Our musical time machine on episode number 31 saw us land back in the summer of 1991. Specifically, one month before the release of Nirvana's masterpiece 'Nevermind', another pivotal grunge record was propelled into the world for the first time - the raucous, energetic, powerful, anthemic, yet often moving and highly emotional 'Ten' by Pearl Jam. Rick and Kate are joined by good friend Simon to discuss the debut album from the Seattle five piece, how the band were formed, the meaning behind some of the tracks, plus there is an attempt to answer the question, which is the better album, 'Ten' or 'Nevermind'? Our 'Top 3' picks are albums with numbers in the title - not as easy as you'd imagine, but we come up with a credible selection including records from the fantastic Ian Prowse, our regular featured artist Marc Almond, former episode stars Blur, and the wonderful Dolly Parton. Singles of the Week Kate: 'When Did We Get So Normal?' by Spector: https://youtu.be/jcm6ec_rIrE?si=2w8kgpNax5L59-La Rick: 'Bath County' by Wednesday: https://youtu.be/3G1QmweBiVQ?si=5JwYd7SIG80x9TgN Simon: 'Ten Years Asleep' by Kingmaker: https://youtu.be/yCf7WRvvzMw?si=JuKx4ysAA3SLkKb_ Please help our little indie podcast and help us to grow our audience of like-minded music fans by subscribing on your listening platform of choice, sharing links with your friends and family, and by taking a minute to leave us a review/rating on Spotify, and/or Apple Podcasts. On the socials, please follow us, or like us on Twitter or Facebook. We try and respond to every comment we receive and appreciate anyone who engages with any of our posts. Twitter @Memorabiliapod (https://twitter.com/Memorabiliapod) Facebook @MemorabiliaPodcast (https://www.facebook.com/Memorabilia-Podcast-102585322133793 Thanks and best wishes, Rick, Kate & Simon x

Happy 30th birthday to 'The Last Splash' released on August 30th 1993! To celebrate we have dedicated our 30th episode (did you see what we did there?!) to the album which was the second release from the Dayton, Ohio, quartet, led by principal singer songwriter, and former member of The Pixies, Kim Deal. We take a look at the formation and evolution of the group from their beginnings in 1989 to the present day, including other LP releases, line-up changes, gigs, and an appraisal of 'The Last Splash', their most successful album to date. We talk about our favourite songs, and single releases from the record, and its critical reception and sales. Lead single 'Cannonball' was the catalyst for the success of the record, but what is the song about (it's fair to say it's open to some debate), and who is the Marquis De Sade, and what's his connection to the track? As ever, there's a review of the UK single and album charts from the week of release, and if the previous episode contained arguably the best chart we've covered from August 1983, then this could well be the worst! There's songs from Billy Joel, Mariah Carey, UB40 and a glut of drum-machine based releases from 2 Unlimited, Apache Indian, SWV, Urban Cookie Collective, Bitty McLean, Culture Beat, and even Freddie Mercury. The album chart was a little more palatable and we also whiz through the UK box office, news, and TV for August '93, before concluding the episode with our Top 3's. It's a good one this week as we look at our favourite acts containing siblings. There's lots to go at, but did we select any of your favourites? Let us know! Kate's Single of the week: 'Creep' by Radiohead, released 22nd September 1992 https://youtu.be/XFkzRNyygfk?si=1axqNkRaOMecogf_ Rick's single of the week: 'Venus as a boy', by Bjork, released 23rd August 1993 (happy belated 30th!!) https://youtu.be/7Z5aPaDwAkU?si=SQ2TZAzb5m8nlnJ_ We would really appreciate it if you could support our indie podcast and help us to grow our audience by subscribing to the podcast on your listening platform of choice, sharing links with your friends and family, and by taking a minute to leave us rating us on Spotify, and/or Apple Podcasts, even if it's to give us a star rating without any text. For social media, please follow us, or like us on Twitter/Facebook, or leave us a comment or engage with any of our posts. Twitter @Memorabiliapod (https://twitter.com/Memorabiliapod) Facebook @MemorabiliaPodcast (https://www.facebook.com/Memorabilia-Podcast-102585322133793 Thanks and best wishes, Rick & Kate x

During the height of his fame with Soft Cell, Marc Almond had a side project. An outlet for the less polished pop side of his persona. Dark, passionate, intense, diverse, and riveting. And that was just the musicians that were part of the collective known as Marc and the Mambas. As we publish this podcast episode in mid-August 2023, it's precisely 40 years since Marc and the Mambas released their 2nd LP 'Torment and Toreros'. We celebrate by looking at the key personnel involved, the recording process they went through, and the songs that were released on this 90 minute long double album. You'll hear about the real life torment that emerged after the release of the record and Marc's extreme reaction to less than favourable reviews. For balance, there's comments from the fans that adore the album and what it still means to them 40 years on, Kate included. From the same week of release, we enjoy a bumper hit of nostalgia. It was a great top 10 UK singles chart to wax lyrical about, featuring 80's gold from Depeche Mode, Wham, Spandau Ballet, Elton John, Paul Young, and The Style Council. The movies on at the box office were equally impressive, including some huge blockbusters and critically acclaimed films starring the likes of Michael Caine, Jennifer Beals, Harrison Ford, Roger Moore, Christopher Reeve, Julie Walters, and Matthew Broderick. The heat makes the headlines during the summer of 1983 in the UK, along with a new registration plate format for vehicles, and Kate gets rather excited about a couple of shows that aired for the first time in the UK on ITV. Our Top 3 picks this week, are our favourite double albums of all time. Spoiler alert, all Kate's are from the same artist. I wonder who that could be!? Singles of the week: Kate goes for the modern classic from Sheffield's Reverend & The Makers - 'A letter To My 21 Year old self': https://youtu.be/8IQJTCrDI5Q Rick sticks with 1983 and the pop gem from Aztec Camera that is 'Oblivious': https://youtu.be/2B2Sc2G_5ZA For those on Facebook, here's a link to a post we published in the private 'Marc Almond' group with some great comments about the record: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4258153798?multi_permalinks=10161469921478799 Two recent podcasts featuring Anni Hogan: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5RJuwSD4NZjuxb7TOZ05fz?si=rBhS5rPxRgu11khgisWd1Q https://open.spotify.com/episode/4kh3V42TjQBp3XlyaWAeVq?si=QWb-fyltSLaAR5aZ4EVKdA Please support our indie podcast by subscribing on your listening platform of choice, sharing with your friends and family, rating us on Spotify, and/or Apple Podcasts, following, liking, or commenting on our social media channels, OR you can make Memorabilia podcast history and be the first non-family member to send us an email - a mention on a future episode is guaranteed (yes, we're still waiting on this one!!!) Email ⁠[email protected]⁠ Twitter @Memorabiliapod (https://twitter.com/Memorabiliapod) Facebook @MemorabiliaPodcast (https://www.facebook.com/Memorabilia-Podcast-102585322133793 Thank you for listening and for your interest, Rick & Kate x p.s. the claim made at the start of the episode about us keeping the running time to 60 minutes moving forward, was clearly a blatant lie!

Nirvana's Nevermind brought about a seismic shift in the musical landscape on release in September 1991. From the music, the attitude, and the fashion surrounding the grunge era, things would never be the same again. We discuss it all, along with the lead up to the record, the recording and production, the reaction on release, as well as taking a deep dive into the songs that made this one of the best selling albums of all time. Will our ratings match its popularity? With so much to talk about and a new voice joining us on the podcast - our dear friend Simon - we forego our normal comprehensive round-up of what was happening in the UK around the time of release, for a much truncacted look at the album and singles charts, featuring Jason Donovan, Paul Young, Dire Straits, Gun N' Roses, Rozalla, and Bryan Adams. A massive thanks to EVERYONE who replied to our thread on the Reddit Nirvana sub-forum about the album. We read a number of the brilliant comments out during the podcast, but you can view them in full here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nirvana/comments/14np5k9/nevermind_was_this_an_album_that_changed_your_life/ Our Top 3's for this episode feature songs with the slacker mentatlity. Songs that say 'I don't give a sh*t' and stick their middle finger up to the world. Shout-out to the fantastic 'Now That's What I call Bullsh*t' podcast which Kate and I recorded an episode for this week. It should be published by the end of July. We chose 'Now That's What I call Music 14' from 1989 to chat about. Massive thanks to hosts Kathryn and Dan Donnelly for having us. You can find what the show's all about and find all their episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1756768 Dan Donnelly of course appeared on a previous episode of our podcast talking about his fantastic record 'Country & Northern' from 2011: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/memorabilia-podcast/episodes/Dan-Donnelly---Country--Northern---2011---Ep-23-e1oobvp/a-a8kq51q Dan's brilliant single 'I don't Care' which is one of Rick's 'Top 3's' picks: https://youtu.be/Ok44tNJEvgE Kate's Single of the week: Summer by Mumm-ra https://youtu.be/CB6h3irXRSU Simon's single of the week: Keep on lying by Costellos: https://youtu.be/s2J0rTDUyfE Rick's Single of the week: Postpone The Revolution by The Chesterfields: https://youtu.be/OIXlkGUkdJo Please support our wee space on the world wide web by subscribing to our podcast, and sharing with your friends and family, rating us on Spotify, and/or Apple Podcasts, following, liking, or commenting on social media, OR you can make Memorabilia podcast history and be the first non-family member to send us an email - a mention on a future episode is guaranteed!!! Email [email protected] Twitter @Memorabiliapod (https://twitter.com/Memorabiliapod) Facebook @MemorabiliaPodcast (https://www.facebook.com/Memorabilia-Podcast-102585322133793) Thank you for listening and interest, Rick & Kate x

A favourite album of Kate's receives the Memorabilia Podcast scrutiny this week as we focus our attention on the intense, brooding, magnificence that is 'Murder Ballads' by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds from 1996. Their 9th studio album release, notable for its dark subject matter and cameo appearances from PJ Harvey, Kylie Monogue, and Shane McGowan, was met with widespread critical acclaim upon its release. Benefitting from the substantial airplay received for lead single 'Where The Wild Roses Grow', the record remains the bands most commercial succesful release to date. Discover the story behind the songs, how the album came to be, and what Rick and Kate thought of the album, each scoring it out of 10. Can it trouble the top ranked 5 LP's covered so far? The UK singles and album charts reviewed are from the 5th of February 1996 with the usual mix of the good, the bad and the ugly. Rick declared the top 4 albums as the best covered to date and argued strongly that it wasn't just because he owned all 4! In the news we heard about divorce, the splitting up of the most successful British band of the 1990s (no tears were shed from our presenters), Jarvis Cocker's infamous escapades at The Brit Awards, and channel tunnel challenges. The UK box office including a film that wasn't based on George Orwells Animal Farm (although it did star a pig), a David Fincher classic and another top 10 where Kate hadn't seen a single movie! Or Top 3's this week include songs by Ian Prowse, Tom Jones, Rage Against The Machine, Eminem, Johnny Cash and Aerosmith. Find out what subject links them all together (bit of a clue in the subject of this episode's featured album!). Singles of the Week Rick's: One of Us by Joan Osborne from 1996: https://youtu.be/aDdOnl0bHO4 Kate's: Greenhands by Sundara Karma from 2019: https://youtu.be/9Xkrbt1dQso Other songs / performances mentioned on episode: Where The Wild Roses Grow by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds featuring Kylie Minogue: https://youtu.be/lDpnjE1LUvE Stagger Lee, and Henry Lee performed by Nick Cave and The Badseeds and PJ Harvey on The White Room 1996: https://youtu.be/OOLW_EvpWTc Jubilee Street performed by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds live in Copenhagen: https://youtu.be/kf_zVzvYWuw Satellite by The Hooters from 1987: https://youtu.be/RVXjBMK3EkI Jarvis Cocker interrupts Michael Jackson at The Brits: https://youtu.be/ymCQyq-9APw It would be loevly if you could support us in helping grow our podcast audience by subscribing, and sharing with your friends and family, rating us on Apple Podcasts or your platform of choice, follow, liking, or commenting on our social media, or by shocking us by landing in our email inbox and making that swell bigger than our junk!! email ⁠[email protected]⁠ Twitter @Memorabiliapod (https://twitter.com/Memorabiliapod) Facebook @MemorabiliaPodcast (https://www.facebook.com/Memorabilia-Podcast-102585322133793)

Blur's Modern Life is Rubbish. A cracking album to celebrate episode 25 for us and the 30th anniversary of it's release on Food records in the UK on the 10th of May 1993. Unthinkable given what came afterwards that Blur were in a bit of a pickle ahead of the release of this record. We discover why they were in serious debt, in threat of being dropped by the record company, and what were the songs that made the difference allowing the album to survive and thrive. We talk about the influence of producer Stephen Street, Blur's evolving sound and image, chart performance, critial reception, and provide a track by track analysis. As ever, to set the scene, we cover the UK news, TV, movies, singles and album charts from the date of reslease with the usual eclectic mix of one hit wonders, established artists and breakthrough acts including the likes of Kingmaker, Snow, R.E.M, Whitney Houston, Utah Saints, Janet Jackson, New Order, Sting, World Party, Duran Duran, Clannad, Terrence Trent D'Arby, George Michael, and Cliff Richard. Our Top 3's this week are things that are rubbish about modern life. Please forgive Rick's football related rant - he was in a fragile state of mind following Sheffield Wednesday's capitulation in their recent play-off semi-final first leg at Peterborough. Singles of the week. Rick has gone for the beuatiful, heartfelt and wonderful song that is 'Fat Black Heart', a 1993 release by Ian Prowse's Pele: https://youtu.be/_Vv7ovOnJEM Kate has gone for a recent catchy release by the band Bloxx called 'Television Promises': https://youtu.be/_Vv7ovOnJEM It would be loevly if you could support us in helping grow our podcast audience by subscribing, and sharing with your friends and family, rating us on Apple Podcasts or your platform of choice, follow, liking, or commenting on our social media, or by shocking us by landing in our email inbox and making that swell bigger than our junk!! email ⁠[email protected]⁠ Twitter @Memorabiliapod (https://twitter.com/Memorabiliapod) Facebook @MemorabiliaPodcast (https://www.facebook.com/Memorabilia-Podcast-102585322133793)

It's Autumn 1992 and R.E.M. are suddenly one of the biggest bands on the planet, riding the crest of a wave after the global success of their seventh studio LP - The wonderful 'Out of Time.' How do you follow that and create an album that: a) sounds radically different to anything you've produced before, is b) critically lauded and, c) every bit as successful commercially as its predeccessor? The answer is that you come up with 'Automatic For The People' - an astonishing record that has stood the test of time and given joy to millions of people in all four corners of the world, as well as saving lives through the incredible words and music within. We talk about how the record was formulated, the writing and recording process, how they came up with the name, and artwork, as well as disecting every track musically and lyrically. Find out what we thought of the record, although there's a big clue in the fact that revisiting it some 30 years on lead us to ask the question, does it have the best 3 closing tracks of any LP ever made? Also, what would the album score out of 20 and could it dislodge The Cure from the coveted Memorabilia rating chart, currently at No.1 with a score of 18.5 for the 1989 masterpiece, Disintegration. Our regular features, are all in attendance, with October 1992 getting the memorablia podcast treatment in terms of looking at the UK single and album charts, what was playing at the cinema, airing on our TV screens and happening in the news. We discovered a bit of a disparity between what was in the top twenty in terms of singles and albums featuring artists such as Neds Atomic Dustbin, Stereo MC's, Manic Street Preachers, Prince, Lionel Richie, The Shamen, EMF, Mike Oldfield, Extreme, and Crowded House. For our Top 3's this week, we went with the top 3 songs about sleep or dreaming. R.E.M. had to feature in one of those Top 3's, but listen in to find out which song and who chose it for their list! Links from this week's episode: Ian Prowse tour dates: https://amsterdam-music.com/live/ Single of the Week (chosen by Rick's Mum) - Nuts, by George Melly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrL1YM3bqUo We would really appreciate your support in helping us grow our podcast audience by subscribing, and sharing with your friends and family, rating us on Apple Podcasts or your platform of choice, follow, liking, or commenting on our social media, or by shocking us by landing in our email inbox and making that swell bigger than our junk!! email [email protected] Twitter @Memorabiliapod (https://twitter.com/Memorabiliapod) Facebook @MemorabiliaPodcast (https://www.facebook.com/Memorabilia-Podcast-102585322133793)

It's the end of March in the last year of the millenium and Marc Almond releases his tenth studio album 'Open All Night'. There's duets with Kelli Ali (Sneaker Pimps) and Siouxsie Sioux (of 'Siouxsie and the Banshees' fame), a dark undercurrent that weaves through the album, a regular backdrop of electronic beats and trip hop and some painful and bared soul lyrics. But, is it any good? How will our resident Marc Almond fan rate the LP and how will her score compare to Rick who'd never heard the album before? Tune in to find out! Before we point the microspcope at the album itself, we time-travel back to March 1999 when Rick and Kate were in the fledgling stages of their relationship, and enjoy reviewing the top 10 singles and albums. There's a definite absence of quality in the mix, but you can't deny there's some catchy tunes and a lot of fun. For once, we've also seen a good chunk of the movies that were in the top 10 at the UK box office at that time. Whether we could remember what they were all about is another matter entirely!  For our 'Top 3's' this week, a bit of fun, as we each choose our top 3 Marc/Mark/Marcus/Marco derivatives - some interesting selections is one way of describing it!  There's a review of the recent gig we attended at The Fulford Arms in York to see the magnicient Ruth Lyon, and we settle on REM's classic album from 1992 as our next LP to cover. 'Automatic For The People' is the record in question and we're very much looking forward to getting our teeth stuck in to that one! Kate's record of the week: M5 by Sports Team - https://youtu.be/_f07M3WH8EU  Rick's Record of the week: Fast Food by Ruth Lyon: https://youtu.be/3YKIhsVSBow  Please show your support for the podcast and help more people discover us by subscribing on your podcast platform of choice, sharing with your friends and family, following, liking, or commenting on our social media, or you can make Memorabilia podcast history and be the first non-family member to send us an email - a mention on a future episode is guaranteed! Email [email protected] You can give us a star rating on Apple Podcasts and/or leave us a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/memorabilia-podcast/id1574340220  Twitter @Memorabiliapod (https://twitter.com/Memorabiliapod) Facebook @MemorabiliaPodcast (https://www.facebook.com/Memorabilia-Podcast-102585322133793) Thanks for tuning in and listenting - we genuinely appreciate anyone taking the time to tune in, share and interact. Cheers, Rick & Kate

A bumper episode for season 2, episode 2 with special guest, current Leveller and all round brilliant human being, the very talented Dan Donelly. As well as focusing on his terrific 2011 album 'Country & Northern', and hearing about the genesis of each song, we have some fun discussions about why drinking pints of Guinness in a music video isn't a great idea, and possibly being the last vanguards of 'the album'. There's also serious chat about depression and suicide, and why Dan feels this record is his 'Blood on the Tracks'. Oh, and we have actual music! There's a taster of each of the songs on the album, which is a good thing as I'm reliably informed that the record isn't on Spotify. However, if you've a spare thirty odd quid, then you can buy the CD on Amazon or eBay. It'll be money very well spent in our humble opinion.  The UK singles and albums charts from May 2011 come under serious scrunity - well as much as we could muster for the singles as we only knew about 3 of the songs between us! As for the albums, Cee Lo Green, Rhianna, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Wombats and Adele all feature. There's much love for Dave Grohl, but not so much for Bruno Mars and Jessie J.  We're delighted that Ian Prowse features heavily in the episode, as Dan tells us about the song from Ian's latest album 'One Hand On The Starry Plough' written about him, aptly entitled, 'Dan'. It's a song that 'Louder than War' commented on their album review: "Dan again sees Prowse deliver a character-led narrative, this time over a sea-shanty song that puts me in mind of The Decemberists, which from me is high praise indeed." Dan Donnelly himself recounts his first hand experience of hearing Ian playing the song live at a recent gig in Sunderland, at the venue that Dan co-owns with Futurehead Barry Hyde.  We finish the episode with each of us picking an Ian Prowse 'Top 3' - a far from easy task with such an extensive back catalogue of brilliant and eclectic music spanning over thirty years. None of us choose his Magnus Opus 'Does This Train Stop On Merseyside' deciding that was a given, but there's some very emotional and personal choices amongst our picks.  Thanks Dan!  You can listen to more of Dan along with wife Kathryn on the quite brilliant 'Now That's What I call Bullshit' podcast here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1756768 Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NowThatsWhatI18 and Dan himself: https://twitter.com/dandinnerlady  Or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nowthatswhatIcallBS and https://www.facebook.com/dansonovagun Watch Dan's video for the song 'Running' on YouTube: https://youtu.be/luDmoz_xl9U And more recent release and my song of the week 'Time of Our Lives': https://youtu.be/J9HWYXl8UC8 Kate's Song of The Week is by 'The 1975' entitled 'I'm In Love With You': https://youtu.be/UVzVUDXoi0Y One of the 9 wonderful Ian Prowse songs from our Top 3's: https://youtu.be/Qf2QNDZpeTw    Please support our tiny corner of the internet by subscribing, and sharing with your friends and family, rating us on Apple Podcasts, following, liking, or commenting on social media, or you can make Memorabilia podcast history and be the first non-family member to send us an email - a mention on a future episode is guaranteed! Email [email protected] Twitter @Memorabiliapod (https://twitter.com/Memorabiliapod) Facebook @MemorabiliaPodcast (https://www.facebook.com/Memorabilia-Podcast-102585322133793)

We are delighted to be back with a sublime album from the late 90's to kick-off Season 2! North Carolinan trio, Ben Folds Five, released their second LP on the 18th of March 1997 with much trepidation after a challenging time recording the album, trying to perfect the sound and document 'an event' by shunning the recording studio in favour of Ben's dilapidated house in Chapel Hill. If you've listened to any of our episodes during season one, you'll know we'll cover the origins of the band, each song in turn (both musically and lyrically) and finish by each giving a rating for the record out of 10. You'll discover how an auction bidding war that Kate was involved in is linked to the album opening track... Before we get stuck in to all things BFF, we look back at 1997. What was in the UK album and single charts at this time, what were we watching at the movies and on the telly, and what was happening in the news? It was a time of political change in the UK, and musically, we were on the downward curve of Britpop, with boy-bands and girl-bands very prominent and dominating the higher reaches of the singles chart in particular. We talk about Bush, Dodgy, Cake, Kula Shaker, Gina G, Sash!, No Doubt, Wet Wet Wet, The Spice Girls, Blur, Mansun, Aqua, Chumbawumba, and Oasis amongst others. It was also the age of the 'hidden track' and we remember some heart stopping moments in discovering this new phenomena. In the movies, we recall the likes of Bound, Fierce Creatures, Ransom, Jerry Maguire and one of Kate's favourites, Mars Attacks! On the TV, we discuss Sunset Beach, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the launch of Channel 5 (featuring the Spice Girls of course) and The Teletubbies. Halcyon days!  We have a new feature for Season 2 - 'Top 3's'. As we're named after a Marc Almond song, much to Kate's consternation, we started with our Top 3 Marc Almond / Soft Cell songs. She said it would have been easier choosing a favourite child!! Let us know yours... No surprise that this features: https://youtu.be/XZVpR3Pk-r8 Here's one of Kate's picks: https://youtu.be/0wIhbmC5_KA Kate's Song of the week - Clarity, Vance Joy: https://youtu.be/7RREsx9lnNI Rick's Song of the week - 6 Underground, Sneaker Pimps: https://youtu.be/2eBZqmL8ehg  Please support the podcast by subscribing, and sharing with your friends and family, rating us on Apple Podcasts, follow, liking, or commenting on our social media, or you can make us very happy and send us an email: email [email protected] Twitter @Memorabiliapod (https://twitter.com/Memorabiliapod) Facebook @MemorabiliaPodcast (https://www.facebook.com/Memorabilia-Podcast-102585322133793) Cheers!