DEC4 Podcast

This episode, we take inspiration from some written history by our leading contributor, ‪Gary Wells‬. First, we discuss the sequel to the groundbreaking 1973 movie classic, American Graffiti, as we follow the fortunes and misfortunes of our favourite characters in an increasingly troubled 1960s America. We also learn about an independent film studio and distributor, American International Pictures...

This episode, we take inspiration from some written history by our leading contributor, ‪Gary Wells‬. First, we discuss the sequel to the groundbreaking 1973 movie classic, American Graffiti, as we follow the fortunes and misfortunes of our favourite characters in an increasingly troubled 1960s America. We also learn about an independent film studio and distributor, American International Pictures...

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 take inspiration from some articles by our leading contributor, Gary Wells, on his hit website soulrideblog.com . First, we discuss the sequel to the groundbreaking 1973 movie classic, American Graffiti, as we follow the fortunes and misfortunes of our favourite characters in an increasingly troubled 1960s America. We also learn about an independent film studio and distributor, Am...

The very first time Gary Wells‬ joined us back in 2021, we talked about the 1970 MGM concert documentary, Elvis That’s the Way It Is, which we presented as a two-part podcast. We've now combined those two episodes, with some additional content, as an expanded omnibus edit. It's the summer of 1970, and Elvis is riding a wave of renewed commercial and artistic success; he is once again makin...

The very first time ‪Gary Wells joined us back in 2021, we talked about the 1970 MGM concert documentary, Elvis That’s the Way It Is, which we presented as a two-part podcast. We've now combined those two episodes, with some additional content, as an expanded omnibus edit. It's the summer of 1970, and Elvis is riding a wave of renewed commercial and artistic success; he is once again makin...

The very first time ‪Gary Wells joined us back in 2021, we talked about the 1970 MGM concert documentary, Elvis That’s the Way It Is, which we presented as a two-part podcast. We've now combined those two episodes, with some additional content, as an expanded omnibus edit. It's the summer of 1970, and Elvis is riding a wave of renewed commercial and artistic success; he is once again making some g...

In this clip from our extended conversation with David Leaf, we learn about the challenges of putting together an event television programme featuring some of the biggest names in music, and which would become a pivotal moment in Brian Wilson's journey toward the completion of SMiLE. Join us for the full conversation on your favourite podcast platform https://dec4podcast.com/2025/04/09/david-l...

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...

Frank Williams (1931-2022) is remembered with enormous fondness by generations of fans as Timothy Farthing, the perpetually exasperated Vicar in the BBC’s Dad’s Army; on television, radio, stage, and in two feature films separated by almost half a century. Victoria Wood once described Dad’s Army as ‘the most affectionately regarded comedy programme in the history of television’, and Frank Williams...

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...