Highway Hi-Fi Podcast

Under British control for decades, in 1911, Zambia was merged in with other South African countries to form Northern Rhodesia. For most of the colonial period, Zambia was governed by an administration appointed from London with the advice of the British South Africa Company. Zambia was rich with copper mines and there was an economic boom that carried into the 50s and 60s. This boom, combined with...

To celebrate our impending 50th episode, we've created a trivia contest for you, our beloved listeners.  For this quiz, we're playing 8 clips. From these 8 clips, we're looking for a word or phrase, specifically based on the artists, so you don't need to get the song names.  The name of the quiz is "Mixed-Up Confusion" When you think you have the answer, you can submit it to us in 1 of 3 ways: Ema...

Perhaps it’s a fool’s errand to try to define what Cosmic Country is. Like numbering all the stars in the heavens or counting bubbles in your beer. We are those fools though. In the starry fringes of country and western music resides a sound that is powerful, dreamy, and utterly nebulous. And so in trying to wade through this style, it is important to recognize these waters were muddy to begin wit...

Perhaps it’s a fool’s errand to try to define what Cosmic Country is. Like numbering all the stars in the heavens or counting bubbles in your beer. We are those fools though. In the starry fringes of country and western music resides a sound that is powerful, dreamy, and utterly nebulous. And so in trying to wade through this style, it is important to recognize these waters were muddy to begin wit...

When 78s were first sold, they were sold individually, with each side lasting between 3 and 5 minutes. The records were relegated to backs of furniture stores as if they were some sort of obscenity. Mostly, the reason for this was the packaging. At that time, records were wrapped in bland, blank paper like hooch or in cardboard sleeves, and sometimes had the name of the producer of the record or t...

In this special episode, Ryan and Joe duke it out over who is the most essential least essential member of the greatest band of all time, The Velvet Underground: Angus MacLise or Doug Yule. One of them never recorded a single note with the band while the other plays on more tracks than John Cale and Nico combined. One is unfairly maligned for his pop sensibilities and desire for fame and the other...

As the relevance of rock and roll began to explode, labels and managers wanted to exploit and milk those hits for all they were worth, for fear of it being a fad and dying out quickly. To maximize popularity and exposure, labels in the UK would often prep bands for European tours by having their stars record their own hits in other languages. Most famously, the Beatles were strong-armed into recor...

Are you as sick of Fyre documentaries as we are? We thought so. This week's episode is all about a festival that took place over two September days in 1971.  The festival was controversial and featured historic performances from Mexican psychedelic bands at the height of La Onda. It was also condemned by conservative government leaders, with the president of Mexico declaring, "While we regret and...

In this episode, we explore the world of the Butthole Surfers during the 1980s when they were the best live band in the country and one of the most interesting bands ever. Much of the show is spent on stories of debauchery, including feeding excrement to fish, exploring the flammability of New Jersey, ex-presidents touching defiled suitcases, and more! Join us, won't you?   Most of the research fo...

For this episode, we look back on stories we spent time researching but couldn't fit into an episode. That, and just plain goofy stories about goofy musicians. Find out what Prince did to make Michael Jackson run screaming from a room. Find out how to pronounce Hasil Adkins first name correctly. Find out how Ryan's cold sounds after an hour of talking (not good). All that and more!! Subscribe to H...

In our previous episode, we discussed the history of the flexi-disc. Today we delve into its pinko commie cousin, Bone Records.  During his post-World War II rule, Joseph Stalin controlled culture in the Soviet Union. Nothing from the west could be allowed in if he deemed it an affront to Soviet dignity. Art, movies, and music were all heavily censored. Western culture was an enemy of the state. ...

Today, the story of the most utilitarian format of the vinyl record, the flexi-disc. It was embraced by both capitalism and communism. It was disposable enough to be embossed into cereal boxes and mailed as postcards, but valuable enough to create collector frenzy. It's been embraced by the likes of ABBA, Richard Nixon, Jack White, and Alf. It is auditory planned obsolescence. Today, part one of a...

There may never have been a pop music trend as both enthrallingly vapid and often highly critically praised as glam rock. Glam was a performance of reality as opposed to actually presenting it, the precession of simulacra to quote the philosopher, Jean Baudrillard. Though he wasn’t referring to glam, it fits perfectly. It was all about living in a copy of what was real instead of the reality itsel...

Screamin' Jay Hawkins was a dealer in terror, showmanship, hyperbole, and shock. Join us as we go through his climb from being a POW in WWII to drunken recordings, getting banned by a casket association, laying in his own fluids, and Jim Jarmusch. Subscribe to Highway Hi-Fi: iTunes | Stitcher | TuneIn | PocketCasts | Overcast | Google Play  Twitter | Facebook | Spotify   Learn more about your ad c...

This week's episode is about the legacy of John Fahey and how he spawned a new style of music, American Primitive Guitar, by culling from the old, weird American sounds that came before him. Fahey lives on in many young and vital guitarists working today. Unfortunately, he also lives on in other ways too. You know that guy who goes to record stores only on Record Store Day so he can buy as many of...

This episode is a bit of a continuation of our Library Music episode but we're joined by someone who has legitimate knowledge of the genre.  Paul Elliott, one of the directors of the new documentary, "The Library Music Film", was gracious enough to spend some time with us discussing the film and Library Music. Paul is a wonderful person and incredibly articulate, knowledgeable, and entertaining. W...

Are your poems worthy of becoming a hit song? The George Liberace Songsmiths certainly think they are. And for a nominal fee, they'll record them for you with a real band. For this episode, the following resources were invaluable: The American Song-Poem Music Website The PBS Documentary from Independent Lens: Off the Charts    Subscribe to Highway Hi-Fi: iTunes | Stitcher | TuneIn | PocketCasts | ...

Today, we try to discover what was truly and utterly lost. Looking for more than just a lost gem of an LP or a record label that never met the masses. Today, we attempt to locate greatness lost. They are out there...maybe. The woman who created the singer-songwriter genre playing bingo with your grandma at the nursing home. The barfly muttering at his whiskey who masterminded a mysterious psychede...

If you haven’t yet been initiated into the fun that is Library Music, we’re hoping this episode will change that. This isn’t muzak. Well, the part of the industry we go over isn’t, at least. Library Music, also called Production Music and Incidental Music, is heard in most of the movies and TV shows you’ve ever seen. All those snippets of songs that are playing in the background that is designed t...

This episode is about the story of the tunes made exclusively of the Waffle House, by the Waffle House, for the Waffle House. Songs about truckers, toast, and testimonials. Songs with grit about grits. Songs that you can listen to smothered, covered, chunked, diced, peppered, capped, topped, country, or all the way. The story of Waffle Records. Also, songs, trivia, and another heaping cup of love!...

From 1917 to 1932 a record label in Grafton, Wisconsin may have captured more important American recordings than any other label or person before or since. Not a single one of those recordings feature the accordion or performers wearing lederhosen. Episode 30 of Highway Hi-Fi focuses on Paramount Records, a chair manufacturing company, and blues recording giant. Further reading: THE BALLAD OF GEES...

In this episode, we talk about growing up with the king of the Children’s Music Industry, Peter Pan Records. The weird childhood records that still haunt our memories.  We continue with weird by having a quiz about how Prince spells song titles. Also, what's a Peanut Duck and how is it sweeping the nation?   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if we were to tell you that there was a single man, who you may have never heard of, who co-wrote Sgt. Pepper with the Beatles? Was responsible for Dylan going electric? Pushed Brian Wilson over the edge? Borrowed Frank Sinatra’s Lear Jet? Let down his childhood idol Elvis Presley? Had Thanksgiving with The Band at Big Pink? Conjured a curse that leads several of the world’s brightest musicia...

In this, the most special of episodes, Ryan & Joe tackle a subject that is near and dear to their hearts: the music of Leonard Nimoy.  Leonard Nimoy produced 5 albums over 3 years and these have, for the most part, fallen by the wayside. They're actually pretty good. Ryan & Joe go through how they happened and what could have been. Also, songs & trivia! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega...

A perfect episode for those of you feeling stuck inside of a creative rut. Today, Ryan & Joe learn to "be less critical more often" as they cover the nebulous advice practice that is Eno's Oblique Strategies Cards. Hear stories of artists who "discard an axiom" and either loved or lamented these innovative and ambiguous creativity aphorisms. Most notably, Phil Collins petulantly throwing beer cans...