Episodes

For this BONUS Patron-curated episode we asked our Patrons to send in a song that samples, references or pays tribute to ANOTHER song. They delivered. Remember, if YOU'D like to become a Patron of the podcast head over to: Https://Patreon.com/TRGMH Songs discussed in this episode: Sister Ray - Velvet Underground; Velvet Underground - Jonathan Richman; Witness The Fitness - Roots Manuva; Blindness - The Fall; Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2; All By Myself - Eric Carmen; Dust In The Wind - Kansas...

Anthemic. Angular. Inscrutable. These are all words that could describe Wichita, Kansas indie-rock-cum blister-pop band The Embarrassment. Musician Bob Fay (Sebadoh, Cardinal, Lost Hours) discovered them at the end their short-but-prolific existence, after they moved to Boston and eventually splintered off into other bands - Big Dipper and The Del Fuegos to name two - leaving behind a slew of excellent releases including the 1983 mini-LP 'Death Travels West'. "We Were Famous, You Don't Remember"...

Industry veteran, musician, composer, producer and engineer Mark Bingham has had a long and decidedly eclectic career in music. We sat down to talk some jazz - specifically Archie Shepp and his 1965 release 'Fire Music' - and may have finally cracked the code to Rob's ambivalence to the genre. REALLY fun conversation! Songs discussed in this episode: Hambone (recorded live at the Village Gate March 28, 1965) - Archie Shepp; William Blake In Bakersfield - Mark Bingham; Doctor My Eyes - Jackson B...

Perth, Western Australia alternative/pop band The Triffids remain one of Australia's best-loved, post-punk groups, but are virtually unknown in the US. This week's guest Erik Auerbach brings us their stunning 1986 release, 'Born Sandy Devotional'. Leader David McComb's lyrically tragic songs of love, life and obsession form a sweeping soundtrack to an imaginary film that's at once disturbing and inviting. Songs discussed in this episode: Femme Fatale - The Triffids (Live at The Club, Melbourne ...

This week's guest, Don Cowan (Kraut), brings us T. Rex's 1972 release 'The Slider'. Leader Marc Bolan - still at the top of his game - unleashes a trippy cast of characters (Telegram Sam, Baby Strange, Jungle-face Jake, Buick Mackane...etc) on this rock-and-roll dream of a record. Rock on! Songs discussed in this episode: Metal Guru - Nena; Don't Believe - Kraut; Ziggy Stardust, Heroes - David Bowie; Bang A Gong (Get It On), Metal Guru - T. Rex; Panic - The Smiths; Elenore - The Turtles; Mystic...

Award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster Dan Nolan didn't have to think too long about a record that got him high. Coming up in Manchester UK in the early 90s, he was there right at the start of the band Oasis and their meteoric rise to superstardom. We sat down to discuss their eight times platinum 1994 debut 'Definitely Maybe', and it was definitely NOT shite. Songs discussed in this episode: Live Forever (Live Paris in-store, 1994 - Oasis; Step On - Happy Mondays; Cigarettes and Alco...

Michigan music fan Ron Wade is a sucker for alternative/pop female-fronted bands, and when he first heard Ivy and their 1997 release 'Apartment Life' while working at a Detroit weekly, it ticked all his musical boxes! Lush, breezy and expertly crafted, the songs written by Andy Chase and the late/great Adam Schlesinger - with the magnificent Dominique Durand on vocals - will most-surely tick the boxes of any/all pop music lovers. Songs featured in this episode: Sleeping Late - Ivy; Panic In Det...

Singer/songwriter John Davis (Superdrag, The Lees of Memory) brings us the third and final album by Texas psyche rock pioneers The 13th Floor Elevators: 'Bull Of The Woods'. With other founding members Roky Erickson and Tommy Hall somewhat sidelined with various legal and personal issues, guitarist/songwriter Stacy Sutherland stepped-up to complete this dreamy, evocative slab of psychedelia that proved to be their swan song. Songs featured in this episode: Bull Of The Woods (Radio Spot) - 13th ...

Hey there! For this BONUS Patron-curated episode, we asked our Patrons to send in a song about a PLACE. As usual, they delivered. Please enjoy this collection of 'songs about places', and if YOU'D like to become a Patron of the podcast head over to: Https://Patreon.com/TRGMH Songs featured in this episode: Los Angeles - X; Dirty Blvd - Lou Reed; Beverly Hills - Weezer; Viva Las Vegas - Elvis Presley; California Dreamin' - The Mamas & The Papas; Discovering Japan - Graham Parker; California Sun -...

When he was a young teen, Oscar Herrera (Former lead singer with The Sleep of Reason, Halo, El Duende and Black Tape for a Blue Girl) discovered the Beatles and there was no looking back. When he and his wife had children they made sure that music - and especially the Beatles - was front-and-center in their lives. For this special episode, Oscar is joined by his daughter Danielle Herrera as they unpack some songs from the Fab Four's 1968 release 'The Beatles' aka The White Album. Along the way t...

There's no mistaking the fact that The Gaslight Anthem and their leader Brian Fallon are from New Jersey. The earnest storytelling and vivid imagery in their breakout album The '59 Sound is pure Born/Darkness-era Springsteen. This week's guest Todd Bauch was skeptical at first, but eventually got sucked-in by the punk rock edge, stellar songwriting and dizzying musical references contained within this banger of a record. Songs featured in this episode: Great Expectations (Acoustic version from ...

Guitarist and Songwriter Mike Baggetta came across Mike Watt's 1997 punk rock opera 'Contemplating The Engine Room' at just the right time for him. Watt's expansive and highly personal song cycle that uses navy life as an extended metaphor for both his family history and his band, the Minutemen - created with guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Stephen Hodges - became a touchstone of sorts for Baggetta, opening his mind to the possibility of making highly original, authentic music independent of ge...

Record purveyor Karl Ueberbacher (Phoenix Records, Waitsfield Vermont) nixed his original album pick for a more in-your-face Spring-centric selection, 1993's 'Saturation' by Chicago postmodern rockers Urge Overkill. Shedding their noise-rock roots - their first few releases were recorded by Steve Albini - for a more alternative arena rock sound, their major-label debut combines a tongue-in-cheek irony with a weirdly appealing sense of rock and roll fun. "Come around to my way of thinkin'…" Song...

With their seventh release, 1990s 'Violator', Depeche Mode completed their transformation from quirky synth-pop pioneers to international rock stars. A more stripped-down, sinister sound aided by producer Flood perfectly showcases these dark songs about guilt, salvation and obsession. It's a sound that this week's guest, poet and music lover Sarah Nichols, has kept close to her heart for over 30 years. Songs featured in this episode: Enjoy The Silence - Tori Amos; Run - New Order; Pictures Of Y...

Author Aug Stone (Nick Cave's Bar, Off-License To Kill) joins us to discuss his latest book, the bonkers rock-n-roll novel 'The Ballad of Buttery Cake Ass', and a record that blew his 8-year-old mind: Van Halen's '1984'. Might as well jump! Songs featured in this episode: Hot For Teacher - Van Halen; Cinnamon Scented Stardust - Aug Stone; Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love - Van Halen; Beat It - Michael Jackson; Why Can't This Be Love, Top Of The World, 1984, Jump, Panama - Van Halen; Slug (Demo) - Ramon...

For this BONUS Patron-curated episode, we asked our Patrons to send in a song by a band/artist that's best known for ANOTHER song. So, there's this band. Many people know them by that one song. You know, "That band that did that song." Here's the thing, though: there's ANOTHER song they did that's just as good...or maybe even better! Songs featured in this episode: Come On Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners; Call Me Maybe, Want You In My Room - Carly Rae Jepsen; Another Girl, Another Planet, Out T...

Drummer Todd Philips (Bullet LaVolta, Juliana Hatfield Three, Lemonheads) makes his third appearance on the podcast and brings in yet another Boston - by way of Dayton, OH - classic, the 1990 debut album by The Breeders: 'Pod'. Songs featured in this episode: Lord Of The Thighs - The Breeders; Swan Dive - Bullet LaVolta; Rid Of Me - PJ Harvey; Drivin' On 9 - Ed's Redeeming Qualities; Gigantic - Pixies; Feed The Tree - Belly; Nosferatu Man - Slint; Milk It - Nirvana; Glorious, Doe - The Breeders...

Returning guest, television writer, producer and director Jeff Greenstein (Will & Grace, Friends, Desperate Housewives), makes the case that Electric Light Orchestra were - at their core - a fantastic 'singles' band. The 1979 compilation 'ELO's Greatest Hits' showcases the pop-genius of leader Jeff Lynn, as he meticulously crafted weirdly wonderful rock hits that combined classical orchestration with pop, rock and soul that somehow managed to become classic rock staples. Songs featured in this ...

Released exactly at the autumnal equinox on September 22, 2020, 'Shore' - the ambitious release by Robin Pecknold under the guise of his Seattle band Fleet Foxes - is a sonically adventurous journey through the musical heroes and influences that shaped him. This week's guest Tom Lawery guides us in unpacking this brightly dense album that “celebrates life in the face of death” Music featured in this episode: Sunblind (Solstice Version) - Fleet Foxes; St Petersburg - Supergrass; Your Protector -...

Chicago-based singer/multi-instrumentalist Nora O'Connor has toured and recorded with the Decemberists, Neko Case, The New Pornographers and many more. This week she joins TRGMH to discuss a record/artist that never ceases to get her high: 'Parade' by Prince and The Revolution. His eighth studio album was the soundtrack to the 1986 film he directed and starred in, Under The Cherry Moon - and the final album where The Revolution is billed - and is yet another stunning example of Prince's place as...

Hey, do you like The Descendents, Lemonheads, All and Teenage Fanclub? Guess what? Shirk Circus might just be your favorite band you've never heard of! Bass Player/Singer/Songwriter Dan Bonebrake (Dashboard Confessional, Lightworkers, The Enablers) brings us the debut album by this short-lived New Jersey band, 1994s 'Words To Say'. Songs featured in this episode: Untitled - Shirk Circus; I Didn't Think - Lightworkers; Back Of A Car - Big Star; Guess Who Came Home Today, #14 (What Would You Be I...

Musician Keith Michaud (The Lightworkers) brings us the fifth album by indie rock titans Sebadoh, 'Bakesale'. With this release, Lou Barlow and co. managed to bridge their lo-fi beginnings with pure pop power chords, producing a collection of songs that hit both hard AND deep! Songs featured in this episode: On Fire (Acoustic version) - Sebadoh; Hemispheres - Keith Michaud; Coming Down Heavy - The Lightworkers; Soulmate - Sebadoh; Gold Soundz - Pavement; Too Young To Fall In Love - Motley Crue;...

For this BONUS Patreon episode we asked our Patrons to submit songs that make them happy and tell us why they do. It's a pretty joyful collection of songs guaranteed to make you feel good. Come on, get happy! Songs featured in this episode: Happy Days - Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox; Happy - Pharrell Williams - Happy - The Rolling Stones; Happy House - Siouxsie and the Banshees; Happy Together - The Turtles; Cherry Cherry - Neil Diamond; Our House - Madness; A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturday...

Beloved in their native Canada but often unheralded elsewhere, Kingston Ontario's The Tragically Hip made intelligent, intensely evocative rock music that won them legions of fans in the Great White North. Their final concert in 2016 - after lead singer Gord Downie's tragic diagnosis of terminal brain cancer a year earlier - was broadcast globally by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a cross-platform television, radio and internet streaming special. This week's returning guest (and non-Ca...