A (Mostly) 80s Music Podcast: What Difference Does It Make?

Dylan Jones new book "Sweet Dreams: The Story Of The New Romantics" covers our sweet spot of music fandom 1975-1985 and so we have many questions. The book is not only an oral history of the music scene in the UK but a personal one for Dylan as he shares his experience as a clubbing "Blitz Kid". We start with Bowie and Roxy Music and and go up to Boy George and Live Aid. Dylan Jones has amassed hu...

You don't need to know anything about the guitar to know that what Eddie Van Halen did when he placed his fingers on those strings was something totally unique. Holly and Dave do their best to unpack the impact he had on popular culture with his guitar playing. When they run out of words they call in their friends, SiriusXM personality, Mark Goodman and journalist Craig Rosen to give their perspec...

Singer-Songwriter Peter Himmelman takes us on the journey that led to his latest album "Press On". We talk about the songwriting process and the discipline that Peter needs to keep pushing himself to become a better songwriter. We also touch on how his move to the east coast has affected his creation of new work, the frustration in his the inability to play in front of a live audience and his desi...

As we continue our talk with BrownMark, we get into his complex relationship with Prince, There are good and bad times in the studio and concert stage. BrownMark learns some valuable lessons about the music industry when he tries to create his own band, Mazarati, whom he believes could have been the black Guns 'n Roses. We also talk about the future as BrownMark is already planning a sequel to his...

BrownMark, bassist for Prince and the Revolution joins us to talk about his book, My Life In The Purple Kingdom. We get into the influence his mother, lovingly nicknamed Mama Vader had on his development, how Prince had to "break" him when he first joined the band and his infamous first gig with the Revolution opening up for the Rolling Stones in 1981. Want to hear an audiobook for free? Go to htt...

David Freiberg, Donny Baldwin, Cathy Richardson, Chris Smith and Jude Gold known collectively as Jefferson Starship join us again for the final part in our two part interview.. We talk about the difference between Starship and Jefferson Starship, the difference between Janis Joplin and Grace Slick and get into the making of their first new music in 12 years that led to "Mother Of The Sun". So "Wha...

It's Part 1 in our two part chat with all five members of Jefferson Starship. In on our Zoom call is David Freiberg, Donny Baldwin, Cathy Richardson, Chris Smith and Jude Gold. We talk about the creation of their new EP, Mother Of The Sun. It's been twelve years since we last got new music from the band and we get into what factors were involved that started to inspire the band to create new songs...

Josie Cotton's iconic 80s record is Convertible Music but she is much more than just that one album. We get into her Russian send up song "Ukrainian Cowboy", recording songs in her studio, "Kitten Robot" and why she relates to the B-Movies of Russ Meyers and Nunsploitation films.   We also get into the creation of her image and her infamous appearance on the Merv Griffin Show. It's easy to love ev...

This week's talk is with Josie Cotton, best known for the songs "Johnny, Are You Queer" and "He Could Be The One" which appeared in the movie Valley Girl. She now owns the rights to her own music so she happily discusses all the fun, frustration and excitement surrounding the songs on her 1982 Convertible Music album. And good news, since she owns the rights, she gave us permission to actually pla...

Joel Graves: musician, recording studio owner and most importantly, composer of the What Difference Does It Make theme, virtually steps into our studios. Joel has spent his career with the bands Earlimart and Everest. He not only worked for Neil Young's label Vapor but got various opportunities to play alongside him including at Madison Square Garden. He's also a co-owner of Elliott Smith's record...

Our talk with Chris Frantz continues as we get into why Talking Heads initially passed on signing a record contract, the genesis of Tom Tom Club and the making of the 80s music classic concert film, Stop Making Sense.  If you'd like to hear Chris narrate his book go to Audible for a free copy courtesy of What Difference Does It Make Get three FREE months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music...

We are so thrilled to talk with a member of Talking Heads, drummer Chris Frantz. Chris' book "Remain In Love" is out and we get into the details of how a guy growing up in Pittsburgh puts down his artistic paintbrush, picks up some drum sticks and ends up forming one of the most iconic rock bands coming out from the 1970s New York music club scene. This is part one in our talk with Chris Frantz. R...

Craig Rosen, journalist and friend of the show, returns with more stories involving Pete Buck and a beer, keeping Johnny Cash off of a speaker phone and refusing a collect call from Lou Reed. Good stuff! Don't forget to check out Craig's Influences on Spotify Get three FREE months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music aficionados at What Difference Does It Make Get a free Audible book Learn m...

Melanie Vammen, Karen Basset and Sheri Kaplan Weinstein are back to talk all things Pandoras and what happens when a band that created a loyal following in the 80s, breaks up and creates new opportunities. These musicians have formed a bond that continues to inspire. We encourage you to donate to ALS and Team Shattuck  Also, relive the magic with a Spotify playlist Get three FREE months of Amazon...

Melanie Vammen, Karen Basset and Sheri Kaplan Weinstein join us for a talk about their band, The Pandoras. They share their experiences as a young Southern Californian band coming of age in the 80s music scene and keep the memories of Paula Pierce and Kim Shattuck alive. These women are still the best of friends and it certainly shows in this episode. We made a Spotify playlist of some of our favo...

Sure he's directed videos for Kylie Minogue and Bon Jovi (just don't tell Thom Yorke) but Nick Egan takes a punk rock approach to his videos. This leads to some clashes (pun intended) with Oasis and memorably Alanis Morissette; Nick dives deep into what went down which makes for a great listen. Get three FREE months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music aficionados at What Difference Does It...

Self-proclaimed "creative vandal" Nick Egan has created some of the most iconic 80s album artwork from The Clash and Bow Wow Wow to INXS and Duran Duran. In part one of our two part interview, we discuss how Nick got his start, all the way to working with Bob Dylan for his Biograph retrospective.  Great stories are told and Nick made us this amazing Spotify playlist. Enjoy! Get three FREE months o...

We talk with director Alison Ellwood to discuss her latest documentary centered around the Laurel Canyon music scene of the 60s and 70s. Alison provides some great insight into what it takes to bring a documentary such as this to life. It's a really great film that is now available to view on the EPIX channel  Get three FREE months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music aficionados at What Dif...

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Doug Clifford joins us at What Difference Does It Make.  Our discussion starts with the Golliwogs, the band that eventually morphed into Creedence Clearwater Revival and leads into Doug's solo album, Magic Window, an album created from recently located tracks and recorded back in 1985. Get three FREE months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music aficionados at...

It's another great talk on What Difference Does It Make as Glen Sobel tells us the secret to getting into Alice Cooper's Band, his experience on a major label with Beautiful Creatures and we go way back to Glen's high school days to hear how he won the talent show with his percussive unit Offbeat. We highly suggest you check out Glen Sobel's Spotify Influence playlist Get three FREE months of Amaz...

Glen Sobel, drummer extraordinaire for Alice Cooper and Hollywood Vampires tells us about his start in the business and the prep that needs to be done to make a show seamless. We had some much fun talking with Glen, so enjoy part one of this two part journey with one of the finest rock drummers working today. Follow our podcast Get three FREE months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music afici...

We got the opportunity to talk with Producer Steven Wolfe and Director Rachel Lee Goldenberg for the just released re-imagining of the 80s film, Valley Girl. This jukebox musical version is set in the present and Alicia Silverstone plays the grown up character of Julie originally played by Deborah Foreman. Her daughter is Jessica Rothe and her Randy, originally played by Nicolas Cage, is now playe...

Our talk continues as Leslie Kogan Gold tells us all the exciting ideas she has to keep Andrew Gold's music fresh and exciting. Besides the new album "Something New" out now via Omnivore Recordings, Leslie discusses the possibility collaborations, a Broadway musical and of course the viral sensation that is Spooky, Scary Skeletons. We also try to figure out which Golden Girl would be Andrew's favo...

To celebrate the release of "Something New: Unreleased Gold" by Andrew Gold, we got the opportunity to talk with Leslie Kogan Gold. It was a real treat to learn all about this amazing musician Sure, he had hits with "Lonely Boy" and "Thank You for Being A Friend" but he also was able to steer Linda Ronstadt's musical direction from Country/Folk to Rock.. He has composed music with 10CC, Leo Sayer,...

We talk to Craig Rosen, the man literally wrote the book on Number One Albums and R.E.M. We dig into Craig's origin story as a Valley Boy Hebrew School rebel cruising around in his Karmann Ghia. Craig not only loved The Clash and The Buzzcocks, but wanted to write about them. Hear how he got to do this and all his exploits on the What Difference Does It Make Podcast. A free audible book is availab...