Music Raygun

Paul and Kirk answer some listener mail; a brain-melting correction changes everything they thought they knew about the "Boston" cover art; a band name backronym is added to the list of all-time greats; the boys play an all-new game; and the Trivial Pursuit: R.P.M. Edition tie is broken at long last after an honest-to-God music trivia slugfest. All that plus "Music Raygun" theme music composer Bag...

Once again, “Music Raygun” welcomes a past guest back for another episode. Isabel Nelson returns to talk a bunch more about dance with Kirk, a fellow trained dancer; and Paul, a clumsy, oafish idiot. Baryshnikov makes a long overdue appearance, Marlon Jackson reminds us why he used to be “the dancingest Jackson,” Willi Ninja teaches the world how to vogue, and lots more. Just like our first spotli...

Say yay, because Isabel Nelson is back as our guest for a new miniepisode. Paul, Kirk and Isabel kick things off on a fun note by talking about rock-star suicides. Then it's another installment of "Don't @ Me," where Kirk drops one of his spiciest takes yet (but don't @ us about it). And the music trivia expo mission is a nail-biter right down to the last question.

It’s time to snuggle up with your lovers under those covers, because you’re listening to the Quiet Storm on Music Raygun. Paul and Kirk welcome back Katie Willert to join them once again. This time they’re talking about slow jams, aka baby-making music. What constitutes a “slow jam” is open to interpretation. But one thing’s for sure: If you put the songs from this episode on an unlabeled cassette...

Katie Willert was the first guest on Music Raygun, and now she's the first guest on one of our miniepisodes. She spills the tea with some behind-the-scenes secrets from the 2018 Met Gala red carpet, then shares a piping hot Don't @ Me before getting in on our regular trivia game.

Even if you don’t recognize the names of producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, you know their work. Because they’re responsible for dozens of the biggest pop hits of the last 30-plus years. Original members of The Time (as in Morris Day and the Time), Jam and Lewis are also the answer to the question, “Why is Prince’s egomania responsible for Janet Jackson’s entire music career?” And, as a human Pr...

Uncle Marc is back with a new email, we say goodbye to Bob Dorough, Paul has podcast recommendations, plus a new "Don't @ Me" and another round of Trivial Pursuit: RPM Edition.

Last April, we gave you our first “Rebel Girls” episode of the podcast, so this year we wanted to make it an annual tradition. Here’s a bunch more badass woman in rock music, including Lunachicks, Liliput (nee Kleenex), Luscious Jackson, Screaming Females, Daddy Issues and more. We'll watch Regis and Kathie Lee try to get to the bottom of the New York hardcore scene in the mid-'80s. Wendy O. Willi...

It's another of our Music Raygun minis, the in-between episodes you can get only if you subscribe to the podcast (or find us on SoundCloud). But you're reading this, so you figured that out already. Good for you, sailor!

We went back to the bag for Music Raygun No. 30. The grab bag, that is. We’ve got a real rando-crando mix of artists, songs and videos for you in this episode, including Bad Manners, BadBadNotGood, Beefheart, Blossom (Dearie, that is) and other names that don’t start with the letter B. We also traveled through time to watch some ‘60s TV shows. And we figured out why the Little River Band's is the...

We're back for another miniepisode as Kirk tries to redeem himself following a crushing defeat in the previous trivia game. Also, starting right now, you'll find the "Don't @ Me" segment living here in our miniepisodes. Exciting, right? And listeners want to know: Why does Paul keep calling Kirk "Krag"? The answer to that question and 12 others in this heart-pounding miniepisode of Music Raygun.

When last we looked at hip-hop through the years, they were 1988-89. This time, they’re 1992-93. Kirk was finishing college. Paul was in elementary school. But they both have vivid memories of listening to hip-hop at the time. Gangsta rap got attention for the right and wrong reasons. Meanwhile, the Native Tongues sound carried on in A Tribe Called Quest and newcomers like Digable Planets. So here...

It's the first "Music Raygun" miniepisode! Since day one, we've warmed up for recording each episode of the show by first playing a quick round of Trivial Pursuit: RPM Edition, a game of music trivia published in 1985. It took us this long to figure out we may as well record these contests and release them as miniepisodes on off weeks. Enjoy.

How can two Joes Bag o’ Doughnuts like us hope to reckon with the fact of a living deity like Madonna? By admitting from the start that we only scratch the surface of the surface of this episode’s topic. But we’ll track the lion’s share of Madonna’s career from when she first popped in 1983 to her album “Music” in 2000. And we pick a few of the mind-melting number of iconic moments she packed into...

We’re kicking off Year Two of this podcast by returning to the theme of our first episode. Sort of. That episode was about Prince. This episode is about Prince’s hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kirk has more Prince-associated artists to talk about. Paul looks at the big alt/punk bands that came from the Twin Cities in the ‘80s, plus some classic Minneapolis artists. It’s another episode of us be...

We’re wrapping up the first year of our podcast with a second helping of Music Raygun B-sides. That means looking back to past episode themes for bonus clips that we left out (or didn’t know about) the first time around. There’s a clip each from our episodes about the Jackson dynasty, Halloween, dance, Charlene deGuzman, the holidays, "Bad," Los Angeles and funk. Plus two from even older episodes....

Music Raygun is finally focusing on the funk. Typical to their tastes, Paul leans toward the early funk years of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, while Kirk prefers the vibe of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. There are some favorites and some lesser-known acts. And the mix shows you how funk has influenced other musical genres, from rock to R&B to hip-hop and beyond, since its invention. That’s the kin...

Kirk and Paul already paid tribute to their respective hometowns of Cleveland and Providence, so now it’s time to acknowledge their shared current home: Los Angeles. All the clips in this episode feature bands from LA. But Kirk and Paul skew hard to their different favored genres. Kirk brings rap, R&B and funk to the table. Paul prefers garage rock, punk and power pop. And Angelyne makes an appear...

Happy New Year, raygunners! In celebration of 2018’s dawn, this episode is something a little different. Kirk and Paul watch just one video. Well, two videos. It’s one music video, plus a short “making of” segment about it. And it’s Michael Jackson’s “Bad,” the Martin Scorsese-directed long-form music video that turned 30 a few months ago. “Bad” is 18 minutes of MJ at his most extra, at least up u...

Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa, wonderful solstice and cool Yule to everyone. We know a lot of people say they hate Christmas music, and to them we ask: Are you listening to the right Christmas music? We hope you’ll find something to like in our holiday playlist, which includes Grace Jones, The Ramones, Kurtis Blow, Kaela Kimura and more. There’s also a holiday treat from the worst...

For the first time on “Music Raygun,” our guest is the topic. Charlene deGuzman is a musician, dancer, comedian, writer and advice columnist. She and Paul look back at her time as a member of Stomp, as Hannah Montana’s drummer, as the creator of a YouTube video that’s been seen more than 51 million times, and as maker of many more wonderful things. Her upcoming film is “Unlovable,” which she wrote...

For the second time on “Music Raygun,” our topic for this episode is no topic at all. It’s our first sequel episode as we bring you another grab bag of videos. We’re looking at an assortment of our favorite clips that more or less defy categorization. That means Elvis, Chakha Khan, Captain Beefheart and Anita O’Day all in one podcast. And that’s just to name a few of the wild artists we visit in t...

We’re joined by special guest Isabel Nelson, a friend of the show and, like Kirk, a trained dancer. That’s why the focus of this episode is dance. Isabel and Kirk are here to speak intelligently about the art form, with thoughtful comments rooted in their education and experience. Paul’s here too, to say his dumb opinions based on nothing. We’re talking about Gene Kelly, Bob Fosse, Boogaloo Shrimp...

It’s the most frightening episode of the show yet. Kirk and Paul are celebrating Halloween with the very spookiest and ookiest music clips they could find on YouTube. Some of them are Halloween-themed videos. One’s just something that terrified Kirk for no explainable reason when he was a kid. There’s also another visit with the great Bev and Bob. Listen to this eerie episode to get you in that Ha...

Michael Jackson was so huge in the 1980s that his success affected everyone in the music industry, not excluding the other Jacksons, i.e., Michael’s siblings. Everyone was so desperate for a piece of what Michael had that anyone related to him got a record deal. That’s what this episode is about: what Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Randy, Rebbie, La Toya and even Janet were doing at the height of...