Song by Song

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Barber Shop, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits [054] Oct 12, 2016

Show notes

The four-part harmony-group of Martin, Simon and two Sams wanders in for a quick short back and sides as Tom Waits visits Mr Snip-Snip-Snip for this penultimate track of Foreign Affairs. The variety of this album, the beauty/technicality of barber-shop quartet singing, and the need for emotional commitment in musical performance are all debated, as well as some…mild diversions.

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: Barber Shop, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits (1977) That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day), That Lucky Old Sun, Crossroads/Beasley Smith & Haven Gillespie (2010/1949)

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.

Burma-Shave, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits [053] Oct 05, 2016

Show notes

This week on Song by Song Martin, two Sams and a Simon head out onto the wide open roads of America to examine possibly one of the strongest songs on Foreign Affairs, with discussion of the origins of the Burma Shave advertising campaign, the interplay of voice and melody on the track, and the appearance of Farley Granger in Nicholas Ray's debut film They Live By Night.

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: Burma-Shave, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits (1977) They Live By Night (film), directed by Nicholas Ray (1948)

Potter's Field, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits [052] Sep 28, 2016

Show notes

Joined by Sam Clements and Simon Renshaw, Sam and Martin dive into the pomp and bluster of the orchestral stylings of Potter's Field. With the musical and lyrical setting clearly placed in the world of noir, we examine this song and its explicit influence, Sam Fuller's film Pickup On South Street, as well as some of the obscure storytelling choices made by Waits in this track from Foreign Affairs.

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: Potter's Field, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits (1977) Pickup On South Street (film), directed by Samuel Fuller (1953)

A Sight For Sore Eyes, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits [051] Sep 21, 2016

Show notes

With some disagreement and friction, Martin and Sam discuss some of the musical borrowings and stylistic repetitions in this track from Foreign Affairs. Debating cliche, originality and their place in pop music, as well as Mary Hopkins's contribution to the theme in a very similar track, Song by Song returns for another discussion on Tom Waits.

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: A Sight for Sore Eyes, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits (1977) Those Were The Days, Single, Mary Hopkin (1968)

Medley - Jack & Neal/California, Here I Come, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits [050] Sep 14, 2016

Show notes

Song by Song reaches its fiftieth episode as Waits returns to one of his greatest influences, the beat poets. With mixed feelings, Sam and Martin discuss extreme vocal styling (and its overuse) as a storytelling tool, the value (or lack thereof) of California as a location, as well as touching briefly on one of cinema and recorded music's iconic figures, Al Jolson.

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: Medley: Jack & Neal/California, Here I Come, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits (1977) California, Here I Come, The Best Of Al Jolson, Al Jolson (1921/2002)

I Never Talk To Strangers, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits [049] Sep 07, 2016

Show notes

The regular duet of Sam and Martin explore one of the few vocal collaborations Waits includes on his studio albums, with this piano-bar seduction of (and by) Bette Midler. The verbatim nature of the lyrics, the locating nature of music, and interference with postal carriers all feature in this week's discussion.

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 Never Talk to Strangers, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits/Bette Midler (1977) Yellow Beach Umbrella, Broken Blossom, Bette Midler (1977)

Muriel, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits [048] Aug 31, 2016

Show notes

Dreaming of a(nother) girl who left him, Tom Waits returns to mournful yearning for the second track of Foreign Affairs. Martin and Sam continue discussing the possible influences on this song through the person of Edie Adams and Muriel cigars, as well as the vocal stylings of Dolly Parton and the production choices on the album as a whole.

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: Muriel, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits (1977) Jolene, Jolene, Dolly Parton (1973)

Cinny's Waltz, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits [047] Aug 24, 2016

Show notes

Welcome to the fifth season of Song by Song! Martin and Sam return to take a listen to Waits's 1977 album, beginning with the instrumental Cinny's Waltz. With discussion of the tone of this album, the cross-pollination of creative inspiration between film and music, and more than a few bad similes, we begin our journey through Foreign Affairs.

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: Cinny's Waltz, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits (1977) Theme from "To Kill a Dead Man", B-side of "Sour Times", Portishead (1994)

Foreign Affairs Series Teaser [046a] Aug 17, 2016

Show notes

Welcome back to Song by Song - we're taking a couple of weeks out before starting our fifth season on Foreign Affairs to get some plans made, listen to some music, watch some films and argue about eggs. Do the same, and please rejoin us later in August for more Tom Waits discussions.

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians who, out of some obsessive completist compulsion, have decided to listen to and discuss 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: Cinny's Waltz, Foreign Affairs, Tom Waits (1977)

I Can't Wait To Get Off Work, Small Change, Tom Waits [046] Aug 03, 2016

Show notes

Concluding our shuffle through Tom Waits's Small Change, Sam, Callum and Martin struggle to wrap up their duties and get back to their respective avenues. This final track's relationship to the album as a whole, backstage vs. onstage personas, and the concept of work in opposition to art all help us wrap up our fourth season of Song by Song.

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 Can't Wait to Get Off Work (And See My Baby on Montgomery Avenue), Small Change, Tom Waits (1976) Frankly, Mr. Shankly, The Queen Is Dead, The Smiths (1986)

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