TapeHeads: 80's Music and Beyond

Michael Penn is one of our collective favorites. The musician, that is, not the YouTube mathematician. You may not think you know him, but you certainly know his family; brothers Sean and Chris, TV director father Leo, actor mother Eileen, sister-in-law Robin Wright (Inconceivable!), and singer/actor wife Aimee Mann. Lots of connections. He has a handful of critically acclaimed albums and has done...

Naked Eyes' 1983 hit "Always Something There To Remind Me" is good but not among our favorites--we'll get into it--but it did open both of us up to a much larger story. We think you'll agree. The Coen Brothers' quirky and hilarious 1987 second movie "Raising Arizona" was way ahead of its time, and was the first in a long string of hits for them, and it set the t...

This is one of the biggest songs of all time, as well as the best and most distinctive videos. We do a deep dive into both. Our movie this time is the unique "My Dinner With Andre", starring Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory. It's a movie about two estranged friends having dinner together, and much, much more. RELATED LINKS Our Take On Me playlist, on Spotify a-ha , on Spotify a-ha, Ta...

The Church are an Australian band, probably most well known for thier 1988 hit "Under the Milky Way," a beautiful song that is the subject of this episode. Three O'Clock High is a 1987 movie about a mild-mannered high school student who ruffles the feathers of the school's newly-arrived bully, and the hijinks ensue. RELATED LINKS: Our Under the Milky Way playlist, on Spotify The...

In our favorite musical year of 1984, after many years of creating a multitude of hits separately, two musical giants came together at the top of their game to collaborate on one of the best songs of the 80's, "Easy Lover," by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins. We'll delve into the supremely interesting story of how this incredible song came to be. Fun fact: it was used in the origi...

This episode is a bit different than our others so far. We'd actually been talking about doing a World Party episode recently, when Karl Wallinger suddenly died a week or so before this, which added some gravitas and urgency, so we decided to move him to the front of the line. Great musician and songwriter. He will be missed by us and by many others of you around the world. RIP, Karl. RELATED...

Dexys Midnight Runners are a one-hit wonder band (actually with TWO number-one hits) whose 1982 song "Come On, Eileen" is one of the most catchy and unusual songs of the 80's, and the band's story is one of the most interesting we've come across so far. You'll love it. The World War III story Red Dawn, from 1984, holds the distinction of being the first movie to be rated...

In the spring of 1988, George Harrison recruited his friends Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Jim Keltner to collaborate on a song. The result was so stunningly good that they decided to do an entire album together, thereby creating the biggest supergroup of all time. And yes, we do discuss some of those other ones as well. Better Off Dead is a classic dark comedy from 1985 starr...

This episode is devoted to Canadian singer and multi-instrumentalist Jane Child. She's our first one-hit wonder, and she's possibly the last big one-hit wonder of the 80's. This episode is being released on February 15, which--coincidentally enough--is also Jane's birthday, so we're wishing her a happy one. Our 'movie' this time is actually a TV show we loved when we we...

In this 'very special' episode, Blaine kept the subject a secret from Todd until we recorded it. New Edition and all of the tentacles of their related bands (Bobby Brown, New Kids on the Block, and even Whitney Houston) is a supremely interesting story, and we're sure you'll agree. This one's by request. RELATED LINKS: New Edition , on Spotify Bobby Brown , on Spotify Bell Biv...

The Bangles were arguably the biggest all-female band of the 80's, and we both totally love them. We explore their early career and their big hits, as well as the issues that arose within the band as one of the members' star rose. Our movie this time is "The All-Nighter (1987)", which starred Susanna Hoffs, Joan Cusack, and Pam Grier, and was co-written/produced/directed by Susan...

U2's album "The Joshua Tree" is one of the biggest and most influential of all time, and it's the subject of this, our first episode of 2024. We mostly focus in on the song "Where The Streets Have No Name," but discuss other songs too, as well as the making of the video and the band's later involvement with author and filmmaker Bill Carter during the civil war in Sa...

Released in 1987, "A Very Special Christmas" was a bit of a turning point for Christmas music, which both of us enjoyed back then and continue to enjoy to this day. We also take you back a long time ago (1978) to a galaxy far, far away to discuss the famously awful Star Wars Holiday Special. We've added plenty of audio clips because you wouldn't believe just how weird and awful i...

In this, our first-anniversary episode, we talk about the new Beatles releases quite a bit, before moving on to Toto and their album Toto IV, their incredible prowess as studio musicians, and their well-known penchant for doing cocaine back in the day. Our movie this time is the 1982 classic "An American Werewolf in London," which Todd had never seen until now. This excellent, strange, a...

This episode is devoted to one of our all-time favorite bands, Crowded Houose. Neil Finn is a genius, and we can't wait to share more of his music with you, along with his brother Tim, with whom he has collaborated quite a bit, and Mitchell Froom, who produced and played on many of the best CH albums, and is currently touring with them, at the time this episode is being released. Be sure to ch...

We thought it would be super fun to share the music that made us who we are today, and last time was Blaine's turn, so this time is Todd's turn, along with some personal stories and insights. We think you'll enjoy it. Our Todd's Top 10 playlist, on Spotify Trevor Rabin, on Spotify Tears For Fears , on Spotify Elliott Smith , on Spotify Van Halen , on Sotify Yngwie Malmsteen , on Sp...

We thought it would be super fun to share the music that has made us the people we are today, and Blaine's going to start us off with his all-time, whole-life favorites. B laine's Top 10 playlist ⁠ , on Spotify: Drummer playing Beatles on the rooftop ⁠ , on YouTube ⁠ Fountains of Wayne hotline ⁠ , on YouTube Trevor Rabin , on Spotify Men At Work , on Spotify Colin Hay , on Spotify Toy Mati...

Milli Vanilli were famous for lip-synching their way into history back in 1989, as well as for winning (and returning) their Grammy for Best New Artist. But, as is so often the case, there's much more to the story, and that's what we discuss in this edition of TapeHeads. The story of Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan--known around the world more commonly as Rob and Fab--is weird, deep, nuance...

This episode, focusing on the famous and infamous Mötley Crüe, is another one that was brought to us by request. Their story is so vast and their so long-ranging that this show could have been ten hours long. We had fun with it, and we think you'll enjoy it. Don't forget to click through to our episode links and watch the hilaious video of Vince's less-than-stellar vocals. Leave a comm...

This is another episode that was done by request (thank you, Ryan!). Both of us knew absolutely nothing about Erasure before this, but came away finding them super interesting. We think you'll agree. The movie this time is The 'Burbs, starring Tom Hanks and Carrie Fisher, which both of us love and find very quotable. "I want to kill. . .everyone. Satan is good. . .Satan is our pal.&qu...

This episode of TapeHeads is about the Rembrandts. Think you don't know the Rembrandts? You absolutely do. You'll see. We discuss them at great length, as well as the nature of fame and success and the (perceived) notion of 'selling out.' These guys are an awesome band that we think deserve your attention. Our movie this time is "Communion," based on an autobiographical b...

In this episode we discuss Winger, who were one of the last of the 'hair' bands, and who were made fun of constantly by Beavis and Butthead. We focus primarily on their song "Seventeen," with its controversial lyric, "Daddy says she's too young, but she's old enough for me." We also learn about a derogatory term that the Winger lads had for drumming that they co...

This episode is our first 'by request' episode, courtesy of Todd's friend Mike (thank you, Mike!), and it finds us exploring what the Guardian newspaper controversially called the greatest UK #1 song of all time, "West End Girls" by the Pet Shop Boys. Not sure we'd agree with that designation, but it's unquestionably a great and very interesting song, and it certainly...

Def Leppard's 1987 album, "Hysteria," was four years in the making, and involved an unusual amount of tragedy, expense, rebirth, and ultimately triumph, providing a wealth of hit songs that the band still perform to this day. Come along with us on the journey, and delve into the depths. "The Black Hole," Disney's first PG-rated movie, was released in what most people as...

Rick Astley is the most famous person you probably knew nothing about. That's okay, neither did we. And that was the point of this episode. What an incredible story, and an incredible human being. And one of the biggest Internet memes of all time. And an incredible production company, with an incredible string of hit songs, including everyone from Divine to Donna Summer, by way of Dead Or Aliv...