Pop & Prose

In this episode of my GOTTA POP podcast, my guest Dave LeGates and I look at some of our favorite Christmas songs. We take a deep dive into the fascinating history of the legendary "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid and then discuss several other classics we love from artists such as Bing Crosby & David Bowie, Billy Squier, Elton John, Nat King Cole, Andy Williams, Donny Hathaway, Joan Jett...

In this episode, I'm joined by writer and podcaster Kerry Purvis. Our topics were the legendary band The Bee Gees and the classic television series 'Barney Miller.' For The Bee Gees segment, we took a look at their amazingly long and impressive career and discussed how each of us loves a lot of the group's great lesser-known music , such as their final two studio albums: 'Still...

My thoughts about the 2023 film 'The Flash' - and my ponderings about why it wasn't more financially and critically successful than it was. I also give a very short review of the recently released film 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.' In this episode, I mentioned the Plethora of Pop website that I own, edit, and write for. If you'd like to check it out, it can be found here: https://plethoraofpop.com...

My guest, writer and all-around excellent human being Jeffrey Harvey, and I talk about the long and fantastic career of the legendary band Sade. To read Jeffrey's great writings, please visit his page on Medium: https://medium.com/@mediamaven0103 . Included there is an article he talked about during our discussion: 'Winter Wars and Brand New Shoes: The Bulletproof Soul of Sade.' If you like Sade,...

In this episode, I was joined by writer, editor, and all-around good guy Eric Pierce. We began by talking about his great Fanfare publication and his equally great All the Fanfare newsletter. Then we discussed the classic 1991 action film 'Point Break,' which starred Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze. Eric has written several articles about the movie and is also planning a book about it - so he defi...

My guest in this episode is writer and entertainer Herbie J Pilato. We discuss his book 'The Bionic Book: The Six Million Dollar Man & The Bionic Woman Reconstructed (Special Commemorative Edition.)' In addition to talking about the two legendary television series covered in the book, we also chat about our general love of Classic TV and how we feel it can positively affect the lives of those who...

In this episode, my guest Dave Legates and I talk about the music released by Daryl Hall and John Oates in the 1980s. It was a very prolific decade for the duo! They released five studio albums, one live album, and one compilation album (which contained a couple of new songs.) Among the many hits that Daryl and John released in the decade were classic songs such as Kiss On My List, You Make My Dre...

In this episode, writer and music lover Kevin Alexander joined me for a discussion about the band The Goo Goo Dolls. We focused on two very different albums by them: ''Dizzy Up The Girl' from 1998, which is their most successful album and contains hits like "Slide" and "Iris," and also a lesser-known great early album by them, 'Hold Me Up' from 1990. Kevin I...

In this episode, my guest Dave Legates and I take a deep dive into the music released by the legendary duo Daryl Hall and John Oates in the 1970s. The decade saw the releases of their first eight studio albums and first live album. It was also during this period that the duo released some of their most popular hit singles, including classics like "Sara Smile," "She's Gone,"...

In this episode, I talked with writer and music lover Roland Denzel about a band we both love: the legendary Pink Floyd. Our main focus here is the band's 1972 album OBSCURED BY CLOUDS, but we also talked about other classic music that the band released before and after the album. Roland and I also discussed some of the solo music released by members of the band. I mentioned in the interview t...

In this episode I’m joined by writer and music lover Paul Walker. We discuss some of his awesome articles about music and then delve into our thoughts about three great prog rock albums: 'In The Court Of the Crimson King' by King Crimson 'Close To The Edge' by Yes 'Closure/Continuation' by Porcupine Tree To find Paul Walker's great writings (which are not limited to jus...

The new Dungeons & Dragons movie, Ted Lasso, and the new solo album from Steve Lukather of Toto. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit buddygott.substack.com

I'm joined in this episode by writer and YouTuber Hope Bill Helps, who is currently a few months into a fun challenge he's taken on in which he attempts to listen to an astonishing 1001 albums in just 365 days. We talk about how he came up with the idea, how exactly he's doing it, and how it's been going for him so far. We then had a very fun discussion about when longtime bands co...

Part two of my discussion with writer, artist, and all-around cool person Charlie Cole about LGBTQ+ representation in movies and television - from both the past and the present. Among the many movies and TV series we discussed in this episode are: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Sex Education, And Then They Danced, Velvet Goldmine, Sherlock, Pride, Carol, Grey's Anatomy, The Last Of Sheila, Mak...

In this first part of my discussion with writer, artist, and all-around cool person Charlie Cole, she and I talk about LGBTQ+ representation in films and television - from both the past and the present. Among the many movies and TV series we discuss in this episode are: Moulin Rouge, Victor/Victoria, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Will & Grace, Bros, Call Me By Your Name, Po...

In this episode, my guest is my favorite person in the universe: my incredible wife Lisa Gott. We talk about two TV shows we’ve been watching—Survivor and Farmer Wants A Wife. Connect with Lisa online @lisamgottwrites or her website: lisamgott.com . This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit buddygott.substack.com

In this episode I'm joined by writer and music lover Terry Barr. I've known for a while that Terry is a fan of country music, so I recently asked him to recommend some country albums to me, since it's a music genre I'm not very familiar with. Among the ones he suggested to me were the two albums we discuss in this episode: SIDELONG by Sarah Shook &The Disarmers - originally rel...

A look at remakes and reboots in movies and television. Among the ones I discuss are The Fantastic Four , West Side Story , Quantum Leap , Night Court , and Grease: Rise of The Pink Ladies . I also share my thoughts about new and classic music I’ve recently discovered: The Record by boygenius (which features Phoebe Bridgers), Daydream by The Lovin' Spoonful, and three new songs by the legendar...

In the premiere episode of Gotta Pop, me and my guest Chris Zappa talk about our love of the music of the legendary band Steely Dan. We cover our favorite songs and albums by them and also each share some trivia you may not know about the band. In the show, Chris mentioned an article he read about interesting cover versions of Steely Dan's music by other artists. If you'd like to check it...