Therapy For Me
235 episodes - English - Latest episode: 10 days ago - ★★★★★ - 2 ratingsIf you think getting a bloke in his late 40's to talk about the stuff going on in his head is difficult...you should try getting him to stop.
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Episodes
Rock 'n' roll star
June 29, 2024 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MBW/C 24th June 2024 I wonder if I should change the logo for TFM. I have looked at it a couple of times, and even had somebody mock me up some alternatives but never settled on anything I like. The existing one is supposed to be a typewrite style font on some serious grade writing paper, and if you look at it closely it does look like that. It's simple and it's clean. it just doesn't really talk to the styler content of the podcast - but then does that matter? I like the uncluttered nature...
Against all odds
June 22, 2024 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MBW/C 17th June 2024 So here we are, the longest day. I always find this a bit of a strange one if I am being honest, because technically we are now on the downward slope as far as the light is concerned but I never feel at this point that 'summer' has even got out of first gear. The same can be said of the 21st December, because although that is the point when we see the days start to pull out, we equally know that the hardest bit of the winter is still to come. What I can't argue with i...
Place your hands
June 15, 2024 08:00 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MBW/C 10th June 2024 So the best laid plans and all that. I was up bright and early to record this, because I had to head off to a junior football tournament that we were organising, in fact I may have mentioned it. Anyway I left Mrs.S doing the QC listen and I was hoping to publish it from pitch side. Well that was 8 hours ago, and as you will have worked out I am just getting around to it now. IN the intervening period I have lined a pitch, set up a PA. built some goals, stood in the midd...
Remembrance Day
June 08, 2024 08:00 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MBW/C 3rd June 2024 I got into Bryan Adams before the Reckless album came out. So before Summer of 69, and before Run To You. I had a friend called Steve Nicholson way back in the day, and we used to hang out and listen to music, and one day he put on the cassette of Cuts Like A Knife. Mind blown. Of course the only reason I have thought back to that moment at 06:43 on a Saturday morning, is because I was trying to come up with a title for an episode that would reference the D-Day celebrati...
Hello
June 01, 2024 08:00 - 17 minutes - 16.1 MBW/C 27th May 2024 Whilst I am not a particular fan of Boris Johnson (I know, comes as a shock doesn't it...) I have considerably more time for his brother Jo. Not only did he see through the nonsense of Brexit, he also manages to perfectly articulate why tossing out nonsense like 'National Service' and 'Mickey Mouse degrees' is such a backwards step. I caught this clip on twitter and it is one of the most balanced and intelligent things I have head in a while. Stay safe. Hello - Oasis P...
Things can only get better
May 25, 2024 08:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBW/C 20th May 2023 Like it or not, some weeks the episode titles do pick themselves. I am trying not to think about the parallels with 1997 too much, but it is getting hard not to at least to believe that if nothing else the outcome will be the same. And if that is going to be the case can we not get there as soon as possible. If you aren't into the political side of TFM then this would definitely be the week to give it a swerve, and I apologise for the overly ramble nature of this week's ...
Complicated (Pt.II)
May 18, 2024 08:00 - 20 minutes - 18.8 MBW/C 13th May 2024 It turns out that I have used Complicated before as an episode title, normally when I realise that I try and find something different - but bearing in mind there are two tie-ins this week, I decided to bend my self-imposed rules slightly. If you are going to fully immerse yourself in my week, then you are going to need to start by navigating to the root cause of the problem which is a page on the JD Sports website after which you are going to have to have a look at a coup...
Break it down again
May 11, 2024 08:00 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MBW/C 6th May 2024 I love this song, and it is worth the slightly disjointed crowbarring to be able to share it with you this week. TBH I am becoming quite a Tears For Fears fan, they are seriously under-appreciated in the way that say Aha are. Maybe it is something to do with the early pop success that both had, but in both cases there is some serious creative stuff going on. Anyway have a listen and see what you think, I think it's a belter. Stay safe. P.S After the BBC News Theme tune ...
One
May 04, 2024 08:00 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MBW/C 29th April 2024 If you are a regular listener to TFM you will be familiar with my Saturday morning routine, which invariably involves getting out for a run. For the last six months or so my route on a Saturday takes me the six miles to Coffee Boy, a vibrant little spot just on the outskirts of Huddersfield, located in an old Mini showroom. The run takes me about an hour, in which time Mrs S hauls herself out of bed and heads down to meet me for a brew and to ferry me back home. The pr...
Shame
April 27, 2024 08:00 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MBW/C 22nd April 2024 For what it is worth I think Labour are onto a winner with their policy to bring the trains back under Government control. I appreciate that they will never say it is 're-nationalisation' because somehow that word is considered too politically toxic, but the fact is that many people will look at this as a positive. Whilst I have been a firm advocate of Labour not saying too much, too early, about what their vision for the country is, we are getting to the point where th...
Drift away
April 20, 2024 08:00 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBW/C 15th April 2024 This one of those songs that I can hear in my head, but no matter how much searching I do I can't find 'the' version that I remember from my youth. I think I had it on a compilation album, actually now that I think about it, it could have been one of the Blues Brother, Soul Sister releases. In fact give me a moment and I will check. (short interlude) Ok so I have checked, and it was the Dobie Grey release - which is the one that is considered the archetypal version -...
My friend the sun
April 13, 2024 08:00 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBW/C 8th April 2024 This is one of those songs where I don't actually know the original. I was introduced it by me by Jimmy Nail(not personally, obvs) as he covered it on his album Tadpoles in a Jar in 1999. It turns out it was written in 1972 by a band called Family, and I am listening to it for the first time as I write this. I have always loved the JN version, because it's a perfect little thing, a little gem of a song that doesn't demand your attention or sit proud in your subconscious...
All the small things
April 06, 2024 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.6 MBW/C 1st April 2024 The New Statesman email has started landing in my inbox and I am not sure why. I can only assume it is something to do with signing up for the Ian Dunt blog that I told you about, but whatever the reason I am quite enjoying it. It seems to be a bit sporadic in terms of its cadence, and I would be lying if I didn't tell you that was triggering my OCD tendencies a little, but generally it has been a positive. So far this week I have enjoyed pieces penned by David Gauke, a...
Take a walk
March 30, 2024 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBW/C 25th March 2024 It is hard to believe that this song was released when I was 18, and that I first saw Mr Big at Rock City two years later in 1991. I was a bit of a devotee for the first few albums and I still have a huge soft spot for the song Green Tinted Sixties Mind, because it is a perfect slice of hair pop rock. As it turns out they are currently on the road for their Big Finish tour, playing their second album Lean into It (which contains GTSM) and rounding off their 30+ year car...
Cecilia
March 23, 2024 08:00 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBW/C 18th March 2024 Why do I leave my podcast notes until Saturday morning, when I know it is going to cause me stress. I like to be out for a run by 07:30, but it’s 07:08 and I still have to drink my tea, get a shower and get dressed. For some reason, even when TFM is in the can in plenty of time, I still put the notes off. And it isn’t like they are ground breaking in terms of content, or indeed quality. Bonkers. Stay safe. Cecilia - Simon and Garfunkel Therapy For Me (or TFM as I n...
I wanna be running
March 16, 2024 08:00 - 16 minutes - 15.5 MBW/C 11th March 2024 Actually I will be running, in about 24 minutes if all goes to plan, when I have finished these notes and got my sh*t together. The reason for the title is that I am stumped for a content-relevant song this week and as I talked about Blair Dunlop last week, and as I talked to Blair Dunlop this week, I thought I would include take his most recent single as my inspiration for episode title. Not a lot else to tell you, as you will hear, so I am going to finish my tea and ...
Downtown train
March 09, 2024 08:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBW/C 4th March 2024 We have three Spiderman masks in the house, compared with none this time last week. And these are actual fabric, full head, pull-over kind of masks not the held-on-by-a-piece-of-elastic variety that you recall from your childhood. The reason for this of course is World Book Day and the fact that Jack had a yin to go as the Miles Morales version of Spiderman. And to be fair he looked great, the mask is pretty impressive and paired with a black hoodie worn hood-up, joggers...
Hit me baby one more time
March 02, 2024 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBW/C 26th February 2024 After all the kerfuffle involved in getting it actually finished, I think we may frame the London Underground jigsaw with the 200+ white pieces. I appreciate that in the scheme of things we haven't actually shifted the dial in terms of human progress. The methodical placing of multiple pieces until you find one that fits snugly (btw if you could bottle that feeling you would be onto a winner, because it is delicious...) and then the process of rinse and repeat is not...
Little Shop of Horrors
February 24, 2024 08:00 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBW/C 19th February 2024 You may have noticed that my episode titles normally only contain one capital letter, even though in pretty much all cases they are lifted from the title of a song. The reason for this is that, in pretty much all cases, they allude to something I am going to discuss in the podcast proper. At times they are a bit oblique, but that is the intent unless otherwise specified. I have changed it for this week because, I don't know, it just looked plain wrong and as such wa...
Jigsaw puzzle
February 17, 2024 08:00 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MBW/C 12th February 2024 I am actually going to answer one of my own 'tossed-out' TFM questions, because I have just spent a rather enjoyable half hour in an underground-related-rabbit-hole. Now before you say, where else would a rabbit hole be, I was actually referring to The Underground (capitals included and indeed implied) because I was looking at three-dimensional-cross-section drawings of various tube stations. And they are quite striking, particularly as I hadn't considered the pleth...
Science fiction/Double feature
February 10, 2024 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MBW/C 5th February 2024 Another week, another casualty at Nestle. Now don’t get me wrong the Breakaway was a solid biscuit choice, not up there with a Mint Viscount or a Trio (obvs) but definitely in the same bracket as a Club or a Penguin, and clear of a Blue Riband by some distance. I haven't been floored in the same way that I was last year, I mean who can forget where they were when the news of the demise of the Caramac came through, but the fact is another part of my childhood has now ...
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
February 03, 2024 08:00 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MBW/C 29th January 2024 All the things I want to watch at the moment appear to be on streaming platforms that I don't subscribe to. No sooner have I signed up to Apple TV to watch Ted Lasso (off the charts good) and Slow Horses (Gary Oldman is a legend) I am now being drawn to Paramount Plus. I am quite good at resisting the lure of a new platform, provided you accept that my tipping point is three. As soon as I spot three things that I can't get anywhere else, then I am lost and it's only a...
Pride
January 27, 2024 08:00 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBW/C 22nd January 2023 Just three things you need to know about TFM this week; Firstly I am back in California at the NAMM show and that is the excuse as to why this is a little behind schedule, it has been full-on. Secondly the noise outside (that is very, very loud) didn't pick-up as I had hoped on the recording due to the nature of the lapel microphone In was using but trust me it was real and it was considerable. And thirdly it is a long-un....the longest so far in fact, just putting ...
Here I go again
January 20, 2024 08:00 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MBW/C 15th January 2024 I am off to LA next week for the NAMM show, which is back in its usual time slot for the first time since the onset of COVID . And that can mean only one thing…I have completed another full year of recording TFM. Today’s episode marks my first step into season five, and I don’t know about you but I need a moment to let that land. I have been capturing my thoughts on a weekly basis for four years - and by ‘eck what a four years it has been. Anyway thanks for joining ...
Vienna
January 13, 2024 08:00 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MBW/C 8th January 2023 I was thinking of a suitable title for this weeks slice of TFM and I haven't been able to get the first line of Vienna out of my head... I have been a BJ fan for as long as I can remember, and I first saw him live on the Bridge Tour in July of 1987 at the NEC in Birmingham. Vienna is one of those songs that was never a single, seems modest in its ambition, but somehow worms its way into your psyche. Whilst the song is a metaphor for getting old, it was inspired by a t...
Roll with it
January 06, 2024 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MBW/C 1st January 2024 It appears that most of the people I know are either with cold, or trying to shake off the lingering remains of it. I also know a fair few who have Covid. I started with it on New Years Eve, that distinctive back of the throat feeling that lets you know something is fast approaching and although it's not forced me off track it has slowed me down a little, and given me plenty of opportunity to feel a bit sorry for myself. Without it of course I probably wouldn't have r...
Rest stop
December 30, 2023 08:00 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBW/C 25th December 2023 This weeks chunk of TFM does kinda have the feel of that week between Christmas & New Year about it, I have explained it away as being a bit of a hibernation moment but I guess you could say it is about being slightly disconnected from the grid. Apart from the nonsense about weights and measures I have lost touch with the world a bit this week, not even bothering to get myself worked up about the absurdity of a 49-day-car-crash of a PM putting forward an Honours List...
Wrapped up in time
December 23, 2023 08:00 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MBW/C 18th December 2023 I wonder if TFM is getting a little stale. It is difficult because of the very nature of this podcast to know if it has become stuck in a bit of a rut, and although there is kind of natural progression inherent in it's DNA it was never a story that had a obvious and unfolding dramatic arc. It still works for me, and I still enjoy sitting down for 20-25 minutes every week and capturing whatever I have collided with that week, so I guess I am thinking about where you ...
Do it again
December 16, 2023 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBW/C 11th December 2023 I just love this song, and the fact I am employing it ironically to emphasise the point that we are going to regroup in January to revisit the parliamentary physcho-drama around the Rwanda Bill, shouldn't deter from it's awesome-ness-ness. It's the Beach Boys sounding exactly like what you think of when you think of the Beach Boys. Absolute classic. Stay safe. Do It Again - The Beach Boys Chris Bryant Rwanda Bill Intervention Apple Butter Therapy For Me (or TF...
Bad case of loving you (Doctor, Doctor)
December 09, 2023 08:00 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBW/C 4th December 2023 So many links to point you toward this week that there is hardly any space for the actual notes themselves, so I thought I would drop them in as little CTAs along the way. Let's start with the majestic Doctor Who and the incredible episode from last Saturday which is called Wild Blue Yonder you can find here if you leave in the UK. On the subject of the 14th incarnation I am rather taken by the new Sonic but I am resisting it for the time being. The Sophy & Sam clip ...
Christmas lights
December 02, 2023 08:00 - 20 minutes - 18.6 MBW/C 28th November 2023 I think I have sailed past my 200th episode of TFM without even noticing. I found myself thinking last week that I must be getting close to that milestone so I did a quick search on Captivate and it suggested I have published xx episodes as of last Saturday. Now I need to go back and check properly, just in case that total includes non-episode-proper content (trailers, updates, etc) and that I have in fact actually gone past the double century. But if I have, well ...
Hip to be square
November 25, 2023 08:00 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MBW/C 20th November 2023 I have been dipping into the Doctor Who content that is all over the BBC iPlayer at the moment, including some of the documentary content and odd episodes and curiosities. Firstly there is a ton of stuff and for even the most casual of Who-vians it's a mighty easy way to idle away a few hours. What I still come back to is how good some of those re-boot episodes actually were. I watched The Girl in the Fireplace again and it is an utterly beguiling and thought-provoki...
Blue Monday
November 18, 2023 08:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBW/C 13th November 2023 As an accompaniment to some of what I am about to talk about, I thought I would clarify the whole 'how can a person that hasn't been elected possibly be appointed to the cabinet' position. Well, as with most things concerning the governance of the UK it is down to convention. Technically speaking that could have been me getting out of a car in Downing Street this week, traipsing off to be offered the job of Foreign Secretary, because you don't actually have to be...
Let's make a night to remember
November 11, 2023 08:00 - 18 minutes - 16.5 MBW/C 6th November 2023 On a completely unrelated note to anything that is covered in this week's TFM, Jason & I launched the new season of 9-42 this week. The reason I mention that little aside, is that I have been somewhat overwhelmed by the number of people who (after an eight month lay-off) have chosen to listen to the five and a half minute trailer we put out on Thursday. Podcast listening is something that people do religiously, up until the point when that they don't and so when anyt...
House
November 04, 2023 08:00 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MBW/C 30th October 2023 Two things have come together to make the TFM production process a little less fraught this morning. The first is the fact that I decided to run yesterday, so instead of Thursday-Saturday-Sunday which is my normal routine, I have shaken it up a bit and gone with Thursday-Friday-Sunday. The second is the extra hour that I have gotten from being in mainland Spain, and which I am putting to good use. I can't explain the joy of being able to type these notes in a leisurel...
I will walk on water
October 21, 2023 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.6 MBW/C 16th October 2023 I always loved this song. It's a bit like another lesser know Marillon song called How Can It Hurt that I also really like. No idea why it landed with me the way it did. It just did. Of course I never thought I would be able to neccesarily use it as a TFM episode title, but I hope when you get to the relevant section of this week's episode it all falls into place. Right I am late for a run, and this episode is already 4 minutes overdue so I am going to clear off. St...
One week
October 14, 2023 08:00 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBW/C 9th October 2023 Well that all changed rather quick. As you listen to this weeks TFM you will find that I recorded a whole section in order to use 'oops, I did it again' as the title for the episode. It turns I have already used that particular pop-banger it back in May 2022, so that left me scrabbling about looking for another title that would chime with one of this week's topics. Anyway the revised title folds neatly into what I was talking about at the end, which was a bit of a bon...
Can't take my eyes off you
October 07, 2023 08:00 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBW/C 2nd October 2023 **Major Spoiler Alert** For this week's TFM I am going to bang on about the Conservative Party Conference The Tories gathered this week in a disused railway terminus in Manchester for their annual get-together, and I was drawn like a moth to the flame. It was a shambles before they arrived, and it just got more shambolic as the week went on. If you want some kind of gauge to the preposterous-ness of the whole affair, the hottest ticket in town was to listen to Liz Tr...
She's electric
September 30, 2023 08:00 - 20 minutes - 18.6 MBW/C 25th September 2022 I think I may have a verruca. I have never (to my knowledge) been afflicted with one, but it appears that I have one now. I can't actually see it, it is in a rather tricky spot to see on my left heel but Mrs S reckons that's what it is and that I probably picked it up on holiday - apparently they take a while to ripen or something. Anyway it has started to hurt when I walk, so I am going to pop along to the pharmacist for a medical opinion and then some form of som...
True colours
September 23, 2023 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBI hate waking up late. As a rule I don't set an alarm in a morning, because I am fairly good at managing it with my own internal snooze function. Occasionally if the reason is one that is non-negotiable (those pesky planes or trains that don't seem to want to bend their schedules) I will set an alert, but invariably I wake up 45 minutes before it is due to go off, and bizarrely I end up getting less sleep. All I wanted to do today was write these notes, publish this weeks TFM, have a brew ...
Warm fuzzy feeling
September 16, 2023 08:00 - 18 minutes - 16.6 MBW/C 11th September 2023 This track is less than two minutes, but its an absolute belter. It's from an album called All The Pain Money Can Buy, and I bought it in the US whilst on honeymoon in 1998 because the hit single from the album was being played everywhere. As it happened I also picked up Stunt by the Barenaked Ladies for the self-same reason that One Week was also being played wall-to-wall. Both albums are interesting because they sound very little like the singles that made them f...
Hotel Room
September 09, 2023 08:00 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBW/C 4th September 2023 There is something about the songs of Richard Hawley that make them perfect as an audio signature for a hotel like the Renaissance at St Pancras. So I am going to take the opportunity to bang on about him again, because I think everybody deserves a bit of RH in there lives and if you haven’t discovered him yet then I commend him to you. As it happens he has announced a career retrospective this week entitled Now Then, and though I haven’t seen the track listing it i...
Flip the switch
September 02, 2023 08:00 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBW/C 28th August 2023 I seem to to recall that back when it was released the Jack the Ripper mini-series was much anticipated because it purported to name the identity of the infamous killer. Much was made of the research that had gone into the production, and the access that was granted to official records and documentation not previously disclosed. Of course in the end it played out like the dramatisation that it clearly was, and any effort that has gone into trying to it give it an air ...
No surprises
August 26, 2023 08:00 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBW/C 21st August 2023 As it has turns out, I have spent very little time sat in the garden so far this summer. You may recall that it was one of the things I was really looking forward to around April time, that seasonal improvement in the ambient weather conditions that makes sitting outside such a joy. And yet I was looking out at my soggy cushions this morning, trying to think of the last time I ventured outside with a hot beverage. The end of August tends to leave me a little melancho...
Closing time
August 12, 2023 08:00 - 20 minutes - 18.8 MBW/C 7th August 2023 Whilst this track is clearly about a bar, the sentiment chimes with something I am reflecting on in this weeks episode of TFM. Wilko has been a high street constant in my life, and because it had an administrative base close to the town where I grew up, then it always felt like a local success story. As a child I spent a lot of time at the Little Theatre in Retford, my Dad was an active member of this voluntary organisation and when (after years of trying) they manage...
Take five
August 05, 2023 08:00 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MBW/C 31st July 2023 There's a lot to like about this part of France. Aside from the things I am going to talk about (and lets not beat about the bush some of them are pretty epic) there is the fact that everywhere I turn there is some seriously cool neckwear, and I have fallen head over heels for a house just down the road. Nothing grand, just a simple single storey affair that is very much in the French style. White stucco walls and sky blue shutters standing, in just the right amount of...
Rain in the summertime
July 29, 2023 08:00 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBW/C 24th July 2023 When I first came to St Gilles Croix-de-Vie in 1990 it was like being introduced to a whole different world. It was the first time I had been abroad (save for a school skiing trip) the first time I had stayed on a Eurocamp and the first time on an overnight ferry crossing. The experience of arriving on a campsite to a fully erected tent, with campbeds and a fridge was a revelation after many soggy trips to the East Coast and the mixture of outdoor swimming pools, warm ...
Walking by myself
July 22, 2023 08:00 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBW/C 17th July 2023 I have been very fortunate in the fact that whilst I was working for my previous employer I got to visit some fairly prestigious events. Which is how I got to see Gary Moore play at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2010. As a technical sponsor of the event Shure would get access to VIP tickets, and as such I got into the cycle of travelling over for a couple of nights every year to host guests and enjoy what is a very unique event. Gary played superbly that night, with a s...
Fix you
July 15, 2023 08:00 - 17 minutes - 16.1 MBW/C 10th July 2023 I am finding it a little bit hard to believe that I haven't used this episode title song before. but it seems not so I am going to deploy it in the context of my washing machine door. I have always had a soft spot for the song itself, but I now cannot hear it without being taken back to that wonderful episode of Gavin & Stacy when the neighbours Pete & Dawn renew their wedding vows and he chooses these lyrics. It is a lovely example of the kind of observational humour t...
We are young
July 08, 2023 08:00 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBW/C 3rd July 2023 There isn't any really definitive reason why or when the 'High School Prom' arrived in the UK. Most of the returns on the first page of a google search (because in reality when does research actually extend beyond that) seem to coalesce around the notion that it was due to their visibility on American TV shows around the turn of the millennium. I can't really disagree with that as a notion, they weren't a thing when I was growing up, so the closest thing I ever did was ...