The Rock Star Autobiography Podcast

Everyone knows that legendary Brian Wilson was the melodic architect behind those Beach Boys gems; and, yes, he copes with mental health issues.  But did you know that Brian Wilson has a favorite chair in his living room where he likes to sit for hours?  That he has a favorite bagel spot in Santa Monica, but to get there he has to sit through a traffic light that lasts forever, and it bothers him...

Bruce Springsteen is a polarizing figure.  His fans are die-hard, and they even famously refer to him as The Boss.  Critics revere him, extolling him as the working man's poet.  And of course, "You've just got to see him live."  Other people, however, write actual lists on the internet about why they "hate" him (Reason Number 6: the earring).  But you can't polar...

The meaning of life?  Easy.  But the Meaning of Mariah?  That's heavy lifting.  The Guinness Book of World records refers to Mariah Carey as the Songbird Supreme .  She has a five-octave range and can sing into the seventh octave.  Her "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is the 11th best-selling single in modern music, and only The Beatles have more number one hits.  She's also p...

Ingredients for the Slash cocktail: gallons of vodka, heroin, STDs, one top hat, and lots and lots of snakes.  Stir, pour over ice, and then plug in your defibrillator! You know you've made it big in the world or rock and roll when you no longer need a last name: Sting, Prince, Madonna.  Add to that list Slash, lead guitarist of Guns n Roses .  The readers of Total Guitar voted the opening ri...

Arriving like a splash of neon paint, Cyndi Lauper announced to the 80s that Girls, apparently, "Just Want to Have Fun."  Sure there was the A-Team , Silver Spoons , and Knight Rider .  But what's the 80s without She-Bop?  Without Cyndi Lauper in a wrestling ring?  Without The Goonies ???  In this episode Martha and Christian learn the true colors of the woman behind that hiccup, wh...

Sinead O'Connor has often been reduced to that person who shaved her head, tore up the picture of the pope, and refused to play the Star Spangled Banner.  It's no surprise, however, that there was more to the story, some of which she reveals in Rememberings .  There's the dreary Irish upbringing, the terrible physical abuse, the job dressing up as a maid to deliver  telegrams, the R...

Dave Grohl, dude.  Dave.  GROHL.  Dave Grohl has been in the White House several times. He is friends with Paul McCartney. His band the Foo Fighters is very, very, very popular. You almost forget--almost--that he was a drummer for Nirvana, with someone named Kurt Cobain. How did Dave Grohl ever escape the shadow of that band?  How did Dave Grohl become America's favorite rock star musician? H...

Have you ever been bullied?  Have you ever been picked on, for no reason?  Has anyone ever hit you in the face with a sock filled with batteries?  If you answer YES to any of these questions, then this episode is for YOU!  Who knew that Curtis Jackson--FITTY CENT--is not only a successful rapper but a life coach of sorts?  In this special end-of-the-season episode Martha and Christian get to know...

Andy Summers was in a psychedelic band called Dantalian's Chariot.  He jammed with Jimi Hendrix.  He was buddies with Eric Clapton.  Yet it amounted to nothing but a failed marriage, guitar lessons in the valley, and a whole lot of meditating in the spirit world.  But then a guy named Sting found Andy's message in a bottle, Stewart Copeland added the beat, and synchronicity was achieved....

Did you know that Homer Simpson's beer of choice, Duff beer, derived its name from Michael "Duff" McKagan?  It's true!   But did you also know that Duff McKagan is actually more famous for a band called Guns N Roses?  It's true!  Yes, folks, the rumors are real!  It's no illusion!  Martha and Christian are heading into the jungle of Duff McKagan's "It's...

The Sex Pistols weren't just Johnny Rotten and that Sid guy, the vicious one.  They also included Steve Jones, the band's guitarist, without whom the band would not have existed, and who certainly did it His Way.  Doc Martens, spiked hair, Guns and Roses--and even, sad to say, Green Day--would not exist were it not for four notorious firearms of sex, of whom Steve Jones, with the biggest...