WEBVTT

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Welcome back to the Chatterbox Redux podcast

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with Sue and Nick. Our special guest on this

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edition is Billy J. Kramer. And now on Chatterbox

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UK, we're just lucky enough to welcome for the

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very first time, a living legend, Billy J. Kramer.

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Billy, welcome to Chatterbox. How are you? Hello,

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Billy. Pleasure to be on Chatterbox. Nice to

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see you. Great to meet you as well. Right. Now,

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2024, I know we've got a Christmas single to

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talk about, but it's been quite a year. Now,

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I'm very much a statistician, we say, and using

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the statistics, of your songs this year, your

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singles you brought out mainly, it's great to

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see that you've hit the top 20 three times this

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year and that is equal to the number of hits

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you had in 1963, so you've actually equaled your

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record of 63. And of course you've had your album

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out, so big congratulations. That's very interesting

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to know. You know, that's from the CD Are You

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With Me, you know. I recorded that at Abbey Road,

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you know, and I think the first Are You With

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Me, I think it was a great record and it was

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a great video. I did the video on Living For

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A While and then it's a tribute to Brian Epstein,

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I thought it was a nice song. I couldn't have

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done it without you, My Sweet Rose, which is

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my partner. And now the Christmas song is another

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thing. Yeah. Now, if that gets in the top 100,

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no reason why it can't when you've actually had

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songs getting to 14, 14 again, and 18. No reason

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why that's not going to be a hit. And that would

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be your best year in terms of... chart statistics

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that you've ever had. So let's talk about that.

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That is amazing. I'm thrilled with that. You

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know, actually, it's number 19 this week. Brilliant.

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There you go sorted. We can now say, Billy J.

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Kramer, your most successful year as far as charts

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go, and we're talking about the official chart,

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you mentioned the heritage chart there, and I've

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got a feeling you'll be in the official singles

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chart this week coming. I know you're doing lots

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of interviews, and this goes out to a lot of

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radio stations, so let's hope between us we can

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do that for you. When I speak to you next time,

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2024 was your most successful year with four

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hit singles, I just want to do it. Trust me.

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Right. Let's talk about. Yeah, brilliant. It's

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fantastic. Let's talk about this Christmas single,

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the inspiration behind it and yeah, the story

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of it coming out. Yeah. Well, you know, I just

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woke up one day and I said to my partner, I was,

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you know, I think I'd like to do a Christmas

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record. And I called up Tom Hambridge, a friend

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of mine, a producer in Nashville. And I said,

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I want to do a Christmas song. And he sent me

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the Christmas song, you know, Christmas kind

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of feeling. It was just a demo, you know, with

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him and another guy on acoustic guitars. And

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I went to Nashville and recorded there. I've

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been to Nashville before. I've recorded there,

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but I've never had anything out that I've recorded

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in Nashville. You know, I did some things which

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we just can never use. I went there specifically

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to do this single and it came out great. Absolutely

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brilliant. So basically you felt the song was

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for you when it got sent to you and added the

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Billy J Kramer vocals and the Billy J Kramer

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touch and this is what we're hearing today. So

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brilliant and if you're over the other side of

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the pond why not go to Nashville to sort it all

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out. um is it something i mean you said you woke

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up morning this year and you thought about doing

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a christmas single is it something that ever

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crossed your mind like back in the 60s and throughout

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your long career has it ever crossed your mind

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before was this literally the first time for

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a christmas song no i've never you know i've

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um i've thought about it but you know it's it's

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uh you know uh i've noticed like that we have

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the the official christmas songs that come out

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every year And I think the thing that swayed

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me was the fact that it's a new original song,

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you know. I didn't want to cover a song. I didn't

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want to do like Christmas singing. You know,

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Rudolph the Red Nose didn't really do it. And

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I thought it was a good song. I get that totally.

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Out of interest. I mean, obviously Christmas,

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although things can be turned around quicker

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these days, I guess, with everything being digital,

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we can work from home and do bits and pieces.

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How far back this year, how far back in 2024,

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did you actually go to Nashville and put your

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vocals on the song? I mean, is it September or

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when was it? I mean, it would be... I would say

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in the last six weeks. Oh. Wow. There you go.

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Very good. Very good. Six weeks, two months at

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the most, you know. And we did it in three hours.

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I love it. The oldest. Mind you, it's a lot different

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to the old tape days, isn't it? And you know,

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it's just all digital. You take a little bit

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out, add a bit in. Even I can do that. But yeah,

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compared to what it was. We didn't do it like

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that. No, it wasn't done like that. It's I think

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it's a complete taker. I was very pleased with

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it Wow Hats off to you again. If that that's

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one complete take that's brilliant. Yeah Perfect,

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but we are talking to a professional of course

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Billy let's have a look just say you you know,

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you still do concerts and things like that Just

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say any tour you're doing we say 2025 now, whatever

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you got planned You go out on that stage What

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are the audience really expecting of you? Are

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they expecting the 60 songs? The new stuff? What

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is it that you're wanting to give them? What

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do you prefer out of all your stuff? What's your

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hero? I try to do a setlist on something old,

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something new, something bar or something blue.

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That's what I make a setlist on. Brilliant. Something

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old, something new and songs I like to do. Brilliant

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Billy, I like it. I'll say you've been very busy.

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I know you've been over our side of the pond

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as well quite a bit this year. Now tours, we've

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got Woody Station's actually listening at the

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moment and Can we expect some more touring off

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you in the UK next year? I'm hoping to come back

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in April or May and do some shows there. That's

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brilliant. We'll see if we can nab you a few

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weeks from now. That's what I'm working on. No,

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let's hope it all works out. I still come back

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to the UK quite often. I was back there three

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times last year, you know. Brilliant. I did that

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moving pictures TV show, you know. Okay, yeah,

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yeah, I know. Yeah, brilliant. Sue? Yes, I've

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got a question, Billy. The song Little Children,

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how did that come about? Because that's my favorite

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song of yours. It came about because I, you know,

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I got to a point where I heard it, where I'll

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keep you satisfied. which got to number three

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and then I started just to search out songs and

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I was in a place called Ryan Sussex with about

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600 acetate you used to get back then you know

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which an acetate is a record which is aluminum

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with just a coat of plastic it'll only play a

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few times before it doesn't sound good anymore

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and I woke up one day and I put this demo on

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this acetate and it was the songwriter, a guy

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called Mort Schumann. He wrote it with a guy

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called Leslie McFarland. And it was, you know,

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out of all the songs I've done, it was the one

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that really struck me the most that I thought

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would be a hit. And I presented, you know, Brian

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Epstein presented me with the song. It was not

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rather difficult to sort of turn down Lennon

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McCartney songs, but I thought that it was the

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strongest song I had at the time. And I've recorded

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it. you know you're not right all the time but

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for once i got it right and it was a number one

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hit for me it's a lovely song it's my favorite

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thank you yeah and ended up to you very well

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in america thank you we released there yeah could

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have mentioned uh well we mentioned we're from

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hastings but of course uh you mentioned rhyme

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that's nine or ten miles away we are just very

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close to our neck of the woods so yeah yeah and

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you mentioned i was in the mermaid hotel though

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i know up mermaid street yeah absolutely cobbled

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street yeah I've got to pay, you mentioned Brian

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Epstein and I've got to pay homage to you about

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how tasteful the whole thing of I couldn't have

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done it without you was. Not only were you paying

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tribute to him, you were thanking him and the

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video was just amazing. You know, we could tell

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it's from the heart, but it was just a great

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piece all round. One to listen to as a song and

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the video to watch. It was just amazing. I could

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tell all the thought and your heart was there.

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I could just tell everything went into it and

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it is good. all around. Perfect. Well, you know,

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I must say with that song what happened was I'd

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laid out, I was going to do a new album for my

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60th anniversary and my birthday party there

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and I laid out 10 songs and then the guy who

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wrote it was a guy called Mark Hudson. I'd been

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speaking to him about nine months before about

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this kind of song and then he called me. and

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said you know there's a song we thought about

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well i've done it and he sent it to me and i

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had to drop one of the songs because i i thought

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it was very appropriate i thought it was a great

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song no absolutely no that's how i like the album

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and the album we're talking about was that the

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one that was released back in the summer uh called

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are you with me is that the album you're talking

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about i guess it is yes yeah that's the album

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okay perfect yeah i like that okay right um before

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we let you go uh we're going to do some social

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media and things however i'd like to uh because

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obviously we have a few guests on on the show

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each week uh i know that chesney hawks is uh

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chip hawks's son uh he's on he's on the same

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show we've got a gentleman who's sort of like

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a I don't know how to describe him as a gospel

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singer, but he's a religious rock singer. The

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way he does it is quite amazing. Now he's called

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John Henry Harvey, and he says that he's honored

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beyond words to be sharing the bill with Billy

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J. Kramer. Billy J. Kramer was instrumental in

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me getting into music with the Mercy Sound and

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the Dakotas and the early British invasion. God

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bless you and Billy so much. There you go, nice

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words, nice words. Wonderful, that's very nice

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to know. Brilliant, like that. Billy, we've mentioned

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April and May next year. I mean, the stuff you're

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bringing out, it's as though you've got as much

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energy now as you had in the early 60s when you

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started. What else can we expect? Can we actually

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expect more releases off you next year? You're

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going to go for sure. I've got the ball rolling,

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I'm going to keep it rolling, definitely. Looking

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at you, you're looking great and I'll tell you

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what, you don't look like you're going anywhere

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anytime soon, put it that way, you look great.

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Thank you very much. You look more energetic

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than I am and I can knock 30 years off. But darling,

00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:31.929
we've interviewed Billy J Kramer. We will remember

00:13:31.929 --> 00:13:34.509
when they re -interviewed Billy J Kramer more

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than he remembers when he got interviewed by

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Nick Prince and Sue. There we go. Billy, let's

00:13:40.169 --> 00:13:43.730
do some social media. You've got a website, I

00:13:43.730 --> 00:13:48.830
guess, and let's have a look. BillyJKramerMusic

00:13:48.830 --> 00:13:53.610
.com. Perfect. And we click on that. It's on

00:13:53.610 --> 00:13:55.710
all the sites. Yeah, that's what I was going

00:13:55.710 --> 00:13:57.990
to say. Wow, what a lovely, gorgeous picture.

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What a handsome man 1965 Lovely picture. He still

00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:08.019
looks great. So looks great. So yeah, I'm on

00:14:08.019 --> 00:14:10.980
the homepage of your website now Thank you. And

00:14:10.980 --> 00:14:15.919
yeah, Billy Billy J Kramer music .com and you

00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:19.019
mentioned all your other stuff and We've got

00:14:19.019 --> 00:14:21.659
the links down here where people can get onto

00:14:21.659 --> 00:14:24.539
your other social media. Anyway There you go.

00:14:24.539 --> 00:14:29.850
It's all that I'm on YouTube Yeah, I think that's

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where I saw saw saw the videos actually. Yeah

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So yes, it's all there and is a nice little website.

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So 60s fans and Billy J Kramer fans should take

00:14:40.149 --> 00:14:43.950
a look at this website and I see There is some

00:14:43.950 --> 00:14:46.909
dates as well and all of your other dates when

00:14:46.909 --> 00:14:49.070
they get booked for the UK They're beyond in

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the same place. I guess. Yeah, I'm also doing

00:14:50.970 --> 00:14:58.490
a cruise in March Nice Nice nice flower power

00:14:58.490 --> 00:15:00.330
cruise. That's that sounds brilliant. That sounds

00:15:00.330 --> 00:15:04.730
good. I like it So yes now your Christmas song

00:15:04.730 --> 00:15:08.389
is already available, of course And as you say,

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it's number 18 in the heritage chart I'm going

00:15:12.230 --> 00:15:15.529
to be looking for that email to drop Friday from

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the official single shot I'm gonna be looking

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for you to be even anywhere in the top hundred

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means Four singles and the UK singles chart in

00:15:23.289 --> 00:15:26.169
one year for the first time on and I do know

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what? Even if you do know and you have the daily

00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:31.679
mile or someone ring you up saying hey What do

00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:33.919
you reckon Billy? I will actually make a point

00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:35.960
of just messaging you and congratulating you

00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:38.440
so you know it's happened. There you go wonderful

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Billy, I'd like to say thank you so much for

00:15:41.929 --> 00:15:44.629
letting us do this interview. When Nick got the

00:15:44.629 --> 00:15:47.230
email saying he was interviewing, he was well

00:15:47.230 --> 00:15:49.470
excited. Yeah, you sort of have to change your

00:15:49.470 --> 00:15:51.029
breathing a bit. Now, it doesn't happen very

00:15:51.029 --> 00:15:53.570
often. I'll tell you the other one. It was also

00:15:53.570 --> 00:15:56.190
a guy from Merseyside. And the other one where

00:15:56.190 --> 00:15:58.149
I had to change my breathing this year, like

00:15:58.149 --> 00:16:02.429
you, it was Pete Best, Beatles drummer. He knew

00:16:02.429 --> 00:16:05.279
I had to like change my breathing because It's

00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:07.299
just so good for the show and the listeners love

00:16:07.299 --> 00:16:11.100
it. Yeah, there we go. It's been a pleasure.

00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:14.399
It's been a pleasure. And for us. Wish you the

00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:16.820
best of luck for the future. Thanks, Billy. Take

00:16:16.820 --> 00:16:38.490
care, Billy. Thank you very much. This edition

00:16:38.490 --> 00:16:41.309
of Chatterbox Redux podcast was presented by

00:16:41.309 --> 00:16:43.990
Nick and Sue. We thank our special guest who

00:16:43.990 --> 00:16:48.190
was Billy J. Kramer. All inquiries please to

00:16:48.190 --> 00:16:52.590
nickelbum at myyahoo .com or we have a postal

00:16:52.590 --> 00:16:56.330
address at P .O. Box 26, the old Observer building.

00:16:57.270 --> 00:17:00.870
Telford Road St. Leonard's -on -Sea East Sussex

00:17:00.870 --> 00:17:05.809
England TN38 9LZ We thank you very much for your

00:17:05.809 --> 00:17:07.809
company and look forward to welcoming you again

00:17:07.809 --> 00:17:11.210
next time for another Chatterbox Redux podcast

00:17:11.210 --> 00:17:13.990
when our special guest will be Alan Clark of

00:17:13.990 --> 00:17:27.619
the Hollies. Bye bye for now you