Rock 'n' Roll Grad School

There's a new app designed to make music listening a little easier, and maybe even put a little jingle in your pocket. The Ultimate Playlist, offers a mix of 40 songs every single day. You listen, rate the songs, and are entered into multiple drawings for real money and all sorts of good stuff. It's sponsored by the Arizona State Lottery.

We talked with Shevy Smtih, one of the designers of the app, and a musician herself, about the difficulty of breaking through the noise, and finding a way to give both artist and audience alike a leg up. The Ultimate Playlist app is available in the app store.

In her career as a writer and reporter, Laurie Kaye had the opportunity to speak with some of the biggest names in music.

And her biggest interview was on December 8th, 1980. That's when she sat down and talked with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Only a few short hours after their interview, John was shot and killed outside his apartment, making Laurie's interview his last.

The joy of their time together and the guilt and sadness over his death have stayed with Laurie ever since that terrible day in New York.

Her memoir, Confessions of a Rock n Roll Name Dropper is available for pre-order from Fayetteville Mafia Press and will be available next December.

Holly Knight has written some of the biggest hits of the past few decades.  From Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield," to Tina Turner's "The Best," to work with Heart, Hall & Oates, Aerosmith and Bon Jovi, Holly's work is one of a kind.

Her memoir, "I Am the Warrior," is an insight to her fascinating career and the lessons she's learned along the way. For more information, you can check out Holly's website.

Qwynn has been busy writing songs and releasing them to her fans on TikTok. Her latest single is "Beautiful Back." To hear all of her work and to get a glimpse into her life, you can follow her on TikTok.

Plus, we share a friendly reminder that Dre must not be forgotten about.

Sam Hollander has written with Panic! At the Disco (High Hopes), Fitz and the Tantrums (Hand Clap), along with folks like Blink-182, Carol King, One Direction, Train and RINGO STARR.

Sam is talking about his fascinating career in his memoir, 21 Hit Wonder- Flopping My Way to the Top of the Charts. All the exciting, true and incredibly stories are recounted by Sam with a great sense of humor.

For more information, check out Sam's website. 

And if that wasn't enough, we talked about the records celebrating their 50th anniversary this year and we celebrate Sir Brian May and his knighthood.

We say goodbye to 2022 by talking with one of our favorite guests of the year- singer/songwriter Anne E DeChant. Anne has been traveling the country, sharing her gift with audiences everywhere. She's got a new truck for the new year's trek and is just about to start writing songs for the new record.

It's a fun, laid-back conversation about the joys and difficulties of being an independent artist right now. For more information and to find out when Anne is playing near you, check out her website.

This week's episode is our annual crossover with our other podcast, Why? We look back on the year, reflect on what we (haven't) learned, and play some of our favorite holiday music. 

But don't worry, there's no Bing Crosby or Wonderful Christmastime on this play list, it's stuff we can almost guarantee you haven't heard before. Our playlist is below.

Enjoy and we'll be back next week with one more episode to wrap up the year!

Santa, How Come Your Eyes are Green When Last Year They Were Blue- Louis Prima
Christmas Boogie- Spencer Horn
Winter Wonderland- Domenico Savino and his Orchestra
Christmas Polka- Jimmy Wakely with his Cowboy Band
Super Sunny Christmas- Redd Kross
Santa's Got a Sunburn- Barefoot Man
Little Drummer Boy-  Dr Norman S Wright & Dr Charles S Kendall
The Merry Christmas Polka- Dinah Shore
Auggie Wren's Christmas Story- Harvey Kitel (from "Smoke" written by Paul Auster)
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/O Come All Ye Faithful- Jerry Fielding and his Brass Choir

Roger Street Friedman took some time off from music, but he's back with a vengeance. His new album, "Love Hope Trust" is available now and is a great celebration of a great voice with some great songs. The album was produced by Larry Campbell, which can only make things better.

For more information on Roger, check out his website, or follow him on Facebook.

Plus, we discuss our favorite concerts of the year, and what we are musically taking away from 2022.

This week, the legendary trio, BETTY play their annual holiday show in New York. And if that isn't enough, they're on Kickstarter, raising the funds for a brand new album.

We talked with Aly and Elizabeth about so many things, with the holidays and the new record only part of the great conversation.

For more information, you can check out BETTY's website, or get all the links from their linktr.ee page. And, of course, if you want to help them over the finish line, donate a few dollars to get the new record made!

The Dead Milkmen are a one-of-a-kind punk band. How else can you describe them than by saying, "they just sound like the Dead Milkmen?"

We talked with Joe Jack Talcum about the group's upcoming new album, their history and why editing videos for YouTube sucks.

For more information, you can check Jack's website, and for more information on the Dead Milkmen, you can check out their website. Bitchin!