Rock & Roll Shin-Soo Choo (Audio)

We hold the Choo-In Hall of Fame inductions every year around the time of the actual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions. The Choo-In Hall of Fame is intended to recognize artists that are unlikely to ever be enshrined into the actual Rock Hall, but we feel are equally deserving of the recognition. This year, Levi inducts guitar god Roy Buchanan, Jonathan inducts Seattle mainstay Mudhoney and Gabe...

Pearl Jam nerds unite! Guest panelist Michael Davis joins us for our Field Guide to Pearl Jam on the heels of the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We talk about what we feel makes Pearl Jam great, including the band's studio work, live shows, attention to detail and activism. We then hold the requisite Desert Island Album Draft of Pearl Jam LPs. Finally, Michael provides his d...

Guest panelist Ricky Cobb joins us again as we prepare for the 2017 MLB season. Ricky is the host of the Super 70s Sports podcast. In this episode, Ricky helps us decide which current Major Leaguers should be zapped with a '70s ray gun and what acts would've played at a 1977 Lollapalooza festival in Chicago. Finally, we dig deep into predictions for the upcoming 2017 MLB season, including awards a...

Hope springs eternal, especially at Major League Baseball's Spring Training. In this episode, we recap the MLB offseason and discuss some relatively anonymous Spring Training heroes of yesteryear. Levi shares some Spring Training factoids. Gabe dishes out some Arizona and Florida rock and roll trivia. We close with stories of failed comebacks from Babe Ruth and Bret Saberhagen.

While the 1970s were a period of grand experimentation for rock and roll, country music was also going through its own metamorphosis. The social upheavals that molded much of pop music during the 1960s found their way to Nashville and Texas the following decade. We discuss artists ranging from Porter Wagoner, Don Williams and Ronnie Milsap to Waylon, Willie, Jerry Jeff Walker and many, many more....

The Beatles and Elvis were some of the first two-way entertainers - both on the stage and on the screen. In this episode, we discuss some of the lesser known attempts at juggling the two talents - from Bruce Willis and Don Johnson to David Johansen and Dwight Yoakam. We also discuss the various baseball players who have also taken the plunge into acting, notably Bob Uecker and various Mets and Yan...

Three is the magic number for this episode. We start by discussing some of the most significant trios to ever play together in MLB outfields, from the 1961 New York Yankees to the 1995 Cleveland Indians and several before and since. We then discuss power trios in rock, including all-time bands like Rush and Nirvana, as well as lesser known acts like Radio Moscow and Taste.

We recap the MLB transactions during the hot stove season, which included all three of our teams. We then pitch trades where we suggest swapping musicians between bands. Finally, we bid adieu to the often soulless year that was 2016. Alas, we find the high points, recapping our favorite moments in MLB, album releases and live shows from the year.

We kick back and have some fun discussions about the recent MLB awards, including Kris Bryant's MVP and a continuing string of Dodgers winning Rookie of the Year. We then offer our own MVPs of rock for 2016. On the heels of a significant hidden track discovery on Pink Floyd's new box set, we share our favorite hidden tracks. Finally, we go around the horn discussing our MLB teams' offseason needs.

Not sure if you heard, but the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Lifelong Cubs fan Levi Leach shares his emotions during the roller coaster ride. We then remember Black Crowes keyboardist Eddie Harsch, who passed away at age 59.

We kick off the show talking baseball, covering the playoffs and some notable stats from the 2016 season. We then discuss the Desert Trip music festival that was held over two weekends in Indio, California. To close, we give our votes for each of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees, which were announced last week.

In anticipation of the incredible Desert Trip music festival, we team up to create dream setlists for Paul McCartney, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones and Roger Waters. Check out episodes 55 and 64, respectively, for our Bob Dylan and Who setlists. Get ready for our requests for deep cuts and incredible collaborations.

We welcome uber Who fan Betsy Blodgett for this special episode devoted to The Who. We examine Pete Townshend's perfectionist behavior, Roger Daltrey's voice, John Entwistle's underrated songwriting and the impact of Keith Moon's death. We also have a fantasy island album draft and create a dream setlist.

We look back on 1981, a year that split us in two. In baseball, a mid-season strike quite literally split the MLB season into two halves, resulting in playoff and non-playoff teams that defied logic. Popular music was also split in two as a pair of momentum-gaining genres - metal and new wave - began to define the decade.

Ryan Budds is a comedian and writer who has recently launched his own podcast, Trivia With Budds. We chat with Ryan about getting started in comedy, opening for Dennis Miller and dealing with hecklers. Ryan also discusses his new podcast, Trivia With Budds, which takes his bar show to the internet. We also try stumping Ryan with a few trivia questions of our own. This interview has a bit of everyt...

Bob Balch joined Fu Manchu in 1996 as the lead guitarist. He's since founded Sun & Sail Club and the guitar lesson website PlayThisRiff.com. In our interview, Bob discusses his Fu Manchu sound, early musical influences and helping design a custom axe for Reverend Guitars. He also shares stories about his first guitar lessons as a kid and attending California Angels baseball games with his dad, who...

Drummer Joe Winters helped found The Steepwater Band in 1998. By 2005, the band was headlining the Chicago Blues Festival and touring throughout the United States and Europe, sharing the stage with Gov't Mule, Buddy Guy, Wilco and many more. In our interview, Joe discusses the making of the band's new album, Shake Your Faith, along with the advantages of getting the band's music licensed for use o...

Musician and music connoisseur John White joins us as a guest panelist for the entire episode, as we look back on the year of our bicentennial, 1976, just in time for Independence Day. The Cincinnati Reds, better known as the Big Red Machine, were on their way to a second straight World Series title, led by Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench and George Foster. Sluggers Mike Schmidt and Dave Kingman were mas...

We look back on 1996 - a pivotal time for our music tastes and the beginning of a dark time for baseball. While we listened to new albums by Pearl Jam, the Black Crowes and Rage Against the Machine back then, we've since grown fond of Olivia Tremor Control, Zakk Wylde and Cowboy Junkies. The start of MLB's super-steroid era resulted in ridiculous numbers across the league. Chris Hoiles hit the onl...

We look back on 1986 - a fascinating year in rock and roll and Major League Baseball. While we listened to David Lee Roth, Poison, and Georgia Satellites back then, we've since grown fond for New Order, Steve Earle and Kraftwerk. Peter Gabriel and Dire Straits videos dominated MTV and still hold up today. In Major League Baseball, we dig deeper on the dominance of and challenges facing the 1986 Wo...

In this week's episode, we remember collecting baseball cards as kids - from about 1986-1993. Gabe remembers starting with 1986 Topps, while Jonathan remembers stocking up on Mike Greenwell and Ellis Burks cards. Levi throws some professional card trading lingo around and recalls Beckett price guides of yore. It all makes for a lot of fun running down memory lane.

In this week's episode, we give the Bob Dylan scouting retrospective he's earned. We start with a quick overview of misconceptions and misgivings about Dylan. We then have a fantasy island album draft. Finally, with the rumors of Dylan playing a star-studded rock god festival we've dubbed Ol'chella, we create an around-the-horn dream Dylan setlist for the gig.

In this week's episode, we quickly catch up on the biggest surprises in Major League Baseball's first few weeks, including the underperforming Astros and the dominating Nationals. We then discuss the legacy of Prince, which leads to a discussion about the control an estate can have over a musician's unreleased recordings.

In this week's episode, we discuss Steve Miller's scathing remarks about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, his induction by the Black Keys and their response. We also induct our second class of members into the Rock & Roll Shin-Soo Choo Hall of Fame, which is devoted to musicians we feel are deserving to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but unlikely to gain entry.

In this episode, we recap the first week of the Major League Baseball season, including the Chicago Cubs and Trevor Story. Jonathan then gives his eye-witness report after attending the first two shows of Pearl Jam's U.S. tour in Florida. We close the show by recapping the surprise Guns N' Roses gig at L.A.'s Troubadour and the first two scheduled dates in Las Vegas.