My Weekly Mixtape: Music Discovery & Nostalgia

Most people know the biggest hip-hop hits of the 1990s . Songs like "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang," "Hip Hop Hooray," "C.R.E.A.M.," and countless others became part of the soundtrack of the decade . But what about the overlooked songs , hidden gems , and underrated hip-hop singles that never fully crossed over to the mainstream ? This week, I'm digging into ten oft-forgotten hip-hop tracks from the yea...

This week, it’s the world premiere of my brand new podcast with Jay Sweet, The Room We Wanted ! We’re giving you a sneak peek with this music-themed episode of the show. If you like what you hear, there are THREE new premiere episodes waiting for you at: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-room-we-wanted/id6808018673 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/29B3p5LJdCSxzFoxGyEg...

For a generation of kids who grew up with Transformers , G.I. Joe , Star Wars and He-Man , these weren't simply toys and cartoons . They were part of growing up . And for Gus Rios, they were even more than that. This week, Gus Rios of Knights of Unicron and Cold Slither joins me (and guest host Jay Sweet ) to talk about the making of the new reimagined soundtrack to 1986's Transformers: The Movie...

This week, Dr. Josh Bald of Primus Tracks joins me to step deep into the wonderfully warped world of Primus — a band that never really fit into a category because they spent their entire career bending , twistin g, and outright ignoring them. From the early slap-heavy chaos of Frizzle Fry to the conceptual storytelling of The Desaturating Seven , we’re building a 10-song playlist designed to trace...

There are plenty of publications that rank the biggest-selling albums in music history … but now comes the hard part: can you actually guess them? This week, two friends of the show, Jay Swee t and DT Carel of Dopamine Sunrise , join me for a special My Weekly Mixtape challenge as they try to name the top 20 best-selling albums of all time . They’ll have to rely on their music knowledge , memory ,...

“Weird Al” Yankovic has spent more than four decades doing something almost nobody else has ever managed to pull off: building a lasting career out of parody , satire , and an undeniable love of music itself . He's sold millions of albums , influenced generations of artists, survived every major shift in the music industry , and somehow remained as relevant today as he was in the MTV era . So why...

After 200+ episodes of My Weekly Mixtape , I’m doing something a little different. First and foremost: MWM is not ending ! In this special mini-episode, I’m introducing The Room We Wanted , the new podcast I’m launching with my friend Jay Sweet on October 4th . The new show explores who we were before we became who we are , using the things we loved growing up ( albums , movies , TV shows , toys ,...

This week, I am talking with previous My Weekly Mixtape guests , friends of the show , and Patreon Mixtapers , hearing their thoughts on what they consider to be the perfect album , and why ! A perfect album doesn’t have to be your favorite album of all time — just one that gives you a true no-skips experience from the opening track to the closer . Guests appearing (in no particular order): Warren...

This week, I am talking with previous My Weekly Mixtape guests , friends of the show , and Patreon Mixtapers , hearing their thoughts on what they consider to be the perfect album , and why ! A perfect album doesn’t have to be your favorite album of all time — just one that gives you a true no-skips experience from the opening track to the closer . Guests appearing (in no particular order): Kenny...

For some people, Smash Mouth begins and ends with a handful of massive hits. But the band's story goes much deeper than "All Star," "Walking On The Sun," or their immensely popular take on The Monkees’ "I'm A Believer." This week, founding bassist Paul De Lisle joins me to look back at the road that took Smash Mouth from the ska-punk energy of Fush Yu Mang to multi-platinum success , movie soundtr...

FUEL has always lived in that space between legacy and forward motion —where the songs become bigger than the moment they were written , and the story keeps evolving long after those charting moments . This week, Carl Bell joins me to reflect on that long arc of the band: from the early days of “Shimmer” and “Hemorrhage” finding their way into the fabric of rock radio , to what it means to still b...

Think narrowing twenty-five years of dance music down to ten songs was difficult the first time? So did a lot of you! After our first dive into 10 of the biggest dance tracks of the last quarter century , the messages started rolling in. Some of your favorites were missing . Some songs sparked spirited debates . And more than a few people reminded us just how impossible it is to squeeze twenty-fiv...

This week, I’m skanking my way through 10 ska punk cover songs for you to sink your checkerboard Vans into. From ska punk bands r einventing pop hits , to up-and-coming acts taking swings at ska and punk classics — it’s all stitched together by that unmistakable upstroke rhythm and pure “pick it up” energy . From basement-show singalongs to Warped Tour staples , ska bands have been flipping famili...

There’s a story behind the name Parker Barrow — and it’s not just a nod to Bonnie and Clyde . This week, Megan Kane and Dylan Turner join me to unpack how that outlaw-inspired identity connects to a very real journey — one built less on romance and more on survival. From living in an RV and scraping by , to finding clarity and momentum as a band, this is a conversation about what it actually takes...

This week, I’m digging into 10 songs that all run 10+ minutes — and somehow never feel like it . These are the tracks that keep unfolding , shifting , and pulling you forward just enough that the clock stops mattering . No meandering . No “this could’ve been trimmed” moments. Just long songs that know exactly what they’re doing . Spanning the rock spectrum — classic rock , metal , punk , prog , an...

There are moments in life that feel too strange to be real — the kind you replay just to make sure they actually happened. This is one of those stories . On Saturday, June 17, 2000 , during Poison’s Power to the People tour at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ , I went from the crowd… to on stage with Poison . One minute I’m watching a rock concert. The next, I’ve got Bret Michaels’ micropho...

This week, we're revisiting my feature-length interview with Tom Keifer , legendary Cinderella frontman, as he reflects on the band's enduring legacy , his acclaimed solo career , and the challenges that nearly ended it . In this in-depth conversation, Tom shares the stories behind his critically acclaimed solo albums The Way Life Goes (2013) and Rise (2019), offering insight into his songwriting...

There’s a moment every parent (or anyone who’s been around kids long enough ) recognizes — a song that gets played over and over again … and somehow doesn’t wear out its welcome . That space — where something clicks for kids and doesn’t lose the room for the adults — is harder to pull off than it sounds. And it’s exactly where Laurie Berkner has lived for decades . This week, she joins me to talk...

Most people remember their first concert. I’ve talked about mine more than a few times — David Lee Roth and Poison on the 1988 Skyscraper tour. But the second one hits differently for a lot of people. For me, it was Aerosmith and Skid Row on the Pump tour in 1990 . I was 12 , standing there completely wide-eyed, when Skid Row tore into “Piece of Me” and something just clicked — that bass line . Th...

Upbeat dance classics, pop anthems and heavier rock songs give you one feeling — but what happens when you slow them down , strip them back , and see what lies beneath the surface ? This week on My Weekly Mixtape, I explore why slow cover songs often hit harder than the originals, taking familiar pop , rock , and dance hits and reshaping them into something far more intimate . Across 10 mellow cov...

Can you narrow 25 years of dance classics into 10 songs? Nice try if you say it's easy! This week, Jay Sweet joins me to dive into the tracks that kept crowds moving from the early 2000s straight through today — ten songs that shaped twenty-five years of parties , playlists , wedding receptions , late-night drives , and every moment in between . We’re looking at the hooks , the beats , and the cul...

Is there such a thing as a Rush deep cut ? To the diehards, absolutely not — but that shouldn’t stop us from trying! As the band gears up for their long-anticipated Fifty Something anniversary tour, I am throwing back to an episode where I was the guest , and joined Steve & Gerry on the Something For Nothing: A Rush Fancast . In this discussion, we set out to celebrate the overlooked corners o...

Few artists soundtrack the open road quite like Tom Petty. From radio-dominant anthems to overlooked gems hiding deeper in the catalog, his songs feel engineered for long stretches of highway , glowing dashboards , and miles that slip by unnoticed . This 10-song Tom Petty road trip playlist brings together the familiar hits you instinctively reach for and the lesser-known tracks that hit just as h...

Thirty years after Ledbetter Heights first introduced Kenny Wayne Shepherd to the world, we circle back — not just to revisit the songs , but to understand what happens when you’ve lived with them for decades . From the raw instinct of a 17-year-old finding his voice to the perspective that only time , touring , and life can bring, this conversation digs into how those early recordings hold up — a...

Working in network radio in the early 2000s was a nonstop rollercoaster — long , unpredictable hours , the constant pressure of a 24/7 operation , and a news cycle that could reshape your entire life in an instant . But on the flip side , it also meant crossing paths with the biggest names in music, movies, and television as they moved through studios to appear on stations across the country . Thi...