Spare Parts II and Closing - Nighthawks At The Diner [035]

With this final collection of Spare Parts, and varying levels of relief, we arrive at the end of Nighthawks At The Diner, no wiser but at least eleven weeks older. With thanks to guest-hosts Andrea and Catherine, Sam and Martin conclude their ongoing disagreement about this album and swear to remain friends, or at the very least disagree in more varied ways next time. As always, thanks for joining us for this season of Song by Song, and we really hope you'll be back for Small Change in a few weeks time...

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Spare Parts II and Closing, Nighthawks At The Diner, Tom Waits (1975)

The Nazz, Royal Best Of, Lord Buckley (1955/2011)

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Big Joe and Phantom 309 - Nighthawks At The Diner [034]

Yeah, that’s right, we’re messing with your heads this week, turning your preconceptions about the show totally upside-down… or at least marginally back-to-front… or perhaps fractionally out of sequence… whichever way you phrase it, yup, we did that…  Song by Song takes a trip out east (or west?!?!) to discuss the quiet ghostly storytelling of Red Sovine and Tom Waits, the subtle re-writing that Waits makes to the original story to make it his own, and how this very different track affects the feeling of the album as a whole.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Big Joe and Phantom 309, Nighthawks At The Diner, Tom Waits (1975)

Phantom 309, Phantom 309, Red Sovine, (1967/2012)

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Nobody - Nighthawks At The Diner [033]

Changing tempo and style somewhat, we rejoin Tom Waits as he winds down Nighthawks at the Diner for these last few numbers. There’s some disagreement between our hosts over Joni Mitchell’s vocal chops, a few comparisons (and anticipations) regarding the kinds of musical reinvention Waits could go through, and we even have Martin saying he likes a song from the album; all part of another offering from the somebodies of Song by Song.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Nobody, Nighthawks At The Diner, Tom Waits (1975)

Car On A Hill, Court And Spark, Joni Mitchell (1974)

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Spare Parts I (A Nocturnal Emission) - Nighthawks At The Diner [032]

Song by Song welcomes our latest guest-host Andrea Solomon as we head into the closing episodes of our third season. On the table today: more conversations over Waits's humour (as compared to his contemporaries); the musical accomplishments of his band and the value that adds to the lyrical content; and what a square Martin is.

The call is out for thoughts and opinions on our next series, Small Change - get in touch with your thoughts, opinions and outrages on this or any other upcoming albums, and have your say on Song by Song.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Spare Parts I (A Nocturnal Emission), Nighthawks At The Diner, Tom Waits (1975)

Nanook Rubs It, Apostrophe('), Frank Zappa (1974)

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