Lisa Loeb

Summary

Joy Podcast Episode Summary: Lisa Loeb with Craig Ferguson

Podcast Information:

• Title: Joy, a Podcast
• Host: Craig Ferguson
• Guest: Lisa Loeb
• Release Date: January 14, 2025

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1. Introduction and Reunion

Craig Ferguson warmly welcomes Lisa Loeb to the podcast, reflecting on their first meeting 30 years ago during his stint on The Drew Carey Show. Craig begins by expressing his admiration for Lisa, stating, “We both look exactly the same as we did when we first met” ([02:58]).

Notable Quote:

• Craig Ferguson [02:58]: “I invite you to do that right now. Join me. My guest today, Lisa Loeb, everybody.”

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2. Early Encounters and Relationships

Craig reminisces about his early career interactions, including his collaboration with Mick Jagger. He shares an anecdote about working on a screenplay project with Mick, which ultimately didn't come to fruition: “I had written two drafts of it, and then I got fired, and the movie never got made” ([04:34]).

Lisa adds her own experiences meeting notable figures like Joe Walsh and Robert De Niro, highlighting the unpredictability of celebrity interactions:

Notable Quote:

• Lisa Loeb [03:43]: “I remember when we met [Joe Walsh], my husband and I, and I said, oh my gosh, this is so cool we get to meet you. And he's like, yeah, right?”

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3. Music Career and Experiences

The conversation delves into Lisa's illustrious music career, including her transition into children's music. She discusses her first children's record, "Big Rock Candy Mountain," co-created with her friend Elizabeth Mitchell: “We decided to make a children's record as my thing that was different” ([28:05]).

Craig shares his own musical journey, mentioning his days playing punk rock and his fondness for live performances alongside legends like David Bowie and Queen.

Notable Quotes:

• Lisa Loeb [28:05]: “There was a lot of music that sounded like 70s soft pop and summer camp songs and grown-up songs that you couldn't tell if they were for grownups or kids.”
• Craig Ferguson [16:28]: “I saw Queen. Oh, before A Night of the Opera. I saw them on the Sheer Heart Attack. I was like a young guy.”

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4. Parenting and Family Life

Both hosts discuss their roles as parents, reflecting on how their children's ages influence their perspectives. Lisa shares humorous anecdotes about her children's music preferences and the challenges of balancing creativity with parental responsibilities:

Notable Quotes:

• Lisa Loeb [09:11]: “I'm trying hard. I'm a human. I'm not just like a mom.”
• Craig Ferguson [09:49]: “My kids are grown up and think I'm an asshole.”

They talk about the evolving dynamics of parenthood and the impact of technology on their children's lives, emphasizing the importance of balancing device use with real-world experiences.

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5. Music Industry Insights

The discussion touches on the pressures artists face in the music industry, particularly regarding live performances and audience expectations. Lisa highlights the tension between playing beloved hits and introducing new material:

Notable Quotes:

• Lisa Loeb [55:00]: “I started making nursery rhymes and alphabet songs and things like that that kids actually wanted to hear.”
• Craig Ferguson [56:26]: “Once I've told it and it's been out there... people know what's coming and that ruins what it is.”

They explore the concept of artistic growth and how maintaining a connection with early success can be both rewarding and challenging.

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6. Personal Growth and Reflections

Both Craig and Lisa reflect on their personal and professional growth over the years. Lisa discusses her venture into writing children's books and the introspection that comes with evolving as an artist:

Notable Quotes:

• Lisa Loeb [27:12]: “I wanted to tell a story through food and eating and food, but I don't know, it's so hard.”
• Craig Ferguson [39:33]: “I feel the same way about actors that I enjoy... I think that the art becomes more important than the artist to me as I get older.”

They also delve into the nostalgia of past experiences and how memories shape their current identities, discussing the challenges of recalling events from their youth accurately.

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7. Future Projects and Closing Thoughts

In wrapping up, Lisa shares her ongoing projects, including recent tours and collaborations with other artists. She expresses excitement about her children's book and her continued passion for creating music that resonates with both children and adults.

Craig encourages Lisa to continue her creative endeavors, wishing her success with her children's book and expressing gratitude for her presence on the show.

Notable Quotes:

• Craig Ferguson [62:34]: “Lisa, it's a delight to see. I'm sorry that it's been so long and very good luck with the children's book.”
• Lisa Loeb [63:11]: “Thank you. I hope it comes out.”

---

Key Takeaways:

• Enduring Friendships: Craig and Lisa highlight the longevity of their professional and personal relationships, despite decades passing.
• Artistic Evolution: Both guests discuss how their careers have evolved, adapting to new roles while staying true to their artistic roots.
• Parenting Insights: The conversation sheds light on the joys and challenges of parenting, especially in balancing personal passions with family life.
• Memories and Nostalgia: Reflecting on past experiences provides a foundation for personal growth and a deeper understanding of their current selves.
• Future Endeavors: Both Craig and Lisa demonstrate a commitment to ongoing creative projects, showcasing their dedication to evolving as artists and individuals.

Overall, the episode offers a heartfelt and insightful dialogue between Craig Ferguson and Lisa Loeb, exploring themes of friendship, artistic growth, parenting, and the enduring impact of memories. Their candid conversation provides listeners with a deeper appreciation of Lisa's journey in the music industry and her dedication to spreading joy through her multifaceted career.

Transcript

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Snakes. Zombies. Sharks, Heights Speaking in public, the list of fears is endless. But while you're clutching your blanket in the dark, wondering if that sound in the hall was actually a footstep, the real danger is in your hand when you're behind the wheel. And while you might think a great white shark is scary, what's really terrifying and even deadly is distracted driving. Eyes forward. Don't drive distracted. Brought to you by NHTSA and the.

[Craig Ferguson]

AD Council the Craig Ferguson Pants on Fire Tour is on sale now. It's a new show, it's new material, but I'm afraid it's still only me, Craig Ferguson on my own, standing on a stage telling comedy words. Come and see me, buy tickets, bring your loved ones, or don't come and see me. Don't buy tickets and don't bring your loved ones. I'm not your dad. You come or don't come, but you should at least know it's happening. And it is. The tour kicks off late September and goes through the end of the year and beyond. Tickets are [e-mail] tour. They're available at thecraigfergussonshow.com tour or at your local outlet in your region. My name is Craig Ferguson. The name of this podcast is Joy. I talk to interesting people about what brings them happiness. My guest today is someone I first met 30 years ago Good Lord. She's very, very talented and very clever and very funny. I always enjoy talking to her, and I always enjoy, enjoy listening to her. And I invite you to do that right now. Join me. My guest today, Lisa Loeb, everybody. Do you know what? I'm very happy about, Lisa, and I'm going to tell you this right now. We both look exactly the same as we did when we first met. Well, you do, actually, which is kind of. I've kind of got a little squiggly around the edges, but you look exactly the same. You're still. Still the youthful songstress that. I don't know if you remember this. We first met when I was doing the Drew Carey Show. Do you remember that? When you were on that.

[Lisa Loeb]

Right. And I got to be a guitar player. I mean, I am one, but I got to play myself. I've been seeing that on Socials lately. Some of the people I forgot were on there, like Slash. Joe Walsh was there.

[Craig Ferguson]

Joe Walsh. And I became pals after that. So cool.

[Lisa Loeb]

I've met him a couple times, but we didn't actually become, like, friends. I remember when we met him, we met him someplace, my husband and I, and I said, oh, my gosh, this is so cool we get to meet you. And he's like, yeah, right? Or he was like, yeah. And we're like, yeah, it is cool to meet you.

[Craig Ferguson]

He's very, very fun. Once I was doing a. I. I got a job doing a. Working on it. It's a long story, but I got a job working. Doing a script with Mick Jagger. And so I had to leave the Drew Carey show and go and be on tour with Rolling Stones for a little bit. And everybody was saying, oh, say, tell Meg I said hi. Tell Meg I said, hi. And then Joe was there, and he said, tell me. I said, hi. And I went, oh, yeah? You actually mean tell me. I said, like. Like, yeah, yeah. I've known him for years.

[Lisa Loeb]

That's so cool. I didn't know you. Did you. What. What happened with the. Did anything happen with the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger thing?

[Craig Ferguson]

Mick had the idea for a screenplay.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

And I had written a movie that he liked. So then he. He go. He hired me to write this movie, and I wrote two drafts of it, and then I. I got fired, and the movie never got made. But that happens.

[Lisa Loeb]

He's taller than I thought. He's taller than I thought.

[Craig Ferguson]

Really? I told you. I always thought he was a teeny.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah, yeah, I know. Exactly. But. But he's taller than, like, I'VE met him once and then I also had a sighting of him. I met him in the studio once. I was visiting. Don was the producer and.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, of course, yeah.

[Lisa Loeb]

And he, he was like. He had been working with Mick Jagger a lot, I guess, or he was in the studio. So he was like, let's go up there. And like we knock on the door, we're like, is he in there? And we're our ears to the door. Although you can't hear anything. Cause it's a really huge studio, you know, with like this stuff of doors. But anyway, we're trying to listen and he was in there. So we opened the door and he was in there with. What's his name from Eurythmics? Dave Stewart. Who he was working with Dave Stuart. Right. And I was trying to be cool. So I first introduced myself to like the guy working at Pro Tools on the computer and the other assistant and then like the third assistant. And I was just going around the room. I wasn't trying to prioritize Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart. But then I got to Mick Jagger and he was, he was. But I'm five two, so everybody seems, you know, taller.

[Craig Ferguson]

Well, see, this is an interesting lesson in perspective because the first time I met Mick Jagger, I met him I had to fly to Istanbul because they were doing the Bridges to Babylon tour. And I met him there. And I was very tired and jet lagged by the time I met him. And he opened his hotel room door and I was so little that I said, oh, you're adorable. And I very much regretted saying that right away. But I'm.

[Lisa Loeb]

And you said it to his face. You said it to his face.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, I said it out loud like I still got the job.

[Lisa Loeb]

But what are we thinking?

[Craig Ferguson]

I don't know. I think sometimes when you meet super famous people and they've been super famous since a long since like you were a kid.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

Then it's hard to compute. Do you know? I mean, like you're super famous, but I'm very comfortable talking with you because I've talked to you lots of different times over the years. And if you meet people who were famous when you were a kid, it's a different thing.

[Lisa Loeb]

I think I did that recently. Who did I talk to? And I walked up to them and I said, gosh, who was it? I have to remember, I said, oh my gosh, you're so cute. Can I squish your face? And it was somebody like, what am I squishing? Like squishing their face with my Hands. Who was that? Yeah, I don't think I did.

[Craig Ferguson]

Robert De Niro. I'm gonna say Robert De Niro.

[Lisa Loeb]

It was De Niro. But you. I also. And I can't remember this. I can't remember if I met you first or if my parents somehow met you first backstage at one of your shows in Dallas. They did. I may have been on your show once and then maybe connected you guys. I don't know. And then I was on your show again. I don't remember.

[Craig Ferguson]

I don't really remember the order. I do remember your parents, because people's parents come and see me to this day. It's a thing. I was doing a meet and greet after a show, like, a couple of weeks ago, and this lady with a very familiar face said to me, do you know my son? My son is an actor. And I went, I know. What's your son's name? And she said, wes. And I looked at her face and went, you're Wes Bentley's mom. She went, yeah, Wes. Have you heard of my son? I went, but she was. It was very lovely. But she really. Wes Bentley really looks like his mom.

[Lisa Loeb]

Oh, my gosh.

[Craig Ferguson]

That's all I'm saying.

[Lisa Loeb]

That's so amazing. It's. You just. You never know who you're going to meet. I'm trying to look to see on my phone who I met, who. I squished their face. And I was like, I can't believe that was, like the first. Oh, I know. It was. It was a music festival. It was this huge music festival. And at the last minute, I was playing there with my band, like, about a couple months ago. And at the last minute, they said, oh, hey, do you want to co host this cooking segment? Right before you play. Play with this TV chef and Jason. Oh, who's the kid from American Pie?

[Craig Ferguson]

This kid, Jason Isaacs. No, I want to say Isaacs.

[Lisa Loeb]

I'll tell you. And I had never met him before. And I was like, oh, I'm terrible with names. That's another really. Oh, Jason Biggs. This guy showing you his name. You know who I mean?

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, I do know who you mean. I know Jason Biggs. And he would be okay with you squishing his feet, that guy? Yes, of course.

[Lisa Loeb]

He doesn't really look like Ben.

[Craig Ferguson]

I didn't know he did cooking segments.

[Lisa Loeb]

He does cooking segments? Yeah. I think he had a cooking something. Something. I don't know. And I had a cooking show on Food Network as well, and it was really fun. It's a very fun Thing to do, to cook on stage.

[Craig Ferguson]

Do you still do that? Do you still do all the cooking stuff?

[Lisa Loeb]

I do. I mean, in real life, I do. I think I do. Although my kids lately, they're like chicken tikka masala again. I'm like, I'm. You know, I'm trying hard. I'm a human. I'm not just like a mom. I'm a human. I'm trying really hard to make food. I think it's pretty good.

[Craig Ferguson]

So funny to me, because I hear you say, you know, you talk to your kids and you're a mom, but to me, you're like, you know, you're 28 years old, and I see you in the Drew Carey show. It's like, I think of myself. I'm like, I'm 42, and my kids are just little. But that's not true anymore. My kids are grown up and think I'm an asshole.

[Lisa Loeb]

You're the worst person ever, right? Yeah. I feel like lately in Los Angeles, I've definitely felt things shifting, and it may be because I'm wearing black sweats a lot. Nice black sweatpants. I always feel like Oprah Winfrey at some point said, don't leave your house looking like. I don't know what. Like, you need to be basically put together. So I'm put together, like, black sweats, sneakers, black T shirt, and a lot of salespeople lately when I'm with my kids are like, mom. Hey, Mom. They call me mom, like at Verizon. Mom.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, Mom.

[Lisa Loeb]

What do you think of that? I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm the mom. I mean, I am. Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

You know, once I was standing with one of my boys at Gelson's.

[Lisa Loeb]

You know, Gelson's right near my house.

[Craig Ferguson]

Right near your house, right.

[Lisa Loeb]

So which one are you at? Which one were you near?

[Craig Ferguson]

Well, that time it was the one just like, on the top, like, at the bottom of Beechwood Canyon.

[Lisa Loeb]

That area, yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

Right. So I'm at the Gelsons, and I was standing with my. My oldest son, who at the time I think was about 15.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

And we were standing there, and I saw this girl look at him as she was going by. And then she just went by. She looked at him and she went by. And I went, oh, my God. Something just happened. Somebody just saw. It wasn't a guy with his kid. She saw a guy with his dad. I wasn't the guy anymore. It was like he was the guy and I was the appendage. And I was like, oh, man, that is a Shift. But it is, you know, it's just. It happens. It's the natural order of things. What is it, your kids now?

[Lisa Loeb]

I was just about to ask you that. My kids are. My daughter just turned 15. She's in ninth grade, and my son is 12. How about you?

[Craig Ferguson]

See, that's. Well, I'm a little further down the line. Well, maybe.

[Lisa Loeb]

I waited a long time.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, I did, too. I did, too. I waited a long time in between. My oldest is 23.

[Lisa Loeb]

Okay.

[Craig Ferguson]

And my youngest is 13.

[Lisa Loeb]

Oh, wow. Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

But Scottish people are like, you know, these big orchids in the jungle that just explode every 10 years? And everything around them gets pregnant. That's what Scottish people do. They. They have sex once every 10 years. They have to go to their home planet, like Spock, and then that's how they mate. So I have. My boys are almost ten years apart. Nine and a half years apart. Wow. Which I think is. It works for them. Like my wife always says, it's like you have a Kirk and a Spock, but you better have the Spock first. Because if you have the Kirk first, you won't have any other kids. You gotta have Spock and then Kirk, and that's what we got.

[Lisa Loeb]

And your wife's a big nerd, so. Your wife's a big nerd. She likes to talk about Star Trek.

[Craig Ferguson]

She's being the blue nerd.

[Lisa Loeb]

We have Star wars wallpaper in our bathroom. That's a different Star show. I don't know. I've got two very unique, different kids. Although when they were younger, my son was on the taller side. And people used to think they were twins, but they're not. And now my daughter is taller than I am, and my son just yesterday stood next to me, and he's a tiny bit taller than I am, I think.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Lisa Loeb]

I knew at some point I was gonna be looking up at them and pointing my finger, saying, it's time for bed. You get to bed.

[Craig Ferguson]

You have to behave yourself. And don't smoke cigarettes.

[Lisa Loeb]

I know. My parents used to say, make sure. My mom would say, make sure you come home at 11, but be real quiet. Cause we're gonna be asleep. I was like, mm, yeah, I'll be home at 11.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, I'll be. I was. I came in at 11, but you guys were asleep.

[Lisa Loeb]

You were sleeping, so you didn't know. Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

Were you a wild kid? You weren't that wild. Were you Crazy kid?

[Lisa Loeb]

I was a wild. I was. I was a. I was a very studious kid. I was a kid who Had a million different things that I loved to do. I was. I was a dancer and an actor and I was a DJ on the radio. And I djed parties and would carry in all these big crates of records. I did a lot of extracurriculars, acting and musical theater. And theater and music, but you weren't a wild kid. But that was when DJs were in Spain though. That was when DJs put records on and then gave out microphones. It was like a sock hop, but in the 80s. And like I'd play like a deep cut from Duran Duran and we'd play like the chauffeur instead of just Hungry like the Wolf, which we danced to with the dance troupe at the boys school. And I was right in the front row and my friends who were in bands with me were right in the front row at this boys school where we were dancing with our dance troupe from the girls school to Hungry like the Wolf wearing leotards and tatters and rags. And I thought, you know what? I can't be in the dance troupe anymore doing these sexy dances at the boys school. This is not. I can't do this.

[Craig Ferguson]

It sounds like a recipe for disaster. Having the girls from the girls school dance for the boys at the boys school.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah, I was just. It was embarrassing. And it was 7:30. I had to stop. I just had to focus on writing music and getting out of that. But I also, you know, I went to Spain one summer between, what was it, sophomore and junior year. I lived in Spain.

[Craig Ferguson]

Whereabouts in Spain?

[Lisa Loeb]

In Cuenca. It was a little town called Cuenca a few hours outside of Madrid. And it had famous museums called Las Casas Colgadas. And we lived with families and we legally drank beer and rode on the back of motorcycles, little scooters and motorcycles.

[Craig Ferguson]

That's a very European thing.

[Lisa Loeb]

It was so European. I was so European. So when I came back from Spain, I was way more European than I had been before I left for Spain. And my friends and I loved to go see bands, play and we would sneak out and, you know, I wasn't getting caught. I wasn't terrible, but I wasn't getting caught either.

[Craig Ferguson]

Well, but you, you grew up in Dallas though, right? So you'd see some pretty big acts coming through there when you were a kid.

[Lisa Loeb]

We saw everybody. We saw. Well, I don't know why I keep thinking. I was thinking Dire Straits, you know, the Police Goes to the Machine tour. We saw. I remember seeing Grace Jones at this place called the Stark Club. And I also remember that Might have been after high school. And then I remember seeing. Oh, gosh, what's the band name? You spin me right round, baby, right.

[Craig Ferguson]

Oh, Dead or Alive.

[Lisa Loeb]

At the same place we went to go see them at the Stark Club, this club that we probably shouldn't have been in. We were probably underage, but we would sneak in and it was the first time I was like, wait, there's no band. He's singing with the microphone and I can hear the music, but there's no musicians. And I realized, like, that is a track. He's singing to a track. But that was fun. But I saw so many bands play. Oh, my gosh, it was amazing. I loved it.

[Craig Ferguson]

I did a lot of that too. When I was a tour there. I saw everybody, man. I saw Bowie on the Low tour. I saw Queen.

[Lisa Loeb]

I saw Queen. Oh, before. Before what?

[Craig Ferguson]

Before A Night of the Opera. I saw them on the Sheer Heart Attack. I was like a young guy. I'm 62 years old. I'm like 100. I'm close years old. I saw, like.

[Lisa Loeb]

I was at. I happened to be studying acting that summer in London at the National Youth Theater of Great Britain, making an American musical. I don't know why the Head is doing an American musical. But anyway, I said, you know, there's this big show coming through called Live Aid and I got a couple friends with me to go on the tube. I'm so British now. And to go get. We bought tickets and we went and we saw. We were there. We saw all of Everybody. Bowie and Thomas Dolby playing with Bowie, which. No, not Thomas Dolby. Yeah, Thomas Dolby played with Bowie on that show, which. I didn't sound right.

[Craig Ferguson]

Was that he. She blinded me with science. That was right.

[Lisa Loeb]

Flat Earth. Yeah. But wait, who else did you see? Who else did you see?

[Craig Ferguson]

I saw the Pistols, I saw the Stranglers, I saw the Damned, I saw the. I mean, like somebody used to come through Glasgow.

[Lisa Loeb]

That's amazing.

[Craig Ferguson]

Frequent with lamming o lemme. Yeah. I saw Hawkwind with Lemmy, when. I think that was my first concert, actually, when I was 13. I saw Hawkwind when they were playing Silver Machine. And they used to have a dancer called Stacia, who was a lady who would dance with her and she would take her top off and we were 13 year old boys and we would see Stacia dancing with her top off. It was.

[Lisa Loeb]

You loved music, you loved going to see music.

[Craig Ferguson]

I loved music. And like all boys of that age, I loved Stacia as well. She was. I don't think that's allowed now. I think that would be frowned upon in modern.

[Lisa Loeb]

Well, it depends on who's doing. It depends on who you maybe. It depends on who decides to do it. You know, if the artist decides, it may be different. I went to go see Billie Eilish last night with my daughter. Oh, yeah? Yeah. It was amazing. It was amazing, actually. I've never seen. And I saw, you know, not to necessarily compare them, but they're too big arena shows. I saw Taylor Swift, a few, you know, in this last eras tour, which was amazing and beautiful and I saw. I've seen Pink and it's amazing and. But the lighting, it was so unique. I had never seen anything like that. It's very intense. But she kept her clothes on for sure.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, I think that that's okay. I mean, I.

[Lisa Loeb]

But if she had decided not to, it probably also would have been okay, but she would have had to decide.

[Craig Ferguson]

I think that's good. Well, I think. I don't know who. Who was deciding for anything. I think a lot of people. When I saw Hawkwind when I was 13, I wasn't. But I think a lot of people were on very powerful narcotics at that point in their lives and their decision making process may have been impaired.

[Lisa Loeb]

The drugs were deciding.

[Craig Ferguson]

The drugs were decided. It's funny that it's a real. I mean, quite seriously though, it's a trap for young musicians, or used to be. It seems to me young musicians now are. Are a little more ambitious and work focused, career focused than they used to be. Is that true, do you think?

[Lisa Loeb]

In some ways I think they are. And I think they understand this concept that they're gonna have many jobs. It used to be. I'm sure it was the same with you, you know, being in entertainment and comedy and acting and writing. You didn't wanna say like, oh, and I'm also. I work at this store or I also created this idea or I also teach or. You know. Now kids do a lot of different things. Like they might be teaching and then they are in their band or they might have a real job and then they also have an entertainment job. And it's not taboo, but I think back in those days you wanted to do one thing or you weren't serious. You know, you were a dilettante.

[Craig Ferguson]

That's right. Yeah. You were a tourist. If you weren't fully committed to it. I don't know, man. It seems such a funny thing because I came up being, you know, I was a drummer, so I always kind of thought that was gonna be my life. I would just be in bands my whole life. And then I would probably die when I was 25, which I think if I'd stayed drumming, that. That's possibly true. But.

[Lisa Loeb]

What kind of music were you playing?

[Craig Ferguson]

I was playing punk rock music.

[Lisa Loeb]

Okay.

[Craig Ferguson]

Which was used.

[Lisa Loeb]

I've heard of that genre.

[Craig Ferguson]

It's a genre that was popular amongst the young folks when I was young. And it was very forgiving of the lifestyle I had at the time. So it fit right into my leisure activities to be amongst punk rock artists. It worked really well for me, but. But I don't think it has any real longevity about it. As I don't know if there are even punk rock bands around, even if they're.

[Lisa Loeb]

But now they're like, really? Yeah. The guys that I know who are in more of the kind of punky bands. It's more of a sound than a lifestyle. It's, you know, it's more of like the emotion and the sound. And some of the guys I know who are in the more punk bands, they are straight edge. They call it Straight Edge. You know, they're super sober, Very pro. Sober. I am not straight edge. I just don't drink very much. I never get around to it and I just am too busy. Every once in a while I keep trying to drink champagne more. And then I'm really tired the next day. Cause I had champagne and that's fabulous.

[Craig Ferguson]

I think that that's good.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah, it's kind of like. It's not. That's always. My friends and I used to make up. When the new year, New year came around. We tried to make some kind of a promise based on a rhyme with the number like. Like in 2020. Well, it wasn't a rhyme, but I was like, in 2020, I'm going to see people in person. Because like, vision. Like 2020. And then that was the year of the COVID So, yeah, like starting in 1994. I remember my friend Amy and I said, more in 94. Which was like, more drinking. And we just never got back around to it yet. That was 30 years ago.

[Craig Ferguson]

2020, 24.

[Lisa Loeb]

I tried it. 2025. Well, 2025.

[Craig Ferguson]

Let me drink until I'm not alive.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah, there you.

[Craig Ferguson]

That might be too much.

[Lisa Loeb]

It's a lot of words, and I don't want to do that.

[Craig Ferguson]

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[Jason Alexander]

I'm Jason Alexander.

[Peter Tilden]

And I'm Peter Tilden. And together on the really Know really.

[Jason Alexander]

Podcast, our mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions, like.

[Peter Tilden]

Why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor.

[Jason Alexander]

We got the answer.

[Peter Tilden]

Will space junk block your cell signal? The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the woolly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunts? His stuntman reveals the answer and you never know who's going to drop by.

[Jason Alexander]

Mr. Bryan Cranston is with us.

[Lisa Loeb]

How are you?

[Peter Tilden]

Hello, my friend Wayne Knight about Jurassic Park.

[Jason Alexander]

Wayne Knight, welcome to really? Not really, Sir.

[Lisa Loeb]

Bless you all.

[Peter Tilden]

Hello Newman. And you never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about judging.

[Lisa Loeb]

Really?

[Craig Ferguson]

That's the opening. Really?

[Jason Alexander]

No really?

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, really?

[Lisa Loeb]

No really.

[Jason Alexander]

Go to reallynoreally.com and register to win.

[Peter Tilden]

500 a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition sign Jason Bobblehead.

[Jason Alexander]

It's called really? No really? And you can find it on the iHeartRadio app on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jon Stewart]

Jon Stewart is back at the Daily show and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondents and contributors and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed, listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Craig Ferguson]

But I remember once I bumped into you, and I think it may have been even in Dallas Airport or maybe Denver or something.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah, that's right. Like, you weren't Denver, maybe, because maybe they had all those great stores like Fudge.

[Craig Ferguson]

I don't remember the Fudge.

[Lisa Loeb]

I don't know. I'm thinking of Denver like that. They've got a really good air airport with, like, bookstores and Fudge. I feel like last time I've been there, the last couple times, they've been doing construction, but maybe that's the Atlanta. Or Atlanta. Was it Atlanta?

[Craig Ferguson]

Was it Atlanta?

[Lisa Loeb]

It was one of the places where you can, like, get stuck there for a while. Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

But I remember because you were walking through looking very romantic and clever, and your guitar was strapped to your back, and I was like, oh, my God, look at that girl. She's so great. She kind of, like, just lives her life, man. And I was so impressed by how you were just, like, traveling from one place and going to another place and living the vagabond life and playing music. I was very jealous. But I'm very impressed at the same time because I think by then I was on your book tour. That's right.

[Lisa Loeb]

You're on your book tour.

[Craig Ferguson]

That's right. I was selling. I was selling a book, which, you know, you got to write books. That's a thing.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah, that's. That's hard to write books. I just wrote a book, but it's not a long. It's a children's book, but I'm waiting to hear back from a publisher.

[Craig Ferguson]

You got into that a little bit with the music as well, though. Haven't you been doing, like, the recent.

[Lisa Loeb]

Thing with 20 years or more? I have been making children's music. I can't believe it. I know. Somebody said she just got into children's music. It was in some Billboard thing. And I was like, well, it was cool to be in the company of John Legend, who just made a children's record. A really beautiful children. Great children's record. But I was like, I think I've been doing this for 20 years now. Let me see.

[Craig Ferguson]

You were doing it before you had your own kids?

[Lisa Loeb]

Oh, way before. I didn't even know about kids. I didn't. I wasn't really. It was. Oh, my gosh, 21 years ago, I put out that record, the first kids record. I was asked by Barnes and Noble. It was like a cool opportunity, like a neat business thing. They said, will you do a record that's different from your regular records and we'll sell it exclusively at Barnes and Noble. And I thought that was great. You know, it's hard to sell things and have people know about them. And I thought that was great. I love books, bookstores. And so I made. We ended up deciding to make a children's record as my thing that was different. And really it was because I am a nostalgic person and I liked my childhood and I wanted to sort of live inside that world and make music like the kind of things we listen to or I listened to when I was little. There was a lot of music that sounded like 70s soft pop and summer camp songs and grown up songs that you couldn't tell if they were for grownups or kids, you know, like the, like I'd watch this TV show, Fernwood Tonight or the Sonny and Cher show. Things that were like funny and whimsical and weird and the old Sesame Street. I wanted to make stuff like that. So I started making kids records and I had kids.

[Craig Ferguson]

You mean that really great version of Big Rock Candy?

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah, that's my friend Liz. Like that was my first kid's record. So my friend Liz, that was great. Elizabeth Mitchell, she was my freshman roommate. We had a band together for six years in college. Like a regular band. We had a band in college and beyond. And then we went our separate directions and she was in a. She is in like an indie rock band. Her husband was in a punk band. And she also made kids music. Very well known kids music. And she's so good at it. And I asked if she would make this record with me. So we made that first record together and she, she, you know, we did it at their studio. And she's so good at making songs like that. So that was the first kids record. But I had no, that's a.

[Craig Ferguson]

But that's a weird song. Big Rock Candy Mountain. Because I always think that's laced with such terrible sadness and weirdness about it, you know, because it's like a hobo kind of, you know, hopeful song. But it's going to be all right. Don't worry, you know, it's not.

[Lisa Loeb]

Somebody's dog is going to die. Yeah, the fire will go out. But it's so sad. I love that. Really longing sad, you know. Yeah, it's the dream in the sky, like right before the person dies.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah. Have you ever been to Scandinavia?

[Lisa Loeb]

Yes.

[Craig Ferguson]

Have you been to Stockholm?

[Lisa Loeb]

Yes, I have.

[Craig Ferguson]

Have you been to the Children's Museum in Stockholm?

[Lisa Loeb]

No, I have to go back. I went to go see the Titanic, the movie, and I came out. I hadn't seen it. I saw it like two years after it came out in Stockholm, and we came out at like 11 at night, and it was still light out.

[Craig Ferguson]

Still light, yeah.

[Lisa Loeb]

Wait.

[Craig Ferguson]

The Children's Museum in Stockholm is one of the saddest places I have ever been in my life. It is so, so traumatizing. They have a children's story in Sweden. I don't even want to talk about how sad it is, but it's basically about a couple of brothers who starved to death and how it's just dreadful. But they're very fond of it in Sweden and they've got a little train that takes you around. All the puppets, as I was going, oh, there's puppets and little things. And then you go around and then at the end of it, everybody's dead. You're like, what hell is this, you people? And then you talk to Swedish people like, oh, yeah, it's very beautiful museum. Like, what's wrong with you people? Everybody's dead. They're like, yes, it's sad, but, you know, this is life.

[Lisa Loeb]

I think about Sweden a lot because that was the first place I was. We stayed at a hotel called the Liedmar Hotel a couple of times. And it was very. It was very Scandinavian. It was like, you know, being at ikea, they do that, like, a long time ago. And I remember I was like, you know what I liked? They had the king size bed, but with two separate coverlets, two separate comforters, so you can have your own covers, your own space. Your own space in a king size bed. I love that.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, I think that's because they're nude a lot.

[Lisa Loeb]

Oh, yeah. They go into snow nude and then they do long distance. That skiing. They were going to take me cross country skiing. They promised me blueberry soup. I never got it.

[Craig Ferguson]

Well, you know, probably for the best. I think that's what the people died of in the museum. They died of blueberry soup poisoning. But they have marvelous thighs. So because of their. Because of their cross country skating.

[Lisa Loeb]

And I felt short. I was short. All the women there that I knew were very tall and the men were shorter.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, that is true over there.

[Lisa Loeb]

But handsome.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, yeah. Short, handsome men who, you know, if they make it through childhood, live to a ripe old age with nice thighs. Yeah, Beautiful Thighs.

[Lisa Loeb]

I heard that on the Today show. It's all about the thigh meat. That's what they said on the Today show one summer. The shorts were getting shorter for men and the guy, the stylist was like, it's all about of thigh meat this year. I was like, I don't know.

[Craig Ferguson]

I can't believe that a person would say that.

[Lisa Loeb]

I know, it's awesome. Unlike the Today show. It was good.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah. I feel like that's an unusual choice of words to describe a human's legs, but. Well, you know what? Thymy is fine. I work on my own Thymie. But did you, when you had your own kids or did it change the kids music for you? Did you? Because.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yes, you know.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, I thought it might.

[Lisa Loeb]

It changed a lot. It changed so much because I started off writing. I made a few. A handful of records. I made the record with Liz, which had a lot of songs like Big Rock, Candy Mountain and some original songs. And then I wasn't sure if I was making more kids music, but I just, I was getting a lot of people asking me, what's your next kids record? And I made a summer camp songs record called Camp Lisa, which also inspired a kids musical, an off Broadway show. And I loved summer camp. And we wrote all these songs like the Disappointing Pancake that was inspired by on top of Spaghetti, a long inanimate food object adventure song. All these songs and I love them so much. And they had all these words. And then I made songs for Movin and Shakin, which was also a book, and Silly Songs, which was also a book. And then I actually had kids who were old enough to talk. And I started playing more kids concerts and it turned out kids don't really want to hear a lot of songs with a lot of words that they don't know. I was filling in the set with songs like the ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and they were like grown up. They were kind of like, ah, finally something I know. Like, finally something I can listen to and sing along to. Like, ugh. All those other songs you're playing, they're just getting. So I made like Alphabet. Like I started making nursery rhymes and. And Alphabet songs and things like that that kids actually wanted to hear. And then I decided to do what I wanted.

[Craig Ferguson]

I did that with my kids. When they Might Be Giants. Did those kids album super cool. Which were. Yeah, my kids listen to your stuff and they listen to they Might Be Giants because I wouldn't let them listen to like regular.

[Lisa Loeb]

Really? Oh, yeah, yeah. The plinkety plunk. Yeah. You listen to the real music. Yeah. Unless it's on. Unless it's, like, hilariously on purpose. But, yeah, my kids listened to. You know, they loved. My son would cry. It's either my son or my daughter would cry if I didn't play them. September by Earth, Wind and Fire. If I changed the station, they're like, put it back on. You know, they wanted to hear real music.

[Craig Ferguson]

My youngest was like that about atmospheres by Joy Division. Yeah.

[Lisa Loeb]

They want to hear Don't Walk Away.

[Craig Ferguson]

Again.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah. You're like, really? Okay. And also, if you could turn back time to the Good doll, Who's that? When Mama sang It's they Loved and Foo Fighters and, you know.

[Craig Ferguson]

All right. I thought you were saying if I could turn back time.

[Lisa Loeb]

I'm listening to Cher's autobiography right now. It's so good.

[Craig Ferguson]

Did she read her own autobiography?

[Lisa Loeb]

She does the intro and says, I'm not gonna read this. I've got. She had dyslexia. She said, I'm not gonna. I can't do a Cher voice. But she said she wasn't gonna read it. And she has other people. And then I'm a little confused because one of the people who's reading it has a very slow reading of her book. So I speed it up. Cause I'm like. I can't wait for the pauses. And the other person is either Cher or what I thought it was was the woman who played Cher in the movie who sounds like Cher. Remember, there was like, a Cher biopic at some point a long time ago. And this woman sounds like Cher or it is Cher. And I was confused. I thought Cher said she wasn't going to read it herself.

[Craig Ferguson]

Well, you know, that's the thing about Cher, though. She. I mean, she zigs when we zag. She may have said, I'm not going to read it. And then she is going to read it. But she's Cher. She can do what she wants. You ever met Cher?

[Lisa Loeb]

I have, and I cried. I met both two of my childhood people that I loved so much. My childhood music heroes. I met Cher and Olivia Newton John the same day at a music festival. And I just. The tear. Like, I have a tear in my eye. I was. I can't believe it. I couldn't believe it. Cher was so cool. She had such crazy outfits. And she did a cover of Jimi Hendrix. Hey, Joe. And her outfits. When I was a kid, oh, we dressed our Barbies up as Sonny and Cher, especially Cherry and Olivia Newton John.

[Craig Ferguson]

It's so funny because these.

[Lisa Loeb]

Have you met her before? Have you spoken to her?

[Craig Ferguson]

Who, Cher? Yeah, yeah, I met Cher once, years and years ago. I was doing this dumb music show in the UK and I was hosting it and for some reason she agreed to do this little sit down interview thing. I could barely speak because, you know, I'd never. Before I did late night. By the time I did late night, I was so jaded that met everybody, it didn't matter, but. But this was. I was like. I think it was like 27 or something. And I met Cher and she was, she was very, very kind. That's the only thing I remember that she was like, she was helpful and I think, I think it was because I was so non threatening as an individual. She was very kind and very patient and helped the interview happen. But I don't know where that interview is now or what it is, but she was. I just remember her being really lovely and gracious.

[Lisa Loeb]

What was that like though, in the 90s? Like that was in the 90s, right? Or late 80s. 90s.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah. Yeah. So it would be early 90s.

[Lisa Loeb]

In the 90s, I felt like there was a lot of coolness from the journalists and the TV people, you know, trying to be cool, like cool music people. That's true.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Lisa Loeb]

So how, how did that feel from your end, being a, an interviewer back then? Like, I feel like when you were a late night talk show host, you have a sense of humor and you can kind of nudge people and. Because you have a funny sense of humor, but. And you can joke around with them and give them a hard time, but it's kind, you know, it's kind. You're doing it to be kind and funny.

[Craig Ferguson]

Right.

[Lisa Loeb]

But back then when you're interviewing people and you're a music person, were you trying to be cool? Like, how did that work? Especially when you meet somebody that you're a fan of, like trying to be cool but also doing your job, but also trying not to be too into anything. Cause you're cool. Like, how did that feel?

[Craig Ferguson]

It's a. It's a youth thing. It's funny. I talked to, you know, the film critic A.O. scott at the New York Times. So I was talking to him about that because he used to say when he was young, if he saw a bad movie when he was young, he would take it as a personal affront. Like he would get so angry if he saw a bad movie. And he looks back on it now and thinks, what the hell was wrong with me? And I feel a Little bit like that about my attitude back then, when I was, when I was younger, that I thought I was so, I don't know, important or, or I, I was very. It's not that I was aggressive with anyone, because I wasn't. But I, I, I think I thought I was cooler than everybody else. And then I think by the time you get to about mid-30s, you realize you're nowhere near as cool as many of the people you talk to. And then when you, by the time you have your own children, you realize you don't feel cool at all.

[Lisa Loeb]

And then after that, you're just like, you don't care. It's, you just don't. It's not, it's not a concern. It's not on your mind.

[Craig Ferguson]

It really isn't. It kind of becomes something else. I think it becomes about. I have a very good friend who has a similar art and a similar job to you. Do you know Katie Tunstall?

[Lisa Loeb]

Oh, yeah. She's great, right?

[Craig Ferguson]

So Katie and I are very good friends. And I watch Katie sometimes play and I just love to watch her. I just love to watch her, like, lose herself in the thing. And I feel the same way about actors that I enjoy, or actors and musicians or even, or comedians or painters, even if you look at a painting and you can kind of forget about who's doing it and just enjoy what it is, I think that's fabulous. I think that the art becomes more important than the artist to me as I get older. It's like I just. The actual, the sensation of it, particularly now as well, if it's live. Oh, yeah, I'm very analog friendly now. I don't, I keep saying to my kids, put the phone down, put the phone down, put the phone down. Because let's. You allow your memory to remember it rather than the phone.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

You know, why would you trust your. The phone will remember it properly? But that's not the best way to remember things sometimes. Maybe it's better to remember them through the haze of, you know, something else, like actual human memory, rather than.

[Lisa Loeb]

I need a little bit of both, though, because, like, I've been recently going through all my old photo albums and finally starting to have them digitized, you know, so that I can easily also now, because with social media and connecting with fans, it's a fun and easy way to, you know, have things to talk about and share memories. It's fun to say, like, oh, my gosh, I met Cher. Look at this picture. This is so cool. But at the, and like, Last night at the Billie Eilish concert, it was stunning. Visually, it was stunning. And also her voice and the music, even they had so much bass in some of the songs. You could feel your body rattling in this big arena, you know, And a lot of people have their phones out to try to capture the pictures. And on one hand, I wanted to capture it. Then I was like, why? I did exactly what you said. I just sat and I just took it in. But here. But finally, at one point, I did take a picture because it was sweet. She brought her brother Finneas up for a couple of songs and it was just so sweet. Like, the two siblings and the mom I know was sitting across the arena and I was like, this is so sweet. I wanna remember at all that I was there. Cause I will go through my phone and find photos. I'm like, oh, my gosh, that's right. That happened.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, that's true. You're right.

[Lisa Loeb]

But you're right, also, I spend the majority of my time either stressed about my kids being on devices, or I get. There's a million things that are interesting on the phone. But also I'm like, I am. I am letting their brains rot. Like, I'm not what's going on. They need to sit and they need to stand in line and, like, at the post office for a while or, you know, one of those things.

[Jason Alexander]

I'm Jason Alexander.

[Peter Tilden]

And I'm Peter Tilden. And together on the ReallyNoReally podcast, our.

[Jason Alexander]

Mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions, like why they.

[Peter Tilden]

Refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor.

[Jason Alexander]

We got the answer.

[Peter Tilden]

Will space junk block your cell signal? The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the woolly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunts? His stuntman reveals the answer. And you never know who's going to drop by.

[Jason Alexander]

Mr. Bryan Cranston is with us.

[Peter Tilden]

How are you? Hello, my friend, Wayne Knight. About Jurassic Park.

[Jason Alexander]

Wayne Knight, welcome to really. No, really, sir.

[Lisa Loeb]

Bless you all.

[Peter Tilden]

Hello, Newman. And you never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about judging.

[Lisa Loeb]

Really?

[Craig Ferguson]

That's the opening.

[Lisa Loeb]

Really?

[Craig Ferguson]

No. Really?

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

Really?

[Lisa Loeb]

No, really.

[Jason Alexander]

Go to reallynoreally.com and register to win.

[Peter Tilden]

$500, a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition sign. Jason Bobblehead.

[Jason Alexander]

It's called really no, really. And you can find it on the iHeartRadio app on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jon Stewart]

Jon Stewart is back at the Daily show, and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports, and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondence and contributors, and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Craig Ferguson]

The forces shaping markets and the economy are often hiding behind a blur of numbers.

[Lisa Loeb]

So that's why we created the Big Take from Bloomberg Podcasts to give you the context you need to make sense of it all.

[Unknown]

Every day in just 15 minutes, we.

[Craig Ferguson]

Dive into one global business story that matters.

[Lisa Loeb]

You'll hear from Bloomberg journalists like Matt Levine.

[Jon Stewart]

A lot of this Meme stock stuff.

[Lisa Loeb]

Is, I think, embarrassing to the sec. Amanda Maul, who writes our Business Week Buying Power column.

[Unknown]

Very few companies who go viral are, like, totally prepared for what that means.

[Lisa Loeb]

And Zoe Tillman, senior legal reporter.

[Unknown]

Courts are not supposed to decide elections. Courts are not really supposed to play a big role in choosing our elected leaders.

[Lisa Loeb]

It's for the voters to decide.

[Craig Ferguson]

Follow the Big Take podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. It's funny, though. I mean, I think one of the weird things about being the parent of children that are getting older is you start to worry about someone else's use of phones or someone else's drug intake or someone else's alcohol use. It's like I've worried about my own, you know, kind of adult behavior since. Since I was a kid. But now you have to worry about, you know, you know, everything has fentanyl in it.

[Lisa Loeb]

Oh, well, that's really scary.

[Craig Ferguson]

Oh, my God.

[Lisa Loeb]

Do you remember when you were a kid? That's the other thing that's strange is like seeing, you know, my daughter get to an age that I remember. I was a person. When I was 14, 15, I was a person. And I'm still really good friends with my friends from that age group. Like, we're still really, really good friends. So if I don't remember something, my friend will tell me. Like, we still remember conversations we had when we were 14, 15, 16. Do you remember yourself when you were that age? Like, do you remember being.

[Craig Ferguson]

I do. I do. I mean, I don't remember it very fondly. It wasn't the happiest time of my life, my early adult life, was not something I look back on with a particular affection.

[Lisa Loeb]

I read your book.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, you did?

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah, I did. Now that I'm thinking about it, I did read it. Of course I did. I'm going to read it again. Did you read it? Can I get it on Audible?

[Craig Ferguson]

I did read it in the. So now I'm going to listen to.

[Lisa Loeb]

You tell me it again.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah. Did you read your book?

[Lisa Loeb]

My book. My book is not out yet. I've got two books that are just.

[Craig Ferguson]

Are you going to read it?

[Lisa Loeb]

It's short. Hopefully it'll be out and I don't even know if it'll be. It's a kid's book, so it'll be short. But.

[Craig Ferguson]

Will you write an autobiography?

[Lisa Loeb]

I don't know. I was thinking about it at some point, but I'm so private. I don't, you know, and I've got siblings, they don't. I don't need to tell their stories. But at one point I was thinking of telling a story through food and eating and food, but I don't know, it's so hard.

[Craig Ferguson]

That's a pretty nice. That's a nice way of doing it because people connect and remember things like that a good way. Like if I was doing the autobiography now, I look back on it, weirdly enough. I kind of looked at it fairly recently, the one I wrote when we met on the book tour, which is about 10 years ago, or something more. And I looked at it recently. Someone had brought it to a show for me to sign, and I kind of looked at a couple of pages and I was like, I don't know if I would put it like that now. I don't know if I would be quite so unguarded about that now because, I don't know, I feel like information, you have to be a little more careful about it now. You feel it can be, you know, I don't know. I just don't. Especially about other people. I wouldn't talk about other people as much. I think that's unfair, you know, I.

[Lisa Loeb]

Know I wanted to do a TV show or even. Well, I guess it would be perfect for a YouTube thing. I had the idea before YouTube was really a thing, but I meet so many really interesting musicians who are in other people's bands, you know, who play in these amazing bands, and I thought, oh, it'd be so cool to have these guys, you know, talk to them and talk to them about their experiences and just. They have crazy stories. But then I was like, but they're not exactly their stories to tell, you know. But I don't know, I don't know how that works. Like, I was reading Barbra Streisand's book. I was listening to it. I've listened to about, I don't know, 15 hours of it. It's like a 40 hour book. And then I realized she was going so in depth on all the movies that she directed or that she had been a part of. And I realized I needed to go back and watch some of those movies. If she's gonna go, you know, go that in depth. I wanna be able to know what she's talking about and also not have a spoiler. But anyway, she talks about people, a lot of people, and she's like completely honest. Also. Henry Winkler, I just read his autobiography.

[Craig Ferguson]

Oh, he's the greatest.

[Lisa Loeb]

And I listened to him. I listened to him. I met him once. I was very excited about that.

[Craig Ferguson]

Oh, he's the nicest, nicest man. He is. What a diamond. I mean, people still say to Henry, you know, hey, Fonzie. Which is like 50 years ago. And he'll still, he'll still go, hey, and be nice.

[Lisa Loeb]

But to hear him tell that story about his. I didn't know he was at Juilliard. Trained actor, you know, I didn't, I just liked him. And you know, he was this guy from Fonzie, he was Fonzie days. But, but yeah, to watch his career, to hear about his ups and downs and, and, and for him to still have that kindness, but still have an edge. He has an edge. Not like an edgy guy, like he's not going to be mean to you on an airplane. But like he's smart though.

[Craig Ferguson]

He's very smart and very, very quick mind and a lovely man. He. I remember when we had to send something over to his house when we were doing late night. We had to send some form over to his house for some firm to sign. And we sent a PA over and the PA came back after he'd be over and he said, Winkler gave me a sandwich. He said he got to the house and his family were all having sandwiches. And he said, come on in, have a sandwich. And they gave this kid a sandwich and it was nice to him. And it's always kind of stuck with me. He's like, there's absolutely nothing in it for Henry Winkler to give a PA a sandwich. But they had some sandwiches and they were nice. But I just know it just seemed very nice.

[Lisa Loeb]

I love that.

[Craig Ferguson]

I'VE always liked Henry. I always thought he was such a lovely man. But you raise an interesting point with Henry because Henry had a very specific, huge entry into his career.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yes.

[Craig Ferguson]

When. When he did the Fonzie. And you had. That must be 30 years.

[Lisa Loeb]

It was 30 years ago. Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

You kidding me? Since that song. Really?

[Lisa Loeb]

1994.

[Craig Ferguson]

Wow.

[Lisa Loeb]

I know it's crazy, but it was.

[Craig Ferguson]

A huge kind of. It must have been a huge gear shift for you for being, you know, you're a young girl at that time, but a young woman. You're like early mid-20s and then suddenly 24, 25.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah, it was. You know, it didn't feel. On one hand, it felt like a big change because it was. I mean, having a song on the radio, you hear your, you know, hearing your music come through the radio with those DJs, you know, with the compression on their voice, like Lisa Lowe, blah, blah, blah. And also being in the context of other people, you think of as being pop stars, you know, Mariah Carey. And. I don't know, I always think I'm Mariah Carey. And I was a singer, songwriter in New York with a band, and we'd play, but I don't know if you had the same thing, but I had been working on it for so long, I felt like I'd been writing songs since I was a little kid. I'd been writing real songs since I was in eighth grade or ninth grade. And then I started writing on guitar and I'd play my songs in assembly. And then my friend and I had that band in college, my friend Liz Mitchell, and we had a great following and we recorded our music, and there were some record companies getting interested in college. And so it was like step by step by step, you know, going along to get to the place where the song ended up on the radio. In retrospect, it was a huge thing in retrospect, like the fact that Ethan Hawke, you know, passed the song along and they actually put it in the movie. You know, that's rare when things actually happen.

[Craig Ferguson]

I know.

[Lisa Loeb]

And then it actually got played on the radio, and then we actually made a music video and it actually became popular, and it's amazing.

[Craig Ferguson]

Do you still enjoy playing it?

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah, I do. I mean, there's a lot of other songs like that. It's funny, I went on tour. I did a few weeks with Lyle Lovett recently, like in May.

[Craig Ferguson]

Right.

[Lisa Loeb]

And we did the thing where we both sit on stage and we talk and we hang out and then we play music. Kind of like if we Both just took a guitar out and started playing a song.

[Craig Ferguson]

Right.

[Lisa Loeb]

But one of the shows, and you never had a set list. He'd play a song and talk, and we'd talk, and I'd play a song, and I had a list of songs that I wanted to remember to play, because I'll just forget songs. I don't know. I need some reminders. I got a call from the promoter the next day saying that they were disappointed I hadn't played my song Stay. I played, like, nine songs that night. I totally forgot. Like, there's so many other songs that I could play. But I do love playing it because people want to hear it. You know, I don't dislike it. I like it. And it definitely is a regular kind of one of my songs. It's not. Some people get hit songs that are really outside of what they want to play, and they're like, oh, I can't believe I have to play that song. I don't mind playing it. I like it. And because now it has so much history attached to it, and people have a really nostalgic feeling about it, I enjoy playing it. That's really. It's amazing to be in that circle of me singing, a ton of people singing with me on that song, but it's not, like, my favorite song to sing. But I'm also happy to do it.

[Craig Ferguson]

I think, also, though, it's a sign of maturity in an artist when you make peace with early success. I remember circling back to what I told you when I worked with Mike Jagger years ago. But, you know, they were singing, you know, Sympathy from the Devil and Satisfaction, and these songs were, you know, 30 years old at that point, you know, and. And I said, do you ever get sick of playing them? And he went, now, because you. When. When you go out, it, like, it. It's magical. It's. I'm. I'm happy that it. That it has become part of, you know, everything we did. And I kind of love that. He said, but there was a time when I didn't want to sing it. And I think that you feel like you have to escape who you were before so that you don't get caught.

[Lisa Loeb]

Right.

[Craig Ferguson]

But I think that then you realize you're not caught. It's just who you were then. And who you were then is part of who you are now.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah. You have to do it all, basically, because you have to feed your own soul and feed yourself, of course. It's funny, I was talking to. I was at this event yesterday for an organization called Best Buddies and Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue was there. We were talking, of course.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Lisa Loeb]

And I was like, oh, I gotta get back together with this guy. Like, we really. I had met him before, but we had a really nice conversation. And part of it was about this kind of thing, you know, about writing music and how hard it is and how writing songs and lyrics and music, it's so hard, but we still love doing it and continuing to try to get better at it, but. And how funny it is how much pressure you put on yourself to write new songs. But when you go play these concerts, people just want to hear what they know. Even as musicians ourselves, we're like, oh, no, don't play a new song. Oh God. People are getting. You're most excited as a musician to play those songs and then the audience is going to get beer. And so you have to be really tricky the way you put the songs in. And on one hand it's kind of like, like a backup plan. Like, worst case scenario, I play all the songs that people already know, even though it's like from 25, 30 years ago, or even some of the songs I wrote in the 80s and I put them on my records and people still want to hear them. And that's, that's fine. I want to know. I, I'm the same way with a lot of my favorite artists. So I just, I appreciate that. Sure. But then also you're like, but I also want to play some of these new songs and hopefully you'll like them too.

[Craig Ferguson]

But you know, it's an interesting. Because it's kind of the polar opposite of what you experience as a stand up comed. But he's like, I really, I really wish I could do that joke again. Cause now I could do it much better. And I know how to.

[Lisa Loeb]

Like, I have a question about that. Well now, especially with cell phones, it's such a drag. Like again, talking about Lyle Levitt. I opened for him 25 years ago and I saw him tell these stories and I realized what a craft that was. And it's. And I had this thing in my head, like, I can never say the same thing. I can never set up a song the same way. Everything always has to be different. And I remember Duisal Zappa would say, you know, his dad never played the same show and all the solos were different. And I thought, you know, I don't solo in my music. I just play songs. But my soloing is my talking, like my banter. And it's not gonna be different. But Then I started realizing to create a story is so fun, but then when you see the same people right in the audience and you finally figured out how to ride the audience and the, the waves of the story and embellish it or whatever, and there's the same people right in front, or they videotape it, you're like, how do you deal with that as a comedian? I think you can tell. People want to hear that story. They want to hear that.

[Craig Ferguson]

You can tell this. I feel like you can tell the same story until it's been televised, until it's on a special, or until it's, until it's on the Internet, then you can't do it again. And that, that's what I, that's my personal belief about it, is that once it, once I've told it and it's been out there. Which is annoying.

[Lisa Loeb]

Yeah.

[Craig Ferguson]

Because it's almost like if you recorded the song, then you can never play it live.

[Lisa Loeb]

It's terrible because you get there and you get to that place where you're like saying something that's just off the cuff, but it's not. Ah, but it's so good.

[Craig Ferguson]

And that's, that's, that's what's so frustrating about it, because I look at material that I did as a stand up 10, 15, 20 years ago and go, thought, you know, I could really make that work a lot better now. That was actually a very good idea, but I didn't do it properly. And I would like to do it properly now, but you kind of can't because people know what's coming and that ruins the, that ruins what it is. It takes the melody away. If they understand what it is, just, just do it.

[Lisa Loeb]

For people like over 55, they will not remember. They will not. They won't remember. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, I've. I say this all the time because I keep thinking of this as the example. But like, I had met Barry Manilow at an event and I was so excited and I got my picture taken with them and I love the song Mandy. And I just gushed and I was so excited. And then I was going through my photo albums, you know, a couple months later, and there I was, the first time I met Barry Manilow for the first time in another photo from, you know, 15 years ago. I had no recollection and it was important to me.

[Craig Ferguson]

You know what's weird? Something very similar. I had this thing. Have you ever seen the documentary Becoming Spock? It's about Leonard Nimoy.

[Lisa Loeb]

I should Because Leonard Nimoy. Yeah, I may have seen it, actually. I don't remember.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, well, I watched it. It was made by his son.

[Lisa Loeb]

I think it's a beautiful documentary screening. Even. I don't know, it's a gorgeous film.

[Craig Ferguson]

But I watched it and then afterwards I said to my wife, gosh, what a lovely man. I really wish I'd had him on the late night show. And we looked it up and he was on twice.

[Lisa Loeb]

Oh, my God.

[Craig Ferguson]

I was like, see, how could that be a thing?

[Lisa Loeb]

I know, but that's why it's good to have friends around. I know. My friend Amy's like, remember that time we were in that limo with Adam Sandler? He gave us a ride and I was like, what? Tell me about that. What happened then? He said, yeah, I remember Paul Rudd was talking to you. I'm like, he was? What did he say? Like, what happened?

[Craig Ferguson]

But that's the weirdest. Especially when I look at, like, late night. I was like, 10 years I did that show. And people will like, I'll see footage from that. I'm like, I have zero recollection of that conversation or even that evening. And I'm right there and it. It's me talking and I'm like, I honestly don't remember.

[Lisa Loeb]

You know, it's a little weird. Yeah. I do an interview. I have a radio show, a daily radio show on SiriusXM 90s on Nine. And one of the things I added to it was called Where They Are Now. And it's an interview segment where I talk to people who you might know from the 90s, but they're still doing things today. And I was inspired by Spinal Tap. You know, when they're all sitting around the radio and their old song comes on the radio, it might be like, give me some money or cups and cakes or something. And they're all sitting around and then did. And they're all, like, enjoying it because they're on tour. It's so cool to hear their old song. And the DJ comes on and from the where, where are they Now? Files, like, I wonder if they're still alive, you know, and they're just like, on a tour promoting a current project. And that's that. That happens, you know, when you travel, you might sit next to somebody, they're like, so are you still? Didn't you used to be a musician? You're like, something like, you're checking into a hotel and your name is on the marquee across the street and. And the young gal's like, didn't you used to be a musician. You're like, yeah, I still am. And there's my name right there over on the marquee, right? Like, I'm going with my guitar. You're at the airport. I'm going with my guitar to, you know, Wisconsin because I'm playing a show there. They're like, oh, that's so great. Good luck with that. But anyway, so I started a radio show thing called Where They Are now, which is a take on where are they now? And. Cause it's a kinder way of saying, yes, I know you're. I know you from a certain material from the 90s, probably, but same, we play some reruns and they're like, yeah, this week you're rerunning your interview with so and so. And I'm like, I did. I talk to. I got to talk to boys, to men. That's so cool. And it's right there in the hard drive. I had a great conversation with them. No recollection. I researched them for hours.

[Craig Ferguson]

That's exactly what's going to happen to us now because we're done.

[Lisa Loeb]

I'm not going to remember speaking.

[Craig Ferguson]

I'm not going to remember.

[Lisa Loeb]

Didn't I see you eating fudge at the airport in Colorado?

[Craig Ferguson]

Denver, famous for its fudge.

[Lisa Loeb]

At the airport.

[Craig Ferguson]

In the airport. Lisa, it's a delight to see. I'm sorry that it's been so long and very good luck with the children's book.

[Lisa Loeb]

Thank you. I hope it comes out.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, I hope it comes out, too. I have a feeling it'll work out fine. Yeah, you're delightful and please keep doing what you're doing. Thanks for being on. Sure.

[Lisa Loeb]

Thank you. I hope to see you at Gelson's. Bring your coupon.

[Craig Ferguson]

Yeah, I will. You know me, Scottish. Good day.

[Lisa Loeb]

Thank you.

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