The Hustle

Graham Parker has been a master at his craft for so long, you probably think you have him figured out. You'd be wrong. Is he a cult artist? A punk? An angry young man? He says no. What he is, and this is indisputable, is one of the finest songwriters of all time. He even hilariously played up the image many have of him in Judd Apatow's film The Is 40 (he tells us the whole story on that one). This...

Jon and Jan discuss the first quarter of 2021, the stories and thoughts behind the episodes, what's happening in our personal lives, and we answer some listener mail.  www.patreon.com/thehustlepod

We celebrate our 6th year of podcasting this week by welcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, award-winning actor, and decorated producer Little Steven Van Zandt! Steve has his hands in so many projects it's hard to cover them all - whether it's his Sirius radio stations, his multiple charities like teachrock.org , running his label Wicked Cool Records, backing up The Boss, or his own utterly fantas...

The music world lost a true one-of-a-kind recently with the death of the great Jim Steinman. He's probably best known for his work with Meat Loaf on Bat Out of Hell, but don't forget he also wrote legendary tracks like "Total Eclipse of the Heart", "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" and "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." We bring back singer Ellen Foley (ep78) who's breakout was duetting with Meat...

Canada's Saga is proof that the country does some things better than the rest of us. That fantastic band has been merging prog rock with a solid tunefulness for 45 years now and show no signs of slowing down. This year they released a new album, Symmetry, which is an acoustic reimagining of many of their signature songs from their long career. What makes Symmetry special is that these aren't just...

John Waite has been blessed with one of the greatest voices in music. Whether he's belting killer rock tunes with the Babys or Bad English or his own solo work, putting his spin on blues and Americana on a lot of his albums the last 30 years, or bringing a ton of soul to ballads like his chart topping "Missing You", he always sounds perfect. These days he's recreating many of his songs acousticall...

We're starting a new sidecast called Book Club where we will be inviting authors of great music-related books to discuss them with us.  Our first installment is with guitarist Jeffrey Lee Campbell who details the year he was plucked from obscurity and chosen to tour the world with Sting in Do Stand So Close. We learn how this even happened, what Sting is like to work for, and what life is like on...

We all know the Milli Vanilli story. Have you ever wondered who really sang those songs? This week we welcome singer/songwriter John Davis, one of the actual voices for Milli Vanilli. John was an American living in Germany and working as a musician when he was picked by producer Frank Farian to sing for a project he was working on, only to later hear his voice coming out of Fab's mouth. John tells...

Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson becomes our first three-time guest with this return to The Huste, and, as usual, the conversation doesn't go where you think it will. First of all, Ian has a book coming out this summer called Silent Singing which is a lyric book of all Tull and Ian solo songs and includes pictures, stories, etc. You can pre-order the book at the link below and get your name printed in i...

Producer/Engineer/Mixer Gareth Jones didn't set out to be the "synth guy", but that didn't stop him from working closely with some of the greatest synth artists ever. First came John Foxx and his first solo album, the revolutionary Metamatic. Then came a string of legendary albums with Depeche Mode like Black Celebration and Some Great Reward. And lastly, he continues to work with Erasure and prod...

For this very special edition of Deep Dive we are honored to welcome back guitarist Steve Stevens to discuss one of the seminal rock albums of the 80s, Billy Idol's Rebel Yell. Steve and Billy created one of the classic rock albums ever and Steve lets us in on how the songs came together, how the input of producer Keith Forsey enhanced the album and what it meant to everyone's career. Rebel Yell w...

You couldn't plan for Stan Bush's career if you tried. He came on strong in the early 80s as a rising rock singer, but he carved a niche for himself when he was featured on soundtracks for movies like Kickboxer, Bloodsport and, most famously, Transformers - The Movie in 1986 which featured his signature song "The Touch". Of course that song was resurrected a decade later when Dirk Diggler sang it...

Super producer Daniel Lanois has just released the album of the year. This legendary record maker (U2, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, etc),  has created the music we all need right now with the just released Heavy Sun. Lanois mixes his masterful knack for atmosphere with his love of gospel music to create a healing gumbo for these tense times. In this co...

We're excited to put out a special bonus episode with former Grand Funk Railroad frontman Mark Farner! On April 6th Mark is releasing a brand new live DVD From Chili with Love featuring many GFR and solo hits and even a couple new tracks. This conversation is quite unique as we focus on things like the current state of the country and how many of his songs reflect it, his fitness regimen, what it...

This week we are honored to welcome one of the greatest and most underrated guitarists of all time, Echo & the Bunnymen's Will Sergeant! The first four Bunnymen albums are core to the foundation of the post-punk coming out of the UK in the early 80s. Hits like "The Killing Moon", "The Cutter", "Rescue" and many more will never ever die. After taking a break, Will and frontman Ian McCulloch reforme...

Producer/engineer/mixer Phill Brown can say he was in the room when songs like "All Along the Watchtower", "Sympathy for the Devil", "Stairway to Heaven" and "I Shot the Sheriff" were recorded. He also worked with legends like Sly and the Family Stone, Bowie, Traffic (and Steve Winwood), and Roxy Music. Can you believe this? Two of his longest collaborations were with Robert Palmer on his first fe...

Punk rock has produced some of music's greatest characters, but tops of all is probably TSOL frontman Jack Grisham. Jack was there for the band's first two albums Dance With Me and the game changing Beneath The Shadows before deciding to explore other genres and finding some success with The Joykiller in the 90s. He eventually returned to the fold and has been at the helm ever since. Jack talks op...

This week we welcome back drummer Tris Imboden to talk about Kenny Loggins's 1979 classic Keep The Fire! Tris was a member of the incredible band that recorded this beauty and that featured the Grammy winning smash "This Is It". Tris fills us in on how the songs came to be and what it was like working for him. Not to mention what the deal is with that cover! Enjoy! 

This week is our first producer of 2021, 2x Grammy winning producer/engineer/mixer Bill Schnee! Bill was an integral part of creating the soft rock sound of the 70s that we think of thanks to his work with artists like Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel, Pablo Cruise and Leo Sayer. Not to mention the Grammys he won for engineering the Steely Dan albums, Aja and Gaucho. This legend releases his memoir next...

Thanks to his Satanic masterpiece "Fire" from 1968, Arthur Brown will forever be known as "The God of Hellfire". That spine-tingling hit topped the charts all over the world and cemented his image as the banshee with fire on his head and paint on his face. But Arthur has been a musical explorer ever since making progressive music in the spirit of Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa one minute, but t...

Wayne Hussey's knack for writing deep, beautiful pop songs about struggles with the divine and a penchant for darkness are unlike anyone else. He has led his formidable band The Mission for over 35 years, giving a voice to the confused and unsure with songs like "Tower of Strength", Butterfly on a Wheel" and "Wasteland"among many others. Wayne discusses how his Mormon upbringing may have influence...

This week is the big 3-0-0!  Aldo Nova's career is an example of tenacity. He stormed out of the gates in 1982 with the self-titled debut and the huge hit "Fantasy" selling a couple million copies in the process. He eventually delivered the follow up, Subject... Aldo Nova, which was equally as strong, but did not move the same units and for the next 10 years he was forced to play catch up, includi...

Who remembers the skinny tie, new wave power pop days of the late 70s? Over in the UK, a band called The Records were on that train and released the cult classic "Starry Eyes" in 1979. Guitarist Huw Gower bailed after one album though and immediately went to work with greats like David Johansen and Graham Parker among others. He has also released some stellar solo material over the years as well a...

Jon and Jan look back on the ups and downs of the last year, recap the last three months, countdown their top 10 episodes of the year (as well as the listener’s), and answer some listener questions. Thanks everybody for the support this year. It hasn’t been easy but you all make it worth it. www.patreon.com/thehustlepod

In the US Icehouse may be best known for those two huge hits from 1987, "Crazy" and "Electric Blue", but back in their native Australia they're practically royalty. Mastermind Iva Davies has directed the band for over 40 years, consistently finding new shades and angles of alternative rock to explore. These days Iva gets to bask in the love and success he's built all these years Down Under, includ...