**** Producer's Note: The following is a general transcript of LCC Connect's weekly radio program. Contents include but may not be limited to podcasts, program imaging, announcements, and PSAs. More detailed and accurate transcripts of the podcast episodes featured in this broadcast can be found at LCCconnect.com or by following the links provided in the show notes of this episode. ****

It's time for Stars on Sports, a.

Podcast radio show dedicated to sharing stories about our athletic program at lcc.

Past and present.

Lansing Community College athletics has a strong tradition.

25 national championships, over 190 all Americans, 19 MCCAA all sports trophies.

Stars on Sports will introduce you to individuals that have contributed to our program success and give you the backstory on what it takes to develop it.

We'll also dive into and break down.

The topics and issues facing athletic departments across the nation. Right here at lcc.

This is Starz on Sports. Hello and welcome to another episode of Stars on Sports. Today I'm joined by the man of all trades, our our assistant athletic director, baseball coach, and today our producer, also coach Cutter. Welcome to the podcast, Coach, and thanks for filling in on all these roles. I know I'm in good hands.

Absolutely.

So coach, as we record this podcast at the beginning of our season, I know your team's already actually played in some games and so with our volleyball team and it's exciting, you know, we have over 180 student athletes on campus and pretty much all our teams are going at it now. Now with the first day of school, we got some out of season regulations we can follow. All our teams are going. It's exciting. As I've told you before on this podcast, it's one of my favorite times of the year, although it's been really busy. So it hasn't been my favorite time right now just getting all of eligibility and everything up and running all the forms and roster that these kids have to do nowadays. But I think I've been to every practice and watching every practice or at least observing it because I like to do that. And the beginning of season is interesting to me because we spend a lot of time on working on the fundamentals. And it got me thinking. I've been wanting to do this podcast for a long time because I really like the book the Art of War by Sun Tzu. And I think there's so many things and a lot of sports people have used it to apply to athletics, but I really believe it is a manual for athletics. And the key, you know, there's a lot of keys from that book is the other fundamental stuff. And I know like right away you start with leadership before you even have your first practice and then you do leadership weekly. I know a lot of our teams have a team meeting at the beginning of the season. Don't go over rules and expectations though. But what about the non fundamental stuff, the strategy stuff? And I think that's where Sun Tzu was really big on that strategy. As they start the season, Wendy, kind of looking at coaches and watching them try to.

It just.

You're so busy at the beginning of the season trying to get everything in and even watching your own team, learning your own student athletes. And you and I even talked about after your first scrimmage about what do you know about your team yet? Individuals and getting to know them. And just like when you start class, usually you go around and have everyone introduce themselves and give them some fact and something. You're just cramming a lot in right now. And I just thought, let's dive into that a little bit and even tie in the book to it. Again, you're a veteran coach. You've had a lot of success. What is that beginning of the season? Is it fundamentally focused? Is it strategy focused? Is it a combination? Does it depend on. You know. Again, another interesting thing for LCC this year is we have a lot of freshmen. Usually you say the 50, 50 split. I think it's significantly higher this year for us. Just, we lost a great sophomore class, so a lot of our rosters have 60 to 70% as freshmen. So that's exciting. So I don't know if that changes your approach. I mean, you're right in the beginning of the heart of the season, what's your focus?

I think you're right. There's always a lot going on for coaches and also for our athletic department when things kick off. And then as you get a little deeper in the season, things kind of level out. And then as you get towards the postseason, things start getting busier again. So it's kind of the natural flow with the athletic department, and I think it's somewhat the natural flow with coaches and teams. I know that it doesn't really matter what the sport is. You really have to work on the fundamentals, whether it's your shot or your running form or your stamina, your swing, whatever it might be. You do have to work on the fundamentals. But I know that there's more than. Like, last night, we had a leadership session, and I was speaking to them about what it looks like to be on a great team. And most would think, okay, the great team has a lot of great athletes, and they also work hard.

And albeit that's usually true, there's more to it.

And we started trying to define what the more to it is. And one word we've been using in our program for the last couple weeks is equanimity. And that's basically a thought process that you can remain calm and composed in the most stressful situations. Of course, there's the other side of the coin, which you can remain calm and composed in the most exciting situations, too. But equanimity, we started talking about, like, a little bit of history, because history really tells us this has happened for hundreds of years. But we didn't have to go back very far. We started talking about September 11, and there was a lot of people running out of those towers, but there was a lot of people running in. And how do people run in? Well, most people are going to say, well, they're trained. Well, the same thing with the equanimity. If you work on it, you can train it, and you can learn how to be calm and cool under pressure.

So when we talk about fundamentals, yes.

That stuff's going on, but you're also working on other things that, in theory, should make an enormous difference, not only in a season, but in somebody's life.

And very interesting. A lot of good points. And you're right, you know, when you think of a practice plan, there's probably a core part of that practice plan that you're working on fundamentals every day. And then to your point of what you kind of said what the model of a season is at the beginning of the season, you're also spending probably more time implementing some of your strategies, plays, you know, bunt defense or such. And again, we're at the college level, so hopefully these kids come in with a basic understanding of those. So there might be more time of that right now. And that's what I was trying to hit at. But there's also, as you mentioned, the time of these kind of discussions and handling those situations because it can be overwhelming for student athletes. At our orientation, I show them a video of, you know, how I think they feel right now, because we are throwing a lot of information at them right now, and it is important. I know you, and I've learned this from you, but I was also a believer in journaling and how your team did journal. And we got a compliment about your team coming to orientation, and they all had their journals. At least half of our other teams do journals. Now. I've encouraged my daughter at her college to keep a journal and take it with her, where she goes to write things down and reflect, because those other things to learn that help you be successful, to your point. And even in Sun Tzu's point about, it's the strategy, the mindset, it's the. The mind games you play. And I've struggled with that in the past about like, should you know yourself better than if you do your things right, do you have to worry about what the opponent does? You know, with scouting and such. And one of his premises was confusing the enemy. And he, you know, Bill Belichick, they said, took a lot from him about all these different strategies to kind of make it difficult to defend. But the more I liked about him, it was more of the mind stuff. Knowing yourself, knowing when to fight and not to, which we've talked about before. Adapting, which is a little early for us to adapt. Even though, like, again, our volleyball team had their first tournament. So now they're figuring out how to adapt to the things that they learned at that tournament. You've had your things. Our cross country team runs this Friday, but it's still even early for that because you don't like, the team's ranked third. They might not be the third ranked team. So there's still a lot to figure out about that. I actually believe his book, probably more important at the beginning, about the beginning of the season than elsewhere, but knowing your team and how to get to know your team. And there's a lot of different ways watching practice every day. I'm a believer in watching before and after practice how they handle themselves. And then again watching their performance in a game early on. I mean, like you had said it, you don't know what it is right now, but they're starting to build clues on what it could be. So, you know, just a lot of information right now that we focus on the fundamentals, which to your point, should be a part of practice every day. But you also as a coach gotta start, you know, I mean, we get going and like you've said before, you're going to June now. So I mean, you gotta build that out. And we've talked about motivation before on this podcast. It's teaching them, intentionally teaching them that the mind stuff of, you know, a lot of these kids were the best player on their team coming here and now they're figuring out they're among a lot of other best players. So being honest with themselves, figuring it out. I mean, we talked about quitting, how it's not for everyone. We've had kids quit and that's the last thing we want. One of the conversations I was going to talk about was transition, the transition from starting a new season. I think a lot of kids feel, you know, you got to have some confidence and ego and believe in your talent. But I'm sure there's a lot of doubt right now. Too. And a lot of I got to prove myself kind of a thing.

Yeah. And as you start the season, you're looking around at everybody else on your team and you're trying to size them up and, and see where their games are at. But I know to start our season, we've had a lot of success so far, and a lot of kids have had a lot of success, but not all of them have had success. And when you really talk to the ones that maybe didn't have success, whether it was on the mound or in the box, they really start questioning if they should be here. They start questioning their values, their talent and stuff like that. And that's where, like, things like equanimity can come in. You really have to buy into a process, a really solid process, of course, but you've got to buy into a process and know, like, we're going to go through some ups and downs of a season. Every season has those. It doesn't matter what sport is, you're going to go through some ups and downs. But if you, if you can remain pretty balanced through that, you're going to be able to stack some bricks and come out on the other side much more positive than when you started.

But it's going to be hard.

And like you mentioned earlier, I mean, the student athletes here are getting so many things put on their plate, and their plates are only so big, you know, and they're getting a lot thrown on those plates and they're trying to manage that. And oftentimes they feel alone because, yes, they might have teammates, but they're looking at it pretty secular, and they feel like, you know, they're kind of on their own right now and they've got to manage all these plates. And that's a tough thing, especially when it's really new. As you know, you speak about the beginning of the semester and the seasons, it's a challenge.

I think two points I'd like to go farther on are those ones that are struggling. And I see it in every sport. Like in cross country, we've increased their mileage. So for some people, that's harder on them. And going farther for another sport, it might be freshmen tweaking their technique. Again, not saying theirs is wrong, but just to try it a way that we might think better for them at this level. So there's two things you mentioned is one, their struggle, which could make or break them in how they respond or how they move forward. And as a coach, understanding that and building a culture where leads to trust, which, again, we're still early in that process, though, for these kids to totally trust and buy into it. Because again, talking to our softball coach the other day, he was tweaking some pitching moments with their starting approach or even a swing. And mostly freshmen because again, they've already worked with the sophomores. And for the freshmen it might be a little regression before they get better by changing it and then finding that time. Well, this worked or didn't work.

That.

Let's go back to what you did. So you're right. Trust is instrumental in a lot of things we've talked about, but especially right now, building that trust because they are new or they aren't familiar. And that's where team bonding activities or being part of a team is so instrumental because it's a connection group that helps you get through those things. Because one other topic we were going to talk about eventually is accountability partners. But I don't want accountability at this time. I want encouragement at this time. Because again, most of them probably are struggling in some way. Even those ones that are having some success is probably a little more up and down than consistency, which is what we want to get to. And what you allude to probably happens more in the middle or hopefully to the end of the season. Building those things because it is an overwhelming time right now. A lot of variables, starting class, being away from home for the first time, which are all things that impact each kid differently. I mean, we have kids that they're five minutes away from campus. We have kids that live hundreds of miles away from campus. And some of them do better than the ones that are five minutes away, just depending on their approach or what their experience is. But again, in the book Art of War, there's some really good things that I don't expect our kids to read it. Maybe they've read it somewhere. But of knowing that, and the book does spend a lot of time on culture, you know, of treating others the way you want to be treated, of building a culture. I'm trying to find the quote here. When one trusts people with benevolence, justice and righteousness and reposes confidence in them, the army will be united in mind and will be happy to serve their leader. And again, that's what, you know, again, we focus on the fundamentals right now. But that's probably the bigger thing right now with a team is trying to build that. And it's hard because you are correcting them or you are challenging them or trying them to live up to this team standard. So it's a very fragile time I think for a team and we focus, you know, more on the, what they do at the end of the season, how they win or lose. But a lot of it make or break right now at the beginning, pretty.

Much where it starts. You speak about the end of the season, but everything matters. And, and this is kind of where it starts, is at the beginning of the season. One of the bigger pressures that we see when we're not talking about fundamentals, we're just talking about the mental side, is two words and it's playing time. And when you come into a sport, that's one of the first things you're thinking about as you're sizing the team up and stuff. You're seeing how much playing time you think you're going to get. And then as you go through a season and it starts getting laid out a little bit, well, between the haves and have nots, a lot of times you see how many teams have you ever been on where somebody doesn't get any playing time and they've been a super positive contributor to the team and all the other stuff. And very few, very few have had people on the team like that. But that's where the selflessness comes in. And the playing time really is built upon what you do, of course. But if you don't put pressure on yourself about the playing time, we'll speak about, instead of trying to compete against another first baseman or another catcher or another point guard, you're competing with them. So both of you are kind of rising those ships which you spoke about before. If you can have that mindset that takes some of the pressure and busyness of all this new stuff coming at.

You, and it is new. So I think you have to work on it intentionally because, yeah, you want competition in practice, that makes the team better. You want people pushing each other. But to your point, playing time can be a separator and it can make or break kids on the team that they feel it's not worth it or they see the writing on the wall or don't think the coach is giving them a chance. And I truly believe, I believe there are a handful that do just want to be a part of the team. Maybe not. So I see it even at the pro level that they know their talent is farther and they do other things that help contribute team. But that takes the right person and the right personality. Yeah, playing time does start to impact team chemistry. And again, another big thing, the Art of War is adaptability, you know, being adaptable. One of the quotes there too is Water shapes the course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows. But again, I'm a big believer in practice plans and intentional practices with it being overwhelming time for all our coaches and our student athletes just to be cognizant of that. But there is part of your practice that you have to spend on the other things besides, you know, strategy, fundamentals, mental preparation, even strength and conditioning. And then those other separators we talked about. So exciting time of year, busy time of year, overwhelming time of year, all those emotions and. And I truly believe those teams that manage it the best and kind of are intentional. I keep using that word. But how they prepare this team to handle all those things will be better long term, maybe more so than being fundamentally sound or an expert in any one of those fields. So again, something we can definitely dive into more in the future because cut off a little bit. But as we end this, you know, I always have a food question. I usually like to dallying here for his input.

I'll cover for him.

Okay. Okay. I had two different ones and my one I was going to go with is if you're opening a food truck, what would be on the menu? And it can't be pizza.

Why?

Why can't it be pizza?

Because. Okay, if it's pizza, what kind?

Wood fired.

Wood fired.

Okay. Yeah.

Okay. Is that your favorite actually, with the wood fire? I don't know if we've ever died.

No, I just like pizza in general, but it sounds great.

Okay. So a wood fire pizza?

I think so, yeah.

Okay.

I mean, it'd be like a grilled cheese. I know we have a good one.

Yeah, we have one out on campus.

Good one. And it's clever all the different variations they have. But food trucks have been coming popular. We have food trucks here on campus to kind of complement our food needs right now. You know, there's some cool hot dog ones out there, but so you wouldn't deviate from pizza.

I don't think so. Consistency is a superpower.

It is that. And that's a good way to end it. So until next time, go Stars. Stars on Sports is recorded live at the WLNZ studio. Engineering and production assistants are provided by D'Dalia and Lowery. And you can listen to the episode and other episodes of Stars on Sports on demand@lccconnect.org to find more information about our athletic program, visit lccstars.com thanks for listening. Be sure to join us next time for more Stars on Demand Sports.

Go Stars.

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Hello friends and welcome to Coach Cut's Corner. Streaming bright from Michigan's capital city, this podcast is dedicated to helping you better understand the who, the what and the why of mental performance, personal growth and Lansing Stars baseball.

Down on the Victory Loud Coach Cut's.

Corner brought to you by Iwash in.

Collaboration with Lansing Community College.

And now, here's your host, Stephen Kutter.

Down on the Victory Line.

Welcome to Coach Kutts Corner, where we challenge limits, push for greatness, and develop athletes who thrive on and off the field. I've built a program centered on discipline, self belief and relentless preparation. Each week I share insights from my coaching journey, conversations with high performers and lessons that foster winning habits. If you're serious about growth, whether as a player, coach or leader, you're in the right place. Let's get after it. I would like to address something that's been on my mind for some time. Something that comes up in conversations with players, coaches, parents and even friends. Burnout? Yes, burnout. Now, before we go further, let me be clear. I'm not here to tell you how to feel. This isn't one of those tough it out speeches. This is a conversation about what burnout really is, what it's not, and what to do when you feel like something's off. Because here's the truth. Most People who say they're burned out aren't actually burned out. They're out of alignment. They've drifted away from their purpose, their identity, sometimes their systems. And now everything feels heavier than it should. When I hear someone say they're burned out, my first thought isn't to question their toughness. It's to look at their habits, their clarity, their lifestyle. Real burnout is emotional and physical collapse after prolonged stress, basically with no outlets. It's waking up every day and dreading the work because you no longer know why you're doing it. However, much of what people call burnout today is actually just fatigue resulting from inconsistency. It's the way to bad habits, lack of boundaries, and zero recovery. It's saying yes to everything, never sleeping, skipping nutrition, and living distracted, and then wondering why your energy is gone. Burnout isn't always about effort. Sometimes it's about how scattered your effort has become. And I want to say this too. There's a difference between being tired from doing something you love and being tired from doing something that drains you. Before I became a college coach, I ran my own businesses. We were successful. Businesses were growing. I was making more money than I.

Ever thought I would.

I had control over my schedule. I was winning, if you looked at it from the outside. But inside, I was fading. I was waking up every day with no fire, no sense of purpose. I'd walk into my office with my Coke in hand, not coffee, because I don't drink that stuff. It's bad for you and just go through the motions. It wasn't that I couldn't handle the work. I've always had a motor, always had discipline. But I started realizing I wasn't building anything that felt like me. I wasn't changing lives. I wasn't making an impact. I wasn't stacking bricks that mattered. I'll never forget this moment. I was sitting at my desk, staring at the same email screen I'd seen a thousand times. And I just thought, there's no way this is what I'm meant to do. That was my burnout moment. Not from effort, not from long hours, but from living out of alignment. And it scared me because it made me realize I could keep making money, keep playing the role, and feel empty the whole time. So I walked away. I chased coaching, and it was uncomfortable, it was uncertain. But it brought me back to life. Since then, well, I've worked harder, I've worked longer. But I've never once felt that same.

Kind of burnout again.

Because now my bricks matter. I'm building what I was built to build. Let's talk about something else. I see often, especially with young athletes, when we talk about burnout. A lot of guys think they're burned out, when really they're just bored. They mistake routine for a lack of passion. Here's the truth that I found. Success is boring. It's doing the same little things every day, even when no one is watching. It's being okay with the fact that greatness isn't loud. It's quiet. It's very lonely. It's consistent. You think Kobe got bored shooting the same fade away over and over? You think Jeter got tired of fielding ground balls? They weren't chasing excitement, they were chasing excellence. If you're always looking for the next new thing, you'll never give yourself the chance to be great at any one thing. Consistency isn't sexy, but it's how legends are built. So what should you do when you feel tired, flat, or like you just lost your edge? You don't quit. You reset. You check your lifestyle. You check your sleep. You check your recovery, your diet, your focus, your screen time, and most importantly, your inner circle. I had a player a few seasons ago come up to me and say, coach, I think I'm just done. I've got nothing left. So I sat him down and I started asking him questions. What time do you go to bed? Are you eating real food or just snacks and fast food? How much time do you spend on your phone? How often are you working on your mental game? Are you breathing properly during stress? Those types of questions? He was completely out of rhythm, out of sync with his process. No structure, no recharge, no stillness. He didn't need a break. He needed a realignment. Within two weeks, he'd become a different person. Same season, same schedule. But now he was locked in burnout. It was gone, because purpose was back. And for those of you listening who feel stuck in a life that's not yours, if you're successful by the world's standards, but feel hollow inside, if every Sunday night feels heavier and heavier because you're walking into something you don't believe in, I want you to hear this. You're allowed to change. You don't owe anyone a life that doesn't feel like yours. You don't have to fake happiness to make other people comfortable. You're allowed to start over. You're allowed to pivot. And you're allowed to chase what actually makes you come alive. I'm not saying it'll be easy, but I am saying it will be worth it. When I left the business world, I didn't have all the answers. And I still don't today. But I had this one question that kept me moving. If nothing changes, can I live with that? And the answer was no. So I changed. And maybe that's where you are too. If it is, start now. Start small, but start. Don't just survive. Build something real, something meaningful, something that lights your fire again. You don't need a break from work. You need a break from the noise. You need clarity. You need systems. Most importantly, you need belief. Burnout isn't a weakness. It's a warning, a signal that something's off. And it's your job to respond. Not with a retreat, but with a recommitment. Lock back in, reclaim your identity, and get back to stacking bricks that actually matter. Make winning in life your habit, not your goal. Excellence isn't an outcome, it's a daily standard. My mission is to build athletes and teams that compete at the highest level, not just on game day, but in every aspect of their journey. Build the right habits, lead with intent, and push yourself beyond the limits others set for you. And don't forget to cherish the small moments they pass by in the blink of an eye. Thank you to all of our listeners. Until next time, keep stacking bricks and go stars. Coach Cutscorner is recorded live in the WLMZ Studios with the Dalian Lowry providing engineering and production assistance. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today's podcast, please share it and follow us on all forms of social media. Our program has been built and maintained with the help of many great people. If you want to be part of our mission, you can donate using the link in the show notes below. You can learn more@coachcutter.com and more about our team@lccstars.com See you next time.

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Hello everyone, and welcome to Now Spinning, the official podcast of the Lansing Community College Vinyl Record Club. We meet twice a month to listen to vinyl and talk about music. Stay tuned to learn about how you can get in touch with us and attend our meetings. Hello everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Now Spinning With Me.

Today I have Leo Ackerman, Noah Miller.

And Tyler Rech, and I am still Simon Medina, contrary to popular belief. Today we are going to be talking about our meeting we had on March 4, 2025, which is still this year. Yay. So we've got a couple interesting songs today, but I think the first one I'd like to talk about here is the song if not for your by George Harrison, written by Bob Dylan, which this will become a theme, I think, going forward, but yup, foreshadowing is a literary device indeed. We're very literate here at the Vinyl Record Club. All of us know how to read, I think. So this one is an interesting song because it's a Bob Dylan cover, but it's not about a song that most people like, will think about. When you say Bob Dylan, you know, a lot of people, including me, first heard it through this album and I always assumed that, like George Harrison wrote this one. I listened to this Bob Dylan album from 1970 called New Morning, which is an underrated, it's a good album. This was on there and I was shocked. I'm like, oh, he's covering George Harrison. That's crazy. And I looked and it said, written by Bob Dylan. I'm like, oh, my goodness.

It's kind. It's kind of like a. You ain't going nowhere. You know, the Birds Sweetheart Larodeo, where Bob Dylan cover. But he didn't release it until, like, years later.

Really?

Yeah.

I didn't know that.

Weird.

I was. I was considering a bringing like this instead of the other Birds Bob Dylan cover. I was. Or I was thinking of bringing Sweetheart Larodeo in just to play that. I was like, now I'll just stick with Mr. Tambourine Man.

Spoiler alert. We're talking about Mr. Tambourine man in a. Mm.

Foreshadowing is a literary device.

A literary device. But, yeah, that's a good song. Off of All Things Must Pass. Great album.

Sold more than Paul McCartney and John Lennon's first albums combined, because it was.

A double album, but also because it was really good. Yeah, I think they count the sales by, like, individual disc, though, that might have. They definitely don't do that. I don't know why I said that. But anyway, great album. Check it out.

George Harrison, friend of the show.

We'll have him on one of these days. Following that up, we have another. I don't want to say dad rock classic, but it is. And that is Vienna by Billy Joel. I love this song. This is one of those things where, you know, it's a popular song, but that doesn't mean it's not really, really good. There's a reason it's popular.

Very beautiful. And I actually record club is kind of the place I go to find out what song it is that I heard that I liked, that you. I can't, like, decipher any of the lyrics in or that just. No one says on the radio what it is. And then I see it on the playlist and I'm like, oh, that's what that is like. I'd heard the chorus of Vienna a lot of times and just that little turnaround at the end. And, you know, it's. It's just amazing. And I just wondered where that was. And so now here it is.

Yeah, I get the same thing. And then another thing for me with this club is that I know that, like, on this podcast, I like to crack a little bit of a joke every time there's, like, a song that is well known. I'll say, oh, this is a deep cut. But I think that people bringing in these songs that I, you know, I've heard a million times that I haven't really put any Thought into. I think it helps you, you know, gain a new appreciation for it, you know, to sit down and listen to it and not be, like, doing something else at the time, Just having it in the background on the radio. It's very. It's interesting to hear these in, like, a new context, I think.

I agree, but I'm not sure why.

I think there's, like, a fun little through line in the club where we will all bring in semi obscure stuff and we'll kind of leave out what most people would assume are very, like, basic record picks. Like, I don't think I had seen anybody bring in Billy Joel before this. I don't think I had seen many people bring in, like, Rolling Stones before this. Like, people. When something is, like, established as a classic, I feel like we forget to appreciate them for what they are, which is, like, very good tunes at the core of everything.

Yeah.

New meeting theme idea.

I can think back to the. The Halloween meeting. Like, we had Thriller, like, in the record box, and we were debating and do we want to play Thriller for Halloween or something like that.

Because it was kind of an unwritten rule of don't play Thriller.

Yeah. I don't know.

Yeah, Unwritten rule in the sense that we fear it's gonna be, like, too basic or kind of like.

And then Flocky and people are just gonna, like, trash it or something, you know, but then it's like, it wasn't that bad.

So.

Yeah, someone.

Halloween, pretty much as soon as we were like, debating that someone walked in was like, hey, guys, I brought Thriller.

Yeah, that was. That was Andy. Shout Out Andy.

Yeah, that was those. That's just kind of a memory.

Yeah, he was new and I was like, hey, like, go ahead of me. Just put it on. You know, it should make him feel welcome, you know, and he did, and he's still here, which is awesome, you know?

And also the song rips because it's Thriller by Michael Jackson.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think when we talked about that, I mentioned, you know, kind of the. It's like. Yeah, just in passing. Yeah, I'd probably think, eh. But like, if you caught me at a Michael Jackson concert, I'm there. I'm in with it.

I can't imagine being in, like, a Michael Jackson. Like, being at a Michael Jackson concert. I was gonna say at a Michael Jackson mosh pit. Regardless. Just being in the crowd and just hearing, like.

The bass line coming up underneath from It's a Barn Burner.

It just.

It rules the whole album, though. I mean, I can't well, there's one song I don't like on it, but the rest of it's really good. Yeah, I can't. Paul McCartney. Don't. Don't worry about it.

Is that say, say, say.

No, that's not on the. If that was on. If that was the Paul McCartney collab song on Thriller, I think that I would like that album a lot.

I've already established my thing with Paul McCartney on here.

I know.

I like Wings. Wings is great, you know, Fantastic. You know, Wonderful. Christmas Time is good.

All right.

I think we maybe got a little off topic anyway.

Just a tad. Sorry. Vienna by Billy Joel, Vienna by Billy Jewel.

Great album.

Yeah. The Stranger is fantastic.

Great record.

Yeah.

After that one, we have, like, a little bit of a spin off from the Strokes, which is the Voids, which is featured, but I think it's Julian Casablanca side project. Yeah.

Julian Casablancas. This is a real nasty one. Very distorted, very lo fi. The strokes post the 2000s were in a weird phase of their career because they were already petering off by the end of the 2000s, and then in the 2010s, they didn't really want to do anything together because they weren't really making that much money. So Julian Casablancas kind of spun off and did his own thing with the Voids. It's completely different from anything the Strokes really did. But you can tell that, like, his songwriting chops are still there.

Right.

I think it's a great little cut. I think the Voids, at least the record that this song comes from, is kind of underappreciated, especially in, like, the Strokes pantheon, I guess, because Room on Fire and Is this it Are already so. And the New Abnormal are already, like, extremely appreciated. But, yeah, I think the Void's Pyramid of Bones. Great song. Very much enjoy it.

Oh, I like that a lot. Yeah. After this one, we have. This was probably my favorite thing that's maybe ever been played at the record club, but it is the song inhalants by McGruff the Crime Dog on the album. Hang on. The album. McGruff's Smart Kids album. And this is an entire album that is just dedicated to keeping kids off of drugs and other awful things.

I think it was like, sue me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure it was, like, an 80s thing.

Oh, very, very 80s.

Yeah. I was gonna say Nancy Reagan.

Was it before or after Dare, or was it at the same time?

Probably the same time.

Yeah.

This is. This album. It was a piece of art, apparently, according to the Person who brought it in came out in the 80s on a cassette. And that cassette is like a collector's item now because. So hard to come by, apparently. And they re released it on vinyl at some point. And the record itself. Oh, my God. There's a. Like a physical bite taken out of the record.

Yeah.

It's like. It's magical. That's all I can say about it. It's magical.

It's so poetic.

You can't do that with streaming. That's why. That's why the medium. So good. You can take a bite out of it. Physically speaking.

Physical media supremacy.

Exactly. You can't eat a file. Well, you cannot directly.

You can eat.

You have to put some work into it.

You can't download a house.

You wouldn't download a house.

Bad joke.

You said his name was McGruff the crime dog?

Yes. Scruff McGruff.

Scruff McGruff.

The man himself. Yes. That took a bite out of crime.

And a bite out of the record.

Exactly.

Don't do drugs, kids.

Don't do drugs.

Yeah. Thanks, Jacob.

If that's the one thing you take away.

The one thing you take away today. But following that one up, we have. This was spoiled a little bit earlier, but, you know, still a good song. We have Mr. Tambourine man by the.

Birds, by Bob Dylan. Written by Bob Dylan.

I know.

Do you.

I think it's a good. And this is a. This one's a very good song.

It was like something. Bob Dylan said that, but it was like the Birds did it better. Right. I don't know. You know more about Bob Dylan. You sat through all his albums.

Not all of them. I kind of stopped after like 3/4 of the way. I'm taking a break. I'll get back to it. But this one, Mr. Tambourine man, this song kind of almost inspired a lot of like, the jangle pop stuff that would come through, like the. Later in the 80s and the 90s. Like, this guitar sound was super influential.

Especially with bands in like, the alternative scene, like REM And Smith.

Yes. And whatnot.

Yeah. Just really bright, really pretty sounding.

Yeah. And that's a. It's a very good song also, I have to say. Mr. Tambourine man, one of Bob Dylan's best. I'd have to say one of my favorites anyway.

Yeah.

Hot take. Mr. Tambourine man is a good song.

Yeah. I don't know if anybody's ever said that.

I like it.

It's very good.

Very hot take.

What's wrong with it?

There's nothing. There's nothing wrong. It's just more bringing it back to the point that we were making earlier.

Bringing it all back home.

Yeah.

Bringing it all back home.

Yeah. Thank you, Simon.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Underappreciated, though. Yeah. I mean, this one especially gets played a ton on, like, you know, like, oldies radio and stuff. But, like, there's a reason it's endured this long is that it's such a good song. It's inspired so much, you know?

Man, I like that. I remember the first time I heard the Bob Dylan one, but that's a story for another day.

All right, then we got into the Drink by Mud Honey. This one was just. It was a cool kind of, like post hardcore kind of punk sort of thing. Yeah, just kind of real reminiscent of, like, early 2000s.

Yeah.

Just kind of hardcore, post punk. And then we get into. Were we gonna do Little Trouble Girl?

Yes, we were gonna do Little Trouble Girl. Yes, we were. Little Trouble Girl by Sonic Youth this is a weird one. Basically, Sonic youth in the mid-90s wanted to shake things up, and so they changed their instrumentation. There's three guitars and there's the drummer, and it sounds weird and off kilter. And Little Trouble Girl is this, like, almost minimalist pastiche of girl group music.

Yeah.

Like, it's almost, like. Almost reminds me of, like, Run Out.

Yeah, that's what I thought of it when you, like, you recommended it one day. And I, like, took a listen, like, man, this is actually pretty good. Yeah.

Kim Gordon in the middle, does this, like, spoken words segment. Yeah, it's just very, like, on putting.

Kind of haunting, weird.

I don't know. A greatly enjoy it. Sonic Youth, friends of the show.

Great friends of the show. They were mean to Nardwar one time. I don't really know if I can call him a friend of the show, but some of them. Good music. Yeah, good music, though.

All right, and then we hit up Dodo from Genesis. This was off of Three Sides Live. This was kind of like post Duke era and kind of into ABACAB a little bit. ABACAB makes an appearance on this record, too. But Dodo, I feel, is just kind of a little bit of an underappreciated gem on that. It's kind of goofy, but it's also really dramatic and it's super proggy. It's like seven minutes kind of. Phil kind of goes on, but there's like, this little funny little bit, and he's like, here's something. Speak to him. And he represents it speaking by doing. This is kind of goofy little melody. But yeah, no, it's a really fun track.

That's good. And I was gonna like piggyback off that a little bit. I think another thing about the club is that like, you know, these artists like Genesis. That's something you've heard, everybody's heard probably a lot of. Just by, you know, being out in the radio.

The world.

The radio. Yeah. But again, like, this is a good way to highlight songs by those artists that you would have never really heard otherwise, you know, make inspire you. Exactly. So, you know, it makes you want to. It made me personally, I never really considered listening to too much of Genesis before.

Nursery Crime is a good album.

I'm gonna look at it.

Yeah.

This cut there you playing all this stuff is maybe want to listen to a lot more.

I'll bring a nursery crime to like the next meeting.

Dude.

Yeah, that'll be sick.

Did you want to talk about Grace Ives at all?

Yes, I did. I think this was brought in by Jacob. Yes, it was, if I'm not mistaken.

Great friend of the show on the show.

Friend of the show on the show. Participant often actual friend of the show this time.

So.

Lullaby by Graves Ives. I've never heard of this before. Had no idea who Grace Ives was before. Like seeing her record in the club. Took a listen. It's, it's, it's excellent. It's just like great bedroom pop stuff. It reminds me of like late 2000 and tens. Sort of like that claro style of stuff. Yeah, yeah, but it's. I don't know, there's something like, for lack of a better word, like chunkier about it. Like there's a little bit more edge to it. Instrumentation is a little bit like more off kilter.

She has a little bit more vocal rasp.

Yes, the vocal rasp especially.

Or vocal fry probably rather.

It's like shaky. It almost sounds unsure when she's singing it. And I think the contrast of like her voice against these very like, I think masculine kind of hard hitting synth sounds is really, is really interesting.

Yeah.

Big fan of it. Also really like the album cover. I thought that was a cool little like ramshackle cover that she threw together.

Yeah, that's pretty cute.

Yeah.

Next up. Can't go. Next up. Are we all done? Okay. Yeah. Next up, we got sub training. Homesick Blues written by Bob Dylan from Doug Kershaw, kind of known as like King of the Cajuns, I guess. You know, I love his stuff. Whenever you see Doug Kershaw. I brought it in because he's. It's like, you know, the fiddle and all that stuff. Like. Like swamp, like, not like swamp rock, but stuff you like here.

Yeah.

On the Louisiana bio.

Yeah, yeah. Deeper south kind of stuff.

See, I don't know much about Doug Kershaw or Cajun music in general, honestly. And hearing like a Cajun music rendition of a Bob Dylan song, it's one real weird because I'm so used to the original from bringing it all back home. And second, it kind of made me appreciate the arrangement and the writing of it more because it's just so like transferable across like a bunch of different genres.

Yeah.

And that's not to even mention Doug Kershaw because it. It's a. It's a barn burner. It's a hoot for like.

Yeah, I want to bring more of his stuff in, but, you know, I don't want to like overflow, you know, too much. Like, I've got, you know, some stuff I've been planning on bringing for like months and months and months and months now. I haven't had a time because I like to stick to the, you know, all of the themes that we have, like, and stuff like that.

Well, I mean, once the summer meetings start up, those will be longer and we'll have more time to play just whatever you want, really. There's no set themes for those. Nice. Check them out. They're really awesome.

Yeah. Dates to be announced. But by the time this comes out, they may have already been announced.

There's no way to know.

Ooh, mystery.

Stay tuned.

What do we got next?

Up next we have A Little God in My Hands by Swans. And before we start that, I just want to say this album cover is just like a crying baby on like a blank background. Oh, yeah, that's interesting to me.

This song is I. Okay, to preface. I've loved Swan since high school. This band is. They formed In, I think 1980, headed by Michael Jira, super influential in the no wave scene, which was basically like anti punk from New York that was mostly focused on like noise and pure aggression. Then they moved into like post rock, took a break and then they just started doing this like nasty, nasty rock in like the 2000 and tens.

It's like industrial kind of flavor too.

Like real industrial, really heavy. I think it's like a seven minute song. Something. Something like that.

Yeah, that's what's got here.

Yeah, it's like. It's almost like a dirge. Like it feels like an industrial Funeral March.

A lot of their songs tend to be a bit longer and they're repetitive, but they have such a huge, like, just atmosphere. They're atmosphere to a T. And they just. They're able to sustain these like, like, haunting, like, menacing tracks for like, 20, up to 20 minutes. Even longer, probably, sometimes. I'm not super familiar with Swans, but what I have heard. Yeah, just very kind of patience. Testy a little bit, but very much worth the payoff if you. If you sit through that.

And this is just. I agree with everything you said and I'm just going to spin off to this. I honestly think, like, a lot of the way he structures his songs reminds me of dance music in a weird way, because it's built more about. It's more about building slowly and changing textures over time rather than through compositions. It's more about just sitting on something and sitting with it. And I think that's really interesting.

Yeah.

Big fan of Swans. We love you, Michael Gira.

Yeah.

Friend of the show.

I mean, it's.

It's almost obligatory at this point.

Who's not a friend of the show?

So friendly. Come to the Record Club meetings, please.

Everybody's, please.

Next we've got Blow Red Blow. Andy brought this in again. Shout Out. Andy.

Hope.

I. I'm sure you're probably listening to this, but this is the show.

Yeah, Literal friend of the show.

Like, actual physical, literal friend of the show. But this is one of those rare occasions when people are like, kind of like they first listened to it and I kind of noticed it throughout the room. People like, huh, What. What's this? And then it just goes and goes. And then everybody's loving it at the end, like with the trombone and all.

That was a hoot.

It was a hoot and a half.

I tell you what, dude.

Yeah. I'm a trombone player myself. I played throughout high school and stuff. So just hearing the. Dude I was on the floor. I was all of a sudden before.

Yeah, that was. That was awesome. The only other time I've ever seen, like, something get that much, like, recognition and positivity was like, I can see for miles or something. Yeah.

Yeah, that's a good. That was a. That was a very fun transition also between like, the. Just the Swans to, like.

Yeah. To Louis Prima.

Louis Prima.

Now for something completely different.

Yeah.

Whiplash.

But we love that here.

That's what we're here for. It wouldn't be Record Club without really, really incredible transitions between songs. You wouldn't hear that anywhere else.

What else we got. What else we got on the list.

Let's take a look. Well, we've got the fourth and final Bob Dylan cover of the night, which is. You want to introduce it?

It Ain't Me, Babe, written by Bob Dylan, but performed by the Turtles. And I was considering either bringing in the Johnny Cash version, the David Jones version, or the Turtles version. I just thought bringing the Turtles because, you know, everybody knows that one.

Also want to shout out the Joan Baez version in case there wasn't enough.

Already out there at the end of the show.

There we go. But, yeah, this is a good. It's a good cover.

Can we shout out the Timothee Chalamet Monica Barbero one?

Yeah, sure. Why not?

Shout out Timothee Chalamet.

Yeah, sure. Yeah, put that on record. Oh, man, this is a good. This is a good little song. I mean, obviously, it's been covered so many times, and then, like, the duet version between Bob Dylan and Joan Baez since that movie came out has been very much like. It's getting a lot of attention, which I think it's a good thing because it's a very good. It's a very good little track. Turtles version, I think, is interesting.

Yeah.

I mean, like, there's. There's. That's an interesting band. I mean, like. Like, at surface level, they're just, like, a few hits, but, like, you look into, like, the history of the band. Like a bit of a roller coaster.

Yeah. Like, you go, there's a video of. I'm blanking, Howie. And you'd know.

Well, they. They.

The two main guys in the Turtles became Flo and Eddie because they couldn't use their own names because they were, like, signed off or something like that. But there's a video of them on YouTube discussing all of their managers that they had, and they had, like, eight different managers in the Turtles, and, like, one went to Mexico and stole all their money or something like that, you know?

Yeah, all over some wiggly air.

Yeah, they did. They. Yeah, they toured a lot with Frank Zappa, though. Like Flo and Eddie, though.

Yeah, they had a little stint with them. There's a little segment in the documentary that I believe it was Ahmed Zappa made back in the. I think it was about five years ago at this point. But, yeah, talked to them a little bit. They were also in, like, the 200 motels movie and stuff like that. Yeah, they had a little stint with him.

That's cool.

Howie and Mark. Howie and Mark.

Yeah. Yes, that sounds right.

I like, because on my Eleanor picture sleeve, it has all them with their names because it's from the Turtles presents Battle of the Bands. I'll bring that in and we'll talk more about that.

That's a good album. For another time, though. We'll talk about that album another time. I'd like to talk about that a lot.

Yeah, it's a thing. It's one of those ones you listen to everything.

Yeah. All right. But moving on, we have another spinoff project of a more famous rock band. And I bet you thought that you almost finished an episode without hearing this name. This is a spinoff of King Giz, and that is the Murlocs. Almost made it 20. Almost made it to the end without mentioning King Giz. Too bad. Got away. But this is a. This was a spin off by. I forget which. Which one was it?

Murlocs.

Yeah.

But, like, which I think was Ambrose. Kenny Smith.

Yeah.

Great little garage rock song. I enjoyed it.

It's fun. Yeah. Pretty smooth, but yeah.

Yeah. Great little song. I. I do want to talk about this last one. Fast as yous can by Fiona Apple.

Yeah.

That song is. Is. It's hard. It's hard for me to talk about it because it is so all over the place while still, like, sticking to pop structure.

Yeah.

There's like a super cool, like, kind of Latin inspired sort of syncopated groove. Just really makes you just want to move. Groove makes you want to move, but. And, yeah, I don't know. Just really fun. Really cool. Switch up in the middle metric modulation kind of thing. Slows it down into like a three, four, kind of a waltz thing, but then picks it back up into the cool Latin thing.

What I really appreciate about it is that, like, I don't know, not only is it, like, more, like, technically complex than most, like, pop music of the era is the performances are fiery.

Yeah.

I mean, like, Fiona, when she sings, it sounds like she's singing with all of the breath in her body.

Yeah.

Like she's trying to get something out and she just can't. Love, love, love, love that song.

Yeah.

Even in her lower register, there's like, still kind of, like, a bite to it. There's still, like, kind of an aggression to it, like. Yeah, you got to run as fast as you can.

Yeah, definitely. This is a great album, though, I have to say. But when the pawn.do. there's a whole, like.

There's a. There's a poem about it.

Yeah.

Just when the pawn.

Great album. The album cover, though, like, the vinyl version, it's. It's just like the title on, like, a red blank page instead of, like the really cool, you know, regular album cover. Yeah, but you know that. What can be done about that? I guess that's. That's whoever. Whoever the record people are for Fiona Apple's management, I guess the executives. I blame them. And then one more thing before we go. A song got played. It was a Winter by Antonio Vivaldi from the Four Seasons. This meeting took place on his birthday. I forget which one it was. I believe it's. Let me do a little bit of math here. The 2025. He was born. He died. Wait, sorry. No, he died. He died. He was born in 1678. So that is quick maths. Quick math. 346 years old. Happy birthday.

Happy birthday.

No, happy birthday. Antonio Vivaldi, great friend of the show. We'll have him on the pod one of these days, definitely. But I do think that wraps 347. 347.

Yeah, this.

Oh, I subtracted it for 2024. Never mind. I'm a bad. I'm not good at math. I forgot what year it was, actually. Yeah, still his birthday. But that does wrap it up for us today, though. If you're interested at all in coming to any of our meetings and hearing any of these wonderful songs yourself, you can check out our website, which will be linked with the show, where you'll find all of our meeting schedule, past podcast episodes, future meeting themes, and any other fun stuff we'll be up to. The Record Club is open to anybody. Whether you have been collecting for your whole life and you have, like a giant multiple bookshelves full of records, or you've literally never touched a vinyl record before in your life. The only thing that's required is a desire to hear some new music and just an appreciation for music itself. It's a very welcoming group of people. It's a great time there. There's pizza.

There is pizza.

It'll be a fun. It's a great, great atmosphere. Great experience, I have to say. But that wraps it up for today. Thank you for tuning in. We'll see you next time. Bye. Bye. Love you. Love you. Bye.

This is WLNZ Lansing. You're listening to LCC Connect, a weekly program that features the voices, vibes and vision of Lansing Community College. To find out more about LCC Connect programs or to listen on demand, Visit us@lccconnect.org LCC Connect, voices, vibes, Vision.