Rock School

"What was the first stadium concert. Beatles. Are you sure Stadium concerts are becoming more common because of both financial decisions and an effort to be less taxing on the artist. It sounds the opposite of what you would think. We will explain it all."

"Maybe there is life out there. Maybe UFOs have visited us. The government is even admitting there is a pretty good chance. However, many musicians already believe it and many say they have seen a UFO. Some state they have been taken aboard their starship and headed for the sky."

"It sometimes happens that an older song will be picked up in a television show and break back on the charts for a whole new generation. Stranger Things has done it twice in a single season. We will tell you the stories and list some more long forgotten songs that received new life thanks to TV."

"This week, back in 1979, Fleetwood Mac recorded the Trojan Marching Band for their song Tusk. That started us wondering. Are there other pop and rock songs that feature a marching band? Yes. We will also play some actual marching bands playing rock and pop.

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine has well passed 100 days. To hurt Russia for its actions, businesses have pulled out of the country. That means a great many businesses that deal with music. This week we will list many of these music outlets and discuss if their actions are hurting Russia itself or just the Russian musicians.

"This week, we will speak with author Christy Alexander Hallberg about her new book Searching for Jimmy Page."

"Caruso Sauce. Paganini Ravioli. Bizet Cake. Drinks. Sandwiches. Food trucks. It's amazing how many food and food-related items are named after musicians and bands. We have a full list plus we will talk about some non musician foods. Arnold Palmer? Peach Melba? Chicken a la King? Who are these people? We will tell you."

"Interpolation in music is a simple, specific thing. Instead of sampling a piece of music, taking the actual song, Interpolation, is reperforming the part and paying a great deal less than the Master License needed to sample. It's a way to take a part of a song at a discount rate and, it is done a lot. We have examples."

"There is a small group of songs that have charted twice. Not a remake or a remix but the exact same song. It charted twice often years apart. Today we will play a game. I'll tell you the song and the years that it charted. You then tell me why the song charted the second time. What happened that it got another spot on the charts?"

"The Golden Raspberry Award. It used to have a Worst Song catagory. Not anymore. But we will revist those that once made the cut in this award season. No one will be slapped during the show."

"What was the first song taken off of Mtv because of content? The first one censored. It wasn't the first one I thought of, or the second. I know Mtv was cable but back in the early 1980s, things were a bit different and the FCC still had a hand in the process."

"This week will contain April 20. That's 4.20. It means smoking pot. But why? We will take an hour and discuss all the nicknames for pot and play songs dedicated to the herb. Enjoy. Dude."

"There has much interest in the use of frequencies for health, healing and general feeling better. The most famous are the Solfeggio Frequencies. However there is now the idea of playing frequencies against each other, in headphones in order to create a third beat, known as a Binaural Beat. We will do our best to explain it and play examples."

"Pink Floyd released a song to raise money for Ukraine. It is their first in decades. Other artists have done so as well. We will discuss the songs, play a few Ukrainian rock bands and speak with a local preacher who just returned from The Ukrainian border. He and his wife were there to help people out of the country to safety in Romania."

"Gene Simmons of KISS has doubled down on his statement that rock music is dead. Some agree. Some do not and some have written songs about it. Is rock dead or is the rock YOU like dead? We will look at this from a lot of angles."

"Less than 3 percent of people 18 to 40 watched the Grammys. Furthermore, according to Spotify, the top 200 new songs playlist is responsible for less than 5 percent of total listenership. The most popular music now, both for investment and for listening are songs 30 years older or more. We will look into why."

"Donald Trump hosted the Celebrity Apprentice six times and then Arnold took over for a season. Believe it or not musicians played a big part in the show actually winning it a couple times. We will look back and also discuss how other countries said Youre fired!"

"Here is an interesting trivia question. Name a song that does not have a chorus. We have a few. We will also discuss the idea of a refrain, which is not a chorus. That will certainly come up."

"The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominated Dolly Parton. She said no. They said sorry, the ballots have already gone out. Dolly is not the first artist to turn down the Hall. We have both those who turned down their nominations and those that took the award but failed to show up and play."

"This is a music podcast and radio show. The biggest music story right now is Joe Rogan and Neil Young. We have to talk about it. "

"The Oscars are this month. How about a show discussing musicians who have been nominated for an Oscar? Some have even won."

"This week we have an interview with author Marc Wasserman about his new book Skaboom. An American Ska and Reggae Oral History. It is a history of the music and its influence on culture, artists and other musicians. "

"Here's the game. Name a TV theme song that then became a hit on the pop chart. You cannot choose a song that was first a hit and then used for a TV show. This must be a song written for a TV show that then became a hit. We have a bunch for you."

"It is quite common for a commercial to use a hit song but now and again a commercial will become so popular that the music in the commercial will be reworked and itself become a hit. We have 17 examples this week. Often the song completely overtakes the commercial and you forget it was once used to sell a product."

"Remember, pronounce it Mohg rather than Mooog. Robert Moog did not invent the synthesizer. He just made it so that it was in the reach of the regular musician. This week is the anniversary of his releasing the MiniMoog so here is an hour on how his invention worked and how it came to be part of modern music."