Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

Latest Episodes:

The Mudd Club, An Intense Laboratory: Post Punk pt.5 May 21, 2026

Show notes

In this episode we return to the Mudd Club, NYC’s ‘intense laboratory’ of cinema, performance, dance and music. We hear about how this new kind of club fused these various media in novel ways, both as a day-to-day scene hang out spot and a site of never-ending unusual parties (‘Rock’n’Roll Funeral Ball Extravaganza’ anyone?). Tim and Jeremy detail the movement of artists into the East Village in the late 70s, the Fluxus inspiration for the Club’s goings on, and throw a little light on another less well-remembered venue, Club 57.

Elsewhere in the episode the guys talk about The Cure, Lou Reed, retromania and cable TV, whilst also spending a moment on the legacy of Anita Sarko, a much-loved DJ on the scene.

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

Loveisthemessagepod.co.uk.

Tracklist:

Shrapnel - Combat Love

Policeband - Mono

The Cure - Killing an Arab

Lou Reed - Vicious

Bobby Freeman - Betty Lou Got a New Pair of Shoes

LITM Extra - Instrumentals: Arthur Russell pt.4 [excerpt] May 07, 2026

Show notes

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, plus dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

We’re back on the tail of Arthur Russell this week, paying close attention to his piece Instrumentals. A large ensemble composition comprised of multiple musical cells and first premiered at The Kitchen while he was music director, this work expresses Arthur’s proximity to NYC’s post minimalist scene. Jeremy and Tim discuss the works of several of the more prominent composers of that world, including Steve Reich, La Monte Young and Philip Glass, discussing the merits and failures of minimalism and how Arthur’s music aligned and diverged. Elsewhere they spend time on Arthur’s close friend and collaborator Peter Gordon, spend a moment unpacking Postmodernism, attempt to give a very potted account of just and equal temperaments, and give the stage to Memphis rockers Big Star.

www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:

Arthur Russell - Hey! How Does Everybody Know

Captain Beefheart - Dachau Blues

Arthur Russell - Instrumentals (Live at the Kitchen)

La Monte Young - The Well-Tuned Piano

Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians

Henry Flynt & Nova'Billy — Amphetamine Rhapsody

The Mudd Club Opens: Post Punk pt.4 Apr 23, 2026

Show notes

Continuing our mini-series on post-punk, Jeremy and Tim turn their attention to the pre-history of a crucial NYC venue: The Mudd Club. Given Tim literally wrote the book on this stuff, he’s well-placed to tell the story of how three Downtowners got the idea, got the premises, agreed on the name (not without its difficulties) and threw open the doors. We revisit the blending of punk and dance cultures that was emerging in the city at the time, spend a moment in another club - Hurrah - and contemplate the pitfalls of punk. Elsewhere in the episode Jeremy recounts his indie disco escapades, we hear a very early iteration of Psycho Killer, and pour one out for the mighty B52s. Plus: John Wilkes Booth, Molotov cocktails, and Elvis.
Produced by Matt Huxley.
Become a patron at patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

https://www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk/

Tracklist:

The Rolling Stones - Miss You

The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated

Talking Heads - Psycho Killer (Live at CBGB’s)

Elvis - Moody Blue

The Heartbreakers - Chinese Rocks

B52s - 52 Women

[UNLOCKED] LITM Extra - Rebel Sounds with Joe Mulhall Apr 16, 2026

Show notes

We've dug into our vault of past episodes and unlocked this previously patrons-only interview from last year. To hear dozens more episodes like this from just £3 a month, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In episode we welcome writer and anti-fascist activist Joe Mulhall to the show to discuss his fantastic book Rebel Sounds: Music as Resistance, a survey across time and place of groups and cultures using musics as part of their resistance to forms of racism and imperialism. We hear about Irish rebel songs, Kneecap and an impromptu Irish history quiz in the toilets of a Wolftones gig; the role of Jazz, Blues and Soul in the Civil Rights Struggle; revisit Tropicalia with fresh eyes and ears; and fly to Nigeria for the Felabration in Lagos. Alongside these topics we consider how our personal tastes can divert from a music’s political power, US cultural hegemony, music in the USSR, 'bone records’, Two Tone, and bring things up to date with a trip to the trenches of Ukraine.

LITM Extra - Rock the Kitchen: Arthur Russell pt.3 [excerpt] Apr 09, 2026

Show notes

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, plus dozens more, become a patron from £3 a month at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons episode we rejoin Arthur Russell in NYC as he takes up musical directorship of the supremely influential downtown arts centre The Kitchen. Jeremy and Tim discuss the Minimalist and Post-Minimalist stylings of the retinue of composer-performers in the area, including Christian Wolff and Rhys Chatham. We hear how Arthur - never a rock lover - became enamoured with the vernacular communication of the Modern Lovers, inviting them for a semi-legendary performance at his venue, and more broadly how their aesthetics of everydayness came to influence a slew of subsequent artists including Arthur himself.

Elsewhere in the episode the guys discuss the curious case of Frank Zappa, gong baths, and share some personal reflections on their experiences with Arthur's music.

Tracklist:
Christian Wolff - For 1,2 or 3 People
Rhys Chatham - Two Gongs
Arthur Russell - Eli
The Modern Lovers - Old World
Arthur Russell - I Forget and I Can’t Tell
The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner (Live at the Kitchen)
Frank Zappa - The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny
Peter Gordon - Machomusic

Do It Yourself! Post Punk pt.3 Mar 26, 2026

Show notes

Grab your zines, dust off your stencils and customise your jackets because Jeremy and Tim are continuing our mini-series on post-punk with a healthy dollop of DIY culture. They discuss the infamous Sniffin’ Glue magazine, visit Dial House to ponder the ultimate UK DIY heroes Crass, and spin some of the most out-there No Wave cuts NYC had to offer. Elsewhere in the episode they dedicate time to outré post punk pioneers Devo, shout out the pipes on Lydia Lunch, dwell on punk’s dub and hip hop influences as expressed through a classic Clash track, and unpick the aesthetics of uptightness. Plus Glen Branca, Epping Forest and… Crosby Stills Nash & Young.

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

Tracklist:

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Ohio

Devo - Satisfaction

Theoretical Girls - You Got Me

Alternative TV - Action Time Vision

The Clash - White Man in Hammersmith Palais

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - Orphans

Crass - Sucks

LITM Extra - Beginner's Mind: Arthur Russell pt.2 [excerpt] Mar 12, 2026

Show notes

This is an excerpt of a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, and dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to sign up from just £3 a month.

In this patrons episode we continue to unspool our mini-series on the great Arthur Russell. We rejoin the composer on the West Coast in the early 1970s, leaving him a few years later at the Manhattan School of Music as he prepares to move downtown. Along the way Tim and Jeremy discuss Arthur’s friendship with Allen Ginsberg, his experiences of Buddhism, and an early recording session with the poet and one Bob Dylan. Elsewhere we hear about William Blake, ‘beginner’s mind’, Ginsberg’s devotional music, hippie cowboys and Indian influences, and take a trip to Wales. In addition to his playing on the Ginsberg recordings, we also hear some of the first music composed by our subject.

Tracklist:
Allen Ginsberg - Wales Visitation
Allen Ginsberg - Pacific High Studio Mantras - Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum
Allen Ginsberg - A Dream
Arthur Russell - Goodbye Old Paint

The Winter of Discontent: Post Punk pt.2 Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

Jeremy and Tim continue our mini-series on post-punk with a bit of 1978 scene-setting. Describing the inflationary crises, militant shop stewards and series of strikes in the UK and US, Jeremy paints a picture of the historic moment out of which a series of self-consciously anti-bourgeois bands were emerging. We hear about Jonny Rotten’s metamorphosis into John Lydon, take a moment to reflect on some of Leeds’ favourite sons the Gang of Four, and cross over to the Rust Belt to listen to an early track by Ohio’s own Pere Ubu. Sticking in the States, Tim spends time talking about Talking Heads’ second album More Songs About Buildings and Food, unleashes the Disco Clone, and enjoys the B52s Rock Lobster. Plus: Eno, Feminism, and the first ever thrift shop in NYC.

Edited by Matt Huxley.

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

https://www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk/

Tracklist:

Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance

Public Image Ltd - Public Image

Gang of Four - Damaged Goods

Al Green - Take Me to the River

Cristina - Disco Clone

B52s - Rock Lobster

Books:

Bernard Gendron - Between Montmartre and the Mudd Club

[UNLOCKED] LITM Extra - Toby Manning on Mixing Pop and Politics Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

UNLOCKED: we've decided to share this interview with writer Toby Manning that we originally distributed to patrons in May 2025. To hear dozen more bonus episodes on a vast array of topics, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to become a patron.

In this episode we welcome writer Toby Manning to the show to discuss his recent book Mixing Pop and Politics: A Marxist History of Popular Music. Toby's book offers a political reading of popular music, taking as its methodological starting point the songs found in the charts from the 1950s to the present day, to explore how the music people listen to reflects and resists the politics of their time in fascinating ways.

In this show Jeremy, Tim and Toby discuss the charts themselves, how we think of 'popular music', and discuss lyrics as a tool for analysis. This being LITM, we of course spend some time on the hits of the 1970s, but we hear also about '80s synth pop and yacht rock, Annie Lennox, MJ, and contemporary artists like FKA Twigs and Little Sims. Also found inside: the GLC, the High Sixties and Kneecap.

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

LITM Extra - First Thought, Best Thought: Arthur Russell pt.1 [excerpt] Feb 12, 2026

Show notes

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing and dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to sign up.

In this episode we begin a patrons mini-series on one of the most unique and beloved characters of the LITM story, Arthur Russell. Given Tim literally wrote the book on the singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, you’re in good hands. We begin with the story of Arthur’s early life in Iowa and his move to San Francisco, including experiences with Buddhism and drugs, alongside musical instruction from the great Ali Akbar Khan. Tim and Jeremy paint a picture of Arthur’s explorations in countercultural living, refute the idea that he simply wasn’t good at finishing things, and introduce the musician as an avatar for the particular melting pot of NYC music and art culture. Join us next time to see us go bang…

Produced by Matt Huxley.

www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

Tracklist:

Arthur Russell - This Time Dad You’re Wrong

Arthur Russell - That’s Us / Wild Combination

Ali Akbar Khan - Shri Rag

Terry Riley - In C