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

Robert Hilburn, former LA Times Music Editor/Critic, has become one of the preeminent music biographers for the singer-songwriter. Known for his deep dives into the lives of legendary artists, Robert has penned insightful biographies on Johnny Cash and Paul Simon. Now, he joins us to discuss his latest work, A Few Words In Defense Of Our Country: The Biography Of Randy Newman. We’ll explore Newman...

Iain Matthews’ 53rd-ish solo album is entitled "How Much Is Enough". He joins the podcast and we learn all about the start of his career, from selling shoes on Carnaby Street in mid-60s Swingin' London, to where he is today. It's a good insight into Iain's mindset about where he sees himself as a working musician/songwriter after nearly 60 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

We celebrate Punk For A Day Day on October 25 by recognizing one of our favorite Punks. One wouldn't blame Steve Diggle if he decided to pack up The Buzzcocks name after the death of vocalist Pete Shelley back in 2018. But Steve is carrying on, with the same fervor that powered the band back in Manchester, England in 1978.  When we talked back in 2022 The Buzzcock's latest album, Sonics In The Sou...

What does music documentarian Denny Tedesco do for an encore, after beautifully capturing the family of musicians known as The Wrecking Crew? How about find another family? That’s exactly what Denny did, with his latest film, entitled Immediate Family. You may not know the Immediate Family, or the names Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, or Steve Postell, but you know the m...

Moon Unit Zappa has led quite a unique life. The daughter of Frank and Gail, she always called her parents by their first names. Moon was gifted a journal every year since she was five, and now she details many of the crazy stories in her book: Earth To Moon: A Memoir. She also shares some of her secrets on our podcast, including her fake name whenever this famed Valley Girl entered the Sherman Oa...

It's been quite a year for the brothers Jeff and Steven McDonald of Redd Kross. They’re currently in the middle of a tour in support of their eponymous double album, their oral history memoir, Now You're One Of Us: The Story Of Redd Kross comes out in October, and before the year is up, we’ll see the release of their documentary, Born Innocent. Somehow they boys found time to chat with us about th...

Robyn Hitchcock has had quite the musical career. So much so that two movies have been made about him: The documentary Robyn Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death...and Insects, and the Jonathan Demme-directed performance film, Storefront Hitchcock. However, when Robyn decided to write his own story, he centered it on a particularly meaningful point in his life: When he was 14 years old. The memoir is 1967:...

Susan Seidelman has directed films with Meryl Streep, John Malkovich, and Madonna, but how does a humble girl from the suburbs of Philadelphia get to such a point? It's all documented in her new book, Desperately Seeking Something: A Memoir About Movies, Mothers, and Material Girls. Susan joins the podcast to talk about movies, music, mothers, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega...

Matt Pinfield would probably consider himself "just a music fan from New Jersey". But fans of his radio and club shows, as well as music artists like David Bowie and Depeche Mode immediately recognized the passion and knowledge that Matt possessed. This led to the distinction of being THE spokesperson for rock music fans when he first began hosting the Alternative Music show 120 Minutes on MTV in...

Music Journalist Lyndsey Parker is a fixture on the Los Angeles music scene. For more than two decades, she served as the Music Editor for Yahoo Entertainment, interviewing all our favorite music artists, including 80s icons like The Cure, Duran Duran, and Cyndi Lauper. You've seen her as a correspondent on AXS TV and Fox 11 News in Los Angeles, and as a moderator at the Grammy Museum. You can lea...

We first heard Swedish Egil at KROQ in Los Angeles, where for ten years he played his favorite dance, ska, and electronic music, introducing us to bands like New Order and Kraftwerk. From there, he became Music Director of MARS-FM, and introduced us to techno and rave artists like The Orb and Moby. And for the past three decades, Egil spearheaded Groove Radio, first in Los Angeles, then in syndica...

Alan Hunter was the first person we saw for the debut of MTV on August 1, 1981 (just don't remind Mark Goodman of this fact). Alan has maintained a passion for the 80s music that defined our youth. This, naturally, makes him the perfect guest for our podcast, as we discuss his career, his newfound love of cruises, and songs 40 to 31 from the KROQ 1987 year-end chart. Learn more about your ad choic...

Paige Stark is a multi-hyphenated artist. She's a Director-Writer-Actor-Producer, but she joins our podcast because we’re fans of her music. Her just- released EP is entitled Good At Love, and we get into all the interesting insights from the start of her career, her impressive list of friends, and the crazy story of how she became associated with Clementine Creevy from the band, Cherry Glazerr. S...

Music Industry executive Rob Tonkin has been a fixture in the business for over four decades. He's accumulated quite a few stories, so much so that he’ll be releasing his own memoir in very the near future (tentatively called "Rockin' Robbie"). Meanwhile, Rob joins us in our What Difference Does It Make virtual studio to share some of his stories, and to discuss some 80s music; specifically the ye...

Exciting news for fans of power pop, as the dB's are releasing a reissue of their excellent debut LP, Stands for deciBels. Formed in New York City by four North Carolinians, The dB’s consist of singers-guitarists-songwriters Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple, bassist Gene Holder, and drummer Will Rigby. Amazingly, this remastered edition is the first time the set has been released on vinyl in the U...

Marco Collins may be best known as the Music Director at KNDD/The End in Seattle during the height of the grunge era. His career actually started at 91X in San Diego, but he had to commute to the station, located in Tijuana, Mexico, to get to his overnight shift. It's part glamour and part squalor. The Glamour & The Squalor also happens to be the name of his own documentary. We’re treated to a loo...

The breadth of the Midge Ure music catalogue is one to behold. His career started in the 1970’s with the boy band, Slik, followed by Rich Kids through to Visage and Ultravox and a thriving solo career. That's even without mentioning the historic work he's done for Band Aid & Live Aid in the 80’s. We are thrilled Midge Ure can join us on the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...

Founding member of The Cure and Rock Hall Inductee, Lol Tolhurst, joins the podcast to chat about his second book, entitled GOTH. It's a deep dive into the dark Romanticism of Goth music. Of course, since we like to keep things upbeat, we also discuss the eclipse, family, sunny California, and his new album, Los Angeles, with his old friend Budgie, drummer from Siouxsie & The Banshees, and Jacknif...

Dylan Chambers is one soulful dude, as a listen to his EP For Your Listening Pleasure! will prove. His first single, "High (When I'm Low)," featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Dave Koz, will immediately put a smile on your face. Dylan steps into our studio to discuss his beginnings in Arlington, Texas, and his many collaborations with artists from Mark Ballas, (of Dancing With The Stars fame), to Aldae...

Foreigner is one of the world's best-selling bands of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 80 million records, but they are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yet. Rick Wills, bassist for the band, joins the podcast not only to push for Foreigner's entry into the Rock Hall, but to chat with us about his renowned career, including stints playing with David Gilmour, and discovering he was...

Pearl Harbour has a deep love of Rockabilly music. So much so that instead of recording another album on a major label with Pearl Harbor and The Explosions, she left the band to record a solo record. The result was the 1980 release, Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too. Unfortunately, the album was slightly ahead of its time, missing out on the 80s rockabilly revival from bands like The Stray Cats and Th...

Dave Tarnowski, like everyone, has voices in his head, confirming and/or denying his worst fears. Unlike everyone, Dave has created an Instagram Account around the concept, with 2.2 million followers and counting. He has now turned that social media success into a book, entitled Disappointing Affirmations: Unfollow your dreams!  However, for this episode, Dave talks about his true loves, Nick Cave...

Dave Beasing joins the podcast this week. Dave is the CEO of Sound That BRANDS, a company that helps Brands tell their stories through audio-based marketing content…aka PODCASTS! Dave also has his own stories to share about growing up in Omaha, and his long career in radio. After the stories, Dave adds his thoughts about a ten-song chunk of music played on The World Famous KROQ in Los Angeles back...

Ireland native and radio geek, Enda Caldwell, has been heard on Atlantic 252, Radio Luxembourg, Today FM and Radio Nova in Ireland, Kiss in The UK, and many other radio stations worldwide, like 106.5 Rivera Radio in Monaco. He’s currently the afternoon drive host at New York's EDM station, Pulse 87. However, in this episode, Enda steps into the way-back machine to talk about his career, and to rev...

Karen Glauber is the President of HITS Magazine. She started her career with the legendary label, A&M Records, back in the 80s. She's also got strong opinions about the music. This makes her the perfect guest for our look at the music the World Famous KROQ in Los Angeles played back in 1987. This week we look at songs 100 to 91, based on their year-end chart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...