Completely Conspicuous

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1981. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay turned 14, Phil turned 12 in '81 - Jay started the year in Canada, finished it in the U.S. - No good radio station, listened to a lot of my own stuff - Phil: Started buying my own music in '81 - Listened to a lot of Casey Kasem's American Top 40 - "Bette Davis Eyes" was...

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1980. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay turned 13, Phil turned 11 in '80 - Phil's #5: The (English) Beat with a fun release - Jay's #5: Ozzy comes back from the dead (career-wise, anyway) - Album was later re-recorded to replace rhythm section's parts to avoid paying royalties; original version was restored -...

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1980. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay turned 13, Phil turned 11 in '80 - U.S. boycotted the Summer Olympics - Major deaths: Lennon, Bonham, Bon Scott, Ian Curtis, Darby Crash - Sony Walkman went on sale in the U.S. - Solid Gold made its debut - Blondie had the #1 single of the year with "Call Me" - Disco wa...

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1979. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay turned 12, Phil turned 10 in '79 - "My Sharona" was the top song on the Billboard Hot 100, lots of disco - Rod Stewart hit it big with "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" - New wave was getting attention - A wealth of great albums - Jay's favorite non-top 5 albums: The Knack, Graham Parker and the R...

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1978. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay turned 11, Phil turned 9 in '78 - Big festivals, including Texxas Jam - Lots of disco on the singles chart - Phil's favorite non-top 5 albums: Ramones, Blondie, The Who, The Clash, Elvis Costello, Jerry Garcia Band, Bob Marley, Rolling Stones, The Jam, Devo, Bob Seger, AC/DC, Tom Petty,...

It's part 2 of my Zoomtastic conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2020. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - On to our top 10 - Kumar's #10: Dan Bejar with another great cinematic Destroyer album - Breitling's #9: A hooky rock record from Bully - Kumar's #9: METZ with an accessible yet pummeling record - Breitling's #8: Spectres with a disconcerting release - Kuma...

It's part 1 of my Zoomified conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2020. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - This podcast is not affiliated in any with MovieFone. - The first time in nine years that we're not talking the year in rock in the same room - No live shows after early March - Breitling last saw Hallelujah the Hills at Great Scott last November, Kumar saw...

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1977. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - A startling number of great releases in '77; a lot of terrific debuts - Singles chart was topped by disco and pop: Rod Stewart, Andy Gibb, Streisand, KC and the Sunshine Band, Engelbert Humperdinck - Jay's non-top 5 faves: Ramones had two albums, Sex Pistols, Johnny Thunders, the Damned, Ri...

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1976. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - America was all about the Bicentennial in 1976 - Disco was picking up steam - Arena rock and MOR was huge - Phil's non-top 5 favorites: Eagles, Zeppelin, Steely Dan, Bowie, Zevon, J. Geils Band, Rolling Stones, Boz Scaggs, Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Peter Tosh, Wings, AC/DC,...

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1975. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - RIP to EVH - We both saw VH in 1986 - In '75, Phil turned 6, Jay turned 8 - "Love Will Keep Us Together" was the #1 song of the year - Disco was starting to emerge - The S.N.A.C.K. concert - Phil's non-top 5: Parliament, Burning Spear, Patti Smith, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, Joni...

I'm joined by guest Brian Salvatore as we remember the greatness of Eddie Van Halen. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Last spoke in late March but feels a lot longer ago - We've been fascinated by Van Halen's career, the good and the bad - Eddie had dealt with cancer before - Death still came as a shock - Plenty of musician deaths this year: Neil Peart, Andy Gill, David Roback, Kenny Rogers, Bil...

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1974. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Phil finally got a haircut - In '74, Phil turned 5, I turned 7 - Capt. and Tennille got married, Sonny and Cher got divorced - "The Streak" was a big hit - Phil: Looking back, liked more songs than albums in '74 - Not a long list of albums we liked - Radio was the main source of how people...

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1973. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" was big in '73 - Dark Side of the Moon spent 741 weeks on the Billboard albums chart - Big singles from Jim Croce, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack, Stories, Joe Walsh, Stealers Wheel - Jay's bubbling under albums: Wings, Queen, Lou Reed, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gay...

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1972. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Re-recording because of audio issues - Missed the podcast's 14th birthday - In '72, Phil turned 3, Jay turned 5 - Big tours going on: Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, McCartney - Different concept of band longevity back then - A lot of soft rock on the singles chart - Phil's faves: Neil Young, Bowie,...

It's part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Breitling's #10 and Kumar's #8 - Jangly indie pop sounds from Australia - The lack of touring is really hurting bands and fans - Breitling's #9 - A Matmos side project, "a niche of a niche" - Kumar's #10 - All-star post-punk act out of LA - Kumar's #9 - The...

It's part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - R.I.P., Great Scott - Big blow to Boston rock scene - Venues, bars, restaurants are going out of business all over the country - Breitling and college friends have resurrected their old radio shows on Mixcloud - Parcheesi Redux is on Tuesdays, Wednesdays an...

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1971. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - The disappointing ZZ Top Sixpack box set - Early Bob Seger is good - Started seeing more solo albums - The rollercoaster ride of Doors fandom - Jay's faves (not #1): Rolling Stones, McCartney, Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic, Sabbath, Lennon, Bowie, the Who - When you've heard songs you love too ma...

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1970. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Phil's got some quality hockey hair going - Going to go through our favorite albums of each year from 1970-2020, starting with '70 - We were both under the age of 3 - Pretty varied list of favorites from that year - Popular music was splintering into many different genres - FM radio was pre...

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the final Grateful Dead studio album Built to Last. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Built to Last released on Halloween 1989 - Jay had just graduated from college, Phil was a junior - Jay: Don't remember this album even coming out - Phil: It's not memorable - Felt like band was going through the motions - Brent Mydland dominated the album with four s...

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead album In the Dark. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - We originally planned to do this in early March, but then something happened - In the Dark was released in July 1987, seven years after the last Dead studio album - Phil had just graduated from high school, Jay was going into junior year of college - The band had been playing the so...

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss quarantine life. Show notes: - Recorded recently via Skype - What's the first thing you'd do post-COVID? - All the big movies got pushed back to later in the year or 2021 - Some movies are going straight to streaming - When will we feel comfortable at crowded concerts again? - If touring slows down, how will musicians survive? - Ar...

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss quarantine life. Show notes: - Recorded last week via Skype - Homeschooling is hard work - A month in, the hoarding continues - Brian's second-grader has a lot of schoolwork - Brian was down in Florida to spend a few days at spring training - Had planned to visit family in Arizona in March, but decided not to - Virus moved quickly...

This week, I'm joined by author Greg Renoff as we discuss the new book he wrote with legendary rock producer Ted Templeman. Show notes: - Greg's first book was 2015's Van Halen Rising - Five years later, people are still discovering it - Wrote about the early years of VH from a fan's perspective - The band filled a void when their debut came out - That book led to Greg's new book, Ted Templeman: A...

This week on Quarantining With Kumar, I talk about how life has changed drastically in a short period of time because of COVID-19. Show notes: - Recorded while driving around to get some essentials - Day 5 of self-quarantine, working from home - The state of Massachusetts has pretty much closed all non-essential businesses - We haven't experienced anything like this before (in my lifetime) - Life...

I talk to Phil Stacey and Dave Olson about baseball's cheating scandal while we drive to a rock concert. Show notes: - Recorded on the way to see the Drive-By Truckers in Somerville, MA - Not the first cheating scandal in MLB, but this has a different feel - Houston Astros accused of stealing signs on the way to 2017 World Series - Every team cheats in some way or another - "If you're not cheating...