This week on Baxie’s Musical Podcast I talk with the legendary Jimmy Flemion of The Frogs! In the early 80’s Jimmy and his brother Dennis would form a band that became an underground sensation—not just because of the great Indie Pop songs that they spent years trying to perfect but for that they never intended to release! After the release of their first album, the Flemion brothers began making a series of improvised home recordings using a four-track tape recorder. Together they created more than 1,000 songs that were purely meant to amuse themselves. A majority of these songs were made up on the spot. The results were a collection of songs that were often both shocking and hilarious!
Eventually however, some of these recordings fell into the hand of the late producer Steve Albini (Big Black) who presented them to Homestead Records. Many of these songs would find thier was only to their second album “It’s Only Right and Natural”. The album spread quickly throughout the music industry where it caught the attention of the likes of Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins, Beck, and Evan Dando of the Lemonheads. The Frogs also became a favorite of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain—who famously included the album on his list of the Top 50 albums of all time.
Next month, their 1996 follow-up “My Daughter the Broad” will be reissued. It’s a newly expanded double album that included eight unreleased tracks. At the time of its release, it was considered one of the funniest albums of the decade. But don’t kid yourself. The Frogs were incredible songwriters who were capable of making insanely great (but quirky) pop songs as well. Jimmy talks about that, their home recordings, their reputation, their wild live performances, playing Lollapalooza, the accidental drowning death of his brother Dennis in 2012, and about the upcoming documentary that’s been in the works for the last ten years! This is an amazing story that’s totally worth listening to! Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and in the Rock102 app!
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