Kick The Jukebox

In this best-of episode, Kyle and Louie are joined by three special guests: songwriter Eli Bolin (John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch), Weezer expert Jason Boxer (Weezerpedia), and The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's Gretchen Unico to discuss some great Power Pop gems: The Cars' self titled 1978 debut, Weezer's 1996 sophmore outing Pinkerton and Harry Nilsson's 1971 masterpiece Nilsson Schmilsson!

Also, be sure to check out our podcast recommendation: The Lyric Boys!

In this best-of episode Louie and Kyle take a look back at some of their favorite tunes and albums from Jamaica: a place where the music is always cool, engaging and very often wonderfully informative. The boys deep dive into the soundtrack for The Harder They Come, Burning Spear's 1975 release Marcus Garvey and the career of Island Records founder Chris Blackwell.

Please check out our podcast recommendation for this week: Quarter Rest with Joe Diaco!

Kyle and Louie make some small talk over Scritti Politti's infectious, shimmering, danceable 1984 album Cupid & Psyche 85! On the surface, these tunes are some of the catchiest pop you've ever heard, but you actually need a PHD in literature to get all the lyrics. Join your favorite 20th century music geek buddies as they traverse the brilliant world of Scritti Politti's mastermind lyricist Green Gartside.

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Show notes:

This was such a fun one to bring it on home! We've had an amazing season and we're really excited for our next season, which is going to follow a pretty cool arc. Get pumped, Jukeheads! We talked about a lot of great music to follow-up on this episode including keyboardist David Gamson's wild cover of The Archies' "Sugar Sugar," the track "Say A Little Prayer" by the immortal Aretha Franklin, and the earlier Scritti Politti album Songs to Remember. Once you give Cupid & Psyche 85 plenty of spins, Kyle recommends following up with Erasure's 1988 album The Innocents and I think it's time to do your own deep-dive into 80's Freestyle. We'll be back with some greatest hits episodes and a brand new season soon! - Louie

In this best of episode, Louie & Kyle dive into some classic songs that make them want to dance, and get into the history of Chicago House, 80's New York No-Wave and some classic Disco in the process.

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Show notes: Here are the songs we chatted about. They all come highly recommended with the highest Kick the Jukebox seal of approval:

Material, Nona Hendryx - Bustin' Out

Marshall Jefferson - The House Music Anthem (Move Your Body)

The Joubert Singers - Stand on the Word 

Also, here's the link to Louie's recommendation: Disco Music History

Improviser, musician and beautiful British man Peter Smith leads Louie and Kyle on a deep dive into Marillion, the hugely successful British prog-rock band who over their 40 year career have gotten no respect from the radio or the press, but have legions upon legions of devoted fans that have allowed them to become their own cottage industry. In this episode we delve into their definitive 1995 release Afraid of Sunlight. This is a case where despite the fact Marillion are considered terminally uncool, their devoted fans get it completely right.

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Show notes:

It was great to have Peter on the show who is a killer musician highly influenced by Marillion. Please listen to his SoundCloud which has some beautiful work on it! https://soundcloud.com/damndirtygrapes

If you liked Afraid of Sunlight, Peter recommends the Marillion album Season's End next, Kyle would love for you to get more into Peter Gabriel and Louie doesn't fuck with Prog a lot, but when he does, he's listening to Can and Babe Ruth.

Blondie's Plastic Letters wasn't fully appreciated when it was released in February 1978 and it's often eclipsed by its follow up Parallel Lines. It's a shame, because Plastic Letters contains some of Blondie's most melodic, sophisticated and rockin' work. Join hosts Kyle Gordon and Louie Pearlman as they discuss Plastic Letters' dirty New York rocker roots that show through the band's platinum blonde sheen.

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Show notes:

If you liked Plastic Letters, we recommend The Paragons' 1967 release On the Beach With the Paragons which introduced the world to the wonderful "The Tide Is High," later covered by Blondie. Also check out original Blondie bassist Gary Valentine's work with his band The Know for some mystically-charged, herky-jerky Power Pop and New Wave. - Louie

Kyle and Louie are joined by BC The Beatles' co-host and Rhino Records' Allison Boron to talk about one of her favorite records, Sam Cooke's One Night Stand! Live at the Harlem Square Club. Deemed too raucous when recorded, this disc sat on the shelves for over 20 years after Sam's death before being released and heralded a total soul and rock n roll classic. They also get into how to find musical common ground with your partner and how true crime videos can be the key to a good night's sleep!

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Show Notes:

It's been a long time coming, but Allison is finally a guest on the show! She's been a huge influence on my music taste and a true blue friend for years. The three of us had plenty of reccos too. Kyle has been revisiting The Arctic Monkeys with his girlfriend this week, while Louie has been listening to a lot of Pup, Dog Park Dissidents and Jeff Rosenstock with his boyfriend. Allison took us on a tour of the new Paul McCartney Flaming Pie archive re-release.

When we got into Sam Cooke, we brought up his croonery appearance on Arthur Murray Dance Party, his work with his record label SAR (especially the song "Put Me Down Easy" by his brother LC Cooke) and the recent Netflix documentary  ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke. Also, remember! Our Rave.DJ contest is ON! This was fun and soulful one, jukeheads. -Louie

Kyle 'N Louie both describe this episode as "very Irish" as they deep-dive into The Pouges' Rum, Sodomy & The Lash from 1985. This Elvis Costello-produced Celtic Punk album is the purest version of the The Pogues available, and Shane MacGowan's songs on it are frank, honest and riveting. Also, Kyle makes an argument for fried chicken sandwiches and the band Big Country and Louie does a quick review of the new documentary about the Disney KISS/Star Wars rip-off band (yup you read that right) Halyx.

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Show notes:

It's always fun when one of us brings in an album that is definitive for one of us, and Rum, Sodomy & The Lash is definitely that for Kyle. Here is that actually lovely birthday party for Shane MacGowan that was on The Late Late Show last year. Also, this is the week that we're all gonna get into Big Country and the Defunctland original documentary Live From The Space Stage: The Story of Halyx.

Finally: don't forget our Rave.dj mash mix competition is ON! Follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook for more info on how to enter!

Kyle 'N Louie are waxin and milkin' all y'all square heads as they discuss 1989's Paul's Boutique, which was a game changing album for The Beastie Boys, The Dust Brothers and the golden age of Hip Hop. Plus Kyle discusses what music is best to listen to when reading about "the troubles" in Ireland and Louie has been obsessed with a real nightmare of a music website.

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Episode Notes:

We had some great reccos in this episode. Check out the NYT review of Say Nothing, the book currently in Kyle's hot little hands. Also check out Louie's actually halfway decent Kanye / Cut Copy mashup that he made on the nightmarish apocalyptic website Rave.dj (don't watch if you're prone to seizures, seriously).

When Frank Sinatra released "Into the Wee Small Hours" in 1955, he changed the trajectory of American popular music in a big way. This week, Louie and Kyle delve into what's arguably the first concept album of all time and explore the arrangements and emotions that make "Into the Wee Small Hours" so classic.

Plus, the boys get into some musical shlock too as they have a lively discussion about a band fronted by a real British royal and another who were some sort of creepy cult!