Geeks & Beats

How Margaret Thatcher changed music forever, Justin Bieber makes it all about him, and why Psy is far from a Gentleman with his new track. Plus: Ask Alan Anything, the power of product placement, and why you don’t want to take a dip in Stevie Nicks’ pool.

This week’s free track: The Strokes All The Time [button link=”http://thestrokesnews.com/listen-the-strokes-all-the-time/ ” color=”green” text=”light”]Download[/button]

Two thumbs up for the film reviewer who never took the time to write about soundtracks. We’ll tell you why the film “The Breakfast Club” could never be made today – and why Simple Minds had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the recording studio for the top track. Facebook Home. If you lived here, we’d be spying on you already. Why the next big thing from Zuckerberg isn’t being well received. The guitar solo. On this week’s Ask Alan Anything, A G&B listener wonders why they seem to fall in and out of favour. New pictures emerge almost 2-decades after the death of Kurt Cobain. And Alan gives me yet another reason to never leave the house. Two words: Fish Heads.

Space Oddity – David Bowie’s producer comes clean about making the latest album in secret. Early Adopters pay 15-hundred bucks to be first in line to pay 15-hundred more bucks for Google Glass. Conversations in a Singaporean cab. Alan will tell you about the one he had with one of the brains behind U2,  Psychedelic Furs, and talking heads. The Sonos Play 3 giveaway day has come. We’ll let a television icon from the 1980s decide who wins. The music behind Doctor Who. Just because the 50th anniversary episode is around the corner doesn’t mean you should be dusting off your theremin.  We’ll tell you why…And we’ll tell you why owning a pet monkey is grounds to disqualify you for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Particularly if you wear matching diapers.

The late night talk show war is about to get more musical. All this talk about Fallon taking over for Jay Leno could put more pressure on Paul Schaffer than David Letterman. We’ll introduce you to Eric Davich. He’s one of the guys behind Songza. Songza had more than 1-million downloads in Canada when it launched last August. We’ll find out what the future of mood-deciding music is all about. The Goat Meme has claimed another music celebrity. We’ll play you a little ditty from Canadian songstress Justin Bieber. And I’ll prove why the digital watch doesn’t need a 21st century makeover. Plus: we’re giving away a Sonus Play 3 streaming audio box. And Alan will tell you why he recently lost his job to a 12-hundred dollar piece of office furniture.

 

Winter is officially done, but you wouldn’t know it to look out the G&B office window.  Jeezus, can we move on, please?

As much as Alan likes his overpriced wristwatches, this new musical Ulysse Nardin is not something he (or anyone) should covet.  Also on this week’s show:  win your own radio station; why Taylor Swift is never, ever getting back to you; how to ruin a party with the right (?) playlist and the Screaming Goat Meme finds Blur.

Plus why one of the biggest bands of the 90s had to keep re-releasing one of its best tracks. We’ll tell you how you could win a Sonos Play3! And, please leave a message after the beep – but only if you’re dead. (I know that sounds obtuse, but you’ll see what we mean.)

I’ve been threatening to start up a new podcast for a couple of years now but I just didn’t have the time or the experience to do something like that.  After all, in my previous lives, I’ve always had someone to handle the technical aspects for me.  But then I thought “Wait a minute!  I know plenty of nerds!”  Which led me to Michael.  Turns out that he was looking to start up a new podcast himself.

Perfect.

Over an Italian dinner with The Wives on Friday night, we hashed out what we might do and how we might do it.  This is the result.  Or at least it’s the pilot.

But you know what it’s like with pilots and first episodes, right?  I mean, that first episode of The Sopranos was good, but it was nothing like what the show would become later.  Same thing with Breaking Bad, Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, Homeland, Lost and a million other shows.  There are rough edges.  The players are still building their chemistry and timing.

So trust me.  Stick with this thing.  It’ll be a good ride.

–Alan C

Thanks for signing up to the Geeks & Beats Podcast mailing list! We want to tell you about the launch — and get you on the show.

Geeks & Beats has a planned launch date of Wednesday March 20th during Canadian Music Week. The show will focus on more than just music. It will also feature some of the neat stories we’ve collected over the Internet about technology, society, and gadgets. We’ll even feature apps and offer redeem codes for listeners who want to grab the apps themselves.

Over the next two weeks, you may get a few random tests delivered to your inbox. Please bare with us as we get The World’s Most Popular Podcast™ off the ground!

In the meantime, want to know something about your favourite band or musician? Call (323) 319-NERD and I’ll spring your message on Professional Music Geek Alan Cross. I’ll give him 60 seconds to tell you something fascinating about them.