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Positive Cynicism

Positive Cynicism EP. 78: The Fire’s Still Burning

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Positive Cynicism EP. 78: The Fire's Still Burning [ 1:04:42 | 0.01 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (658)

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Thirty years ago, Billy Joel gave a crash course in history with his song “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” A lot has happened since then. In this episode of Positive Cynicism, @chadsmart and Travis (@PopCultIQ) Yates discuss topics they think should be included in an updated version of the song.

While Billy Joel may not think the song is one of his better musical offerings, the catchy tune is sure to get stuck in your head after listening to this episode. What items do you think should be listed? Do you think you can come up with a good rhyme scheme to fit a new version?

Special thanks to Noelle Smith for the closing song. You can find her on Twitter @NoelleSmith5, and noellesmithmusic.com.

Be sure to keep up to date all things Jittery Monkey at jitterymonkey.com.

Positive Cynicism

Positive Cynicism EP. 77: Wonder Why; Tracey Ullman

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Positive Cynicism EP. 77: Wonder Why; Tracey Ullman [ 1:16:29 | 0.01 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (637)

The latest edition of Wonder Why features an artist whose musical career was short-lived due to a more successful television career. That’s not really a spoiler given the prolific nature of Tracey Ullman’s body of work over the past thirty years. Taking her comedic career out of consideration, could Tracey Ullman’s musical career lasted beyond her one hit in 1984?

That’s the focus @chadsmart and @MikeDeKalb examine. Breaking down Tracey’s album “You Broke My Heart in 17 Places” track by track, with discussion about Stiff Records staff and song writer Kirsty MacColl the dots are connected to artists and people ranging from the Beach Boys to Alice Cooper to Charles Manson. And of course, there’s talk about The Simpsons.

Wrapping up the episode, Mike and Chad give their picks of the month. What do they think you should be listening to at the start of 2019? What are the options for next month? Will Mike say “interesting and fascinating?” Will Chad work in a reference to the band Extreme? All these questions and more you weren’t asking are answered in the episode.