Holly and Barry Tashian exemplify the best in the music industry - people who truly love the live music experience, and whose love of music conveys to their audience wherever they perform.  They went to high school together in New England before marrying and performing music together. Barry's band The Remains opened up for The Beatles in 1966 on their final U.S. tour.  After The Remains split up, Barry recorded with Gram Parson and Emmylou Harris. Later, both Holly and Barry performed with Harris, leading to a long and fruitful collaboration.  Holly and Barry now live in Nashville, and their recordings showcase their spectacular harmonies and songwriting.

Shel Talmy produced records that set the templates for hard rock and punk rock.  After growing up in Chicago and learning the art of sound engineering in Los Angeles, he began his career as a producer in London in the early ‘60s.  The list of the records he produced is staggering - singles by The Kinks (“You Really Got Me”, “All Day And All Of The Night,” “Sunny Afternoon”), by The Who (“My Generation”, “The Kids Are Alright”, “I Can’t Explain”), and even David Bowie’s debut single.  He also produced the great “Friday On My Mind” by the Easybeats, and he worked with Manfred Mann, Pentangle, The Creation, and The Damned.  In this interview, Talmy discusses his unique approach to music production, how he helped the Kinks get the guitar distortion on “You Really Got Me,” and the advice he gave The Who’s Keith Moon about playing drums in the studio.  

(Note: Many apologies for the poor sound quality - the interview took place by phone, and unfortunately the recording software left much to be desired. However, close listening will be rewarded, as Shel knows the history of rock music as few others have.)

Mimi Pond and Wayne White are a creative couple extraordinaire.  They first met at one of Wayne’s puppet shows in New York City in the early ‘80s.  Both Mimi and Wayne went on to make their mark on American culture, starting on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, where Mimi served as a writer and Wayne as a puppeteer and art director.  Mimi went on to write the first full episode of “The Simpsons,” as well as writing on “Designing Women.”  Wayne went on to work on the CBS series “Beakman’s World” and art directing the videos for Peter Gabriel’s “Big Time” and The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight Tonight,” for which he won an MTV Video Award.  In this interview, Mimi discusses her work as a cartoonist for The Village Voice and National Lampoon, as well as her graphic novels about her time as a waitress in Oakland, and Wayne discusses his painting and print-work based on his interest in history and wordplay.  They impart many lessons of living a creative life, urging creative people to follow what they really love to do, be prepared to work anywhere, and find the right boss.

In this episode, we pay tribute to the late, great Lucille Kallen, a true pioneer in television comedy writing.  Born in Los Angeles and raised in Toronto, Lucille’s first love was piano, but she soon showed her comedy chops writing live sketches at a “borscht belt” resort in New York’s Pocono Mountains. Based on the strength of her live sketches, she was recruited in 1949 to serve as co-head writer for Sid Caesar’s “Admiral Broadway Review” (later “Your Show Of Shows”), the very first nationally televised comedy sketch program.  Her fellow head writer was Mel Tolkin, and the writing staff soon included Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart, and Woody Allen.  After leaving television, Lucille wrote the novel “Outside There, Somewhere!”, which is widely considered the first comic feminist novel.  

In this episode, Lucille’s son Paul discusses how she viewed the changing nature of television comedy throughout her life.  Paul recalls meeting original Tonight Show host Steve Allen, who bemoaned having been “number 2” behind the Sid Caesar show.  Lucille would tell Paul about needing to have a strong voice in Sid Caesar’s writers room, where she was the only woman.  Paul recalls the time her mother appeared on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, her close friendship with Caesar co-star Imogene Coca, her portrayal in Neil Simon’s play “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” as well as her role as the inspiration for the Sally character on “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” created by Carl Reiner. 

Paul Dooley is a legend of acting, improvising, and writing.  He has played beloved father roles in such films as “Breaking Away,” “Sixteen Candles,” and “The Runaway Bride,” as well as Larry David’s father-in-law in “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”  When Paul first moved to New York City from his home state of West Virginia, he contacted his college friend, the one and only Don Knotts, who helped Paul find acting work.  From that connection, he later joined the New York City branch of “Second City” with Alan Arkin and Barbara Harris, and later starred on Broadway in “The Odd Couple” under the direction of Mike Nichols.  As head writer on the PBS program “The Electric Company,” he hired such luminaries as Rita Moreno and Mel Brooks to act on the series.  Paul co-wrote and acted in numerous Robert Altman films.  Paul later became part of the repertory company for Christopher Guest’s string of improvised comedies, starting with “Waiting For Guffman.”  In this interview, Paul discusses performing stand-up on “The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson,” acting in his first film at age 49, and working with such actors as Robin Williams, Bea Arthur, Dennis Quaid, and Elaine May.