A congratulatory message from “Gene Simmons of the rock group KISS.”
Tom is back! He talks about how it was like being a listener of the show while he was out for 5+ months.
Various band news and updates:
We recap the bass player situation in BC – three people have played with them since Derek left.
A Facebook update from Bruce on the status of the band.
The situation of not knowing who the bass player will be for any one gig.
We’ve also had a new BC drummer for one night only: we recall the story of how Scottish drummer Chris Squires sat in when Mark got ill.
A congratulatory message from Ken Mills of the PodKISSt podcast on reaching episode 50.
Speakpipe from Matt in Poland, who gives Tom a lesson in how to pronounce Mark Brzezicki’s name in Polish.
«Two men, one egg timer».
We have a number of topics to get into, with a three-minute time limit for each one when the egg timer will ring. At that point, we HAVE to move on to the next topic.
Topic #1: What album would you play to anyone who hasn’t heard Big Country before?
Topic #2: You are Big Country’s manager for a day, on any given day in their history. Which day would you pick, and what would you do different?
Topic #3: Name three people – not Mike or Simon – who you think would do a good job of standing in as Big Country’s frontman.
Topic #4: Did Big Country have a chance to become “big again” after the 1990 break? Either by NPLH being different, or by doing something later in the 1990s?
Topic #5: I think we both agree that all Big Country albums have aged really well. Is there still one that has aged less well?
Topic #6: If you could go back in time, and either change or stop a specific project the did, what would that be?
Topic #7: Talk about your Big Country collections. How do you organize it? I.e., is it displayed, in storage, separate in a BC shrine or in your general music collection?
Topic #8: bigcountry.co.uk – the band website.
Topic #9: What is the most overpriced Big Country item you have purchased?
Topic #10: When, and especially how, do you think the band should retire?
Topic #11: You go to a Big Country show, and can pick five of the songs they will play that night. Which five songs would you pick?
Topic #12: What is the best concert opener song, and why?
Topic #13: What is your most embarrassing Big Country moment or Big Country related moment?
Topic #14: Which tour would you have liked to see, or re-see, if you could pick any one?
Topic #15: Have you ever been disappointed with Big Country? Anything they did that made you think, “oh no, not that!”?
Topic #16: In your opinion, would Big Country benefit from having a manager at this stage?
Topic #17: What would it take for you to travel to the UK for a Big Country fan convention?
Topic #18: Should Big Country do another album?
Wrap-up, future show topic possibilities, and thanks for staying with us for the first 50!