Tune Tag #50 with Mark Edward Randall: Nick Lowe, Airwaves, Diodes, Nick Gilder, Bay City Rollers, Simon & Garfunkel, Rosetta Stone

The vast expanse of international pop is explored and enjoyed on this Tune Tag with Mark as our guest: A Canadian with a keen pop sense and a desire to shine a light on lesser-known Canuck artists!

Howdy, Mark! TAG….You’re IT!

Tune Tag welcomes

Mark Edward Randall

of Musings of a Broken Record!

Mark’s liner notes: “I’m in my late 30’s from Canada, and I’ve been collecting records since I was 13. It was a good way to buy music back in the day for cheap because everyone was getting rid of their record collections! Around that time I started reading any music-related books I could get my hands on.

“I took a communication arts/print journalism course in college, and landed an Entertainment Editor position with my college paper. After my practicum, I took a break, and applied to at least one paper, but nothing came of it.

“A few years ago, I started writing speculative fiction about a fictional 1970s film actor that I never finished. I didn’t want to give up on writing completely, so a friend suggested Substack. I got some ideas for writing again, and ran with one of them: ‘Beyond The Guess Who’, highlighting little-known Canadian recording artists!”

Last week, we enjoyed the pleasure of

Ian Sharp

’s company (he of Substack’s LP):

Tune Tag #49 with Ian Sharp of "LP": Beatles, Rupert Holmes, Steve Hillage, XTC, Knickerbockers, Todd Rundgren, James McCartney, The Rutles

Next week, tune in for

Robert C. Gilbert

’s Tune Tag! In the meantime, get to know Robert and his writing on his Listening Sessions!

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Meanwhile, at Vince Lombardi High School: “Yes…Miss Togar?”

“Ooh ooh, I know, Miss Togar! To do some Tune Taggin’?”

Mark’s song #1 sent to Brad: The Diodes, “Red Rubber Ball,” 1977

Diodes, “Red Rubber Ball,” live in 1978:

Mark’s rationale: When I was home sick one day in high school, there was a pile of records for me that a friend of my brother had sent. He knew I was a fan of X-Ray Spex, and had given me his copy of Germfree Adolescents. That stack consisted of about eight albums that all had some impact on my musical taste in some way.

One of those was the debut by Toronto’s The Diodes, who were sort of Canada’s answer to The Ramones. I put the album on and was blown away. Because their cover of The Cyrkle’s “Red Rubber Ball” is the opener, it’s what I chose for my first track. 

Later on, in college, I was Entertainment Editor for Alberta’s Lethbridge College Endeavour. There were two of us assigned to the position and we took turns. We had this column called “My First Time,” where we went into detail about the first time we tried something entertainment-related. For one of the columns, I covered hearing The Diodes for the first time.

I chose “Red Rubber Ball” because my Substack has a feature called “Beyond The Guess Who” that focuses on lesser-known or overlooked Canadian artists. When I decided to write again recently with Substack as a platform, one of my best friends and I discussed ideas of what I should write about. It sort of just evolved from there. 

I’ve been holding out on The Diodes for “Beyond The Guess Who.” They were intended to be an early post, and I keep coming up with so many more ideas that they’re still on the backburner!

Brad’s song #1 sent to Mark: Simon & Garfunkel, “Cloudy,” 1966

Simon & Garfunkel, “Cloudy,” live in Hollywood, 1968:

Mark’s response: I know why Brad picked this one! Paul Simon (with Bruce Woodley) wrote “Red Rubber Ball.” I used to play their Sounds Of Silence album a lot, but have never listened to other Simon & Garfunkel albums in their entirety. Interestingly, the day Brad sent me this, it was cloudy and raining out and a good day for Tune Tag, so I like to think that also played into it!

Brad’s rationale: Both “Red Rubber Ball” and “Cloudy” were written by Paul Simon and The Seekers’ Bruce Woodley. Simon & Garfunkel’s version comes from their 1966 album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, produced by Bob Johnston. The Seekers’ “Cloudy” version on YouTube can be heard by clicking here.

Mark’s song #2: Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, “Circle,” 1988