Pheaturing Jack Douglas From Trashcan Sinatras

Good morning, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How are you? Let's start with a feels good story... It feels fairly run-of-the-mill to hear stories about parents trying to motivate their kids to actually try in school. There are countless stories of parents presenting bored teens with incentives and punishments in exchange for better grades. But what about the kids that are actually trying their hardest to navigate an education system that doesn't always cater to their needs? Grades only accurately reflect effort and learning when taken into the context of a child's individual pacing and needs. So, when Shane Jackson's 10-year-old daughter with autism spectrum disorder came home in tears after a report card full of Ds, he decided to make Sophie a report card that reflected some of her individual strengths. Jackson wrote this on his Twitter...

And he posted a pic of the report card...

The report card quickly went viral, and people from all across the world expressed their support for Sophie. One man even shared his own story about lagging behind in school and navigating the difficulties of ASD. One father took direct inspiration from Shane's supportive approach to his daughter's struggles in school. Several people offered up positive alternative ways for Sophie to interpret her "D" grades. After Shane's report card went viral, Sophie decided to make one for her dad in return. She encouraged other kids to make cards for their parents and post them on thread. If I had to grade this father-daughter exchange, I'd definitely give it an A+, or a D for delightful.
Racist white women are at it again, we have a serious problem on our hands and may need to hold a nationwide meeting of white women to correct it, because YIKES. To add to the ranks of #BBQBecky and #PermitPatty, we now have our latest instance of overt racism from a white woman in the form of the assaulter #PoolPatrolPatty. Earlier last week the 38-year-old Stephanie Sebby-Strempel was arrested after assaulting a 15-year-old black boy at a community pool in South Carolina. The now viral video shows Sebby-Strempel telling the boy and his friends they aren't welcome and threatening to call 911 before proceeding to hit the boy three times. The following day #PoolPatrolPatty was arrested by police, who she also assaulted (one was bitten and another's knee was hurt). Once the confrontation went viral, it didn't take long for people online to figure out Sebby-Strempel was employed by the skincare company Rodan and Fields. People immediately called on Rodan and Fields to take action and fire Sebby-Strempel. Eventually, Rodan and Fields swooped in with a statement condemning her behavior and clarifying she's not a staff employee, but an independent contractor. This PR speak and lack of concrete action was far from satisfying for people rightfully angry about her blatant racism, so people continued to pressure Rodan and Fields to fire her completely. Shortly after their first statement was posted, Rodan and Fields followed up in a statement to Yahoo Style, confirming that Sebby-Strempel was in fact fired. "In accordance with our policies and after assessing statements from law enforcement, this Independent Contractor is no longer affiliated with Rodan and Fields." This is exactly what she deserves.
On Thursday, Melania made her second trip to the border in response to the widespread backlash to Trump's cruel zero tolerance immigration policy (which has both separated families and placed babies in cages). While her first visit to a child detention center did not involve any meaningful action towards reuniting families or freeing people from cages (unsurprisingly), it DID manage to trigger an Internet-wide discussion of her deeply offensive jacket choice. Needless to say, many people concerned about the livelihood of detained immigrants aren't viewing Melania's trips as anything more than a PR stunt to cover up the blood on her hands. So, when she showed up to Southwest Key facility (a non-profit that runs 26 immigrant shelters) in Phoenix, she was greeted by protesters and a very pointed burn of her husband.

The giant blow-up doll of Trump decked out in KKK gear pretty much speaks for itself. It's large enough it couldn't be ignored, as were the assembling crowds of people chanting, clapping, and waving signs indicting the recent actions of the Trump administration. Given Trump's brutal crackdown on undocumented immigrants, many have wondered if Melania herself was at one point undocumented. Hypocrisy is certainly no stranger to Trump, but is he targeting the very circumstances that enabled him to meet his wife? According to her spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham, Melania was fully vetted during her immigration process. "Mrs. Trump followed the law at all times and entered the country legally," Grisham told Newsweek. Still, back in 2016 the Associated Press reported that Melania was paid over $20,000 for 10 modeling jobs prior to obtaining her work visa. Trump's zero tolerance policy is a bad look from a humanitarian perspective no matter how you slice it. But the blatant hypocrisy of turning an eye when immigrants are white and sexually viable to you is another level of disgusting.
Drop in on just about any college class and you’ll see a room full of students with their faces planted firmly in their glowing laptops. But what percentage of them are actually taking notes versus scrolling through Facebook or buying shoes off Amazon? A professor at the University of Michigan got fed up with his students surfing the web instead of listening to his lectures. So he posted a list of all the wildly inappropriate stuff he had caught his students doing on their computers during class. A senior in the class EARTH 222/ENVIRON 232 snapped a photo of the list and posted it to Twitter.

While some students kept it pretty basic by looking at ESPN and the Huffington Post, there were a few who were caught buying $240 worth of turtlenecks, Photoshopping Donald Trump’s face onto Muppets and, of course, looking at porno. When the students graduate with $100,000 in student loans, they’ll be sorry they wasted their money watching cat videos when they could have been learning something instead.
The most ambitious crossover event of all time? Captain America, everybody's favorite scrawny Brooklyn kid turned super-soldier, and Luke Skywalker, the Tattooine farmboy turned Rebellion fighter pilot and Jedi Master, have chimed in on a fan debate on who would win in a fight. A dad posted on Reddit the most challenging question a father could be asked...

Mark Hamill, who on Twitter is just like all the other dorky dads who didn't star in Star Wars, chimed in with a thoughtful answer: it depends.

Hamill himself respects the forces of the Marvel Cinematic Universe enough to let Cap win, but if Captain America were to land in a galaxy far, far away, the vibranium is getting CRUSHED. Evans, however, is not going down with a fight, pointing out that thanks to the good people of Wakanda, Captain America has newer, cooler gear.

Thanks, T'Challa. A Star Wars-Marvel crossover event is not completely out of the realm of the possible... both franchises are owned by Disney, the greatest company to work for ever, who'd never miss an opportunity to make more money than anything ever.
You know, instead of doing this blog thing maybe I should be listening to this album...

Maybe not. And is that a North Korean space helmet? Some people sure prove that we've strayed too far from God's light...

Hmmm... You know I love the beach, Star Wars and Slave Leia and women in bikinis... well, this has it all...

You're welcome, fellas. Marvel does a very good job matching the stunt women with the actors, did you know that? Take a look...

Twice as fun. Haha. There's still Royal wedding souvenirs out there if you want anything. Like this desperate tee...

Sad! Hey, I think Trump is getting carried away with this new Space Force thing. Did you see his new look?

Hahaha. That's so stupid. That's as stupid as...

Parents, are your kids as clever as this when they are in school?

That made me laugh. Okay, so, last week I asked you to send in to me stories about if you quit your job in a blaze of glory for the Top Phive list. Man, did you guys write some long ass stories. Thanks for everyone who sent one in. Today I'll ask you to send in to thepeverettphile@gmail.com the most bizarre celebrity encounters you had. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...

Top Phive Phile Readers Who Quit Their Jobs In A Blaze Of Glory

5. My small time office was bought out and taken over by a large company. Suddenly I was told I was "just a secretary," my salary was cut, benefits non existent and there was nothing legally I could do... because I checked. They did it in such a way that it was if I started a new job. The new office manager told someone that his high school son could do my job, for less pay, so in the summer my hours were cut. I finally said fuck this and didn't show up. After bullying and tearful trips home. Then I began to get frantic emails about how to deposit and split certain payments, how to use accounting programs, how to enter time sensitive forms... .so much whining. I guess nobody trained the boy and just sat him at the front desk. At first it was professional, then it turned to hostility, then begging. This was over the span of 2 days, in which I didn't check my email because I was busy at another job. I finally broke down and wrote an email stating I have all the information they needed stored on a website. At the bottom of the page was a link to Google. I signed it "just a secretary."

4. I worked at Boston Market in high school and I had been getting screwed on hours for a month or so. So the new schedule came out and I seen I  had 6 hours for the whole week and I was pissed. The last order I had a guy came in and just wanted some kids meals for his two kids. I asked him if he wanted anything for himself but I could tell that he was in a bind with money. Dude paid in all change and barely had enough. Any ways I went to the back and got him a party platter that we use for catering and I gave him at least 15 peoples worth of food and almost a whole rack of fresh cornbread. I mean I absolutely hooked this guy the fuck up he had more food than he could carry. I put my apron on the counter and helped him carry it to his car, dude started crying and all and after he had it all packed up I just walked home. I think it was a good way to go out. Edit: Turns out my shift manager at the time had been stealing money each week and they didn't catch on until another manager had to pull my shift and he caught him doing it.

3. I used to work in an aquatic centre many moons ago. I'd worked there several years and all my colleagues were really good people. Intelligent and passionate about the business. The company owner however tool real liberties with his staff. Paid less than minimum wage and pushed employees to work beyond their job description, whilst being a general arsehole to boot! One employee in particular had worked there for several years, worked harder than everyone, was made to do the owners personal bidding like his washing and cleaning his car etc. and was paid sweet f-all which he used to support his ill mum which who he lived with. The problem is, nobody ever spoke up against him as everyone needed their jobs, no matter how bad it was paid it was better than nothing. The day I decided I was leaving I prepared a hefty stack of legal papers and a note. The note effectively stated that, firstly, I was leaving my job, but secondly, here's a list of all the times he's underpaid staff illegally, over worked his staff, taken advantage of them, illegally paid cash in hand, avoided taxes, and generally been a shitty boss. I explained that he's got away with it this far but it's only a matter of time until the staff that he treads on rise up against him and/or leave. I explained that it only takes one message from any member of staff to get him into a lot of trouble but they haven't. I told him he needs to start taking care of his staff, treating them with respect and paying them a fair wage. I never heard back from the boss himself but the following evening I got a call from one of the members of staff saying the boss came in that day, gave everyone a pay rise, increased holiday days, and personally thanked everyone for their hard work. Not exactly a blaze of glory but I'm happy I managed to help those who stayed.

2. I don't know if this is a blaze of glory but it made me feel good. I got a job in the big city, my new manager said that she wanted to give me a 2 week trial period because she just wasn't sure about me. This manager was a biotch. Constantly yelling, expecting us to work through lunch and work late and come in early, sessions in her office about how awful we were. I was miserable, the job was hell. The Friday of the end of my trial period, my manager called me into her office. She said she was pleasantly surprised at how good I was and she definitely wanted to keep me on. I told her that unfortunately she had not passed her trial period and I would not be staying. Then I walked out. The best elevator ride down to the lobby ever.

And the number one story of a Phile reader quitting their job in a blaze of glory is...

1. Working in wings place just out of college as a cook. Start working there and everything is going okay except for the fact that I'm really underpaid. I was making minimum wage as 1 of 2 cooks in the restaurant. Work there for a few months and the manager sits down to talk with me. We discuss a few things and I bring up the fact that I really deserve a raise. I was working 50-60 hours a week and the compensation based on my effort really wasn't evening out. He basically told me to fuck off and that cooks are a dime a dozen. So I told him I was disappointed with his retort. Times were tough for me at that time so I bit my lip and just went back to work. The next few months were hell. The manager of the restaurant would openly put me down in front of other employees and constantly berate me for asking for more money. He would put me on back to back to back opening and closing shifts and send people home on purpose so I would be the only one left to clean the kitchen at the end of the night. I was beginning to lose my chill with this job. So finally Super Bowl Sunday rolls around and for those unaware, this is a very, very busy day for restaurants that make wings. I get into work and everyone is already pissed. I ask what's up and they tell me the other cook didn't show up and nothing is prepped for the day. I roll up my sleeves and start working. We get everything set and I start making wings for the orders. I'm working my ass off and my manager comes up to me and starts giving me the same shit. The phones are ringing like crazy and honestly there are more orders than the restaurant can handle. It's fucking chaos. Then some of the managers friends (not employees) come into the kitchen and start fucking with all my stuff. Moving things, disorganizing stuff, sitting on my prep counters. I tell them to get the fuck out and my manager storms in and lays the fuck into me. Tells me I'm a worthless piece of shit, I never do anything right, I'm not worth more than minimum wage and I never fucking put in any extra effort. That was it. My brained just clicked and I stopped giving a fuck about anything. I stood up straight and stretched out my arms wide. Slowly took off my kitchen apron and removed my hat. Starred dead in the managers eyes and calmly but sternly said, "Have an enjoyable Super Bowl Sunday." I threw the apron and my hat in the fry oil basins grabbed my bag and walked passed the rest of the employees who's mouth were hanging open and out the back to the ever fading ring of phones ringing. Arrived at my home and met up with my roommates. I told them the story and we decided to order 200 wings and watch the game.

Haha. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. My son and I were talking about when we used to watch "Sesame Street" together when he was a kid. That show sure has changed...

Abby: "It's 10 dollars for a BJ, 12 dollars for a HJ and 15 dollars for a ZJ." Elmo: "What's a ZJ?" Abby: "If you have to ask, you can't afford it." 

Hahaha. So, a friend of the Phile has a crazy story that happened the other day so I invited him here to tell us it. He's a singer, patriot and renaissance man. You know what time it is...

Good morning, humans. Everywhere I go, there’s always an asshole.. I’m driving along in the rain on the expressway and this idiot cuts me off without signaling (okay, whatever). He then begins driving erratically, swerving in and out of my lane (I’m thinking texting while driving). As I try to safely get around him and away from him, he intentionality swerved and almost hits me. I beep and he leans over... points his finger like a gun and shrieks, “Fuck YOU!!!” Now he has my undivided attention... I look back at him and smile, I blow him a kiss and drop back behind him. I was heading east for the next 20 or so exits anyway... so I figured I’d follow him. He changes lanes... I do likewise. I followed him for about 30 miles before he pulled over and put his four way flashers on. I pulled in front of his truck and got out with my umbrella, approaching from the passenger side. I motioned for him to roll down his window... he did so (while speaking on his cell phone). This skinny little pussy actually called the cops after he started shit with me. Him : “.I’m on the phone with 911... you’d better stay back." Me: "Good, I’d like some sort of witness to this conversation.” Him" "Why are you following me? I don’t feel safe. I need help over here.” 911 operator on speaker phone: "Sir, the police are on the way, stay on the line.” Me: "Perfect... officer, this man who called you intentionally swerved trying to hit my vehicle, pointed his finger at me like a gun and shouted obscenities... his truck reeks of marijuana and he seems intoxicated. I’m going to wait here with him for the police, so he can be properly searched before he kills someone.” 911 operator" "I see... thank you... sir, would you still like the police to come to the scene?” Him: "No... I don’t have time for this... I have to go... bye...” Me: "That’s what I thought, you’re a big man until you come across someone like me... then you cry like the sniveling little bitch that you really are. Next time be careful who you fuck with, Snowflake.” 

Damn, that's a crazy story, Laird. Okay, the 83rd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...

Chris will be the guest on the Phile in a few weeks. I cannot wait. Okay, so you know I live in Florida, right? Some crazy stuff happens in Florida that happens nowhere else in the universe. So, once again here is the pheature called...

Welp. After just a month on the job, Daytona Beach pharmacy tech Katie Jean Williams was caught smuggling oxycodone and amphetamine pill bottles out of the pharmacy's safe and into her bosom. The security footage instantly caused a cleavage with her job, and she was arrested immediately despite keeping her cards close to her chest. The police had ample support, and nipped her as soon as they could. Only boobs steal drugs.

Newton, Pascal and Archimedes are playing hide and seek. Archimedes starts to count, Pascal hides in a bush, and Newton draws a square on the ground and steps into it. Archimedes finds Newton first, of course, but Newton replies, "Nope. One Newton on one square meter is equal to one Pascal."

Today's pheatured guest is the guitarist and singer for the band Trashcan Sinatras, which was my dad's number 1 favorite pop band. Their latest album "Wild Pendulum" is available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Please welcome to the Phile... Jack Douglas.

Me: Hey there, Jack, welcome to the Phile. It's so cool to have you here. How are you? 

Jack: It's good to be here. I'm okay. 

Me: Okay, so, before we start I have a disclosure... my dad was the lead singer of the 70s blues rock band Foghat and before he passed away from cancer in February 2000 he was soooo into you guys... I don't know how he discovered your band but he, like me, is a completist when it came to collecting stuff and he was ordering everything you released off Amazon and god knows where. He had all your albums, CD singles, you name it, which I have now. He was turning me onto your music when he was sick, and I think your music helped him when he was going through chemo and everything. So, with you being here it means so much to me. You guys came to America to record and tour in 2000, and he missed out. I saw you do come to America to play, and just did an acoustic tour. What makes you chose to do an acoustic tour over a full electric tour? 

Jack: They're not really choices to be honest. The plan seem to come around through circumstances and the circumstances for that tour was we basically wanted to refresh our motivation and see where we're at so we decided to do some shows in the most relaxed form possible. I'm a working musician and play with other people and I use my abilities quite a lot and Frank is in America and doesn't usually get out much and sing, so he was over in Scotland in summer and said he was kind of messing up, so we came up with this plan, and rather go into this big organizational thing which bigger bands do I want to just relax. With the acoustic thing we've done it before and it's very enjoyable. 

Me: How do you think the band has changed from when you guys first started out to now? I have to say I love your rocking songs more. 

Jack: We have like most of the population aged. There's not so much rocking going on as suppose. We evolved over the years and had phases of loud guitars and big drums even when the songs weren't particularly suited for that but that's the way we wanted to be on stage. With record wise it's all very natural. The songs are the songs and everything you hear is what we come up with. We are older and tend to think things a bit more deeper really. It's difficult to talk about the pace of things. 

Me: I love the new album "Wild Pendulum," and I know my dad would of loved it as well. Did you plan to make such an upbeat album? 

Jack: Yeah, we wanted to create an album with a lot of upbeat things on it. But I don't know if there's a direct ingredient that started out fast, then went slow and has ups and downs. Somedays we would be full of energy and make an energetic song and other days we'll be more cerebral with a more thoughtful approach. 

Me: The band is from Scotland, right? What was it like starting out as a band there? 

Jack: I don't really know to be honest. We didn't hear the music around us that we want to be around. The early conversations we had about doing our own music was the drive was there wasn't a lot of stuff around that we connected with. Once we started making music the notion of listening to things was really short because we were concerned about that we were doing. 

Me: Who were you doing shows with back then, Jack? I'm trying to think of other Scottish bands from back then... 

Jack: The Go-Betweens were a great band, the Triffids, who were an Australian pop band that I liked. 

Me: Who were your influences?

Jack: Tom Waites, Dylan. 

Me: Your first big album was "Cake" where you were signed to a record deal, and started to get airplay here in the states. What was it like coming to America and having some sort of success? 

Jack: When the record came out and people were playing it in England I remember hearing it in clubs and discos at that time. It was great watching people dance to stuff what we've done. We were in the studio making music and the next thing we got a call that we were on the radio in California and would we go over there. That was one of the dreams of being a musician, is going to the states and see the place where a lot of our favourite music came from. "Cake" opened the door for us for years, and the fans were pretty standard, and fanatical and that dumbfounded us. We were quite nervous. I look back at that record fondly. From out point of view it was a great success. 

Me: Did you open for anybody when you first come over here? 

Jack: No, it was mostly our own shows. We didn't do any support shows I recall. 

Me: "Hayfever" was another big hit for you guys, from the second album "I've Seen Anything." What was it like doing that second album? Was it as popular as "Cake"? 

Jack: We were really happy with it. With that record we actually got a producer to take the weight off our shoulders and he helped. We made a very cohesive record. He added a lot with the arrangement and made it sound like it was a piece from start to finish. We were really pleased with the recording. It took us a few goes at recording it and the writing was a bit of a struggle because we've been touring a lot, so the writing took a backseat. Considering all the hurdles that were in front of us I think it's one of our better records, I think that one. I think it stands with the production. When it came out we did lots of shows, we were probably getting a bit louder at that stage. Again we got to tour other places, we ended up in France, and various places where we seemed to be well received. 

Me: One of my favorite thing about songs is not just the melody but the lyrics, as I wrote a bunch of songs myself for my own music project Strawberry Blondes Forever. I think Trashcan Sinatra lyrics are so clever, especially in the early days. Who was the main songwriting in the band? 

Jack: We all write. No one gets to claim any particular any of it. I think we just all write songs, and it depends on a particular song. We do have a general approach of trying to be interesting and trying to approach things in a different way. Earlier on with one of our first records, I think we were maybe trying to please, or the kitchen sink approach, trying to be as funny, witty or smart as we could possibly be to impress. Also trying to capture emotion and I supposes as the years go by we don't have to do that so much. That could be kind of off-putting for people. Trying to hone in the more emotional side and take the side which would capture the emotion. We've always tried to be interesting and were good at it. We are all well read and all like the good stuff that is around. We connected well and everyone like a good turn of phrase or a good movie or a good song. Maybe somethings started out as just a written thing, I could think myself maybe one or two, but for the most part they are always geared towards songs. 

Me: I was thinking the other day that I always thought it was weird that some albums from other bands had the lyrics printed in the record sleeve. People don't really do that anymore... I think the Beatles started it with the "Sgt. Pepper" album. Anyway, with your lyrics being so clever did you guys print the lyrics in the sleeve? 

Jack: No. For each record we have a conversation about whether we think we should or shouldn't. It's been different over the years for different reasons. I don't think there's been a hard rule about it. Generally we would like the lyrics to be heard as the first part you come across the words taker then reading them off the page. they're written to be heard, not written to be read. Other times we thought to put them down so people could get clarity and they could look at them on the printed page and judge them there. So it just depends on the record and how we are. 

Me: Okay, so, the first album I really knew from you guy and remember from my dad's collection is the one with the kangaroo on the cover... "Happy Pocket." What happened there? It wasn't available in America, just Japan and the U.K. What happened? Were their label problems? 

Jack: Well, yeah, the business side of the show changed. The personnel was changed with the record label. We felt under pressure and we felt things changed with the atmosphere that we would feel from cutting out the record, they were kind of changing, there was a frost coming in. The release thing was problematic. I still think it was a mistake for it not to come out in the states. It would've went down as well as the others if not more. When people are making the decisions we didn't even know who was making these decisions. We certainly felt the ripples of the decision. It's a very difficult place to be at when things change and you can't address the people that are changing them. It was out of our hands, always was, so we kept going on with our trade. We did tour again quite a bit in that period as well. We were very proud of that record, and the B-sides as well. 

Me: Were you more popular in the U.K.? What was the main difference for you guys in America than over in the U.K.? 

Jack: Yes, the day it works in the states is a record company would imply a company to take a song to the radio and that cost plenty of money. If the record company is not behind or wants to put out the record, it was none of that in the states at all. The U.K. was slightly different, we did get some success there. We did the cover of "To Sir With Love" which became the record of the week in a national station. 

Me: I love that song. Did you guys like "Happy Pocket"? 

Jack: I think so. A lot of the songs on the record stand out somehow. We play them a lot live because they work. 

Me: That was the last album my dad knew of you, because after that you guys disappeared and then came back with "Weightlifting" in 2003. What were you doing in those years you were off? And why so long between records? 

Jack: There was a lot of background stuff to do with the business that slowed any release down. Songwriting was always ongoing, we had a bit of personnel stuff that we dealt with. We just jammed whenever we could basically. Once we got a bunch of songs we tried to record a version of a fourth record over in Hartford. We came over and did some sessions and we liked it but it wasn't the greatest result so we knew we should take a second go at it. By the time we got around to getting some funding, management in place, and a company to put the record out, both in the states and the U.K. and elsewhere that added up to quite a lot of years. Luckily because it was a long time, by the time the actual recording of the record came out we had a bunch of songs that were really top drawer, there wasn't much filler if any at all. It was the crystallised work of chipping away for 7 years. There were things that fell by the way side. We knew we had something really good in our hands. The other kind of benefit of that was we had was the limelight hadn't been on us for awhile and people were interested in it because it had been awhile, so it was a nice reception with the U.K. press and radio to a certain extent. There was a nice embracing of our stuff. Probably more so in any record we put out, we got a good reception and a nice bit of coverage and to the day it's a powerful record for a lot of people. 

Me: Okay, so reading about you I was surprised to see Carly Simon sings on one of your songs "Should I Pray" on the "In the Music" album. How the hell did that happen? Did Carly Simon know who Trashcan Sinatras were? 

Jack: That was just one of these lucky things. We were doing the record up in Martha's Vineyard, our producer Andy Chase had a house up there. We recorded the album in New York and did a lot of the vocals in Martha's Vineyard. His family knew Carly's family and we just sent a cassette, her "No Secrets" record is a big favourite of mine. There's a song on it called "His Friends Are More Than Fond of Robin," I wrote her a letter explaining how much her songs meant to me. Andy said she got in touch and really liked the song and she wanted to add her vocal to it. We weren't around when it happened but it was just one of those miraculous, magical things that occur. 

Me: That's cool. My dad wanted to work with you, write with you or produce you guys. So, I was like holy shit when I found this out... you are married to a Phile Alum... Eddi Reader who my dad was also a big fan of. How did you meet her, Jack? 

Jack: She's Frank's sister. 

Me: Wow. How long have you guys been married? 

Jack: About 8 years. We've been together for 18. You know how these things happen. 

Me: You have to tell her she needs to be back on the Phile. Okay, back to "Wild Pendulum." I like the song "All Night," especially. Like I said before... so upbeat. Was this a cool record to record? 

Jack: Yeah, if you're having a had time and been through something then dance and get lost in a song. It could be a very therapeutic thing. I'm sure Barry White said that in better ways, but it's a road that's been traveled before, we just had a song an idea that was up that road and we just had to go with it. 

Me: So, are you all 4 equal when it comes to decisions or do you make the decisions with the band or Frank? 

Jack: The democracy thing was dealt right at the beginning of the band. We came together because we have the same thoughts, same tastes, and the same kind of approach so that's when I want to stay in the same room as people. When those things are in place it'll last a long time. We've been together for a good many years and we all now the kind of terrain we're on. We all know a vast expanse of music, what we like and what we appreciate. There's songs that I like and the others don't and vice versa but there's things we come up with they are generally what everyone gets. We're all fans of each other. I think if were to choose who would to be in the band with we would choose the same people because we got the same approach. If a debate comes up there's a certainly a point where I would say I really don't really get the idea, then we probably wouldn't be making records together, we do get on, we kind of connect. That's the chemistry of any band that's worth the salt, they acknowledge the chemistry and go with it. 

Me: Have you ever worked with Eddi? 

Jack: Yeah, I've one songs with her and she has done songs that I have written. 

Me: Okay, I mentioned my dad was a big fan... any other famous musicians you know of that were also big fans of you guys? 

Jack: Paul Weller. He liked the song "Safecracker" and he asked for the chords for that. 

Me: Cool. Jack, thanks so much for being on the Phile. Like I said my dad was a huge fan, and I like a lot of your music. Take care and please come back again soon. 

Jack: Thanks, Jason, I'll tell Eddi you said hi. 

Me: Cool. Take care.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to my guests Laird Jim and of course Jack Douglas. The Phile will be back next Monday with composer Bruce Broughton. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.

Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker