How We Heard It

Summer's done, and now we're hurtling toward the darkest, coldest days of the year. So forgive us if we aren't feeling ourselves.

It's as if an evil force has taken over our souls. ... Could this be what it feels like to be possessed?

In the spirit of the season, this episode of "How We Heard It" explores the phenomenon of possession as portrayed in the movies. Your hosts - veteran entertainment journalists and horror-movie aficionados Wayne Bledsoe and Chuck Campbell - compare notes on one of the most lucrative subgenres in the film industry. (John Baker's along for the ride, too, though he doesn't like scary movies.)

There are the old-school priest-and-holy-water possession movies popularized by "The Exorcist" franchise (well, at least the first and third installments), and subsequently everything from the "Conjuring/Annabelle/Nun" world to solo shots like "Late Night with the Devil," "Jennifer's Body" and "Immaculate."

Then there are location-oriented hauntings and possessions, from "The Amityville Horror" and "The Shining" to "Evil Dead" and "Paranormal Activity." And, of course, curse-oriented movies like "The Ring," "The Grudge" and "Drag Me to Hell."

And who can forget that creepy boy from "The Omen"?

We've all felt like that kid from time to time.

Cover songs often aren't what they should be. Many are pale and pointless facsimiles of the original songs, and others even take off into some new direction for no reason whatsoever.

Rude.

So this week the "How We Heard It" guys let their imaginations run wild, freewheeling through music history (from 60-odd years ago to today), mixing and matching some of the most popular songs of all time to an expansive variety of distinctive artists, old and new.

They make inspired choices as they spitball ideas, conjuring some songs you just know would be great, some you'd at least want to check out and some that would doubtless be terrible.

There are no rules to the game - artists who are long dead could be called upon to cover new songs just as easily as new artists could be called upon to cover old songs (with AI, anything is possible). As a result, Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Karen Carpenter and Prince can be called upon just as easily as Lady Gaga, John Legend, Billie Eilish and Benson Boone.

Who would cover the Beatles? Who would the Beatles cover? You'll likely be surprised who the guys pick to cover Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off," John Lennon's "Imagine," Bette Midler's 'Wind Beneath My Wings," Blondie's "Call Me" and R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)" - just to name a few.

Find out what very different songs they have in mind for Lana Del Rey to cover and the unthinkably bizarre (albeit tantalizing) pair they'd pick to remake "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus.

Free your mind and play along.

When "How We Heard It" was just a few weeks old in the summer of 2024, we posted an episode about guilty pleasures, featuring your veteran entertainment critics/hosts Wayne Bledsoe and Chuck Campbell confessing their love for art that other critics frown on - including Wayne's love of sunshine pop and westerns and Chuck's love of exotica and techno music.

Some 15 months and 65 shows later, the guilty-pleasures episode remains one of the three most-listened-to episodes of "How We Heard It." So Wayne and Chuck - plus their engineer, songwriter/musician John T. Baker - decided to revisit the topic and own up to more embarrassing affections about what they find entertaining, including artists who often get looked down on (from New Age acts on Windham Hill Records to Peter, Paul and Mary), as well as mainstream musicals and novelty bands.

Find out who likes Donna Summer, who likes the Pointer Sisters and who can't hide his love of high-voiced women. One of the guys loves the "bubblegum" rock of Three Dog Night, another loves the "yuppie rock" of  Counting Crows and one of them can't tear himself away from those social media video compilations where people scare their loved ones, friends and family.

These admissions may ding your hosts' credibility, but they aren't ashamed and don't think you should be ashamed of your guilty pleasures either.

Well ... maybe they're a little ashamed. And maybe you should be too. But whatever: Life's too short to worry about the opinions of snobs.

In modern times, our society is partially shaped by widely praised albums, brilliantly executed works of art that reflect, or even reshape, the direction of our culture.

But the effect of music on individuals is more nuanced, and broad generalizations don't always apply.

A life-changing album could come from anywhere if the timing is right, such as the beginning or end of a relationship or maybe the last year of high school or college or after a cross-country move or the death of a loved one.

Even mediocre albums can seem life-altering if they catch us at the right time.

Also, music has a way of teaching us about ourselves in unpredictable, and improbable, ways and under circumstances you couldn't predict. A melody might hit you from another car at a red light, you could inadvertently be moved by a voice while flipping through TV, or you might even become obsessed with a snippet of a song used in the background of a video on social media.

This week on "How We Heard It," your hosts - music journalists Wayne Bledsoe and Chuck Campbell and producer/musician John T. Baker - talk about their discovery of albums that impacted them in unexpected ways, albums that opened their ears and even changed their lives ... sometimes against all odds.

They were supposed to do a straightforward episode about autumn songs, but this week the hosts of "How We Heard It" found themselves in lively debate from the get-go.

When is fall? When the kids go back to school in August? Is it the autumnal equinox in September? Maybe when the leaves turn in October?

Your host Chuck Campbell doesn't like much of anything about fall - colder, darker days make him gloomy, sleepy and unproductive. Yet his counterparts, Wayne Bledsoe and John Baker, are invigorated by the cooler days and natural beauty of the season.

But at least Chuck - and John - embrace the excitement of football ... which Wayne adamantly rejects. And they're similarly separated by the music of the sport, from the school fight songs to the commercial songs that have been adopted by fans.

Autumn music also include all those songs about September - generally the bittersweet kind about saying goodbye to summer (and summer flings) and moving on to some new adventure. And don't forget sweaters, cozy settings, ambivalent moods, hopefulness and hopelessness.

As a season, fall sends a lot of mixed signals and it's hard to make sense of it. But here we are, and we just have to ride it out.

Last week the "How We Heard It" hosts came up with a list of the greatest women singers in modern music, debating Janis Joplin vs. Whitney Houston and Karen Carpenter vs. Barbra Streisand while also finding endless praise for everyone from Aretha Franklin to Linda Ronstadt to Annie Lennox to Billie Eilish.

This week, "How We Heard It" pivots to men singers, going back in time to crooners like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby and country legends like Hank Williams and George Jones.

From there, the hosts come forward, breezing through classic singer-songwriters like Jim Croce and James Taylor, R&B pioneers such as Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, and all manner of rock singers, including Elvis Presley and Freddie Mercury, while pausing to engage in the inevitable Paul McCartney vs. John Lennon debate.

The 1980s and 1990s are represented by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Sting, Robert Palmer, Michael Hutchence, Trent Reznor, Vince Gill and Randy Travis. And today's stars are also evaluated, including Post Malone, The Weeknd, Harry Styles, Benson Boone and John Legend.

Meanwhile, you might be surprised to find out where many of the others fall into place, including Elton John, Willie Nelson, Michael Jackson and Robert Plant.

Especially Robert Plant.

Singers often make or break a song. The exceptional ones can lift a bland arrangement into the stratosphere and the mundane ones can sink a great arrangement like a torpedo.

This week the "How We Heard It" guys take a look at women vocalists (men singers will come next week), from the clear-voiced vocalists with perfect enunciation to soul singers who use a ragged edge to add personality. Some are belters, some practically whisper, some float into the atmosphere, and some are Bjork.

But the differences between artists are pronounced, even in the sub-categories. Find out why Karen Carpenter hits differently than Barbra Streisand, how Tina Turner persevered, what sets Debbie Harry apart, where Sheryl Crow lands and how Billie Eilish factors in. And the guys are not on the same page on many of these vocalists, from Janis Joplin to Joni Mitchell to Kate Bush to Whitney Houston to Mariah Carey.

Some of these women only seem better the more you explore their work, while others don't hold up to a closer listen. Your hosts dovetail, dissent and then dovetail again as they explore women singers from today, yesterday and long ago. 

Friends are our chosen family, the people we can sometimes count on when everyone else has turned their backs on us.

But friendships vary. They can be a lifelong commitment or they can end tomorrow without warning. Or they can mysteriously fade away from benign neglect.

Friends have inspired numerous songwriters over the years - the ride-or-die friends who will help you hide the body as well as the duplicitous friends who will steal your lover.

On this episode of "How We Heard It," your hosts explore funny, heartfelt, angry, inspiring and pained songs about friendships, songs from pop, rock, R&B and country music that have surfaced on the charts and emerged in movies and television.

Whether they bring out the best in you or bring out the worst, friends have a lasting impact on our lives.

And they might even serve you butter tarts.

Why do we love our favorite songs?

We may think it's simply because we love the singer's voice or the guitars or the fact that it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

But often we love songs for reasons we may not understand and can't articulate. They just make us feel a certain way.

Musicians know how the brain processes sound and triggers emotions, and they employ tricks that win you over even when you don't realize what's happening.

Perhaps it's their unconventional use of major and minor chords and downtempo or uptempo cadence. It could be a subtle touch of percussive or stringed instrument or some kind of production enhancement ranging from overdubbing to reverse-tape trickery. And it might be a lyrical turn that got into your subconscious without your awareness.

In this episode of "How We Heard It," your hosts explore how musicians can lead you on an emotional path that you can't explain.

Have you ever dismissed a band or singer as mediocre (or worse) only to later realize they were amazing and you misjudged them?

It can be a blow to the ego to miss the genius that others hear - especially if you're a professional music critic or musician. But this week, your "How We Heard It" hosts put their pride aside and confess to overlooking some of the most-respected names in popular music.

They explain how they underestimated the artists and what finally happened to bring them around to the truth. Believe it or not, these A-list artists include the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Taylor Swift and more.

But before you shame your humble podcasters, look at yourself: Have you, too, been too quick to blow off acts you learned to love?

It's OK, we're all friends here.