Do Go On - 393 - The Shaggs: The Best or Worst Band of All Time?

Episode Date: May 3, 2023

This week’s episode is about one of the most polarising bands of all time, The Shaggs! They've been described as both the best and the worst band of all time and have had many big name fans over the years such as Kurt Cobain and Frank Zappa. Their origin story is one of the least conventional we've come across, tune in to hear the story!This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at approximately 04:58 (though as always, we go off on tangents throughout the report).Support the show and get rewards like bonus episodes: patreon.com/DoGoOnPodLive show tickets: https://dogoonpod.com/live-shows/ Submit a topic idea directly to the hat: dogoonpod.com/suggest-a-topic/Check out our new merch! : https://do-go-on-podcast.creator-spring.com/ Check out our AACTA nominated web series: http://bit.ly/DGOWebSeries​  Check out our other podcasts:Book Cheat: https://play.acast.com/s/book-cheatPrime Mates: https://play.acast.com/s/prime-mates/Listen Now: https://play.acast.com/s/listen-now/Who Knew It with Matt Stewart: https://play.acast.com/s/who-knew-it-with-matt-stewart/ Our awesome theme song by Evan Munro-Smith and logo by Peader ThomasDo Go On acknowledges the traditional owners of the land we record on, the Wurundjeri people, in the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders, past and present.  REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING:https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/09/27/meet-the-shaggshttps://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-story-of-the-shaggs-the-beatles/https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/02/17/515775669/the-best-or-worst-band-of-all-time-is-back‘Songs in the Key of Z The Curious Universe of Outsider Music’ by Irwin Chusidhttps://theshaggs.bandcamp.com/album/philosophy-of-the-world Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melbourne and Canada, we got exciting news for you. And we should also say this is 2026. Jess, what year is it? 2026. Thank God you're here. Right now, I'm in Melbourne doing my show with Serenji Amarna, 630 each night at the Cooper's Inn Hotel, having so much fun. We'd love to see you there.

Canada, we are visiting you in September this year. If you've somehow missed the news, we are heading up Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto for shows. That's going to be so much fun. Tickets for all this stuff, I believe, are online. And I'm here too. And welcome to another episode of Do Go One. My name is Dev Wonki and as always, I'm here with Jess Perkins and Matt Stewart.

Hello, hello. Welcome to Chris Lamarie's plant farm and how good is it to be alive. I wish I was never born. You've been thinking about that? I've been thinking about it a lot. I've had a lot of people reaching out to me saying that A, that was very funny and B, my reaction to it was fun. And I've decided it's just going to be my catchphrase now. If Matt's going to say, how good is it to be alive?

I'm going to say I wish I was never before. It's great. It's good to have both sides of the argument there. That's Matt and I. We're ying and yang, you know? If people don't get the reference, it's the Qantas Bomb Heist episode. A couple of weeks back now.

Great episode. And that moment was very funny. And it's, I guess, shaped me. Mm-hmm. It moved to you. But I'll forget by next week. It spoke to you. It spoke to me.

Dave, how does this show work? I was going to get in there to try to get Matt to explain the show, but I'll do it. I'll step up. You do it. Here we go. What we're going to do is the same thing we've done every week for the last 390 something. Try to take over the world.

And on the way to Total World domination, we have researched a topic, often suggested to us by one of the listeners. That's one of us has gone away, done a bit of research, bring it back to the others who have no idea what it's going to be about. Matt, it is your turn to regale us with a tale from history. And we always start with a question. Do you have a question? I do have a question, yes. And this topic, you'll either know it or you don't. So I'm going to ask a tangential question.

Okay. And the question is, which U.S. state? I'm going to give you facts about this state. I'm going to you get, we'll go guess for guess. After each clue, you each get a guess. So you've got 50 possibilities here. Lucky we're equally good at geography. But you're an Americanophile.

I am an Americanophile. Yeah. It's true. Land of the free. I've always said that. You're on a list. I can't be within 400 feet of an American. Yes.

Canadian, I'm coming right in. Question is, which US state? Jess, you want to start off? Sure. First clue. There's going to be no clues if we just have a step. Just say a clue. The nickname is the Granite State.

Granite State. Granite is grey. What makes me think grey? Good question. Great question. I'm thinking North Dakota. Cop that North Dakota. It is not North Dakota.

Okay, it's not North Dakota. Okay, I'm going to go for South Dakota. It is not South Dakota. Okay, so it's back to me. All right, Jess. Fantastic. It got statehood in 1788, the ninth state. The ninth state.

Yes. So it's in one of the early states. And you know, most of the early states, you know, that America sort of started mainly in the northeast and spread out from it. Yeah, that means. This is really helping Jess here. Yeah. I'm thinking one of the M ones, whether I'm thinking Mississippi. It is not Mississippi.

Mississippi. I was that other touch. It's not all of Massachusetts. I'm thinking northeast. I'm thinking my beautiful state, home of the creamy. Vermont. It is not Vermont. Okay.

The population as of 2016 is 1,334,795. In the state. In the state. It's a small state. There you go. That's a good clue there. Can I look at a map? Sure.

Can I know the answer? I mean, this game is gone to ship. Okay, no, Dave's correct. He's put his foot term there. I don't know if population's going to help me all that much. It's a small state. It's obviously not New York. Yeah.

But it's, you want to have a set? Is it? I don't know. Dave. Are you passing? Passing. Pass. All right, if you pass, you can pull up a map.

All right, Dave. Yes. Maryland? It's not Maryland. Okay, great. All right. Fourth clue. It's capital city is Concord.

Oh. Don't, you can't look that up. I mean, that will be on the map. Is it New Hampshire? But I didn't look that up. I looked up ninth state. That's not looking up the map. It is New Hampshire.

Hooray! I feel like they've been ripped off a little bit there, but fair enough. The further clues were bigger city, Manchester, abbreviation, NH. Yeah, I might have got it then, but I was not going to get it sooner than that. Now, this one would have given away. State bird, purple finch. Oh, New Hampshire. Oh, the New Hampshire purple finch.

Yeah. State flower purple lilac. Okay, I love purple. Love that. So this topic was suggested by Andy Johnson from the Wirral in UK. Okay. The Wirral. The Wirral.

Remember we had, we once had Worrell from Wirill and I laughed a lot. So this week's episode is about one of the most polarising bands of all time. New Hampshire's own, the Shags. You familiar with the Shags? I don't know the Shags. The Shags. The Shags. I hadn't heard of the Shags either.

Oh, okay. No. But they're polarizing. Polarizing. That's fine. Interesting band, very interesting band. I wonder why, is it musical, is it their history? Is it their outfits?

Yeah. Is it that after every show, which is great, because they're great musicians, they punch a dog. Wow, one each. No, just one dog per show. But is it like how many members in the show, hey? Three members. But they take turns. Oh, that's awful.

No, no, like the dog only gets punched once. Okay. The live band did have up to the five or so members as well. But again, but the dog only gets punched once. Right. They take it in turns. Or is it? Yeah. That's just a theory I have. I'm not saying that's true.

Polarizing because some people love that. But plenty don't. Plenty are like, I don't think that's good. You know? They're really passionate like that. I don't know that. According to Susan Orlean writing for the New Yorker, this is like, this is one of the, it's a big in-depth article and it's what everyone quotes when they're talking about this band. sort of the definitive history of the shags. But according to Orlean, depending on whom you ask, the shags were either the best band of all time or the worst.

Wow, that is quite polarising. Yes. You are, yes, that's a real spectrum. I don't think I'd say of many bands, they were the best band of all time. You know what I mean? That's extreme. I imagine just one band. But what would you say is the worst band of all time? Weed Hornet.

Oh. Well, that's polarising because I think they're the best band of all time. They're my favourite band named after a Whippersipper. Apparently Frank Zapper and Kurt Gabain were fans, but then Orlean quotes a music fan who claimed to be in the fetal position, writhing in pain, saying the shags were hauntingly bad and added, I would walk across the desert while eating charcoal briquettes soaked in Tabasco for 40 days and 40 nights, not to ever have heard or listened to a.

anything shag-related ever again. That's pretty extreme, especially because, like, if you're at a gig and you're not enjoying it, you can leave. Yeah. I don't know why. There's no scenario where you're going to have to... If you're at a point where you're ready to get into the fetal position, just go home. Yeah.

What are you doing? I'll just flick off the radio. No, I'm going to walk through the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. Went with very biblical, uh, imagery there. Yeah. But then updated it with it. Was it a brick covered in Tabascar. A briquet, you know, like little barbecue forest.

Oh, yeah. Right Arthur small bricks. Oh, no, that's a good point. Charcoal bricettes. Yeah, that's for starting to fire. I thought it was a charcoal-covered small brick. Based in Tabasco. That's good eating.

Dave, the handyman over here. Dave's getting hungry. Lunch time. So what's their story, you might be wondering? I am. Me too. What's their sound? Who are they?

Well, let me tell you about it. Oh, that's perfect. Yeah. The shags were formed in Fremont, New Hampshire, a small town with a population of around 5,000 people today, though back in the 60s when they were formed, it was less than 1,000, 800 odd. It sounds like an unlikely town for such an infamous band to come from. According to Orlean, Fremont, New Hampshire is a town that is missed out on most everything. Route 125, the main highway bisecting New Hampshire, just misses the east side of Fremont, Route 101 just

misses the north, the town is neither in the mountains nor on the ocean. It is not quite in the thick of Boston's outskirts, nor is it quite cozzeted in the woods. Fremont is a drowsy trim unfancy place, rimmed by the Exeter River. Lucky it. But it, um, but it, basically she's saying that it's just like, it's, it's sort of in the middle of nowhere. Yeah, there's no defining features. You don't pass through it.

Yeah. Because you don't have to. Like, yeah. So the big highways bypass it. So it's just sort of out of place, out of time almost. But it's interesting. So even though it's not in Massachusetts, it's closest big city is Boston. It's almost like an hour, so it's like half an hour or something from there, I think.

Oh, wow. Alain also notes that apart from the shags, the town is only known for being the hometown of the eminent but obscure 1920s meteorologist Herbert Brown. Familiar with his work? I love Brown's work. Brown's comet. He does weather. You just realize it's a different thing. Brown's comet.

There's what he called the rain. Oh, a lot of browns comets falling today. This isn't catching on. Okay. That's what he calls poop. The other thing that it's known for is being the first place a B-52 ever crashed without killing anyone. That's on the billboard. That's on the billboard.

Wow. Home of the first crash of the B-52 in brackets where no one died. That's good. That's nice. The more stipulations you have to have on a first, the better. Yeah, the better. When no one died who was. wearing a three-piece suit.

Yeah. In the 60s, the main jobs in Fremont were raising dairy cows, working at the Exeter textile mill or barrel building. They went to church and mostly lived quiet lives. In his book, History of Fremont, Matthew Thomas wrote, and Matthew Thomas is a local group his whole life there, and he's sort of the town's historian. So he wrote a book about it saying, there may have been some nice pleasant times, but for the most part, death, sickness, disease, accidents, bad weather, Browns Commons,

loneliness, strenuous hard work, insect infested foods, prowling predatory animals and countless inconveniences marked day-to-day existence. Oh my God. He lived there his whole life. Get out. There's two highways really close. And he's like, there might have been good times. I certainly haven't experienced them, but I'm just, you know, I'm being, I'm trying to

be impartial as a journalist, but it's mostly dog shit. It's the worst. It's awful. I hate this place. written a book about it. He could literally walk to Boston. Yeah, just leave. You don't have to stay there.

You don't have to stay in the town you were born in if you don't like it. But I think, yeah, sometimes I imagine he'd probably like, if you went there and said the same thing, he'd be like, how dare you? 100%. This is my town. It's like, we talk about that. Yeah, I can say anything to my brother. I'll call him every name under the sun.

You look at him wrong. I'll fucking kill you. Yeah. Remember that time I called him a pastry puff? Yeah. You bench me in the, in the first. in the face. You're in hospital.

You punched me in the face. I did. You deserved it. My brother is no pastry puff. Unless I say it, that it's very funny. I misspoke. I meant to say pass me a pastry puff. You got a punch in the face.

Before I could qualify, I was in hospital. When Orlean asked Thomas what it had been like growing up there, he said it was nice, but that he had been bored stiff. For entertainment, there were square down. sledding, an annual carnival, and a barbershop and pool room. I think when a barbershop and pool room makes the list, it might be a pretty dull place. Oh, gosh, I'm so bored. Might get a haircut.

Okay. Something to do in this town. What do you mean? Go get your hair cut. I just got my hair cut yesterday. Yeah, you could use a trim. Go get a sick fade. You look great.

Yeah, I mean, the squirrel. Square dancing sounds fun. Sledding. That's fun. That's seasonal though. Annual carnival. Yeah. This sounds like a festival. One time a year it's fun. Pool hole.

Come on. A hole full of pools? Sounds fantastic. That's the best. So amongst all this, how did the shags form? This best or worst band of all time has come out of this town. Well, it's one of the less conventional band origin stories I've ever heard. I'm so excited.

You have to go back a few decades before. formation for the beginning of this story. Oh, we're really going back. To a young boy named Austin Wigan Jr. Fantastic name. Austin Wigan Jr. Yeah. Where was the...

I wonder if only Austin Wigan was from the Wyrle. Wigan from Whirl. Orge. That's what I'm going to call him. AWJ. Orge. Keep up, boys. Your gorge.

No, he's not the best. Oh, no. Anyway, so young Wiggins. mother was a bit of a fortune teller, and one day she read his palm. According to Tom Taylor writing for Far Out magazine, she said to her son something akin to the following. You will grow up and marry a wife with strawberry blonde hair. You'll have two sons with her who I will not live to see. Then you will have some daughters and these daughters will go on to form the greatest music group in the world. Okay. That feels like less of a prediction from a mother and more of like

a command. Find this woman, marry her. Two sons only. then three daughters, then great band. Yes. So like, I think you go, he can, he's got control of that. Even if she just put the idea in his mind, subtly, he meets a strawberry bond person, maybe thinks the back of his mind, this is fate. Yeah, this is her.

But that suggestion can't control the sex of the babies he has. Not with that attitude. Or maybe can't. I'm not a scientist. Have a bite of lemon? Oh, does that help? Yeah. Stand on your head

For a boy Yes Stand on your feet for a girl That's right That's why there's so many girls in the world So this was when he was still very young Kind of put it in the back of his mind And moved on with his life

Taylor continues He was a conservative man With not much of an interest in anything but getting by Least of all music He lived a quiet existence and kept himself to himself Then one day he met a woman With strawberry blonde hair Her name was Annie, and the two got on quite well and ended up getting married.

No. This ticked off the first part of the Wiggin prophecy. Then Mother Wiggin passed away, which she also obviously predicted. I told you I would die one day. Wow. She's good. And this happened just before Annie gave birth. Okay.

To a son. Oh, my God. What are the chances? I believe it's 50, 50, 50, 50, 51, 49, maybe. Yeah. But the second kid, again a son. What are the chances? My, remains 50-50.

Frickin God. But to have two, I think that is less than 50-50. It's getting less likely each time. I think isn't it just the same every time you have a new child? It's the same every time. But from the start, to have two sons is lower than 50-50. Okay. To have two sons, you're the math guy.

Am I wrong? I think you're less likely to have two sons and you ought to have one son. Like it's more likely you'll have a boy and a girl than you'll have two boys or two girls, right? It's like, you know, when you do the heads or tails thing at your trivia nights? What's the most likely one to come up when you flip two coins? One heads, one tails, right?

Isn't there like some, it depends on the coin with the slight weighting? If you flipped it one million times, then they don't weigh exactly the same amount. So we have to find out Annie's waiting. Anyway, so... I've got the two sons. Two sons.

So the only thing now that needs to... needed to happen for the prophecy to come true was for them to have multiple girls. And those girls to form a band. The greatest band of all time. So probably the easy bit's been done. What do you say that that's 50? That's about 50. That's about 50.

50. Yeah. But they had three daughters. Dot, Betty and Helen. And Rachel after that as well. But who, like, obviously we don't give a shit about Rachel. Rachel played bass a little bit. Okay.

But the core of the band was Dot Betty and Helen. Two guitarists and a drummer. Give Rachel a tambourine and be done with it. Honestly, Rachel, you were a mistake. Okay. You've got no rhythm. Your mother and I had had a fight and we made up. And unfortunately, you were the result of that.

We made you. And you were not part of the prophecy. But your sisters seem okay with you hanging around. But just no. Nobody cares about the bass player. I really wish there was more specific on the number of daughters. Some daughters. Yeah.

Yeah, you've left yourself a bit of wiggle room there, haven't you? Mama Wiggin. A bit of Wiggin room, as she might say. Like Wiggle Room. That's fun. As Taylor writes, Austin Wiggin Jr's life may have been beige on the surface, but the one Achilles heel to his humble normality was a profound belief in superstition. After all, if everything his mother had predicted to this point came true,

then why not the grand payout? Like you said, the hard part's been done. Yeah, yeah. You cruise into the finish line from here. I'm just going to quit my job. Giving these kids a couple of instruments. Now, sit back and wait. A few months of piano lessons each, we're good to go.

Okay, you do know this story. As Alene wrote, it was left to Ostender fulfilled the last of his mother's predictions. And when his daughters were old enough, he told them that they would be taking voice and music lessons. Okay. Forming a band. There was no debate. his word was law and his mother's prophecies were gospel. But as Taylor writes, the issue was that simple chance had borne out the augury so far,

but it takes more than that to form the world's greatest band. Thus what followed was a farcical folly of misguided mindset in every which way. Austin pulled his daughters out of school for reasons unclear to even those involved. He bestowed them with out-of-tune instruments and arranged fleeting vocal and music lessons with what little change you could spare. If they're guaranteed to be the greatest band in the world, you don't really have to put much effort. You don't need to bother tuning instruments. You can give them a guitar with no strings and they'll still somehow find a way.

Yeah. I mean, you wouldn't even have to get them a guitar. No. They'd probably, they'd just walk home one day and find a guitar. Yeah. So, yeah, it's interesting. Taylor here says that no one really knows why he pulled them out of school. But it sounds like it was because there was no high school in the town.

They had to catch a bus to another town. He's like, that commute time could be. band practice time. So instead he... You don't need to learn to read other than music. Other than music, which I don't know how to teach.

But you know that already, right? I have no interest in music. I cannot carry a tune. That's your thing. Yeah. We don't either. I'm not big on music. No, no, no, you are.

You love it. You love it. I detest music. You're good. It's your thing. They did like, they liked music apparently, but they had no interest in pursuing music. They like listening to pop radio, basically.

And what sort of age group are they when they're forced together and it's been of the young teenagers? Yeah, right. A few years apart. It sucks to be the older brothers who just ignored. They ended up on tambourines and some of the live shows. Wow. Orlean says they were shy small town teenagers who dreamed of growing up and getting married,

having children, maybe becoming secretary someday. But Austin pushed the girls into a new life and he named them the shags. The shag. That's the dad's name. The dad's named of that. The shags. The shags. Why?

Well, according to Erwin Chusid in his book, Songs in the Key of Z, the Curious Universe of Outider Music. The first chapter's all dedicated to the Shags. That songs are the key of Z. Love that. Oh, probably. Key of Z. Key of Z.

Oh, yeah, that sounds way better. Sounds way better. My favorite band ZZ Top. I love JZ. Love that. JZ, fantastic artist. Fantastic. I don't know what it is.

You've been saying Fendz. A lot lately. And I love it. Yeah, it's great. Because you say it like, oh, fantastic. That's fantastic. I think that's as Sam Peterson is. Is it?

He does say fantastic. That's fantastic. Oh, yes, yeah, yep. I have been hanging out with the great man a lot lately. He's really rubbing off at me in a very positive way. Love that guy. He's rubbing off on me in a real fantastic way. Yeah, absolutely fantastic.

So anyway, Chussud, in his book, The Key of Z, wrote, The name shags, devised by their father, referred to both shaggy dogs and the then popular shagg haircut. It was a tufa. Much like the Beatles that had two meanings. Shaggy dogs, which are cool? Shaggy haircuts, which are cool? Apparently when the Beatles hit America in the mid-60s blew up and he's like, yeah, well, they're big now. But obviously.

Just wait. Just wait for the shags. But he was sort of inspired. He's like, yeah, we're going to do what they're doing basically. bigger. That's wild. We're going to be twice as big as Jesus, okay? Two times.

They, so the girls, like, listen to the music on the radio, but they never attended a concert. They've never seen live music. Dot later said, our father didn't believe in them, not for us to go to anyway, just for us to all of a sudden perform it. Yeah, that's right. I mean, why would you go to a concert where you could sell out your own medicine square garden concert?

Yeah. That's amazing. Why pay to go to a concert when we could be making. Exactly. millions. Oh, the confidence of this man. You don't do your job when you're off the clock. Hmm.

So, well did you go? Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah. But I can sort of say he's a superstitious guy. Mm-hmm. These, like, you would just be like, holy shit. These things are all happening as mum said. So I guess this is, if you believe in it, you believe in it.

Yeah, yeah. It's all lining up. But it's just funny to sort of, yeah, to just believe that it'll just happen. Like, he's not really putting, making the right steps. No. To make it happen. Yeah. very funny to be like, well, this will just come naturally to you.

Because he's got blind. That's not what mom said. No. She wasn't like, they'll all be musical prodigies. They're just going to be a big bet. So you need to, they need to see what a gig is. Yeah. He's got blown faith.

An instrument. Yeah, 100%. He's, he's filled in some gaps on his mom's prophecy of like, they'll just be prodigies and they'll figure it out. It'll be amazing. We'll just start at the top. Yeah. And we'll work away up from there.

Yeah. We'll create a new top. Yeah. I said said top. So yeah, he was homeschooling him and he was making and practice. mainly music all day, so much so that they found it a real grind. It wasn't really fun. Fingers are bleeding on the recorder.

It was never particularly positive about the way they were playing, even though he had no interest in music. This all sounds terrible to me. Yes. But so do the Beatles. He has no idea. But yeah, it doesn't sound like he was a good dad, obviously. So, yeah, they rehearsed in the morning, the afternoon, then after dinner.

He also made him do calisthenics for some reason, which I'm not even fully sure what that is. That's a cardio thing. Beyonce rehearses on a treadmill. Well, there you go. Yeah, I've got to keep that cardio up. She probably follows the Wiggins route to success. Because you know how active they are and they're dancing on the stage and stuff. You've got to be able to still hit those high notes.

Nobody wants to go to a concert of the best band in the world and hear them going, you know? So your cardio fitness has to go through the roof. Very important. I wheeled onto stage on treadmills. That's right. And then they just start strumming. That's right.

Maybe I'll do a comedy festival show on a treadmill. Do you know, like, a guy, I saw someone do that a couple of years ago. Yes. The guy that he won the best comedy at Edinburgh. Did a show on a treadmill? Yeah. The Perrier Award. And it was, yeah, it was like it was quite a dark sort of show.

I think it's got Monkey C, Monkey Do was the name of the show. Oh, wow. Yeah, he did the whole thing on the treadmill. Okay. Sorry, Jess. What about on an exercise bike? No one's done it. Yes.

I think, and I've pretty. sure ATB, I said Trombo Burture was, uh, had a similar idea and then they'd go like around that time. It's like, oh, are you kidding. God damn. I would have thought that would be. Someone beat me to the treadmill. Richard Gad was the name. Oh, that's right. Yes, yes, yes. Okay. But maybe I could get sponsorship from Peloton. Get a Peloton and do it on a peloton. Yes. Yeah, yeah, get Peloton involved. Perfect. I love this. Maybe have a Mr. Big, uh, you know, life size, doll. Could be somehow built into the show.

I forgot about that. I just looked this up, you know, to find it, monkey see monkey do a comedy festival. And the first thing that comes up is a review from the age. Keeping in mind, this show won Best Comedy at the Edinburgh Festival, the biggest comedy festival in the world. Yep. Two stars.

Incredible stars. Really? Incredible star. So would you say that's a polarising show? Oh, yeah. Yes, so. Amazing. That's a bit of the shags about it.

It's so funny. Like, when a review is for your show, it means everything. and you take it very seriously. But other than that, you're like, oh, this is all dumb. Yeah. That doesn't matter. This makes you laugh. Some stupid person's opinion about one night and they're very specific taste.

I reckon some are better than others. Of course. And there are some of mine that I read and I go, I can, there's things to learn from this. Yeah. But there's others that are like, you just didn't. You're like, oh, you didn't understand this at all. My favorite is when there. in a room of an audience who are loving it.

Yeah, yeah. The audience is having a great time. They're laughing. They're whooping. It gets a standing ovation. And the reviewer's like, mm, not very good.

I didn't get it. Yeah, and it's like, that's, yep. And they even, they have the sort of, the blind spot of saying it, not real. Yeah.

As they're writing out, everyone seemed to be loving it. Yeah. I don't know why. Well, I mean, it's a comedy show. Yeah. People are laughing. That's got to be one of the key,

um, the key aims of it. It's one of the KPIs, for sure. Absolutely one of the KPIs. Thanks for putting in language that I can understand. That's right. Real business technology.

As an accountant. That's right. Unpracticing. And unqualified. Did it in VCE though. Four hundred years ago. One of those. I was at top of my class.

Had Abacus's back then? No. They weren't quite around it. If it wasn't counting up to 10, We didn't do it. Yeah, fair enough. We do to it there. I'm sorry, Maddie.

It was before toes. Before toes. Yeah, I grew up pre-toes. Wow. So, yeah, so he's homeschooling him. He's working them to the bone, making them practice all day and night. They hated it. He was quite cruel about it, according to Orlean.

One song in particular, philosophy of the world. He claimed they never played right. And he would insist on hearing it again and again. This is a guy who does. doesn't have an interest in music. Didn't write the song. Dot wrote it. But he's saying you're doing it wrong.

I don't really like music. I don't get music, but you're not playing this right. You're not playing your song right. Yeah. That's good. That is good. But the daughters would also say,

yeah, they would agree they're not, they're not the best. They're not, they don't think they're a great band or anything. They're pretty aware of what's going on, but he's a bit diluted about it all because of the prophecy. But they're not all in on the prophecy. No.

think it's just going to happen. Yeah, yeah, that's right. What are we doing, dad? They're like, Dad's a bit of a kook. Yeah. But they were also, they lived quite a sheltered life because he's taken him out of school. Yeah. Apparently, they were already kind of outsiders when they were in school and now they're fully

sheltered from the town. It's because they're wearing head to toe merch for the band that begins this year. Yeah. Well, the Shags. Shags. So, uh, Orlean continues, the shags were not leading rock and roll lives. Austin forbade the girls to date before they were 18 and discouraged. most other friendships.

They hadn't been popular kids anyway, but being in the band and being homeschool, set them apart even more. Friday nights, the family went out to do grocery shopping. On Sundays, they went to church, and the girls practiced when they got home. Their world was even smaller than the small town of Fremont. Wow.

So they, yeah. They really only had each other. Like, just the fact that it's noted that they went out on Fridays to go shopping. Yep. That's one of their weekly excursions. Yeah. Yeah, it's an exciting event. Grocery shopping and church and that's it.

Yeah. Yeah, what a nightmare. That's how you get inspired to make art. I don't even grocery shop anymore. Yeah. Get that shit delivered. You live, your world is even smaller than the small world inside the small world of free home. Yeah, that's why you don't even leave your house.

I don't. Thanks so much for zooming in today. We're in my house right now. My house is so big. Yes. Sometimes I have to get in a car and drive. 30 to 40 minutes to get... The world is my house.

To another part of my house. Melbourne is my house. So it was the mid-60s. Rock and roll and popular culture was becoming rebellious. Though Orlean writes, in Fremont, Dot Wigan was writing tributes to her mom and dad with songs like, who are parents? With lyrics like,

parents are the ones who really care. Who are parents? Parents are the ones who are always there. Great stuff. This is nice. Some kids think their parents are cruel. Just because. they want them to obey certain rules, parents do understand, parents do care.

So that's one of their songs. That's actually really nice. Yeah. It's one of those songs that I think like you're listening to it and it sort of doesn't matter. Like Dave and I could be listening to it right. And Dave and I could be going through really different things in our lives. But both of us take something very different away from it. And I think that's the real power of music. But at the same time, it's universal. Yes. Isn't that? And that's, that's tricky. Yeah, to do everything all at once.

Oh, yeah. That's beautiful. Wow. That says like a mega hit to me. Yeah. How many streams on Spotify? I think I'm on Camp Best Band in the world. Yeah, so far.

Yeah. And you, well, I think I'm in there too somewhere. So they played their first public show in 1968. It was a talent show and the band did not think they were ready. They're like, Dad, we're not ready to play publicly. Please don't make us play publicly. How have they been a band for? About three years.

I think they've been sort of... Still not ready for a show. Well, and they've only ever been to a supermarket or church. They've never even seen a band play. Yeah, that's right. Oh my God. They've only ever heard Coles radio. And it's pretty good. Yeah, it is. I love when you're cruising down, you're like, oh, Fleetwood Mac, yes, please. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that could be my next career step, I think. DJing, Coles Radio. I hope so. Oh, that'd be great. That'd be awesome. You go, Mr. Bumastic comes on. Yes. Yes. Does someone back announce tracks in Coles? Oh, really? Yeah. Man, I must zone out when I go there.

I thought it was just, this is Coles Radio. Yeah, sometimes you actually hear. They're doing that live every time. In every shop. I mean, they're not doing talk back. You know, there's no text in or anything. But I'm sure they probably say fun stuff about specials at the moment. Remember to scan your flyby's card at checkout.

Okay. On to Cindy Lauper. Great. On Coles Radio. Grab a reusable bag. Yeah. They won't cost the earth. That was what our, when I used to work at a some of my.

at our trolley, full-time trolley man. He would just, he took it on himself to really, this was years ago, obviously. They were just a pretty new thing. It was going hard on, let's stop using the plastic bags. But he had, he came up with all these catchphrases.

It was sick. And he just got, he just go grab the PA sporadically and plug the bags. Love that. Just pushing his commie agenda. I love it. But it was,

it was so, yeah, it was the best. But it was, it was freestyle on the mic. It's just like, Hell you. He's the trolley guy.

He's a trolley guy. And he's like, I'll take this. I got this. In a lot of ways, that was not in his job description. Oh, yeah. In a lot. I like that he took it on himself. I love that.

He was a real company man. The Woolies hype man. Yeah. Good on him. He told me everything I knew. So I worked, yeah, I sort of worked with my first week with him. He taught me the ways of the trolleys. He probably would be one of the best stuff like that trolley man.

He put his ear to me to. who it started rubbing it saying, if you listen to you can hear him purr. Yeah, yeah. Sorry, that was one of the best jobs you ever had. That is offensive to say to us, your colleagues. Well, no, current, like, I think pre now, that was probably my favourite job. Okay, great, I'll accept that. But obviously, I feel like it's daylight second, of course, working with you too.

Oh, my God. A dream. A dream come true. God, we're great. So first ever. I was told on a prophecy to me once. What's a podcast? They haven't been born yet.

Yeah. Your co-hosts have not been born yet And they won't be for quite some time You'll have to recruit two younglings Take them under your wing That's right, grab them from their parents' house When they're a baby Put them in front of a microphone

They'll know what to do See, see, officer, it's not weird They're podcasting prodigies Yes The prophecy said they'd be prodigies We've been doing this, you know, from a very young age What were we?

25 when we started this podcast? That's young. That's young. That's teeny. We're babies. Nobody, I can't think of anybody who's done a podcast younger than that. No. We were but little children.

Tiny little children. Yeah, your parents were pretty full on when I snatched you two. They said, thank you. Get her the fuck out of this house. Can you get her to move out too? Jesus Christ. Anyway, so they're playing their first public show. First year, they're not ready for it.

They're not ready. Yeah. And it's a competition. It's a competition. It's a talent competition. According to Orlean, I don't know how well you think it might have gone. Any guesses? First place and second place.

Oh, yeah. I think they were disqualified. Okay, for being too good. Yes. According to Orlean, the girls could barely play their instruments. They've been together for three years. Yeah, but they've never actually had a lesson. Fair enough.

And there's not YouTube back then. They had a few lessons, but yeah. They're so sporadic. And they were also like the family were very poor. and the dad put all the money he could into the instruments and a few lessons. But, yeah, they just couldn't afford many lessons at all. No one taught them how to open the guitar case. They just had them on stage, sort of bang them.

Yeah, like a drum. I thought they were percussion. No one's shown us how to open this. I don't know. So they opened with a cover of a country song called Wheels. When they did that, people in the audience threw soda cans at them and jeered. No, they're teenagers? Teenage girls on stage.

at this tiny town. Everyone would know everyone there. Isn't that outrageous? And they don't want to hear a country song? But also it's like, oh, they're having a go and they're not doing a great job at this talent competition? Isn't that the wildest thing? Throw stuff at them.

Unbelievable. Apparently the girls were mortified, but Austin told them they just had to go home and practice more. I don't. Okay. Yep. This happened at all of the Beatles' early concerts. This is a good sign.

This is the natural step. And look, it's not bad advice from a parent to be. like, hey, you know, disappointments happen. We pick ourselves up. We keep going. But also, they don't know how to play their instruments. You've got to, yeah, practice.

You've got to practice well. Just figure it out. Whatever that saying is. That Halloween, they played at a local nursing home. Oh, God. How many fatalities were there? Happy Halloween! Their set featured one of their originals, a song by Dot called It's Halloween.

Pretty appropriate. Great. As an improvement from their debut show, they received a polite response. No one. There's only a few cans were thrown. So we're on, well, the oldies can't throw the cans at far. If they could have, they would have. Oh, 100%.

An old man did die in the audience. He was like, thank goodness for that. I feel my heart stopping. Great timing heart. Hero. A very polarising band. Some people would throw things out of them. Some people would sit politely, you know.

both ends of the spectrum. Exactly. After this, Austin got them a Saturday night residency at the Fremont Town Hall. They played every Saturday night for years from then on. And the town hall wanted the band that had caused a riot basically had people throw cans at them? Yeah. I suppose it's town. Are they the only band in town?

Basically, and people would turn up and they'd dance, even though the music was a bit weird and they'd sort of just dance strange. Someone who went there a while later was like, it was like that was the crowd were zombies. You know, they were just sort of dancing in this weird zombie fights. That was really odd, apparently. According to Chusid, Austin as Quality Control Chief was on hand for every performance. He strutted the corridors of the town hall and surveyed the musical proceedings from the dance floor, wearing a homemade pin that read Shag Manager, which is not even the name of the band.

What are you guys doing in that bathroom? I'm in control of this. According to Aline, the whole family took part in the town hall shows. Austin the third, the eldest son. Austin the third played the Maracas. The other son, Robert, played the tambourine. Jesse were keen on that. Just got canned for the brother.

But Robert also did a drum solo during intermission. And he's, I guess he's the less good drummer. For how long? Long intermission It's during intermission And all the termites Hey guys If you just want to grab a drink

He's in a bathroom We'll be back at about 25 Take it away Like a full John bottom 30 minute drum solo With a guy who can't play Incredible I'm assuming he can't play

Maybe he can play really good but in the prophecy it said daughters. That's right. Every week he's like, hopefully dad will notice that I know what I'm doing. Austin III is a great drummer and Robert has the voice of an angel, but he's like, no,

no, my daughters. Prophecy is the prophecy. Even though according to one town hall regular, most people found the shaggs music painful and torturous. Sometimes as many as a hundred kids showed up at the dancers, practically the whole adolescent population of Fremont. There was nothing else to do.

Exactly. There wasn't anything else to do. The audience danced and chatted, heckled the band, pelted the girls with junk, ignored them, grudgingly appreciated them and mocked them. They got a bit of everything. Oh, my God. That's a nightmare. Remember the report I did about the...

Cherry sisters. I was thinking about that as well as... Yeah. When people would go along, that's part of the quotation marks, fun, was to mock them. They were terrible, yeah. Oh my gosh, I feel so bad for these people. Yes. I don't.

It's a bit funny. I mean, the drum solo in the television. It's the loudest instrument you can do. It's not like he'll tinkle the iris with a bit of, you know, lounge music. He's hitting the shit out of a drunk kid. It's so good. And don't forget, don't feel too sorry for him. Remember, one of Kirk Cobain's favorite ever bands.

Yeah. And Frank Zappa loved them. Like, they have big fans as well. Okay. That, you know, that happens in a little bit of time. time. Not that, you know, anyway. So, Austin, despite all this, the really quite negative responses they're getting regularly. And you can only imagine what that do for your self-esteem fronting, like imagine going into that. I guess you've become numb to it. Every Saturday night.

Yeah, brutal. Austin still believed his daughters were on track to become the greatest band of all time. He had a little graph. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Fantastic. He had a trend up from here. He had a successometer. Yeah. I was filling up. You're already 100 out of 100 as far as I'm concerned. Perfect. He didn't have much money, but what he did have, he spent on the band.

He got a camera and filmed the town hall shows, all in the hope of finding them a larger audience. Things weren't moving as fast as he was hoping, though. So the next obvious step, of course, was to record an album. Yes. I was thinking when are they going to record an album? That seems like the obvious thing you'd do. When will they record their first hit record? But of course, recording an album would be expensive.

And according to Taylor, he pawned possessions, work night and day, and saved every penny he could to ensure that their debut album, Philosophy of the World, would come to fruition. Wow, the song that he was criticising for playing is the title track. Wow, that's he, I think he sees it as the, you know, magnum opus sort of that phrases. With the house Pilford of Worth, his three faded daughters were set for the studio. Just imagine their house they go home like, where's the cat? That's gone into the studio fund.

We sold it to the... We're our beds. Studio fund. Also sold that to the recording studio. They go there and the guy's like, this is awesome. Thanks for this couch and these beds. Yeah, they're using it for like sound insulation.

According to Orlean, in March 1969, he took the girls to Fleetwood Studios to make a record. According to the magazine, cool and strange music, the studio engineer listened to the Shags rehearse and suggested that they weren't quite ready to record. sort of politely saying maybe, you know, don't spend the money now. Yeah.

Keep practicing, come back. But Austin insisted on going forward, reportedly telling the engineer, quote, I want to get them while they're hot. Don't say that about your kids. But the sound engineer who hears a lot of music and could just take your money. Yes. Could just take your money. is trying to say they're not hot, they're cold.

The problem is I think when you're like, you don't get it, this is a thing that's going to change everything. Yeah. You probably, it sounds like it's not right to you. But that's because this is a brand new thing. Yeah. You know, if you're really, well, you see it on like those shark tanks kind of show sometimes where they've got this business idea that they think's going to change the world

and the sharks or the dragons. go, this is not anything. And they're like, I've put my whole life into this. You're like, this is brutal. Yeah. I can't watch this anymore. I'm living out of my car. I've sold everything to make this card game.

We're not sure that this card game, it's very convoluted. It's worth the billion dollars you're asking for. For one billion dollars, you can have 1% of my business. Take it or leave it. The sunk cost fallacy comes into play. Like, I've put everything into this. I need this to work. It must be good.

Brutal. So anyway, he's like, we got to get them now. They're peaking. They're right in the zone. We got to get them. They are peaking because they don't know how to use a microphone. They're screaming and do it. So the album's recorded.

This is what the album, Lina Notes say. One article said that it wasn't, they're not sure who wrote it, but Alene thinks it was Austin who wrote this himself. Quote, the shags are real, pure, unaffected by outside influences. He didn't let him really listen to music much. because he didn't want them influenced. Okay. Their music is different.

It is theirs alone. They believe in it. Live it. Of all contemporary acts in the world today, perhaps only the shags do what others would like to do, and that is, perform only what they believe in, what they feel. Not what others think the shags should feel. The shags love you.

What? They will not change their musical style to meet the whims of a frustrated world. You should appreciate this because you know they are pure. What more can you ask? They are sisters and members of a large family where mutual respect and love for each other is at an unbelievable high. In an atmosphere which has encouraged them to develop their music unaffected by outside influences, they are happy people and love what they are doing. They do it because they love it.

Some of it's a bit defensive, isn't it? That's really justifying. No, they love it. They're happy. Don't ask them. Don't ask them. They're very happy. They're very happy. This is what they want to do.

They love you. They're not doing this because of some weird palm reading. When I was a kid, weird thing to suggest. Yeah, that's crazy of you. That's just coincidental that happened, but they're doing because they love it. They love it and they love you. That bit was weird. That bit was weird.

They love you. The shags love you. The shags love you. Okay. I love the shags. Yeah. So, yeah, pretty full on, but also, it's kind of amazing. There's this guy, Bobby Hearn, who worked at Fleetwood, and he saw it all happen,

as Chussard called it, the ensuing debacle. of the recording session. So yeah, Bobby Hearn was later quoted, talking about Austin saying that he came into Fleetwood and said he needed to cut some sides because he was the proprietor of the band, the father. He called himself the proprietor.

Okay. He brought them in and they did this stuff. We shut the control room doors and rolled on the floor laughing. Just rolled. It was horrible. They did not know what they were doing. And you'd be hoping for a soundproof studio

on that incident. Yeah, yeah. They got laughing on the floor. Sorry, just one second, girls, close the door. Oh my God. Brutal. He says, they did not know what they were doing, but they thought it was okay. They were just in another world, and they smelled like cows right off the farm.

Not a dirty smell. Just smell like cows. What an odd thing to add. All of them is so odd. I just, I can't imagine laughing at that. I would feel, I'd feel for them. Yeah. Or I'd be like, good on them.

One of the two. Yeah. It feels pretty cruel to be laughing at anyway. David and I'd be laughing. Not until they left. Come on. Yeah, then we'd listen back. Shut the door.

Remember their smell like a cow. Not dirty. Not dirty. Like a cow like. A clean cow. That said so, because I love the smell of it. I used to go to our friends dairy fire. To sniff the cows.

That smell is nice. Love the smell of a cow. I'm not sure I'm familiar. All right. Not sure if I should have said that out loud. Very defensive. I love what I'm doing. I love the smell of a cow.

Yeah, okay. That does sound weird. Once I heard it back. Did you ever just go right up and just give it a real sniff? No, I just meant the general. You take one of those big ears and you say, I love the smell of you. Fuck, I love a cow. Love a big animal.

You do. No, I agree. You couldn't laugh in their face like that. That is so... No. And it sounds like they were laughing secretly. Yes. At least it sounds behind closed doors.

And they tried. They tried to say, like, I don't think they're ready. Maybe now's not the best time to spend all of your money. That was a different guy who said that. Still. But still, I imagine. He said they were all laughing. So, yeah.

The story goes that Austin paid for 1,000 copies of their record, philosophy of the world, to be pressed. but the producer Charlie Dreya disappeared along with 900 copies of the album, never to be seen again. Wow. Though NPR says this part of the story is unsubstantiated. That's just like part of the mythology of it now. Chilson agrees that it's unlikely that that's the case saying for Dreya to steal them makes no sense. Dreya went deeply in debt after borrowing tens of thousands of dollars for various recording projects,

but there's no way hundreds of philosophy LPs would have helped pay his creditors. Yeah. The album was unknown and worth it. It was also considered an artistic abomination, which is full on terms. That is so brutal. Oh, wow. The only reason Dreyer had possessed them was because Austin never bothered to claim the goods. The eventual disposition of those boxes remains a mystery.

It's conceivable that at some point, since they were taking up valuable space, that was simply tossed in a dumpster. Okay. But the story has grown to. He ran off with them. He knew that it was going to become this cult hit. He spent the rest of his life in a cave listening to 900 LPs over and over. Yeah, wearing him down one by one.

And honestly, loving his life in that cave. He loved his life. He loved his cave life. Shag cave. And his cave wife. A rock. Happy, happy cave wife. Happy cave life.

The Wiggins returned to the Fleetwood Studios a few years later. By then, though, they could play a little better after practicing for many hundreds more hours. But they hadn't improved so much as to convince the engineer. In fact, he pitied them writing as the day progressed. I overcame my disappointment and started feeling sorry for this family, paying $60 an hour for studio time to record this? Oh, but again, like, so is the dad still not letting them listen to other music?

He's not letting them see. Yeah. Like, that would help them so much. They go, oh, I would get it. Yeah. I've been holding a guitar wrong. The wrong way around. But it is interesting because the people who appreciate it,

appreciate it for probably for some of these reasons. Yeah. They weren't influenced by anything and they... Do they really appreciate it or is it just a thing that you say? Kurt. Mate. Yeah. Call in.

Cool in. Frank Zapper. Call in. Do you just say you like it? Yeah. Because it's what everyone else doesn't say. Potentially. Maybe.

But it's, but it is like it's quite a few people who've got on board. Okay. Obviously, I haven't heard it, so I don't know how bad or good it is. When you said that they're holding the guitar the wrong way, I imagined strings against your body. Rubbing. Like sort of washboard. I was thinking maybe at the end of the report, we'll pause the recording, listen to a couple of songs and then you can talk about what you think. Great.

And people at home can do the same. I would love that. Love that. So as for the song. The songs are recorded, I talked before about the one who were parents. Years later, that's made it. It's still their number one. Dot was the main songwriter, and as she was self-taught,

the songs were kind of odd pop songs with odd meters, key changes, and fluctuating time signatures. According to Corey Grow, writing for Rolling Stone, the album contained Dot's songs about feeling like she didn't fit in, philosophy of the world, her deference for her parents, who were parents. Her love for a cat, foot foot, foot. The song was called My Pal Foot Foot. That's the song I've heard.

Which if you don't know that's a cat, it sounds so odd. But I think it was, I heard it before I knew what it meant. And I'm like, oh, yeah, this is kind of bizarre and fun. But knowing, and it's like, oh, it's just a, it's just literally a song about a cat. My pal foot, foot. And also, she wrote about general confusion with songs like, why do I feel? And what should I do? It's like a robot.

It does sound like an AI. Yeah. Why do I feel? Kill me. Kill me. What is love? Some are happy while some have an inexplicable sadness about them that even she can't put her finger on years later. All are sung and played in unpredictable and unusual ways that won them their famous fans.

The song My Pal Footh Foot has lyrics like, My Pals name is Foot Foot Foot, Foot. He always likes to roam. My pal's name is foot foot, foot, foot. I never find him home. I go to his house, knock at his door. People come out and say, foot, foot, don't live here no more. In the end of the song, Foot Foot Returns, but apparently real life did not. Oh.

Another song called Things I Wonder had lyrics that went, There are many things I wonder. There are many things I don't. It seems as though the things I wonder most are the things I never find out. That almost rhymes. Well, I mean, she set up a pattern and broken and I guess that's an interesting

Orlean sort of wrote that lyrics like this are sort of hard to tell. Are they brilliant or are they awful? Yeah. It's almost hard to tell. Orlane says, is this the colloquial ease and dislocated syntax of a James Schuller poem

or the awkward innermost thoughts of a speechless teenager? One or the other. Yeah. Are you familiar with James Schuller's work, Dave? No, but I am familiar with the awkward teenage. Teenagers.

There's no idea what they're doing. The Shags continued playing weekly on Saturday nights in Fremont until 1973 when the town supervisors put an end of the shows. Apparently they were getting, no one's really sure why, but it sounds like they were getting pretty full on. Like there was like borderline little riots and stuff. Oh my God. According to Orlean, Austin was furious, but the girls were relieved to end the grind of playing

every Saturday night. They were getting older and had begun to chafe with, his authority. Like the eldest was in her mid to late 20s by the stage. Wow. So I don't, yeah, she must have been a late teen when they were started performing. Still being made to just play once a week, not really allowed to have a life. Yeah. So they they were beginning to sort of get over his authority so much so that they started to quietly rebel against him. One of his daughters, Helen, fell for a man at one of the dancers and ended up marrying him in secret. Oh. According to Aline, she continued living at home for three months

after the wedding, which Austin didn't even know about, because she was too terrified to tell him what she had done. On the night that she finally got up the courage to give him the news, he got out a shotgun and went after her husband. The police joined in and told Helen to choose one man or the other. The police joined in. Do you mean they started chasing the husband? That's what Orlean said, but yeah, but it's, um, is like, they're like, all right, who, your choice. Which one do you want us to take? Like, who should we shoot? To save you from.

Who should we kill? We've got to kill someone. Both? One, the other, both. All options are on the table. Neither, what? No, no, that wasn't an option. I said one, the other or both.

Yeah. God, we're going to. Gosh, geez. Yes, then. It's a bit dim this one. So, what the fuck. So the police made her choose and she left with her husband. It was months before Austin spoke to her again.

Apparently she was 28 years old at the time. So well and truly. Fucking out. Oh gosh. I think some of the ages I think have been a bit inconsistent with because she was a teenager. But anyway, you know, when sometimes different sources. Yeah.

It sounds like they were together for ages though. They're really giving the music. Yeah. It seems like they've been playing. Yeah, that's Saturday Night Weekly for years. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So yeah, if they were late teens, it's not it's not a shock to sort of be like, okay, yep, they're mid-20s now. That's wild. During that time where they played, this guy stumbled upon the album, you know, via those boxes sitting around. He was like, apparently one guy came through and he's like, this is weird and interesting.

Take a box of them if you want. They're just sitting here. And that guy was like, this is really interesting. I think I could make something of this. And he went to one of the shows and he's the one going, it was strange the way everyone was dancing. He was one saying they're like zombies. But then he decided in the end he's like, I can't, he felt like he'd be taking advantage.

Like, they're not really in on what makes them interesting. Yeah. So he would feel bad to. Oh, okay. Yeah. And he's like, I think he saw her the dad and how he treat him. He's like, this is just not quite right. But he said that driving back to Boston, I think, was really surreal.

It was foggy. A cop car followed him for age. And he's like, it was just everything about that night was very unnerving. and surreal. Oh, weird. Yeah. But he... That cop did think he was Helen's husband, to be fair.

Yeah, yeah. He's like, do you want me to shoot you or shoot myself? Which one? I'm shooting someone here. I'll shoot my car. I'll shoot by car. Me or you. Or your car.

Final offer. Or that tree. Got to shoot something. I got to shoot something. I got a KPI to meet. These bullets aren't going to shoot themselves. Are you, Helen's husband? Sorry.

Sorry, fine. Things were. fraying, but the band forged on. They continued to play locally at fares and at the nursing home as well. They love that polite response. Austin continued believing that the prophecy was going to come true. It was only a matter of time. So he believed it all the way through. How much time? But it was not to be. The band went into hiatus in 1975. This was brought on when Austin suffered a massive heart attack in his sleep and died at the age of just 47. Wow. Wow. Was that in prophecy or?

Yeah, I don't think it was mentioned. So, so from then they're like, well, now that he's not making us be a band, they just sort of, they didn't break up, but they just stopped playing. Yeah. Which sort of suggests they didn't really want to be doing it, I guess. Yeah, as soon as he's out, they're like, oh, okay. Yeah. So, yeah, imagine it's tough, but like, I imagine there would have been a bit of relief.

Yes. Yeah. To be your dad's passing, which is so sad. It's really hard to know what to make of this story. Yeah. Wow. But yeah, he was, I think he's definitely the villain of the story. Yeah.

And yeah. To you into a point where your kids are in their 20s and aren't allowed to have lives. Yes. So much so that one of them rebels by getting married and does that in secret. Very sad. Very sad. And so like from there on, after his time, it is a lot more positive, I think. Generally speaking, kind of heartbreakingly, or maybe it's perfect.

but according to Helen, the day he died was the same day they had finally played a version of philosophy of the world that he had given them positive feedback on. Well, I think that's kind of nice, I guess, yeah. In the years after his death, the other two kids got married, the other two daughters got married

and moved out of the family home. Austin's widow, Annie, soon sold the home and moved into a smaller place. The new owner of the old Wiggin family home later said that Austin, Ghost haunted the place. Like he wasn't doing that for notoriety or anything. He was like, this place is haunted, so much so that he built a separate house on the

property, just built a second house at the back and moved out of the house at the front and ended up donating the front house to the local fire department to practice putting out fires on. Set it on fire, guys. Burn that ghost. Isn't that wild? I bet you didn't see that bit coming. I thought he was going to say, and he let them be, that's the new firehouse or something.

Yeah, yeah. But he let it be the new fire house. Oh my God. Wow. That's amazing. Yeah, because I feel like if that house still existed, it would be a museum now. Yeah. Because the band now has worldwide fans, like a big cult following.

Really? Wow. So that house could have been like the, I mean, I imagine that town. is now, would regularly just have people going there going, wow, this is the town, the Shaggville. Wow. Shagville, USA. The local hall, maybe?

Yeah, true. Where they played every Saturday night. And apparently the hall is like, like everything in the town's kind of very low key, but the hall looks quite amazing. Hmm. And, yeah, one of these riders was like, they went down like, oh, this, this feels like some cool things could have happened here. Wow.

So while the band never quite achieved the status of greatest in the world, the rare pressings of their album have become super sought after and their music has been re-evaluated over the years. It's still very divisive, but they have also accumulated many fans. The albums, those original albums now go for a fortune, you know, because there's not many of them and they're real collector's items. Wow. Can I show you the cover?

Please. I think you'll love it. And I wonder, what are you picturing? What do you picture in them to look like? I'm picturing flowers, I reckon. I was picturing something somewhat psychedelic, and I don't think, because that seems like they'd be in on it then. They're wearing, they're wearing flowers on there.

Oh, wow, they look awesome. Yeah, pretty cool. Style icons, I would say. They're wearing, so two of them wearing matching outfits, but one, the drummer isn't. Drummer's wearing completely different. They're wearing matching haircuts, though. Matching haircuts on those sisters, yeah, not good ones.

Okay. but... Great to disagree. And the drummer seems to be playing half a drum kit. Yes. It's described as a drum kit that is unplayable. There is no bass drum. The setup of that drum there does not make any sense.

No, the way the snares angle. And the fact that they've, you know, they went with the double guitar, no bass set up for the most part, is interesting. But they just didn't follow any rules. They didn't know the rules. That's great. According to Anastasia Seulchus writing for NPR, the sisters thoroughly off. off-kilter atonal and arrhythmic songs have become legendary. They have been hailed as proto-punk pioneers.

The Shags fans included Frank Zappa, who is often quoted as calling them better than the Beatles, but like Dave says, he was a quirky guy. He loves naming his children, moon unit. And this is also possibly an apocryphal claim anyway, but he definitely was right into him. Members of the band NRBQ, who asked the Shags for permission to reissue songs from their professional and home recording sessions, which made philosophy of the world commercially available again, meant they reissued the album in 1980.

And that was when it started finding a larger audience. Shortly after that reissue, critic Lester Bangs wrote about the shags. Oh, Lester Bangs. Lyndon B. Johnson, but Lester Bangs. Sorry, baby, nomin of determinism. Lester be Lester. Yeah, Lester bangs. wrote about the shags and the village voice, they recorded an album up in New England that can stand,

I think, easily with Beatles 65, life with the lines, blonde on blonde, and teenage Jesus and the jerks as one of the landmarks of rock and roll history. They can't play a lick, but mainly they got the right attitude, which is all rock and roll's ever been about from day one. Wow. Seulchus continues, interest in the Wigan sisters has continued to percolate over the ensuing decades. In 1999, the label RCA Victor re-released Philosophy of the World, and a short-lived off-Broadway musical about their life was produced in 2011. According to Grow, Kirk Cabain counted it among his all-time favorite albums. Rolling Stone included it in the upper half of its list of 40 Greatest One Album Wonders,

top 20, all-time one album Wonders. Wow! Amazing. The Shagg singer and guitarist Dot said, It's hard to believe. I like those ones better than the worst ever band, around though. Yeah, fair.

According to Chusit, over the ensuing decades after its release, philosophy was declared by Frank Zapper as one of his all-time favorite records. Rolling Stone's 1996 alt rockerama ranked it among the 100 most influential alternative releases of all time, the greatest garage recordings of the 20th century, and the 50 most significant indie records. So it's made a lot of these all-time great lists. When Zapper raved about philosophy in a 1976 playboy, pole, practically no one outside the Wigan clan and their neighbourly circle had heard it.

As rare copies of the LP were discovered and cassettes began to circulate, other self-proclaimed fans came to include Bonnie Raite, who said, they're like castaways on their own musical island. Jonathan Richmond called them The Real Thing, and Carla Blaze said, they bring my mind to a complete halt. Finally, this is my favourite quote about him, from Bruce D. Road Vault from L.A. Weekly said, if we can judge music on the basis of its honesty, originality and impact, then the Shag's philosophy of the world is the greatest record ever recorded in the

history of the universe. Okay. That is a huge call. Fair to say, very polarising band. Yeah. Isn't that amazing how, where it started and just, it's been re-evaluated over time. And as music's evolved, they've remained unique. Yeah.

And a scene as music's evolved, people look back and go, oh, that's interesting. That's sort of like, that feels like an early version of the punk ethos, do it yourself. We don't know how to play, but we're playing anyway. Listen to your dad. Yeah. Why is love? What a parent. What a parents.

Yeah. Are they still alive? Two of them are. Wow. And one of them actually formed her own band. The others sort of moved away from music. But they've reformed to play, you know, as they've been rediscovered. They've played at a few festivals and stuff, even recently.

And, yeah, I think Dot, the main songwriter put her own band together and, you know, plays and stuff. It's sick. I love it. Do you know the name of that band? Oh. Anyone we would have heard of, they are The Spice Girls. I think they're the Dot Wigan 3 or something like that. Oh, cool.

That's good. Imagine seeing them at a festival. That's pretty cool. Hmm. But having no context and just seeing this fan do something really weird. Probably, what, are they in their 70s, 80s now? Yeah, so they were, well, they were teens in the 60s. I guess they were born in the 50s. Amazing.

Yeah, like at a festival and if you've never heard of them, like, we sound like we haven't. So Dot and Betty reunited after shows in 99 and 2017, Helen passed away in 2006. But Dot put together the Dot Wiggin'Bet, band and released an album in 2013 containing previously unrecorded shag songs. Wow. That's such a long time to hold on to those songs. I don't remember jokes I used to do two years ago, but Dot's got songs from 50 years ago. It sounds like that they had to play them thousands of times over and over.

And it's that formative time of your teens as well where like Matt remembers ads from his year. Yeah, that's where you're lock in. I can remember a song that me and a friend wrote in primary school. A couple of songs we wrote, that'll still be in my head somewhere. But yeah, like, you know, I'll have to stop and try and remember your name sometimes. Because I didn't meet you when I was a child. We edited in seamlessly, but he does forget me quite often. It's on the tip of my tongue.

Oh, the other thing I should probably mention, in 2001, a tribute album was released with all covers of their songs. and it was called Better Than the Beatles, a tribute to the Shags. Deer Hoof is probably the biggest band maybe on there. But yeah. Wow. We'll pause for a second here. And if anyone wants to, check out the song, My Friend Footfoot, my pal foot, sorry.

And we'll be back in a second with Dave and Jess's reaction to that. I'm ready. Incredible stuff. Oh, man. So immediate thoughts. Well, if that was the voice. My chair turned around the first three seconds. I hit that golden buzzer.

I said, you have got it. What is it? Drums that are completely out of time. Guitars that are playing a different song to the drummer and vocals just over the top. So it's like three separate songs happening at the same time. And here's the thing too. Like, I'm not a music expert, you know. I'm not a music historian.

And you're ready to admit that. I'm ready to admit that. I'm brave like that. But I also, you know, I'm also not a film buff, you know, an auteur. And I, sometimes I watch movies and I'm like, I hate this. And my real filmy friends love it. And I think sometimes movies can just be enjoyable and music should be nice to listen to. You know, it shouldn't be painful.

That hurt. The question is, would you rather listen to that again or spend 40 days and 40 nights eating small bricks covered in charcoal and Tabasco? I'd probably listen to it again. Yeah. What an absolute fucking psycho that guy was. Oh man. I think, I reckon that one definitely was more of a song in the classic sense than My Pal foot foot.

100%. Yeah. So for the people at home, we pause and we listen to two songs in the end. We listen to My Pal Foot Foot, which was the one where I was talking about where they're playing three separate songs at the same time. But the second track.

Philosophy of the world. Philosophy of the title track. It's more of a song. More of a song. The drums and everything. The lyrics are kind of fun. And, you know, it's just a simple idea. I just think works.

I just got the giggles because it was such a, like, because I was that teenager at some point thinking I was having a very profound thought. Yeah. You know, but it's just. What the tall people want what the tall people got. The tall people want what the short people got. You can't please anybody. The grass is always greener.

I think it's fantastic. The girls with long hair want short hair. Yes. Oh, man. My favorite was the people with the motorbikes, they want cars. Yes. The people with cars want motorbikes. You know, it just makes you think.

That one seems like an easier one to solve. Yeah. The tall, short thing, that's tricky. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But if you've got a motorbike you want a car, you know, I reckon there's a way to make that happen. Yeah. Anyway, yeah, I'm kind of into them. But I, yeah, I also, that, my pal foot foot is, that's not a putting her on the background and going about your day.

No. That genuinely hurt my brain a little bit. It was, yeah, there's a lot going on. That made me. It's challenging music. It's challenging music. It's challenging music. It made me anxious.

I think it would be challenging for them to recreate each time. Yeah. It's so out of guilt with each other. To recreate it would be quite difficult, I imagine. That's right. And it's, I mean, if you didn't know any better and you were told this is, they were like art school kids who knew how to play their instruments back to front and this was their mucking of, you know, like breaking all the rules,

then it would be like, oh yeah, this is important work. But because they don't know the rules, it's interesting. They don't even have any of that baggage. Yeah. So that's why some people love it. They're like, it's just a naive, sincere attempt at having a go. Yeah. With people who don't, haven't learnt or mastered their instruments.

Yeah. Yes. So it's interesting. And I'd find their story fascinating. And I love how it's how they've found a following. Totally. Love that. Yeah, no, good on them.

And it sounds like maybe their lives were a bit nicer once they were out of the shadow of their dadager. Yes. And the prophecy. Yeah, their proprietor, I think he likes to refer to us. Shag manager. Also the shags. I think the story is. He came up with a name and he got it wrong on his badge.

Come on. Yeah. I think the story's amazing and I'm rooting for them as people. Yeah, for sure. But that doesn't mean I have to listen to their music. No, of course not. Because I hurt my brain. No music's for everyone.

No, that's right. And I would say this more than anything. Yeah. It's not for everyone. Very diverse. Very niche. Like a small amount of people like a small amount of people like. love it. I'd say majority of people would be like, what the fuck is this?

But even you said, like, even you. You said, Matt, that listening to the second time you started feeling. Yeah, it was interesting. The first time I listened to them, I'm like, whoa, this is, there's a lot going on. It's hard to take it in. But the second time, I was started, and then the third time then started, you know, started getting it a bit more. But I think that's the case with a lot of music. So much. Especially harder to. Stuff that becomes your favorite songs of all time. You may not have loved the first or second time you heard it. I think often that's the case.

Songs that are easy to get straight away, I think I can tire from quicker. You get bored of it. Because it's so easy to get into it. Yeah, yeah. So maybe, who knows? If I listened to that a few more times, it would be one of my faves. But it's also one of those funny things like, some people are like, you've really got to give it a try.

It's like, but why do I have to work so hard to? Yeah. Because you've got to want to. You've got to be open to it. as well. At the end of the day, it's for entertainment purposes to enjoy. So if you don't enjoy it, you don't have to force it sometimes. It's okay. That's really your call. Yeah. Lise your life. Yeah. If anyone out there's going, oh, I don't want to have to. Don't. Jess and I, not Dave, are saying you don't have to. I'm saying you have to

homework this week, listen to the shags every night. Yep. Ten times. Yes. Before bed. Yep. And then I write a book report. Okay, great. A book report on a song. A different topic. Yeah. You're going to broaden the mind. Maybe on the book Songs in the Key of Zed Yeah, fantastic book A good idea A good

A good A keyer Z That's a beautiful Name for a Boy or girl Beautiful name for a boy or girl Keyer Z Come on Keiz Come on KeyZ

KeyZ Where are your shoes Rolls off the tongue Well that brings us To everyone's favourite section of the show Where we thank some of our Fantastic

Patreon supporters If you want to get involved Go to Patreon Tocom slash 2go on Pod It would be so nice to have you there There's a bunch of different levels and depending on the level you get different rewards or rewards seems weird.

It's not a reward. It's just a thing that you get. A treat. A treat. Different treats. Yeah. What are some of those treats, Bob? You can vote on topics that we do.

You can be in our Facebook group, which is the nicest corner of the internet. You get early access to live show tickets and also three bonus episodes a month. Three. One for each of us. As well as the back catalogue of bonus. episode. So there's, we're closing it on 200 bonus apps. So good. Love it. It's just the best

group. Uh, the comedy festival last month hung out with a bunch of patrons and it was so good. Met a few came from, traveled from far. Conner from Perth. Yep. Uh, shake from Hershey, Pennsylvania. Yeah. Wild. We met a, uh, a couple people at your show when Dave and I came who'd come from Brighton in the UK. Really? Yeah. Holy shit. Front of your show. You even did a bit of crowdwork with her. Oh, I, oh, yeah, I shook their hands. I didn't realize that's so cool. Very cool.

Legends. Anyway, the first thing we like to do in this section of the show is called the fact quote or question section. I actually think it's got a jingle. Go somewhere like this. Fact quote or question. Ding. He always remembers the ding.

Huh. She always remembers the thing. And to get involved in this, you go to the Sidney-Shanberg. Shindney-Shainberg. Shimmie Shanberg level. Deluxe level. And then you get to give us a factor quote or a question or a brag or a suggestion, a joke or really whatever you like.

Whatever you want. And I don't read them out until I read them out. You also get to give yourself a title. We do four each week. I should also say if you don't have the cash to get involved with Patreon, obviously that's fine. We just really appreciate you listening. Yeah, we also take check.

So that's fine. And yeah, and you don't need to be a Patreon to suggest topics. I think sometimes people think that. Yeah. There's a link in the show notes. You can click on anyone can suggest a topic at any time. And even just like, I don't know, posting about it on socials or telling a friend about it, recommending it to people.

A lot of people have found us because somebody else told them about us. So nice. So, you know, that's an amazing way to support us. We really appreciate that. If you want to chuck some cash at us, that's so lovely, but you don't have to. We love you regardless. If you want to make it a bit of fun, put the cash in a soda can. Yes.

And then chuck it at us. Yes. While we're performing. My preference? Unlistenable comedy. Sprite. Oh, okay. I like to be hit with sprites.

It's not my favourite to drink. Oh, okay, yes. It's fine. All right. So here are the facts or questions this week. First one comes from Claire Noria, which I believe is a typo and it's Claire Norris. But I'll say Claire Norea just in case.

Okay. Maybe Claire's been misspelling her name previously. Yeah. Right. Noria is a nice name. That's a good name. If that's not a, if that is a typo, Claire, I'd consider it. Yeah. think about it.

And Claire's title is pizza eater. Oh my God. Me too. Big time. Me too, Claire. A little too much to be honest. I've had a couple this week. Yeah.

A couple. Yeah, I've had a couple. It's a good week if I have pizza twice. Yeah, yeah. It's a good week. It's a great week. Yeah. I've had a great week.

And Claire's asking a question writing hi all. Hope everyone is well. Thank you. I'm well. Everyone loves pizza. But my question, though, is what style of pizza is your favorite? If you don't know, may I suggest touring all the major areas in America that claim to have a different style. Oh, okay.

Like a deep dish. That's right. And then the huge ones in New York that are just like pretty basic but real big and you fold them and you shove them in. So there's a New York style pizza place that's got a few chains open in Melbourne now. Oh, right. And oh my God. You like? Oh, yeah, yeah.

I'm a regular customer. There's one in Brisbane near the old Hayyabah bar that I used to get a slice at after. I think we did after we did Razzle-Dazzle. Yes, I reckon we had a slice there. It's a perfect nightcap to a Razzle-Dazzle show. It's a slice of American-style pizza. Delish. So Claire says, growing up in New York, I'm partial to New York style, but have come to enjoy the occasional Chicago style.

Cheers. I've never had the Chicago. It doesn't look good to me. No, me either. But when we eventually go there, I say this every year, hopefully this year. Yeah. I've been saying that for what seven years. About that.

But I will try it. I'll give it a go. And I'll try it with an open heart and an open mind. And an open mouth. And an open butt. For when that cheese just doesn't sit right. Oh my God, Jess. Don't take it there.

You know, I'll be thinking about that months from now when we're sitting down in Chicago, the windy city. I'll remind you. The windy city for a reason. or that cheese. Too much cheese. But yeah, I don't know if I could tell you what style beyond that. I do like the New York style. I've had New York pizza in New York.

What about, should we just say what our pizza order of preference is? Yeah, sure. Because I like to, I will say, I also not familiar with all these different American styles, but I usually like a thin base. Yeah, me too. Okay. Love a thin base, maybe a wood fired, cooked on a bit of stone. Love a wood fire, yep.

That's right. Then I'm talking tomato sauce. Yes. I'm a tomato sauce based guy too. Yep. I'm into that. Then I enjoy just a mozzarella cheese. Yep. Can't go wrong.

With you so far. Then I am, I love a potato pizza. Okay, you've got too far. I'm out. Double starch. I do. You've double starched. I love potato, Gorgonzola,

walnuts and then a bit of rocket over the top. Oh yeah, okay. Walnuts. Walnuts. Well, how do you say it? Walnuts. Wall. No, but I think, I mean, that's how it's spelled.

But I just never heard anyone's saying. Well nuts. Well, yeah, well, they are well nuts. I don't mind not. I'm fancy pizza. I feel well nuts the way I said that, but. That is real afflornese cuisine. Yeah, lava potato on a pizza. And then if you, and if you're putting any meat on it, maybe like a thinly sliced ham, prosciutto. Yeah, yum. Humon of some description. I grew up with, uh, I always loved the Aussie pizzas first, which was with an egg on it. I don't know how that became an Aussie pizza, but, and then I went to Hawaiian. But, but. The ham back in the day at the suburban pizza places was horrible rubber. And then it just blackened. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yes. So that's no good. But yeah. But I think if I'm having meat on a pizza, which I'm not, it would be salami or pepperoni. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But what I have, you finished? Yeah.

Yeah, that's my mom. And to drink. See how you go with me here. Okay. I'm happy with thin or medium or whatever. The base, I like a variety. Tomato sauce. Yep.

Cheese. Tick, tick. Mm-hmm. Mushrooms. You've lost me. Okay. I'm half in. Capsicum.

Yep. Okay. Calamatta olives. Okay. Back in. Yep. Deceal and olive. Pineapple.

Yep. No. Maybe some herbs. Some oregano. I'm saying that right? Yeah. You nailed that. Maybe some basil.

Yep. And that's, yeah, that's how I would. Wow. I like it. It's pretty simple. Yeah, very old-school simple. The nice part is that if we go out for pizzas, we don't have to share. And that's fun, I think.

We're discovering that. I'm happy to, were you done with that? You're not getting a slice of mine. You will hear a few. Oh, is you going to. You're going to finish that? I'll finish mine. I was just wondering if you're going to.

You know, do that one? I think Jess, if I know your order, you keep it very simple. Very simple, like the Italians intended. Oh, Mama Mayor. A margarita, a cheese pizza for the US. Delicious. Simple. Yeah.

If you have to go anything more than that, is there any others that you ever go in? I like others. Okay, yep. But I've known you to order many margaritas. Yeah, it's my favorite. Because I, because, you know, and a lot of the time people are like, oh, I just want to try something different. But I'm always like, mm, but I'll be thinking I should have just had a margarita.

Yeah. I love it. Margarita's the safest bet. And that's one I'll often have if every other pizza's got potato and bullshit on it. If I'm in the right mood, I'll have a potato pizza very occasionally. But they're double starch. With a bit of rosemary and stuff. Yeah, it's a lot, but it's a nice little treat.

Rosemary is very nice. Rarely in the mood for that. I do like pineapple on pizza? Yeah, pineapple. I'm happy with like a veggie, like a bunch, chuck a shit ton of veggies on there and delicious. Love it. Yeah. And, and yeah, I sometimes miss a pepperoni pizza.

Yeah, pepperoni. Oh, man. Oh, man. Great question, Claire. Fantastic question. Man, you've taken us to Flavor Country. And we've timed us interesting because we haven't eaten lunch. Is it possible that we find a pizza boss?

Yes. So can we go get pizza? Do you notice that Godfathers on? Sydney Road is now just called Father's Pizza. Oh. Were they like, we want to get the secular people in? That's the place that I asked for a toasted cheese sandwich and the guy said, you'll have a margarita pizza.

I said, oh no, it's on the border. Can I have a toasted sandwich? He goes, you'll have a margarita pizza. Did you speak to the Godfather himself? Yeah, the Godfather. Wow. Rest in peace, maybe. Did you enjoy that?

Did you enjoy that margarita pizza? I did. He was right. He was right. He was right. He said, thank me later. And I did. Thank you so much for that question.

Claire, the next one comes from Drew Forsberg, aka Master Blaster. They've just coughed up a lung there. That's funny. What's he blasted? The MasterBoss. That was West Indian cricketer was nicknamed the Master Blaster. Who's the Master Blaster? Was it a bowler?

I will do. Maybe Viv Richards. Oh, I blasted around. Okay. And Drew's asking a question writing, who runs Barter Town? Okay. That's the question. Yeah.

Okay. No answer. Huh. Who runs Bartertown? Who runs Barter Town? I don't know if I understand. Let me Google see what that means. Oh, but is it a joke though?

So we were supposed to say, I don't know. And then you read out the answer. No, that's all is written. And while you Google that, I'll read out what I've Googled. Master Blaster, that's the nickname for Sassion Tyndulka. Ah. Indian cricket player. Also called The Little Master, which I've heard before.

Yeah. I don't think he's the Master Blaster. Well, the Internet says so. That's what's come off if I've Googled Master Blaster cricket. Viv Richards, the Master Blaster. That's as well, really. Well, Satchin's got it. got the whole front page also himself these days.

Well, that's interesting because he, he obviously came later than Viv. Sir Viv. I once saw Sir Viv speak at a charity luncheon. It might have, was it maybe even the day that we recorded the Bermuda Triangle episode? Wow. Do you remember anything from that day? Viv, was fantastic. Yeah, when you Google Master Vib Richards videos come up saying Viv Richards, the original Master Blaster,

or Viv Richards, the real Master Blaster. Yes, now we're talking. So I've looked up who runs Bartatown. Yeah. Something comes up, Auntie Entity. Bartatown is ruled primarily by Auntie Entity, though Master Blaster openly and publicly claims to run Bartatown, forcing Auntie to endorse their leadership through energy embargoes.

Oh, Mad Max. That's not a Mad Max thing. Oh, I see. Okay. Okay. Drew, is this what you wanted us to do? Is this the fun you hoped to win? We would have...

I laughed at Master Blaster so that it's worth for me. But it's, yeah, because question is normally like a question of, but that's more like a trivia question, which I like how, I like how Drew's taking that in a different direction. Yeah. Fantastic work, Drew. Clever. Clever stuff. And I really, I've seen the most recent movie in that series. The Fury Road.

And I've seen the first one. But yeah, I really should watch all of them. You really should. I really should. Australian cultural. true. Yeah. Next one comes from Michael Derizzi,

aka Dragon of the West. Cool. And Michael's offering us a suggestion, writing, A long time ago, I asked you three if you had seen Avatar the last airbender, and your answers were a round of nose.

Have you seen it since? Keeping in mind that only virgins haven't seen the show. Well, I haven't. Well, Dave obviously hasn't. I'm wondering, have I done an episode of primates about it? So then I've watched it, but otherwise I have not.

I have not. And is you referring to the movie or the TV show that we should have watched? Oh. Oh, it doesn't say. There's both, obviously. Yeah, it was a 2010 movie and then three seasons of an animated cartoon. No, it doesn't look like I've done an episode on primates. So that's, I feel like I would have remembered otherwise.

But no, I believe there maybe there's a primates thing involved in it. because I think it's been suggested before, but I've heard it's fantastic. People do love it, yeah, for sure. I mean, I haven't even seen the last avatar movie about the blue people. So, you know, and that one has been seen by most people. Anyway, thank you very much.

Michael. Sorry to let you down, Michael. But yeah. Still on the list. If it is primates related, maybe I'm thinking of something else. I'll have to watch it and do a pot about it. The final one this week comes from Stephen Edmonds,

a man was seen around or saw around the comedy festival last month. Appreciate your support, Stephen. One of the great Melbourne comedy community people. Great supporter of the scene. Stephen writes, or Stephen's title is apparent influencer of the fact quote question, brag, suggest, and recipe, joke or other list. And Stephen is offered another recipe.

He really did bring the recipes into the forefinding. Absolutely, changed the game forever. What's this one going to be? I was going to try and make a joke about the definition of staples, but the meaning is broader than I thought. So let's go straight to a recipe for a tea cake using what should be common ingredients. Do you know the other day, I was in the supermarket just like grabbing, what did I need? Honey, that was it. And then I just stopped for a while at like the cake mixes and I just really thought about just baking a whole cake. I don't know anyone to share

it with. It was just going to eat it myself. And then I thought, walk away, Jess. Walk away. Let it go. Well done. Well done to walk away. I could have brought you some cake. That's true. Fuck! I would have eaten that cake. And then I could have eaten like half a cake, brought you a slice each and not felt bad about it. Back when I was a trolley boy, I had some, I didn't have the best eating habits on my breaks.

Oh, wow. And I've told you about the triple Mars bars and the six pack of donuts and two liters of chocolate big M. But have I ever told you about a period where I would buy a tea cake and eat it like a biscuit? You were what, late teens, early 20s? Yeah. Yeah, that, like, boys of that age, teenagers in general, eat a lot. But the things I've watched my brother and then my cousins eat as they've hit that age, the quantities and the choices, you're like, the fuck is going on.

So I think that's fantastic. But it's funny because that's why guys get to a certain age and then go, whoa, where'd this stomach come from? It's because we've just, we didn't realize that what we were doing was unnatural and unsustainable. and unsustainable. Against God. Yes, that's right. All of a sudden, all of a sudden, I've been eating healthier over the last 10 years, and I've put on so much weight when back then I didn't put on any.

Anyhow, it doesn't matter. Skinny people want what fat people have. Fat people want, what skinny people have. What beautiful lyric from the philosophy of the world. And people with motorbikes want what car. That's right. Short hair, want long hair, etc. And it doesn't, I'm not saying, so I'm not unhappy with me.

my weight. Oh my God. All right. So, Stephen's recipe goes like this. 60 grams butter. Mm-hmm. Got that. 125 grams castor sugar. Yep, I've got castor sugar. One large wet egg. I've got a large wet egg. Beaten. The wet of the better. A defeated egg. One third cup of milk. Yep, I've got milk. Got milk. I hope skinny's okay. Not for me. Uh, 200 grams of Sraising flour. Cream together. butter and sugar, then mix in egg. Gradually, add milk and flour, mixing lightly.

Pour into greased and lined 18 centimetre round pan. Bake it 190 degrees Celsius for 30 to 35 minutes. Some modifications. Cinnamon, sprinkle on a mixture of castor sugar and cinnamon before baking. Yum. Banana before mixing in milk and flour at half a cup of mashed banana. No. Slice apple.

This is the ones I would have at eat like a biscuit. An apple one. Yeah. Spiced apple before baking, cover with thinly sliced apples and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. That was the kind of add. It was apples, slices of apples on the top. So it's fruit. So that's a great, a great work snack.

Yeah, that's right. On a 15 minute break. Yeah, low GI. Low, absolutely low GI. Need that burst because I'm out there pushing a lot of trolleys. High GI, even better. Yeah. High, yeah.

Quick energy. Yeah, yeah. I need it now. Yeah. Thank you so much, Stephen, for that. Fantastic recipe. Love that. But please next week bring in a Stephen Edmunds tea cake.

All I need is self-raising flour. I think I only have plain flour, but I could make that. And I'm putting cinnamon on it. Don't you fucking worry about that? Anyway, thank you, Stephen, Michael, Drew and Claire. The next thing we like to do is shout out to a few of our other great guest. Jess, you normally come up with a bit of a game based on the topic? Yeah, what about we name the title of their most famous song?

Like the Footfoot one. What's it called? My pal's name is footfoot. I know that's not their most famous song, but it's the title. It's like our favorite of theirs. Absolutely classic. To us, that's their iconic. But we kind of like underground shags.

Yeah. You know, your mainstream, your manstream types and your mainstream types like Zapper and Cobain. Oh, blah. Such man streams. They like philosophy of the world, but else we like some of the deeper cuts. Yeah. Everybody knows philosophy of the world. Like, yeah, okay.

But like I have to actually listen to the album. Okay. Yeah. My pal's name is foot, foot, foot, foot. If I can kick us off, I'd love to thank, I don't even wait for your response, but I'd love to thank from, oh no, address unknown. Can I only assume from somewhere deep within the fortress of the moles, I guess. It's Sam Wise often Smith. Sam Wise often Smith.

And Sam Wise often Smith. What was Samwise's song again, Bob? Oh, that little red door over there. Oh, yeah. Oh. That was big as well. Yeah, I liked that one. Like as far as deep cuts go, that one sort of became a live show staple, even though it was never officially released as a single.

Which is interesting because it's such a high concept song. Yes. So really cool stuff. Yeah. When Samwise plays it, it's the only song Samwise can play because it takes three and a half hours. That's right. But it's an absolute journey. Including a 45 minute drum solver.

Yes. Which is some people call it a half time, but I watch it all. Yeah. I don't go to the bar. I piss my pants. I don't go to the toilet. I don't go to the bar. There were two thoughts that I merged together there. Thank you very much, Samwise. The next person I have to thank is from Tainmouth, or Tainmouth, probably, in Devon. I think it's Tynmouth because I once did an episode that was set around there. I thank you so much. You've just saved me a few tweets. Yeah, the Tynmouth Electron. That was the race around the world episode. Ah, Tinmouth in Devon where they do scones correctly in Great Britain. I'd love to thank Owen Barlow. Owen Barlow, who's famous song was vacuuming up a storm.

Yeah, yeah. Good stuff. It's a beautiful metaphor. And it features a live vacuum in the background. Yeah. Yeah. It's a real punk song. Just vacuuming, ah, I'm vacuuming up a storm.

Yeah. For example. Not many people know that's a real vacuum. Yeah. We thought, well, I didn't assume until just then it was. was created via amp distortion. No. Pure vacuum.

Pretty cool stuff. And Owen going to a vocode up. But no, real vacuum. It's actually kind of disappointing to find them. Sorry. In a way, great work on, beautiful song. And finally from me, oh my gosh, from the windy city home of the deep dish in Chicago, Illinois. It's Corey J.

Tour. Corey J Tour. And Corey's song. Corey's song is My Mama loves a muffin. Oh, wow. It's so funny. Yeah.

Chocolate chips, optional. Close brackets. Because we were just talking about baking as well, so that's funny. It's weird how my mind works. Are you right what you know? Yeah. That's right. And I know my mama loves it.

She doesn't. I've never seen her eat a muffin. Really? Gosh. You've never seen your mum eat a muffin. Pay more attention to your mum. I'm having a blueberry muffin. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if she's a muffin. I don't know if she goes. Yeah, definitely she makes a great trifle. Oh, great. My favourite. Mum's trifle. Fantastic.

Okay, we're definitely hungry. Hey, you want me to thank some of these beautiful people? I would like to think. Also, from location unknown, probably deep within that fortress, it's Lee Roberts. Lee Roberts. My house's name is hand-hand. My house's name is hand-hand. Hand-hand in brackets. Good on you, Lee Roberts.

Your house's name is Hand-hand. And I love that sort of Lee. You pat him on the head and say, great work. Good job. Great job. I would also like to thank from London in the greatest of Britain's Peter. Peter. I love someone who goes by one name.

Yeah, Peter. It's bold. Yeah, I assume it's the organisation. Oh yeah, because it's spelled P-E-T-A. this is good. And Peter's song is obviously, is that a camera in my shower head? Oh my God.

In brackets, the answer is no. No. Thank goodness. Peter had a bit of a freak out. Dismantled the shower head and found out, oh no, I'm fine.

Could a camera, you've made me so paranoid all of a sudden. Can a camera see through those tiny little halls? Nah. Surely not. Surely not. Sure of the technology is not there yet. Surely.

Each hole is a camera. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. It's looking at you like a spider wood. Yeah. Oh. All those little eyes.

I don't like that. No. I would like to thank from Davenport in, what's this? Iowa, I reckon. In Iowa, fantastic. It's Tyne Ryck or Tyne Reich. Tyne Reich. That's amazing.

Tyne Reich, famous for their song, of course, which was Teeth Taste Funny. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I hate that. But it's a song that makes you think, isn't it? Yeah. They do taste a bit funny. And everyone thought it was like some deep extra meaning,

but it was just a song about how they did not like lolly teeth. Yeah, there's a lot of those candy lollies that have shaped like teeth. Yeah. But you don't control your art once it's out there in the world. It's open to the, you know, the consumer, which I think of all, all art is consumed. We're just products. We're being art. I think of myself as art.

I agree. We need to get to the end of this. I'm going to thank some people. Thank you. I would love. love to thank from Bolvd, Bolverde in Texas,

Sarah Boucher. Oh, the Boucher. Oh, the Sair. So good to have you involved. Dave, there's a few email addresses. I'm not going to docks anyone that you would love. And Sarah Boucher's one that I think you would be right into. I do have a section of my stand-up show this year

about going through emails if anyone would want to share their old hotmail or Yahoo accounts. But you've got a great one, Sarah. That's a beauty. You like Lee Roberts one as well? Big fans. Oh, yes. That did you actually get my attention before.

Great work, Lee Roberts. And Sarah Boucher, of course, famous for their number four hit. Top Four and Bad. Whoa! Folding paper by day, eating chicken by night. Yeah. Yep. I love that one.

Because it's such a, it's like a metaphor. So powerful. And it's a roller coaster for a song, a real Rhapsody type song. Absolutely. I guess for nine minutes. Really? That's the radio edit. Yeah.

So thank you to Sarah. Also, for me, I would love to thank from deep within the fortress of the moles. We can only assume location unknown. I did that the other way around, but whatever. I would love to thank Kim Arthur. King Arthur. Kim Arthur. Oh, Kim Arthur.

Yeah. Right. Yes, that makes way more sense. Yeah. And Kim Arthur's song was, of course, put that little ditty down over there. Put that little ditty down over there. country song over there meaning on the in the studio that's right lay that tune down lay that yeah you walk me in the studio they said hi i'm here to record a hit record we'll get in there and

put that put that little bit down over there pointing to the microphone that's what Kim said i've just got an idea give me five minutes and write an incredible track yeah great work Kim beautiful work Excellent. You're a king to me. Finally, I'd love to thank from Burnley in Great Britain, Pilky, 1998. Oh, that's a beautiful name. I love when it, like, how much easier to get a personalized plate when your name is like that. Yes, right?

Yeah. So that's nice. On you, Pilky? Pilky. Pilky, obviously famous for the song. Um, I want to have a pie tomorrow. Today I'll have a sand And what's that song called?

Didn't I not? You were just singing part of the song. What's it called? Oh, it's called pie tomorrow. Yep. Sand today. That's nice. Open brackets.

Your love is my love and I'm yours. Yes. Forever and a day. I love that one. Close bracket. My wedding song. Beautiful. I'm not married.

If anyone out there is good at a bit of artwork, you know, I don't know a few of you are, Simon, no pressure, but I want to see the back of this album we've just made it with the track listing. No pressure. Available now for 2495, featuring the hits of the summer. Thank you so much to Pilky Kim, Sarah Tyne, Peter Lee, Corey Owen and Sam Wise. The last thing we need to do is invite a few people into the tree. Triptitch Club. A few trippies, as I'm known to call them that. And Jess, how does this work again? Well, if you support us over at patreon.com on the Sydney-Sharmberg level, no, the shout-out level or above, for three consecutive years, we welcome you into the Triptitch Club. It's an exclusive club. I think of it as an airport

lounge, but like a really cool one. I think of it as like a, you know, a 1960s club, a lot of velvet. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's really nice. It's got everything you need. We have a bar. We have live music. We have cocktails. We've got meals.

The cocktail this week is called The Shags. Oh, yeah. And it's just whatever I can find and I just shake it up real good. Yes. And I've built a new room to honour this week's episode and it's wall to ceiling, shag pile carpet. It's called the Shag Room. It's called the Shag Room.

and I'm the Shag Palace. Shag Palace. Can go in there do whatever you want to do. Yeah, that's up to you. Shag manager. No rules in the Shag Palace. Shag Palace, thank you. Do you want to go and have a read? Fine.

Hey, be my guest. Yeah. But you will need earplugs. Dave, you usually book a band. You're never going to believe it. What? I've been in talks with these people for a long, long time. What, Dave?

So long that only two members are still surviving. Whoa! They will be appearing. we have got live in the club the shag. No way. This has never happened. We've done the episode

and then they've turned up on the episode. That is incredible. What? Are you kidding me? How did you? Dave, this is a cruel prank. Yeah.

Are you messing with us? Oh, it is. Oh, okay. No, this is not a prank. Oh, wow. That was the prank? Oh, my God. Pranked you.

My heart is leaping. I never even heard this band before, but I read about people talking about them, so I went about people talking about them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's called a quote. And I read that. quotes and I said, you know what?

I'm going to book this band. I'm going to take a pun. And then you told me how good they are. Listen to them. I can't wait to hear my pal's name is foot foot, foot live. Live. And we can all yell out the backup vocals, foot foot foot. Foot foot.

What is parents? Foot foot. I love it. I'm generally, I'm in. I'm all the way in. Now, there's only four members this week. Dave, you ready? You're standing up on the stage.

You're the MC. You're the hype man. You're going to bring him in, make them feel right. at home. Everyone who's already in, hundreds of people already in the club, they're there, chanting your name. Dave's hyping them up. He's hopping you up. Jess is hopping Dave up. Yep. I'm reading your name out. I've got the clipboard. I'm at the door. Lifting the velvet rope. When you hear your name, jog in, bring it a bit of energy in. And you'll, and Dave will really lift up. Here we go. Dave, do you need a little, a little pre-hype bump hat? Please.

Oh, yeah, come on. A little bump pat. And, there you go. Consider me padded. First up from Valens Bake Strand in Copahagen in Denmark It's Philip Galsgard Look I was feeling a bit defensive tonight But you're here Now I've let down my Philip Gelsgarde Yes Be vulnerable

Yes From St Kilda in Melbourne here It's Alex Stewart Who knew it? It's Alex Stewart I believe that could be my sister I was your sister yeah You bloody legend Do you believe?

Yeah that's You've been you're in the Tripage Club, you goddamn legend. Welcome in. Make yourself at home, obviously. From Ventura in California, yay. It's Christina Gonzalez. Please Ventura on in, Christina.

And finally, from Mawson Lakes in South Australia. It's Tessa Weber. Oh, I thought this person was from awesome lakes. It's Tessa Weber. Welcome in, Tessa, Christina, Alex and Philip. You are all legends. And please, Mikasa Sukasa. And that brings us to the end of the episode.

Really, there's nothing else left to do. Well, no, maybe there's a few things to say, Bob. Just that they, everybody should wash their butts. Do it. And listen to the shags. Listen to the shags. I did it both. You can, like we said before, you don't have to be a Patreon to suggest a topic.

So if there's a story you would like or you think would make for a great topic, chuck it in the hat. Here's up. We love to hear about them. You can find us on social media at do go on pod. Do go on pod. is our website where you can find info on live shows and check out previous episodes,

all that good stuff. And I reckon boot at home, Davey boy. Hey, we'll be back with another episode next week, but until then, I'll say thank you and goodbye. Later. Bye! Don't forget to sign up to our tour mailing list so we know where in the world you are

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