A (Mostly) 80s Music Podcast: What Difference Does It Make?

If you know the Earth, Wind & Fire songs September and Boogie Wonderland, The Pointer Sisters Neutron Dance or I'll Be There For You, aka the opening theme from Friends, then you're familiar with some of the songwriting work of Allee Willis. But that's only half the story. Director Alexis Spraic and Producer Prudence Fenton join the What Difference Does It Make Podcast to tell us about The World According To Allee Willis, a documentary about the multi-layered life of a multi-layered personality. It's a fascinating documentary about a fascinating individual that personally documented most every moment of her life since 1978.

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Mindy Smith made quite an impression on Dolly Parton with her take on Dolly's iconic song, "Jolene". She followed that up with her beautiful debut album, One Moment More. Now twenty years into her career, she releases another gorgeous album entitled "Quiet Town". Mindy joins us in the virtual studio to talk about her inspirations and ideas behind the music.

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Robert Hilburn, former LA Times Music Editor/Critic, has become one of the preeminent music biographers for the singer-songwriter. Known for his deep dives into the lives of legendary artists, Robert has penned insightful biographies on Johnny Cash and Paul Simon. Now, he joins us to discuss his latest work, A Few Words In Defense Of Our Country: The Biography Of Randy Newman. We’ll explore Newman’s unique songwriting craft, as Robert shares some of his own unique stories along the way. Robert has been a favorite of ours since we first became music fans, so it’s a true honor to have him on the show. Let’s dive in!

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Iain Matthews’ 53rd-ish solo album is entitled "How Much Is Enough". He joins the podcast and we learn all about the start of his career, from selling shoes on Carnaby Street in mid-60s Swingin' London, to where he is today. It's a good insight into Iain's mindset about where he sees himself as a working musician/songwriter after nearly 60 years.

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We celebrate Punk For A Day Day on October 25 by recognizing one of our favorite Punks. One wouldn't blame Steve Diggle if he decided to pack up The Buzzcocks name after the death of vocalist Pete Shelley back in 2018. But Steve is carrying on, with the same fervor that powered the band back in Manchester, England in 1978. 

When we talked back in 2022 The Buzzcock's latest album, Sonics In The Soul had just been released.

Steve now has a memoir coming out on October 29 entitled Autonomy: Portrait of A Buzzcock.

Steve talks all about the band, the ,loss of Pete, and the new album on this episode of the What Difference Does It Make podcast. 

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What does music documentarian Denny Tedesco do for an encore, after beautifully capturing the family of musicians known as The Wrecking Crew? How about find another family? That’s exactly what Denny did, with his latest film, entitled Immediate Family. You may not know the Immediate Family, or the names Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, or Steve Postell, but you know the music. This band of brothers has helped create the iconic music of Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Phil Collins, and Don Henley, just to name a few. Denny's film helps illuminate what makes these musicians so special as he steps into the What Difference Does It Make garage to share some stories of both The Wrecking Crew and The Immediate Family.

Immediate Family is now streaming on Hulu.

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Moon Unit Zappa has led quite a unique life. The daughter of Frank and Gail, she always called her parents by their first names. Moon was gifted a journal every year since she was five, and now she details many of the crazy stories in her book: Earth To Moon: A Memoir. She also shares some of her secrets on our podcast, including her fake name whenever this famed Valley Girl entered the Sherman Oaks Galleria.

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Did you know September 25th is National One-Hit Wonder Day? Well, neither did we, but since we now know it's a thing, we created this episode. Did we invite friend of the show, Craig Rosen onto the podcast because Steve Rosen, the creator of One-Hit Wonder Day was unavailable? Possibly, but Craig does give us his unique perspective on the songs. What constitutes a one-hit wonder artist? We don't know, but we do know a hit when we hear it, so please enjoy our salute to 80s one-hit wonders!

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It's been quite a year for the brothers Jeff and Steven McDonald of Redd Kross. They’re currently in the middle of a tour in support of their eponymous double album, their oral history memoir, Now You're One Of Us: The Story Of Redd Kross comes out in October, and before the year is up, we’ll see the release of their documentary, Born Innocent. Somehow they boys found time to chat with us about the important things like K-Pop Band, Blackpink, the Chuck Connors show Thrill Seekers, and Sonny Bono.

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Most people believe the year they graduated high school was the greatest year in pop music history. We put that theory to the test as we match up the year Dave graduated high school, 1984, against 2017, the year his daughter, Emma, graduated. It's quite a battle, and you may be surprised to find, like Holly, that you might like the songs from 2017 a bit more than those from 1984. This is not a "grody to the max (1984) episode nor is there any "clapback" or "facepalms" #2017, just a gnarly (1984) chat and some banging #2017 tunes.

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