Therapy For Me
223 episodes - English - Latest episode: 21 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
Two steps behind.
April 08, 2023 08:00 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MBW/C 3rd April 2023 With the very best of intentions, and working to the boundaries of my abilities, some weeks I am just going to be late. And so it is for this easter episode of TFM. The recording went OK and the QC listen proceeded without a hitch. But due to a Saturday morning School Governors commitment - and the need to get a run in before I set off - the actual publishing and note writing didn't get done. All I can do is apologise and promise to be better in the future. Stay safe...
When two worlds drift apart
April 01, 2023 08:00 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MBW/C 27th March 2022 Not a lot to say to tee up this weeks episode, it's slightly different to normal but you will get the gist as we go along. Maybe I am reading far too much into this and maybe this is merely the normal path of transition to a different way of framing the world. I do think the politics of division has a lot to answer for though. The one upside is that TFM came through again for me this week, doing its thing and helping me make sense of what is rattling through the synaps...
Precious sight
March 18, 2023 08:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBW/C 13th March 2023 For many years the stadium announcer at Bramall Lane used to open match-day proceedings by welcoming the crowd to the 'oldest professional football stadium' in the world. As it turns out this isn't entirely true, because although professional football has been played there since 1862, they were already kicking a ball about at Field Mill in Mansfield a few months earlier in 1861. It remains though a very special place though, the only place outside of the Oval to have ho...
The Fix
March 11, 2023 08:00 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBW/C 6th March 2023 I probably wouldn't have put Richard Hawley together with Elbow if I am being honest, it's not a collaboration that would have been obvious to me. But I am really, really glad it happened. This song is something special, not only because the it is so interesting musically, or so beautiful lyrically, but because the two of them have a real chemistry and their vocal timbres work so well. If you are new to this song I would suggest you start with the original album track, ...
You fill up my senses
March 04, 2023 08:00 - 22 minutes - 21 MBW/C 27th February 2022 For one week only I am going to go with a lyric, rather than the actual song title for the episode name. The explanation for which comes in two parts; Firstly you have to watch this... MOTD FA Cup Introduction (or in better quality here if you are in the UK) And then you have to read this; The Greasy Chip Butty Song Oh and if you missed the game itself you might want to give this a quick glance. #COYRAWW Stay safe. Annies Song - John Denver Tent Boy Therapy ...
Video games
February 25, 2023 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.3 MBW/C 20th February 2022 I have been literally dashing around all of this week, so everything feels a bit rushed and not quite thought through. As I type it's 05:53 on Saturday morning and I have a pile of stuff to remember before I jump in the car to head to The Guitar Show for the weekend. Of course I am bound to have forgotten something, but as of now I have organised the U10s football fixtures, packed the podcasting gear, remembered my running kit, started thinking about some questions f...
Washing of the water
February 18, 2023 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBW/C 13th February 2023 I love this song. And I never really imagined how I would get it into an episode title, but fortunately this week something unfortunate happened and here we are. I am a middling Peter Gabriel fan, I don't go al the way back to the beginning because I was never a Genesis fan, but I equally couldn't imagine a musical world without the songs that formed the seminal So & Us albums. If I had to pick just one, I would pick this. Quite simply sublime. Stay safe. P.S The ...
I just don't know what to do with myself
February 11, 2023 08:00 - 23 minutes - 21.1 MBW/C 6th February 2023 I am going to have to use that phrase, that is becoming so well used that is now some form of self-induced irony loop. "we use the term legendary or unique far too often these days, but in the case of xxxxx it really is true" Of course I am going to fall into the same trap, and insert the name of Burt Bacharach into that particular sentiment. Not because I am a huge fan particularly, but because when you thinks about his body of work it just doesn't sound anything ...
How long has this been going on
February 04, 2023 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MBFive minutes ago I didn't know this song existed. When I decided on the title song for this week, I was thinking of the Paul Carrack penned track (recorded by Ace in 1974) and it was only when I was searching out a link that I discovered this gem by George & Ira Gershwin. Of course there are multiple versions too choose from, and although I am not a card-carrying Van Morrison fan, I do think this is a cracking arrangement. The song was originally included in the musical Funny Face, but aft...
It’s all coming back to me now.
January 28, 2023 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBW/C 23rd January 2023 By the time you get 10 minutes into this weeks episode you will realise that I have been fulfilling a bit of an ambition. Of all the things that struck me in those few hours on Tuesday, the one I wasn't expecting was the attitude and approachability of the people that worked there. They were very friendly, and very helpful, and very engaging. I ended up chatting quite a bit (who would have thought it) learning a few snippets of pomp and ceremony along the way. They a...
The War
January 21, 2023 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.2 MBW/C 16th January 2022 There is a (welcome) return to rantiness this week, and it probably doesn't take a genius to work out what has got my dander up. I happened to listen to the The Counterweight this week, which is a really great Thea Gilmore album from 2017. The War is the final track of the album proper and begins as a lyric in response to the senseless killing of Labour MP Jo Cox, a few miles down the road from where I am sat. It talks to culture war, and social media and the preoccu...
We don't talk anymore
January 14, 2023 08:00 - 20 minutes - 18.4 MBW/C 9th January 2022 I hadn't even realised it may be birthday week until I started typing the notes. Now you may know that I have a bit of a difficult relationship with the whole idea of my own birthday, but I am fairly relaxed about it as far as TFM is concerned. Of course I can't be 100% sure when the exact date is, and I imagine there will be divided opinion on the matter. Episode 1 was published on the 22nd January 2020, so technically that is the anniversary. But this weeks TFM wi...
It's my party
January 07, 2023 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBW/C 2nd January 2023 Imagine waiting for so long, years and years gripping to the greasy pole and then you moment finally arrives and a group of nutters decide to set about pulling down the decorations and bursting all the balloons. There is of course a much bigger point about a political party in chaos, a deluded faction that want to stoke emotions and sow division, and the spectre of elected representatives worshipping a fallen idol, and a false prophet. On the flip side we can have a s...
Spending my time
December 31, 2022 08:00 - 26 minutes - 24.2 MBW/C 26th December 2022 You will have to indulge me a little this week, for a few reasons but primarily because I am being just a weeny bit self-indulgent. I don't know if it's a hangover of lockdown, or a by-product of working from home in a fairly piecemeal fashion, but I seemed to have got into the habit of consuming quite a lot of content on a daily basis. Of course you know that, because I often reference my new favourite thing on TFM - so it seemed fitting to round out the year wit...
I believe in Father Christmas
December 24, 2022 08:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBW/C 19th December 2022 Aside from being the greatest story ever written, A Christmas Carol is written not in Chapters but in Staves. This technique was employed by Dickens because it mimicked the traditional structure of Christmas carols, and as such was a bit of in-joke. He continued to play around with structure with his other Christmas writing, the Cricket on the Hearth was divided into 'chirps' and The Chimes was similarly set in 'quarters'. In honour of that fact I have subdivided th...
Baby it's cold outside
December 17, 2022 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBOne of the things I happen to bang on about this week is the Christmas Radio Times, a festive perennial as far as TFM is concerned. Now this gets a bit technical, but it concerns the listing dates covered by this epic publication, because this year the first information it carries is the schedules for Christmas Eve - which I found a little odd. In my head I am used to having the schedules for the run-up days, you know what I mean, usually the 19th or 20th onwards. The bit when you are wind...
Shameless
December 10, 2022 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.4 MBW/C 5th December 2022 I never learn. Clearly that isn't strictly true. In a lot of ways I am on a constant journey of discovery, development and hopefully self-improvement. Indeed TFM is part of that process, and the sheer act of assembling this podcast has positive consequences. But in other ways I never learn. Let me explain. I know I have a particular task to complete in early December every year. I also know that any unseasonably warm weather tends to break around the end of Novembe...
Excitable
December 03, 2022 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.3 MBW/C 28th November 2022 I think I am getting a little giddy, a little bit unnecessary you might say. It could have something to do with an early start, a busy day and lots of things to be finishing off before I can get on the road. It could be the start of December, the excitement of the early morning Advent chocolate and the reappearance of the Elves. It could be the lingering bit of head cold I have been manfully trying to push myself through all week. It could be my hormones, I am a...
Fits ya good
November 26, 2022 08:00 - 17 minutes - 16.4 MBW/C 21st November 2022 I am never quite sure if anybody actually reads these notes, I know that as a rule I don't for any of the podcasts I listen to. And it got me to wondering why I try and think of something creative to put in them every week. So this week I am simply going to ask those of you that have read them to let me know in some way (maybe a DM on instagram would work) and if it turns out its actually a handful of you I could try and personalise them a bit more in the future. Bu...
Cover me up
November 19, 2022 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBW/C 14th November 2022 Funnily enough the episode title is not a reference to trying to keep warm , without putting the heating on. It's actually a little nod to the gig I went to last night. I don't know a lot about Jason Isbell and I am only just discovering his catalogue, so I went as a bit of a blank page with no real expectations. First up he is terrific, as are his band, and the show was outstanding. There was a particular moment in this song though that resonated with me a a bit of...
Creep
November 12, 2022 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.1 MBW/C 7th November 2022 Let's go with a bit of Radiohead this week. I guess the obvious reason for picking them is the fact that Sir Gavin Williamson ('Gavin Gone the Third' as I wrote in my notes as a prompt) dominated the news cycle over last weekend and through the early part of the week. He really does seem a fairly unpleasant character, but then again so does Matt Hancock - a fact that will not be altered by the ingestion of any quantity of jungle-based scrota. And to complete the holy...
Circular ride
November 05, 2022 08:00 - 15 minutes - 14.1 MBW/C 31st October 2022 By the time you have listened to this weeks dense, but compact little offering, the choice of title will be self-evident. The challenge however is that for the first time (if memory serves) I can't share a link to the song, because I can't find one. I first heard the song Circular Ride in Manchester on the 30th November in 2007, one of only three times it was played on that tour. In fact I am listening to that very performance as I type, because it was released as par...
Coming Around Again
October 29, 2022 08:00 - 19 minutes - 17.5 MBW/C 24th October 2022 Most of this weeks content came from two strolls through London, one from Kings Cross to Waterloo in the early afternoon on Tuesday and then the return leg on Wednesday morning. Walking through the capital still retains that wonder for me that it had the very first time I visited as part of a school trip many years ago. Back then it was all about the iconic buildings, and the images that I had only ever seen on the TV. Now it is more about the little things, the se...
Another one bites the dust
October 22, 2022 08:00 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBW/C 17th October 2022 If I hadn't been to Birmingham this week then I wouldn't of thought about Birds Custard. If I hadn't thought about Birds Custard, I would never have discovered that the Birds Custard Factory used to be spread of fifteen acres of land in Digbeth, and that over a 1,000 people used to work there. If I hadn't been researching the Birds Custard Factory, then I wouldn't have found out that it was originally constructed for Sir Alfred Frederick Bird in 1906, and remained ...
In these arms
October 15, 2022 08:00 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MBW/C 10th October 2022 When I woke up yesterday morning I didn't expect to be settling on this as an episode title. It was Pfizer this year, which means I have now completed the set (along with AstraZeneca & Moderna) of vaccines I have agreed to in an effort to throw a Ready-Break-like protective glow around myself. No particular side effects this time, other than the obligatory stiff arms (I had my flu jab as well) and a very unsettled night in terms of sleep, which is why I am sat with a...
It's my life
October 08, 2022 08:00 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MBW/C 3rd October 2022 How do you feel when you are part of the Anti-Growth Coalition, and you get to Saturday morning with no idea what you are going say in your weekly podcast. Guilt? A sense of failure? Disgust at the fact that you are letting down podcasters everywhere ( not to mention anti-frackers, remainers, university lecturers, lib-dems, environmentalists and anybody who hasn't bought into this right wing, populist nonsense). But what can you do, how can you make the situation rig...
Crash
October 01, 2022 08:00 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBW/C 26th September 2022 This week proved that we should never take local radio for granted, and recognise that it isn't some second tier form of journalism. It's just journalism. Damn good journalism. Clearly the PM had no clue what she was walking into to at 8am on Wednesday morning, as she undertook a whistle stop round of local BBC station interviews - the first time she had been heard from in four days. Have a listen at some of the highlights. This is what we have been waiting for, p...
In the wee small hours of the morning
September 24, 2022 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MBW/C 19th September 2022 I am going to mention Only Murders in the Building again this week, and it just dawned on me that I should have called out the performance of Steve Martin. The whole cast is great, even the fairly wooden and monotonic Selena Gomez (a performance which shouldn’t work but seems to fit just fine). But the real star for me is SM. In contrast to the rest of the what is going on around him, it’s a fairly understated turn and although there is a lot of silliness it never...
Almost unreal
September 17, 2022 08:00 - 20 minutes - 18.8 MBW/C 12th September 2022 Strange week. As you will hear, I am finding it difficult to process what is going on at the moment. It’s not that I don’t get the tradition and the ceremony, but it just feels so disconnected from whatever passes as the norm. I have probably struggled with this one more than any of the previous episodes of TFM, and I still don’t think I have managed to articulate what I am feeling. If nothing else I remembered to mention Michael Sheen. Stay safe. Almost Unreal ...
Moments in time
September 10, 2022 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MBW/C 5th September 2022 The world changed on Thursday afternoon, in a way that I have experienced only a handful of times. For me the fall of the Berlin Wall, the release of Mandela, the death of Diana and the 9/11 attacks are probably the only things comporable, and even though we were being prepared for this moment it still came as a shock, and everything paused in that moment. As you will hear I don't have a particular view on the Monarchy, but I was always struck by a person that made ...
Avenues & Alleyways
September 03, 2022 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MBW/C 29th August 2022 Tony Christie recorded an album in 2008 called Made in Sheffield. It was produced by the genius pairing that is Richard Hawley & Colin Elliott and it only features music written by songwriters from Sheffield such as Jarvis Cocker, Alex Turner & Philip Oakey as well as RH & TC themselves. I had read a couple of very positive reviews and decided to give it a try, and what a treat it turned out to be. The production is rich, the delivery faultless and the reworking of the...
Gimme Shelter
August 27, 2022 08:00 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBW/C 22nd August 2022 Probably the shortest episode I think I have ever recorded, but as I am in Spain and trying to publish via patchy signal over a personal hotspot it is probably just as well. Thursday was one of this rare days when travel went absolutely according to plan, the initial forecast delay for the car journey resolved itself as we were driving, the airport was a breeze, Ryanair behaved like a normal airline and it took less than a minute to collect the rental car keys. We lef...
Kiss the rain
August 20, 2022 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBW/C 15th August 2022 There are umpteen songs with the word ‘rain’ in the title, so making a decision on the episode title this week took a while. Bizarre, because most weeks it’s actually a job to find a song that in some way links to whatever I am blathering about. No Rain by Blind Melon nearly got the nod, Belinda Carlisle could easily have been picked with Summer Rain and you know how much I like The Alarm which makes it very surprising I didn’t go with Rain In The Summertime. But in ...
Summer in the City
August 13, 2022 08:00 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBW/C 8th August 2022 It goes without saying that the original version by The Lovin' Spoonful released in 1966 is fantastic but I have a real soft spot for a far more obscure version of the song. The Gutter Brothers are a band from London who recorded a cover of the song that was used in the Miami Twice episode of Only Fools and Horses, a Christmas Special from 1991. I just love the punky nature of the arrangement and the energy of the guitar riff to open it. In fact I have just found that ...
Now I'm Here
August 06, 2022 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBW/C 1st August 2022 It's a bit of an odd episode this week, in no small part due to being away. I did actually manage to disconnect from the world a bit, and as a result immerse myself in the ebb and flow of South Devon. It's been a long time since I was down these parts, so it was a mix of hazy memory and new experience. It's certainly a unique little slice of the English coastline. Stay safe. Now I'm Here - Queen Teign Bean Teignmouth Pier Therapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it...
25 Years
July 30, 2022 08:00 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MBW/C 25th July 2022 Okay, okay who have a point, this weeks title is a little too 'on the nose'. I have been racking my brain for songs which included either 'silver', 'rain' or 'umbrella' and nothing really landed. 'You got the Silver' by the Stones nearly made it because I love the sound of Keith's voice. But in the end this song by The Big Dish has always been a fave, so that settled the matter. The view out of the window is one of people dismantling awnings, pulling up pegs and general...
It's the end of the world as we know it
July 23, 2022 08:00 - 20 minutes - 18.4 MBW/C 18th July 2022 The first Robert Harris book I ever read was actually the first work of fiction he wrote, and that was Fatherland. It's possibly still the best work of fiction he has produced but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give the rest of them a go as well. After Fatherland came Enigma, and then I discovered he had written a book about the Hitler Diaries called Selling Hitler which is absolutely terrific. Equally good was his biography of Bernard Ingham, the much feared Press Secr...
Armageddon it.
July 16, 2022 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.2 MBW/C 11th July 2022 After 3 years of Johnson trying to put a bomb under anything he didn't like the look of (the judiciary, parliament, the constitution, basic human rights, etc, etc) it is quite amusing to see the Tory party content to turn the artillery inwards. And of course, you can rely on a bunch of long haired footie fans from Sheffield to have the perfect musical refrain. I met Joe Elliott (briefly in 1986). He was back in Sheffield to play in a football testimonial for Blades legen...
All cried out
July 09, 2022 08:00 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MBW/C 4th July 2022 It's been quite the week. Yorkshire Tea bid Tina farewell Armando Tweet Lord McDonald interview on R4 Today Incredible Call on James O'Brien LBC Andrew Marr reacts to Sunak Resignation LBC Troy Hawke at Waitrose Andrew Marr with a handy summary of Wednesday 6th July B&M have got Jan's back Chris Loder & Steve Bray MP Chris Philp skewered by Benny Hill theme All Cried Out Stay safe. Therapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It...
No small thing
July 02, 2022 08:00 - 16 minutes - 15.1 MBW/C 27th June 2022 Of course when I made a note on Monday that I was absolutely going to mention Troy Hawke this week as my new favourite thing, I most definitely felt ahead of the curve. Fast forward to Saturday morning and the purple-quilted, waxed moustached charmer is literally everywhere. So much so that he even popped up on This Morning to chat with Holly & Phil on Wednesday. Oh well, the cutting edge will have to wait for another week. Stay safe. No Small Thing - Tears for Tears ...
Long Day
June 25, 2022 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MBW/C 20th June 2022 There is something really therapeutic about marking out football pitches. So when I found myself on a huge expanse of playing field at 5am on Friday morning, ready to measure, mark and line ten mini soccer pitches I wasn't that perturbed at the turn of events. I will admit the first one was a bit of a chore, but that was mostly down to ensuring that the measurements were correct, and that I was going to have enough pitch left to accommodate all of the pitches required. ...
Argue
June 18, 2022 08:00 - 22 minutes - 21 MBW/C 13th June 2022 They literally just want everything to be an argument. Throw enough bile and get level-headed people angry and annoyed, and then just label different sides of the debate in an effort to entrench the split. As far as the beleaguered government is concerned wedge week has been a great success, the Rwandan Policy, the NI protocol and as a cherry on the cake the European Courts of Human Rights. All in the news, and all over the Daily Mail. All of them framed as an affront ...
Confidence Man
June 11, 2022 08:00 - 20 minutes - 18.9 MBW/C 6th June 2022 Another week, another confidence vote. But let's not dwell too much on that, in fact I promise I will get it our of my system early doors (so to speak). Arguably the toxicity around the PM is nothing in comparison to that reserved for those that go 'double brown' as far as socks & sandals are concerned. Or maybe not, we might be in the process of letting all of that slide. And if that doesn't do it for you then maybe a new slice of Star Wars, with a side helping of war...
Be here now
June 04, 2022 08:00 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBW/C 30th May 2022 Five days, five different locations and hopefully enough in the audio and the imagery to give you some kind of an insight into my time in Spain. Where I was struggling a bit was in finding a suitable song to link in as a title. In the absence of anything better (or indeed any form of inspiration) the title track from the third Oasis album will have to suffice. Actually I have always liked that album, even if that puts me in a fairly small club. Stay safe Be Here Now - ...
Blue turns to grey.
May 28, 2022 08:00 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MBW/C 23rd May 2022 I am quite pleased with this as a title. I first heard this song on a documentary about the Stones called 25x5 which was made to coincide with the release of the Steel Wheels album in 1989. It's well worth a watch particularly for the bits when they are working on the arrangement of the song Mixed Emotions in the rehearsal studio. Anyway I remember hearing a snippet of the song in the background, and then discovering that (none other than) Cliff Richard had also covered...
Raindrops keep falling on my head.
May 21, 2022 08:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBW/C 16th May 2022 I didn't know this cover version of the Hal David & Burt Bacharach song existed until literally a couple of minutes ago. I have also been a 'kind-of' fan of the Manics, by which I mean there are a handful of tracks I really like and I am very taken by him as a frontman...but I can't say I am a card-carrying fan This version was their contribution to the "Help" album, a charity album from 1995 that raised money for the WarChild charity. The recording was the first piece of...
Oops!...I did it again.
May 14, 2022 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.4 MBW/C 7th February 2022 I have been binge-watching the later Terminator movies, and I have no idea why. Before the start of this week I had only ever seen the original and the sequel, both of which I had enjoyed but I can't say I was a card-carrying, T-shirt-wearing kind of a fan. I stumbled across the third instalment, watched that and then for reasons unknown had to track down the rest and watch them over the course of the last week. Intellectually, spiritually & philosophically I can't t...
Trap the spark.
May 07, 2022 08:00 - 24 minutes - 22.1 MBW/C 2nd May 2022 I thought it was time for one of my single-topic episodes this week, because (and you won't be surprised by this) I had a bit to say about the results of the Local Elections. Of course it's all shoot from the hip stuff, so you will need to take it with a bit of a health warning and unsurprisingly its also just a teeny bit biased. Oh well what's the point of having your own podcast if you can't twist unfolding events into a story that brings you a little bit of comfort. S...
Don't let your chance go by.
April 30, 2022 08:00 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBW/C 25th April 2022 Seeing Neil Morrissey yesterday has reminded me how much I used to enjoy a particular episode of Bob the Builder. It was a feature-length episode from 2001 called a Christmas To Remember and it featured (amongst others) Elton John, Chris Evans and Noddy Holder. It became a bit of a Christmas staple long before the kids came along, and tbh has always been appreciated more by me than either of my offspring. So even though Neil was looking a little grumpy when he walked ...
The Party.
April 23, 2022 08:00 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBW/C 18th April 2022 I wrote to my MP this week, the third instalment of our ongoing conversation about that man and his conduct. You know the one, the Leader of the Party. To: MCCARTNEY, Jason Re: Boris Johnson Hi Jason, I write in reference to my earlier emails and your subsequent replies. You closed you last communication with the following statement; "As I have said before if anyone is found guilty of breaking the law they must face the full consequences of their actions. That is w...