The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

Come for the Aerosmith stories, stay for the John Lennon ones. Legendary music producer Jack Douglas tells of his reform school past, freighter trip to Liverpool and penetrating the studio scene. Fascinating. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mastering... An integral part of making records that most people are uninformed about. Listen as preeminent mastering engineer Stephen Marcussen strips away the mystery, tells you about sound and tech and how a tip at the supermarket led to his career. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Murray Goldberg, Larry David's manager Jeff...you know Garlin from his numerous TV and film roles as well as his standup. He's the same guy in real life (only younger, thinner and better-looking!) Find out what it takes to make it in comedy, especially when you discover your destiny while watching Jimmy Durante. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudi...

Listen as Billy Bragg tells the story of growing up poor and rejecting his preordained future at Ford's to become a part of the political fabric of the U.K., all via music. Billy tells a great story, you'll become a fan even if you're unfamiliar with his music (and learn a lot about Brexit too!) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

This week, we shift our attention to Bob’s analysis of today’s music industry. Bob was invited to speak at Capitol Records’ Capitol Congress event at the ArcLight theater in Hollywood on the topic of “change”. He reminds a packed audience of music business professionals to look to the future because the past is never coming back. In today’s on-demand culture distribution is king and now is the tim...

The Doobie Brothers frontman, Tom Johnston, joins Bob to talk about his early beginnings and being drawn to R&B artists like Little Richard. He played saxophone, clarinet and drums in his youth but ultimately fell in love with the guitar and taught himself how to play. Always inspired by soul and blues music, he played and sang in a variety of bands before and throughout college, where he stud...

Music industry veteran, Danny Goldberg is the publicist, manager and record label exec who helped shape the careers of Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Bonnie Raitt, The Allman Brothers and many more. He sits down with Bob to talk music, politics, drugs and business. They discuss today’s political landscape before diving deep into Goldberg’s early years writing for Billboard and being recruited to run public...

Randy Bachman of The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive joins Bob to talk about his amazing career. He takes us all the way back to his childhood in Winnipeg where he played violin at family parties before discovering the guitar. A dynamic storyteller, Bachman shares captivating stories from his adventures on the road and in the studio including how he wrote “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” and th...

Legendary record label executive, Seymour Stein, is the ears behind countless amazing careers including The Talking Heads, Madonna and The Ramones. Stein shares stories from his early years helping to compile the Billboard charts in NYC and spending a summer in Cincinnati to learn the record business from Syd Nathan when he was only 15 years old. For Stein, the songs are what attracts him to a ban...

World-famous DJ, Kaskade talks about growing up outside of Chicago, attending the University of Utah and playing his first shows on Monday nights in a basement club in Salt Lake City. He packed the club, giving him the money to purchase his first studio equipment. He then followed his wife to San Francisco to find a city with a flourishing music scene where he began to make his mark and ultimately...

Jim McCarthy is CEO and co-founder of Goldstar, an event discovery service that helps people stay informed of local live entertainment. The company launched on Valentine’s Day in 2002 boot-strapped and lean and without much in the bank. Today, Goldstar is available in 26 cities around the country and has over 8 million members. Jim shares his insights on how a service-oriented mentality has been a...

In 1974, Jerry Greenberg was the youngest president of any major record company. At age 32, he took the reigns of Atlantic Records and went on to sign a myriad of legendary acts including ABBA, Foreigner, Genesis and The Blues Brothers. Jerry shares some amazing stories about his early years and about the artists he worked with such as the time he played congas for Led Zeppelin during an encore at...

Waddy Wachtel was chosen by Keith Richards to play lead guitar for his side project The X-pensive Winos. That gig was the culmination of so many session gigs and performances for the guitar virtuoso whose list of credits spans rock & roll history as he supported the Everly Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Iggy Pop, Adam Sandler, and Warren Zevon. 13:00 - St...

Manager extraordinaire & Canadian Idol TV judge Jake Gold returns to the program to recap the Music Media Summit in Santa Barbara, CA with some insight from behind the scenes, reactions to the interviews with music and tech executives at the event as well as analysis of where the music industry is going next. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystud...

Troy Carter talks about growing up in Philadelphia, working with Lady Gaga, hip hop's dominance, and Spotify's approach to working with artists. From his brief career as an artist to going through a tough time with Will Smith to spending his last pennies on dinner to win the business of Lady Gaga, the interview is packed with surprising stories and wisdom for the next generation of artists and man...

Oscar-winning filmmaker Bryan Fogel talks about his documentary Icarus. He discusses his upbringing, his comedy and acting career which spawned the off-broadway play Jewtopia prior to creating the film about doping which exposed the biggest scandal in sports history and brought home the Academy Award. 02:00 - For the first month, Oscar didn't leave his side 20:00 - Started Icarus 48:00 - Success o...

VP of Amazon Music Steve Boom tells his story starting out as an engineer at Compaq, spending years in Europe doing business development for Yahoo! before moving back to San Francisco, and ultimately joining Amazon Music. Boom talks about how Amazon Music is changing the landscape by delivering a more natural and intuitive music listening experience on Alexa. 07:00 - Programming at Compaq 14:00 -...

Rob Glaser tells the story of his career sharing his passion for media, politics, tech, and bowling. Rob's intelligence is palpable as he foresaw many twists and turns in these industries while navigating pivotal moments in the history of Microsoft prior to launching his own publicly traded company RealNetworks. 01:00 - Attended Fieldstone with Jason Flom in NYC 06:00 - Started hacking 09:00 - Col...

Paul Rodgers is one of the greatest rock vocalists alive. He's a founding member of Free and Bad Company, worked with Jimmy Page and Queen, and continues making music and touring to this day. His new album is called Free Spirit. Pre-order Free Spirit and get tickets to see Paul perform live at paulrodgers.com 07:00 - Great voice & health attributed to stopping drugs & alcohol 17:00 - Howli...

Deejay turned record label head Daniel Glass reveals his path connecting with artists before the competition. Glassnote Records' founder & president shares insight into how he rose to the top of the music business building upon the success of Sinead O'Conner, Wilson Phillips, Blur, Phoenix, Mumford & Sons, Childish Gambino, and CHVRCHES. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.ihea...

Legendary drummer Kenny Aronoff tells the tale of his path to a #1 album working with John Mellencamp. He discusses his background playing timpani for Leonard Bernstein in the lead up to connecting with Mellencamp, and the subsequent career highlights from Bob Dylan to Bon Jovi, The Smashing Pumpkins to the Kennedy Center Honors. 15:00 - Saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, Kenny wanted Ringo's job! 27...

Holding down dual roles as both President of Motown Records and President of Urban Music/Co-Head of Creative at Universal Publishing Music Group, Ethiopia Habtemariam shares the story of her rapid rise through the Atlanta music scene. She discusses race in America, being a female executive in the music industry, the future of hip hop, and how she develops global strategy for the artists under her...

Brazilian musician & social activist Gilberto Gil discusses the experience of being a political prisoner, the international influences on his music which emerged as he was forced into exile living in London in the late 60's, and his return home to Brazil continuing to push the boundaries of freedom and equality in society while innovating musically, ultimately being named Brazil's Minister of...

Six-time Grammy nominated artist Moby joins Bob at the LA Times Festival of Books at the University of Southern California for the first podcast recorded in front of a live audience. They talk about the tragic death of Avicii, Moby's own struggles with sobriety on his rollercoaster of a career and his dedication to creating music every single day of his life. Learn more about your ad-choices at ht...

When Jimi Hendrix told Shep he should become a manager, and he was connected to Alice Cooper shortly after, the story of The Supermensch began. Follow the legendary manager's adventures from managing the careers of famous musicians, actors, and chefs, winning a Cannes Film Festival award as a producer, and developing a friendship with the Dalai Lama. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www...