WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.120 I want you to picture, just for a second, the 00:00:02.120 --> 00:00:06.440 absolute loudest, grimiest recording studio in 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:09.660 1970s London. You know, the air is just thick, 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.400 the amps are pushed way past their breaking point. 00:00:12.460 --> 00:00:15.699 Oh yeah, pure chaos. Exactly, pure chaos. A heavy 00:00:15.699 --> 00:00:18.820 metal band is just absolutely destroying the 00:00:18.820 --> 00:00:21.679 room with sheer volume. So hold that image in 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:24.379 your head. And now, try to instantly picture 00:00:24.379 --> 00:00:27.769 a slick... perfectly polished, incredibly mellow 00:00:27.769 --> 00:00:32.009 stage featuring a world -famous, smooth jazz 00:00:32.009 --> 00:00:34.549 saxophonist. Right, I mean it's the ultimate 00:00:34.549 --> 00:00:36.630 musical whiplash. You're looking at two entirely 00:00:36.630 --> 00:00:38.509 different universes there. Completely different, 00:00:38.570 --> 00:00:41.549 but what if I told you that the connective tissue 00:00:41.549 --> 00:00:44.500 between those two universes was one guy? Wait, 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:46.920 really? One person? One person. I mean, how many 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:48.359 people do you know who can claim to have been 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:51.439 a driver for a rock god, scored a culturally 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:54.740 defining number one hit single, produced a foundational, 00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:57.200 blood and guts heavy metal album, and then just 00:00:57.200 --> 00:00:59.259 to keep things interesting, casually played session 00:00:59.259 --> 00:01:01.719 music for Kenny G? That is, I mean, it honestly 00:01:01.719 --> 00:01:04.140 sounds like the resume of four completely different 00:01:04.140 --> 00:01:06.560 people. Right. Or... You know, someone who just 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:08.439 wandered into the background of historical events 00:01:08.439 --> 00:01:10.540 like some kind of time traveler. Yeah, totally. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:13.140 But today, we are talking about just one guy. 00:01:13.260 --> 00:01:15.500 We're doing a deep dive into the fascinating, 00:01:15.900 --> 00:01:19.359 totally chameleonic life of English musician 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:22.579 John David Percy Keen, better known to the universe 00:01:22.579 --> 00:01:26.900 simply as Speedy Keen. Speedy Keen. Such a great 00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:29.299 nickname. It really is. So looking through our 00:01:29.299 --> 00:01:32.060 stack of sources today, we've got biographical 00:01:32.060 --> 00:01:34.540 data, historical records, some really extensive 00:01:34.540 --> 00:01:37.609 session. notes, our mission here is to map out 00:01:37.609 --> 00:01:40.650 the ultimate zeal of rock and roll. I love that 00:01:40.650 --> 00:01:42.989 comparison. We really want to understand how 00:01:42.989 --> 00:01:46.329 one behind -the -scenes facilitator managed to 00:01:46.329 --> 00:01:48.769 quietly, almost invisibly, shape the trajectory 00:01:48.769 --> 00:01:51.989 of multiple, vastly distinct musical genres. 00:01:52.489 --> 00:01:54.170 So, okay, let's unpack this. Yeah, let's do it. 00:01:54.189 --> 00:01:55.750 We really have to start at the foundation, I 00:01:55.750 --> 00:01:58.189 think, to understand how proximity to greatness 00:01:58.189 --> 00:02:02.000 often sparks opportunity. Right. So Speedy Keene 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:04.719 was born in Ealing, London on March 29th, 1945. 00:02:05.260 --> 00:02:07.260 He was educated at Acton County Grammar School. 00:02:07.739 --> 00:02:09.879 And right from the jump, he is just immersing 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:12.099 himself in the local music scene. Right. But 00:02:12.099 --> 00:02:14.460 he's not an overnight sensation, is he? Oh, no, 00:02:14.460 --> 00:02:17.259 not at all. He's grinding it out in these early 00:02:17.259 --> 00:02:20.860 working class bands with those fantastic, very 00:02:20.860 --> 00:02:25.280 1960s names like... The Crusaders. Yeah, with 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:27.479 a K. Right, the Crusaders, the Eccentrics. He 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:29.460 was in a group called The Second Thoughts around, 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:34.219 what, 1964 and 1965. Yep, 64 to 65, playing alongside 00:02:34.219 --> 00:02:36.520 guys like Patrick Campbell Lyons and Chris Thomas. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:39.280 Which is just classic dues pay. Exactly. You 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:41.840 don't just emerge fully formed as a rock star, 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:44.400 you know, you spend years in these formative 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:46.400 groups and these sweaty little clubs. Learning 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:48.599 the ropes. Yeah, learning how to collaborate, 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:51.680 how to write, and honestly, how to survive the 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.060 brutal economics of the music business. because 00:02:54.060 --> 00:02:56.939 it's not easy. Definitely not. So his first actual 00:02:56.939 --> 00:03:00.080 recorded song comes in 1966. It was a track called 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:02.659 Club of Lights and it was recorded for reaction 00:03:02.659 --> 00:03:05.419 records by an artist named Oscar. Who is actually 00:03:05.419 --> 00:03:07.919 the actor and singer Paul Nicholas? Yes, exactly, 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:10.159 Paul Nicholas. So, okay, he's got a foot in the 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:12.180 door, he's got a writing credit, but, you know, 00:03:12.259 --> 00:03:14.979 a writing credit for an obscure pop track doesn't 00:03:14.979 --> 00:03:18.439 exactly pay the London rent in the mid -1960s. 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:21.039 No, it really doesn't. You still need a day job. 00:03:21.340 --> 00:03:23.819 And this is where the story takes this incredible, 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:26.939 almost cinematic turn, because his day job ends 00:03:26.939 --> 00:03:29.400 up being a driver for Pete Townsend of The Who. 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:32.500 which is wild, and not just his driver, actually. 00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:34.780 They shared a flat. They shared a flat, which 00:03:34.780 --> 00:03:36.560 is just, it's wild to think about. I want to 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:38.939 frame this for you, the listener. Think of this 00:03:38.939 --> 00:03:43.599 like an unpaid intern carpooling to work with 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:46.900 the CEO of a massive, industry -defining tech 00:03:46.900 --> 00:03:48.639 company. That's a great way to look at it. Like, 00:03:48.699 --> 00:03:50.500 let's say you're driving Steve Jobs around in 00:03:50.500 --> 00:03:53.099 1979. Right. You're literally just there to steer 00:03:53.099 --> 00:03:54.680 the vehicle and make sure the boss gets to the 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:56.870 office. But you're in the car. You're in the 00:03:56.870 --> 00:04:00.210 room. You have their ear. And somehow, casually, 00:04:00.449 --> 00:04:02.930 you pitch an idea that becomes the Macintosh. 00:04:02.990 --> 00:04:06.030 Wow. Because Keen ends up getting a writing credit 00:04:06.030 --> 00:04:09.550 on a legendary album by The Who. But I have to 00:04:09.550 --> 00:04:11.490 push back here a little bit. OK, go ahead. Pete 00:04:11.490 --> 00:04:15.310 Townsend was notoriously brilliant, highly demanding, 00:04:15.449 --> 00:04:18.069 and fiercely protective of his band's sound. 00:04:18.370 --> 00:04:20.290 I mean, why on earth would he give the keys to 00:04:20.290 --> 00:04:22.670 the castle to his driver? Well, what's fascinating 00:04:22.670 --> 00:04:25.709 here is that Keen's proximity wasn't just a stroke 00:04:25.709 --> 00:04:28.870 of dumb luck. It's exactly your point about Townsend 00:04:28.870 --> 00:04:31.569 being protective. Townsend didn't just hand out 00:04:31.569 --> 00:04:33.550 favors to his buddies. Right. That's not how 00:04:33.550 --> 00:04:36.230 the Who operated. Not at all. Yeah. If Keen didn't 00:04:36.230 --> 00:04:39.949 have innate, undeniable top -tier talent, Townsend 00:04:39.949 --> 00:04:42.449 would never have given him the time of day musically, 00:04:42.810 --> 00:04:45.709 let alone precious album space. So what happened? 00:04:45.889 --> 00:04:47.790 Well, Keen was constantly playing around the 00:04:47.790 --> 00:04:50.009 flat, you know, writing music, working on ideas. 00:04:50.389 --> 00:04:52.829 And Townsend heard something that literally stopped 00:04:52.829 --> 00:04:55.399 him his tracks. Wow. And it wasn't just any album 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:57.519 space either. Keane writes a song called Armenia 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:00.959 City in the Sky and it gets included on the 1967 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:03.860 album The Who Sellout. Which is just a masterpiece 00:05:03.860 --> 00:05:06.519 of a concept album. It really is. And here is 00:05:06.519 --> 00:05:09.279 the crucial detail about that track which really 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:11.120 answers your question about how he pulled this 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:16.379 off. Armenia City in the Sky is the only song 00:05:16.379 --> 00:05:19.220 The Who ever performed that was specifically 00:05:19.220 --> 00:05:22.540 written for the group. by a non -member. The 00:05:22.540 --> 00:05:25.220 only one. Wait, let that sink in. Yeah. The only 00:05:25.220 --> 00:05:28.000 one. One of the greatest, most fiercely independent 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:31.740 rock bands of all time. A band driven by one 00:05:31.740 --> 00:05:33.980 of the most prolific songwriters in British history. 00:05:34.060 --> 00:05:36.199 Exactly. And the only time they ever say, yeah, 00:05:36.259 --> 00:05:38.060 let's record a track written entirely for us 00:05:38.060 --> 00:05:40.060 by an outsider, it's from the guy who steers 00:05:40.060 --> 00:05:42.939 the van. I mean, it speaks volumes about Keane's 00:05:42.939 --> 00:05:44.540 mechanical understanding of music, doesn't it? 00:05:44.649 --> 00:05:46.509 He didn't just write a good song, he wrote a 00:05:46.509 --> 00:05:49.329 good song specifically for the Who. Right, tailored 00:05:49.329 --> 00:05:52.029 to them. He completely understood the architecture 00:05:52.029 --> 00:05:54.230 of their sound. You know, the phonetic energy, 00:05:54.430 --> 00:05:56.829 the weirdness, those psychedelic elements that 00:05:56.829 --> 00:05:58.670 were brewing at the time. Though it wasn't without 00:05:58.670 --> 00:06:00.810 its comedic misunderstandings once they actually 00:06:00.810 --> 00:06:03.870 recorded it, right? Oh, right. The Who's bassist, 00:06:03.930 --> 00:06:06.009 John Entwistle, used to joke about that. He said, 00:06:06.329 --> 00:06:08.189 people thought the heavily processed vocals on 00:06:08.189 --> 00:06:10.949 Armenia City in the sky were actually singing, 00:06:11.509 --> 00:06:13.829 I'm an ear sitting in the sky. I mean, to be 00:06:13.829 --> 00:06:16.430 fair, that sounds exactly like a deeply profound 00:06:16.430 --> 00:06:19.329 psychedelic 1960s lyric. It really does. I'm 00:06:19.329 --> 00:06:21.670 an ear sitting in the sky. It makes perfect sense 00:06:21.670 --> 00:06:25.370 for 1967. Oh, absolutely. But jokes aside, having 00:06:25.370 --> 00:06:27.910 a writing credit on the Who sellout completely 00:06:27.910 --> 00:06:30.189 shifts your trajectory. It totally validates 00:06:30.189 --> 00:06:32.540 you to the entire industry. Oh, for sure. So, 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:34.899 having written for a massive band, the natural 00:06:34.899 --> 00:06:37.180 next step for Keane was stepping out from the 00:06:37.180 --> 00:06:39.360 shadows of the flat and stepping up to the microphone 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:41.459 himself. Right. The driver becomes the front 00:06:41.459 --> 00:06:45.240 man. Keane forms the rock band Thunderclap Newman. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.459 And he isn't just the singer. He's the singer 00:06:48.459 --> 00:06:50.240 and the drummer. Which is where we have to talk 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:53.259 about his staggering versatility. Because doing 00:06:53.259 --> 00:06:56.259 both of those things simultaneously is incredibly 00:06:56.259 --> 00:06:59.600 rare. Yeah, it is. Speedy Keane was a true multi 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:02.160 -instrumentalist. Over his career, he handled 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:07.720 vocals, drums, guitar, Hammond organ, which is 00:07:07.720 --> 00:07:10.420 a massive, complex dual -keyboard electronic 00:07:10.420 --> 00:07:13.379 organ that requires serious chops. And he played 00:07:13.379 --> 00:07:15.800 various other keyboards, too. I really want to 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:17.720 pause on the singing drummer aspect, though, 00:07:17.860 --> 00:07:20.360 because I think people underestimate how difficult 00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:22.560 that is mechanically. Oh, it's incredibly hard. 00:07:22.680 --> 00:07:25.079 When you play the drums, your brain is actively 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:27.620 splitting its processing power to control four 00:07:27.620 --> 00:07:30.259 limbs independently, all while acting as the 00:07:30.259 --> 00:07:32.480 metronome for the entire band. Right, you are 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:34.759 the anger. Your physical movements naturally 00:07:34.759 --> 00:07:37.699 want to dictate your breathing. But singing lid 00:07:37.699 --> 00:07:40.579 vocals requires immense breath control and the 00:07:40.579 --> 00:07:42.879 ability to float a melody over the rhythm not 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:45.819 locked strictly to every single snare hit. Exactly. 00:07:45.899 --> 00:07:48.839 To anchor the tempo of a rock band while simultaneously 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:51.060 delivering the emotional core of the song as 00:07:51.060 --> 00:07:54.959 a vocalist, it is a neurological high wire act. 00:07:55.060 --> 00:07:56.899 That's a brilliant way to put it. And he didn't 00:07:56.899 --> 00:07:59.339 just pull it off technically. He did it while 00:07:59.339 --> 00:08:02.579 delivering an absolute cultural touchstone. In 00:08:02.579 --> 00:08:05.959 1969, Keen writes Thunderclap Newman's defining 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:08.759 track, Something in the Air. And it doesn't just 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:11.560 do well. It hits number one in the UK singles 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:15.199 chart. A monumental achievement. I mean, a number 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:19.439 one hit in 1969 places you squarely in the middle 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:21.879 of a global cultural revolution. Totally. It 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:24.420 was everywhere. It captured the optimism, the 00:08:24.420 --> 00:08:27.779 defiance, the sheer energy of that specific moment 00:08:27.779 --> 00:08:29.819 in history. But you know, here's where it gets 00:08:29.819 --> 00:08:32.179 really interesting. Reaching number one in the 00:08:32.179 --> 00:08:35.159 UK chart usually defines a musician's entire 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:38.940 life. Oh, yeah. For 99 % of artists, that is 00:08:38.940 --> 00:08:41.179 the peak of the mountain. That's the first line 00:08:41.179 --> 00:08:43.600 of your obituary. You ride that wave, playing 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:46.100 that one song at festivals for the next 40 years. 00:08:46.220 --> 00:08:48.759 Exactly. Yet for Speedy Keen, it was just one 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:50.360 early chapter. I mean, imagine you're in your 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:52.159 mid -20s, you've climbed the mountain, the whole 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.019 country is singing your lyrics, but then... the 00:08:55.019 --> 00:08:57.639 initial fame subsides. Right. The optimism of 00:08:57.639 --> 00:09:01.419 the 60s turns into the grittier, colder reality 00:09:01.419 --> 00:09:03.679 of the 1970s. How do you pivot when the world 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:06.320 moves on? Well, initially, he tries to maintain 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.659 that solo momentum, which is the logical step. 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:12.039 Sure. He records two solo albums. The first, 00:09:12.220 --> 00:09:14.860 released in 1973 on track records, was called 00:09:14.860 --> 00:09:17.659 Previous Convictions. And the second, released 00:09:17.659 --> 00:09:21.860 in 1975 on island records, was called You Know 00:09:21.860 --> 00:09:23.909 What I Mean. I love those album titles, by the 00:09:23.909 --> 00:09:27.490 way. They are so remarkably unpretentious, very 00:09:27.490 --> 00:09:30.029 conversational, very working class British. Yeah. 00:09:30.210 --> 00:09:32.149 Tells you a lot about his lack of ego, right? 00:09:32.190 --> 00:09:34.149 Very much so. And, you know, while they didn't 00:09:34.149 --> 00:09:37.450 capture the meteoric lightning in a bottle commercial 00:09:37.450 --> 00:09:40.210 heights of something in the air, they had real 00:09:40.210 --> 00:09:42.710 artistic staying power. Did they? Yeah. Both 00:09:42.710 --> 00:09:45.230 of those albums were later released on CD by 00:09:45.230 --> 00:09:48.250 Esoteric, which is a cherry red label. That proves 00:09:48.250 --> 00:09:50.929 there was a dedicated, hungry audience for his 00:09:50.929 --> 00:09:54.610 songwriting. decades later. The music really 00:09:54.610 --> 00:09:57.929 had legs. That's awesome. In fact, years later, 00:09:58.269 --> 00:10:00.210 a track called I Promise You from that second 00:10:00.210 --> 00:10:03.070 album found a whole new life when it was used 00:10:03.070 --> 00:10:06.039 in the American TV series The Big C. Oh, wow. 00:10:06.299 --> 00:10:07.980 I didn't know that. Which is proof that genuine 00:10:07.980 --> 00:10:09.980 songwriting craft always finds a home eventually. 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:12.679 Exactly. But still, the mid -70s are approaching. 00:10:13.179 --> 00:10:15.980 The breezy pop rock sound of the 60s is fading 00:10:15.980 --> 00:10:18.299 fast. The culture is getting angry. It's getting 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:20.740 heavy and distorted. So what do you do after 00:10:20.740 --> 00:10:23.240 you've conquered the charts as a pop rock frontman? 00:10:23.539 --> 00:10:26.379 Well, you go behind the glass. You become a record 00:10:26.379 --> 00:10:29.679 producer. And you help birth some of the heaviest, 00:10:29.940 --> 00:10:32.820 grimiest, most visceral sounds of the entire 00:10:32.820 --> 00:10:34.919 decade. Okay, I have to stop you here because 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:36.779 as I was going through the source material, I 00:10:36.779 --> 00:10:39.639 experienced genuine cognitive dissonance. Really? 00:10:40.019 --> 00:10:43.000 How so? I'm reading this timeline, right? And 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:45.919 I'm looking at the guy who wrote Something in 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:49.440 the Air. A song so culturally optimistic and 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:53.159 breezy, it literally defined 60s pop magic. And 00:10:53.159 --> 00:10:54.960 then I look at his producing credits in the late 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:57.460 70s. And what do you see? He produced the eponymous 00:10:57.460 --> 00:11:01.740 first album for Motorhead. Yes! Motorhead. The 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:04.379 loudest, dirtiest, most relentlessly aggressive 00:11:04.379 --> 00:11:06.200 heavy metal band on the planet. I just picture 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:08.500 him walking into a studio with Lemmy Kilmister 00:11:08.500 --> 00:11:10.700 and I genuinely don't understand how Lemmy didn't 00:11:10.700 --> 00:11:12.419 eat him a lot. I know, it's such a funny image. 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:14.720 And if that wasn't enough, he also produced the 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:17.529 protopunk classic L .A .M .F. for the heartbreakers. 00:11:17.830 --> 00:11:20.830 That is staggering genre whiplash. It really 00:11:20.830 --> 00:11:23.690 is a massive shift. Help me understand the mechanism 00:11:23.690 --> 00:11:28.039 here. How does the 60s pop guy translate the 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:32.000 raw, chaotic, drug -filled energy of proto -punk 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:35.120 and early metal? It feels like two completely 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:37.399 incompatible species of music. You know, this 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:39.360 raises an important question about what a great 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:42.100 record producer actually does. A lot of people 00:11:42.100 --> 00:11:45.120 think a producer is like a dictator who imposes 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:47.899 their own signature sound on an artist. Think 00:11:47.899 --> 00:11:50.700 of like Phil Spector in his Wall of Sound. Right. 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:53.000 They make the band sound like the producer. Exactly. 00:11:53.549 --> 00:11:56.529 But the truly great adaptable producers don't 00:11:56.529 --> 00:11:59.669 do that at all. Keen's incredible value in the 00:11:59.669 --> 00:12:02.090 studio was exactly what you pointed out earlier, 00:12:02.470 --> 00:12:04.750 his total lack of a rigid ego. Oh, because he 00:12:04.750 --> 00:12:06.769 had already been the front man. Yes. He had already 00:12:06.769 --> 00:12:08.690 experienced the number one hit. He didn't need 00:12:08.690 --> 00:12:11.509 to make Motorhead sound like Speedy Keen. He 00:12:11.509 --> 00:12:13.789 was already satisfied. Exactly. He had absolutely 00:12:13.789 --> 00:12:16.129 nothing to prove. He could sit behind the mixing 00:12:16.129 --> 00:12:18.690 desk and act as a mirror or like a focusing lens 00:12:18.690 --> 00:12:21.190 for the band's own chaotic energy. That makes 00:12:21.190 --> 00:12:24.120 a lot of sense. And musically, because he played 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:27.159 so many instruments, especially the drums, he 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:29.240 deeply understood the mechanical architecture 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:32.059 of songwriting. Let's drill into that. How does 00:12:32.059 --> 00:12:34.480 being a drummer specifically help you produce 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:36.860 heavy metal? Well, heavy metal and protopunk, 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:40.440 which is that fast, aggressive, stripped down 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:43.820 precursor to the punk rock explosion, they are 00:12:43.820 --> 00:12:46.220 incredibly difficult to record well. Really? 00:12:46.659 --> 00:12:49.519 Why is that? When a band plays that loud and 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:51.940 that fast in a room, The microphones usually 00:12:51.940 --> 00:12:54.740 just capture a wall of muddy static. The frequencies 00:12:54.740 --> 00:12:56.980 just bleed into each other. You lose the punch 00:12:56.980 --> 00:12:59.919 entirely. Oh, I see. But Keane knew exactly how 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:02.519 a song was built from the floorboards up. He 00:13:02.519 --> 00:13:04.340 knew where to place the microphones on a drum 00:13:04.340 --> 00:13:06.379 kit to capture the physical impact of the kick 00:13:06.379 --> 00:13:09.100 drum without it turning to mush. So when he's 00:13:09.100 --> 00:13:11.240 working with Motorhead, he isn't trying to polish 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:13.960 them up into a pop act? Not at all. He's using 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:16.500 his technical knowledge to capture their relentless 00:13:16.500 --> 00:13:19.100 driving rhythm so it actually translates to vinyl? 00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:21.659 Precisely. He was a translator. When he worked 00:13:21.659 --> 00:13:24.059 with the Heartbreakers on LAMF, he understood 00:13:24.059 --> 00:13:26.419 that the raw guitar aggression was the entire 00:13:26.419 --> 00:13:28.659 point of the band. You can't smooth that out. 00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:31.960 No, you'd ruin it. He took the visceral anti 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:35.019 -establishment anger of the 1970s underground 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:38.299 and put it onto tape in a way that made structural 00:13:38.299 --> 00:13:41.899 musical sense. And he did it completely without 00:13:41.899 --> 00:13:45.259 stripping away the danger. That requires a profound 00:13:45.259 --> 00:13:48.120 musical empathy. You really have to climb inside 00:13:48.120 --> 00:13:50.220 the band's head and help them become the best 00:13:50.220 --> 00:13:52.799 version of themselves. It really does. It's brilliant. 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:55.679 He moves from being the pop star into being the 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:59.019 architect for these massive icons of counterculture 00:13:59.019 --> 00:14:01.539 and heavy metal. But the story still doesn't 00:14:01.539 --> 00:14:03.879 end in the producer's chair. No, it doesn't. 00:14:03.980 --> 00:14:05.899 Because as he moves into the later stages of 00:14:05.899 --> 00:14:08.879 his career, Keane proves that a true working 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:12.320 musician's life is defined by adaptability, not 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:14.519 just the pursuit of fame. Yeah, he becomes a 00:14:14.519 --> 00:14:16.740 highly sought after session musician. Now for 00:14:16.740 --> 00:14:18.940 anyone unfamiliar, a session musician is essentially 00:14:18.940 --> 00:14:22.159 a hired gun. Right. You're brought into a studio, 00:14:22.259 --> 00:14:24.820 often with very little rehearsal time, handed 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:27.080 sheet music or just given a basic chord progression, 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:30.559 and you are expected to play flawlessly, perfectly 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:32.799 matching the style of whatever artist hired you. 00:14:33.139 --> 00:14:36.450 It is pure musical utility. You leave your ego 00:14:36.450 --> 00:14:39.610 at the door entirely. And again, the sure diversity 00:14:39.610 --> 00:14:41.669 of the artists he played for as a session man 00:14:41.669 --> 00:14:44.690 is mind boggling. It's crazy. We're talking about 00:14:44.690 --> 00:14:47.330 playing for rock legend Rod Stewart. OK, that 00:14:47.330 --> 00:14:50.690 makes sense. Classic rock, bluesy, British. Sure. 00:14:51.169 --> 00:14:53.870 But then he's playing for the Gothic rock band 00:14:53.870 --> 00:14:56.190 The Mission, which is a completely different 00:14:56.190 --> 00:14:59.190 sonic landscape. Right. Gothic rock is atmospheric. 00:14:59.409 --> 00:15:03.269 It's dark, swirling, heavily reliant on complex 00:15:03.269 --> 00:15:05.799 keyboard textures and mood. Totally different 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:09.159 vibe. And then, the absolute wild card of his 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:13.039 entire resume, he plays alongside smooth jazz 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:16.700 saxophonist Kenny G. Which is just, I mean, that's 00:15:16.700 --> 00:15:18.500 the furthest end of the spectrum from producing 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:20.919 Motorhead that a human being could possibly travel. 00:15:21.059 --> 00:15:23.639 It really is. Smooth Jazz is pristine, it's slick, 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:26.320 corporate and entirely focused on melodic perfection. 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:28.559 So what does this all mean? When you look at 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:30.419 the modern world we live in right now, we are 00:15:30.419 --> 00:15:33.039 culturally obsessed with sticking to one brand 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:35.279 or one lane. Oh, absolutely. You go on social 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:37.500 media and the first rule of success is to define 00:15:37.500 --> 00:15:40.519 exactly what your highly specific niche is. Stay 00:15:40.519 --> 00:15:43.779 in your lane. Speedy Keen's career is an absolute 00:15:43.980 --> 00:15:47.179 master class in refusing to be boxed in. His 00:15:47.179 --> 00:15:50.480 brand was simply, I make music work. Whatever 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:55.080 the room required, he provided. If you needed 00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:59.460 a driving, thunderous rock beat, he had it. If 00:15:59.460 --> 00:16:03.240 you needed a dark, gothic keyboard texture, he 00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:06.159 had it. Amazing. If you needed a polished, smooth 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:09.059 jazz accompaniment, he was there, ready to play. 00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:11.279 And you know, he didn't limit himself to just 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:14.200 backing up. famous rock stars or jazz icons either. 00:16:14.299 --> 00:16:17.100 He took that exact same work ethic into the commercial 00:16:17.100 --> 00:16:19.019 sphere. What did he do there? He wrote music 00:16:19.019 --> 00:16:21.399 for television advertisements. He wrote for TV 00:16:21.399 --> 00:16:23.879 programs like a show called Zoo. He also continued 00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:26.460 writing actual pop and rock songs for other groups 00:16:26.460 --> 00:16:28.960 totally outside of his own spotlight. He penned 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:30.919 a track called Something's Coming Along for the 00:16:30.919 --> 00:16:33.539 Swinging Blue Deans and a track called Your Love 00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:36.429 for a Group Called Crocodile Tears. He was just 00:16:36.429 --> 00:16:38.649 a relentless working professional. He really 00:16:38.649 --> 00:16:41.649 was. He treated music as a trade, a craft to 00:16:41.649 --> 00:16:44.230 be practiced every single day. Which is the reality 00:16:44.230 --> 00:16:46.450 of the industry that rarely gets romanticized 00:16:46.450 --> 00:16:49.250 in the movies. You know, the music business isn't 00:16:49.250 --> 00:16:51.210 just about the people on the massive stadium 00:16:51.210 --> 00:16:54.529 posters. Right. It's a fragile ecosystem sustained 00:16:54.529 --> 00:16:57.370 by people like Keen, musicians who wake up every 00:16:57.370 --> 00:16:59.629 day and just do the work, whatever the work happens 00:16:59.629 --> 00:17:02.429 to be, constantly adapting to keep the whole 00:17:02.429 --> 00:17:05.599 machine running. Unfortunately that incredible 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:08.380 work ethic and uniquely varied life was cut short. 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:11.500 We do have to note from the sources, somberly 00:17:11.500 --> 00:17:14.299 and respectfully, that Speedy Keen died of heart 00:17:14.299 --> 00:17:18.160 failure on March 12, 2002. He was only 56 years 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:20.599 old. It is far too young. You always wonder what 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:22.400 else someone with that level of adaptability 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:24.259 might have done as the industry shifted into 00:17:24.259 --> 00:17:27.440 the digital age. Oh man, he would have been fascinating 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:30.200 in the digital era. But the sheer volume of life, 00:17:30.460 --> 00:17:32.640 the sheer tonnage of diverse music he packed 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:35.789 into those 56 years, is just astounding. It really 00:17:35.789 --> 00:17:37.509 is. When you pull back and look at the entire 00:17:37.509 --> 00:17:40.589 timeline we've mapped out today, this 1966 to 00:17:40.589 --> 00:17:44.349 2002 journey is just a dizzying zigzag that defies 00:17:44.349 --> 00:17:47.150 all conventional logic. It really does. You start 00:17:47.150 --> 00:17:49.630 by driving Pete Townsend's van and casually writing 00:17:49.630 --> 00:17:52.190 a psychedelic track for The Who. And you step 00:17:52.190 --> 00:17:54.930 up to the mic, front thunderclap Newman, and 00:17:54.930 --> 00:17:57.329 capture the cultural zeitgeist by hitting number 00:17:57.329 --> 00:17:59.690 one with something in the air. Then you pivot 00:17:59.690 --> 00:18:02.309 entirely. sitting behind the glass to produce 00:18:02.309 --> 00:18:05.490 the grimiest, heaviest, most aggressive debuts 00:18:05.490 --> 00:18:07.450 for Motorhead and the Heartbreakers. And then 00:18:07.450 --> 00:18:09.250 you finish it all out by sitting in as a session 00:18:09.250 --> 00:18:12.980 man for Kenny G providing textures for gothic 00:18:12.980 --> 00:18:15.339 rock bands and writing television jingles. I 00:18:15.339 --> 00:18:17.440 mean, if you wrote a Hollywood script like that, 00:18:17.740 --> 00:18:19.920 a producer would reject it for being too unrealistic. 00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:21.960 They definitely would. They'd say the character 00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:24.279 was completely unbelievable. It leaves you with 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:27.279 a really fascinating thought to mull over, especially 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:30.140 when we consider how we consume culture today. 00:18:30.339 --> 00:18:34.339 Oh, like what? Well. We spend so much time putting 00:18:34.339 --> 00:18:37.220 music history into these neat, highly protected 00:18:37.220 --> 00:18:41.019 little boxes. The 60s pop box, the 70s punk box, 00:18:41.539 --> 00:18:45.119 the heavy metal box, the smooth jazz box. We 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:47.539 absolutely love our categories. It makes us feel 00:18:47.539 --> 00:18:49.440 organized. We want to believe that the people 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:51.400 who make heavy metal have absolutely nothing 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:53.259 in common with the people who make pop music. 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:56.160 But if Speedy Keen could seamlessly slip between 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:58.559 the psychedelic world of The Who, the gritty 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:01.799 punk underground, the pop charts, and mainstream 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:05.299 television jingles, how much of our neatly categorized 00:19:05.299 --> 00:19:08.160 music history is actually just an illusion? Oh, 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:11.099 wow. That's a heavy thought. What if the distinct 00:19:11.099 --> 00:19:14.940 hard boundaries between 60s pop, 70s punk, and 00:19:14.940 --> 00:19:17.900 heavy metal are entirely artificial? What if 00:19:17.900 --> 00:19:20.299 the whole structure of modern music is just held 00:19:20.299 --> 00:19:24.019 together by unsung invisible musical shapeshifters 00:19:24.019 --> 00:19:26.660 like Speedy Keen quietly working in the background 00:19:26.660 --> 00:19:29.619 sharing the exact same musical DNA across every 00:19:29.619 --> 00:19:32.000 genre we think is so entirely different. That 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.119 is a brilliant point. The boundaries aren't real. 00:19:34.299 --> 00:19:37.119 The musicians are. And Speedy Keen was as real 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:40.140 and as beautifully adaptable as they come. We 00:19:40.140 --> 00:19:41.619 want to thank you for joining us on this deep 00:19:41.619 --> 00:19:43.619 dive. Yeah, thanks for listening. Do yourself 00:19:43.619 --> 00:19:45.960 a favor today. Go find something in the air. 00:19:46.329 --> 00:19:48.970 Put on your headphones and listen to it with 00:19:48.970 --> 00:19:51.490 entirely fresh ears. Think about the driver, 00:19:51.670 --> 00:19:54.250 the brilliant producer, the humble session man 00:19:54.250 --> 00:19:56.730 and the legend all wrapped into one incredible 00:19:56.730 --> 00:19:58.710 life. Keep questioning the boundaries. See you 00:19:58.710 --> 00:19:59.029 next time.