Episódios
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This is am excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing along with dozen more, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod and sign up for as little as £3 a month.
In this patrons-only episode we welcome writer Toby Manning to the show to discuss his recent book Mixing Pop and Politics: A Marxist History of Popular Music. Toby's book offers a political reading of popular music, taking as its methodological starting point the songs found in the charts from the 1950s to the present day, to explore how the music people listen to reflects and resists the politics of their time in fascinating ways.
In this show Jeremy, Tim and Toby discuss the charts themselves, how we think of 'popular music', and discuss lyrics as a tool for analysis. This being LITM, we of course spend some time on the hits of the 1970s, but we hear also about '80s synth pop and yacht rock, Annie Lennox, MJ, and contemporary artists like FKA Twigs and Little Sims. Also found inside: the GLC, the High Sixties and Kneecap.
Thanks to Toby for coming on the show. If you'd like to order his book, you can do so from Repeater Books: https://repeaterbooks.com/product/mixing-pop-and-politics-a-marxist-history-of-popular-music/. Enter the code 'popdiscount' for some money off.
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In this episode, Tim and Jeremy pull on their white suits for a full run-down rewatch of Saturday Night Fever. Starting with the iconic 'Stayin' Alive' opening sequence, they draw out the class, race and gender politics of the film, including Italian American stereotypes, consumer culture, Bruce Lee, meritocracy and male grooming. On the music side, they talk blue-eyed Soul, falsetto, an early drum loop, Bee Gees, Kool and the Gang, MFSB and more.
Produced by Matt Huxley.We are now on Youtube! Find series 6 here: https://www.youtube.com/@LITMPodcast
Remember, we have a rolling playlist of all the tracks discussed over on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZpKyqhvhOXfTuPMHCBkFs
Tracklist:
Bee Gees - Stayin’ Alive
MFSB - K-Jee
Bee Gees - More Than a Woman
Kool & the Gang - Open Sesame
Yvonne Elliman - If I Can’t Have You -
Estão a faltar episódios?
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The day has finally come: after 79 episodes of Love is the Message, it’s time to talk Travolta. Saturday Night Fever was always coming down the pipe for us, and now we’re giving it the LITM treatment.
In this episode, Tim and Jeremy establish some of the pre-history to the seminal 1977 film. With musical examples drawn from Vince Aletti’s Disco Files playlists, we hear about the rise of the suburbs in the USA, the dynamics between the different boroughs of mid-70s NYC, and consider the suburban disco scene. We ask again what makes disco disco, revisit the Hustle, tune up the Salsoul Orchestra and take a trip to a disco conference.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Saturday Night Fever without the Bee Gees: often-derided and much-mocked but one of the highest selling bands of all time, it was their music which provided the soundtrack to the film. Are they a guilty pleasure? Listen along to find out.
Produced by Matt Huxley.
We are now on Youtube! Find series 6 here: https://www.youtube.com/@LITMPodcast
Remember, we have a rolling playlist of all the tracks discussed over on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZpKyqhvhOXfTuPMHCBkFs
Tracklist:Carl Douglas - Blue Eyed Soul Gloria Scott - Just as Long as We’re Together Babe Ruth - Elusive
Tina Charles - Disco Fever
Joe Bataan - The Bottle Van McCoy - The Hustle Salsoul Orchestra - The Salsoul Hustle Bee Gees - Spicks and Specks Bee Gees - Massachusetts Bee Gees - Jive Talkin’ Bee Gees - You Should be Dancing
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This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing and dozens more episodes on topics ranging from Walter Gibbons to Glam Rock, visit patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
In this patrons episode we conclude our two-parter on Bob Dylan, dragging him from where we left off last time in 1966 all the way up to the freewheeling year of 1977. Through a glut of albums we hear about John Hammond, spirituality, gnosis, religious iconography, St Augustine, Joe Hill and The Band. Dylan meets the Panthers, who don’t think much of him, he gets married and divorced, sets out on the road with the Rolling Thunder Review, and lights up the silver screen. Tim and Jeremy consider the Grain of his voice, the reception history of his mid-70s output, and leave him smiling as the happy hippy uncle we wish he’d became.
Tracklist:
Bob Dylan - As I Went Out One Morning
Bob Dylan - Lay, Lady, Lay
Bob Dylan - George Jackson
Bob Dylan - Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Bob Dylan - Meet Me in the Morning
Bob Dylan - Tangled Up in Blue
Bob Dylan, The Band - This Wheel’s on Fire
Bob Dylan - Isis -
Tim and Jeremy conclude our look at Eurodisco with a series of cuts from the mighty Giorgio Moroder. We hear the silky vocals of Donna Summer, the relentlessness of the 4-to-the-floor, the aesthetics of whiteness and what can only be called Prog Disco.
Also in the episode Tim recounts a recent visit to the Philharmonie de Paris, Jeremy revels in a Star Wars rework, and we board the Trans Europe Express once again to spend some time with Kraftwerk.
Remember, we have a rolling playlist of all the tracks discussed over on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZpKyqhvhOXfTuPMHCBkFs
And you can hear plenty of bonus episodes by becoming a patron at patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
Produced by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
Giorgio - From Here to Eternity
Munich Machine - Get on the Funk Train
Donna Summer - Once Upon a Time
Donna Summer - Back in Love Again
Meco - Star Wars Theme
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express -
This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing and a hell of a lot more, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
Timothée Chalamet is currently lighting up the silver screen as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Have you seen in? We haven’t, but we still thought it high time to dig into some Dylanology. In this episode Tim and Jeremy discuss Bob’s early albums up to 1966, interrogating his intentions, his seriousness, his self-mythology, and whether he invented rock music.
Tracklist:
Bob Dylan - Song to Woody
Bob Dylan - Blowin’ in the Wind
Bob Dylan - Chimes of Freedom
Bob Dylan - Mr Tambourine Man -
Tim and Jeremy are back on European soil for our second episode on Eurodisco. Examining their record boxes with a post-colonial lens they discuss the aesthetics and politics of race within the genre. We also here about homoeroticism, history-themed tracks, ‘the honky box’, and the life and times of two of the key players in the scene: Jacques Morali and Richie Rome.
And of course… Village People.Next time – Moroder!
Tracklist:
The Ritchie Family - Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
The Ritchie Family - African Queens
Village People - San Francisco
Boney M - Ma Baker
Boney M - New York City -
This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full show and lots more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
For the first time in a while Tim and Jeremy dig into their record bags for a selection of tracks they’ve been enjoying recently. We hear the strange deep tones of the Rudra Veena, contemporary virtuosic New Age noodling out of California and some Antipodean sitar funk. Elsewhere in the episode Jeremy buys his first D’n’B white label in a long while, we get a few tributes to some big names of the UK scene, and revisit the mighty WAR.
Tracklist:
Madhuvanti Pal - Bhairavi (Part 1)
Turn On the Sunlight - Floating Sunset
Glass Beams - Black Sand
War - War is Coming! War is Coming!
Yannis & The Yaw - Walk Through Fire
Vibration Black Finger - New Wave (The Hustle Bustle Song)
Ariwo - El Alacrán
Sami Galbi - Dakchi Hani
Big Bud - Cloudsurfing
Calabra - Mazzara Return
The Mighty Zaf & Linkwood - Thinking About Phlash -
In the first episode of 2025 Jeremy and Tim attempted to understand a somewhat maligned genre: Eurodisco. What is it and where did it come from? We hear about the cross-continental currents that gave rise to the form, unpack its aesthetics and spend time with some of its key proponents like the French composer and drummer Cerrone. Tim and Jeremy also take time to unpack the Switched On Classics, play us an infamous Beethoven reinvention, ask what the Enlightenment has to answer for, and compare Eurodisco and another genre that riles people up, prog rock.
Tracklist:
The SalSoul Orchestra - Magic Bird of FireThe Walter Murphy Band - A Fifth of Beethoven
Kongas - Jungle
Cerrone - Love in C Minor
Love and Kisses - I’ve Found Love (Now That I’ve Found You)
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This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full show and lots more, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
On this patrons episode we complete our close reading of Resistance through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain’. Jeremy and Tim take in chapters on criminality and culture, Style, and feminist analysis of girls’ culture. They refer to another seminal work ‘Policing the Crisis’, interrogate the links between class and generational consciousness, and return to the Mods, alongside Taylor Swift and Ray Davis.
Jeremy and Tim also examine the long theoretical introduction to the book - a watershed piece of writing in the development of cultural studies.
Tracklist:
Junior Murvin - Police and Thieves
The Kinks - Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
The Clash - Career Opportunities
David Cassidy - Cherish -
In this episode of Love is the Message Jeremy and Tim have packed a bag chock full of stone cold 1977 dance floor classics that share a Black Disco aesthetic. We hear a number of cuts from Tom Moulton and Walter Gibbons that can be pinpointed as some of the most important contributions to early remix culture (whilst still guaranteed to go off at a party). François K makes a fleeting appearance, alongside Boney M, Grace Jones, Miami, the SalSoul Orchestra and Henri Bergson. We close out the show with an all-timer in Lamont Dozier’s ‘Going Back to my Roots’. Enjoy this week listeners, as next time we’re taking on Euro Disco…
Due to licensing issues, we can only play short clips of the music discussed. If you’d like to listen along to the full tracks, we have an ever-expanding Spotify playlist hosting (most) of the tracks played in the show. You can find Series 6 here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZpKyqhvhOXfTuPMHCBkFs
Produced by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
CJ & Co - Devil’s Gun (Tom Moulton Mix)
Elton John - Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance) (Tom Moulton Mix)
First Choice - Dr Love (Tom Moulton Mix)
Loleatta Holloway - Hit and Run (Walter Gibbons Mix)
Rare Earth - Happy Song (François K Edit)
T-Connection - Do What You Wanna Do
Peter Brown - Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me?
Sine - Keep It Coming
Lamont Dozier - Going To My Roots -
This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full show, plus dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
We start this patrons episode with a tribute to Phil Cohen, a colleague of Jem and Tim’s at UEL and a fellow traveller to the Birmingham cultural studies writers discussed in this episode. From there we pick up where we left off in our reading of the seminal edited collection ‘Resistance Through Rituals’. Tim and Jem cover the two ethnographies of 70s drug use found in the book - weed and acid if you’re wondering - before rolling on to a disappointed essay on the Commune movement. We hear about Tim’s experience on a Kibbutz, The Farm and a funky cut from YES.
Later in the episode we examine two excellent pieces from the collection: Dick Hebdige on Reggae, Rastas and Rudis; and Ian Chambers on the Racial Politics of Rock’n’Roll.
Next time we’ll be completing our journey through the book with chapters on youth fashion, criminality and more, and taking a deep look at the weighty theoretical introduction.Produced by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
Yes - Yours is No DisgraceThe Farm Band - Loving You
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Duppy Conqueror
Big Joe Turner - Shake Rattle and Roll -
In this episode Tim and Jeremy continue the story of Frankie Knuckles first year at the controls of the seminal Chicago nightclub, the Warehouse. We hear an investigation of Frankie’s early musical aesthetic, how it would lend itself to the development of the House sound some years later, and whether stability or dynamism are better for a pumping dance floor.
Elsewhere in the episode we hear about how Robert Williams came to know Frankie and Larry Levan, the experiences the two young club kids had at the Continental Baths, the understated role of social workers in the story of dance history, and what the PMC have to do with Afrika Bambaataa.
Plus - stolen donuts, LSD in the fish tank, and Jeremy’s dreams of lamé…
Produced by Matt Huxley.
Due to licensing issues, we can only play short clips of the music discussed. If you’d like to listen along to the full tracks, we have an ever-expanding Spotify playlist hosting (most) of the tracks played in the show. You can find Series 6 here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZpKyqhvhOXfTuPMHCBkFsTracklist:
The Osmonds - One Bad Apple
The Originals - Down to Love Town
Roy Ayres - Running AwayPam Todd & Love Exchange - Let’s Get Together
First Choice - Let No Man Put Asunder
Made in USA - Melodies -
This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full episode and dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
In this patrons episode we begin a reading series on a book we mentioned in the last episode: ‘Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain’, edited by Stuart Hall and Tony Jefferson. This collection, first published in 1975, is a classic of the cultural studies reading list, but upon revisiting it for this show Jeremy and Tim found its content extremely pertinent to the project of this podcast. So, in true LITM style, why have one episode when you can have many? As such today we embark on a deep reading of the volume, starting with the first three chapters.
Jeremy and Tim give a historiography of Stuart Hall’s analytic method, tying in their own journeys through the academy, before discussing three interesting UK subcultures: Teddy Boys, Mods, and Skinheads. We hear about amphetamines, ska, racism, class, big lapels, Peaky Blinders, cut-price suits and the first teenagers in this journey through mid-century Britain. Stay tuned, much more to follow next time.Tracklist:
Bill Haley - Rock Around the Clock
The Who - The Seeker
Symarip - Skinhead Moonstomp -
This is the first of two episodes on another seminal club in the history of dance culture: The Warehouse. Jeremy and Tim begin by spending some time discussing the city of Chicago, a place that despite its massive musical output hasn’t really featured in out story so far. A crucible of industrial modernity, they consider its unique historical position, the move from Delta to Chicago Blues, and how it linked to NYC in the mid-70s. We hear about the several early locations of the club that would become The Warehouse, revisit Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan, and give a shout out to another satellite of the US disco scene, Le Jock.
Plus: singing bumblebees, Chaka Khan, and David Mancuso’s enduring love of Tescos.
Produced by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
Muddy Waters - Trouble No More
Rufus and Chaka Khan - Once You Get Started
Titanic - Rain 2000
Bumblebee Unlimited - Love Bug -
This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, and much much more, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to sign up from just £3 a month.
In this patrons episode we thought we’d begin to explore the academic discipline of Cultural Studies. Tim and Jeremy (both Cultural Studies professors themselves remember) explain the ways in which academic study of popular cultural was developing in the mid-70s, including the political motivations informing academics developing the discipline, in the wake of sociology and social anthropology. They talk about analysis of subculture, Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, Mods, Rockers, nostalgia, Cool Jazz, with a healthy dash of DH Lawrence thrown in for good measure.
In our next episode we’ll discuss in detail the seminal book Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain.
Books:
William Foote White - Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum
C. Wright Mills - The Power Elites
Raymond Williams - Culture and Society
Richard Hoggart - The Uses of Literacy
DH Lawrence - Lady’s Chatterly’s Lover
Stan Cohen - Folk Devils and Moral Panics
Paul Willis - Profane CultureTracklist:
Lennie Tristano - Crosscurrents
Ewan McColl & Peggy Seeger - The Black Velvet Band
The Who - The Kids are Alright
Buddy Holly - Not Fade Away -
We’re back from our summer break and getting straight back to business to examine what was going on in the Downtown party scene during the fabled year of 1977. We return to a favourite of the show - Nicky Siano - to hear how the Gallery wound down, check in on what’s happening back at the Loft, and unearth the very first iteration of the Paradise Garage.
Also featured in this episode: a bit more Studio 54 wash-up, the decline of the New York Record Pool, Deleuzian sobriety and more on Jem’s breakdancing.
Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.
Books:
Jonathan Mahler - Ladies and Gentlemen the Bronx is BurninTracklist:
Salsoul Orchestra ft. Loleatta Holloway - Runaway
Teddy Pendergrass - The More I Get, The More I Want
Grace Jones - I Need a Man
Sylvester - Over and Over
C.J. & Co. - We Got Our Own Thing
Evelyn "Champagne" King - Shame -
In this episode Jeremy and Tim complete our mini-series on the opening of Studio 54. They discuss links between underground and mainstream both generally and specific to 1977 NYC, consider the importance of celebrities to the Studio project, and interrogate the velvet rope. We hear about Bianca Jagger’s birthday party, spend more time thinking about Richard Long and his sound system designs, and ask who really is a native New Yorker?
We’ll be away for the summer holidays, but will be back with more music, sound systems and counterculture in September. For now, why not dig into our back archive of bonus episodes on by becoming a patron at patreon.com/LoveMessagePod
Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
Sweet Cream - I Don't Know What I'd Do
Olympic Runners - Keep It Up
Odyssey - Native New Yorker
Le Pamplemousse – Le Spank
The Trammps - The Night The Lights Went Out
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In this episode Jeremy and Tim walk us past the velvet rope and into opening night at Studio 54. They introduce us to Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, the two businessmen who owned the club, as well as to the often overlooked Carmen D’Alessio, who’s taste and art world connections were crucial to the look and feel of the party. Through these characters and more we get to learn about the founding of Studio 54.
We also hear discussions on Muzak, eclecticism, returning champion Nicky Siano, and the aesthetics of ‘smoothness’. Tim and Jeremy interrogate the surprising links between Downtown and Midtown, explore how journalists tried to understand the Studio 54 phenomenon, and contemplate whether they even like disco anymore.
Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
The Ritchie Family - Brazil
Anthony Whyte - Block Party (A Walter Gibbons Mix)
Chic - Dance Dance Dance
Santa Esmeralda - Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
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This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing and hours more exclusive conversation, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.
In this patrons-only episode Jeremy dons his leather jacket to conclude our history of the early days of heavy metal. We hear about how the convergence of space rock, biker gangs, and the fantasy aesthetics of writer Michael Moorcock created an deeply abiding metal culture that would contribute massively to the second half of the Twentieth Century and beyond. Jeremy discusses the success of Warhammer, makes the case for rock opera, argues for the cultural significance of the Lord of the Rings and even has time to unpack metal masculinity, with reference to bands including Led Zeppelin, Hawkwind, Judas Priest and Deep Purple. Rock on!
Produced by Matt Huxley.
Tracklist:
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to HeavenHawkwind - Silver Machine
Blue Oyster Cult - Stairway to the Stars
Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
Thin Lizzy - Whiskey in the Jar
Kiss - Black Diamond
Judas Priest - Winter Retreat
Hawkwind - The Wizard Blew His Horn
Hawkwind - Kings of Speed
Judas Priest - The Ripper
Motorhead - Motorhead
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