WEBVTT 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:04.290 Welcome to Overeducated and Underemployed. I 00:00:04.290 --> 00:00:06.889 really appreciate you tuning in today. I'm Fedden. 00:00:07.269 --> 00:00:10.210 Make sure to check out my website at fedden .net 00:00:10.210 --> 00:00:13.949 to see everything I'm doing right now. That's 00:00:13.949 --> 00:00:21.530 F -E -D -D -U -N dot N -E -T, fedden .net. Today 00:00:21.530 --> 00:00:24.609 begins our three -part series on the topic of 00:00:24.609 --> 00:00:27.449 nostalgia. And we're going to be talking about 00:00:27.449 --> 00:00:31.269 the topic in three different We're going to be 00:00:31.269 --> 00:00:35.090 talking about nostalgia in music, nostalgia in 00:00:35.090 --> 00:00:38.750 movies and television, and then, of course, nostalgia 00:00:38.750 --> 00:00:42.070 in video games and retro gaming. When it comes 00:00:42.070 --> 00:00:46.469 to nostalgia in music, I think nostalgia, I think, 00:00:46.509 --> 00:00:48.969 can be the opposite of depression. They say if 00:00:48.969 --> 00:00:52.229 you focus too much on the future, you're going 00:00:52.229 --> 00:00:54.170 to be anxious, and if you focus too much on the 00:00:54.170 --> 00:00:56.630 past, that you're going to be depressed. But 00:00:56.630 --> 00:00:58.969 I think if you focus on the past in a nostalgia... 00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:03.320 kind of tint it couldn't change the the dynamic 00:01:03.320 --> 00:01:05.939 of that in the last 20 years or so especially 00:01:05.939 --> 00:01:10.239 there have been a lot of reunion tours a lot 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:15.260 of bands touring that don't even have all the 00:01:15.260 --> 00:01:17.760 original members or don't even have the majority 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:20.019 of the band being original members but still 00:01:20.019 --> 00:01:22.239 touring under the banner of a certain band name 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:25.579 and then you've got bands with their like full 00:01:25.579 --> 00:01:30.810 lineup doing revivals of old albums and re recording 00:01:30.810 --> 00:01:35.769 some of their music and doing tours where they 00:01:35.769 --> 00:01:39.469 play entire albums at a time bands that broke 00:01:39.469 --> 00:01:42.810 up for decades doing like one -off reunion weekend 00:01:42.810 --> 00:01:47.689 shows and then of course you have bands that 00:01:47.689 --> 00:01:51.049 kind of stopped putting out new music at a certain 00:01:51.049 --> 00:01:54.209 point and were able to just capitalize on the 00:01:54.209 --> 00:01:57.340 hits they already had over the years I'm sure 00:01:57.340 --> 00:02:00.040 I'm missing some things, but one thing that I've 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:02.540 noticed is I've seen a lot of these bands do 00:02:02.540 --> 00:02:05.959 these reunion tours, and I've also noticed that 00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:08.560 a lot of people my generation kind of stopped 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:11.800 listening to music. And previous generations, 00:02:11.860 --> 00:02:16.060 too. It's like you stop listening to music that's 00:02:16.060 --> 00:02:20.080 new after the age of 25. And I don't mean this 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:24.060 for probably the general audience of this podcast, 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:27.219 since... A lot of people that listen to this 00:02:27.219 --> 00:02:30.439 are probably going to be music enthusiasts. But 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:34.159 the average listener, life starts and music is 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:37.819 not a big priority to them anymore. They just 00:02:37.819 --> 00:02:41.819 hear what gets played for them in one way or 00:02:41.819 --> 00:02:44.620 another. They might occasionally get to go to 00:02:44.620 --> 00:02:48.280 a concert, but not like when they were in college, 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:51.020 right? When we get to go to shows all the time 00:02:51.020 --> 00:02:54.909 and listen to music all day. So I think like 00:02:54.909 --> 00:02:57.669 part of it is just our lives become less conducive 00:02:57.669 --> 00:03:01.250 to finding new music. But I also think that there's 00:03:01.250 --> 00:03:04.250 something to just like add personalities gelling 00:03:04.250 --> 00:03:07.969 at a certain point and us just being who we are. 00:03:08.189 --> 00:03:12.009 I think even with music enthusiasts, the stuff 00:03:12.009 --> 00:03:15.150 that we always gravitate back to is stuff we 00:03:15.150 --> 00:03:17.629 usually got into when we were younger. And I 00:03:17.629 --> 00:03:20.590 think that while we still get into music on a 00:03:20.590 --> 00:03:24.500 regular basis, we truly are. music enthusiasts 00:03:24.500 --> 00:03:28.240 it slows down it definitely slows down part of 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:30.180 that is just like you have stuff that you like 00:03:30.180 --> 00:03:32.500 and you want to keep listening to and so the 00:03:32.500 --> 00:03:34.960 amount of time that you have for new stuff gets 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:37.879 smaller and smaller and i think that's true for 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:40.219 most people but the amount of space they have 00:03:40.219 --> 00:03:44.319 for music is a lot smaller too when you're not 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:46.419 people are some people are really into movies 00:03:46.419 --> 00:03:49.240 some people are really into games Some people 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:51.539 are really into none of those things. They're 00:03:51.539 --> 00:03:54.319 not really into digital media or anything like 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:58.639 that. They prefer going out in nature or maybe 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:01.099 they become artists and they make a lot of their 00:04:01.099 --> 00:04:04.520 own music. Anyway, my point is that I think once 00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:07.319 we diverge into our own interests and our own 00:04:07.319 --> 00:04:11.460 lives, everybody gets into less and less new 00:04:11.460 --> 00:04:14.860 music. So the bands that we grew up listening 00:04:14.860 --> 00:04:18.610 to will always be... something special to us 00:04:18.610 --> 00:04:22.790 and something that in turn is marketable to us. 00:04:22.889 --> 00:04:25.149 So this trend that we've seen, I think over the 00:04:25.149 --> 00:04:29.069 last 20 years, part of it is just like, until 00:04:29.069 --> 00:04:33.550 recently, these people weren't old, hadn't taken 00:04:33.550 --> 00:04:36.310 off. And sometimes it's like, they didn't pay 00:04:36.310 --> 00:04:40.089 their taxes. Sometimes they realize, I think 00:04:40.089 --> 00:04:43.550 this actually leads me to one reason I know that 00:04:43.550 --> 00:04:45.990 some bands have gotten back together is like, 00:04:46.350 --> 00:04:50.129 In the age of streaming, we have data on what 00:04:50.129 --> 00:04:53.250 people are listening to, even if it's stuff they 00:04:53.250 --> 00:04:57.310 bought or would have bought decades ago. And 00:04:57.310 --> 00:05:01.850 where someone might listen to the same 20 bands, 00:05:02.009 --> 00:05:04.569 but they've already bought their entire catalog, 00:05:04.970 --> 00:05:09.050 sales weren't ever really indicative of what 00:05:09.050 --> 00:05:14.149 a live band might draw in a certain market. Whereas 00:05:14.149 --> 00:05:17.470 now I think promoters, even the bands themselves, 00:05:17.589 --> 00:05:21.089 have a much better understanding of what songs, 00:05:21.290 --> 00:05:24.649 what bands people are returning back to in their 00:05:24.649 --> 00:05:27.509 middle of life, especially like the late 90s, 00:05:27.509 --> 00:05:30.410 early 2000s bands. And so that's part of why 00:05:30.410 --> 00:05:32.589 we're seeing this big revival. Another reason, 00:05:32.589 --> 00:05:34.889 though, I think it's just the people that loved 00:05:34.889 --> 00:05:40.560 a lot of music during the time of CDs. which 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:44.360 is a really specific time in music history that 00:05:44.360 --> 00:05:47.199 I'll probably dedicate an entire episode to at 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:52.139 some point. But once those kids, people that 00:05:52.139 --> 00:05:55.120 grew up on CDs, the things that made it easy 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:57.439 to listen to one song over and over, there was 00:05:57.439 --> 00:05:59.939 also just a phenomenon in the late 90s, early 00:05:59.939 --> 00:06:03.759 2000s, mid -90s even after Nirvana, where music 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:08.680 became a cultural touchstone in a way that I 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:12.360 don't think it. had been in a couple of years 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:15.339 at least, right? Like it had faded, I think, 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:18.740 in the 80s to like more in the DJ scene where 00:06:18.740 --> 00:06:20.579 people would go out to clubs and listen to music, 00:06:20.620 --> 00:06:23.779 but they weren't necessarily buying it. And I 00:06:23.779 --> 00:06:27.680 think CDs, not only did people buy all of their 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:31.779 back catalog again, but it made it easier to 00:06:31.779 --> 00:06:34.279 listen to the music that they were getting into, 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:38.079 whether they were young or old, on the go and 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:41.310 on demand. You could play the five songs you 00:06:41.310 --> 00:06:44.490 really liked from a band, but the band had no 00:06:44.490 --> 00:06:46.610 idea what those songs were. And you might get 00:06:46.610 --> 00:06:49.329 lucky and hear the songs. And I think eventually 00:06:49.329 --> 00:06:52.350 in a similar way to like touring for a comedian, 00:06:52.490 --> 00:06:54.889 I think as a band tours, they figure out what 00:06:54.889 --> 00:06:58.350 songs people like and what they like live. But 00:06:58.350 --> 00:07:02.129 now they have the hard data to go off of. And 00:07:02.129 --> 00:07:05.389 I'm not saying that these revivals and reunions 00:07:05.389 --> 00:07:07.250 are like a new thing. Of course they're not. 00:07:07.740 --> 00:07:11.819 They've been going on since music was the commodity, 00:07:11.980 --> 00:07:16.379 but I think it's, and this could just be because 00:07:16.379 --> 00:07:18.579 there are a lot of the bands that this could 00:07:18.579 --> 00:07:21.180 just be my perspective. This could be, this is 00:07:21.180 --> 00:07:23.699 pretty a historical is the point that I'm making. 00:07:23.980 --> 00:07:26.399 It seems like there's been a big explosion of 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:29.259 them in the, in recent years, a bands that like 00:07:29.259 --> 00:07:33.339 some, in some cases were one hit wonders or gathered 00:07:33.339 --> 00:07:36.069 a cult following after they broke up. So I've 00:07:36.069 --> 00:07:38.769 seen a lot of these shows over the years. I've 00:07:38.769 --> 00:07:41.629 seen, for instance, I've seen Zappa play Zappa, 00:07:41.810 --> 00:07:45.149 which is Dweezil Zappa playing the music of his 00:07:45.149 --> 00:07:48.529 dad, Frank, which I went through an interesting 00:07:48.529 --> 00:07:50.850 dilemma about that because I'd also listened 00:07:50.850 --> 00:07:52.870 to an interview with Jacob Dillon around the 00:07:52.870 --> 00:07:56.709 time where he said he would never play his dad's 00:07:56.709 --> 00:07:59.449 music and he thought it was fucking weird and 00:07:59.449 --> 00:08:03.329 he didn't even like that people had asked him 00:08:03.329 --> 00:08:07.290 to. And on the other hand, Dweezil is one of 00:08:07.290 --> 00:08:10.930 the only people that can play Frank's music well. 00:08:11.410 --> 00:08:15.230 And not only that, Bob's music does not need 00:08:15.230 --> 00:08:19.370 to be carried on by his son. Other people will 00:08:19.370 --> 00:08:21.269 record it and make some of his songs bigger hits 00:08:21.269 --> 00:08:23.670 than they ever were when he recorded them. So 00:08:23.670 --> 00:08:26.709 Bob Dylan doesn't need his son to go out and 00:08:26.709 --> 00:08:29.009 play his songs for the world to keep them alive. 00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:32.559 One could argue that Dweezil doing that is part 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:35.600 of what has kept Frank's music alive. It was 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:38.899 a big part of the documentary that came out a 00:08:38.899 --> 00:08:41.759 few years ago about Frank Zappa. I've also seen 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:44.399 the Beach Boys with Brian Wilson. This was probably 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:47.159 10 years ago. And one thing that stood out to 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:49.519 me about that show is while it had all the original 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:52.740 members for the first time in a long time, they 00:08:52.740 --> 00:08:56.039 also had a lot of young musicians and singers 00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:58.779 backing them up. And so it sounded great, but 00:08:58.779 --> 00:09:02.440 it also like you could tell that it wasn't just 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:06.279 the beach making the sounds coming from the stage. 00:09:06.580 --> 00:09:10.179 I do think that carries a lot more value than 00:09:10.179 --> 00:09:13.539 because for one, it's being like directed by 00:09:13.539 --> 00:09:16.580 the band themselves. Even if they aren't doing 00:09:16.580 --> 00:09:19.039 all the parts, they're at least approving of 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:21.500 them. Whereas like when I was a kid, I, there 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:24.200 was like two versions of rat touring. It was. 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:27.919 And they had a legal battle. And one was Rat 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:30.899 featuring Steven Piercy. And one was just Rat, 00:09:31.080 --> 00:09:34.779 but it didn't have the lead singer. And it was 00:09:34.779 --> 00:09:37.519 just absurd to me because they were both essentially 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:41.440 cover bands at that point. And it just made me 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:43.559 realize from a really young age that these things 00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:46.299 are all about marketing. One of my favorite bands 00:09:46.299 --> 00:09:50.500 in the last 20, 30 years, the Flaming Lips, did 00:09:50.500 --> 00:09:55.129 a tour celebrating. yoshimi battles the pink 00:09:55.129 --> 00:09:57.970 robots i believe i guess it started with a 20th 00:09:57.970 --> 00:10:00.230 anniversary tour of it and it's just continued 00:10:00.230 --> 00:10:03.110 until a certain point and they did a tour where 00:10:03.110 --> 00:10:05.389 they played that entire album and then they also 00:10:05.389 --> 00:10:08.350 played like a hit a set afterward of all the 00:10:08.350 --> 00:10:10.649 oh i hesitate to call them hits but the songs 00:10:10.649 --> 00:10:12.950 you want to hear if you're a flaming lips fan 00:10:12.950 --> 00:10:16.190 and the flaming lips have always had like a really 00:10:16.190 --> 00:10:18.710 strong community and a really positive message 00:10:18.710 --> 00:10:22.409 and their shows are like an experience not just 00:10:23.070 --> 00:10:25.450 a concert. And I'd seen them a few times over 00:10:25.450 --> 00:10:28.610 the years, never in the 90s, but certainly in 00:10:28.610 --> 00:10:31.730 the early and mid 2000s. Some at Bonnaroo in 00:10:31.730 --> 00:10:35.450 2007. And that was pretty insane. And I did see 00:10:35.450 --> 00:10:38.929 the Yoshimi tour. And it was fantastic. It was 00:10:38.929 --> 00:10:42.590 they still sounded great. They played all the 00:10:42.590 --> 00:10:44.950 songs that you wanted to hear. And I think they 00:10:44.950 --> 00:10:47.570 knew that because of streaming. They knew what 00:10:47.570 --> 00:10:50.750 songs other than Yoshimi that everyone wanted 00:10:50.750 --> 00:10:53.690 to hear. Because they just played the top song 00:10:53.690 --> 00:10:56.870 with streaming numbers on all the platforms. 00:10:57.470 --> 00:11:00.889 And it seemed to go over really well. It was 00:11:00.889 --> 00:11:04.110 a one -hit wonder type band called The Marvelous 00:11:04.110 --> 00:11:06.950 Three that I was really into as a kid. They were 00:11:06.950 --> 00:11:08.730 one of the first bands that I recognized had 00:11:08.730 --> 00:11:11.029 a really strong community following them. And 00:11:11.029 --> 00:11:15.240 that's, I think, what drew me to them. partially 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:17.580 because like my friends were becoming part of 00:11:17.580 --> 00:11:19.580 that community already and so i just kind of 00:11:19.580 --> 00:11:23.139 got into it but like anytime you see somebody 00:11:23.139 --> 00:11:25.639 going ape shit for something obviously makes 00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:28.019 you stop and be like what is so exciting about 00:11:28.019 --> 00:11:30.899 that what is why are they so excited about it 00:11:30.899 --> 00:11:33.659 and i think that's what led to my fandom with 00:11:33.659 --> 00:11:37.159 the drive -by truckers which will be a recurring 00:11:37.159 --> 00:11:39.879 theme that comes up throughout this podcast but 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:43.399 that band has like just a really strong community 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:46.679 and it's Something that I think a lot of other 00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:50.539 people envy in the music world and even like 00:11:50.539 --> 00:11:53.340 can be a model. And they're not even the first 00:11:53.340 --> 00:11:55.820 to do it, but they're the first to do it. They 00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:57.620 were one of the first bands to ever have a website, 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:00.399 thanks to Jen Bryant. And so they created a lot 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:02.659 of community. And I think, and I am going to 00:12:02.659 --> 00:12:04.840 talk about, they also did a show where they've 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:07.659 never not been a band since this album came out, 00:12:07.700 --> 00:12:09.940 but they also did a tour where they played the 00:12:09.940 --> 00:12:13.809 Southern Rock Opera, their album in 2001. in 00:12:13.809 --> 00:12:16.529 its entirety with other songs from the catalog 00:12:16.529 --> 00:12:19.629 instead of doing a separate set they sprinkled 00:12:19.629 --> 00:12:22.690 them in where they thought they fit and i thought 00:12:22.690 --> 00:12:24.509 that was brilliant too it was like two different 00:12:24.509 --> 00:12:28.169 approaches the flaming lips doing the album straight 00:12:28.169 --> 00:12:32.129 through and then separate set and the truckers 00:12:32.129 --> 00:12:37.049 did the southern rock opera in its entirety but 00:12:37.049 --> 00:12:40.669 then adding songs throughout instead of doing 00:12:40.669 --> 00:12:43.320 like a second set of different songs even though 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:47.159 they probably added enough songs to come close 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:51.299 to doing a second set at least and i think the 00:12:51.299 --> 00:12:53.500 reason i bring this up is like there's a big 00:12:53.500 --> 00:12:57.120 difference between nostalgia when it's still 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:01.059 good and nostalgia when it either sucked in the 00:13:01.059 --> 00:13:05.360 first place or just doesn't hold up anymore like 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:08.440 maybe it was great then but it doesn't hold up 00:13:08.440 --> 00:13:12.700 now and you don't get the same kind of feeling. 00:13:12.899 --> 00:13:14.980 Whereas some music, and then this is like the 00:13:14.980 --> 00:13:17.240 sign of great art, and we'll talk about this 00:13:17.240 --> 00:13:19.919 in other mediums, but even if your perspective 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.700 about it changes, like with the Truckers, there's 00:13:22.700 --> 00:13:26.519 songs like Zip City or Without Whiskey that obviously 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:28.960 as you grow up, your perspective might change, 00:13:29.080 --> 00:13:31.559 but that's why they also included songs. Primer 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:35.059 Coat, because it's the sequel to Zip City in 00:13:35.059 --> 00:13:37.019 the sense that it's the same guy, and he's just 00:13:37.019 --> 00:13:41.159 an adult now. Like a 17 -year -old asshole teenager. 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:43.840 And I know I'm rambling here, but the point that 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:47.039 I'm making is that great art grows with you. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.320 And I'll talk about this in all three of the 00:13:49.320 --> 00:13:52.860 nostalgia episodes where you have a totally different 00:13:52.860 --> 00:13:55.679 perspective from the same. The music or the film 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:58.700 or the game or whatever it is didn't change, 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:01.399 but you did. And you see something completely 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:03.299 different. And that can happen to people, too. 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:05.759 And I'm sure we'll talk about that at some point. 00:14:06.919 --> 00:14:09.700 And even with the Flaming Lips, songs like the 00:14:09.700 --> 00:14:13.480 Yeah Yeah song, which to me in college was mostly 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:16.879 just a fun pop song about being powerful. And 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:20.500 now I realize how political it really is. I think 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:23.779 it's really interesting to just look at the two 00:14:23.779 --> 00:14:26.080 different approaches to that same concept of, 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:28.179 okay, we're a band that never stopped touring. 00:14:28.460 --> 00:14:33.120 And we're going to play an entire album from 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:38.340 20 plus years ago. and see what happens. And 00:14:38.340 --> 00:14:40.279 I think both shows were phenomenal. They had 00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:43.500 really great visuals. The Flaming Lips are famous 00:14:43.500 --> 00:14:45.460 for their light shows and everything like that. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:48.679 And they also just kind of, in some ways, were 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:51.419 stripped down. The show I saw, the drummer was 00:14:51.419 --> 00:14:53.340 really close to the front of the stage, and I 00:14:53.340 --> 00:14:55.679 was able to really watch him. And I think that's 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:57.279 pretty common. But they also, they didn't have 00:14:57.279 --> 00:14:59.919 a ton of people in costumes, and they didn't 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:03.179 obviously do the UFO or anything like that. But 00:15:03.179 --> 00:15:06.139 it was just different. the previous shows, but 00:15:06.139 --> 00:15:09.399 it allowed the band, because they stood on their 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:12.679 own, to really shine. And the truckers, I feel 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:15.179 like they, in a lot of ways, just keep getting 00:15:15.179 --> 00:15:17.860 better and better. The drive -by truckers, they've 00:15:17.860 --> 00:15:19.580 had a lot of lineup changes over the years, but 00:15:19.580 --> 00:15:22.279 they've got the longest lineup right now that 00:15:22.279 --> 00:15:25.840 they've ever had. And musically, I think it's 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:28.559 the best, hands down. You know, a lot of people, 00:15:28.740 --> 00:15:30.799 Jason Isbell is a great songwriter. A lot of 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:34.460 people think that was like, even... Patterson 00:15:34.460 --> 00:15:37.100 at one point was quoted in the documentary about 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:40.539 them as calling it the dream team. And in a lot 00:15:40.539 --> 00:15:42.539 of ways it was, but they all had to move on from 00:15:42.539 --> 00:15:44.679 that. It's amazing they all survived it and they've 00:15:44.679 --> 00:15:48.340 all gotten better beyond their time together 00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:51.179 and their friends now. And they've even performed 00:15:51.179 --> 00:15:54.679 together again. But their music, the Drive -By 00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:57.659 Trigger's music, as you age, it ages with you. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:00.639 Same with the Flaming Lips. And I would even 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:03.340 argue same with the Beach Boys. Some of these 00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:07.039 one -hit wonder bands, maybe not. But the Marvelous 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:09.860 Three, it was... So the Marvelous Three, I think, 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:12.860 is an interesting case study in this topic because 00:16:12.860 --> 00:16:16.679 their music held up, their songs held up, but 00:16:16.679 --> 00:16:19.700 they were still, like, pop songs about a lot 00:16:19.700 --> 00:16:22.159 of angsty things. And not to say that's bad. 00:16:22.279 --> 00:16:26.399 In some cases, like, it helped me return to some 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:28.419 of those feelings and not in a negative way. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:31.080 I think just being a little more sensitive and 00:16:31.080 --> 00:16:34.470 things like that. in the moment even but it didn't 00:16:34.470 --> 00:16:38.129 feel like the same thing where i grew it grew 00:16:38.129 --> 00:16:42.769 with me it felt like it helped me create reconnect 00:16:42.769 --> 00:16:46.169 with my younger self and i think that is like 00:16:46.169 --> 00:16:50.169 the that is what nostalgia at its core really 00:16:50.169 --> 00:16:53.009 usually is right like you're trying to reconnect 00:16:53.009 --> 00:16:56.690 with your younger self and a lot of people do 00:16:56.690 --> 00:16:59.500 psychedelic drugs for the same reason And we'll 00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:01.419 have episodes about how those are being used 00:17:01.419 --> 00:17:05.079 therapeutically. But I think the thing that is 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:07.920 really striking about a band like The Marvelous 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:10.599 Three is their music held up, their live show 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:14.420 held up, their songs were still fun to sing along 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:18.400 to. There was still that community element. In 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:20.539 a lot of ways, I saw people I hadn't seen in 00:17:20.539 --> 00:17:22.819 20 years because the community around that band 00:17:22.819 --> 00:17:26.980 was so strong. Even Butch, it was close to the 00:17:26.980 --> 00:17:30.589 fans. Back then, he would hang out before and 00:17:30.589 --> 00:17:33.430 after shows. I was a kid. He got me into shows. 00:17:33.690 --> 00:17:35.849 I remember there was a show in Chattanooga. He 00:17:35.849 --> 00:17:37.569 pretended to be my uncle just so I would get 00:17:37.569 --> 00:17:40.049 in. He was like, don't make me regret this, and 00:17:40.049 --> 00:17:42.670 leaned in real close and said that to me. But 00:17:42.670 --> 00:17:45.910 three random people I'd met on the internet picked 00:17:45.910 --> 00:17:49.970 me up and drove me there. We were all safe. They 00:17:49.970 --> 00:17:54.210 weren't sketchy. It was all fine. I had friends 00:17:54.210 --> 00:17:57.079 that had met them or whatever. And it sounds 00:17:57.079 --> 00:18:01.559 crazy now, but it was like year 1999 or 2000. 00:18:01.980 --> 00:18:06.240 But that community really still, you still felt 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:09.579 it. Like everybody was older and had lives. But 00:18:09.579 --> 00:18:14.059 when a band creates an event like that, and The 00:18:14.059 --> 00:18:16.000 Marvelous Three only did it in a couple of cities. 00:18:16.059 --> 00:18:18.799 So like you had to go to Chicago or Atlanta or 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:21.359 I think one other one, maybe New York or something 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:23.940 like that last year. But if you didn't go to 00:18:23.940 --> 00:18:28.799 those cities, like. didn't go. So it really created 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:31.359 a sense of community. Whereas like every drive 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:33.400 -by trucker show, I think has a sense of community. 00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:35.859 And in the sense that people know each other 00:18:35.859 --> 00:18:38.519 just from other shows and the flaming lip shows, 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:40.460 I think have a sense of community just because 00:18:40.460 --> 00:18:45.700 they're all there to just express love and excitement. 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:49.339 And even so it's like an imagined community is 00:18:49.339 --> 00:18:51.839 believed all through terror coined the term. 00:18:52.299 --> 00:18:54.460 like with a sports team or something only like 00:18:54.460 --> 00:18:57.640 you love their music and that's to me like loving 00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:00.079 a sports team is arbitrary loving music is like 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:03.980 pretty pretty meaningful so i think like the 00:19:03.980 --> 00:19:06.079 point that i'm making was like these reunion 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:09.559 shows were more about more than just about the 00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:12.640 music right they were more about the community 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:17.519 revisiting the art in a way that helped you continue 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:20.609 to grow at least for me like your perspective 00:19:20.609 --> 00:19:23.829 on some of these songs and bands might change 00:19:23.829 --> 00:19:27.750 in some cases and that'll help you understand 00:19:27.750 --> 00:19:31.670 like how you're different and then sometimes 00:19:31.670 --> 00:19:34.829 it's like those bands remind you of things that 00:19:34.829 --> 00:19:37.309 you really need to be reminded of and i think 00:19:37.309 --> 00:19:40.089 when you look at these three bands and a lot 00:19:40.089 --> 00:19:42.289 of people might not even know all three of these 00:19:42.289 --> 00:19:44.789 bands that i'm talking about are But if you look 00:19:44.789 --> 00:19:46.809 at the Flaming Lotus, the Marvelous Three, and 00:19:46.809 --> 00:19:48.470 the Drive -By Truckers, you all took a different 00:19:48.470 --> 00:19:51.630 approach to this. Butch Walker from the Marvelous 00:19:51.630 --> 00:19:53.430 Three went on to become a record producer and 00:19:53.430 --> 00:19:56.549 a solo career. Solo tours, occasionally played 00:19:56.549 --> 00:19:59.750 Marvelous Three songs, and occasionally even 00:19:59.750 --> 00:20:01.730 did reunions on stage for a couple of songs. 00:20:01.930 --> 00:20:05.230 But they hadn't done a real reunion like this 00:20:05.230 --> 00:20:08.049 in almost 20 years, or maybe exactly 20 years, 00:20:08.210 --> 00:20:11.089 since they played at the little big Centennial 00:20:11.089 --> 00:20:14.710 Park, and it was right before 9 -11. If I'm not 00:20:14.710 --> 00:20:18.230 mistaken, I feel like I, I don't know. I, my 00:20:18.230 --> 00:20:20.650 memory is a little fuzzy there, but I feel like 00:20:20.650 --> 00:20:24.210 it was like in late August of 2001. And yeah, 00:20:24.289 --> 00:20:27.690 like people that had met 20 years ago, 25 years 00:20:27.690 --> 00:20:30.910 ago, I hadn't seen each other in 20 or 25 years, 00:20:30.970 --> 00:20:33.950 saw each other again. Draw by truckers shows 00:20:33.950 --> 00:20:36.650 always have this sense of community, but these 00:20:36.650 --> 00:20:40.259 Southern rock opera shows also got. us to really 00:20:40.259 --> 00:20:43.279 they've got over 200 songs even like people that 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:45.339 have seen them a lot may have heard most of the 00:20:45.339 --> 00:20:48.259 southern rock opera live at one point but hearing 00:20:48.259 --> 00:20:51.200 that all of it or even a significant portion 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:53.920 of it all together did not happen and they don't 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:56.480 play with a set list so even even seeing them 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:59.339 play the same show multiple nights was a new 00:20:59.339 --> 00:21:02.680 experience because they like i had never in over 00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:05.400 100 shows played the same show more than once 00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:09.000 and then i saw this tour four times Seeing them 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:11.579 play the same show four times was a new experience 00:21:11.579 --> 00:21:14.920 for me, if that makes sense. Same with the Flaming 00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:18.160 Lips. Like, I've never seen all of the songs 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:21.539 off of Yashimi and seeing them in an order, and 00:21:21.539 --> 00:21:24.559 that was really special. And then the Marvelous 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:26.440 Three, they didn't play, like, a particular album. 00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:29.319 In fact, they pretty much didn't play anything 00:21:29.319 --> 00:21:32.819 off of their first album. They played one song 00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:35.220 off of it from Math and Other Problems called 00:21:35.220 --> 00:21:37.710 Appetite. And I'd really like to hear more of 00:21:37.710 --> 00:21:39.609 that album because honestly, listening to those 00:21:39.609 --> 00:21:41.950 three albums, they had three albums and then 00:21:41.950 --> 00:21:43.710 they put out a fourth when they did the reunion 00:21:43.710 --> 00:21:46.609 called Four. But listening to those three albums, 00:21:46.670 --> 00:21:49.769 I think their first one like holds up the best. 00:21:50.029 --> 00:21:53.309 They're all still good, but I've really felt 00:21:53.309 --> 00:21:56.549 like their first one held up the best over time. 00:21:56.829 --> 00:21:59.369 So I'd really, if they do these reunions again, 00:21:59.549 --> 00:22:01.349 I'd like to see them do more of these songs. 00:22:01.869 --> 00:22:05.049 So I think like the big core about these is like, 00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:07.319 you have to have some kind of just because you 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:09.579 heard a fucking song on the radio doesn't mean 00:22:09.579 --> 00:22:12.039 you want to go see the band 20 years later but 00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:13.759 i do think if you have like personal connections 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:17.640 and community associated with this music or it's 00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:21.000 really good fucking art that you can your perspective 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:23.500 about it has changed over the years and it's 00:22:23.500 --> 00:22:26.359 grown with you or if it just helps you remind 00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:28.579 you of like part of yourself that you might have 00:22:28.579 --> 00:22:31.700 forgotten i think these these reunion tours are 00:22:31.700 --> 00:22:34.690 actually When the product is good, when the music 00:22:34.690 --> 00:22:38.230 is good, when the band is still pretty much the 00:22:38.230 --> 00:22:40.809 full band. I understand like people, one of the 00:22:40.809 --> 00:22:42.509 bands I worked with when I was younger, Social 00:22:42.509 --> 00:22:44.869 Burn, they did some reunion shows. And then this 00:22:44.869 --> 00:22:48.829 was like 10 years ago, maybe more. And the drummer 00:22:48.829 --> 00:22:51.950 couldn't do it for whatever reason. And so they 00:22:51.950 --> 00:22:54.650 had a manager that their manager, Terry Clark, 00:22:54.789 --> 00:22:57.230 who is a great drummer, maybe a better drummer. 00:22:57.529 --> 00:22:59.869 And he stepped in and played those shows and 00:22:59.869 --> 00:23:03.569 nobody cared. Like it wasn't, but it didn't feel 00:23:03.569 --> 00:23:06.230 like a cover band. It felt like me, like at the 00:23:06.230 --> 00:23:08.569 most, they just had a different drummer. I think 00:23:08.569 --> 00:23:11.329 when you see, for example, I went and saw Chicago 00:23:11.329 --> 00:23:13.609 and he's a horn player and they had like most 00:23:13.609 --> 00:23:15.569 of the original horn section. So that was cool 00:23:15.569 --> 00:23:17.990 for him. But he said, otherwise it was basically 00:23:17.990 --> 00:23:20.789 a cover band. Like, and I don't understand, like, 00:23:20.789 --> 00:23:22.809 it's literally just at that point, they've got 00:23:22.809 --> 00:23:25.769 the rights to call themselves a certain band 00:23:25.769 --> 00:23:28.130 name. And that's weird to me. And when I saw 00:23:28.130 --> 00:23:30.690 the Beach Boys, like. felt like that was like 00:23:30.690 --> 00:23:34.210 the line right the line between cover band and 00:23:34.210 --> 00:23:37.750 reunion was when i saw the beach boys with brian 00:23:37.750 --> 00:23:40.430 wilson because i really felt like the beach boys 00:23:40.430 --> 00:23:43.410 with brian wilson it was what they wanted it 00:23:43.410 --> 00:23:46.430 sounded like the beach boys it's what the beach 00:23:46.430 --> 00:23:48.289 boys wanted they were all there they all approved 00:23:48.289 --> 00:23:51.769 of how it all went but you could also tell that 00:23:51.769 --> 00:23:53.509 a lot of the parts were being played and sung 00:23:53.509 --> 00:23:56.009 by younger people that could handle them and 00:23:56.009 --> 00:23:59.759 they were doing what they could and It was fine. 00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:04.160 It wasn't amazing. I felt lucky to get to see 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:09.059 that at my age, but it wasn't. And that's why 00:24:09.059 --> 00:24:11.119 I think sometimes these bands wait too long. 00:24:11.319 --> 00:24:14.220 The Violent Femmes are doing a reunion tour right 00:24:14.220 --> 00:24:17.420 now where they're playing, I think their entire 00:24:17.420 --> 00:24:19.599 debut album. And I'll probably do a review, a 00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:21.240 short review of that show. They're coming to 00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:23.680 my city and I'll do a review of it. I'm going, 00:24:23.779 --> 00:24:26.380 I'm not, I know full disclosure. I'm not like. 00:24:26.920 --> 00:24:28.759 person that ever really got into the violent 00:24:28.759 --> 00:24:30.819 femmes and i'm a little bit apprehensive about 00:24:30.819 --> 00:24:32.079 this because they're playing with an orchestra 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:34.799 but it's all the original members as far as i 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:38.039 know so we'll see but i also like that's a band 00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:40.119 that like got a cult following like after they 00:24:40.119 --> 00:24:42.380 had one hit and then got a cult following over 00:24:42.380 --> 00:24:45.099 the years that band's 40 years old like their 00:24:45.099 --> 00:24:49.000 first album came out in 83 and i saw like i said 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:52.059 i saw the beach boys 10 years ago at least probably 00:24:52.059 --> 00:24:55.609 more like 12. and So that would have made them 00:24:55.609 --> 00:24:58.470 like over 50 years into their career. So like 00:24:58.470 --> 00:25:02.109 maybe it was just too late. I'm sure I'll have 00:25:02.109 --> 00:25:04.910 more to say about this in future episodes. Thanks 00:25:04.910 --> 00:25:07.930 again for tuning in to Overeducated and Underemployed. 00:25:07.930 --> 00:25:11.329 I'm Fedden. Check out my website, fedden .net. 00:25:12.549 --> 00:25:14.869 Feel free to donate if you want to support the 00:25:14.869 --> 00:25:18.569 pod. And stay tuned for the next episode on nostalgia 00:25:18.569 --> 00:25:22.740 and movies and television. And remember, if you 00:25:22.740 --> 00:25:26.380 want me to answer a question on the podcast, 00:25:26.680 --> 00:25:30.319 go ahead and send it over to FeddenXR at gmail 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:35.900 .com. That's F -E -D -D -U -N -X -R at gmail 00:25:35.900 --> 00:25:36.500 .com.