The Corona Diaries

There are so many positives about having Mike Hunter joining us on TCD (sorry Lucy) and just one slight downside. The positives are so obvious that they almost write themselves, I mean let's start with sheer bloody congnisance. It was such a joy after three previous attempts (and numerous aborted run-ups) to actually put some proper narrative and understanding around the 'With Friends' project. Mi...

On behalf of Anthony and myself, I want to begin by issuing a disclaimer about this week's episode of TCD (sorry Lucy). You could be forgiven for assuming such a decision could be down to a more than excessive use of bad language, or an inadvertent turn of phrase that in hindsight was a little unfair or unkind. Or maybe even that the accuracy of the material contained within was so far wide of the...

Ant’s in L.A. Jet-lag, gin and an eight hour time lag what could possibly go wrong? Actually against all the odds (and yes I appreciate that most of the odds we face at TCD are self-inflicted) we have managed to get an episode together this week. It’s very much a free-wheelin’ west coast vibe, that touches on some of the stuff we have been talking about recently as well as lifting the lid on one o...

With last week's ill-health safely in the rear view mirror, we were back up to what passes for normal in the curious world of TCD. If you have been listening for the past few months you will be familiar with the fact that we take to the recording process, the way some people take to using a treadmill, and what I mean by that is that we take 5-10 minutes to get up to speed. So after focussing on th...


I haven't been well. What's more I haven't been well and I am going to tell you about it. Which means there is going to be some fairly detailed description of my symptoms, and you might want to take that into account if you are sensitive to matters around vomit. Whilst I am happy to warn you, I make no apology for its inclusion. What can I say, I am someone that overshares. Anyway it knocked me b...

The vibe of #191 is very much around easing into the new year gently. I am not sure how the return to work has been for you, but for Ant & myself it felt like we needed a little bit of a soft nudge into 2024. So today is somewhat chatty and loose - but at least you get to find out what I have been up to over Christmas. On the subject of what I have been up to, if you have tickets (or plans to...

We had a Livestream and it was bloody lovely. All the Purple folk were invited and Ant managed to persuade Film-Maker extraordinaire Tim Sidwell and Manager extraordinaire Lucy Jordache to join us for a pre-Christmas natter. And because it all went off so well we decided as a special treat for Christmas Day we would take the highlights, stick holly in the top and serve them up warm with lashings o...

What a strange thing time is… Is it linear or is it, as Doctor Who suggested, a little bit more sort of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey. Let me explain… When we recorded this on Monday I had already been to Liverpool, but unless you had been there, you won't have heard about it yet. I hadn’t been on a Zoom call with a group of purples at that stage, but now I have, and although you haven’t heard that e...

We have hit two milestones with this week’s episode of TCD (sorry Lucy)... 1.⁠ ⁠We managed the longest pre-title ramble in the history of the podcast. A full 25+ minutes to set ourselves before we were able to actually start the episode proper. No doubt we will best it in the future but for now our ability to waffle for that long is either impressive or not depending on your point of view. I have...

We've been dealing with stuff this week on TCD (sorry, Lucy) you know the kind of thing, tying up loose ends, throwing a few ideas about and coming up with a plan to secure me a personalised registration plate. Literally, just your average Tuesday. The Tour Before Christmas finished at the weekend, and as both Ant & I had both been in Camden for the tour finale, that gave us the chance to have...

Coming to you from Utrecht, and with a guest. In reality that is all you need to know about #186 before you press play, because the rest is going to be coming at you thick and fast. The one thing I will say is that Ant (by his own admission) got a bit carried away this week and so I hardly got a word in edgeways. Fortunately our guest did, so whilst there isn't as much of me as normal, there is pl...

It is fair to say that Ant took one look at me this week and took pity. I must have looked a little more world-weary than normal because, in an instant, he abandoned any hope of a meaningful conversation about Friends from the Orchestra (for that had been the intention). Instead he let me ramble a bit, and as is often the case, as we dropped the needle into an alternative groove we discovered a wh...

It's very easy to forget how special the people are that float in and out of your orbit, especially the ones that you rub up against the most often. The reason I mention it, is because a couple of prime examples cropped up in conversation this week, and it reminded me to doff my cap in the direction of all the ninjas in my life. Other than that the chat is suitably free-flowing this week. We touch...

So before you point it out, I am aware that we have talked about the RAH gig a number of times on TCD (sorry, Lucy). However I think we can all agree that the footage captured on the night was pretty bloody special. So when you have the man behind the plan, on the pod, the very least you can do is ask him about it. Which is what we did. Meanwhile, after more trails than Yosemite, the diary does fi...

We have been alluding to the fact that we would be talking to Tim at some point soon for quite a while now, months in fact, and this week we actually do. The Tim in question is of course Tim Sidwell. For those of you who don't know Tim (or what he actually does) then prepare to be informed, amazed and charmed. For those of you who do, look forward to an hour in his company, for as you know already...

This weeks TCD (sorry, Lucy) feels like a bit of a run-on episode. What I mean by that is just before we recorded it, Ant &I had been creating a bit of extra content for our lovely bunch of purple patrons. Such, was the flow that we had got ourselves into (and because we hadn’t got through all of the allotted questions) we decided to power on through and finish them off. So a big thanks to Dav...

As is his want, Ant normally takes the weeks (as yet) unreleased edit out for a walk on a Friday morning. We call it the QC listen, and in most cases it's less about minor tweaks for flow and more about removing great chunks of offensive stuff I probably should have thought about before uttering. Anyway whilst listening to 180, Ant had a bit of a moment, an epiphany if you like. TCD (sorry, Lucy)...

Actually it’s the tale of two gigs, one of which is in a posh furniture shop. In fact you could say it’s the tale of two gigs, one in a posh furniture shop and the other in a marquee with long tables. ..or more exactly, I should say it’s the tale of two gigs, one in a posh furniture shop and the other in a marquee with long tables, and what I can recall about my first show with the Low Fat Yoghurt...

Nothing's ever simple - that's for sure There are grieving mothers on both sides of the wire And everyone deserves a chance to feel the future just might be bright But any way you look at it - whichever point of view For us to have to live like this It just ain't right From one Mr.h to another, thank you x The 10 Minute Leadership Podcast - Lucy Jordache The 10 Minute Leadership Podcast - Steve Ho...

Well its all been a little strange in the podcasting world this week. Ant & I met up on Zoom on Monday, a little later than usual because I had (unexpectedly) been out the night before and was feeling a little jaded. Aside from that it was pretty normal, we knew what we were doing in terms of content so it all came together with the minimum of fuss. I think we were only on the call for about a...

We start this week with a well-deserved nod in the direction of Jonathan Worthington. For those of you who may not be aware, as a Purple Patron of TCD who are able to post comments about each episode (and to message me, Ant and other purples direct), that's exactly what he did. And let me tell you it was inspired! He wrote… Following on from the mention of Ed O’Brien being on Desert Island Discs I...

The chat this week was more than a little bit wide of err ANY mark. I can of course offer up reasons why this came to pass. To start with Ant had just got back from a couple of days dashing around London and was train-lagged. I (on the other hand) was slowly poaching in my top floor music room, lime-poor but fortified by tequila, red bull and a large slice of orange, which had rendered me unable t...

Three things to think about as you listen to todays episode... Ant wasn't actually thinking about When Harry Met Sally, he was thinking about an excellent episode of Frasier called Coffee with Niles in which his brother asks him the simple question 'are you happy?' It takes around 4 and a 1/2 hours to drive from Tampa to Miami Beach if you take the I-75S. Would you believe its 282 miles. For those...

Well this is a bit of a curve-ball, a Fear Ball, or that rare thing, an Amsterdam snowball. Because this week we end up chatting about F.E.A.R in the context of its importance as both a musical statement and also as a backdrop to the first Royal Albert Hall gig. I'm not quite sure how we got here but I have to admit it's certainly an interesting idea to explore, even though I keep repeating myself...

Admittedly we took the long way around, but with #172 we finally reach the end of our leisurely stroll around the FEAR album.  I can’t actually remember how long ago it was that we started - seems like months if I am honest, but in podcasting circles Ant is known for his tenacity and I for my laser-like focus, obvs. So this week we are going to get into album-closer, White Paper and a lyric t...