The Imbalanced History of Rock and Roll

Over the almost five years of the podcast, Markus and Ray have shared their 5 Faves on many topics. This week, they are living in the future, as they dive into their 5 Favorite "Artists Of The 21st Century!" It's a fun history exploration for the guys, as you will hear, because they still, after a combined 70 years-plus in the music/radio business, love to discover new sounds that move them, or ju...

Mick Wall, an accomplished writer and amazing storyteller by nature, may have outdone himself with his new book, Life In The Fast Lane: The Eagles' Reckless Ride Down The Rock n' Roll Highway! He's the Imbalanced Boys honored guest this week with only enough time to whet your curiosity on this topic, which tells you how much more there is in this book! It's not just Wall's tale telling, his zeal f...

Bob Dylan burst onto the American Folk scene shortly after he arrived in New York City. Quickly, he made major impressions inside the local music community via Greenwich Village, and as a popular artist upon releasing his first few records on Columbia. He and The Beatles immediately hit it off with mutual admiration and inspiration. Dylan's expanded musical pallet was part of the early sessions fo...

This re-release of Marvin Gaye: Musical & Cultural Icon looks at the chaotic, turbulent and troubled life of sweet Marvin Gaye. One of the most beautiful voices to sing any form of Rock & Roll. His was the voice of a generation of Americans. Marvin was passionate, conflicted and believed we could conquer hate with love, although his life choices didn't always reflect that strong belief within him....

What are your Five Favorite holiday tunes for rockin' around the Christmas tree? As part of their Summer Vacation, the Imbalanced Brothers offer a re-run of this frosty, holiday treat, to cool down this dirty, hot Summer! Making the season bright, from our first Christmas as a podcast, the guys share their Five Favorite Rock & Roll Christmas Songs! Hohoho!!! Listen to this cool episode, and then g...

From the earliest days of the podcast, The Wrecking Crew has repeatedly popped into conversations, leading us to several unexpected places, as we really began to get below the surface on this mystical menagerie of talent that created so much of the music behind the singers, and songs of our lives! Ray and Markus put forth a solid summation about the full, immeasurable scope of their reach while ex...

No single episode could contain the majesty of Queen! So this week's release is just one part of our story, darlings! Let's go back to Smile, and school days, and learn about Freddie, Brian, Roger, and John, as they collect musical ideas and rise to take The Throne of Rock! Please check out our sponsors: Boldfoot Socks  https://boldfoot.com Crooked Eye Brewery  https://crookedeyebrewery.com/ Don't...

SUMMER VACATION, AND WE ARE FLYING INTO THE 4TH!!! Okay, okay, it's not ALL musical anthems and John Philip Sousa marches, but there WILL be fireworks! Markus and Ray honor America, the band, in this week's episode! Air Force kids who found each other and their unique musical style, America has a centuries-spanning history that continues today, as does our democracy! The boys, with a nod to the 4t...

As Ray says early on, this may be the biggest, most explosive, long lasting, nasty #SiblingRivalry that they boys have discussed so far! Noel, the middle brother, and Liam, the little brother formed one of the biggest bands to impact the 1990s, with record-breaking U.K. chart impact, massive worldwide airplay and sales, AND a big ole' lump on their noggin' from all of the sparring! Their songs bro...

Author Jon Wiederhorn brings his extensive experience to the table in this episode that sets sights on looking into how "the heavy stuff" moved forward from what we have referred to as "The Bronze Age." The emergence of the NWOBHM, plus bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, set the fuse for the varied Heavy Metal explosions about to go off in the 1980s. Some of those trends are also discussed....

The two youngest of eight, Ray and Dave Davies became the 1960s symbol of #siblingrivalry in Rock & Roll! Our episode about that, and Dave's birthday twin was a fun first look at a band both Imbalanced Brothers love! Listen here! They'll dive into the story, the amazing music of The Kinks (and their unusual run of names at the start), and tell their own stories of loving this original British Inva...

This week, the Imbalanced Boys explore the birth and life (so far) of Pearl Jam. They were formed by Seattle stalwarts after the death of Andrew Wood, the singer for Mother Love Bone. The episode includes a brief discussion of Wood's death, as Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament moved on and found an incredible Rock & Roll life. The boys discuss the arrival of Eddie Vedder, and the various drummers who'v...

Oh the times they were a-changin' alright by 1967! Something was in the air in the United States, and globally. In the U.S., it was a social/political/cultural shift, embraced mostly by young people at first. Social change was being fueled by racial tensions, and a break with the past by a new generation, who in many cases shared the politics and struggle of civil rights, as well as opposition to...

Markus started with a Core 4: Living Colour, Faith No More, The Cult and Jane's Addiction, but he and Ray quickly found many other bands that fueled the need for The Bridge, and others who helped complete it, along with the arrival of the 1990s! It's a pivotal time in Rock History, as the AOR acts traditionally embraced by radio in The States, many of which had become bland and predictable, began...

This is Janis Joplin's story by way of our Imbalanced Brothers! It's told with affection, and a ton of the music. The tale of "little girl blue," and why her Blues were so sad. It's about The Sixties, it's about the San Francisco Scene, The Haight...the bands! It's about Big Brother meets Pearl, and sadly, it's about her death... Vegas is laying solid odds on there being more Janis in the journey...

The idea for this episode came from a quote, now lost, even to Google apparently, that the first four Peter Gabriel solo albums are actually a large song cycle. In exploring possible sonic connections, researching and producing this episode, we discovered evidence of that being the case. Both within each of the self-titled albums, and between them... The individual moments within the songs on the...

This week, The Imbalanced Ones tell the tale of one of their (and apparently everybody's) favorite bands, The Police. Hear the tale of their meeting and coming together in a DIY studio to record the first of their five amazing albums. Find out how the band played into Ray's & Markus' Rock n' Roll life! Part of their story is inside our previous episode about AIR Montserrat, where the band recorded...

Few bands in #PunkRock history made so much noise with so little commercial impact! Wendy O. Williams led this band through it all, despite their lack of a big time break out! The Imbalanced Boys wrap up Punk Rock Month 2023 with a deep dive into this band driven by wild ideas, hot riffs, and crazy stage antics! The history of the band and their manager, Rod Swenson's role is told in detail. The s...

Part of #PunkRockMonth is including a repeat of one of our fave #Punk episodes from the last year. During #PRM22, the guys went off on The Sex Pistols! Aaaand we've REDUX'd it for ya! If you haven't heard this one yet, you're gonna see both Imbalanced Brothers geek all-the-way out! As they gear up for PRM '23's Plasmatics finale, jump in, feet first with Johnny Rotten and the rest of the Pistols!...

Punk Rock Month rolls on! Week 2 is all about the musical brainchild of Greg Ginn, co-founder of Black Flag, the teenage owner of his electronics company, and head of SST Records! The Imbalanced Brothers explore the varied phases of the band, its somewhat fluid vocalist role, until they found the man who solidified the spot! Both of the guys get into it, but Markus dives deep into the wormhole in...

It's our belief that more people know OF Dead Kennedys, and their incendiary leader Jello Biafra, than actually know the band, and their music. Markus and Ray look to change that this week for the kickoff of Punk Rock Month 2023! Their part in the San Francisco faction of WC Punk is clear, but we still found things to learn about DKs and the Boys share it all with you! There's tons to take in, and...

1973 was one helluva year! Behind the good, the bad AND the ugly of the world, there was music, an incredible motherlode of creativity exploding from all genres, changing our musical culture. Markus and Ray hop in the Imbalanced Time Machine to help paint the picture of their experiences that year. That includes a deep dive into the rabbit hole as they run down the full list of albums released in...

In reaction to poor treatment in the scene, the Riot Grrrl! movement started with Bikini KIll's Kathleen Hanna's manifesto. Taking the form of a band pamphlet, it spawned a sub-genre in the Punk world, and gave voice to women who liked to kick ass on stage! Markus and Ray dig into the bands, the fans, and this new branch of politics. The long-unsolved murder of Mia Zapata of The Gits only underlin...

You could say that everything he'd done prior to 1976's Songs In The Key Of Life was leading up to the musical cornucopia that became this landmark double album! The Imbalanced Brothers both hold this record, and Stevie Wonder, in the highest regard, and it shows in their dissection of the songs and the players who helped fulfill this musical vision! We love our sponsors!!! Please visit their web...

A progenitor is a person without whom the path of the topic being discussed might be very different. That's the case with Memphis Minnie (not her real name), and Blind Lemon Jefferson (his real name) both of whom laid foundation stones for so much of what Rock & Roll drew upon when it came around. Starting in the 1890s, we follow both artists and their path of influence on future players! Both wer...