DEC4 Podcast

This episode, we're enormously privileged to welcome award winning filmmaker and author, David Leaf, to discuss his latest book, SMiLE: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Brian Wilson. This celebratory work takes us to the very heart of Brian Wilson's lost musical masterpiece; its traumatic unravelling in 1967, and the road to a triumphant rebirth in 2004 as an ecstatically received live concert...

For this episode, we’ve put together a special omnibus edition of our series on the pioneering 1973 satellite concert broadcast, Elvis Aloha From Hawaii, with our leading contributor Gary Wells. There's so much to explore; preparations and rehearsals, critically important people behind the scenes, the intense pressure on everyone involved, creative and corporate conflict, a near catastrophe as...

This episode, we're enormously privileged to welcome award winning filmmaker and author, David Leaf, to discuss his latest book, SMiLE: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Brian Wilson. This celebratory work takes us to the very heart of Brian Wilson's lost musical masterpiece; its traumatic unravelling in 1967, and the road to a triumphant rebirth in 2004 as an ecstatically received live...

This episode, we present part II of our conversation with leading UK author, publisher, podcaster and television historian, Oliver Crocker ‪. In part one, we discussed his acclaimed book on the iconic BBC television series, All Creatures Great and Small. This time, we focus on his ongoing success, The Bill Podcast, according to Listen Notes in the top 1.5 % worldwide, and Oh, What a Lovely Memoir,...

In this clip from our extended conversation with David Leaf, citing the example of how the advent of music streaming affected Levon Helm, we ask how Brian Wilson himself might have been impacted. In the course of answering that question, David gifted us some bonus gold dust on the way the career of The Beach Boys was guided...or not... Join us for the full conversation on your favourite podcast pl...

Our leading contributor, Gary Wells, explains how reluctance by Universal Studios executives nearly derailed the release of George Lucas' landmark film, American Graffiti, which went on to make the equivalent of over half a billion dollars (adjusted for inflation) and boast one of the highest cost-to-profit ratios in movie history... Related podcasts; https://dec4podcast.com/2023/02/09/50th-an...

This episode, we're enormously privileged to welcome award winning filmmaker and author, David Leaf, to discuss his latest book, SMiLE: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Brian Wilson. This celebratory work takes us to the very heart of Brian Wilson's lost musical masterpiece; its traumatic unravelling in 1967, and the road to a triumphant rebirth in 2004 as an ecstatically received live...

In this our second Elvis and the Press episode, we're joined once again by our leading contributor, ‪Gary Wells, to take a deep dive into the coverage of Elvis' New Year's Eve performance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the end of 1976. The jumpsuit of choice for the night was the black-on-white phoenix style, about which there is an interesting backstory. Find the full episode on your...

This episode, we’re enormously privileged to welcome award winning filmmaker and author, David Leaf, to discuss his latest book, SMiLE: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Brian Wilson. This celebratory work takes us to the very heart of Brian Wilson’s lost musical masterpiece; its traumatic unravelling in 1967, and the road to a triumphant rebirth in 2004 as an ecstatically received live concert...

Our leading contributor, Gary Wells, joins us to explore two tumultuous decades in the lives of the Beach Boys, through the lens of Malcolm Leo’s 1985 BAFTA nominated biographical documentary, The Beach Boys: An American Band. We learn about some of the key people on both sides of the camera, and of Malcolm Leo’s established method of sourcing a wide variety of music and interview clips (long befo...

It's a great thrill and privilege this episode to welcome multi-talented actor, writer and music artist, Andrew Mackintosh, who carved his own special niche in British television history as Detective Sergeant Alistair Greig, a key character in over 300 episodes of one of the most successful and influential television dramas of all time, The Bill. In this clip, Andrew remembers his friend and f...

Our leading contributor Gary Wells ( www.soulrideblog.com ) joins us to explore two tumultuous decades in the lives of the Beach Boys, through the lens of Malcolm Leo’s 1985 BAFTA nominated biographical documentary, The Beach Boys: An American Band. We learn about some of the key people on both sides of the camera, and of Malcolm Leo’s established method of sourcing a wide variety of music and int...

It's a great thrill and privilege this episode to welcome multi-talented actor, writer and music artist, Andrew Mackintosh, who carved his own special niche in British television history as Detective Sergeant Alistair Greig, a key character in over 300 episodes of one of the most successful and influential television dramas of all time, The Bill. In this clip, Andrew recalls being on location...

We’re delighted to be joined once again by leading author, publisher and podcaster on classic British television, and hugely valued contributor to this podcast, Oliver Crocker. This episode we take an in-depth look at his definitive history of the iconic BBC television series, All Creatures Great and Small, based on the bestselling books by James Herriot, which ran for 90 episodes between 1978 and...

In this clip from our podcast series taking a deep dive into Elvis' 1973 satellite concert broadcast, Aloha From Hawaii, our leading contributor,‪ Gary Wells (https://soulrideblog.com/), is with us to discuss what happened immediately after the international live broadcast went out. Once the audience had departed, Elvis and his band returned to the stage to record some inserts for the US telev...

Remembering the last of Dad's Army's 'Magnificent Seven', Ian Lavender (Private Pike), who passed away February 2nd, 2024, aged 77. This is a preview short from our main tribute episode, available at our website or on your favourite podcast platform. (Please note that there is the use of in-context profanity in Oliver's anecdote) Leading UK television historian, publisher, author and podcaster, Ol...

In this clip from our podcast series taking a deep dive into Elvis' 1973 satellite concert broadcast, Aloha From Hawaii, our leading contributor, Gary Wells, ‬ ( https://soulrideblog.com/ ), joins us to discuss Wayne Harada's review of Elvis' Hawaiian shows in late 1972, as well as local entertainment writer Eddie Sherman's charitable initiative, the Kui Lee Cancer Fund. Find the c...

In this clip from our podcast series taking a deep dive into Elvis' 1973 satellite concert broadcast, Aloha From Hawaii, our leading contributor‪, Gary Wells, joins us to discuss the importance of producer-director Mary Pasetta, and a memorable pre-production meeting with Elvis and the Memphis Mafia. Find our complete series on Aloha wherever you get your podcasts, on SoundCloud, or at dec4pod...

Our leading contributor , Gary Wells,‬ helps us get to grips with the ending to Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, offering his fascinating personal take on the unexpected twist that 'slightly' tampers with history. (Spoiler warning reminder!). This was the very first segment we recorded back in 2021, and we've also added a wishful moment from our more recent discussion on Buddy Ho...

In this clip sampled from our 'Beach Boys Book Club' episode, Gary recalls meeting Carl Wilson backstage at Canada's Wonderland in the early 1990s. In the full episode, we discuss some important and fascinating books on the Beach Boys - The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience (1994), by Timothy White, and Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach B...

In this clip from our podcast catalogue, our leading contributor, Gary Wells ( soulrideblog.com ), recalls a visit to 1034 Audubon Drive, the Presley family's first home in Memphis. Find the full episode, From Memphis to Vegas: A Vintage Leisure Tour, at our podcast website, dec4podcast.com , or on the usual platforms: On Spotify; https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/avNDJcoWpPb Thank you for li...

For this final upload of 2024, sampled from our end of year special back in 2021, our leading contributor, Gary Wells ( www.soulrideblog.com ), shares some personal Christmas and New Year reading, viewing and listening traditions for the vintage leisure enthusiast. The complete episode also features a discussion on the 1973 George Lucas classic, American Graffiti, and a preview of our podcast seri...

In this our second Elvis and the Press episode, we’re joined once again by our leading contributor, Gary Wells ( soulrideblog.com ), to take a deep dive into the coverage of Elvis’ New Year’s Eve performance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the end of 1976. This was the second consecutive New Year’s Eve Elvis had worked, with touring now continuing throughout winter by financial necessity. Elvis’ P...

Actor, writer and music artist Andrew Mackintosh carved his own special niche in British television history as Detective Sergeant Alistair Greig, a key character in over 300 episodes of The Bill, one of the most successful and influential television dramas of all time. In this clip from our recent conversation, Andrew remembers his friend and colleague Kevin Lloyd (DC Tosh Lines), recalls the cons...

Oliver Crocker is a filmmaker, podcaster, publisher, and leading writer and historian on classic British television. In this clip from a two-part podcast recorded in 2021, we discuss Oliver's friend and mentor, BAFTA nominated television director Mervyn Cumming (1943-2021), including his extensive CV and brush with the BBC's ill-fated soap, Eldorado. We also talk a little more about Ian Cullen in...