Song by Song

Latest Episodes:

16 Shells From a 30.6, Big Time, Tom Waits [144] Aug 29, 2018

Show notes

Roving reporter Jo Neary returns to Song by Song to revisit this track from Swordfishtrombones… and to apologise for her own presence. Meanwhile back in the studio Sam and Martin look at the similarities between this live performance and the original, the lack of priority given to the lyrics, and the shift in recording quality in this album.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: 16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought-Six, Big Time, Tom Waits (1988)

We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

Big Time (Introduction), Tom Waits [143a] Aug 22, 2018

Show notes

Thanks for coming everyone - you all got a coffee, great, there's plenty more chairs up here at the front, don't be shy. Ok, welcome to Song by Song season twelve, Big Time album and film, parish notices first I think… As we embark on another (slightly) contracted season covering this 1988 live release, there are a few details to explain about how we're going about things this time around, so if you could all pay attention we'll get out of here nice and quick.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Opening of Big Time (movie), Tom Waits (1988) Jockey Full Of Bourbon, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (1985)

Innocent When You Dream (78), Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits [143] Aug 01, 2018

Show notes

After seventeen tracks, we reach the end of Franks Wild Years with this scratchy demo-style version of Innocent When You Dream. We discuss the album as a whole, some of the recording techniques and the information that imparts, as well as the narrative of the show in relation to the drama of American identity as well as his own life. And Sam gets a bit emotional about 1980s Scottish cinema.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Innocent When You Dream (78), Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987)

Train Song, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits [142] Jul 25, 2018

Show notes

Sam and Martin return for the penultimate track of Franks Wild Years, to debate the refining of the Tom-Waits-Saying-Goodbye-And-Catching-A-Train song. We talk about the sense of conclusion to Frank's story (or stories), the departure and the collapse of the dream he's seeking throughout this album, and Waits reaching again for older traditions of songwriting.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Train Song, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987) The Cold Icy Floor, Archive Recording, The Bogtrotter Band (1937)

Cold, Cold Ground, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits [141] Jul 18, 2018

Show notes

Waits begins to step away from Frank and the relationship of the songs to the play, as Martin and Sam discuss the tense nature of the music on this album, the simplicity of this song compared to the arrangement of others on Franks Wild Years, and the political and social charge that land (and what lurks beneath) can have.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Cold Cold Ground, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987) Down Under, Mining, Rivona, Dear Reader (2013)

Telephone Call From Istanbul, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits [140] Jul 11, 2018

Show notes

Heading into the closing tracks of Franks Wild Years, Sam and Martin debate the change of locations in Waits's songwriting from this era, scrunchy chords in relation to atonality, and the relationship of intention & accident in art. Also, a small dog finding the World Cup.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Telephone Call From Istanbul, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987) Istanbul (Not Constantinople), 16 Most Requested Songs, The Four Lads (1953)

I'll Take New York, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits [139] Jul 04, 2018

Show notes

Gabriel Ebulue returns for a second portion of Tom Waits doing his crazy lounge singer schtick. This week's discussion includes atonal organ arrangements, the trajectory of depression in pop songs, and the lonely death of Frank O'Brien.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: I'll Take New York, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987) Here, Working For The Man, Tindersticks (2004)

Straight To The Top (Vegas), Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits [138] Jun 27, 2018

Show notes

Song by Song welcomes fellow music enthusiast Gabriel Ebulue from The Three Track Podcast to discuss the second version of this track, as it relates to Sinatra, Jaques Brel, and your crazy uncle at a wedding.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Straight To The Top (Vegas), Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987) Jacky, Tenement Symphony, Marc Almond (1991)

Song By Song / Wire Stripped Special, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits [137] Jun 20, 2018

Show notes

We present (now in the correct context) our special episode with Kobi Omenaka, discussing the use of Way Down In The Hole in the opening credits of the TV show The Wire. Kobi and his co-host Dave Corkery have launched their new show The Wire Stripped, so conversation ranges from the musical styles and influences of the covers into the content of the seasons themselves, and how the credits music informs and echoes that content.

We'll be back to our regular schedule next week. In the meantime, be sure to check out The Wire Stripped on your podcatcher of choice.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Way Down In The Hole, Frank's Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987) Way Down In The Hole, Spirit Of The Century, Blind Boys Of Alabama (2002) Way Down In The Hole, "...and all the pieces matter..." - The Music of The Wire, The Neville Brothers (2008) Way Down In The Hole, "...and all the pieces matter..." - The Music of The Wire, DoMaJe (2008) Way Down In The Hole, Washington Square Serenade, Steve Earle (2007)

Way Down In The Hole, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits [136] Jun 13, 2018

Show notes

Lily Sloane returns for one more Franks Wild Years track, debating Waits's attitude towards religion, how the track relates to the rest of the album, and the presence of joy in music.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Way Down In The Hole, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987) Oh Happy Day, The Best of the Edwin Hawkins Singers, The Edwin Hawkins Singers (1967/2001)

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