In this episode I compare one of the biggest songs on my personal chart this year to the original version that was out in 2021. The contrast between the 2 versions is sharp. The discussion goes to songs that could take over at the top spot, some previous chart toppers and songs that missed because of the impact of that song. We had a lot of fun with the song that ends up dethroning the 8 week champ. In the end I give you a quick rundown of my top songs of 2022.

In this episode I present new songs to Jeff from artists he has enjoyed in the past, hoping they click with him. In the process it becomes evident that there is connective tissue between the selections that comes about through the research and the music angels that are always watching over me.

We veer out of Castlist 008 for a handful of episodes that hinge on recent developments. In this first episode I follow up on the concert that Jeff was going to see the last time we talked. Initailly I was going to I relate 2 other songs to the band Superorganism and we end up on a tangent right away, talking about the Swedish band Ghost. As is typical, unexpected narratives develop and a project I have been working on brings in a perfect fit from the 70's band 10cc. Somehow Icehouse, the song "Shannon", Chic and Depeche Mode also join in the fun. When Jeff and I get together it can go in any direction. I was also able to link into this weekend's untimely death of Irene Cara.

In this episode we look back at my 39th Annual Music Party that happened at the end of June. It had been a long time since Jeff & his wife Jen were both at the party. We look back at the best songs of 21/22 and 1982 according to the participants. They did choose songs for the 1982 list but not the current year so I let Jeff know how the songs I know he liked from the past year might have affected the outcome if he submitted a list.

We end the episode with a fun band that Jeff and Jen were going to see live. In the end that band figures in nicely with the time of year.

This episode is the full interview I had with Daniel Blair and his production partner Jackson Harbour. We had a blast.

This is an artist-centric episode though as has been typical lately, I have a song for Jeff to hear for the first time before we get into things, Stories about my Mom and my Dad fit nicely into the narrative. A couple of perennial favorites from past episodes show up in the discussion and we get an idea of 2 artists Jeff is not quite fond of.

In the final discussion of our boy band arc of episodes there is actually a lot to unpack. New music from 5 Seconds of Summer and Harry Styles. How All Time Low found their biggest success 15 years into their career (and a wonderful coincidence that follows it). A boy band that has a connection to Kanye West and finally how the Jonas Brothers tie into a lot of nostalgia about Billboard's Hot 100. There's also a #2 Pop hit from this year that I had never heard and a podcast fav artist sees their first top 40 hit.

After a 2 month hiatus the cliffhanger is finally revealed. We really only focus on 2 bands in this episode but talk about influences, paying homage and sampling.

We try to pinpoint the origin of something Jeff can't get out of his head, talk about college and in the end have to push off the continuation of the discussion to the next episode. This time, however, the follow up episode will come out hours later instead of 2 months from now.

As the boy band discussion continues we talk about a popular pop punk band of the aughts, an obscure band from Southern California and Boys who like Girls from Massachusetts.

The mood shifts towards the end of the episode and we get a little '80s nostalgia thrown in.