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The Whole Shebang: The Minute-by-Minute Velvet Goldmine Podcast

Take a minute-by-minute journey into the glittery heart of the greatest (and only) glam rock movie of the 1990s, Velvet Goldmine. Who killed Brian Slade? What's with the Oscar Wilde obsession? Why did Bowie sue? Couldn't they afford sturdier trousers for Ewan McGregor? These, and many more questions will be answered by your hard-rocking hosts, Mike Grasso and Jenny Anckorn as we take on... THE WHOLE SHEBANG!
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The Whole Shebang: The Minute-by-Minute Velvet Goldmine Podcast
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Now displaying: August, 2016

Take a minute-by-minute journey into the glittery heart of the greatest (and only) glam rock movie of the 1990s, Velvet Goldmine.

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Our patrons, Pop Idols all, deserve a mention! Check out the names of everyone who has contributed to the podcast via Patreon here!

Aug 31, 2016

In Minute 38 of The Whole Shebang, Mike and Jenny talk Mandy’s sexy goth look of exhaustion, Cecil’s more authentically oldster exhaustion, and the need for a snug coat overnight at a summer festival in England, the concept of early trauma being a source of genius, the legendary Whistler/Wilde exchange on plagiarism and their entire artistic and professional rivalry, the origins of music video and its early innovators in form of Bowie, the Beatles, Queen, and Mike Nesmith.... and then we begin our multi-day deep dive into the video for “The Ballad of Maxwell Demon,” which features a look at Curt Wild as the Great God Pan, the monochromatic deco(r) genius of Syrie Maugham, brightest of the Bright Young Things Stephen Tennant, the history of the fop, Beau Brummel, and sumptuary laws, and the trope of giant eyes looking in through the windows of tiny houses.

Find us on the web at thewholeshebangpodcast.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon at wholeshebangpod.

Aug 30, 2016

In Minute 37 of The Whole Shebang, Mike and Jenny continue talking about Curt’s adolescent trauma and how it reminds Jenny of Return to Oz, the way in which The Wizard of Oz looms large in gay iconography, Curt’s connection to electric guitar being spurred by his ECT, the legacy of instrument destruction in rock and roll and the surprising identity of Instrument Ruiner Zero, Jimi Hendrix’s quasi-shamanic summoning of a fire spirit from the ashes of his guitar, Mike’s dislike of bombastic stadium rock (sorry Muse and Queen), more stories from our gig history and our surprising respective histories with stage diving.

Find us on the web at thewholeshebangpodcast.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon at wholeshebangpod.

Aug 29, 2016

In Minute 36 of The Whole Shebang, FULL FRONTAL NUDITY! Oh, and Mike and Jenny also very seriously try to tackle the issues of the criminalization and pathologizing of gay identity in the postwar period, Lou Reed’s experiences with electroshock therapy, Curt Wild’s double trauma of incest and institutionalization, the age-old associations of mental illness and artistic genius, and the legacy of “conversion therapy” that we still live with today. But after all that, yes, we do get to Ewan McGregor’s penis.

Find us on the web at thewholeshebangpodcast.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon at wholeshebangpod.

Aug 26, 2016

Every week, The Whole Shebang will collect and present Amazon links to the movies, music, and books we've talked about in each episode. Buy these or other Amazon items through these links to help support the podcast!

(If you're having trouble seeing the links, disable your ad blocker.)

Minute 31: Bona To Vada

Minute 32: A Freeform Jazz Exploration In Front of a Festival Crowd

Minute 33: Leather Jackets and Sneers

Minute 34: Rows and Flounces

Minute 35: Finger, American Style

Aug 26, 2016

In Minute 35 of The Whole Shebang, Jenny and Mike talk about the lyrics to “TV Eye,” the rural trailer park origins of both Curt Wild and Kurt Cobain, the iconography of the rock and roll werewolf, Curt’s parmesan shaker full of glitter and the 1990s agitprop of glamourbombing, Jenny’s absolute favorite band Rachel Stamp, and the putative medieval origins of the British two-finger salute.

Find us on the web at thewholeshebangpodcast.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon at wholeshebangpod.

Aug 25, 2016

In Minute 34 of The Whole Shebang, Jenny and Mike have a look at the difference between a row, a dustup, and a flounce, how British audiences perceive American artists as all being from “New York City,” the mini rock revolutions embodied in the transition from Brian to Curt Wild, Dylan going electric, and the Beatles’ discovery of Indian music, Ewan McGregor’s physique in tight leather trousers, Iggy Pop’s groundbreakingly provocative stagecraft, the choice of “TV Eye,” and Iggy’s classic silver trousers.

Find us on the web at thewholeshebangpodcast.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon at wholeshebangpod.

Aug 24, 2016

In Minute 33 of The Whole Shebang, Jenny and Mike look at the rockers’ reactions to Brian including some more classic British euphemisms and slurs for “gay,” the iconography of suffering and queerness in the Christian artistic image of St. Sebastian, Mandy’s and Cecil’s differing approaches to constructive criticism, the danger of playing tragic torch songs badly as exemplified by Judy Garland’s late career, the Brechtian-style cabaret of both Brian Slade and David Bowie, and the inspirational fabulousness of Mandy’s afghan coat.

Find us on the web at thewholeshebangpodcast.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon at wholeshebangpod.

Aug 23, 2016

In Minute 32 of The Whole Shebang, Jenny and Mike look at Brian’s debut on the festival stage, his long purple frock and boots and the rock crowd’s reaction, the term “sexual revolution” and its origins in the 1920s “sexpol” works of Wilhelm Reich, the song “Sebastian” and the glam-adjacent “gothic love songs” of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, the lifespan of a rock and roll scene being a very Bowie-esque five years, the history of rock festivals including Bowie’s 1971 memories of the first Glastonbury Free Festival, our own experiences at rock festivals including Download and the classic Lollapalooza, and the early hippie-glam version of Brian’s Venus In Furs backing band.

Find us on the web at thewholeshebangpodcast.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon at wholeshebangpod.

Aug 22, 2016



In Minute 31 of The Whole Shebang, Mike and Jenny are joined by Amy Mugglestone for a special sixth-day guest encore, covering the topics of Polari, its Cockney and Roma linguistic roots repurposed for as a secret cant for gay men, Polari’s and camp’s penetration into mainstream postwar British culture on Coronation Street, Round the Horne, and even Doctor Who, a bit on the genius of Kenneth Williams and his correspondence with Joe Orton as Edna Welthorpe, and back in the movie itself, Cecil’s luvvie friends and his desire for Brian as a client... and as a lover.

Find us on the web at thewholeshebangpodcast.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon at wholeshebangpod.

Aug 19, 2016

Every week, The Whole Shebang will collect and present Amazon links to the movies, music, and books we've talked about in each episode. Buy these or other Amazon items through these links to help support the podcast!

(If you're having trouble seeing the links, disable your ad blocker.)

Minute 26: Don't Break Your Waffle Cone

Minute 27: Taking Her Up The Back Passage

Minute 28: The Theory That Dare Not Speak Its Name

Minute 29: Maiden, Mother, and Crone

Minute 30: The Peacock Revolution

Aug 19, 2016

In Minute 30 of The Whole Shebang, Mike, Jenny, and Amy talk about Roxy Music’s “2HB” and glam music’s love affair with 1930s and ‘40s Hollywood glamour, the porousness of borders in the glam scene between artists and between audience and artist, the late ‘60s/early ‘70s peacock aesthetic of Mr. Fish’s male fashions and the historical connections between fashion designers and rock stars, and the mixture of cultural threads and influences on glam that led Amy to choose this group of five minutes to guest host.

Find us on the web at thewholeshebangpodcast.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon at wholeshebangpod.

Aug 18, 2016

In Minute 29 of The Whole Shebang, Mike, Jenny, and Amy talk about the undebatable genius of Toni Collette and the debatable genius of Muriel’s Wedding, Angie Bowie and how she inspired Jenny’s “Maiden-Mother-Crone” theory of rock-adjacent women, Angie Bowie’s visionary genius in steering David’s career, and how Amy came to first watch Velvet Goldmine!

Find us on the web at thewholeshebangpodcast.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon at wholeshebangpod.

 

Aug 17, 2016

In Minute 28 of The Whole Shebang, Mike, Jenny and guest host Amy tackle the quite uncomfortable predatory undertones (and overtones) of Brian and a younger schoolboy, the discomfiting presence of sexual abuse in British public schools, among the gay jetset, and among 1960s and ‘70s British entertainers and rock and rollers, the cosmopolitan genderbending clientele (and dodgy supper menu) of the Sombrero Club, the changing drag aesthetic over the past half-century, the authenticity of the costumes, hair, and set decoration in Velvet Goldmine’s Sombrero Club, and our first look at Mandy Slade and the complicated cultural interchange between the UK and the US.

Find us on the web at thewholeshebangpodcast.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon at wholeshebangpod.

Aug 16, 2016

In Minute 27 of The Whole Shebang, Mike, Jenny and special guest Amy look at the mod/rocker scene of the 1960s, ask each other whether we’re a mod or a rocker, Jonathan Rhys Meyers’s questionable Brummie accent and Christian Bale’s chameleonic accent, and the rather unfortunate (or perhaps deliberate?) use of Gary Glitter’s music in Velvet Goldmine.

Find us on the web at thewholeshebangpodcast.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon at wholeshebangpod.

Aug 15, 2016

In Minute 26 of The Whole Shebang, Mike and Jenny are joined by old friend and English grad student Amy Mugglestone who helps them make sense of: Lindsay Kemp’s character’s fluid gender identity, the aesthetics of sleazy gay sexual awakenings, the history of male impersonation on the British stage as revealed by pantomime posters, the origins and etymology of “luvvie,” Brian’s parents’ postwar British middle-class decorating style, the unconvincing performance of “Tutti Frutti” by young Brian, the secret gay origins of “Tutti Frutti” and of Little Richard, white appropriation of black music from Pat Boone to David Bowie, the period in the 1950s where music hall and rock and roll shared bills, and the undeniable dramaturgical genius of putative Doctor Who Mr. Pastry.

Find us on the web at thewholeshebangpodcast.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon at wholeshebangpod.

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