63. Sam Wirsching Discusses Tonio K., Life in the Foodchain

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There have been few episodes to date where Al has never heard of the artist or the album being discussed, but fantasy baseball analyst and pet supply store proprietor Sam Wirsching chose an album that fits that category. Sam selected Tonio K.s Life in the Foodchain for this episode, and it’s an album that played an important and memorable role in his childhood. In addition to analyzing several of the album’s tracks, Sam talks about how well the album has held up for him, other artists he listened to growing up and his new podcast, Peace Love Baseball.

Sam mentioned a clip he had seen of Janis Joplin performing “What’s New Pussycat” with Tom Jones, but I was unable to find it. I did find this performance of “Raise Your Hand,” and it’s definitely worth checking out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZmiefQ5y4U.

I was also able to locate the clip of CSNY and Tom Jones  performing “Long Time Gone” that I had mentioned (though I incorrectly said it was CSN). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIDzA0YDso8

Find and follow Sam on Twitter! @SamFBB1

Sam’s Peace Love Baseball podcast has a Twitter account. Follow his show at @plbpodcast.

Al is on Twitter at @almelchiorBB, and this show has accounts on Twitter and Instagram at @youmealbum. Be sure to follow @youmealbum to find out in advance about upcoming guests and featured albums for this podcast.

Al has recently launched You, Me and An Album: The Newsletter. You can subscribe for free to get Al’s monthly posts, but paid subscriptions give you access to weekly posts and much more. Please consider trying a paid subscription as it also helps to support this podcast! https://youmealbum.substack.com/

1:11 Sam joins the show

2:29 Sam explains why he chose Life in the Foodchain as his album

3:03 Sam and Al try to find ways to describe Tonio K’s music

5:21 Sam likes the album’s irreverent tone

7:31 Al shares his initial reaction to the album

Reactions to (nearly all of) the album tracks:

8:53 The Funky Western Civilization

12:40 Life in the Food Chain

14:51 Al and Sam wax nostalgic about music from the late 70s

17:47 Sam and Al highlight what makes Tonio K. unique

20:44 Sam and Al wind up taking a detour to talk about Tom Jones

23:29 Life in the Food Chain (cont.)

28:55 Willie and the Pigman/The Ballad of the Night the Clocks All Quit (And the Government Failed)

36:55 H-A-T-R-E-D

43:03 A Lover’s Plea

47:40 How Come I Can’t See You In My Mirror?

50:53 Better Late Than Never

53:15 Sam talks about some other artists he listened to growing up

58:26 Sam discusses his new baseball podcast

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