A Song About the Dark Side of Organ Donation

0:00I tell you, little buddy, this whole island is bewitched. Just the cops do it. I don't lost anything. I know I'm friendin' all my own. Friendin' all my own. You remember? We were shipwrecked together. Welcome to this bonus episode of Sound Opinions. I am Greg Kott. My co-host is Jim Deereganis. And if you want to be the first to hear our bonus podcast, become a Sound Opinions member on Patreon like Beth Strite of Oak Park in the beautiful state of Illinois. Yes, Beth, thank you so much for your support. It means a ton. Jim, you're gonna add a song to the desert island jukebox. We use these bonus podcast as an opportunity to expand our ever widening musical reach. I give us a clue about what you're gonna add. Greg, I am gonna play a band from that initial punk explosion

1:03of the 70s in the UK that we've never talked about. In low these many episodes of Sound Opinions, and they gave us what Sound's magazine described as the sickest and cleverest record to come out of the new wave. Ooh. Alright, we're gonna hear more about that in a minute on Sound Opinions. Sound Opinions is supported by the Goose Island beer company. For over 20 years, Goose Island has been brewing their iconic 312 beer for the best moments in our city. It's the Chicago thing. This month we're asking listeners to go to Sound Opinions.org and leave us a voice message on the most Chicago thing you've ever seen or experienced. Like this story from Ed on how he scored tickets to a Cubs playoff game in 1984. The Chicago Cubs incredibly made the MLB playoffs for the first time in life forever. And I was really determined as a Cubs fan to go down to Rigglyville and watch the game.

2:04There was a place on the corner of Clark and Grace. I got there about an hour before a first pitch and it was really just me and the bartender there. I ordered my first beer and before you know it, I heard heavy footsteps right behind me. That is shuffling. It was this big Chicago beat cop and he goes, hey kid, you know what he wants? A ticket for the game? I go, how much? Where is it at? 35 box, he says. Box C, left field. I'll take it. I tell the cop and in the back of my mind, I'm waiting for a detective to walk in any moment and arrest me. Never happened. So, I ended up watching the Cubs win big in that thrilling game. Another beer in hand. And that's my most Chicago thing ever. 312 Beer, it's a Chicago thing. Sound opinions is an independent production supported by listeners like me on Patreon. Join us in keeping independent music criticism in the world by clicking the link in this episode's description.

3:09Welcome back to Sound opinions, Jim. What do you got next for us? Greg, I'm going to shine a spotlight on the adverts. That's right. English punk band that was only around for a little more than two years, formed in 1976, achieved mainstream success briefly in that punk explosion for a 1977 single that I'm going to play. But as remembered for a couple of reasons, including a gay advert, their bass player, was called the first female punk star by all the British tabloids, right? That super distinctive panda eye makeup as the Brits described it. She was a great presence. And I was thinking like whatever happened to gay adverts. You know, the adverts gave us two albums and then, you know, they had numerous personnel problems and their road manager was electrocuted. In a horrible accident awful.

4:10And they fell apart and then that was the end of it. Okay. Gay adverts then spent two decades as a social worker. You know, it was eventually nudged out of a job by cuts. Even the British social system gets those. And went back to making art. She's been making really cool, weird, dark, sting glass art ever since. But boy, when the adverts were happening, she wasn't the vocalist. You know, she was just the bass player. TV Smith was the front person. But, you know, nobody could take her eyes off her. And eyes is a key word here. Because that hit single in 1977 was Gary Gilmore's eyes. Gary Gilmore was convicted of murdering two people in Utah, made a lot of headlines in the US because he demanded the death penalty. He said, I deserved it. And he left his cornyas,

5:13donated his cornyas after he was to be put to death by the state. And the adverts were wondering, what would it be like for the person who was given the gift of sight with Gary Gilmore's eyes? So sickest and cleverest, we knew, you know, Michael Gilmore, a Gary's brother who wrote a memoir about it. He was a music journalist. He's back doing a substack now. He was a fan of this single. And the tunes showed up on the soundtrack for Shot in the Heart an HBO movie based on Michael's memoir. I think, you know, the song holds up. It's indelibly catchy. And, you know, that's a really interesting question. Many people's lives are extended by the wonderful gift that people give of donating body parts, right? But I imagine if you got a liver or kidneys

6:13or a lung or whatever, eyes, you would wonder from time to time about what part of that person am I now carrying in my body? These are heavy thoughts for, like, you know, two and a half minute punk rock single that I think stands the test of time. The adverts Gary Gilmore's Eyes. I'm lying in the hospital. I'm pinned against a bed. I set the scope upon my heart. I hand against my name. I'm peeping off a bandage because I'm whistling in that light. The nurses looking at us. I just quiver and we fly out looking through Gary Gilmore's eyes. Looking through Gary Gilmore's eyes. Looking through Gary Gilmore's eyes. Looking through Gary Gilmore's eyes. Adverts made a lot of news in the day. You know, they played that tune on top of the pops and in that great British press tradition, the brits were simultaneously scandalized and titillized by this punk band.

7:13Yeah, and it was an interesting group for a short lifespan. They had a number of really good singles I thought. With a certain amount of intelligence behind that, you know, not just pushing against the man but there was a certain, you know, a deeper level in a lot of ways. You know what I mean? A key band that played that venue, the Roxy, and it was memorialized on the Roxy London WC2 along with Buscox and Wire and the Damned. You know, they would tour with the Dam. They toured with the Jam. They were a key part of that thing. You know, so many bands, much like the 90s alternative era, that had a little bit of an explosion and then lost to the passage of time. And in some ways, you think that's the way to go out. You know, leave a flaming legacy and then walk away from the fire and never to be heard from again. Well, and then go make stained glass art. Do whatever you want to do. Exactly. That is it for this bonus episode. For more full episodes, visit soundopinions.org.

8:16The sponsor of the show, email sponsor at soundopinions.org. Soundopinions is produced by Andrew Gill, Alex Playborne and Max Hatlam. Our social media consultant is Katie Kott. Thanks for listening. Hey, everyone. This is Natalie. And this is Charlie. We're from the podcast Exploration Live. It's really funny. It's really good. It's really, really very good. And now we have a YouTube channel to go with it. That's exactly right, Natalie. You can watch full video episodes of our podcast Exploration Live at youtube.com slash Exploration Live podcast. That means that in addition to the audio component, we're also getting a video component. Exactly where you're seeing our reactions, what kind of clothes we're wearing. And there's a whole suite of dynamics and physical expressions that you can really only get from a full video. Body language experts to the front. Exactly. So come check out Exploration Live, either audio or video.