902 - New Wave spectacular w Duran, Blondie, Devo, Spoons & more!

Famous Lost Words

This week, we kick off our most ambitious series yet – it’s the music of New Wave. We dove deep into the archives for classic interviews that encompass the “twitchy, but tuneful” music of the early ‘80s. And for this episode, Christopher and Tom welcome former Spoons keyboardist (and Broadway music director) Rob Preuss! Rob is a New Wave geek who was not only in the middle of the explosion of new music, but he worked with, toured with and talked with some of the biggest names of the genre. And he has GREAT stories to tell!

Among this week’s crop of New Wave artists…

• John Taylor talks about the original formation of Duran Duran and how fashion was an important part of the band’s image.
• Deborah Harry talks about the pushback she got for her onstage image. She also explains the genesis of the song “Rapture” (the first song with rap vocals to go to number 1)
• The guys from Devo explain how they were once paid 75 dollars to STOP playing their music!
• And on “When Rock Stars Attack – it’s Elvis Costello vs Led Zeppelin… and Andy Partridge of XTC vs Todd Rundgren!
• Our podcast listeners will hear bonus segments with The Boomtown Rats (Bob Geldof talks about the creation of their biggest hit) and Paul Young (who fights a battle between fame and artistry)

So many synths! So little time! Enjoy part one of our celebration of New Wave!

Special shout-out to our friend Rob Wells, who created a synth-y version of our theme music. Thanks Rob! Check out Rob's podcast - "Women In The Music Industry"

Famous Lost Words, hosted by Christopher Ward and Tom Jokic, is heard in more than 100 countries worldwide and on radio stations across Canada, including Newstalk 1010 Toronto, CJAD 800 Montreal, 580 CFRA Ottawa, AM 800 CKLW Windsor, 610 CKTB St Catharines, CFAX Victoria, AM1150 Kelowna and 91x in Belleville. It is in the Top 20% of worldwide podcasts based on the number of listeners in the first week.