On a very special episode of the Great Albums, Bill and Brian take a break from our usual geeking out over the minutia of an album to geek out over the minutia of a film. We talk about the best fictional biopic of a 60s pop band That Thing You Do! Written and directed by Tom Hanks, the film follows four small town musicians as they rise to fame on the strength of their danceable rock'n'roll tune (also called "That Thing You Do"). Brian and Bill talk about how they started watching the movie and ...
Aug 15, 2016•1 hr 4 min
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Brian and Bill continue talk about Metallica, jumping 10 years ahead from 1986's Master of Puppets to "Hero of the Day" from 1996's Load. We discuss the evolution in the band's sound and image, how their alternative leaning contemporaries influenced their sound (maybe bringing in some Bowie influence?), and more about Lars' heavy kick drum. Also, we read a bunch of listener emails, first tackling some singers who reference a person/character in multiple songs, then we f...
Aug 11, 2016•38 min
Bill and Brian are joined by educator and author Doug Robertson (aka the Weird Teacher, @theweirdteacher) to talk about what makes Metallica's Master of Puppets (1986, Elektra) great. Metallica, forebears of thrash metal and icons within the metal genre, spent a few years in the underground building a rabid fanbase before finally breaking through with their major label debut (which did so without the help of radio airplay or any music videos). Doug shares how listening to Metallica for the first...
Aug 08, 2016•2 hr 15 min
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Brian and Bill tackle Liz Phair's 2003 attempt at a mainstream breakthrough "Why Can't I." We discuss the sound curated by production team the Matrix, the early aughts sing-songwriter sound, and how this song alienated as many fans as it gained, basically not helping Phair's career the way the label had envisioned. Additionally, we read some listener emails and tweets. We got a lot of interaction from the Television episode, so we tackle the Elektra stable of artists, w...
Aug 04, 2016•29 min
Bill and Brian welcome the host of the podcasts Director's Club and Pop Culture Club (both part of the Now Playing Network, nowplayingnetwork.net) Jim Laczkowski to discuss Liz Phair's debut exile in Guyville (1993, Matador). Through talent and a little luck, Phair turned her demo project into being signed by Matador records. She took the $3000 given to her to record a single and instead did an entire album with producer Brad Wood. Hailed for its lo-fi charm and the brazen attitude of the the so...
Aug 01, 2016•2 hr 8 min
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Bill and Brian continue discussing Television (you know, the band, not the thing you stare at in the living room) by listening to and chatting about "1880 of So" from their 1992 "comeback" self titled album. We speculate on the possibility of a Television biography and why the band reformed when they did. Then, spurred by a Twitter interaction, we attempt to once again explain what we are trying to accomplish with the podcast and the best way to interact with us by invi...
Jul 28, 2016•19 min
Bill and Brian welcome journalist/Jersey music expert Jim Testa (www.jerseybeat.com) to talk about Television's Marquee Moon (1977, Elektra). Emerging out of the CBGB "punk" scene, Television struggled to find mainstream success with their quirky rock and only put out two albums before calling it quits (a third followed in the 90s after they reformed). Despite this, the band has gone on to be critically well regarded and highly influential. Jim Testa, who has been writing about music since befor...
Jul 25, 2016•1 hr 39 min
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Because Brian was a little busy, Bill brings some well researched facts about Aimee Mann's cover of the Harry Nilsson song "One!" He talks about the history of the song as it made it's way from Nilsson to Three Dog Night to Mann to the Magnolia soundtrack! Additionally, Bill reads some listener emails about cool comic books about music and how we obviously inspired Jeff Tweedy as he pondered what to name the latest Wilco album!
Jul 21, 2016•16 min
Brian and Bill are joined by podcaster Dan Drago (25oclockpod.com) to talk about Harry Nilsson's triumphant hit album, Nilsson Schmilsson (1971, RCA Victor). Nilsson started his career as both a recording artist and songwriter who finally broke when Three Dog Night covered his tune "One" in 1969. He enjoyed continued success with a series of unique albums through the 70s before retiring from the music business in the 80s. Dan shares how he knew Nilsson without knowing it, until he checked out th...
Jul 18, 2016•1 hr 58 min
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Bill and Brian take a closer look at the song stylings of the iconic actor William Shatner by listening to and discussing his collaboration with Ben Folds on the latter's experimental pop record Fear of Pop Vol. 1. We talk about how this song hinted on what was yet to come. We also read a few listener emails that help us finally put the nail in the coffin on what the deal is with winter in Australia and New Zealand, explore more about how we want to discuss the technica...
Jul 14, 2016•18 min
Bill and Brian take a deep dive into the unique and unexpectedly great work of William Shatner and his collaboration with Ben Folds, Has Been (2004, Shout! Factory). The iconic Star Trek actor was often maligned for his previous foray into pop music, 1968's The Transformed Man, but he found a willing collaborator who helped channel his spoken word poetry fantastic songs that muse on success, tragedy, and growing older. Bill and Brian talk about how they were pleasantly surprised when this came o...
Jul 11, 2016•2 hr
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Brian and Bill ask (and answer) the question: What is Kim's Deal? This is, of course, a reference to Pixies member and Breeders front woman Kim Deal, as we continue our conversation from our Doolittle episode by following her career with the band's hit single "Cannonball." Bill and Brian talk about who got the last laugh in the Kim/Black Francis feud, the very 90s-ness of the fact that this song was even a hit, and we read some listener tweets about the first day of Win...
Jul 07, 2016•18 min
Bill and Brian welcome drummer John Petrick of the Stewart Dolly (thestewartdolly.bandcamp.com) to the podcast to discuss the Pixies sophomore full length release Doolittle (1989, 4AD). The band formed around the core of primary songwriter Black Francis and guitarist Joey Santiago after the two met at the University of Massachusetts Amherst before bassist Kim Deal and drummer Dave Lovering solidified the lineup. Signed to British indie label 4AD, the band took off with college radio and have sin...
Jul 04, 2016•1 hr 56 min
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Bill and Brian follow up their conversation on Sam Cooke's Night Beat by discussing one of his last releases ever, "A Change Is Gonna Come." Written after a particularly tense interaction at a motel, Cooke released this song hoping to affect change within the Civil Rights Movement. We talk about how the song's dense arrangement contrasts with what was produced for Night Beat, the difficulty of navigating racism as a pop icon in a time known for its social injustice, how...
Jun 30, 2016•30 min
Joining Brian and Bill to discuss Sam Cooke's landmark and influential Night Beat (1963, RCA) is Randy W. Hall, cohost of our podcast kin That Dandy Classic Music Hour (thatdandyclassicmusichour.com). Night Beat found Sam Cooke enjoying the benefits of his restructured contract, exercising his right to choose his own backing band, go into a studio, show off his skills as the father of soul, and put together one of the first purposely crafted albums. Randy talks about playing hooky from school an...
Jun 27, 2016•1 hr 56 min
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Brian and Bill discuss one of the Ramones most recognizable songs "I Wanna Be Sedated," how the Ramones have become a ubiquitous legacy act without huge hits, and all the bands that have covered the song. Also, we read a listener email about the necessity of separating art from the artist.
Jun 23, 2016•21 min
Bill and Brian welcome musician (hellstroms.bandcamp.com), podcaster, and our new resident punk avatar Jack Fitzsimmons onto the podcast to talk about the Ramones' self titled debut (1976, Sire). The four kids who went on to change their names and the landscape of music grew up in the hostile environment of Queens, NY where they decided to embrace themselves as outsiders, turned up the volume, and pretended to be rock stars. Jack shares how he first delved into the band and this album while visi...
Jun 20, 2016•2 hr 6 min
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Bill and Brian continue talking about Waylon Jennings and his unique brand of "outlaw country" by discussing his duet with Willie Nelson "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)." A listener wrote in, giving us a lot of insight on this song and how it shows off Waylon's "big brass balls." We also read some tweets that corrected our British slang, challenged our perception of fandom, and lead us to talking about "who's in" and "who's out." We also read another ema...
Jun 16, 2016•29 min
Joining Brian and Bill on the podcast this week is trunkworthy.com writer and co-founder David Gorman to talk about Waylon Jennings' Dreaming my Dream (1975, RCA Victor), a key album at the start of his "outlaw country" years. Tired of the Nashville machinery, Jennings was able to wrestle creative control away from his label and into his own hands, sparking a legendary run of albums. David talks about discovering Waylon through recommendations and his live albums before lauding him with accolade...
Jun 13, 2016•2 hr 6 min
Brian and Bill take a little time to discuss one of the tracks from the deluxe edition of the La's set titled album, "I Am the Key." After Bill tells a wedding story that he forgot to tell on the main episode and Brian fawns over the songs harmonies, the two take a really deep dive into two of Bill's favorite subjects: data sifting and Pearl Jam. A listener challenged our claim that Pearl Jam's Ten outsold Nevermind. We accept the challenge and take it to the mat. We discovered some surprising f...
Jun 09, 2016•36 min
Bill and Brian dive into a wonderful, under-appreciated and under-discovered set of songs by Brit-pop forebears the La's with their self titled album (1990, Polydor/Go!). Best known for their single "There She Goes," which is perhaps better known Stateside as the 1999 hit for Sixpence None the Richer, the band has only put out this single album to date. But in the time since its release, the band has gone on to become a cult favorite. Bill and Brian discuss the evolution of this album under the ...
Jun 06, 2016•1 hr 40 min
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Bill and Brian keeping diving into the vast catalog of great French artists by discussing Daft Punk and their super massive 2013 hit "Get Lucky." With a little help from Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers, the electronic duo churned out a danceable tune. While discussing it we talk about tangentially vs. tangentally, Pharrell's career resurgence at about the time this song hit, disco music, we read a listener email that helps us clarify that a slide was indeed used on F...
Jun 02, 2016•19 min
Brian and Bill sit down in the virtual lecture hall with Professor Jonathyne Briggs of Indiana University Northwest who literally wrote the book on French music with Sounds French: Globalization, Cultural Communities and Pop Music, 1958-1980 (2015, Oxford University Press). We get a cool history lesson on how rock and roll entered French pop in the 60s and its influence on France's culture through today. From chansons and Elvis Presley to the Beatles and Dylan and onto new wave and electronic mu...
May 30, 2016•2 hr 4 min
It's Bonus Song Thursday! And Brian and Bill decide to mix things up a bit by doing an even deeper dive into a song from this week's album by spending way too much time discussing Pearl Jam's "Betterman" off the 1994 album Vitalogy. Bill tells the story of how PJ helped unlock his fandom of music while vacationing in the mountains of West Virginia with his family in 2000. He then talks about watching Touring Band 2000, the Pearl Jam concert film, and watching Eddie Vedder's hands to learn how to...
May 26, 2016•26 min
Bill and Brian are joined by rock journalist and music critic Steven Hyden (Pitchfork, Uproxx, Grantland, A.V Club) to talk about Pearl Jam's divisive third album Vitalogy (1994, Epic). Written on tour and recorded piecemeal and haphazardly, the band started to showcase its eclectic nature by featuring some noise collages and a more "punk" sound. Especially influenced by singer Eddie Vedder's trouble dealing with fame and the suicide of one of their closest peers Kurt Cobain, the album took on a...
May 23, 2016•2 hr 2 min
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Bill is once again joined by Jim Hanke of the Vinyl Emergency podcast (soundcloud.com/vinylemergency) to talk about Foo Fighters! We fast forward a little bit in the band's career to discuss a song from their 1999 album There Is Nothing Left to Lose, "Aurora." Jim talks about how this album reflected the band adopting a more mainstream sound but how this song stood out to him and has held up over the years. Bill defends his fandom of this song and the album while compli...
May 19, 2016•30 min
Bill welcomes podcaster/music guru Jim Hanke from the Vinyl Emergency podcast (soundcloud.com/vinylemergency) to talk about Foo Fighters' self titled debut album (1995, Capitol/Roswell). Following the tragic suicide of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, the band's drummer, Dave Grohl, was left with no band and an uncertain future. Instead of taking offers from Tom Petty to join the Heartbreakers, Grohl decided to take his future into his own hands and front his own group. Jim talks about his podcast,...
May 16, 2016•2 hr 12 min
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Bill and Brian follow up their interview with Those Pretty Wrongs, Luther Russell and Jody Stephens, about their debut album by discussing the b-side, ""Fool of Myself," to their 2015 single "Lucky Guy." The gentlemen talk a little about the Big Star "box," why this song doesn't quite fit with the rest of the album, and a little bit about a Badfinger "vibe." Additionally, we read a listener email about how we helped keep his sanity in check by mentioning the Beatles. Ma...
May 12, 2016•18 min
Bill and Brian welcome legendary Big Star drummer Jody Stephens and acclaimed LA musician Luther Russell for a slightly different than usual episode. We had the pleasure to have the artists themselves provide a track by track commentary! Bill and Brian took the opportunity to head down to Memphis, spend time at Ardent Studios, and chat with Jody and Luther about the making of their album, the self titled debut from Those Pretty Wrongs (due out May 13th, 2016 from Ardent Music and Burger Records)...
May 09, 2016•1 hr 46 min
It's Bonus Song Thursday! Bill has returned from his world travels to join Brian in a follow up to our remembrance of Prince to discuss his performance as part of the George Harrison tribute from the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. On a stage filled with other distinguished artists such as Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood and others, Prince stole the show with his electrifying lead guitar. In the face of such a huge cultural loss, Bill takes the opportunity and some time ...
May 05, 2016•31 min
