GARAGE TO STADIUMS Music History Podcast

This is the remarkable story of three brothers whose career appeared finished, not once, but several times, and each time they adapted, reinvented their sound, and found a way back. Along the way, they survived breakups, fading record sales, family tragedy, and cultural backlash against the music that had made them the biggest group in the world. Their career stats are astonishing: fifteen Billboard Top 10 hits, 43 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, and more than 220 million records sold worldwide. In this episode you'll learn:

1) The strange family secret of how the family ended up in Australia 
2) The bold letter their manager father sent that changed their destiny
3) How they had multiple distinct career eras and comebacks since the 1960s, each with many hits
4) How a small independent movie featuring BeeGees compositions became a global sensation
5) Why our guest feels that they can be compared to The Beatles

Guest Bio
David Leaf first guested on our episode on Brian Wilson & The Beach Boys. David's relationship with the Bee Gees stretches back nearly five decades. In 1979, he worked directly with Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb to write Bee Gees: The Authorized Biography. He later wrote, produced, and directed the year 2000 A&E documentary, The Bee Gees: This Is Where I Came In, and then served as a consultant on a follow-up documentary, the 2020 HBO documentary, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? Few people are better positioned to take us inside the triumphs, tragedies, and astonishing reinventions of the Bee Gees.

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3. Visit GaragetoStadiums.com for bonus content, concert footage, and links to our curated playlists for each artist on Apple Music or Spotify 

Now rising to the top 3% of all podcasts in the world, Garage to Stadiums is a podcast for true music fans — the ones who want more than just headlines and hype. This show is for listeners who care about the full story behind the artists:  their childhoods, musical influences, early gigs, personal battles, journey to stadium-level fame and the drama in between. 

Why are we different? In each episode host Dave Anthony features guests who know their stuff and bring real insights from their time with the performers — from respected rock journalists to documentary filmmakers.

If you want smarter music commentary and behind-the-scenes stories you won’t hear anywhere else, subscribe now and get your backstage pass to music history. 

Travel back to the political protests and civil unrest of the late 1960s that spawned the legendary Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young — America’s first supergroup comprised of members of previously successful bands. The result: clashing egos, legendary breakups, wild lives, yet timeless harmonies that stunned audiences and influenced The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne, and many more that followed. You'll learn:

1. The very different upbringings & personalities of each of the four members
2. How they played one of their first gigs in front of 500,000 people
3. Their incredible creation of a powerful protest song only 3 weeks after an American tragedy
4. The often bitter in-group rivalries that challenged their very existence
5. How one member committed serious federal offences and was jailed   

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Guest Biography for this episode
David Browne is the author of Crosby Stills, Nash and Young: The Wild, Definitive Saga of Rock's Greatest Supergroup. David is a senior writer at Rolling Stone magazine and a former music critic at Entertainment Weekly. He's profiled legends like Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead and Sonic Youth. He joined us from New York City.

Follow the Show / Receive bonus content:

1. Follow GTS on Apple or Spotify podcasts to be alerted when our next episode drops
2. Follow Garage to Stadiums (GTS) on social channels  
3. Download the Official Garage to Stadiums playlists for each episode on Apple Music or Spotify
4. Visit GaragetoStadiums.com for bonus content on The Who, including concert footage, transcripts and other interesting facts.

In chaotic Tijuana, Mexico a young violinist, Carlos Santana, is pushed into music by his demanding Mexican band leader father.  He secretly discovers blues and R&B guitarists and changes his instrument. After moving to San Francisco's explosive late-1960s rock scene, Carlos fusing those influences with his native Latin rhythms .  Then an unlikely opportunity places his unknown band on an unimaginable stage and changes everything, introducing audience to a sound that was powerful, hypnotic, and deeply melodic.  In this episode you'll learn:

1. The painful childhood secret Carlos carried for decades
2. How his demanding father shaped the musician he became
3. How an unexpected industry legend changed his destiny
4. Why Santana risked success by repeatedly reinventing their sound
5. How Santana achieved one of music’s most improbable comebacks

Guest bio:
Our guest is Ashley Kahn, a Grammy-winning American music historian, author, professor, and producer who co-wrote Carlos Santana's autobiography, The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story to Light, which won the prestigious American Book Award. Ashley teaches at New York University's Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music and is a producer of the 2023 documentary on Carlos Santana that is available on many streaming platforms.

Follow the Show / Receive bonus content:

1. Follow GTS on Apple or Spotify podcasts to be alerted when our next episode drops
2. Follow Garage to Stadiums (GTS) on social channels  
3. Download the Official Garage to Stadiums playlists for each episode on Apple Music or Spotify
4. Visit GaragetoStadiums.com for bonus content on Santana including concert footage, transcripts and other interesting facts.

In the mid 1960s, four English university students still learning to play instruments began jamming. What emerged was Pink Floyd, psychedelic early architects to experimenting with grand, cinematic soundscapes, deeply philosophical themes and live shows that felt more like journeys to the human mind than concerts. Prepare for an absolute roller coaster ride from the London Underground clubs to global domination, heartbreaking losses and dramatic fireworks from within.  You'll learn:

1) How university students who could barely play instruments became a global phenomenon
2) How an early tragedy involving their primary song writer nearly derailed the band
3) The staggering evolution of sound this band executed
4) The interpersonal drama that produced incredible albums and significant tension
5) Details of the final internal battles that engulfed the band

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Guest Bio
Our returning guest is acclaimed rock journalist and author Mark Blake wrote Pink Floyd Shine On: The Definitive Oral History. He is also the author of books on Queen and Fleetwood Mac.

Follow the Show / Receive bonus content:

1. Follow GTS on Apple or Spotify podcasts to be alerted when our next episode drops
2. Follow Garage to Stadiums (GTS) on social channels  
3. Download the Official Garage to Stadiums playlists for each episode on Apple Music or Spotify
4. Visit GaragetoStadiums.com for bonus content on Pink Floyd, including concert footage, transcripts and other interesting facts.

The Cure proved something very rare in the history of music: that darkness and beauty could coexist in the very same catalog. While navigating immense and shocking internal chaos, band leader and guitarist Robert Smith and The Cure inspired generations of artists, helped define the sound of alternative music, and showed millions of outsiders that they weren't alone.  In this episode you'll learn:

• How Robert Smith managed to perform in two famous bands at one time
• The surprising musical influences that inspired The Cure sound
• Why Robert Smith was embarrassed by some of his biggest hits
• The levels of The Cure's debauchery that rival rock's most controversial acts
• The intellectual prowess of Robert Smith and its various influences

Guest Bio
Acclaimed music writer and journalist Ian Gittins is author of The Cure: Perfect Dream, a coffee table-like retrospective of The Cure's career, complete with album indexes, song listings and rare photographs included. Ian is a music writer for the British paper The Guardian, and has also written for Melody Maker, Q, MTV, The Daily Telegraph, and New York Times, and he is a best-selling author who has penned biographies of Bjork and Talking Heads.   

Want to learn more music history?  
Subscribe to our bonus Garage to Stadium content across our social + web channels

Follow the Show / Receive bonus content:

1. Follow GTS on Apple or Spotify podcasts to be alerted when our next episode drops
2. Download the Official Garage to Stadiums playlists for each episode on Apple Music or Spotify
3. Visit GaragetoStadiums.com for bonus content on The Cure including concert footage, transcripts and other interesting facts.

Picture a 1970s American teen, dressed as Frank N. Furter from Rocky Horror, interviewed on local TV outside a suburban cinema. That fearless teen grows up to be Michael Stipe, lead singer of R.E.M., the first alternative band to achieve global commercial success, from its origins in tiny Athens, Georgia.  The first alternative band from the college radio airwaves to experience mass commercial success with 90 million albums sold, R.E.M. occupies an influential position in music history, inspiring many bands with their fiercely independent spirit and sound.  On this episode you'll learn:

• How Athens, Georgia became the unlikely spawning ground for several successful bands.
• How R.E.M. created a memorable sound by combining punk, pop music, southern rock and R'n'B  
• Why Pearl Jam and Nirvana cited R.E.M. as a major trailblazer, and influence on their sound
• How an onstage near-tragedy changed the band forever... 
• The college radio strategy the company employed to build its credibility and momentum
• Why R.E.M. turned down the offer to write a theme song for the popular TV show Friends

Guest Bio - Peter Ames Carlin, author & journalist
Best-selling author Peter Ames Carlin appeared on our Bruce Springsteen episode. He is the author of  The Name of This Band is R.E.M. He's also written biographies on Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Paul McCartney of The Beatles.  

Follow Garage to Stadiums (GTS) on social channels  

1. Follow GTS on Apple or Spotify podcasts to be alerted when our next episode drops
2. Follow Garage to Stadiums (GTS) on social channels  
3. Download the Official Garage to Stadiums playlists for R.E.M. Apple Music or Spotify
4. Visit GaragetoStadiums.com for bonus content on all of our acts featured including concert footage, etranscripts and other interesting facts.

Listen to how a true California sound was born… from musicians who didn’t even come from California. In the late 1960s, four young artists arrived in Los Angeles from completely different corners of America. Blending country, rock, and soaring harmonies, Eagles captured the spirit of the American West and helped launch a new musical movement. Over the decades they would sell more than 150 million records and secure 2 of the top 4 spots in album sales in history. This is their journey from the garage to stadiums.  In this episode, you'll learn: 

1. How their childhoods shaped the music they would create
2. The superstar who gave Eagles their first big break in Los Angeles
3. The personality clashes that simmered behind the harmonies
4. Why the band deliberately changed their sound at their peak
5. The onstage threat of violence that foreshadowed the band’s breakup
6. Who shaped their sound - and the artists they went on to influence

Guest Bio
The guests for this episode are the authors of Eagles: Up Ahead in The Distance Eagles, Steve Caparelli and Rik Forgo. They have authored a trilogy of books chronicling the incredible rise of this quintessential band.

Want to learn more music history?  
Subscribe to our bonus Garage to Stadium content across our social + web channels

Follow the Show / Receive bonus content:

1. Follow GTS on Apple or Spotify podcasts to be alerted when our next episode drops
2. Follow Garage to Stadiums (GTS) on social channels  
3. Download the Official Garage to Stadiums playlists for The Eagles on Apple Music or Spotify
4. Visit GaragetoStadiums.com for bonus content, including concert footage, transcripts and other interesting facts on all the acts we've featured.

In this repeat episode explore one of the most influential figures in modern music history - Brian Wilson leader of The Beach Boys.  Known for layered orchestrations and an innovative approach to studio recording, Brian influenced artists like The Beatles, Elton John, Queen, The Eagles and more. Incredibly, Brian created one of rock’s great lost albums - Smile begun in 1966 - but it was shelved for 37 years. Decades later... our guest today, David Leaf, helped bring it to the world.  You'll learn:

1) Brian's abusive upbringing and how it shaped him and his music
2) How 5 teenagers went to global stardom 6 months after forming
3) How Brian influenced The Beatles musical direction
4) The incredible story of how Brian overcame a corrupt psychologist controlling his life
5) How our guest helped rescue a "lost album" long anticipated in rock history

Want more music history?  
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Guest Bio
David Leaf is the author of Smile: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Brian Wilson, chronicling Brian Wilson’s lost album masterpiece which was shelved for 37 years before release. He also directed the Brian documentary Beautiful Dreamer and teaches music history at UCLA.  David has won a Peabody award for powerful and intelligent story-telling.

Follow the Show / Receive bonus content:

1. Follow GTS on Apple or Spotify podcasts to be alerted when our next episode drops
2. Follow Garage to Stadiums (GTS) on social channels  
3. Download the Official Garage to Stadiums playlists for each episode on Apple Music or Spotify
4. Visit GaragetoStadiums.com for bonus content, including concert footage, transcripts and other interesting facts.

Incredibly, U2 began as a band of barely-formed teenagers—two 14-year-olds and two 15-year-olds—at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, Ireland. Just 4 years later, they were signed to a major label, and not long after that, they were reshaping rock on a global scale with music driven by faith, politics, and social unrest. U2 would go on to sell more than 175 million albums, never standing still—shifting from raw post-punk urgency to towering arena anthems to daring electronic reinvention. This is a band that survived by constantly changing. In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The bizarre early incident that nearly ended U2 before it truly began
• The heartbreaking childhood tragedies that shaped two of its members
• The unlikely spiritual and political roots behind their lyrical mission
• The global live performance the band openly hated—yet became legendary
• The intense internal struggles over where their music should go next
• How a frontman with barely a high school education became a global humanitarian voice

Want to learn more music history?  
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Guest Bio:
Bradley Morgan, author of U2: Until the End of the World. Bradley also has a book U2's Joshua Tree: Planting Roots in Mythic America about their breakthrough album, 1987's The Joshua Tree, a release that put them at the top of international album charts. 

Follow the Show / Receive bonus content:

1. Follow GTS on Apple or Spotify podcasts to be alerted when our next episode drops
2. Follow Garage to Stadiums (GTS) on social channels  
3. Download the Official Garage to Stadiums playlists for each episode on Apple Music or Spotify
4. Visit GaragetoStadiums.com for bonus content including concert footage, transcripts and other interesting facts.