Records & Rockstars

The Police "plundered it mercilessly", as Stewart Copeland put it best, the music Bob Marley would call “a joyful sound to make the world go ‘round”. And when Bob left Jamaica for London, to make records with Chris Blackwell, everyone who was anyone was taking notice and suddenly under the influence, particularly in the so-called New Wave era. And so let's dig in to some of the best examples of ba...

A companion to the previous 2 episodes, here comes the 3rd of 3 parts paying tribute to music icons gone in 2023. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

The 2nd of Jeff's 3 part tribute to the artists and industry legends gone in 2023. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

If you're like us, it really hits/hurts when another of the artists you grew up listening to, passes. It helps to take a minute to acknowledge and celebrate their contributions, as Jeff brings you the first of 3 parts paying tribute to the artists and industry legends gone in 2023. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sel...

Here comes the conclusion of a four part recurring theme, featuring the Classic albums of 1973! A selection of the best albums in rock, from Oct/Nov/Dec '73. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Every album ever made has both first and final cuts. Here's the second of a 2 parter about the latter - select killer closing cuts and stories to go with, plus guess who Robert Plant looked to for advice, when Jimmy Page invited him to become the singer for Led Zeppelin? It was another British rock star, who tells us that story. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privac...

Sequencing as it's known, was and still is for many, and important part of the record making process. The mood and the tempo of the different songs, has an affect on the listener. So sequencing becomes an opportunity to enhance the experience. Sequencing defines the relationship between each song. An obvious way to begin is to lead with your best foot. As they say, you only get one chance to make...

Isn't it ironic, that an entire genre of music, was born out of a band 80% comprised of Canadians, as four men named Danko, Hudson, Manuel, and Robertson, and their Arkansas born drummer Levon Helm, unwittingly gave rise to so-called “Americana”. And they, like our guest this time, had in their songs, themes like change, hope, heartbreak, and belonging. She's also fan of Townes Van Zant. Hearing h...

If you dig rock music, like the kind that came knocking in the early nineties from Seattle, then you'll dig Drop Top Alibi. They blew away the room at the Horseshoe in Toronto where Jeff was compelled to invite them here, to tell their story and perform live, including something never before shared on radio or a podcast, plus we'll go directly to the “Anyways” EP, recorded mostly on vintage gear....

From time to time, many among us give thought to our relationship to booze. For some, drinking alcohol poses no drama. For others, it's a problem. Some deal. Some don't. Some will. Others won't. We've lost a lot of musicians to the bottle, and we've been fortunate to see some kick the habit, and stick around a little longer. Here comes a half hour of stories and music from rockstars on the wagon,...

Now the second in a 2-parter full of songs recalling years, and featuring a bit of conversation about the the tunes in question, from Jeff's sit-downs with Bob Seger, and Walter Becker and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan. Seger recalls recording his first massive hit in Toronto, and Becker and Fagen review some of their own songs, which is hilarious too. Plus Bowie, McCartney, Pink Floyd, Pumpkins, and...

Spanning 1812 through 2525, and beyond, here comes the first of a 2-parter full of songs recalling years, from The Stones to the Stooges, plus The Band, and the band people believed to The Beatles, and lots more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

The first episode in a four part recurring theme, this time featuring lots of special stuff, like Jack Black talking about the greatest rock band EVER, plus Jimmy Page on Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, Angus Young on Bon Scott, Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones playing Russia for the first time, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson talk "train-wrecks", and live music to go with it all. See Privacy Policy at...

The recurring theme is back, as we celebrate the majesty of the classic albums of 1973. This time, memories and music from albums out the 3rd quarter of that year. From ZZ, to Mott, to 10cc, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, and some of the finest sounds of the south. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sel...

A bit of a twisted start to a 25 minute escape into music and stories about people and places, hotels and motels, as we check into the Astor, Hotel Happiness, The Amsterdam Hilton, and what Don Henley says Hotel Cali is really about. Plus, two songs that inspired Records & Rockstars sister podcast, The Blue Hotel, The Memory Motel, and to wrap we'll take a ride in a Deathcab, and pop a psyched...

More in part 2, the conclusion of our look at songs that gave someone else a shot at the lead vocal, including the other rare lead vocals alongside Hendrix, Freddie Mercury, plus Oasis, April Wine, and more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

So many rock bands have a lead singer who carries most of the weight at the microphone. Think Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Who. AC/DC, and U2. But even Roger Daltrey, and Bono stepped away a couple times to give someone else a chance. This is that, with a breakdown of lead vocals by Beatles, Pink Floyd's "ringer", Keef, and more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and...

These songs! And her voice! And these live performances, as passion abounds. Our friend Bif Naked says of our guest this time, “She's is the first artist about whom I felt so strongly. Her talent, words, and music move me like a hurricane”. Jeff's special guest this time is Toronto's Delyn Grey who brings out her left handed guitar and nails two performances of original songs, alongside two more o...

This is a treat, long time coming, or perhaps as I like to think, it's precisely the right time, to finally meet and shine much deserved light upon multi-award-winning artist and songwriter Dani Strong, who brings her guitar and her smile and her stories to Wild Woods Blue Studio. Her songs have landed in television and movies, and on record, as her 3rd full length releases fall 2023, from which s...

From Toronto, Dylan Hennessy is back as my special guest for the World Album Premiere Special, of MOBIUS RADIO. It's a 79 minute program, about an album unique in sound, and vision – that of Hennessy who invited me to contribute spoken word bits, intros and interludes, which may remind some of the ones legendary Los Angeles radio DJ Jim Ladd, contributed to Roger Water Radio K.A.O.S. album in the...

Jeff's special guest is as musical as it gets. And now a music author to boot. He learned to play, he learned to teach, and he landed the role as a guitarist in the “We Will Rock You” musical in Toronto, after winning the slot upon a successful audition with Brian May and Roger Taylor of QUEEN. Then he did some performances with Classic Albums Live, faithfully delivering the guitar parts of Jimmy...

The return of the guitar slingin' country livin' and playin' gent who after 30 years of laying it down on concert stages, comes with a full 8 song album of story-telling songs of passion, both up-tempo burners and introspective ballads, and a waltz, to boot. The title song "Talk To Me" finds Mike McCarthy reflective upon the exit of someone close. 45 minutes of Mike with Jeff Woods, for the premie...

“Hey little Donna, still wanna? You said to ring you up when I was in Toronna”. Or perhaps: “Nothing matters but the weekend from a Tuesday point of view!” That's right, the Kings are here, with new music and the “Always Off The Deep End” Special, featuring the single of the same name and more of their latest songs that sound as great as their timeless hit “This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide”, w...

Jeff welcomes special guests Craig Smith and Ariana Dalie of Four Winds Music Fest for a preview of the July 14-16 2023 concert festival brought to you by The Happiness Mafia in partnership with Elephant Thoughts, at Riverstone Eco Retreat near the Town of Durham, Ontario on 136 acres of historic farmstead with diverse forests and the majestic Saugeen River running through it. The property is home...

Amy Gabba is up front and center in her band Amy Gabba and the Almost Famous and she's singing up a storm on her June 2023 album “Screaming at the Top of My Lungs”, as she brings guitarists and joins Jeff Woods at his Wild Woods Blue Studio to perform songs from the record, and an AC/DC Bon Scott era gem, and Amy and Jeff make their way through cuts on the slick and energetic new record, throwing...