Episodes

We go full-on metal this week, as Seattle Washington's Eric Loehrmann brings in a record that got his thirteen-year-old self hopelessly high: 'Diary Of A Madman' by the one and only Ozzy Osbourne. This full-throttle follow-up to 'Blizzard of Oz' was also, sadly, the final studio recording of guitar virtuoso Randy Rhoads. His fiercely inventive neo-classical playing is all over this album, making it a true heavy metal classic!

'What movie is that song from?' For this special bonus episode some of our patrons introduce their favorite movie soundtracks. Pass the popcorn and turn it up!!

Self-proclaimed 'God of Partying' Andrew W.K. is an enigma: a classically trained musical prodigy who's over-the-top songs about parties and positivity make Jim Steinman seem restrained. This week's guest - the mysteriously named Mark Guerita - does his best to explain why this amped-up-motivational-speaker of a record is sometimes just what the doctor ordered. Our advice: check your cynicism at the door and TURN IT UP!

Recorded right after 9/11 2001, Interpol's debut record "Turn On The Bright Lights" struck a darkly satisfying chord for many, including this week's guest Scottish singer/songwriter Josh Mackenzie (Lional, The Joshua Hotel) Their sleek, melancholy sound and enigmatic lyrics were just what he needed to hear at the time, and greatly influenced his own songwriting. New York cares!

Never flashy, always classy...there was just SOMETHING about the late Charlie Watts' drumming with the Rolling Stones that was pure rock-n-roll magic! We asked drummer/producer Bobby MacIntyre to join us and shine a little light on what it was that made his playing so special. R.I.P. Charlie.

In 1995, having changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol, the artist formerly known as Prince released an album combining pop, funk, rock, soul, and jazz that grinds, pulsates and ROCKS like only he can. Returning guest Garry Messick makes the case for it's eclectic brilliance, and we turned it up and went along for the ride. "Only my enemies call me 'Prince.' Only those that want to hurt or offend me call me 'Prince'. 'Prince' is dead. I killed him." - Prince Rogers Nelson, 1995

Old friend - and former bandmate - Sam Fogarino (Interpol) returns with a record that briefly set the world on fire but ultimately fell victim to a somewhat unfair backlash: The Knack's multi-platinum debut "Get The Knack"! As power-pop records go it's a masterclass in super-catchy - if at times lyrically problematic - songwriting and dynamically energetic playing, and it provided a partial blueprint for young Sam's own powerfully precise drumming. Turn it up!! Spotify episode playlist: https://...

Singer/songwriter Peter Norris phoned in all the way from Glasgow, Scotland to discuss "East Side Story" by Squeeze. Are songwriting duo Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford REALLY the "new wave heirs to Lennon and McCartney's throne"? We don't know about that, but you'd be hard pressed to find a finer collection of pop-rock songs, with notes of R&B, blue-eyed soul, Merseybeat and rockabilly baked right in! Spotify episode playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5FVKRM3x4ipEqP95I54WV3?si=1ddf130...

Legendary rock and roll magazine Trouser Press was a big part of my musical coming-of-age, so I was super excited to have founding editor/publisher Ira Robbins on the show to discuss a record that expanded HIS artistic horizons as a NY teenager: "Urban Spaceman" by Bonzo Dog Band. A collective as much as a band, the Bonzo's combined an absurdist mix of pop, cabaret, and Dada to create a surrealist portrait of late-60s England and beyond. Spotify episode playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlis...

You might not draw a straight line between Chicago singer/songwriter Steve Dawson's (Dolly Varden)music and Stevie Wonder, but when he first heard Wonder's 1973 record "Innervisions" as a teen living in Idaho it seriously freaked him out. But in a good way. This is the sound of musical prodigy 'Little Stevie Wonder' growing up and tackling real-life themes such as drug abuse, inequality and systemic racism, expanding the boundaries of what popular music could be. Higher Ground indeed! Spotify ep...

Aylesbury, UK resident Paul Marfleet first heard "Meat Is Murder" by The Smiths on a cassette in his family's home, and their politically strident/musically adventurous second album took hold of his young ears and wouldn't let go. Our romp through the 80s continues with this 1985 gem... "I wish I could laugh, but that joke isn't funny anymore" Spotify Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1EF9nwioyvjJ7uAXHMSxTl?si=4e08db4e40e14d0e

Returning guest, artist/musician Beatriz 'Betty' Monteavaro wears her 80s heart on her sleeve. For this episode, she again set the controls for 1981 and brought a record that melded Burundi beats, spaghetti westerns, Native American imagery (and some questionable cultural appropriation) into the campy one-of-a-kind chart-topper "Kings of the Wild Frontier" by Adam and the Ants. "You might not like us now, but you will!" Spotify episode playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7IBmGTf9fFSpUSsY...

This week's guest Eric Lazier makes the case that British performer and Fairport Convention co-founder Richard Thompson is woefully unheralded as both a guitar player and songwriter. As evidence, he brought us Thompson's 1991 release "Rumor and Sigh". Case closed! Spotify Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2jNlSWY19fmH5WGrohm8kU?si=13137db76c604c77

When he's not tearing faces off in various musical projects - 'To Live and Shave in LA' & 'NH Meth' to name two - Tom Smith leads a genteel life in Hanover, Germany, so it's only fitting that he brought Hanover's own 39 Clocks and their sophomore classic "Subnarcotic" to the table for perusal. Their songs of urban decay and rainy night insanities sung - subversively for 1982 - in English set them apart from the German New Wave of the time, and they managed to turn their love of the Velvets, Suic...

MuteAnt Sounds Netlabel owner Jay Reeve was your average New Jersey teen in the early 90s, listening to metal and whatever was considered alternative at the time - until he heard Fugazi. With 1990s "Repeater", Ian MacKaye and co. opened up his mind - and ears - to a sound he didn't even know he needed...but he did. "...when we have nothing left to lose, you will have nothing left to use." Spotify Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0AqfpcV92NusARm9GsyBGb?si=ba869e72a0c64e10

A brief description of our podcast. Tune in every week! "Why did you come here? Where did you go wrong? You heard the siren's call And then, you heard the siren's song..."

When Miami comedian/drag queen Shelley Novak (aka Tommy Strangie) was navigating the early-80s as a gay teen in Saugus, MA, no performer loomed larger as an icon and roadmap towards the future than Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. We convened at the secret lair of South Beach noise impresario Rat Bastard and took a deep-dive into their often-maligned sophomore record Pretenders II. Along the way Shelley references Gloria Estefan, Judd Hirsch, Kate Bush, Timothee Chalamet and more as we desperat...

Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba has been known to wear his heart on his sleeve, and when we met up with him in a Nashville hotel room he was not shy in professing his love for all things R.E.M., especially their 1988 major label debut "Green" With R.E.M.s move to major key rock songs and bigger sounds, some fans felt like they were losing their "little indie band from Athens, GA". Thankfully, as a kid of 13 blissfully lacking the baggage of hindsight, Chris was able to appreciate his fir...

Good evening, how's everybody doing?!? For this special Bonus Episode we asked our Patrons to choose a live album that got them high, and they did NOT disappoint! Turn it up, and get those lighters in the air...

John Strohm has had quite the eclectic musical career, from co-founding the indie-rock bands Blake Babies and Antenna to playing both drums AND guitar at various times for The Lemonheads to being named President of Rounder Records. Underneath it all he's an admittedly obsessive music fan, and he joined us in a Nashville hotel room to discuss a record that he came to a little late but soon discovered was ingrained in his musical DNA: "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" by the Byrds. With the addition of Gr...

In this special bonus episode we sat down with 15 year old Jasper Cash Dunn-Nolan to discuss a record that - while it was released 23 years before he was born - quickly became one of his favorites: "Speaking in Tongues" by Talking Heads. Rob did his best to decode what it is about David Byrne and co.'s quirky, funky gem that grabbed Jasper's attention, and Jasper did his best not to OK-Boomer Rob TOO hard.

When Nashville resident Todd Nolan was working at a South Florida record store in 1994, Johnny Cash was not particularly on his radar. But then a record came in to the shop produced by Rick Rubin on his new "American Recordings" label - Johnny Cash's 81st - and the stark presentation coupled with the heft of JC's voice grabbed him and sent him on a musical train ride of the man and the genre he's still traveling on. Let the train blow the whistle!

When writer, musician and now record store owner David Lewis first heard Fleetwood Mac's 1971 album "Future Games" (their first with Christine McVie and Bob Welch as official members), he was transported to a place he returned to again and again throughout his life. At once haunting, beautifully melodic and steeped in melancholy, this is the record that first revealed the path towards pop stardom that would eventually make them superstars. Well, SOME of them...

When Nashville singer/songwriter Diane Ward was working at a South Florida record store in the late 80s/early 90s, she discovered a whole new world of music she had previously been oblivious to. One record in particular, 1989's "Free" by Hollywood, CA band Concrete Blonde, had a HUGE influence on her as both a performer and songwriter. Singer Johnette Napolitano's tales of growing up on the seedy streets Los Angeles, along with her fierce-yet-often-vulnerable delivery, inspired Diane - and count...