Happy New Year everyone, and welcome to the 24th (and what we think may be the liveliest-ever) episode of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast — a.k.a. the podcast in which music journalists/obsessives Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond. And on this episode, we do indeed clash… though we also connect, as well!

We thought we’d change things up a bit this time. Whereas we usually focus on a single band or artist from the UK or USA for each episode, this episode finds us widening the scope to take on the topic of live albums — officially released and otherwise.

So for this episode of CROSSED CHANNELS, we dig into a deep discussion of some of our favorite live albums — and not just our “desert island” selections, but the live albums that introduced us to the concept in the first place, concert recordings that enriched our appreciation of certain bands, bootlegs that we religiously listened to during our teens, and live albums we wish we could have been present for the recording of.

We also get into some of the worst live albums ever recorded by some of our favorite artists, all-time favorite concerts we’ve attended, and amazing shows we’ve witnessed that really should have been recorded for posterity. Place your bets now on how many times Tony mentions The Who in this episode, or how long it takes for Dan to bring up The Kinks…

As always, this CROSSED CHANNELS episode is only available in full to paid subscribers of Jagged Time Lapse and/or Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith, though a short preview of the episode is available above for all to listen to. To hear this complete episode, along with all of our previous complete CROSSED CHANNELS episodes, just sign up for a paid subscription to one of our Substacks — or, better yet, sign up for both of them!

Welcome to the 23rd episode of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast — a.k.a. the podcast in which music journalists/obsessives Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond.

This episode was inspired by Tony’s recent five-part exploration on his Substack about how Buzzcocks invented pop-punk in 1978 with an incredible run of singles — and how his early-teen self reacted to each new one (and its B-side) as it was released. Dan, on the other hand, discovered the band like most American Buzzcocks fans did back then: via Singles Going Steady, a compilation released in September 1979 by IRS Records, which was the first Buzzcocks record to come out in the US. Side One of the album presented the band’s first eight A-Sides in chronological order, with their first eight B-sides arranged similarly on Side Two.

We talk about Shelley’s knack for writing about romance from a gender-neutral perspective, the production genius of Martin Rushent, the underrated brilliance of the band’s guitar arrangements, how Steve Diggle was the “Dave Davies” of the band, and our favorite B-sides from that original batch of groundbreaking Buzzcocks singles.

As always, this full CROSSED CHANNELS episode is only available to paid subscribers of Jagged Time Lapse and/or Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith, though a short preview of the episode is available above for all to listen to. To hear this episode in full, along with all of our previous CROSSED CHANNELS episodes, just sign up for a paid subscription to one of our Substacks — or, better yet, sign up for both of them!

Theme music: "Put It Down" by The Dear Boys. https://thedearboys.bandcamp.com/album/put-it-down

Welcome to the 22nd episode of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast — a.k.a. the podcast in which music journalists/obsessives Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond.

This time out, we dig into a big bowl of Raspberries, the legendary American power pop band of the early 1970s. Formed in Cleveland, Ohio from the ashes of popular local groups The Choir and Cyrus Erie, the Raspberries were fronted by guitarist/pianist Eric Carmen, and also featured lead guitarist Wally Bryson, bassist Dave Smalley and drummer Jim Bonfanti.

Between 1972 and 1974, the Raspberries enjoyed four Top 40 Billboard hits (including 1972’s “Go All The Way,” which went, er, all the way up to #5) and their riffy, hook-filled, arena-rocking brand of power pop would go on to influence several generations of pop-minded musicians — some of whom can be heard testifying to the importance of the band’s legacy on Play On: A Raspberries Tribute, the new 2-CD set released by Think Like A Key Music.

But while the Raspberries were arguably the most commercially successful American power pop band of the 1970s, and their legion of fans included John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty, they got a rough reception from US rock critics, many of whom derided their records for being too blatantly Beatles-esque. And the band, despite drawing heavily from British influences (especially The Who and Small Faces as well as the Fab Four), achieved little notice at all in the UK.

In this episode, Dan makes a case for his twelve top Raspberries songs — three from each of their four studio albums — as he and Tony break down the (mostly) British influences that inspired their creation.

As always, this full CROSSED CHANNELS episode is only available to paid subscribers of Jagged Time Lapse and/or Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith, though a short preview of the episode is available above for all to listen to. To hear this episode in full, along with all of our previous CROSSED CHANNELS episodes, just sign up for a paid subscription to one of our Substacks — or, better yet, sign up for both of them!