Afleveringen
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This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full show and lots more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
For the first time in a while Tim and Jeremy dig into their record bags for a selection of tracks they’ve been enjoying recently. We hear the strange deep tones of the Rudra Veena, contemporary virtuosic New Age noodling out of California and some Antipodean sitar funk. Elsewhere in the episode Jeremy buys his first D’n’B white label in a long while, we get a few tributes to some big names of the UK scene, and revisit the mighty WAR.
Tracklist:
Madhuvanti Pal - Bhairavi (Part 1)
Turn On the Sunlight - Floating Sunset
Glass Beams - Black Sand
War - War is Coming! War is Coming!
Yannis & The Yaw - Walk Through Fire
Vibration Black Finger - New Wave (The Hustle Bustle Song)
Ariwo - El Alacrán
Sami Galbi - Dakchi Hani
Big Bud - Cloudsurfing
Calabra - Mazzara Return
The Mighty Zaf & Linkwood - Thinking About Phlash -
In the first episode of 2025 Jeremy and Tim attempted to understand a somewhat maligned genre: Eurodisco. What is it and where did it come from? We hear about the cross-continental currents that gave rise to the form, unpack its aesthetics and spend time with some of its key proponents like the French composer and drummer Cerrone. Tim and Jeremy also take time to unpack the Switched On Classics, play us an infamous Beethoven reinvention, ask what the Enlightenment has to answer for, and compare Eurodisco and another genre that riles people up, prog rock.
Tracklist:
The SalSoul Orchestra - Magic Bird of FireThe Walter Murphy Band - A Fifth of Beethoven
Kongas - Jungle
Cerrone - Love in C Minor
Love and Kisses - I’ve Found Love (Now That I’ve Found You)
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full show and lots more, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
On this patrons episode we complete our close reading of Resistance through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain’. Jeremy and Tim take in chapters on criminality and culture, Style, and feminist analysis of girls’ culture. They refer to another seminal work ‘Policing the Crisis’, interrogate the links between class and generational consciousness, and return to the Mods, alongside Taylor Swift and Ray Davis.
Jeremy and Tim also examine the long theoretical introduction to the book - a watershed piece of writing in the development of cultural studies.
Tracklist:
Junior Murvin - Police and Thieves
The Kinks - Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
The Clash - Career Opportunities
David Cassidy - Cherish -
In this episode of Love is the Message Jeremy and Tim have packed a bag chock full of stone cold 1977 dance floor classics that share a Black Disco aesthetic. We hear a number of cuts from Tom Moulton and Walter Gibbons that can be pinpointed as some of the most important contributions to early remix culture (whilst still guaranteed to go off at a party). François K makes a fleeting appearance, alongside Boney M, Grace Jones, Miami, the SalSoul Orchestra and Henri Bergson. We close out the show with an all-timer in Lamont Dozier’s ‘Going Back to my Roots’. Enjoy this week listeners, as next time we’re taking on Euro Disco…
Due to licensing issues, we can only play short clips of the music discussed. If you’d like to listen along to the full tracks, we have an ever-expanding Spotify playlist hosting (most) of the tracks played in the show. You can find Series 6 here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZpKyqhvhOXfTuPMHCBkFs
Produced by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
CJ & Co - Devil’s Gun (Tom Moulton Mix)
Elton John - Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance) (Tom Moulton Mix)
First Choice - Dr Love (Tom Moulton Mix)
Loleatta Holloway - Hit and Run (Walter Gibbons Mix)
Rare Earth - Happy Song (François K Edit)
T-Connection - Do What You Wanna Do
Peter Brown - Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me?
Sine - Keep It Coming
Lamont Dozier - Going To My Roots -
This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full show, plus dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
We start this patrons episode with a tribute to Phil Cohen, a colleague of Jem and Tim’s at UEL and a fellow traveller to the Birmingham cultural studies writers discussed in this episode. From there we pick up where we left off in our reading of the seminal edited collection ‘Resistance Through Rituals’. Tim and Jem cover the two ethnographies of 70s drug use found in the book - weed and acid if you’re wondering - before rolling on to a disappointed essay on the Commune movement. We hear about Tim’s experience on a Kibbutz, The Farm and a funky cut from YES.
Later in the episode we examine two excellent pieces from the collection: Dick Hebdige on Reggae, Rastas and Rudis; and Ian Chambers on the Racial Politics of Rock’n’Roll.
Next time we’ll be completing our journey through the book with chapters on youth fashion, criminality and more, and taking a deep look at the weighty theoretical introduction.Produced by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
Yes - Yours is No DisgraceThe Farm Band - Loving You
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Duppy Conqueror
Big Joe Turner - Shake Rattle and Roll -
In this episode Tim and Jeremy continue the story of Frankie Knuckles first year at the controls of the seminal Chicago nightclub, the Warehouse. We hear an investigation of Frankie’s early musical aesthetic, how it would lend itself to the development of the House sound some years later, and whether stability or dynamism are better for a pumping dance floor.
Elsewhere in the episode we hear about how Robert Williams came to know Frankie and Larry Levan, the experiences the two young club kids had at the Continental Baths, the understated role of social workers in the story of dance history, and what the PMC have to do with Afrika Bambaataa.
Plus - stolen donuts, LSD in the fish tank, and Jeremy’s dreams of lamé…
Produced by Matt Huxley.
Due to licensing issues, we can only play short clips of the music discussed. If you’d like to listen along to the full tracks, we have an ever-expanding Spotify playlist hosting (most) of the tracks played in the show. You can find Series 6 here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZpKyqhvhOXfTuPMHCBkFsTracklist:
The Osmonds - One Bad Apple
The Originals - Down to Love Town
Roy Ayres - Running AwayPam Todd & Love Exchange - Let’s Get Together
First Choice - Let No Man Put Asunder
Made in USA - Melodies -
This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full episode and dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
In this patrons episode we begin a reading series on a book we mentioned in the last episode: ‘Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain’, edited by Stuart Hall and Tony Jefferson. This collection, first published in 1975, is a classic of the cultural studies reading list, but upon revisiting it for this show Jeremy and Tim found its content extremely pertinent to the project of this podcast. So, in true LITM style, why have one episode when you can have many? As such today we embark on a deep reading of the volume, starting with the first three chapters.
Jeremy and Tim give a historiography of Stuart Hall’s analytic method, tying in their own journeys through the academy, before discussing three interesting UK subcultures: Teddy Boys, Mods, and Skinheads. We hear about amphetamines, ska, racism, class, big lapels, Peaky Blinders, cut-price suits and the first teenagers in this journey through mid-century Britain. Stay tuned, much more to follow next time.Tracklist:
Bill Haley - Rock Around the Clock
The Who - The Seeker
Symarip - Skinhead Moonstomp -
This is the first of two episodes on another seminal club in the history of dance culture: The Warehouse. Jeremy and Tim begin by spending some time discussing the city of Chicago, a place that despite its massive musical output hasn’t really featured in out story so far. A crucible of industrial modernity, they consider its unique historical position, the move from Delta to Chicago Blues, and how it linked to NYC in the mid-70s. We hear about the several early locations of the club that would become The Warehouse, revisit Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan, and give a shout out to another satellite of the US disco scene, Le Jock.
Plus: singing bumblebees, Chaka Khan, and David Mancuso’s enduring love of Tescos.
Produced by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
Muddy Waters - Trouble No More
Rufus and Chaka Khan - Once You Get Started
Titanic - Rain 2000
Bumblebee Unlimited - Love Bug -
This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, and much much more, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to sign up from just £3 a month.
In this patrons episode we thought we’d begin to explore the academic discipline of Cultural Studies. Tim and Jeremy (both Cultural Studies professors themselves remember) explain the ways in which academic study of popular cultural was developing in the mid-70s, including the political motivations informing academics developing the discipline, in the wake of sociology and social anthropology. They talk about analysis of subculture, Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, Mods, Rockers, nostalgia, Cool Jazz, with a healthy dash of DH Lawrence thrown in for good measure.
In our next episode we’ll discuss in detail the seminal book Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain.
Books:
William Foote White - Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum
C. Wright Mills - The Power Elites
Raymond Williams - Culture and Society
Richard Hoggart - The Uses of Literacy
DH Lawrence - Lady’s Chatterly’s Lover
Stan Cohen - Folk Devils and Moral Panics
Paul Willis - Profane CultureTracklist:
Lennie Tristano - Crosscurrents
Ewan McColl & Peggy Seeger - The Black Velvet Band
The Who - The Kids are Alright
Buddy Holly - Not Fade Away -
We’re back from our summer break and getting straight back to business to examine what was going on in the Downtown party scene during the fabled year of 1977. We return to a favourite of the show - Nicky Siano - to hear how the Gallery wound down, check in on what’s happening back at the Loft, and unearth the very first iteration of the Paradise Garage.
Also featured in this episode: a bit more Studio 54 wash-up, the decline of the New York Record Pool, Deleuzian sobriety and more on Jem’s breakdancing.
Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.
Books:
Jonathan Mahler - Ladies and Gentlemen the Bronx is BurninTracklist:
Salsoul Orchestra ft. Loleatta Holloway - Runaway
Teddy Pendergrass - The More I Get, The More I Want
Grace Jones - I Need a Man
Sylvester - Over and Over
C.J. & Co. - We Got Our Own Thing
Evelyn "Champagne" King - Shame -
In this episode Jeremy and Tim complete our mini-series on the opening of Studio 54. They discuss links between underground and mainstream both generally and specific to 1977 NYC, consider the importance of celebrities to the Studio project, and interrogate the velvet rope. We hear about Bianca Jagger’s birthday party, spend more time thinking about Richard Long and his sound system designs, and ask who really is a native New Yorker?
We’ll be away for the summer holidays, but will be back with more music, sound systems and counterculture in September. For now, why not dig into our back archive of bonus episodes on by becoming a patron at patreon.com/LoveMessagePod
Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
Sweet Cream - I Don't Know What I'd Do
Olympic Runners - Keep It Up
Odyssey - Native New Yorker
Le Pamplemousse – Le Spank
The Trammps - The Night The Lights Went Out
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In this episode Jeremy and Tim walk us past the velvet rope and into opening night at Studio 54. They introduce us to Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, the two businessmen who owned the club, as well as to the often overlooked Carmen D’Alessio, who’s taste and art world connections were crucial to the look and feel of the party. Through these characters and more we get to learn about the founding of Studio 54.
We also hear discussions on Muzak, eclecticism, returning champion Nicky Siano, and the aesthetics of ‘smoothness’. Tim and Jeremy interrogate the surprising links between Downtown and Midtown, explore how journalists tried to understand the Studio 54 phenomenon, and contemplate whether they even like disco anymore.
Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
The Ritchie Family - Brazil
Anthony Whyte - Block Party (A Walter Gibbons Mix)
Chic - Dance Dance Dance
Santa Esmeralda - Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
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This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing and hours more exclusive conversation, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
In this patrons-only episode Jeremy dons his leather jacket to conclude our history of the early days of heavy metal. We hear about how the convergence of space rock, biker gangs, and the fantasy aesthetics of writer Michael Moorcock created an deeply abiding metal culture that would contribute massively to the second half of the Twentieth Century and beyond. Jeremy discusses the success of Warhammer, makes the case for rock opera, argues for the cultural significance of the Lord of the Rings and even has time to unpack metal masculinity, with reference to bands including Led Zeppelin, Hawkwind, Judas Priest and Deep Purple. Rock on!
Produced by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to HeavenHawkwind - Silver Machine
Blue Oyster Cult - Stairway to the Stars
Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
Thin Lizzy - Whiskey in the Jar
Kiss - Black Diamond
Judas Priest - Winter Retreat
Hawkwind - The Wizard Blew His Horn
Hawkwind - Kings of Speed
Judas Priest - The Ripper
Motorhead - Motorhead
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In this episode Jeremy and Tim discuss the economic and social setting into which Studio 54 opened in 1977. They talk about the differences between midtown and downtown scenes, the antagonism (or lack thereof) between punk and disco, subcultural theory and escapism.
How did disco become so popular so quickly? The guys explore the commercial phenomenon as it exploded after 1975, including the first Disco Convention in 1976 (with awards ceremony!), the in-crowd vs the suburbs, and an extended meditation on the history and value of gimmick records. Plus: has Jeremy done the Hustle?
Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.
Books:
Sarah Thornton - Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural CapitalAnthony Hayden-Guest - The Last Party
Thomas Delany - Times Square Red, Times Square Blue
Tracklist:
Rick Dees and his Cast of Idiots - Disco Ducks
Van McCoy - The Hustle
Carol Douglas - Midnight Love Affair
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band - Cherchez La Femme
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This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing and a whole lot more, go to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
In this patrons-episode Jeremy raises a devil’s horn salute to the gods and demons of heavy metal. He explores the etymology of the genre term, excavating its shared roots with acid rock, and explaining how heavy metal compliments our story here on LITM. With reference to Easy Rider and the misconceived ‘end of the ‘60s’, we hear about how biker culture, the legacy of the blues and changing regimes of accumulation contributed to the anguished intensity expressed in the music of Led Zeppelin, King Crimson and Iron Butterfly.
Jeremy also explores noise, feedback and distortion as the new aesthetic tools of metal, questions why people in the late 60s would want to explore occult and black magic ideas, and finishes with a deep dive on Black Sabbath, asking: was heavy metal an expression of the blues for white guys who’s dad’s worked in the car factories of Birmingham?
Join us next time for pt. 2.
Produced by Matt Huxley.
Books and Films:
Easy Rider
Robert Walser - Running with the Devil: Power, Gender and Madness in Heavy Metal MusicTracklist:
Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild
Blue Cheer - Summertime Blues
The Who - My Generation (Live 1968)
Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused
Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love
King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man
Iron Butterfly - Easy Rider (Let the Wind Pay the Way)
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Black Sabbath - War Pigs
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In the final episode of our three-parter on punk, Jeremy and Tim stick a pin through their ears and make their way down the Kings Road for the release of Anarchy in the UK. We hear about the mercurial Malcolm McLaren, Situationism, Symbolism and SEX in discussion with the Pistols project. We uncover why John Lydon knows what he hates but not what he wants, how a prime-time curse word scandalised Britain, and ask who wasn’t at the Manchester Free Trade Hall the night the Sex Pistols played.
Elsewhere in the episode we dig deeper into what constituted punk as a structure of feeling, contrasting authenticity with irony and asking: how serious really is all this? With Blondie, John Waters, Rimbaud, the Mercer Street Arts Center and Patti Smith. Never mine the bollocks, here’s Love is the Message…
Produced by Matt Huxley.Tracklist:
New York Dolls - Personality CrisisPatti Smith - Horses
Blondie - X Offender
Books:
Frith & Hall - Art into Pop -
This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing and much more besides, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod
Earlier this month UNESCO added Berlin techno to its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, a register to recoginize and safeguard important traditions, practices and expressions. This news was met with consternation from music fans over how this honour completely overlooked the birthplace of techno, Detroit. For this patrons-only episode, Jeremy and Tim react to the news by pulling out a dozen or so of their favourite Detroit techno cuts to discuss.
We hear about the ‘Belville Three’, post-Fordism, Alvin Tofler and the relationship between Chicago and Motor City. The guys dwell on the aesthetic of coldness and futurity that characterised much of the Detroit sound, folding in the Panthers, jazz and unidentified flying objects into records from Underground Resistance, Carl Craig, Drexciya and Theo Parish. Plus, we hear one of the first records Jeremy ever bought, memories of squat parties past, and a de rigour David Mancuso cameo.
Tracklist:
Model 500 - No UFOs
Rhythim Is Rhythim - It Is What It Is
R-Tyme - R-Theme
Underground Resistance - The Theory
The Martian - Star Dancer
K-Hand - Starz
Innerzone Orchestra - Eruption
Innerzone Orchestra - Bug in the Bass Bin
The Aztec Mystic - Jaguar
Drexciya - Birth Of New Life
Carl Craig & Pepe Braddock - Angola (Carl Craig Mix)
Theo Parish - Falling Up
Innerzone Orchestra - People Make the World Go 'Round -
In this episode we continue our trio of episodes on Punk by examining some crucial mid-70s proto-Punk antecedents. Via the lean funkiness of Dr Feelgood Jeremy and Tim explore the interesting British formation of pub rock, with its R’n’B roots and distinct danceability. This leads to a discussion on the slipperiness of Rock’n’Roll as a term and its tensions with ‘rock’ proper. We also hear an early influence on Post-Punk and meet the influential Stiff Records at its foundation.
In the second half of the show we make a second encounter on the show with the Ramones, and ask: what were they really up to? Authenticity, performance, historiography and hagiography all come under the microscope as we lead to the first definitively British Punk record: New Rose by The Damned.
Join us next time for Blondie and the Sex Pistols.
Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
Dr Feelgood - She Does it Right
Dr Feelgood - Keep it Outta Sight
Nick Lowe - So It Goes
The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
The Saints - (I’m) Stranded
The Damned - New Rose -
This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing and a huge number of other conversations, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
In this patrons episode Jem and Tim once again share what’s been on their turntables recently. We hear two tracks - one contemporary and one not - from the UK Asian Underground, along with a consideration of the cosmopolitan aesthetic of artists like Bally Sagoo and Nitin Sawhney. Tim reflects on trips to the WOMAD festival and digs into trip hop while Jem shares a powerful Qawwali cut. Elsewhere we hear Swedish afrobeat, extremely psychedelic roots reggae, free love, a compilation for Gaza, Messages from the Stars and more…
Tracklist:
Nitin Sawhney - Charu Keshi Rain
Nora Dean - Angie La La
Bally Sagoo - Noorie
Morelo - Promise (from ‘For Gaza’ comp by Planet Turbo Records)
The RAH Band - Messages from the Stars
Orgōne - Strike
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Shamas-Ud-Doha, Badar-Ud-Doja
Olumo Soundz - Sunday Jump
June Jazzin - Shine Your Brightest LightBooks:
Sanjay Sharma, John Hutnyk, Ashwani Sharma (Eds) - Dis-Orienting Rhythms: The Politics of the New Asian Dance Music
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Welcome to Series 6 of Love is the Message! We hope you enjoyed the series of conversations with writers and academics that comprised Series 5, but now we are returning to our usual format to examine a watershed year: 1977.
In this first episode we are unpacking Punk. What is it? A musical style, a subgenre of rock, a fashion sensibility, an attitude, a structure of feeling? In the first of three shows on Punk, Jeremy and Tim unfurl a general genealogy of the term as we build towards the release of Anarchy in the UK in two episodes’ time. They discuss where the term came from and how it was codified; the importance punk placed on realness and spontaneity; and contrast Punk’s nostalgic and avant garde modes.
Tim and Jeremy make reference to three bands not immediately thought of as Punk - The Seeds, The MC5 and The Stooges - to uncover what musical work was taking place in the late 60s and early 70s that could be viewed as proto-punk, and use these bands to show the problems of rock historiography in recounting the history of Punk. And, this being LITM, we of course spend some time untangling the Punk vs Disco dichotomy.
We hope you’ll join us as we continue our long march through the 1970s and beyond!
Become a patron at patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
The Seeds - Pushin’ Too Hard
The MC5 - Kick Out the Jams
The Stooges - Funhouse - Laat meer zien
![LITM Extra - What We're Listening To, Jan '25 [excerpt]](https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts124/v4/51/db/46/51db4672-cb7a-ccb7-974d-0eb60db8452b/mza_2947579272596794589.jpg/80x80bb.jpg)