The Hustle

Did you know that Miami's Exposé are the 8th most successful girl group of all time? And did you know they were the first group to land four top 10 songs on their debut album? Accolades like that are mostly forgotten with these guys, unfortunately. The combination of Jeanette Jurado, Ann Curless, and Gioia Bruno - all great singers, all beautiful and all different - was unbeatable from the mid 80s...

Tom Werman was one of the most successful producers of the 70s and 80s. He's responsible for making Cheap Trick what they are thanks to his work on their first few albums. He's also behind some of the best power pop of the era like the Producers, Off Broadway, and Gary Myrick. And, he helped shape the sound of the Sunset Strip by producing massive albums by Motley Crue, Twisted Sister and Poison....

Talk Talk basically invented a new musical language with their fourth album, Spirit of Eden. The band began as a strong, but slightly derivative, synth pop group, but due to the artistic restlessness of main man Mark Hollis, Talk Talk evolved into something no one had ever heard before and hasn't heard since. Critics called what they did "post-rock", which is probably pretty close. Former guest Ph...

The Roots are revolutionary artists for many reasons. Not just the music they make, but being hired as Jimmy Fallon's house band changed the landscape of late night television. Guitarist Kirk Douglas has risen as one of the most exciting images on our TVs night after night. In addition to his two important day jobs, Kirk also has a solo career as Hundred Watt Heart and recently released his second...

Today sees the release of the much anticipated box set of songs from John Hughes movies called Life Moves Pretty Fast: The John Hughes Mixtapes. John's Music Supervisor, and friend of the podcast, Tarquin Gotch returns to discuss how he went about compiling the box, what got left off and why, and the love and care that went into it finally coming out. Over four discs (and plenty of extra goodies)...

Singer/songwriter Dar Williams can do it all. On top of her wonderful music career, she also publishes the occasional book and her latest is a gift to creative people everywhere. How to Write a Song that Matters shows her describing not only the best way to approach making music, but also how to tap into the best parts of yourself when tackling something inventive. She details her own experiences...

This week is a fun twofer with a couple of excellent singer/songwriters that are hitting the road together. First up is Toad the Wet Sprocket frontman Glen Phillips. Not only has Glen fronted Toad since the beginning with hits like "Walk On the Ocean" and "Come Down", but he's also had his own robust solo career. Glen has a new album coming out this weekend called There Is So Much Here that is a w...

This week is another special twofer!  Imagine being brought into one of the biggest bands in the world at 23 years old to replace the face of the band. That's the lion's den bassist Jason Scheff strode into and remained for the next 31 years. Jason recently left the band to take care of some family matters and now has a new album with his new supergroup Generation Radio that is a total blast It's...

Jon, Andy and Jan review the 3rd quarter, discuss Andy's arboreal habits and find out what gigs we'd all been to. Spoiler alert.  Jan didn't get to any this quarter.  Find out what he DID get to, on the last day of the quarter!

The mythology of classic rock is built on the backs of legendary characters like Bobby Whitlock. Bobby was involved in three of the greatest rock albums ever made - George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street and, of course, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs from when he and Eric Clapton teamed up for Derek & The Dominos. Bobby discusses his own solo career,...

Songwriters Hall of Fame member Jack Tempchin is probably best known for the hits he penned for the Eagles. "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and "Already Gone" are two of the most heard songs in history. He also helped Glenn Frey have a few solo hits like "Smuggler's Blues" and "You Belong to the City" among others. Johnny Rivers, Glen Campbell, Tanya Tucker and George Jones are also in his history. Today,...

This week is a pretty unique pairing of classic rockers. First up we hear from Slade drummer Don Powell! Don discusses those glory days of Slade, why they never fully caught on in the States despite being one of the biggest UK bands of the 70s, how Quiet Riot's cover of "Cum on Feel the Noize" finally brought them some attention, the personal and business obstacles the band had to overcome and his...

God bless Billy Bragg, one of mankind's greatest gifts! The man has devoted his life to fighting for those that can't fight for themselves, to improving the planet and to inspiring all of us to get involved. We learn what actually motivates him is empathy and knowing that makes his mission even better. Last year he put out a new album called The Million Things That Never Happened that sees him loo...

Great news coming out of the Smithereens' camp these days. This weekend they released The Lost Album which is a collection of songs recorded in the early 90s that never saw the light of day until now. Hearing the band, especially the voice of the late great Pat DiNizio again is like manna from heaven for fans. We welcome drummer Dennis Diken to discuss the new album and then we Deep Dive the band'...

Tony James is one of rock's great shapeshifters. He starts out with Billy Idol in Generation X, one of the great punk bands, but when Billy went solo, Tony took some time to conceptualize his next creative move. That gestation period eventually brought about Sigue Sigue Sputnik, one of the most outrageous groups of the 80s. Though they were short-lived, the band left a giant lipstick stain on the...

One of the best rock docs ever made is coming back to theaters next month to celebrate its 13th anniversary. Who can forget seeing Anvil! The Story of Anvil for the first time? For many (too many, sadly) it was our introduction to Lips and Robb and their decades long struggle to be taken seriously in rock and roll. The world fell in love with these guys, and the movie, and they've been enjoying a...

For a band that has barely made a peep over the last 25 years, the House of Love are having a major resurgence. This summer they released the incredible 8 CD box set Burn Down The World that showcases just about everything from their major label days. They're also kicking off a UK tour this week, as well as a 30th anniversary tour of the US next month, and, as if that isn't enough, they have a kil...

Acclaimed author Martin Popoff joins us to discuss his new coffee table book Bowie@75. Martin is probably best known for his many books and thoughts on hard rock and heavy metal, but this time he's focused on a beautiful book that celebrates Bowie at 75, but also the 75 chronological benchmarks in Bowie's career - good and bad. In here we talk about how he wrote the book, but also banter and debat...

Google Richard James Burgess. Trust me. His list of accomplishments, inventions, innovations, businesses, etc is long. We focus on his production career here and it barely scratches the surface. He started out in the late 70s as the frontman for a quirky synthpop band called Landscape that had a couple hits in the UK. He quickly went into production work starting with the first couple Spandau Ball...

This week we are honored to welcome our good friend, and first time author, BJ Kramp to the show to talk about his new book on Cheap Trick. Many of us may feel like we have a book somewhere inside of us, but BJ actually did, conducting hundreds of interviews to tell the origin story of one of the greatest American bands ever. We learn about his writing process, the band's involvement, and why he c...

We did it! It only took 382 episodes, but we finally get to hear from the great Howard Jones! Next week sees the release of his new album, Dialogue, which is the 3rd album of a four-part series that discusses the issues of our time and humanity's responsibility to find common ground. If anyone knows about staying positive in the face of adversity, it's Howard Jones! We also discuss his performance...

Writer Mitchell Cohen started working in the music business during those heady days in the 70s that we imagine as the peak period for record labels. When Clive Davis began Arista Records, Mitchell was there on the ground floor doing marketing and A&R and helping to build the label into what it would become. He writes about these experiences in his new book, Looking for the Magic, that details labe...

Gang of Four's 1979 debut album Entertainment! defined what we think of when we think of "post-punk". They perfected the mix of angular guitars crossed with disco bass, driving beats and political lyrics. The band's sound continued to evolve over time, but never lost its bite or urgency. Unfortunately, as with most bands, there's been a lot of animosity over the decades, but with the passing of gu...

Annabella Lwin has seen a lot. More than she wants to talk about, honestly. We know the story - discovered at 13 and made the lead singer of a band masterminded by the outlandish Malcolm McLaren, Bow Wow Wow. They make a sound no one's ever heard before and leave behind a bunch of hits no one will ever forget (sadly, only "I Want Candy" got much traction in the States). The career she had would ne...

Rock in Retrospect host Nick Bambach recently had Jon and Haydn Murdoch of the INXS: Access All Areas podcast on his show to make their case why INXS deserves consideration for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is our impassioned plea! www.rockinretrospect.buzzsprout.com