I don't know if you watched the VMA awards the other night. They're a terrific band and I have a particular affection for them because my daughter happens to be in the band.ĪSHER: But they're doing very well. The Fray or Cobra Starship, which plays 'Peggy Sue.'ĬOBRA STARSHIP: (Singing) If you knew Peggy Sue, then you'd know what I feel blue without Peggy, my Peggy Sue.ĪSHER: Yeah. SIEGEL: Then when we get to what I'll call some stretches, groups that I personally am completely unfamiliar with. Buddy Holly's fellow Texan, Lyle Lovett, also Chris Isaak, are in some ways from the Buddy Holly cast, their songs seem to come very naturally. SIEGEL: And then there are some natural fits. But, yes, they decided they wanted to use that old one, the only old one. SIEGEL: I want to ask you about the performers who appear on the album, 'Listen to Me.' There is the track of Linda Ronstadt doing 'That'll Be the Day,' which you produced years ago. I actually took my favorite Buddy Holly cover around, looking for glasses exactly like that. SIEGEL: Did you affect those glasses just as a tribute to Buddy Holly?ĪSHER: I did. You could, as you said in your intro, be the nerdy guy with the glasses. You covered a Buddy Holly song in your day.ĪSHER: And, of course, too, he proved that you didn't have to be Elvis to be a pop star. SIEGEL: We know of you first as the Peter of Peter and Gordon. I mean, there's such a collection of extraordinarily good songs and he came up with them in less than two years or something. SIEGEL: And thinking of these Buddy Holly songs, and I didn't mention 'Every Day' and 'Maybe Baby,' that is an incredibly impressive output for a very sadly brief career.ĪSHER: It is. SIEGEL: Peter Asher produced the CD and joins us now. Had he lived, he would be 75 years old today and it's cause for reflection and for tribute, including the release of a new CD entitled 'Listen to Me.'īRIAN WILSON: (Singing) Listen to me and hold me tight and you will see our love's so right. SIEGEL: Buddy Holly died at the beginning of 1959. But with hits like 'That'll Be the Day,' 'Rave On' and 'Peggy Sue,' Buddy Holly became a rockabilly icon.īUDDY HOLLY: (Singing) If you knew Peggy Sue, then you'd know why I feel blue about Peggy, my Peggy Sue. Nowadays, we'd say geeky, 20-something in thick-framed glasses. He was an unlikely star, rather plain looking.

Without a song buddy