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

Welcome to our greatest hits episode! First time to What Difference Does It Make? This is the perfect start to discovering our 80s music podcast. We look back at the highlights from 2021, as we talk with some of our favorite music artists and other creators.

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Fans of Tom Scharpling might think they know him well. After all, he's hosted his own radio show/podcast, The Best Show for 20 years. Turns out, we only knew about a small portion of his life. It Never Ends is an appropriate title for Tom's memoir. In it, he talks about his issues, big and small, and how he's managed to rise above it all. And sometimes, he didn't. Tom is normally the guy asking the questions, so this is a unique opportunity for us to switch it up a little and dig into his life stories on the What Difference Does It Make podcast.

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Friend of the show, David Wild, returns, and he wanted to bring along his bestie, Phil Rosenthal. Phil is the creator of Everybody Loves Raymond, and Somebody Feed Phil, so first thing we do is throw him a food question. Phil retorts with a "What kind of podcast is this?!?", and we are off and running! Turns out, Phil wants to talk about Bruce Springsteen, and we're more than happy to indulge him! Our talk centers around what makes Bruce so unique, personal memories and encounters with The Boss, and eventually we get to some food-talk. Specifically, Phil taking Jack Nicholson to a pizza parlor in Phoenix. It's so crazy, it has to be true. It's all on the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, love-making, earth-quaking What Difference Does It Make podcast!

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John Illsley knew he wanted more out of life than a safe career working in the logging industry. His life took a major turn when he met the Knopfler brothers; Mark and David. With John taking the bass, and Pick Withers on drums, the band Dire Straits was formed. Through various lineup changes, John Illsley and Mark Knopfler remained the core members throughout the band's career. Dire Straits went on to win four Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, and two MTV Video Music Awards. They've sold an estimated 100 million units worldwide, making them one of the biggest bands of the 80s. John documents it all in his memoir, My Life In Dire Straits. We cover it all, including their awkward entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

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Michaelangelo Matos realized at the age of 9 how magical the year 1984 was by simply listening to the radio, and loving each and every song he heard. His latest book, Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year, documents how this came to be by focusing on key moments. We talk about a few of our favorites from the Britain Rocks America-Again Newsweek cover in January, to the debut of Graffiti Rock in June, to the MTV Awards, and the recording of Band Aid. Of course, there was also Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Bruce Springsteen. 1984 truly was a year like no other.

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Gina Schock, drummer for The Go-Go's, may have been "Made in Hollywood", as the title of her new book suggests, but she was without a doubt, born in Baltimore. Her accent rings as loud as her drumming, loud and clear. It turns out Gina was also the unofficial photographer of the band during their heyday in the early 80s. Using her Canon camera, Gina snapped many candid and posed shots of her bandmates, many of which made it into the book. We chat all about Gina's start as a musician, which leads to her cross-country journey to Hollywood, and finally to her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame this year.

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We care about the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, but not nearly as much as Joe Kwaczala and Kristen Studard, hosts of the Who Cares About The Rock Hall? podcast. We learn all about the ins and outs of who gets in to the Rock Hall, and who is on the outs. We also learn why the actual music fan is the least important factor regarding the induction process.

Hear the music from every Rock Hall member with a free one month subscription to Amazon Music, courtesy of your friends at the What Difference Does It Make? podcast.

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To tell you the truth, David Wild knows everyone in Hollywood. Because it was our first time talking with him, it felt like a first date. David laid out his career resume, from interviewing his Tenafly neighbor, George Benson when David was 9 years old, to his recent Emmy loss to Stephen Colbert in the Outstanding Variety Special (Live) category. He was also in a nostalgic mood, as the day we recorded this episode, was the 20th anniversary of his Emmy-nominated work for America: A Tribute to Heroes. He also fills our head with stories about The Grammys and The Beatles, to his friendship with Brad Paisley and his passion for the Dodgers. The good news is he has agreed to a second date with us, so please enjoy our first of hopefully many talks with David Wild on the What Difference Does It Make podcast.

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