Let It Roll

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at Bruce Springsteen's breakthrough to national superstardom with Born in the USA. Nate struggles to maintain his official stance of aesthetic neutrality. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at the 1984 inaugural MTV Awards and some of the artists who dominated the channel that year. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- The fina...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and some of the musicians featured there including Etta James and Lionel Richie. There's also a discussion of a man much missed at the Olympics, the late Marvin Gaye as well as a look at R&B radio in the mid-1980s. G...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at the dance club scene that produced Madonna, her work with DJ/producer Jellybean Benitez, the emergence of House music in Chicago, the HI-NRG scene in the gay clubs and the rapid evolution of electro into Latin freestyle. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUB...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at a historic year for indie rock, post-punk and hardcore groups like R.E.M., Big Black, Naked Raygun, Husker Du, Black Flag and the Meat Puppets plus the whole neo-American rock scene headed up by X, the Blasters, Los Lobos and more. GO TO THE LET...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at the rise of Prince through the early 80s and his massive triumph with the film and album "Purple Rain." GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at the biggest tour of 1984: The Jackson's Victory tour. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- The final 15 minutes of this episode are excl...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at hip-hop in 1984 from the deluge of quickie exploitation movies, an attempt at a hip-hop Soul Train, the rise of Run-DMC and the meeting of Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin that resulted in Def Jam records. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at country music in 1984 from Willie Nelson's collaboration with Julio Iglesias to the rising new traditionalists Reba McEntire, George Strait and the Judds. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at Island Record's success with Bob Marley's Legend compilation, the rise of reissue labels like Rhino Records and the quest for the "next Bob Marley." GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at the musical movies of 1984: Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense, Flashdance, Footloose, This is Spinal Tap, Repo Man and more. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at the incredibly glamorous 1984 Grammy awards when Michael Jackson reigned supreme (except for one surprise moment from Annie Lennox), Boy George gaffed, The Police were far away and Cyndi Lauper was primed for the next year's show. GO TO THE LET I...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at the glam metal scene on Hollywood's Sunset Strip which was led by Van Halen, Motley Crue, & Quiet Riot as well as the international metal scene headed up by Def Leppard, Iron Maiden and the Scorpions. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FU...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at the so-called "second British invasion" of the early 1980s with a special focus in MTV's role in breaking acts like Culture Club, Eurythmics, Duran Duran and Kajagoogoo in the United States. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at the pair of music biz downturns that created the space for the new pop of 1984 to triumph: the early 80's record biz recession that followed the implosion of disco and the deeply moribund state of AOR Rock radio in the early 1980s. Buy the book a...

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge open their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' book "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with an overview of what made 1984 so special for pop music: Thriller, Purple Rain, Born in the USA, Like a Virgin, She's So Unusual and many many more beloved classics that all hit the radio at once and reinvigorated a moribund early 80's music scene. Buy the...

Hosts Nate Wilcox, Eugene S. Robinson & Alexei Auld discuss the fan-funded "Extreme Metal" episode of the documentary series "Metal Evolution." The Puncholes wrap our look at metal evolution with a discussion of grindcore, death metal and black metal. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- T...

Hosts Nate Wilcox, Eugene S. Robinson & Alexei Auld discuss the "Progressive Metal" episode of VH1 documentary series "Metal Evolution." The Puncholes debate the history of progressive metal with a lot of contention about whether or not Tool represented a clean break with the previous prog metal tradition. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Hosts Nate Wilcox, Eugene S. Robinson & Alexei Auld discuss the "Power Metal" episode of VH1 documentary series "Metal Evolution." The gang struggles to come to grips with Sam Dunn's definition of power metal, his belated coverage of German metal bands like the Scorpions and Accept, as well as discussing both first and second wave power metal bands from Manowar and Helloween to Blind Guardian and...

Hosts Nate Wilcox, Eugene S. Robinson & Alexei Auld discuss the "Shock Rock" episode of VH1 documentary series "Metal Evolution." The gang grapples with the "shock rock" umbrella that Sam Dunn uses to discuss a wide range of acts that combined intense rock with the shock aesthetic of the Grand Guignol. Slipknot emerges as a surprise favorite of the Puncholes. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR...

Hosts Nate Wilcox, Eugene S. Robinson & Alexei Auld discuss the "Nu Metal" episode of VH1 documentary series "Metal Evolution." Nate struggles to keep the team on track as long-held anti-Nu Metal biases threaten the attempted objectivity that's sacred to the Let It Roll approach. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Hosts Nate Wilcox, Eugene S. Robinson & Alexei Auld discuss the "Grunge" episode of VH1 documentary series "Metal Evolution." Nate and the team grapple with the meaning of grunge, its place in heavy metal history and our own tastes and biases. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- The final...

Host Nate Wilcox returns with cohorts Eugene S. Robinson, lead singer of the art-punk band Oxbow and veteran entertainment attorney Alexei Auld to discuss Sam Dunn's sixth episode of "Metal Evolution" and the team debates the virtues of the various thrash bands of the era. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Host Nate Wilcox returns with cohorts Eugene S. Robinson, lead singer of the art-punk band Oxbow and veteran entertainment attorney Alexei Auld to discuss Sam Dunn's fifth episode of "Metal Evolution" which focuses on the meaning of hair metal and how it produced its own nemesis in Guns N Roses. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Host Nate Wilcox returns with cohorts Eugene S. Robinson, lead singer of the art-punk band Oxbow and veteran entertainment attorney Alexei Auld to discuss Sam Dunn's fourth episode of "Metal Evolution" which focuses on the era after punk rock took over Britain in the late 1970s, when a new wave of heavy metal bands emerged in response. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...