Old Man Yells at Music

This time Roger goes back to a time of heavy weather and heavy messages in sitcoms (don't make Doobie Brothers bootlegs, kids). On the charts, there were TWO songs about alien encounters, as well as an instrumental that doesn't really live up to either half of its title, a diss of the diminutive, a description of how Jamaican girls show out, and a song about a hot dance craze of 1790s Britain. Fil...

This time Roger goes back to Boxing Day 1992, when Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson were yelling at each other at a theater near you. Hits this week included a posthumous gem from a legend, a rock star dissing certain elements of his audience, a 90s icon in her first incarnation, an alt-rock cover of a song from an angsty 60s movie, an interesting trade proposal, and some budding R&B royalty. Also, "...

This time Roger goes back to the month Chevy Chase went overboard on his Christmas decorating. On the charts there was an ode to the Almighty, songs about birth and what leads to it, rock going rave, and a group that would soon take a lot of blame putting their own blame on precipitation. Learn more on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDWLXjsOJPQnuNAnMjHVzpVANBsYxhoS4 Look into the Patr...

Roger's way behind, but the push to catch up by the first days of 2023 begins in 1971. While America was crying for a football player, the charts contained a breakup mashup, a peace allegory from a Satanic source, a guitar genius, a calming poem, an ode to powerlessness, and a comedian's dairy-based Western ballad. See and hear it all on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDWLXjsOJPQm8ArM...

The Old Man's running behind, but he's starting his attempt to catch up with a look at the month that Montreal became the most infamous city in professional wrestling. On the charts, you had an electronic music innovator teaming with a rap legend, some Newfoundland optimism, an Aussie little sister, a confession of romantic crime, a soul loverman's breakthrough, and a critique of sellouts from a b...

This time Roger looks at a month when a 300-plus pound man became a Chicago sports legend. On the CanUKUS charts, there was a tribute to a religious martyr, a sad boy classic, metaphorical demolition and construction, and a future movie star taking his Latin lover stereotype character to the club. Plus there's a song good enough to make the Old Man drop an F-bomb, and one awful enough to render hi...

It's scary season again, and Roger marks the occasion this year by looking back at when the King of Shock Rock got 90 minutes of network TV to promote his new LP. He pushed his typical cartoon horror act to new heights, and to help him do so he brought in the chairman of cinematic chills himself, Vincent Price! So how scary is it? Roger tells you, but you can see for yourself on YouTube: https://y...

This episode takes us back to the month Lawrence Olivier first asked Dustin Hoffman whether or not it was safe. The hits of the day included a song to watch a Romanian tumble by, some experimental Germans, a soul smoothie, the ballad of a maritime tragedy, a lesson in American geography, hustling waterfowl, and a request for blue-eyed soul. The YouTube playlist is here: https://youtube.com/playlis...

Roger goes back to that magical container of lost long playing records and finds a concept album that attracted some big names in British and American rock, headlined by Alice Cooper and half of The Who. It was a collection of songs about a space hero and his battle with a race of insatiable female aliens. Somehow, it never caught on, but the Old Man found it, and he'll tell you all about it. List...

On this one Roger goes back to the fall without a Fall Classic to talk about the hits of the time. There's some spacey trip-hop, brats British and American, a modern murder ballad, one of the combatants in the Battle of Britpop, an African superstar, and the late great Coolio. Watch and listen on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDWLXjsOJPQlrDpameDyS8DdcnspAvKm7 And you can support the...

The time has come for the 1990s to crown its own champion of pop peculiarity. This episode covers the first 32 contenders and whittles them down to 16. Warning: this bracket contains mature themes. Adultery, glorification and shaming of body parts, BDSM, masturbation, one-night stands, and public acts of a oral nature. We’re talking about sex, baby! Also, both Salt-n-Pepa and Aerosmith fight among...

This time Roger goes back to the month a 139-year sports winning street was ended, and boomer nostalgia was big at the box office. The hits includes a tribute to an industry in a slump, an audio bike ride, a Hollywood superstar's little bro, a request for personal space, and a pair of songs that accompanied a Pittsburgh welder's pursuit of a dream. The YouTube playlist will reveal more: https://yo...

This time Roger goes back to the month the movies asked "Where were you in '62?" and musicians and automobiles were a dangerous mix. The hits of the day included a tale of cheating spouses, a fictional dogfight, wild times on tour, an icon's response to being passed over for Paul Anka, rock against racism, and some influential nonsense. See and hear more on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?li...

This time Roger goes back to the first summer of the 90s and finds charts containing jazzy rap, hair metal and hair metallish coattail riders, a blind man who cares more than he should, looks that deceive, and a cover of a band's 78th best song. Oh, and there's also opera about a guy who's keeping a secret as if his life depends on it...because it does. See and hear all about it on YouTube: https:...

This time Roger looks at what was on the charts during a month of iconic movies and terrible sequels. There were comedic TV tributes, Brits delving into American history, issue-oriented folk pop, retro acts, and song to make you think and pump your fist simultaneously. All you need to follow along is on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDWLXjsOJPQnAbPFOROn_oeG9ezTJKPdr And you can suppo...

This time Roger looks at a month when disco was literally blowing up and people were going to the movie house to see a haunted house. On the charts, there was a danceable dirge, a self-pitying single man, some regional obscenities, a Fleetwood Mac-assisted ode to aspiring musicians, masked cowboy mockery, and a soda pitchman's one (and mercifully only) hit. Learn more on YouTube: https://www.patre...

In the 60s, London Bridge didn't quite fall down, but it was torn down, bought by an American chainsaw tycoon, and rebuilt in Arizona. And NBC turned it into a TV special starring Carlton Banks' favorite singer, along with a bunch of movie and TV stars and pop's top brother-sister act of the day. Roger watched it, and he's going to tell you all about it. Watch along on YouTube: https://youtube.com...

Roger's running a month behind, but he's still here, and this episode completes his second journey through all the years from 1970-1999. In the month when dinosaurs ruled the box office, the charts featured some remixed cartoon crooning, a lot of concern for our world, a Eurovision winner, hippieish hip-hop, and the crowning achievement of Swedish to English lyricism. Learn more on YouTube: https:...

This time Roger goes back to a time when Gremlins and Ghostbusters were about to hit the screens and metal fans tore up the world's most famous arena. On the charts, there was a story of escaping bigotry for a better life, a big band throwing something together to fulfill a contract, swinging mood swings, an exhausted dark lord, rock and jazz legends embracing new sounds, a comedienne going retro,...

This time we go back 44 years to look at songs that were not quite hits. You might even say they were not quite not quite hits. Among them were a tale of a publicity stunt gone wrong, a legend trying to cope with disco, an ex-glam musician hitting the floor, and two different takes on country music. YouTube has more: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDWLXjsOJPQmcOvhFbJGy9_VCi27lKou8 And you can...

This time Roger goes back to a time when a geologist claimed to be Jesus and Bewitched was still making new episodes for some reason. The hits of the day included a retro raveup, a tale of a kid from the American southwest who goes whatever the old timey version of viral is, the Chicano national anthem, a street racing story, some modified Poe, and a couple guys who did something questionable near...

This week Roger goes back to the month to when the world got a glimpse of Darth Vader's childhood and Erica Kane finally got what was coming to her. On the charts, there was the latest from one of Florida's greatest gifts to the world, a dance hit driven by pants and puppetry, a boy band's confusing request, a New Kid becoming a man, a cover of some proto-Chipmunk nonsense, and a playful phallic e...

Roger starts the road to 200 episodes by going back to a time when Sonny went from ex-Mr. Cher to newly elected Mr. Mayor. On the charts, there were songs about flawless romance, childbirth, taking sex more seriously, regret tinged with Catholic guilt, the darkness within us all, and how amazingly great the world around us is. Listen and learn on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDWLXjs...

Somehow, Roger has made it to 100 shows. To celebrate, he presents a dramatic conclusion over 2 1/2 years in the making. What's the oddest hit of the 80s: The Curly Shuffle or 19? And as if that weren't enough, he's going to start all over with a 90s tourney, beginning now with the announcement of all 256 entries. There's a short yet informative YouTube playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=...

This time Roger looks at the month the world was introduced to group of Knights who were fond of uttering a particular nonsensical syllable. On the charts, there was a celebration of birth control, a song about a vehicular encounter in which birth control would be useful, a song that made a dairy product sound dirty, and oh yes, a song about a hooker. Plus there's a bald actor talk-singing a sappy...