Midweek bonus 4: BCSS by Biscuithead and the Biscuit Badgers

A still from the video for BCSS by Biscuithead and the Biscuit Badgers. Animation and cardboard wizardry by Lottie Smith.

Transcript

MIDWEEK BONUS 4

BCSS BY BISCUITHEAD AND THE BISCUIT BADGERS

[Music]

Hello, and welcome to Midweek Bonus No 4.

Well, I'm glad to say that the unnamed theme that I talked about in the last episode has come off, and that means we'll be hearing a track from Biscuithead and the Biscuit Badgers, and it's an ode to the cactus and succulent world! I'm going to be talking to the man behind the song about his inspiration for it.

I'm delighted to say that I have busted right through the 200 Patreon mark, which means that Facebook Live is coming this very Wednesday at 7pm GMT. That is 3pm EDT. I will be on Facebook sitting around waiting for somebody to ask me a question. If I don't have any questions, I'll just waffle on as I always do, but it would be lovely if you could join me to celebrate my 200 Patreons in all their brilliantness and we can also talk about whatever you want to chat about.

My new Patreons this week include Heidi, Emma and Ms Holly, who all became Ledge Ends. If you want to add yourself to this merry band, then just head over to the show notes at janeperrone.com to find out how.

Don't forget that Houseplant Hour is on Twitter at 9 o'clock on Tuesday GMT, and that's becoming ever more popular, a chance to spread the house plant love. Just follow me at @janeperrone and also at @houseplanthour to join in.

[Music]

Dean Murray is lead singer of Biscuithead and the Biscuit Badgers, a wonderfully eccentric British group who have created a song that cannot be surpassed. It's called BCSS, which is short for -- as regular listeners will know -- the British Cactus and Succulent Society.

How, pray tell, you may ask, can one write a song about the BCSS? Well, Dean has managed it and it's absolutely gorgeous. I'm going to play the song in full at the end of this episode, but first let's hear from Dean about his inspiration for the tune.

Dean: My name's Dean. I am in a band called Biscuithead and the Biscuit Badgers. I am the singer and bass player and I have written a song about the British Cactus and Succulent Society.

Jane: Now, this isn't something you just come across and think, "Oh, that's a great theme for a song. Are you a member or an ex-member?

Dean: I have been a member of the national society and I'm still a member of the Leeds branch, but I don't quite have enough time to keep going to all the meetings. I liked it when I used to go and I keep a lot of cacti and succulents.

Jane: Oh brilliant. One of the things I love about this song is the way you recite all these Latin names. For me, as somebody who loves all the Latin names, it made me ridiculously excited. It takes a certain kind of brain to be able to turn this stuff into a song, accompanied, I must say, by a wonderful video, which is absolutely amazing. I think it's going to give me a nightmare, that video. You guys slowly turning into cacti was brilliant. Brilliant, but terrifying.

Dean: Well, I suppose when you're really into cacti and succulents, they do take over your life a bit.

Jane: Yeah, that metaphor was not lost on me, I have to say. Having spent much of yesterday moving cacti and succulents between different parts of my house and greenhouse, I can totally understand that.

Dean: Have you got many injuries?

Jane: A few. There were a few brushes with a couple of things that I should have known better than to brush past, but yeah, that's just the nature of the beast, isn't it? What I love is that you really do encapsulate in the song the whole ethos and atmosphere of the society in all its eccentric brilliantness.

Dean: Oh, thank you. That's one of the things I liked about it. People were interested and I like things like that, when people are just interested in something and they just do it and they find other people who are interested as well, and they just form a club, a society, or whatever they want to do. It's nice because it's just people who are very interested. So people who have gone to the US or South America to a desert to actually look at this cacti in their natural environment and bring their slides in for everyone to see and have a chat about it, yeah, it's nice. A nice thing to do.

Jane: It is. I'm sure you have a loyal and passionate fanbase. Not all of your songs are about cacti and succulents, so what other topics do you cover? I imagine that you're not going to do too many traditional "I love her and she loves me' kind of songs!?

Dean: Not really! It's funny, people say that you should write what you know or put something of yourself, something personal, into the songs. I do write about what I know, what I'm interested in, and what I know and what I'm interested in are not the kind of things that people normally write songs about.

There's a song about being a flytrap, on the new album, that The Cactus and Succulent Society is also on. The lyrics for that are taken from the Carnivorous Plant Society Newsletter from 1992, although we had some real trouble tracking down which issue it was from. We wanted to credit the person who'd written the lyrics, but we couldn't find out who it was exactly, so it was a bit difficult.

I was in the Carnivorous Plant Society around then and I used to have loads and loads of pitcher plants that were amazing. So it's things I'm interested in basically. Just write things on the natural world and other things that have just amused me, things that I think are funny. Funny ideas!

Jane: I'm just looking through this list of song titles from your album, "Thought Porridge". I'm liking the sound of "When We Were Bakers" and also "British Hairpiece Champion". Talking about hair, on your website it does say "moustache-powered troubadors", which is a reference to your use of brass instruments, which I'm also delighted by. I hate to pigeon-hole music, but do you put yourself in a particular genre?

Dean: It's a bit difficult because I don't think the standard genre descriptions really describe us very well. It's not that I don't want to be in a genre, but I think saying a specific genre, people will go, "Oh, it's going to sound like this," and then they'll say, "Oh, it doesn't sound like that at all!"

I suppose it's like a kind of psychedelic music hall -- that's the closest thing I could say, even though that's not a genre.

Jane: It should be a genre! What I love about it is, this sounds like a terrible cliché, but it really is fun for all the family. I can imagine anybody of any age listening to this and watching the video, just totally falling for your eccentric, in a delightful way, style of doing things, which certainly captured me. I'm going to have to go and listen to "Venus Flytrap" now because that sounds right up my street.

Dean, thank you very much for joining me. I'm going to play BCSS for my listeners at the end of the episode. I'm hoping you're going to end up with loads of extra fans as a result. You've certainly won me over, so thanks very much. What's going to be next? I'm just trying to think what other genres of houseplants you could have. You could maybe have a song about aroids, because lots of my listeners would love to hear about swiss cheese plants. That's my top tip.

Dean: There are lot more of them than people think, I suppose.

Jane: You can have a whole album! There could be whole album of this, but it's really delightful and I'm so glad I found it. At this weird time that we're all having right now, it's lovely to have something wonderfully soothing and original in your ears, so I'm looking forward to hearing what my listeners make of it. Thank you very much, Dean.

Dean: No problem. Thanks for getting in touch.

Jane: Thank you.

Dean: Cheers. Bye-bye.

Well, I guess what you want to hear now is the song, so I am going to close the show with Biscuithead and the Biscuit Badgers singing BCSS.

Check out the notes for a link to the video and the Biscuithead and the Biscuit Badgers website where you can also hear the track "Venus Flytrap". But for now, I'll say goodbye and we'll speak again on Friday. Bye!

[Music]

The music you heard in this episode was "Roll Jordan Roll" by the Joy Drops, which is licenced under Creative Commons, and the track "BCSS" by Biscuithead and the Biscuit Badgers.

Visit the show notes for full details about both these tracks.

Subscribe to On The Ledge via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Player FM, Stitcher, Overcast, RadioPublic and YouTube.

I talk to Dean Murray of Biscuithead & the Biscuit Badgers about their track BCSS, a wonderful celebration of our obsession with cacti and succulents. Check out the links below as you listen…

• Biscuithead & the Biscuit Badgers’ track BCSS has words and music by Biscuithead & the Biscuit Badgers & Jessica Bowie. It comes from their album Thought Porridge (pictured).

• Biscuithead & the Biscuit Badgers have a website where you can listen to their other material, including the track Venus Flytrap.

• You can watch the video that goes with the song BCSS here: the brilliant cardboard artistry and animation is by Lottie Smith.

• You can download the sheet music for BCSS here.

• I hope you love this song as much as me: please do share it on social media and

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CREDITS

This week's show featured the track Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops.

Logo design by Jacqueline Colley.