A Breath Of Fresh Air Podcast: A Gold Medal Show About The Oldies

 Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian singer-songwriter whose enduring folk hits included “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “Sundown,” died last week. He was 84.

Lightfoot found success on the US pop charts in 1970 with the song “If You Could Read My Mind.” That track also earned the artist his second of four Grammy nominations, that one for best male pop vocal performance.

Lightfoot’s songs have been covered by numerous legendary artists, including Dylan, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Barbra Streisand, and Eric Clapton, according to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

In July 2022, Lightfoot was interviewed by Australian broadcaster Sandy Kaye for her radio show and podcast A Breath Of Fresh Air.

Lightfoot, in that interview, talked about being in a state of repentance, giving up alcohol and other vices. Lightfoot talked about his two-and-a-half year recovery from an aortic aneurysm. He told Kaye that his big hit, “If You Could Read My Mind” was about the end of his first marriage.

When Lightfoot died, Kaye replayed that episode as a tribute to the singer-songwriter.

Those most Americans don't know her, Sandy Kaye is an extraordinary woman and broadcaster, journalist, and producer who has spent more than 35 years on both sides of radio and television microphones. She has worked with every TV network in Australia, and has hosted her own commercial radio talk-back show. She even held the distinction of being Sydney’s first female newsreader on radio.

Kaye began A Breath Of Fresh Air as a COVID project. It’s now a weekly, hour-long show that’s broadcast on radio stations right across the world, and it can be heard as a podcast on all major podcast platforms.

This is what Kaye says about her podcast: "A Breath of Fresh Air is my passion project. I wake up with it and go to sleep at night with it. I research, produce and present relentlessly and spend a great deal of time finding the artists you hear.  It gives me a great deal of pleasure to share these stories with you. Together we learn about where their music took root, how they navigated the road to success, and what’s happened to them since. We get in behind the songs and hear them too. It’s fascinating stuff and, I think, makes for some easy, fun, and engrossing listening."

So what does Sandy Kaye do on A Breath Of Fresh Air? First, she interviews pop music stars from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Yes, that's right. The 60s!

Kaye interviewed teen idol Bobby Sherman in March 2023 about his TV and music career. Late that month, she talked to Elliott Lurie of the group Looking Glass, who wrote and sang Brandy, a 1972 top ten hit. Lurie explains how the song originally was built around his high school girlfriend, Randy. A year after the song peaked on the charts, the girl's name Brandy skyrocketed in popularity. In an odd twist of fate, Barry Manilou had written and recorded a completely different song called Brandy, and the singer was reluctant to, but ultimately convinced, to change the name of the song to Mandy.

So if you're a fan of 60s, 70s, and 80s music and enjoying reminiscing with the artists who made those hits, A Breath Of Fresh Air will get you tapping, clapping, and humming. Kaye is generous in playing those old hits with excerpts running over a minute, sometimes two.

 Kaye excels at corralling reluctant guests. After all, many of these people are in their 80s. An example is John Kay of Steppenwolf, who admitted in the beginning of the podcast interview how reluctant he was to do her show, To Kaye's credit, she warmed him up, and John Kay was a fascinating interview. 

This year alone, Kaye has interviewed Gary Puckett, Supertramp's founding member John Helliwell, the Go-Gos drummer Gina Schock, singer Melissa Manchester, John Ford Coley, and Felix Cavalliere of The Rascals. 

With so much experience in broadcasting, Kaye is as fluid as water as a host. She exudes an approachable warmth with a rich, sweet-sounding voice, and a strong desire to please her guests and her listeners.

Yet, don't misconstrue her for weakness. Kaye can ask the tough questions about controversies that arose when these musical artists were at the height of their popularity. 

What makes these interviews -- and the show -- so captivating is listening to musicians who were famous during those decades, and  hear their perspective now as people in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. If there are any common themes about these remembrances of fame, the artists all seem to characterize their sudden popularity as a whirlwind in which they were too busy to enjoy it. Others admit mistakes, and chuckle at the decisions they made in their youth. 

If you're someone who was there and part of the music of the 60s, 70s, or 80s, you'll definitely revel in the memory lane free trip. But if you're a millennial or Gen Zer, there's also something for you in these recollections by iconic musical artists. 

Check out A Breath Of Fresh Air. It can take you back to your youth, or, at least, offer younger listeners insights into why Baby Boomers are the way they are.