In this episode of Classic Rock Album Olympics music historians Gary Wenstrup and Robert Rodriguez dig into Paul Simon’s 1983 album

The album was written and recorded following Simon and Garfunkel’s Concert In The Park in 1981 and their world tour of 1982–1983.  Some of the songs intended for Hearts and Bones were performed on the tour.  Paul

Hearts and Bones peaked at #35 in the U.S.  Commercially, it was Paul Simon’s poorest performing solo album to date.  The initial single Allergies only reached #44 and the follow up single Think Too Much (A) did not chart.  To our ears, however, the album is innovative, insightful and deeply moving. 

The case can be made that Hearts and Bones is an important transition album between Simon’s 1970s solo success and his 1986 smash Graceland.  With Hearts and Bones, Simon began experimenting with unusual rhythms, layered production, and a more adventurous studio approach.  This laid the foundation for Graceland’s fusion of pop and world music.

Medal Winners

Rene

Think

Hearts

Train

Bonus Tracks

Allergies

Cars

Think

Rene

Song About The Moon

Side One

Allergies

Hearts And Bones

When Numbers Get Serious

Think Too Much (b)

Song About The Moon

Side Two

Think Too Much (a)

Train In The Distance

Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War

Cars Are Cars

The Late Great Johnny Ace

Hash Tags

#PaulSimon #HeartsAndBones #MusicPodcast #AlbumDeepDive

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Classic Rock Album Olympics music historians Gary Wenstrup and Robert Rodriguez discuss The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and award their gold, silver and bronze medals accordingly. 

Often considered the most important rock album ever made, it saw The Beatles abandon touring to focus on studio recordings.  Adopting the alter-ego of a fictional Edwardian-style band, they experimented with new sounds, orchestration, and studio techniques, pushing rock into the realm of art.

Released during the “Summer of Love,” it became a cultural touchstone of 1967 and stayed atop the US Billboard charts for 15 weeks.  It was a cultural phenomenon.  Everyone was playing it.  Everyone was talking about it.

Sgt. Pepper won 4 Grammy Awards in 1968, including Album of the Year (first rock album to do so) and paved the way for albums (not singles) becoming the coin of the realm in pop/rock music.

The album is also credited with expanding the artistic scope of rock music and influencing generations of musicians to come.  As Rodger Waters from Pink Floyd said “It gave me and my generation permission to branch out and do whatever we wanted.”

Medal Winners

Good Morning Good

Lucy in the Sky with

Lovely Rita

A Day in the Life

Hash Tags

TheBeatles #SgtPepper

Something About The

259:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Classic Rock Album Olympics music historians Gary Wenstrup and Robert Rodriguez go deep on Badfinger’s Straight Up. 

Badfinger’s story is one of great songs and huge heartbreak.  Formed in the mid-1960s in Wales, the group began as The Iveys, playing a mix of British rock and pop. In 1968 they became the first band signed to The Beatles’ Apple Records. Paul McCartney gave them “Come and Get It” to record which became a worldwide hit in 1969 and they changed their name to Badfinger.

Under Apple, Badfinger released — Magic Christian Music (1970), No Dice (1970), and Straight Up (1971).  But their success was marred by disastrous management and legal disputes. After leaving Apple for Warner Bros. in 1973, the band recorded two more excellent albums, but financial mismanagement — particularly by manager Stan Polley — left them unable to access royalties from their hit records. In April 1975, overwhelmed by despair, lead singer and songwriter Pete Ham took his own life at age twenty-seven.  In 1983 Tom Evans did the same.

Straight Up is Badfinger’s third studio album with production support from Todd Rundgren, George Harrison and Geoff Emerick. It is their most commercially successful release.  Two singles were released from the album Day After Day (US Billboard Hot 100 #4) and Baby Blue (US Billboard Hot 100 #14).  Baby Blue’s popularity peaked again in 2013 when used in the Breaking Bad finale

Medal Winners

Perfection

Baby Blue

Name of the Game

Day After Day

Sweet Tuesday Morning

Bonus Tracks

Without You

No Matter What

Take It All

Name of the Game (Geoff

Carry On Till Tomorrow

Suitcase (Live)

Hashtags

#Badfinger #StraightUp

Home - Classic Rock Album Olympics

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Who by Numbers is the seventh studio album by The Who, released in October 1975.  It follows an impressive run of deep, successful, and respected work by the band: Tommy, Who’s Next and Quadrophenia. 

Understandably, Pete Townsend and company might have felt spent.  That said, the album contains great performances by Pete, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon with straight-forward production by Glynn Johns. 

On Who By Numbers principal songwriter Pete Townsend grapples with disillusionment, midlife anxiety, and questions about The Who’s future.  Though not as thematically grand as Tommy or Quadrophenia, The Who by Numbers is respected for its honesty and stripped-down rock sound.  It’s often seen as an underrated gem in The Who’s catalog. 

The album peaked at #8 on the US Billboard 200, becoming a solid

The lead single “Squeeze Box” hit #16 on the US Billboard Hot 100.  Surprisingly, the second single “Slip Kid” did not chart in the US.

Bassist John Entwistle drew the album’s whimsical connect the dots cover art.

Medal Winners (Click title to hear the song)

Dreaming from the Waist

Squeeze Box

However Much I Booze

Blue Red and Grey

Bonus Video

Squeeze Box on Freaks and Geeks

#TheWho #TheWhoByNumbers

https://classicrockalbumolympics.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Highway 61 Revisited is Bob Dylan’s sixth studio album and a defining moment in rock history. Released in 1965, it marked Dylan’s full embrace of electric instrumentation after his transitional album Bringing It All Back Home. With its biting lyrics, surreal imagery, and raw rock-and-roll energy, the album reshaped popular music’s sense of what a song could be. 

The album reached #3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and #4 on the UK Albums Chart.  Its lead single, “Like a Rolling Stone,” became Dylan’s biggest hit, peaking at #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.  

The opening track “Like a Rolling Stone,” is an acknowledged masterpiece - a six-minute single with a sneering vocal and memorable organ riff that shattered expectations for what could succeed on AM radio.

With this album Dylan abandoned the folk revival’s acoustic purity, using a full rock band to create a hard-edged, blues-infused sound.  The songs weave satire, absurdity, and social commentary into dense, cinematic narratives—ranging from carnival-like chaos (“Desolation Row”) to biblical-blues parables (“Highway 61 Revisited”).

Highway 61 Revisited is widely hailed as one of the greatest albums of all time, regularly appearing near the top of “best album” lists. It set the template for ambitious rock records, proving popular music could be literate, confrontational, and epic in scope.

Medal Winners (Click to the hear the song)

Just Like Tom Thumb’s

Highway 61 Revisited

Ballad of a Thin Man

Like a Rolling Stone

It Takes a Lot to

Bonus Tracks (Click to hear

Highway 61 Revisited –

Twist and Shout – The

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of CLASSIC ROCK ALBUM OLYMPICS, music historians Gary Wenstrup and Robert Rodriguez pull Steely Dan’s Can’t Buy A Thrill off the shelf and discuss which songs earn their gold, silver and bronze medals.  Can’t Buy A Thrill was the band’s 1972 debut.   It reached #17 on the album charts and placed two songs in the Top Twenty: Do It Again and Reelin’ in the Years.  Songwriters Walter Becker and Donald Fagen delivered a gender-bending album with jazz and Latin rhythm tones,

Medal Winners:

Reelin’

Only

Midnite

Do

Dirty

Visit: classicrockalbumolympics.com for more information and

#Hashtags:

#SteelyDan #CantBuyAThrill #DoItAgain #ReelinInTheYears #DirtyWork

#ClassicRock #1970sMusic #AlbumDeepDive #VinylCommunity #NowPlaying #MusicHistory #RockPodcast #SteelyDanFans #WalterBecker #DonaldFagen #StudioMagic #YachtRockOrigins

#DebutAlbums #BehindTheMusic #PodcastRecommendations

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Classic Rock Album Olympics music historians Gary Wenstrup and Robert Rodriguez tackle one of the most iconic albums of the 1980s—Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A..

Packed with 7 (!) Top Ten hits and stadium-shaking anthems, this summer of 1984 release cemented “The Boss” as a global superstar. The album

Besides its popularity, the album had social commentary too as evidenced by the tension of the patriotic perception and political reality in the title track. 

But which tracks stand tallest in this blue-collar masterpiece? The hosts dissect the album’s legacy, lyrical contradictions, and sonic evolution—then award gold, silver, and bronze medals to the top three songs.

Cover Me

Downbound Train

My Hometown

Born in the U.S.A.

I’m On Fire

Hashtags:

#BruceSpringsteen

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Classic Rock Album Olympics, music historians Gary Wenstrup and Robert Rodriguez dive deep into the legendary Rolling Stones' 1971 masterpiece, Sticky Fingers.

With its raw energy, soulful ballads, and iconic riffs, this album is packed with timeless gems. But which three tracks will earn their gold, silver annd bronze medals?  Join in as they debate, dissect, and ultimately crown the top songs that define this rock 'n' roll classic.

From the swaggering groove of "Brown Sugar" to the electrifying energy of "Bitch," the bluesy brilliance of "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," and the haunting beauty of "Moonlight Mile," they’ll explore the stories, emotions, and unforgettable sounds crafted by Mick Jagger’s charismatic vocals, Keith Richards' iconic guitar work, and Mick Taylor’s extraordinary playing.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Classic Rock Album Olympics music historians Gary Wenstrup and Robert Rodriguez return to the mic for a deep dive into Stevie Wonder’s 1974 classic Fulfillingness’ First Finale. As part of Stevie’s “classic period,” this 4x Grammy-winning album blends soulful introspection with social consciousness and studio innovation.

Gary and Robert unpack the album’s cultural context and lasting

Medal Winners:

Boogie

Creepin’

You

They

Hashtags:

#StevieWonder #FulfillingnessFirstFinale

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Classic Rock Album Olympics we dust off a cornerstone of classic rock: Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush (1970).

Blending folk, country, and a whisper of psychedelic surrealism, the album captures Young at his most introspective and influential. The album peaked at #8 on Billboard. Two singles were released from the album: “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” peaked at #33 and “When You Dance I Can Really Love” peaked at #93. 

Take a listen and see which songs music historians Gary Wenstrup and Robert Rodriguez awarded their gold, silver and bronze medals.

Medal Winners: 

When You Dance I Can Really

Don’t Let It Bring You Down

Southern Man

Only Love Can Break

After The Gold Rush

#NeilYoung #AfterTheGoldRush #ClassicRock #FolkRock #VinylVibes #70sMusic #AlbumReview #MusicPodcast #SoundtrackStandings #NowPlaying #RockLegends #DeepCuts #When You Dance I Can Really Love #Only Love Can Break Your Heart #Southern Man #Don’t Let It Bring You Down

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices