Show Notes
FLW Special - Purple Rain at 40 In this very special episode, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of the film “Purple Rain”. The overwhelming success of the movie made Prince the first artist in history to have the same project simultaneously #1 on the singles, albums, and movie charts in the United States. We speak to one of the foremost Prince experts; author and podcaster Alan Light. Alan talks about the creation of Purple Rain the song, the album and the movie. He also reveals… How the version of the title track that we’re all familiar with was recorded in one take at a fundraiser. It was also the first time that 19-year-old Wendy Melvoin had played with the band. Movie executives didn’t want to cast Prince in the lead role, and suggested much more famous star (who would have been badly miscast!) How Prince tried to recruit Stevie Nicks to help with the lyrics for “Purple Rain” - and why she said no. How the movie has held up well (for its live performances) and been held up to ridicule (for its acting performances and misogyny). Prince’s tenuous relationship with Morris Day & The Time – and his greatest musical regret. Alan Light is the prolific author of many music biographies, including his books about Tupac Shakur, Nina Simone and The Beastie Boys. He also collaborated on “My Cross To Bear”, the Gregg Allman autobiography and Peter Frampton's “Do You Feel Like I Do”. Other books include “The Holy Or The Broken” – a great history of the Leonard Cohen masterpiece “Hallelujah”; and of course, “Let’s Go Crazy: Prince and the making of Purple Rain”. Alan is also the co-host of the “Sound Up” podcast with his good friend Marc Goodman.
More from Famous Lost Words
What is the most misunderstood song ever? Born In The USA? Every Breath You Take? The Macarena? Christopher and Tom reveal their top picks. We have a wide range of artists this week! First up is Rush – who have recently experienced an incredible renaissance in terms of popularity and respect. Tom talks about seeing their current tour, then we’ll hear from Geddy Lee in 1984 as he and the band deal with the enormous success from the previous few years. Glenn Frey struggled to find his footing after the dissolution of The Eagles. But in August of 1985, Glenn was in a good place – and this interview reflects his success and optimism. Sade broke out in 1984 and went on to record some of the coolest music of that decade. We have a short clip from her as she speaks about songwriting. Then we close out the show with ZZ Top – just as they were about to conquer the charts with “Eliminator”. It’s a chat with Billy Gibbons from 1983. Famous Lost Words, hosted by Christopher Ward and Tom Jokic, is heard in more than 100 countries worldwide and on radio stations across Canada, including Newstalk 1010 Toronto, CJAD 800 Montreal, 580 CFRA Ottawa, AM 800 CKLW Windsor, 610 CKTB St Catharines, CFAX Victoria and 91x in Belleville. It is in the Top 15% of worldwide podcasts based on the number of listeners in the first week.
Today, we start something new! It’s called FLW Hits. A series of shorter episodes that focus specifically on the stories behind some of the biggest hit songs ever recorded. For this episode, we start with the most memorable riff and song of George Michael’s career as he tells us about the creation of Careless Whisper. When Christopher interviewed Tina Turner in 1989, she told him how she shaped the sound of one of her biggest hits, “The Best”. Then we have one of the best protest songs ever as Stephen Stills explains to Tom the inspiration of the Buffalo Springfield song “For What It’s Worth”.
Christopher and Tom kick off season 12 trying to choose the greatest musician of all time. Names like Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Prince and Robbie Williams (?!) come up, but Christopher has a choice that doesn’t include any of the aforementioned. Then, we feature Christopher’s 1989 interview with Paul McCartney. It’s a great conversation as Paul comes to terms with his back catalogue and gives us the story behind some of his biggest Beatles hits. We will also discuss Macca’s burst of creativity in recent months. Plus Cool Beatles Facts – including the real story behind John & Paul’s supposed "feud". With the recent shocking loss of singer Sass Jordan, we revisit our chat with Sass from 2018 and talk about her career and legacy. Plus we have an excellent interview with David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat & Tears, who passed away recently at the age of 84. Famous Lost Words, hosted by Christopher Ward and Tom Jokic, is heard in more than 100 countries worldwide and on radio stations across Canada, including Newstalk 1010 Toronto, CJAD 800 Montreal, 580 CFRA Ottawa, AM 800 CKLW Windsor, 610 CKTB St Catharines, CFAX Victoria and 91x in Belleville. It is in the Top 20% of worldwide podcasts based on the number of listeners in the first week.
Season 12 of Famous Lost Words is just days away. We’re back with the likes of Elton John, Chicago, Rick James, Pearl Jam, and The Tragically Hip. We start things off with Christopher’s epic 1989 conversation with Paul McCartney, one of the most in depth interviews you’ll ever hear. Plus we have a wildly entertaining visit with the irrepressible Lionel Richie as he shares stories from his entire career. We also have our very first NON-MUSICAL episode – featuring Hugh Grant, Mike Myers, Martin Short and Tom’s interview with Pamela Anderson. Christopher and Tom will argue about the best album from 50 years ago… and the greatest musician of all time. But we also have a big announcement... Coming soon to the Famous Lost Words podcast feed, a brand new series called FLW Hits – where will drill down on the stories behind the greatest songs ever made. Same guys. Same archives. Shorter episodes. And once in awhile we will bring in a special guest to help us out. And of course, we will hear from the artists themselves. That’s FLW Hits And season 12 of Famous Lost Words Just days away
We lost one of the greats with the passing of Neil Sedaka. The songs, like “Calendar Girl”, “Love Will Keep Us Together”, “Oh! Carol” and “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” are so recognizable and the melodies so deceptively simple, it’s like they’ve always been with us. And if you’ve ever heard Sedaka being interviewed, you can’t miss the joy and passion that he had for the work. For this special tribute, we have 3 sets of interview clips from one of the top songwriters of his era. Neil remembers his earliest hits with the late Andy K of 1050 CHUM in Toronto. He also tells CHUM's Roger Ashby about the challenges he faced in his career. And we even hear from Elton John, who helped facilitate Sedaka's comeback with songs like "Bad Blood" and "Laughter In The Rain". Neil Sedaka continued to perform as recently as 2025. His legacy of songs as a writer and performer will always be with us.