Welcome to the 16th episode of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast — a.k.a. the podcast in which music journalists/obsessives Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond.

While most of our previous episodes have covered bands or artists that have been received very differently in the UK than the US, this one focuses on a band that was hugely successful in both countries (and a whole lotta other places as well): Athens, Georgia’s R.E.M.

But instead of zooming in on one of R.E.M.’s classic early/mid-eighties albums like Murmur or Reckoning, or delving into one of the releases from their multi-platinum run in the nineties, Dan and Tony fast-forward here to the penultimate studio album of the massively influential alternative rock band’s 31-year career: 2008’s Accelerate.

Produced by Jacknife Lee (who had previously worked with Snow Patrol, Editors and The Hives, among others), Accelerate is a 35-minute blast of hard-riffing, tightly-wound tunes, featuring such bracing singles as “Hollow Man” (video below), “Man-Sized Wreath” and “Supernatural Superserious”. Viewed by many — including R.E.M. co-founders Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe — as a significant comeback from their previous outing, 2004’s soggy Around the Sun, the record received rave reviews pretty much across the board, and reached #2 on the Billboard 200 in the US while going all the way to #1 on the UK Albums chart.

But despite its commercial and critical success, Accelerate remains something of an overlooked entry in R.E.M.’s extensive discography. Dan, for example, was only dimly aware of its existence; even though R.E.M. was once quite literally his favorite band in the world, he’d never actually even listened to Accelerate until Tony suggested it for this episode. Tony, on the other hand, was already highly familiar with the album, having detailed the story of its unusual gestation, especially the role of Jacknife Lee in revitalizing the group’s mojo, in the last update of his band biography, Perfect Circle: The Story of R.E.M.

In this episode, Dan and Tony discuss the circumstances around Accelerate’s creation, the album’s various musical and lyrical highlights, and where it ultimately ranks in their respective R.E.M. standings. Will Tony make a convincing case for the album’s enduring greatness? Will Dan kick himself for waiting nearly 17 years to actually listen to the record? Tune in to this episode of CROSSED CHANNELS and find out!

As always, this full CROSSED CHANNELS episode is only available to paid subscribers of Jagged Time Lapse and/or Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith, though a short preview of the episode is available above for all to listen to. To hear this episode in full, along with all of our previous CROSSED CHANNELS episodes, just sign up for a paid subscription to one of our Substacks — or, better yet, sign up for both of them! In addition to the podcast, Jagged Time Lapse and Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith regularly serve up previously unpublished interviews and other exclusive content to our paid subscribers.

Welcome to the 15th episode of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast — a.k.a. the podcast in which music journalists/obsessives Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond.

This time out, our subject is Slade, a British band who are justifiably legendary in their homeland. From 1971 to 1975, these self-described “yobboes” from Wolverhampton in the Midlands absolutely ruled the UK and European charts with one hard-rocking, rafter-raising singalong after another, lodging 17 straight singles in the UK Top 20, including six Number Ones, three of which came in at Number 1, the first act to do so since The Beatles and the last to do so before The Jam. As the incredible 1975 show from San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom below attests, few acts could touch Slade onstage, either.

But despite numerous attempts to break through in the US — and even after acquiring devoted fanbases in several American cities — Slade never managed to reach higher than #68 on the Billboard Hot 100 (a placing they achieved with 1972’s “Gudbuy T’Jane”) during their UK glory days. In 1983, however, Quiet Riot’s hit cover of their classic “Cum On Feel the Noize” gave the band an unexpected commercial boost in the States, resulting in big MTV hits with “My Oh My” and “Run Runaway,” the latter of which actually made it to #20 in the US.

Both CROSSED CHANNELS hosts are both massive Slade fans — in fact, Dan is currently running a multi-part interview with Slade frontman Noddy Holder on his Substack — but growing up on opposite sides of the Atlantic meant that our respective introductions to Slade and their music were vastly different. We get into our origin stories on this episode, as well as our favorite songs and albums from the Slade discography, and how the act’s growth as songwriters did not yield equivalent success; we also debate the relative merits of Slade In Flame, the gritty 1975 film that follows the travails of an up-and-coming 1960s band called Flame (who are, of course, played by the members of Slade). Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, Slade In Flame will be rereleased in UK theatres this spring, as well as released on Blu-Ray for the first time… though only one of us is at all excited about this news.

As always, the full CROSSED CHANNELS episode is only available to paid subscribers of Jagged Time Lapse and/or Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith, though a short preview of the episode is available above for all to listen to. To hear this episode in all its Slade glory, along with all of our previous CROSSED CHANNELS episodes, just sign up for a paid subscription to one of our Substacks — or, better yet, sign up for both of them!

Welcome to the 14th episode of the CROSSED CHANNELS podcast — a.k.a. the podcast in which music journalists/obsessives Dan Epstein (the Yank) and Tony Fletcher (the Brit) clash and connect over music from either side of the pond. And this time out, our subject is Curtis, the 1970 solo debut of the legendary American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer Curtis Mayfield.

Curtis produced two international hits — “(Don’t Worry) If There’s Hell Below We’re All Gonna Go” (listen via the YouTube clip that follows) and “Move On Up” — and topped the US R&B Albums charts while reaching #19 on the Billboard 200, setting the stage for Mayfield to leave The Impressions and embark upon a successful solo career that would peak commercially in 1972 with his soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Super Fly.

As always, this full CROSSED CHANNELS episode (75 mins) is only available to paid subscribers of Jagged Time Lapse and/or Tony Fletcher, Wordsmith, though a short preview of the episode is available for all to listen to. To hear this episode in full, along with all of our previous CROSSED CHANNELS episodes, just sign up for a paid subscription to one (or both!) of our Substacks.