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In this episode we conclude our survey of 1970s spiritual jazz with some lesser known cuts from the canon. Several of the tunes here were once hard-to-find collectors items, but the renewed interest in this body of work has led to reissues and an enlarged audience for these awesome pieces. Tim and Jeremy discuss the various religious sources on the practitioners of spiritual jazz, from Buddhism and Hinduism to African and Gospel influences. They unpack the problems with the term ‘spiritual’, consider this music’s utopian horizons and conduct a little reception history of how this sound lost and found an audience. 

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

Loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

Produced by Matt Huxley

Tracklist:

Benny Maupin - The Jewel in the Lotus

Toudie Heath Kamili - Kuumba

The Pyramids - Birth / Speed / Merging pt.1

Shamek Farrah - The World of the Children

Alice Coltrane - Transfiguration

Sun Ra - Lanquidity 

This is an excerpt of a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons episode Tim concludes his two-parter on Boy George’s summertime single ‘We Will Dance Again’. Tim recounts George’s comments on the AI-assisted writing process, the visit to the Nova Exhibition that inspired the composition, and gives the lyrics a rigorous analysis. Elsewhere in the episode Tim unpacks the definition of genocide, looks at the international response to Gaza, shares Palestinian music old and new, and updates the show to include the fallout from the recent Ed Sheeran and Macklemore situation. 

Tracklist:

Yampano - Kwibuka 31 (Twamaganye Abapfobya Genocide)

Kneecap (ft Fawzi) - Palestine

Fawzi - Castro

Atef Swaitat - Palestinian Bedouin Psychedelic Dabka Archive

Swarup - Live at Universo Paralello 2023 

David Rovics - From Auschwitz To Gaza

John Jacobs - Instagram post

Macklemore - Hind’s Hall

Today we’re taking it back to the early 70s as we begin a mini-series on spiritual jazz. Psychedelic, cosmic, astral: all words associated with a set of releases somewhat maligned at the time but now firm favourites on our turntables and across the globe. Tim and Jeremy cue up Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler, Lonnie Liston Smith and of course the great Alice Coltrane for a journey down the streams of consciousness. They examine the genealogy of the term spiritual jazz and the pre-history of some of its early progenitors, dig into the the various belief systems of universal love and peace, examine the Indian influences on both the music and the metaphysics, and give some time to the looming figure of Miles Davis in all this. Plus: an unexpected visit from Louis Armstrong.
Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

Loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

Produced by Matt Huxley

Tracklist:

Pharaoh Sanders - The Creator Has a Master Plan 

Louis Armstrong - The Creator Has a Master Plan

Louis Armstrong - Give Peace a Chance

Albert Ayler - Music is the Healing Force of the Universe

Ahmad Jamal - The Awakening

Gary Bartz NTU Troupe - Celestial Blues

Alice Coltrane - Galaxy in Turiya

Lonnie Liston Smith & the Cosmic Echos - Astral Traveling 

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only show. To hear the full thing, plus dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to sign up.

In this episode Tim responds to Boy George’s recent musical offering, ‘We Will Dance Again’. To respect BDS, we won’t be playing this AI-generated apologia for the Gaza genocide, or anything else from George’s catalogue, but Tim does explore the British singer’s confused history of political pronouncements on this and other issues, alongside some contemporaneous synth-pop from his New Romantic heyday.
Elsewhere in the episode Tim talks about his own Jewish upbringing, the history of Israel, the nation’s participation in Eurovision, current reflections on the horrors being perpetrated in Palestine, and some modern and vintage Palestinian liberation music. 

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

Tracklist:

The Equals - Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys 

Visage - Fade to Grey

Heaven 17 - (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thing

Kofia - Leve Palestina

Roger Waters - Comfortably Numb Re-Imagined

Love is the Message returns from our summer break just in time for the Bank Holiday Weekend, which in London means one thing: Carnival. In this episode Jeremy and Tim cover the history of Notting Hill Carnival, the largest such event in Europe. They discuss patterns of Caribbean migration to the UK, traditions of carnival from Ancient Greece to Trinidad and Rio, and the particular story of Notting Hill, with its steel bands, dub sound systems, parade and party. They return to Lovers Rock, consider legendary stages like Aba Shanti, Good Times and Saxon, and interrogate how Bakhtinian and Deleuzian ideas can be applied to this unique expression of Black British culture. Plus: David Mancuso in Trinidad, and a young Jeremy tries to buy Pass the Dutchie. 

If you’re going to Carnival this weekend, enjoy yourself and take plenty of water!

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

Loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

Produced by Matt Huxley

Tracklist:

Laurel Aitkin - Boogie in my Bones

Hells Gate Steel Orchestra - Ah Love It Here

Sir Coxson - King of the Dubb Rock

Louisa Mark - Caught You in a Lie

ASWAD - Concrete Slaveship

Smiley Culture - Cockney Translation

Papa Levi - Mi God Mi King

Ted Taylor - Ghetto Disco (Norman Jay Edit)

Cajmere - Brighter Days

Aba Shanti-I - Zulu Warrior

Moliy x Shenseea x Skillibeng - Shake It To The Max 

We at LITM are still on our summer break, but while we’re away we wanted to share this interview on that most Northern of subjects, Mark E Smith of The Fall. Joining Jeremy for this discussion is Dr David Wilkinson. With reference to David’s essay ‘Mark E. Smith, Brexit Britain and the Aesthetics and Politics of the Working Class Weird’, the pair get into the weeds on Smith’s complicated politics, working class conservatism, the Weird, and the type of guy MES represents: autodidactic, contrarian, nostalgic, boozy. They relate The Fall’s work to pulp Modernism, loss and libertarianism, excavate the role of boredom in the development of the band’s sound, and ask: why should we care?

David Wilkinson is the author of the book ‘Post-Punk, Politics and Pleasure in Britain’. He is Senior Lecturer in English at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Thanks so much to David for sharing his time and thoughts. Tim and Jeremy will return together in the next few weeks.

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

Produced by Matt Huxley

It's just Jem this week, mopping up the last suds of our post punk mini-series with a series of British bands who ripped it up and started again. We spend time with The Slits fantastic dub punk debut Cut, shouting out the production of the great Dennis Bovell on the way, then drive up the M1 to explore the rich pickings of that great musical city, Sheffield. With reference to an early Human League single, Jem unearths the imminent possibilities of the crumbling Fordist world. We hear two tracks from Public Image Ltd, before digging into one of our host’s favourites - the Raincoats - to explore feminist aesthetics, Maoist China and an unlikely meeting with Kurt Cobain. We round out the piece with two classics from the mighty Clash. Not a bad haul for one year.
We’ll be away for a few weeks on various summer excursions, but will be back soon after with more music, dance floors, sound systems and counterculture. Tune in, turn on, get down!
Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

https://www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk/

Produced by Matt Huxley

Tracklist:

The Slits - Typical Girls

The Slits - Adventures Close to Home

Human League - Empire State Human

Public Image Ltd - Death Disco

Public Image Ltd - Socialist

The Raincoats - Fairytale in the Supermarket

The Raincoats - Lola

The Clash - London Calling

The Clash - Lost in the Supermarket

Books:

Audrey Golden - Shouting Out Loud: Lives of the Raincoats

Frith & Horn - Art into Pop

Reynolds & Press - The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock’n’Roll

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full show, and dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to join.

We made it: what started as a ten-minute conversation and became a six episode mini-series finally reaches it conclusion, with the 1978 release of Arthur Russell’s Kiss Me Again. Jeremy and Tim conclude the genealogy of this epic track, detailing it’s recording, dry runs in the club, how the record was sold to the punky Sire Records, and how the Arthur came to put together the players. Friend of the show Nicky Siano gets an extensive mention as the record's co-producer, and his club the Gallery plays host to its first outings. Tim and Jeremy compare notes on how Nicky’s aesthetic differed from David Mancuso’s, share the story of how Arthur came to begin dancing at the Gallery, and explore his queerness both in contact with the dance floor and with his friend and mentor Allen Ginsberg.
Elsewhere in the episode the guys ruminate on soft rock, spend a bit longer talking minimalism, and detail Arthur’s ill-fated trip to Italy to join Le Orme…

Tracklist:

Nirosta Steel - Lost in Music

Arthur Russell - Don’t Forget About Me

Allen Ginsberg - CIA Dope Calypso

Le Orme - Canzone D’Amore

Arthur Russell - Oh Fernanda Why

Barbara Pennington - Twenty Four Hours a Day

Desmond Child and Rouge - The Night was Not

We’ve finally made it - the pivotal Post Punk year of 1979. Well, sort of. It wouldn’t be LITM without a little extra detail, so Jeremy and Tim cue up our arrival with a couple of tracks from ’78 for good measure. They talk Tom Robinson Band, Undertones and the Only Ones, exploring ‘dole queue rock’, everydayness and the limits of politically self-conscious music of the period. Later in the show they tuck into a couple of indie disco staples to examine emergent New Wave, de-masculination, Manchester and the Iron Lady. Finally, for the first time on the show, the guys spend time on perhaps the most iconic post punkers of all: Joy Division. 

This is our last main feed episode for a little while - we'll be back in mid-August. Until then, why not become a Patron and explore our LITM Extra archive, featuring dozens of bonus shows?

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:

Tom Robinson Band - Winter of ’79

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks 

The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet

Blondie - Heart of Glass

Machine - There But for the Grace of God Go I

The Cure - Boys Don’t Cry

Joy Division - Disorder

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, plus dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

We continue our mini-series on Arthur Russell by turning to his mid-70s pop and folk work. Starting in the famous Poet’s Building in 1975, Tim and Jeremy explore life in the East Village, in particular the area’s poetry scene. They discuss the aesthetics of setting spoken word to music, stop by Ginsberg, and drop in some Tibetan Buddhist classes. Elsewhere in the episode we hear about a number of recording sessions at the Columbia Records studio, get haunted by the spectre of Dylan, and speculate on whether Arthur could have been the fourth Talking Head. Tim shares some demos from Arthur’s short-lived band the Flying Hearts, a version of Psycho Killer with punchy cello that didn’t make the final cut, and some Laraaji-ish keyboard noodlings.

www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Books:

Philippe Bourgeois - In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio

Tracklist:

Arthur Russell - Barefoot in New York

William Carlos Williams - The Red Wheelbarrow

Bright and Early - Apple to the Orange

Arthur Russell - Nobody Wants a Lonely Heart

Arthur Russell - I Couldn’t Say it to Your Face

Arthur Russell - Reach One (with Two Fender Rhodes)

Talking Heads - The Girls Want to be with the Girls

Talking Heads - Psycho Killer (acoustic version)

The Flying Hearts - Ballad of the Lights

The Flying Hearts - What’s It Like 

In this episode we return to the Mudd Club, NYC’s ‘intense laboratory’ of cinema, performance, dance and music. We hear about how this new kind of club fused these various media in novel ways, both as a day-to-day scene hang out spot and a site of never-ending unusual parties (‘Rock’n’Roll Funeral Ball Extravaganza’ anyone?). Tim and Jeremy detail the movement of artists into the East Village in the late 70s, the Fluxus inspiration for the Club’s goings on, and throw a little light on another less well-remembered venue, Club 57.

Elsewhere in the episode the guys talk about The Cure, Lou Reed, retromania and cable TV, whilst also spending a moment on the legacy of Anita Sarko, a much-loved DJ on the scene.

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

Loveisthemessagepod.co.uk.

Tracklist:

Shrapnel - Combat Love

Policeband - Mono

The Cure - Killing an Arab

Lou Reed - Vicious

Bobby Freeman - Betty Lou Got a New Pair of Shoes 

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, plus dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

We’re back on the tail of Arthur Russell this week, paying close attention to his piece Instrumentals. A large ensemble composition comprised of multiple musical cells and first premiered at The Kitchen while he was music director, this work expresses Arthur’s proximity to NYC’s post minimalist scene. Jeremy and Tim discuss the works of several of the more prominent composers of that world, including Steve Reich, La Monte Young and Philip Glass, discussing the merits and failures of minimalism and how Arthur’s music aligned and diverged. Elsewhere they spend time on Arthur’s close friend and collaborator Peter Gordon, spend a moment unpacking Postmodernism, attempt to give a very potted account of just and equal temperaments, and give the stage to Memphis rockers Big Star.

www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:

Arthur Russell - Hey! How Does Everybody Know

Captain Beefheart - Dachau Blues

Arthur Russell - Instrumentals (Live at the Kitchen)

La Monte Young - The Well-Tuned Piano

Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians

Henry Flynt & Nova'Billy — Amphetamine Rhapsody

Continuing our mini-series on post-punk, Jeremy and Tim turn their attention to the pre-history of a crucial NYC venue: The Mudd Club. Given Tim literally wrote the book on this stuff, he’s well-placed to tell the story of how three Downtowners got the idea, got the premises, agreed on the name (not without its difficulties) and threw open the doors. We revisit the blending of punk and dance cultures that was emerging in the city at the time, spend a moment in another club - Hurrah - and contemplate the pitfalls of punk. Elsewhere in the episode Jeremy recounts his indie disco escapades, we hear a very early iteration of Psycho Killer, and pour one out for the mighty B52s. Plus: John Wilkes Booth, Molotov cocktails, and Elvis.
Produced by Matt Huxley.
Become a patron at patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

https://www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk/

Tracklist:

The Rolling Stones - Miss You

The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated

Talking Heads - Psycho Killer (Live at CBGB’s)

Elvis - Moody Blue

The Heartbreakers - Chinese Rocks

B52s - 52 Women 

We've dug into our vault of past episodes and unlocked this previously patrons-only interview from last year. To hear dozens more episodes like this from just £3 a month, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In episode we welcome writer and anti-fascist activist Joe Mulhall to the show to discuss his fantastic book Rebel Sounds: Music as Resistance, a survey across time and place of groups and cultures using musics as part of their resistance to forms of racism and imperialism. We hear about Irish rebel songs, Kneecap and an impromptu Irish history quiz in the toilets of a Wolftones gig; the role of Jazz, Blues and Soul in the Civil Rights Struggle; revisit Tropicalia with fresh eyes and ears; and fly to Nigeria for the Felabration in Lagos. Alongside these topics we consider how our personal tastes can divert from a music’s political power, US cultural hegemony, music in the USSR, 'bone records’, Two Tone, and bring things up to date with a trip to the trenches of Ukraine.

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, plus dozens more, become a patron from £3 a month at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons episode we rejoin Arthur Russell in NYC as he takes up musical directorship of the supremely influential downtown arts centre The Kitchen. Jeremy and Tim discuss the Minimalist and Post-Minimalist stylings of the retinue of composer-performers in the area, including Christian Wolff and Rhys Chatham. We hear how Arthur - never a rock lover - became enamoured with the vernacular communication of the Modern Lovers, inviting them for a semi-legendary performance at his venue, and more broadly how their aesthetics of everydayness came to influence a slew of subsequent artists including Arthur himself.

Elsewhere in the episode the guys discuss the curious case of Frank Zappa, gong baths, and share some personal reflections on their experiences with Arthur's music.

Tracklist:
Christian Wolff - For 1,2 or 3 People
Rhys Chatham - Two Gongs
Arthur Russell - Eli
The Modern Lovers - Old World
Arthur Russell - I Forget and I Can’t Tell
The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner (Live at the Kitchen)
Frank Zappa - The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny
Peter Gordon - Machomusic

Grab your zines, dust off your stencils and customise your jackets because Jeremy and Tim are continuing our mini-series on post-punk with a healthy dollop of DIY culture. They discuss the infamous Sniffin’ Glue magazine, visit Dial House to ponder the ultimate UK DIY heroes Crass, and spin some of the most out-there No Wave cuts NYC had to offer. Elsewhere in the episode they dedicate time to outré post punk pioneers Devo, shout out the pipes on Lydia Lunch, dwell on punk’s dub and hip hop influences as expressed through a classic Clash track, and unpick the aesthetics of uptightness. Plus Glen Branca, Epping Forest and… Crosby Stills Nash & Young. 

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

Tracklist:

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Ohio

Devo - Satisfaction

Theoretical Girls - You Got Me

Alternative TV - Action Time Vision

The Clash - White Man in Hammersmith Palais

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - Orphans

Crass - Sucks

This is an excerpt of a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, and dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to sign up from just £3 a month.

In this patrons episode we continue to unspool our mini-series on the great Arthur Russell. We rejoin the composer on the West Coast in the early 1970s, leaving him a few years later at the Manhattan School of Music as he prepares to move downtown. Along the way Tim and Jeremy discuss Arthur’s friendship with Allen Ginsberg, his experiences of Buddhism, and an early recording session with the poet and one Bob Dylan. Elsewhere we hear about William Blake, ‘beginner’s mind’, Ginsberg’s devotional music, hippie cowboys and Indian influences, and take a trip to Wales. In addition to his playing on the Ginsberg recordings, we also hear some of the first music composed by our subject.

Tracklist:
Allen Ginsberg - Wales Visitation
Allen Ginsberg - Pacific High Studio Mantras - Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum
Allen Ginsberg - A Dream
Arthur Russell - Goodbye Old Paint 

Jeremy and Tim continue our mini-series on post-punk with a bit of 1978 scene-setting. Describing the inflationary crises, militant shop stewards and series of strikes in the UK and US, Jeremy paints a picture of the historic moment out of which a series of self-consciously anti-bourgeois bands were emerging. We hear about Jonny Rotten’s metamorphosis into John Lydon, take a moment to reflect on some of Leeds’ favourite sons the Gang of Four, and cross over to the Rust Belt to listen to an early track by Ohio’s own Pere Ubu. Sticking in the States, Tim spends time talking about Talking Heads’ second album More Songs About Buildings and Food, unleashes the Disco Clone, and enjoys the B52s Rock Lobster. Plus: Eno, Feminism, and the first ever thrift shop in NYC. 

Edited by Matt Huxley.

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

https://www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk/

Tracklist:

Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance

Public Image Ltd - Public Image

Gang of Four - Damaged Goods

Al Green - Take Me to the River

Cristina - Disco Clone

B52s - Rock Lobster

Books:

Bernard Gendron - Between Montmartre and the Mudd Club 

UNLOCKED: we've decided to share this interview with writer Toby Manning that we originally distributed to patrons in May 2025. To hear dozen more bonus episodes on a vast array of topics, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to become a patron.

In this 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.

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing and dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to sign up.

In this episode we begin a patrons mini-series on one of the most unique and beloved characters of the LITM story, Arthur Russell. Given Tim literally wrote the book on the singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, you’re in good hands. We begin with the story of Arthur’s early life in Iowa and his move to San Francisco, including experiences with Buddhism and drugs, alongside musical instruction from the great Ali Akbar Khan. Tim and Jeremy paint a picture of Arthur’s explorations in countercultural living, refute the idea that he simply wasn’t good at finishing things, and introduce the musician as an avatar for the particular melting pot of NYC music and art culture. Join us next time to see us go bang…

Produced by Matt Huxley.

www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk

Tracklist:

Arthur Russell - This Time Dad You’re Wrong 

Arthur Russell - That’s Us / Wild Combination

Ali Akbar Khan - Shri Rag

Terry Riley - In C 

On this week’s episode we return to 70s for the first of a mini-series on post-punk. A historical period, an unhelpful genre descriptor, a structure of feeling? Whatever it is, the guitar bands of the UK and NYC in 1978 were creating some serious music. Jeremy and Tim discuss where the term came from, what exactly the ‘punk’ it was following was, and some the music’s early proponents. With reference to The Slits, Wire, Talking Heads and more, we hear about the Hacienda, John Peel, Modernism and Mark E Smith. The guys unpack how funk and reggae were influencing bands like The Contortions in their experimentation with rhythm, visit the CBGB club in New York, and dispute received ideas about the division between punk and disco. Finally, we introduce a major character in out story over the coming months: Arthur Russell.

Tracklist:

The Slits - New Town (John Peel Session)

Wire - I Am the Fly

The Fall - Stepping Out

Talking Heads - Tentative Decisions

The Contortions - I Can’t Stand Myself 

Books:

Simon Reynolds - Rip It Up and Start Again

John Savage - ‘The New Musick’ in Time Travel

To hear the extended, 12", almost-2-hour version of this conversation, including discussion on Maximo Park, Kenickie and Bob Davenport, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod and become a patron from just £3 a month.

In this episode of LITM Jeremy is joined by writer and editor of Tribune magazine Alex Niven to talk about the musical history of England’s North East. Our interest in this subject was piqued by Sam Fender’s victory in last year’s Mercury Music Prize. Fender is himself an artist indebted to our recent subject, Bruce Springsteen. Alex talks us through the particulars of the region, one of Britain’s main post-industrial heartlands, exploring through music various expressions of white working class identity and a particular form of masculinity that artists have variously embodied or pushed against. Jeremy and Alex discuss blues rock, ‘sophsti-pop’ and Sting, the folk club legacy of the North East, Richard Dawson, the smallpipes and the Sultans of Swing.

Alex Niven is the author of Folk Opposition, Definitely Maybe for 33 1/3, New Model Island: How to Build a Radical Culture Beyond the Idea of England and The North Will Rise Again: In Search of the Future in Northern Heartlands.

Tracklist:

Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under

The Animals - House of the Rising Sun

The Animals - We Gotta Get Outta This Place

Eric Burdon and War - Spill the Wine

Lindisfarne - Clear White Light

Alan Hull - I Hate to See You Cry

Lindisfarne - Fog on the Tyne

Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing

Pet Shop Boys - Being Boring

Sting - All This Time

Richard Dawson - The Vile Stuff

Sam Fender - People Watching

Kathryn Tickell - Bone Music 

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, and dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to sign up.

In our final episode of 2025, Jeremy and Tim spend some time exploring the life and times of Bruce Springsteen. Tracing his life from his early career up to 1984, they unpack specificities of the Boss’s politics, his particular aesthetic, and the often confused reception of his repertoire. We hear about the sense of place in his music, the influence of Dylan on his writing, the iconography of the small town and the big car, and his various attempts to express a white vernacular working class experience. Jeremy describes how Springsteen’s songs of New Jersey post-industrialisation were heard in the cities of North West England, Tim interrogates his endorsement of Obama, and both try to understand his unique mass appeal in the USA, with callbacks to Zohran and our recent Dylanology episode.

This is our last show of the year - thank you everyone for coming with us on this long strange trip. We return in early 2026 for more music, dance floors, sound systems and counter culture. 

www.LoveistheMessagePod.co.uk

You can read Tom Williams’ article on Springsteen, ‘The Only Boss We Listen To’, on Tribune at: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2022/11/the-only-boss-we-listen-to

Tracklist:
Bruce Springsteen - Blinded by the Light
Bruce Springsteen - 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road
Patti Smith - Because the Night
Bruce Springsteen - Badlands
Bruce Springsteen - The River
Bruce Springsteen - Atlantic City 

It’s Mamdani time! On this episode of the show we’re bringing things right up to the here and now to celebrate New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani. Tim and Jeremy recount the emergence of Zohran as a political figure, his background and parents, his democratic socialist politics and what his election means for the Left and anti-imperialism more broadly. We also hear a potted history of the DSA, consider the particularities of Left Populism as a contemporary political tendency, spend time with Bernie and de Blassio, and appraise a couple of the incoming mayor’s early rap tracks.

Edited by Matt Huxley.

Become a Patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk/

Tracklist:

Sunidhi Chauhan - Dhoom Machale

Young Cardamom, HAB - #1 Spice

Mr. Cardamom - Nani 

Lil Wayne - Right Above It

Das Racist - Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell

The Temptations - Smiling Faces Sometimes

Books:

David Harvey - A Brief History of Neoliberalism
Barbara Ehrenreich - Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy 

In this episode we conclude our look at the Democratic Republic of Congo with an exploration of the music and politics of the country from 1960 to the present day. Beginning with the overthrow of Patrice Lumumba, Jeremy and Tim discuss the colonial and imperialist dynamics that have buffeted the country for the last half century, the cycles of violence this engenders and the role of nations like the US, China and Rwanda have played in destabilising the country. They also unpack the ‘resource curse’ of the DRC’s mineral stocks, the activities of companies like Apple and Tesla, and finish with a reflection from the great Franz Fanon.
On the music side of things, we hear a potted history of the conga drum, some drum and bass, electric thumb pianos, handmade amplifiers and an African cousin to footwork.

Edited by Matt Huxley.

Become a Patron at patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

www.LoveistheMessagePod.com

Tracklist:

Zaiko Langa Langa - Femme Ne Pleure Pas

Papa Wemba - La Vie Comme Elle Va Bola

Grooverider - Rivers of Congo

Konono No.1 - Lufuala Ndonga 

Khalab - Chitita

Kokoko! - Malembe

Jupiter & Okwess - Na Kozonga

Fulu Kolektiv - Lualaba

Fulu Kolektiv - Nfuka 

This is an excerpt from a patrons episode. To hear the full thing, and dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod and become a patron from £3 a month.

In this patrons-only episode Jeremy and Tim revive the long-dormant ‘What We’re Listening To’ format for an exploration of what’s been on their turntables recently. Tim pulls extensively from the bag he packed for a recent Lucky Cloud party, including selections from SAULT and Cotontete, while Jeremy shares a modern slice of Bukem-esque DnB and an end-of-the-night dreamy deep cut. Elsewhere in the show we hear a post-punk Fela cover, a classic piece of Sharon Jones funk soul, Highlife guitar, a shoutout for the humble 7”, Afrofuturist mythology and… Alan Partridge.

Tracklist: 

Miguel ‘Anga’ Dias - A Love Supreme

Evolução Africa - Liberdade 

SAULT - Let Me Go

Cotonete feat. Leron Thomas - Day In Day Out 

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - What If We All Stopped Playing Taxes 

Vital Disorders - Zombie

Underground System - 95 South

The Earons - Land of Hunger

Big Bud - Lucky7

Rubies feat. Feist - I Feel Electric (TieDye Remix)

We’re continuing our series of episodes inspired by the 2024 documentary Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat with an examination of some of the film’s key characters: the so-called ‘Jazz Ambassadors’, a group of mostly black US musicians sent around the world to (unwittingly) promote American soft power during the Cold War. Tim and Jeremy give a brief history of the emergence of the CIA in the post-war USA, explain the role of NATO, and detail a few of the great many instances of US interference in newly decolonised states around the globe. We hear about Louis Armstrong in Ghana, Dizzy Gillespie’s tours to West Asia and revisit Max Roach from our previous show, alongside Brubeck, Stravinsky and… Bing Crosby. The guys discuss these various attempts to portray America as a haven of free self expression at home while it repeatedly violated sovereignty and democracy abroad. Also included in this show: Fantasia, the Military Industrial Complex, the Kennedy assassination and some speculative White House tripping. 

Edited by Matt Huxley.

Become a Patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

www.LoveistheMessagePod.com

Tracklist:

Aaron Copeland - Fanfare for the Common Man
Bing Crosby - The Isle of Innisfree
Igor Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring
Louis Armstrong - (What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue
Louis Armstrong - Spooks
Dizzy Gillespie - Tour de Force
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
Max Roach - Triptych: Prayer / Protest / Peace
The Byrds - He Was a Friend of Mine
Books:
William Blum - Killing Hope
Susan Williams - White Malice 

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, and dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod and become a patron from £3 a month.

In this patrons episode we’re taking some time to explore some of the background to our recent main feed show about colonialism, jazz diplomacy and the documentary Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat with a bitesize primer on the origins of the Cold War. Jeremy and Tim run it all the way back to 1917 to unpack the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, the subsequent years of communist rule leading into WW2, and the musical expressions of this historic period. Along the way they discuss Soviet Realism, Modernism, formal experimentation in the arts, Stalin, the Monro Doctrine and the CIA. Elsewhere in the episode we hear about George Formby, Peter and the Wolf, the Red Army Choir, and ask whether any of us really like orchestral music. 

Tracklist:
The Red Army Choir - The Internationale
Billy Bragg - The Internationale
Shostakovich - Symphony No.2 (October)

Books:
William Blum - Killing Hope

Love is the Message is back! After last series’ mammoth 18-month excavation of the year 1977 we’re switching things up a bit. While we’ll continue to chart our rough way through the history explored in our work to date, for the moment we’re going to focus on a few smaller, more bite-size topics, starting with the 2024 film Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat. A natural partner piece to our beloved Summer of Soul, Johan Grimonprez’s documentary tracks in vivid and exhilarating style the Cold War episode that led American musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to crash the UN Security Council in protest against the murder of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.
On this show Tim and Jeremy discuss mid-Twentieth Century decolonialism, resistance and the activities of black jazz activists in America. We hear the history of the colonisation of Congo by Belgium, introduce Lumumba as a unique historical figure, and spend some time reflecting on how these imperial legacies resonate today.
On the music front, we hear listen to Roach behind the kit, cue up a series of Congolese rhumbas and boleros, and close with seminal civil rights singer Nina Simone. Elsewhere in the episode we stop by Malcom X, Khrushchev, and Joseph Conrad. The horror, the horror…
Edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:
Max Roach - Freedom Day
Ata Ndele - Adou Elenga
Joseph Kabasele - Independence Cha-Cha
O.K. Jazz - Pas Un Pas Sans…
Nina Simone - Wild is the Wind

Books:
Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode of the show. To hear the full episode and dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod and sign up from £3 a month.

In this episode of LITM Extra, Jeremy takes the mic solo to expand a little on our recent patrons show on Kneecap, turning an eye specifically to musical and cultural antecedents of the Irish trio’s project. With reference to music both from the island of Ireland and abroad, Jeremy discusses Stiff Little Fingers, dancehall chatting, Scousers, and Welsh language punk bands. He introduces two Irish rap outfits - Marxman and Scary Eire - which clearly foreshadow Kneecap, alongside some mid-90s Irish techno and a classic slice of rave rap. Beyond the beats, Jeremy discusses Celtic language and culture, changing attitudes to Ireland in Britain, the ‘Celtic Tiger’, and even throws in  the Mushie Picker Boogie. 

The article about Papa Levi Jeremy mentions can be found here:

https://uncarved.org/dub/papalevi.html 

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:
Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster
Papa Levi - Militancy
Jegsy Dodd and the Sons of Harry Cross - Mushie Picker Boogie
Yr Anhrefn - Rhedeg i Paris
Marxman - Sad Affair
Scary Eire - Howld yer Whist
Scary Eire - The Dole Q
Secret Weapon - Dream Lover (Sound Crowd Remix) 

Here it is: our 18th and final episode of series 6. We’ve covered punk, Studio 54, the Warehouse, Black Disco, Eurodisco and Saturday Night Fever, but today Jeremy and Tim summarise some final reflections on the city of New York in the pivotal year of 1977. They discuss the early career of a businessman who liked to frequent the discotheques and would go on to become president of the USA, linking Mr Trump to a culture of corporate welfare and downtown development. We hear about the Son of Sam, the World Series, power cuts, looting, scratching, breaking, the Bronx and the beats that propelled the nascent Hip Hop culture.
Thanks to everyone who’s joined us on our deep dive this series - we’ll be taking a short summer break and will be back some time in September with more music, dance floors, sound systems and counterculture.

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Do check out the podcasts Jem shouts out in end notes of this show. We're listing them here, you can find them wherever you find this:
Pro Revolution Soccer
Red Medicine
Politics Theory Other

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:
Andrea True - What’s Your Name, What’s Your Number
Ryan Harvey - Old Man Trump
Philadelphia  All Stars - Let’s Clean Up the Ghetto
The Trammps - The Night the Lights Went Out
Parliament - Flashlight

In response to the death of the Ozzy Osborne this week, we've unlocked this patrons episode from last year about heavy metal, Black Sabbath and the Prince of Darkness himself. If you like this you can hear a lot more like it by becoming a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this episode Jeremy raises a devil’s horn salute to the gods and demons of heavy metal. He explores the etymology of the genre term, excavating its shared roots with acid rock, and explaining how heavy metal compliments our story here on LITM. With reference to Easy Rider and the misconceived ‘end of the ‘60s’, we hear about how biker culture, the legacy of the blues and changing regimes of accumulation contributed to the anguished intensity expressed in the music of Led Zeppelin, King Crimson and Iron Butterfly. 

Jeremy also explores noise, feedback and distortion as the new aesthetic tools of metal, questions why people in the late 60s would want to explore occult and black magic ideas, and finishes with a deep dive on Black Sabbath, asking: was heavy metal an expression of the blues for white guys who’s dad’s worked in the car factories of Birmingham?

Books and Films:

Easy Rider
Robert Walser - Running with the Devil: Power, Gender and Madness in Heavy Metal Music

Tracklist:

Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild 

Blue Cheer - Summertime Blues 

The Who - My Generation (Live 1968) 

Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused 

Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love 

King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man 

Iron Butterfly - Easy Rider (Let the Wind Pay the Way) 

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath 

Black Sabbath - Paranoid 

Black Sabbath - War Pigs 

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, and dozens more, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod and become a patron from £3 a month.

In this patrons episode we wanted to spend some time talking about the band on everyone’s lips: Kneecap. The Belfast three-piece have been in the headlines of all the papers in recent weeks for their vocal support of Palestine, trouble with the law, and Transatlantic festival shutdowns. Tim and Jeremy provide a healthy dollop of context to the group, including a potted history of Irish independence, the post-Good Friday Northern Irish settlement, working class culture and the changing status of the Irish language at home and abroad. In addition to this they discuss rave rap, drug humour, Welsh, McCarthyism, Kneecap’s eponymous 2024 film, their Glastonbury appearance, the BBC, and the British state response to their music and performances.
Jeremy is going to follow up this show with a supplementary episode on some of the musical antecedents to what Kneecap are up to, so hold tight for that in the coming few weeks.

Tracklist:
Kneecap - C.E.A.R.T.A

Kneecap - Amach Anocht
Kneecap x DYRT - Mam
Kneecap - Parful
Kneecap - Guilty Conscience
Kneecap ft Money - The Recap

We’re almost at the end of our 1977 series, but in true LITM fashion why have just one show on a topic when you could have two? Across this and the next episode we’ll be filling in a few gaps we haven’t touched on so far, and providing some broad economic and political scene-setting for this seminal year in both Britain and the States.
In this episode we hear about the emergent neoliberal order, the oil crisis, austerity then and now, and OPEC. Jeremy and Tim consider escapism in music and film, Punk, Mods, the Silver Jubilee and the decline of the British Empire. They discuss the mighty Paul Weller, the Sex Pistols, Alice in Wonderland, and dig deep into the crates for the James Bond theme as you’ve never heard it before...

Next time we’ll be looking to America for our final show of this run.
Do check out the podcasts Jem shouts out in end notes of this show. We're listing them here, you can find them wherever you find this:
Pro Revolution Soccer
Red Medicine
Politics Theory Other
Produced by Matt Huxley.

Become a patron for as little as £3 per month by visiting Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

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:
Biddu Orchestra - James Bond Disco Theme (Journey into Fantasy)
The Jam - In The City
The Jam - Eton Rifles
Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
Talking Heads - Don’t Worry About the Government 

This is an excerpt from a patrons episode. to hear the full thing and dozens more, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod and become a patron from £3 per month.

In this patrons-only episode we welcome writer and anti-fascist activist Joe Mulhall to the show to discuss his fantastic book Rebel Sounds: Music as Resistance, a survey across time and place of groups and cultures using musics as part of their resistance to forms of racism and imperialism. We hear about Irish rebel songs, Kneecap and an impromptu Irish history quiz in the toilets of a Wolftones gig; the role of Jazz, Blues and Soul in the Civil Rights Struggle; revisit Tropicalia with fresh eyes and ears; and fly to Nigeria to visit the Felabration in Lagos. Alongside these topics we consider how our personal tastes can divert from a music’s political power, US cultural hegemony, music in the USSR, 'bone records’, Two Tone, and bring things up to date with a trip to the trenches of Ukraine.
We won’t provide an order link here, but you can get the hardback of Rebel Sounds in your local bookshop, and the paperback is forthcoming in the Autumn. Thanks to Joe for joining us.

In this episode, Tim and Jeremy complete our mini-series on Saturday Night Fever by looking at the film in its cinematographic context alongside two other huge movies of the late1970s. With reference to Rocky and Taxi Driver, the guys unearth the shared visions of class and race politics in the USA of the period. They discuss the particular place of Italian Americans in the culture more broadly, discuss particular forms of American-ness, and spend some time on the real life events that inspired the character of Rocky Balboa.
After that, attention returns to Travlota to wrap up SNF with a look at how the film was received at the time and since, and reflect on how their own attitudes to the movie have changed down the years. Plus the Trammps, Jem’s Grandma, and the answer to the question of whether David Mancuso ever saw Tony Manero up on the big screen…

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:

Bernard Herrmann - Taxi Driver (Theme)

Bill Conti - Gonna Fly Now 

Bee Gees - Night Fever

The Trammps - Disco Inferno 

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.

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

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

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 Fire

The 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) 

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 Disgrace 

The 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/3ZpKyqhvhOXfTuPMHCBkFs

Tracklist:
The Osmonds - One Bad Apple
The Originals - Down to Love Town
Roy Ayres - Running Away 

Pam 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