The Hustle

First time author Jay Nachman has accomplished something special. His new book, Graham Parker's Howlin' Wind tells the origin story of how the great Graham Parker came to be the songwriter we know him to be and how that first album with the Rumour came to be. Starting from his pre-fame days in the town of Deepcut, we learn of Graham's blue-collar upbringing and how the fates of him and the band Br...

It's pretty much a fact that if you appeared on a Steely Dan album, you're a made man. Especially on the big ones like Aja and Gaucho. For acclaimed drummer Rick Marotta that's only one chapter of his long, amazing career. His resume also includes Aretha, Donny Hathaway, John Lennon, Jim Croce, Hall & Oates, the Jacksons, Bryan Ferry, and Paul Simon. We discuss all of these and many more. Rick...

Throughout the 80s and 90s, filmmaker Arlene Sidaris and her late husband, director Andy Sidaris, released a dozen movies under the philosophy of the three Bs - Bullets, Bombs and Babes. Films like Malibu Express, Savage Beach, and the immortal Hard Ticket to Hawaii showed the Sidaris's combining sexy playmates with huge explosions and tropical locations for some of the most enjoyable movie watchi...

I'll bet you don't have 8 Grammy's. Very few people do. Our guest this week is one of the chosen few. Producer Kevin Killen has been one of the best in his field since first coming up under the tutelage of Steve Lillywhite on U2's War album. From there the list of collaborators includes David Byrne, Elvis Costello, Los Lobos, Howard Jones, Lindsey Buckingham, Kate Bush, Shawn Colvin, Tori Amos, Mr...

Madness has become their own institution in the UK. There's an entire culture built around their every move, like a ska version of Jimmy Buffett. Sometimes even legends need a break and to just "make music with their friends" and that's what bassist Mark Bedford has done. "Bedders" has paired up again with mates Simon Charterton and Terry Edwards of 2-Tone band the Higsons to release a new album,...

Our latest Book Club is a blast. Music writers David Goggin and Martin Porter have collaborated on a fascinating new book, Buzz Me In, detailing the history of the Record Plant studios. The story begins with business partners Gary Kellgren and Chris Stone but includes the juicy in-studio stories of Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, the Eagles, Stevie Wonder and John Lennon and what it takes to extract as m...

England's mighty FM have been bringing the hard rock goodness to their small but devoted fan base for 40 years. Frontman Steve Overland took his love for bands like Bad Company and mixed it with classic r&b to become one of the greatest rock singers since Paul Rogers. The band have taken breaks over the years, but are back in full force right now with a tour and a brand new album, Brotherhood,...

Gino Vannelli is a wizard. He has to be to create the music he makes, especially during his hyper creative 70s period. No one has ever sounded quite like him. If all you know are the big hits like "Living Inside Myself" and "I Just Wanna Stop", you're missing a crucial part of the picture. Unfortunately, Gino lost his wife of almost 50 years last year and that loss inspired his recent album The Li...

We are deliriously honored to have Nick Heyward return to the podcast to discuss his upcoming tour with Howard Jones (starts on the 2nd) and Deep Dive some of the Pelican West album with us. I say "some" because he only had an hour and we only covered five songs. BUT, there are enough goodies in the conversation, I have no doubt you'll enjoy hearing about how he made this perfect album (and the on...

Pop music doesn't come much better than the work of the Primitives. They're probably best known for their 1988 hit "Crash", but the three albums they put out in that era are perfection. By 1991, they felt they weren't progressing and decided to call it a day with everyone doing other projects. Thankfully, they came back in 2012 with a new album and another in 2014 and have been on the festival cir...

First published in 1994, author Brian Sweet's book on Steely Dan, Reelin' in the Years, has been recently updated and reprinted to incorporate the last few years of the band's legacy. We discuss the band's unique way of working, their mysterious personalities, why they're considered "cool" when so many others of that genre aren't, why so many musicians lined up to work with them and how Brian came...

Why does some of the best music go largely unheard? It's the eternal question. Granted, Jimme O'Neill's bands have done pretty well and he's made a living being the great songwriter he is, but we all know he deserves a bigger audience. Starting out in Glasgow in the 70s with his post-punk band Fingerprintz had his career going in one direction, only to go a completely different direction when they...

Producer Mark Wallis began his career as the assistant to Steve Lillywhite on U2's War album. How about THAT being the first thing on your resume?! This launched a great career working some of the best pop acts of the era. He produced the Go-Between's perfect album 16 Lovers Lane, the debuts from the Primitives and the Silencers, and music from artists like Paul Kelly, the Mighty Lemon Drops, the...

Eric Ambel's career got its start in "the first punk band in Wyoming" in the 70s. Imagine trying to launch a music career from Laramie! He eventually becomes the guitarist in the Blackhearts with Joan Jett, but opts not to sign on (the job went to recent guest Ricky Byrd) and goes on to form the Del-Lords with former Dictator guitarist Scott Kempner. They released four albums in the late 80s (two...

Steady Freedy. It doesn't rhyme, but it should because that's what singer/songwriter Freedy Johnston has been. Since the early 90s, Freedy has been releasing consistently wonderful music with his crystal clear voice - never phoning it in and never anything less than great. But, his career got off to a wobbly start and might not have happened at all. He sold part of his family farm in Kansas to fin...

The narrative for Colin Hay's career goes like this - fronts huge pop band (Men at Work) who explode on the scene, win Grammys and a ton of hits in a short amount of time, goes solo, releases incredible album after incredible album to a small cult that love him but with no commercial success. That may be partially true, but that cult has gotten so big and the reputation so strong, is it even a sec...

The Pogues would be forgiven for thinking they shouldn't carry on after the death of frontman Shane MacGowan. It was his voice and songwriting that gave the band that extra special spark. Luckily, they won't be putting the band to bed just yet. Founding member Spider Stacy joins us this week to discuss their decision to get back out there in front of the fans on tour this fall, celebrate their leg...

Author Selena Fragassi joins us this week to discuss her new book Alanis: Thirty Years of Jagged Little Pill. Can you believe that album is 30 years old now? The book discusses the making of the album and what Alanis managed to tap into that made it the juggernaut it was and our conversation covers the highlights as well. Check it out!  www.quarto.com/books/9780760395677/alanis www.patreon.com/c/t...

One of the brightest lights of the Britpop splash of the 90s were Kula Shaker. They successfully merged guitar-driven rock with psychedelia with strong Indian themes so seamlessly there was no one else like them. After two successful albums and huge singles like "Tattva", "Govinda" and "Hey Dude", and with frontman Crispian Mills on the verge of a nervous breakdown, the band took a break for a few...

Bands like Seven Mary Three couldn't have existed any other time but in the 90s. Grunge was king, guitars were heavy, and bands were full of angst. This formula served them well when "Cumbersome" landed at #1 on the rock charts, but the label didn't get behind much else and despite the band carrying on for a decade playing to a rabid fan base, they never had another hit (or much respect). Lead sin...

The mind of Tim DeLaughter must be an interesting place to spend some time. In the 90s he fronted the esoteric rock band Tripping Daisy that saw a lot of success with their second album I Am an Elastic Firecracker and the hit "I Got a Girl" in 1995. After their guitarist died of an accidental drug overdose, Tim masterminded the wholly unique Polyphonic Spree - the collective of 25 or so musicians...

Steve Barton returns to the show this week to fill us in on a couple of new goodies from his world. First of all, a live Translator album called Beyond Today: Live at the Farm San Francisco 1986 was just released and it's a treat for longtime fans. It's a live document of what was meant to be their last show from the original run. Of course, they've since reunited for shows over the years, but thi...

What can you say about the Beach Boys that hasn't already been said? Especially now with the recent passing of leader Brian Wilson, the band is back to the forefront where they deserve to be. Former member Al Jardine recently released a new EP called Islands in the Sun and he and I talked about it two days before Brian died. That fact gives a unique spirit to this interview as it will likely go do...

If all you've heard from Nada Surf is their novelty hit "Popular" from '95, you'd be forgiven for not knowing they morphed into one of best bands in the world over the last 25 years. Starting with 2002's Let Go, the guys have released a constant stream of nearly perfect records and continue to mature in a beautiful way as evidenced by last year's Moon Mirror. This week front man Matthew Caws joins...

We don't throw the word :"icon" around here too often, but when you're a founding member of two of the biggest Goth Rock and Alternative Rock bands ever, the label is deserving. David J is partly responsible for shaping an entire culture, not many can say that. This week sees the release of two new ambitious projects - one a book of poetry called Rhapsody, Threnody & Prayer, as well as a new a...