Emiel Spoelder fell under The Dream Syndicate spell almost by accident. He went to see a Ryan Adams concert and the opening band was Steve Wynn and The Miracle 3. He fell in love with the band immediately, in particular, singer Steve Wynn. He met Steve and his mother, and she “suggests" Emiel make a documentary about her son. And that's exactly what he did! Of course, it wasn't that simple. Emiel lays out all the ins and outs of making an independent film on our podcast. It's a fascinating liste...
Jun 23, 2023•48 min•Season 12Ep. 2
The old saying goes, “We eventually become our parents", but is that really true? Fortunately, we have Ally Probst and Joel Willis to put in print the mandatory laws all Dads must obey when they encounter a certain situation. Their book is entitled Dad Law: The Definitive Reference for All Things Dad. In the book, they answer all our burning questions. Should I really threaten to turn this car around? Should I let my kids beat me at Mario Kart? Should I mention how much cooler music was back in ...
Jun 09, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 12Ep. 1
Congratulations are in order for Richard Blade. Los Angeles Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez will introduce a resolution declaring June 9, 2023, “RICHARD BLADE DAY," with the award presented on JUNE 6th for the best-selling author, world-renowned on-air personality and radio show host. It turns out Richard Blade may just be an "Imposter". Los Angelenos know him as the voice that introduced a generation to 80s music bands like Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, INXS, and The Cure. In fact, yo...
Jun 02, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 8Ep. 10
Scott Aukerman is first and foremost an amazingly funny and creative comedian. You know him as the creator and host of Comedy Bang! Bang!, and he's also one of the co-creators of "Between Two Ferns" with Zach Galifianakis. Scott is also a huge music fan, as you can hear on his comedic podcasts dedicated to U2, REM, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Talking Heads. And he has just released a book dedicated to the cast of characters created for Comedy Bang! Bang! We seized this opportunity to invite Scott...
May 26, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Season 11Ep. 18
Michael Halloran heard XTC's "Radios In Motion" and took the lyrics to heart: "And all my kids are complaining, that there's nowhere to go." He gave the kids somewhere to go, first in Detroit with his own Radios In Motion show on WDET. Then he really created a stir at 91X in San Diego with his evening show, before rising to the rank of Program Director. Mike's got opinions and plenty of stories to tell, as we look back at another one of his former stations, KROQ, and songs #20 to #11 from their ...
May 19, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 11Ep. 17
Depending on your age, you either initially loved or hated disco. No matter your age now, you love songs like "I Was Made For Lovin' You" by KISS and "Shakedown Street" by The Grateful Dead and don't even think twice that they were once considered taboo by their fanbase. Author Steven Blush covers this era in his new book, "When Rock Met Disco". In it, he covers the good, "Call Me" by Blondie, the bad, an actual disco version of "Stairway To Heaven", and the ugly, The Chicago White Sox Disco Dem...
May 05, 2023•41 min•Season 11Ep. 16
We love friend-of-the-show, Craig Rosen, and we love his passion for music. This makes him the perfect guest to look at songs 30 to 21 from the 1986 KROQ year-end playlist. Does he like the Fine Young Cannibals reworking of his beloved Buzzcock's song, "Ever Fallen In Love?" Does he prefer Frente's "Bizarre Love Triangle" over New Order’s? All will be revealed as Craig steps into our virtual studio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 28, 2023•55 min•Season 11Ep. 15
Glen Matlock has seen a lot, and he pours it all out on his new solo album, Consequences Coming. Glen steps into our virtual studio to discuss his solo career and the amazing band he's assembled. But no chat with Glen would be complete without us asking about The Sex Pistols, what life was like working with Vivienne Westwood at her shop, SEX, and what his favorite song is to play as the touring bass man in Blondie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 21, 2023•54 min•Season 11Ep. 14
There is no doubt that Debora Iyall, lead singer of the band Romeo Void, knows her way around a memorable lyric. "A Girl In Trouble Is A Temporary Thing", "Talk Dirty To Me”, and of course, "I Might Like You Better If We Slept Together" from the song "Never Say Never", all came from the mind…and experience...of Debora. Her band made a name for itself in the San Francisco scene in the early 80s, and now a recording, Live From The Mabuhay Gardens, November 14, 1980 has surfaced, and captures the b...
Apr 14, 2023•50 min•Season 11Ep. 13
Sam Zniber knew he wanted to be on the radio. So at the tender age of 14, he stepped into the office of his local top 40 radio station and let the Manager know exactly what he was doing wrong. To the Manager's credit, he listened to this brash kid and offered him an airshift. And so began Sam's radio journey, and what a journey it's been! Sam has programmed radio stations from Sydney, Australia to Miami, Florida to Paris, France. Currently heard on Radio Nostalgie, he also runs MusicDatak, his o...
Apr 07, 2023•54 min•Season 11Ep. 12
Benji McPhail is the Program Director and Morning Show host at KXT 91.7 in Dallas. He's been leading the charge of music discovery since his days at the legendary KBCO in Boulder, Colorado. Today, Benji accepts our challenge of discovering music from the year 1986, based on the year-end playlist from the World Famous KROQ in Los Angeles. As Love & Rockets might say, "All aboard the Express Kundalini"! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 31, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 11Ep. 11
Max Tolkoff has an opinion or two on the state of Alternative radio. This is the man responsible for The Edge format which eventually wound up on over 30 Alternative radio stations by the mid 90’s. Max tells tales on how his love of skiing, biking, and bad gambling decisions led to his career in the 80’s as the Program Director for 91X in San Diego, followed by stints at WFNX in Boston, and Indie 103.1 in Los Angeles. After all that, we analyze a ten song chunk of music played on KROQ in 1986. L...
Mar 24, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 11Ep. 10
Lynn Goldsmith is an artist of many hats, painter of conceptional images, film director, even co-manager at one point for Grand Funk Railroad. But the reason we are thrilled to talk with Lynn today are the images she has created with her camera. There is not enough space to list the hundreds of museums, galleries and magazines that have featured her work, but let's just say that if you are a music fan, you have had the honor of viewing her artistry. She has fourteen published photography books, ...
Mar 10, 2023•53 min•Season 11Ep. 9
Steve Kilbey of The Church does not have a stop button. He's been releasing music for over 40 years, that's 26 albums with The Church, 7 solo albums and a plethora of collaborations with his musical friends. He's also a writer, a poet and an artist. Somehow this ARIA (Australian) Hall of Fame Inductee found time to sit down with us and talk about the band's latest album, The Hypnogogue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 03, 2023•52 min•Season 11Ep. 8
Dennis Constantine is a radio visionary. Finding himself at a new radio station, he saw a niche in a market filled with rock radio stations. Instead of cutting down the music library to a small playlist of songs, he focused on introducing new music and deeper cuts by well-loved artists. Yes, this was rock music for adults. Dennis built KBCO from a low-power Boulder station to the number one station in the Denver market, with a unique mix of music and personalities attuned to the Colorado audienc...
Feb 24, 2023•56 min•Season 11Ep. 7
Simply put, Jake Rudh is an old soul in the best of ways. He stayed indoors as a child to watch MTV. When grunge took hold in the early 90s, he was working at a swing era radio station. He even named his dog Harry. Not after Styles, but Connick Jr. He proudly represents the 80s music era with his Transmission radio show every Thursday evening on The Current in Minneapolis. He is also the founder of Transmission dance nights at the legendary First Avenue music club. He now joins our podcast to di...
Feb 17, 2023•59 min•Season 11Ep. 6
Rita Wilde is simply put, a radio legend, having spent over 25 years as a DJ, Music Director and Program Director at 95.5 KLOS in Los Angeles. She epitomizes the rock fan's dream of playing and talking about the music and actually getting to meet and talk with your rock idols. Rita represents all of us, which is why we love to hear her enthusiasm whenever she flips on a mic. She shares our joy in the music. So, of course it was our joy to invite Rita into our virtual studio to talk about her car...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 11Ep. 5
Usually you can hear Buzz Knight "Takin' A Walk" as he does on his own podcast but today we "have a sit" with this radio executive. We find out about how he got his start in the business and what he has learned over the decades of a storied career. We then get into our look at songs 100 to 91 from the KROQ 1986 year end playlist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 27, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 11Ep. 4
The year is 1986, and the music on the radio for the kids of LA is going through some changes. KROQ has a new next-door neighbor on the dial, called Power 106. The music KROQ is playing has a little more rhythm in its step. I guess you could say, “the dream team is in the house" as we start our look at the top 106.7 songs played on The World Famous KROQ. This week, it's songs 106.7 to 101. We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 20, 2023•40 min•Season 11Ep. 3
1986 was quite a year for collaborations: Aerosmith and Run DMC, Siskel & Ebert, Tom Cruise and his need for speed. It all adds up to another year to remember. And let's not fail to acknowledge it was the year of Hands Across America, and that guy who's not a doctor but plays one on TV. It all happened in 1986. We dive into many of our favorite touchstone moments that helped define the year. We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...
Jan 13, 2023•50 min•Season 11Ep. 2
We welcome back music journalist and friend-of-the-show, Craig Rosen, into the What Difference Does It Make garage with a toast to the new year. Craig is hitting a milestone year, so we ask the author of The Billboard Book of Number One Albums, "What was the number one album the year you were born?”. Craig guides us through his top albums of 2022, and we also remember the extraordinary work of Terry Hall. And what would a visit by Craig be without talk about Costco? What could possibly be Craig'...
Jan 06, 2023•56 min•Season 11Ep. 1
David Wild steps out of his comfy zone writing for The Grammy Awards and the upcoming TV salute to Paul Simon (airing on CBS on December 21), and enters into the wild of our studio/garage. David faces the hard-hitting questions, like "Which rock stars are shorter than he is?" and tries to understand why we can't remember the host of last year's Grammys (Spoiler: it's Trevor Noah. He's also hosting next year.). We also pay tribute to Christine McVie, salute the brilliance of Paul Simon, and try t...
Dec 16, 2022•53 min•Season 10Ep. 27
Mark Thompson grew up loving radio, comedy, and with an appreciation for the absurd. These qualities made Mark uniquely qualified to create one of the most iconic morning radio shows in history. The Mark & Brian show started out in Birmingham, Alabama, but within a year, made its way to Los Angeles and 95.5 KLOS. It quickly became the #1 morning show in the #2 market. Mark & Brian were inducted into the Radio Hall Of Fame in 2020. Mark's memoir, Don't Bump The Record, Kid: My Adventures ...
Dec 09, 2022•58 min•Season 10Ep. 26
If you're still "high as a kite" from watching Elton John's final US show at Dodger Stadium, we just might have the podcast episode for you. Gillian Gaar has authored a beautiful coffee table book, Elton John @75, examining Sir Elton through the lens of 75 career accomplishments and life events. Gillian steps into our virtual studios to say so much about Sad Songs and much more related to the Rocket Man. We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...
Nov 25, 2022•41 min•Season 10Ep. 25
What is the What Difference Does It Make podcast? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 14, 2022•2 min
Michael Lockwood has lived a full musician's life. Starting out with the band Lions & Ghosts, he lived the dream of getting signed to a major label, and releasing two albums in the 80s. Following the dissolution of the band came work on movie soundtracks and collaborations with Aimee Mann, Carly Simon and Fiona Apple. He now runs Sparkle Plenty Records, and one of the first orders of business is to finally give a proper re-release of Lions & Ghosts debut album, Velvet Kiss, Lick Of The L...
Nov 11, 2022•53 min•Season 10Ep. 24
Steve Rapport's camera has taken him on quite a journey, from the very beginning, shooting Robert Plant's Honeydrippers while he was at University, to being in the camera well at Live Aid, getting shots of Freddie Mercury and Bono. His journey continues now in New Orleans where he has the good fortune to capture Amy Schumer and Arcade Fire in action. And WE have the good fortune to talk with Steve about his life and career today on the podcast. We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn m...
Nov 04, 2022•48 min•Season 10Ep. 23
We continue our two-part look at Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets with two guys from the band. One guy is Guy Pratt. He's played with Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Madonna, The Smiths, Echo & The Bunnymen, Tears For Fears, and the list goes on. We also have a friend of the show, Gary Kemp. You know him as the guitarist and principal songwriter for Spandau Ballet. Currently, they are spending their time with Nick Mason, recreating the music of Pink Floyd circa 1967-1972. We get into all the secret...
Oct 21, 2022•26 min•Season 10Ep. 22
Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason is bringing early Pink Floyd music back to life by taking it on the road with his band, Saucerful of Secrets. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member steps into our virtual studios to talk about the music he created with Pink Floyd from 1967 to 1972, and the all-star band he assembled to recreate these iconic songs. We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 14, 2022•24 min•Season 10Ep. 21
There is no denying that Stevie Nicks has captivated audiences since she first burst onto the music scene in the mid 70s. It is a combination of a uniquely gifted rock and roll voice, songwriting chops, and a distinctive look that led to her musical journey. Author Simon Morrison explores these elements and so much more in his latest book, Mirror in the Sky: The Life and Music of Stevie Nicks. Simon steps into the What Difference Does It Make virtual studios to further cement the case as to why ...
Oct 07, 2022•47 min•Season 10Ep. 20
