy was too difficult as a Google search. I love his stuff.
Really looking forward to listening to this Bish! Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow, …
(I could probably post a million starwars themed youTube videos…) Ah, here’s one…
Great podcast, Bish!
I must confess, I don’t always have time to listen to these, but I made a special effort today on acount of that mystical bond between your record collection and mine. (It helps that the kids are at school, and hubby is back at work for the first time in ages!)
I think I’d picked up that you might be gay, from a few chance comments you made here and on RR. Not that it matters one way or another, of course.
The artists in the first section are all artists that are represented in my record collection. Some of this may be seepage from your collection, of course, Bish, but it’s all good stuff. I always was especially fond of the Pet Shop Boys in particular.
The other two sections are equally great, but are generally less familar, with the notable exceptions of McAlmont and Butler (Yes! I love that track – so incredibly positive and beautiful. Haven’t listened to that album in a while…) and R.E.M. (a band my husband and I have agreed to disagree on; I don’t think that they “rock” enough for him). Of the new stuff, I especially liked the John Grant and Kitchens of Distinction.
Great Spillcast bishbosh – good turn of phrase evident (“kamikaze queers”!). The music you chose may be informed by a gay perspective, but these artists cross over easily because they write good songs. As a teenager I had no idea that Morrissey was gay partly due to the themes of alienation and non-conformity being universal in their appeal. On the subject of Erasure, myself and a mate went to see Sinead O’Connor playing a free festival at the South Bank in London. We mistakenly assumed that she would be headlining so left it ’til the last minute to exit the pub. When we got there we were greeted by Andy Bell resplendent in a pair of boots and lederhosen (and nowt else) cavorting around the stage, which made us giggle!
Oh, and belated birthday greetings.
Thanks Zalamanda and mmoloney. Nicked ‘kamikaze queer’ off George – good though, innit. I didn’t identify Morrissey as one of the gays back in the day either (he didn’t really want us to, did he?) – I just knew he sang of feelings that made sense to me. But then, so do lots of straight artists – I just lumped these lot together as fitting an easy first spillcast theme!
God, I really must get on with some work…
thoroughly enjoyed that Bish, indie points for not picking the big hits of the more famous artists.
As Shoey said, a bit more of your voice with a few more intros and meanderings would be more than welcome next time.
Is Morrissey officially gay yet?
Thanks panth! Kind of tried to keep ‘me’ to a minimum. Next time you won’t be able to shut me up…
I think Moz is these days. Not that it matters one way or another. Half the fun (and genius) of him is that he keeps us guessing.
Goodness, I really must stop replying to every comment – looks like I’m trying to bump up the numbers to make my post look popular or something. But everyone’s being so damn kind…
..and now – if you don’t reply – someones feelings are going to get hurt.
Quite. You see, I just can’t let it lie…
“Goodness, I really must stop replying to every comment…”
It’s almost irrestistible if its your own post, moreso if its a fairly personal one, Bish. Can’t say I blame you…
Thanks for this bishbosh – I downloaded to my Walkman, which I hardly ever do, and it brightened up the Victoria line nicely.
I like Erasure, but didn’t know this one – can see how those lyrics might strike a chord. That Moz line about “you love one person, so why can’t you love two?” (I may be paraphrasing) is a great one. Boy George was pleasant – liked the fiddle – and the Pet Shop Boys was new to me too (must listen to more PSBs…)
Magnetic Fields and Rufus are both songs I love; the John Grant was ace too (keep meaning to buy that album). I’ve noticed you mentioning the Hidden Cameras before, but haven’t listened AFAIK, so enjoyed hearing that.
KOD and M&B – that’s two very different ways to handle the end of a relationship… both fantastic. Billy McKenzie was the biggest surprise for me – I’ve always wanted to like the Associates, but find them too hectic to listen to. But this was great – as you say, an amazing voice, but here with a song that does it justice. And then one of the best songs ever to end with.
The “gay songs” theme was well handled as far as I remember, but it does seem a tad reductive. After all, you’ve got 4 or 5 of the greatest songwriters of the last 3 decades here, one of whom created the ultimate album of love songs.
In the Homosexuality theme, I got…I’m Still Your Fag by Broken Social Scene my FIRST ever listing (I think – definitely under the saneshane moniker) and it’s in the B list – my favourite – A lists are for the clever kids.
now, it’s impossible to say I’ve got a soft spot for it, with out it coming across all wrong.
Thanks for your lovely feedback, barbryn. Vicky Line, you say? Are we local? (I’m the Brixton end.) I agree on Billy Mackenzie. Barring the major singles (Party Fears Two, etc), I never quite managed to love The Associates either. But his (sadly posthumous) solo stuff is lovely. The Beyond The Sun album is a work of genius.
I remember being tempted to buy Beyond The Sun on the strength of the reviews alone. Vox gave it 10/10 I think.
Nah, I’m not local, but have to come to London for work occasionally – Victoria’s my terminus.
I loved that! I love your voice, I loved the music. I’m with those who said I’d like to have more of your voice and your stories to go with the music. The music was all quite moving. I don’t know if it’s because it’s in the context of this podcast, but there’s something about the songs being so tied in to emotion and identity that made them extra weepifying. I really like the Billy McKenzie. (Well, I liked many many of them, but that’s the one that most recently struck a chord, as it were. It’s taken me several installments to listen to this!) And Nightswimming was the perfect way to end it.
It’s sort of beautiful that this was quite personal, and on a specific topic, but the music speaks to so many people. Who doesn’t feel that Morrissey understands what they’re going through? Well, maybe Sarah Palin wouldn’t. But you know what I mean.
More BIshcasts!!!
Thanks steen – really glad you enjoyed. I thought you might particularly like the Billy Mackenzie – the Nina Simone connection and that!
Yeah, I themed the songs together kind of arbitrarily. Certainly one’s identification with and appreciation of these songs/artists isn’t remotely dependent on sexuality – as of course is the case with straight artists!
As usual, I’m way late. Just got through Pt. 1 – was that Morrissey the most absolutely beautiful song? And the Boy George was a beauty too. Kind of surprised not to see any Trashcans…
Many thanks Bish, gorgeous tunes.