Detours and Outliers

THE REID BROTHERS GO ACOUSTIC! Jonathan Snyder from The Lollygags joins us to discuss the TJAMC’s fifth album. Does every acoustic guitar in the nineties mean you’re auditioning for MTV’s “Unplugged”? Is it more complicated to be in a band with your sibling or your ex? Should you write your songs when you’re feeling sad and then wait till you’re feeling better to record them? Is 17 too many tracks no matter how short they are? Which one is Jesus and which one is Mary? Is there a difference between Irish drunk and Scottish drunk? Join us as we attempt to glean every possible songwriting lesson from this album on Detours and Outliers.

JACK BRUCE GOES INSTRUMENTAL! No, it’s not “All Instrumental April” again already, but we’ve got bassist Zeke Kyoku (Ghost Tapes, Contraband) to help guide us jazz-novices through the Cream bassist’s foray into free jazz.  Is this our first “Jazz Odyssey”? Who’s feeding those dogs on the cover? What kep Jack Bruce from having as commercially successful solo career as Eric Clapton? Is this a good gateway drug to get rock fans into jazz? What is the advantage of playing two saxophones at the same time? Did Jack really write these songs when he was eleven? Why is he lying to us? How stupid does he think we are? And why didn’t Mel Torme sing with Cream? We may be in a bit over our heads, but the cream always rises on Detours and Outliers.

JOE STRUMMER FIRES EVERYBODY! We managed to squeeze the entire Television Generation into our tiny studio to discuss both the last and least Clash album? What qualifies Bernie Rhodes to produce and co-write all the songs on this, other than the fact that he’s their manager? What would Art Garfunkel do if Paul Simon were the bass player for the Clash? Can drum machines be used well, and are they on this album? Does every song need a crowd of Joe Strummers singing along? Should the next great punk band be created through “American Idol” type auditions? Once you reach a certain level of popularity, is it inherently hypocritical to rebel against the mainstream? Do you want to hear two-and-a-half minutes of Mick Jones’ replacement playing Pac-Man? There’s a lot of crap to cut through on this week’s Detours and Outliers.

BONO GOES CRAZY, BROADWAY-STYLE! What do you get when you cross the subcultures of theatre geek, comic book nerd, and U2 fandom? Author Kate McIntosh helps us untangle the web of one of Broadway's most notorious flops. Did Julie Tamor know anything about Spider-Man other than the 2002 Sam Raimi film? Why wasn't this just a Cirque du Soleil production? How many people were injured during the making of this play? And how many were gainfully employed? Will this replace Macbeth as the play actor dare not speak of in 400 years? What superheroes make for better musicals? And which members of Metallica should play which members of the Fantastic Four? Is there secretly a lost Village People song hidden in this album? We’ll try to unmask the identity of the real villain on this week's episode of Detours and Outliers.

PRIMUS COVERS A MOVIE SOUNDTRACK! Rick Thompson of the Primus tribute band Mr. Knowitall helps us answer all the pertinent questions surrounding this cover album. When is it appropriate to scare small children? How many collectible candy bars have been consumed during cannabis-inspired munchies? Is it possible to make that trippy boat ride sequence from the movie any scarier? Who has a more limited vocal range, Gene Wilder or Larry "Ler" Lalonde? Just how big of a global issue is chewing gum? What do you get when you guzzle down sweets? Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew and cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two? Unwrap your golden ticket to the answers to these questions and more on Detours and Outliers.

DYLAN ALIENATES EVERYONE! Dewey Paul Moffitt, curator of the International Bob Dylan Tribute Festival, joins us to discuss the first major misfire from a career full of surprising reinventions. Why did Bob pick these songs? Why did he put them in this order? Were they put in any sort of order? Would this album be less effective if the songs were put in any sort of order? What is this album trying to do? If Dylan really did want to scare away his fan base, why is he trying so hard? Is this self portrait “warts-and-all” or just “warts-and-nothing-else”? Is this album a test? Find out if we passed on this episode of Detours and Outliers.

THE TALKING HEADS WITHOUT DAVID BYRNE! We don’t have a guest this week, but The Heads sure do. How big of a suit did David Byrne bring against his former bandmates? Why couldn’t Jerry Harrison just join the Tom Tom Club? Is this The Asylum mockbuster version of The Talking Heads? Who exactly is Malin Anneteg? Why doesn’t Tina Weymouth just take over lead vocals? What would a second album have sounded like? Is this secretly a compilation album? There may be no talking allowed on the album, but we talk about it a lot on this episode of Detours and Outliers.

OMD GETS EXPERIMENTAL! Local music historian, Tom Murphy, joins us to discuss the album that nearly killed OMD’s career. How can you lose 90% of your audience with one album? What is the strategic disadvantage of painting your battleships in bright garish colors? Did Andy McCluskey really think the key to commercial success was to get even weirder? What time period is this album supposed to take place in? Who is the biggest rock-star from Albania? Do all one-hit wonders grow to resent their one hit? What is the steampunk equivalent of EDM? We’ll try to figure it out on this episode of Detours and Outliers.

JEFF BECK GETS POLITICAL!  We’re without a guest this week as we dive into Jeff beck’s latest album? Can an instrumental be political? Why does Jeff get to call this a solo album? How many bands are named Bones? Which songs would fit in at a coffeehouse open-mic night? Will the electric guitar ever be cool again? Are old guys trying to do dubstep brave or stupid? Why can’t you just sing everything through a megaphone? What ever happened to the rest of the Yardbirds? Didn’t Jeff Beck sing “Loser”? Dig in this week on Detours and Outliers.

SINATRA SAILS A SPACESHIP ACROSS THE SOLAR SYSTEM! Seriously. In the late seventies, Frank plotted a pompous triple album that would rival any prog-rock’s most pretentious sci-fi rock opera. Surf guitarist Mol Mollusk (Vampire Squids From Hell) drops by the studio to truly dig into what sounds like a dying man’s deathbed confession transformed into a 40-minute song-cycle about interplanetary travel. How autobiographical can you be when someone else is writing all your material? Does Sinatra understand anything about astronomy? How do you know Uranus is heaven? And more importantly, how do you pronounce Uranus? Why does “The Future” sound so nostalgic and retro? Who thought this was a good idea? And what would Frank’s mafia connections to anyone who disagreed with them? Join us on this intergalactic planetary journey with the Chairman of the Board on this week’s Detours and Outliers?