The Corona Diaries

There is always a slight sense of apprehension when Ant & I reconvene to record a new episode of TCD and I am overseas. This week I am in Montreal so we were at the mercy of hotel wi-fi and a strong Nor' easter, and as a consequence there are a few bits of mid-atlantic turbulence baked into the conversation - but I think we just about got away with it. It is some testament to the power of Zoom...

I might have started repeating myself a little. I think you may well already know that, but because you are so very sweet you don't tend to mention it. I also think Ant has started to notice, and I don't know whether he is being equally polite or whether he is just humouring me (but, more likely, using it as an opportunity to illustrate my onset of dementia.) For this week's chapter we are talking...

Just for once lets start with the apologies... Ant would like to apologise to the Flaming Lips, and/or possibly the Welsh people, and/or possibly all Americans - depending on your point of view . I would like to apologise to the Czech promoter who did in fact pay us in Prague, but not the other promoters (Czech or otherwise) over the years that didn't (or at least haven't so far). Right now we hav...

Some things are so obviously meant to be that you wonder why it took so long for them to actually happen. White chocolate on a KitKat Chunky, David Tenant setting foot into the Tardis, abandoning the daily grind of wearing pants and getting Lucy Jordache to appear on the podcast. And do you know what, she doesn’t disappoint. In fact there are some lovely little insights into the reality of the day...

Now that was a Marillion weekend. Leicester you did us proud. Three great nights, the crowd were amazing, the vibe was sublime and a group of Purples met up in the park, to talk the talk and to eat Lobster Linda's lemon drizzle cake. And yet, after all that excitement, there is still more on the horizon. Onward to Portugal, and the Aula Magna in Lisbon with the faint outline of the L'Olympia in Mo...

Somehow different this week, but somehow the same. Clearly missing some of the regular stuff like the diary and the crooncast…but also retaining the kind of informed chat we have become famed for. The reason will of course be revealed, so whilst it is technically Chapter 108 (because that’s how the podcast software works…) it’s also a bit of a departure. Think of it as a mid-season special. Actual...

Before we get down to business a big shout out to all of the Purples in general, and a couple of the Purples in particular. Firstly I have to say thank you for all the kind messages wishing me all the best for my birthday, you are very sweet as well as being bloody gorgeous. Secondly to Justin Beaney, and Peter Davies for wading into the whole Somewhere Else discussion with some juicy follow-up co...

Chapter 106 has a real sense of climax, a feeling of crescendo if you prefer, as we build up themes from the Somewhere Else episodes to the pitch of fever. Firstly I take name-dropping to a whole new level, this is out-of-the-park stuff and you will know exactly what I mean when the moment arrives. Secondly, if you thought the Pugwash-inspired oceangoing crooncast was good, then look out... This w...

We have had some rum old episode titles on TCD but I think this one - concocted during our ship-to-shore chat from "Cruise to the Edge" in the Caribbean - might take the cake. Ant and I were remembering a TV show from my youth called Grange Hill and at one point there was a storyline involving heroin addiction. Anyway the character involved ended up fronting a campaign against substance abuse, and...

Where else could you go for in-depth album chat, geo-political analysis, piano resellers & the best of Sid & Babs. We turn our attention to Somewhere Else for 104 and begin a gentle stroll through the grounds of that particular project, before moving onto the Main House (probably via the servants entrance) over the next few episodes. Somewhere Else of course was the one that kicked off the...

Chapter 103 never really stood a chance. The fact that Ant hadn't really got a plan for the episode didn't help, but TBH I don't think it would have made much difference even if he had. Examine the evidence; After dodging it since the beginning, I finally succumbed to the inevitable. And whilst I am feeling pretty much OK it does mess with your head a little. As the red light went on, I was caught...

Greetings from Poland! Which reminds me, before we start, Ant & I were chatting and I was a little loose-lipped about the secret plans for songs & setlists for the three nights. SO if you are going to one of the remaining weekends and you want it be a surprise, then fast forward to about 07:30. Anyway welcome to 102, which I must say I am finding hard to describe, because it turned into 'o...

It never seems to stop this podcasting lark. I was literally just getting over the Centennial episode (and what an episode it was, thanks again Mike H.) and the doorbell is going bonkers heralding the arrival of Chapter 101. And yet again it's another belter... 'But how can you be sure it's a belting episode of TCD' I hear you ask in a quizzical tone. Well, that's easy, because it contains all the...

We had a very special guest join us for Chapter 100. And he dropped Waft into the conversation, and then he went on to define what Waft has come to mean in Marillion circles. Ant was very taken with the concept of Waft, because Waft is at the very heart of what makes TCD the thing that it is. So as we celebrate the fact that we have made it to 100 episodes, (and by the way that was never part of t...

Clearly it's all about the music. How could it be anything other than all about the words, oh hang on it's also all about the words. Yes, that's right, it's all about the music and the words. Saying that though, it's often all about the pictures as well... So for 99 we are going to talk Artwork & Visuals. You won't be surprised to learn that there is a similar amount of beard-stroking in the p...

The second part of a great evening answering questions about the new album. If you listened to Chapter 97, you kind of know what to expect. After all this is just the audio from the second half of that evening. So let's get right down to it and kick off with a question from Richard. Oh, and if you have ever wondered what all this chat about 'purples' & 'roots' is all about then maybe you shoul...

Well that was a jolly good way to spend an evening. A couple of weeks ago, in one of our infamous TCD production meetings, Ant & I were discussing how we could do something a bit different to mark the release of the new album. After a bit of riffing, we came up the idea of asking people to fire in a question or two at the point when then had listened to AHBID for the first time. A kind of 'sho...

This week is probably not the TCD you were expecting. Then again every week is not the TCD I was expecting, so no reason why it should be any different for Chapter 96. Other than it's a special week. Because its album release week. So you would (and could) be forgiven for thinking it would be an AHBID special. And indeed there is AHBID news for those of you who are Patrons of the podcast - so list...

Listening back to Chapter 95 and it dawned on me(and not for the first time) how eclectic this podcast has become. Of course if you have got this far, you have probably become immune to it - and I thought I would try and illustrate this by simply summarising this episode in bullet-point form. So in no particular order, the top ten facts about Chapter 95; To be committed to languid you have to go f...

Bit of a hotch-potch of a chapter this one. A Lancashire Hotch-Potch* if you will. As you may know by now, I had to rush off to sign a lot of pre-order copies of An Hour Before It's Dark so they can be prepped & ready in time for the despatch date in early March. In honour of that (and after the initial 10 minutes of ramble) we chatted a bit about the new album, namely in the context of playin...

It’s difficult to escape Wordle at the moment, and as with most of these things the genius is in the simplicity of it. So this weeks show notes are short ‘n’ sweet and brought to you in Wordle form… SHEL F OR G AN G ENI E FU M E S FUGUE Oh and even though I say it myself, this weeks crooncast may never be eclipsed. Oh, I do like to be beside the organ... Love’n’widdly gothic masterpieces h Funny S...

Are you sitting comfortably, then I will begin. A long, long time ago there was a far away land. A magical place of clocks, and cheese and really useful little pocket knives. It was a warm and pleasant land and whilst its people tried to keep themselves neutral in all matters also still insisted on their confectionary being triangular. And as a result quite difficult to wrap if given as a gift. On...

The second half of the Marbles chat with Dave Meegan this week. As usual he doesn’t disappoint. After the general discussion of last week, we target (laser-like) in on Ocean Cloud, Fantastic Place & Neverland for a more detailed memory prod. Of course that means reliving those four Neverland verse chords, and a progression so close to perfection that we nearly played them forever. And before I...

Friend of the Podcast (FOTP) and all-round fine fellow Dave Meegan joined us for the recording of Chapter 90, and as you would expect, it was as lovely as ever.  What it also means is that there is some solid intel about the recording of Marbles, from the early writing sessions in Bath, through the updating of facilities at the Racket Club and what that meant to songs like Ocean Cloud & I...

There is no point trying to be modest, or indeed beating about the bush, because Chapter 89 is a whopper. In the past (it is fair to say) that we have produced some reasonably entertaining chapters, and also some relatively in-depth episodes. But 89 may well be the first time we have come close to marrying the two together (and there will be more on that later). So, and in no particular order you...