The Hustle

Tis the season! Jon and Jan are joined by friends Ben Montgomery from the Records Revisited podcast and Jon's buddy, regular, podcast-less civilian, Dave Carruth to discuss Christmas music, but also movies, traditions, etc. Hot topics are debated like whether "Wonderful Christmastime" and "Last Christmas" are good or bad, whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie, and a number of other hot takes. We a...

Don't we all miss the 70s? That golden era of soulful singer-songwriters left an impression that has never been replicated and high among them is the great Melissa Manchester. After 50 years in the business, Melissa keeps getting better releasing material in the 2000s that's easily as good as her peak 70s period. We talk openly about her journey, how the glory of the 70s led to the gloss of the 80...

For this Deep Dive we are welcoming Gunnar Nelson to tell us the full story behind the Nelson's blockbuster debut album After the Rain. Few rock albums from that era stand the test of time like this one, helped by several smash hits like "More Than Ever" and "Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection". Gunnar tells us how he and Matthew wrote the songs, the obstacles they had to overcome to rele...

Producer Terry Manning is a Jack of All Trades and Master of Many! Starting out as a pre-teen in Texas, Terry went on to work with everyone from Led Zeppelin to Otis Redding to Bjork and many more in between. After a long relationship with ZZ Top he produced their breakthrough Eliminator and from there was hired to bring similar success to acts like George Thorogood and the Fabulous Thunderbirds....

Steve Stevens and Billy Idol are a pair that goes together like Marr and Morrissey, like Plant and Page, like Scott and Adams, like Pirroni and Ant... you get the idea. This power duo has created some of the most indelible songs and styles of the last 40 years with Steve's identifiable guitar leading the way. In this chat we learn some of the stories behind their dynamic, the albums, his solo work...

The loss of the Outfield's Tony Lewis recently really stings. The Outfield were a consistently excellent band that deserved more and Tony's incredible voice paired with the late John Spink's songwriting was a match made in heaven. To honor Tony we bring back former guest producer William Wittman (ep 215) who did their first two, and biggest, albums, Play Deep and Bangin'. And go back and listen to...

Nick Launay started his career when still in his teens and when John Lyden picked (forced?) him to produce PiL's "Flowers of Romance" in 1981 he was off and running. His resume includes greats like Killing Joke, Talking Heads, Semisonic and even recent albums from Arcade Fire, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I planned to cover these amd many more in our conversation, but instead w...

The Bongos were one of those great early 80s American indie bands, like Violent Femmes or the db's. After having some success and creating a rabid grassroots fanbase, frontman Richard Barone went solo and has had a fulfilling musical career ever since doing whatever he wants. Imagine growing up with people like Lou Reed, Andy Warhol and Tony Visconti as your heroes and then actually befriending an...

Producer/Musician Andy Ross has been in music his entire life. He's served as a session musician, a member of the band Immaculate Fools, and a producer working with artists like Howard Jones. His dad even gave saxophone lessons to a young David Bowie! Andy's just released a hugely ambitious and excellent album The Fear Engine. The album, and the accompanying documentary, explores why people behave...

Producer John Fryer was instrumental in honing the sound of some of the 80s most inventive groups. While working at Blackwing Studios and largely with the 4AD label, his list of accomplishments includes albums by Depeche Mode, Yaz, Cocteau Twins, Fad Gadget, Peter Murphy and many others with the mother of all being Nine Inch Nails' debut Pretty Hate Machine. Over the years he's devoted time to his...

For this Deep Dive we welcome back a favorite of ours, songwriter Martin Page (ep30)! On top of the great songs Martin's written in his career, back in 1985 he was hand-picked by Earth Wind and Fire mastermind Maurice White to oversee his first solo album. Even though the songs are just as strong as what EWF would have put out, the album underperformed and remains fairly obscure to this day. Marti...

Survivor were one of the key rock bands of the 80s. They either defined the sound of the era, or produced some of the finest music that era had to offer. And with hits like "High On You", "Can't Hold Back", and a dozen others including the enduring "Eye of the Tiger" the band's legacy is immortal. Co-founder and guitarist Frankie Sullivan tells us the stories behind many of the hits, including the...

INXS's Andrew Farriss returns to the show to discuss his new EP, Love Makes The World. As we learned in July, Andrew has been readying a country album, but when Covid hit it became fuzzy what the result of this project would be. Love Makes The World is an excellent 5-song album that includes his latest single, "All The Stars Are Mine." Andrew details the thinking behind the release and what to exp...

We lost another legend. Eddie Van Halen was one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. To discuss his life and the impact he had on music we brought back BulletBoys frontman Marq Torien (ep151). Not only did those bands share a producer in Ted Templeman, the BBoys were heavily influenced by Van Halen and were championed by them early on. Marq tells us what Eddie meant to him...

Producer/Musician Youth is one of the most creative and innovative musical minds of the last 40 years. Starting out as the bassist in pioneering doom rock band Killing Joke, he left after three albums and went on to become one of the most important dance music producers the UK has ever created when he formed The Orb and brought genres like trance and dub to the forefront. He also produced landmark...

Months continue feeling more like years, but it's still time for another check-in. Jon and Jan recap the last three month's worth of episodes, announce a cd giveaway, play an important brand new song by a former guest, and answer some listener questions.  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2g6lorn72wqze12/AABvUFN5R7BeFJiGnyBk9sKKa?dl=0

Many, including me, consider Go West frontman Peter Cox one of the greatest blue-eyed soul singers the UK has ever produced. With musical partner Richard Drummie, Go West competed in the synth pop genre well in the 80s with hits like "We Close Our Eyes" and the gigantic "King of Wishful Thinking". But that partnership, like many others, needed a break so Peter went on to have an excellent and vari...

We close out our series of big time drummers with the great Mickey Curry! Like the others, Mickey has done a lot of fun things that we talk about, but two of his biggest partnerships have been with Hall & Oates and Bryan Adams. We go deep on both artists, his favorite moments and contributions like Live Aid and others. In addition, we discuss his playing with The Cult, Steve Winwood, Carly Simon,...

We continue our series on big time drummers by hearing from Tris Imboden! Until a couple years ago Tris spent decades holding it down for Chicago, but before that he also spent many years with Kenny Loggins. In our conversation we hear what it was like collaborating with both of those greats, including his thoughts on recording "Footloose", as well as what he's doing now after abruptly leaving Chi...

Mighty Lemon Drops guitarist and principle songwriter David Newton returns to the pod to tell us all about the creation of the band's 1988 breakthrough second album World Without End. This album launched them to the national stage thanks to the fantastic single "Inside Out" and solidified them as a band to take seriously. In addition, David's new project Thee Mighty Angels, just released their deb...

This week we close out our series going deep on the careers of the Immediate Family by hearing from legendary drummer Russ Kunkel. Like the others, Russ's career goes back 50 years when he took off playing with James Taylor, Carole King, and the like. In this conversation we dive into his collaborations with artists like Bill Withers, Jimmy Buffett, Dan Fogelberg, Crosby Stills & Nash and many oth...

Lone Justice had all the potential in the world, but ended up more of a cautionary tale. They had a charismatic lead singer with Maria McKee, a big time producer in Jimmy Iovine, the backing of a major label and contributions from Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Little Steven, and many more. The problem is none of these people knew what to do with their hybrid of classic country and punk leaving Lone Justic...

We are honored to bring back producer Clive Langer to discuss the wonderful Madness! When "Our House" hit big in the states in 1983, the record label released this self-titled compilation to introduce them to the American market and show what Madness was all about.. This was also one of the first records Jon ever owned and Madness were instrumental to the young Jon and Jan's upbringing. Clive give...

Andy Richards started out as a classical pianist, but being discovered by Trevor Horn in the early 80s changed all that. He went to work at SARM studios where he played on albums by Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Propaganda. He began getting calls to play on albums/songs by everyone from Wham ("Careless Whisper"), Chris DeBurgh ("Lady in Red"), Rush, Pet Shop Boys, Liza Minelli, Billy Squier, OMD,...

Cutting Crew frontman Nick Van Eede returns to the pod to deep dive the band's problematic second album, The Scattering from 1989. Die hard fans love this album, but it was met with indifference upon its release and didn't reach the heights of the debut. Nick tells us about the challenges of making the album and why he's proud of it. We also discuss the new Crew album, Ransomed Healed Restored For...