PAST 10s: A Top 10 Time Machine - Music of the 70s, 80s and More

This week on Past Tens, Dave and Milt welcome a fresh face to the show: new intern Jason, a Tulane University student possibly as obsessed with music as the Past Tens bozos. Jason talks about catching A$AP Rocky's "Don't Be Dumb" Tour at TD Garden, surviving the madness of Jazz Fest, and introduces Dave and Milt to the wonderfully bizarre world of YouTube legend Nardwuar.

Meanwhile, Dave finally crosses a major movie off the bucket list, sharing his thoughts after watching 2001: A Space Odyssey for the very first time. Verdict? Beautiful to look at... but maybe HAL could've picked up the pace a little.

Then it's time for the main event:

From primal soul howls to arena-rock shrieks, the guys count down the ten most unforgettable screams ever put on tape. SPOILER ALERT… Here’s the list below.

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🙂

;)

3 …

2 …

1 …

…

#10 Little Richard — Good Golly, Miss Molly

Along the way, the guys debate what actually qualifies as a great scream, pay tribute to rock's greatest vocal acrobats, and rip through a stack of worthy also-rans.

As if that wasn't enough, they squeeze in a quick three-round snake draft of the greatest vocalists of all time, with names like Freddie Mercury, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Sting, Chris Martin, and Carole King coming off the board. Hayley Williams gets some well-deserved love, too.

It's loud. It's ridiculous. It's exactly the kind of thing that happens when you put three music nerds in a room and ask, "Yeah, but who had the BEST scream?"

00:20 — Meet the New Intern

Dave and Milt crank up the Time Machine and head back to the week ending May 30, 1970, but not before detouring through spam-text “pig slaughtering” scams, listener banter, and a recap of Stephen Colbert’s farewell show, complete with Jack White, Eminem, and a fire-marshal joke that somehow made perfect sense. Meanwhile, Milt delivers a major life update: Thelma the bird has likely become a mother, making him a proud and slightly obsessed bird granddad.

Once the charts arrive, it’s a heavyweight showdown. The guys rave about classics like “Let It Be,” “Vehicle,” “The Letter,” “Up Around the Bend,” “Cecilia,” and “American Woman,” while taking a considerably dimmer view of “Which Way You Goin’ Billy?,” “Love on a Two-Way Street,” and “Everything Is Beautiful.” Along the way they uncover a Jay-Z sample connection, debate the mystery of Cecilia vs. Celia, call an old 800 number, wander into cheesesteak territory, and somehow find room for Claudia Schiffer, the Butthole Surfers, and The Lego Movie.

The episode also features a Beatles lyric quiz (A-to-Y edition), spirited arguments over Beatles minutiae, and a pair of chart substitutions as Sly & the Family Stone’s “I Want to Take You Higher” and Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” earn honorary spots in the lineup. In the end, “Cecilia” and “Let It Be” emerge as the week’s champions, and the chart earns a final grade of “Bee Gees Plus”—which, in highly scientific Past Tens terms, is pretty darn good.

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Dave and Milt hit record for a special edition of Past 10s marking the end of an era: the final episode of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show. But instead of hopping into the Billboard Hot 100 time machine, the boys pivot to late-night television, counting down their Top 10 Gen X-era talk-show hosts — complete with favorite moments, grudges, nostalgia, and the occasional completely unnecessary tangent. Along the way: Michael speed-runs a Chinese-food dinner before airtime, Dave delivers another riveting update on the bird building a nest outside Milt’s house, and the guys take a crack at the famously weird “Colbert Questionnaire,” revealing opinions on smells, mottos, Journey songs, the afterlife, and apparently Die Hard.

The countdown itself becomes a love letter to late-night TV history, featuring Bill Maher at #10, Samantha Bee at #9, John Oliver at #8, Jimmy Fallon at #7, Conan O'Brien at #6, Jimmy Kimmel at #5, and the King himself, Johnny Carson, landing at #4. Then things get controversial: Jon Stewart and Colbert tie for #2, before the ultimate crown goes to gap-toothed genius David Letterman at #1.

Naturally, there are arguments over the near-misses and “also-rans,” including Jay Leno narrowly missing the Top 10 at #11, plus shout-outs to James Corden, Craig Ferguson, Seth Meyers, Chelsea Handler, Arsenio Hall, Dennis Miller, Joan Rivers, and Larry King. By the end, the guys are emotionally preparing for Colbert’s finale, reflecting on what late-night TV used to mean when everybody actually watched the same thing at the same time — and wondering whether anybody under 30 even knows who Carson is.

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00:00 Cold Open Live Audience

02:44 Bird Nest Update

08:39 Number 10 Bill Maher

Dave and Milt fire up the Top 10 Time Machine and head straight for the week ending May 20, 1989 — but this time they ditch the Hot 100 in favor of the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, because apparently Aqua Net, guitar riffs, and sleeveless denim vests deserved their own economy. Along the way, they revisit a bizarrely packed week in history featuring Gorbachev’s visit to China, the disappearance of Costa Rica’s golden toad, the death of Gilda Radner, and the cultural majesty of See No Evil, Hear No Evil and the Jessica McClure “Baby Jessica” TV movie nobody asked for but everybody watched anyway.

The chart itself is pure late-’80s rock-radio chaos: Saraya crashes in at #10, Richard Marx somehow counts as “rock,” The Outfield keeps “Voices of Babylon” alive long after civilization moved on, and Queen storms in with “I Want It All” while Freddie Mercury quietly battled the illness the public still didn’t know about. Great White shows up with their hit cover and sparks a surprisingly dark detour into the Jack Russell saga and the horrifying Station nightclub fire story.

Elsewhere, Dave and Milt debate whether a bologna bagel is cuisine or a cry for help, obsess over backyard bird nests, argue guitar solos, and somehow spend actual airtime discussing “cricket knickers.” There’s also a Play Date quiz built around songs featuring “once” and “twice,” because this podcast remains the only show brave enough to pivot from Tom Petty to adverb trivia without warning.

The second half of the countdown brings arena-rock comfort food from The Doobie Brothers, The Cult’s swaggering “Fire Woman,” Stevie Nicks’ “Rooms on Fire,” and John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Pop Singer,” which launches a rant about the music industry, authenticity, and probably at least one guy in a blazer named Chip. At #1, Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” becomes the centerpiece for stories about songwriting, arson, stubbornness, and why Sam Smith accidentally wandered into the conversation.

Naturally, there are substitutions, sidebars, forgotten MTV memories, Living Colour and XTC love, and approximately 19 moments where the show completely leaves the rails before somehow steering itself back to the countdown. In other words: exactly the kind of episode you’d expect from two middle-aged men willingly spending two hours inside the cultural fever dream that was spring 1989.

00:00 The Coldest of Opens

01:04 Bird Nest Obsession

03:37 Guitar Solo Feedback

05:36 Bologna Bagel Debate

06:05 Time Machine to 1989

07:05 Hey Day Memories

08:14 Week in History 1989

17:41 Back to the Charts

17:54 Number 10 Saraya

23:42 Saraya Name Confusion

26:13 Number 9 Richard Marx

32:26 Snickers and Snacks

33:54 Number 8 The Outfield

37:33 Outfield Albums and Legacy

38:13 Cricket Knickers Comedy

40:12 Voices of Babylon Verdict

40:41 Queen I Want It All

41:06 Freddie’s Hidden Illness

41:45 Song Breakdown and Charts

48:14 Great White Cover Hit

49:32 Jack Russell Chaos Backstory

53:31 Station Nightclub Tragedy

59:55 Play Date Once and Twice Quiz

01:06:24 Doobie Brothers Comeback

01:09:52 New Doobies and Nostalgia

01:14:43 The Cult Fire Woman

01:16:13 Fire Woman Breakdown

01:17:32 Cult Legacy And Grunge

01:19:26 Rooms On Fire Story

01:21:42 Stevie Vocal Quirks

01:24:40 Pop Singer Industry Rant

01:28:21 ChatGPT Pop List Game

01:31:05 I Wont Back Down Origins

01:33:28 Petty Songwriting And Arson

01:35:58 Sam Smith Similarity

01:39:27 Chart Recap And Picks

01:42:12 Substitution XTC And Living Colour

01:52:23 Wrap Up And Sign Off

Dave and Milt plug into one of rock nerd-dom’s favorite barstool arguments: Rolling Stone’s freshly dropped list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos Ever. Naturally, they treat it less like gospel and more like a karaoke machine somebody spilled beer on. Using the list as a launching pad, the boys unveil their own rankings, judging solos not by how many fingers caught fire, but by the stuff that actually matters — memorability, emotional punch, whether the solo lifts the song into another zip code, and whether it makes you involuntarily air-guitar while driving a Honda Civic through Dedham.

Before the countdown, they detour into the baffling world of the new Michael Jackson biopic, debating what the filmmakers left out, why critics and audiences seem to be watching completely different movies, and whether the smarter move would’ve been focusing tightly on the Quincy Jones years instead of trying to cram an entire galaxy into one film. There’s also a shoutout to fill-in co-host Deirdre, plus Dave proudly announces that son Griffin has officially been accepted to Temple Medical School — proving at least one member of the family made responsible life choices.

Then the amps crank up. Their combined Top 10 rips through The Cars’ “Just What I Needed,” AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long,” Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Skynyrd’s “Free Bird,” Van Halen’s “Eruption,” Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” Eddie Van Halen’s face-melting cameo on “Beat It,” and the Eagles’ “Hotel California.” But when the smoke clears, the #1 slot ends in a dead heat between Prince casually humiliating every mortal guitarist during “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at the Rock Hall ceremony and The Knack’s gloriously unhinged “My Sharona” solo — because apparently subtlety was not invited to this episode.

Topics

00:59 Star Wars banter

01:28 Michael biopic debate

06:25 Shoutouts and announcements

08:14 Rolling Stone solos list

11:12 Ranking criteria and format

14:38 Number 10 The Cars

19:31 Number 9 AC DC

23:34 Number 8 Queen

26:48 Jazz Fest tangent

28:45 Number 7 Free Bird

33:15 Number 6 Eruption

38:46 Play date misquotes quiz

45:15 Myth Quotes Wrapup

47:03 Stairway Solo Debate

52:02 Beat It Eddie Story

56:17 Hotel California Duel

01:01:28 Tie Twist And Also Rans

01:02:08 Runner Ups Rapid Fire

01:16:27 Prince Hall Of Fame Solo

01:21:12 My Sharona Takes Top Spot

01:28:12 Final Thoughts And Signoff

Milt’s off living his best life at Jazz Fest, so Dave taps in Deirdre McCarthy as guest co-pilot, and—folks—we fire up the time machine to May 5, 1979. It’s Laverne & Shirley on TV, Alien in theaters, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on nightstands, and questionable taste on the Billboard charts.

We run the Top 10 gauntlet: Sister Sledge (“He’s the Greatest Dancer”), Cher (“Take Me Home”), Wings (“Goodnight Tonight”), Chic (“I Want Your Love”), Village People (“In the Navy”), Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman (“Stumblin’ In”), Amii Stewart (“Knock on Wood”), Frank Mills (the baffling “Music Box Dancer”), Blondie (“Heart of Glass”), and Peaches & Herb (“Reunited”). Deirdre does not suffer fools—or B-sides—lightly.

Dave connects the dots (yes, “Greatest Dancer” → Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It), dives into Cher lore, detours through Happy Days for Leather Tuscadero trivia, and throws in a military-themed Playdate Quiz because… of course he does.

Final rulings: Deirdre crowns “Heart of Glass,” Dave rides with “Stumblin’ In.” Both agree “Music Box Dancer” gets launched into the sun, along with a Wings deep cut, replaced by Good Times Roll and Dave’s deeply personal Superman nostalgia pick. Overall grade: generous C-minus.

Plus plugs for Face-to-Face Pro and the usual “call us, maybe” contact spiel.

Timestamps (because we’re professionals):

Topics

Dave and Milt open with banter about expensive VIP options, coffee vs. tea, and then discuss the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class heavy with British performers (Phil Collins solo, Billy Idol, Oasis, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Sade), plus Wu-Tang Clan and Luther Vandross, and hip-hop influence picks like Queen Latifah and MC Lyte. Inspired by the Brit-heavy class, they switch the podcast format to the UK singles chart for week ending 18 April 1987, counting down: “Living in a Box” by Living in a Box, Fine Young Cannibals’ cover of Buzzcocks’ “Ever Fallen in Love,” U2’s “With or Without You,” Terence Trent D’Arby’s “If You Let Me Stay,” Mel and Kim’s “Respectable” (with Mel’s illness and death noted), Janet Jackson’s “Let’s Wait Awhile” (plus an AI cover discussion), Judy Boucher’s “Can’t Be With You Tonight” (Lovers Rock), Club Nouveau’s “Lean on Me,” Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita” (and her British-accent phase), and charity supergroup Ferry Aid’s “Let It Be” for the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster. They name “With or Without You” best, swap out songs for Whitesnake and Bon Jovi, grade the week as mediocre, and note Milt may miss next week due to Jazz Fest in New Orleans.

Topics

00:52 Cold Open British Bits

01:39 Podcast Intro And Coffee Talk

03:32 Hall Of Fame Brits Takeover

08:28 Time Machine To UK 1987

10:45 Number 10 Living In A Box

16:18 Band Name Song Name Tangent

25:08 Number 9 Fine Young Cannibals Cover

34:00 Number 8 U2 With Or Without You

35:57 Bono’s Balancing Act

37:27 With or Without You in TV

38:30 U2 Concert War Stories

41:43 Terrence Trent D’Arby Hype

45:30 Name Change and Fallout

48:10 Mel and Kim UK Pop Factory

52:43 Long Distance Defecation

01:00:06 Janet Jackson and AI Cover

01:08:38 Lovers Rock One Hit Wonder

01:14:00 Lean On Me Remake

01:15:53 Tyson and Don King Story

01:19:48 La Isla Bonita Breakdown

01:23:17 Madonna British Accent Clip

01:26:31 Ferry Aid Let It Be Explained

01:33:28 Charity Singles Then and Now

01:35:53 Top 10 Recap Beatles Voices

01:37:35 Winners and Substitutions

01:46:00 Time Machine Verdict and Wrap

Dave and Milt crack open a special Past Tens where the subject is none other than the human moonwalk, Michael Jackson—timed nicely with the looming biopic that’s about to remind everyone just how absurdly dominant this guy was. We’re talking voice, moves, mystique, and that little side project with Quincy Jones that somehow turned into the most unfair three-album heater in pop history. Ground rules: solo MJ only. Sorry, Jackson 5—you’ll always have “ABC,” but you’re sitting this one out.

From there, it’s ten categories and approximately 47 friendly arguments. “Most Well-Known Song” turns into a heavyweight bout—“Billie Jean” vs. “Thriller”—with no judges and plenty of yelling. “Where It Began” gives us the early runway (“Rockin’ Robin,” “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough”), while “Mountain Moment” is basically the peak of the peak (“Beat It,” complete with Eddie Van Halen shredding like he wandered in from another genre, and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” doing…whatever that song does, which is everything).

We dig for “Deep Cuts” (including a sneaky collab with Lenny Kravitz and a Wiz-adjacent pull), hit the “Chill Moments” (cue gospel chills and emotional uppercuts), and try to pick “Best Lyrics” without just defaulting to that line from “Billie Jean” (we fail, sort of). “Most Overrated” gets spicy—brace yourself if you’re a “Human Nature” defender—before we hit live performances, covers (including a left-field Billie Eilish acoustic moment), and pop culture usage featuring the holy trinity: Weird Al Yankovic, Eddie Murphy, and The Simpsons doing what The Simpsons does.

It’s part appreciation, part chaos, part “how is one catalog this stacked?”—and yes, we know, it’s complicated. But for 90 minutes, we’re staying in our lane: the music, the moments, and the madness.

Dave and Milt fire up the Top 10 Time Machine and land squarely in April 3, 1982—a week where the Falklands War is just getting started, Space Shuttle Columbia is touching down in the desert like it missed its exit, Michael Jordan is hitting that NCAA shot, and America is somehow supporting both Porky's and Chariots of Fire at the same time. A simpler, weirder time.

The boys break down a Top 10 that is equal parts iconic and “wait… really?”—from Key Largo (featuring a sidebar into Bertie Higgins’ unexpected second act as a political hype man), to Pac-Man Fever (because yes, we once made hit songs about video games and no one stopped us), to Rick Springfield doing Rick Springfield things—plus a completely unnecessary but deeply committed detour into French lyrics in pop music.

Elsewhere, the The J. Geils Band bring the camera clicks with “Freeze-Frame,” Vangelis makes jogging feel important with “Chariots of Fire,” and Olivia Newton-John sneaks in with a perfectly fine song riding the coattails of her other perfectly fine global takeover.

Then it gets serious: Stevie Wonder shows up with “That Girl,” the The Go-Go’s officially announce their arrival with “We Got the Beat” (your winner of the week, because of course), Journey slow-dance their way into prom history with “Open Arms” (plus a quick check-in on Mariah Carey absolutely oversinging it years later), and Joan Jett closes the whole thing out by grabbing rock ‘n roll by the collar and not asking permission.

Meanwhile, a listener drops a Long Distance Defecation™ on a serial grocery-store-aisle-blocker, set to Move It On Over by George Thorogood—because nothing says passive-aggressive rage like a blues-rock classic.

Final verdict: the chart earns a C (some heavy hitters, some absolute nonsense), “We Got the Beat” takes the crown, and the guys tease an upcoming all-substitutions episode—listener-voted, because democracy occasionally works.

Dave and Milt are doing what they do best: arguing about music like it matters (because it does). This time, they’re counting down their favorite opening lines from 1970s songs — with Milt, naturally, gravitating toward lines that drop you immediately into a vibe, a scene, or a full-blown attitude problem.

They go back and forth like two guys at a bar who won’t let the other finish a sentence, firing off picks like “Life in the Fast Lane,” “Renegade,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “He’s Misstra Know-It-All,” “Easy,” “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding,” “It’s Only Rock ’n Roll,” “I Shot the Sheriff,” “Kodachrome,” “Stayin’ Alive,” and “Thunder Road.”

Dave lands the plane with his #1 — “Dream On” — because of course he does. Meanwhile, Milt zigged where no one zagged, crowning “Rapper’s Delight” as his top dog, because subtlety is overrated.

Plus: a Playdate quiz fueled by listener suggestions, featuring killer openings like “Werewolves of London,” “Sir Duke,” and “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” — because nothing says “fun” like being put on the spot about lyrics you definitely thought you knew.

Topics

01:03 Listener Shoutout Joe

03:48 New Segment and Emails

04:47 Proud Dad: Adrian Sings

06:46 Countdown Setup Seventies Openers

07:30 How We Picked Lyrics

11:20 Number 10 Picks Eagles and Styx

19:48 Number 9 Picks The Who and Stevie

28:07 Number 8 Picks Billy Joel and Lionel

36:43 Pump It Up Meaning

38:03 Elvis Costello Lyrics

40:28 Podcast Banter Break

42:06 Elton John Epic Medley

47:07 Stones vs Critics

50:32 I Shot the Sheriff

54:00 Play Date Quiz

01:02:50 Joy to the World

01:05:36 Steely Dan Story

01:09:58 Kodachrome Kickoff

01:10:38 Nostalgia Parody Talk

01:12:20 April Fools Banter

01:13:12 Staying Alive Breakdown

01:16:28 Cheese Jokes And TikTok

01:19:10 Radar Love Rush

01:21:45 Black Dog Pure Rock

01:25:26 Forever In Blue Jeans

01:29:40 Thunder Road Scene Setting

01:35:00 Dream On Reflection

01:38:45 Rappers Delight Finale

01:42:47 Wrap Up And Listener Mail