Do you like music films? Dumb question, I guess, because if you've deliberately downloaded an episode of See Hear, you know that music films are our niche in the podcast world. For us to discover that there was a new book about the subject that drives this very podcast....well, there was much cheering and jumping for joy. Welcome to episode 121 of …

Movie music – any movie fan will acknowledge that a film score or a soundtrack can make or break how well a film works. The acting and cinematography and production values all count obviously, but imagine putting the 3 Stooges theme in place as “Mother” goes to see how Marion Crane is faring in the shower scene of Psycho. Welcome to episode 120 of …

As you know, our mission at See Hear HQ is to discuss, chew on, and pontificate (in that order) about music films. But.....what if we DIDN'T do that for a couple of episodes????? Shock horror!!! Welcome to episode 119 of See Hear Podcast. Don't panic....we're not straddling too far from our mission. This time around, instead of talking about films …

Every major city with a healthy music scene will have hometown heroes….that band or artist that the locals love and wish the whole world knew about. One of those bands is Toronto’s “The Lowest Of The Low”. Welcome to episode 118 of See Hear. The Lowest of the Low started in the early 90s as a follow up to the band punk band, Popular Front. Ron Hawk…

Did you ever read rags with headlines like “I had an alien love child” or “Psycho seagull stole dog from my garden” or “Monster rats the size of cows”? No? You're missing out on a Wild...Wild....Life. Welcome to episode 117 of See Hear Podcast. Writers Stephen Toblowsky and Beth Henley met Talking Head, David Byrne, and had a conversation about new…

We all have musicians that we wish everyone else knew about. THAT person who deserves a wider audience, but life circumstances didn't allow for it. Knowledge of that musician seems to be like the secret handshake into a special club. Nick Drake was one of those people until a TV car advertisement that used his music got more people curious....thank…

Back in 1980, I recall going to the cinema to see a new film, The Blues Brothers. Music and car chases…..what wasn’t there to love? The critics hated it because….ya know….that’s what they’re paid to do. A few years after initial release, it became THAT cult film that everyone watched – on TV, on video or at late night cinema screenings (in Melbourn…

There's a song performed by Peter Allen that seems to be more relevant than ever: Everything Old Is New Again. Film plots are recycled, songs are recycled (through covers or the same chord structures).....and the media we use to play those films and songs are back in fashion. Records have been popular again for a while, some people are rediscoverin…

Back at episode 110 of See Hear, Tim, Kerry and I had a round table discussion (Broadway Danny Rose style) about Denny Tedesco's 2015 documentary, The Wrecking Crew. That film was about the session musicians of the 1960s LA scene that made the “name” performers sound great. These session musicians were not known by name outside of that community un…

When you think of American folk songs of the 60s, you'd think of political injustice, civil rights, hardships due to economic burdens, and war, right? Or do you think about the comforts of food always being laid out on the table, boundless optimism 'cos “its THAT kind of day” or kissing at the end of an optical illusion caused by the dispersion of …

Musicians, artists, actors and authors (and any other creatives I haven’t nominated) have long taken pseudonyms. Maybe a more exciting name will sell an image, maybe it’s to have some semblance of privacy, maybe it’s to separate themselves from their past, …any number of reasons. Avant garde art collective The Residents took things beyond name chan…

Most working people have that day gig – accountant, engineer, admin, hospitality. The job pays the bills and puts food on the table. We don’t tend to think of being a musician as a day job category. Welcome to episode 110 of See Hear Podcast. Through the 20th century, there was always some group of musicians who had that “day job” status – playing …

There was a time when the rock and roll star appearance in a film ostensibly as themselves (or a variant) was a given. Think of the films of Elvis Presley or Cliff Richard. Before the Warholian expression of 15 minutes of fame became a thing, the pop music film was a way to make the most of the latest populist puppet’s time in the sun – script be d…

Disco music had been a thing from the early 70s on, but not so much in the mainstream. Parts of the African-American, Latino and gay communities had been cherishing the music as an event - going out to dance in discotheques was the thing. There's are books that go through the history of disco music and what put that music underground. Some of the m…

To some people, Ornette Coleman represents the adventurous spirit of jazz. To others, Kenny G is as exciting as it gets. This episode is more dedicated to the former..... Welcome to episode 107 of See Hear Podcast. This month, Tim has selected the film under discussion. It's a documentary filmed in a jazz club in Budapest called “Free The Jazz”. Re…

The history of cinema is loaded with films about siblings and the problems that go with loving and competing with your flesh and blood: The Godfather, A Simple Plan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Eat Drink Man Woman.....and Hilary & Jackie. Welcome to episode 106 of See Hear Podcast. Classical music history records that among the greatest of cellists was…

Do you remember when you were a kid and you liked to make percussive sounds on biscuit tins, cushions, the neighbour's fence, or your own stomach? Of course you do!!!! No matter whether you took up an instrument or not, percussion is always fun......until nasty neighbours tell you to shut up because you're making noise and disturbing their peaceful…

We've all seen 'em....films about people with a “dream”. They start out poorly, but triumph by the third act. Usually, they're comedic with a serious lesson to be learned. Then there's Tapeheads. Welcome to episode 104 of See Hear Podcast. John Cusack and Tim Robbins star as a pair of underqualified entrepeneurs (especially Cusack) in the music vid…

Biopics about contemporary musicians have been a very common thing in cinema, particularly over the last 40 to 50 years. As we've often discussed on the show, they often follow a familiar pattern – a grocery list, if you will, with all the known high and low points of the subject's life story the audience expects. However, before there was a glutto…

After a hiatus of several months, See Hear podcast is back to fill your earholes with discussion of music-centric films and interviews with directors of such films. For episode 102, the focus is on Tender Mercies, the 1983 film starring Robert Duvall about an ex country singer who's trying to find some semblance of normality after an existence of a…

I'm lucky to live in a town with a great music scene. Notwithstanding the tough times that both bands and venue operators are facing in the wake of the pandemic (and the rip-off merchants who believe that their bottom line is more important than paying musicians a living wage), Melbourne has always had a healthy music culture as do many cities arou…

Back in January 2014, Wendi Freeman, Tim Merrill and myself started a monthly podcast to look at the world of films about music and musicians (or any tenuous link to that world). Occasionally, we would talk about musicals that weren't actually about music, cos rules were meant to be broken. From episode 2, fellow music and film fan, Bernard Stickwe…

We're so used to the idea of art being hung in museums or on our walls, that we forget that we have may have hundreds or thousands of pieces of art hiding in plain sight – on shelves in our record or CD collections. Welcome to episode 99 of See Hear Podcast. Anytime you go exploring through your local record or CD store, before you even hear the mu…

When you were a kid, did your parents ever ask you to do your Wiggler practice? How about getting to your room and playing your Vibrowheels? Surely there were repercussions if you didn't practice your Melocipede???? Welcome to episode 98 of See Hear Podcast. Neil Feather is a creator of musical instruments (such as the ones listed above), and a fir…

The story of Brian Wilson has been heavily documented through literature and film. There are a couple of perspectives that continuously get focus: Brian's brilliance as songwriter and harmony arranger. His troubled life and mental breakdown through the abuse of his jealous father Murry Wilson, the smothering treatment of status seeking psychiatrist…

The 1980s were headed into frightening times politically. The threat of war and potential nuclear conflict was pervasive. So naturally music would reflect the times, right? Sure thing....Bette Davis Eyes, Nine To Five (Morning Train), This Ole' House, You Weren't In Love With Me, and Just The Two Of Us were what people were buying – they reflect th…

In the year 1969, Richard Nixon became president of the United States, James Earl Ray plead guilty to the murder of Dr Martin Luther King, multiple planes are hijacked to Cuba, the Stonewall Rebellion took place, and the war in Vietnam raged on. ….but there was an incredible music festival that took place for the third time in Mt Morris Park in Har…

Texas has given the world some great songwriters: Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, and Kinky Friedman (yes indeed!!!) among may others. When you discuss one of the most revered Texan songsmiths, (who lived much of his life in Nashville), you really have to discuss two others as well. Welcome to episode 94 of See Hear Podcast. Tim and I were rapt to welc…

Would you be tempted to watch a film where aliens travel around in a space ship in the shape of a Flying V looking for the source of rock and roll in the universe? How about if it involved a high school romance, a battle of the bands, escaped mental patients armed to the teeth, and a polluted lake? Tim, Bernie, Maurice and friend of the show Paul R…

Change is difficult. Some embrace it, some resist it. It might seem obvious, but change is inevitable. Welcome to episode 92 of See Hear Podcast. Jazz is an art form that never remained stagnant. Through creativity or financial necessity, post-war jazz moved from the big swing orchestras to smaller ensembles and bebop became the dominant form. In t…

What happened to heavy metal in the eighties? It bred Dokken, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, W.A.S.P., Motley Crue and many other hair metal bands. Meanwhile in Richmond ,Virginia, an art student and punk musician connected while part of an art collective to form a metal band that combined theatre, chops, a sense of humour, and plenty of bodily fluids. Wel…

Music must change. It always has and always will. The common story (probably part truth and myth) is that punk emerged in the UK as a reaction to the so-called “dinosaur” bands...the ones that had been around for a whole 10 or so years (we'd laugh at that notion now....). Bands that were bloated on their success and measured that success on excess.…

Say you're in a band, and you're struggling to get your songs performed because the self-appointed leader is a narcissistic arsehole. Then along comes an aging mega rock star who offers you a gig to sing for him so he can summon a demon from another dimension... It's a common showbiz tale.... Welcome to episode 89 of See Hear. Tim, Bernie and Mauri…

So, let's say you're a working songwriter and musician. Life is hard enough as it is (and we're talking pre-Covid) without a couple of divorces, management of a singer with an inferiority complex, keeping an agent inline who's trying to cheat you, and a publisher is HAS cheated you to worry about. Unless you're Doc Jenkins..... Welcome to episode 8…

With the ubiquity of fanzines, blogs and podcasts in the 21st century, anyone can publish their critiques on any form of the arts (including your humble hosts of this very show). For better or worse, we don't have to limit ourselves to the opinions of those who claim to “know better”. There was a time, though, where we'd have to rely on information…

I Predict that When I'm With You, there will be no Existential Threat unless we're Eaten By The Monster Of Love in this Cool World. Welcome to episode 86 of See Hear Podcast. Edgar Wright has been known to use music to great effect in his narrative films, so it's only appropriate that he makes a music-related documentary. The Sparks Brothers tells …

The early history of musicals often includes romantic comedies with slight plots as an excuse for big song and dance numbers (often in the context of “let's put on a show”). The romantic sub-plot is a big criticism of the Marx Brothers films at MGM, getting in the way of the anarchy of the masters of mirth. In 1941, a musical was released by Univer…

The late 70s moving into the 80s was a time ruled by conservative government in the UK. There were clashes with government ideology and the NF was scarily making its collective voice heard. Musicians reacted in different ways. There was the Rock Against Racism march with a huge concert featuring The Clash and other great punk acts of the day. As we…

We're sure you've all said or heard, “Don't judge a book by it's cover”. That can logically be extended on occasion to “Don't judge a film by its poster art”. Welcome to episode 83 of See Hear Podcast. Tim is finally rejoining the show after having been absent since October 2020. We welcomed him back with his choice of a round-table film discussion…

Bernie, Tim and I have never ceased to be amazed at the creativity and hard work that must go into making a film (any work of art, really). One thing we've never spoken about on the show is the art of film curation - a subject that Martin Scorcese himself has recently written about. Welcome to episode 82 of See Hear Podcast. Bernie and I spoke with…

Three grown men over the age of 40 (two Brits and an Australian) walked into a podcast to discuss a film about two teenage American guys from the seventies looking to get stoned, drunk and laid. Welcome to episode 81 of See Hear Podcast – the start of our 8th year. Tim is still on sabbatical, but Bernie and Maurice were joined by host of The Iron S…

With all the obsession the media makes of the rock era (i.e. the 60s onwards) it's all to easy to forget about the early days of rock and roll. The casual listener may think of Elvis, Chuck, Buddy or Little Richard – important parts of rock and roll history, obviously, but what's often forgotten about are the great vocal harmony groups. Groups like…

Once again, See Hear and The Projection Booth have collaborated on an episode.....or The Projection Booth invited Maurice onto the show and See Hear is now riding the coattails of the Booth. He joins Mike White and film maker / drummer / surf enthusiast Skizz Cyzyk to talk about the new documentary on the sonically adventurous and prolific Washingt…

On the See Hear podcast, we've spoken about films that have music's relation to politics, history, cultural shifts, and singing plants. We figured it was about time to get a little scientific. On episode 79, with Tim on sabbatical, Bernie and I spoke with film director, Isabelle Raynauld. She is a film professor at the University of Montreal with a…

An English woman and an American man drive through the American south in 1959. Their mission is to record folk songs for the Library of Congress, but they also record what peoples' lives are like at that time. How did this bode for the future? Welcome to See Hear podcast episode 78. The man was ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, and the woman was folk s…

There are singers who perform covers. There are song interpreters. And…..there’s Tiny Tim. Welcome to episode 77 of See Hear Podcast. (Not Tiny) Tim, Bernie and Maurice welcome film maker Johan Von Sydow to the show to talk about his new documentary Tiny Tim: King For a Day. If you only know Tiptoe Through The Tulips, be prepared to discover a whol…

For most music fans, there’s a mantra about their favourite band (mine even named their live album after it) – they were better live…..but is the visceral thrill of seeing a band perform on a stage lost when watching their performance in a film? Or can the film maker bring something new to the experience via the medium? Welcome to episode 76 of See…

Come alive, See Hear listeners. Maurice took a trip to (virtual) trip down Devil Gate Drive to join Mike White and Leon Chase on the Projection Booth Podcast for a discussion of the 2019 documentary about Suzi Quatro, called Suzi Q. Mike White has generously allowed this episode of the Projection Booth to run in the See Hear feed as well as his own…

A musician is let out of prison. He goes with his partner on a mission to right a wrong. Together they're chased by the police and a pissed of country singer, while causing the destruction of countless vehicles along the way...... ....and their names aren't Jake and Elwood. Welcome to episode 75 of See Hear Podcast. Bernie, Tim and I park the Kings…

There have been many 50s music stylists who pay tribute to Elvis and other icons of the rock and roll era but appear locked in a retro time warp. Then there are musicians like Charlie Megira who are consumed by the music alone – they’re doing something new and exciting based on the foundations of 50s rock and roll. Welcome to episode 74 of See Hear…