Author: levinson.paul@gmail.com

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Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 123, in which the formidable Captain Phil (on WUSB Radio) again interviews me about my new music, latest science fiction, and Donald Trump. But this time, there’s my brand new album of science fiction related songs, Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time (now releasing by Old Bear Records), to talk about.  And we’re right in the middle of the impeachment trial of Donald Trump (author Bill McNulty joins us for the first part of this discussion).  Phil also plays, at the start and end of the episode, two songs from Welcome Up.

Helpful links:

• a taste of Welcome Up on YouTube
• lyrics to all the songs on Welcome Up
• free digital complete album on Bandcamp
• advance order multi-color limited pressing vinyl (100 copies) from Light In the Attic Records
• CDs

Check out this episode!

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Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 122, in which I play for you the entire interview, along with the music, which Patrick Rands did with me the other day (January 21, 2020) on his show Abstract Terrain on WZBC Radio out of Boston (Newton, MA, to be more exact).  You may recall that Patrick interviewed me in 2005 about Twice Upon A Rhyme and all the other music I had out in various corners of the world back then.  That interview became episode 79 on Light On Light Through in 2010.  The new interview spotlights my new album Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time, being released right now on digital. vinyl, and CD by Old Bear Records (see links below; limited vinyl being distributed by Light In the Attic).  Patrick also plays some lesser known songs from Twice Upon A Rhyme, and all kinds of demos and singles of my music over the years he’s dug up in his inimitable way.   Enjoy — and here’s the playlist if you want to follow along:

1.  “Samantha”  Paul Levinson (words & music by Paul Levinson, 2018) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020

2. “Alpha Centauri” Paul Levinson (words by Paul Levinson, music by Peter Rosenthal, 2000) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020

3. “Alpha Centauri” Peter Rosenthal (words by Paul Levinson, music by Peter Rosenthal, 2000) studio demo

4. “Picture Postcard World” Paul Levinson (words & music by Paul Levinson, 1968) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020

5. “Picture Postcard World” The Definitive Rock Chorale (words & music by Paul Levinson, 1968) single released on Decca Records, 1968

6. “If I Traveled to the Past” Paul Levinson (words by Paul Levinson, music by John Anealio, 2010) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020

7.  “Welcome Up” Paul Levinson (words & music by Paul Levinson, 2018) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020

8. “Tau Ceti” Paul Levinson (words by Paul Levinson, music by John Anealio, 2010) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020

9. “Cloudy Sunday” Paul Levinson (words by Paul Levinson, music by Linda Kaplan, 1968) from Welcome Up, Old Bear Records, 2020

10. “Cloudy Sunday” Linda Kaplan (words by Paul Levinson, music by Linda Kaplan, 1968) studio demo

11. “Antique Shop (The Coming of Winter)” Paul Levinson (words by Paul Levinson, music by Peter Rosenthal, 1968) from Twice Upon A Rhyme, HappySad Records, 1972

12. “I’m Seeing You in a Different Light” Paul Levinson (words by Paul Levinson, music by Ed Fox, 1969 ) from Twice Upon A Rhyme, HappySad Records, 1972

13. “Ring Around My Rosie”  Protozoa (words & music by David Fox, 1968), single released on Buddah Records (produced by Paul Levinson, Herb Abramson, and Ed Fox), 1968

14. “My Pink Hippopotamus” Protozoa (words & music by David Fox, 1968), single released on Buddah Records (produced by Paul Levinson, Herb Abramson, and Ed Fox), 1968

15. “Merri Goes Round”  Sundial Symphony (= Don Frankel & Robbie Rist) (words by Paul Levinson, music by Ed Fox, 1969), single released on Big Stir Records, 2019

16.  “Merri Goes Round”  Trousers (words by Paul Levinson, music by Ed Fox, 1969), single released on HappySad Records, 1969 and on Wizdom Records, 1969

17.  “Hung Up On Love”  The Other Voices (aka The New Outlook: Paul Levinson, Stu Nitekman, Ira Margolis) (words by Paul Levinson, music by Mikie Harris, 1968), single released on Atlantic Records, 1969

18.  “Unbelievable (Inconceivable You)” The Vogues (words & music by Paul Levinson, 1968), unreleased single on Reprise Records.

19.  “Park at Night” Paul Levinson & Paul Gorman (words by Paul Levinson, music by Paul Gorman, 1963) studio demo

20.  “Sunshine’s Mine” The New Outlook (aka The Other Voices: Paul Levinson, Stu Nitekman, Ira Margolis) (words by Paul Levinson, music by Stu Nitekman, 1969) studio demo, 1966 (on Spun Dreams album, HappySad Records, 2010)

21.  “Pictures on the Phone” Paul Levinson (words & music by Paul Levinson, 2020) home demo

Where to get most of this music:

Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time: digital, vinyl, CD

Twice Upon A Rhyme: digital, original 1972 vinyl

Where to see the lyrics to most of these songs:

for Welcome Up (scroll down); for  Twice Upon A Rhyme 

• join my music mailing list
  
• Patrick’s 2005 interview with me, with music

Check out this episode!

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Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 121, in which I review all three seasons of The Crown. I thought they were superb.  If you’d like to read along, you can find links to my written reviews below, but I always put a little extra into the podcast.

Links to my written reviews of The Crown:  Season 1, Season 2, Season 3.

And here’s a link to Touching the Face of the Cosmos: On the Intersection of Space Travel and Religion, mentioned in the podcast.

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Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 120, in which I review The Irishman. I thought it was fabulous, perhaps Scorsese’s best.  If you’d like to read along, you can find my written review here, but I always put something extra into the podcast.

 

 

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Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 119, in which I review The Man in the High Castle – final Season 4. I thought it was the best season so far, which is high praise indeed, since I thought the first three seasons were outstanding.

You can find my written reviews of all four seasons here – The Man in the High Castle on Amazon (pilot)… The Man in the High Castle 1.2-1.10: Timely Alternate Reality Par Excellence … The Man in the High Castle in Reality — Well, on NYC Subway Cars … The Man in the High Castle 2.1-2.3: My Heimisch Town … The Man in the High Castle 2.4-2.6: Rails and Realities … The Man in the High Castle 2.7-2.10: Alternate Reality to the Rescue, Literally… The Man in the High Castle 3.1: Real People in Alternate History … The Man in the High Castle 3.2-3: Alternate Realities, Frederic Brown, and Rockwells …  The Man in the High Castle 3.4-6: “Tis Death that’s Dead” … The Man in the High Castle 3.7-10: The Metaphysics of Alternate Realities … The Man in the High Castle season 4: Alternate Realities and Alternate Fulfillment

My podcast review of Season 3 is here and Season 2 is here and the Season 1 pilot is here.

And here are my books and my videos.

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Welcome to Episode 118 of Llght On Light Through, a special video podcast of a reading I did of The Silk Code in May 1999 for the legendary Seeing Eye Theatre, months before the novel was published by Tor Books. The reading was audio only, and took place in a hotel in Pittsburgh, PA, where the Science Fiction Writers of America’s yearly Nebula convention was being held (I was President of SFWA back then). I put all kinds of images in this video, ranging from a reading I did later that year at the equally legendary Toadstool Bookshop in New Hampshire (pictured in the above image), to some photos of Rita Ora’s Tezenis commercial, where The Silk Code was employed. The reading is from the beginning of the third section of The Silk Code, “The Subatomic Symptom”. The novel would go on to win the Locus Award for Best First Science Fiction novel of 1999.

 

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Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 117, in which the notorious Captain Phil (on WUSB Radio) interviews me about my new music, latest science fiction, and Donald Trump’s current assaults on democracy.  Phil also plays, at the start of the episode, two rough mixes from my forthcoming Welcome Up album of science fiction songs, to be released by Old Bear Records this Fall: “Alpha Centauri” and “Samantha”.  We discuss such topics as the return of Jeff Lynne and the re-launch of Amazing Stories, in which several of my new science fiction stories have appeared. I always have a good time talking to Phil, and this interview was one of the best.

Helpful links:

1. Robinson Calculator
2. more on anniversary issue of Amazing Stories
3. my review of Jeff Lynne at Prudential in Newark
4. my review of The Loudest Voice
5. Levinson on television about Trump

Check out this episode!

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Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 116, audio of my appearance on Fox Nation, in which I (a progressive) and three conservatives talk about Donald Trump and the media.  You can see the video here, and more about my book, Fake News in Real Context, here.

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Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 115 – a 2019 New Year’s special – in which Captain Phil (on WUSB Radio) interviews me about my music, views of Donald Trump, and NASA’s Ultima Thule fly-by.  Not only that – Phil plays, for the first time on any radio station, three rough mixes from my forthcoming Welcome Up album of science fiction songs, to be released by Old Bear Records this Spring: “Samantha”, “If I Traveled to the Past”, and “Welcome Up”.  I always have a good time talking to Phil, but these 90 minutes were really out of the ball park.

Relevant links:

1. Music from my one other album – Twice Upon a Rhyme (1972) – on Bandcamp, Spotify, and Apple Music.

2. Bill O’Reilly’s interview with me about Catherine Bosley: the video.

3. My review of Alec Nevala-Lee’s Astounding.

4. My best-known book about Trump: Fake News in Real Context

 

Check out this episode!

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Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 114, in which I reflect on the shuttering of The Village Voice this past September, and discuss the crucial role it played in my life as a writer.

The first three articles I ever had published anywhere appeared in The Village Voice in the early 1970s.  You can read them for free at the links below:

1. A Vote for McCartney

2. Murray the K in Nostalgia’s Noose

3. Wolfman Hits the Road, Jack

And speaking of Murray the K, if you remember him (or not) and are interested in his work, you might enjoy this playlist that popped up a few weeks ago on YouTube. 

Check out this episode!