Crossed Channels with Tony Fletcher and Dan Epstein

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit tonyfletcher.substack.comWelcome to the 17th episode of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast — a.k.a. the podcast in which music journalists/obsessives Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond.This time out, our subject is The Smiths, the most iconic British indie band of the 1980s. Specifically, we discuss the period bookended by the August 1984 release of their fifth UK single, “William, It Was Really Nothing,” and the conclusion of their first US tour at the end of June 1985. During that frantic 11-month stretch, the band released the odds n’ sods collection Hatful of Hollow and their second studio album Meat Is Murder, and their epic B-side “How Soon Is Now?” became a massive underground hit in America, thanks in part to a video that Sire Records commissioned and released without the band’s awareness or permission.Meat Is Murder, the first Smiths album released domestically in the US, reached #110 on the Billboard 200 in May 1985 — which, while not quite as impressive a feat as knocking Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA off the top of the UK charts, was still a damn fine showing for a band that had only played one US concert date (New Year’s Eve 1983 at Danceteria in NYC) prior to its release. The record stayed on the US album charts for 32 weeks in all; and on June 7th of that year, Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce kicked off their first US tour with a show at Chicago’s 5,000-capacity Aragon Ballroom.Although Dan was living in Chicago at the time, he happily passed on attending that now-fabled Aragon show. By his own admission, he spent many years stubbornly resisting the charms of The Smiths — so much so, in fact, that he somehow managed to avoid hearing almost all of Meat Is Murder until just a few weeks ago when he began prepping for this episode.Tony, on the other hand, is exceedingly familiar with the album, as well as the rest of The Smiths’ densely-packed catalog. Not only was he lucky enough to witness the band (which acrimoniously fell apart in 1987) play live on numerous occasions, but he also penned the excellent 2012 biography A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of The Smiths.Please join us for an animated discussion on a legendary band. Why did such a quintessentially English act resonate so deeply with American audiences? Does Meat Is Murder still hold up for Tony forty years later? Will the album help Dan to finally see the light (that never goes out) and inspire him to delve deeper into The Smiths’ discography? And how come Slim Whitman and Gordon Lightfoot both come up in the conversation? Tune in to find out!As always, this full CROSSED CHANNELS episode is only available to paid subscribers of Jagged Time Lapse and/or Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith, though a short preview of the episode is available above for all to listen to. To hear this episode in full, along with all of our previous CROSSED CHANNELS episodes, just sign up for a paid subscription to one of our Substacks — or, better yet, sign up for both of them! CROSSED CHANNELS can be heard both here on our Substack pages or via your preferred podcast app: just follow the links and instructions on the right. In addition to the podcast, Jagged Time Lapse and Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith regularly serve up previously unpublished interviews and other exclusive content to our paid subscribers.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit tonyfletcher.substack.comWelcome to the 15th episode of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast — a.k.a. the podcast in which music journalists/obsessives Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond.This time out, our subject is Slade, a British band who are justifiably legendary in their homeland. From 1971 to 1975, these self-described “yobboes” from Wolverhampton in the Midlands absolutely ruled the UK and European charts with one hard-rocking, rafter-raising singalong after another, lodging 17 straight singles in the UK Top 20, including six Number Ones, three of which came in at Number 1, the first act to do so since The Beatles and the last to do so before The Jam. As the incredible 1975 show from San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom below attests, few acts could touch Slade onstage, either.But despite numerous attempts to break through in the US — and even after acquiring devoted fanbases in several American cities — Slade never managed to reach higher than #68 on the Billboard Hot 100 (a placing they achieved with 1972’s “Gudbuy T’Jane”) during their UK glory days. In 1983, however, Quiet Riot’s hit cover of their classic “Cum On Feel the Noize” gave the band an unexpected commercial boost in the States, resulting in big MTV hits with “My Oh My” and “Run Runaway,” the latter of which actually made it to #20 in the US.Both CROSSED CHANNELS hosts are both massive Slade fans — in fact, Dan is currently running a multi-part interview with Slade frontman Noddy Holder on his Substack — but growing up on opposite sides of the Atlantic meant that our respective introductions to Slade and their music were vastly different. We get into our origin stories on this episode, as well as our favorite songs and albums from the Slade discography, and how the act’s growth as songwriters did not yield equivalent success; we also debate the relative merits of Slade In Flame, the gritty 1975 film that follows the travails of an up-and-coming 1960s band called Flame (who are, of course, played by the members of Slade). Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, Slade In Flame will be rereleased in UK theatres this spring, as well as released on Blu-Ray for the first time… though only one of us is at all excited about this news.As always, the full CROSSED CHANNELS episode is only available to paid subscribers of Jagged Time Lapse and/or Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith, though a short preview of the episode is available above for all to listen to. To hear this episode in all its Slade glory, along with all of our previous CROSSED CHANNELS episodes, just sign up for a paid subscription to one of our Substacks — or, better yet, sign up for both of them!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit tonyfletcher.substack.comWelcome to the first 2025 episode (and 13th episode overall) of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast — a.k.a. the podcast in which music journalists/obsessives Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond. And this time out, our subject is one of the great British bands of all time: The Kinks!Rather than talk about one of the band’s widely acknowledged classics like 1968’s The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society or 1969’s Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire), we’re discussing a Kinks album that’s largely underappreciated: 1977’s Sleepwalker.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit tonyfletcher.substack.comWelcome to Episode 11 of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast, in which music journalists/obsessives Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond.Actually, we should probably change it to KROSSED CHANNELS for this episode, since it finds us discussing one of Dan’s all-time favorite bands: Southern California cult heroes Redd Kross!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit tonyfletcher.substack.comWelcome to Episode 9 of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast, in which music journalists/obsessives Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond.Elton John calls her "a most beautiful mystery.” Tricky notes how “you can’t hear her influences.” And yet, as St. Vincent observes, “You can hear one no…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit tonyfletcher.substack.comWelcome to Episode 7 of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast, in which two music journalists/obsessives, Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond.A free preview of Episode 7 is available to all listeners, but the episode is only available in its entirety to paid subscribers of Jagged Time Lapse or Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith. If you’re already a free subscriber to either of these Substacks (or better yet, both), upgrade your subscription now to hear the whole thing, along with other bonus features. As always, we are immensely grateful for your encouragement and support! Cheers! On this occasion, paid subscribers can also win a copy of Tony’s book on The Clash: The Music That Matters to be won.In Episode 6, we discussed Blondie, a band from the NYC punk scene that hit it big in the UK before most Americans had ever heard of them. This time, we’re tackling one of the most important bands from the original wave of British punk: The Clash.After making their live debut with a July 4, 1976 performance at The Screen on the Green in London (at which they supported the Buzzcocks and the Sex Pistols), the Clash quickly gained a massive UK following on the strength of their high-energy gigs and outspoken left-wing ideology. But Epic Records, the American arm of their label CBS Records, flat-out refused to issue the band’s self-titled 1977 debut album, assuming that it had no commercial potential in the US.By 1980, however, the Clash had become immensely popular in the States — their third album, 1979’s double-length London Calling, made it all the way to #27 on the Billboard 200, thanks to the surprise radio hit “Train in Vain” — and the band spent so much time on the road in there that they were regularly accused of forsaking their homeland in pursuit of the Yankee dollar.This transatlantic shift in the band’s fortunes was underlined by the December 1980 release of Sandinista!, the most politically-charged and stylistically wide-ranging album that the band ever made. The three-LP set received rave reviews in the US, surpassed London Calling on the Billboard 200, and went on to sell over 500,000 copies; in the UK, however, Sandinista! was poorly received by critics and fans alike, and would become the lowest-charting album of the band’s career.Though often hailed as a masterpiece, Sandinista! has been almost equally criticized as being a mess. Many folks think it would have been a far better listening experience as a double LP, or even a single album. On this episode of CROSSED CHANNELS, we dig deep into this incredibly diverse record, and attempt to assemble the ideal single-album version of Sandinista! by slimming it down from 36 tracks to 12. As it turns out, however, we have wildly divergent opinions on which tracks should make the cut…

Welcome to the fifth episode of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast, in which Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pondHaving tackled the rise and premature demise of Otis Redding in our last episode, we now return to England — Manchester, to be specific — to discuss the band Oasis and the 1995 album that catapulted them to international stardom, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?Originally a quartet formed in 1991 as the Rain, Oasis – which became a five-piece once singer Liam Gallagher's older brother, the songwriter Noel Gallagher, joined the band - were signed to Creation Records in the summer of 1993. They scored their first UK Top 10 hit a year later with “Live Forever,” and generated such a buzz that their 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe entered the Number One spot on the UK albums chart in its first week of release, becoming the fastest selling debut album in British history.But it was their second album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, that turned Oasis into a genuine phenomenon. Released in October 1995, the record spent ten weeks at the top of the UK albums chart and spawned four UK #1 or #2 hits with “Some Might Say,” “Roll With It,” “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger”. For anyone in Britain in 1995-96, it was impossible to get away from the sound of the band’s music; discussion of their antics (the Gallagher brothers took “sibling rivalry” to new extremes and the group as a whole was known for its rabble-rousing); and coverage of the Britpop phenomenon, which Oasis were drawn into after the media created a rivalry between themselves and Blur. This astonishing success climaxed in the UK in August 1996 with a two-night stand at Knebworth Park (see below), the biggest ever concerts in the UK's history; they drew a record 250,000 people, only 1/10th the number who applied. (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? went on to sell over 5 million records in the UK, and over 4 million in the USA, accompanied by Grammy nominations, Brits and Ivor Novello awards, and commensurate international sales adding up to over 20 million globally, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.Why did Oasis — and especially (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? — strike such a massive chord with British record buyers? What was it about the band’s music, message and attitude that resonated so deeply in the UK? And how was this exceedingly British band received in the US at a time when the seismic rumbles of the grunge movement were still being heard and felt on that side of the Atlantic? Dan and Tony discuss these topics and more, including their memories of their first Oasis concerts, and have a look to see just how well (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? holds up today, nearly 29 years after its release.A free preview of Episode 5 is available to all listeners, but the entire episode (along with all previous CROSSED CHANNELS episodes) is only available to paid subscribers of Jagged Time Lapse or Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith. If you’re already a free subscriber to one of these Substacks (or, even better, both), upgrade your subscription now to ensure that you don’t miss out on all the fun. As always, we thank you for the encouragement and support! Cheers! This episode was recorded on Zoom, rather than in person per usual, due to Tony being in the UK, and there are a couple of minor audio glitches for which we apologize. We figure you can fill in the gaps! If you have comments on this episode, or suggestions for future episode subjects, we are all ears! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tonyfletcher.substack.com/subscribe