by Mary Dolan

Episode 253: Madison McFerrin

“Run” (feat. Bobby McFerrin)

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Madison McFerrin is a singer, songwriter, and producer from New York. She’s sung with legends like Aretha Franklin, George Clinton, and De La Soul & The Roots. Madison’s first EP came out in 2016, and last week, she released her debut album, I Hope You Can Forgive Me. In the years between the EP and the album, Madison started producing her own music. It wasn’t really her plan, but something that developed over the course of the pandemic. For this episode, I talked to Madison about a song from her album called “Run.” It was inspired by Madison’s discovery that she’s the descendant of a woman who escaped slavery. And it features guest vocals from Madison’s father, Grammy-winner Bobby McFerrin.

You can buy or stream “Run” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
“Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd” – African-American folk song
Juju

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by Mary Dolan

Episode 252: New Order

“Blue Monday”

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In May 1980, the band Joy Division was devastated by the death of lead singer Ian Curtis. The three remaining band members, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris, decided they would keep making music together, and a few months later, Gillian Gilbert joined them. They called the band New Order.

New Order is one of the most influential bands of the last four decades. Their song “Blue Monday” came out in 1983, and it holds the record for being the best-selling 12-inch single of all time. Rolling Stone put “Blue Monday” on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and Pitchfork included it in its Top 5 Best Songs of the 1980s.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of “Blue Monday,” in this episode, New Order discusses how they created the song. This episode was produced in collaboration with Transmissions, the official New Order and Joy Division podcast produced by Cup & Nuzzle. We’ve put together this story out of the hours and hours of interviews they’ve recorded, along with a new interview I did with Peter Hook. As you’ll hear the four of them explain, nothing about Blue Monday’s success, or really even its existence, was something that they planned for.

You can buy or stream “Blue Monday” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
MOOG – synth
Britannia Row Studios
Shergold Marathon, Peter Hook’s 6-string bass
Ennio Morricone
Spaghetti Western
For a Few Dollars More – Clint Eastwood movie featuring music by Ennio Morricone
E-mu Emulator
Mellotron
Prophet-5 – synth
Rob Gretton – manager of Joy Division and New Order

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by Mary Dolan

Episode 251: Yaeji

“Passed Me By”


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Yaeji is a singer, songwriter, and producer from New York. During her childhood, she moved between Queens, Atlanta, and Seoul. While she was at college in the States, she started DJing, and releasing her own music. That led to two EPs in 2017, and since then, she’s also done remixes for Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, and Robyn. Yaeji won the International Breakthrough Award at the AIM Awards in 2020. This week she’s releasing her debut album, With A Hammer.

For this episode, I talked to Yaeji about her song “Passed Me By.” She sings the song in Korean and English, and she told me how using both languages gives her a broader palette to express her ideas.

You can buy or stream “Passed Me By” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)
Waldorf Quantum – Synth
Konglish

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