Strong Songs

Recorded in August 2022 as an addendum to the main feed episode "Strong Grooves, Volume 1," special guest Russ Kleiner takes Kirk through the evolution of James Brown drummer Clyde Stubblefield's playing from 1967 to 1970. FEATURED/DISCUSSED: "Cold Sweat" (1967), "I Got The Feelin'" (1968), "Mother Popcorn" (1969), "Funky Drummer" (1970), all feat. Clyde Stubblefield on drums. SPECIAL GUEST: Russ...

For the Season Five finale, Kirk takes a look at The Band and Martin Scorsese's beloved 1978 concert film The Last Waltz - "The beginning of the beginning of the end of the beginning." Featuring music by The Band: Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson Directed by: Martin Scorsese Album: The Last Waltz (1978) Listen/Buy via Songwhip ALSO DISCUSSED/REFERENCED: "T...

It's time for another mailbag episode, as Kirk takes on questions about Evanescence piano, Kelis bells, and counting in songs by Phish, Vessels, Ten Years After, and Kishi Bashi. All that, and a friendly dispute about a Taylor Swift song. "Milkshake" by Neptunes/Kelis from Tasty, 2003 "Going Under" by Evanescence from Fallen, 2003 Joe Lovono plays the Aulochrome Pat Metheney plays the Pikasso 42-s...

The electric guitar is a beautiful, maddening instrument, and man does it sound good in the right hands. On this episode, Kirk takes a deep dive into solos by guitar legends Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix, and Larry Carlton. FEATURED/DISCUSSED: "Seven Come Eleven" by Charlie Christian and Benny Goodman, recorded by the Benny Goodman Sextet in 1939 "Fried Pies" by Wes Montgomery fr...

Kirk wasn't expecting to make a full-length episode about the music of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom , but then he played the game. And here we are. Picking up on 2022's deep-dive in the music of the Zelda series , this episode takes a deep dive into the score of the new game, covering the many ways it builds on the past and charts a new musical future. SPOILERS: The first 40 minutes o...

On this bonus episode, originally recorded as a Patreon bonus in 2022, Kirk goes through a few great Legend of Zelda pieces that he didn't manage to get into on last year's Zelda-focused Strong Songs episode .  If you want to hear next week's new episode on Tears of the Kingdom early, go become a patron now ! FEATURED: "Tears of the Kingdom Theme" from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom , c...

Kirk takes a tour through the cycling, modulating chord sequence in Belle & Sebastian's buoyant 2017 song "The Girl Doesn't Get It." Variation 1: | C | Dm7 | Bb | Gm F Variation 2: | C | D | Bm | Esus E Variation 3: | A | Bm | A/C# | Esus E FEATURED/DISCUSSED: "The Girl Doesn't Get It" by Belle & Sebastian from How To Solve Our Human Problems, Vol. 1, 2017 "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton...

There are so many electric guitars. Truly, there is a guitar for every mood, every season, and every feeling. But there are four types of electric guitar that are a bit more widely used than other ones.  On this formely-bonus-now-main-feed episode, Kirk discusses those four guitars—the Fender Stratocaster, the Telecaster, the Gibson Les Paul, and the 335—and goes through some of the Strong Songs t...

Composer John Williams is the defining sound of Hollywood and, arguably, the most widely listened to composer in the world. Kirk decided he needed some help tackling Williams' towering musical legacy, so he enlisted Australian author and musician Dan Golding as his tour guide through Williams' musical world, with a special focus on his groundbreaking score for 1980's Star Wars: The Empire Strikes...

Kirk answers your questions on 60s pop counterpoint, Chaka Kahn syncopation, Taylor Swift's re-recording project, good practice habits, Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer," and more. FEATURED/DISCUSSED: "You've Got Your Troubles" by Roger Greenaway and Roger Cool, recorded by The Fortunes Contrapunctus 1 by J.S. Bach recorded by the Emerson String Quartet on Bach: The Art of Fugue , 2003 T.I.B.W.F. by...

Kirk climbs inside the machine-gun rhythms and unstoppable grooves of the legendary Oakland funk outfit Tower of Power. Written by: Doc Kupka and Emilio Castillo Album: Tower of Power (1973) Listen/Buy via Songwhip ALSO DISCUSSED: "What is Hip?" "Squib Cakes" "Only So Much Oil in the Ground" "Don't Change Horses (In the Middle of a Stream)," "So Very Hard to Go," "Credit," all by Tower of Power "S...

It's not uncommon for a song to be written for one artist, only to become widely known after being recorded by another. It's less common for a song to have yet another rebirth decades later. That's just what happened with "Killing Me Softly with His Song."  Originally inspired by Lori Lieberman's profound experience at a 1971 Don McLean concert, Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox's song underwent two d...

Kirk kicks off Strong Songs Season 5 with Tears For Fears' 1985 hit "Everybody Wants to Rule The World." From classic synths and drum machines to surprisingly avante-garde guitar solos, this song's got a lot more going on than you might remember. Written by: Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes Produced by: Chris Hughes Album: Songs from the Big Chair (1985) Listen/Buy via Songwhip ALSO D...

Special guest Luigi Boccia takes Kirk on a magical journey through the world of the opera tenor, from Caruso and Lauri Volpi to Di Stefano and Pavarotti. Featuring performances by Luciano Pavarotti, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Enrico Caruso, Franco Corelli, Giacomo Lauri Volpi, Jussi Björling, Sergei Lemeshev, and Jon Vickers. Find a Spotify playlist of Luigi's many Tenor examples here. -----------------...

John Farnham's "You're The Voice" was a worldwide hit, and nowhere was it more popular than in the Aussie singer's homeland. A couple weeks ago, Kirk went onstage with the hosts of the Chat 10 Looks 3 podcast , Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb, to talk about the song, the singer, and so much more. This episode is excerpted from Chat 10 Looks 3 episode 214 . It was recorded live at the Enmore Theater...

Author and musicologist Lily E. Hirsch joins Kirk to talk about the many different aspects of music she's explored in her books. REFERENCED ON THIS EPISODE: Lily Hirsch's many books, including A Jewish Orchestra in Nazi Germany: Musical Politics and the Berlin Jewish Culture League , Weird Al: Seriously , and Can't Stop the Grrrls: Confronting Sexist Labels in Music from Ariana Grande to Yoko Ono...

Kirk sits down with musician and podcaster Emily Reese to talk about the beauty of Bach's "Goldberg Variations," the distinct sound of Davis/Evans/Mulligan's "Birth of the Cool," the joys of the Knight Rider theme, and her podcast Level with Emily Reese , which focuses on the wide world of video game music.  FEATURED/DISCUSSED: Emily's music podcast Level with Emily : https://www.levelwithemily.co...

Happy holidays! Here's a Patreon minisode Kirk published last summer about Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill." See you in 2023! ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES, 6/24/2022: The whole world is talking about Kate Bush's masterful 1985 song "Running Up That Hill," so Kirk figured he might as well talk about it, too.  On this bonus Patreon episode, he takes a crack at re-creating the song's iconic sound and digs i...

Look, sometimes a TV soundtrack is so good that you have no choice but to make a whole podcast episode about it. And so here we are, as Kirk takes a deep dive into Nicholas Britell's ever-evolving musical score for the new Disney+ show Star Wars: Andor . Listen to Britell's Andor Score (via Songwhip): Volume One | Volume Two | Volume Three REFERENCED ON THIS EPISODE: Tracks from Star Wars: A New H...

Kirk takes a look back some of his many musical memories from Strong Songs, Year Four. FEATURED/DISCUSSED: "Blood and Thunder" by Mastodon from Leviathan, 2004 "Gotta Get You Into My Life" by Paul McCartney/Lennon-McCartney, as covered by Earth, Wind & Fire in 1978 "Eleanor Rigby" by Paul McCartney/Lennon-McCartney, as covered by Cody Fry in 2021 and Zoot in 1970 "Second Story" by Andrew Synowiec...

For the 100th episode of Strong Songs, Kirk takes a deep dive into one of the most famous concept albums ever recorded.  Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" is an instantly recognizable, widely discussed album, played and replayed to the point that it's easy to forget that it was made by a handful of young people with some instruments and a mixing desk. So buckle in for a whirlwind tour of th...

It's time for a Strong Songs road trip, as Kirk unravels one of "Weird Al" Yankovic's most understated, grandiose songs. So come along, for a journey through long-form story songs, sea shanty refrains, synth feelings, and an unexpectedly grand finale. We'll stay until the security guards throw us out. Album: UHF: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff, 1989 Listen/Buy via Songwhip Also...

It's time to answer more of your musical questions, with topics including singing drummers, Elvis Costello harmonies, how to find a music teacher, unusual odd-meter counting, similar-sounding songs, and Anchorman's jazz flute scene. FEATURED/DISCUSSED: “Heart Don’t Stand a Chance” by Anderson .Paak from Malibu , 2016 “You & I” by Jamison Ross from Jamo , 2022 "Take The TIme" by Josh Dion Band from...

Drummers like Clyde Stubblefield, Zigaboo Modeliste, and Bernard Purdie defined the sound of the bands they played with not because of their flashy chops, but because they knew how to lock down a groove. On this episode, Kirk goes deep into one groove apiece by each of those drummers - Stubblefield on James Brown's "Cold Sweat," Modeliste on The Meters' "Cissy Strut," and Purdie on Aretha Franklin...

Few lyricists have Jeff Tweedy's ability to fluidly shift between plainspoken emotion and abstract imagery. The Wilco frontman has been writing beautiful, beguiling songs for more than three decades, and there is no way to pin down what any of them "means." There's only what they mean to you, right then, in the moment, as you listen to them.  That's certainly true of "Jesus, Etc." one of many stan...