The Hustle

The word pioneer gets thrown around a lot, but in the case of Genya Ravan it is well-earned. Genya's career has included so many "firsts", it's a crime she isn't a household name. She went from being a virginal topless model to fronting the first ever all-girl group signed to a major label with Goldie and the Gingerbreads. From there she led the popular blues/jazz group Ten Wheel Drive before goin...

The 70s were a beautiful time for earnest, heartfelt singer-songwriters. One of the most versatile was Henry Gross, whose one and only hit was 1976's "Shannon". This tune about Beach Boy Carl Wilson's dead dog reached #6 in 1976 and placed Henry alongside contemporaries like James Taylor and Jim Croce as a force to be reckoned with. Henry is also an example of perseverance because, though "Shannon...

This week we celebrate the big 100 with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Stu Cook, bassist for the legendary Creedence Clearwater Revival! Everyone knows and loves the music of CCR, but sadly the band has been fraught with tension almost from the beginning. In this intensely candid conversation, Stu lays out the reasons for much of the dysfunction. It basically comes down to lead-singer and main songwr...

What can you say that hasn't already been said about an artist that defined a decade? We're kicking off our series on the 70s with one of the biggest musicians in history - Harry Wayne Casey, leader of KC and the Sunshine Band! They had dozens of hits you know by heart and sold 100 million records in the process. So, how does Harry look back on his career? We talk about those dark retirement years...

Dana Dane came up in the rap game out of the Fort Green projects of Brooklyn with his best friend Slick Rick in the mid-80s. He created quite a stir in the underground with his debut album Dana Dane With Fame and lead single "Cinderfella Dana Dane". Even though the future looked bright for Dana, and with With Fame selling a promising half a million copies, two subsequent albums never quite caught...

P.M. Dawn were one of the most revolutionary voices in hip-hop history and, frankly, they don't get the credit they deserve. Led by primary creative visionary Prince Be, the sibling duo brought colors and textures to rap that weren't there before and have influenced the more creative hip-hop we hear today. Sadly, Prince Be passed away last year, one of the many heart-breaking deaths from 2016, put...

Drummer Hilly Michaels has had one of the juiciest careers in rock. Beginnig from his early teenage days making music with best chum Michael Bolton, Hilly's path has taken him from the top to the bottom and back again. In the 70s, a tight friendship with Mick Ronson paved the way for collaborations with everyone from John Mellencamp to Ian Hunter to Ellen Foley. He even joined Sparks there for a w...

1987 was a great year for alternative blue-eyed soul music coming out of the UK. Bands like Breathe, Swing Out Sister, the Kane Gang and Hipsway brought a highly sophisticated sound to pop and dance music with a lot of funky horns and bass. My favorite of these groups was Curiosity Killed the Cat who did well in the UK, but had only one near-miss single in the states with "Misfit" which reached #4...

Does it get anymore "indelible" than maybe the most long-lasting hit of the 80s, "Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves? This #9 hit from 1985 has continued to live on for decades thanks to its use in everything from movie trailers to commercials. Kimberley Rew is the man that wrote that song, as well as most other songs for Katrina and the Waves, as well as being their guitarist. What cas...

Who can ever forget Musical Youth, those five cute black kids from Birmingham England who had a major worldwide smash with 1983's "Pass The Dutchie". The group, who it should be said wrote many of their own songs and played their own instruments, put out two albums before calling it quits while still in their teens. Unfortunately, some of the traps of life after child stardom crept in - financial...

The Breakfast Club were a fun dance/pop group who put out one album, which included their one and only hit, "Right On Track" which reached #7 in 1987. Unfortunately, that's all she wrote for band. What makes them a fascinating bit of rock history is that they originated as a punk band in NYC in the laet 70s and their drummer was none other than Madonna! Bassist Gary Burke recounts those early days...

When talking about the indelible hits of the 80s, it doesn't get much bigger than "I Can't Wait" by Nu Shooz. Led by the husband and wife team of John Smith and Valerie Day, Nu Shooz finally hit the maintstream after years of plugging away on the Portland, OR club scene when "I Can't Wait" reached #3 on the pop charts (#1 on the dance chart) in 1986, embedding one of the most "iconic" basslines in...

No series on the indelible hits of the 80s would be complete without showcasing the enduring "Obsession" by new wavers Animotion. This week we talk to co-lead singer Bill Wadhams and learn about how their biggest hit came into being and how it effected his career for good and bad. Consider this - you've just achieved world-wide fame, but on very unique terms you weren't mentally prepared for. In t...

Cutting Crew made a huge splash with their debut album Broadcast in 1986, which featured three top 40 hits including the #1 smash "(I Just) Died In Your Arms". Lead singer Nick Van Eede had the musical chops and hunky good looks to catapult a great band into the mainstream. Unfortunately, a long delayed second album cost the group the momentum it needed to stay there, and Nick's broader and more e...

2016 just couldn't go quietly, taking the legend George Michael away on Christmas day. To discuss his career and legacy, as well as his untimely death, we bring back Steve Spears of the popular Stuck in the 80s podcast to make sense of it all. 

The Tubes were revolutionary for their time, mixing rock music and theatricality in a way few others were doing. At the center stage stood Fee Waybill, one of the greatest frontmen in rock history and one of the most fascinating entertainers ever. Though the Tubes staged legendary performances, they didn't garner any hits until the early 80s when they teamed up with a young David Foster and releas...

We're kicking off a series on the artists behind some of the indelible hits of the 80s with a legend, Wally Palmar of the Romantics! They are one of the most successful power pop bands ever and recorded a couple of hits that are still ubiquitous today like "Talking In Your Sleep" and, of course, "What I Like About You" (which was actually not a big hit when it came out in 1980). Despite some well-...

707 were one of the underappreciated AOR bands of the early 80s. They should have been right up there with Foreigner and tourmates REO Speedwagon, but it never quite got as big. They did score one moderate hit with "I Could Be Good For You" from their debut album which reached #52 in 1980. After that a couple more excellent melodic-rock albums came out before the band called it quits. Guitarist Ke...

This week we pay respects once again to the great music city of Cleveland with a local legend two-fer.  First up is keyboardist and songwriter Mark Avsec. Mark's first big break was when he joined Wild Cherry ("Play That Funky Music") in the mid-70s before then jumping to Jonah's new band Breathless for two excellent albums in the latter part of the decade. From there he forged what would be the d...

Book of Love were one of the key synth pop bands of the 80s and early 90s. Though they never reached the level of global success that colleagues like Depeche Mode or Erasure did, they had a dozen or so big hits on the dance charts with their patented mixture of charming melodies and simple lyrics. The 90s weren't kind to Book of Love (or any of the bands like them) so Susan pivoted to a career as...

The Au Pairs were one of the great British post-punk bands of the late 70s/early 80s. History has shown they were also one of the most revolutionary. Their aggressive mix of political screeds encased in jagged, in your face songs set them apart with bands like The Slits and Gang of Four from the mainstream. She won't say it herself, but Lesley's image as a lesbian icon set them apart even further....

In my humble opinion, The Chameleons are possibly the most underrated band of all-time, most certainly of the 80s. Every single fan of The Cure or The Smiths should also own their three core albums (Script of the Bridge, What Does Anything Mean, Basically? and my favorite Strange Times). Unfortunately, there is a lot of drama in the history of that band. I set out to tell their story, but the bad...

Something magical was happening in Britain in the 80s. The country produced amazing, genre-defining bands throughout the entire decade with legends like The Smiths, Simple Minds, Echo and the Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs (I could go on and on) informing what would become alternative rock and/or post-punk. One of the great bands of that era were The Mighty Lemon Drops. Armed with some sugary sweet me...

Sue Saad was the frontwoman for the great Sue Saad and the Next, another in a long line of excellent bands that should have been much bigger. They were discovered in L.A. in the late 70s by Richard Perry of Planet Records and released one promising self-titled album in 1980 that reached #131 on the charts and was gaining steam in Europe. Unfortunately, as he's done with other guests of this show,...

Loverboy were one of the most popular rock bands of the 80s producing a bunch of hits and selling millions of records. Thankfully, they're enjoying a bit of a resurgence these days thanks to that National Car Rental ad featuring them and one of their biggest hits, "Lovin' Every Minute of It". In this exclusive interview lead singer Mike Reno talks about the effects of grunge on their career, the s...