Only Three Lads - Classic Alternative Music Podcast

Join in on more fun with our second part of our retrospective of some of our favorite games on O3L! This week, you'll hear: O3L Lie Detector - with author Allison Landa (Bearded Lady) Only Three Lads Had a Farm - with Scottish '90s indie rocker Graham Kemp from Urusei Yatsura Is "C" Heavenly's Option? - with seminal Sarah Records band Heavenly Which Saturday Is It? - with Power Pop Hall of Famers...

If you've been listening to O3L for a little bit, you've probably gathered that we fancy playing games every so often. So, as we get ready for the launch of our 5th season, we thought we'd have a little fun with a multi-part retrospective of some of our favorite games. In this episode, join in on the riotous fun with: "Goth or Bubblegum?" with goth/dreampop singer AMMO (aka Silent Mass) "Pilot or...

Season 4 finale! The festivities in Times Square may be over, but our balls don't officially drop until we've covered our Top 5 Songs of 2023! Uhhh...you know what we mean. Ring in the New Year with O3L and relive the best tunes from that bygone era of 2023. Proud members of the Pantheon Podcasts family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We step out of the classic alternative era and into the here and now as we recount our Top 5 Albums of 2023. And it just so happens that our guest this week is Jolie Holland, the acclaimed American singer/songwriter who released one of the best records of the year, Haunted Mountain. Actually, it's one of the TWO best records of the year named Haunted Mountain, but we'll get into that... Join us as...

Brett presents The Vargo Family's 16th annual Musical Christmas Card, "La La La, It's Christmas." From the O3L family to yours, we wish you a joyous holiday season, a very Merry Christmas, the most prosperous of new years, and an abundance of “la la las.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's beginning to look a lot like the O3L Holiday Party! In what's become something of a holiday tradition, we invited listeners to join us for fun, games and frivolity. This year, we welcomed Briony from Ohio; Julie from California; Julio from Puebla, Mexico; Kimberly from California; and Paul from California. And who was the mysterious "S" that joined us but wouldn't talk?!? Was that you, Ed She...

The '60s were marked by dizzying revolutionary change, musical evolution, and technological innovation. It was the decade where pop music as a whole went from ephemeral entertainment to serious art. It was the catalyst for social and cultural shifts. Most of the music that we talk about on this very show, from punk rock to power pop to synth pop, has very strong roots in the music of the '60s. Yet...

Ah, punk rock. Some punks held onto the style and ideology for dear life (some more successfully than others). For others, punk was a springboard into exciting new territories where the possibilities were limitless. It's the latter that we cover this week - the artists who shed the ripped shirts and safety pins to creatively flourish after punk's initial rush. Join crusty old punks Gregg Grinder a...

This week, we celebrate the beginning of the '90s (Or was it the end of the '80s? You be the judge.) When MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice and Wilson Phillips ruled the airwaves. When Uncle Gregg found some direction and joined the Navy. When teenage Brett co-founded his first band, Empty Glass. And when our special guest, power pop legend Jamie Hoover was caught in a flurry of activity, releasing his debut...

We hope all of our US friends had a marvelous Thanksgiving.  We gave you the main course on Tuesday, a second helping on Thanksgiving, and now it’s time for dessert.  Why?  Because it’s Black Friday...more specifically, it’s Record Store Day Black Friday. Join O3L´s Brett Vargo as we highlight some of the releases from this special RSD that we think will appeal to classic alternative music fans. W...

Happy Thanksgiving to those of in the US! To those other places, Happy Random Thursday. In what has become somewhat of an O3L tradition, we're here to either help you get through Thanksgiving or ruin it...it's a fine line! After all, one of the things that this holiday is about is gorging yourself, so treat yourself to a second helping of O3L this week. (B-t-dubbs, Thanksgiving is also about other...

Ahhh, vinyl records. For audiophiles and other assorted music nerds (know any of them!?!), it's the passport to sonic bliss. For others, it's an archaic, delicate, noisy and inconvenient medium. Whatever side of the fence you're on, there are albums that you gotta experience on vinyl - whether it be for the sound quality, the artwork, the liner notes, the overall presentation, or maybe it's not av...

Here's the exciting conclusion of a two parter that's all about songs with "heart" - in the title, that is. The heart is a nasty lookin' thing, innit? But it's a word that symbolizes so much - love, pain, devotion, longing, passion, energy, excitement, life itself. It's safe to say that it's perhaps the second most essential organ in rock n' roll (insert winky smiley face here). We are thrilled to...

Part one of a two parter that's all about songs with "heart" - in the title, that is. The heart is a nasty lookin' thing, innit? But it's a word that symbolizes so much - love, pain, devotion, longing, passion, energy, excitement, life itself. It's safe to say that it's perhaps the second most essential organ in rock n' roll (insert winky smiley face here). We are thrilled to be joined by Andrea L...

¡Hola! Somos Tío Gregg y El Rocktor. We are musical explorers. Do you want to go on a classic alternative journey with us? You doooooooooo?!? ¡Muy bien! This week, we are talking about songs with a destination in the title or lyrics of a song. It could be a physical destination...or it could be a state of mind. Either way, our scheduled guest couldn't make it due to illness, so you know what that...

Remember back in Episode 151 when we used a lot of four letter words? That is, song titles consisting of a single four letter word? Well, we're back to ramp up the fun...one word at a time! This week, we cover five letter words with our special guest Third Lad Mike Finoia. Mike Finoia is a standup comedian based out of New York City. He is a writer / producer for TruTV's hilarious and wildly popul...

We pay tribute to two pivotal figures in alternative music, both of whom passed away this week - Tulsa power pop icon Dwight Twilley and influential indie singer/songwriter. Our Six Pack consists of: Dwight Twilley Band - 'I'm Losing You' Soft Science - 'True' The Journals Kept - 'Nothing In This World' Jamie Hoover - 'Genghis Khan' Special Friend - 'Wait Until The Flames Come Rushing In' Po! - 'F...

Rock, paper, scissors. Three wishes. Life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Moe, Larry & Curly. We think it's safe to say that good things that come in threes...and that includes albums. But the "three album run" - where an artist/band puts together a string of three amazing records in a row - is rather elusive. This week, we attempt to uncover some of the finest three album runs of the classic a...

Cool...crisp...refreshing...a little nutty. Yep, you guessed it - it's time for another Weekend Six Pack! This week, we bring you six more of the coolest songs grabbing our attention right now. You'll hear: The Jasmine Minks - 'She Knows' Kurt Baker - 'She Don't Wanna Be Alone' The Happy Somethings & Slovenly Boy - 'I Don't Smoke Dope' Liz Borden - 'Sweet Pain' Royal Ottawa - 'Three Seven Zero' Go...

We fix our gaze upon another of the legendary record labels of the O3L era, Slash Records. Slash was formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by the late Bob Biggs. Over the course of its 22 year run as an active label, Slash released slew of classics by the likes of The Germs, X, Violent Femmes, Fear, The Blasters, Los Lobos, Rank and File, The Del Fuegos, The Gun Club, Dream Syndicate, Misfits, Robyn Hitch...

This week, we cover our Top 5 Long Titled Songs. How long is long, you ask? Well, we asked last week's Third Lad, Archie Moore from Velocity Girl, to tell us how long is long...to which he replied NINE words or more, and to which he is probably laughing himself into convulsions thinking about how much we struggled with the topic. So, we say #ThanksArchie. Joining us in this very difficult task is...

Let's crack open another six pack together, shall we? This week, we celebrate the wonderful Leeds, UK based indie label Clue Records. A couple of months ago, we had Clue's highest profile artist, David Gedge from The Wedding Present and Cinerama on the show, and that opened us up to exploring the other amazing artists who are on the label - including the six that you will hear during this very epi...

Yes, it's the "S-word." Shoegaze...of all the media fabricated sub-genres that we talk about on O3L, this is one of the most polarizing. The term was coined with some derision about the crop of artists that came up in the late '80s/early '90s who spent much of their stage time looking down at their effects pedals. Even many of the bands who are most closely associated with the term rebuke the labe...

Hey hey hey! What's happening, you ask? Well, this ain't no Rerun, it's a brand new O3L! We travel back to the heady days of 1978 as we count down our Top 5 Songs from that spectacular year. Plus: A Ministry surprise (the band, that is...but for $19.95, we'll also add you to our prayer circle) Brett's foray into death metal Uncle Gregg's fantasy tattoo (and we rely on each other) Offensive lyrics...

Episode 180, with the one and only Graham Parker, was a tremendous thrill for us. We knew we wanted to maximize our time with a legend, so we recorded the episode in two parts. We reconvened two nights after recording with GP to get our Top 5 segments down. By that time, Brett was sick as a dog and Uncle Gregg was working on a vodka with a light splash of OJ. We recorded a bunch of stuff that nigh...