Vinyl is back in a big way. According to Billboard magazine, over 43 million albums were sold in 2022, the 17th consecutive year vinyl album sales grew in the U.S., and the largest year for vinyl album sales since tracking data began in 1991.

"Record Store Day" celebrates independently-owned brick-and-mortar record stores around the world and, this year it will be on April 22. We speak with Chris Anzalone, the owner of Stereo Jack’s Records in Ball Square, Somerville, Ma. about a day for the people who make up the world of the record store —the staff, the customers, and the artists — to come together and celebrate the unique culture of a record store and the special role they play in their communities. 

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Here's a crazy book on an even crazier musician and performer. Tiny Tim is best known for his wacky appearances on "Laugh In" and Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show." However, he also rubbed shoulders with Bob Dylan and Lenny Bruce.

So, in case you missed it, author Justin Martell talks about one of the most phenomenal success stories in show business, Don't miss it...again!

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We first had country music writer and aficionado David Cantwell on in 2019 to discuss his excellent book The Running Kind: Listening to Merle Haggard. The new edition expands on his earlier analysis and covers Haggard's death and afterlife as an icon of both old-school and modern country music; in fact, David considers it a whole new book!

We talk about the appreciation, opinion and perception of Merle since his death and, of course, the many Merle Haggard songs that have been covered by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Elvis Costello, Tammy Wynette, the Grateful Dead and many others!

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This week, we look back to our incredible chat with Galadrielle Allman and her deeply personal portrait of her father, Duane Allman, who was killed in a motorcycle accident at the age of twenty-four. She was two years old.

At the heart of Galadrielle's book is her journey to understand the man millions idolized, but she never knew. It's a story every bit as compelling, beautiful, sad, and singular as her father’s.

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Popsicko! was a band from the rich Santa Barbara music scene of the 90s. “If it was 1968,” penned a writer for the Los Angeles Times, “these guys would be rock gods and all over the radio.” Everything was going Popsicko’s way, but there’s a reason you’ve likely never heard of them. 

With some of Popsicko!’s music set to be re-released for the first time in two decades along with an oral history book, now is the time for the band’s story to be told. Tune in to hear how the band and their songs have stood the test of time and tip your cap to the would’ve beens, should’ve beens, and could’ve beens that is Popsicko!…

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Our second episode, and we talk about "Ode To Billie Joe"with author Tara Murtha. This really set the tone for what we wanted to do with this podcast, so have a listen to the backstory of one of the all-time great songs and Bobbi Gentry, the woman behind this masterpiece.

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In the annals of rock ‘n’ roll there have been a lot of strange characters, but there probably hasn’t been anyone as bizarre as Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, He was larger than life as he emerged from a coffin with a skull on a stick singing “I Put A Spell On You.”

He was a whirlwind performer, a lusty singer, a prolific songwriter and a man who was a total stranger to the truth. And with that one song, Screamin’ Jay, who also studied piano and sang opera, became the embodiment of the sexually insatiable, voodoo-empowered, black man feared by 1950s America.  We speak with biographer Steve Bergsman, whose book I Put A Spell On You: The Bizarre Life of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins explores the legendary bluesman’s life, work and influence on rock’n’roll music.

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Taking you back to 2019 and Episode 8, in case you missed it! Here we talk about the Black Power music movement with author and scholar Pat Thomas. We dig deep into how the it affected the popular music of the day, including Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Sly Stone, Marvin Gaye and Motown, Gil Scott-Heron, Nina Simone and others. Celebrate Black History Month!

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Women have been kicking against the pricks of music patriarchy since Sister Rosetta Tharpe first played the guitar riffs that built rock-n-roll. The explosion of punk sent shockwaves of revolution to every girl who dreamed of being on stage.

Hit Girls is the story of nearly 100 regional American bands who shattered stereotypes and eardrums and whose legacy would be otherwise lost. Despite the modern narrative labeling women as anomalies in rock music, the truth is: women played important roles in punk and its related genres in every city, in every scene, all over the United States. Author Jen Larson salutes their achievements that blazed the way for generations of women rockers.

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Donny Hathaway Live is a soul classic and one of my all-time favorite records ever. We had the good fortune to interview author and cultural critic Emily Lordi in one of our earliest podcasts about her book on this record for the 33 1/3 series. We are proud to feature this episode again — “in case you missed it” — for Black History Month!

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