John Corcelli on George Carlin and Occupation: Foole

Re-Creative Spotlight: John Corcelli on George CarlinOn this episode of Re-Creative from our first season, Mark and I talk to John Corcelli, author of Frank Zappa FAQ, about his latest book on George Carlin. We take a fascinating deep-dive into the work, life and genius of the comedian, actor, philosopher, social commentator, and just plain funny guy George Carlin. Myself, I have loved the work of George Carlin ever since my childhood friend Philip Fehr first introduced me to him. When we were both about 12, Philip played Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words You Can’t Hear on Television” for me and that was it, I was a fan for life.As is often the case on Re-Creative, the conversation strays, allowing John, Mark and I to get into the vagaries of (ancient) analog media, the history of the CBC (where John and I both worked, once upon a time), until finally we segue into Carlin’s fifth album, Occupation: Foole.When John first heard the 1974 album, he felt like Carlin was speaking directly to him as opposed to a large audience. This is not surprising considering Carlin had been a disc jockey before becoming famous for his stand up; as John points out, DJs often have the ability to connect directly with individual listeners. Occupation: Foole was a critical moment in Carlin’s career, John says, representing the evolution of Carlin from class clown to jester, poet, and philosopher.Support Our Guest!John Corcelli was born and raised in Toronto. He’s a musician, actor, radio producer and writer.He considers music his “religion”, with a love for all of its forms especially jazz. Corcelli graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University (Ryerson) in 1984 with a Radio & Television Arts degree, one that laid the foundation for a career in broadcasting with radio as his preferred format to educate and entertain.In 2021, after 18 years, Corcelli retired from the CBC Music Library. During those years he produced some radio docs. One of his favourites was the eight-part series, RPM: Indispensable Canadian Pop Albums. To mark the 100th anniversary of its sinking, Corcelli produced a documentary about the musicians who played on the Titanic, called Hartley’s Violin.He’s published two books, Frank Zappa FAQ and Outside Looking In, The Seriously Funny Life and Work of George Carlin. He’s currently working on a book about film composer Howard Shore.Learn more about John and get his books at his website.You can subscribe to this podcast completely for free. Paid subscriptions support Donovan Street Press Inc. and the creation of new books and podcasts.Re-Creative is a co-production of Donovan Street Press Inc. in association with MonkeyJoy Press.Contact us at: [e-mail] If you don’t wish to receive the podcast (or you’re receiving too many emails from this newsletter), it is possible to manage your Substack subscription to receive only the sections you want (e.g., the Donovan Street Press newsletter, the Captain’s Away serial, the Re-Creative podcast) via your account settings. You can do so by clicking on your avatar and selecting “Manage subscription” or by directly navigating to your account page.Follow Joe Mahoney and Donovan Street Press Inc. on: Goodreads, Bluesky, Threads, Mastadon, Facebook, and Instagram Get full access to Donovan Street Press Inc. at mahoneyj.substack.com/subscribe