Highway Hi-Fi Podcast

By Ryan & Joe

We go track by track through the underbelly of music history using research and trivia to locate the roots of our obsession with vinyl records. Proud part of Pantheon - the podcast network for music l... more

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FAQs about Highway Hi-Fi Podcast:

How many episodes does Highway Hi-Fi Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 101 episodes available.

Highway Hi-Fi Podcast episodes:

August 03, 2018 Waffle House Records - Not the Competitive Eating Kind of Records (Episode 31)
This episode is about the story of the tunes made exclusively of the Waffle House, by the Waffle House, for the Waffle House. Songs about truckers, toast, and testimonials. Songs with grit about grits. Songs that you can listen to smothered, covered, chunked, diced, peppered, capped, topped, country, or all the way. The story of Waffle Records.
Also, songs, trivia, and another heaping cup of love!
Further reading:

Buried Country: The Story of Aboriginal Country Music by Clinton Walker
Deadly Woman Blues by Clinton Walker

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1h 6min
July 19, 2018 Paramount Records: Where Charlie Patton met the Shmenge Brothers (Episode 30)
From 1917 to 1932 a record label in Grafton, Wisconsin may have captured more important American recordings than any other label or person before or since. Not a single one of those recordings feature the accordion or performers wearing lederhosen.
Episode 30 of Highway Hi-Fi focuses on Paramount Records, a chair manufacturing company, and blues recording giant.
Further reading:
THE BALLAD OF GEESHIE AND ELVIE from New York Times Magazine:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/13/magazine/blues.html
Paramount Records: The Label Inadvertently Crucial To The Blues
http://wlrn.org/post/paramount-records-label-inadvertently-crucial-blues
New York Times: They’ve Got Those Old, Hard-to-Find Blues
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/arts/music/12petr.html
Jack White Rescues Paramount Records [video from CBS This Morning]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmVMzDqAMZI

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iTunes | Stitcher | TuneIn | PocketCasts | Overcast | Google Play
Twitter | Facebook | Spotify

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56min
July 05, 2018 Peter Pan Records & Playing with Matches (Episode 29)
In this episode, we talk about growing up with the king of the Children’s Music Industry, Peter Pan Records. The weird childhood records that still haunt our memories.
We continue with weird by having a quiz about how Prince spells song titles.
Also, what's a Peanut Duck and how is it sweeping the nation?

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56min
June 21, 2018 The Mal Evans Conspiracy (Episode 28)
What if we were to tell you that there was a single man, who you may have never heard of, who co-wrote Sgt. Pepper with the Beatles? Was responsible for Dylan going electric? Pushed Brian Wilson over the edge? Borrowed Frank Sinatra’s Lear Jet? Let down his childhood idol Elvis Presley? Had Thanksgiving with The Band at Big Pink? Conjured a curse that leads several of the world’s brightest musicians to early deaths? And was assassinated just as he was about to reveal the truth about the most famous cover-up in rock and roll history?
Today, the fantastic and tragic tale of rock n roll’s greatest conspiracy victim, Mal Evans. A simple man who just happened to be around rock’s biggest stars and ultimately fell into the buzzsaw that was Paul McCartney’s vengeance.
Also, songs and trivia.

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1h 3min
June 07, 2018 Finding Nimoy - The Explorations of a Vulcan Troubadour (Episode 27)
In this, the most special of episodes, Ryan & Joe tackle a subject that is near and dear to their hearts: the music of Leonard Nimoy.
Leonard Nimoy produced 5 albums over 3 years and these have, for the most part, fallen by the wayside. They're actually pretty good. Ryan & Joe go through how they happened and what could have been.
Also, songs & trivia!

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1h 11min
May 24, 2018 Eno's Spine-Twistingly Oblique Strategies (Episode 26)
A perfect episode for those of you feeling stuck inside of a creative rut. Today, Ryan & Joe learn to "be less critical more often" as they cover the nebulous advice practice that is Eno's Oblique Strategies Cards.
Hear stories of artists who "discard an axiom" and either loved or lamented these innovative and ambiguous creativity aphorisms. Most notably, Phil Collins petulantly throwing beer cans.
So remember:
Do we need holes?Trust in the you of now.Slow preparation, fast execution.Use an unacceptable color. Plus trivia and four songs featuring hobos, fevers, underwater soul singers, and Bay City Roller fanboy imposters.

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57min
May 10, 2018 Contractual Obligation Albums - Sticking it to the Man (Episode 25)
What happens when recording artists are legally required to make albums? Well, how about: a horrible dance craze called The Screw, an hour of feedback loops (more if you count locked grooves), the meanest divorce settlement album of all time, robot Neil Young, Major Tom's triumphant return, songs about Danishes, and names that can't be pronounced.
This week Ryan & Joe explore the wacky, bitter world of contractual obligation albums.
Also, four super songs for super people. And trivia backwards and forwards.

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1h 14min
April 26, 2018 The Swashbuckling History of Record Bootlegging (Episode 24)
Ryan and Joe get all unauthorized and talk about the wild, seedy 'other' music industry: Bootleg Records.
From Bob Dylan's alleged motorcycle accident through home taping's destruction of the music industry - and beyond. Hear about the rise and fall and rise again of illegal records and the mysterious people who risked getting brained by mafia goons to make a lousy $35 so some hippie could have a recording of a show he got high at.
And, for even more of your listening pleasure, 4 songs you can't live without and trivia that, honestly, you could probably live without.

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55min
April 14, 2018 RSD Bonus Episode: An Interview with Chris Brown (Episode 23)
Record Store Day Bonus Episode!
In this episode, Ryan and Joe ramble on (and on) with Chris Brown of Bull Moose, the inventor of Record Store Day. Chris recounts the rise of RSD, where it's headed, and gives an insider perspective on record store coalitions.

The three talk about some of their favorite releases past and present.

Questions answered in this episode: Who is the Caretaker? Which Harry Nillson reissue is arguably the greatest release ever for Record Store Day? Who is considered the Leonardo DaVinci of record etching?

Huge thanks to Chris for his expertise, openness, and willing to participate in impossible trivia.

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1h 30min
April 12, 2018 Record Store Day - We Can Be Topical! (Episode 22)
In preparation for Record Store Day on April 21st, Ryan and Joe walk through the history of RSD. How did one email become the genesis of the biggest record buying day in the world?
As always, Trivia and songs you need to hear.
Stay tuned for a bonus episode featuring an interview with Record Store Day Birther: Chris Brown!

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59min

FAQs about Highway Hi-Fi Podcast:

How many episodes does Highway Hi-Fi Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 101 episodes available.