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In Conversation With Billy Vera (Part 2)

Release Date: 07/29/2024

End of Summer Special 2025 (Part 2) – The Alarm & Duran Duran

Permanent Record Podcast

Episode 190: End of Summer Special 2025 (Part 2) – The Alarm & Duran Duran Brian and Sarah are back and ready to continue their discussion of a couple of ‘summery’ songs, as the summer draws closer to an end in the Northern Hemisphere. (For those in the Southern Hemisphere, maybe think of this as a summer preview!) As in the previous episode, the first song selection comes from Sarah. She chose the 1987 single “Rain in the Summertime” by The Alarm. This song was released in advance of The Alarm’s third studio album “Eye of the Hurricane,” which Sarah explains was a...

End of Summer Special 2025 (Part 1) - The Power Station & Bananarama

Permanent Record Podcast

Episode 189: End of Summer Special 2025 (Part 1) - The Power Station & Bananarama In the United States, the Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end of summer. Brian and Sarah just aren’t ready to say goodbye to summer yet, so over the holiday weekend, they recorded a couple of episodes featuring songs that invoke the feeling of summer. Each episode in this mini-series will feature one song chosen by Brian and one chosen by Sarah. The first song up for discussion is the only one without the word “Summer” in the title. However, there’s no question that it makes you think of...

Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell (1981) Part 5 (Featuring Will Crewdson)

Permanent Record Podcast

Episode 188: Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (1981) Part 5 (Featuring Will Crewdson) With this fifth installment, Brian and Sarah wrap up their discussion of Depeche Mode’s debut album. Our hosts have been covering the US version of Speak & Spell, so there’s only one more song on that release to be discussed. Fortunately, they always do an Extra Credit section at the end of an album, so the song that’s missing from the US version will get some attention then. The last track on Depeche Mode’s 1981 release is a little ditty called “Just Can’t Get Enough.” The US...

Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell (1981) Part 4

Permanent Record Podcast

Episode 187: Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (1981) Part 4 Brian & Sarah are back for a Martin Gore-focused look at "Speak and Spell" as they shine a spotlight on the three middle songs on side 2 of Depeche Mode's 1981 debut. Up till now, this has been the Vince Clarke show; however, with these three tunes, we get the first song written by Martin, the first of many Martin instrumentals, and the first lead vocal by Martin! And to believe that we recorded this one on Vince's birthday!! Along the way, talk turns to a pair of old movies, a ranking of Depeche Mode...

Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell (1981) Part 3

Permanent Record Podcast

Episode 186: Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (1981) Part 3 In this episode, Brian and Sarah resume their look back at Depeche Mode’s debut album. As a reminder, they’re using the US track listing as they talk about the album, but for the songs contained in this episode, the track listing is the same on both sides of the pond. The next songs up for discussion aren’t singles, but that doesn’t stop our hosts from finding plenty of things to talk about. Here are just a few examples: • Sarah’s phrase ‘Erasure gallop’ is changed to ‘Vince Clarke gallop’...

Bonus Episode: Colours of Ever - Live at Stone Turtle House Concerts (June 5, 2025)

Permanent Record Podcast

Bonus Episode: Colours of Ever - Live at Stone Turtle House Concerts (June 5, 2025) In our last episode, we mentioned that Brian and his life-long friend Jason would be opening for Vicki Peterson (The Bangles) and John Cowsill (The Cowsills/Beach Boys/Smithereens) at Stone Turtle House Concerts in Bucks County, PA. The two Rock/Pop legends (Vicki and John, not Brian and Jason!) are currently supporting their fantastic new album, "Long After the Fire", and seeing them in an intimate venue like Stone Turtle is a true pleasure! So it all happened on June 5th, 2025, and because so many of...

April 2025 Concert Report (Kylie Minogue, Alison Moyet) and State of the Podcast

Permanent Record Podcast

Episode 185: April 2025 Concert Report (Kylie Minogue, Alison Moyet) and State of the Podcast Where have Brian and Sarah been these last few weeks? Well, for one thing, they’ve been to several concerts! They started and ended the month of April by attending amazing performances given by a couple of musical icons—Kylie Minogue and Alison Moyet! The Kylie Minogue show on April 8 was the first time Brian and Sarah had seen the Australian diva in concert, and not surprisingly, she did not disappoint! Our hosts spend the first part of the episode recounting their experience at the...

Concert Report: Richard Blade/ABC/Howard Jones (2025)

Permanent Record Podcast

Episode 184: Concert Report: Richard Blade/ABC/Howard Jones (2025) With support from legendary KROQ/1st Wave DJ Richard Blade, 80's New Wave icons Howard Jones and ABC just finished an incredible string of U.S. live dates, and your intrepid hosts were there for the penultimate show of the tour! Brian and Sarah take you back in time exactly one week as they relive the excitement of the 2/28/25 show at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA. And they are joined by friend of the show Mike Kilczewski, the creative mind behind Philadelphia's 80's band Dorian Gräe and current project Syd...

The NewlyPod Game

Permanent Record Podcast

Episode 183: The NewlyPod Game (featuring Brian, Sarah, Alex, Andy, Brad, Eric, and Jon) On Saturday, February 8th, podcast hosts from all over the United States met outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to shop for records, eat pancakes, and see Jim Babjak of The Smithereens live with bassist Graham Maby. It was truly an amazing night of music, and it was also a truly amazing group of podcasters, assembled for this once-in-a-lifetime event! Brian and Sarah of the Permanent Record Podcast, Eric Miller of Stone Turtle House Concerts and the Pods & Sods Network, Brad Page...

Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell (1981) - Part 2

Permanent Record Podcast

Episode 182: Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (1981) Part 2 Brian and Sarah's look back at Depeche Mode's debut album, 1981's Speak & Spell, continues in this episode. As you may recall, they're using the US track listing for the album, so the next songs up for discussion are "Dreaming of Me" and "Boys Say Go!" "Dreaming of Me" was the debut single for the band, and although to Sarah's dismay, there's no Smash Hits review, our hosts were able to find other reviews from back in the day to share in this episode. Additionally, Brian shares information from a...

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Episode 174: In Conversation With Billy Vera (Part 2)

Our conversation with author/actor/musician Billy Vera concludes with an episode that touches on so many different aspects of this great man's career.

Billy started his professional career as a songwriter, but soon moved to a higher-profile gig as part of the duo Billy Vera and Judy Clay. After a successful album called "Storybook Children", Billy kicked off a solo career that has spanned decades, starting with 1968's "With Pen in Hand" up to the recent "Timeless" album, released in 2019.

In the mid-1980s, Billy had a number one hit with "At this Moment". In this interview, we discuss in detail his first number one hit, "I Really Got the Feeling", which Dolly Parton took to the top of the charts in 1979.

We also talk about Billy's time on both the small screen and the big screen, including an episode on Brian's favorite TV Drama, "Wiseguy."

Other topics that we cover in this second episode:

· Compiling his hit album "By Request" for Rhino Records
· Appearing on 80's Era TV and meeting Dick Clark
· His appearances on and relationship with Johnny Carson
· His star on Hollywood Boulevard and Angie Dickinson
· Working on "Wiseguy" with Stephen J Cannell
· Starting in acting
· Pitching an original TV idea to Cannell
· "Ronnie's Song" and working mob joints in NYC
· Life and love in NYC at 18
· Old Money vs New Money
· Dolly Parton
· "Timeless" and "Live at Vitello's"
· The only "real" job he ever worked
· Reissuing artists like Duke Ellington and Count Basie
· Meeting and working with Fats Domino and other Doo Wop acts
· Board of Directors of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation
· Steaming music and today's DIY reality
· Music Publishing
· The story behind the Drifters' hit "Save the Last Dance for Me"
· The job of a songwriter
· Voice-over career
· King of Queens
· Meeting and working with David Hasselhoff
· Rip It Up: The Specialty Records Story

Thanks to Billy for spending so much time with us and for sharing so many wonderful stories about this career!

You can learn more about Billy's story, his books, and his music at https://billyvera.com/

Follow him on Facebook for the latest info on his gigs and his weekly radio show: https://www.facebook.com/TheRealBillyVera

Treat yourself to music and books by Billy here: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=billy+vera&crid=31CGZ21181YET&sprefix=billy+vera%2Caps%2C102&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

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