This can be a weird, difficult world, filled with injustice, inequality, and bad people doing bad things…we’re always up against things like racism, women’s rights, labour rights, the plights of marginalized people, class struggle, the disenfranchised, various social movements—the list of righteous causes and grievances is pretty much endless.

And sometimes, you just gotta fight back…but how?... Not all occasions called for armed insurrections and assassinations.

One way is through music…come up with something topical and specific, put it all to music, and you have a chance of getting your message to a lot of people…and because it’s music, you might be able to reach those who might not otherwise be aware of the problem or understand what the problem is.

This music isn’t confined to a specific people or group or genre or era…you can be loud and angry and filled with the greatest moral virtues screamed at the top of your lungs.

But you don’t have to be in-your-face about it…your messaging can be subtle while still maintaining all the necessary effectiveness, rage and authenticity.

Such songs have a long and fascinating history that goes back way further than you might realize…and these songs are everywhere today, although you may not realize it.

This is a brief history of protest music, part 1

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Students of classical music know that Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the most important and influential composers of all time…his use of instruments, four-part harmonies, and use of innovative structures in his material were all brilliant…

When he was alive, he commanded plenty of respect…but after he died in March 1685, he was almost forgotten…the only reason we talk about him today is that there was a Bach revival in the 19th century…he became a retro hero in the world of classical music…

No one knew anything about Robert Johnson when he was alive other than some myths and legends among hardcore fans of Delta Blues…but when his records were reissued in 1961, 23 years after he died, did his reputation explode…

Charles Mingus was revered by fellow jazz artists…it was only after he passed away in 1979 that his influence on jazz was celebrated…

We can also talk about posthumous praise for Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley, and Elliott Smith…and although Tupac and Biggie were big stars when they were shot, they became even bigger stars in death…

I’m going to add another name to this list: Ian Curtis and Joy Division…when Ian took his own life in May 1980, he and the band were so skint that he had to give his dog away because he and his wife couldn’t afford to feed him…

Today, though, Ian and Joy Division are acknowledged as one of the most important and most influential post-punk bands ever…why?...what was the big deal about Joy Division? And why do they continue to be a big deal?...let’s examine this.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Part 2 of our deep dive into Post Rock, we explore the bands and ideas that have shaped this experimental and atmospheric approach to music.

From Slint and Mogwai to Sigur Rós and Explosions in the Sky, we look at how these bands create something cinematic...emotional...and entirely unexpected.

We also look at how post‑rock influences artists like Radiohead and Broken Social Scene, and why this musical philosophy continues to spread all across the globe.

Prepare to discover new bands, new sounds, and a new way of thinking about what rock can be.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What exactly is "Post‑Rock"?

In this first installment of a two‑part deep dive, we unpack one of the most misunderstood labels in modern music. From its origins in the 1960s to its evolving relationship with rock, ambient, jazz, and experimental traditions...Post-Rock has come to mean different things to different listeners.

In part 1, we focus on where the term came from and what it was originally trying to describe. We explore ideas like:

Rather than treating post‑rock as a fixed style, we look at it as an idea...one that reflects broader shifts in how music moved away from verse‑chorus structures and toward texture, atmosphere, and long‑form composition.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'll be honest and say that this is not a happy show…in fact, it’s probably the saddest episode of the year…then again, it’s an opportunity to pay tribute to the musicians we lost in 2025.

They’re gone, but that’s the thing about being a musician…the songs they left behind will remain with us for many, many years.

 I’m going to go through a list of deaths…this list isn’t comprehensive because we just don’t have the time to cover all the “RIP's” that happened...and because there are so many, I’ll probably miss a few, and for that, I apologize in advance.

This is 2025 in memoriam, a tribute to rock stars who passed.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On October 12, 1978, punk’s most infamous couple...Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols and Nancy Spungen...hit rock bottom at New York’s Chelsea Hotel. Nancy was found dead from a single stab wound in Room 100. Sid was charged with murder, but was he really the killer?

Or was it someone else in their chaotic circle?

This is “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry”…and this time, it’s the wild story of the death of Nancy Spungen and the questions that still remain decades later…Was it a drug-fueled accident, a robbery gone wrong, or something darker?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are going to talk about drummers on this show…i just want you to know right from the start just in case you wanna roll your eyes and go “really? Do we have to?”

Yes, we have to…there have been countless stories told about great guitarists and singers and keyboardists…drummers?... Not so much, unless your name is Dave Grohl. And we will get to him.

So this was going to a profile of my favourite drummers in alt-rock…but then I got to thinking: how much do we know what about drummers play?... How many histories of the electric guitar have been written?... Monographs, coffee table books, books on collectible guitars…

Now think about the books written about keyboards…there’s about three linear feet of bookshelf in my office taken up just by books on the history of synthesizers…

But what about the drums today’s drummers play?... 

No, I think it’s time that we not only talked about drummers but also drums…think about it: how did the modern drumkit come into being?...there’s a pretty standard sort of set-up…how did that come about?...why do we play drums the way we do?... And who should we thank for making drums into what they are today?...cymbals and foot pedals and snare…where did all that come from?...

See?...you’re curious now, aren’t you?...well, stand by…the history of the modern drumkit is coming up…this is stuff even most drummers don’t know…

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I once had a conversation with someone about the craziest tours in the history of music…the usual names came up.

The who trashing hotel rooms…led zeppelin’s tours with their private jet, groupies, and tons of drugs…that time in Atlanta when Ozzy drank himself into oblivion, passed out in the wrong hotel room for 24 hours, and missed a show as a result.

In 1976, ZZ Top tried to take the entire Texas experience on the road, which involved transporting real live animals to every gig…a buffalo escaped and managed to wreck nine rented limos that were parked at the gig.

Around the same time, there was the disastrous Sex Pistols tour of America…there were also stories about The Rolling Stones, Metallica, Van Halen, and all the usual suspects.

But the conversation turned to the subject of the most depraved and dangerous tour of all time…who was responsible for that?... Motley Crue?...Marilyn Manson?...Oasis?

The debate when on for some time—until someone mentioned a road trip in 1993 that nearly killed every member of the group.

We’re not talking about any sort of violence…it was a tour featuring so much alcohol, so many drugs, and so much stupid behaviour that members suffered heart attacks, seizures, serious mental illness, and overdoses so serious that one member was clinically dead for two minutes.

 That was a summary of something called “The Devotional Tour”…at the centre of it was Depeche Mode…it has gone down in rock history as “the most debauched rock tour ever”.

This is episode 37 of “Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry,” an inside look at the tour that nearly took down Depeche Mode forever…and it was all their fault.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is my annual data dump featuring music information you didn’t know you needed…over the last 12 months, I’ve collected this material on scraps of paper, post-it notes, on my iPhone’s “notes” app, and in various files on my computer…and these are the best 60 mind-blowing facts about music I can offer for 2025.

 This is the 11th year that I’ve been doing this…maybe there’s a book in here somewhere…i don’t know…maybe…one day…

Whatever…a lot of random information is about to come your way…do your best to ingest what you can…ready?....let’s go.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this third and final chapter of our look at Why Bowie Still Matters, we explore the last two decades of his life and the innovations that cemented his legacy.

From pioneering digital music distribution and launching BowieNet, to creating “Bowie Bonds”...something that changed the music business...Bowie was always ahead of the curve.

We revisit his late-career albums, his secret comeback with "The Next Day", and the farewell gift of "Blackstar".

Plus, the stories behind his art, his influence on countless genres, and why his impact continues to grow even ten years after his passing.

Bowie didn’t just make music...he reshaped culture...and this is Why Bowie Still Matters.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices