167. Simon Raymonde Discusses Patti Smith Group, Radio Ethiopia

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Simon Raymonde—bassist for Cocteau Twins and head/co-founder of the Bella Union record label—joins Al to introduce him to the Patti Smith Group’s 1976 album, Radio Ethiopia. Simon talks about his initial reaction to hearing the album when he was 15 and how that differed from his impressions of Smith’s debut Horses. He also talks about why he started listening to the album again in the last few years and how it hits him differently now. Simon discusses his work with artists—including Smith—as the head of Bella Union, and his recently published memoir, In One Ear: Cocteau Twins, Ivor Raymonde and Me.

If you love music or great writing, you’re going to love In One Ear! Get your copy here: https://geni.us/InOneEar

Be sure to follow Simon on social media…he is at @mrsimonraymonde on Instagram, Threads and Bluesky.

Bella Union website: bellaunion.com

Cocteau Twins official website: https://cocteautwins.com/

Cocteau Twins official merch site (as mentioned by Simon on the show): https://cocteautwins.tmstor.es/

Al is on Bluesky at @almelchior.bsky.social. This show has accounts on Instagram and Threads at @youmealbum. Subscribe for free to You, Me and An Album: The Newsletter! https://youmealbum.substack.com/. You can also support the show on Buzzsprout at https://www.buzzsprout.com/1542814/episodes or at the link at the bottom of these show notes.

1:30 Simon joins the show

2:08 Simon explains why he chose Radio Ethiopia despite being underwhelmed by it initially

6:46 Simon talks about how he became interested in Patti Smith and other American punk artists

9:21 Al didn’t understand why Radio Ethiopia got a negative critical reception

13:48 Simon identifies the parts of the album that he liked right away

17:27 The title track tested Simon’s boundaries of what he was willing to explore at age 15

19:33 Did Simon’s famous father influence his musical tastes when he was growing up?

21:37 Simon explains why he didn’t start to appreciate Radio Ethiopia more until the last few years

24:22 Simon and Al ponder the meaning of the album’s title

29:20 Simon and Al talk about their reactions to “Poppies”

31:59 Simon recalls the time he met Patti Smith at Roskilde

35:01 Simon names the one song from Radio Ethiopia that he doesn’t like that much

36:19 Simon likes “Pumping” more now than he used to

40:14 Simon explains why Radio Ethiopia is his favorite Patti Smith album, for now

43:34 Simon explores the “second album syndrome”

47:47 Simon explains how he handles “second album syndrome” with the bands on Bella Union

53:42 Simon talks about why he decided to write a memoir

1:00:07 Simon discusses his current and upcoming plans

Outro music is from “Every Beat That Passed” by Lost Horizons.

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