“Rock in Retrospect” focuses on the lives, careers and legacies of artists who made a significant impact on the music industry. Host Nick Bambach invites a guest to discuss their favorite artists and why they matter. We also occasionally create episodes focusing on awards shows and music-related institutions such as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Oscars, and the Grammys. If you enjoy stimulating and often-humorous discussions about music history in a laid-back environment, then this is the podcast for you!
In honor of both Black Music History Month and Pride Month, DJ Sir Daniel and Jay Ray ( Queue Points Podcast ) join Nick to talk about all things Luther Vandross and the recent documentary Luther: Never Too Much . We talk about our earliest memories of the R&B legend, our thoughts on the documentary, and our favorite songs from his catalog. Luther: Never Too Much is streaming on HBO Max. Send us a text...
Music journalist Matthew Silva joins Nick to discuss the career and legacy of The Guess Who, one of the greatest and most impactful rock acts to come out of Canada. They discuss their catalog of great songs, their messy legal disputes, and their omission from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Send us a text
Christy Alexander Hallberg ( Rock is Lit ) and Staci Layne Wilson ( Rock & Roll Nightmares ) return to discuss the 2024 documentary Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg . Topics discussed include Pallenberg's involvement with the Rolling Stones, her legendary film career, and her status as a fashion icon. Christy and Staci both interviewed Alexis Bloom and Svetlana Zill, the filmmakers who directed Catching Fire , on their respective podcasts. Listen here to Christy's interview and S...
Richard D'Orazi and Andrea Lewis join Nick to discuss Questlove's recent documentary Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music . We talk about our favorite musical performances, interview segments, and so much more. Richard also recounts his experience attending a live taping of SNL in early May. This episode is released in conjunction with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's new exhibit "SNL 50" that opens today! There are a lot of Rock Hall connections mentioned throughout our episode. Se...
Filmmaker Trevor Banks ( Give the Drummer Some ) joins us to discuss the career and legacy of legendary drummer Clyde Stubblefield. Most famous as a member of James Brown's band throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Stubblefield's drumming led to some of the most innovative and widely-sampled drum breaks in music history. Stubblefield's influence is undeniable and Banks is advocating for Stubblefield to earn his rightful place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Sign Trevor's petition to get Stubblef...
Part II of our fun interview continues with John Mutford and Tony Greathouse answering a few more music-related questions. Send us a text
The first of two episodes where anything goes on Rock in Retrospect ! I invited back to the show John Mutford, Tony Greathouse, and Kyle Hildreth to answer some fun music-related questions. Part II will be released this Wednesday. Send us a text
Matt and Lucy ( Robbie Williams Rewind ) join Nick to discuss the Michael Gracey-directed music biopic Better Man and all things Robbie Williams! Send us a text
Tom Lane, David Schnelwar, Michelle Bourg, and Greg Peurach return to discuss their reactions to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's Announcement of the 2025 inductees. We recorded this episode the night after the big announcement. This year's inductees are Bad Company, Thom Bell, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Nicky Hopkins, Carol Kaye, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Salt-N-Pepa, Soundgarden, Lenny Waronker, The White Stripes, and Warren Zevon. Send us a text...
The Douche Caravan returns! Jon Lamoreaux (Host of The Hustle Podcast ), Patrick Dupuis (Host of The EETF Podcast ) and Michael Bagford join Nick to discuss the 2024 Max documentary Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple . They discuss Van Zandt's legendary one-of-a-kind career as a performer, producer, arranger, political activist, and so much more! Send us a text...
Philip Bergman ( Rock Hall Monitors ) joins Nick to discuss the career and legacy of the 60s rock-and-roll icon Chubby Checker. We talk about Checker's association with Dick Clark and American Bandstand, the enduring legacy of "The Twist," our favorite songs from his catalog, and his current nomination for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Send us a text...
Pat Francis ( Rock Solid ) joins Nick to discuss the legendary career of Billy Idol. We discuss Idol's partnership with guitarist and songwriter Steve Stevens, his status as an MTV icon, his truckload of hit singles, and his current nomination for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's 2025 class. Send us a text
Mike Drew returns to give his thoughts on the concert film Liam Gallagher: Knebworth 22 . We also discuss Oasis' highly anticipated tour later this year, Oasis' status as Britpop icons, and share our favorite songs from Gallagher's catalog. Send us a text
The first in a series of artist-centric episodes spotlighting some of this year's nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. To kick things off, I invited music editor Ryan Gibbs ( InBetweenDrafts ) to talk about the career, legacy and current Rock Hall nomination of the mighty jam band Phish. Send us a text
We've hit a huge milestone! It's our 100th episode! To celebrate, we asked you, our listeners, to send in your questions for Nick to answer. Send us a text
Aaron Conn (host of Albums Uncovered ) comes on to discuss the legacy of the late, great David Johansen. He was the lead singer of the legendary protopunk band the New York Dolls and had a very successful solo career under both his name and his persona Buster Poindexter. We celebrate the life and career of a one-of-a-kind performer who is one of the most underrated and influential in the history of rock and roll. We also heavily discuss Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi's 2023 documentary Perso...
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Let's honor the Irish by discussing Kneecap, the rebellious trio from Belfast who have taken the world by storm with their unique brand of Irish-infused hip hop. I invited Patrick Dupuis ( EETF Podcast ), Hector Contreras, Kyle Hildreth, and Tony Greathouse to talk about the group's upcoming 2024 film. We also discuss Michael Fassbender's involvement, the group's political and social activism, the importance of preserving languages, and its presence during the previous y...
Writer Ross Warner ( Drunk on Sunday ) joins us to discuss his latest book, American Standard: Cheap Trick from the Bars to the Budokan and Beyond (2024), about the early years of the legendary American rock band. We also discuss our shared love of the band, how Pearl Jam's Mike McCready came to write the book's foreword, and much more. We conclude by sharing our favorite Cheap Trick songs and albums You buy a copy of Warner's book here . Send us a text...
David Lizerbram ( Rock Docs ) returns to discuss Sofia Coppola's biographical drama Priscilla (2023) starring Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi as Priscilla and Elvis Presley. Send us a text
Kailyn, Jordan, and Sam return to discuss the recent Disney+ documentary Elton John: Never Too Late . The film focuses on the life and career of the legendary performer and also incorporates performances from his farewell tour. We talk about our earliest memories of Elton, our thoughts on the film and its Oscar-nominated song, and conclude with our 5 favorite songs from his catalog. Send us a text...
Darren Hines and Peter Waters return to discuss the nominees in the music categories at this year's Academy Awards. We analyze all ten scores and songs, give our personal rankings, our predictions on who will win and cap it off with great works that were snubbed. We also discuss the Oscars’ decision to omit live performances from this year’s ceremony. Send us a text
Scott and Andrew (hosts of I've Got That on Vinyl ) join Nick to discuss James Mangold's A Complete Unknown (2024), the Oscar-nominated biopic that focuses on the early years of Bob Dylan. The film stars Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro, and Elle Fanning. Other topics discussed include Scott meeting Dylan in the early 1990s and a rundown of our all-time favorite Dylan songs. Send us a text...
Tom Lane, Mark Lempke, David Schnelwar, Michelle Bourg and Greg Peurach return to discuss this year's nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's Class of 2025. Artists nominated this year include Bad Company, The Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, Maná, Oasis, Outkast, Phish and The White Stripes. Send us a text...
All aboard...the Douche Caravan is sailing away on a yacht! Jon Lamoreaux (Host of the Hustle Podcast ), Patrick Dupuis (Host of the EETF Podcast ) and Michael Bagford return to discuss the latest film in Max's Music Box series Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary (2024). This film charts the music and careers of Yacht Rock's most famous artists including Steely Dan, Michael McDonald, The Doobie Brothers, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, and Toto. We give our takes on this style of music, the film itself...
On this very special episode, Hadyn Murdoch, Jon Jamen (both part of the INXS All Areas Podcast ) and Jim Skivalidas (a member of the Induct INXS campaign ) to discuss why they feel INXS should be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It's what you need to kick off February! If you haven't already listened, check out our previous INXS episode with Hadyn and our friend Jon Lamoreaux from 2022. Please sign Induct INXS' Change.org petition to get these Australian music legends into the Ro...
Joe Kwaczala (host of Who Cares About the Rock Hall? ) returns to discuss Nick's recently updated 'Rock Hall Prospects Project' list, now in its fifth year, which ranks the worthiest and most deserving artists for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. We discuss the artists who made the top 10, the 14 newly-added artists on this year's list, and concludes with Joe's suggestions for next year's revision. Read Nick's Substack post about his updated 2025 rankings for the Project. Send us a text...
R.I.P. Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States who was also one of history's greatest humanitarians. To pay tribute to this great man, I invited three Carter historians and biographers (Randall Balmer, Michael Brown and Mark Lempke) to talk about Mary Wharton and Bill Flanagan's 2020 documentary Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President . Featured in the film include music legends such as Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Bono, Jimmy Buffett and Gregg Allman. Consider purchasing these works ...
To celebrate what would've been Elvis Presley's 90th birthday today, I invited the great Tom Lane (Tom Lane's Music Blog) to discuss the Netflix documentary Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley. The film covers Elvis' life and career and, most notably, his triumphant 1968 television comeback special. This is a companion piece to our earlier episode where Tom and I discussed the 2023 documentary Reinventing Elvis: The '68 Comeback (which, ironically, covers the same topic as Ret...
For our first episode of 2025, let's start with a draft....more precisely a Rock Hall Nominees Draft! Tom Lane, Mark Lempke, David Schnelwar, Michelle Bourg and Greg Peurach return to discuss who they believe will be nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's Performers category in 2025. To spice things up, we're gonna predict the ballot in a draft-style format! Over the course of 5 rounds, we each select 5 artists and make the case on why we think they'll appear on the ball...
A holiday surprise! I invited Patrick Dupuis ( EETF Podcast ), John Mutford, Mike Drew, Hector Contreras, Kyle Hildreth, and Woody Meachum to discuss the 2024 documentary Band Aid - The Making Of The Original 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' - to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the iconic charity single. The movie is streaming for free on YouTube! Send us a text...
