William Shatner - Has Been
Bill and Brian take a deep dive into the unique and unexpectedly great work of William Shatner and his collaboration with Ben Folds, Has Been (2004, Shout! Factory). The iconic Star Trek actor was often maligned for his previous foray into pop music, 1968's The Transformed Man, but he found a willing collaborator who helped channel his spoken word poetry fantastic songs that muse on success, tragedy, and growing older. Bill and Brian talk about how they were pleasantly surprised when this came out. We came for Ben Folds but stayed for Shatner. We also discuss Pulp, Joe Jackson, anxiety in the face of success, relationships with dads, the passage of time, the Great Cosmic Joke, having fun at funerals, choosing how you feel, how Shatner took control of who and what he is with his own self-awareness, and much more as we make our way through the album track by track!